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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/8670-8.txt b/8670-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ab4a9b3 --- /dev/null +++ b/8670-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12092 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of In the Heart of the Rockies, by G. A. Henty + +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: In the Heart of the Rockies + A Story of Adventure in Colorado + +Author: G. A. Henty + +Posting Date: June 2, 2012 [EBook #8670] +Release Date: August, 2005 +First Posted: July, 31, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN THE HEART OF THE ROCKIES *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Franks, Michelle Shephard, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + + + + + + +IN THE HEART OF THE ROCKIES + +A STORY OF ADVENTURE IN COLORADO + +BY G. A. HENTY + + + + + + + +[Illustration: HUNTING DOG SAVES JERRY FROM THE RAPIDS.] + + + +PREFACE + + +MY DEAR LADS, + +Until comparatively lately that portion of the United States in which I +have laid this story was wholly unexplored. The marvellous caņons of the +Colorado River extend through a country absolutely bare and waterless, +and save the tales told by a few hunters or gold-seekers who, pressed by +Indians, made the descent of some of them, but little was known +regarding this region. It was not until 1869 that a thorough exploration +of the caņons was made by a government expedition under the command of +Major Powell. This expedition passed through the whole of the caņons, +from those high up on the Green River to the point where the Colorado +issues out on to the plains. Four years were occupied by the party in +making a detailed survey of the course of the main river and its +tributaries. These explorations took place some eight or nine years +after the date of my story. The country in which the Big Wind River has +its source, and the mountain chains contained in it, were almost unknown +until, after the completion of the railway to California, the United +States government was forced to send an expedition into it to punish the +Indians for their raids upon settlers in the plains. For details of the +geography and scenery I have relied upon the narrative of Mr. +Baillie-Grohman, who paid several visits to the country in 1878 and the +following years in quest of sport, and was the first white man to +penetrate the recesses of the higher mountains. At that time the Indians +had almost entirely deserted the country. For the details of the dangers +and difficulties of the passage through the caņons I am indebted to the +official report of Major Powell, published by the United States +government. + + + Yours sincerely, + + + G. A. HENTY. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAP. + + + I. TOM'S CHOICE + II. FINDING FRIENDS + III. ON THE PLAINS + IV. LEAPING HORSE + V. IN DANGER + VI. UNITED + VII. CHASED + VIII. IN SAFETY + IX. A BAD TIME + X. AN AVALANCHE + XI. WINTER + XII. THE SNOW FORT + XIII. A FRESH START + XIV. AN INDIAN ATTACK + XV. THE COLORADO + XVI. AFLOAT IN CANOES + XVII. THE GRAND CANON +XVIII. BACK TO DENVER + XIX. A FORTUNE + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +Hunting Dog Saves Jerry From The Rapids +Carry Reads Uncle Harry's Letter +Jerry Gives Tom A Lesson In Shooting +Leaping Horse Mounted, And Rode Across The Stream +A Moment Later The Indian Fell Forward On His Face +"There Is Another Avalanche, Keep Your Backs To The Wall, Boys" +They Went Out To Look At The Indian The Chief Had Shot +"No Good Fight Here," Said Leaping Horse. + + + + + +CHAPTER I + +TOM'S CHOICE + + +"I can be of no use here, Carry. What am I good for? Why, I could not +earn money enough to pay for my own food, even if we knew anyone who +would help me to get a clerkship. I am too young for it yet. I would +rather go before the mast than take a place in a shop. I am too young +even to enlist. I know just about as much as other boys at school, and I +certainly have no talent anyway, as far as I can see at present. I can +sail a boat, and I won the swimming prize a month ago, and the sergeant +who gives us lessons in single-stick and boxing says that he considers +me his best pupil with the gloves, but all these things put together +would not bring me in sixpence a week. I don't want to go away, and +nothing would induce me to do so if I could be of the slightest use to +you here. But can I be of any use? What is there for me to look forward +to if I stay? I am sure that you would be always worrying over me if I +did get some sort of situation that you would know father and mother +would not have liked to see me in, and would seem to offer no chance for +the future, whereas if I went out there it would not matter what I did, +and anything I earned I could send home to you." + +The speaker was a lad of sixteen. He and his sister, who was two years +his senior, were both dressed in deep mourning, and were sitting on a +bench near Southsea Castle looking across to Spithead, and the Isle of +Wight stretching away behind. They had three days before followed their +mother to the grave, and laid her beside their father, a lieutenant of +the navy, who had died two years before. This was the first time they +had left the house, where remained their four sisters--Janet, who came +between Carry and Tom; Blanche, who was fourteen; Lucie, twelve; and +Harriet, eight. Tom had proposed the walk. + +"Come out for some fresh air, Carry," he had said. "You have been shut +up for a month. Let us two go together;" and Carry had understood that +he wanted a talk alone with her. There was need, indeed, that they +should look the future in the face. Since Lieutenant Wade's death their +means had been very straitened. Their mother had received a small +pension as his widow, and on this, eked out by drafts reluctantly drawn +upon the thousand pounds she had brought him on her marriage, which had +been left untouched during his lifetime, they had lived since his death. +Two hundred pounds had been drawn from their little capital, and the +balance was all that now remained. It had long been arranged that Carry +and Janet should go out as governesses as soon as they each reached the +age of eighteen, but it was now clear that Carry must remain at home in +charge of the young ones. + +That morning the two girls had had a talk together, and had settled +that, as Janet was too young to take even the humblest place as a +governess, they would endeavour to open a little school, and so, for the +present at any rate, keep the home together. Carry could give music +lessons, for she was already an excellent pianist, having been well +taught by her mother, who was an accomplished performer, and Janet was +sufficiently advanced to teach young girls. She had communicated their +decision to Tom, who had heartily agreed with it. + +"The rent is only twenty pounds a year," he said, "and, as you say, the +eight hundred pounds bring in thirty-two pounds a year, which will pay +the rent and leave something over. If you don't get many pupils at first +it will help, and you can draw a little from the capital till the school +gets big enough to pay all your expenses. It is horrible to me that I +don't seem to be able to help, but at any rate I don't intend to remain +a drag upon you. If mother had only allowed me to go to sea after +father's death I should be off your hands now, and I might even have +been able to help a little. As it is, what is there for me to do here?" +And then he pointed out how hopeless the prospect seemed at Portsmouth. + +Carry was silent for a minute or two when he ceased speaking, and sat +looking out over the sea. + +"Certainly, we should not wish you to go into a shop, Tom, and what you +say about going into an office is also right enough. We have no sort of +interest, and the sort of clerkship you would be likely to get here +would not lead to anything. I know what you are thinking about--that +letter of Uncle Harry's; but you know that mother could not bear the +thought of it, and it would be dreadful for us if you were to go away." + +"I would not think of going, Carry, if I could see any chance of helping +you here, and I don't want to go as I did when the letter first came. It +seems such a cowardly thing to run away and leave all the burden upon +your shoulders, yours and Janet's, though I know it will be principally +on yours; but what else is there to do? It was not for my own sake that +I wanted before to go, but I did not see what there was for me to do +here even when I grew up. Still, as mother said it would break her heart +if I went away, of course there was an end of it for the time, though I +have always thought it would be something to fall back upon if, when I +got to eighteen or nineteen, nothing else turned up, which seemed to me +very likely would be the case. Certainly, if it came to a choice between +that and enlisting, I should choose that: and now it seems to me the +only thing to be done." + +"It is such a long way off, Tom," the girl said in a tone of deep pain; +"and you know when people get away so far they seem to forget those at +home and give up writing. We had not heard from uncle for ten years when +that letter came." + +"There would be no fear of my forgetting you, Carry. I would write to +you whenever I got a chance." + +"But even going out there does not seem to lead to anything, Tom. Uncle +has been away twenty-five years, and he does not seem to have made any +money at all." + +"Oh, but then he owned in his letter, Carry, that it was principally his +own fault. He said he had made a good sum several times at mining, and +chucked it away; but that next time he strikes a good thing he was +determined to keep what he made and to come home to live upon it. I +sha'n't chuck it away if I make it, but shall send every penny home that +I can spare." + +"But uncle will not expect you, Tom, mother refused so positively to let +you go. Perhaps he has gone away from the part of the country he wrote +from, and you may not be able to find him." + +"I shall be able to find him," Tom said confidently. "When that letter +went, I sent one of my own to him, and said that though mother would not +hear of my going now, I might come out to him when I got older if I +could get nothing to do here, and asked him to send me a few words +directed to the post-office telling me how I might find him. He wrote +back saying that if I called at the Empire Saloon at a small town called +Denver, in Colorado, I should be likely to hear whereabouts he was, and +that he would sometimes send a line there with instructions if he should +be long away." + +"I see you have set your mind on going, Tom," Carry said sadly. + +"No, I have not set my mind on it, Carry. I am perfectly ready to stop +here if you can see any way for me to earn money, but I cannot stop here +idle, eating and drinking, while you girls are working for us all." + +"If you were but three or four years older, Tom, I should not so much +mind, and though it would be a terrible blow to part with you, I do not +see that you could do anything better; but you are only sixteen." + +"Yes, but I am strong and big for my age; I am quite as strong as a good +many men. Of course I don't mean the boatmen and the dockyard maties, +but men who don't do hard work. Anyhow, there are lots of men who go out +to America who are no stronger than I am, and of course I shall get +stronger every month. I can walk thirty miles a day easy, and I have +never had a day's illness." + +"It is not your strength, Tom; I shall have no fears about your breaking +down; on the contrary, I should say that a life such as uncle wrote +about, must be wonderfully healthy. But you seem so young to make such a +long journey, and you may have to travel about in such rough places and +among such rough men before you can find Uncle Harry." + +"I expect that I shall get on a great deal easier than a man would," Tom +said confidently. "Fellows might play tricks with a grown-up fellow who +they see is a stranger and not up to things, and might get into quarrels +with him, but no one is likely to interfere with a boy. No, I don't +think that there is anything in that, Carry,--the only real difficulty +is in going away so far from you, and perhaps being away for a long +time." + +"Well, Tom," the girl said after another pause, "it seems very terrible, +but I own that I can see nothing better for you. There is no way that +you can earn money here, and I am sure we would rather think of you as +mining and hunting with uncle, than as sitting as a sort of boy-clerk in +some dark little office in London or Portsmouth. It is no worse than +going to sea anyhow, and after all you may, as uncle says, hit on a rich +mine and come back with a fortune. Let us be going home. I can hardly +bear to think of it now, but I will tell Janet, and will talk about it +again this evening after the little ones have gone to bed." + +Tom had the good sense to avoid any expression of satisfaction. He gave +Carry's hand a silent squeeze, and as they walked across the common +talked over their plans for setting to work to get pupils, and said no +word that would give her a hint of the excitement he felt at the thought +of the life of adventure in a wild country that lay before him. He had +in his blood a large share of the restless spirit of enterprise that has +been the main factor in making the Anglo-Saxons the dominant race of the +world. His father and his grandfather had both been officers in the +royal navy, and a great-uncle had commanded a merchantman that traded in +the Eastern seas, and had never come back from one of its voyages; there +had been little doubt that all on board had been massacred and the ship +burned by Malay pirates. His Uncle Harry had gone away when little more +than a boy to seek a fortune in America, and had, a few years after his +landing there, crossed the plains with one of the first parties that +started out at news of the discovery of gold in California. + +Tom himself had longed above all things to be a sailor. His father had +not sufficient interest to get him into the royal navy, but had intended +to obtain for him a berth as apprentice in the merchant service; but his +sudden death had cut that project short, and his mother, who had always +been opposed to it, would not hear of his going to sea. But the life +that now seemed open to him was in the boy's eyes even preferable to +that he had longed for. The excitement of voyages to India or China and +back was as nothing to that of a gold-seeker and hunter in the West, +where there were bears and Indians and all sorts of adventures to be +encountered. He soon calmed down, however, on reaching home. The empty +chair, the black dresses and pale faces of the girls, brought back in +its full force the sense of loss. + +In a short time he went up to his room, and sat there thinking it all +over again, and asking himself whether it was fair of him to leave his +sisters, and whether he was not acting selfishly in thus choosing his +own life. He had gone over this ground again and again in the last few +days, and he now came to the same conclusion, namely, that he could do +no better for the girls by stopping at home, and that he had not decided +upon accepting his uncle's invitation because the life was just what he +would have chosen, but because he could see nothing that offered equal +chances of his being able permanently to aid them at home. + +When he came downstairs again Carry said: + +"The others have gone out, Tom; you had better go round and see some of +your school-fellows. You look fagged and worn out. You cannot help me +here, and I shall go about my work more cheerfully if I know that you +are out and about." + +Tom nodded, put on his cap and went out; but he felt far too restless to +follow her advice and call on some of his friends, so he walked across +the common and lay down on the beach and went all over it again, until +at last he went off to sleep, and did not wake up until, glancing at his +watch, he found that it was time to return to tea. He felt fresher and +better for his rest, for indeed he had slept but little for the past +fortnight, and Carry nodded approvingly as she saw that his eyes were +brighter, and the lines of fatigue and sleeplessness less strongly +marked on his face. + +Two hours later, when the younger girls had gone to bed, Carry said: +"Now we will have a family council. I have told Janet about our talk, +Tom, and she is altogether on your side, and only regrets that she is +not a boy and able to go out with you. We need not go over the ground +again, we are quite agreed with you that there seems no prospect here of +your obtaining work such as we should like to see you at, or that would +lead to anything. There are only two things open to you, the one is to +go to sea, the other to go out to Uncle Harry. You are old to go as an +apprentice, but not too old, and that plan could be carried out; still, +we both think that the other is better. You would be almost as much +separated from us if you went to sea as you would be if you went out to +America. But before you quite decide I will read uncle's letter, which I +have found this afternoon among some other papers." + +She took out the letter and opened it. + +"'My dear Jack,--I am afraid it is a very long time since I wrote last; +I don't like to think how long. I have been intending to do so a score +of times, but you know I always hated writing, and I have been waiting +to tell you that I had hit upon something good at last. Even now I can +only tell you that I have been knocking about and getting older, but so +far I cannot say I have been getting richer. As I told you when I wrote +last I have several times made good hauls and struck it rich, but +somehow the money has always slipped through my fingers. Sometimes I +have put it into things that looked well enough but turned out +worthless; sometimes I have chucked it away in the fool's manner men do +here. I have just come back from a prospecting tour in the country of +the Utes, where I found two or three things that seemed good; one of +them first-rate, the best thing, I think, I have seen since I came out +here. + +"'Unfortunately I cannot do anything with them at present, for the Utes +are getting troublesome, and it would be as much as one's life is worth +to go back there with a small party; so that matter must rest for a bit, +and I must look out in another quarter until the Utes settle down again. +I am going to join a hunting party that starts for the mountains next +week. I have done pretty nearly as much hunting as mining since I came +out, and though there is no big pile to be made at it, it is a pretty +certain living. How are you all getting on? I hope some day to drop in +on your quiet quarters at Southsea with some big bags of gold-dust, and +to end my days in a nook by your fireside; which I know you will give +me, old fellow, with or without the gold bags. '" + +[Illustration: CARRY READS UNCLE HARRY'S LETTER.] + +"'I suppose your boy is thirteen or fourteen years old by this time. +That is too young for him to come out here, but if in two or three years +you don't see any opening for him at home, send him out to me, and I +will make a man of him; and even if he does not make a fortune in +gold-seeking, there are plenty of things a young fellow can turn his +hand to in this country with a good certainty of making his way, if he +is but steady. You may think that my example is not likely to be of much +benefit to him, but I should do for an object lesson, and seriously, +would do my very best to set him in a straight path. Anyhow, three or +four years' knocking about with me would enable him to cut his +eye-teeth, and hold his own in the world. At the end of that time he +could look round and see what line he would take up, and I need not say +that I would help him to the utmost of my power, and though I have not +done any good for myself I might do good for him. + +"'In the first place, I know pretty well every one in Colorado, Montana, +and Idaho; in the next place, in my wanderings I have come across a +score of bits of land in out-of-the-way places where a young fellow +could set up a ranche and breed cattle and horses and make a good thing +of it; or if he has a turn for mechanics, I could show him places where +he could set up saw-mills for lumber, with water-power all the year +round, and with markets not far away. Of course, he is too young yet, +but unless he is going to walk in your steps and turn sailor he might do +worse than come out to me in three or four years' time. Rough as the +life is, it is a man's life, and a week of it is worth more than a +year's quill-driving in an office. It is a pity your family have run to +girls, for if one boy had made up his mind for the sea you might have +spared me another.' + +"That is all. You know mother sent an answer saying that dear father had +gone, and that she should never be able to let you go so far away and +take up such a rough and dangerous life. However, Tom, as you wrote to +uncle, her refusal would not matter, and by his sending you instructions +how to find him, it is evident that he will not be surprised at your +turning up. In the first place, are you sure that you would prefer this +to the sea?" + +"Quite sure, Carry; I should like it much better. But the principal +thing is that I may soon be able to help you from there, while it would +be years before I should get pay enough at sea to enable me to do so." + +"Then that is settled, Tom. And now, I suppose," and her voice quivered +a little, "you will want to be off as soon as you can?" + +"I think so," Tom replied. "If I am to go, it seems to me the sooner I +go the better; there is nothing that I can do here, and we shall all be +restless and unsettled until I am off." + +Carry nodded. "I think you are right, Tom; we shall never be able to +settle to our work here when we are thinking of your going away. The +first thing to do will be to draw some money from the bank. There will +be your outfit to get and your passage to pay to America, and a supply +of money to take you out West, and keep you until you join uncle." + +"That is what I hate," Tom said gloomily. "It seems beastly that when I +want to help you I must begin by taking some of your money." + +"That can't be helped," Carry said cheerfully. "One must not grudge a +sprat to catch a whale, and besides it would cost ever so much more if +we had to apprentice you to the sea, and get your outfit. You will not +want many clothes now. You have enough for the voyage and journey, and I +should think it would be much better for you to get what you want out +there, when you will have uncle to advise what is necessary. I should +really think some flannel shirts and a rough suit for the voyage will be +the principal things." + +"I should think so, certainly," Tom agreed. "The less baggage one +travels with the better, for when I leave the railway I shall only want +what I can carry with me or pack on horses. Anything else would only be +a nuisance. As to a rough suit for the voyage, the clothes I had before +I put these on" (and he glanced at his black suit) "will do capitally. +Of course I shall go steerage. I can get out for four or five pounds +that way, and I shall be quite as well off as I should be as an +apprentice. I know I must have some money, but I won't take more than is +absolutely necessary. I am all right as far as I can see for everything, +except three or four flannel shirts. I don't see that another thing will +be required except a small trunk to hold them and the clothes I have on, +which I don't suppose I shall ever wear again, and a few other things. +You know I would only allow you to have this one black suit made. I was +thinking of this, and it would have been throwing away money to have got +more. Of course, I don't know what I shall want out there. I know it is +a long way to travel by rail, and I may have to keep myself for a month +before I find uncle. I should think five-and-twenty pounds when I land +would be enough for everything." + +"I shall draw fifty pounds," Carry said positively. "As you say, your +outfit will really cost nothing; ten pounds will pay for your journey to +Liverpool and your passage; that will leave you forty pounds in your +pocket when you land. That is the very least you could do with, for you +may find you will have to buy a horse, and though I believe they are +very cheap out there, I suppose you could not get one under ten pounds; +and then there would be the saddle and bridle and food for the journey, +and all sorts of things. I don't think forty pounds will be enough." + +"I won't have a penny more, anyhow," Tom said. "If I find a horse too +expensive I can tramp on foot." + +"And you must be sure not to get robbed," Janet said, breaking in for +the first time. "Just fancy your finding yourself without money in such +a place as that. I will make you a belt to wear under your things, with +pockets for the money." + +"I hope I should not be such a fool as that, Janet, but anyhow I will be +as careful as I can. I shall be very glad of the belt. One does not know +what the fellows might be up to, and I would certainly rather not have +my money loose in my pocket; but even if I were robbed I don't think it +would be as desperate as you think. I expect a boy could always find +something to do to earn his living, and I should try and work my way +along somehow, but as that would not be pleasant at all I shall take +good care of my money, you may be sure." + +For an hour they sat talking, and before the council broke up it was +agreed that they should look in the newspaper in the morning for a list +of vessels sailing for America, and should at once write and take a +passage. + +There was no time lost. Carry felt that it would be best for them all +that the parting should be got over as soon as possible. Letters were +written the next morning to two steamship companies and to the owners of +two sailing vessels asking the prices of steerage passages, agreeing +that if there was not much difference it would be better to save perhaps +a fortnight by taking the passage in a steamship. + +The replies showed that the difference was indeed trifling, and a week +after their receipt Tom Wade started from Portsmouth to Liverpool. Even +at the last moment he was half-inclined to change his plans, it seemed +so hard to leave his sisters alone; but Carry and Janet had both +convinced themselves that his scheme was the best, and would not hear of +his wavering now. They kept up a show of good spirits until the last, +talked confidently of the success of their own plans, and how they +should set about carrying them out as soon as they were free to act. The +younger girls, although implored by the elders not to give way to their +grief at the departure of their brother, were in a state of constant +tearfulness, and were in consequence frequently got rid of by being sent +on errands. Tom, too, took them out for hours every day, and by telling +them stories of the wild animals he should hunt, and the Indians he +should see, and of the stores of gold he should find hidden, generally +brought them home in a more cheerful state of mind. + +At last the parting was over, and after making heroic efforts to be +cheerful to the end, Tom waved a last adieu with his handkerchief to the +five weeping figures on the platform, and then threw himself back in his +seat and gave free vent to his own feelings. Two girls sitting beside +him sniggered at the sight of the strong-built young fellow giving way +to tears, but a motherly-looking woman opposite presently put her hand +on his knee. + +"Don't be ashamed of crying, my lad," she said. "I have got a son years +older than you, and we always have a good cry together every time he +starts on a long voyage. Are you going far? I suppose those are your +sisters? I see you are all in black. Lost someone dear to you, no doubt? +It comes to us all, my boy, sooner or later." + +"I am going to America," Tom replied, "and may not be back for years. +Yes, those are my sisters, and what upsets me most is that I have to +leave them all alone, for we have lost both our parents." + +"Dear, dear, that is sad indeed! No wonder you are all upset. Well, +well, America is not so very far away--only a ten days' voyage by +steamer, they tell me, and my boy is away in a sailing ship. He is in +China, I reckon, now; he sailed five months ago, and did not expect to +be home under a year. I worry about him sometimes, but I know it is of +no use doing that. The last thing he said when I bade good-bye to him +was, 'Keep up your spirits, mother'; and I try to do so." + +The old lady went on talking about her son, and Tom, listening to her +kindly attempts to draw him out of his own troubles, grew interested, +and by the time they reached Winchester, where she left the train, he +had shaken off his first depression. It was a long journey with several +changes, and he did not arrive in Liverpool until six o'clock in the +evening, having been nearly twelve hours on the road. Carry's last +injunction had been, "Take a cab when you get to Liverpool, Tom, and +drive straight down to the docks. Liverpool is a large place, and you +might get directed wrong. I shall be more comfortable if I know that, at +any rate, you will go straight on board." + +Tom had thought it an unnecessary expense, but as he saw that Carry +would be more comfortable about him if he followed her advice, he +promised to do so, and was not sorry for it as he drove through the +streets; for, in spite of cutting down everything that seemed +unnecessary for the voyage and subsequent journey, the portmanteau was +too heavy to carry far with comfort, and although prepared to rough it +to any extent when he had once left England, he felt that he should not +like to make his way along the crowded streets with his trunk on his +shoulder. + +The cabman had no difficulty in finding the _Parthia_, which was still +in the basin. Tom was, however, only just in time to get on board, for +the men were already throwing off the warps, and ten minutes later she +passed out through the dock-gates, and soon anchored in the middle of +the river. Tom had been on board too many ships at Portsmouth to feel +any of that bewilderment common to emigrants starting on their first +voyage. He saw that at present everyone was too busy to attend to him, +and so he put his portmanteau down by the bulwark forward, and leaning +on the rail watched the process of warping the ship out of the docks. +There were a good many steerage passengers forward, but at present the +after-part of the ship was entirely deserted, as the cabin passengers +would not come on board until either late at night or early next +morning. When the anchor had been let drop he took up his trunk and +asked a sailor where he ought to go to. + +"Show me your ticket. Ah! single man's quarters, right forward." + +There he met a steward, who, after looking at his ticket, said: "You +will see the bunks down there, and can take any one that is unoccupied. +I should advise you to put your trunk into it, and keep the lid shut. +People come and go in the morning, and you might find that your things +had gone too. It would be just as well for you to keep it locked through +the voyage. I see that you have got a cord round it. Keep it corded; the +more things there are to unfasten to get at the contents the less chance +there is of anyone attempting it." + +The place was crowded with berths, mere shallow trays, each containing a +straw mattress and pillow and two coloured blankets. They were in three +tiers, one above the other, and were arranged in lines three deep, with +a narrow passage between. He saw by the number into which bags and +packets had been thrown that the upper berths were the favourites, but +he concluded that the lower tiers were preferable. "It will be +frightfully hot and stuffy here," he said to himself, "and I should say +the lower berths will be cooler than the upper." He therefore placed his +trunk in one of those next to the central passage and near the door, and +then went up on deck. + +The _Parthia_ was a Cunarder, and although not equal in size to the +great ships of the present day, was a very fine vessel. The fare had +been somewhat higher than that for which he could have had a passage in +a sailing ship, but in addition to his saving time, there was the +advantage that on board the steamers, passengers were not obliged to +provide their own bedding, as they had to do in sailing vessels, and +also the food was cooked for them in the ship's galleys. + +The first meal was served soon after the anchor dropped, and consisted +of a bowl of cocoa and a large piece of bread. Half an hour later a +tender came alongside with the last batch of steerage passengers, and +Tom was interested in watching the various groups as they came on +board--men, women, and children. + +"Well," he said to himself, "I do think I am better fitted to make my +way out there than most of these people are, for they look as helpless +and confused as a flock of sheep. I pity those women with children. It +will be pretty crowded in our quarters, but there is a chance of getting +a fair night's sleep, while in a place crowded with babies and children +it would be awful." + +Being a kind-hearted lad he at once set to work to help as far as he +could, volunteering to carry children down below, and to help with boxes +and bundles. + +In many cases his assistance was thankfully accepted, but in some it was +sharply refused, the people's manner clearly showing their suspicions of +his motive. He was not surprised at this after all the warnings Carry +had given him against putting any confidence in strangers, but was +satisfied, after an hour's hard work, that he had rendered things +somewhat easier for many a worried and anxious woman. It was getting +dusk even on deck by the time he had finished. + +"Thank you, lad," a man, who went up the companion ladder with him, said +as they stepped on to the deck. "You have done my missis a good turn by +taking care of those three young ones while we straightened up a bit, +and I saw you helping others too. You are the right sort, I can see. +There ain't many young chaps as puts themselves out of the way to do a +bit of kindness like that. My name is Bill Brown; what is yours?" + +"Tom Wade. I had nothing to do, and was glad to be of a little help. +People who have never been on board ship before naturally feel confused +in such a crowd." + +"Have you been to sea?" + +"Not on a voyage, but I have lived at Portsmouth and have often been on +board troopships and men-of-war, so it does not seem so strange to me." + +"Are you by yourself, or have you friends with you?" + +"I am alone," Tom replied. "I am going out to join an uncle in the +States." + +"I have been across before," the man said. "I am a carpenter, and have +worked out there six months, and came home six weeks back to fetch the +others over. I have got a place, where I was working before, to go to as +soon as I land. It makes a lot of difference to a man." + +"It does indeed," Tom agreed. "I know if I were going out without any +fixed object beyond taking the first work that came to hand, I should +not feel so easy and comfortable about it as I do now." + +"I have got two or three of my mates on board who are going out on my +report of the place, and three families from my wife's village. She and +the youngsters have been staying with her old folk while I was away. So +we are a biggish party, and if you want anything done on the voyage you +have only got to say the word to me." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +FINDING FRIENDS + + +The weather was fine, and Tom Wade found the voyage more pleasant than +he had expected. The port-holes were kept open all the way, and the +crowded quarters were less uncomfortable than would have been the case +had they encountered rough weather. There were some very rough spirits +among the party forward, but the great majority were quiet men, and +after the first night all talking and larking were sternly repressed +after the lights were out. The food was abundant, and although some +grumbled at the meat there was no real cause of complaint. A rope across +the deck divided the steerage passengers from those aft, and as there +were not much more than one-half the emigrants aboard that the _Parthia_ +could carry, there was plenty of room on deck. + +But few of the passengers suffered from sea-sickness, and the women sat +and chatted and sewed in little groups while the children played about, +and the men walked up and down or gathered forward and smoked, while a +few who had provided themselves with newspapers or books sat in quiet +corners and read. Tom was one of these, for he had picked up a few books +on the United States at second-hand bookstalls at Portsmouth, and this +prevented him from finding the voyage monotonous. When indisposed to +read he chatted with Brown the carpenter and his mates, and sometimes +getting a party of children round him and telling them stories gathered +from the books now standing on the shelves in his room at Southsea. He +was glad, however, when the voyage was over; not because he was tired of +it, but because he was longing to be on his way west. Before leaving the +ship he took a very hearty farewell of his companions on the voyage, and +on landing was detained but a few minutes at the custom-house, and then +entering an omnibus that was in waiting at the gate, was driven straight +to the station of one of the western lines of railway. + +From the information he had got up before sailing he had learnt that +there were several of these, but that there was very little difference +either in their speed or rates of fare, and that their through-rates to +Denver were practically the same. He had therefore fixed on the Chicago +and Little Rock line, not because its advantages were greater, but in +order to be able to go straight from the steamer to the station without +having to make up his mind between the competing lines. He found on +arrival that the emigrant trains ran to Omaha, where all the lines met, +and that beyond that he must proceed by the regular trains. An emigrant +train was to leave that evening at six o'clock. + +"The train will be made up about four," a good-natured official said to +him, "and you had best be here by that time so as to get a corner seat, +for I can tell you that makes all the difference on a journey like this. +If you like to take your ticket at once you can register that trunk of +yours straight on to Denver, and then you won't have any more trouble +about it." + +"Of course we stop to take our meals on the way?" + +"Yes; but if you take my advice you will do as most of them do, get a +big basket and lay in a stock of bread and cooked meat, cheese, and +anything you fancy, then you will only have to go out and get a cup of +tea at the stopping-places. It comes a good bit cheaper, and you get +done before those who take their meals, and can slip back into the cars +again quick and keep your corner seat. There ain't much ceremony in +emigrant trains, and it is first come first served." + +"How long shall we be in getting to Denver?" + +"It will be fully a week, but there ain't any saying to a day. The +emigrant trains just jog along as they can between the freight trains +and the fast ones, and get shunted off a bit to let the expresses pass +them." + +Thanking the official for his advice, Tom took his ticket, registered +his trunk, and then went out and strolled about the streets of New York +until three o'clock. He took the advice as to provisions, and getting a +small hamper laid in a stock of food sufficient for three or four days. +The platform from which the train was to start was already occupied by a +considerable number of emigrants, but when the train came up he was able +to secure a corner seat. The cars were all packed with their full +complement of passengers. They were open from end to end, with a passage +down the middle. Other cars were added as the train filled up, but not +until all the places were already occupied. The majority of the +passengers were men, but there were a considerable number of women, and +still more children; and Tom congratulated himself on learning from the +conversation of those around him that a good many were not going beyond +Chicago, and that almost all would leave the train at stations between +that place and Omaha. + +The journey to Chicago was the most unpleasant experience Tom had ever +gone through. The heat, the dust, and the close confinement seemed to +tell on the tempers of everyone. The children fidgeted perpetually, the +little ones and the babies cried, the women scolded, and the men +grumbled and occasionally quarrelled. It was even worse at night than +during the day; the children indeed were quieter, for they lay on the +floor of the passage and slept in comparative comfort, but for the men +and women there was no change of position, no possibility of rest. The +backs of the seats were low, and except for the fortunate ones by the +windows there was no rest for the head; but all took uneasy naps with +their chins leaning forward on their chest, or sometimes with their +heads resting on their neighbour's shoulder. Tom did not retain his +corner seat, but resigned it a few hours after starting to a weary woman +with a baby in her arms who sat next to him. He himself, strong as he +was, felt utterly worn out by the fatigue and sleeplessness. + +Beyond Chicago there was somewhat more room, and it was possible to make +a change of position. Beyond Omaha it was much better; the train was +considerably faster and the number of passengers comparatively few. He +now generally got a seat to himself and could put his feet up. The +people were also, for the most part, acquainted with the country, and he +was able to learn a good deal from their conversation. There were but +few women or children among them, for except near the stations of the +railway, settlements were very rare; and the men were for the most part +either miners, ranchemen, or mechanics, going to the rising town of +Denver, or bound on the long journey across the plains to Utah or +California. It was on the eighth day after starting that Denver was +reached. + +Before leaving the ship Tom had put on his working clothes and a flannel +shirt, and had disposed of his black suit, for a small sum, to a +fellow-passenger who intended to remain at New York. This had somewhat +lightened his portmanteau, but he was glad when he found that there were +vehicles at the station to convey passengers up the hill to Denver, +which was some three miles away, and many hundred feet above it. He was +too tired to set about finding the Empire Saloon, but put up at the +hotel at which the omnibus stopped, took a bath and a hearty meal, and +then went straight to bed. + +After breakfast the next morning he at once set out. He had no +difficulty in finding the whereabouts of the Empire Saloon, which he +learned from the clerk of the hotel was a small place frequented almost +entirely by miners. Its appearance was not prepossessing. It had been +built in the earliest days of Denver, and was a rough erection. The +saloon was low, its bare rafters were darkly coloured by smoke, a number +of small tables stood on the sanded floor, and across the farther end of +the room ran a bar. On shelves behind this stood a number of black +bottles, and a man in his shirt sleeves was engaged in washing up +glasses. Two or three rough-looking men in coloured flannel shirts, with +the bottoms of their trousers tucked into high boots, were seated at the +tables smoking and drinking. + +"I am expecting a letter for me here," Tom said to the man behind the +bar. "My name is Wade." + +"The boss is out now," the man said. "He will be here in an hour or so. +If there is anything for you he will know about it." + +"Thank you. I will come again in an hour," Tom replied. The man nodded +shortly, and went on with his work. When Tom returned, the bar-tender +said to a man who was sitting at one of the tables talking to the +miners, "This is the chap I told you of as was here about the letter." + +"Sit right down," the man said to Tom, "I will talk with you presently;" +and he continued his conversation in a low tone with the miners. It was +nearly half an hour before he concluded it. Then he rose, walked across +the room to Tom, and held out his hand. + +"Shake, young fellow," he said; "that is, if you are the chap Straight +Harry told me might turn up here some day." + +"I expect I am the fellow," Tom said with a smile. "My uncle's name is +Harry Wade." + +"Yes, that is his name; although he is always called Straight Harry. +Yes, I have got a letter for you. Come along with me." He led the way +into a small room behind the saloon, that served at once as his bed-room +and office, and motioned to Tom to sit down on the only chair; then +going to a cupboard he took out a tin canister, and opening it shook out +half a dozen letters on to the table. + +"That is yourn," he said, picking one out. + +It was directed to Tom, and contained but a few lines. "_If you come I +have gone west. Pete Hoskings will tell you all he knows about me and +put you on the line. Your affectionate uncle._" + +"Are you Mr. Hoskings?" he asked the landlord. + +"I am Pete Hoskings," the man said. "There ain't been no Mister to my +name as ever I can remember." + +"My uncle tells me that you will be able to direct me to him, and will +put me on the line." + +"It would take a darn sight cuter fellow than I am to direct you to him +at present," the man said with a laugh. "Straight Harry went away from +here three months ago, and he might be just anywhere now. He may be +grubbing away in a mine, he may be hunting and trapping, or he may have +been wiped out by the Indians. I know where he intended to go, at least +in a general sort of way. He did tell me he meant to stay about there, +and it may be he has done so. He said if he moved away and got a chance +he would send me word; but as there ain't nairy a post-office within +about five hundred miles of where he is, his only chance of sending a +letter would be by a hunter who chanced to be going down to the +settlements, and who, like enough, would put it into his hunting-shirt +and never give it another thought. So whether he has stayed there or not +is more nor I can say." + +"And where is _there?_" Tom asked. "It is among the hills to the west +of the Colorado River, which ain't much, seeing as the Colorado is about +two thousand miles long. However, I can put you closer than that, for he +showed me on a map the bit of country he intended to work. He said he +would be back here in six months from the time he started; and that if +you turned up here I was either to tell you the best way of getting +there, or to keep you here until he came back. Well, I may say at once +that there ain't no best way; there is only one way, and that is to get +on a pony and ride there, and a mighty bad way it is. The only thing for +you to do is to keep on west along the caravan tract. You have to cross +the Green River,--that is the name of the Colorado on its upper course. +Fort Bridger is the place for you to start from, but you have got to +wait there until you sight some one or other bound south; for as to +going by yourself, it would be a sight better to save yourself all +trouble by putting that Colt hanging there to your head, and pulling the +trigger. It is a bad country, and it is full of bad Indians, and there +ain't many, even of the oldest hands, who care to risk their lives by +going where Straight Harry has gone. + +"I did all I could to keep him from it; but he is just as obstinate as a +mule when he has made up his mind to a thing. I know him well, for we +worked as mates for over a year down on the Yuba in California. We made +a good pile, and as I had got a wife and wanted to settle I came back +east. This place had a couple of dozen houses then; but I saw it was +likely to boom, so I settled down and set up this saloon and sent for my +wife to come west to me. If she had lived I should have been in a sight +bigger place by this time; but she died six months after she got here, +and then I did not care a continental one way or the other; and I like +better to stop here, where I meet my old mates and can do as I like, +than to run a big hotel. It ain't much to look at, but it suits me, and +I am content to know that I could buy up the biggest place here if I had +a fancy to. I don't take much money now, but I did when the place was +young; and I bought a few lots of land, and you may bet they have turned +out worth having. Well, don't you act rashly in this business. Another +three months your uncle will turn up, if he is alive; and if he don't +turn up at all I dare say I can put you into a soft thing. If you go on +it is about ten to one you get scalped before you find him. Where are +you staying?" + +"At the Grand. The omnibus stopped there last night." + +"Well, you stay there for a week and think it over. You have got to +learn about the country west of the Colorado. You had best come here to +do that. You might stay a month at the Grand and not find a soul who +could tell you anything worth knowing, but there ain't a day when you +couldn't meet men here who have either been there themselves or have +heard tell of it from men who have." + +"Are the natives friendly now?" Tom asked. "In a letter he wrote two +years ago to us, my uncle said that he should put off going to a part of +the country he wanted to prospect until the Indians were quiet." + +"The darned critters are never either friendly or quiet. A red-skin is +pizen, take him when you will. The only difference is, that sometimes +they go on the war-path and sometimes they don't; but you may bet that +they are always ready to take a white man's scalp if they get a chance." + +"Well, I am very much obliged to you for your advice, which I will +certainly take; that is, I will not decide for a few days, and will come +in here and talk to the miners and learn what I can about it." + +"You can hear at once," the landlord said. He stepped back into the +saloon, and said to the two men with whom he had been talking: "Boys, +this young chap is a Britisher, and he has come out all the way to join +Straight Harry, who is an uncle of his. Straight Harry is with Ben +Gulston and Sam Hicks, and they are prospecting somewhere west of the +Colorado. He wants to join them. Now, what do you reckon his chances +would be of finding them out and dropping in on their campfire?" + +The men looked at Tom with open eyes. + +"Waal," one of them drawled, "I should reckon you would have just about +the same chance of getting to the North Pole if you started off on foot, +as you would of getting to Straight Harry with your hair on." + +Tom laughed. "That is not cheering," he said. + +"It ain't. I don't say as an old hand on the plains might not manage it. +He would know the sort of place Harry and his mates would be likely to +be prospecting, he would know the ways of the red-skins and how to +travel among them without ever leaving a trail or making a smoke, but +even for him it would be risky work, and not many fellows would care to +take the chances even if they knew the country well. But for a +tenderfoot to start out on such a job would be downright foolishness. +There are about six points wanted in a man for such a journey. He has +got to be as hard and tough as leather, to be able to go for days +without food or drink, to know the country well, to sleep when he does +sleep with his ears open, to be up to every red skin trick, to be able +to shoot straight enough to hit a man plumb centre at three hundred +yards at least, and to hit a dollar at twenty yards sartin with his +six-shooter. If you feel as you have got all them qualifications you can +start off as soon as you like, and the chances aren't more'n twenty to +one agin your finding him." + +"I haven't anyone of them," Tom said. + +"Waal, it is something if you know that, young chap. It is not every +tenderfoot who would own up as much. You stick to it that you don't know +anything, and at the same time do your best to learn something, and you +will do in time. You look a clean-built young chap, and you could not +have a better teacher than Straight Harry. What he don't know, whether +it is about prospecting for gold or hunting for beasts, ain't worth +knowing, you bet. What is your name, mate?" + +"Tom Wade." + +"Waal, let us drink. It ain't like you, Pete, to keep a stranger dry as +long as you have been doing." + +"He ain't up to our customs yet," the landlord said, as he moved off +towards the bar. + +"It is a custom everywhere," the miner said reprovingly, "for folks to +stand drink to a stranger; and good Bourbon hurts no man." + +The landlord placed a bottle and four glasses on the counter. Each of +the miners filled his glass for himself, and the bottle was then handed +to Tom, who followed their example, as did Hoskings. + +"Here is luck to you," the miner said, as he lifted his glass. Three +glasses were set down empty, but Tom had to stop half-way with his to +cough violently. + +"It is strong stuff," he said apologetically, "and I never drank spirits +without water before. I had a glass of grog-and-water on board a ship +sometimes, but it has always been at least two parts of water to one of +spirits." + +"We mostly drink our liquor straight out here," the miner said. "But I +am not saying it is the best way, especially for one who ain't used to +it, but you have got to learn to do it if you are going to live long in +this country." + +"Standing drinks round is a custom here," Pete Hoskings explained, +seeing that Tom looked a little puzzled, "and there ain't no worse +insult than to refuse to drink with a man. There have been scores of men +shot, ay, and hundreds, for doing so. I don't say that you may not put +water in, but if you refuse to drink you had best do it with your hand +on the butt of your gun, for you will want to get it out quick, I can +tell you." + +"There is one advantage in such a custom anyhow," Tom said, "it will +keep anyone who does not want to drink from entering a saloon at all." + +"That is so, lad," Pete Hoskings said heartily. "I keep a saloon, and +have made money by it, but for all that I say to every young fellow who +hopes to make his way some time, keep out of them altogether. In country +places you must go to a saloon to get a square meal, but everyone drinks +tea or coffee with their food, and there is no call to stay in the place +a minute after you have finished. Calling for drinks round has been the +ruin of many a good man; one calls first, then another calls, and no one +likes to stand out of it, and though you may only have gone in for one +glass, you may find you will have to drink a dozen before you get out." + +"Why, you are a downright temperance preacher, Pete," one of the miners +laughed. + +"I don't preach to a seasoned old hoss like you, Jerry. I keep my +preaching for those who may benefit by it, such as the youngster here; +but I say to him and to those like him, you keep out of saloons. If you +don't do that, you will find yourself no forwarder when you are fifty +than you are now, while there are plenty of openings all over the +country for any bright young fellow who will keep away from liquor." + +"Thank you," Tom said warmly; "I will follow your advice, which will be +easy enough. Beyond a glass of beer with my dinner and a tot of grog, +perhaps once in three months when I have gone on board a ship, and did +not like to say no, I have never touched it, and have no wish to do so." + +"Stick to that, lad; stick to that. You will find many temptations, but +you set your face hard against them, and except when you come upon a +hard man bent on kicking up a muss, you will find folks will think none +the worse of you when you say to them straight, 'I am much obliged to +you all the same, but I never touch liquor.'" + +Tom remained four days at the hotel, spending a good deal of his time at +the saloon, where he met many miners, all of whom endorsed what the +first he had spoken to had said respecting the country, and the +impossibility of anyone but an old hand among the mountains making his +way there. + +On the fourth evening he said to Pete Hoskings: "I see that your advice +was good, and that it would be madness for me to attempt to go by +myself, but I don't see why I should not ride to Fort Bridger; not of +course by myself, but with one of the caravans going west. It would be a +great deal better for me to do that and to learn something of the plains +and camping than to stay here for perhaps three months. At Fort Bridger +I shall be able to learn more about the country, and might join some +hunting party and gain experience that way. I might find other +prospectors going up among the hills, and even if it were not near where +my uncle is to be found, I should gain by learning something, and should +not be quite a greenhorn when I join him." + +"Well, that is sensible enough," Pete Hoskings said, "and I don't know +as I can say anything against it. You certainly would not be doing any +good for yourself here, and I don't say that either an hotel or a saloon +is the best place for you. I will think it over, and will let you know +when you come round in the morning; maybe I can put you a little in the +way of carrying it out." + +The next morning when Tom went to the saloon, Jerry Curtis, one of the +miners he had first met there, was sitting chatting with Pete Hoskings. + +"I had Jerry in my thoughts when I spoke to you last night, Tom," the +latter said. "I knew he was just starting west again, and thought I +would put the matter to him. He says he has no objection to your +travelling with him as far as Fort Bridger, where maybe he will make a +stay himself. There ain't no one as knows the plains much better than he +does, and he can put you up to more in the course of a month than you +would learn in a year just travelling with a caravan with farmers bound +west." + +"I should be very much obliged indeed," Tom said delightedly. "It would +be awfully good of you, Jerry, and I won't be more trouble than I can +help." + +"I don't reckon you will be any trouble at all," the miner said. "I was +never set much on travelling alone as some men are. I ain't much of a +talker, but I ain't fond of going two or three months without opening my +mouth except to put food and drink into it. So if you think you will +like it I shall be glad enough to take you. I know Straight Harry well, +and I can see you are teachable, and not set upon your own opinions as +many young fellows I have met out here are, but ready to allow that +there are some things as men who have been at them all their lives may +know a little more about than they do. So you may take it that it is a +bargain. Now, what have you got in the way of outfit?" + +"I have not got anything beyond flannel shirts, and rough clothes like +these." + +"They are good enough as far as they go. Two flannel shirts, one on and +one off, is enough for any man. Two or three pairs of thick stockings. +Them as is very particular can carry an extra pair of breeches in case +of getting caught in a storm, though for myself I think it is just as +well to let your things dry on you. You want a pair of high boots, a +buffalo robe, and a couple of blankets, one with a hole cut in the +middle to put your head through; that does as a cloak, and is like what +the Mexicans call a poncho. You don't want a coat or waistcoat; there +ain't no good in them. All you want to carry you can put in your +saddle-bag. Get a pair of the best blankets you can find. I will go with +you and choose them for you. You want a thing that will keep you warm +when you sleep, and shoot off the rain in bad weather. Common blankets +are no better than a sponge. + +"Then, of course, you must have a six-shooter and a rifle. No man in his +senses would start across the plains without them. It is true there +ain't much fear of red-skins between here and Bridger, but there is +never any saying when the varmint may be about. Can you shoot?" + +"No; I never fired off a rifle or a pistol in my life." + +"Well, you had better take a good stock of powder and ball, and you can +practise a bit as you go along. A man ain't any use out on these plains +if he cannot shoot. I have got a pony; but you must buy one, and a +saddle, and fixings. We will buy another between us to carry our swag. +But you need not trouble about the things, I will get all that fixed." + +"Thank you very much. How much do you suppose it will all come to?" + +"Never you mind what it comes to," Pete Hoskings said roughly. "I told +your uncle that if you turned up I would see you through. What you have +got to get I shall pay for, and when Straight Harry turns up we shall +square it. If he don't turn up at all, there is no harm done. This is my +business, and you have got nothing to do with it." + +Tom saw that he should offend Hoskings if he made any demur, and the +kind offer was really a relief to him. He had thirty pounds still in his +belt, but he had made a mental calculation of the cost of the things +Jerry had considered essential, and found that the cost of a horse and +saddle, of half another horse, of the rifle, six-shooter ammunition, +blankets, boots, and provisions for the journey, must certainly amount +up to more than that sum, and would leave him without any funds to live +on till he met his uncle. + +He was so anxious to proceed that he would have made no excuse, although +he saw that he might find himself in a very difficult position. Pete's +insistence, therefore, on taking all expenses upon himself, was a +considerable relief to him; for although determined to go, he had had an +uneasy consciousness that it was a foolish step. He therefore expressed +his warm thanks. + +"There, that is enough said about it," the latter growled out. "The +money is nothing to me one way or the other, and it would be hard if I +couldn't do this little thing for my old mate's nephew. When are you +thinking of making a start, Jerry?" + +"The sooner the better. I have been four months here already and have +not struck a vein, that is, not one really worth working, and the sooner +I make a fresh start the better. To-day is Wednesday. There will be +plenty of time to get all the things to-day and to-morrow, and we will +start at daylight on Friday. You may as well come with me, Tom, and +learn something about the prices of things. There are some Indians +camped three miles away. We will walk over there first and pick up a +couple of ponies. I know they have got a troop of them, that is what +they come here to sell. They only arrived yesterday, so we shall have +the pick of them." + +Before starting there was a short conversation between Jerry and the +landlord, and then the former put on his broad-brimmed hat. + +"Have you seen any red-skins yet?" + +"I saw a few at some of the stations the train stopped at between this +and Omaha." + +"Those fellows are mostly Indians who have been turned out of their +tribes for theft or drunkenness, and they hang about the stations to +sell moccasins and other things their squaws make, to fresh arrivals. + +"The fellows you are going to see are Navahoes, though not good +specimens of the tribe, or they would not be down here to sell ponies. +Still, they are a very different sort from those you have seen." + +An hour's walking took them to a valley, in which the Indians were +encamped. There were eight wigwams. Some women paused in their work and +looked round at the newcomers. Their dogs ran up barking furiously, but +were driven back by a volley of stones thrown by three or four boys, +with so good an aim that they went off with sharp yelps. Jerry strolled +along without paying any attention to the dogs or boys towards a party +of men seated round a fire. One of them rose as they approached. + +"My white brothers are welcome," he said courteously. "There is room by +the fire for them," and he motioned to them to sit down by his side. A +pipe, composed of a long flat wooden stem studded with brass nails, with +a bowl cut out of red pipe-stone, was now handed round, each taking a +short puff. + +"Does my brother speak the language of the Navahoes?" the chief asked in +that tongue. + +"I can get along with it," Jerry said, "as I can with most of your +Indian dialects." + +"It is good," the chief said. "My brother is wise; he must have wandered +much." + +"I have been a goodish bit among your hills, chief. Have you come from +far?" + +"The moon was full when we left our village." + +"Ah, then you have been a fortnight on the road. Well, chief, I have +come here to trade. I want to buy a couple of ponies." + +The chief said a word or two to a boy standing near, and he with four or +five others at once started up the valley, and in a few minutes returned +with a drove of Indian ponies. + +"They are not a bad lot," Jerry said to Tom. + +"They don't look much, Jerry." + +"Indian ponies never look much, but one of those ponies would gallop an +eastern-bred horse to a stand-still." + +Jerry got up and inspected some of the horses closely, and presently +picked out two of them; at a word from the chief two of the lads jumped +on their backs and rode off on them at full speed, and then wheeling +round returned to the spot from where they started. + +"My white brother is a judge of horses," the chief said; "he has picked +out the best of the lot." + +"There are three or four others quite as good," Jerry said carelessly. +"Now, chief, how many blankets, how much powder and lead, and what else +do you want for those two horses?" + +The chief stated his demands, to which Jerry replied: "You said just +now, chief, that I was a wise man; but it seems that you must regard me +as a fool." + +For half an hour an animated argument went on. Two or three times Jerry +got up, and they started as if to quit the village, but each time the +chief called them back. So animated were their gestures and talk that +Tom had serious fears that they were coming to blows, but their voices +soon fell and the talk became amicable again. At last Jerry turned to +Tom. + +"The bargain is struck," he said; "but he has got the best of me, and +has charged an outrageous sum for them," Then, in his own language, he +said to the chief: + +"At noon to-morrow you will send the ponies down to the town. I will +meet them at the big rock, half a mile this side of it, with the trade +goods." + +"They shall be there," the chief said, "though I am almost giving them +to you." + +As they walked away, Tom said: + +"So you have paid more than you expected, Jerry?" + +"No, I have got them a bargain; only it would never have done to let the +chief know I thought so, or the horses would not have turned up +to-morrow. I expect they have all been stolen from some other tribe. The +two I have got are first-rate animals, and the goods will come to about +fourteen pounds. I shall ride one of them myself, and put our swag on my +own pony. That has been a very good stroke of business; they would never +have sold them at that price if they had been honestly come by." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +ON THE PLAINS + + +The purchase of a buffalo robe, blankets, boots, and a Colt's revolver +occupied but a short time, but the rifle was a much more difficult +matter. + +"You can always rely upon a Colt," the miner said, "but rifles are +different things; and as your life may often depend upon your +shooting-iron carrying straight, you have got to be mighty careful about +it. A gun that has got the name of being a good weapon will fetch four +times as much as a new one." + +Denver was but a small place; there was no regular gunsmith's shop, but +rifles and pistols were sold at almost every store in the town. In this +quest Jerry was assisted by Pete Hoskings, who knew of several men who +would be ready to dispose of their rifles. Some of these weapons were +taken out into the country and tried at marks by the two men. They made +what seemed to Tom wonderful shooting, but did not satisfy Hoskings. + +"I should like the youngster to have a first-rate piece," he said, "and +I mean to get him one if I can. There are two of these would do if we +can't get a better, but if there is a first-rate one to be had in this +township I will have it." Suddenly he exclaimed, "I must have gone off +my head, and be going downright foolish! Why, I know the very weapon. +You remember Billy the scout?" + +"In course I do, everyone knew him. I heard he had gone down just before +I got back here." + +"That is so, Jerry. You know he had a bit of a place up in the hills, +four or five miles from here, where he lived with that Indian wife of +his when he was not away. I went out to see him a day or two afore he +died. I asked him if there was anything I could do for him. He said no, +his squaw would get on well enough there. She had been alone most of her +time, and would wrestle on just as well when he had gone under. He had a +big garden-patch which she cultivated, and brought the things down into +the town here. They always fetch a good price. Why more people don't +grow them I can't make out; it would pay better than gold-seeking, you +bet. He had a few hundred dollars laid by, and he said they might come +in handy to her if she fell sick, or if things went hard in winter. +Well, you remember his gun?" + +"In course--his gun was nigh as well known as Billy himself. He used to +call it Plumb-centre. You don't mean to say she hasn't sold it?" + +"She hasn't; at least I should have been sure to hear if she had. I know +several of the boys who went to the funeral wanted to buy it, and +offered her long prices for it too; but she wouldn't trade. I will ride +over there this evening and see what I can do about it. She will sell to +me if she sells to anyone, for she knows I was a great chum of Billy's, +and I have done her a few good turns. She broke her leg some years back +when he was away, and luckily enough I chanced to ride over there the +next day. Being alone and without anyone to help, she would have got on +badly. I sent a surgeon up to her, and got a redskin woman to go up to +nurse her. I don't wonder she did not like to sell Billy's piece, seeing +he was so famous with it, and I feel sure money would not do it; but +perhaps I can talk her into it." + +The next morning the articles agreed upon as the price of the horses +were packed on Jerry's pony, and they went out to the meeting-place. + +"It is twenty minutes early," Jerry said, as Tom consulted his watch, +"and the red-skins won't be here till it is just twelve o'clock. A +red-skin is never five minutes before or five minutes after the time he +has named for a meeting. It may have been set six months before, and at +a place a thousand miles away, but just at the hour, neither before nor +after, he will be there. A white man will keep the appointment; but like +enough he will be there the night before, will make his camp, sleep, and +cook a meal or two, but he does not look for the red-skin till exactly +the hour named, whether it is sunrise or sunset or noon. Red-skins ain't +got many virtues,--least there ain't many of them has, though I have +known some you could trust all round as ready as any white man,--but +for keeping an appintment they licks creation." + +A few minutes before twelve o'clock three Indians were seen coming down +the valley on horseback. They were riding at a leisurely pace, and it +was exactly the hour when they drew rein in front of Tom and his +companion. Jerry had already unloaded his pony and had laid out the +contents of the pack. First he proceeded to examine the two ponies, to +make sure that they were the same he had chosen. + +"That is all right," he said; "they would hardly have tried to cheat us +over that--they would know that it would not pay with me. There, chief, +is your exchange. You will see that the blankets are of good quality. +There is the keg of powder, the bar of lead, ten plugs of tobacco, the +cloth for the squaws, and all the other things agreed on." + +The chief examined them carefully, and nodded his satisfaction. "If all +the pale-faces dealt as fairly with the red man as you have done there +would not be so much trouble between them," he said. + +"That is right enough, chief; it can't be gainsaid that a great many, +ay, I might say the most part, of the traders are rogues. But they would +cheat us just the same as they would you, and often do take us in. I +have had worthless goods passed off on me many a time; and I don't blame +you a bit if you put a bullet into the skull of a rogue who has cheated +you, for I should be mightily inclined to do the same myself." + +No more words were wasted; the lads who had ridden the ponies down made +up the goods in great bundles and went up the valley with their chief, +while Jerry and Tom took the plaited leather lariats which were round +the ponies' necks and returned to Denver. A saddle of Mexican pattern, +with high peak and cantle, massive wooden framework, huge straps and +heavy stirrups, was next bought. Jerry folded a horse-rug and tried it +in different positions on the horse's back until the saddle fitted well +upon it. + +"That is the thing that you have got to be most particular about, Tom. +If the saddle does not sit right the horse gets galled, and when a horse +once gets galled he ain't of much use till he is well again, though the +Indians ride them when they are in a terrible state; but then they have +got so many horses that, unless they are specially good, they don't hold +them of any account. You see the saddle is so high that there is good +space between it and the backbone, and the pressure comes fair on the +ribs, so the ponies don't get galled if the blankets are folded +properly. The Indians do not use saddles, but ride either on a pad or +just a folded blanket, and their ponies are always getting galled." + +"The saddle is tremendously heavy." + +"It is heavy, but a few pounds don't make much difference to the horse +one way or the other, so that he is carrying it comfortably. The saddles +would be no good if they were not made strong, for a horse may put his +foot in a hole and come down head over heels, or may tumble down a +precipice, and the saddle would be smashed up if it were not pretty near +as strong as cast-iron. Out on the plains a man thinks as much of his +saddle as he does of his horse, and more. If his horse dies he will put +the saddle on his head and carry it for days rather than part with it, +for he knows he won't be long before he gets a horse again. He can buy +one for a few charges of powder and ball from the first friendly Indians +he comes across, or he may get one given to him if he has nothing to +exchange for it, or if he comes across a herd of wild horses he can +crease one." + +"What is creasing a horse?" Tom asked. + +"Well, it is a thing that wants a steady hand, for you have got to hit +him just on the right spot--an inch higher, you will miss him; half an +inch lower, you will kill him. You have got to put a bullet through his +neck two or three inches behind the ears and just above the spine. Of +course if you hit the spine you kill him, and he is no good except to +give you a meal or two if you are hard-up for food; but if the ball goes +through the muscles of the neck, just above the spine, the shock knocks +him over as surely as if you had hit him in the heart. It stuns him, and +you have only got to run up and put your lariat round his neck, and be +ready to mount him as soon as he rises, which he will do in two or three +minutes, and he will be none the worse for the shock; in fact you will +be able to break him in more easily than if you had caught him by the +rope." + +Jerry then adjusted his own saddle to the other Indian horse. + +"Can you ride?" he asked. + +"No, I have never had any chance of learning at home." + +"Well, you had better have a lesson at once. This is a good way for a +beginner;" and he took a blanket, and having rolled it up tightly, +strapped it over the peak of the saddle and down the flaps. + +"There," he said. "You get your knees against that, and what with the +high peak and the high cantle you can hardly be chucked out anyhow, that +is, if the horse does not buck; but I will try him as to that before you +mount. We will lead them out beyond the town, we don't want to make a +circus of ourselves in the streets; besides, if you get chucked, you +will fall softer there than you would on the road. But first of all we +will give them a feed of corn. You see they are skeary of us at present. +Indian horses are always afraid of white men at first, just as white +men's horses are afraid of Indians. A feed of corn will go a long way +towards making us good friends, for you may be sure they have never had +a feed in their lives beyond what they could pick up for themselves." + +The horses snuffed the corn with some apprehension when it was held out +towards them, backing away from the sieves with their ears laid back; +but seeing that no harm came to them they presently investigated the +food more closely, and at last took a mouthful, after which they +proceeded to eat greedily, their new masters patting their necks and +talking to them while they did so. Then their saddles and bridles were +put on, and they were led out of the stable and along the streets. At +first they were very fidgety and wild at the unaccustomed sights and +sounds, but their fear gradually subsided, and by the time they were +well in the country they went along quietly enough. + +"Now you hold my horse, Tom, and I will try yours." + +Jerry mounted and galloped away; in ten minutes he returned. + +"He will do," he said as he dismounted. "He is fresh yet and wants +training. I don't suppose he has been ridden half a dozen times, but +with patience and training he will turn out a first-rate beast. I could +see they were both fast when those boys rode them. I don't wonder the +chief asked what, for an Indian pony, was a mighty long price, though it +was cheap enough for such good animals. He must have two or three +uncommon good ones at home or he would never have parted with them, for +when an Indian gets hold of an extra good pony no price will tempt him +to sell it, for a man's life on the plains often depends on the speed +and stay of his horse. Now, I will take a gallop on my own, and when I +come back you can mount and we will ride on quietly together. + +"There is not much difference between them," he said on his return. +"Yours is a bit faster. Pete told me to get you the best horse I could +find, and I fixed upon yours, directly my eye fell upon him, as being +the pick of the drove. But this is a good one too, and will suit me as +well as yours, for he is rather heavier, and will carry me better than +yours would do on a long journey. Now climb up into your saddle." + +Jerry laughed at the difficulty Tom had in lifting his leg over the high +cantle. "You will have to practise presently putting your hands on the +saddle and vaulting into it. Half a minute in mounting may make all the +difference between getting away and being rubbed out. When you see the +red-skins coming yelling down on you fifty yards away, and your horse is +jumping about as scared as you are, it is not an easy matter to get on +to its back if you have got to put your foot in the stirrup first. You +have got to learn to chuck yourself straight into your seat whether you +are standing still or both on the run. There, how do you feel now?" + +"I feel regularly wedged into the saddle." + +"That is right. I will take up the stirrups a hole, then you will get +your knees firmer against the blanket. It is better to learn to ride +without it, even if you do get chucked off a few times, but as we start +to-morrow you have no time for that. In a few days, when you get at home +in the saddle, we will take off the blanket, and you have got to learn +to hold on by your knees and by the balance of your body. Now we will be +moving on." + +As soon as the reins were slackened the horses started together at an +easy canter. + +"That is their pace," Jerry said. "Except on a very long journey, when +he has got squaws and baggage with him, a red-skin never goes at a walk, +and the horses will keep on at this lope for hours. That is right. Don't +sit so stiffly; you want your legs to be stiff and keeping a steady +grip, but from your hips you want to be as slack as possible, just +giving to the horse's action, the same way you give on board ship when +vessels are rolling. That is better. Ah! here comes Pete. I took this +way because I knew it was the line he would come back by--and, by gosh, +he has got the rifle, sure enough!" + +Pete had seen them, and was waving the gun over his head. + +"I've got it," he said as he reined up his horse when he met them. "It +was a stiff job, for she did not like to part with it. I had to talk to +her a long time. I put it to her that when she died the gun would have +to go to someone, and I wanted it for a nephew of Straight Harry, whom +she knew well enough; that it was for a young fellow who was safe to +turn out a great hunter and Indian fighter like her husband, and that he +would be sure to do credit to Plumb-centre, and make the gun as famous +in his hands as it had been in her husband's. That fetched her. She said +I had been kind to her, and though she could not have parted with the +gun for money, she would do it, partly to please me, and partly because +she knew that Straight Harry had been a friend of her husband's, and had +fought by his side, and that the young brave I spoke of, would be likely +to do credit to Plumb-centre. Her husband, she said, would be glad to +know that it was in such good hands. So she handed it over to me. She +would not hear of taking money for it; indeed, I did not press it, +knowing that she would feel that it was almost a part of her husband; +but I will make it up to her in other ways. There, Tom; there is as good +a shooting-iron as there is in all the territories." + +"Thank you very much indeed, Pete. I shall value it immensely, and I +only hope that some day I shall be able to do credit to it, as the poor +woman said." + +There was nothing particular in the appearance of the rifle. It was a +plainly-finished piece, with a small bore and heavy metal. + +"It don't look much," Jerry said, "but it is a daisy, you bet." + +"We will try a shot with it, Jerry. She gave me the bag of bullets and a +box of patches and his powder-horn with it. We will see what it will do +in our hands, we are both pretty good shots." + +He loaded the rifle carefully. + +"You see that bit of black rock cropping out of the hill-side. I guess +it is about two hundred and fifty yards away, and is about the size a +red-skin's head would be if he were crawling through the grass towards +us. Will you shoot first or shall I?" + +"Fire away, Pete." + +Hoskings took a steady aim and fired. + +"You have hit it," Jerry exclaimed. "Just grazed it at the top." + +They walked across to the rock; there was a chip just on the top. + +"It was a good shot, Pete; especially considering how you are out of +practice. If it had been a red-skin it would have stunned him sure, for +I doubt whether it is not too high by a quarter of an inch or so, to +have finished him altogether." + +[Illustration: JERRY GIVES TOM A LESSON IN SHOOTING.] + +"It would have cut his top-knot off, Jerry, and that is all. I doubt +whether it would have even touched his skin." + +They returned to the spot where Pete had fired, and Jerry threw himself +down on the grass and levelled his rifle. + +"That is not fair, Jerry," Pete protested. + +"It would not be fair if I was shooting against you, but we are only +trying the rifle, and if that rock were a red-skin you may be sure that +I should be lying down." + +He fired: and on going to the stone again they found that the bullet had +struck it fair, within an inch of its central point. + +"That is something like a rifle," Jerry said delighted. "Now, Tom, you +shall have a shot." + +As they walked to the shooting-point, Jerry showed the lad how to hold +the rifle, instructed him as to the backsight, and showed him how to get +the foresight exactly on the nick of the backsight. "You must just see +the bead as if it were resting in the nick, and the object you aim at +must just show above the top point of the bead." He showed him how to +load, and then told him to lie down, as he had done, on his chest, and +to steady the rifle with the left arm, the elbow being on the ground. +"You must be quite comfortable," he said; "it is of no use trying to +shoot if you are in a cramped position. Now, take a steady aim, and the +moment you have got the two sights in a line on the rock, press the +trigger steadily. Press pretty hard; it is only a pull of about two +pounds, but it is wonderful how stiff a trigger feels the first time you +pull at it. You need not be at all afraid of the kick. If you press the +butt tightly against your shoulder you will hardly feel it, for there is +plenty of weight in the barr'l, and it carries but a small charge of +powder. You won't want to shoot at anything much beyond this range, but +sometimes you may have to try at four or five hundred yards when you are +in want of a dinner. In that case you can put in a charge and a half of +powder. Now, are you comfortable? You need not grip so hard with your +left hand, the gun only wants to rest between your thumb and fingers. +That is better. Now take a steady aim, and the moment you have got it +press the trigger. Well done! that is a good shot for a first. You hit +the dust an inch or two to the right of the stone. If it had been a +red-skin you would have hit him in the shoulder. You will do, lad, and +by the time we get to Fort Bridger I guess you will bring down a stag as +clean as nine out of ten hunters." + +"Don't get into the way of waiting too long before you fire, Tom," Pete +Hoskings said. "Better to try to shoot too quick to begin with than to +be too long about it. When you have made up your mind that you are going +to shoot, get your bead on your mark and fire at once. You may want to +hit a red-skin's head as he looks out from behind a tree, and to do that +you must fire the instant you see him or he will be in again. One of the +best shots I ever saw never used to raise his gun to his shoulder at +all. He just dropped his piece into the hollow of his left hand, and +would fire as he touched it. He did not seem to take any aim at all, but +his bullet was sartin to hit the thing he wanted to, even if it were no +bigger than an orange. He could not tell himself how he did it. 'I seen +the thing and I fired, Pete,' he would say; 'the gun seems to point +right of its own accord, I have not anything to say to it.' You see, +shooting is a matter of eye. Some men may shoot all their lives, and +they will never be more than just respectable, while others shoot well +the first time that a gun is put in their hands. Want of nerve is what +spoils half men's shooting; that and taking too long an aim. Well, it is +time for us to be mounting and getting back. I have got to see that the +dinner is all ready. I never can trust that black scoundrel, Sam, to do +things right while I am away." + +The preparations for the journey were completed by the evening. + +"Now mind, Tom," Pete Hoskings said the last thing before going to bed, +"if you don't find your uncle, or if you hear that he has got wiped out, +be sure you come right back here. Whether you are cut out for a hunter +or not, it will do you a world of good to stick to the life until you +get four or five years older and settle as to how you like to fix +yourself, for there ain't no better training than a few years out on the +plains, no matter what you do afterwards. I will find a good chum for +you, and see you through it, both for the sake of my old mate, Straight +Harry, and because I have taken a liking to you myself." + +"Why do you call my uncle Straight Harry?" Tom asked, after thanking +Pete for his promise. "Is he so very upright?" + +"No, lad, no; it ain't nothing to do with that. There are plenty more +erect men than him about. He is about the size of Jerry, though, maybe a +bit taller. No; he got to be called Straight Harry because he was a +square man, a chap everyone could trust. If he said he would do a thing +he would do it; there weren't no occasion for any papers to bind him. +When he said a thing you could bet on it. You could buy a mine on his +word: if he said it was good you need not bother to take a journey to +look at it, you knew it was right there, and weren't a put-up job. Once +when we were working down on the Yuba we got to a place where there were +a fault in the rock, and the lode had slipped right away from us. +Everyone in camp knew that we had been doing well, and we had only got +to pile up a few pieces of rock at the bottom, and no one who would have +seen it would have known that the lode was gone. That is what most chaps +would have done, and a third chap who was working with us was all for +doing it. Anyone would have given us five hundred ounces for it. Well, I +didn't say nothing, it was what pretty nigh anyone on the mines would +have done if he had the chance, but Harry turned on our partner like a +mountain lion. 'You are a mean skunk, New Jersey' says he. 'Do you think +that I would be one to rob a man only because he would be fool enough to +take a place without looking at it? We've worked to the edge of the +claim both ways, and I don't reckon there is a dollar's worth of gold +left in it, now that it has pettered out at the bottom, and if there was +I would not work another day with a man who proposed to get up a +swindle.' So as soon as he got up to the surface he told everyone that +the lode had gone out and that the claim weren't worth a red cent. He +and New Jersey had a big fight with fists that evening. The other was +bigger than Harry, and stronger, but he were no hand with his pistol, +and Harry is a dead shot; so he told New Jersey he would fight him +English fashion, and Harry gave him the biggest licking I ever saw a man +have. I felt pretty mean myself, you bet, for having thought of planting +the thing off; but as I hadn't spoken, Harry knew nothing about it. If +he had, I doubt if he would ever have given me his hand again. Yes, sir, +he is a straight man all round, and there is no man better liked than +Harry. Why, there are a score of men in this town who know him as I do, +and, if he came to them and said, 'I have struck it rich, I will go +halves with you if you will plank down twenty thousand dollars to open +her up,' they would pay down the cash without another word; and, I tell +you, there ain't ten men west of the Missouri of whom as much could be +said." + +The next morning at daybreak Jerry and Tom started. They rode due north, +skirting the foot of the hills, till they reached the emigrant route, +for the railway had not been carried farther than Wabash, from which +point it ran south to Denver. It was a journey of some five hundred +miles to Fort Bridger, and they took a month to accomplish it, sometimes +following the ordinary line of travel, sometimes branching off more to +the north, where game was still abundant. + +"That is Fort Bridger, Tom. It ain't much of a place to look at; but is, +like all these forts, just a strong palisading, with a clump of wooden +huts for the men in the middle. Well, the first stage of your journey is +over, and you know a little more now than when you left Denver; but +though I have taught you a good bit, you will want another year's +practice with that shooting-iron afore you're a downright good shot; but +you have come on well, and the way you brought down that stag on a run +yesterday was uncommon good. You have made the most of your +opportunities, and have got a steady hand and a good eye. You are all +right on your horse now, and can be trusted to keep your seat if you +have a pack of red-skins at your heels. You have learnt to make a camp, +and to sleep comfortable on the ground; you can frizzle a bit of +deer-flesh over the fire, and can bake bread as well as a good many. Six +months of it and you will be a good plain's-man. I wish we had had a +shot at buffalo. They are getting scarcer than they were, and do not +like crossing the trail. We ain't likely to see many of them west of the +Colorado; the ground gets too hilly for them, and there are too many bad +lands." + +"What are bad lands, Jerry?" + +"They are just lands where Nature, when she made them, had got plenty of +rock left, but mighty little soil or grass seed. There are bad lands all +over the country, but nowhere so bad as the tract on both sides of the +Green and Colorado rivers. You may ride fifty miles any way over bare +rock without seeing a blade of grass unless you get down into some of +the valleys, and you may die of thirst with water under your feet." + +"How do you mean, Jerry?" + +"The rivers there don't act like the rivers in other parts. Instead of +working round the foot of the hills they just go through them. You ride +along on what seems to be a plain, and you come suddenly to a crack that +ain't perhaps twenty or thirty feet across, and you look down, if you +have got head enough to do it, and there, two thousand feet or more +below you, you see a river foaming among rocks. It ain't one river or it +ain't another river as does it; every little stream from the hills cuts +itself its caņon and makes its way along till it meets two or three +others, then they go on together, cutting deeper and deeper until they +run into one of the arms of the Green River or the Colorado or the +Grand. + +"The Green and the Colorado are all the same river, only the upper part +is called the Green. For about a thousand miles it runs through great +caņons. No one has ever gone down them, and I don't suppose anyone ever +will; and people don't know what is the course of the river from the +time it begins this game till it comes out a big river on the southern +plains. You see, the lands are so bad there is no travelling across +them, and the rapids are so terrible that there is no going down them. +Even the Indians never go near the caņons if they can help it. I believe +they think the whole thing is the work of an evil spirit." + +"But you said some of the valleys had grass?" + +"Yes; I have gone down one or two myself from the mountains of Utah, +where the stream, instead of cutting a caņon for itself, has behaved for +a bit in the ordinary way and made a valley. Wonderfully good places +they were--plenty of grass, plenty of water, and no end of game. I have +spent some months among them, and got a wonderful lot of skins, beavers +principally of course, but half a dozen mountain lions and two +grizzlies. I did not bring home their skins, you bet. They were too +heavy, and I should not have troubled them if they had not troubled me. +There was good fish, too, in the streams, and I never had a better time. +The red-skins happened to be friendly, and I was with a hunter who had a +red-skin wife and a dozen ponies. If it hadn't been for that I should +soon have had to quit, for it ain't no good hunting if you can't carry +away the skins. As it was I made a good job of it, for I got nigh a +thousand dollars for my skins at Utah. + +"Well, here we are at the fort. I guess we may as well make our camp +outside. If you go in you have got to picket your horse here and put +your baggage there and come in at gun-fire, and all sorts of things that +troubles a man who is accustomed to act as he likes." + +The horses were soon picketed. "I will go in first and see who is here, +Tom. There are usually a lot of loafing Indians about these forts, and +though it is safe enough to leave our traps, out on the plain, it will +not do here. We must stay with them, or at any rate keep them in sight; +besides, these two horses would be a temptation to any redskin who +happened to want an animal." + +"I will wait willingly, Jerry; I should know nobody inside the fort if I +went in. I will see to making a fire and boiling the kettle, and I will +have supper ready at seven o'clock." + +"I shall be sure to be back by that time; like enough I sha'n't be a +quarter of an hour away." + +It was but half an hour, indeed, before Tom saw him returning, +accompanied by a tall red-skin. + +"This is a friend of mine, Tom. He was a chief of the Senecas, but his +tribe are nearly wiped out, and he has been all his life a hunter, and +there are few of us who have been much out on the plains who don't know +him. Chief, this is Straight Harry's nephew I was telling you of, who +has come out here to join his uncle. Sit down, we have got some +deer-flesh. Tom here knocked one over on the run at two hundred and +fifty yards by as good a shot as you want to see; while it is cooking we +can smoke a pipe and have a chat." + +The chief gravely seated himself by the fire. + +"What have you been doing since I last saw you up near the Yellowstone?" + +"Leaping Horse has been hunting," the Indian said quietly, with a wave +of his hand, denoting that he had been over a wide expanse of country. + +"I guessed so," Jerry put in. + +"And fighting with 'Rappahoes and Navahoes." + +"Then you've been north and south?" + +The Indian nodded. "Much trouble with both; they wanted our scalps. But +four of the 'Rappahoe lodges are without a master, and there are five +Navahoe widows." + +"Then you were not alone?" + +"Garrison was with me among the 'Rappahoes; and the Shoshone hunter, +Wind-that-blows, was with me when the Navahoes came on our trail." + +"They had better have left you alone, chief. Do you know the Ute +country?" + +"The Leaping Horse has been there. The Utes are dogs." + +"They are troublesome varmint, like most of the others," Jerry agreed. +"I was telling you Straight Harry is up in their country somewhere. Tom +here is anxious to join him, but of course that can't be. You have not +heard anything of him, I suppose?" + +"The Leaping Horse was with him a week ago." + +"You were, chief! Why did you not tell me so when I was saying we did +not know where he was?" + +"My white brother did not ask," the chief said quietly. + +"That is true enough, chief, but you might have told me without asking." + +The Indian made no reply, but continued to smoke his hatchet pipe +tranquilly, as if the remark betrayed such ignorance of Indian manners +that it was not worth replying to. + +Tom took up the conversation now. + +"Was it far from here that you saw him?" + +"Five days' journey, if travel quick." + +"Was he hunting?" Jerry asked. + +"Hunting, and looking for gold." + +"Who had he with him?" + +"Two white men. One was Ben Gulston. Leaping Horse had met him in Idaho. +The other was called Sam, a big man with a red beard." + +"Yes, Sam Hicks; he only came back from California a few months back, so +you would not be likely to have met him before. Were they going to +remain where you left them?" + +The Indian shook his head. "They were going farther north." + +"Farther north!" Jerry repeated. "Don't you mean farther south?" + +"Leaping Horse is not mistaken, he knows his right hand from his left." + +"Of course, of course, chief," the miner said apologetically; "I only +thought that it was a slip of the tongue. Then if they were going +farther north they must have come back in this direction." + +"They were on the banks of the Big Wind River when Leaping Horse met +them." + +"Jerusalem!" the miner exclaimed. "What on airth are they doing there? +Why, we thought they had gone down to the west of the Colorado. I told +you so, chief, when I talked to you about it; and instead of that, here +they are up in the country of the 'Rappahoes and Shoshones." + +"They went south," the Indian said quietly, "and had trouble with the +Utes and had to come back again, then they went north." + +"Ah, that accounts for it. I wonder Harry didn't send word to Pete +Hoskings that he had gone up to the Big Wind River. I ain't heard of +there being any gold in that region, though some think that coming down +through the big hills from Yellowstone Valley on the northwest, metal +might be struck." + +"Going to look for gold a little," the chief said, "hunt much; not stay +there very long, mean to go down south again after a bit. Leaping Horse +go with them." + +"Oh, I see. The Utes had come upon them, and they knew that if they +stopped there they would lose their scalps sooner or later, so they came +up here and made north for a bit to hunt and fossick about in the hills, +and then go back when the Utes had quieted down." + +The chief nodded. + +"Well, well, that alters the affair altogether. Whereabouts did you +leave them?" + +"Near the Buffalo Lake." + +"Don't know it. Where does it lie?" + +"On a stream that runs into the river from the west, from a valley +running up near Frémont's Buttes. They were going up so as to follow the +Rivičre de Noir, and then either strike up across the hills to the Upper +Yellowstone, or go out west and come down over the Grosventre range on +to the Wyoming range, and then down through Thompson's Pass, or else +skirt the foot-hills on to the Green River." + +"Waal, chief, I reckon that among all those hills and mountains, one +would have just about the same chance of lighting on them as you would +have of finding a chipmunk in a big pine-forest." + +"Couldn't find," the chief said, "but might follow. If they go fast +never catch them; if wait about, hunt beaver, look for gold and silver, +then might come up to them easy enough, if 'Rappahoes not catch and +kill. Very bad place. Leaping Horse told them so. White brother said he +think so too; but other men think they find gold somewhere, so they go +on. They have got horses, of course. Three horses to ride, three horses +to carry beaver-traps and food. Leaping Horse came back here to sell his +skins. He had promised to meet a friend here, or he would not have left +Straight Harry, who is a good man and a friend of Leaping Horse. Three +men not enough in bad country." + +"Do you think there would be any chance of my finding them?" Tom asked +eagerly. + +A slight gleam of amusement passed over the Indian's face. + +"My brother is very young," he said. "He will be a brave warrior and a +great hunter some day, but his eyes are not opened yet. Were he to try +he would leave his scalp to dry in the 'Rappahoes' lodges." + +"That is just what I told him, chief. It would be sheer madness." + +The Indian made no reply, and Jerry turned the conversation. + +"You don't drink spirits, chief, or I would go and get a bottle from the +fort." + +"Leaping Horse is not a madman," the Indian said scornfully, "that he +should poison his brain with fire-water." + +"Yes; I remembered, chief, that you had fallen into our ways and drink +tea." + +"Tea is good," the Indian said. "It is the best thing the white man has +brought out on to the plains." + +"That is so, chief, except tobacco. We did not bring that; but I reckon +you got it from the Spaniards long ago, though maybe you knew of it +before they came up from the south." + +The meat was now cooked, and Tom took it off the fire and handed the +pieces on the ramrod, that had served as a spit, to the others, together +with some bread, poured out the tea from the kettle, and placed a bag of +sugar before them. There was little talk until after the meal was over. +Then the Indian and Jerry smoked steadily, while Tom took a single pipe, +having only commenced the use of tobacco since he had left Denver. +Presently the Indian arose. + +"In the morning I will see my white friends again," he said, and without +further adieu turned and walked gravely back to the fort. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +LEAPING HORSE + + +"He is a fine fellow," Jerry said, after the Indian had left him. "You +must have a talk with him one of these days over his adventures among +the 'Rappahoes and Navahoes, who are both as troublesome rascals as are +to be found on the plains. An Indian seldom talks of his adventures, but +sometimes when you can get him in the right humour you may hear about +them." + +"He talks very fair English," Tom said. + +"Yes; he has been ten years among us. He was employed for two or three +years supplying the railway men with meat; but no Indian cares to hunt +long in one place, and he often goes away with parties of either hunters +or gold-seekers. He knows the country well, and is a first-rate shot; +and men are always glad to have him with them. There is no more trusty +red-skin on the plains, and he will go through fire and water for those +whom he regards as his special friends. I should say he is about the one +man alive who could take you to your uncle." + +"Do you think he would?" Tom asked eagerly. + +"Ah, that is another matter; I don't know what his plans are. If he is +engaged to go with another party he will go, for he would not fail +anyone to whom he had made a promise. If he isn't engaged he might +perhaps do it. Not for pay, for he has little use for money. His hunting +supplies him with all he wants. It gives him food, and occasionally he +will go with a bundle of pelts to the nearest town, and the money he +gets for them will supply him with tea and tobacco and ammunition, and +such clothes as he requires, which is little enough. Buckskin is +everlasting wear, and he gets his worked up for him by the women of any +Indian tribe among whom he may be hunting. If he were one of these fort +Indians it would be only a question of money; but it would never do to +offer it to him. He does not forget that he is a chief, though he has +been away so many years from what there is left of his old tribe. If he +did it at all it would be for the sake of your uncle. I know they have +hunted together, and fought the Apachés together. I won't say but that +if we get at him the right way, and he don't happen to have no other +plans in his mind, that he might not be willing to start with you." + +"I should be glad if he would, Jerry. I have been quite dreading to get +to Fort Bridger. I have had such a splendid time of it with you that I +should feel awfully lonely after you had gone on." + +"Yes, I dare say you would feel lonesome. I should have felt lonesome +myself if I did not light upon some mate going the same way. We got on +very well together, Tom. When Pete Hoskings first put it to me whether I +would be willing to take you with me as far as this, I thought that +though I liked you well enough, it would not be in my way to be playing +a sort of schoolmaster business to a young tenderfoot; but I had got to +like the notion before we left Denver, and now it seems to me that we +have had a rare good time of it together." + +"We have indeed, Jerry; at least I have had. Even if the Indian would +agree to take me I should miss you awfully." + +Jerry made no reply, but sat smoking his pipe and looking into the fire. +As he was sometimes inclined to be taciturn, Tom made no attempt to +continue the conversation; and after moving out and shifting the +picket-pegs so as to give the horses a fresh range of grass to munch +during the night, he returned to the fire, wrapped himself in his +blankets and lay down, his "Good-night, Jerry," meeting with no +response, his companion being evidently absorbed in his own thoughts. + +"You are not going on to-day, Jerry, are you?" Tom said, as he threw off +his blankets and sat up in the morning. The sun was not yet up, but +Jerry had already stirred up the embers, put some meat over them to +cook, and put the kettle among them. + +"No, I shall stop here for a day or two, lad. I am in no special hurry, +and have no call to push on. I have not made up my mind about things +yet." + +They had scarcely finished breakfast when Leaping Horse came down from +the fort. + +"Tom here has been asking me, chief, whether there was any chance of +getting you to guide him to his uncle. I said, of course, that I did not +know what your plans were; but that if you had nothing special before +you, possibly you might be willing to do so, as I know that you and +Straight Harry have done some tall hunting and fighting together." + +The Indian's face was impassive. + +"Can my young brother ride day after day and night after night, can he +go long without food and water, is he ready to run the risk of his scalp +being taken by the 'Rappahoes? Can he crawl and hide, can he leave his +horse and travel on foot, can he hear the war-cry of the red-skins +without fear?" + +"I don't say that I can do all these things, chief," Tom said; "but I +can do my best. And, anyhow, I think I can promise that if we should be +attacked you shall see no signs of my being afraid, whatever I may feel. +I am only a boy yet, but I hope I am not a coward." + +"You have come a long way across the sea to find my brother, Straight +Harry. You would not have come so far alone if your heart had been weak. +Leaping Horse is going back to join his white brother again, and will +take you to him." + +Tom felt that any outburst of delight would be viewed with distaste by +this grave Indian, and he replied simply: "I thank you with all my +heart, chief, and I am sure that my uncle will be grateful to you." + +The chief nodded his head gravely, and then, as if the matter were +settled and no more need be said about it, he turned to Jerry: + +"Which way is my white friend going?" + +"I'm dog-goned if I know. I had reckoned to go down past Utah, and to go +out prospecting among the hills, say a hundred miles farther west; then +while I journeyed along with Tom I got mixed in my mind. I should like +to have handed him over safe to Harry; but if Harry had gone down to the +Ute hills with an idea of trying a spot I have heard him speak of, where +he thought he had struck it rich, he might not have cared to have had me +come there, and so I concluded last night it was best the lad should +wait here till Harry got back. Now the thing is altered; they are just +hunting and prospecting, and might be glad to have me with them, and I +might as well be there as anywhere else; so as you are going back there, +I reckon I shall be one of the party." + +"That will be capital, Jerry," Tom said. "With you as well as the chief +we shall be sure to get through; and it will be awfully jolly having you +with us." + +"Don't you make any mistake," the miner said, "I should not be of much +more use in finding them than you would. I ain't been up among the +mountains all these years without learning something, but I ain't no +more than a child by the side of the chief. And don't you think this +affair is going to be a circus. I tell you it is going to be a hard job. +There ain't a dozen white men as have been over that country, and we +shall want to be pretty spry if we are to bring back our scalps. It is a +powerful rough country. There are peaks there, lots of them, ten +thousand feet high, and some of them two or three thousand above that. +There are rivers, torrents, and defiles. I don't say there will be much +chance of running short of food, if it wasn't that half the time one +will be afraid to fire for fear the 'tarnal Indians should hear us. We +ain't got above a month afore the first snows fall. Altogether it is a +risky business, look at it which way you will." + +"Well, Jerry, if it is as bad as that, I don't think it will be right +for you and the chief to risk your lives merely that I should find my +uncle. If he is alive he is sure to come back here sooner or later; or +if he goes some other way back to Denver he will hear from Pete that I +am here, and will either write or come for me." + +"It ain't entirely on your account, lad, as I am thinking of going; and +I am pretty sure the chief would tell you that it is the same with him. +You see, he tried to persuade your uncle to turn back. My opinion is, +that though he had to come here to keep the appointment, he had it in +his mind to go back again to join your uncle. Haven't I about struck +your thoughts, chief?" + +The chief nodded. "My white brother Harry is in danger," he said. +"Leaping Horse had to leave him; but would have started back to-day to +take his place by his side. The Hunting Dog will go with him." + +"I thought so, chief; I am dog-goned if I did not think so. It was +Hunting Dog you came back here to meet, I suppose." + +"Hunting Dog is of my tribe," he said; "he is my sister's son. He came +across the plains to join me. He has hunted in his own country; this is +the first time he has come out to take his place as a man. Leaping Horse +will teach him to be a warrior." + +"That is good; the more the better, so that there ain't too many. Well, +what is your advice, chief? Shall we take our pack pony with the +outfit?" + +The chief shook his head decidedly. "Must travel quick and be able to +gallop fast. My white brothers must take nothing but what they can carry +with them." + +"All right, chief; we will not overload ourselves. We will just take our +robes and blankets, our shooting-irons, some tea and sugar, and a few +pounds of flour. At what time shall we start?" + +"In an hour we will ride out from the fort." + +"We shall be ready. Ten minutes would fix us, except that I must go into +the fort and sell my critter and what flour and outfit we sha'n't want, +to a trader there. + +"I ain't done badly by that deal," Jerry said when he returned. "I have +sold the pony for more than I gave for him; for the red-skins have been +keeping away from the fort of late, and the folks going by are always +wanting horses in place of those that have died on the way. The other +things all sold for a good bit more than we gave for them at Denver. +Carriage comes mighty high on these plains; besides, the trader took his +chances and reckoned them in." + +"How do you mean, Jerry?" + +"Waal, I told him we was going up to the Shoshone Sierra, and intended +to hunt about and to come back, maybe by the Yellowstone and then by the +Bear rivers, and that we would take the price of the goods out in trade +when we got back. That made it a sort of lottery for him, for if we +never came back at all he would never have to pay, so he could afford to +take his risks and offer me a good price. I reckon he thinks he has got +them at a gift. He has given two pieces of paper, one for you and one +for me, saying that he owes the two of us the money; so if I should go +under and you should get back, you will draw it all right." + +They at once proceeded to pack their ponies. Divided between the +saddle-bags of the two animals were four pounds of tea, eight of sugar, +and thirty-six of flour. Each took a good store of ammunition, an extra +pair of breeches, a flannel shirt, and a pair of stockings. The rest of +their clothes had been packed, and taken up by Jerry to the traders to +lie there until their return. + +"That is light enough for anything," Jerry said, when the things were +stowed into the saddle-bags. "Four-and-twenty pounds of grub and five +pounds of ammunition brings it up to nine-and-twenty pounds each, little +enough for a trip that may last three months for aught we know." + +In addition to the ammunition in the saddle-bags, each carried a +powder-horn and a bag of bullets over his shoulder. The revolvers were +in their belts, and the rifles slung behind them. While Jerry was away +at the fort Tom had made and baked three loaves, which were cut up and +put in the holsters. + +"Now we are ready, Tom; the Indians will be out in a minute or two. The +sun is just at its highest." + +Two minutes later the chief and his companion rode out from the gate of +the fort. Jerry and Tom mounted their horses and cantered over to meet +them. As they came up, Tom looked with interest at the young Indian. He +judged him to be about nineteen, and he had a bright and intelligent +face. He was, like his uncle, attired in buckskin; but the shirt was +fringed and embroidered, as was the band that carried his powder-horn, a +gift, doubtless, from some Indian maiden at his departure from his +village. No greetings were exchanged; but the chief and Jerry rode at +once side by side towards the northeast, and Tom took his place by the +side of the young Indian. + +"How are you?" he said, holding out his hand. The young Indian took it +and responded to the shake, but he shook his head. + +"Ah, you don't speak English yet?" Hunting Dog again shook his head. +"That is a pity," Tom went on; "it would have been jolly if we could +have talked together." + +The chief said something to Jerry, who turned around in his saddle. "His +uncle says he can talk some. He has taught him a little when he has paid +visits to the village, but he has had no practice in speaking it. He +will get on after a time." + +All were well mounted, and they travelled fast. Just before sunset they +crossed the Green River at a ford used by the emigrants, and some fifty +miles northeast of Fort Bridger. They had seen a herd of deer by the +way, and the two Indians had dismounted and stalked them. The others +lost sight of them, but when two rifle-shots were heard Jerry said, "We +will take the horses along to them, you may be sure they have got meat; +the chief is a dead shot, and he says that his nephew has also gifts +that way." As they expected, they found the Indians standing beside two +dead deer. Hunting Dog laid open the stomachs with a slash of his knife, +and removed the entrails, then tying the hind legs together swung the +carcasses on to his horse behind the saddle, and the journey was at once +renewed. + +"You will make for Frémont's Buttes, I suppose, chief?" Jerry said, as +after riding up the river for three or four miles so as to be able to +obtain wood for their fire--as for a considerable distance on either +side of the emigrant trail not a shrub was to be seen--they dismounted, +turned the horses loose, lit a fire, and prepared a meal. + +"Yes. We will go over the pass and camp at one of the little lakes at +the head of the north fork, thence we will ride across the plain and +ford Little Wind River, and then follow up the Sage Creek and make our +camp at night on Buffalo Lake. From there we must follow their trail." + +"And where shall we have to begin to look out for the 'Rappahoes?" + +"They may be over the next rise; no one can say. The 'Rappahoes are like +the dead leaves drifting before the wind. They come as far south as the +emigrant trail, and have attacked caravans many times. After to-night we +must look out for them always, and must put out our fires before dark." + +Tom had noticed how carefully the young Indian had selected the wood for +the fire; searching carefully along by the edge of the river for +drift-wood, and rejecting all that contained any sap. He himself had +offered to cut down some wood with the axe he carried strapped to his +saddle, but Hunting Dog had shaken his head. + +"No good, no good," he said. "Make heap smoke; smoke very bad." + +Tom thought that the shrub he was about to cut would give out obnoxious +smoke that would perhaps flavour the meat hanging over it, but when the +Indian added, "Heap smoke, red-skins see a long way," he understood that +Hunting Dog had been so careful in choosing the wood in order to avoid +making any smoke whatever that might attract the attention of Indians at +a distance from them. It was his first lesson in the necessity for +caution; and as darkness set in he looked round several times, half +expecting to see some crouching red-skins. The careless demeanour of his +companions, however, reassured him, for he felt certain that if there +was any fear of a surprise, they would be watchful. + +After supper the Indian talked over with Jerry the route they would most +probably have to pursue. The miner had never been in this part of the +country before; indeed, very few white men, with the exception of +trappers who had married Indian women and had been admitted into their +tribes, had ever penetrated into this, the wildest portion of the Rocky +Mountains. Vague rumours existed of the abundance of game there, and of +the existence of gold, but only one attempt had been made to prospect on +a large scale. This had taken place three years before, when a party of +twenty Californian miners penetrated into the mountains. None of them +returned, but reports brought down by Indians to the settlements were to +the effect that, while working a gold reef they had discovered, they +were attacked and killed to a man by a war party of Sioux. + +"I was mighty nigh being one of that crowd," Jerry said when he told the +story to Tom, as they sat over the camp-fire that night. "I heard of +their start when I got back to Salt Lake City, after being away for some +time among the hills. I legged it arter them as fast as I could, but I +found when I got to the last settlement that they had gone on ten days +before, and as I did not know what line they had followed, and did not +care to cross the pass alone, I gave it up. Mighty lucky thing it was, +though I did not think so at the time." + +"But why should my uncle's party have gone into such a dangerous country +when they knew that the natives were so hostile?" + +"It is a mighty big place, it is pretty nigh as big as all the eastern +states chucked into one, and the red-skins are not thick. No one knows +how many there are, but it is agreed they are not a big tribe. Then it +ain't like the plains, where a party travelling can be seen by an Indian +scout miles and miles away. It is all broken ground, canons and valleys +and rocks. Then again, when we get on the other side of the Wind River +they tell me there are big forests. That is so, chief, isn't it?" + +The chief nodded. "Heap forests," he said, "higher up rocks and bad +lands; all bad. In winter snow everywhere on hills. Red-skins not like +cold; too much cold, wigwam no good." + +"That's it, you see, Tom. We are here a long way above the sea-level, +and so in the hills you soon get above the timber-line. It's barren land +there, just rock, without grass enough for horses, and in winter it is +so all-fired cold that the Indians can't live there in their wigwams. I +reckon their villages are down in the sheltered valleys, and if we don't +have the bad luck to run plump into one of these we may wander about a +mighty long time before we meet with a red-skin. That is what you mean, +isn't it, chief?" + +Leaping Horse grunted an assent. + +"What game is there in the country?" + +"There are wapitis, which are big stag with thundering great horns, and +there are big-horns. Them are mountain sheep; they are mostly up above +the timber-line. Wapitis and big-horns are good for food, but their +skins ain't worth taking off. There is beaver, heaps of them; though I +reckon there ain't as many as there were by a long way, for since the +whites came out here and opened trade, and the red-skins found they +could get good prices for beaver, they have brought them down by +thousands every year. Still, there is no doubt there is plenty left, and +that trappers would do first-rate there if the red-skins were friendly. +In course, there is plenty of b'ars, but unless you happen to have a +thundering good chance it is just as well to leave the b'ars alone, for +what with the chances of getting badly mauled, and what with the weight +of the skin, it don't pay even when you come right side up out of a +tussle." + +"Are there any maps of the region?" + +"None of any account. They are all just guess-work. You may take it that +this is just a heap of mountains chucked down anyhow. Such maps as there +are have been made from tales trappers who came in with pelts have told. +Well, firstly they only knew about just where the tribe they had joined +lived, and in the second place you may bet they warn't such fools as to +tell anything as would help other fellows to get there; so you may put +down that they told very little, and what they did tell was all lies. +Some day or other I suppose there will be an expedition fitted out to go +right through, and to punish these dog-goned red-skins and open the +country; but it will be a long time arter that afore it will be safe +travelling, for I reckon that soldiers might march and march for years +through them mountains without ever catching a sight of a red-skin if +they chose to keep out of their way. And now I reckon we had best get in +atween our blankets." + +The two Indians had already lain down by the fire. Tom was some time +before he could get to sleep. The thought of the wild and unknown +country he was about to enter, with its great game, its hidden gold +treasures, its Indians and its dangers, so excited his imagination that, +tired as he was with the long ride, two or three hours passed before he +fell off to sleep. He was awoke by being shaken somewhat roughly by +Jerry. + +"Why, you are sleeping as sound as a b'ar in a hollow tree," the miner +said. "You are generally pretty spry in the morning." A dip in the cold +water of the river awoke Tom thoroughly, and by the time he had rejoined +his comrades breakfast was ready. The ground rose rapidly as they rode +forward. They were now following an Indian trail, a slightly-marked path +made by the Indians as they travelled down with their ponies laden with +beaver skins, to exchange for ammunition, blankets, and tobacco at the +trading station. The country was barren in the extreme, being covered +only with patches of sage brush. As they proceeded it became more and +more hilly, and distant ridges and peaks could be seen as they crossed +over the crests. + +"These are the bad lands, I suppose?" + +"You bet they are, Tom, but nothing like as bad as you will see afore +you are done. Sage brush will grow pretty nigh everywhere, but there are +thousands of square miles of rock where even sage brush cannot live." + +The hills presently became broken up into fantastic shapes, while +isolated rocks and pinnacles rose high above the general level. + +"How curiously they are coloured," Tom remarked, "just regular bands of +white and red and green and orange; and you see the same markings on all +these crags, at the same level." + +"Just so, Tom. We reckon that this country, and it is just the same down +south, was once level, and the rains and the rivers and torrents cut +their way through it and wore it down, and just these buttes and crags +and spires were left standing, as if to show what the nature of the +ground was everywhere. Though why the different kinds of rocks has such +different colours is more than I can tell. I went out once with an old +party as they called a scientific explorer. I have heard him say this +was all under water once, and sometimes one kind of stuff settled down +like mud to the bottom, sometimes another, though where all the water +came from is more nor I can tell. He said something about the ground +being raised afterwards, and I suppose the water run off then. I did not +pay much attention to his talk, for he was so choke-full of larning, and +had got such a lot of hard names on the tip of his tongue, that there +were no making head or tail of what he was saying." + +Tom had learnt something of the elements of geology, and could form an +idea of the processes by which the strange country at which he was +looking had been formed. + +"That's Frémont's Buttes," the Indian said presently, pointing to a +flat-topped hill that towered above the others ahead. + +"Why, I thought you said it was a fifty-mile ride to-day, Jerry, and we +can't have gone more than half that." + +"How far do you suppose that hill is off?" + +"Three or four miles, I should think." + +"It is over twenty, lad. Up here in the mountains the air is so clear +you can see things plain as you couldn't make out the outlines of down +below." + +"But it seems to me so close that I could make out people walking about +on the top," Tom said a little incredulously. + +"I dare say, lad. But you will see when you have ridden another hour it +won't seem much closer than it does now." + +Tom found out that the miner was not joking with him, as he at first had +thought was the case. Mile after mile was ridden, and the landmark +seemed little nearer than before. Presently Hunting Dog said something +to the chief, pointing away to the right. Leaping Horse at once reined +in, and motioned to his white companions to do the same. + +"What is it, chief?" Jerry asked. + +"Wapiti," he replied. + +"That is good news," the miner said. "It will be lucky if we can lay in +a supply of deer flesh here. The less we shoot after we get through the +pass the better. Shall we go with you, chief?" + +"My white brothers had better ride on slowly," Leaping Horse said. +"Might scare deer. No good lose time." + +Tom felt rather disappointed, but as he went on slowly with Jerry, the +miner said: "You will have plenty of chances later on, lad, and there is +no time to lose in fooling about. The red-skins will do the business." + +Looking back, Tom saw the two Indians gallop away till they neared the +crest of a low swell. Then they leapt from their horses, and stooping +low went forward. In a short time they lay prone on the ground, and +wriggled along until just on the crest. + +"I reckon the stag is just over there somewhere," Jerry said. "The young +red-skin must have caught sight of an antler." + +They stopped their ponies altogether now, and sat watching the Indians. +These were half a mile away, but every movement was as clearly visible +as if they were but a hundred yards distant. The chief raised himself on +his arms and then on to his knees. A moment later he lay down again, and +they then crawled along parallel with the crest for a couple of hundred +yards. Then they paused, and with their rifles advanced they crept +forward again. + +"Now they see them," Jerry exclaimed. + +The Indians lay for half a minute motionless. Then two tiny puffs of +smoke darted out. The Indians rose to their feet and dashed forward as +the sound of their shots reached the ears of their companions. + +"Come on," Jerry said, "you may be sure they have brought down one stag +anyhow. The herd could not have been far from that crest or the boy +would not have seen the antler over it, and the chief is not likely to +miss a wapiti at a hundred yards." + +Looking back presently Tom saw that the Indian ponies had disappeared. + +"Ay, Hunting Dog has come back for them. You may be sure they won't be +long before they are up with us again." + +In a quarter of an hour the two Indians rode up, each having the +hind-quarters of a deer fastened across his horse behind the saddle, +while the tongues hung from the peaks. + +"Kill them both at first shot, chief?" Jerry asked; "I did not hear +another report." + +"Close by," the chief said; "no could miss." + +"It seems a pity to lose such a quantity of meat," Tom remarked. + +"The Indians seldom carry off more than the hindquarters of a deer, +never if they think there is a chance of getting more soon. There is a +lot more flesh on the hindquarters than there is on the rest of the +stag. But that they are wasteful, the red-skins are, can't be denied. +Even when they have got plenty of meat they will shoot a buffalo any day +just for the sake of his tongue." + +It was still early in the afternoon when they passed under the shadow of +the buttes, and, two miles farther, came upon a small lake, the water +from which ran north. Here they unsaddled the horses and prepared to +camp. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +IN DANGER + + +There were no bushes that would serve their purpose near the lake; they +therefore formed their camp on the leeward side of a large boulder. The +greatest care was observed in gathering the fuel, and it burned with a +clear flame without giving out the slightest smoke. + +"Dead wood dries like tinder in this here air," the miner said. "In +course, if there wur any red-skins within two or three miles on these +hills they would make out the camp, still that ain't likely; but any +loafing Indian who chanced to be hunting ten or even fifteen miles away +would see smoke if there was any, and when a red-skin sees smoke, if he +can't account for it, he is darned sartin to set about finding out who +made it." + +The horses fared badly, for there was nothing for them to pick up save a +mouthful of stunted grass here and there. + +"Plenty of grass to-morrow," the chief said in answer to a remark of Tom +as to the scantiness of their feed. "Grass down by Buffalo Lake good." + +Early the next morning they mounted and rode down the hills into Big +Wind River valley. They did not go down to the river itself, but skirted +the foot of the hills until they reached Buffalo Lake. + +"There," the chief said, pointing to a pile of ashes, "the fire of my +white brother." Alighting, he and Hunting Dog searched the ground +carefully round the fire. Presently the younger Indian lightly touched +the chief and pointed to the ground. They talked together, still +carefully examining the ground, and moved off in a straight line some +fifty yards. Then they returned. + +"Indian here," Leaping Horse said, "one, two days ago. Found fire, went +off on trail of white men." + +"That is bad news, chief." + +"Heap bad," the Indian said gravely. + +"Perhaps he won't follow far," Tom suggested. + +The Indian made no answer. He evidently considered the remark to be +foolish. + +"You don't know much of Indian nature yet, Tom," the miner said. "When a +red-skin comes upon the trail of whites in what he considers his +country, he will follow them if it takes him weeks to do it, till he +finds out all about them, and if he passes near one of his own villages +he will tell the news, and a score of the varmint will take up the trail +with him. It's them ashes as has done it. If the chief here had stopped +with them till they started this would not have happened, for he would +have seen that they swept every sign of their fire into the lake. I +wonder they did not think of it themselves. It was a dog-goned foolish +trick to leave such a mark as this. I expect they will be more keerful +arterwards, but they reckoned that they had scarce got into the Indian +country." + +"Do you think it was yesterday the red-skin was here, or the day before, +chief?" + +"Leaping Horse can't say," the Indian replied. "Ground very hard, mark +very small. No rain, trail keep fresh a long time. Only find mark +twice." He led them to a spot where, on the light dust among the rocks, +was the slight impression of a footmark. + +"That is the mark of a moccasin, sure enough," Jerry said; "but maybe +one of the whites, if not all of them, have put on moccasins for the +journey. They reckoned on climbing about some, and moccasins beat boots +anyhow for work among the hills." + +"Red-skin foot," the Indian said quietly. + +"Well, if you say it is, of course it is. I should know it myself if I +saw three or four of them in a line, but as there is only one mark it +beats me." + +"How would you know, Jerry?" + +"A white man always turns out his toes, lad, an Indian walks +straight-footed. There are other differences that a red-skin would see +at once, but which are beyond me, for I have never done any tracking +work." + +The Indian without speaking led them to another point some twenty yards +away, and pointed to another impression. This was so slight that it was +with difficulty that Tom could make out the outline. + +"Yes, that settles it," Jerry said. "You see, lad, when there was only +one mark I could not tell whether it was turned out or not, for that +would depend on the direction the man was walking in. This one is just +in a line with the other, and so the foot must have been set down +straight. Had it been turned out a bit, the line, carried straight +through the first footprint, would have gone five or six yards away to +the right." + +It took Tom two or three minutes to reason this out to himself, but at +last he understood the drift of what his companion said. As the line +through one toe and heel passed along the centre of the other, the foot +must each time have been put down in a straight line, while if the +footprints had been made by a person who turned out his toes they would +never point straight towards those farther on. + +"Well, what is your advice, chief?" Jerry asked. + +"Must camp and eat," the Indian replied, "horses gone far enough. No +fear here, red-skin gone on trail." + +"Do you think there have been more than one, chief?" + +"Not know," Leaping Horse said; "find out by and by." + +Tom now noticed that Hunting Dog had disappeared. + +"Where shall we make the fire?" + +The chief pointed to the ashes. + +"That's it," Jerry said. "If any red-skin came along you see, Tom, there +would be nothing to tell them that more than one party had been here." + +The chief this time undertook the collection of fuel himself, and a +bright fire was presently burning. Two hours later Hunting Dog came +back. He talked for some time earnestly with the chief, and taking out +two leaves from his wampum bag opened them and showed him two tiny heaps +of black dust. Jerry asked no questions until the conversation was done, +and then while Hunting Dog cut off a large chunk of deer's flesh, and +placing it in the hot ashes sat himself quietly down to wait until it +was cooked, he said: + +"Well, chief, what is the news?" + +"The Indian had a horse, Hunting Dog came upon the spot where he had +left it a hundred yards away. When he saw ashes, he came to look at +them. Afterwards he followed the trail quite plain on the soft ground at +head of lake. Over there," and he pointed to the foot of the hills, +"Indian stopped and fired twice." + +"How on earth did he know that, chief?" + +The chief pointed to the two leaves. The scout examined the powder. +"Wads," he said. "They are leather wads, Tom, shrivelled and burnt. What +did he fire at, chief?" + +"Signal. Half a mile farther three other mounted redskins joined him. +They stopped and had heap talk. Then one rode away into hills, the +others went on at gallop on trail." + +"That is all bad, chief. The fellow who went up the hills no doubt made +for a village?" + +The chief nodded. + +"The only comfort is that Harry has got a good start of them. It was a +week from the time you left them before we met you, that is three days +ago, so that if the red-skins took up the trail yesterday, Harry has ten +days' start of them." + +Leaping Horse shook his head. "Long start if travel fast, little start +if travel slow." + +"I see what you mean. If they pushed steadily on up the valley, they +have gone a good distance, but if they stopped to catch beaver or +prospect for gold they may not have got far away. Hadn't we better be +pushing on, chief?" + +"No good, horses make three days' journey; rest well to-day, travel +right on to-morrow. If go farther to-night, little good to-morrow. Good +camp here, all rest." + +"Well, no doubt you are right, chief, but it worries one to think that +while we are sitting here those 'tarnal red-skins may be attacking our +friends. My only hope is that Harry, who has done a lot of Indian +fighting, will hide his trail as much as possible as he goes on, and +that they will have a lot of trouble in finding it." + +The chief nodded. "My white brother, Harry, knows Indian ways. He did +not think he had come to Indian country here or he would not have left +his ashes. But beyond this he will be sure to hide his trail, and the +'Rappahoes will have to follow slow." + +"You think they are 'Rappahoes, chief?" + +"Yes, this 'Rappahoe country. The Shoshones are further north, and are +friendly; the Bannacks and Nez Percés are in northwest, near Snake +River; and the Sioux more on the north and east, on other side of great +mountains. 'Rappahoes here." + +"Waal," Jerry said wrathfully, "onless they catch Harry asleep, some of +the darned skunks will be rubbed out afore they get his scalp. It is a +good country for hiding trail. There are many streams coming down from +the hills into the Big Wind, and they can turn up or down any of them as +they please, and land on rocky ground too, so it would be no easy matter +to track them. By the lay of the country there does not seem much chance +of gold anywheres about here, and, as I reckon, they will be thinking +more of that than of beaver skins, so I think they would push straight +on." + +"Harry said he should get out of Big Wind River valley quick," Leaping +Horse said. "Too many Indians there. Get into mountains other side. Go +up Rivičre de Noir, then over big mountains into Sierra Shoshone, and +then down Buffalo through Jackson's Hole, and then strike Snake River. I +told him heap bad Indians in Jackson's Hole, Bannacks, and Nez Percés. +He said not go down into valley, keep on foot-hills. I told him, too bad +journey, but he and other pale-faces thought could do it, and might find +much gold. No good Leaping Horse talk." + +"This is a dog-goned bad business I have brought you into, Tom. I +reckoned we should not get out without troubles, but I did not +calkerlate on our getting into them so soon." + +"You did not bring me here, Jerry, so you need not blame yourself for +that. It was I brought you into it, for you did not make up your mind to +come till I had settled to go with Leaping Horse." + +"I reckon I should have come anyhow," Jerry grumbled. "Directly the +chief said where Harry and the others had gone my mind was set on +joining them. It was a new country, and there wur no saying what they +might strike, and though I ain't a regular Indian-fighter, leaving them +alone when they leave me alone, I can't say as I am averse to a +scrimmage with them if the odds are anyways equal." + +"It is a wonderful country," Tom said, looking at the almost +perpendicular cliffs across the valley, with their regular coloured +markings, their deep fissures, crags, and pinnacles, "and worth coming a +long way to see." + +"I don't say as it ain't curous, but I have seen the like down on the +Colorado, and I don't care if I never see no more of it if we carry our +scalps safe out of this. I don't say as I object to hills if they are +covered with forest, for there is safe to be plenty of game there, and +the wood comes in handy for timbering, but this kind of country that +looks as if some chaps with paint-pots had been making lines all over +it, ain't to my taste noway. Here, lad; I never travel without hooks and +lines; you can get a breakfast and dinner many a day when a gun would +bring down on you a score of red varmints. I expect you will find fish +in the lake. Many of these mountain lakes just swarm with them. You had +better look about and catch a few bugs, there ain't no better bait. +Those jumping bugs are as good as any," and he pointed to a grasshopper, +somewhat to Tom's relief, for the lad had just been wondering where he +should look for bugs, not having seen one since he landed in the States. + +There were two lines and hooks in the miner's outfit, and Tom and +Hunting Dog, after catching some grasshoppers, went down to the lake, +while Jerry and the chief had a long and earnest conversation together. +The baited hooks were scarcely thrown into the water when they were +seized, and in a quarter of an hour ten fine lake trout were lying on +the bank. Tom was much delighted. He had fished from boats, but had +never met with much success, and his pleasure at landing five fish +averaging four or five pounds apiece was great. As it was evidently +useless to catch more, they wound up their lines, and Hunting Dog split +the fish open and laid them down on the rock, which was so hot that Tom +could scarce bear his hand on it. + +Seeing the elder men engaged in talk Tom did not return to them, but +endeavoured to keep up a conversation with the young Indian, whom he +found to be willing enough to talk now they were alone, and who knew +much more English than he had given him credit for. As soon as the sun +set the fire was extinguished, and they lay down to sleep shortly +afterwards. An hour before daylight they were in the saddle. Hunting Dog +rode ahead on the line he had followed the day before. As soon as it +became light Tom kept his eyes fixed upon the ground, but it was only +now and then, when the Indian pointed to the print of a horse's hoof in +the sand between the rocks, that he could make them out. The two Indians +followed the track, however, without the slightest difficulty, the +horses going at a hand gallop. + +"They don't look to me like horses' footprints," Tom said to Jerry when +they had passed a spot where the marks were unusually clear. + +"I reckon you have never seen the track of an unshod horse before, Tom. +With a shod horse you see nothing but the mark of the shoe, here you get +the print of the whole hoof. Harry has been careful enough here, and has +taken the shoes off his ponies, for among all the marks, we have not +seen any made by a shod horse. The Indians never shoe theirs, and the +mark of an iron is enough to tell the first red-skin who passes that a +white man has gone along there. The chief and I took off the shoes of +the four horses yesterday afternoon when you were fishing. We put them +and the nails by to use when we get out of this dog-goned country." + +After riding for two hours they came to the bank of a stream. The chief +held up his hand for them to stop, while he dismounted and examined the +foot-marks. Then he mounted again and rode across the stream, which was +some ten yards wide and from two to three feet deep. He went on a short +distance beyond it, leapt from his saddle, threw the reins on the +horse's neck, and returned to the bank on foot. He went a short distance +up the stream and then as much down, stooping low and examining every +inch of the ground. Then he stood up and told the others to cross. + +[Illustration: "Leaping Horse Mounted, And Rode Across The Stream"] + +"Leave your horses by mine," he said as they joined him. "Trail very +bad, all rock." He spoke to the young Indian, who, on dismounting, at +once went forward, quartering the ground like a spaniel in search of +game, while the chief as carefully searched along the bank. + +"Best leave them to themselves, Tom; they know what they are doing." + +"They are hunting for the trail, Jerry, I suppose?" + +"Ay, lad. Harry struck on a good place when he crossed where he did, for +you see the rock here is as smooth as the top of a table, and the wind +has swept it as clean of dust as if it had been done by an eastern +woman's broom. If the horses had been shod there would have been +scratches on the rock that would have been enough for the dullest Indian +to follow, but an unshod horse leaves no mark on ground like this. I +expect the red-skins who followed them were just as much puzzled as the +chief is. There ain't no saying whether they crossed and went straight +on, or whether they never crossed at all or kept in the stream either up +or down." + +It was half an hour before the two Indians had concluded their +examination of the ground. + +"Well, chief, what do you make of it?" Jerry asked when they had spoken +a few words together. + +"Hunting Dog has good eyes," the chief said. "The white men went +forward, the red men could not find the trail, and thought that they had +kept in the river, so they went up to search for them. Come, let us go +forward." + +The miner and Tom mounted their horses, but the Indians led theirs +forward some three hundred yards. Then Hunting Dog pointed down, and the +chief stooped low and examined the spot. + +"What is it, chief?" Jerry asked; and he and Tom both got off and knelt +down. They could see nothing whatever. + +"That is it," Leaping Horse said, and pointed to a piece of rock +projecting half an inch above the flat. + +"I am darned if I can see anything." + +"There is a tiny hair there," Tom said, putting his face within a few +inches of the ground. "It might be a cat's hair; it is about the length, +but much thicker. It is brown." + +"Good!" the chief said, putting his hand on Tom's shoulder. "Now let us +ride." He leapt into his saddle, the others following his example, and +they went on at the same pace as before. + +"Well, chief," the miner said, "what does that hair tell you about it, +for I can't make neither head nor tail of it?" + +"The white men killed a deer on their way up here, and they cut up the +hide and made shoes for horses, so that they should leave no tracks. One +of the horses trod on a little rock and a hair came out of the hide." + +"That may be it, chief," the miner said, after thinking the matter over, +"though it ain't much of a thing to go by." + +"Good enough," Leaping Horse said. "We know now the line they were +taking. When we get to soft ground see trail plainer." + +"What will the others do when they cannot find the trail anywhere along +the bank?" + +"Ride straight on," the chief said. "Search banks of next river, look at +mouths of valleys to make sure white men have not gone up there, meet +more of tribe, search everywhere closely, find trail at last." + +"Well, that ought to give Harry a good start, anyhow." + +"Not know how long gone on," the chief said gravely. "No rainfall. Six, +eight--perhaps only two days' start." + +"But if they always hide their trail as well as they did here I don't +see how the Indians can find them at all--especially as they don't know +where they are making for, as we do." + +"Find camp. Men on foot may hide traces, but with horses sure to find." + +"That is so," Jerry agreed, shaking his head. "An Indian can see with +half an eye where the grass has been cropped or the leaves stripped off +the bushes. Yes, I am afraid that is so. There ain't no hiding a camp +from Indian eyes where horses have been about. It is sure to be near a +stream. Shall you look for them, chief?" + +The Indian shook his head. "Lose time," he said. "We go straight to +Rivičre de Noir." + +"You don't think, then, they are likely to turn off before that?" + +"Leaping Horse thinks not. They know Indian about here. Perhaps found +Indian trail near first camp. Know, anyhow, many Indians. Think push +straight on." + +"That is the likeliest. Anyhow, by keeping on we must get nearer to +them. The worst danger seems to me that we may overtake the red-skins +who are hunting them." + +The chief nodded. + +"It is an all-fired fix, Tom," Jerry went on. "If we go slow we may not +be in time to help Harry and the others to save their scalps; if we go +fast we may come on these 'tarnal red-skins, and have mighty hard work +in keeping our own ha'r on." + +"I feel sure that the chief will find traces of them in time to prevent +our running into them, Jerry. Look how good their eyes are. Why, I might +have searched all my life without noticing a single hair on a rock." + +After riding some fifteen miles beyond the stream, and crossing two +similar though smaller rivulets, the chief, after a few words with +Jerry, turned off to the left and followed the foot of the hills. At the +mouth of a narrow valley he stopped, examined the ground carefully, and +then led the way up it, carrying his rifle in readiness across the peak +of the saddle. The valley opened when they had passed its mouth, and a +thick grove of trees grew along the bottom. As soon as they were beneath +their shelter they dismounted. + +The horses at once began to crop the grass. Hunting Dog went forward +through the trees, rifle in hand. + +"Shall I take the bits out of the horses' mouths, Jerry?" Tom asked. + +"Not till the young Indian returns. It is not likely there is a red-skin +village up there, for we should have seen a trail down below if there +had been. Still there may be a hut or two, and we can do nothing till he +comes back." + +It was half an hour before Hunting Dog came through the trees again. He +shook his head, and without a word loosened the girths of his horse and +took off the bridle. + +"He has seen no signs of them, so we can light a fire and get something +to eat. I am beginning to feel I want something badly." + +Thus reminded, Tom felt at once that he was desperately hungry. They had +before starting taken a few mouthfuls of meat that had been cooked the +day before and purposely left over, but it was now three o'clock in the +afternoon, and he felt ravenous. The Indians quickly collected dried +wood, and four of the fish were soon frizzling on hot ashes, while the +kettle, hung in the flame, was beginning to sing. + +"We have done nigh forty miles, Tom, and the horses must have a couple +of hours' rest. We will push on as fast as we can before dark, and then +wait until the moon rises; it will be up by ten. This ain't a country to +ride over in the dark. We will hide up before morning, and not go on +again till next night. Of course we shall not go so fast as by day, but +we sha'n't have any risk of being ambushed. The chief reckons from what +he has heard that the Indian villages are thick along that part of the +valley, and that it will never do to travel by day." + +"Then you have given up all hopes of finding Harry's tracks?" + +"It would be just wasting our time to look for them. We will push on +sharp till we are sure we are ahead of them. We may light upon them by +chance, but there can be no searching for them with these red varmint +round us. It would be just chucking away our lives without a chance of +doing any good. I expect Harry and his party are travelling at night +too; but they won't travel as fast as we do, not by a sight. They have +got pack-ponies with them, and they are likely to lay off a day or two +if they come upon a good place for hiding." + +They travelled but a few miles after their halt, for the Indians +declared they could make out smoke rising in two or three places ahead; +and although neither Jerry nor Tom could distinguish it, they knew that +the Indians' sight was much keener than their own in a matter of this +kind. They therefore halted again behind a mass of rocks that had fallen +down the mountain-side. Hunting Dog lay down among the highest of the +boulders to keep watch, and the horses were hobbled to prevent their +straying. The miner and the chief lit their pipes, and Tom lay down on +his back for a sleep. A short time before it became dusk the call of a +deer was heard. + +"There are wapiti, chief. We can't take a shot at them; but it don't +matter, we have meat enough for a week." + +The chief had already risen to his feet, rifle in hand. + +"It is a signal from Hunting Dog," he said, "he has seen something in +the valley. My white brother had better get the horses together," and he +made his way up the rocks. In a minute or two he called out that the +horses might be left to feed, and presently came leisurely down to them. +"Seen Indians--ten 'Rappahoes." + +"Which way were they going?" + +"Riding from Big Wind River across valley. Been away hunting among hills +over there. Have got meat packed on horses, ride slow. Not have heard +about white men's trail. Going to village, where we saw smoke." + +Tom was fast asleep when Jerry roused him, and told him that the moon +was rising, and that it was time to be off. + +They started at a walk, the chief leading; Jerry followed him, while Tom +rode between him and Hunting Dog, who brought up the rear. Tom had been +warned that on no account was he to speak aloud. "If you have anything +you want to say, and feel that you must say it or bust," Jerry remarked, +"just come up alongside of me and whisper it. Keep your eyes open and +your rifle handy, we might come upon a party any minute. They might be +going back to their village after following Harry's trail as long as +they could track it, or it might be a messenger coming back to fetch up +food, or those fellows Hunting Dog made out going on to join those in +front. Anyhow we have got to travel as quiet as if there was ears all +round us." + +As they passed the clumps of trees where the Indian villages stood they +could see the reflection of the fires on the foliage, and heard the +frequent barking of dogs and an occasional shout. A quarter of a mile +farther the chief halted and spoke to Hunting Dog, who at once +dismounted and glided away towards the village. + +"Gone to see how many men there," the chief said in explanation to +Jerry. "Too much laugh, no good." + +"He means the men must have gone off again, Tom. If there were men in +the camp the boys would not be making a noise." + +They were but a few hundred yards from the trees, and in a very short +time the Indian returned. + +"Men are gone," he said; "only squaws and boys there." + +"How many lodges are there?" the chief asked. Hunting Dog held up both +hands with extended fingers, and then one finger only. + +"Eleven of them," Jerry said. "I expect they are all small villages, and +they move their lodges across into the forests when winter comes on." + +As soon as they had mounted, the chief put his horse into a canter, and +at this pace they went forward for some hours, breaking into a walk +occasionally for a few minutes. + +"I thought you said we should not go beyond a walk to-night, Jerry," Tom +remarked on the first of these occasions. + +"That is what we kinder agreed, lad; but you may be sure the chief has +some good reason for going on faster. I dunno what it is, and I ain't +going to ask. Red-skins hate being questioned. If he wants to tell us he +will tell us without being asked." + +A faint light was stealing over the sky when the chief halted his horse +and sat listening. No sound, however, broke the stillness of the night. + +"Did you think you heard anything, chief?" + +"Leaping Horse heard nothing, but he stopped to listen. What does my +white brother think of the 'Rappahoes having gone on directly they +returned from the chase?" + +"I thought that when they got the news that some white men had gone +through, they might have started to join those following up the trail. +Isn't that what you think, chief?" + +"Only three white men, plenty Indians on trail; no hurry to follow; +might have had feast after hunt and gone on in morning." + +"So they might. You think the whites have been tracked, and are to be +attacked this morning?" + +"Perhaps attacked yesterday. Perhaps have got strong place, 'Rappahoes +want more help to take it. White rifle shoot straight, perhaps want more +men to starve them out." + +They again went forward, at a gallop now. Jerry did not think much of +the chief's idea. It seemed to him natural that the Indians should want +to join in the hunt for scalps, and to get a share of the white men's +goods, though he admitted that it was strange they should have gone on +without taking a meal. Presently the chief reined in his horse again, +and sat with head bent forward. Tom heard an angry grunt from between +Hunting Dog's teeth. Listening intently also, he was conscious of a +faint, far-away sound. + +"You hear?" the chief said to Jerry. + +"I heard something; but it might be anything. A waterfall in the hills +miles away, that is what it sounds like." + +"Guns," the chief said laconically. + +"Do you think so?" Jerry said doubtfully. "There don't seem to me +anything of guns in it. It is just a sort of murmur that keeps on and +on." + +"It is the mountains speaking back again," the chief said, waving his +hand. "Hills everywhere. They say to each other, the red men who live in +our bosoms are attacking the pale-face strangers." + +"What do you think, Hunting Dog?" Tom whispered to the Indian. + +"Gun-shot," he replied, in a tone of absolute conviction. + +"Waal, chief, I will not gainsay your opinion," Jerry said. "How far do +you think it is off?" + +"The horses will take us there in two hours," the chief replied. + +"Then we can put it at twenty miles at least. Let us be going; whatever +the sound is, we shall know more about it before we have gone much +farther." + +"Not too fast," Leaping Horse said as the miner was urging his horse +forward. "Maybe have to fight, maybe have to run. No good tire horse too +much." + +It was more than an hour before Tom could hear any distinct change in +the character of the sound, but at last he was able to notice that, +though seemingly continuous, the sound really pulsated; sometimes it +almost died away, then suddenly swelled out again, and there were +several vibrations close together. Jerry, more accustomed to the sound +of firearms in the mountains, had before this come round to the chief's +opinion. + +"It is guns, sure enough, Tom; the chief has made no mistake about it. +Waal, there is one comfort, they ain't been surprised. They are making a +good fight of it, and we may be there in time to take a hand in the +game." + +"Shall we ride straight on and join them?" + +"I reckon not, lad. We must wait until we see what sort of place Harry +is in, and how we can best help him, before we fix on any scheme." + +The sound became louder and clearer. The echo was still continuous, but +the sound of the shots could be distinctly heard. + +"It is over there, to the right," Jerry said. "They must have crossed +the Big Wind River." + +"And gone up the De Noir valley," the chief said. "We ought to be close +to it now." + +"Yes, I reckon it can't be far off, by what you told me about the +distance." + +"Better cross Big Wind at once. They no see us now." + +"I agree with you, chief; it would not do for them to get sight of us. +If they did our case would be worse than Harry's. I expect he has got +strongly posted, or he would have been wiped out long ago; that is what +would happen to us if they were to make us out and spy our numbers afore +we get to some place where we and Harry's outfit can help each other." + +They rode rapidly down to the river. With the exception of a few yards +in the middle, where the horses had to swim, the depth was not great, +and they were soon on the other side. They rode to the foot of the +hills, and then kept along it. The sound of firing became louder and +louder, and Tom felt his heart beat quickly at the thought that he might +soon be engaged in a desperate fight with the Indians, and that with the +odds greatly against his party. + +Presently the hills fell sharply away, and they were at the entrance of +the valley of the Rivičre de Noir, which is the principal arm of the Big +Wind River at this point. The firing had very much died out during the +last few minutes, and only an occasional shot was heard. + +"They have beat off the attack so far," Jerry said to him encouragingly. +"Now we have got to lie low a bit, while the chief sees how things +stand." + +Leaping Horse dismounted at the mouth of a narrow canon running up into +the cliff beside them. A little stream trickled down its centre. + +"Could not have been better," Jerry said. "Here is a place we four could +hold against a crowd of red-skins for hours. There is water anyway, and +where there is water there is mostly a little feed for horses. I will +take your horse, chief, and Tom will take Hunting Dog's, if so be you +mean him to go with you. + +"Don't you worry yourself, lad," he went on, seeing how anxious Tom +looked, as they started with the horses up the caņon. "If Harry and his +friends have beaten off the first attack, you may bet your boots they +are safe for some time. It is clear the red-skins have drawn off, and +are holding a pow-wow as to how they are to try next. They attacked, you +see, just as the day was breaking; that is their favourite hour, and I +reckon Harry must have been expecting them, and that he and his mates +were prepared." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +UNITED + + +The caņon showed no sign of widening until they had proceeded a quarter +of a mile from the entrance, then it broadened suddenly for a distance +of a hundred yards. + +"There has been a big slip here both sides," the miner said, looking +round. "It must have taken place a great many years ago, for the winter +floods have swept away all signs of it, and there are grass and trees on +the slopes. The horses can find enough to keep them alive here for a day +or two, and that is all we shall want, I hope." + +"It would be a nasty place to get out of, Jerry, for the cliffs are +perpendicular from half-way up." + +"It ain't likely as there is any place we could get out without +following it to the upper end, which may be some fifty miles away. I +don't know the country it runs through, but the red-skins are pretty +certain to know all about it. If they were to track us here they would +never try to fight their way in, but would just set a guard at the mouth +and at the upper end and starve us out. It is a good place to hide in, +but a dog-goned bad one to be caught in. However, I hope it ain't coming +to that. It is we who are going to attack them, and not them us, and +that makes all the difference. The red-skins can't have a notion that +there are any other white men in this neighbourhood, and when we open +fire on them it will raise such a scare for a bit that it will give us a +chance of joining the others if we choose. That of course must depend on +their position." + +They walked back to the mouth of the caņon, and had not to wait long for +the return of the Indians. + +"Come," Leaping Horse said briefly, at once turning and going off at a +swift pace. + +Jerry asked no questions, but with Tom followed close on the Indians' +heels. There were bushes growing among the fallen rocks and débris from +the face of the cliff, and they were, therefore, able to go forward as +quickly as they could leap from boulder to boulder, without fear of +being seen. A quarter of an hour's run, and the chief climbed up to a +ledge on the face of the cliff where a stratum harder than those above +it had resisted the effects of the weather and formed a shelf some +twelve feet wide. He went down on his hands and knees, and keeping close +to the wall crawled along to a spot where some stunted bushes had made +good their hold. The others followed him, and lying down behind the +bushes peered through them. + +The valley was four or five hundred yards wide, and down its centre ran +the stream. Close to the water's edge rose abruptly a steep rock. It was +some fifty feet in height and but four or five yards across at the top. +On the north and west the rocks were too perpendicular to be climbed, +but the other sides had crumbled down, the stones being covered with +brushwood. From the point where they were looking they could see the six +horses lying among the bushes. They were evidently tightly roped, and +had probably been led up there when the attack began and thrown at the +highest point to which they could be taken, a spot being chosen where +the bushes concealed their exact position from those below. The rock was +about two hundred and fifty yards from the spot where the party was +lying, and their position was about level with its top. Some twenty +Indians were gathered a few hundred yards higher up the valley, and +about as many some distance down it. + +"Why didn't the varmint take their places here?" Jerry whispered to the +chief. + +"They came here. See," and he pointed to a patch of blood a few feet +beyond him. "Indian guns not shoot far," he said, "powder weak; white +man's rifles carry here, red-skin not able to shoot so far. When they +found that, went away again." + +"What are they going to do now, do you think?" + +"Soon attack again." + + +Half an hour passed, and then a loud yell gave the signal and the two +troops galloped towards the rock. They had evidently had experience of +the accuracy of the white men's fire; not an Indian showed himself, each +dropping over one side of his pony, with an arm resting in a rope round +the animals' necks and one leg thrown over the back. So they dashed +forward until close to the foot of the rocks. Another instant and they +would have thrown themselves from their horses and taken to the bushes, +but although hidden from the sight of the defenders of the position, +they were exposed to the full view of the party on the ledge, from whom +they were distant not more than two hundred yards. The chief fired +first, and almost together the other three rifles flashed out. Three of +the Indians fell from their horses, another almost slipped off, but with +an effort recovered his hold with his leg. A yell of astonishment and +fear broke from the Indians. As the two bands mingled together, some of +the riders were exposed to those on the top of the rock, and three shots +were fired. Two more of the 'Rappahoes fell, and the whole band in +obedience to a shout from one of their chiefs galloped at full speed +down the valley. The three men sprang to their feet, waving their hats, +while the party on the ledge also leapt up with a shout. + +"It's you, chief, I see!" one of those on the rocks shouted. "I have +been hoping ever since morning to hear the crack of your rifle, and I +never heard a more welcome sound. We should have been rubbed out sure. +Who have you got with you?" + +"It's Jerry Curtis, Harry. I come up along with Leaping Horse, though I +did not expect to find you in such a bad fix. This young Indian is +Hunting Dog, and this young chap next to me is your nephew, Tom Wade. +You did not expect to meet him like this, I reckon?" + +While he had been speaking, all had reloaded their rifles. + +"You had best go across and talk it over with Harry, chief, and consart +measures with him for getting out of this fix. Those red-skins have got +a bad scare, but you may bet they ain't gone far; and they have lost six +of their bucks now beside what the others shot before, and it ain't in +Indian natur for them to put up with such a loss as that." He had been +looking at the rock as he spoke, and turning round uttered an +exclamation of surprise, for the chief was no longer there. Looking down +they saw that he had managed to make his way down the face of the cliff, +and in another two minutes was ascending the rock. There he stood for +some time in earnest conversation with the whites, and then returned to +the ledge. + +"Trouble over horses," he said. + +"Ay, ay, I reckoned that was what you was talking over. There ain't no +going back for them now." + +The chief shook his head. "'Rappahoes keep watch," he said, "cannot go +till night to fetch horses. All lie here to-day, go across to rock when +darkness comes, then white men go up valley till get to trees an hour's +march away; can see them from rock. Get in among trees and work up into +hills. Leaping Horse and Hunting Dog cross river, go down other side +past 'Rappahoes, then cross back and get into caņon, drive horses up. +White men meet them up in mountains." + +"That seems a good plan enough, chief. That is, if you can get out at +the other end of the caņon." + +"Caņon little up high," the chief replied. "Find some place to climb." + +"But they may find the horses to-day." + +The Indian nodded. "May find, perhaps not." + +"Why should we not go across to the rock at once, chief?" + +"Indian count on fingers how many. They do not know we only four; much +troubled in their mind where men come from, who can be. Red-skins not +like white men. Have many fancies. Fire come out of bush where 'Rappahoe +had been killed; think that bad medicine, keep together and talk. Think +if men here, why not go across to rock." + +"I should not be surprised if you are right, chief. They are more likely +to fancy we have come down from above than from below, for they must +have reckoned for sure there were no other white men in the Big Wind +valley, and our not showing ourselves will give them an all-fired +scare." + +"What does the chief mean by bad medicine, Jerry?" Tom asked. + +"A red-skin is full of all sorts of ideas. Anything he can't make head +nor tail of, is bad medicine; they think there is some magic in it, and +that old Nick has had his finger in the pie. When they get an idea like +that in their minds, even the bravest of them loses his pluck, and is +like a child who thinks he has seen a ghost. It is a mighty good notion +for us to lie low all day. The red-skins will reason it all out, and +will say, if these are white men who killed our brothers why the 'tarnal +don't they go and join the others, there ain't nothing to prevent them. +If they ain't white men, who are they? Maybe they can move without our +being able to see them and will shoot from some other place. No, I +reckon it is likely they will keep pretty close together and won't +venture to scatter to look for tracks, and in that case the chief's plan +will work out all right. In course, a good deal depends on their chief; +one of them is among those we shot, you can make out his feathers from +here. If he is the boss chief, it may be that they will give it up +altogether; the next chief will throw the blame on to him, and may like +enough persuade them to draw off altogether. If it ain't the boss chief, +then they are bound to try again. He would not like to take them back to +their villages with the news that a grist of them had been killed and +narry a scalp taken. I expect you will see this afternoon some of them +come down to palaver with Harry." + +The morning passed quietly and not unpleasantly, for they were lying in +the shade, but before noon the sun had climbed up over the cliff behind +them and shone down with great force, and they had to lie with their +heads well under the bushes to screen them from its rays. Presently, +Leaping Horse said: + +"Indian chief come, no lift heads." + +All shifted their position so as to look down the valley. An Indian +chief, holding up his hands to show that he was unarmed, was advancing +on foot, accompanied by another Indian also without arms. + +"There is Harry going down to meet them," Jerry said. + +Tom looked eagerly at the figure that came down from the rock and +advanced to meet the Indians. It seemed strange to him that after having +come so far to join his uncle they should remain for hours in sight of +each other without meeting. It was too far to distinguish his features, +but he saw by the light walk and easy swing of the figure that his uncle +was a much more active man than he had expected to see. He had known +indeed that he was but forty years old, but he had somehow expected that +the life of hardship he had led would have aged him, and he was +surprised to see that his walk and figure were those of a young man. + +"Is it not rather dangerous, his coming down alone to meet two of them? +They may have arms hidden." + +"They have got arms, you maybe sure," Jerry replied. "They have knives +for certain, and most likely tomahawks, but I expect Harry has got his +six-shooter. But it don't matter whether he has or not, there are his +two mates up on that rock with their rifles, and we are across here. The +'Rappahoes would know well enough their lives wouldn't be worth a red +cent if they were to try any of their games. They don't mean business; +they will make out they have come to persuade Harry and his mates to +give up, which they know quite well they ain't fools enough to do. But +what is really in their minds is to try and find out who we are, and +where we have come from." + +The conversation lasted a few minutes. Tom could see that questions were +being asked about the concealed party, for the chief pointed to the +ledge two or three times. When the talk was over the Indians went down +the valley again at a slow pace, never once looking back, and the +Englishman returned to the rocks. + +"I don't suppose they have got much from Harry." + +"I suppose uncle talks their language?" + +"No, I don't reckon he knows the 'Rappahoe dialect. But the tribes on +the western side of the plains can mostly understand each other's talk; +and as I know he can get on well with the Utes, he is sure to be able to +understand the 'Rappahoes' talk." + +"Leaping Horse will go along the ledge," the chief said a few minutes +later, after a short conversation with Hunting Dog. "The 'Rappahoes will +try to find out who are here; not like to attack the rock till find +out." + +The two Indians lay down flat on the ledge, and crawled along without +raising themselves in the slightest until they reached a point where the +cliffs projected somewhat. From here they could see down the valley, and +they lay immovable, with their rifles in front of them. + +"They are not more than fifty yards or so from those bushes where we got +up on to the ledge. That is where the red-skins are likely to try +crawling up, for there they would be out of sight of the rock." + +"Surely they would never venture to come along the ledge in daylight, +Jerry. They would have to pass along under the fire of uncle and his +mates, and would have our rifles to meet in front." + +"No, it would only be one, or at most, two scouts. They would reckon +that from that point where the chief is lying they would get a view +right along the ledge to here, and be able to make out what we are. It +is the strangeness of the thing that has kept them quiet all these +hours, and I expect their chief will want to prove that there are only a +few of us, and that we are men for certain. I reckon they have sent off +to the villages already, and there will be more of the varmint here +to-night. The Indians are never fond of attacking in the dark; still, if +they were sure about us, they might try it. They would know they could +get up to the foot of that rock before being seen, and once among the +bushes they would reckon they could make easy work of it." + +A quarter of an hour later there was the crack of a rifle, followed +instantly by an Indian yell. + +"That is the chief's piece, Tom, and I reckon the lead has gone +straight." + +The silence remained unbroken for the next two hours, and then Leaping +Horse crawled back as quietly as he had gone. + +"What was it, chief?" + +"It was a 'Rappahoe, who will scout no more," the chief said quietly. +"He came up the bushes, but before he could step on to the ledge Leaping +Horse fired, and he will take no tales back to his tribe." + +"They won't try again, chief?" + +Leaping Horse shook his head. "First take rock," he said, "then when +they have the scalps of the white men they will watch us here. Will know +we cannot stay here long without water." + +"You are right there, chief, and no m'stake; my tongue is like a piece +of leather now, and as soon as it gets dark I shall make a bee-line down +to the river. I want to have a talk with Harry, but just at present I +want a drink a blamed sight worse. If I had thought we were going to be +stuck up here all day I would have brought my water-bottle with me." + +The time passed very slowly, although the air became cooler as soon as +the sun had gone down behind the opposite range. As soon as the light +faded a little, the Indian crawled farther along the ledge, and returned +in a short time saying that he had found a spot where the whites could +descend. Two or three times Jerry urged that it was dark enough, before +the chief consented to move. At last, however, he stood up and gave the +cry of an owl, and they were in a minute or two joined by Hunting Dog, +who had until now remained at his post. The chief at once led the way +along the ledge until he reached the spot where the rock had crumbled +away somewhat. + +"We had better go down one at a time," Jerry said. "For if there was a +slip or a tumble it might let down a gun-hammer, and we want our lead +for the 'Rappahoes, and not for each other." + +When it came to Tom's turn, he found it a very difficult place to get +down in the semi-darkness, and two or three times he almost lost his +footing. As soon as all were down they fell into Indian file, and +crossed the valley to the rock, the chief giving the hoot of an owl +twice as he approached it. Three men at once stepped out from the bushes +at its foot. + +"I began to wonder when you were coming, and was just going to get the +ponies down before it was too dark to do it without running the risk of +breaking their legs. Well, I am right glad to see you, Jerry; and you +too, Tom, though it is too dark to see much of you. The chief has been +telling me how he brought you along. There is no time to talk now, but I +am right glad to see you, lad" and he shook Tom heartily by the hand. +"Now, mates, let us get the horses down." + +"I must make tracks for the water first, Harry, the young un and I are +pretty near choking; and I expect the Indians are as bad, though it +ain't their natur to talk about it." + +"Get down horses first," the chief said. "Too dark soon." + +"Waal, I suppose five minutes won't make much difference," Jerry +grumbled, "so here goes." + +"I have tied some hide over their hoofs," Harry said, "so as to make as +little noise as possible about it." + +"Must make no noise," the chief said urgently. "Redskin scouts soon be +crawling up." + +One by one the horses were brought down, Harry leading them, and the +others pushing aside the bushes as noiselessly as possible. Then their +loads were carried down and packed upon them. + +"You get on my horse, Jerry," Harry Wade whispered, "I will walk with +Tom. I have had no time to say a word to him yet, or to ask about the +people at home. Where is the chief?" + +Leaping Horse and his companion had stolen away as soon as the loads had +been adjusted. The others led the horses to the river, and allowed them +to drink, while Jerry and Tom lay down and took a long draught of the +water. The miners' bottles were filled, and they then started. + +"It is lucky the river makes such a roar among these rocks here," Harry +said, "it will drown the sound of the horses' hoofs." + +For half an hour they proceeded at a fast walk, then the skins were +taken off the horses' feet and they went on at a trot, the two Wades +taking hold of Jerry's stirrup-leathers and running alongside. In half +an hour they entered the belt of trees, and dismounting, at once began +to ascend the hill. They were some distance up when they heard a distant +yell. + +"You may yell as much as you like," Jerry panted, "you won't catch us +now. They have been a mighty long time finding out we were gone." + +"They could not make out about you," Harry said. "I could see by the +chief's manner, and the glances the Indian with him kept giving to the +place where you were lying, that they were puzzled and alarmed. They +offered if we would surrender that they would allow us to return down +the valley without hurt. I said, of course, that I preferred staying +where I was; we had come up the valley and intended going farther; we +didn't want to interfere with them, and if they had left us alone we +should have left them alone; and they had only themselves to thank for +the loss of some of their braves. 'We have,' I said, 'many friends, who +will protect us, and much harm will fall on the Indians who venture to +meddle with us.' + +"'Are your friends white men?' the chief asked. 'Have they wings that +they have flown down here from the hills?' + +"'They have come, that is enough,' I said. 'You see, when they were +wanted they were here, and if they are wanted again you will hear of +them, and your braves will die, and you will gain nothing. You had best +go back to your lodges and leave us to go away in peace. Whoever they +are, they can shoot, as you have found out to your cost. They have no +ill-will to the red-skins, providing the redskins let us alone. They +only fired four shots; if they had wished to, they could have killed +many more.' When the chief saw that he could get nothing further from me +he went away. As usual he spoke boastfully at last, and said that he had +offered peace to us, and if war came, it would be our faults. I laughed, +and said that we could take care of ourselves, and preferred doing so to +trusting ourselves in the hands of the 'Rappahoes, when we had made some +of their squaws widows." + +"Would they have kept their word, uncle, do you think?" Tom asked. + +"Not they. There are a few of the Indian tribes whose word can be taken, +but as a rule words mean nothing with them, and if we had put ourselves +in their power they would have tomahawked us instantly, or else taken us +down and tortured us at their villages, which would have been a deal +worse. I have no doubt they had a long talk after the chief returned to +them, and that it was some time after it became dark before they could +pluck up courage enough to climb the rock, though I expect they must +have got close to it very soon after we left. I reckon they have been +crawling up inch by inch. Of course, directly they got to where the +horses had been tied they knew we had gone, and I expect that yell was a +signal for a rush forward to the top. But we need not bother any more +about them. They may ride as far as the foot of the forest, but when +they find we have gained that safely they will give it up until morning; +they will know well enough it is no good starting to search the woods in +the dark. We may as well rest where we are until the moon is up, for we +make so much noise crashing through this undergrowth that they could +hear us down there." + +"Now tell me, lad, about your mother and sisters, and how you came out +after all." + +Tom told his uncle of his mother's death, and the reason why he had left +his sisters to come out to join him. + +"It is a very bad business, lad, and I take a lot of blame to myself. +When I got your mother's letter, telling me of poor John's death, and +that she would not hear of your coming out, I said some very hard things +to myself. Here had I been knocking about for twenty years, and having +had a fair share of luck, and yet I could not put my hand on five +hundred dollars, and there was my brother's widow and children, and I, +their nearest relative, could not help them. It made me feel a pretty +mean man, I can tell you. Your mother did not say much about her +circumstances, but it did not need that. I knew that John had retired +from the navy with little besides his half-pay, and that her pension as +his widow must be a mighty slim one. Altogether I had a pretty bad time +of it. However, I took a tall oath that the next rich strike I made the +dollars should not be thrown away. I reckoned that you would be out +before long; for it was certain that if you were a lad of spirit you +would not be staying there doing nothing. Your mother said that the +girls all intended to take up teaching, and it was not likely that you +would let them work for the family while you were loafing about at home. +I know in my time it was hard enough to get anything to do there, and +young fellows who have come out here to ranche tell me that it is harder +than ever now. I thought you would fancy this life, and that in time you +would talk your mother over into letting you come." + +"I should never have got her to agree to it, uncle. I wanted to go to +sea, but after father's death she would not hear of it. She said I was +her only boy and that she could not spare me, and I had to promise to +give up the thought. She was still more against your plan, but when I +wrote to you I thought that possibly in time she might agree to it. But +it was not long afterwards that her health began to fail, and I saw then +that I must give up all thought of leaving her, and must, when I left +school, take anything that offered; and it was only after her death that +I talked it over with the girls, and they agreed that to come here was +the best thing for me." + +"And you left before my last letter arrived?" + +"Yes; we had no letter after the one you wrote asking me to come out." + +"No, I suppose you could not have had it. I wrote before I started out +three months ago from Salt Lake City. I had struck a ledge of pretty +good stuff, I and another. We sold out for a thousand dollars, and I +sent my share off to your mother, telling her that I had been having bad +luck since I got her letter, but that I hoped to do better in future, +and I thought, anyhow, I could promise to send her as much once a year, +and if I had a real stroke of luck she and her girls would have the +benefit of it." + +"That was good of you, uncle." + +"Not good at all," Harry Wade grumbled. "I have behaved like a fool all +along; it is true that when I did get letters from your father, which +was not very often, he always wrote cheerfully, and said very little +about how he was situated as to money. But I ought to have known--I did +know, if I thought of it--that with a wife and six children it must be +mighty hard to make ends meet on a lieutenant's half-pay, and there was +I, often throwing away twice as much as his year's pension on a week's +spree. When I heard he was gone you may pretty well guess how I felt. +However, lad, if things turn out well I will make it up as far as I can. +Now, let us join the others." + +The others, however, were all sound asleep, having wrapped themselves in +their blankets, and lain down as soon as the halt was decided upon. +Jerry, having had no sleep the previous night, and but little for four +or five days, had not even thought of asking the others for food, which +they doubtless had on their saddles, although he had tasted nothing for +twenty-four hours. Tom, however, less accustomed to enforced fasts, felt +ravenous. + +"We have had nothing to eat to-day, uncle, except a crust left over from +yesterday's baking, and I don't think I could get to sleep if I did not +eat something." + +"Bless me, I never thought of that, Tom. If I had I would have sent food +across by the chief this morning. There is no bread, but there is plenty +of cold meat. We cooked a lot yesterday evening, for we thought we might +not get a chance of cooking to-day." + +"Then you knew, uncle, the Indians were near?" Tom went on, when he had +appeased his appetite and taken a drink of water, with a little whisky +in it from his uncle's flask. + +"Ay, lad; we guessed somehow we had been followed all along. We had done +everything we could to throw them off the trail--travelling as much as +we could in the course of streams, muffling the feet of our ponies, and +picking out the hardest ground to travel on; but every morning before +daybreak one of us went up the hillside, and twice we made out mounted +Indians moving about down the valley. Yesterday morning ten of them came +galloping up within easy shot. I don't think they thought that we were +so near. They drew up their horses suddenly, had a talk, and then came +riding after us. It didn't need their yells to tell us what their +intention was. We knocked three of them out of their saddles, then threw +our horses down and lay behind them. + +"They galloped round and round us shooting, but we picked two more off, +and then they rode away. We knew enough of them to be sure that they +were not going to give it up, but would follow us till joined by enough +of their tribe to attack us again. We made a long march, hoping to get +to the timber before they could come up, but just as the sun was setting +we saw them coming along, about fifteen of them; and we had just time to +get up to that rock. As they rode past we opened a smart fire and +dropped four of them; the others rode up the valley, so as to cut us off +from going farther. We filled our water-skins and got the horses +half-way up as you saw, and then lighted a fire and cooked. We kept +watch all night, two down below and one at the top; but everything was +quiet, and we guessed they were waiting for others to come up. + +"About an hour before daylight we heard another gang arrive below us. +They halted there, and it was not long before they began crawling up +from above and below, and for a bit we shot pretty brisk. The odds were +too much against them, with us on the height, and they drew off. Then +for an hour they were pretty quiet while they were holding council, +except that we did some shooting with a party who had climbed up to that +ledge opposite; then we saw both bands mount, and reckoned they were +going to make a dash for us. We knew if they did it in earnest we must +go down, for once among the rocks and bushes there would be no keeping +them from mounting up. We made up our minds that the end was not far +off, though I fancy we should have accounted for a good many of them +before they rubbed us out. When your four rifles spoke from the ledge we +thought it was a party who had gone back there, for we felt sure that we +had driven them all away, but it wasn't more than a moment before we saw +it wasn't that. There was no mistaking the yell of astonishment from the +Indians, and as the horses swerved round we saw that three of them had +fallen. You may guess we didn't stop to argue who it was, but set to +work to do our share; but it seemed to us something like a miracle when +the red-skins rode off. + +"We had been talking of Leaping Horse during the night, for he had +promised to come back to join us, and I knew him well enough to be able +to bet all creation that he would come. He had only left us to keep an +appointment with his nephew, who was to join him at Fort Bridger. If +there had only been two guns fired we should have put it down to him, +but being four I don't think either of us thought of him till he stood +up and shouted. Now, lad, you had better take a sleep. We shall be +moving on as soon as the moon is fairly up, and it won't be over that +hill behind us till two or three. I will watch till then, but I don't +think there is the least chance of their following us to-night; they +have been pretty roughly handled, and I don't think they will follow +until they have solved the mystery of that ledge. They searched it, no +doubt, as soon as they found the rock was empty, and at daybreak they +will set about tracing the trail up. That will be easy enough for them +when they have once got rid of the idea that there was something uncanny +about it, and then we shall have them on our heels again and on the +chief's too. The first thing for us to do will be to make along the hill +till we get to the edge of the caņon, where Leaping Horse has gone for +your ponies, and to follow it to its upper end." + +"I will watch, uncle, if you will wake me in an hour. I shall be all +right after a nap, but I can scarcely keep my eyes open now." + +It seemed, however, to Tom that he had not been asleep five minutes when +his uncle shook him. The others were already on their feet. The moon was +shining down through the trees, and with cautious steps, and taking the +utmost trouble to avoid the branches, they started on their upward +climb. Not a word was spoken, for all knew how far sound travels on a +still night. There was, however, a slight breeze moving among the tree +tops when they started, and in an hour this had so far increased that +the boughs were swaying and the leaves rustling. + +"I reckon there ain't no occasion to keep our mouths shut no longer," +one of the men said. "Now that the trees are on the move they would not +hear us if they were only a hundred yards away." + +All were glad when daylight began to appear, Tom because the climbing +would be much easier when the ground could be seen, the others because +they were all longing for a pipe, but had hitherto not dared to light +one, for the flash of a match could be seen far away. They had been +bearing steadily to the right as they mounted, and shortly after +daybreak they suddenly found themselves on the edge of a caņon. + +"Do you think this is the one, Jerry?" one of the men asked. + +"That is more than I can tell, Ben. I did not see an opening in the +valley as we came up it, but we might very well have missed one in the +dark. I should think from the distance we have gone towards the right it +must be the one where we left our horses. Anyhow, whether it is or not, +we must follow it up to the top and wait there for a bit to see if the +chief comes." + +"I reckon he will be there before us," Harry said; "that is if he got +round the red-skins all right and found the horses. There would be no +reason for him to wait, and I expect he would go straight on, and is +like enough to be waiting for us by this time." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +CHASED + + +The party pressed forward as rapidly as they could. The ground was rough +and at times very steep, and those on foot were able to keep up with the +horses without much difficulty. + +"You think the Indians will follow, uncle?" Tom asked. + +"They will follow, you may bet your boots, Tom; by this time they have +got to the bottom of the mystery. The first thing this morning some of +them will go up on to the ledge where you were, follow your tracks down +to the caņon where you left the horses, and find that you came up the +valley and not down it. They will have made out that there were two +whites and two red-skins, and that the two red-skins have gone up the +caņon with the horses. Directly the matter is all cleared up, they will +be hotter than ever for our scalps, for there is nothing a red-skin +hates worse than being fooled. Of course, they will know that it is a +good deal harder to wipe out seven men than three, and I don't think +they will attack us openly; they know well enough that in a fair fight +two red-skins, if not three, are likely to go down for each white they +rub out. But they will bide their time: red-skins are a wonderful hand +at that; time is nothing to them, and they would not mind hanging about +us for weeks and weeks if they can but get us at last. However, we will +talk it all over when the Indians join us. I don't think there is any +chance of fighting to-day, but whether we shall get out of these +mountains without having another scrimmage is doubtful." + +Tom noticed that in his talk with him his uncle dropped most of the +western expressions which when speaking with the others he used as +freely as they did. He was now able to have a fair look at him, and +found that he agreed pretty closely with the ideas he had formed of him. +There was a strong likeness between him and his brother. They were about +the same height, but Harry was broader and more strongly built. His face +was deeply bronzed by long exposure to the wind and sun. He had a large +tawny beard, while Tom's father had been clean shaved. The sailor was +five years the senior, but the miner looked far younger than Tom could +ever remember his father looking, for the latter had never thoroughly +recovered his, health after having had a long bout of fever on the +Zanzibar station; and the long stride and free carriage of his uncle was +in striking contrast to the walk of his father. Both had keen gray eyes, +the same outline of face, the same pleasant smile. + +"Now that I can see you fairly, Tom," the miner said, when they halted +once for the horses to come up to them, "I can make out that you are a +good deal like your father as I can first remember him." + +"I was thinking you were very like him, uncle." + +"We used to be alike in the old days, but I reckon the different lives +we led must have changed us both a great deal. He sent me once a +photograph four or five years ago, and at first I should not have known +it was he. I could see the likeness after a bit, but he was very much +changed. No doubt I have changed still more; all this hair on my face +makes a lot of difference. You see, it is a very long time since we met. +I was but twenty when I left England, and I had not seen him for two or +three years before that, for he was on the Mediterranean station at the +time. Well, here are the horses again, and as the ground looks flatter +ahead we shall have to push on to keep up with them." They were +presently altogether beyond the forest, and a broad plateau of bare rock +stretched away in front of them for miles. + +"There they are," Jerry Curtis shouted. "I was beginning to feel scared +that the 'Rappahoes had got them." + +It was a minute or two before Tom could make out the distant figures, +for his eyes were less accustomed to search for moving objects than were +those of his companions. + +"They are riding fast," Harry Wade said. "I reckon they have made out +some Indians on their trail." + +The little dark mass Tom had first seen soon resolved itself into two +horsemen and two riderless animals. They were still three or four miles +away, but in twenty minutes they reached the party advancing to meet +them. The whites waved their hats and gave them a cheer as they rode up. + +"So you have managed to get through them all right, chief?" + +"The 'Rappahoes are dogs. They are frightened at shadows; their eyes +were closed. Leaping Horse stood near their fires and saw them go +forward, and knew that his white brothers must have gained the forest +before the 'Rappahoes got to the rock. He found the horses safe, but the +caņon was very dark and in some places very narrow, with many rocks in +the road, so that he had to stop till the moon was high. It was not +until morning came that he reached the head of the caņon, an hour's ride +from here. Half an hour back Leaping Horse went to the edge and looked +down. There were ten 'Rappahoes riding fast up the trail. Has my brother +heard anything of the others?" + +"Nothing whatever," Harry said. "I reckon they did not begin to move +until daylight, and as we went on when the moon rose they must be a good +two hours behind us. Which way do you think we had better go, chief?" + +"Where does my brother wish to go?" + +"It matters mighty little. I should say for a bit we had better travel +along this plateau, keeping about the same distance from the +timber-line. I don't think the 'Rappahoes will venture to attack us in +the open. If we keep on here we can cross the divide and get into the +Shoshones' country, and either go down the Buffalo and then up the Snake +and so work down south, or go east and strike some of the streams +running that way into the Big Horn." + +The chief shook his head. + +"Too far, too many bad Indians; will talk over fire tonight." + +"That is it, chief. It is a matter that wants a good deal of talking +over. Anyhow, we had better be moving on at once." + +Tom was glad to find himself in the saddle again, and the party rode on +at a steady pace for some hours, then they halted, lit a fire, and +cooked a meal. Tom noticed that the Indians no longer took pains to +gather dry sticks, but took the first that came to hand. He remarked +this to Jerry. + +"They know it is no use trying to hide our trail here; the two bands of +Indians will follow, one up and one down, until they meet at the spot +where the chief joined us. From there they can track us easy enough. +Nothing would suit us better than for them to come up to us here, for we +should give them fits, sartin. This is a good place. This little stream +comes down from that snow peak you see over there, and we have got +everything we want, for this patch of bushes will keep us in firing for +a bit. You see, there are some more big hills in front of us, and we are +better here than we should be among them. I expect we shall camp here +for the night." + +"Then you don't think the Indians will come up close?" + +"Not they. They will send a spy or two to crawl up, you may be sure, but +they will know better than to come within reach of our rifles." + +"I am mighty glad to have my teeth into some deer-flesh again," Ben +Gulston said. "We had two or three chances as we came along, but we dare +not fire, and we have just been living on bread and bacon. Where did you +kill these wapiti?" + +"At our first halt, near Fremont's Pass. We got two." + +"Well, you haven't eaten much, Jerry," Sam Hicks said. "I reckon four +men ought pretty well to have finished off two quarters by this time." + +"I reckon we should have finished one of the bucks, Sam; but we caught a +grist of fish the same day, dried them in the sun, and I think we mostly +ate them. They would not keep as well as the flesh. That is as good as +the day we shot it, for up here in the dry air meat keeps a sight better +than down in the plains. Give me some more tea, Sam." + +"What do you think, mates, of camping here?" Harry Wade said. "The chief +thinks we are better here than we should be if we moved on. He feels +certain the red-skins won't dare attack us." + +There was a cordial agreement in favour of a halt, for after the work +they had gone through during the last week they were glad of a rest. No +one would have thought half an hour afterwards that the little party +engaged in washing their shirts at the stream or mending their clothes, +were in the heart of a country unknown to most of them, and menaced by a +savage foe. The horses cropped the scanty tufts of grass or munched the +young tops of the bushes, the rifles stood stacked by the fire, near +which the two Indians sat smoking and talking earnestly together, +Hunting Dog occasionally getting up and taking a long careful look over +the plain. As the men finished their various jobs they came back to the +fire. + +"Now, chief," Harry said, "let us hear your ideas as to what we had best +do. We are all pretty old hands at mountaineering, but we reckon you +know a great deal more about it than we do. You don't like the plans I +proposed." + +"No can do it," the chief said positively. "In a moon the snow will +fall, and there will be no crossing mountains." + +"That is true enough," Jerry said. "An old trapper who had lived among +the Shoshones told me that nine months in the year they were shut up in +the valleys by the snow on the passes." + +"Then how can live?" the chief went on. "As long as we stay in this +country the 'Rappahoes will watch us. They will tell the Bannacks and +the Nez Percés, and they too would be on our trail. As long as we keep +together and watch they will not come, they fear the white man's rifle; +but we cannot live without hunting, and then they kill one, two, till +all killed. At night must always watch, at day cannot hunt. How we live? +What good to stay? If we stop all killed sure." + +There was silence round the circle. Every one of them felt the truth of +the Indian's words, and yet they hated the thought of abandoning their +search for gold, or, failing that, of a return home with their horses +laden with beaver skins. + +Harry was the first to speak. "I am afraid these varmint have interfered +with our plans, mates. If we had had the luck to drop into one of the +upper valleys without being noticed we could have hunted and trapped +there and looked for gold for months without much chance of being +discovered, but this has upset it all. I am afraid that what the chief +says is true. If we keep together we starve, if we break up and hunt we +shall be ambushed and killed. I hate giving up anything I have set my +mind on, but this time I don't see a way out of it. We ain't the first +party that has come up here and had to go back again with empty hands, +and we know what happened to that party of twenty old-time miners from +California two years ago, though none of them ever got back to tell the +tale. We knew when we started, it wur just a chance, and the cards have +gone against us." + +"That is so," Ben agreed; "if it had turned out well we might have made +a good strike. It ain't turned out well, and as every day we stay here +there will be more of those varmint swarming round us, I say the sooner +we get out of this dog-goned country the better." + +"You can count me in with you, Ben," Sam Hicks said. "We have gone in +for the game and we don't hold hands, and it ain't no use bluffing +against them red-skins. We sha'n't have lost much time arter all, and I +reckon we have all learned something. Some day when the railroad goes +right across, Uncle Sam will have to send a grist of troops to reckon up +with the red-skins in these hills, and arter that it may be a good +country for mining and trapping, but for the present we are a darned +sight more likely to lose our scalps than to get skins." + +"Well, Leaping Horse, which way would you advise us to take, then?" + +"Go straight back to caņon, ride down there, cross river, go up +mountains other side, pass them north of Union Peak, come down on upper +water Big Wind River. From there little way on to Green River. Leaping +Horse never been there, but has heard. One long day's ride from here, go +to upper waters of Green River." + +"That sounds good," Jerry Curtis said. "If we could once strike the +Green we should be out of the 'Rappahoe country altogether. I have known +two or three men who have been up the Green nearly to its head, and +there is good hunting and a good many beaver in the side streams. I +should not have thought it would have come anywhere like as near as +this, but I don't doubt the chief is right." + +"Union Peak," the chief said, pointing to a crag rising among a tumble +of hills to the south. + +"Are you sure, chief?" + +The Indian nodded. "Forty, fifty miles away," he said. "Leaping Horse +has been to upper waters of Green River, seen the peak from other side." + +"That settles it, then," Harry said. "That is our course, there cannot +be a doubt. I should never have proposed the other if I had had an idea +that we were within sixty or seventy miles of the Green River. And you +think we had better take the caņon you came up by, chief?" + +The Indian nodded. "If go down through forest may be ambushed. Open +ground from here back to caņon. 'Rappahoes most in front. Think we go +that way, not think we go back. Get good start. Once across river follow +up little stream among hills other side, that the way to pass. If +'Rappahoes follow us we fight them." + +"Yes, we shall have them at an advantage there, for they would have to +come up under our fire, and there are sure to be places where half a +dozen men could keep fifty at bay. Very well, chief, that is settled. +When do you think we had better start?" + +"When gets dark," the chief replied. "No lose time, more Indian come +every hour. Keep fire burning well, 'Rappahoes think we camp here. Take +horses a little way off and mount beyond light of fire." + +"You think they will be watching us?" + +"Sure to watch. First ride north half an hour, then turn and ride to +caņon. If spies see us go off take word to friends we gone north. Too +dark to follow trail. They think they catch us easy to-morrow, and take +up trail in morning; but too late then, we cross river before that." + +There was a general murmur of assent. The thought of being constantly +watched, and suddenly attacked when least expecting it, made them feel +restless, and the thought of early action was pleasant to them. + +"You don't think that there are any spies watching us now, uncle, do +you?" + +"Not close, Tom; they would know better than that. They could see us +miles away if we were to mount and ride off, and it is only when it gets +dark that they would venture to crawl up, for if one were sighted in the +daytime he would not have a ghost of a chance of getting away, for we +could ride him down sartin." + +"Well, I reckon we may as well take a sleep," Sam Hicks said. "You lie +down for one, anyhow, Harry, for you watched last evening. We will toss +up which of us keeps awake." + +"Leaping Horse will keep watch," the chief said quietly. "No fear of +Indians, but better to watch." + +Knowing the power of the red-skins to keep awake for an almost unlimited +time, none of the others thought of refusing the offer, and in a few +minutes all were sound asleep. Towards sunset they were on their feet +again. Another meal was cooked and eaten, then as it became dusk the +horses were gathered fifty yards away, and Hunting Dog and Tom took +their places beside them. + +"Keep your eyes open and your rifle handy, Tom," his uncle said. "It is +like enough that some young brave, anxious to distinguish himself, may +crawl up with the intention of stampeding the ponies, though I don't +think he would attempt it till he thought most of us were asleep. Still, +there is no saying." + +The watch was undisturbed, and soon it became so dark that objects could +no longer be seen fifty yards away. Tom began to feel nervous. Every +tuft of ground, every little bush seemed to him to take the form of a +crawling Indian, and he felt a great sense of relief when he saw the +figures round the fire rise and walk towards him. + +"I am glad you have come, uncle," he said frankly; "I began to feel very +uncomfortable several times. It seemed to me that some of the bushes +moved." + +"That is just what I thought you would be feeling, Tom. But it was just +as well that your first watch should be a short one, without much chance +of an ambush being on foot; and I knew that if your eyes deceived you, +Hunting Dog was there. Next time you won't feel so nervous; that sort of +thing soon passes off." + +A fresh armful of brushwood had been thrown on to the fire before the +men left it, and long after they had ridden away they could see the +flames mounting high. After riding north for a quarter of an hour they +changed their route and passed round, leaving the fire half a mile on +their right. The light of the stars was quite sufficient for them to +travel by, and after four hours' journey the chief, who was riding +ahead, halted. + +"Not far from caņon now. Listen." + +A very faint murmur came to their ears, so faint that had not his +attention been drawn to it Tom would not have noticed it at all. + +"What is that noise?" he asked. + +"That is the stream down in the caņon," his uncle replied. "How far are +we from the head, chief?" + +"Not far, must ride slow." + +They proceeded at a walk, changing their course a little towards the +east. Hunting Dog went on ahead, and in a quarter of an hour they heard +his signal, the cry of an owl. It arose from a point still further east, +and quickening their pace, in a few minutes they came up to the young +Indian, who was standing by his horse at the edge of a steep descent, at +the bottom of which Tom could see a stream of water. + +"It looks very steep," Jerry said. + +"Steep, but smooth," the Indian replied. "Came up here with horses this +morning." + +All dismounted, and Tom went up to his horse's head. "That won't do, +Tom. Never go before a horse down a steep place where you can't see your +way, always drive it before you." + +There was some trouble in getting the horses to commence the descent, +but after a short time the chief's pony set the example; and tucking its +hind legs under it until it sat down on its haunches, began to slide +down, while the other animals, after staring into the darkness with ears +laid back and snorting with fear, were half-persuaded, half-forced to +follow its example, and the men went down after them. The descent was +not so steep as in the darkness it looked, and the depth was not over +fifty feet. As soon as they reached the bottom they mounted again, and +the chief leading the way, they rode down the caņon. At first they were +able to proceed at a fair pace, but as the sides grew higher and more +precipitous the darkness became more dense, and they were obliged to +pick their way with great caution among the boulders that strewed the +bottom of the ravine. Several times they had to dismount in order to get +the horses over heavy falls, and it was four hours from the time they +entered the caņon before they approached its mouth. When they entered +the little wood where they had first left the horses, the chief said, +"Make fire, cook food here. Leaping Horse and Hunting Dog go on and +scout, maybe 'Rappahoes left watch in valley." + +"Very well, chief. It is seven hours since we started; I think the +horses will be all the better for an hour's rest, and I am sure we shall +be the better of a feed. Besides, when we are once out of this hole we +may have to travel fast." + +"You don't think it likely that the 'Rappahoes are on the look-out for +us at the entrance?" Tom asked, as the Indians moved away. + +"Not likely at all, Tom. Still, as they might reckon that if we gave +their searching party the slip we must come down again by the river or +through this caņon, they may have left a party or sent down word to some +of their villages to keep a watch in the valley." + +It was more than an hour before the Indians returned. + +"No 'Rappahoes in valley," the chief said, as he seated himself by the +fire and began without loss of time to eat the meat they had cooked in +readiness. "Better be going soon, must cross river and get on before +light come; have seen fires, Indian villages up on hillsides. When light +comes and 'Rappahoes find trail they come back quick." + +"You may bet your boots they will, chief," Sam Hicks said. "They will be +a pretty mad crowd when they make out that we have come down again by +the caņon. As soon as they see which way we have headed some of them +will make a bee-line down here in hopes of cutting us off at the mouth, +but by the time they are here we shall be half-way up the hill." + +The Indian made no reply, but he and Hunting Dog ate their meal +steadily, and as soon as they had finished rose to their feet, and +saying "Time to go" went out to fetch in their horses. + +"I don't think the chief is as confident we shall get off without a +fight as Sam seemed to be," Tom said to his uncle. + +"There is never any saying what an Indian thinks, Tom, even when he has +fallen into white man's ways, as Leaping Horse has done. It may be that +the sight of the fires he made out on the opposite hills has troubled +him. It will be light before we are far up on the side, and we may be +made out by some of the varmint there. They are always restless. Go into +an Indian village when you will, you will find some of them smoking by +the fire. Their ears are so 'tarnal sharp, they can hear sounds that +would never catch our ears, not at half the distance. The clink of a +couple of pans together, or a stone set rolling by a horse's tread, were +it ever so faint, would bring them on their feet directly, especially +now they know that a war-party is out." + +The march was again resumed. Passing through the narrowest part of the +caņon they issued out into the valley and made for the river. Some time +was lost here, for Sam Hicks, who was leading one of the pack-ponies, +was carried down several hundred yards by the stream, and with +difficulty effected his landing. The horse's load shifted and had to be +repacked. As soon as this was done they followed the river down for two +miles till they came upon a stream running into it from the southwest. + +"You think this is the stream we have to follow, chief?" + +"Must be him, no other came in on this side for a long way; right line +for peak." + +They turned up by the stream, and after riding a mile found themselves +entering a mountain gorge. It was not a caņon but a steep, narrow +valley. They picked their way with the greatest caution for some time, +then the two Indians stopped simultaneously. + +"What is the matter, chief?" Harry, who was riding next to them, +whispered. + +"Smell smoke." + +Harry sniffed the air. + +"I can't say I smell it, chief, but if you say you do that settles it. +Where do you think it comes from?" + +"Up valley; wind light, but comes that way. Indian village up here." + +"Well, so much the worse for the Indian village if it interferes with +us," Harry said grimly; "there is one thing certain, we have got to go +through. Probably most of the braves are away up in the hills." + +They now went on with redoubled caution. The chief gave his bridle to +Hunting Dog and went forward on foot. A hundred yards farther the valley +made a sharp turn and then widened out considerably, and the glow of a +fire was visible among some trees standing on the hillside some fifty +feet above the level of the stream. The chief looked at the sky; a faint +light was breaking, and without pausing he continued to lead the way. +They passed under the Indian encampment, and had got a few yards higher +when the pony Sam Hicks was leading gave a sharp neigh. + +"Darn its old ears!" Tom heard Jerry growl. Harry at the same moment put +his horse to a trot, and the others following clattered up the valley, +knowing that concealment was no longer of any use; indeed, an answering +neigh from above and hurried shouts were heard, followed a moment +afterwards by a loud yell as an Indian running through the trees caught +sight of them in the moonlight. + +"We are in for it now, Tom; that is, if there are men enough in the +village to attack us." + +The horses broke into a gallop. They had gone but fifty yards when a +rifle-shot was heard from behind, and Tom felt a shock as the ball +struck his saddle. Almost immediately another shot was fired abreast of +him, and an Indian yell rose loudly behind them. A moment later Leaping +Horse with a shout of triumph bounded down the rocks and leapt on to his +horse. Four or five more shots were fired from behind, but none of them +were hit. A hundred yards farther they were in shelter of a belt of +trees that extended down to the stream. As they entered it Harry looked +back. He could now see the hills beyond the main valley. + +"Look, chief!" he exclaimed. "The varmint up there are signalling far +off above the timber-line." + +Bright tongues of fire could be seen, two close together and one a short +distance to the left. + +"What does that mean, uncle?" Tom asked, as the chief gave a short +exclamation of surprise and anger. + +"It means, lad, that the red-skins have been sharper than we gave them +credit for. When their spies brought them news that we had started they +must have come down to the fire and followed our trail at once with +torches, before we had got above an hour or two away. No doubt it was +slow work, but they must have found where we changed our course, and +made out that we were making for the head of the caņon. I expect most of +them lost no time in following the trail farther, but rode straight for +the head of the caņon, and like enough they weren't half an hour behind +us when we came out. The others rode to the edge of the plateau and set +those fires alight." + +"But what do they mean, uncle?" + +"They are a warning to all the villages that we have headed back, you +may be sure of that, though I can't say what the message is, for every +tribe has its own signals, but it will have set them on the watch up and +down the valley; and like enough the signal has been repeated somewhere +at a point where it can be seen straight down the Big Wind Valley. The +shooting will tell them all which way we are making, and if the +'Rappahoes have come out of the caņon, as I reckon they have, they need +lose no more time in looking for our trail. I reckon in half an hour we +shall have a hundred or so of the varmint after us. I only hope there are +no more villages upon this line. I don't so much care about the fellows +who are following us, we are sure to find some place where we can make a +stand, but it would be awkward if we find our way barred." + +"But if there is no one in front, uncle, I should think we might be able +to keep ahead. Our horses are as good as they are likely to have." + +"You and Jerry might be able to, Tom, for you have got hold of two +first-rate ponies; but the Indians' are nothing out of the way, and our +ponies ain't in it with you; besides, they and the pack-horses have all +been doing hard work for the last week with none too much food, and many +of the 'Rappahoes will be on fresh horses. I expect we have got some +very tall climbing to do before we get up to the pass, and we have got +to do our fighting before we get there." + +The ground rose steeply, and was encumbered by fallen stones and +boulders, and it was not long before the pack-horses began to show signs +of distress, while those ridden by Harry and his two comrades were +drawing their breath in short gasps. After emerging from the trees the +ravine had run in almost a straight line for more than half a mile, and +just as they reached the end of this stretch a yell was heard down the +valley. Looking back they saw eight or ten mounted Indians emerging from +the wood at the lower end. + +"That is a signal," Harry exclaimed, as four rifles were fired in quick +succession. "Well, we have got a bit of a start of them, and they won't +venture to attack us until some more come up. We had better take it a +bit quietly, chief, or our horses will give out. I expect we sha'n't be +long before we come upon a place where we can make a stand." + +The Seneca looked round at the horses. "You, Sam, Ben and pack-horses go +on till you get to place where can fight. We four wait here; got good +horses, and can ride on. We stop them here for a bit." + +"That would be best. I don't like being out of it, but we will do our +share presently." + +No more words were necessary. Harry and his two mates rode on at a +slower pace than before, while the two Indians, Jerry, and Tom +dismounted, left their horses beyond the turn, and then coming back took +up their positions behind four large boulders. The Indians had noticed +their returning figures, for they suddenly drew up their horses and +gathered together in consultation. + +"Draw your bullet, Tom," Jerry said, "and drop in half a charge more +powder; I reckon that piece of yours will send a bullet among them with +the help of a good charge. Allow a bit above that top notch for extra, +elevation. It's a good big mark, and you ought to be able to plump a +bullet among them." + +Tom followed the instructions, and then resting the barrel on the top of +the boulder took a steady aim and fired. There was a sudden stir among +the group of Indians. A horse reared high in the air, almost unseating +its rider, and then they all rode off at the top of their speed, and +halted two or three hundred yards lower down the valley. The Senecas +uttered a grunt of approval. + +"That was a good shot, Tom, though I wish you had hit one of the +red-skins instead of his critter. Still, it will give them a good +lesson, and make them mighty keerful. They won't care about showing +their ugly heads within range of a piece that will carry five hundred +yards." + +A quarter of an hour passed without any movement on the part of the +Indians. Then a large party of horsemen appeared from the trees below, +and were greeted by them with a yell of satisfaction. + +"There must be well-nigh fifty of them," Jerry said. "I reckon it's the +party that came down the hill. They must have picked up a good many +others by the way. Now the fun is going to begin." + +After five minutes' consultation some twenty of the Indians dismounted, +and dividing into two parties ascended the slopes of the valley and +began to move forward, taking advantage of every stone and bush, so that +it was but occasionally that a glimpse of one of their bodies was +obtained. + +"They are going to skirmish up to us," Jerry said, "till they are near +enough to make it hot for us if we show a head above the rocks to fire. +As soon as they can do that, the others will charge. I think they are +not more than four hundred yards off now, Tom. That is within your +range, so you may as well begin to show them that we are awake. If you +can bring one down it will check their pace." + +Tom had just noticed three Indians run behind a clump of bushes, and he +now levelled his rifle so that it bore on a spot a foot on one side of +it. Half a minute later an Indian appeared at the bush and began to run +forward. Tom pressed the trigger. The Indian ran a few steps, and then +fell forward on his face. + +"Bravo, Plumb-centre!" Jerry shouted. "We said that you would do the +rifle credit, Tom, and Billy the Scout could not have done better +himself." + +"Young white man make great hunter," the chief remarked approvingly. +"Got good eye and steady hand." + +The lesson had its effect. The Indian advance was no longer rapid, but +was conducted with the greatest caution, and it was only occasionally +that a glimpse could be caught of a dusky figure passing from rock to +rock. When they came within three hundred yards the two Indians and +Jerry also opened fire. One fell to a shot from the chief, but neither +of the others hit their marks. Tom indeed did not fire again, the +movements of the Indians being so rapid that they were gone before he +could bring his sight to bear upon any of them. + +"Go now," the chief said. "'Rappahoes fire soon; run quick." + +It was but a few yards to shelter. As they dashed across the intervening +space two or three Indian rifles rang out, but the rest of the +assailants had been too much occupied in sheltering themselves and +looking for the next spot to make for, to keep an eye upon the +defenders, and the hastily-fired shots all missed. A moment later the +party mounted their horses and rode up the ravine, the yells of the +Indians ringing in their ears. + +[Illustration: "A Moment Later The Indian Fell Forward On His Face."] + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +IN SAFETY + + +"We have gained half an hour anyhow," Jerry said, as they galloped up +the ravine, "and I reckon by the time we overtake them we shall find +them stowed away in some place where it will puzzle the red-skins to +dislodge us. The varmint will fight hard if they are cornered, but they +ain't good at advancing when there are a few rifle-tubes, in the hands +of white men, pointing at them, and they have had a lesson now that we +can shoot." + +The ravine continued to narrow. The stream had become a mere rivulet, +and they were high up on the hillside. + +"I begin to be afeared there ain't no place for making a stand." Here he +was interrupted by an angry growl, as a great bear suddenly rose to his +feet behind a rock. + +"You may thank your stars that we are too busy to attend to you," Jerry +said, as they rode past within a few yards of it. "That is a grizzly, +Tom; and an awkward beast you would have found him if you had come upon +him by yourself without your shooting-iron. He is a big one too, and his +skin would have been worth money down in the settlements. Ah, there they +are." + +The ravine made an abrupt turn to the west, and high up on its side they +saw their three companions with the five horses climbing up the +precipitous rocks. + +"How ever did they get up there?" Jerry exclaimed. + +"Found Indian trail," the chief said. "Let my brothers keep their eyes +open." + +They rode on slowly now, examining every foot of the steep hillside. +Presently Hunting Dog, who was ahead, uttered an exclamation. Between +two great boulders there was a track, evidently a good deal used. + +"Let Hunting Dog go first," the chief said. "Leaping Horse will follow +the white men." + +"I reckon that this is the great Indian trail over the pass," Jerry said +to Tom, who preceded him. "I have heard there ain't no way over the +mountains atween that pass by Fremont's Buttes and the pass by this +peak, which they calls Union Peak, and the red-skins must travel by this +when they go down to hunt buffalo on the Green River. It is a wonder +Harry struck on it." + +"Leaping Horse told him to keep his eyes open," the chief said from the +rear. "He knew that Indian trail led up this valley." + +"Jee-rusalem! but it's a steep road," Jerry said presently. "I am +dog-goned if I can guess how the red-skins ever discovered it. I expect +they must have tracked some game up it, and followed to see where it +went to." + +The trail wound about in a wonderful way. Sometimes it went horizontally +along narrow ledges, then there was a bit of steep climbing, where they +had to lead their horses; then it wound back again, and sometimes even +descended for a distance to avoid a projecting crag. + +"Ah! would ye, yer varmint?" Jerry exclaimed, as a shot rang out from +the valley below and a bullet flattened itself against a rock within a +foot or two of his head. The shot was followed by a loud yell from +below, as a crowd of mounted Indians rode at full gallop round the angle +of the ravine. + +"Hurry on, Hunting Dog, and get round the next corner, for we are +regular targets here." + +A few yards farther a turn of the path took them out of sight of the +Indians, but not before a score of bullets came whistling up from below. + +"The varmint have been riding too fast to shoot straight, I reckon. It +will be our turn directly." + +Just as he spoke the chief called upon them to dismount. They threw +their bridles on their horses' necks, and descending to the ledge they +had just left, lay down on it. + +"Get your revolver out, Tom, before you shoot," Jerry said. "They will +be off before you have time to load your rifle again." + +The Indians were some four hundred feet below them, and were talking +excitedly, evidently hesitating whether to follow up the trail. The four +rifles cracked almost together. Two Indians fell, and the plunging of +two horses showed that they were hit. In an instant the whole mass were +on their way down the valley, followed by bullet after bullet from the +revolvers which Leaping Horse as well as the whites carried. Anything +like accurate aim was impossible, and no Indian was seen to fall, but it +was probable that some of the bullets had taken effect among the crowded +horsemen. + +"Go on quiet now," Leaping Horse said, rising to his feet. "'Rappahoes +not follow any farther. One man with this"--and he touched his +revolver--"keep back whole tribe here." + +Half an hour later they joined the party who had halted at the top of +the track. + +"It air too bad our being out of it," Ben said. "I hope you have given +some of the varmint grist." + +"Only five or six of them," Jerry replied regretfully, "counting in the +one Leaping Horse shot at the village. Tom here did a big shot, and +brought one down in his tracks at a good four hundred yards--as neat a +shot as ever I saw fired. The chief he accounted for another; then +atween us we wiped out two down below; and I reckon some of the others +are carrying some of our lead away. Waal, I think we have shook them off +at last any how. I suppose there ain't, no other road they can come up +here by, chief?" + +"Leaping Horse only heard of one trail." + +"You may bet your life there ain't another," Harry remarked. "They would +never have used such a dog-goned road as this if there had been any +other way of going up." + +"Camp here," the chief said. "Long journey over pass, too much cold. +Keep watch here at head of trail." + +"That is a very good plan. I have heard that the pass is over nine +thousand feet above the sea, and it would never do to have to camp up +there. Besides, I have been looking at the sky, and I don't much like +its appearance. Look over there to the north." + +There were, indeed, evident signs of an approaching change in the +weather. On the previous day every peak and jagged crest stood out hard +and distinct in the clear air. Now all the higher summits were hidden by +a bank of white cloud. + +"Snow," the Indian said gravely; "winter coming." + +"That is just what I thought, chief. At any rate we know where we are +here, and there is brushwood to be gathered not far down the trail; and +even if we are shut up here we can manage well enough for a day or two. +These early snows don't lie long, but to be caught in a snow-storm +higher up would be a sight worse than fighting with red-skins." + +From the spot where they were now standing at the edge of the ravine the +ground sloped very steeply up for some hundreds of feet, and then steep +crags rose in an unbroken wall; but from the view they had had of the +country from the other side they knew that behind this wall rose a range +of lofty summits. The Indian trail ran along close to the edge of the +ravine. The chief looked round earnestly. + +"No good place to camp," he said. "Wind blow down hills, horses not able +to stand against it. Heap snow tumble down from there," and he pointed +upwards. "Carry everything down below." + +"Well, if you think we had better push on, let us do so, chief." + +The Indian shook his head and pointed to the clouds again. "See," he +said; "storm come very soon." + +Even in the last two or three minutes a change was perceptible. The +upper edge of the clouds seemed to be suddenly broken up. Long streamers +spread out like signal flags of danger. Masses of clouds seemed to be +wrenched off and to fly with great rapidity for a short distance; some +of them sinking a little, floated back until they again formed a part of +the mountain cap, while others sped onwards towards the south. + +"No time," the chief repeated earnestly; "must look for camp quick." He +spoke in the Indian tongue to Hunting Dog, and the two stood on a point +where the ground jutted out, and closely examined the ravine up whose +side they had climbed. The chief pointed farther along, and Hunting Dog +started at a run along the Indian trail. A few hundred yards farther he +paused and looked down, moved a few steps farther, and then disappeared +from sight. In three or four minutes he returned and held up his arms. + +"Come," the chief said, and taking his horse's rein led it along the +path. The others followed his example, glad, indeed, to be in motion. +Five minutes before they had been bathed in perspiration from their +climb up the cliff; now they were conscious of the extraordinary change +of temperature that had suddenly set in, and each had snatched a blanket +from behind his saddle and wrapped it round him. They soon reached the +spot where Hunting Dog was standing, and looked down. Some thirty feet +below there was a sort of split in the face of the cliff, a wall of rock +rising to within four or five feet of the level of the edge of the +ravine. At one end it touched the face of the rock, at the other it was +ten or twelve feet from it, the space between being in the form of a +long wedge, which was completely filled up with trees and brushwood. A +ledge ran down from the point where Hunting Dog was standing to the +mouth of the fissure. + +"Jee-rusalem, chief!" Ben exclaimed. "That air just made for us--we +could not have found a better, not if we had sarched for a year. But I +reckon we shall have to clear the place a bit before we take the +critters down." + +Two axes were taken from one of the pack-horses. + +"Don't cut away the bigger stuff, Ben," Harry said as his two mates +proceeded down the ledge, "their heads will shelter us from the snow a +bit; and only clear away the bushes enough to give room for the horses +and us, and leave those standing across the entrance to make a screen. +While you are doing it we will fetch in as much more wood and grass as +we can get hold of before the snow begins to fall." + +The horses were left standing while the men scattered along the top of +the ravine, and by the time Ben shouted that they were ready, a +considerable pile of brushwood and a heap of coarse grass had been +collected. The horses were then led down one by one, unsaddled, and +packed together in two lines, having beyond them a great pile of the +bushes that had been cut away. + +"I am dog-goned if this ain't the best shelter I ever struck upon," +Jerry said. "We could not have fixed upon a better if we had had it +built special," the others cordially agreed. + +The place they occupied was of some twelve feet square. On either side +was a perpendicular wall of rock; beyond were the horses; while at the +entrance the bush, from three to four feet high, had been left standing; +above them stretched a canopy of foliage. Enough dry wood had been +collected to start a fire. + +"Don't make it too big. Jerry, we don't want to scorch up our roof," +Harry Wade said. "Well, I reckon we have got enough fuel here for a +week, for there is what you cut down and what we brought, and all that +is left standing beyond the horses; and with the leaves and the grass +the ponies should be able to hold out as long as the fuel lasts. We are +short of meat, but we have plenty of flour; and as for water, we can +melt snow." + +Buffalo rugs were laid down on each side by the rock walls, and on these +they took their seats and lighted their pipes. + +"I have been wanting a smoke pretty bad," Jerry said; "I ain't had one +since we halted in that there caņon. Hello, here it comes!" + +As he spoke a fierce gust of wind swayed the foliage overhead and sent +the smoke, that had before risen quietly upwards, whirling round the +recess; then for a moment all was quiet again; then came another and a +stronger gust, rising and gathering in power and laden with fine +particles of snow. A thick darkness fell, and Harry threw some more wood +on the fire to make a blaze. But loud as was the gale outside, the air +in the shelter was hardly moved, and there was but a slight rustling of +the leaves overhead. Thicker and thicker flew the snow flakes in the air +outside, and yet none seemed to fall through the leaves. + +"I am dog-goned if I can make this out," Sam Hicks said. "We are as +quiet here as if we were in a stone house, and one would think there was +a copper-plated roof overhead. It don't seem nat'ral." + +The others were also looking up with an air of puzzled surprise, not +unmingled with uneasiness. Harry went to the entrance and looked out +over the breastwork of bushes. "Look here, Sam," he said. + +"Why, Harry, it looks to me as if it were snowing up instead of down," +the miner said as he joined him. + +"That is just it. You see, we are in the elbow of the valley and are +looking straight down it, into the eye of the wind. It comes rushing up +the valley and meets this steep wall on its way, and pushed on by the +wind behind has to go somewhere, and so it is driven almost straight up +here and over the hilltops behind us. So you see the snow is carried up +instead of falling, and this rock outside us shoots it clear up over the +path we were following above. As long as the wind keeps north, I reckon +we sha'n't be troubled by the snow in here." + +The explanation seemed satisfactory, and there was a general feeling of +relief. + +"I remember reading," Tom said, as the others took their seats again, +"that people can stand on the edge of a cliff, facing a gale, without +feeling any wind. For the wind that strikes the cliff rushes up with +such force that it forms a sort of wall. Of course, it soon beats down +again, and not many yards back you can feel the gale as strongly as +anywhere else. But just at the edge the air is perfectly still." + +The miners looked at Tom as if they thought that he was making a joke at +their expense. But his uncle said: + +"Yes, I can quite believe that. You see, it is something like a +waterfall; you can stand right under that, for the force shoots it +outwards, and I reckon it is the same sort of thing here." The chief +nodded gravely. He too had been surprised at the lull in their shelter +when the storm was raging so furiously outside, but Harry's illustration +of the action of rushing water enlightened him more than his first +explanation had done. + +"But water ain't wind, Harry," Ben said. + + +"It is like water in many ways, Ben. You don't see it, but you can feel +it just the same. If you stand behind a tree or round a corner it rushes +past you, and you are in a sort of eddy, just as you would be if it was +a river that was moving alongside of you. Wind acts just the same way as +water. If it had been a big river coming along the valley at the same +rate as the wind it would rush up the rocks some distance and then sweep +round and race up the valley; but wind being light instead of being +heavy is able to rush straight up the hill till it gets right over the +crest." + +"Waal, if you say it is all right I suppose it is. Anyhow, it's a good +thing for us, and I don't care how long it goes on in the same way. I +reckoned that before morning we should have those branches breaking down +on us with the weight of snow; now I see we are like to have a quiet +night." + +"I won't answer for that, Ben; it is early in the day yet, and there is +no saying how the wind may be blowing before to-morrow morning. Anyhow, +now we have time we may as well get some of those bundles of bushes that +we brought down, and pile them so as to thicken the shelter of these +bushes and lighten it a bit. If we do that, and hang a couple of +blankets inside of them, it will give us a good shelter even if the wind +works round, and will help to keep us warm. For though we haven't got +wind or snow in here, we have got cold." + +"You bet," Jerry agreed; "it is a regular blizzard. And although I don't +say as it is too cold sitting here by the fire, it won't cost us +anything to make the place a bit warmer." + +Accordingly the bundles of wood they had gathered were brought out, and +with these the screen of bush was thickened, and raised to a height of +five feet; and when this was hung inside with a couple of blankets, it +was agreed that they could get through the storm comfortably even if it +lasted for a month. + +They cooked their last chunk of deer's flesh, after having first +prepared some bread and put it in the baking pot among the embers, and +made some tea from the water in the skins. When they had eaten their +meal they covered themselves up in buffalo robes and blankets, and +lighted their pipes. There was, however, but little talk, for the noise +of the tempest was so great, that it was necessary to raise the voice +almost to a shout to be heard, and it was not long before they were all +asleep. + +For hours there was no stir in the shelter, save when a horse pawed the +ground impatiently, or when Hunting Dog rose two or three times to put +fresh sticks on the fire. It seemed to Tom when he woke that it ought to +be nearly morning. He took out his watch, and by the light of the fire +made out to his surprise that it was but ten o'clock. The turmoil of the +wind seemed to him to be as loud as before, and he pulled the blankets +over his shoulder again and was soon sound asleep. When he next woke, it +was with the sensation of coldness in the face, and sitting up he saw +that the blankets and the ground were covered with a thick coating of +fine snow. There was a faint light in addition to that given by the +embers of the fire, and he knew that morning was breaking. His movement +disturbed his uncle, who was lying next him. He sat up and at once +aroused the others. + +"Wake up, mates," he said; "we have had somewhere about eighteen hours' +sleep, and day is breaking." + +In a minute all were astir. The snow was first shaken off the blankets, +and then Harry, taking a shovel, cleared the floor. Jerry took the +largest cooking-pot, and saying to Tom, "You bring that horse-bucket +along," pushed his way out through a small gap that had been left in the +screen of bushes. The wind had gone down a good deal, though it was +still blowing strongly. The snow had drifted against the entrance, and +formed a steep bank there; from this they filled the pot and bucket, +pressing the snow down. Tom was glad to get back again within the +shelter, for the cold outside was intense. The fire was already burning +brightly, and the pot and a frying-pan were placed over it, and kept +replenished with snow as fast as their contents melted. "We must keep on +at this," Harry said, "there is not a drop left in the skins, and the +horses must have water." + +As soon as enough had melted it was poured into the kettle. There was +some bacon among the trappers' stores, as they had calculated that they +would not be able to hunt until out of Big Wind Valley and far up among +the forests beyond. The frying-pan was now utilized for its proper work, +while the pail was placed close enough to the fire to thaw its contents, +without risking injury to it. Within an hour of breakfast being finished +enough snow had been thawed to give the horses half a bucket of water +each. In each pail a couple of pounds of flour had been stirred to help +out what nourishment could be obtained from the leaves, and from the +small modicum of grass given to each animal. + +"It will be a big journey over the pass, anyhow," Harry had said. "Now +that we are making tracks for the settlements we need not be sparing of +the flour; indeed, the lighter we are the better." + +The day did not pass so pleasantly as that preceding it, for the air was +filled with fine snow that blew in at the entrance and found its way +between the leaves overhead; while from time to time the snow +accumulating there came down with a crash, calling forth much strong +language from the man on whom it happened to fall, and shouts of +laughter from his comrades. The party was indeed a merry one. They had +failed altogether in the objects of their expedition, but they had +escaped without a scratch from the Indians, and had inflicted some +damage upon them; and their luck in finding so snug a shelter in such a +storm far more than counterbalanced their disappointment at their +failure. + +"Have you often been caught in the snow, uncle?" + +"You bet, Tom; me and the chief here were mighty nigh rubbed out three +years ago. I was prospecting among the Ute hills, while Leaping Horse +was doing the hunting for us both. It was in the middle of winter; the +snow was deep on the ground in the valleys and on the tops of the hills, +but there was plenty of bare rock on the hillside, so I was able to go +on with my work. While as for hunting, the cold drove the big-horns down +from the heights where they feed in summer, and the chief often got a +shot at them; and they are good eating, I can tell you. + +"We hadn't much fear of red-skins, for they ain't fond of cold and in +winter move their lodges down to the most sheltered valleys and live +mostly on dried meat. When they want a change they can always get a bear +or maybe a deer in the woods. We were camped in a grove of pines in a +valley and were snug enough. One day I had struck what I thought was the +richest vein I had ever come on. I got my pockets full of bits of quartz +with the gold sticking thick in it, and you may bet I went down to the +camp in high glee. A quarter of a mile before I got there I saw Leaping +Horse coming to meet me at a lope. It didn't want telling that there was +something wrong. As soon as he came up he said 'Utes.' 'Many of them, +chief?' I asked. He held up his open hands twice. + +"'Twenty of them,' I said; 'that is pretty bad. How far are they away?' +He said he had seen them coming over a crest on the other side of the +valley. 'Then we have got to git,' I said, 'there ain't no doubt about +that. What the 'tarnal do the varmint do here?' 'War-party,' the chief +said. 'Indian hunter must have come across our trail and taken word back +to the lodges.' The place where he had met me was among a lot of rocks +that had rolled down. There had been no snow for a fortnight, and of +course the red-skins would see our tracks everywhere, going and coming +from the camp. We were on foot that time, though we had a pack-horse to +carry our outfit. Of course they would get that and everything at the +camp. I did not think much of the loss, the point was how were we to +save our scalps? We had sat down behind a rock as soon as he had joined +me. Just then a yell came from the direction of our camp, and we knew +that the red-skins had found it. 'They won't be able to follow your +trail here, chief, will they?' He shook his head. 'Trail everywhere, not +know which was the last.' We could see the grove where the camp was, and +of course they could see the rocks, and it was sartin that if we had +made off up the hill they would have been after us in a squirrel's jump; +so there was nothing to do but to lie quiet until it was dark. We got in +among the boulders, and lay down where we could watch the grove through +a chink. + +"'I don't see a sign of them,' I said. 'You would have thought they +would have been out in search of us.' + +"'No search,' the chief said. 'No good look for us, not know where we +have gone to. Hide up in grove. Think we come back, and then catch us.' + +"So it turned out. Not a sign of them was to be seen, and after that +first yell everything was as quiet as death. In a couple of hours it got +dark, and as soon as it did we were off. We talked matters over, you may +be sure. There weren't no denying we were cornered. There we were +without an ounce of flour or a bite of meat. The chief had caught up a +couple of buffalo rugs as soon as he sighted the red-skins. That gave us +just a chance, but it wasn't more. In the morning the red-skins would +know we had either sighted them or come on their trail, and would be +scattering all over the country in search of us. We agreed that we must +travel a good way apart, though keeping each other in sight. They would +have noticed that the trails were all single, and if they came upon two +together going straight away from the camp, would know for sure it was +us making off. + +"You may think that with so many tracks as we had made in the fortnight +we had been there, they would not have an idea which was made the first +day and which was made the last, but that ain't so. In the first place, +the snow was packed hard, and the footprints were very slight. Then, +even when it is always freezing there is an evaporation of the snow, and +the footprints would gradually disappear; besides that, the wind on most +days had been blowing a little, and though the drift does not count for +much on packed snow, a fine dust is blown along, and if the prints don't +get altogether covered there is enough drift in them to show which are +old ones and which are fresh. We both knew that they could not make much +mistake about it, and that they would be pretty sure to hit on the trail +I had made in the morning when I went out, and on that of the chief to +the rocks, and following mine back to the same place would guess that we +had cached there till it was dark. + +"I could have done that myself; one can read such a trail as that like a +printed book. The worst of it was, there were no getting out of the +valley without leaving sign. On the bare hillsides and among the rocks +we could travel safe enough, but above them was everywhere snow, and do +what we would there would be no hiding our trail. We agreed that the +only thing was to cross the snow as quick as possible, to keep on the +bare rock whenever we got a chance, and wherever we struck wood, and to +double sometimes one way sometimes another, so as to give the red-skins +plenty of work to do to follow our trail. We walked all that night, and +right on the next day till early in the afternoon. Then we lay down and +slept till sunset, and then walked again all night. We did not see any +game. If we had we should have shot, for we knew the red-skins must be a +long way behind. When we stopped in the morning we were not so very far +from the camp we had started from, for if we had pushed straight back to +the settlements we should have been caught sure, for the Utes would have +been certain to have sent off a party that way to watch the valleys we +should have had to pass through. We lay down among some trees and slept +for a few hours and then set out to hunt, for we had been two days +without food, and I was beginning to feel that I must have a meal. + +"We had not gone far when we came across the track of a black bear. We +both felt certain that the trail was not many hours old. We followed it +for two miles, and found it went up to a slide of rocks; they had come +down from a cliff some years before, for there were bushes growing among +them. As a rule a black bear will always leave you alone if you leave +him, and hasn't much fight in him at the best; so up we went, thinking +we were sure of our bear-steak without much trouble in getting it. I was +ahead, and had just climbed up on to a big rock, when, from a bush in +front, the bear came out at me with a growl. I expect it had cubs +somewhere, I had just time to take a shot from the hip and then he was +on me, and gave me a blow on the shoulder that ripped the flesh down to +the elbow. + +"But that was not the worst, for the blow sent me over the edge, and I +fell seven or eight feet down among the sharp rocks. I heard the chief's +rifle go off, and it was some time after that before I saw or heard +anything more. When I came to I found he had carried me down to the foot +of the slide and laid me there. He was cutting up some sticks when I +opened my eyes. 'Have you got the bear, Leaping Horse?' + +"'The bear is dead,' he said. 'My brother is badly hurt.' + +"'Oh, never mind the hurt,' I said, 'so that we have got him. What are +you doing, chief? You are not going to make a fire here, are you?' + +"'My brother's leg is broken,' he said. 'I am cutting some sticks to +keep it straight.' + +"That brought me round to my senses, as you may guess. To break one's +leg up in the mountains is bad at any time, but when it is in the middle +of winter, and you have got a tribe of red-skins at your heels, it means +you have got to go under. I sat up and looked at my leg. Sure enough, +the left one was snapt like a pipe-stem, about half-way between the knee +and the ankle. 'Why, chief,' I said, 'it would have been a sight better +if you had put a bullet through my head as I lay up there. I should have +known nothing about it.' + +"'The Utes have not got my white brother yet.' + +"'No,' said I, 'but it won't be long before they have me; maybe it will +be this afternoon, and maybe to-morrow morning.' The chief said nothing, +but went on with his work. When he had got five or six sticks about +three feet long and as many about a foot, and had cut them so that they +each had one flat side, he took off his buckskin shirt, and working +round the bottom of it cut a thong about an inch wide and five or six +yards long. Then he knelt down and got the bone in the right position, +and then with what help I could give him put on the splints and bandaged +them tightly, a long one and a short one alternately. The long ones he +bandaged above the knee as well as below, so that the whole leg was +stiff. I felt pretty faint by the time it was done, and Leaping Horse +said, 'Want food; my white brother will lie quiet, Leaping Horse will +soon get him some.' + +"He set to work and soon had a fire going, and then went up to the rocks +and came down again with the bear's hams and about half his hide. It was +not long before he had some slices cooked, and I can tell you I felt +better by the time we had finished. We had not said much to each other, +but I had been thinking all the time, and when we had done I said, 'Now, +chief, I know that you will be wanting to stay with me, but I ain't +going to have it. You know as well as I do that the Utes will be here +to-morrow at latest, and there ain't more chance of my getting away from +them than there is of my flying. It would be just throwing away your +scalp if you were to stop here, and it would not do me a bit of good, +and would fret me considerable. Now before you start I will get you to +put me somewhere up among those stones where I can make a good fight of +it. You shall light a fire by the side of me, and put a store of wood +within reach and a few pounds of bear's flesh. I will keep them off as +long as I can with the rifle, then there will be five shots with my +Colt. I will keep the last barrel for myself; I ain't going to let the +Utes amuse themselves by torturing me for a few hours before they finish +me. Then you make straight away for the settlements; they won't be so +hot after you when they have once got me. The next time you go near +Denver you can go and tell Pete Hoskings how it all came about.' + +"'My white brother is weak with the pain,' the chief said quietly; 'he +is talking foolishly. He knows that Leaping Horse will stay with his +friend. He will go and look for a place.' Without listening to what I +had to say he took up his rifle and went up the valley, which was a +steep one. He was away better than half an hour and then came back. +'Leaping Horse found a place,' he said, 'where he and his brother can +make a good fight. Straight Harry get on his friend's back.' It was +clear that there weren't no use talking to him. He lifted me up on to my +feet, then he got me well up on to his back, as if I had been a sack of +coal, and went off with me, striding along pretty near as quick as if I +had not been there. It might have been half a mile, when he turned up a +narrow ravine that was little more than a cleft in the rock that rose +almost straight up from the valley. It did not go in very far, for there +had been a slide, and it was blocked up by a pile of rocks and earth, +forty or fifty feet high. It was a big job even for the chief to get me +up to the top of them. The snow had drifted down thick into the ravine, +and it was a nasty place to climb even for a man who had got nothing but +his rifle on his shoulder. However, he got me up safely, and laid me +down just over the crest. He had put my buffalo robe over my shoulders +before starting, and he rolled me up in this and said, 'Leaping Horse +will go and fetch rifles and bear-meat,' and he set straight off and +left me there by myself." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +A BAD TIME + + +"Even to me," Harry went on, after refilling and lighting his pipe, "it +did not seem long before the chief was back. He brought a heavy load, +for besides the rifles and bear's flesh he carried on his back a big +faggot of brushwood. After laying that down he searched among the rocks, +and presently set to work to dig out the snow and earth between two big +blocks, and was not long before he scooped out with his tomahawk a hole +big enough for the two of us to lie in comfortably. He laid the +bear's-skin down in this, then he carried me to it and helped me in and +then put the robes over me; and a snugger place you would not want to +lie in. + +"It was about ten feet below the level of the crest of the heap of +rocks, and of course on the upper side, so that directly the red-skins +made their appearance he could help me up to the top. That the two of us +could keep the Utes back I did not doubt; we had our rifles, and the +chief carried a revolver as well as I did. After they had once caught a +glimpse of the sort of place we were on, I did not think they would +venture into the ravine, for they would have lost a dozen men before +they got to the mound. I had looked round while the chief was away, and +I saw that a hundred yards or so higher up, the ravine came to an end, +the sides closing in, so there was no fear of our being attacked from +there. What I was afraid of was that the Indians might be able to get up +above and shoot down on us, though whether they could or not depended on +the nature of the ground above, and of course I could not see beyond the +edge of the rocks. + +"But even if they could not get up in the daylight, they could crawl up +at night and finish us, or they could camp down at the mouth of the +ravine and starve us out, for there was no chance of our climbing the +sides, even if my leg had been all right. I was mighty sorry for the +chief. He had just thrown his life away, and it must come to the same in +the end, as far as I was concerned. Even now he could get away if he +chose, but I knew well enough it weren't any good talking to him. So I +lay there, just listening for the crack of his rifle above. He would +bring down the first man that came in, sartin, and there would be plenty +of time after that to get me up beside him, for they would be sure to +have a long talk before they made any move. I did not expect them until +late in the afternoon, and hoped it might be getting dark before they +got down into the valley. There had been a big wind sweeping down it +since the snow had fallen, and though it had drifted deep along the +sides, the bottom was for the most part bare. I noticed that the chief +had picked his way carefully, and guessed that, as they would have no +reason for thinking we were near, they might not take up the trail till +morning. Of course they would find our fire and the dead bear, or all +that there was left of him, and they would fancy we had only stopped to +take a meal and had gone on again. They would see by the fire that we +had left pretty early in the day. I heard nothing of the chief until it +began to get dark; then he came down to me. + +"'Leaping Horse will go out and scout,' he said. 'If Utes not come soon, +will come back here; if they come, will watch down at mouth of valley +till he sees Utes go to sleep.' 'Well, chief,' I said; 'at any rate you +may as well take this robe; one is enough to sleep with in this hole, +and I shall be as snug as a beaver wrapped up in mine. Half your hunting +shirt is gone, and you will find it mighty cold standing out there.' + +"In an hour he came back again. 'Utes come,' he said. 'Have just lighted +fire and going to cook. No come tonight. Leaping Horse has good news for +his brother. There are no stars.' + +"That is good news indeed,' I said. 'If it does but come on to snow +to-night we may carry our scalps back to the settlement yet.' + +"'Leaping Horse can feel snow in the air,' he said. 'If it snows before +morning, good; if not, the Utes will tell their children how many lives +the scalps of the Englishman and the Seneca cost.' + +"The chief lay down beside me. I did not get much sleep, for my leg was +hurting me mightily. From time to time he crawled out, and each time he +returned saying, 'No snow.' I had begun to fear that when it came it +would be too late. It could not have been long before daybreak when he +said, as he crawled in: 'The Great Manitou has sent snow. My brother can +sleep in peace.' An hour later I raised myself up a bit and looked out. +It was light now. The air was full of fine snow, and the earth the chief +had scraped out was already covered thickly. I could see as much as +that, though the chief had, when he came in for the last time, drawn the +faggot in after him. I wondered at the time why he did it, but I saw +now. As soon as the snow had fallen a little more it would hide up +altogether the entrance to our hole. Hour after hour passed, and it +became impossible to get even a peep out, for the snow had fallen so +thickly on the leafy end of the brushwood, which was outward, that it +had entirely shut us in. All day the snow kept on, as we could tell from +the lessening light, and by two o'clock only a faint twilight made its +way in. + +"'How long do you think we shall be imprisoned here, chief?' I asked. + +"'Must not hurry,' he replied. 'There are trees up the valley, and the +Utes may make their camp there and stay till the storm is over. No use +to go out till my brother can walk. Wait till snow is over; then stay +two or three days to give time for Utes to go away. Got bear's flesh to +eat; warm in here, melt snow.' This was true enough, for I was feeling +it downright hot. Just before night came on the chief pushed the end of +his ramrod through the snow and looked out along the hole. + +"'Snow very strong,' he said. 'When it is dark can go out if wish.' + +"There is not much to tell about the next five days. The snow kept +falling steadily, and each evening after dark the chief went outside for +a short time to smoke his pipe, while I sat at the entrance and smoked +mine, and was glad enough to get a little fresh air. As soon as he came +in again the faggot was drawn back to its place, and we were imprisoned +for another twenty-four hours. One gets pretty tired after a time of +eating raw bear's flesh and drinking snow-water, and you bet I was +pretty glad when the chief, after looking out through a peephole, said +that the snow had stopped falling and the sun was shining. About the +middle of that day he said suddenly: 'I hear voices.' + +"It was some time before I heard anything, but I presently made them +out, though the snow muffled them a good deal. They did not seem far +off, and a minute or two later they ceased. We lay there two days +longer, and then even the chief was of opinion that they would have +moved off. My own idea was that they had started the first afternoon +after the snow had stopped falling. + +"'Leaping Horse will go out to scout as soon as it is dark,' he said. +'Go to mouth of ravine. If Utes are in wood he will see their fires and +come back again. Not likely come up here again and find his traces.' + +"That is what I had been saying for the last two days, for after some of +them had been up, and had satisfied themselves that there was no one in +the gully, they would not be likely to come through the snow again. When +the chief returned after an hour's absence, he told me that the Utes had +all gone. 'Fire cold,' he said; 'gone many hours. Leaping Horse has +brought some dry wood up from their hearth. Can light fire now.' You may +guess it was not long before we had a fire blazing in front of our den, +and I never knew how good bear-steak really was till that evening. + +"The next morning the chief took off the splints and rebandaged my leg, +this time putting on a long strip of the bear's skin, which he had +worked until it was perfectly soft while we had been waiting there. Over +this he put on the splints again, and for the first time since that bear +had knocked me off the rock I felt at ease. We stayed there another +fortnight, by the end of which time the bones seemed to have knit pretty +fairly. However, I had made myself a good strong crutch from a straight +branch with a fork at the end, that the chief had cut for me, and I had +lashed a wad of bear's skin in the fork to make it easy. Then we +started, making short journeys at first, but getting longer every day as +I became accustomed to the crutch, and at the end of a week I was able +to throw it aside. + +"We never saw a sign of an Indian trail all the way down to the +settlements, and by the time we got there I was ready to start on a +journey again. The chief found plenty of game on the way down, and I +have never had as much as a twinge in my leg since. So you see this +affair ain't a circumstance in comparison. Since then the chief and I +have always hunted together, and the word brother ain't only a mode of +speaking with us;" and he held out his hand to the Seneca, who gravely +placed his own in it. + +"That war a tight corner, Harry, and no blamed mistake. Did you ever +find out whether they could have got on the top to shoot down on you?" + +"Yes, the chief went up the day after the Utes had left. It was level up +there, and they could have sat on the edge and fired down upon us, and +wiped us out without our having a show." + +"And you have never since been to that place you struck the day the Utes +came down, Harry?" Jerry asked. "I have heard you talk of a place you +knew of, just at the edge of the bad lands, off the Utah hills. Were +that it?" + +Harry nodded. "I have never been there since. I went with a party into +Nevada the next spring, and last year the Utes were all the time upon +the war-path. I had meant to go down this fall, but the Utes were too +lively, so I struck up here instead; but I mean to go next spring +whether they are quiet or not, and to take my chances, and find out +whether it is only good on the surface and peters out to nothing when +you get in, or whether it is a real strong lode. Ben and Sam, and of +course the chief, will go with me, and Tom here, now he has come out, +and if you like to come we shall be all glad." + +"You may count me in," Jerry said, "and I thank you for the offer. I +have had dog-goned bad luck for some time, and I reckon it is about time +it was over. How are you going to share?" + +"We have settled that. The chief and I take two shares each as +discoverers. You four will take one share each." + +"That is fair enough, Harry. Those are mining terms, and after your +nearly getting rubbed out in finding it, if you and the chief had each +taken three shares there would have been nothing for us to grunt at. +They are a 'tarnal bad lot are the Utes. I reckon they are bad by +nature, but the Mormons have made them worse. There ain't no doubt it's +they who set them on to attack the caravans. They could see from the +first that if this was going to be the main route west there would be so +many coming along, and a lot perhaps settle there, that the Gentiles, as +they call the rest of us, would get too strong for them. What they have +been most afeard of is, that a lot of gold or silver should be found up +in the hills, and that would soon put a stop to the Mormon business. +They have been wise enough to tell the red-skins that if men came in and +found gold there would be such a lot come that the hunting would be all +spoilt. There is no doubt that in some of the attacks made on the +caravans there have been sham Indians mixed up with the real ones. +Red-skins are bad enough, but they are good men by the side of +scoundrels who are false to their colour, and who use Indians to kill +whites. That is one reason I want to see this railway go on till it +jines that on the other side. It will be bad for game, and I reckon in a +few years the last buffalo will be wiped out, but I will forgive it +that, so that it does but break up the Saints as they call themselves, +though I reckon there is about as little of the saint among them as you +will find if you search all creation." + +"Right you are, Jerry," Sam Hicks said. "They pretty nigh wiped me out +once, and if Uncle Sam ever takes to fighting them you may bet that I am +in it, and won't ask for no pay." + +"How did it come about, Sam?" Jerry asked. "I dunno as I have ever heard +you tell that story." + +"Waal, I had been a good bit farther east, and had been doing some +scouting with the troops, who had been giving a lesson to the red-skins +there, that it was best for them to let up on plundering the caravans +going west. We had done the job, and I jined a caravan coming this way. +It was the usual crowd, eastern farmers going to settle west, miners, +and such like. Among them was two waggons, which kept mostly as far +apart from the others as they could. They was in charge of two fellows +who dressed in store clothes, and had a sanctimonious look about them. +There was an old man and a couple of old women, and two or three boys +and some gals. They did not talk much with the rest, but it got about +that they were not going farther than Salt Lake City, and we had not +much difficulty in reckoning them up as Mormons. There ain't no law +perviding for the shooting of Mormons without some sort of excuse, and +as the people kept to themselves and did not interfere with no one, +nothing much was said agin them. On a v'yage like that across the +plains, folks has themselves to attend to, and plenty to do both on the +march and in camp, so no one troubles about any one else's business. + +"I hadn't no call to either, but I happened to go out near their waggons +one evening, and saw two or three bright-looking maids among them, and +it riled me to think that they was going to be handed over to some rich +old elder with perhaps a dozen other wives, and I used to feel as it +would be a satisfaction to pump some lead into them sleek-looking +scoundrels who had them in charge. I did not expect that the gals had +any idea what was in store for them. I know them Mormons when they goes +out to get what they call converts, preaches a lot about the prophet, +and a good deal about the comforts they would have in Utah. So much land +for nothing, and so much help to set them up, and all that kind of +thing, but mighty little about polygamy and the chance of their being +handed over to some man old enough to be their father, and without their +having any say in the matter. Howsoever, I did not see as I could +interfere, and if I wanted to interfere I could not have done it; +because all those women believed what they had been taught, and if I a +stranger, and an ill-looking one at that, was to tell them the contrary, +they wouldn't believe a word what I had said. So we went on till we got +within four or five days' journey of Salt Lake City, then one morning, +just as the teams were being hitched up, two fellows rode into camp. + +"As we were in Utah now, there weren't nothing curious about that, but I +reckoned them up as two as hard-looking cusses as I had come across for +a long time. After asking a question or two they rode to the Mormon +waggons, and instead of starting with the rest, the cattle was taken out +and they stopped behind. Waal, I thought I would wait for a bit and see +what they were arter. It weren't no consarn of mine noways, but I knew I +could catch up the waggons if I started in the afternoon, and I +concluded that I would just wait; so I sat by the fire and smoked. When +the caravan had gone on the Mormons hitched up their cattle again. They +were not very far away from where I was sitting, and I could see one of +the men in black pointing to me as he talked with the two chaps who had +just jined them. With that the fellow walked across to where I was +sitting. + +"'Going to camp here?' says he. + +"'Waal,' I says, 'I dunno, as I haven't made up my mind about it. Maybe +I shall, maybe I sha'n't.' + +"'I allow it would be better for you to move on.' + +"'And I allow,' says I, 'it would be better for you to attend to your +own affairs.' + +"'Look here,' says he, 'I hear as you have been a-spying about them +waggons.' + +"'Then,' says I, 'whosoever told you that, is an all-fired liar, and you +tell him so from me.' + +"I had got my hand on the butt of my Colt, and the fellow weakened. + +"'Waal,' he said, 'I have given you warning, that is all.' + +"'All right,' says I, 'I don't care none for your warnings; and I would +rather anyhow be shot down by white skunks dressed up as red-skins, than +I would have a hand in helping to fool a lot of innercent women.' + +"He swore pretty bad at this, but I could see as he wasn't real grit, +and he went off to the waggons. There was considerable talk when he got +there, but as the Mormons must have known as I had been a scout, and had +brought a lot of meat into the camp on the way, and as the chap that +came across must have seen my rifle lying handy beside me, I guess they +allowed that I had better be left alone. So a bit later the waggons +started, and as I expected they would, went up a side valley instead of +going on by the caravan route. The fellow had riz my dander, and after +sitting for a bit I made up my mind I would go after 'em. I had no +particular motive, it wur just out of cussedness. I was not going to be +bluffed from going whar I chose. This air a free country, and I had as +much right to go up that valley as they had." + +"I should have thought yer had had more common sense, Sam Hicks," Jerry +said reproachfully, "than to go a-mixing yourself up in a business in +which you had no sort of consarn. Ef one of them women had asked you to +help her, or if you had thought she was being taken away agin her will, +you or any other man would have had a right to take a hand in the game; +but as it was, you war just fooling with your life to interfere with +them Mormons in their own country." + +"That is so, Jerry, and I ain't a word to say agin it. It war just a +piece of cussedness, and I have asked myself forty-eleven times since, +what on arth made me make such a blame fool of myself. Afore that fellow +came over to bluff me I hadn't no thought of following the waggons, but +arter that I felt somehow as if he dared me to do it. I reckoned I was +more nor a match for the two fellows who just jined them, and as for the +greasy-faced chaps in black, I did not count them in, one way or the +other. I had no thought of getting the gals away, nor of getting into +any muss with them if they left me alone. It was just that I had got a +right to go up that valley or any other, and I was not going to be +bluffed out of it. So I took up my shooting-iron, strapped my blanket +over my shoulder, and started. They war maybe a mile away when I turned +into the valley. I wasn't hungry for a fight, so I didn't keep up the +middle, but just skirted along at the foot of the hill where it did not +seem likely as they would see me. I did not get any closer to them, and +only caught sight of them now and then. + +"As far as I could make out there was only one horseman with them, and I +reckoned the other was gone on ahead; looking for a camping-ground +maybe, or going on to one of the Mormon farms to tell them to get things +ready there. What I reckoned on doing, so far as I reckoned at all, was +to scout up to them as soon as it got dark and listen to their talk, and +try to find out for certain whether the women war goin' willing. Then I +thought as I would walk straight up to their fires and just bluff those +four men as they tried to bluff me. Waal, they went on until late in the +afternoon, unhitched the cattle, and camped. I waited for a bit, and now +that I war cooled down and could look at the thing reasonable, I allowed +to myself that I had showed up as a blamed fool, and I had pretty well +made up my mind to take back tracks and go down the valley, when I heard +the sound of some horses coming down fast from the camp. + +"Then the thought that I was a 'tarnal fool came to me pretty strong, +you bet. One of those fellows had ridden on and brought down some of the +Regulators, as we used to call them in the mining camps, but I believe +the Mormons call them Destroying Angels, though there is mighty little +of angels about them. I hoped now that they had not caught sight of me +during the day, and that the band were going right down to the waggon +camp; but as I had not taken any particular pains to hide myself, I +reckoned they must have made me out. It war pretty nigh dark, and as I +took cover behind a bush I could scarce see them as they rode along. +They went down about two hundred yards and then stopped, and I could +hear some of them dismount. + +"'You are sure we are far enough?' one said. + +"'Yes; I can swear he was higher up than this when we saw him just +before we camped.' + +"'If you two fellows hadn't been the worst kind of curs,' a man said +angrily, 'you would have hidden up as soon as you made out he was +following you and shot him as he came along.' + +"'I told you,' another voice said, 'that the man is an Indian fighter, +and a dead shot. Suppose we had missed him.' + +"'You could not have missed him if you had waited till he was close to +you before you fired; then you might have chucked him in among the +bushes and there would have been an end of it, and we should have been +saved a twenty-mile ride. Now then, look sharp for him and search every +bush. Between us and Johnson's party above we are sure to catch him.' + +"I didn't see that, though I did wish the rocks behind had not been so +'tarnal steep. I could have made my way up in the daylight, though even +then it would have been a tough job, but without light enough to see the +lay of the ledges and the best places for getting from one to another, +it was a business I didn't care about. I was just thinking of making +across to the other side of the valley when some horsemen came galloping +back. + +"'You stop here, brother Ephraim, and keep your ears well open, as well +as your eyes. You stop fifty yards higher up, Hiram, and the others at +the same distance apart. When the men among the rocks come abreast of +you, Ephraim, ride on and take your place at the other end of the line. +You do the same, Hiram, and so all in turn; I will ride up and down.' + +"It was clear they meant business, and I was doubting whether I would +take my chance of hiding or make for the cliff, when I saw a light +coming dancing down from the camp, and knew it was a chap on horseback +with a torch. As he came up the man who had spoken before said: 'How +many torches have you got, brother Williams?' + +"'A dozen of them.' + +"'Give me six, and take the other six down to the men below. That is +right, I will light one from yours.' + +"You may guess that settled me. I had got to git at once, so I began to +crawl off towards the foot of the cliffs. By the time I had got there, +there war six torches burning a hundred yards below, and the men who +carried them were searching every bush and prying under every rock. +Along the middle of the valley six other torches were burning fifty +yards apart. There was one advantage, the torches were pitch-pine and +gave a fairish light, but not so much as tarred rope would have done; +but it was enough for me to be able to make out the face of the cliff, +and I saw a break by which I could get up for a good bit anyhow. It was +where a torrent came down when the snows were melting, and as soon as I +had got to the bottom I made straight up. There were rocks piled at its +foot, and I got to the top of these without being seen. + +"I hadn't got a dozen feet higher when my foot set a boulder rolling, +and down it went with a crash. There were shouts below, but I did not +stop to listen to what they said, but put up the bed of the torrent at a +two-forty gait. A shot rang out, and another and another, but I was +getting now above the light of their torches. A hundred feet higher I +came to a stand-still, for the rock rose right up in front of me, and +the water had here come down from above in a fall. This made it a tight +place, you bet. There war no ledge as I could see that I could get +along, and I should have to go down a good bit afore I got to one. They +kept on firing from below, but I felt pretty sure that they could not +see me, for I could hear the bullets striking high against the face of +the rock that had stopped me. + +"You may bet I was careful how I went down again, and I took my time, +for I could see that the men with the torches had halted at the foot of +the heap of rocks below, not caring much, I expect, to begin to mount, +while the horsemen kept on firing, hoping to hear my body come rolling +down; besides, they must have known that with their torches they made a +pretty sure mark for me. At last I got down to the ledge. It war a +narrow one, and for a few yards I had to walk with my face to the rock +and my arms spread out, and that, when I knew that at any moment they +might make me out, and their bullets come singing up, warn't by no means +pleasant. In a few yards the ledge got wider and there was room enough +on it for me to lie down. I crawled along for a good bit, and then sat +down with my back against the rock and reckoned the matter up. All the +torches war gathered round where I had gone up. Four more men had come +down from the camp on horseback, and five or six on foot with torches +were running down the valley. They had been searching for me among the +bushes higher up, and when they heard the firing had started down to +jine the others. The leader was shouting to the men to climb up after +me, but the men didn't seem to see it. + +"'What's the use?' I heard one fellow say; 'he must be chock-full of +bullets long ago. We will go up and find his carcass in the morning.' + +"'But suppose he is not dead, you fool.' + +"'Well, if he ain't dead he would just pick us off one after another as +we went up with torches.' + +"'Well, put your torches out, then. Here, I will go first if you are +afraid,' and he jumped from his horse. + +"You can bet your boots that my fingers itched to put a bullet into him. +But it warn't to be done; I did not know how far the ledge went or +whether there might be any way of getting off it, and now I had once got +out of their sight it would have been chucking away my life to let them +know whar I lay. So I got up again and walked on a bit farther. I came +on a place where the rock had crumbled enough for me to be able to get +up on to the next ledge, and after a lot of climbing up and down I got +to the top in about two hours, and then struck across the hills and came +down at eight o'clock next morning on to the caravan track. I hid up +till evening in case they should come down after me, and next morning I +came up to the caravan just as they were hitching the teams up for a +start." + +"You got out of that better than you deserved," Harry said. "I wouldn't +have believed that any man would have played such a fool's trick as to +go meddling with the Mormons in their own country without any kind of +reason. It war worse than childishness." + +The other two miners assented vigorously, and Sam said: "Waal, you can't +think more meanly of me over that business than I do of myself. I have +never been able to make out why I did it, and you may bet it ain't often +I tells the story. It war a dog-goned piece of foolishness, and, as +Harry says, I didn't desarve to get out of it as I did. Still, it ain't +made me feel any kind of love for Mormons. When about two hundred shots +have been fired at a man it makes him feel kinder like as if he war +going to pay some of them back when he gets the chance, and you may bet +I mean to." + +"Jee-rusalem!" + +The exclamation was elicited by the fall of a heavy mass of snow on to +the fire, over which the kettle had just begun to boil. The tripod from +which it hung was knocked over. A cloud of steam filled the place, and +the party all sprung to their feet to avoid being scalded. + +"It might have waited a few minutes longer," Jerry grumbled, "then we +should have had our tea comfortable. Now the fire is out and the water +is spilt, and we have got to fetch in some more snow; that is the last +lot there was melted." + +"It is all in the day's work, Jerry," Harry said cheerfully, "and it is +just as well we should have something to do. I will fetch the snow in if +the rest of you will clear the hearth again. It is a nuisance about the +snow, but we agreed that there is no help for it, and we may thank our +stars it is no worse." + +It was not long before the fire was blazing again, but it took some time +before water was boiling and tea made, still longer before the bread +which had been soddened by the water from the kettle was fit to eat. By +this time it was dark. When the meal was over they all turned in for the +night. Tom was just going off to sleep, when he was roused by Leaping +Dog suddenly throwing off his buffalo robe and springing to his feet +with his rifle in his hand. + +"Hist!" he said in a low tone. "Something comes!" + +The men all seized their rifles and listened intently. Presently they +heard a soft step on the snow outside, then there was a snuffing sound. + +"B'ar!" the Indian said. + +A moment later a great head reared itself over the bushes at the +entrance. Five rifles rang out, the two Indians reserving their fire; +the report was followed by the dull sound of a heavy fall outside. + +"Wait a moment," Harry said sharply, as the others were preparing to +rush out, "let us make sure he is dead." + +"He is dead enough," Jerry said. "I reckon even a grizzly cannot walk +off with five bullets in his head." + +Harry looked over the screen. "Yes, he is dead enough; anyhow he looks +so. Waal, this is a piece of luck." They all stepped out on to the +platform. + +"Is it a grizzly, uncle?" Tom asked excitedly. + +"He is a grizzly, sure enough. You don't want to see his colour to know +that. Look at his size." + +"Why, he is as big as a cow." + +"Ay, lad, and a big cow too. You go in and make up the fire while we cut +off enough meat for supper." + +The fact that they had eaten a meal but half an hour before, went for +nothing; slices of bear-meat were soon frizzling, and as hearty a meal +was eaten as if no food had been tasted since the previous day. The men +were in the highest spirits; the fact that they were out of meat had +been the greatest drawback to the prospect of being shut up for perhaps +a week, for badly-baked bread is but a poor diet to men accustomed to +live almost exclusively upon meat. + +"What brought the bear down here?" Tom asked. + +"Curiosity at first perhaps, and then hunger," his uncle replied. "I +expect he was going along on the path above when he saw the light among +the leaves, and then no doubt he smelt the bread, and perhaps us and the +horses, and came down to see what he could get. + +"Curiosity is a bad fault, Tom. You have had two lessons in that this +evening. Bear in mind that in this part of the world the safest plan is +always to attend strictly to your own business." + +All thought of sleep was for the present dissipated; their pipes were +again lighted, and it was midnight before they lay down. In the morning +the bear was with some difficulty skinned and cut up, the joints being +left outside to freeze through. The snow still fell steadily, but the +wind had almost died down. Sallying out they cut five or six long poles, +and with some difficulty fixed these from above across from the cliff to +the outstanding rock, pushed the bear's-skin across them, and lashed it +there, its bulk being sufficient to cover the space above the fire and a +considerable portion of their dwelling room. + +After breakfast snow was again melted for the horses, and the work for +the day thus done they seated themselves contentedly round the fire. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +AN AVALANCHE + + +"You don't think, chief," Harry asked, "that there is any chance of the +'Rappahoes taking it into their heads to come up to have a look round?" + +"Indians keep in lodges, no like cold; they think we have gone on over +pass. If weather gets fine perhaps they come to look for our guns and +packs. They think sure we die in snow-storm when we up in pass. When +snow stops falling, we make no more fire; but path from valley all shut +up by snow now." + +"Yes, I don't think anyone would try to climb it till the sun has +cleared the track; it was a pretty bad place when we came up," Harry +said. "I don't say that men on foot could not make their way up; but as +you say, the red-skins are not likely to try it until the weather has +cleared a bit, though I don't say that they wouldn't if they knew we +were camped here close to the top." + +"What noise is that?" Tom asked. "I have heard it several times before, +but not so loud as that." + +"Snow-slide," Leaping Horse said. "Snow come down from mountains; break +off trees, roll rocks down. Bad place all along here." + +"Yes. I saw that you looked up at the hills behind there before you +looked over the edge here, chief," Ben Gulston said, "and I reckoned +that you had snow-slides in your mind. I thought myself that it was like +enough the snow might come tumbling over the edge of that high wall and +then come scooting down over where we war, and there would have been no +sort of show for us if we had been camped whar the trail goes along." + +"Leaping Horse has heard from his red brothers with whom he has spoken +that trail from top of valley very bad when snow falls. Many Indians +stopping too long at fort, to trade goods, have been swept away by +snow-slides when caught in storm here." + +"I thought it looked a bad place," Harry remarked. "There ain't no +fooling with a snow-slide anyway. I have come across bones once or twice +lying scattered about in snug-looking valleys--bones of horses and men, +and it was easy to see they had been killed by a snow-slide coming down +on them. Rocks were heaped about among them, some of the bones were +smashed. They had been hunting or trapping, and sheltered up in a valley +when the storm came on and the slide had fallen on them, and there they +had laid till the sun melted the snow in summer, when the coyotes and +the vultures would soon clean the bones." He broke off suddenly; there +was a dull sound, and at the same moment a distinct vibration of the +ground, then a rustling murmur mingled with a rumbling as of a waggon +passing over a rocky ground. + +"There is another one," Jerry exclaimed, "and it is somewhere just above +us. Keep your backs to the wall, boys." + +[Illustration: "There Is Another Avalanche, Keep Your Backs To The Wall, +Boys"] + +Louder and louder grew the sound; the tremor of the earth increased, the +horses neighed with fright, the men stood with their backs against the +rock next to the hill. Suddenly the light was darkened as a vast mass of +snow mingled with rocks of all sizes leapt like a torrent over the edge +of the cliff, the impetus carrying it over the outer wall of their +shelter and down into the ravine. There was a mighty sound of the +crashing of trees, mingled with a thumping and rolling of the rocks as +they clashed against the side of the ravine and went leaping down into +the valley. The ground shook with a continuous tremor, and then the +light returned as suddenly as it had been cut off, and a few seconds +later a dead stillness succeeded the deafening roar from below. The +passage of the avalanche overhead had lasted but a minute, though to the +men standing below it the time had seemed vastly longer. Instinctively +they had pressed themselves against the rock, almost holding their +breath, and expecting momentarily that one of the boulders in its +passage would strike the top of the outside wall and fall in fragments +among them. The silence that followed was unbroken for some seconds, and +then Sam Hicks stepped a pace forward. + +"Jee-rusalem!" he said, "that was a close call. I don't know how you +felt, boys, but it seemed as if all the sand had gone out of me, and I +weakened so that my knees have not done shaking yet." + +The men, accustomed as they were to danger, were all equally affected. +Tom felt relieved to see that the others all looked pale and shaken, for +he was conscious that he had been in a terrible fright, and that his +legs would scarcely support his weight. + +"I am glad to hear you say so, Sam, for I was in an awful funk; but I +should not have said so if you hadn't spoken." + +"You needn't be ashamed of that, Tom," his uncle put in. "You showed +plenty of pluck when we were in trouble with the red-skins, but I am +sure there was not one of us that did not weaken when that snow-slide +shot over us; and none of us need be ashamed to say so. A man with good +grit will brace up, keep his head cool and his fingers steady on the +trigger to the last, though he knows that he has come to the end of his +journey and has got to go down; but it is when there is nothing to do, +no fight to be made, when you are as helpless as a child and have no +sort of show, that the grit runs out of your boots. I have fought +red-skins and Mexicans a score of times; I have been in a dozen shooting +scrapes in saloons at the diggings; but I don't know that I ever felt so +scared as I did just now. Ben, there is a jar of whisky in our outfit; +we agreed we would not touch it unless one of us got hurt or ill, but I +think a drop of medicine all round now wouldn't be out of place." + +There was a general assent. "But before we take it," he went on, "we +will take off our hats and say 'Thank God' for having taken us safe +through this thing. If He had put this shelter here for us express, He +could not have planted it better for us, and the least we can do is to +thank Him for having pulled us through it safe." + +The men all took off their hats, and stood silent for a minute or two +with bent heads. When they had replaced their hats Ben Gulston went to +the corner where the pack-saddles and packs were piled, took out a small +keg, and poured out some whisky for each of the white men. The others +drank it straight; Tom mixed some water with his, and felt a good deal +better after drinking it. Ben did not offer it to the Indians, neither +of whom would touch spirits on any occasion. + +"It is a good friend and a bad enemy," Harry said as he tossed off his +portion. "As a rule there ain't no doubt that one is better without it; +but there is no better medicine to carry about with you. I have seen +many a life saved by a bottle of whisky. Taken after the bite of a +rattlesnake, it is as good a thing as there is. In case of fever, and +when a man is just tired out after a twenty-four hours' tramp, a drop of +it will put new life into him for a bit. But I don't say as it hasn't +killed a sight more than it has cured. It is at the bottom of pretty +nigh every shooting scrape in the camps, and has been the ruin of +hundreds of good men who would have done well if they could but have +kept from it." + +"But you ain't a temperance man yourself, Harry?" + +"No, Sam; but then, thank God, I am master of the liquor, and not the +liquor of me. I can take a glass, or perhaps two, without wanting more. +Though I have made a fool of myself in many ways since I have come out +here, no man can say he ever saw me drunk; if liquor were to get the +better of me once, I would swear off for the rest of my life. Don't you +ever take to it, Tom; that is, not to get so as to like to go on +drinking it. In our life we often have to go for months without it, and +a man has got to be very careful when he goes down to the settlements, +else it would be sure to get over him." + +"I don't care for it at all, uncle." + +"See you don't get to care for it, Tom. There are plenty start as you +do, and before they have been out here long they do get to like it, and +from that day they are never any good. It is a big temptation. A man has +been hunting or trapping, or fossicking for gold in the hills for +months, and he comes down to a fort or town and he meets a lot of mates. +One says 'Have a drink?' and another asks you, and it is mighty hard to +be always saying 'no'; and there ain't much to do in these places but to +drink or to gamble. A man here ain't so much to be blamed as folks who +live in comfortable houses, and have got wives and families and decent +places of amusement, and books and all that sort of thing, if they take +to drink or gambling. I have not any right to preach, for if I don't +drink I do gamble; that is, I have done; though I swore off that when I +got the letter telling me that your father had gone. Then I thought what +a fool I had made of myself for years. Why, if I had kept all the gold I +had dug I could go home now and live comfortably for the rest of my +life, and have a home for my nieces, as I ought to have. However, I have +done with it now. And I am mighty glad it was the cards and not drink +that took my dust, for it is a great deal easier to give up cards than +it is to give up liquor when you have once taken to it. Now let us talk +of something else; I vote we take a turn up on to the trail, and see +what the snow-slide has done." + +Throwing the buffalo robes round their shoulders the party went outside. +The air was too thick with snow to enable them to perceive from the +platform the destruction it had wrought in the valley below, but upon +ascending the path to the level above, the track of the avalanche was +plainly marked indeed. For the width of a hundred yards, the white +mantle of snow, that covered the slope up to the point where the wall of +cliff rose abruptly, had been cleared away as if with a mighty broom. +Every rock and boulder lying upon it had been swept off, and the surface +of the bare rock lay flat, and unbroken by even a tuft of grass. They +walked along the edge until they looked down upon their shelter. The +bear's hide was still in its place, sloping like a pent-house roof, from +its upper side two or three inches below the edge of the rock, to the +other wall three feet lower. It was, however, stripped of its hair, as +cleanly as if it had been shorn off with a razor, by the friction of the +snow that had shot down along it. + +"That is the blamedest odd thing I ever saw," Sam Hicks said. "I wonder +the weight of the snow didn't break it in." + +"I expect it just shot over it, Sam," Harry said. "It must have been +travelling so mighty fast that the whole mass jumped across, only just +rubbing the skin. Of course the boulders and stones must have gone clean +over. That shows what a narrow escape we have had; for if that outer +rock had been a foot or so higher, the skin would have caved in, and our +place would have been filled chock up with snow in a moment. Waal, we +may as well turn in again, for I feel cold to the bones already." + +On the evening of the fifth day the snow ceased falling, and next +morning the sky was clear and bright. Preparations were at once made for +a start. A batch of bread had been baked on the previous evening. Some +buckets of hot gruel were given to the horses, a meal was hastily eaten, +the horses saddled and the packs arranged, and before the sun had been +up half an hour they were on their way. The usual stillness of the +mountains was broken by a variety of sounds. From the valley at their +feet came up sharp reports, as a limb of a tree, or sometimes the tree +itself, broke beneath the weight of the snow. A dull rumbling sound, +echoing from hill to hill, told of the falls of avalanches. Scarcely had +the echoes of one ceased, than they began again in a fresh quarter. The +journey was toilsome in the extreme, for the horses' hoofs sank deep in +the freshly-fallen snow, rendering their progress exceedingly slow. + +"If we had been sure that this weather would hold, chief, it would have +been better to have waited a few days before making our start, for by +that time the snow would have been hard enough to travel on." + +The chief shook his head. "Winter coming for good," he said, waving his +hand towards the range of snowy summits to the north. "Clouds there +still; if stop, not able to cross pass till next summer." + +"That is so; we agreed as to that yesterday, and that if we don't get +over now the chances are we shall never get over at all. Yet, it is a +pity we can't wait a few days for a crust to form on the snow." + +Twice in the course of the next hour avalanches came down from the hills +above them; the first sweeping down into the valley a quarter of a mile +behind them, the next but two or three hundred yards ahead of them. +Scarcely a word was spoken from end to end of the line. They travelled +in Indian file, and each horse stepped in the footprints of its +predecessor. Every few hundred yards they changed places, for the labour +of the first horse was very much heavier than of those following. At the +end of an hour the men drew together for a consultation. There was a +wide break in the line of cliffs, and a valley ran nearly due south. + +"What do you think, chief? This confounded snow has covered up all signs +of the trail, and we have got to find our own way. There is no doubt +this valley below is running a deal too much to the west, and that the +trail must strike off somewhere south. It looks to me as if that were a +likely valley through the cliff. There is no hiding the fact that if we +take the wrong turn we are all gone coons." + +"Leaping Horse knows no more than his brother," the chief said gravely. +"He knows the pass is on the western side of the great peak. The great +peak lies there," and he pointed a little to the west of the break in +the hills up which they were looking. + +"It may be that we must cross the hills into another valley, or perhaps +this will turn west presently." + +"I tell you what, Harry," Sam Hicks said, "my opinion is, that our best +plan by a long chalk will be to go back to our last place and to stop +there for a bit. We have got b'ar's flesh enough for another fortnight, +and we may kill some more game afore that is done. Ef this is but a +spell of snow it may melt enough in another ten days for us to make out +the trail and follow it. Ef, as the chief thinks, we have got winter +right down on us, we must wait till the snow crust hardens ef it is a +month or double. Anything is better than going on like this. What with +this soft snow and these 'tarnal snow-slides, there ain't no more chance +of our getting over that pass in one day's journey, than there air in +our flying right down to Salt Lake City. Ef the worst comes to the +worst, I tell yer I would rather go back and take our chance of +following the Big Wind River down, and fighting the red-skins, than I +would of crossing over these dog-goned hills." + +The other three men were of the same opinion. + +"Well, what do you say, chief?" Harry asked the Indian. + +"Leaping Horse thinks that the trail will not be found until next +summer," the chief replied quietly. "Heap of hills in front and heap of +snow. If snow-storm catch us in the hills no find way anywhere. Leaping +Horse is ready to do whatever his white brother thinks." + +"Well, I am with the others," Harry said. "I don't like the look of +those clouds. They are quiet enough now, but they may begin to shift any +time, and, as you say, if we are caught in a snow-storm on the hills +there is an end of us. I think Sam is right. Even if we have to rustle +all through the winter in that hut there, I would rather face it than +keep on." + +That settled it. The horses' heads were turned, and they retraced their +steps until they reached the shelter. The bear's-skin had been left +where it was, the fire was soon set going, and there was a general +feeling of satisfaction as they laid out the robes and blankets again. + +"Look here, boys," Harry said, "this is not going to be a holiday time, +you bet. We have got to make this place a sight snugger than it is now, +for, I tell you, when the winter sets in in earnest, it will be cold +enough here to freeze a buffalo solid in an hour. We have got to set to +work to make a roof all over this place, and we have got to hunt to lay +in a big stock of meat. We have got to get a big store of food for the +horses, for we must be mighty careful with our flour now. We can wait a +fortnight to see how things go, but if it is clear then that we have got +to fight it out here through the winter, we must shoot the pack-ponies +at once, and I reckon the others will all have to go later. However, we +will give them a chance as long as we can." + +"Take them down into the valley," the chief said. "All Indian horses." + +"Ah, I didn't think of that, chief. Yes, they are accustomed to rustle +for their living, and they may make a shift to hold on down there. I +don't think there is much fear of Indians coming up." + +"No Indians," Leaping Horse said. "Indians go away when winter set in. +Some go to forest, some go to lodges right down valley. No stop up here +in mountains. When winter comes plenty game--big-horn, wapiti." + +"Ah, that is a more cheerful look-out, chief. If we can get plenty of +meat we can manage without flour, and can go down and give the ponies a +pail of hot gruel once a week, which will help them to keep life +together. The first thing, I take it, is to cut some poles for the roof. +I am afraid we shall have to go down to the bottom for them." + +"Waal, we needn't begin that till to-morrow," Sam Hicks said. "If we had +them, we have got no skins to cover them." + +"Cut brushwood," Indian said. "First put plenty of brushwood on poles, +then put skins over." + +"Yes, that is the plan, chief. Well, if we get down there we shall have +to take our shovels and clear the snow off some of the narrow ledges. If +we do that we can lead one of the horses down to pack the poles up +here." + +The chief went out on to the platform. "No use clear snow now. Clouds +moving. In two hours snow fall again." + +The others joined him outside. "I reckon you are right, chief," Jerry +said. "It is mighty lucky we didn't go on. It can't be much worse here +than it was before." + +At three in the afternoon it began to snow heavily again. There was less +wind than there had been on the previous occasion, and the snow drifted +through the entrance less than before. Just as they were turning in for +the night an ominous crack was heard above. All leapt from their +blankets, and looking up they could see by the light of the fire that +the poles supporting the skin were all bent in a curve downwards. + +"Jee-rusalem!" Sam Hicks exclaimed, "the whole outfit will be coming +down on us." + +"That it will, Sam. You see, there is no wind as there was before, and +one of our jobs will be keeping the roof clear of snow. Turn out, boys; +we must get rid of it somehow." + +They at once set to work to lash two poles, some eight feet long, to the +handles of the shovels, and as soon as this was done they all turned +out. On reaching the edge of the ravine above the roof, they first +cleared away the snow down to the rock so as to have firm standing, and +then proceeded to shovel the snow off the surface of the skin. It was +easier work than they expected, for as soon as it was touched it slid +down the incline, and in a very few minutes the whole was cleared off. + +"I think that is good until morning now," Harry said. "As long as the +snow lasts we shall have to do it every few hours. Directly we get a +spell of fine weather we must put some more poles under it to strengthen +it." + +For six days the snow continued to fall without intermission. At +daybreak, at mid-day, and the last thing before they turned in at night +the snow was cleared off the hide. With this exception they did not stir +out of the shelter. They had also each day to clear out the inner +portion of the fissure, as the snow now frequently broke through the +trees in masses, startling the horses, and keeping them in a state of +restlessness. The sixth day it stopped snowing, and the next morning the +sky was bright and clear. The whole party at once started out, two of +them taking shovels, and the rest brooms that they had made during the +long hours of their confinement. By the middle of the day they had +cleared the path down into the valley, and on their way back to dinner +each carried up a large bundle of faggots. + +The meal was cooked and eaten hastily, and the whole of the horses were +then led down into the valley. Here a couple of dozen stout poles for +the roof were cut by the whites, the two Indians at once going up the +valley in search of game. In half an hour two rifle-shots were heard, +and presently Hunting Dog ran in with the news that they had killed two +wapiti. Jerry and Sam Hicks at once went off with him, leading two +horses, and presently returned with the dead deer fastened across their +backs. + +"They are very like pictures I have seen of moose," Tom said to his +uncle as he examined the great stags. + +"New-comers often call them moose, Tom; but there is a difference +between them, though what the difference is I cannot tell you, for I +have never hunted moose. I believe the wapiti are peculiar to the West. +They often go in great herds of three or four hundreds together." + +"The chief says there are a great many of them up the valley," Jerry put +in. "They made off when he fired, but I could see their foot-tracks +myself all about. He says they have been driven down here by the storm +for shelter. He has gone round with the lad to head them back." + +"That is good news, Jerry. The meat we have got already will last some +time, but it is as well to lay in a good stock, and we want the skins +badly to make our roof. You had better lead these horses to the foot of +the path, and then we will all take our post behind trees across the +valley." + +An hour later they heard the reports of two rifles a long way up the +valley, and all stood in readiness. A few minutes later there was a dull +trampling sound, and almost directly afterwards a herd of wapiti came +along at a heavy trot, ploughing their way but slowly through the snow. + +"Don't use your revolvers, boys," Harry had said, "except to finish off +a stag you have wounded with your rifle. The chance is all against your +bringing them down, and the poor brutes would only get away to die." + +One after another the rifles rang out. Tom and his uncle both had the +satisfaction of seeing the stags they had aimed at, plunge forward +before they had gone many yards farther, and roll over dead. The other +three had each hit the animal they aimed at, but as these kept on their +course they dashed out in pursuit, firing their Colts, which in their +hands were as deadly weapons as a rifle, and the three stags all fell, +although one got nearly half a mile down the valley before he succumbed. +A carcass was hoisted on to each of the horses' backs, and the loaded +animals were then led up the track. + +"Shall I wait until the Indians come back, uncle, and tell them why you +have gone up?" + +"There is no occasion for that, Tom; they would hear the shots, and will +have guessed what has happened." + +The poles were divided among the men and carried up to the top of the +path, and laid down just above the shelter. Harry and Sam Hicks at once +proceeded to cut them up into proper lengths, while the others skinned +and cut up the deer. A number of thongs were cut from one of the hides +for lashing cross-poles across those that were to act as ridge-poles. +The bear's-skin was removed and additional poles placed at that spot, +and all working together the framework of the roof was completed by +nightfall. The Indians had returned soon after the party began their +work, and taking their horses down fetched up the deer they had killed. + +In the morning the roof was completed, hides being stretched over the +framework and securely lashed to it with thongs. The whole of the trees +and brushwood were then chopped down close to the ground so as to leave +a level floor. The foliage was given to the horses, and the wood cut up +and piled for fuel. The chief reported that at the upper end of the +valley there was a thick pine-wood, which would give good shelter to the +horses. Near it were plenty of bushes, and a level tract which had been +a beaver meadow, and was thickly covered with grass, as he could see +where the wapiti had scratched away the snow to get at it. This was +excellent news, for the question of how the horses could be fed through +the winter had troubled them much more than that of their own +maintenance. The joints of venison were hung up on a pole outside what +they now called their hut, one or two hams being suspended from the +rafters over the fire, to be smoked. + +"We shall have to rig up a b'ar-trap outside," Ben said, "or we shall be +having them here after the meat; and a b'ar's ham now and then will make +a change. Wapiti flesh ain't bad, but we should get dog-goned tired of +it arter a bit." + +"You may bet we shall, Ben," Jerry agreed; "but I reckon that we shall +be able to get a lot of game through the winter. That valley down there +is just the place for them to shelter in, and I hope we shall get a +big-horn now and then. It will be a difficult thing to make a b'ar-trap +outside. A grizzly wants a pretty strong pen to keep him in, and though +the horses might drag up some big beams from below, there ain't no +fastening them in this rock." + +"No; I don't think we can make that sort of trap," Harry said. "We must +contrive something else. We need not do all our work at once; we have +got plenty of time before us. We want three or four more skins to finish +our hut." + +"You mean to fill up the entrance?" + +"Yes; we will sew them together, and make a curtain to hang from the +edge of the roof to the ground. I tell you it is going to be mighty cold +here, and besides, it will keep the snow from drifting in." + +"I wish to goodness we could make a chimney," Tom said. "The smoke went +up through the leaves all right, but my eyes are watering now, and if +you fill up the end with skins it will be something awful." + +"You will get accustomed to it, Tom; but, of course, we must make a hole +at the top when we fill up the entrance. What do you think is the next +thing to be done, chief?" + +"Get wood," the chief said emphatically. "Must fill all the end of hut +with wood." + +"That will be a big job, chief, but there is no doubt we must lay in a +great store of it. Well, there is plenty of timber down in the valley, +and with ten horses we can bring up a tidy lot every day." + +"Let us cut quick before snow comes again." + +"We will begin to-morrow morning, chief. I agree with you, the sooner +the better." + +Accordingly the next morning they went down to the valley. They had but +two axes, and Jerry and Sam Hicks, who had both done a good deal of +wood-cutting, undertook this portion of the work. The others took the +horses up to the beaver meadow, where they at once began scraping at the +snow, and were soon munching away at the rich grass. + +"Why do you call it a beaver meadow, uncle? I don't see any beavers." + +"They have gone long ago, perhaps a hundred years. As we know, this +valley is occupied by the Indians in summer, and they would soon clear +out the beavers. But it is called a beaver meadow because it was made by +them. They set to work and dammed up the stream, and gradually all this +flat became a lake. Well, in time, you know, leaves from the woods +above, and soil and dead wood and other things brought down by the +stream, gradually filled up the bottom. Then the beavers were killed, +and their dams went to ruin and the water drained off, and in a short +time grass began to grow. There are hundreds, ay, and thousands of +beaver meadows among the hills, and on the little streams that run into +the big rivers, and nowhere is the grass so rich. You will often see an +Indian village by one of these meadows. They grow their roots and plant +their corn there. The horses will do first-rate here through the winter +if the snow don't get too deep for them, and, anyhow, we can help them +out with a bucket of gruel occasionally." + +"It will be awfully cold for them, though." + +"It will be coldish, no doubt, but Indian ponies are accustomed to it." + +"I should think, uncle, it would not take much trouble to make them a +sort of shed up among the trees there." + +Sam laughed, and even the chief smiled. + +"It would not be a bad plan, Tom," his uncle said; "not so much for the +sake of the warmth, though there is no doubt that the warmer they are +the less they can do with to eat, but if they have a place to go to they +are less likely to wander away, and we shall not have the trouble of +hunting for them. Well, we will think it over." + +Following the valley up, they found that it extended some ten miles +farther, for the last two of which it was but a narrow caņon a few yards +wide. They shot a black bear and four small deer, and returned carrying +the skins, the hind-quarters of the deer, and the bear's hams. + +"We seem to have got meat enough for anything," Tom remonstrated when +they shot the deer. + +"Seven men will get through a lot of meat, Tom, when they have nothing +else to go with it; and we may be weeks before we can put our heads out +of our hut. Besides, the skins will be useful. We shall want deer-skin +shirts, trousers, and socks and caps; and the skin of these deer is +softer and more pliable than that of the wapiti. I don't want to kill +more than I can help, lad, for I hate taking life without there is a +necessity for it, but we can do with a lot more skins before we are +stocked." + +When, driving the horses before them, they returned to the woodcutters, +they found they had cut down and chopped into logs a number of trees; +and Tom was quite astonished at the great pile of firewood that had been +got ready by them in the course of a day's work. The logs were made up +into bundles, each weighing about eighty pounds. These were tied +together with the horses' lariats, and then secured, one on each side of +the saddle, two of the horses carrying the meat. Harry took the bridle +of his horse and started up the path, the others following at once. + +"That is a good day's work," Harry said as the logs were piled at the +inner end of the hut. "That is about half a ton of wood. If we have but +a week of open weather we shall have a good store in our cellar." + +The work continued steadily for a week. The horses were each day taken +to feed at the meadow, the two wood-choppers continued their work, while +the rest of the party hunted. The Indians had on the second day gone +down the valley, and returned with the report that the Indian lodges had +all disappeared and that the valley was entirely deserted. Eight more +wapiti were killed during the week, and fourteen smaller deer. Of an +evening they occupied themselves in sewing the skins together with +thongs of leather, the holes being made with their knives; and a curtain +at the mouth of the hut was completed and hung. Four wide slabs of wood +had been cut. These had been bound together with thongs so as to form a +sort of chimney four feet high, and with a good deal of difficulty this +was secured by props in its position over a hole cut through the skins, +above the fire. + +"The first avalanche will carry it away, Tom." + +"Yes, uncle; but we have had one avalanche here, and it seems to me the +chances are strongly against our having another in exactly the same +place." + +The skins of the smaller deer were carefully scraped with knives on the +inner side, smeared with bears' fat, and then rubbed and kneaded until +they were perfectly soft. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +WINTER + + +The erection of Tom's shed for the horses did not take long. The whole +party, with the exception of the two Indians,--who, as usual, went +hunting,--proceeded to the pine-wood above the beaver meadow. After a +little search six trees were found conveniently situated with regard to +each other. The axemen cut down three young firs. One was lashed by the +others between the two central trees, to form a ridge-pole eight feet +from the ground; the others against the other trees, at a height of +three feet, to support the lower ends of the roof. They were but ten +feet apart, so that the roof might have a considerable pitch. Numbers of +other young trees were felled and fixed, six inches apart, from the +ridge down to the eaves. On these the branches of the young fir-trees +were thickly laid, and light poles were lashed lengthways over them to +keep them in their places. + +As the poles of the roof had been cut long enough to extend down to the +ground, no side walls were necessary. The ends were formed of poles +lashed across to the side trees, but extending down only to within four +feet six of the ground, so as to allow the horses to pass under, and +were, like the roof, thickly covered with boughs. The lower ends were +left open for a width of four feet in the middle, uprights being driven +into the ground and the sides completed as before. + +"What do you want a doorway at both ends for?" Tom asked. "It would have +been easier and quicker to have shut one end up altogether, and it would +be a good deal warmer." + +"So it would, Tom; but if a grizzly were to appear at the door, what +would the horses do? They would be caught in a trap." + +"Do you think they are likely to come, uncle?" + +"The likeliest thing in the world, Tom. Horses can smell bear a good +distance off, and if they heard one either coming down or going up the +valley, they would bolt through the opposite door. They will do +first-rate here; they will stand pretty close together, and the warmth +of their bodies will heat the place up. They won't know themselves, they +will be so comfortable. It has only taken us a day's work to make the +shed; and though we laughed at your idea at first, I think now that the +day has been well spent in getting them up such a good shelter. Jerry +has got the big pail boiling over his fire, and we will put in a few +handfuls of the flour we brought down. Bring the horses in from the +meadow, and we will give them each a drink of gruel in the shed. They +will soon learn that it is to be their home." + +For two more days the open weather continued, and the horses took up +three loads of wood each afternoon, as they had done the previous week. +Then, as there were signs of change, they were given a good feed at +their shed; the saddles were taken off and hung up on some cross-poles +over their heads. + +The party had scarcely returned to the hut when the snow began to fall. +They were, however, weather-proof, and felt the immense additional +comfort of the changes they had made. Their stock of firewood was now a +very large one. At each journey the horses had brought up about fifteen +hundredweight; and as the work had gone on for nine days, they had, they +calculated, something like fourteen tons of firewood neatly stacked. +They had also a stock of poles in case the roof should require +strengthening. A certain amount of light found its way in at the edges +of the curtain across the entrance, but they depended principally upon +the fire-light. The smoke, however, was a serious grievance, and even +the men were forced occasionally to go outside into the open air to +allay the smarting of their eyes. + +"Don't you think, uncle, we might do something to dry the wood?" + +"I can't see that we can do more than we are doing, Tom. We always keep +a dozen logs lying round the fire to dry a bit before they are put on." + +"I should think we might make a sort of stage about four feet above the +fire and keep some logs up there. We might pile them so that the hot air +and smoke could go up through them. They would dry a great deal faster +there than merely lying down on the ground." + +"I think the idea is a very good one, Tom; but we shall have to make the +frame pretty strong, for if it happened to come down it might break some +of our legs." + +The men all agreed that the idea was a capital one, and after some +consultation they set to to carry it out. Two strong poles were first +chosen. These were cut carefully to the right length, and were jambed +between the rocks at a height of seven feet above the floor and five +feet apart. They were driven in and wedged so tightly that they could +each bear the weight of two men swinging upon them without moving. Then +four upright poles were lashed to them, five feet apart, and these were +connected with cross-poles. + +"That is strong enough for anything," Jerry said when the structure had +been so far completed. "If a horse were to run against one of the poles +he would hardly bring the thing down." + +Four other short poles were now lashed to the uprights three feet below +the upper framework, and were crossed by others so as to form a +gridiron. On this, the logs were laid in tiers crossing each other, +sufficient space being left between them to allow for the passage of the +hot air. + +"That is a splendid contrivance," Harry said when they took their seats +on the buffalo robes round the fire and looked up admiringly at their +work. "The logs will get as dry as chips, and in future we sha'n't be +bothered with the smoke. Besides, it will do to stand the pail and pots +full of snow there, and keep a supply of water, without putting them +down into the fire and running the risk of an upset." + +They had occupation now in manufacturing a suit of clothes a-piece from +the deer-skins. As the work required to be neater than that which +sufficed for the making of the curtain, pointed sticks hardened in the +fire were used for making the holes, and the thongs that served as +thread were cut as finely as possible; this being done by the Indians, +who turned them out no thicker than pack-thread. + +There was no occasion for hurry, and there was much laughing and joking +over the work. Their hunting-shirts and breeches served as patterns from +which to cut out the skins; and as each strove to outvie the others, the +garments when completed were very fair specimens of work. The +hunting-shirts were made with hoods that, when pulled over the head, +covered the whole face except the eyes, nose, and mouth. As they had +plenty of skin, the hoods and shirts were made double, so that there was +hair both inside and out. They were made to come down half-way to the +knee, being kept close at the waists by their belts. The leggings were +made of single thickness only, as they would be worn over their +breeches; they were long and reached down below the ankle. The Indians +made fresh moccasins for the whole party; they were made higher than +usual, so as to come up over the bottom of the leggings. In addition +each was provided with long strips of hide, which were to be wound round +and round the leggings, from the knee to below the ankle, covering +tightly the tops of the moccasins, and so preventing the snow from +finding its way in there. Gloves were then manufactured, the fingers +being in one and the thumb only being free. + +The work occupied them a fortnight, broken only by one day's spell of +fine weather, which they utilized by going down into the valley, taking +with them their kettles and pail, together with a few pounds of flour. +They found the horses out in the meadow, and these, as soon as they saw +them, came trotting to meet them with loud whinnies of pleasure. A fire +was lit near the shed, the snow melted, and an allowance of warm gruel +given to each horse. At Tom's suggestion a few fir-boughs were hung from +the bar over each entrance. These would swing aside as the horses +entered, and would keep out a good deal of wind. When at the end of a +fortnight the sky cleared, the chief said that he thought that there +would be but little more snow. + +"If storm come, sure to bring snow, but not last long. Winter now set +in; soon snow harden. Now make snowshoes." + +The hunters had all been accustomed to use these in winter. They had +found the last expedition through the deep snow a very toilsome one, and +they embraced the idea eagerly. Some of the poles were split into eight +feet lengths. These were wetted and hung over the fire, the process +being repeated until the wood was sufficiently softened to be bent into +the required shape. This was done by the chief. Two cross-pieces were +added, to stiffen them and keep them in the right shape when they dried; +and the wood was then trimmed up and scraped by the men. When it had +dried and hardened, the work of filling up the frame with a +closely-stretched network of leather was undertaken. This part of the +work occupied three or four days. The straps were attached to go across +the toe and round the heel, and they were then ready to set off. + +The weather was now intensely cold, but as there was but little wind it +was not greatly felt; at the same time they were glad of their furs when +they ventured outside the hut. On the first day after their snow-shoes +were finished, the rest of the party started off to visit the horses, +Hunting Dog remaining behind to give Tom instructions in the use of the +snow-shoes, and to help him when he fell down. + +Tom found it difficult work at first, the toe of the shoe frequently +catching in the snow, and pitching him head foremost into it, and he +would have had great difficulty in extricating himself, had not the +young Indian been at hand. Before the day was over, however, he could +get on fairly well; and after two or three more days' practice had made +such progress that he was considered capable of accompanying the rest. + +The wood-drying apparatus had succeeded excellently. The wood was now +dried so thoroughly before being put on to the fire that there was no +annoyance from the smoke inside the hut, and scarce any could be +perceived coming from the chimney. Upon Harry's remarking upon this with +satisfaction the first time they went out after using the dry wood, Tom +said: + +"What does it matter? There are no Indians in the valley." + +"That is so, Tom; but as soon as the weather sets in clear, the +red-skins will be hunting again. Winter is their best time for laying in +their stock of pelts for trading. At other times the game is all high up +in the mountains, and it is very difficult to get within range of it. In +the winter the animals come down to the shelter of the forests and +valleys, and they can be shot in numbers; especially as the Indians in +their snow-shoes can get along almost as quickly as the wapiti can +plough through the snow. At present the red-skins think that we must +have been overtaken by that first storm and have all gone under; but as +soon as they begin to venture out of their lodges to hunt, a column of +smoke here would be sure to catch their eyes, and then we should be +having them up the valley to a certainty. The first thing they would do +would be to find our horses and drive them off, and the next thing would +be to set themselves to work to catch us." + +"But we could hold the path against them, uncle." + +"Yes; but we should have to keep watch every day, which would be a +serious trouble. Besides, there must be other places they could get up. +No doubt their regular trail comes up here, because it is the +straightest way to the pass, and possibly there may be no other point at +which loaded animals could mount anywhere about here. But there must be +plenty of places where Indians could climb, and even if it took them a +detour of fifty miles they would manage it. As long as there is no smoke +we may hope they will not discover us here, though any hunting party +might come upon the horses. That is what has bothered me all along; but +the chief and I have talked it over a dozen times, and can see no way of +avoiding the risk. + +"We can't keep the horses up here because we can't feed them; and even +if we were to bring ourselves to leave this comfortable place and to +build a hut down in the valley, we might be surprised and rubbed out by +the red-skins. Of course we might bring them up here every night and +take them down again in the morning, but it would be a troublesome +business. We have agreed that we won't do much more shooting down in the +valley, and that in coming and going to the horses we will keep along +close to the foot of the cliffs this side, so that if two or three +Indians do come up they won't see any tracks on the snow, unless they +happen to come close up to the cliff. Of course if they go up as far as +the beaver flat they will light upon the horses. There is no help for +that; but the chief and I agreed last night that in future two of us +shall always stay up here, and shall take it by turns to keep watch. It +won't be necessary to stand outside. If the curtain is pulled aside +three or four inches one can see right down the valley, and any Indians +coming up could be made out. If the party is a strong one a gun would be +fired as a signal to those away hunting, and some damp wood thrown on +the fire. They might possibly push on up the valley to have a look at +the place, but the two up here with their rifles would soon stop them. +After that, of course, the horses would have to be brought up here at +night, and a watch kept by night as well as by day." + +Two or three mornings later they found on going out that two joints of +venison had been carried off, and footprints in the snow showed that it +had been done by a grizzly bear. This turned their attention again to +the construction of a trap, which had not been thought of since the day +it was first mentioned. A young tree of four or five inches in diameter +was cut below and brought up. The butt was cut in the shape of a wedge, +and this was driven strongly into a fissure in the rock. A rope with a +running noose had been fastened to the tree, and this was bent down by +the united strength of four men, and fixed to a catch fastened in the +ground, the noose being kept open by two sticks placed across it. + +A foot beyond the noose a joint of venison was hung, the rope passing +over a pole and then down to the catch, so that upon the joint being +pulled the catch would be loosened, when the tree would fly up and the +noose catch anything that might be through it. + +A week later they were disturbed by an outburst of violent growling. +Seizing their rifles they rushed out. A huge bear was caught by one of +his paws. The animal's weight was too great for it to be lifted from the +ground, but it was standing upright with its paw above its head, making +furious efforts to free itself. A volley of bullets at once put an end +to its life. The tree was bent down again and the noose loosed, and they +at once returned to their rugs, leaving the bear where it fell. Four +times during the winter did they thus capture intruders, providing +themselves with an ample supply of bear's flesh, while the skins would +sell well down at the settlements. + +Otherwise sport was not very good. No more wapiti came up, but black and +white tail deer were occasionally shot, and five or six big-horn sheep +also fell to their rifles. One day on approaching the beaver meadow the +chief pointed to some deep footprints. No explanation was needed. All +knew that they were made by a big grizzly, and that the animal was going +up the valley. No horses were in view on the flat, and grasping their +rifles they hurried towards the wood. Just as they reached it the horses +came galloping to meet them, whinnying and snorting. + +"They have been scared by the critter," Jerry said. "Do you see their +coats are staring. Gosh, look at this pack-pony--the bear has had his +paw on him!" + +The animal's hind-quarters were indeed badly torn. + +"I wonder how it got away," Harry said. "When a grizzly once gets hold, +it don't often leave go." + +"There is something in front of the hut," Tom exclaimed. + +"It's the grizzly, sure enough," Harry said. "It is a rum place for it +to go to sleep." + +They advanced, holding their rifles in readiness to fire, when Leaping +Horse said: + +"Bear dead." + +"What can have killed him?" Harry asked doubtfully. + +"Horses kill him," the chief replied. They hurried up to the spot. The +bear was indeed dead, and there were signs of a desperate struggle. +There was blood on the snow from a point near the door of the hut to +where the animal was lying ten yards away. Round it the snow was all +trampled deeply. The bear's head was battered out of all shape; its jaw +was broken, and one of its eyes driven out. The Indians examined the +ground closely. + +"Well, what do you make of it, chief?" Harry asked. + +"Bear walk round hut, come in other end. Horses not able to get out in +time. Pack-horse last, bear catch him by hind-quarters. Horse drag him a +little way and then fall. Then other horses come back, form ring round +bear and kick him. Look at prints of fore-feet deep in snow. That is +where they kick; they break bear's jaw, break his ribs, keep on kick +till he dead." + +"I suppose that is how it came about, chief. I should not have thought +they would have done it." + +The Seneca nodded. "When wild horses with young foals attacked by bear +or mountain-lion, they form circle with colts in the middle, stand heads +in and kick. Bears and mountain-lion afraid to attack them." + +"Waal, I should hardly have believed if I had not seen it," Sam Hicks +said, "that horses would come back to attack a grizzly." + +"Not come back," the chief said, "if not for friend. Friend cry out +loud, then horses come back, fight bear and kill him." + +"Well, it was mighty plucky of them," Harry said. "I am afraid this pony +won't get over it; he is terribly torn." + +The chief examined the horse's wounds again. "Get over it," he said. +"Cold stop wounds bleeding, get some fat and put in." + +"I reckon you will find plenty inside the grizzly," Jerry said. The +chief shook his head. + +"Bear's fat bad; other horses smell him, perhaps keep away from him, +perhaps kick him. Leaping Horse will bring fat from the big-horn he shot +yesterday." + +The animal lay where it had fallen, a mile up the valley. They went up +and tied the great sheep's feet together, and putting a pole through +them brought it down to the hut. Partly skinning it, they obtained some +fat and melted this in a kettle over the fire. Sam Hicks had remained +behind at the fire, the horses all standing near him, excited at the +prospect of their usual meal. As soon as the fat was melted it was +poured into the horse's wounds. The mess of gruel was then prepared and +given to the animals. The bear was skinned and the hams cut off, then by +a united effort it was dragged some distance from the hut, and the +carcass of the big-horn, the bear's flesh and hide, were afterwards +carried up to the hut. + +Early in February the cold reached its extreme point, and in spite of +keeping up a good fire they had long before this been compelled to build +up the entrance with a wall of firewood, the interstices being stuffed +with moss; the hut was lighted by lamps of bear and deer fat melted down +and poured into tin drinking-cups, the wicks being composed of strips of +birch bark. A watch was regularly kept all day, two always remaining in +the hut, one keeping watch through a small slip cut in the curtain +before the narrow orifice in the log wall, that served as a door, the +other looking after the fire, keeping up a good supply of melted snow, +and preparing dinner ready for the return of the hunters at sunset. Of +an evening they told stories, and their stock of yarns of their own +adventures and of those they had heard from others, seemed to Tom +inexhaustible. + +Hunting Dog had made rapid advances with his English, and he and Tom had +become great friends, always hunting together, or when their turn came, +remaining together on guard. The cold was now so intense that the +hunting party was seldom out for more than two or three hours. Regularly +twice a week the horses were given their ration of hot gruel, and +although they had fallen away greatly in flesh they maintained their +health, and were capable of work if called upon to do it. It was one day +in the middle of February, that Hunting Dog, who was standing at the +peep-hole, exclaimed: + +"'Rappahoes!" + +Tom sprang up from the side of the fire, and running to the entrance +pulled aside the curtain and looked out. Six Indians on snow-shoes were +coming up the valley. He ran out on to the platform and fired his ride. +As the sound of the report reached the Indians' ears they stopped +suddenly. + +"Shall I throw some green wood on the fire, Hunting Dog?" + +"No need," the Indian replied. "The others only gone an hour, not +farther than horses' hut; hear gun plain enough. Perhaps 'Rappahoes go +back." + +The Indians remained for some time in consultation. + +"Not know where gun fired," Hunting Dog said. "Soon see hut, then know." + +After a time the red-skins continued their way up the valley, but +instead of coming on carelessly in the centre they separated, and going +to the other side crept along among the fallen boulders there, where +they would have escaped observation had it not been for their figures +showing against the white snow. + +"Must fire now," the young Indian said, "then Leaping Horse know +'Rappahoes coming up." + +They went out on to the platform and opened fire. They knew that their +chance of hitting one of the Indians was small indeed; the other side of +the valley was a quarter of a mile away, and the height at which they +were standing rendered it difficult to judge the elevation necessary for +their rifles. However, they fired as fast as they could load. + +The Indians made no reply, for their guns would not carry anything like +the distance. They occasionally gathered when they came upon a boulder +of rock sufficiently large to give shelter to them all, and then moved +on again one at a time. When opposite the lower end of the pathway they +again held a consultation. + +"No go further," Hunting Dog said. "Afraid we come down path and stop +them. See, Leaping Horse among rocks." + +It was some time before Tom could detect the Indian, so stealthily did +he move from rock to rock. + +"Where are the others?" + +"No see, somewhere in bushes. Leaping Horse go on to scout; not know how +many 'Rappahoes." + +Presently they saw the chief raise his head behind a rock within a +hundred yards of that behind which the 'Rappahoes were sheltering. + +"He see them now," Hunting Dog said. "See, he going to fire." There was +a puff of smoke and a sharp report, and almost simultaneously rose an +Indian yell, and the war-cry of the Seneca. Then five Indians leapt out +from behind the rock and made down the valley at full speed, while from +a clump of trees two hundred yards above the spot from which the chief +had fired the four white men hurried out rifle in hand. The chief waited +until they joined him, for the bend in the valley prevented him from +seeing that the 'Rappahoes were making straight down it, and it would +have been imprudent to have ventured out until his white allies came up. + +"They have gone right down," Tom shouted at the top of his voice. Harry +waved his arm to show that he heard the words, and then the five men ran +to the corner. The Indians were already a quarter of a mile away, and +were just entering the wood below. The whites were about to fire, when +the chief stopped them. "No use fire," he said. "Stand back behind +rocks; no good let 'Rappahoes count our rifles." + +"That is true enough, chief," Harry said, as they all sprang among the +rocks. "All they know at present is, that there are two up on the top +there and one down here. If we were sure that we could wipe them all out +it would be worth following and making a running fight of it, but there +would be no chance of that, and it is better to let them go without +learning more about us. Well, I should say the first thing is to get up +the horses." + +The chief nodded. + +"Get up," he said, "but no fear 'Rappahoes come back to-night. Many +hours' journey down to villages, then great council. Next night scouts +come up valley, look all about for sign, and then go back and tell +friends." + +"I dare say you are right, chief. Anyhow, I shall feel a great deal more +comfortable when we have got the critters up." + +It was late in the afternoon before they reached the hut. Some hours +were spent in collecting tufts of grass in places sheltered from the +snow, and in cutting off great bundles of young fir-branches and the +heads of evergreen bushes, and the horses arrived almost hidden under +the load of grass and foliage they carried. Little was said until some +hot tea had been drunk and the bear steaks in readiness were disposed +of, for although they had worked hard and kept themselves comparatively +warm down in the valley, they had as they moved slowly up the path with +the horses become chilled to the bone. + +"Now then, chief," Harry said, when they had lighted their pipes with +the mixture of tobacco and willow bark that they had taken to, as soon +as they found that they were likely to be imprisoned all the winter, "we +must hold a council. We have been longer than I expected without +disturbance by these varmint, but it has come now, and the question is +what are we to do? We have agreed all along that there is no getting +over the pass till the spring comes." + +"Too cold," the chief said, "deep drift snow. Indians all say no can +pass over hills in winter." + +"That air a fact," Jerry said. "Down in the valley there it is all +right, but up here the cold pretty near takes one's breath away. We +ain't sure about the way. We couldn't get over the pass in one day's +tramp, and we should be all stiff before morning. There would be no +taking the horses, and there is a hundred miles to be done over the snow +before we reach the fort. It ain't to be thought of. I would a sight +rather go down the valley and fight the hull tribe." + +"I agree with you, Jerry. We might, with luck, get down the valley, but +I don't think there is a possibility of our crossing the pass till the +winter breaks." + +"No can go down valley," Leaping Horse said; "they find trail on snow, +sure." + +"That is so, chief, and in that case it is evident that we have got to +fight it out here." + +"Good place to stop," the Seneca said; "no good place to fight." + +This was self-evident. An enemy on the rock above would be able to fire +down through the roof, without their having a chance of making an +effectual reply. + +"The only way I can see," Harry said after a long pause, "is to build a +sort of fort up above. If we put it just at the top of this pathway, we +should have them whether they came up by the trail from below or climbed +up anywhere else and came along above. It need not be a very big place, +only just big enough for us all to fire over. We might make a sort of +shelter in it with a fire, and keep guard there by turns." The chief +nodded, and there was a general exclamation of assent from the others. + +"The worst of it is," Jerry said, "the ground is so 'tarnal hard that +there will be no driving posts into it. We have cut down all the trees +near the bottom of the pass, and it would be a risky thing to go up +higher, when we might have the red-skins come whooping up the valley at +any time." + +"Why not make a snow fort?" Tom suggested. "There is four feet of snow +up there, and with the shovels we could make a wall ten feet high in a +very short time." + +"So we might, Tom; that is a capital idea. The difficulty is, the snow +does not bind in this bitter cold as it does in England." + +"If it was hammered down it would, I should think, uncle. You know the +Esquimaux make snow houses, and it is as cold there as it is here. The +snow at the top is light enough, but I should think as it gets down it +would be hard enough to cut out in blocks. We have plenty of water, and +if we pour it over each layer of blocks it would freeze into solid ice +directly. When we finish it we might pour more water down over the +outside, and it would make a regular wall of ice that no one could climb +up." + +"Hooray! Bully for you, Tom!" Jerry shouted, while similar exclamations +of approval broke from all the others, while the chief said gravely, "My +young brother has the head of a man; he is able to teach warriors." + +"You shall be engineer-in-chief, Tom," Harry said. "It is certain we may +sleep quietly to-night; at daybreak to-morrow we will begin the job." + +The first thing in the morning a semicircular line was traced out at the +top of their pathway. It was thirty feet across, for, as Tom said, the +walls ought to be at least four feet thick; and six feet would be +better, as they would want a parapet at least two feet thick to fire +over. It was agreed that the whites should use the two shovels by turns. +The Indians were unaccustomed to the work, and were to undertake that of +scouting along the hillside, and of watching by turns at night. The +frying-pan was brought into requisition, a wooden handle being made for +it. The hard upper crust was removed with the shovels, and the layer +beneath this was sufficiently soft for the instrument to be used as a +shovel. Below that it hardened, and could be cut out in great blocks. +The loose snow was thrown inside of the line traced out. + +As fast as the blocks were cut out they were carried and piled regularly +to form the face. Tom's share of the work was to keep on melting snow, +and to bring it up and pour between and over the blocks. As fast as a +line of these were made the loose snow was thrown in behind it and +trampled down hard. Except for meals there was no rest. The chief said +that as there was little chance of the 'Rappahoes coming up so soon, +Hunting Dog had better stay behind and help, and he lent his aid in +carrying the blocks of snow on a rough stretcher they made for the +purpose. By the time it became dark the wall had risen to a height of +three feet above the general level of the snow, and was already +sufficient to form an excellent breastwork. + +At the end farthest from the side from which the Indians were likely to +come, a gap was left between it and the edge of the ravine three feet +wide, in order that if necessary the horses could pass out. When it +became dark the chief returned. He had gone many miles along towards the +main valley, but had seen no sign of any Indians. After supper was over +he took one of the wapiti skins and his buffalo robe, went up to the +"fort," as they had already called it, and laid the deer-skin down on +the slope of snow behind the wall, wrapped the buffalo robe round him, +and lay down upon it. Hunting Dog then threw another robe over him, +projecting a foot beyond his head, so that he could from time to time +raise it and look out over the snow. The night was a dark one, but any +object moving across the unbroken white surface could be seen at a +considerable distance. + +"I feel sure I should go to sleep," Tom said, "if I were to lie down +like that." + +"I have no doubt you would, Tom, but there is no fear with the chief. An +Indian never sleeps on the watch, or if he does sleep, it is like a dog: +he seems to hear as well as if he were awake, and every minute or two +his eyes open and he takes a look round. I would rather have an Indian +sentry than half a dozen white ones, unless it is in the open, where +there is no tree to lean against, and a man must keep moving." + +Hunting Dog threw himself down as soon as he returned to the hut, and +was almost instantly asleep. Three hours later he rose and went out, and +Leaping Horse a minute or two later returned. + +"All quiet," he said; and then after smoking for a short time also lay +down. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE SNOW FORT + + +The hut was quiet at an unusually early hour, for the men had done a +very hard day's work, and felt the strain after the long weeks of +inactivity. At daybreak they were up and about, but could remain out but +a few minutes, for the cold was so intense that they felt unable to face +it until they had taken some hot tea and eaten something. Half an hour +sufficed for this early breakfast. Hunting Dog was again left behind by +the chief when he started. + +"Two eyes enough," the latter said. "Hunting Dog more use here." + +The wall of blocks was raised three more feet during the day, as it was +agreed to devote all their efforts to this, and to defer the work of +thickening it until the next day, for the snow had now been cleared so +far from its foot that it could no longer be thrown inside. Though but +six feet above the snow level, it was at least three feet more above the +level of the rock, and its face was a solid sheet of ice, Tom having, +during the two days, made innumerable journeys backwards and forwards +with snow-water. + +"Another couple of feet and it will be high enough for anything," Harry +said. "I don't believe that the Indians will venture to attack us, but +it is just as well to have it so high that they can't help each other up +to the top. If they knew how strong it is, I am sure they would not +attack, and would leave us alone altogether, but if a hundred of them +creep up in the dark and make a rush, they will do their best to try to +climb it. Anyhow we sha'n't need to make the bank behind very high. If +it goes to within four feet and a half of the top, so that we can stand +and fire over the wall, that is all that is wanted." + +Leaping Horse returned at dusk as before. He uttered a warm approval of +the work when he had examined it. + +"Good fort," he said, "better than palisades. Indian no climb over it. +No opening to fire through, good as wall of town house." + +"I think they will be puzzled when they get here, chief." + +"Must watch well to-night," the chief said. "Indian scout sure to come. +Two men keep on watch; two better than one." + +"That is so, chief; we will change every hour. But it will be mighty +cold. I don't see why we shouldn't rig up a shelter against the wall, +and have a bit of a fire there. Then the two on watch can take it by +turns every few minutes to come in and get a warm." + +With poles and skins a lean-to was speedily constructed against the +wall. The snow was hammered down, and a hearth made of half a dozen logs +packed closely together. Some brands were brought up from the fire in +the hut, and the skins across the end of the lean-to dropped, so that +the air within could get warm while they were at supper. + +"Hunting Dog and Tom shall take the first watch," Harry said; "Sam and I +will take the next, Jerry and Ben the third, then you, chief, can take +the next." + +"Leaping Horse watch by himself," the Seneca said; "his eyes will be +open." + +"Very well, chief. I know you are as good as any two of us, so that will +give us each one hour out and three hours in bed." + +Wrapping buffalo robes round them, Tom and the young Indian went up to +the fort. Tom drew aside one of the skins and looked into the shelter. +The hearth was in a glow, and two logs lying on it were burning well. +The night was very still, except for the occasional rumble of some +distant snow-slide. For a few minutes they stood looking over the wall, +but keeping far back, so that only their heads were above its level. + +"Tom go in by the fire," the Indian said. "All white, no need for four +eyes." + +"Very well, I will go in first; but mind, you have got to go in +afterwards. I sha'n't go in if you don't." + +After waiting for a few minutes in the shelter Tom went out again, and +Hunting Dog took his place. It was his first war-path, and nothing would +have persuaded him to retire from the watch had he not felt sure that +even white men's eyes could not fail to detect any dark object moving on +the surface of the snow. But although all white the surface was not +level; here and there were sudden elevations marking rises in the rock +beneath. Still it seemed impossible to Tom that anyone could approach +unseen. + +In spite of the protection of the buffalo robe it was intensely cold +outside, and he was glad each time when his turn came for a warm by the +fire. The changes, too, made the time pass quickly, and he was quite +surprised when his uncle and Sam came out to relieve them. The other two +men and the chief were still smoking by the fire. There was tea in the +kettle, and they evidently did not mean to lie down until after their +first watch. Every few minutes the chief got up and went out to the +platform, and stood listening there intently for a short time. Just +before it was time to change the guard again he said when he returned: + +"Indian down in valley." + +"Have you heard them, chief?" + +"Leaping Horse heard a dead stick crack." + +"That might have been a deer," Ben suggested. + +The chief shook his head. "'Rappahoe; heard gun strike tree." + +"Then I reckon they will be up in our watch," Ben said. "Well, we shall +be ready for them." + +"Perhaps come, perhaps not come; perhaps scout up valley first see if +some of us there, and look for horses. Perhaps some come up path; but +crawl up slow, not know whether look-out there." + +"Well, I don't envy them if they have got much crawling to do to-night; +it is cold enough to freeze one's breath." + +"'Rappahoe not like cold," the chief said, "but wants scalp bad; that +makes his blood warm." + +"I will let some of it out," Jerry said wrathfully, "if I get a chance +to lay a bead on one of them. Don't you be afeard, chief; we will look +out sharp enough, you bet. Waal, I reckon it is about our time to turn +out, Ben." + +"Jerry tells me that you have heard noises below, chief," Harry said +when he came in. "We heard nothing, but it ain't easy to hear well with +these hoods over one's head." + +"Hoods bad for hear," the chief assented. "Leaping Horse heard plain, +Indians down below." + +"Well, it is only what we expected, chief. Anyhow, we are ready for them +when they come." + +Tom lay down now, and knew nothing more till Hunting Dog touched him. + +"Time to go and watch," he said. + +"Has everything been quiet?" + +The Indian nodded. "No come yet." + +Leaping Horse remained at his post after they came out to relieve him. +Tom made no comment. Harry had impressed upon him the necessity for +absolute silence. + +"If they hear voices they will never come near us," he had said, "and we +would rather they came than stopped away. The sooner we get this job +over the better." + +The chief stood with his head slightly bent forward and the hood of his +hunting-shirt thrown back, listening attentively. Then he touched +Hunting Dog, and stooping low down whispered something in his ear, and +then both stood again listening. Tom, too, threw back his hood, but he +could hear nothing whatever, and was soon glad to pull it forward over +his ears again. He strained his eyes in the direction towards which they +were listening, which was apparently towards the edge of the ravine +where the Indian trail came up from below. All seemed to him to be white +and bare. + +Presently the chief's rifle went up to his shoulder; there was a sharp +crack, a dark figure leapt up from the snow fifty yards away and then +fell headlong down again. It seemed to Tom almost magical. His eyes had +been fixed in that direction for the last five minutes, and he could +have sworn that the surface of the snow was unbroken. A minute later the +other four men came running up. + +"What is it, chief?" Harry whispered. + +Leaping Horse pointed to the dark figure stretched out on the snow. + +"So you have got the varmint. Good! Do you think there are any more of +them about?" + +"More there sure," the chief said, pointing to the path up from below. +"Perhaps more there," and he pointed to a broad black line from the foot +of the cliffs to the edge of the ravine, where, three days before, an +avalanche from the hills above had swept the rock clear of snow. + +"They must have made sure that we were all asleep, or that fellow would +never have shown himself on the snow," Harry said. + +"He did not show himself, uncle. How he got there I don't know; but I +was looking at the spot when the chief fired, and I saw no signs of him +whatever. How he hid himself I don't know. If it had been anywhere else +I should have said he must have had a white sheet over him." + +"It certainly was not that whatever it was, Tom. However, we shall see +in the morning. Well, we may as well turn in again. Will they try again, +do you think, chief?" + +"Not try to-night, too cold; if any there, will hide up till daybreak. +Now they know we are awake, will not venture on snow." + +Half an hour later a great fire was lighted out of gunshot range lower +down the valley, and three or four figures could be seen round it. + +"Too cold," Hunting Dog said to Tom. "All gone down to get warm." + +The watches were relieved regularly through the night, but there was no +further alarm until just after daylight had broken, when Sam Hicks +suddenly discharged his rifle. The others all turned out at once. He had +fired at a bush just at the point where the trail came up from below, +and he declared that he had seen a slight movement there, and that some +pieces of the snow had dropped from the leaves. + +"We will make sure that there is no one there," Harry said, "and then we +will turn out and have a look. It is like enough that one of the +red-skins from below came up the path to have a look at us this +morning." + +He took a steady aim and fired. + +"Fetch up an axe, Tom; we will cut that bush away at once. It is lucky +that Sam caught sight of the red-skin. If he had not done so he might +have got a bullet in his own head, for when the red-skin had finished +taking a view of the fort he would certainly have picked off Sam or +myself before he went down. It is a weak point, that from here one can't +command the path. If they come in force we shall have to keep watch on +the platform too. From there you can get a sight of two or three of its +turnings." + +[Illustration: "They Went Out To Look At The Indian The Chief Had +Shot."] + +They went out together, and as they passed, stopped to look at the body +of the Indian the chief had shot. He was a young brave of two-or +three-and-twenty, and the manner of his advance so far unperceived was +now evident. Favoured by a slight fall in the ground, he had crawled +forward, scooping a trench wide enough for his body a foot in depth, +pushing the snow always forward, so that it formed a sort of bank in +front of him and screened him from the sight of those on watch. The +chief's keen eye had perceived a slight movement of the snow, and after +watching a moment had fired at the point where he judged anyone +concealed by it must be. He had calculated accurately. The ball had +struck on the shoulder close to the neck, and had passed down through +the body. The Indian had brought no rifle with him, but had knife and +tomahawk in his belt. + +"Poor young fellow," Harry said. "He wanted to win a name for himself by +a deed of desperate bravery. It has cost him his life, but as he would +have taken ours if he had had a chance it is of no use regretting it." + +They now went on to the bush. + +"You were right, Sam," he went on, as they saw the impression on the +snow made by a figure lying down behind it. "There was an Indian here +sure enough, and here is the mark of the stock of his rifle, and no +doubt he would have picked off one of us if you had not scared him. I +don't expect you hit him; there are no signs of blood." + +"Fire too high," the chief said, pointing to a twig that had been +freshly cut off two feet from the ground. "Always shoot low at man +behind bush. Man cannot float in air." + +There was a general laugh at Sam, who replied: "I did not suppose he +could, chief. I just fired where I saw the snow fall, without thinking +about it one way or the other. I was an all-fired fool, but I shall know +better next time." + +The bush was cut down, and also two or three others that grew along by +the edge of the ravine. On their way back to the hut Harry stopped by +the dead Indian. + +"Fetch me a shovel, Tom," he said, "I will dig a hole in the snow; it +ain't a pleasant object to be looking at anyway." + +Tom fetched the shovel, Harry dug down in the snow till he reached the +rock, then he and Jerry laid the body in it and filled in the snow +again. The chief looked on. + +"Bears get him," he said when they had finished. + +"That is like enough, chief, but we have done the best we can for him. +There is no digging into the rock." + +"I thought the Indians always scalped enemies they shot?" Tom afterwards +said to his uncle. + +"So they do, Tom; but you see the chief is a sort of civilized Indian. +He has consorted for years with whites, and he knows that we don't like +it. I don't say he wouldn't do it if he were on the war-path by himself, +but with us he doesn't, at any rate not openly. I have no doubt it went +against his grain to see the red-skin buried with his hair on, for the +scalp would have been a creditable one, as it would not have been got +without a clear eye and good judgment in shooting. I have no doubt he +has got some scalps about him now, though he don't show them; but they +will be hung up some day if he ever settles down in a wigwam of his own. + +"Well, chief, and what do you think," he asked Leaping Horse, as, after +returning to the hut, they sat down to breakfast, "will they come or +won't they?" + +"I think they no come," the chief said. "Scout behind bush will tell +them fort too strong to take; must cross snow, and many fall before they +get to it. Very hard to climb. No like cold, Leaping Horse thinks they +will stop in wigwams." + +"No fools either," Jerry agreed; "a man would be worse than a natural if +he were to go fooling about in this weather, and run a pretty good big +risk of getting shot and nothing much to gain by it. They know we have +left their country now, and ain't likely to come back again either to +hunt there or to dig gold, and that all we want is to get away as soon +as we can. I allow that the chief is right, and that we sha'n't hear no +more of them, anyhow not for some time." + +The chief nodded. "If come again, not come now. Wait a moon, then think +perhaps we sleep sound and try again; but more likely not try." + +"Much more likely," Harry assented. "Unless they can do it by a +surprise. Indians are not fond of attacking; they know we shoot +straighter than they do and have better rifles. You remember that time +when you and I and Jersey Dick kept off a party of Navahoes from sunrise +till sunset down near the Emigrant trail? It was lucky for us that a +post-rider who was passing along heard the firing, and took the news to +a fort, and that the officer there brought out fifty troopers just as +the sun went down, or we should have been rubbed out that night sure." + +The Seneca nodded. + +"How was it, Harry?" Sam Hicks asked. + +"It was just the usual thing, Sam. We had left the trail two days +before, and were hunting on our own account when the Navahoes came down. +We had just time to throw the three horses and lie down behind them. +They were within two hundred yards when I began and fetched the chief, +who was leading them, out of his saddle. Leaping Horse brought down +another one and Jersey Dick held his fire, and instead of keeping +straight on they began to straggle round. And they kept at that all day. +Sometimes they would get in pretty close, but each time they did the +chief brought down a horse, and when his rider, who was of course +hanging on the other side of him, got up to run, I fetched him down. +Dick wasn't much of a shot, so we would not let him fire. It discourages +red-skins mightily when they see that there is never a shot thrown +away, and that it is sure death whenever one draws a trigger. So at last +they got careful and held off, knowing as they would get us at night, +when they could have crawled up on foot and made a rush when they got +close to us. + +"The worst of it was we hadn't struck water the evening before, and it +was just one of the hottest days on the plains, and we were pretty nigh +mad with thirst before evening. I believe when the soldiers rode up I +was about as glad to get a drink from one of their bottles as I was that +the Navahoes bolted when they saw them coming. No, the red-skins ain't +any good for an open attack; they would have lost fewer men by riding +straight at us than they did by fooling round, but they could not bring +themselves to do it, and I reckon that is what it will be here. They +may, as the chief says, try, say six weeks on, when the frost begins to +break, in hopes that we may have given up keeping watch: but if they +find us awake they will never try an open attack, for they could not +reckon on taking the place without losing a score of men in doing so. If +the snow was off the ground it would be different. Then of a dark night +they could crawl up close and make a rush." + +After breakfast the chief and Hunting Dog went out scouting. When they +returned they brought news that three Indians had come over the snow +along the side of the hills, that three others had come up the valley, +and that in a wood half a mile below where they had seen the fire, there +had been a large party encamped. + +"I reckoned that would be about it, chief. Three fellows came along over +the hill, in case we should be keeping guard at the top of the path, and +they had a big force somewhere down below, so that if the scouts +reported that there was nothing to prevent them falling on us they would +come up before morning and wipe us out. I suppose they have all ridden +off?" + +"All gone. Leaping Horse and Hunting Dog followed right down valley. No +stop anywhere, gone back to lodges." + +"Then in that case, Harry, we had best get the critters down to their +shed again. They have eaten all that stuff they brought up three days +ago, I gave them the last of it this morning. The Indians know that we +keep a pretty sharp look-out during the day and there ain't no fear of +their coming up here when it is light." + +As the chief was also of opinion that there was no danger, the horses +were taken down the path into the valley, where on having their bridles +unbuckled they at once trotted off of their own accord towards the +beaver meadow. + +For the next six weeks a watch was kept regularly, but by only one man +at a time. The horses were driven down to the valley every morning and +brought up again before sunset. There was little hunting now, for they +had as many skins as they could carry comfortably, and a supply of +frozen meat sufficient to last well into the spring. In March the +weather became perceptibly warmer, and the snow in the valley began to +melt where the full power of the sun at mid-day fell upon it. Day by +day the crashes of distant avalanches became more frequent, and they +began to look forward to the time when they should be able to proceed on +their journey. + +One night towards the end of the month Tom was on watch, when he heard a +rustling sound far up beyond the wall of cliff in front of him. It grew +louder and rose to a roar, and then a white mass came pouring down over +the cliff. Leaping from the wall he dashed down the path to the hut. It +needed no word to call the men to their feet, for a deep rumbling filled +the air and the rock seemed to quiver. The horses struggled to break +their head-ropes and snorted with fright. + +"Your backs to the wall!" Harry shouted, and as all leapt across at his +order there was a crash overhead. The roof above them fell in and a mass +of snow followed; a minute later a deep silence followed the deafening +roar. + +"Anyone hurt?" Harry shouted, and the replies came in muffled tones. Tom +was jambed against the rock by the snow; he was nearest to the entrance, +his uncle was next to him. + +"I am all right at present, uncle, but I feel half smothered." + +"All right, lad; I am pretty free, and I will soon clear you a bit." + +The snow was pushed away from before Tom's face, his left arm was +cleared, and then his uncle with a vigorous pull brought him back close +to him. Here he was comparatively free, for a part of the roof had +fallen close to the wall and had partially kept off the snow. Then Harry +turned, and with some difficulty managed to get Jerry, who was next to +him, freed from the snow. + +"Now, Jerry, you work along that way and get at the others. Tom and I +will try to burrow a way out." + +It was a difficult task. Once through the passage in the log wall they +pushed to the left towards the edge of the platform, taking it by turns +to go first until the snow became lighter; then by a vigorous effort +Harry rose to his feet, sending a mass of snow tumbling over the edge of +the platform. As soon as Tom had joined him they set to work with hands +and knives, and soon cleared a passage back to the entrance. Just as +they did so Jerry crawled out from within. + +"Are they all right, Jerry?" + +"Yes, the others are coming; only about twelve feet of the roof caved +in, and the two Indians and Sam soon got in among the horses. I had a +lot of trouble with Ben; he had been knocked down, and I thought that he +was gone when I got him out; but he is all right now, though he can't +walk yet. The Indians and Sam have got the shovels, and are working away +to clear a passage along by the wall; there is no getting Ben out +through that rabbit-hole you have made." + +"Thank God we are all right," Harry said; "it does not matter a bit, now +that we know no one is badly hurt. We will begin at this end, but we +sha'n't be able to do much until we get the shovels, the snow will fall +in as fast as we get it out." + +They soon found that they could do nothing in this way. + +"We will try to tunnel again," Harry said, "it is not more than ten feet +along. If we get in and hump ourselves, we shall soon get it big enough +to drag Ben out, then the others can follow, and we can set to work with +the spades to clear the place." + +After a good deal of effort they succeeded in enlarging the hole, and +then got Ben through it, one crawling backwards and pulling him while +the other shoved at his legs. + +"How do you feel, Ben?" Harry asked him when they laid him down outside. + +"I dunno, Harry; I am afraid my back is badly hurt. I don't seem to feel +my legs at all. I expect they are numbed from the weight of snow on +them." + +"I will crawl into our store and fetch out the keg." + +"I reckon a drop of whisky will do me good if anything will," Ben said. +"I was crushed pretty near flat, and if my head hadn't been against the +wall I should have been smothered. Are you all right, young Tom?" + +"Yes, I am not hurt at all. The snow squeezed me against the rock, and I +could not move an inch, but uncle managed to get me a little free and +then pulled me out of it." + +Harry soon came back with the whisky, and was followed by the Indians +and Sam, who found that they could do nothing with the snow, which fell +in as fast as they cleared it. Their first step was to dig out a buffalo +robe to wrap Ben in. His voice was stronger after he had drank some +spirit, and he said that he felt better already. The others at once set +to work with the shovels. They first cleared the platform along by the +wall to the entrance, and then attacked the snow which filled the space +between the two rock walls to the top. + +Two of them worked with poles, loosening the snow above, and bringing it +down in masses, while those with shovels cast it out on to the platform, +going out occasionally to throw it over into the ravine. Hunting Dog +made his way up over the snow to the top of the path, and called down to +say that the fort was entirely swept away, and the chief told him to +take up his post at once at the top of the path leading from below. + +"He need not have told us that the fort was gone," Jerry grumbled. "If +it had been made of cast-iron it would not have stood. The sooner we get +our rifles out the better." + +This could not be done for a time, for the loosening of the snow above +had caused that below to slip, and the passage along by the wall had +fallen in. The Indians, however, who had slept beyond the part filled by +snow, had brought their pieces out with them, and could have defended +the path alone. Several times those at work were buried by falls of +snow, and had to be dragged out by the others. By daylight a +considerable gap had been made in the snow, and they were able to get +into the space beyond the fall. A number of logs, and a joint of meat +that had been taken in the day before to thaw, were brought out, and a +fire was soon blazing on the platform. + +"I wonder why the snow did not shoot over as it did before?" Ben, who +was now able to sit up, remarked. + +"I reckon it is the fort did it," Harry said. "Of course it went, but it +may have checked the rush of the snow for a moment, and those thick +walls couldn't have got the same way on as the rest of the snow had." + +"But the fort wasn't over the roof, uncle," Tom remarked. + +"No, but it may have blocked the slide a little, and thrown some of it +sideways; you see it is only this end that gave, while it shot right +over the rest of the roof just as before." + +"It is mighty lucky it did not break in all along," Sam Hicks said, "for +it would have left us without horses if it had; and it would have been +mighty rough on us to have lost them, just as we are going to want them, +after our taking such pains with them all through the winter." + +The chief took Hunting Dog's place as soon as he had finished his meal, +and remained on watch all day. The men worked without ceasing, but it +was not until sunset that the snow was completely cleared away. + +"I reckon that we shall have to be starting before long," Jerry said as +they sat round the fire in what they before called their store-room, +having driven the horses as far in as possible to make room. "We could +have held out before as long as we liked, but it is different now. The +rock's cleared now for a hundred yards on each side of us, our fort's +gone, and there is nothing to prevent the redskins from crawling close +up the first dark night and making a rush. They are like enough to be +sending scouts up the valley occasionally, and it won't be long before +they hear that our fort has gone and the ground cleared of snow." + +Leaping Horse nodded. "Two men must watch at top of path," he said. + +"That is right enough, chief; but we know three of them came along the +hills before, and it is like enough they will all come that way next +time. They are safe to reckon that we shall hold the path." + +"It is very unfortunate," Harry said; "in another month, we should have +been able to travel. Anyhow, it seems to me that we have got to try now; +it would never do to be caught in here by the red-skins. If we are to +go, the sooner the better. All our meat has been carried over the edge. +This is about the time we expected the Indians back, and it would be +dangerous to scatter hunting. It is a big risk, too, taking the horses +down to the meadow. No, I think we can manage to get over the pass. The +snow gets softer every day when the sun is on it; but it freezes at +night. We have the moon, too, so we shall be able to travel then; and +even if we take three or four days getting over the divide we can sleep +in the daytime." + +"We must get a little more meat anyhow before we start," Jerry said. +"This joint ain't more than enough for another square meal for us, and +though I reckon the bighorns will be coming up to the hills again now, +it won't do to risk that." + +"We have the pack-horses, Jerry." + +"Yes, I did not think of them. Horseflesh ain't so bad on a pinch; but I +don't want to lose our skins." + +"Better our skins than our hair," Sam laughed. + +"That is right enough, Sam, but I would like to save both." + +"Perhaps there is some of the meat under the snow," Tom suggested. "It +hung near the wall, and the snow must have come straight down on it from +above, as it did in here." + +"That is so, Tom; we will have a look the first thing in the morning. I +am so tired now I would not dig for it if it were gold." + +As soon as it was light the next morning they began to clear the snow +from the rest of the platform, and found to their great satisfaction +four bear hams. The rest of the meat had been swept over the edge. The +two Indians had not shared in the work, having started away early +without saying where they were going. They returned to breakfast, each +carrying a hind-quarter of venison, which they had found in the snow +below. + +It was agreed that a start should be made that evening. By sunset the +horses were loaded, and half an hour later they moved away. Ben Gulston +had to be assisted on to his horse, for although in other respects +recovered, it was found that he had so severely strained his back across +the loins that he was scarcely able to walk a foot. The moon was shining +brightly, and as soon as they were on the snow they could see as plainly +as if it were day. All were in high spirits that they had left the spot +where for six months they had been prisoners. They had difficulty in +restraining themselves from shouting and singing, but the chief before +starting had warned them of the necessity for travelling silently. +"Snow-slides very bad now; shouting might set them going." + +The others looked rather incredulous, but Harry said: + +"I know he is right, boys; for I have heard that in the Alps the guides +always forbid talking when they are crossing places exposed to +avalanches. At any rate we may as well give the snow as little chance as +may be of going for us." + +They travelled in Indian file from habit rather than necessity, for the +snow was firm and hard, and the horses made their way over it without +difficulty. There had been some debate as to the way they should go; but +they determined at last to take the valley through the cliff wall, and +to strike to the right whenever they came upon a likely spot for +crossing. Two such attempts were made in vain, the upper slopes of snow +being found too steep for the horses to climb; but at the third, which +was made just after morning broke, they succeeded in getting up the hill +to their right, and, after great difficulty, descended into another +valley. This they had little doubt was the one that led to the pass, for +from the hill they could see the great peak along whose foot the trail +ran. + +It was ten o'clock before they got down into the valley. The snow was +beginning to be soft on the surface, and the horses were tired out. They +therefore halted, made a fire with two or three of the logs they had +brought with them for the purpose, boiled water and had breakfast, and +gave half a bucket of gruel to each of the animals. Then wrapping +themselves in their buffalo robes they lay down and slept till late in +the afternoon. The journey was resumed at sunset, and before morning +they had crossed the divide; and when the sun rose obtained a view over +the country far to the south. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A FRESH START + + +In the evening they camped on the banks of the Green River, here a +stream of but small size, except when the melting snow swelled its +waters into a torrent. At the spot where they halted a rivulet ran into +the stream from a thickly-wooded little valley. It was frozen, but +breaking the ice with their axes they found that water was flowing +underneath. They had observed that there was a marked difference in +temperature on this side of the mountains, upon which the strength of +the southern sun had already in many places cleared away the snow. + +"It is a comfort to be able to sit by a fire without the thought that +red-skins maybe crawling up towards you," Sam Hicks said heartily, "and +to sleep without being turned out to stand watch in the cold. + +"You say the country ahead is bad, chief?" + +"Bad lands both sides of Green River. Deep canons and bare rock." + +"Well, we need not follow it; it don't make any difference to us whether +we get down to the fort in a fortnight or six weeks." + +"None at all," Harry said. "We have agreed that when summer fairly sets +in we will try that place I hit on just as the Utes came down on us. It +is the richest place I have ever seen, and if the Indians will but let +us alone for a month we ought to bring back a big lot of dust; and if we +do, we can sell our share in it for a big sum, and take down enough men +to thrash the Utes out of their boots if they interfere with us. By our +reckoning it is the end of March now, though we don't at all agree as to +the day; but at any rate, it is there or thereabouts. That gives us a +good six weeks, and if we start in the middle of May it will be time +enough. So I propose that we strike more to the west, or to the east, +whichever you think is the best, chief, and try and pick up a few more +pelts so as to lay in a fresh stock of goods for our next trip." + +"Bad hills everywhere," the chief said; "better go west, plenty of game +there." + +"No fear of Indians?" + +"Indians there peaceable; make good trade with whites. Ten years ago +fight, but lose many men and not get much plunder. Trappers here good +friends with them. Traders bring up powder and cloth and beads. Indians +no give trouble." + +For the next six weeks, therefore, they travelled slowly, camping +sometimes for two or three days on a stream, and then making a long +march until they again came to water. The beaver traps had been left +behind, but they were fortunate enough to come upon several beaver +villages, and by exercising patience they were able to shoot a good +many, getting in all some fifty skins. Tom used to go out in the evening +and lie down to watch the beavers at work, but he would not take a gun. + +"I could not shoot them down in cold blood, uncle. It is almost like +looking at a village of human beings at work. One can shoot a man who is +wanting to shoot you, without feeling much about it, but to fire at a +man labouring in the fields is murder. Of course, if we wanted the flesh +for food it would be different." + +"I did not see you refuse that beaver-tail soup we had last night, Tom." + +"No, and it was very good, uncle; but I would very much rather have gone +without it than shoot the beaver the tail belonged to." + +"Well, Tom, as we have all got guns, and as none of us have any scruples +that way, there is no occasion whatever for you to draw a trigger on +them. They take some shooting, for if you hit them in the water they +sink directly, and you have got to kill them dead when they are on land, +otherwise they make for the water at once and dive into their houses and +die there." + +They killed a good many other animals besides the beaver, including +several wolverines, and by the time they got down to the fort in the +middle of May they had had to give up riding and pack all the animals +with the skins they had obtained. None of these were of any great value, +but the whole brought enough to buy them a fresh outfit of clothes, a +fresh stock of provisions and powder, and to give them a hundred dollars +each. + +The evening after the sale was effected Tom wrote home to his sisters, +giving them a brief account of what had taken place since the letter he +had posted to them before starting for the mountains, but saying very +little of their adventures with Indians. "I am afraid you have been in a +great fright about me," he said, "but you must never fidget when you +don't get letters. We may often be for a long time away from any place +where we can post them, or, as they call it here, mail them, though I +certainly do not expect to be snowed up again for a whole winter. Owing +to the Indians being hostile we did not do nearly so well as we +expected, for we could not go down to hunt in the valleys. So after +getting a fresh outfit for our next journey our share is only a hundred +dollars each. I did not want to take a share, for of course I was not of +much use to them, though I have learnt a lot in the last six months, and +can shoot now as well as any of them, except the two Indians. + +"However, they all insisted on my having the same share as the rest. +Uncle wanted me to take his hundred dollars and send them home to you +with mine, but I told him that I would not do so, for I know you have +money enough to go on with, even if your school has turned out a +failure. So I think it would be as well for us to keep our money in hand +for the present. There is never any saying what may happen; we may lose +our horses and kit, and it would be very awkward if we hadn't the money +to replace them. As soon as we get more we will send it off, as you know +I always intended to do. I have still some left of what I brought out +with me, but that and the two hundred dollars would not be more than +enough to buy an entirely new outfit for us both. + +"I hope you got the five hundred dollars uncle sent you. He told me he +sent it off from Denver, and it ought to have got home a few weeks after +I left. It is horrid to think that there may be letters from you lying +at Denver, but it serves me right for being so stupid as not to put in +the short note I wrote you from here before I started, that you had +better direct to me at Fort Bridger, as I shall almost be sure to come +back to it before I go to Denver. I like uncle awfully; it seems to me +that he is just what I expected he would be. I suppose they all put in +equal shares, but the other men quite look upon him as their leader. +Sometimes when he is talking to me he speaks just as people do at home. +When he talks to the men he uses the same queer words they do. He is +taller than father was, and more strongly built. What I like in him is, +he is always the same. Sometimes the others used to get grumbly when we +were shut up so long, but it never seemed to make any difference in him. + +"I told you when I wrote from Denver that he was called 'Straight +Harry,' because he always acted straightforwardly, and now I know him I +can quite understand their calling him so. One feels somehow that one +could rely upon his always being the same, whatever happened. Leaping +Horse is a first-rate fellow, and so is Hunting Dog, though of course he +does not know nearly as much as the chief does, but he knows a lot. The +other three are all nice fellows, too, so we were a very jolly party. +They know a tremendous lot of stories about hunting and red-skins and +that sort of thing. Some of them would make all you girls' hairs stand +on end. We are going to start off in two or three days to hunt up a gold +mine uncle found three years ago. The Indians are going, too; they will +hunt while the rest of us work. It will be quite a different journey to +the last, and I expect it will be just as hot this time as it was cold +last. We may be away for four months, and perhaps we may not come back +till the snow sets in, so don't expect a letter till you see it." + +This was by far the longest letter Tom had ever written, and it took him +several hours to get through. He had the room to himself, for the others +were talking over their adventures with old friends they had met at the +fort. His uncle returned about ten o'clock. + +"Where are the others?" Tom asked. + +"In the saloon; but they are not drinking, that is, not drinking much. I +told them that if they were to get drunk one of them would be sure to +blab as to where we were going, or at any rate to say enough to excite +suspicion among some of the old miners, that we knew of a good thing, +and in that case we should get a lot of men following us, and it would +interfere with our plans altogether. A party as small as ours may live +for months without a red-skin happening to light on us, but if there +were many more they would be certain to find us. There would be too much +noise going on, too much shooting and driving backward and forward with +food and necessaries. We want it kept dark till we thoroughly prove the +place. So I made them all take an oath this morning that they would keep +their heads cool, and I told them that if one of them got drunk, or said +a word about our going after gold, I would not take him with us. I have +given out that we are going on another hunting party, and of course our +having brought in such a lot of skins will make them think that we have +hit on a place where game is abundant and are going back there for the +summer." + +Two more pack-ponies had been added to the outfit. They might be away +for five or six months, and were determined to take a good supply of +flour this time, for all were tired of the diet of meat only, on which +they had existed for the last six months, having devoted by far the +greater part of the flour to the horses. + +When they started next day they turned their faces north, as if they +intended to hunt in the mountains where they had wintered. They made but +a short march, camped on a stream, and long before daybreak started +again, travelling for some hours to the west and then striking directly +south. For two days they travelled rapidly, Tom going out every morning +with the Indians hunting, while the others kept with the pack-horses. +Ben had now quite recovered from the strain which had crippled him for +the first three weeks of their march down to Fort Bridger. They were now +fairly among the Ute hills, and at their third camping-place Harry said: + +"We must do no more shooting now till we get to our valley. We have got +a supply of deer-flesh for a week at least, and we must be careful in +future. We heard at the fort that several miners have been cut off and +killed by the Utes during the winter, and that they are more set than +ever against white men entering their country. Everyone says those +rascally Saints are at the bottom of it. We must hide our trail as much +as we can. We are just at the edge of the bad lands, and will travel on +them for the next two days. The red-skins don't go out that way much, +there being nothing either to hunt or to plunder, so there is little +fear of their coming on our trail on the bare rocks, especially as none +of the horses are shod. On the third day we shall strike right up into +their mountains." + +"Are you sure that you will know the place again, Harry?" + +"I reckon I could find it, but I should not feel quite certain about it +if I had not the chief with me. There is no fear of his going wrong. +When a red-skin has once been to a place he can find his way straight +back to it again, even if he were a thousand miles off." + +"You said when we were talking of it among the hills, uncle," Tom said, +as he rode beside him the next morning, "that Leaping Horse and you each +took two shares. I wonder what he will do with his if it turns out +well." + +"He won't do anything with it, Tom. The chief and I are like brothers. +He does not want gold, he has no use for it; and, besides, as a rule, +Indians never have anything to do with mining. He and Hunting Dog really +come as hunters, and he has an understanding with me that when the +expedition is over I shall pay them the same as they would earn from any +English sportsman who might engage them as guides and hunters, and that +I shall take their shares in whatever we may make. I need not say that +if it turns out as well as we expect, the Indians will get as many +blankets and as much ammunition as will last them their lives. You can't +get a red-skin to dig. Even the chief, who has been with us for years, +would consider it degrading to do work of that kind; and if you see an +Indian at mining work, you may be sure that he is one of the fellows who +has left his tribe and settled down to loaf and drink in the +settlements, and is just doing a spell to get himself enough fire-water +to make himself drunk on. + +"The Seneca would be just as willing to come and hunt for us for +nothing. He would get his food and the skins, which would pay for his +tobacco and ammunition, and, occasionally, a new suit of leggings and +hunting-shirt, made by an Indian woman, and with this he would be happy +and contented. He doesn't mind taking money in return for skins, and he +and Hunting Dog had their full share in the division at the fort. When I +last talked to him about this business, he said, 'Leaping Horse doesn't +want money. Of what use is it to him? He has got a bagful hidden at +home, which he has been paid when he was scouting with the army, and for +the skins of beasts he has shot. It is enough to buy many horses and +blankets, and all that a chief can want. He is going with his friend to +hunt, and to fight by his side if the Utes come; he wants none of the +gold.' I explained the matter to him, and he said carelessly: 'Leaping +Horse will take the two shares, but it will be for his brother, and that +he may send it to the girls, the sisters of his friend Tom, of whom he +spoke one night by the fire.' + +"Hunting Dog is like Leaping Horse, he will take no gold. I have told +the three men how matters stand. Of course, it makes no difference to +them whether the Indians keep their share or hand it over to me, but at +the same time I thought they ought to know how we stood. They said it +was no business of theirs; that as I was the discoverer I had a right to +sell the whole thing if I chose, and that they thought I had done the +friendly thing by them in letting them in as partners. So you see it is +all right and square. It is like enough, too, that we shall find some +other lodes, and of course there they will come in on even terms with +us. So they are pleased with the look-out, and know well enough it is +likely to be the best strike they ever made in their lives." + +They kept near the edge of the bad lands, as had they gone farther out +they would have been obliged to make long detours to get round the head +of the caņons made by rivers running down into the Colorado. They had +filled their water-skins at the last stream where they had camped, and +had taken with them enough dried wood for their fires. These they lit +each night in a hollow, as from the upper slopes of the Ute hills a view +could be obtained for a great distance over the flat rocky plateau. Tom +was heartily glad when the two days' journey was over. Not a living +creature had met their eyes; there was no grass on which beasts could +exist, no earth in which prairie-dogs could burrow; even birds shunned +the bare waste of rock. + +"It is a desolate country," he said, as they sat round the fire; "it +would be enough to give one the horrors if one were alone. It is hot +now, and in the height of summer the heat and glare from the rock must +be awful." + +"It is, Tom; many and many a man has died of thirst in the bad lands. +And what makes it more terrible is, that they can perhaps see water a +thousand feet below them and yet die from the want of it." + +"When we were camped on the Green River, uncle, you said that no one had +ever followed it down." + +"That is so, lad. One knows whereabouts it goes, as men driven by thirst +have followed caņons down to it; and in some places it runs for many +miles across low land before it plunges into another caņon. Then it cuts +its way for two or three hundred miles, perhaps, through the hills, with +walls two or three thousand feet high. No one, so far as I know, has +gone down these big caņons, but it is certain there are rapids and +whirlpools and rocks in them. Two or three parties have gone down +through some of the shorter caņons to escape Indians, and most of them +have never been heard of again, but one or two have got down some +distance and managed to escape. + +"No one has followed the course by land. They could not do so unless +they carried all their provisions, and drink and food for their animals, +and even then the expedition would take months, perhaps years to do; for +every spring from the hills runs down a caņon to the river, sometimes +fifty miles, sometimes a hundred long, and each time the party came upon +one of these they would have to work up to the mountains to get round +it. It is over a thousand miles in a straight line from the place where +the Green River first enters a caņon to where the Colorado issues out on +to the plains, and it may be quite twice that distance if one could +follow all its windings. Some day when the country fills up attempts +will no doubt be made to find out something about it; but it will be a +big job whenever it is tried, and may cost a lot of lives before the +caņons are all explored." + +In the morning they started westward for the hills. The greatest care +was observed on the march. They took advantage of every depression, and +when obliged to pass over level ground moved at a distance apart, as a +clump or string of moving animals would be made out at a distance from +which a solitary one would be unnoticed. By noon they had left the bare +rock, and were travelling up a valley clothed with grass and dotted with +clumps of trees. In the first of these they halted. + +"We will stay here until it begins to get dusk," Harry said, "and then +move on as fast as we can go. If we don't lose our way we shall be there +before morning." + +There was no moon, but the stars shone brilliantly, and the mountains, +with their summits still covered with snow, could be seen ahead. The +chief went on in front. Sometimes they proceeded up valleys, sometimes +crossed shoulders and spurs running down from the hills. They moved in +Indian file, and at times proceeded at a brisk pace, at other times more +slowly; but there was no halt or sign of hesitation on the part of their +leader. At last, just as morning was breaking, the chief led them into a +clump of trees. He moved a little distance in, and then reined in his +horse and dismounted. + +"Does my brother remember that?" he said to Harry, pointing to something +on the ground. + +"Jee-hoshaphat!" Harry exclaimed; "if that ain't my old pack-saddle! +This is the very spot where we camped, boys. Well, chief, you are +certainly a wonder. I doubt whether I could have found my way here in +the daytime. Half a dozen times to-night it seemed to me that you were +going in the wrong direction altogether, and yet you bring us as +straight to the spot as if all the time you had been following a main +road." + +"Bully for the chief!" Jerry said warmly. "I am blamed if that ain't a +fust-rate piece of tracking. Waal, here we are at our journey's end. +Can we make a fire?" + +"Make small fire, but must put screen round." + +"Very well; we will leave the fire to you, and we will unpack the +critters. There is a bundle of dry wood left, so we sha'n't have the +bother of looking for it now." + +Before lighting the fire the two Indians stretched some blankets some +six feet above it, to prevent the light falling upon the foliage; then +by their directions Sam cut a dozen short poles, and fixed them in a +circle round the fire. Half a dozen more blankets were fastened to the +poles, forming a wall round the fire, which the chief then lighted. The +nights were, at that height above the sea-level, cool enough to make the +heat pleasant, and there was just room for the seven men to sit between +the blanket wall and the fire. + +"Do you mean this to be our permanent camp, Harry?" + +"What do you think, Leaping Horse?" + +"Wait till me go up gold valley," the Seneca said. "If can't find a good +place there better stay here; if go backwards and forwards every day +make trail Indian squaw would notice." + +"That is so, chief; but by what Harry says it is a mere gully, and the +horses will have to range." + +"Horses must feed," the chief said. "If we find a place up there, make +hut, take saddles and outfit there. Tie up horses here, and let them +loose to feed at night. No regular track then. But talk after sleep." + +"It will be broad daylight by the time that we have finished our meal," +Jerry said, "and I reckon none of us will be wanting to sleep till we +have got a sight of Harry's bonanza." + +As soon as they had finished their meal, the mining implements, which +had been carefully hidden among the rest of their goods when they +started from the fort, were brought out. Among these were a dozen light +pick-heads and half a dozen handles, as many shovels, a flat iron plate +for crushing ore upon, and a short hammer, with a face six inches in +diameter, as a pounder; also a supply of long nails, to be used in +fastening together troughs, cradles, or any other woodwork that might be +required; three or four deep tin dishes, a bottle of mercury, a saw, and +a few other tools. Three of the pick-heads were now fastened to their +handles, and taking these, a couple of shovels, two of the tin basins, a +sledge hammer, and some steel wedges, and the peculiar wooden platter, +in shape somewhat resembling a small shield with an indentation in the +middle, called a vanner, and universally used by prospectors, the five +whites and Leaping Horse started from their camp for the spot where +Harry had found the lode. It lay about a mile up a narrow valley, +running into the larger one. A rivulet trickled down its centre. + +"I reckoned on that," Harry said. "Of course it was frozen when we were +here, but I could see that there was water in summer. You see this +hollow runs right up into that wood, and there is sure to be water in it +for the next three months anyhow." + +They had gone but a short distance up when they stopped at a spot where +the streamlet widened out into a pool. + +"Let us try here," Jerry said, "and see if there is any sign." + +Half a shovelful of sand was placed in the vanner with a small quantity +of water, and while Harry and Sam proceeded to wash some gravel roughly +in the pans, Tom stood watching Jerry's operations. He gave a gentle +motion to the vanner that caused its contents to revolve, the coarser +particles being thrown towards the edges while the finer remained in the +centre. The water was poured away and the rougher particles of gravel +and sand swept off by the hand; fresh water was then added, and the +process repeated again and again, until at last no more than a spoonful +of fine sand remained in the centre. A sideway action of the vanner +caused this to slope gradually down towards the edge. At the very bottom +three tiny bits of yellow metal were seen. They were no bigger than +pins' heads. It seemed to Tom that this was a miserably small return for +five minutes' labour, but the others seemed well satisfied, and were +still more pleased when, on the two pans being cleaned out, several +little pieces of gold were found, one of which was nearly as large as a +small pea. + +"That is good enough," Ben said; "it will run a lot richer when we get +down on to the rock." + +At two other places on their way up they tried the experiments, with +increasingly good results. + +"There is some tall work to be done here with washing," Harry said. "Now +come on to the vein. I only saw one of them, but there must be a lot +more or you would not find so much metal in the sand. However, the one I +saw is good enough for anything." They went on again to a point where +the rock cropped boldly out on both sides of the valley; Harry led them +a few paces up the side, and pointed to some white patches in the rock. +"That is where I chipped it off, lads, three years ago." + +The face of the lode, discoloured by age and weather, differed but +little from the rock surrounding it; but where it had been broken off it +was a whitish yellow, thickly studded with little bits of dull yellow +metal sticking out of it. Tom was not greatly impressed; but he saw from +the faces of his companions that they were at once surprised and +delighted. + +"By gosh, Harry, you have done it this time!" Sam Hicks exclaimed. "You +have struck it rich, and no mistake. I thought from the way you talked +of it it must be something out of the way, but I am blamed if I thought +it was like this." + +"Stand back, you chaps," Jerry said, lifting the heavy sledge hammer; +"let me get a drive at it. Here is a crack. Put one of them wedges in, +Ben." + +The wedge was placed in the fissure, and Ben held it while Jerry gave a +few light blows to get it firmly fixed. + +"That will do, Ben; take away your hand and let me drive at it." +Swinging the hammer round his head Jerry brought it down with tremendous +force on the head of the wedge. Again and again the heavy hammer rose +and fell, with the accuracy of a machine, upon the right spot, until the +wedge, which was nine inches long, was buried in the crevice. + +"Now another one, Ben. Give me a longer one this time." + +This time Ben held the wedge until it was half buried, having perfect +confidence in Jerry's skill. It was not until the fourth wedge had been +driven in that a fragment of rock weighing four or five hundredweight +suddenly broke out from the face. All bent eagerly over it, and the +miners gave a shout of joy. The inner surface, which was white, but +slightly stained with yellow, with blurs of slate colour here and there, +was thickly studded with gold. It stuck out above the surface in thin, +leafy plates with ragged edges, with here and there larger spongy +masses. + +"I reckon that is good enough," Jerry said, wiping the sweat from his +forehead. "Ef there is but enough of it, it is the biggest thing that +ever was struck. There ain't no saying how rich it is, but I will bet my +boots it's over five hundred ounces to the ton. It ain't in nature that +it is going to run far like that, but it is good enough for anything. +Well, what is the next thing, Harry?" + +"We will break it up," Harry said, "and carry it down with us to the +camp. If the Utes came down on us tomorrow, and we could get off with +it, that would be plenty to show if we want to make a sale." + +It took them a long time to break up the rock, for the quartz was hard, +and was so bound together by the leafy gold running through it that each +of the four men had several spells with the hammer before it was broken +up into fragments weighing some twenty pounds apiece. As soon as this +was done the men collected earth, filled up the hole in the face of the +rock, and planted several large tufts of grass in it, and poured four or +five tins of water over them; then they smeared with mud the patches +where Harry had before broken pieces off. + +"What is all that for, Jerry?" Tom asked. + +"It is to hide up the traces, lad. We may have to bolt away from here +to-morrow morning for anything we know, and before we come back again +someone else may come along, and though we shall locate our claims at +the mining register, there would be a lot of trouble if anyone else had +taken possession, and was working the vein when we got back." + +"It is not likely that anyone else would come along here, Jerry." + +"Waal, I reckon that is so, but one ain't going to trust to chance when +one has struck on such a place as this." + +The Seneca had been the only unmoved person in the party. + +"What do you think of that, chief?" Harry asked him. + +"If my white brother is pleased Leaping Horse is glad," he replied. "But +the Indian does not care for gold. What can he do with it? He has a good +gun, he does not want twenty. He does not want many hunting suits. If he +were to buy as many horses as would fill the valley he could not ride +them all, and he would soon tire of sitting in his lodge and being +waited upon by many wives. He has enough for his needs now. When he is +old it will be time to rest." + +"Well, that is philosophy, chief, and I don't say you are wrong from +your way of looking at it. But that gold means a lot to us. It means +going home to our people. It means living in comfort for the rest of our +lives. It means making our friends happy." + +"Leaping Horse is glad," the chief said gravely. "But he cannot forget +that to him it means that the white brother, with whom he has so long +hunted and camped and fought bad Indians, will go away across the great +salt water, and Leaping Horse will see him no more." + +"That is so, chief," Harry said, grasping the Indian's hand warmly, "and +I was a selfish brute not to think of it before. There is one thing I +will promise you. Every year or so I will come out here and do a couple +of months' hunting with you. The journey is long, but it is quickly made +now, and I know that after knocking about for twenty years I shall never +be content if I don't take a run out on the plains for a bit every +summer. I will give you my word, Leaping Horse, that as long as I have +health and strength I will come out regularly, and that you shall see +your white brother's friendship is as strong as your own." + +The Seneca's grave face lit up with pleasure. "My white brother is very +good," he said. "He has taken away the thorn out of the heart of Leaping +Horse. His Indian brother is all glad now." + +The quartz was placed in sacks they had brought with them to carry down +samples, and they at once returned to the camp, where, after smoking a +pipe, they lay down to sleep; but it was some time before all went off, +so excited were they at the thought of the fortune that seemed before +them. + +In the afternoon they took one of the pieces of stone, weighing, by a +spring balance, twenty pounds, and with the flat plate and the +crushing-hammer went to the stream. The rock was first broken with the +sledge into pieces the size of a walnut. These were pulverized on the +iron plate and the result carefully washed, and when the work was +finished the gold was weighed in the miner's scales, and turned the +four-ounce weight. + +"That is nearly five hundred ounces to the ton," Harry said, "but of +course it is not going to run like that. I reckon it is a rich pocket; +there may be a ton of the stuff, and there may be fifty. Now let's go up +and have a quiet look for the lode, and see if we can trace it. We ought +to see it on the rock the other side." + +A careful search showed them the quartz vein on the face of the rock +some fifty feet higher up the valley, and this showed them the direction +of the run of the lode. It was here, however, only six inches wide +instead of being two feet, as at the spot where it was first found. Some +pieces were broken off: there was gold embedded in it, but it was +evident that it was nothing like so rich as on the other side. A piece +of ten pounds was pounded up, it returned only a little over a +pennyweight of gold. + +"About twelve ounces to the ton," Harry said. "Not bad, but a mighty +falling off from the other. To-morrow morning we will follow the lode on +the other side and see if we can strike an outcrop." + +The next day they found the lode cropping up through the rock some +thirty yards from their great find. It was about nine inches wide. They +dug it out with their picks to a depth of two feet so as to get a fair +sample. This when crushed gave a return at the rate of twenty ounces. + +"That is rich enough again, and would pay splendidly if worked by +machinery. Of course the question is, how far it holds on as rich as we +found it at the face, and how it keeps on in depth? But that is just +what we can't find. We want drills and powder, as picks are no sort of +good on this hard quartz. Supposing it goes off gradually from the face +to this point, there would be millions of dollars in it, even supposing +it pinched in below, which there is no reason in the world to suppose. +We may as well take a few of these chunks of rock, they will show that +the gold holds fairly a good way back anyhow." + +A few pieces were put aside and the rest thrown into the hole again, +which was stamped down and filled up with dust. The party then went back +to dinner, and a consultation was held as to what was next to be done. + +"Of course we must stake out our claims at once," Harry said. "In the +first place there are our own eight claims--two for each of the +discoverers and one each for the others. Hunting Dog will not have a +share, but will be paid the regular rate as a hunter. Then we will take +twenty claims in the names of men we know. They wouldn't hold water if +it were a well-known place, and everyone scrambling to get a claim on +the lode; but as there is no one to cut in, and no one will know the +place till we have sold it and a company sends up to take possession and +work it, it ain't likely to be disputed. The question is, What shall we +do now? Shall we make back to the settlements, or try washing a bit?" + +"Try washing, I should say," Jerry said. "You may be some time before +you can sell the place. Anyone buying will know that they will have to +send up a force big enough to fight the Utes, and besides they will want +someone to come up here to examine it before they close the bargain. I +vote we stick here and work the gravel for a bit so as to take enough +away to keep us till next spring. I reckon we shall find plenty of stuff +in it as we go down, and if that is so we can't do better than stick to +it as long as there is water in the creek." + +"I agree with you there, Jerry; but it will never do to risk losing +those first samples. I am ready to stay here through the summer, but I +vote we sew them up in deer-hide, and put two or three thicknesses of +skin on them so as to prevent accidents. Two of us had best go with them +to the fort and ask the Major to let us stow them away in his magazine, +then, if we have to bolt, we sha'n't be weighted down with them. +Besides, we might not have time for packing them on the horses, and +altogether it would be best to get them away at once, then come what +might we should have proofs of the value of the mine." + +This proposal was cordially agreed to, and it was settled that on the +following morning Harry himself should, with Hunting Dog and two +pack-horses, start for the fort, following the same route they came, +while the rest should set to work to construct a cradle, and troughs for +leading the water to it. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +AN INDIAN ATTACK + + +A couple of trees were felled in the middle of the clump in which they +were still encamped. They were first roughly squared and then sawn into +planks, the three men taking it by turns to use the saw. The question of +shifting the camp up to the spot where they intended to work was +discussed the night before Harry started, but it was agreed at last that +it would be better to remain where they were. + +"If Utes come, sure to find traces," the chief said. "Many horses in +valley make tracks as plain as noonday. Gold valley bad place for +fight." + +"That is so," Jerry agreed. "We should not have a show there. Even if we +made a log-house, and it would be a dog-goned trouble to carry up the +logs,--we might be shut up in it, and the red-skins would only have to +lie round and shoot us down if we came out. I reckon we had best stay +here after all, Harry. We could keep them outside the range of our +rifles anyhow by day." + +"I don't see that that would be much good to us, Jerry; for if they came +by day they would not find us here. Still I don't know that it ain't +best for us to stay here; it would give us a lot of trouble to build a +place. I reckon two of us had better stay here all the day with the +horses. If the red-skins come, they can fire a couple of shots, and we +shall hear them up at the washing-place. The red-skins would be safe to +draw off for a bit to talk it over before they attacked, as they would +not know how many there were among the trees. That would give the rest +time to come down." + +It took three days' hard work to saw the planks and make the cradle, and +troughs sufficiently long to lead the water down into it from the stream +higher up. These were roughly but strongly made, the joints being +smeared with clay to prevent the water from running through. A dam was +then made to keep back the water above the spot where they intended to +begin, which was about fifty yards below the quartz vein, and from this +dam the trough was taken along on strong trestles to the cradle. + +The horses were brought into the camp at daybreak every morning and tied +up to the trees, and were let out again at nightfall. Tom remained in +camp, the chief being with him. The latter, however, was, during the +time Harry was away, twice absent for a day on hunting excursions lower +down the valley, which was there thickly wooded. The first time, he +returned with the hams and a considerable portion of the rest of the +flesh of a bear. The second time, he brought up the carcass of a deer. + +"How far does the valley run?" Tom asked. + +"Valley last ten miles. Sides get steep and high, then caņon begin." + +"That will run right down to the Colorado?" + +The chief nodded. "Leaping Horse go no farther. Caņon must go down to +the river." + +"How far is it before the sides of the valley get too steep to climb?" + +"Two miles from here. Men could climb another mile or two, horses not." + +"Is there much game down there, chief?" + +The Seneca nodded. + +"That is a comfort, we sha'n't be likely to run out of fresh meat." + +The chief was very careful in choosing the wood for the fire, so that in +the daytime no smoke should be seen rising from the trees. When the dead +wood in the clump of trees was exhausted he rode down the valley each +day, and returned in an hour with a large faggot fastened behind him on +the horse. He always started before daybreak, so as to reduce the risk +of being seen from the hills. On the sixth day the men began their work +at the gravel. The bottle of mercury was emptied into the cradle, the +bottom of which had been made with the greatest care, so as to prevent +any loss from leakage. Two of the men brought up the gravel in buckets +and pans, until the cradle was half full. Then water was let in, and the +third man rocked the machine and kept on removing the coarse stuff that +worked up to the top, while the others continued bringing up fresh +gravel. + +"Well, what luck?" Tom asked, when they returned in the evening. + +"We have not cleaned up yet; we shall let it run for three or four days +before we do. We are only on the surface yet, and the stuff wouldn't pay +for the trouble of washing out." + +On the eighth day after their departure Harry and Hunting Dog returned. + +"Well, boys, it is all stowed away safely," he said. "I know the Major +well, and he let me have a big chest, which he locked up, after I had +put the bags in, and had it stowed away in the magazine; so there is no +fear of its being touched. Any signs of the red-skins?" + +"Nary a sign. We have none of us been up the valley beyond this, so that +unless they come right down here, they would find no trail. The horses +are always driven down the valley at night." + +"How is the work going on, Jerry?" + +"We began washing two days ago; to-morrow night we shall clean up. We +all think it is going to turn out pretty good, for we have seen gold in +the sand several times as we have carried it up in the pails." + +The next day Tom went up with the others, the Indians remaining in camp. +Two men now worked at the cradle, while the other three brought up the +sand and gravel. Towards evening they began the work of cleaning up. No +more stuff was brought up to the machine, but the water was still run +into it. As fast as the shaking brought the rough gravel to the top it +was removed, until only a foot of sand remained at the bottom. The water +was now stopped and the sand dug out, and carefully washed in the pans +by hand. At the bottom of each pan there remained after all the sand had +been removed a certain amount of gold-dust, the quantity increasing as +the bottom was approached. The last two panfuls contained a considerable +amount. + +"It does not look much," Tom said when the whole was collected together. + +"It is heavy stuff, lad," Harry replied. "What do you think there is, +Jerry? About twelve ounces, I should fancy." + +"All that, Harry; nigher fourteen, I should think." + +The pan was now put at the bottom of the cradle, a plug pulled out, and +the quicksilver run into it. A portion of this was poured on +wash-leather, the ends of which were held up by the men so as to form a +bag. Harry took the leather, and holding it over another pan twisted it +round and round. As the pressure on the quicksilver increased it ran +through the pores of the leather in tiny streams, until at last a lump +of pasty metal remained. This was squeezed again and again, until not a +single globule of quicksilver passed through the leather. The ball, +which was of the consistency of half-dried mortar was then taken out, +and the process repeated again and again until the whole of the +quicksilver had been passed through the leather. Six lumps of amalgam +about the size of small hens' eggs remained. + +"Is that good, uncle?" Tom asked. + +"Very fair, lad; wonderfully good indeed, considering we have not got +down far yet. I should say we shall get a pound and a half of gold out +of it." + +"But how does the gold get into it, uncle?" + +"There is what is called an affinity between quicksilver and gold. The +moment gold touches quicksilver it is absorbed by it, just as a drop of +water is taken up by a lump of salt. It thickens the quicksilver, and as +it is squeezed through the leather the quicksilver is as it were +strained out, and what remains behind becomes thicker and thicker, +until, as you see, it is almost solid. It is no good to use more +pressure, for if you do a certain amount of the gold would be squeezed +through the leather. You see, as the stuff in the cradle is shaken, the +gold being heavier than the sand finds its way down to the bottom, and +every particle that comes in contact with the quicksilver is swallowed +up by it." + +"And how do you get the quicksilver out of those lumps?" + +"We put them in one of those clay crucibles you saw, with a pinch of +borax, cover them up, and put them in a heap of glowing embers. That +evaporates the quicksilver, and leaves the gold behind in the shape of a +button." This was done that evening, and when the buttons were placed in +the scales they just turned the two-pound weight. + +"Well, boys, that is good enough for anything," Harry said. "That, with +the dust, makes a pound a day, which is as good as the very best stuff +in the early days of California." + +They worked steadily for the next seven weeks. Contrary to their +expectations the gravel was but little richer lower down than they had +found it at the end of the first wash-up, but continued about equally +good, and the result averaged about a pound weight of gold a day. This +was put into little bags of deer-skin, each containing five pounds' +weight, and these bags were distributed among the saddle-bags, so that +in case of sudden disturbance there would be no risk of their being left +behind. The Indians took it by turns to hunt; at other times they +remained on guard in camp, Tom only staying when one of them was away. +One day when the mining party stopped work, and sat down to eat some +bread and cold meat,--which they had from the first brought up, so as to +save them the loss of time entailed by going to the camp and back,--the +report of a gun came upon their ears. All started to their feet and +seized their rifles, and then stood listening intently. A minute later +two more shots were heard at close intervals. + +"Red-skins for sure!" Jerry exclaimed. "I thought as how our luck were +too good to last." They started at a run down the little valley, and +only paused when they reached its mouth. Harry then advanced cautiously +until he could obtain a view of the main valley. He paused for a minute +and then rejoined his companions. + +"There are fifty of them," he said, "if there is one. They are Utes in +their war-paint. They are a bit up the valley. I think if we make a rush +we can get to the trees before they can cut us off." + +"We must try anyhow," Sam Hicks said, "else they will get the two +Indians and our horses and saddles and all. Just let us get breath for a +moment, and then we will start." + +"Keep close together as you run," Harry said, "and then if they do come +up we can get back to back and make a fight of it." After a short pause +they started. They had not gone twenty yards when a loud yell proclaimed +that the Indians had seen them. They had, however, but three hundred +yards to run, while the Utes were double that distance from the clump. + +When the miners were within fifty yards of the trees two rifle-shots +rang out, and two of the Utes, who were somewhat ahead of the rest; fell +from their horses, while the rest swerved off, seeing that there was no +hope of cutting the party off. A few more yards and the miners were +among the trees. + +"So the Utes have found us out, chief," Harry said as he joined Leaping +Horse, who had just reloaded his ride. + +"Must have tracked us. They are a war-party," the Seneca replied. +"Hunter must have found tracks and taken news back to the villages." + +"Well, we have got to fight for it, that is clear enough," Harry said. +"Anyhow, now they see there are seven of us they are not likely to +attack until it gets dark, so we have time to think over what had best +be done. We had just begun our meal when we heard your shot, and the +best thing we can do is to have a good feed at once. We may be too busy +later on." + +The chief said a word to the young Indian, and, leaving him on the +watch, accompanied the others to the fire. They had scarcely sat down +when Hunting Dog came up. + +"More Utes," he said briefly, pointing across the valley. + +They at once went to the outer line of trees. On the brow of the rise +opposite were a party of horsemen between twenty and thirty strong. + +"That shows they have learnt all about our position," Harry said. "Those +fellows have been lying in wait somewhere over the hill to cut us off if +we took to our horses on seeing the main body. Let us have a look the +other side." + +Crossing the clump of trees, they saw on the brow there another party of +Utes. + +"I reckon they must have crossed that valley we were working in just +after we got through," Jerry said. "It is mighty lucky they did not come +down on us while we were washing, for they could have wiped us all out +before we had time to get hold of our guns. Well, Harry, we are in a +pretty tight fix, with fifty of them up the valley and five-and-twenty +or so on each side of us. We shall have to be dog-goned smart if we are +to get out of this scrape." + +"Hand me your rifle, Tom," his uncle said, "it carries farther than +mine, and I will give those fellows a hint that they had best move off a +bit." + +Steadying his piece against a tree, he took a careful aim and fired. One +of the Indians swerved in his saddle, and then fell forward on the neck +of his horse, which turned and galloped off with the rest. + +"Now we will have our meal and take council, chief," Harry said as he +turned away. "If we have got to fight there is no occasion to fight +hungry." + +The fire was made up; there was no need to be careful now. Strips of +deer's flesh were hung over it, and the meal was soon ready. But little +was said while it was being eaten, then they all lighted their pipes and +each put a pannikin of hot tea beside him. + +"Now, chief," Harry said, "have you arrived at any way out of this? It +is worse than it was the last time we got caught in this valley." + +The chief shook his head. "No good fight here," he said; "when night +come they creep up all round." + +"Yes, I see that we have got to bolt, but the question is, how? If we +were to ride they would ride us down, that is certain. Jerry and Tom +might possibly get away, though that ain't likely. Their critters are +good, but nothing downright extraordinary, and the chances are that some +of the Utes have got faster horses than theirs. As for the rest of us, +they would have us before we had ridden an hour." + +"That ain't to be thought of," Jerry said. "It seems to me our best +chance would be to leave the critters behind, and to crawl out the +moment it gets dark, and try and get beyond them." + +"They will close in as soon as it gets dark, Jerry. They will know well +enough that that is the time we shall be moving. I reckon we should not +have a chance worth a cent of getting through. What do you say, chief?" + +Leaping Horse nodded in assent. + +"Well, then," Sam Hicks said, "I vote we mount our horses and go right +at them. I would rather do that and get rubbed out in a fair fight than +lie here until they crawl up and finish us." + +No one answered, and for some minutes they smoked on without a word +being spoken, then Harry said: + +"There is only one chance for us that I can see, and that is to mount +now and to ride right down the valley. The chief says that in some +places it is not more than fifty yards wide, with steep cliffs on each +side, and we could make a much better fight there, for they could only +attack us in front. There would be nothing for them then but to dismount +and close in upon us from tree to tree, and we could make a running +fight of it until we come to the mouth of the caņon. There must be +places there, that we ought to be able to hold with our seven rifles +against the lot of them." + +"Bully for you, Harry! I reckon that would give us a chance anyhow. That +is, if we ain't cut off before we get to the wood." + +"Let us have a look round and see what they are doing," Harry said. "Ah! +here comes Hunting Dog. He will tell us all about it." + +"Utes on hills all gone up and joined the others," the young Indian said +as he came up. + +"It could not be better news!" Harry exclaimed. "I reckon they have +moved away to tempt us to make a start for the fort, for they know if we +go that way they will have us all, sure. They have not reckoned on our +riding down the valley, for they will be sure we must have found out +long ago that there ain't any way out of it. Well, we had best lose no +time. There is some meat ready, Hunting Dog, and you had best fill up +while we get ready for a start." + +The blankets and buffalo rugs were wrapped up and strapped behind the +saddles, as soon as these were placed behind the horses. They had only a +small quantity of meat left, as the chief was going out hunting the next +morning, but they fastened this, and eighty pounds of flour that still +remained, on to one of the pack-horses. They filled their powder-horns +from the keg, and each put three or four dozen bullets into his +holsters, together with all the cartridges for their pistols; the rest +of the ammunition was packed on another horse. When all was completed +they mounted. + +"We may get a couple of hundred yards more start before we are seen," +Harry said. "Anyhow, we have got five hundred yards, and may reckon on +making the two miles to where the valley narrows before they catch us." + +The instant, however, they emerged from the wood, two loud yells were +heard from Indians who had been left lying down on watch at the top of +the slopes on either side. Sam, who was the worst shot of the party, had +volunteered to lead the string of pack-horses, while Ben was ready to +urge them on behind. + +"You may want to stop some of the leading varmint, and I should not be +much good at that game, so I will keep straight on without paying any +attention to them." + +A loud answering yell rose from the Indians up the valley. + +"We shall gain fifty yards or so before they are fairly in the saddle," +Harry said as they went off at the top of their speed, the horses +seeming to know that the loud war-cry boded danger. They had gone half a +mile before they looked round. The Indians were riding in a confused +mass, and were some distance past the grove the miners had left, but +they still appeared as far behind as they had been when they started. +Another mile and the mass had broken up; the best-mounted Indians had +left the rest some distance behind, and considerably decreased the gap +between them and the fugitives. Another five minutes and the latter +reached the wood, that began just where the valley narrowed and the +cliffs rose almost perpendicularly on each side. As soon as they did so +they leapt from their horses, and each posting himself behind a tree +opened fire at their pursuers, the nearest of whom were but two hundred +yards away. Four fell to the first seven shots; the others turned and +galloped back to the main body, who halted at once. + +"They won't try a charge," Harry said; "it isn't in Indian nature to +come across the open with the muzzles of seven rifles pointed at them. +They will palaver now; they know they have got us in a trap, and they +will wait till night. Now, chief, I reckon that you and I and Hunting +Dog had best stay here, so that if they try, as they are pretty sure to +do, to find out whether we are here still, we can give them a hint to +keep off. The other four had better ride straight down the caņon, and go +on for a bit, to find out the best place for making a stand, and as soon +as it is dark we will go forward and join them. There will be no +occasion for us to hurry. I reckon the skunks will crawl up here soon +after it is dark; but they won't go much farther, for we might hide up +somewhere and they might miss us. In the morning they will come down on +foot, sheltering behind the trees as much as they can, till at last they +locate us." + +The chief nodded his approval of the plan, and Tom and the three miners +at once started, taking the pack-horses with them. On the way down they +came upon a bear. Ben was about to fire, but Jerry said: "Best leave him +alone, Ben; we are only three miles down, and these cliffs would echo +the sound and the red-skins would hear it and know that some of us had +gone down the valley, and might make a rush at once." In an hour and a +half they came down to a spot where the valley, after widening out a +good bit, suddenly terminated, and the stream entered a deep caņon in +the face of the wall of rock that closed it in. + +"I reckon all this part of the valley was a lake once," Jerry said. +"When it got pretty well full it began to run over where this caņon is +and gradually cut its way out down to the Colorado. I wonder how far it +is to the river." + +They had gone but a hundred yards down the caņon when they came to a +place where a recent fall of rocks blocked it up. Through these the +stream, which was but a small one, made its way. + +"There is a grist of water comes down here when the snow melts in the +spring," Ben remarked. "You can see that the rocks are worn fifty feet +up. Waal, I reckon this place is good enough for us, Jerry." + +"I reckon so, too," the latter agreed. "It will be a job to get our +horses over; but we have got to do it anyhow, if we have to carry them." +The animals, however, managed to scramble up the rocks that filled the +caņon to the height of some thirty feet. The distance between the rock +walls was not more than this in width. + +"We could hold this place for a year," Ben said, "if they didn't take to +chucking rocks down from above." + +"Yes, that is the only danger," Jerry agreed; "but the betting is they +could not get nigh enough to the edge to look down. Still, they might do +it if the ground is level above; anyhow, we should not show much at this +depth, for it is pretty dark down here, and the rocks must be seven or +eight hundred feet high." + +It was, indeed, but a narrow strip of sky that they saw as they looked +up, and although still broad daylight in the valley they had left, it +was almost dark at the bottom of the deep gorge, and became pitch dark +as soon as the light above faded. + +"The first job in the morning," Jerry said, "will be to explore this +place down below. I expect there are places where it widens out. If it +does, and there are trees and anything like grass, the horses can get a +bite of food; if not, they will mighty soon go under, that is if we +don't come upon any game, for if we don't we sha'n't be able to spare +them flour." + +"It is almost a pity we did not leave them in the valley to take their +chance," Tom said. + +"Don't you make any mistake," Jerry said. "In the first place they may +come in useful to us yet, and even if we never get astride of them again +they may come in mighty handy for food. I don't say as we mayn't get a +bear if there are openings in the caņon, or terraces where they can come +down, but if there ain't it is just horse-meat we have got to depend on. +Look here, boys, it is 'tarnal dark here; I can't see my own hand. I +vote we get a light. There is a lot of drift-wood jammed in among the +stones where we climbed up, that will do to start a fire, and I saw a +lot more just at the mouth of this gap. We know the red-skins ain't near +yet, so I vote we grope our way up and bring some down. It will be a +first-rate thing, too, to make a bit of fire half-way between here and +the mouth; that would put a stop to their crawling up, as they are like +enough to try to do, to make out whereabouts we are. Of course we shall +have to damp our own fire down if they come, else we should show up agin +the light if we went up on the rock." + +The others agreed at once, for it was dull work sitting there in the +black darkness. All had matches, and a piece of dry fir was soon found. +This was lighted, and served as a torch with which to climb over the +rocks. Jammed in between these on the upper side was a large quantity of +drift-wood. This was pulled out, made into bundles, and carried over the +rock barrier, and a fire was soon blazing there. Then taking a brand and +two axes they went up to the mouth of the gorge, cut up the arms of some +trees that had been brought down by the last floods and left there as +the water sank. The greater part of these were taken down to their +camping-place; the rest, with plenty of small wood to light them, were +piled halfway between the barrier and the mouth of the caņon, and were +soon blazing brightly. + +They were returning to their camping-place, when Ben exclaimed that he +heard the sound of horses' hoofs. All stopped to listen. + +"There are not more than three of them," Ben said, "and they are coming +along at a canter. I don't expect we shall hear anything of the +red-skins until tomorrow morning." + +They heard the horses enter the caņon, then Jerry shouted: "Are you all +right, Harry?" + +"Yes; the red-skins were all quiet when we came away. Why, where are +you?" he shouted again when he came up to the fire. + +"A hundred yards farther on I will show you a light." + +Two or three blazing brands were brought up. Harry and the Indians had +dismounted at the first fire, and now led their horses up to the stone +barrier. + +"What on arth have you lit that other fire for, Jerry?" Harry asked as +he stopped at the foot of the barrier. + +"Because we shall sleep a dog-goned sight better with it there. As like +as not they may send on two or three young warriors to scout. It is as +black as a wolf's mouth, and we might have sat listening all night, and +then should not have heard them. But with that fire there they dare not +come on, for they would know they could not pass it without getting a +bullet in them." + +"Well, it is a very good idea, Jerry; I could not think what was up when +I got there and did not see anybody. I see you have another fire over +the other side. I could make it out clear enough as we came on." + +"It will burn down a bit presently," Jerry said. "I should not try to +get those horses up here now, Harry. It was a bad place to come up in +daylight, and like enough they would break their legs if they tried it +now. They will do just as well there as they would on this side, and you +can get them over as soon as the day breaks." + +"I would rather get them over, Jerry; but I see it is a pretty rough +place." + +Leaving the horses, Harry and the Indians climbed over the barrier, and +were soon seated with the others round their fire, over which the meat +was already frizzling. + +"So the Indians kept quiet all the afternoon, Harry?" + +"As quiet as is their nature. Two or three times some of them rode down, +and galloped backwards and forwards in front of us to make out if we +were there. Each time we let them fool about for a good long spell, and +then when they got a bit careless sent them a ball or two to let them +know we were still there. Hunting Dog went with the three horses half a +mile down the valley soon after you had gone, so that they might not +hear us ride off. + +"As soon as it began to get dusk we started. We had to come pretty slow, +for it got so dark under the trees we could not make out the trunks, and +had to let the horses pick their own way. But we knew there was no +hurry, for they would not follow till morning, though of course their +scouts would creep up as soon as it was dark, and wouldn't be long +before they found out that we had left." + +"I reckon they will all come and camp in the wood and wait for daylight +before they move, though I don't say two or three scouts may not crawl +down to try and find out where we are. They will move pretty slow, for +they will have to pick their way, and will know well enough that if a +twig cracks it will bring bullets among them. I reckon they won't get +here under four or five hours. It is sartin they won't try to pass that +fire above. As soon as they see us they will take word back to the +others, and we shall have the whole lot down here by morning." + +"We shall have to get the horses over, the first thing. Two of us had +best go down, as soon as it is light enough to ride without risking our +necks, to see what the caņon is like below." + +"Yes, that is most important, Jerry; there may be some break where the +red-skins could get down, and so catch us between two fires." + +"I don't care a red cent for the Utes," Jerry said. "We can lick them +out of their boots in this caņon. What we have been thinking of, is +whether there is some place where the horses can get enough to keep them +alive while we are shut up here. If there is game, so much the better; +if there ain't, we have got to take to horseflesh." + +"How long do you suppose that the Indians are likely to wait when they +find that they can't get at us?" Tom asked. + +"There ain't no sort of saying," his uncle replied. "I reckon no one +ever found out yet how long a red-skin's patience will last. Time ain't +nothing to them. They will follow up this caņon both sides till they are +sartin that there ain't no place where a man can climb up. If there +ain't, they will just squat in that valley. Like enough they will send +for their lodges and squaws and fix themselves there till winter comes, +and even then they might not go. They have got wood and water. Some of +them will hunt and bring in meat, which they will dry for the winter; +and they are just as likely to stay here as to go up to their villages." + +A vigilant watch was kept up all night, two of them being always on +guard at the top of the barrier. As soon as morning broke, the three +horses were got over, and half an hour later Harry and Sam Hicks rode +off down the caņon, while the others took their places on guard, keeping +themselves well behind the rocks, between which they looked out. They +had not long to wait, for an Indian was seen to dart rapidly across the +mouth of the caņon. Two rifles cracked out, but the Indian's appearance +and disappearance was so sudden and quick that they had no reason to +believe that they had hit him. + +"They will know now that we are here, and are pretty wide awake," Ben +said. "You may be sure that he caught sight of these rocks." + +A minute or two later several rifles flashed from among the fallen +stones at the mouth of the gorge. + +"Keep your eyes open," Jerry said, "and when you see the slightest +movement, fire. But don't do it unless you feel certain that you make +out a head or a limb. We've got to show the Utes that it is sartin death +to try and crawl up here." + +Almost immediately afterwards a head appeared above the stones, the +chief's rifle cracked, and at the same instant the head disappeared. + +"Do you think you got him, chief?" + +"Think so, not sure. Leaping Horse does not often miss his mark at two +hundred yards." + +Almost directly afterwards Tom fired. An Indian sprang to his feet and +bounded away. + +"What did you fire at, Tom?" + +"I think it was his arm and shoulder," Tom replied. "I was not sure +about it, but I certainly saw something move." + +"I fancy you must have hit him, or he would not have got up. Waal, now I +reckon we are going to have quiet for a bit. They must have had a good +look at the place while they were lying there, and must have seen that +it air too strong for them. I don't say they mayn't come on again +tonight--that they may do, but I think it air more likely they won't try +it. They would know that we should be on the watch, and with seven +rifles and Colts we should account for a grist of them afore they got +over. What do you say, chief?" + +"Not come now," the Indian said positively. "Send men first along top +see if can get down. Not like come at night; the caņons of the Colorado +very bad medicine, red-skins no like come into them. If no way where we +can get up, then Utes sit down to starve us." + +"That will be a longish job, chief. A horse a week will keep us for +three months." + +"If no food for horse, horse die one week." + +"So they will, chief. We must wait till Harry comes back, then we shall +know what our chances are." + +It was six hours before Harry and Sam returned. There was a shout of +satisfaction from the men when they saw that they had on their saddles +the hind-quarters of a bear. + +"Waal, what is the news, Harry?" + +"It ain't altogether good, Ben. It goes down like this for about twelve +miles, then it widens out sudden. It gets into a crumbly rock which has +got worn away, and there is a place maybe about fifty yards wide and +half a mile long, with sloping sides going up a long way, and then cliff +all round. The bottom is all stones; there are a few tufts of coarse +grass growing between them. On the slopes there are some bushes, and on +a ledge high up we made out a bear. We had two or three shots at him, +and at last brought him down. There may be more among the bushes; there +was plenty of cover for them." + +"There was no place where there was a chance of getting up, Harry?" + +"Nary a place. I don't say as there may not be, but we couldn't see +one." + +"But the bear must have got down." + +"No. He would come down here in the dry season looking for water-holes, +and finding the place to his liking he must have concluded to settle +there. It is just the place a bear would choose, for he might reckon +pretty confident that there weren't no chance of his being disturbed. +Well, we went on beyond that, and two miles lower the caņon opened +again, and five minutes took us down on to the bank of the Colorado. +There was no great room between the river and the cliff, but there were +some good-sized trees there, and plenty of bush growing up some +distance. We caught sight of another bear, but as we did not want him we +left him alone." + +"Waal, let us have some b'ar-meat first of all," Jerry said. "We +finished our meat last night, and bread don't make much of a meal, I +reckon. Anyhow we can all do with another, and after we have done we +will have a talk. We know what to expect now, and can figure it up +better than we could before." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE COLORADO + + +"Well, boys," Harry Wade began after they had smoked for some time in +silence, "we have got to look at this matter squarely. So far we have +got out of a mighty tight place better than we expected. Yesterday it +seemed to us that there weren't much chance of our carrying our hair +away, but now we are out of that scrape. But we are in another pretty +nigh as bad, though there ain't much chance of the red-skins getting at +us." + +"That air so, Harry. We are in a pretty tight hole, you bet. They ain't +likely to get our scalps for some time, but there ain't no denying that +our chance of carrying them off is dog-goned small." + +"You bet there ain't, Jerry," Sam Hicks said. "Them pizon varmint will +camp outside here; for they know they have got us in a trap. They mayn't +attack us at present, but we have got to watch night and day. Any dark +night they may take it into their heads to come up, and there won't be +nothing to prevent them, for the rustling of the stream among the rocks +would cover any little noise they might make. The first we should know +of it would be the yell of the varmint at the foot of this barrier, and +afore we could get to the top the two on guard would be tomahawked, and +they would be down on us like a pack of wolves. I would a'most as soon +put down my rifle and walk straight out now and let them shoot me, if I +knew they would do it without any of their devilish tortures, as go on +night after night, expecting to be woke up with their war-yell in my +ears. + +"Of course they will be always keeping a watch there at the mouth of the +caņon,--a couple of boys are enough for that,--for they will know that +if we ride out on our horses we must go right up the valley, and it is a +nasty place to gallop through in the dark; besides, some of them will no +doubt be placed higher up to cut us off, and if we got through, which +ain't likely, they could ride us down in a few hours. If we crept out on +foot and got fairly among the trees we should be no better off, for they +would take up our trail in the morning and hunt us down. I tell you +fairly, boys, I don't see any way out of it. I reckon it will come to +our having to ride out together, and to wipe out as many of the Utes as +possible afore we go down. What do you say, chief?" + +"Leaping Horse agrees with his white brother, Straight Harry, whose mind +he knows." + +"Waal, go on then, Harry," Sam said. "I thought that you had made an end +of it or I wouldn't have opened out. I don't see no way out of it at +present, but if you do I am ready to fall in with it whatever it is." + +"I see but one way out of it, boys. It is a mighty risky thing, but it +can't be more risky than stopping here, and there is just a chance. I +spoke to the chief last night, and he owned that it didn't seem to him +there was a chance in that or any other way. However, he said that if I +went he would go with me. My proposal is this, that we take to the river +and try and get through the caņons." + +There was a deep silence among the men. The proposal took them by +surprise. No man had ever accomplished the journey. Though two parties +similarly attacked by Indians had attempted to raft down some of the +caņons higher up; one party perished to a man, one survivor of the other +party escaped to tell the tale; but as to the caņons below, through +which they would have to pass, no man had ever explored them. The +Indians regarded the river with deep awe, and believed the caņons to be +peopled with demons. The enterprise was so stupendous and the dangers to +be met with so terrible, that ready as the western hunters were to +encounter dangers, no one had ever attempted to investigate the windings +and turnings of the river that for two thousand miles made its way +through terrific precipices, and ran its course some three thousand feet +below the surrounding country, until it emerged on to the plains of +Mexico. + +"That was why I was so anxious to reach the river," Harry went on after +a pause. "I wanted to see whether there were some trees, by which we +could construct a raft, near its bank. Had there not been, I should have +proposed to follow it up or down, as far as we could make our way, in +hopes of lighting on some trees. However, as it is they are just handy +for us. I don't say as we shall get through, boys, but there is just a +chance of it. I don't see any other plan that would give us a show." + +Jerry was the first to speak. + +"Waal, Harry, you can count me in. One might as well be drowned in a +rapid or carried over a fall as killed, or, wuss, taken and tortured by +the red-skins." + +"That is so, Jerry," Sam Hicks agreed. While Ben said: "Waal, if we git +through it will be something to talk about all our lives. In course +there ain't no taking the horses?" + +"That is out of the question, Ben. We shall not have much time to spare, +for the Utes may take it into their heads to attack us any night; and, +besides, we have no means of making a big raft. We might tie two or +three trunks together with the lariats and spike a few cross-pieces on +them, we might even make two such rafts; that is the outside. They will +carry us and our stores, but as for the horses, we must either leave +them down in the hollow for the Indians to find, or put a bullet through +their heads. I expect the latter will be the best thing for them, poor +beasts." + +"No want trees," the chief said. "Got horses' skins; make canoes." + +"You are right, chief," Harry exclaimed; "I never thought of that. That +would be the very thing. Canoes will go down the rapids where the +strongest rafts would be dashed to pieces, and if we come to a bad fall +we can make a shift to carry them round." + +The others were no less pleased with the suggestion, and the doubtful +expression of their faces as they assented to the scheme now changed to +one of hopefulness, and they discussed the plan eagerly. It was agreed +that not a moment should be lost in setting to work to carry it out, and +that they should forthwith retreat to the mouth of the lower caņon; for +all entertained a secret misgiving that the Utes might make their attack +that night, and felt that if that attack were made in earnest it would +succeed. It was certain they would be able to find some point at which +the lower gorge could be held; and at any rate a day would be gained, +for at whatever hour of the night the Indians came up they would not +venture farther until daybreak, and there would probably be a long +palaver before they would enter the lower caņon. + +Tom had not spoken. He recognized the justice of Harry's reasoning, but +had difficulty in keeping his tears back at the thought of his horse +being killed. For well-nigh a year it had carried him well; he had +tended and cared for it; it would come to his call and rub its muzzle +against his cheek. He thought that had he been alone he would have +risked anything rather than part with it. + +"Don't you like the plan, Tom?" Harry said to him, as, having packed and +saddled the horses, they rode together down the caņon. "I don't suppose +the passage is so terrible after all." + +"I am not thinking of the passage at all, uncle," Tom said almost +indignantly; "it will be a grand piece of adventure; but I don't like--I +hate--the thought of my horse being killed. It is like killing a dear +friend to save one's self." + +"It is a wrench, lad," Harry said kindly; "I can quite understand your +feelings, and don't like the thought myself. But I see that it has got +to be done, and after all it will be better to kill the poor brutes than +to let them fall into the hands of the Indians, who don't know what +mercy to their beasts means, and will ride them till they drop dead +without the least compunction." + +"I know it is better, uncle, ever so much better--but it is horrible all +the same. Anyhow, don't ask me to do it, for I could not." + +"I will see to that, Tom. You shall be one of the guards of the caņon. +You would not be of much use in making the canoes, and you won't have to +know anything about it till you go down and get on board." + +Tom nodded his thanks; his heart was too full for him to speak, and he +felt that if he said a word he should break down altogether. They rode +rapidly along, passed through the little valley where the bear had been +killed, without stopping, and went down the lower caņon, carefully +examining it to fix upon the most suitable point for defence. There had +been no recent fall, and though at some points great boulders lay +thickly, there was no one place that offered special facilities for +defence. + +"Look here, boys," Harry said, reining up his horse at a point within +two hundred yards of the lower end, "we can't do better than fix +ourselves here. An hour's work will get up a wall that will puzzle the +red-skins to get over, and there is the advantage that a shot fired here +by the guard will bring our whole force up in a couple of minutes. I +vote we ride the horses down to the river and let them pick up what they +can, and then come back here and build the wall. It will be getting dark +in an hour's time, and we may as well finish that job at once. Ben and +Sam, you may as well pick out a couple of young fir-trees and bring +them down at once, then there will be no time lost. Five of us will be +enough for the wall. Keep your eyes open. Likely enough there is a bear +or two about, and it would be a great thing for us to lay in a stock of +meat before we start." + +As soon as they issued from the gorge the horses were unsaddled and the +stores taken off the pack-animals. As they were doing this Harry said a +few words in a low tone to Sam. He then carefully examined the trees, +and picked out two young firs. Sam and Ben took their axes, and the +other five went up the gorge again, and were soon hard at work +collecting boulders and piling them in a wall. + +"There is a gun, uncle," Tom exclaimed presently. + +"Well, I hope they have got sight of a bear, we shall want a stock of +meat badly." + +A dozen shots were fired, but Tom thought no more of it as he proceeded +with his work. The bottom of the caņon was but fifteen feet wide, and by +the time it was dark they had a solid wall across it nearly six feet +high, with places for them to stand on to fire over. + +"Now then, Tom, you may as well take post here at once. I will send Sam +or Ben up to watch with you. I don't think there is a shadow of chance +of their coming to-night, but there is never any answering for +red-skins. I would leave Hunting Dog with you, but we shall want him to +help make the framework for the canoes; the Indians are a deal handier +than we are in making lashings. I will send your supper up here, lad, +and your buffalo robes. Then you can take it by turns to watch and +sleep. I reckon we shall be at work all night; we have got to get the +job finished as quick as we can." + +A quarter of an hour later Sam Hicks came up. + +"Have you got the trees down, Sam?" + +"Lor' bless you, it didn't take a minute to do that. We got them down +and split them up, then lit a fire and got the meat over it and the +kettle, and mixed the dough." + +"Did you kill another bear? We heard you firing." + +"No; the critter was too high up, and I ain't much good at shooting. +Perhaps they will get sight of him tomorrow, and Harry and the chief +will bring him down if he is within range of their shooting-irons. It is +'tarnal dark up here." + +In twenty minutes two lights were seen approaching, and Harry and +Hunting Dog came up carrying pine-wood torches. Each had a great faggot +of wood fastened on his back, and Harry also carried the frying-pan, on +which were a pile of meat and two great hunks of bread, while Hunting +Dog brought two tin pannikins of hot tea. + +"That will make it more cheerful for you," Harry said, as he unfastened +the rope that tied the faggot to his shoulders. "Now, Hunting Dog, get a +good fire as soon as you can, and then come down again to us." + +The fire was soon blazing merrily, and Tom and Sam sat down to enjoy +their meal. + +"Don't you think one of us ought to keep watch, Sam?" + +"Not a bit of it," Sam said. "The red-skins will never dare to enter +that caņon until after dark, and if they started now and made their way +straight on, they would not be here for another three or four hours. I +would bet my boots they don't come at all tonight; even if they were not +scared at us, they would be scared at coming near the river in the dark. +No, we will just take our meal comfortable and smoke a pipe, and then I +will take first watch and you shall take a sleep. We ain't closed an eye +since the night before last." + +Tom, indeed, was nearly asleep before he had finished his pipe, and felt +that he really must get a nap. So saying to Sam, "Be sure and wake me in +two hours," he rolled himself in his robe and instantly fell asleep. + +It seemed to him that he had only just gone off when Sam roused him. He +leapt to his feet, however, rifle in hand. "Anything the matter, Sam?" + +"Everything quiet," the miner replied. + +"What did you wake me for then? I have not been asleep five minutes." + +"According to my reckoning, mate, you have been asleep better'n five +hours. It was about half-past eight when you went off, and I reckon it +is two now, and will begin to get light in another hour. I would not +have waked you till daybreak, but I found myself dropping off." + +"I am awfully sorry," Tom began. + +"Don't you trouble, young un. By the time you have been as long in the +West as I have you won't think anything of two nights' watch. Now you +keep a sharp lookout. I don't think there is much chance of their +coming, but I don't want to be woke up with a red-skin coming right down +on the top of me." + +"I see you have let the fire out, Sam," Tom said, with a little shiver. + +"I put it out hours ago," Sam said, as he prepared to lie down. "It +would never have done to keep it all night, for a red-skin would see my +head over the top of the wall, while I should not get a sight of him +till he was within arm's-length." + +Tom took up his post, and gazed earnestly into the darkness beyond the +wall. He felt that his sense of vision would be of no use whatever, and +therefore threw all his faculties into that of listening. Slight as was +the chance of the Indians coming, he yet felt somewhat nervous, and it +was a satisfaction to him to see beyond the mouth of the caņon the glow +of the fire, by which, as he knew, the others were hard at work. + +In an hour the morning began to break, and as soon as he could see well +up the caņon he relighted the fire, jumping up to take a look over the +wall every minute or so. It was not long before he saw his uncle +approaching with a kettle. + +"I saw your smoke, Tom, and guessed that you would be glad of a mug of +hot tea. You have seen no signs of Indians, I suppose?" + +"We have heard nothing, uncle. As to seeing, up to half an hour ago +there was no possibility of making out anything. But I have not even +been listening; Sam went on guard directly we had finished supper, and I +asked him to call me in two hours, but he did not wake me until two +o'clock." + +"He is a good fellow," Harry said. "Well, don't wake him now. I can't +leave you the kettle, for we have to keep boiling water going, but you +can put his tin into the ashes and warm it up when he wakes. Here are a +couple of pieces of bread." + +"Why do you have to keep the kettle boiling, uncle?" + +"To bend the wood with. The piece we are working on is kept damp with +boiling water. We hold it for a time over the fire, pouring a little +water on as fast as it evaporates; that softens the wood, and we can +bend it much more evenly than we could if we did it by force. Besides, +when it is fastened into its position it remains, when it is dry, in +that shape, and throws no strain on to anything." + +"Are you getting on well?" + +"Capitally. We should have done both the frames by now, but we were +obliged to make them very strong so as to resist the bumps they are sure +to get against rocks. When they are finished you might almost let them +drop off the top of a house, they will be so strong and elastic. If the +Indians will but give us time we shall make a first-rate job of them." + +Three hours later Harry came up again with the kettle and some cooked +meat. Sam had just woke up, and was quite angry with Tom for not rousing +him before. "The others have been working all night," he said, "and here +have I been asleep for five hours; a nice sort of mate they will think +me." + +"Well, but you were watching five hours, Sam; and I would a deal rather +work all night than stand here for two hours in the dark, wondering all +the time whether the Indians are crawling up, and expecting at any +moment to hear a rush against the wall." + +"I am going to take your place, Sam, when you have finished your +breakfast," Harry said, as he came up. "If the Utes found out last night +that we had gone, their scouts may be coming down before long. My rifle +shoots a bit straighter than yours does." + +"It ain't the rifle, Harry," Sam said good-temperedly; "it is the eye +that is wrong, not the shooting-iron. I never had much practice with +these long guns, but when it comes to a six-shooter, I reckon I can do +my share as well as most. But they won't give me a chance with it." + +"I hope they won't, Sam. I am sure they won't as long as there is light, +and I hope that before it gets dark they will conclude to leave us +alone." + +A vigilant watch was kept now. + +"I think I saw a head look out from that corner," Tom exclaimed +suddenly, two hours after Sam had left them. + +"I am quite sure I did, Tom. We must wait until he shows himself a bit +more. I reckon it is a good three hundred yards off, and a man's head is +a precious small mark at that distance. Stand a bit higher and lay your +rifle on the wall. Don't fire if he only puts his head out. They know we +can shoot, so there is not any occasion to give them another lesson. I +don't hold to killing, unless you have got to do it. Let him have a good +look at us. + +"When he goes back and tells the tribe that there is a three hundred +yards' straight passage without shelter, and a strong wall across the +end of it, and two white men with rifles ready to shoot, I reckon they +will know a good deal better than to try to come up it, as long as there +is light. Besides, they won't think there is any occasion to hurry, for +they won't count on our taking to the river, and will know that we shall +be keeping watch at night. So it may very well be that they will reckon +on wearing us out, and that we may not hear of them for a week. There is +the fellow's head again!" + +The head remained visible round the corner of the rock for two or three +minutes. + +"He knows all about it now, Tom. You won't see any more of him to-day. I +will go down and lend them a hand below." + +Tom asked no questions about the horses; he had thought of them a score +of times as he stood on guard, and the thought had occurred to him that +it was possible the shots he had heard while they were building the wall +on the previous afternoon, had been the death shots of the horses. It +did not occur to him when Sam was telling the story about the bear, that +this was a got-up tale, but when he came to think it over, he thought it +probable that it was so. Sam himself was not much of a shot, but Ben, +although inferior to Harry or either of the two Indians, shot as well as +Jerry, and would hardly have missed a bear three or four times running. +Each time the thought of the horses occurred to him he resolutely put it +aside, and concentrated his mind upon the probable perils of the passage +down the caņons and the wonderful gorges they would traverse, and the +adventures and excitement they were sure to pass through. He thought how +fortunate it was they had taken the precaution of sending their +specimens of quartz back to the fort; for were they in the canoes, the +fruits of the journey would be irrevocably lost were these to upset; for +now the Indians had twice discovered the presence of whites in the +valley they would be sure to watch it closely, and it would not be +possible to go up to the mine again unless in strong force. + +The day passed quietly. Harry brought up Tom's meals, and late in the +afternoon all hands came up, and the wall of stones was raised four +feet, making it almost impregnable against a sudden attack. The two +Indians took post there with Tom, and watched alternately all night. The +Utes, however, remained perfectly quiet. They probably felt sure that +the fugitives must sooner or later be forced to surrender, and were +disinclined to face the loss that must occur before so strong a +position, defended by seven men armed with rifles and revolvers, could +be carried. + +At three o'clock on the following afternoon Hunting Dog came up. "Tom go +down and get dinner," he said, "Hunting Dog will watch." + +Tom took his rifle and started down the caņon. + +"Come on, lad," his uncle shouted. "We are pretty near ready for a +start, and have all had our dinner; so be quick about it. We want to get +well away from here before night." + +Tom went to the fire and ate his meal. As he sat down he saw that the +stores, blankets, and robes had all been carried away. When he finished, +his uncle led him down to the river. Two canoes were floating in the +water, and the other men were standing beside them. + +"There, Tom, what do you think of them?" + +"They are splendid, uncle; it seems impossible that you can have built +them in two days." + +"Five hands can do a lot of canoe-building in forty-eight hours' work, +Tom." + +The canoes were indeed models of strength if not of beauty. They were +each about twenty feet long and five feet wide. Two strong pieces of +pine two inches square ran along the top of each side, and one of the +same width but an inch deeper formed the keel. The ribs, an inch wide +and three-quarters of an inch thick, were placed at intervals of +eighteen inches apart. The canoes were almost flat-bottomed. The ribs +lay across the keel, which was cut away to allow them to lie flush in +it, a strong nail being driven in at the point of junction--these being +the only nails used in the boat's construction. The ribs ran straight +out to almost the full width of the canoe, and were then turned sharp +up, the ends being lashed with thongs of hide to the upper stringers. + +Outside the ribs were lashed longitudinal wattles of tough wood about an +inch wide. They were placed an inch apart, extending over the bottom and +halfway up the side. Over all was stretched the skin, five horses' hides +having been used for each boat. They were very strongly sewed together +by a double row of thongs, the overlaps having, before being sewed, been +smeared with melted fat. Cross-pieces of wood at the top kept the upper +framework in its place. The hair of the skin was outward, the inner +glistened with the fat that had been rubbed into it. + +"They are strong indeed," Tom said. "They ought to stand anything, +uncle." + +"Yes, I think they would stand a blow against any rock if it hadn't a +cutting edge. They would just bound off as a basket would. Of course +they are very heavy for canoes; but as they won't have to carry more +than the weight of four men each, they will draw little over a couple of +inches or so of water. + +"That is why we made them so wide. We could not get strength without +weight; and as there is no saying what shallows there may be, and how +close in some places rocks may come up to the surface, we were obliged +to build them wide to get light draught. You see we have made ten +paddles, so as to have a spare one or two in case of breakage. We have +two spare hides, so that we shall have the means of repairing damages." + +Tom said nothing about the horses. Manufactured into a boat, as the +skins were, there was not much to remind him of them; but he pressed his +uncle's hand and said, "Thank you very much, uncle; I don't mind so much +now, but I should not like to have seen them before." + +"That is all right, Tom; it was a case of necessity. Sam and Ben shot +them directly we got here." + +The stores were all laid by the boats, being divided between them so +that the cargoes were in all respects duplicates of each other. Before +Tom came down some had already been placed in each boat, with a blanket +thrown over them. + +"You have got the gold, I suppose, uncle?" + +"You may bet that we did not leave that behind. There is half in each +boat, and the bags are lashed to the timbers, so that if there is an +upset they cannot get lost." + +"How are we going?" + +"We have settled that you and I and the two Indians shall go together, +and the rest in the other boat. The Indians know nothing of canoeing, +and won't be of very much use. I know you were accustomed to boats, and +I did some rowing when I was a young man. I wish we had a couple of +Canadian Indians with us, or of half-breeds; they are up to this sort of +work, and with one in the stern of each canoe it would be a much less +risky business going down the rapids. However, no doubt we shall get +handy with the paddles before long." + +When everything was ready Harry fired his rifle, and in a couple of +minutes Hunting Dog came running down. The others had already taken +their seats. He stepped into Harry's boat, and they at once pushed off. + +The river was running smoothly here, and Harry said, "Directly we get +down a little way we will turn the boat's head up stream and practise +for a bit. It would never do to get down into rough water before we can +use the paddles fairly." + +Tom sat in the bow of his boat, Hunting Dog was next to him, then came +the chief, and Harry sat in the stern. A paddle is a much easier +implement to manage for a beginner than is an oar, and it was not long +before they found that they could propel the boats at a fair rate. In a +short time they had passed the end of the shelf at the mouth of the +caņon, and the cliffs on that side rose as abruptly as they did on the +other. The river was some eighty yards wide. + +"We will turn here," Harry said, "and paddle up. We sha'n't do more than +keep abreast of these rocks now, for the stream runs fast though it is +so smooth." + +They found, indeed, that they had to work hard to hold their position. + +"Now, Tom," Harry sang out, "it is you and I do the steering, you know. +When you want the head to go to the right you must work your paddle out +from the boat, when you want to go to the left you must dip it in the +water rather farther out and draw it towards the boat. Of course when +you have got the paddle the other side you must do just the contrary. +You must sing out right or left according as you see rocks ahead, and I +shall steer with my paddle behind. I have a good deal more power over +the boat than you have, and you must depend upon me for the steering, +unless there is occasion for a smart swerve." + +At first the two boats shot backwards and forwards across the stream in +a very erratic way, but after an hour's practice the steersmen found the +amount of force required. An hour later Harry thought that they were +competent to make a start, and turning they shot rapidly past the +cliffs. In a couple of miles there was a break in the rocks to the left. + +"We will land there," Harry said. "There are trees near the water and +bushes farther up. We will make a camp there. There is no saying how far +we may have to go before we get another opportunity. We have done with +the Utes for good, and can get a sound night's sleep. If you, chief, +will start with Hunting Dog as soon as we land, we will get the things +ashore and light the fire. Maybe you will be able to get a bear for us." + +They did not trouble to haul up the canoes, but fastened them by the +head-ropes, which were made from lariats, to trees on the shore. +Daylight was beginning to fade as they lighted the fire. No time was +lost before mixing the dough, and it was in readiness by the time that +there were sufficient glowing embers to stand the pot in. The kettle was +filled and hung on a tripod over the fire. In a short time the Indians +returned empty-handed. + +"No find bear," the chief said, "getting too dark to hunt. To-morrow +morning try." + +Harry got up and went to the boats, and returned directly with a joint +of meat. Tom looked up in surprise. + +"It is not from yours, Tom," Jerry said as he saw him looking at it. "We +took the hind-quarters of the four pack-ponies, but left the others +alone. It was no use bringing more, for it would not keep." + +"So it is horseflesh!" Tom rather shrank from the idea of eating it, and +nothing would have induced him to touch it had he thought that it came +from his own favourite. Some steaks were cut and placed in the +frying-pan, while strips were hung over the fire for those who preferred +the meat in that way. Tom felt strongly inclined to refuse altogether, +but when he saw that the others took their meat as a matter of course, +and proceeded to eat with a good appetite, he did not like to do so. He +hesitated, however, before tasting it; but Harry said with a laugh, +"Fire away, Tom. You can hardly tell it from beef, and they say that in +Paris lots of horseflesh is sold as beef." + +Thus encouraged, Tom took a mouthful, and found it by no means bad, for +from their long stay in the valley the animals were all in excellent +condition, and he acknowledged to himself that he would not have known +the flesh from beef. + +"I call it mighty good for a change." Terry said. "Out on the plains, +where one can get buffalo, one would not take horse for choice, but as +we have been eating deer and bear meat for about a year, horse-meat +ain't bad by no means. What! You won't take another bit, Tom?" + +"Not to-night, Jerry; next time I shall be all right. But it is my first +trial, you know, and though I can't say it is not good, it gives me a +queer feeling, so I will stick to the bread." + +"Well, boys," Harry said presently, "we have made a first-rate start, +and have got out of a big scrape, easier than I ever looked for. We +could not have got two better canoes for our work if we had had them +brought special from Canada, and it seems to me that they ought to go +down pretty near anywhere without much damage. We shall get real handy +with our paddles in two or three days, and I hope we sha'n't meet with +any big rapids until we have got into the way of managing them well." + +"You bet, Harry, we have got out well," said Jerry. "I tell you it +looked downright ugly, and I wouldn't have given a continental for our +chances. As for the rapids, I guess we shall generally find rocks one +side or the other where we can make our way along, and we can let down +the canoes by the ropes. Anyhow, we need not get skeery over them. After +getting out of that valley with our hair on, the thought of them does +not trouble me a cent." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +AFLOAT IN CANOES + + +The two Indians were off long before daylight, and just as the others +were having a wash at the edge of the river they heard the crack of a +rifle some distance up the cliff. + +"Bear!" Jerry exclaimed; "and I reckon they have got it, else we should +have heard another shot directly afterwards. That will set us up in food +for some time. Get the fire made up, Tom, you won't have to eat horse +steak for breakfast unless you like." + +The Indians returned half an hour later laden with as much bear-flesh as +they could carry. + +"I vote we stop here for two days," Harry said. "We have got a lot of +meat now, but it won't keep for twenty-four hours in this heat, so I +vote we cut it up and dry it as the Indians do buffalo-meat; it will +keep any time. Besides, we deserve a couple of days' rest, and we can +practise paddling while the meat dries. We got on very well yesterday, +but I do want us to get quite at home in the boats before we get to a +bad bit." + +The proposal was agreed to, and as soon as breakfast was over the whole +of the meat was cut up into thin slices and hung up on cords fastened +from tree to tree. + +"It ought to take three days to do it properly, and four is better," +Harry said. "Still, as we have cut it very thin, I should think two days +in this hot sun ought to be enough." + +"Are there any fish in the river, uncle?" + +"I have no doubt there are, Tom, grists of them, but we have got no +hooks." + +"Jerry has got some, he told me he never travelled without them, and we +caught a lot of fish with them up in the mountains just after we started +before. I don't know about line, but one might unravel one of the +ropes." + +"I think you might do better than that, Tom. The next small animal we +shoot we might make some lines from the gut. They needn't be above five +or six feet long. Beyond that we could cut a strip of thirty or forty +feet long from one of the hides. However, we can do nothing at present +in that way. Now let us get into the canoes and have a couple of hours' +paddling. After dinner we will have another good spell at the work." + +By evening there was a marked improvement in the paddling over that of +the previous day, and after having had another day's practice all felt +confident that they should get on very well. By nightfall on the second +day, the meat was found to be thoroughly dried, and was taken down and +packed in bundles, and the next morning they started as soon as it was +light. It was agreed that the boats should follow each other at a +distance of a hundred yards, so that the leader could signal to the one +behind if serious difficulties were made out ahead, and so enable it to +row to the bank in time. Were both drawn together into the suck of a +dangerous rapid they might find themselves without either boats or +stores, whereas if only one of the boats was broken up, there would be +the other to fall back upon. Harry's boat was to take the lead on the +first day, and Tom, as he knelt in the bows, felt his heart beat with +excitement at the thought of the unknown that lay before them, and that +they were about to make their way down passes probably unpenetrated by +man. Passing between what had seemed to them the entrance to a narrow +caņon, they were surprised to rind the river widen out. On their right a +great sweep of hills bent round like a vast amphitheatre, the +resemblance being heightened by the ledges running in regular lines +along it, the cliff being far from perpendicular. + +"I should think one could climb up there," Tom said, half-turning round +to his uncle. + +"It looks like it, Tom, but there is no saying; some of those steps may +be a good deal steeper than they look. However, I have no doubt one +could find places where it would be possible to climb if there were any +use in doing so, but as we should only find ourselves up on bad lands we +should gain nothing by it." + +"I don't mean we should want to climb up now, uncle; but it seemed a +sort of satisfaction to know that there are places where one could climb +in case we got the boats smashed up." + +"If we had to make our way up, lad, it would be much better to go by one +of the lateral canons like the one we came down by. I can see at least +half a dozen of them going up there. We should certainly find water, and +we might find game, but up on the plateau we should find neither one nor +the other." + +On the left-hand bank of the river the cliffs fell still farther back in +wide terraces, that rose one behind the other up to a perpendicular +cliff half a mile back from the river. There was a shade of green here +and there, and the chief pointed far up the hill and exclaimed "Deer!" + +"That is good," Harry said. "There are sure to be more of these places, +and I should think we are not likely to starve anyhow. We can't spare +time to stop now; we want to have a long day's paddle to see what it is +going to be like, and we have got meat enough for the present. If we +happen to see a deer within rifle-shot, so that we can get at him +without much loss of time, we will stop, for after all fresh meat is +better eating than dry." + +"I should think it would be, uncle," Tom said. "From the look of the +stuff I should think it would be quite as tough as shoe leather and as +tasteless." + +"It needs a set of sharp teeth, Tom, but if you are hard set I have no +doubt you will be able to get through it, and at any rate it constitutes +the chief food of the Indians between the Missouri and the Rockies." + +For the next three hours they paddled along on the quiet surface of the +river. The other canoe had drawn up, since it was evident that here at +least there was no reason why they should keep apart. + +"I didn't expect we should find it as quiet as this, Harry," Jerry +Curtis said. "It is a regular water-party, and I should not mind how +long I was at it if it were all like this." + +"We shall have rough water enough presently, Jerry, and I expect we +shall look back on this as the pleasantest part of the trip. It seems to +me that the hills close in more towards the end of this sweep. It has +made a regular horseshoe." + +"I reckon it depends upon the nature of the rock," Ben put in. + +"That is it, you may be sure, Ben. Wherever it is soft rock, in time it +crumbles away like this; where it is hard the weather don't affect it +much, and we get straight cliffs. I expect it is there we shall find the +rapids worst. Well, we shall soon make a trial of them, I fancy. It +looks like a wall ahead, but the road must go through somewhere." + +A quarter of an hour later Harry said: "You had better drop back now, +Jerry, there is the gap right ahead. If you see me hold up my paddle you +row ashore. When we come to a bad rapid we had better all get out, and +make our way down on the rocks as far as we can, to see what it is like. +It will never do to go at it blind. Of course we may find places where +the water comes to the wall faces on both sides, and then there is +nothing to do but to take our chance, but I don't propose to run any +risks that I can avoid." + +There was a perceptible increase in the rate of the current as they +neared the gorge, and when they came within a short distance of it Harry +gave the signal to the boat behind, and both canoes made for the shore. +As they stepped out on to the rocks the chief pointed to a ledge far +above them. "There will be time for Hunting Dog to shoot a deer," he +said, "while we go down to see caņon." + +Tom in vain endeavoured to make out the object at which the Indian was +pointing. Hunting Dog had evidently noticed it before landing, and upon +Harry giving a nod of assent, started off with his rifle. The others +waited until Jerry and his companions joined them, and then started +along the rocks that had fallen at the foot of the cliffs. They were +soon able to obtain a far better view of the gorge than they had done +from the canoe. The river ran for a bit in a smooth glassy flood, but a +short distance down, it began to form into waves, and beyond that they +could see a mass of white foam and breakers. They made their way along +the rocks for nearly two miles. It seemed well-nigh impossible to Tom +that the boats could go down without being swamped, for the waves were +eight or ten feet high, with steep sides capped with white. At last the +gorge widened again, and although the cliff to the right rose +perpendicularly, on the other side it became less steep, and seemed +lower down to assume the same character as that above the gorge. + +"It looks pretty bad," Harry said, speaking for almost the first time +since they had started, for the roar of the water against the rocks, +echoed and re-echoed by the cliffs, rendered conversation an +impossibility. "It looks bad, but as far as I can see there are no rocks +that come up near the surface, and the canoes ought to go through the +broken water safely enough." + +"It is an all-fired nasty-looking place," Jerry said; "but I have heard +men who had been in the north talk about rapids they had gone through, +and from what they said about them they must have been worse than this. +We have got to keep as near the side as we can; the waves ain't as high +there as they are in the middle, and we have got to keep the boat's head +straight, and to paddle all we know. If we do that, I reckon the canoes +will go through." + +They retraced their steps up the gorge. Hunting Dog was standing by the +boat with the dead deer at his feet. Jerry picked it up. "I had better +take this, I reckon, Harry. You have got one man more than we have;" and +he and his two companions went on to their boat. + +"Now, what do you think, Tom?" his uncle said. "Can you trust your head +to keep cool? It will need a lot of nerve, I can tell you, and if her +head swerves in the slightest she will swing round, and over she will +go, and it would want some tall swimming to get out of that race. You +paddle as well as the chief,--better, I think,--but the chief's nerves +are like iron. He has not been practising steering as you have, but as +there seem to be no rocks about, that won't matter so much. I ought to +be able to keep her straight, if you three paddle hard. It may need a +turn of the paddle now and then in the bow, but that we can't tell. So +it shall be just as you like, lad. If you think your nerves can stand it +you take your usual place, but if you have doubts about it, it were best +to let the chief go there." + +"I think I could stand it, uncle, for I have been out in wherries in +some precious rough seas at Spithead; but I think it would be best for +the chief to take my place this time, and then I shall see how I feel." + +Harry said a few words to the chief in his own language, and Leaping +Horse without a word stepped into the bow, while Tom took the seat +behind him. + +"We sha'n't be long going down," Harry said, "I reckon the stream is +running ten miles an hour, and as we shall be paddling, it will take us +through in ten minutes. We had all better sit farther aft, so as to take +her bow right out of water. She will go through it ever so much easier +so." + +They shifted their seats until daylight could be seen under the keel a +foot from the bow. + +"I think that is about the right trim," Harry said. "Now paddle all." + +The boat shot off from the shore. A minute later it darted into the +gorge, the Indian setting a long sweeping stroke. There were two or +three long heaves, and then they dashed into the race. Tom held his +breath at the first wall of water, but, buoyant and lightly laden as the +canoe was, with fully a foot of free board, she rose like a feather over +it, and darted down into the hollow beyond. Tom kept his eyes fixed on +the back of the chief's head, clinched his teeth tightly, and paddled +away with all his strength. He felt that were he to look round he should +turn giddy at the turmoil of water. Once or twice he was vaguely +conscious of Harry's shouts, "Keep her head inshore!" or "A little +farther out!" but like a man rowing a race he heeded the words but +little. His faculties were concentrated on his work, but he could see a +slight swerve of the Indian's body when he was obeying an order. + +He was not conscious of any change of motion, either in the boat or in +the water round, when Harry shouted, "Easy all!" and even then it was +the chief's ceasing to paddle rather than Harry's shout which caused him +to stop. Then he looked round and saw that the race was passed, and that +the canoe was floating in comparatively quiet water. + +"She is a daisy!" Harry shouted; "we could not do better if we had been +all Canadian half-breeds, chief. Now, we had better set to and bale her +out as quickly as we can." + +Tom now for the first time perceived that he was kneeling in water, and +that the boat was nearly half-full. + +Their tea pannikins had been laid by their sides in readiness, and +Hunting Dog touched him and passed forward his tin and the chief's, both +of which had been swept aft. The Seneca at once began to throw out the +water, but Tom for a minute or two was unable to follow his example. He +felt as weak as a child. A nervous quivering ran through his body, and +his hand trembled so that he could not grasp the handle of the tin. + +"Feel bad, Tom?" his uncle asked cheerily from behind. "Brace up, lad; +it was a pretty warm ten minutes, and I am not surprised you feel it. +Now it is over I am a little shaky myself." + +"I shall be all right presently, uncle." A look at the chief's back did +more to steady Tom's nerves than his own efforts. While he himself was +panting heavily, and was bathed in perspiration, the chief's breath came +so quietly that he could scarce see his shoulders rise and fall, as he +baled out the water with perfect unconcern. With an effort the boy took +hold of his dipper, and by the time the boat was empty his nerves were +gaining their steadiness, though his breath still came quickly. As he +laid down his tin he looked round. + +"Heap water," Hunting Dog said with a smile; "run like herd of buffalo." + +The other boat lay twenty yards behind them, and was also engaged in +baling. + +"All right now, Tom?" + +"All right, uncle; but it is lucky you put the chief in the bows. I +should have made a mess of it; for from the time we got into the waves +it seemed nothing but confusion, and though I heard your voice I did not +seem to understand what you said." + +"It was a trial to the nerves, Tom, but we shall all get accustomed to +it before we get through. Well, thank God, we have made our first run +safely. Now paddle on, we will stop at the first likely place and have a +meal." + +A mile farther they saw a pile of drift-wood on the left bank, and Harry +at once headed the canoe to it, and drawing the boat carefully alongside +they got out. A minute later the other canoe joined them. + +"Jee-hoshaphat, Harry!" Jerry exclaimed as he stepped out; "that was +worse nor a cyclone. I would rather sit on the back of the worst kind of +bucker than jump over those waves again. If we are going to have much of +this I should say let us find our way back and ask the Utes to finish us +off." + +"It was a rough bit, Jerry; but it might have been a deal worse if there +had been rocks in the stream. All we had to do was to keep her straight +and paddle." + +"And a pretty big all, too," Jerry grumbled. "I felt skeered pretty nigh +out of my wits, and the other two allow they were just as bad. If it +hadn't been for your boat ahead I reckon we should never have gone +through it, but as long as you kept on straight, there didn't seem any +reason why we shouldn't. I tell you I feel so shaky that if there were a +grizzly twenty yards off I am blamed if I could keep the muzzle of my +rifle on it." + +Tom had been feeling a good deal ashamed of his nervousness, and was +much relieved at hearing that these seasoned men had felt somewhat the +same as he had done. + +"What do you say, boys," Harry asked when breakfast had been cooked and +eaten, "if we stop here for to-day? Likely enough we may get some game, +and if not it won't matter, for the deer will last us a couple of days." + +"You bet," Ben Gulston said; "I think we have had enough of the water +for to-day. I don't feel quite sure now I ain't going round and round, +and I don't think any of us will feel right till we have had a night's +sleep. Besides, all the rugs and blankets are wet and want spreading out +in the sun for a bit, and the flour will want overhauling." + +"That settles it, Ben; let us get all the outfit out of the boats at +once." + +After the things had been laid out to dry the two Indians went off in +search of game; but none of the others felt any inclination to move, and +they spent the rest of the day lying about smoking and dozing. The +Indians brought back a big-horn, and the next morning the canoes dropped +down the stream again. For some miles the river flowed quietly along a +wide valley. At the end of that time it made an abrupt turn and entered +the heart of the mountains. As before, Harry's canoe went in advance. +The caņon was here a deep gloomy chasm, with almost perpendicular sides, +and for some distance the river ran swiftly and smoothly, then white +water was seen ahead, so the two boats rowed in to the rocks at the foot +of the precipice, and the occupants proceeded to explore the pass ahead. +It was of a different character to the last. Black rocks rose everywhere +above the surface, and among these the river flowed with extraordinary +force and rapidity, foaming and roaring. + +All agreed that it was madness to think of descending here, and that a +portage was necessary. The contents of the boats were lifted out, and +then one of them was carried down over the rocks by the united strength +of the party. They had gone half a mile when they came to a spot where +they could go no farther, as the water rushed along against the rock +wall itself. Some fifty yards further down they could see that the ledge +again began. + +"We must go and fetch the other boat," Harry shouted above the din of +the water, "and let them down one by one. There is no other way to do +it." + +The second boat was brought down, and another journey was made to bring +down the stores. The lariats were then tied together. + +"Let us sit down and smoke a pipe before we do anything more," Jerry +said. "Three times up and down them rocks is worse nor thirty miles on a +level." + +All were glad to adopt this suggestion, and for half an hour they sat +watching the rushing waters. As they did so they discussed how they had +better divide their forces, and agreed that Harry's boat should, as +before, go down first. Three men would be required to let the boat down, +and it would need at least four to check the second boat when it came +abreast of them. Although all felt certain that a single line of the +plaited hide would be sufficient, they determined to use two lines to +ensure themselves against risk. + +"I should let them run out fast at first, Jerry, only keeping enough +strain on them to keep her head well up stream. Begin to check her +gradually, and let her down only inch by inch. When you see we are close +to the rocks, hold her there while we get her alongside, and don't leave +go till we lift her from the water. Directly we are out, fasten the +ropes to the bow of your canoe, then launch her carefully; and whatever +you do, don't let go of the rope. Launch her stern first close to the +wall, then two get in and get well towards the stern, while the other +holds the rope until the last moment. Then those two in the boat must +begin to paddle as hard as they can, while the last man jumps in and +snatches up his paddle. Keep her head close to the wall, for if the +current catches it and takes her round she would capsize in a moment +against those rocks. Paddle all you know; we shall haul in the rope as +fast as you come down. When you come abreast two of us will check her, +and the others will be on the rocks to catch hold of her side as she +swings in." + +The first canoe was launched stern foremost, the four men took their +seats in her and began to paddle against, the stream with all their +strength, while Jerry and his companions let the lines run through their +fingers. The boat glanced along by the side of the wall. The men above +put on more and more strain, giving a turn of the ropes round a smooth +water-worn rock they had before picked out as suitable for the purpose. +The water surged against the bow of the canoe, lifting it higher and +higher as the full strain of the rope came upon it. The chief was +kneeling in the stern facing the rocks below, and as the canoe came +abreast of them he brought her in alongside. Harry held up his paddle, +the men above gave another turn of the ropes round the rock, and the +canoe remained stationary. Hunting Dog sprang out on to the rocks, and +taking hold of the blade of the chief's paddle, brought the canoe in so +close that the others were able to step ashore without difficulty. The +baggage was taken out, and the canoe lifted from the water, turned +upside down, and laid on the rocks. + +Harry held up his hand to show that they were ready, having before he +did so chosen a stone round which to wind the lariats. The other boat +was then launched. Sam and Ben took their places astern and began to +paddle against the stream. As they were in the back-water below the +ledge of rock they were able to keep her stationary while Jerry took his +place and got out his paddle. When all were ready, they paddled her out +from the back-water. As soon as the current caught her she flew past the +cliff like an arrow, although the three men were now paddling at the top +of their speed. Harry and the chief pulled in the rope hand over hand, +while Hunting Dog and Tom went a short way down the rocks. + +"Don't check her too suddenly, chief," Harry shouted. "Let the rope run +out easy at first and bring the strain on gradually." + +"The ropes will hold," the chief said. "One stop buffalo in gallop, two +stop boat." + +"Yes, but you would pull the head out of the canoe; chief, if you +stopped her too suddenly." + +The chief nodded. He had not thought of that. In spite of the efforts of +the oarsmen the canoe's head was swerving across the stream just as she +came abreast of them. A moment later she felt the check of the rope. + +"Easy, chief, easy!" Harry shouted, as the water shot up high over the +bow of the canoe. "Wait till she gets a bit lower or we shall capsize +her." + +The check of the bow had caused the stern to swerve out, and when they +again checked her she was several lengths below them with her head +inclined to shore. More and more strain was put on the ropes, until they +were as taut as iron bars. A moment later Tom and Hunting Dog seized two +paddles held out to them, and the boat came gently in alongside. + +"Gosh!" Ben exclaimed, as he stepped ashore, "it has taken as much out +of me as working a windlass for a day. I am blamed if I did not think +the hull boat was coming to pieces. I thought it was all over with us +for sure, Harry; when she first felt the rope, the water came in right +over the side." + +"It was touch and go, Ben; but there was a rock just outside you, and if +we had not checked her a bit her head would have gone across it, and if +it had, I would not have given a red cent for your lives." + +All day they toiled on foot, and by nightfall had made but four miles. +Then they camped for the night among the rocks. The next four days were +passed in similar labour. Two or three times they had to cross the +torrent in order to get on to fallen rocks on the other side to that +which they were following. These passages demanded the greatest caution. +In each case there were rocks showing above water in the middle of the +channel. One of these was chosen as most suited to their purpose, and by +means of the ropes a canoe was sheered out to it. Its occupants then +took their places on the rock, and in turn dropped the other boat down +to the next suitable point, the process being repeated, step by step, +until the opposite bank was reached. + +At the end of the fourth day the geological formation changed. The rock +was softer, and the stream had worn a more even path for itself, and +they decided to take to the boats again. There was no occasion for +paddling now, it was only when a swell on the surface marked some hidden +danger below that a stroke or two of the paddle was needed to sweep them +clear of it. For four hours they were carried along at the rate of fully +twelve miles an hour, and at the end of that time they shot out from +between the overhanging walls into a comparatively broad valley. With a +shout of delight they headed the boats for shore, and leapt out on to a +flat rock a few inches above the water. + +"If we could go on at that pace right down we should not be long before +we were out of the mountains," Tom said. + +"We could do with a bit slower, Tom; that is too fast to be pleasant. +Just about half that would do--six miles an hour. Twelve hours a day +would take us out of the caņons in a fortnight or so. We might do that +safely, but we could not calculate on having such good luck as we have +had to-day, when going along at twelve miles an hour. The pace for the +last four days has been just as much too slow as this is too fast. Four +miles a day working from morning till night is heart-breaking. In spite +of our run to-day, we cannot have made much over a hundred miles since +we started. Well, there is one comfort, we are in no great hurry. We +have got just the boats for the work, and so far as we can see, we are +likely to find plenty of food. A job like this isn't to be reckoned +child's play. So far I consider we have had good luck; I shall be well +content if it averages as well all the way down. The fear is we may get +to falls where we can neither carry nor let the boats down. In that case +we should have to get out of the canon somewhere, pack as much flour as +we could carry, and make our way across country, though how far we might +have to travel there is no knowing. I hope it mayn't come to that; but +at any rate I would rather go through even worse places than that caņon +above than have to quit the boats." + +"Right you are, Harry," Jerry agreed. "I would rather tote the canoe on +my back all the way down to Mexico, than have to try and make my way +over the bad lands to the hills. Besides, when we get a bit farther we +shall be in the Navahoe country, and the Utes ain't a sarcumstance to +them. The Ute ain't much of a fighter anyway. He will kill white men he +finds up in his hills, 'cause he don't want white men there, but he has +to be five or six to one before he will attack him. The Navahoe kills +the white man 'cause he is a white man, and 'cause he likes killing. He +is a fighter, and don't you forget it. If it had been Navahoes instead +of Utes that had caught us up in the hills, you may bet your bottom +dollar our scalps would be drying in their lodges now." + +"That is so, Jerry," Ben put in. "Besides, the Navahoes and the Apaches +have got no fear of white men. They have been raiding Mexico for +hundreds of years, and man to man they can whip Mexikins out of their +boots. I don't say as they haven't a considerable respect for western +hunters; they have had a good many lessons that these can out-shoot them +and out-fight them; still they ain't scared of them as plain Indians +are. They are a bad lot, look at them which way you will, and I don't +want to have to tramp across their country noways. It was pretty hard +work carrying that boat along them rocks, but I would rather have to do +so, right down to the plains, then get into a muss with the Navahoes." + +"How far does the Navahoe country come this way?" + +"There ain't no fence, Tom, I expect. They reckon as it's their country +just as far as they like to come. They don't come up as far north as +this, but where they ends and where the Utes begin no one knows but +themselves; and I reckon it shifts according as the Navahoes are busy +with the Mexicans in the south, or have got a quiet spell, and take it +into their heads to hunt this way." + +For many days they continued their journey, sometimes floating quietly +along a comparatively wide valley, sometimes carrying their boats past +dangerous rapids, sometimes rushing along at great speed on the black, +deep water, occasionally meeting with falls where everything had to be +taken out of the canoes, and the boats themselves allowed to shoot over +the falls with long ropes attached, by which they were drawn to shore +lower down. It was seldom that they were without meat, as several +big-horns and two bears were shot by the Indians. They had no doubt that +they could have caught fish, but as a rule they were too tired when they +arrived at their halting-place to do more than cook and eat their +suppers before they lay down to rest. + +"I reckon it won't be very long before we come upon a Mexican village," +Harry said one day, after they had been six weeks on their downward +course. "I have heard there is one above the Grand Caņon." + +The scenery had varied greatly. In some of the valleys groves of trees +bordered the river; sometimes not even a tuft of grass was to be seen. +Occasionally the cliffs ran in an even line for many miles, showing that +the country beyond was a level plateau, at other times rugged peaks and +pinnacles resembling ruined castles, lighthouses, and churches could be +seen. Frequently the cliffs rose three or four thousand feet in an +almost unbroken line, but more often there were rounded terraces, where +it would have been easy to ascend to the upper level. Everywhere the +various strata were of different colours: soft grays and browns, orange, +vermilion, purple, green, and yellow. They soon learned that when they +passed through soft strata, the river ran quietly; where the rocks were +hard there were falls and rapids; where the strata lay horizontal the +stream ran smoothly, though often with great rapidity; where they dipped +up stream there were dangerous rapids and falls. + +Since the start the river had been largely swollen by the junctions of +other streams, and was much wider and deeper than it had been where they +embarked; and even where the rapids were fiercest they generally found +comparatively quiet water close to the bank on one side or the other. +Twice they had had upsets, both the boats having been capsized by +striking upon rocks but an inch or two below the surface of the water. +Little harm was done, for the guns and all other valuable articles were +lashed to the sides of the boats, while strips of hide, zigzagged across +the ends of the canoes at short distances apart, prevented the blankets +and rugs and other bulky articles from dropping out when the boat +capsized. + +Since the river had become wider and the dangers less frequent, the +boats always kept near each other. Upsets were therefore only the +occasion for a hearty laugh; for it took but a few minutes to right the +canoe, bale it out, and proceed on their way. Occasionally they had +unpleasant visitors at their camp, and altogether they killed ten or +twelve rattle-snakes. In some of the valleys they found the remains of +the dwellings of a people far anterior to the present Indian races. Some +of these ruins appeared to have been communal houses. At other points +they saw cliff-dwellings in the face of the rock, with rough sculptures +and hieroglyphics. The canons varied in length from ten to a hundred and +fifty miles, the comparatively flat country between them varying equally +in point of appearance and in the nature of the rocks. As they got lower +they once or twice saw roughly-made rafts, composed of three or four +logs of wood, showing where Indians had crossed the river. The journey +so far had been much more pleasant than they had expected, for as the +river grew wider the dangers were fewer and farther apart, and more +easily avoided; and they looked forward to the descent of the Grand +Caņon, from which they knew they could not be far distant, without much +fear that it would prove impracticable. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE GRAND CAŅON + + +Passing from a short caņon, the boats emerged into a valley with flat +shores for some distance from the river. On the right was a wide side +caņon, which might afford a passage up into the hills. Half a mile lower +down there were trees and signs of cultivation; and a light smoke rose +among them. At this, the first sign of human life they had seen since +they took to the boats, all hands paddled rapidly. They were approaching +the shore, when Leaping Horse said to Harry: "No go close. Stop in river +and see, perhaps bad Indians. Leaping Horse not like smoke." + +Harry called to the other canoe, and they bore out into the stream +again. The chief stood up in the boat, and after gazing at the shore +silently for a moment said: + +"Village burnt. Burnt little time ago, post still burning." As he +resumed his seat Harry stood up in turn. + +"That is so, chief. There have only been five or six huts; whether +Indian or white, one can't tell now." + +Just at this moment an Indian appeared on the bank. As his eye fell on +the boats he started. A moment later he raised a war-yell. + +"Navahoe," the chief said. "Navahoe war-party come down, kill people and +burn village. Must row hard." + +The yell had been answered from the wood, and in two or three minutes as +many score of Indians appeared on the banks. They shouted to the boats +to come to shore, and as no attention was paid, some of them at once +opened fire. The river was about a quarter of a mile wide, and although +the shots splashed round them the boats were not long in reaching the +farther bank, but not unharmed, for Ben had dropped his paddle and +fallen back in the boat. + +"Is he badly hurt?" Harry asked anxiously, as the canoes drew alongside +each other near the bank, and Sam turned round to look at his comrade. + +"He has finished his journey," Sam said in a hoarse voice. "He has gone +down, and a better mate and a truer heart I never met. The ball has hit +him in the middle of the forehead. It were to be, I guess, for it could +only have been a chance shot at that distance." + +Exclamations of sorrow and fury broke from the others, and for a few +minutes there was no thought of the Indians, whose bullets were still +falling in the water, for the most part short of the boats. A sharp tap +on the side of Harry's canoe, followed by a jet of water, roused them. + +"We mustn't stop here," Harry said, as Hunting Dog plugged the hole with +a piece of dried meat, "or poor Ben won't be the only one." + +"Let us have a shot first," Jerry said. "Young Tom, do you take a shot +with Plumb-centre. It is about four hundred and fifty yards as near as I +can reckon, and she will carry pretty true that distance." + +"We will give them a shot all round," Harry said, as he took up his +rifle. + +Six shots were discharged almost at the same moment. One of the Indians +was seen to fall, the rest bounded away to a short distance from the +bank. Then Hunting Dog at a word from the chief stepped into the other +canoe. Keeping close under the bank they paddled down. The Indians had +ceased firing, and had disappeared at a run. + +"What are they up to now, chief?" + +"Going down to mouth of caņon, river sure to be narrow; get there before +us." + +"Wait, Jerry," Harry shouted to the other boat, which was some twenty +yards ahead. "The chief thinks they have gone to cut us off at the head +of the caņon, which is likely enough. I don't suppose it is fifty yards +wide there, and they will riddle us if we try to get through in +daylight. We had better stop and have a meal and talk it over." + +The boats were rowed ashore, and the men landed and proceeded to light a +fire as unconcernedly as if no danger threatened them. Ben's death had +cast a heavy gloom over them, and but few words were spoken, until the +meal was cooked and eaten. + +"It is a dog-goned bad business," Jerry said. "I don't say at night as +we mayn't get past them without being hit, but to go rushing into one of +those caņons in the dark would be as bad as standing their fire, if not +wuss. The question is--could we leave the boats and strike across?" + +"We could not strike across this side anyhow," Harry said. "There are no +settlements west of the Colorado. We know nothing of the country, and it +is a hundred to one we should all die of thirst even if we could carry +enough grub to last us. If we land at all it must be on the other side, +and then we could not reckon on striking a settlement short of two +hundred miles, and two hundred miles across a country like this would be +almost certain death." + +"As the Navahoes must have ridden down, Harry, there must be water. I +reckon they came down that caņon opposite." + +"Navahoe on track in morning," the chief said quietly. "When they see we +not go down river look for boat, find where we land and take up trail. +Caņon very plain road. Some go up there straight, take all our scalps." + +No one spoke for a moment or two. What the Seneca said was so evident to +them that it was useless to argue. "Well, chief, what do you advise +yourself?" Harry asked at length. + +"Not possible go on foot, Harry. Country all rocks and caņons; cannot +get through, cannot get water. Trouble with Navahoes too. Only chance +get down in boat to-night. Keep close under this bank; perhaps Indians +not see us, night dark." + +"Do you think they can cross over to this side?" + +"Yes, got canoe. Two canoes in village, Leaping Horse saw them on bank. +When it gets dark, cross over." + +"We will get a start of them," Harry said. "Directly it is dark we can +be off too. The shore is everywhere higher than our heads as we sit in +the canoes, and we can paddle in the shadow without being seen by them +on the other side, while they won't venture to cross till it is pitch +dark. As the stream runs something like three miles an hour, I reckon +that they are hardly likely to catch us. As for the rapids, they don't +often begin until you are some little distance in. At any rate we shall +not have to go far, for the red-skins will not dare to enter the caņon, +so we can tie up till morning as soon as we are a short distance in. We +have got to run the gauntlet of their fire, but after all that is better +than taking our chances by leaving the boats. If we lie down when we get +near them they may not see us at all; but if they do, a very few strokes +will send us past them. At any rate there seems less risk in that plan +than in any other." + +The others agreed. + +"Now, boys, let us dig a grave," he went on, as soon as the point was +settled. "It is a sort of clay here and we can manage it, and it is not +likely we shall find any place, when we are once in the caņon, where we +can do it." They had neither picks nor shovels with them, for their +mining tools had been left at the spot where they were at work, but with +their axes and knives they dug a shallow grave, laid Ben's body in it, +covered it up, and then rolled a number of boulders over it. + +Ben's death affected Tom greatly. They had lived together and gone +through many perils and risks for nearly a year, and none had shown more +unflagging good-humour throughout than the man who had been killed. That +the boats might upset and all might perish together, was a thought that +had often occurred to him as they made their way down the river, but +that one should be cut off like this had never once been contemplated by +him. Their lives from the hour they met on the Big Wind River had seemed +bound up together, and this sudden loss of one of the party affected him +greatly. The others went about their work silently and sadly, but they +had been so accustomed to see life lost in sudden frays, and in one or +other of the many dangers that miners and hunters are exposed to, that +it did not affect them to the same extent as it did Tom. + +Except two or three men who remained on watch on the opposite bank, +though carefully keeping out of rifle-range, they saw no signs of the +Navahoes during the day. As soon as it became so dark that they were +sure their movements could not be seen from the other side, they +silently took their places in the boats, and pushed off into the +current. For a quarter of an hour they lay in the canoes, then at a +signal from Harry knelt up, took their paddles and began to row very +quietly and cautiously, the necessity for dropping their paddles +noiselessly into the water and for avoiding any splashing having been +impressed on all before starting. + +"There is no occasion for haste," Harry said. "Long and gentle strokes +of the paddle will take us down as fast as we need go. If those fellows +do cross over, as I expect they will, they will find it difficult to +travel over the rocks in the dark as fast as we are going now, and there +is no fear whatever of their catching us if we go on steadily." + +After an hour's rowing they could make out a dark mass rising like a +wall in front of them, and Harry passed the word back to the other +canoe, which was just behind them, that they should now cease paddling, +only giving a stroke occasionally to keep the head of the canoe +straight, and to prevent the boat from drifting out from under the +shelter of the bank, in the stillness of the night they could hear a low +roaring, and knew that it was caused by a rapid in the canon ahead. +Higher and higher rose the wall of rock, blotting out the stars in front +of them till the darkness seemed to spread half-way over the sky. + +They could see that the boat was passing the shore more rapidly, as the +river accelerated its course before rushing into the gorge. Suddenly +there was a shout on the right, so close that Tom was startled, then +there was a rifle-shot, and a moment later a wild outburst of yells and +a dozen other shots. At the first shout the paddles dipped into the +water, and at racing speed the boats shot along. Eight or ten more +rifle-shots were fired, each farther behind them. + +"Anyone hurt?" Harry asked. + +There was a general negative. + +"I don't believe they really saw us," Harry said. "The first fellow may +have caught sight of us, but I expect the others fired merely at random. +Now let us row in and fasten up, for judging from that roaring there +must be a big rapid close ahead." + +The boats were soon fastened up against the rocks, and the chief stepped +ashore, saying: + +"Leaping Horse and Hunting Dog will watch. Navahoes may come down here. +Don't think they will be brave enough to enter caņon, too dark to see. +Still, better watch." + +"Just as you like, chief," Harry said, "but I have no belief that they +will come down here in the dark; it would be as much as they would dare +do in broad daylight. Besides, these rocks are steepish climbing anyway, +and I should not like myself to try to get over them, when it is so dark +that I can't see my own hand, except by putting it up between my eyes +and the stars." + +"If it was not for that," Jerry said, "I would crawl along to the mouth +and see if I couldn't get a shot at them varmint on the other side." + +"You would not find them there, Jerry. You may be sure that when they +saw us go through they would know it was of no use waiting there any +longer. They would flatter themselves that they had hit some of us, and +even if they hadn't, it would not seem to matter a cent to them, as the +evil spirit of the canon would surely swallow us up." + +"Well, they have been wrong in their first supposition, uncle," Tom +said, "and I hope they will be equally wrong in the second." + +"I hope so, Tom. Now we may as well go to sleep. As soon as there is any +light we must explore as far as we can go, for by the noise ahead it +must be either a fall or a desperately bad rapid." + +When daylight broke, the whites found Hunting Dog sitting with his rifle +across his knees on a rock above them. + +"Where is the chief?" Harry asked him. + +"Leaping Horse went up the rocks to see if Navahoes have gone." + +"Very well. Tell him when he comes back we have gone down to have a look +at the rapid. Tom, you may as well stay here. There is plenty of +drift-wood among those rocks, and we will breakfast before we start +down. I reckon we shall not have much time for anything of that sort +after we are once off." + +Tom was by no means sorry to be saved a heavy climb. He collected some +wood and broke it up into suitable pieces, but at the suggestion of +Hunting Dog waited for the chief's return before lighting it. The chief +came down in a few minutes. "Navahoes all gone," he said briefly. + +"Then I can light a fire, chief?" + +Leaping Horse nodded, and Tom took out the tightly-fitting tin box in +which he kept his matches. Each of the party carried a box, and to +secure against the possibility of the matches being injured by the water +in case of a capsize, the boxes were kept in deer's bladders tightly +tied at the mouth. The fire was just alight when the others returned. + +"It is better ahead than we expected," Harry said; "the noise was caused +by the echo from the smooth faces of the rocks. It is lucky we hauled in +here last night, for these rocks end fifty yards on, and as far as we +can see down, the water washes the foot of the wall on both sides. We +were able to climb up from them on to a narrow ledge, parallel with the +water, and went on to the next turn, but there was no change in the +character of the river. So we shall make a fair start anyway." + +More wood was put on the fire, and in a quarter of an hour the kettle +was boiling and slices of meat cooked. Half an hour later they took +their places in the canoes and started. The caņon was similar to the one +they had last passed; the walls were steep and high, but with irregular +shelves running along them. Above these were steep slopes, running up to +the foot of smooth perpendicular cliffs of limestone. The stream was +very rapid, and they calculated that in the first half-hour they must +have run six miles. Here the walls receded to a distance, and ledges of +rock and hills of considerable heights intervened between the river and +the cliffs. They checked the pace of their canoes just as they reached +this opening, for a deep roar told of danger ahead. Fortunately there +were rocks where they were able to disembark, and a short way below they +found that a natural dam extended across the river. + +"There has been an eruption of trap here," Harry said, looking at the +black rock on either side. "There has been a fissure, I suppose, and the +lava was squeezed up through it. You see the river has cut a path for +itself some hundreds of feet deep. It must have taken countless ages, +Tom, to have done the work." + +Over this dam the water flowed swiftly and smoothly, and then shot down +in a fall six feet high. Below for a distance of two or three hundred +yards was a furious rapid, the water running among black rocks. With +considerable difficulty they made a portage of the boats and stores to +the lower end of the rapid. This transit occupied several hours, and +they then proceeded on their way. Five more miles were passed; several +times the boats were brought to the bank in order that falls ahead might +be examined. These proved to be not too high to shoot, and the boats +paddled over them. When they had first taken to the river they would +never have dreamt of shooting such falls, but they had now become so +expert in the management of the boats, and so confident in their +buoyancy, that the dangers which would then have appalled them were now +faced without uneasiness. + +They now came to a long rapid, presenting so many dangers that they +deemed it advisable to let down the boats by lines. Again embarking they +found that the wall of rocks closed in and they entered a narrow gorge, +through which the river ran with great swiftness, touching the walls on +each side. Great care was needed to prevent the boats being dashed +against the rock, but they succeeded in keeping them fairly in the +middle of the stream. After travelling four miles through this gorge it +opened somewhat, and on one side was a strip of sand. + +"We will land there," Harry said. "It looks to me like granite ahead, +and if it is we are in for bad times, sure." + +The boats were soon pulled up, and they proceeded to examine the cliffs +below. Hitherto the danger had been in almost exact proportion to the +hardness of the rock, and as they were entering a far harder rock than +they had before encountered, greater difficulties than those they had +surmounted were to be expected. + +They could not see a long distance down, but what they saw was enough to +justify their worst anticipations. The caņon was narrower than any they +had traversed, and the current extremely swift. There seemed but few +broken rocks in the channel, but on either side the walls jutted out in +sharp angles far into the river, with crags and pinnacles. + +"Waal, it is of no use looking at it," Jerry said after a pause. "It is +certain we can't get along the sides, so there is nothing to do but to +go straight at it; and the sooner it is over the better." + +Accordingly they returned to the boats, and soon darted at the speed of +an arrow into the race. Bad as it was at starting it speedily became +worse: ledges, pinnacles, and towers of rock rose above the surface of +the stream breaking it into falls and whirlpools. Every moment it seemed +to Tom that the boat must inevitably be dashed to pieces against one of +these obstructions, for the light boats were whirled about like a +feather on the torrent, and the paddlers could do but little to guide +their course. The very strength of the torrent, however, saved them from +destruction, the whirl from the rocks sweeping the boat's head aside +when within a few feet of them, and driving it past the danger before +they had time to realize that they had escaped wreck. Half an hour of +this, and a side caņon came in. Down this a vast quantity of boulders +had been swept, forming a dam across the river, but they managed to +paddle into an eddy at the side, and to make a portage of the boats to +the water below the dam, over which there was a fall of from thirty to +forty feet high. Three more similar dams were met with. Over one the +canoes were carried, but on the others there was a break in the boulder +wall, and they were able to shoot the falls. + +After three days of incessant labour, they heard, soon after starting +from their last halting-place, a roar even louder and more menacing than +they had yet experienced. Cautiously they got as close as possible to +the side, and paddling against the stream were able to effect a landing +just above the rapid. On examining it they found that it was nearly half +a mile long, and in this distance the water made a fall of some eighty +feet, the stream being broken everywhere with ledges and jagged rocks, +among which the waves lashed themselves into a white foam. It seemed +madness to attempt such a descent, and they agreed that at any rate they +would halt for the day. The rocks through which the caņon ran were fully +a thousand feet high, but they decided that, great as the labour might +be, it would be better to make a portage, if possible, rather than +descend the cataract. + +"There is a gulch here running up on to the hill," Tom said. "Hunting +Dog and I will start at once and see if it is possible to get up it, and +if so how far it is to a place where we can get down again." + +Harry assented; Leaping Horse without a word joined the explorers, and +they set off up the gulch. It was found that the ravine was steep, but +not too steep to climb. When they were nearly at the top Hunting Dog +pointed to the hillside above them, and they saw a big-horn standing at +the edge of the rock. The three fired their rifles simultaneously, and +the wild sheep made a spring into the air and then came tumbling down +the side of the ravine. As fresh meat was beginning to run short this +was a stroke of good fortune, and after reloading their guns they +proceeded up the ravine until they reached the crest of the hill. The +soil was disintegrated granite, and tufts of short grass grew here and +there. After walking about a mile, parallel to the course of the river, +they found that the ground descended again, and without much difficulty +made their way down until they reached the foot of a little valley; +following this they were soon standing by the side of the river. Above, +its surface was as closely studded with rocks as was the upper cataract; +below, there was another fall that looked impracticable, except that it +seemed possible to pass along on the rocks by the side. It was getting +dark by the time they rejoined their comrades. + +"Your report is not a very cheerful one," Harry said, "but at any rate +there seems nothing else to be done than to make the portage. The meat +you have got for us will re-stock our larder, and as it is up there we +sha'n't have the trouble of carrying it over." + +The next day was a laborious one. One by one the canoes were carried +over, but the operation took them from daybreak till dark. The next +morning another journey was made to bring over the rugs and stores, and +they were able in addition to these to carry down the carcass of the +sheep, after first skinning it and cutting off the head with its great +horns. Nothing was done for the rest of the day beyond trying whether +another portage could be made. This was found to be impracticable, and +there was nothing for them but to attempt the descent. They breakfasted +as soon as day broke, carried the boats down over the boulder dam with +which the rapids commenced, and put them into the water. For some little +distance they were able to let them down by ropes, then the rocks at the +foot of the cliffs came to an end. Fortunately the seven lariats +furnished them with a considerable length of line, and in addition to +these the two Indians had on their way down plaited a considerable +length of rope, with thongs cut from the skins of the animals they had +killed. + +The total available amount of rope was now divided into two lengths, the +ends being fastened to each canoe. One of the boats with its crew on +board was lowered to a point where the men were able to get a foothold +on a ledge. As soon as they had done so the other boat dropped down to +them, and the ropes were played out until they were in turn enabled to +get a footing on a similar ledge or jutting rock, sometimes so narrow +that but one man was able to stand. So alternately the boats were let +down. Sometimes when no foothold could be obtained on the rock wall, the +pinnacles and ledges in the stream were utilized. All the work had to be +done by gesture, for the thunder of the waters was so tremendous that +the loudest shout could not be heard a few yards away. Hour passed after +hour. Their progress was extremely slow, as each step had to be closely +considered and carried out with the greatest care. + +At last a terrible accident happened. Harry, Leaping Horse, and Tom were +on a ledge. Below them was a fall of three feet, and in the foaming +stream below it, rose several jagged rocks. Jerry's canoe was got safely +down the fall, but in spite of the efforts of the rowers was carried +against the outer side of one of these rocks. They made a great effort +to turn the boat's head into the eddy behind it, but as the line touched +the rock its sharp edge severed the rope like a knife, and the boat shot +away down the rapid. Those on the ledge watched it with breathless +anxiety. Two or three dangers were safely passed, then to their horror +they saw the head of the canoe rise suddenly as it ran up a sunken ledge +just under the water. An instant later the stern swept round, bringing +her broadside on to the stream, and she at once capsized. + +"Quick!" Harry exclaimed, "we must go to their rescue. Keep close to the +wall, chief, till we see signs of them. It is safest close in." + +In an instant they were in their places, and as they released the canoe +she shot in a moment over the fall. For a short distance they kept her +close to the side, but a projecting ledge threw the current sharply +outwards, and the canoe shot out into the full force of the rapid. The +chief knelt up in the bow paddle in hand, keeping a vigilant eye for +rocks and ledges ahead, and often with a sharp stroke of the paddle, +seconded by the effort of Harry in the stern, sweeping her aside just +when Tom thought her destruction inevitable. Now she went headlong down +a fall, then was caught by an eddy, and was whirled round and round +three or four times before the efforts of the paddlers could take her +beyond its influence. Suddenly a cry came to their ears. Just as they +approached a rocky ledge some thirty feet long, and showing a saw-like +edge a foot above the water, the chief gave a shout and struck his +paddle into the water. + +"Behind the rock, Tom, behind the rock!" Harry exclaimed as he swept the +stern round. Tom paddled with all his might, and the canoe headed up +stream. Quickly as the movement was done, the boat was some twelve yards +below the rock as she came round with her nose just in the lower edge of +the eddy behind it, while from either side the current closed in on her. +Straining every nerve the three paddlers worked as for life. At first +Tom thought that the glancing waters would sweep her down, but inch by +inch they gained, and drove the boat forward from the grasp of the +current into the back eddy, until suddenly, as if released from a vice, +she sprang forward. Never in his life had Tom exerted himself so +greatly. His eyes were fixed on the rock in front of him, where Hunting +Dog was clinging with one hand, while with the other he supported +Jerry's head above water. He gave a shout of joy as the chief swept the +head of the canoe round, just as it touched the rock, and laid her +broadside to it. + +"Stick your paddle between two points of the rock, Tom," Harry shouted, +"while the chief and I get them in. Sit well over on the other side of +the boat." + +With considerable difficulty Jerry, who was insensible, was lifted into +the boat. As soon as he was laid down Hunting Dog made his way hand over +hand on the gunwale until close to the stern, where he swung himself +into the boat without difficulty. + +"Have you seen Sam?" Harry asked. + +The young Indian shook his head. "Sam one side of the boat," he said, +"Jerry and Hunting Dog the other. Boat went down that chute between +those rocks above. Only just room for it. Jerry was knocked off by rock. +Hunting Dog was near the stern, there was room for him. He caught +Jerry's hunting-shirt, but could not hold on to boat. When came down +here made jump at corner of rock. Could not hold on, but current swept +him into eddy. Then swam here and held on, and kept calling. Knew his +brothers would come down soon." + +"Here is a spare paddle," Harry said, as he pulled one out from below +the network, "there is not a moment to lose. Keep your eyes open, +chief." Again the boat moved down the stream. With four paddles going +the steersman had somewhat more control over her, but as she flew down +the seething water, glanced past rocks and sprang over falls, Tom +expected her to capsize every moment. At last he saw below them a +stretch of quiet water, and two or three minutes later they were +floating upon it, and as if by a common impulse all ceased rowing. + +"Thanks be to God for having preserved us," Harry said reverently. "We +are half-full of water; another five minutes of that work and it would +have been all over with us. Do you see any signs of the canoe, chief?" + +The chief pointed to a ledge of rock extending out into the stream. +"Canoe there," he said. They paddled across to it. After what the young +Indian had said they had no hopes of finding Sam with it, but Harry gave +a deep sigh as he stepped out on to the ledge. + +"Another gone," he said. "How many of us will get through this place +alive? Let us carry Jerry ashore." + +There was a patch of sand swept up by the eddy below the rock, and here +Jerry was taken out and laid down. He moaned as they lifted him. + +"Easy with him," Harry said. "Steady with that arm. I think he has a +shoulder broken, as well as this knock on the head that has stunned +him." + +As soon as he was laid down Harry cut open his shirt on the shoulder. +"Broken," he said shortly. "Now, chief, I know that you are a good hand +at this sort of thing. How had this better be bandaged?" + +"Want something soft first." + +Tom ran to the canoe, brought out the little canvas sack in which he +carried his spare flannel shirt, and brought it to the chief. The latter +tore off a piece of stuff and rolled it into a wad. "Want two pieces of +wood," he said, holding his hands about a foot apart to show the length +he required. Harry fetched a spare paddle, and split a strip off each +side of the blade. The chief nodded as he took them. "Good," he said. He +tore off two more strips of flannel and wrapped them round the splints, +then with Harry's aid he placed the shoulder in its natural position, +laid the wad of flannel on the top of it, and over this put the two +splints. The whole was kept in its place by flannel bandages, and the +arm was fastened firmly across the body, so that it could not be moved. +Then the little keg of brandy was brought out of the canoe, a spoonful +poured into the pannikin, with half as much water, and allowed to +trickle between Jerry's lips, while a wad of wet flannel was placed on +his head. + +"There is nothing more we can do for him at present," Harry said. "Now +we will right the other boat, and get all the things out to dry." + +Three or four pounds of flour were found to be completely soaked with +water, but the main store was safe, as the bag was sewn up in bear-skin. +This was only opened occasionally to take out two or three days' supply, +and then carefully closed again. On landing, Hunting Dog had at once +started in search of drift-wood, and by this time a fire was blazing. A +piece of bear's fat was placed in the frying-pan, and the wetted flour +was at once fried into thin cakes, which were tough and tasteless; but +the supply was too precious to allow of an ounce being wasted. Some +slices of the flesh of the big-horn were cooked. + +"What is my white brother going to do?" the chief asked Harry. + +"There is nothing to do that I can see, chief, but to keep on pegging +away. We agreed that it would be almost impossible to find our way over +these barren mountains. That is not to be thought of, now that one of +our number cannot walk. There is no choice left, we have got to go on." + +"Leaping Horse understand that," the chief said. "He meant would you +take both canoes? One is big enough to take five." + +"Quite big enough, chief, but it would be deeper in the water, and the +heavier it is the harder it will bump against any rock it meets; the +lighter they are the better. You see, this other canoe, which I dare say +struck a dozen times on its way down, shows no sign of damage except the +two rents in the skin, that we can mend in a few minutes. Another thing +is, two boats are absolutely necessary for this work of letting down by +ropes, of which we may expect plenty more. If we had only one, we should +be obliged to run every rapid. The only extra trouble that it will give +us is at the portages. I think we had better stay here for two or three +days, so as to give Jerry a chance of coming round. No doubt we could +carry him over the portages just as we can carry the boats, but after +such a knock on the head as he has had, it is best that he should be +kept quiet for a bit. If his skull is not cracked he won't be long in +getting round. He is as hard as nails, and will pull round in the tenth +of the time it would take a man in the towns to get over such a knock. +It is a pity the halt is not in a better place. There is not a shadow of +a chance of finding game among these crags and bare rocks." + +From time to time fresh water was applied to the wad of flannel round +Jerry's head. + +"Is there any chance, do you think, of finding poor Sam's body?" + +The chief shook his head. "No shores where it could be washed up, rocks +tear it to pieces; or if it get in an eddy, might be there for weeks. No +see Sam any more." + +The fire was kept blazing all night, and they took it by turns to sit +beside Jerry and to pour occasionally a little brandy and water between +his lips. As the men were moving about preparing breakfast the next +morning Jerry suddenly opened his eyes. He looked at Tom, who was +sitting beside him. + +"Time to get up?" he asked. "Why did you not wake me?" And he made an +effort to move. Tom put his hand on him. + +"Lie still, Jerry. You have had a knock on the head, but you are all +right now." + +The miner lay quiet. His eyes wandered confusedly over the figures of +the others, who had, when they heard his voice, gathered round him. + +"What in thunder is the matter with me?" he asked. "What is this thing +on my head? What is the matter with my arm, I don't seem able to move +it?" + +"It is the knock you have had, Jerry," Harry said cheerfully. "You have +got a bump upon your head half as big as a cocoa-nut, and you have +damaged your shoulder. You have got a wet flannel on your head, and the +chief has bandaged your arm. I expect your head will be all right in a +day or two, but I reckon you won't be able to use your arm for a bit." + +Jerry lay quiet without speaking for a few minutes, then he said: "Oh, I +remember now; we were capsized. I had hold of the canoe, and I remember +seeing a rock just ahead. I suppose I knocked against it." + +"That was it, mate. Hunting Dog let go his hold and caught you, and +managed to get into an eddy and cling to the rocks till we came down and +took you on board." + +Jerry held out his hand to the Indian. "Thankee," he said. "I owe you +one, Hunting Dog. If I ever get the chance you can reckon on me sure, +whatever it is. But where is Sam? Why ain't he here?" + +"Sam has gone under, mate," Harry replied. "That chute you went down was +only just wide enough for the boat to go through, and no doubt he was +knocked off it at the same time as you were; but as the Indian was on +your side, he saw nothing of Sam. I reckon he sank at once, just as you +would have done if Hunting Dog hadn't been behind you." + +Jerry made no reply, but as he lay still, with his eyes closed, some big +tears made their way through the lids and rolled down his bronzed face. +The others thought it best to leave him by himself, and continued their +preparations for breakfast. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +BACK TO DENVER + + +"When are you going to make a start again?" Jerry asked, after drinking +a pannikin of tea. + +"We are not going on to-day; perhaps not to-morrow. It will depend on +how you get on." + +"I shall be a nuisance to you anyway," the miner said, "and it would be +a dog-goned sight the best way to leave me here; but I know you won't +do that, so it ain't no use my asking you. I expect I shall be all right +to-morrow except for this shoulder, but just now my head is buzzing as +if there was a swarm of wild bees inside." + +"You will be all the better when you have had a good sleep; I reckon we +could all do a bit that way. Young Tom and Hunting Dog are going to try +a bit of fishing with those hooks of yours. We talked about it when we +started, you know, but we have not done anything until now. We want a +change of food badly. We may be a month going down this caņon for +anything I know, and if it keeps on like this there ain't a chance of +seeing a head of game. It ought to be a good place for fish at the foot +of the rapids--that is, if there are any fish here, and I reckon there +should be any amount of them. If they do catch some, we will wait here +till we can dry a good stock. We have nothing now but the dried flesh +and some of the big-horn. There ain't above twenty pounds of flour left, +and we could clear up all there is in the boat in a week. So you need +not worry that you are keeping us." + +Half an hour later Hunting Dog and Tom put out in one of the canoes, and +paddling to the foot of the rapids let the lines drop overboard, the +hooks being baited with meat. It was not many minutes before the Indian +felt a sharp pull. There was no occasion to play the fish, for the line +was strong enough to hold a shark, and a trout of six pounds weight was +soon laid in the bottom of the boat. + +"My turn now," Tom said; and the Indian with a smile took the paddle +from his hand, and kept the boat up stream while Tom attended to the +lines. Fish after fish was brought up in rapid succession, and when +about mid-day a call from below told them that it was time for dinner, +they had some thirty fish averaging five pounds' weight at the bottom of +the boat. + +There was a shout of satisfaction from Harry as he looked down into the +canoe, and even the chief gave vent to a grunt that testified his +pleasure. + +"Hand me up four of them, Tom; I did not know how much I wanted a change +of food till my eyes lit on those beauties. We saw you pulling them out, +but I did not expect it was going to be as good as this." + +The fish were speedily split open, and laid on ramrods over the fire. + +"I reckon you will want another one for me," Jerry, who had been asleep +since they started, remarked. "I don't know that I am good for one as +big as those, but I reckon I can pick a bit anyhow." + +A small fish was put on with the others, and as soon as they were +grilled, all set to at what seemed to Tom the best meal he had ever +eaten in his life. He thought when he handed them to Harry that two +would have been amply sufficient for them all, but he found no +difficulty whatever in disposing of a whole one single-handed. + +"Now, Tom, the chief and I will take our turn while you and Hunting Dog +prepare your catch. He will show you how to do it, it is simple enough. +Cut off the heads, split and clean them, run a skewer through to keep +them flat, and then lay them on that rock in the sun to dry. Or wait, I +will rig up a line between two of the rocks for you to hang them on. +There is not much wind, but what there is will dry them better than if +they were laid flat." + +Jerry went off to sleep again as soon as the meal was finished, and the +bandages round his head re-wetted. The paddle from which the strips had +been cut furnished wood for the skewers, and in the course of half an +hour the fish were all hanging on a line. Twenty two more were brought +in at sunset. Some of these, after being treated like the others, were +hung in the smoke of the fire, while the rest were suspended like the +first batch. + +The next morning Jerry was able to move about, and the fishing went on +all day, and by night a quantity, considered sufficient, had been +brought ashore. + +"There are over four hundred pounds altogether," Harry said, "though by +the time they are dried they won't be more than half that weight. Two +pounds of dried fish a man is enough to keep him going, and they will +last us twenty days at that rate, and it will be hard luck if we don't +find something to help it out as we go down." + +They stopped another day to allow the drying to be completed. The fish +were taken down and packed on board that evening, and at daylight they +were afloat again. For the next ten days their labours were continuous. +They passed several rapids as bad as the one that had cost them so dear; +but as they gained experience they became more skilful in letting down +the boats. Some days only two or three miles were gained, on others they +made as much as twelve. At last they got out of the granite; beyond this +the task was much easier, and on the fifteenth day after leaving their +fishing-ground, they emerged from the caņon. + +By this time Jerry had perfectly recovered, and was with great +difficulty persuaded to keep his arm bandaged. He had chafed terribly at +first at his helplessness, and at being unable to take any share in the +heavy labours of the others; but after the rapids were passed he was +more contented, and sat quietly at the bottom of the boat smoking, while +Harry and Tom paddled, the two Indians forming the crew of the other +canoe. The diet of fish had been varied by bear's flesh, Leaping Horse +having shot a large brown bear soon after they got through the rapids. A +shout of joy was raised by the three whites as they issued from the +gorge into a quiet valley, through which the river ran, a broad tranquil +stream. Even the Indians were stirred to wave their paddles above their +heads and to give a ringing whoop as their companions cheered. The boats +were headed for the shore, and the camp was formed near a large clump of +bushes. + +Their joy at their deliverance from the dangers of the caņon was dashed +only by the thought of the loss of their two comrades. The next day +three short caņons were passed through, but these presented no +difficulties, and in the afternoon they reached the mouth of the Rio +Virgen, and continuing their journey arrived five days later at Fort +Mojarve. This was a rising settlement, for it was here that the traders' +route between Los Angeles and Santa Fé crossed the Colorado. Their +appearance passed almost unnoticed, for a large caravan had arrived that +afternoon and was starting east the next morning. + +"We had best hold our tongues about it altogether," Harry said, as soon +as he heard that the caravan was going on the next morning. "In the +first place they won't believe us, and that would be likely to lead to +trouble; and in the next place we should be worried out of our lives +with questions. Besides, we have got to get a fresh outfit, for we are +pretty near in rags, and to buy horses, food, and kit. We can leave the +boats on the shore, no one is likely to come near them." + +"I will stop and look after them," Tom said. "There are the saddles, +buffalo-robes, blankets, and ammunition. This shirt is in rags, and the +last moccasins Hunting Dog made me are pretty nearly cut to pieces by +the rocks. I would rather stay here and look after the boats than go +into the village; besides, it will save you the trouble of carrying all +these bags of gold about with you." + +Harry nodded, cut two of the little bags free from their lashings and +dropped them into his pocket, and then went up to the Fort with Jerry +and the Indians. Tom cut the other bags loose and put them on the ground +beside him, threw a buffalo-robe over them, and then sat for some hours +watching the quiet river and thinking over all they had gone through. It +was almost dark when the others returned. + +"It has taken us some time, Tom," his uncle said as they threw some +bundles down beside him; "the stores and clothes were easy enough, but +we had a lot of trouble to find horses. However, we did not mind much +what we paid for them, and the traders were ready to sell a few at the +prices we offered. So we have got five riding horses and two +pack-ponies, which will be enough for us. That bundle is your lot, +riding breeches and boots, three pairs of stockings, two flannel shirts, +a Mexican hat, and a silk neck handkerchief. We may as well change at +once and go up to the village." + +The change was soon effected. Harry and Jerry Curtis had clothes similar +to those they had bought for Tom, while the Indians wore over their +shirts new deer-skin embroidered hunting-shirts, and had fringed Mexican +leggings instead of breeches and boots. They, too, had procured Mexican +sombreros. Taking their rifles and pistols, and hiding their stock of +ammunition, the gold, and their buffalo-robes and blankets, they went up +to the village. It was by this time quite dark: the houses were all lit +up, and the drinking-shops crowded with the teamsters, who seemed bent +on making a night of it, this being the last village through which they +would pass until their arrival at Santa Fé. + +They slept as usual, wrapped up in their buffalo-robes by the side of +the boats, as all agreed that this was preferable to a close room in a +Mexican house. + +They were all a-foot as soon as daylight broke, and went up and +breakfasted at a fonda, Tom enjoying the Mexican cookery after the +simple diet he had been accustomed to. Then they went to the stable +where the horses, which were strong serviceable-looking animals, had +been placed, and put on their saddles and bridles. + +The pack-horses were then laden with flour, tea, sugar, bacon, and other +necessaries. By the time all was ready the caravan was just starting. +Harry had spoken the afternoon before to two of its leaders, and said +that he and four companions would be glad to ride with them to Santa Fé. +Permission was readily granted, the traders being pleased at the +accession of five well-armed men; for although Indian raids were +comparatively rare along this trail, there was still a certain amount of +danger involved in the journey. Some hours were occupied in crossing the +river in two heavy ferry-boats, and the process would have been still +longer had not half the waggons been sent across on the previous +afternoon. + +The long journey was made without incident, and no Indians were met +with. A few deer were shot, but as it was now late in the autumn the +scanty herbage on the plains was all withered up, and the game had for +the most part moved away into deep valleys where they could obtain food. + +The tale of their passage of the caņons was told more than once, but +although it was listened to with interest, Harry perceived that it was +not really believed. That they had been hunting, had been attacked by +Indians, had made canoes and passed through some of the caņons was +credible enough, but that they should have traversed the whole of the +lower course of the Colorado, seemed to the traders, who were all men +experienced in the country, simply incredible. The party stopped at +Santa Fé a few days, and then started north, travelling through the +Mexican villages, and finally striking across to Denver. At Santa Fé +they had converted the contents of their bags into money, which had been +equally shared among them. The Indians were not willing to accept more +than the recognized monthly pay, but Harry would not hear of it. + +"This has been no ordinary business, Leaping Horse," he said warmly; "we +have all been as brothers together, and for weeks have looked death in +the face every hour, and we must share all round alike in the gold we +have brought back. Gold is just as useful to an Indian as it is to a +white man, and when you add this to the hoard you spoke of, you will +have enough to buy as many horses and blankets as you can use all your +lifetime, and to settle down in your wigwam and take a wife to yourself +whenever you choose. I fancy from what you said, Hunting Dog has his eye +on one of the maidens of your tribe. Well, he can buy her father's +favour now. The time is coming, chief, when the Indians of the plains +will have to take to white men's ways. The buffaloes are fast dying out, +and in a few years it will be impossible to live by hunting, and the +Indians will have to keep cattle and build houses and live as we do. +With his money Hunting Dog could buy a tidy ranche with a few hundred +head of cattle. Of course, he can hunt as much as he likes so long as +there is any game left, but he will find that as his cattle increase, he +will have plenty to look after at home." + +"We will take the gold if my brother wishes it," the chief replied +gravely. "He is wise, and though now it seems to Leaping Horse that +red-skins have no need of gold, it may be that some day he and Hunting +Dog may be glad that they have done as their brother wished." + +"Thank you, Leaping Horse. It will make my heart glad when I may be far +away from you across the great salt water to know that there will always +be comfort in my brother's wigwam." + +On arriving at Denver they went straight to the Empire. As they entered +the saloon Pete Hoskings looked hard at them. + +"Straight Harry, by thunder!" he shouted; "and Jerry Curtis, and young +Tom; though I would not have known him if he hadn't been with the +others. Well, this air a good sight for the eyes, and to-morrow +Christmas-day. I had begun to be afeard that something had gone wrong +with you, I looked for news from you nigh three months ago. I got the +message you sent me in the spring, and I have asked every old hand who +came along east since the end of August, if there had been any news of +you, and I began to fear that you had been rubbed out by the Utes." + +"We have had a near escape of it, Pete; but it is a long story. Can you +put us all up? You know Leaping Horse, don't you? The other is his +nephew." + +"I should think I do know Leaping Horse," Pete said warmly, and went +across and shook the Indian's hand heartily. + +"I was looking at you three, and did not notice who you had with you. In +that letter the chap brought me, you said that the chief was going with +you, and Sam Hicks and Ben Gulston. I did not know them so well; that +is, I never worked with them, though they have stopped here many a +time." + +"They have gone under, Pete. Sam was drowned in the Colorado, Ben shot +by the Navahoes. We have all had some close calls, I can tell you. Well +now, can you put us up?" + +"You need not ask such a question as that, Harry," Pete said in an +aggrieved tone, "when you know very well that if the place was +chock-full, I would clear the crowd out to make room for you. There are +three beds in the room over this that will do for you three; and there +is a room beside it as Leaping Horse and his nephew can have, though I +reckon they won't care to sleep on the beds." + +"No more shall we, Pete. We have been fifteen months and more sleeping +in the open, and we would rather have our buffalo-robes and blankets +than the softest bed in the world." + +"You must have had a cold time of it the last three months up in those +Ute hills, where you said you were going." + +"We left there five months ago, Pete. We have been down as low as Fort +Mojarve, and then crossed with a caravan of traders to Santa Fé." + +Pete began pouring out the liquor. + +"Oh, you won't take one, chief, nor the young brave. Yes; I remember you +do not touch the fire-water, and you may be sure I won't press you. +Well, luck to you all, and right glad I am to see you again. Ah! here is +my bartender. Now we will get a good fire lit in another room and hurry +up supper, and then we will talk it all over. You have put your horses +up, I suppose?" + +"Yes; we knew you had no accommodation that way, Pete." + +The room into which Pete now led them was not his own sanctum, but one +used occasionally when a party of miners coming in from the hills wanted +to have a feast by themselves, or when customers wished to talk over +private business. There was a table capable of seating some twelve +people, a great stove, and some benches. A negro soon lighted a large +fire; then, aided by a boy, laid the table, and it was not long before +they sat down to a good meal. When it was over, Pete said: + +"Lend me a hand, Jerry, to push this table aside, then we will bring the +benches round the stove and hear all about it. I told the bar-tender +that I am not to be disturbed, and that if anyone wants to see me he is +to say that he has got to wait till to-morrow, for that I am engaged on +important business. Here are brandy and whisky, and tobacco and cigars, +and coffee for the chief and his nephew." + +"I think you may say for all of us, Pete," Harry said. "After being a +year without spirits, Jerry, Tom, and I have agreed to keep without +them. We wouldn't say no to you when you asked us to take a drink, and +we have not sworn off, but Jerry and I have agreed that we have both +been all the better without them, and mean to keep to it; and as for +Tom, he prefers coffee." + +"Do as you please," Pete said; "I am always glad to hear men say no. I +have made a lot of money out of it, but I have seen so many fellows +ruined by it that I am always pleased to see a man give up drink." + +"There is one thing, Pete," Tom said, "before we begin. We left our +bundles of robes and blankets in the next room, if you don't mind I +would a deal rather spread them out here--and I am sure the chief and +Hunting Dog would--and squat down on them, instead of sitting on these +benches. It is a long story uncle will have to tell you." + +"We will fetch ours too," Harry agreed. "Benches are all well enough for +sitting at the table to eat one's dinner, but why a man should sit on +them when he can sit on the ground is more than I can make out." + +Pete nodded. "I will have my rocking-chair in," he said, "and then we +shall be fixed up for the evening." + +The arrangements were soon made; pipes were lighted; the landlord sat in +his chair at some little distance back from the front of the stove; Tom +and the two Indians sat on their rugs on one side; Harry and Jerry +Curtis completed the semicircle on the other. + +"Well, in the first place, Pete," Harry began, "you will be glad to hear +that we have struck it rich--the biggest thing I have ever seen. It is +up in the Ute country. We have staked out a claim for you next our own. +There are about five hundred pounds of samples lying at Fort Bridger, and +a bit of the rock we crushed, panned out five hundred ounces to the ton." + +"You don't say!" Pete exclaimed. "If there is much of that stuff, Harry, +you have got a bonanza." + +"There is a good bit of it anyhow, Pete. It is a true vein, and though +it is not all like that, it keeps good enough. Fifty feet back we found +it run twenty ounces. That is on the surface, we can't say how it goes +down in depth. Where we struck it on the face it was about fourteen feet +high, and the lode kept its width for that depth anyhow." + +"That air good enough," the landlord said. "Now, what do you reckon on +doing?" + +"The place is among the hills, Pete, and the Utes are hostile, and went +very nigh rubbing us all out. We reckon it ought to be worked by a party +of thirty men at least. They ought to be well armed, and must build a +sort of fort. I don't think the Utes would venture to attack them if +they were of that strength. There is a little stream runs close to the +vein, and if it were dammed up it would drive a couple of stamps, which, +with a concentrator and tables and blankets, would be quite enough for +such stuff as that. I reckon fifteen men will be quite enough to work, +and to hold the fort. The other fifteen men would include three or four +hunters, and the rest would go backwards and forwards to Bridger for +supplies, and to take the gold down. They would be seven or eight days +away at a time; and if there should be trouble with the red-skins they +would always be back before those at the fort were really pressed. But +we should not be alone long, the news that a rich thing had been struck +would bring scores of miners up in no time. + +"We have taken up our own ten claims, which will include, of course, the +rich part. Then we have taken up the next eight or ten claims for our +friends. As I said, we put yours next to ours. We have not registered +them yet, but that will be the first job; and of course you and the +others will each have to put a man on your claims to hold them. The lode +shows on the other side of the creek, though not so rich; still plenty +good enough to work. But as we shall practically get all the water, the +lode cannot be worked by anyone but ourselves. Still the gravel is rich +all down the creek, as rich as anything I have seen in California, and +will be sure to be taken up by miners as soon as we are at work. So +there will be no real danger of trouble from the Indians then. What we +propose is this. We don't what to sell out, we think it is good enough +to hold, but we want to get a company to find the money for getting up +the machinery, building a strong block-house with a palisade, laying in +stores, and working the place. Jerry, Tom, and I would of course be in +command, at any rate for the first year or so, when the rich stuff was +being worked." + +"How much money do you think it will want, and what share do you think +of giving, Harry?" + +"Well, I should say fifty thousand dollars, though I believe half that +would be enough. Not a penny would be required after the first ton of +rock goes through the stamps. But we should have to take the stamps and +ironwork from the railway terminus to Bridger, and then down. We might +calculate on a month or six weeks in getting up the fort, making the +leat and water-wheel, putting up the machinery, and laying down the +flumes. Say two months from the time we leave Bridger to the time we +begin to work. There would be the pay of the men all that time, the cost +of transporting stores, and all that sort of thing; so it would be +better to say fifty thousand dollars. What share ought we to offer for +that?" + +"Well, if you could bring that five hundredweight of stuff here and get +it crushed up, and it turns out as good as you say, I could get you the +money in twenty-four hours. I would not mind going half of it myself, +and I should say that a quarter share would be more than good enough." + +"Well, we thought of a third, Pete." + +"Well, if you say a third you may consider that part of the business is +done. You won't be able to apply for claims in the names of Sam and Ben, +and if you did it would be no good, because they could not assign them +over to the company. There are eight claims without them, and the one +you have put down in my name is nine. Well, I can get say eleven men in +this place, who will give you an assignment of their claims for five +dollars apiece. That is done every day. I just say to them, I am +registering a share in your name in the Tom Cat Mine, write an +assignment to me of it and I am good for five dollars' worth of liquor, +take it out as you like. The thing is as easy as falling off a log. +Well, what are you thinking of doing next?" + +"We shall buy a light waggon and team to-morrow or next day and drive +straight over to Bridger, then we shall go to Salt Lake City and +register our claims at the mining-office there. We need not give the +locality very precisely. Indeed, we could not describe it ourselves so +that anyone could find it, and nobody would go looking for it before +spring comes and the snow clears. Besides, there are scores of wild-cat +claims registered every year. Until they turn out good no one thinks +anything of them. When we have got that done we will go back to Bridger, +and fetch the rock over here. We will write to-morrow to Pittsburg for +the mining outfit, for all the ironwork of the stamps, the concentrator, +and everything required, with axes, picks, and shovels, blasting tools +and powder, to be sent as far as they have got the railway." + +"But they will want the money with the order, Harry," Pete said in a +tone of surprise. + +"They will have the money. We washed the gravel for a couple of months +before the Utes lit on us, and after buying horses and a fresh outfit +for us all at Fort Mojarve, we have between us got something like five +thousand dollars in gold and greenbacks." + +"Jee-hoshaphat!" Pete exclaimed; "that was good indeed for two months' +work. Well, look here, there is no hurry for a few days about your +starting back to Bridger. Here we are now, nearly at the end of +December. It will take you a month to get there, say another fortnight +to go on to Salt Lake City and register your claim and get back to +Bridger, then it would be a month getting back here again; that would +take you to the middle of March. Well, you see it would be pretty nigh +the end of April before you were back at Bridger, then you would have to +get your waggons and your men, and that would be too late altogether. + +"You have got to pick your miners carefully, I can tell you; and it is +not a job to be done in a hurry. When they see what gold there is in the +rock they will soon set to work washing the gravel, and the day they do +they will chuck up your work altogether. I will tell you what I would +rather do, and that is, pick up green hands from the east. There are +scores of them here now; men who have come as far as this, and can't +start west till the snows melt. You need not think anything more about +the money. You tell me what you crushed is a fair sample of that five +hundred pounds, and that is quite good enough for me, and the gravel +being so rich is another proof of what the lode was when the stream cut +through it. I can put the twenty-five thousand dollars down, and there +are plenty of men here who will take my word for the affair and plank +their money down too. If there weren't I would put a mortgage on my +houses, so that matter is done. To-morrow I will get the men whose names +you are to give in for a claim each; it will be time in another two +months to begin to look about for some steady chaps from the east, +farmers' sons and such like. That is, if you think that plan is a good +one. I mean to see this thing through, and I shall go with you myself, +and we three can do the blasting." + +"We shall be wanted to look after the stamps and pans," Harry said. "We +had best get three or four old hands for the rock." + +"Yes, that is best," Pete said. "Between us it is hard if we can't lay +our hands upon men we can trust, and who will give us their word to stay +with us if we offer them six dollars a day." + +"We might offer them ten dollars," Harry said, "without hurting +ourselves; but we can say six dollars to begin with, and put some more +on afterwards." + +"There is old Mat Morgan," Jerry put in. "I don't know whether he is +about here now. I would trust him. He is getting old for prospecting +among the hills now, but he is as good a miner as ever swung a +sledge-hammer, and as straight as they make them." + +"Yes, he is a good man," Pete agreed. And after some talk they settled +upon three others, all of whom, Pete said, were either in the town or +would be coming in shortly. + +"Now, you stop here for a week or two, or a month if you like, Harry, +then you can go to Salt Lake City as you propose, and then go back to +Bridger. If as you pass through you send me five-and-twenty pounds of +that rock by express, it will make it easier for me to arrange the money +affair. When you get back you might crush the rest up and send me word +what it has panned out, then later on you can go down again to Salt Lake +City and buy the waggons and flour and bacon, and take them back to +Bridger. When March comes in, I will start from here with some waggons. +We want them to take the machinery, and powder and tools, and the tea +and coffee and things like that, of which we will make a list, on to +Bridger, with the four men we pick out, if I can get them all; if not, +some others in their place, and a score of young emigrants. I shall have +no difficulty in picking out sober, steady chaps, for in a place like +this I can find out about their habits before I engage them. However, +there will be plenty of time to settle all those points. Now, let us +hear all about your adventures. I have not heard about you since Tom +left, except that he wrote me a short letter from Bridger saying that +you had passed the winter up among the mountains by the Big Wind River. +That you had had troubles with the Indians, and hadn't been able to do +much trapping or looking for gold." + +"Well, we will tell it between us," Harry said, "for it is a long yarn." + +It was, indeed, past midnight before the story was all told. Long before +it was finished the two Indians had taken up their rugs and gone up to +their room, and although the other three had taken by turns to tell the +tale of their adventures, they were all hoarse with speaking by the time +they got through. Pete had often stopped them to ask question at various +points where the narrators had been inclined to cut the story short. + +"That beats all," he said, when they brought it to an end. "Only to +think that you have gone down the Grand Caņon. I would not have minded +being with you when you were fighting the 'Rappahoes or the Utes, but I +would not try going down the caņons for all the gold in California. +Well, look here, boys, I know that what you tell me is gospel truth, and +all the men who know you well, will believe every word you say, but I +would not tell the tale to strangers, for they would look on you as the +all-firedest liars in creation." + +"We have learnt that already, Pete," Harry laughed, "and we mean to keep +it to ourselves, at any rate till we have got the mine at work. People +may not believe the story of a man in a red shirt, and, mind you, I have +heard a good many powerful lies told round a miner's fire, but when it +is known we have got a wonderfully rich gold mine, I fancy it will be +different. The men would say, if fellows are sharp enough to find a +bonanza, it stands to reason they may be sharp enough to find their way +down a caņon. Now, let us be off to bed, for the heat of the stove has +made me so sleepy that for the last hour I have hardly been able to keep +my eyes open, and have scarcely heard a word of what Jerry and Tom have +been saying." + +They only remained a few days at Denver. After the life they had been +leading they were very speedily tired of that of the town, and at the +end of a week they started on horseback, with a light waggon drawn by a +good team, to carry their stores for the journey and to serve as a +sleeping-place. There had been no question about the Indians +accompanying them, this was regarded as a matter of course. It was by no +means a pleasant journey. They had frequent snow-storms and biting +wind, and had sometimes to work for hours to get the waggon out of deep +snow, which had filled up gullies and converted them into traps. After a +stay of three days at Fort Bridger to rest the animals, they went on to +Utah, having forwarded the sample of quartz to Pete Hoskings. + +A fortnight was spent at Salt Lake City. Waggons, bullocks, and stores +were purchased, and Harry arranged with some teamsters to bring the +waggons out to Fort Bridger as soon as the snow cleared from the ground. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +A FORTUNE + + +On their return to Fort Bridger Harry and his companions pounded up the +quartz that had been left there, and found that its average equalled +that of the piece they had tried at the mine. The gold was packed in a +box and sent to Pete Hoskings. A letter came back in return from him, +saying that five of his friends had put in five thousand dollars each, +and that he should start with the stores and machinery as soon as the +track was clear of snow. The season was an early one, and in the middle +of April he arrived with four large waggons and twenty active-looking +young emigrants, and four miners, all of whom were known to Harry. There +was a good deal of talk at Bridger about the expedition, and many +offered to take service in it. But when Harry said that the lode they +were going to prospect was in the heart of the Ute country, and that he +himself had been twice attacked by the red-skins, the eagerness to +accompany him abated considerably. + +The fact, too, that it was a vein that would have to be worked by +machinery, was in itself sufficient to deter solitary miners from trying +to follow it up. Scarce a miner but had located a score of claims in +different parts of the country, and these being absolutely useless to +them, without capital to work them with, they would gladly have disposed +of them for a few dollars. It was not, therefore, worth while to risk a +perilous journey merely on the chance of being able to find another vein +in the neighbourhood of that worked by Harry and the men who had gone +into it with him. There was, however, some surprise among the old hands +when Pete Hoskings arrived with the waggons. + +"What! Have you cut the saloon, Pete, and are you going in for mining +again?" one of them said as he alighted from his horse. + +Pete gave a portentous wink. + +"I guess I know what I am doing, Joe Radley. I am looking after the +interests of a few speculators at Denver, who have an idea that they are +going to get rich all of a sudden. I was sick of the city, and it just +suited me to take a run and to get out of the place for a few months." + +"Do you think it is rich, Pete?" + +"One never can say," Hoskings replied with a grin. "We are not +greenhorns any of us, and we know there is no saying how things are +going to turn out. Straight Harry has had a run of bad luck for the last +two years, and I am glad to give him a shoulder up, you know. I reckon +he won't come badly off any way it turns out." + +It was not much, but it was quite enough to send a rumour round the fort +that Pete Hoskings had been puffing up a wild-cat mine in Denver for the +sake of getting Straight Harry appointed boss of the expedition to test +it. + +Everything was ready at Bridger, and they delayed but twenty-four hours +there. The teams had arrived from Salt Lake City with the stores a week +before, and the eight waggons set off together. Pete, the three +partners, the two Indians, and the four miners were all mounted. There +were eight other horses ridden by as many of the young fellows Pete had +brought with him, the rest walked on foot. They marched directly for the +mine, as with such a force it was not necessary to make a detour over +the bad lands. At the first halting-place some long cases Pete had +brought with him were opened, and a musket handed to each of the +emigrants, together with a packet of ammunition. + +"Now," Pete said, "if the Utes meddle with us we will give them fits. +But I reckon they will know better than to interfere with us." + +The rate of progress with the heavy waggons was necessarily very much +slower than that at which the party had travelled on their previous +journey, and it was not until the afternoon of the eighth day after +starting, that they came down into the valley. A halt was made at the +former camping-place in the grove of trees, and the next morning Pete +and the miners went up with Harry and his friends to choose a spot for +the fort, and to examine the lode. As soon as the earth was scraped away +from the spot from which the rock had been taken, exclamations of +astonishment broke from the miners. They had been told by Pete that +Harry had struck it rich, but all were astonished at the numerous +particles and flakes of gold that protruded from the rock. Pete had +forwarded early in the spring to Harry the list of the claimants to the +mine, and the latter and Tom had ridden over to Salt Lake City a few +days before the waggons came up from there to register the claims at the +mining-office, and the first step was to stake out these claims upon the +lode. + +"It doesn't run like this far," Harry said to the miners, "and I reckon +that beyond our ground it doesn't run above two ounces to the ton, so I +don't think it is worth while your taking up claims beyond. Of course, +you can do so if you like, and we will allow you an hour off every few +days during the season to work your claims enough to keep possession, +and of an evening you can do a bit of washing down below. You will find +it good-pay dirt everywhere. At least we did as far as we tried it." + +They now fixed on the site for the fort. It was upon the top of the +bank, some twenty yards above the lode, and it was settled there should +be a strong double palisade running down from it to the stream, so that +in case of siege they could fetch water without being exposed to the +bullets of an enemy taking post higher up the creek. Among the men from +Denver were two or three experienced carpenters, and a blacksmith, for +whose use a portable forge had been brought in the waggons. + +The party returned to breakfast, and as soon as this was over the teams +were put in and the waggons were brought up and unloaded, the stores +being protected from wet by the canvas that formed the tilts. Some of +the men accustomed to the use of the axe had been left in the valley to +fell trees, and as soon as the waggons were unloaded they were sent down +to bring up timber. All worked hard, and at the end of the week a +log-hut fifty feet long and twenty-five feet wide had been erected. The +walls were five feet high, and the roof was formed of the trunks of +young trees squared, and laid side by side. + +As rain fell seldom in that region it was not considered necessary to +place shingles over them, as this could, in case of need, be done later +on. The door opened out into the passage between the palisades down to +the water, and the windows were all placed on the same side, loopholes +being cut at short intervals round the other three sides. Another +fortnight completed the preparations for work. The stamps were erected, +with the water-wheel to work them; the stream dammed a hundred yards up, +and a leat constructed to bring the water down to the wheel. + +The waggons were formed up in a square. In this the horses were shut +every night, four of the men by turns keeping guard there. During the +last few days the miners had been at work blasting the quartz, and as +soon as the stamps and machinery were in position they were ready to +begin. The men were all told off to various duties, some to carry the +rock down to the stamps, others to break it up into convenient sizes; +two men fed the stamps, others attended to the concentrator and +blankets, supervised by Harry. It was the duty of some to take the +horses down to the valley and guard them while they were feeding, and +bring them back at night. Two men were to bake and cook, Pete Hoskings +taking this special department under his care. Jerry worked with the +miners, and Tom was his uncle's assistant. + +The stamps were to be kept going night and day, and each could crush a +ton in twenty-four hours. To their great satisfaction each of the men +was allowed one day a week to himself, during which he could prospect +for other lodes or wash gravel as he pleased. The old cradle was found +where it had been left, and as five of the men were off duty each day, +they formed themselves into gangs and worked the cradle by turns, adding +very considerably to the liberal pay they received. The two Indians +hunted, and seldom returned without game of some sort or other. As the +quicksilver in the concentrator was squeezed by Harry or Tom, and the +blankets washed by them, none but themselves knew what the returns were. +They and their partners were, however, more than satisfied with the +result, for although the lode was found to pinch in as they got lower, +it maintained for the first six weeks the extraordinary average of that +they had first crushed. + +At the end of that time the Indians reported that they had seen traces +of the Utes having visited the valley. The number of men who went down +with the horses was at once doubled, one or other of the Indians staying +down with them, preceding them in the morning by half an hour to see +that the valley was clear. A week later the horses were seen coming back +again a quarter of an hour after they had started. The men caught up +their guns, which were always placed handy for them while at work, and +ran out to meet the returning party. + +"What is it, Hunting Dog?" + +"A large war-party," the Indian replied. "Three hundred or more." + +The horses were driven into the inclosure, half the men took their +places among the waggons, and the others, clustered round the hut, +prepared to enter it as soon as the Indians made their appearance. + +The partners had already arranged what course to take if the Indians +should come down on them, and were for all reasons most anxious that +hostilities should if possible be avoided. + +Presently the Indians were seen approaching at a gallop. As soon as they +caught sight of the log-house and the inclosure of waggons they reined +in their horses. The men had been ordered to show themselves, and the +sight of some forty white men all armed with rifles brought the Indians +to a dead stand-still. + +Pete Hoskings went forward a little and waved a white cloth, and then +Harry and the chief, leaving their rifles behind them stepped up to his +side and held their arms aloft. There was a short consultation among the +Indians, and then two chiefs dismounted, handed their rifles and spears +to their men, and in turn advanced. Harry and Leaping Horse went forward +until they met the chiefs halfway between the two parties. Harry began +the conversation. + +"Why do my red brothers wish to fight?" he asked. "We are doing them no +harm. We are digging in the hills. Why should we not be friends?" + +"The white men killed many of the Utes when they were here last year," +one of the chiefs replied. "Why do they come upon the Utes' land?" + +"It was the fault of the Utes," Harry said. "The white men wished only +to work in peace. The Utes tried to take their scalps, and the white men +were forced against their will to fight. No one can be blamed for +defending his life. We wish for peace, but, as the Utes can see, we are +quite ready to defend ourselves. There are forty rifles loaded and +ready, and, as you may see, a strong house. We have no fear. Last time +we were but few, but the Utes found that it was not easy to kill us. Now +we are many, and how many of the Utes would die before they took our +scalps? Nevertheless we wish for peace. The land is the land of the +Utes, and although we are strong and could hold it if we chose, we do +not wish to take it by force from our red brothers. We are ready to pay +for the right to live and work quietly. Let the chiefs go back to their +friends and talk together, and say how many blankets and how many guns +and what weight of ammunition and tobacco they will be content with. +Then if they do not ask too much, the white men will, so long as they +remain here, pay that amount each year in order that they may live in +peace with the Utes." + +The two Indians glanced at each other. "My white brother is wise," one +said. "Why did he not tell the Utes so last year?" + +"Because you never gave us time, chief. If you had done so we would have +said the same to you then, and your young men would be with you now; but +you came as enemies upon us, and when the rifle is speaking the voice is +silent." + +"I will speak with my braves," the chief said gravely. And turning round +they walked back to their party, while Harry and the chief returned to +the huts. + +"What do you think, chief? Will it be peace?" + +Leaping Horse nodded. "Too many rifles," he said. "The Utes will know +they could never take block-house." + +It was nearly two hours before the two Utes advanced as before, and +Harry and the Seneca went out to meet them. + +"My white brother's words are good," the chief said. "The Utes are great +warriors, but they do not wish to fight against the white men who come +as friends. The chiefs have talked with their braves, and the hatchets +will be buried. This is what the Utes ask that the white men who have +taken their land shall pay them." + +Harry had arranged that the chief, who spoke the Ute language more +perfectly than he did, should take charge of the bargaining. On the list +being given Leaping Horse assumed an expression of stolid indifference. + +"The land must be very dear in the Ute country," he said. "Do my +brothers suppose that the white men are mad that they ask such terms? +Peace would be too dear if bought at such a price. They are willing to +deal liberally with the Utes, but not to give as much as would buy +twenty hills. They will give this." And he enumerated a list of +articles, amounting to about one quarter of the Indians' demands. + +The bargaining now went on in earnest, and finally it was settled that a +quantity of goods, amounting to about half the Indians' first demand, +should be accepted, and both parties returned to their friends well +satisfied. + +A certain amount of goods had been brought out with a view to such a +contingency, and half the amount claimed was handed over to the Utes. +They had, indeed, more than enough to satisfy the demands, but Leaping +Horse had suggested to Harry that only a portion should be given, as +otherwise the Indians might suppose that their wealth was boundless. It +would be better to promise to deliver the rest in three months' time. A +dozen of the principal men of the Utes came over. The goods were +examined and accepted, the calumet of peace was smoked and a solemn +covenant of friendship entered into, and by the next morning the Indians +had disappeared. + +One end of the hut had been partitioned off for the use of the leaders +of the party, and the gold obtained each day was carried by them there +and deposited in a strong iron box, of which several had been brought by +Pete Hoskings from Denver. + +The day after the Indians left, a waggon, was sent off under the escort +of eight mounted labourers to Bridger, and this continued to make the +journey backward and forward regularly with the boxes of gold, Jerry and +Pete Hoskings taking it by turns to command the escort. Harry and Pete +had had a talk with the officer in command at Bridger on the evening +before they had started on the expedition. + +"You think you are going to send in a large quantity of gold?" the +officer asked. + +"If the mines are such as we think, Major, we may be sending down two or +three hundredweight a month." + +"Of course, the gold will be perfectly safe as long as it is in the +fort, but if it gets known how much there is, you will want a strong +convoy to take it across to the railway, and it would not be safe even +then. Of course, the bulk is nothing. I should say at any rate you had +better get it in here with as little fuss as possible." + +"If you will keep it here for awhile," Pete said, "we will think over +afterwards how it is to be taken further." + +The officer nodded. "It mayn't turn out as difficult a business as you +think," he said with a smile. "You are both old hands enough to know +that mines very seldom turn out as rich as they are expected to do." + +"We both know that," Pete Hoskings agreed. "I dunno as I ever did hear +of a mine that turned out anything nigh as good as it ought to have done +from samples, but I reckon that this is going to be an exception." + +When within a few miles of the fort the escort always placed their +rifles in the waggon and rode on some distance ahead of it, only one or +two with their leader remaining by it. The boxes, which were of no great +size, were covered by a sack or two thrown down in the corner of the +waggon, and on its arrival in the fort it was taken first to the store, +where a considerable quantity of provisions, flour, molasses, bacon, tea +and sugar, currants and raisins, and other articles were purchased and +placed in it. This was the ostensible purpose of the journey to the +fort. Late in the evening Jerry or Pete, whichever happened to be the +leader, and one of the men, carried the boxes across to the Major's +quarters and stored them in a cellar beneath it. + +There was a real need of provisions at the mine, for the population of +the valley rapidly increased as the season went on. The upper part of +the bed of the stream had been staked out into claims, the miners and +other men each taking up one, but below them the ground was of course +open to all, and although not nearly so rich as the upper gravel it was +good enough to pay fairly for working. A stout palisading now surrounded +the ground taken up by the machinery and the mine itself, and no one +except those engaged by the company were allowed to enter here. +Considerable surprise was felt in the camp when the first two or three +miners came up and staked out claims on the stream. + +"I wonder how they could have heard of it," Tom said to his uncle. + +"The fact that we are remaining out here is enough to show that we are +doing something, anyhow. The men who go in are always strictly ordered +to say no word about what our luck is, but the mere fact that they hold +their tongues--and you may be sure they are questioned sharply--is +enough to excite curiosity, and these men have come to find out and see +what the country is like, and to prospect the hills round where we are +working. You will see a lot of them here before long." + +As more came up it was determined to open a store. In the first place it +furnished an explanation for the waggon going down so often, and in the +second the fact that they were ready to sell provisions at cost prices +would deter others from coming and setting up stores. There was no +liquor kept on the mine, and Pete and Harry were very anxious that no +places for its sale should be opened in the valley. + +During the winter and spring Tom had received several letters from his +sisters. They expressed themselves as very grateful for the money that +he and their uncle had sent on their return to Denver, but begged them +to send no more, as the school was flourishing and they were perfectly +able to meet all their expenses. "It is very good of you, Tom," Carry +said. "Of course, we are all very pleased to know that you have been +able to send the money, because it relieves our anxiety about you; but +we really don't want it, and it makes us afraid that you are stinting +yourself. Besides, even if you are not, it would be much better for you +to keep the money, as you may find some opportunity of using it to your +advantage, while here it would only lie in the bank and do no good. It +would be different if we had nothing to fall back upon in case of +anything happening, such as some of us getting ill, or our having a case +of fever in the school, or anything of that sort, but as we have only +used fifty pounds of mother's money we have plenty to go on with for a +very long time; so that really we would very much rather you did not +send us any over. Now that we know your address and can write to you at +Fort Bridger, it seems to bring you close to us. But we have had two +very anxious times; especially the first, when we did not hear of you +for six months. The second time was not so bad, as you had told us that +it might be a long time before we should hear, and we were prepared for +it, but I do hope it will never be so long again." + +There had been some discussion as to whether the mine should be shut +down in winter, but it was soon decided that work should go on +regularly. Six more stamps were ordered to be sent from the east, with a +steam-engine powerful enough to work the whole battery, and in September +this and other machinery had reached the mine. Fresh buildings had been +erected--a storehouse, a house for the officers, and a shed covering the +whole of the machinery and yard. By the time this was all ready and in +place the valley below was deserted, the gravel having been washed out +to the bed-rock. No other lodes of sufficient richness to work had been +discovered by the prospectors, and with winter at hand there was no +inducement for them to stay longer there. + +Only two or three of the men at the mine wished to leave when their +engagement for the season terminated. All had been well paid, and had in +addition made money at gold-washing. Their food had been excellent, and +their comforts attended to in all ways. Accordingly, with these +exceptions all were ready to renew their engagements. + +An arrangement was made with the Major at Fort Bridger for an escort +under a subaltern officer to proceed with two waggons with the treasure +to Denver. Pete Hoskings and Jerry were to remain as managers of the +mine throughout the winter. Harry and Tom had made up their minds to go +to England and to return in the spring. The ore was now very much poorer +than it had been at first. The lode had pinched out below and they had +worked some distance along it. The falling off, however, was only +relative; the mine was still an extraordinarily rich one, although it +contained little more than a tenth of the gold that had been extracted +from the first hundred and fifty tons crushed. + +None but Harry, Pete Hoskings, Jerry, and Tom had any idea of the amount +of gold extracted in less than six months, although the miners were well +aware that the amount must be very large. It was so indeed, for after +repaying the amount expended in preliminary expenses, together with the +new machinery, the wages of the men, provisions, and all outgoings, they +calculated the treasure sent down to be worth one hundred and +twenty-eight thousand pounds, while the mine if sold would fetch at +least double that sum. After a hearty farewell to Pete and Jerry, Harry +and Tom with the two Indians rode with the last waggon down to Bridger. +The iron boxes had all been sewn up in deer-skins when they were sent +down, and at night they were placed in the waggons by Harry and his +companions. Over them were placed the provisions for the journey, as it +was just as well that even the soldiers should not suspect the amount of +treasure they were escorting. + +They encountered some severe snow-storms by the way, but reached Denver +without incident. The place had wonderfully changed since Tom had +arrived there more than two years before. It had trebled in size; broad +streets and handsome houses had been erected, and the town had spread in +all directions. They drove straight to the bank, to which Pete Hoskings +had sent down a letter a fortnight before they had started, and the +boxes were taken out of the waggon and carried down into the vaults of +the bank. A handsome present was made to each of the soldiers of the +escort, a brace of revolvers was given by Harry to the subaltern, and +the handsomest watch and chain that could be purchased in Denver was +sent by him to the Major, with an inscription expressing the thanks of +the company to him for his kindness. + +"Well, Tom, I am thankful that that is off my mind," Harry said. "I have +had a good many troubles in the course of my life, but this is the first +time that money has ever been a care to me. Well, we are rich men, Tom, +and we shall be richer, for the mine will run another two or three years +before it finishes up the lode as far as we have traced it, and as we +have now filed claims for a quarter of a mile farther back, it may be +good for aught I know for another ten years. Not so good as it has been +this year, but good enough to give handsome profits. Have you calculated +what our share is?" + +"No, uncle. I know it must be a lot, but I have never thought about what +each share will be." + +"Well, to begin with, a third of it goes to Pete Hoskings and his +friends, that leaves eighty-five thousand. The remainder is divided into +seven shares; I was to have two, the Indians three between them, you +one, and Jerry one. His share is then about twelve thousand, which +leaves seventy-three thousand between you and me. Of course, we shall +divide equally." + +"No, indeed, uncle; that would be ridiculous. I have been of very little +use through it all, and I certainly ought not to have as much as Jerry. +You and the chief discovered it, and it was entirely owing to you that +any of the rest of us have a share of the profits, and of course your +arrangement with the two Indians is only because the chief is so fond of +you." + +"Partly that, Tom; but chiefly because it is in accordance with red-skin +customs. They are hunters, fighters, and guides, but they are not +miners, and they never go in for shares in an enterprise of this sort. +It went very much against the grain for Leaping Horse to take that three +or four hundred pounds that came to him at the end of the last +expedition, and he would be seriously offended if I were to press upon +him more than his ordinary payment now; he would say that he has been +simply hunting this year, that he has run no risks, and has had nothing +to do with the mine. To-morrow morning we will go out to see what there +is in the way of horse-flesh in Denver, and will buy him and Hunting Dog +the two best horses in the town, whatever they may cost, with saddles, +bridles, new blankets, and so on. If I can get anything special in the +way of rifles I shall get a couple of them, and if not I shall get them +in New York, and send them to him at Bridger. These are presents he +would value infinitely more than all the gold we have stowed away in the +bank to-day. He is going back to his tribe for the winter, and he and +Hunting Dog will be at the mine before us next spring." + +In the morning Harry was two hours at the bank, where he saw the gold +weighed out, and received a receipt for the value, which came to within +a hundred pounds of what they had calculated, as the dust had been very +carefully weighed each time it was sent off. In accordance with the +arrangement he had made with Pete Hoskings and Jerry the amount of their +respective shares was placed to their credit at the bank. Drawing a +thousand pounds in cash, he received a draft for the rest upon a firm at +New York, where he would be able to exchange it for one on London. He +then inquired at the hotel as to who was considered to possess the best +horses in the town, and as money was no object to him, he succeeded in +persuading the owners to sell two splendid animals; these with the +saddles were sent to the hotel. He then bought two finely finished +Sharpe's rifles of long range, and two brace of silver-mounted +revolvers. + +"Now, Tom," he said, "I shall give one of these outfits to the chief and +you give the other to Hunting Dog; he has been your special chum since +we started, and the presents will come better from you than from me. I +expect them here in half an hour; I told them I should be busy all the +morning." + +The two Indians were delighted with their presents, even the chief being +moved out of his usual impassive demeanour. "My white brothers are too +good. Leaping Horse knows that Straight Harry is his friend; he does not +want presents to show him that; but he will value them because he loves +his white brothers, even more than for themselves." As for Hunting Dog, +he was for a long time incredulous that the splendid horse, the rifle +and pistols could really be for him, and he was so exuberant in his +delight that it was not until Leaping Horse frowned at him severely that +he subsided into silent admiration of the gifts. + +"Here are papers, chief, that you and Hunting Dog had better keep: they +are the receipts for the two horses, and two forms that I have had +witnessed by a lawyer, saying that we have given you the horses in token +of our gratitude for the services that you have rendered; possibly you +may find them useful. You may fall in with rough fellows who may make a +pretence that the horses have been stolen. Oh, yes! I know that you can +hold your own; still, it may avoid trouble." + +They had now no further use for their horses, so these were sold for a +few pounds. They purchased a stock of clothes sufficient only for their +journey to England. + +"You may as well put your revolver in your pocket, Tom," Harry said as +they prepared to start the next day. "I have sewn up the draft in the +lining of my coat, but sometimes a train gets held up and robbed, and as +we have six hundred pounds in gold and notes in our wallets, I certainly +should not give it up without a fight." + +The Indians accompanied them to the station. "Now, chief, you take my +advice and look out for a nice wife before next spring. You are forty +now, and it is high time you thought of settling down." + +"Leaping Horse will think over it," the Seneca said gravely. "It may be +that in the spring he will have a wigwam in the valley." + +A few minutes later the train started east, and five days later they +reached New York. A steamer left the next day for England, and in this +they secured two first-class berths; and although Tom had managed very +well on his way out, he thoroughly enjoyed the vastly superior comfort +of the homeward trip. They went straight through to Southampton, for, as +Harry said, they could run up to London and get their clothes any day; +and he saw that Tom was in a fever of excitement to get home. Harriet +came to the door of the little house at Southsea when they knocked. She +looked surprised at seeing two gentlemen standing there. In the two +years and a half that had passed since Tom had left he had altered +greatly. He had gone through much toil and hardship, and the bronze of +the previous summer's sun was not yet off his cheeks; he had grown four +or five inches, and the man's work that he had been doing had made +almost a man of him. + +"Don't you know me, Harriet?" Tom said. + +The girl at once recognized the voice, and with a loud cry of delight +threw her arms round his neck. The cry brought Carry out from the +parlour. "Why, Harriet," she exclaimed, "have you gone mad?" + +"Don't you see it's Tom?" Harriet said, turning round, laughing and +crying together. + +"It is Tom, sure enough, Carry; you need not look so incredulous; and +this is Uncle Harry." + +There were a few minutes of wild joy, then they calmed down and +assembled in the sitting-room. + +"It is lucky the girls have all gone home to dinner," Carry said, "or +they would certainly have carried the news to their friends that we were +all mad. It is a half-holiday too, nothing could be more fortunate. Now +we want to hear everything. Tom's letters were so short and +unsatisfactory, uncle, that he told us next to nothing, except that you +had found a mine, and that you were both working there, and that it was +satisfactory." + +"Well, my dears, that is the pith of the thing," Harry said. "The first +thing for you to do is to send round notes to the mothers of these +children saying that from unforeseen circumstances you have retired from +the profession, and that the school has finally closed from this +afternoon." + +There was a general exclamation from the girls: + +"What do you mean, uncle?" + +"I mean what I say, girls. Tom and I have made our fortunes, and there +is no occasion for you to go on teaching any longer. We have not yet +made any plans for the future, but at any rate the first step is, that +there is to be no more teaching." + +"But are you quite, quite sure, uncle?" Carry said doubtfully. "We are +getting on very nicely now, and it would be a pity to lose the +connection." + +Harry and Tom both laughed. + +"Well, my girl," the former said, "that is of course a point to be +thought of. But as Tom and I have over thirty-five thousand pounds +apiece, and the mine will bring us in a good round sum for some years to +come, I think we can afford to run the risk of the connection going." + +After that it was a long while before they settled down to talk quietly +again. + +A week later they all went up to London for a month, while what Harry +called "outfits" were purchased for the girls, as well as for him and +Tom, and all the sights of London visited. Before their story came to an +end, the grand consultation as to future plans had been held, and a +handsome house purchased at Blackheath. + +Tom did not return to Utah in the spring; his uncle strongly advised him +not to do so. + +"I shall go back myself, Tom; partly because I should feel like a fish +out of water with nothing to do here, partly because I promised the +chief to go back for a bit every year. I am beginning to feel dull +already, and am looking forward to the trip across the water, but it +will certainly be better for you to stay at home. You left school early, +you see, and it would be a good thing for you to get a man to come and +read with you for two or three hours a day for the next year or two. We +have settled that the three younger girls are to go to school; and I +don't see why you, Carry, and Janet, should not go, in the first place, +for two or three months on to the Continent. They have had a dull life +since you have been away, and the trip will be a treat for them, and +perhaps do you some good also. It will be time enough to settle down to +reading when you come back." + +The mine returned large profits that year, the increased amount stamped +making up to some extent for the falling off in the value of the ore, +and the shares of the various proprietors were more than half what they +had been at the end of the first season's work. The third year it fell +off considerably. There was a further decrease the year after, and the +fifth year it barely paid its expenses, and it was decided to abandon +it. Harry Wade went over every season for many years, but spent only the +first at the mine. After that he went hunting expeditions with Leaping +Horse, who, to his amusement, had met him at his first return to the +mine with a pretty squaw, and Hunting Dog had also brought a wife with +him. Two wigwams were erected that year near the mine, but after that +they returned to their tribe, of which Leaping Horse became the leading +chief. + +Tom's sisters all in due time married, each being presented on her +wedding-day with a cheque for ten thousand pounds, as a joint present +from her uncle and brother. + +Tom himself did not remain a bachelor, but six years after his return to +England took a wife to himself, and the house at Blackheath was none too +large for his family. Harry Wade's home is with Tom, and he is still +hale and hearty. Up to the last few years he paid occasional visits to +America, and stayed for a while with his red brother Leaping Horse, when +they lamented together over the disappearance of game and the extinction +of the buffalo. Hunting Dog had, at Harry's urgent advice, settled down +in the ways of civilization, taking up a ranche and breeding cattle, of +which he now owns a large herd. Jerry Curtis and Pete Hoskings made a +journey together to Europe after the closing of the mine. They stayed +for a month at Blackheath, and ten years later Tom received a lawyer's +letter from Denver saying that Peter Hoskings was dead, and that he had +left his large house and other property in Denver to Mr. Thomas Wade's +children. Jerry still lives at the age of seventy-five in that city. + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's In the Heart of the Rockies, by G. A. 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A. Henty + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .75em; margin-bottom: .75em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%; text-align: justify; font-size: 80%; font-style: italic;} + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + .xx-small {font-size: 60%;} + .x-small {font-size: 75%;} + .small {font-size: 85%;} + .large {font-size: 115%;} + .x-large {font-size: 130%;} + .indent5 { margin-left: 5%;} + .indent10 { margin-left: 10%;} + .indent15 { margin-left: 15%;} + .indent20 { margin-left: 20%;} + .indent25 { margin-left: 25%;} + .indent30 { margin-left: 30%;} + .indent35 { margin-left: 35%;} + .indent40 { margin-left: 40%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {position: absolute; right: 1%; font-size: 0.6em; + font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; + text-align: right; background-color: #FFFACD; + border: 1px solid; padding: 0.3em;text-indent: 0em;} + .side { float: left; font-size: 75%; width: 15%; padding-left: 0.8em; + border-left: dashed thin; text-align: left; + text-indent: 0; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; + font-weight: bold; color: black; background: #eeeeee; border: solid 1px;} + .head { float: left; font-size: 90%; width: 98%; padding-left: 0.8em; + border-left: dashed thin; text-align: center; + text-indent: 0; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; + font-weight: bold; color: black; background: #eeeeee; border: solid 1px;} + p.pfirst, p.noindent {text-indent: 0} + span.dropcap { float: left; margin: 0 0.1em 0 0; line-height: 0.8 } + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of In the Heart of the Rockies, by G. A. Henty + +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: In the Heart of the Rockies + A Story of Adventure in Colorado + +Author: G. A. Henty + +Release Date: August, 2005 [EBook #8670] +First Posted: July, 31, 2003 +Last Updated: April, 12, 2019 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN THE HEART OF THE ROCKIES *** + + + + +Etext produced by Charles Franks, Michelle Shephard, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team + +HTML file produced by David Widger + + + + +</pre> + <div style="height: 8em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + IN THE HEART OF THE ROCKIES + </h1> + <h2> + A Story Of Adventure In Colorado + </h2> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By G. A. Henty + </h2> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p> + <b>CONTENTS</b> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_PREF"> PREFACE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I — TOM'S CHOICE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II — FINDING FRIENDS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III — ON THE PLAINS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV — LEAPING HORSE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V — IN DANGER </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI — UNITED </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII — CHASED </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER VIII — IN SAFETY </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER IX — A BAD TIME </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER X — AN AVALANCHE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0011"> CHAPTER XI — WINTER </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER XII — THE SNOW FORT </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0013"> CHAPTER XIII — A FRESH START </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0014"> CHAPTER XIV — AN INDIAN ATTACK </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0015"> CHAPTER XV — THE COLORADO </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0016"> CHAPTER XVI — AFLOAT IN CANOES </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0017"> CHAPTER XVII — THE GRAND CAŅON </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0018"> CHAPTER XVIII — BACK TO DENVER </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0019"> CHAPTER XIX — A FORTUNE </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_PREF" id="link2H_PREF"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PREFACE + </h2> + <h3> + MY DEAR LADS, + </h3> + <p> + Until comparatively lately that portion of the United States in which I + have laid this story was wholly unexplored. The marvellous caņons of the + Colorado River extend through a country absolutely bare and waterless, and + save the tales told by a few hunters or gold-seekers who, pressed by + Indians, made the descent of some of them, but little was known regarding + this region. It was not until 1869 that a thorough exploration of the + caņons was made by a government expedition under the command of Major + Powell. This expedition passed through the whole of the caņons, from those + high up on the Green River to the point where the Colorado issues out on + to the plains. Four years were occupied by the party in making a detailed + survey of the course of the main river and its tributaries. These + explorations took place some eight or nine years after the date of my + story. The country in which the Big Wind River has its source, and the + mountain chains contained in it, were almost unknown until, after the + completion of the railway to California, the United States government was + forced to send an expedition into it to punish the Indians for their raids + upon settlers in the plains. For details of the geography and scenery I + have relied upon the narrative of Mr. Baillie-Grohman, who paid several + visits to the country in 1878 and the following years in quest of sport, + and was the first white man to penetrate the recesses of the higher + mountains. At that time the Indians had almost entirely deserted the + country. For the details of the dangers and difficulties of the passage + through the caņons I am indebted to the official report of Major Powell, + published by the United States government. + </p> + <p> + Yours sincerely, + </p> + <h3> + G. A. HENTY. + </h3> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I — TOM'S CHOICE + </h2> + <p> + "I can be of no use here, Carry. What am I good for? Why, I could not earn + money enough to pay for my own food, even if we knew anyone who would help + me to get a clerkship. I am too young for it yet. I would rather go before + the mast than take a place in a shop. I am too young even to enlist. I + know just about as much as other boys at school, and I certainly have no + talent anyway, as far as I can see at present. I can sail a boat, and I + won the swimming prize a month ago, and the sergeant who gives us lessons + in single-stick and boxing says that he considers me his best pupil with + the gloves, but all these things put together would not bring me in + sixpence a week. I don't want to go away, and nothing would induce me to + do so if I could be of the slightest use to you here. But can I be of any + use? What is there for me to look forward to if I stay? I am sure that you + would be always worrying over me if I did get some sort of situation that + you would know father and mother would not have liked to see me in, and + would seem to offer no chance for the future, whereas if I went out there + it would not matter what I did, and anything I earned I could send home to + you." + </p> + <p> + The speaker was a lad of sixteen. He and his sister, who was two years his + senior, were both dressed in deep mourning, and were sitting on a bench + near Southsea Castle looking across to Spithead, and the Isle of Wight + stretching away behind. They had three days before followed their mother + to the grave, and laid her beside their father, a lieutenant of the navy, + who had died two years before. This was the first time they had left the + house, where remained their four sisters—Janet, who came between + Carry and Tom; Blanche, who was fourteen; Lucie, twelve; and Harriet, + eight. Tom had proposed the walk. + </p> + <p> + "Come out for some fresh air, Carry," he had said. "You have been shut up + for a month. Let us two go together;" and Carry had understood that he + wanted a talk alone with her. There was need, indeed, that they should + look the future in the face. Since Lieutenant Wade's death their means had + been very straitened. Their mother had received a small pension as his + widow, and on this, eked out by drafts reluctantly drawn upon the thousand + pounds she had brought him on her marriage, which had been left untouched + during his lifetime, they had lived since his death. Two hundred pounds + had been drawn from their little capital, and the balance was all that now + remained. It had long been arranged that Carry and Janet should go out as + governesses as soon as they each reached the age of eighteen, but it was + now clear that Carry must remain at home in charge of the young ones. + </p> + <p> + That morning the two girls had had a talk together, and had settled that, + as Janet was too young to take even the humblest place as a governess, + they would endeavour to open a little school, and so, for the present at + any rate, keep the home together. Carry could give music lessons, for she + was already an excellent pianist, having been well taught by her mother, + who was an accomplished performer, and Janet was sufficiently advanced to + teach young girls. She had communicated their decision to Tom, who had + heartily agreed with it. + </p> + <p> + "The rent is only twenty pounds a year," he said, "and, as you say, the + eight hundred pounds bring in thirty-two pounds a year, which will pay the + rent and leave something over. If you don't get many pupils at first it + will help, and you can draw a little from the capital till the school gets + big enough to pay all your expenses. It is horrible to me that I don't + seem to be able to help, but at any rate I don't intend to remain a drag + upon you. If mother had only allowed me to go to sea after father's death + I should be off your hands now, and I might even have been able to help a + little. As it is, what is there for me to do here?" And then he pointed + out how hopeless the prospect seemed at Portsmouth. + </p> + <p> + Carry was silent for a minute or two when he ceased speaking, and sat + looking out over the sea. + </p> + <p> + "Certainly, we should not wish you to go into a shop, Tom, and what you + say about going into an office is also right enough. We have no sort of + interest, and the sort of clerkship you would be likely to get here would + not lead to anything. I know what you are thinking about—that letter + of Uncle Harry's; but you know that mother could not bear the thought of + it, and it would be dreadful for us if you were to go away." + </p> + <p> + "I would not think of going, Carry, if I could see any chance of helping + you here, and I don't want to go as I did when the letter first came. It + seems such a cowardly thing to run away and leave all the burden upon your + shoulders, yours and Janet's, though I know it will be principally on + yours; but what else is there to do? It was not for my own sake that I + wanted before to go, but I did not see what there was for me to do here + even when I grew up. Still, as mother said it would break her heart if I + went away, of course there was an end of it for the time, though I have + always thought it would be something to fall back upon if, when I got to + eighteen or nineteen, nothing else turned up, which seemed to me very + likely would be the case. Certainly, if it came to a choice between that + and enlisting, I should choose that: and now it seems to me the only thing + to be done." + </p> + <p> + "It is such a long way off, Tom," the girl said in a tone of deep pain; + "and you know when people get away so far they seem to forget those at + home and give up writing. We had not heard from uncle for ten years when + that letter came." + </p> + <p> + "There would be no fear of my forgetting you, Carry. I would write to you + whenever I got a chance." + </p> + <p> + "But even going out there does not seem to lead to anything, Tom. Uncle + has been away twenty-five years, and he does not seem to have made any + money at all." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, but then he owned in his letter, Carry, that it was principally his + own fault. He said he had made a good sum several times at mining, and + chucked it away; but that next time he strikes a good thing he was + determined to keep what he made and to come home to live upon it. I + sha'n't chuck it away if I make it, but shall send every penny home that I + can spare." + </p> + <p> + "But uncle will not expect you, Tom, mother refused so positively to let + you go. Perhaps he has gone away from the part of the country he wrote + from, and you may not be able to find him." + </p> + <p> + "I shall be able to find him," Tom said confidently. "When that letter + went, I sent one of my own to him, and said that though mother would not + hear of my going now, I might come out to him when I got older if I could + get nothing to do here, and asked him to send me a few words directed to + the post-office telling me how I might find him. He wrote back saying that + if I called at the Empire Saloon at a small town called Denver, in + Colorado, I should be likely to hear whereabouts he was, and that he would + sometimes send a line there with instructions if he should be long away." + </p> + <p> + "I see you have set your mind on going, Tom," Carry said sadly. + </p> + <p> + "No, I have not set my mind on it, Carry. I am perfectly ready to stop + here if you can see any way for me to earn money, but I cannot stop here + idle, eating and drinking, while you girls are working for us all." + </p> + <p> + "If you were but three or four years older, Tom, I should not so much + mind, and though it would be a terrible blow to part with you, I do not + see that you could do anything better; but you are only sixteen." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, but I am strong and big for my age; I am quite as strong as a good + many men. Of course I don't mean the boatmen and the dockyard maties, but + men who don't do hard work. Anyhow, there are lots of men who go out to + America who are no stronger than I am, and of course I shall get stronger + every month. I can walk thirty miles a day easy, and I have never had a + day's illness." + </p> + <p> + "It is not your strength, Tom; I shall have no fears about your breaking + down; on the contrary, I should say that a life such as uncle wrote about, + must be wonderfully healthy. But you seem so young to make such a long + journey, and you may have to travel about in such rough places and among + such rough men before you can find Uncle Harry." + </p> + <p> + "I expect that I shall get on a great deal easier than a man would," Tom + said confidently. "Fellows might play tricks with a grown-up fellow who + they see is a stranger and not up to things, and might get into quarrels + with him, but no one is likely to interfere with a boy. No, I don't think + that there is anything in that, Carry,—the only real difficulty is + in going away so far from you, and perhaps being away for a long time." + </p> + <p> + "Well, Tom," the girl said after another pause, "it seems very terrible, + but I own that I can see nothing better for you. There is no way that you + can earn money here, and I am sure we would rather think of you as mining + and hunting with uncle, than as sitting as a sort of boy-clerk in some + dark little office in London or Portsmouth. It is no worse than going to + sea anyhow, and after all you may, as uncle says, hit on a rich mine and + come back with a fortune. Let us be going home. I can hardly bear to think + of it now, but I will tell Janet, and will talk about it again this + evening after the little ones have gone to bed." + </p> + <p> + Tom had the good sense to avoid any expression of satisfaction. He gave + Carry's hand a silent squeeze, and as they walked across the common talked + over their plans for setting to work to get pupils, and said no word that + would give her a hint of the excitement he felt at the thought of the life + of adventure in a wild country that lay before him. He had in his blood a + large share of the restless spirit of enterprise that has been the main + factor in making the Anglo-Saxons the dominant race of the world. His + father and his grandfather had both been officers in the royal navy, and a + great-uncle had commanded a merchantman that traded in the Eastern seas, + and had never come back from one of its voyages; there had been little + doubt that all on board had been massacred and the ship burned by Malay + pirates. His Uncle Harry had gone away when little more than a boy to seek + a fortune in America, and had, a few years after his landing there, + crossed the plains with one of the first parties that started out at news + of the discovery of gold in California. + </p> + <p> + Tom himself had longed above all things to be a sailor. His father had not + sufficient interest to get him into the royal navy, but had intended to + obtain for him a berth as apprentice in the merchant service; but his + sudden death had cut that project short, and his mother, who had always + been opposed to it, would not hear of his going to sea. But the life that + now seemed open to him was in the boy's eyes even preferable to that he + had longed for. The excitement of voyages to India or China and back was + as nothing to that of a gold-seeker and hunter in the West, where there + were bears and Indians and all sorts of adventures to be encountered. He + soon calmed down, however, on reaching home. The empty chair, the black + dresses and pale faces of the girls, brought back in its full force the + sense of loss. + </p> + <p> + In a short time he went up to his room, and sat there thinking it all over + again, and asking himself whether it was fair of him to leave his sisters, + and whether he was not acting selfishly in thus choosing his own life. He + had gone over this ground again and again in the last few days, and he now + came to the same conclusion, namely, that he could do no better for the + girls by stopping at home, and that he had not decided upon accepting his + uncle's invitation because the life was just what he would have chosen, + but because he could see nothing that offered equal chances of his being + able permanently to aid them at home. + </p> + <p> + When he came downstairs again Carry said: + </p> + <p> + "The others have gone out, Tom; you had better go round and see some of + your school-fellows. You look fagged and worn out. You cannot help me + here, and I shall go about my work more cheerfully if I know that you are + out and about." + </p> + <p> + Tom nodded, put on his cap and went out; but he felt far too restless to + follow her advice and call on some of his friends, so he walked across the + common and lay down on the beach and went all over it again, until at last + he went off to sleep, and did not wake up until, glancing at his watch, he + found that it was time to return to tea. He felt fresher and better for + his rest, for indeed he had slept but little for the past fortnight, and + Carry nodded approvingly as she saw that his eyes were brighter, and the + lines of fatigue and sleeplessness less strongly marked on his face. + </p> + <p> + Two hours later, when the younger girls had gone to bed, Carry said: "Now + we will have a family council. I have told Janet about our talk, Tom, and + she is altogether on your side, and only regrets that she is not a boy and + able to go out with you. We need not go over the ground again, we are + quite agreed with you that there seems no prospect here of your obtaining + work such as we should like to see you at, or that would lead to anything. + There are only two things open to you, the one is to go to sea, the other + to go out to Uncle Harry. You are old to go as an apprentice, but not too + old, and that plan could be carried out; still, we both think that the + other is better. You would be almost as much separated from us if you went + to sea as you would be if you went out to America. But before you quite + decide I will read uncle's letter, which I have found this afternoon among + some other papers." + </p> + <p> + She took out the letter and opened it. + </p> + <p> + "'My dear Jack,—I am afraid it is a very long time since I wrote + last; I don't like to think how long. I have been intending to do so a + score of times, but you know I always hated writing, and I have been + waiting to tell you that I had hit upon something good at last. Even now I + can only tell you that I have been knocking about and getting older, but + so far I cannot say I have been getting richer. As I told you when I wrote + last I have several times made good hauls and struck it rich, but somehow + the money has always slipped through my fingers. Sometimes I have put it + into things that looked well enough but turned out worthless; sometimes I + have chucked it away in the fool's manner men do here. I have just come + back from a prospecting tour in the country of the Utes, where I found two + or three things that seemed good; one of them first-rate, the best thing, + I think, I have seen since I came out here. + </p> + <p> + "'Unfortunately I cannot do anything with them at present, for the Utes + are getting troublesome, and it would be as much as one's life is worth to + go back there with a small party; so that matter must rest for a bit, and + I must look out in another quarter until the Utes settle down again. I am + going to join a hunting party that starts for the mountains next week. I + have done pretty nearly as much hunting as mining since I came out, and + though there is no big pile to be made at it, it is a pretty certain + living. How are you all getting on? I hope some day to drop in on your + quiet quarters at Southsea with some big bags of gold-dust, and to end my + days in a nook by your fireside; which I know you will give me, old + fellow, with or without the gold bags. '" + </p> + <p> + [Image: CARRY READS UNCLE HARRY'S LETTER.] + </p> + <p> + "'I suppose your boy is thirteen or fourteen years old by this time. That + is too young for him to come out here, but if in two or three years you + don't see any opening for him at home, send him out to me, and I will make + a man of him; and even if he does not make a fortune in gold-seeking, + there are plenty of things a young fellow can turn his hand to in this + country with a good certainty of making his way, if he is but steady. You + may think that my example is not likely to be of much benefit to him, but + I should do for an object lesson, and seriously, would do my very best to + set him in a straight path. Anyhow, three or four years' knocking about + with me would enable him to cut his eye-teeth, and hold his own in the + world. At the end of that time he could look round and see what line he + would take up, and I need not say that I would help him to the utmost of + my power, and though I have not done any good for myself I might do good + for him. + </p> + <p> + "'In the first place, I know pretty well every one in Colorado, Montana, + and Idaho; in the next place, in my wanderings I have come across a score + of bits of land in out-of-the-way places where a young fellow could set up + a ranche and breed cattle and horses and make a good thing of it; or if he + has a turn for mechanics, I could show him places where he could set up + saw-mills for lumber, with water-power all the year round, and with + markets not far away. Of course, he is too young yet, but unless he is + going to walk in your steps and turn sailor he might do worse than come + out to me in three or four years' time. Rough as the life is, it is a + man's life, and a week of it is worth more than a year's quill-driving in + an office. It is a pity your family have run to girls, for if one boy had + made up his mind for the sea you might have spared me another.' + </p> + <p> + "That is all. You know mother sent an answer saying that dear father had + gone, and that she should never be able to let you go so far away and take + up such a rough and dangerous life. However, Tom, as you wrote to uncle, + her refusal would not matter, and by his sending you instructions how to + find him, it is evident that he will not be surprised at your turning up. + In the first place, are you sure that you would prefer this to the sea?" + </p> + <p> + "Quite sure, Carry; I should like it much better. But the principal thing + is that I may soon be able to help you from there, while it would be years + before I should get pay enough at sea to enable me to do so." + </p> + <p> + "Then that is settled, Tom. And now, I suppose," and her voice quivered a + little, "you will want to be off as soon as you can?" + </p> + <p> + "I think so," Tom replied. "If I am to go, it seems to me the sooner I go + the better; there is nothing that I can do here, and we shall all be + restless and unsettled until I am off." + </p> + <p> + Carry nodded. "I think you are right, Tom; we shall never be able to + settle to our work here when we are thinking of your going away. The first + thing to do will be to draw some money from the bank. There will be your + outfit to get and your passage to pay to America, and a supply of money to + take you out West, and keep you until you join uncle." + </p> + <p> + "That is what I hate," Tom said gloomily. "It seems beastly that when I + want to help you I must begin by taking some of your money." + </p> + <p> + "That can't be helped," Carry said cheerfully. "One must not grudge a + sprat to catch a whale, and besides it would cost ever so much more if we + had to apprentice you to the sea, and get your outfit. You will not want + many clothes now. You have enough for the voyage and journey, and I should + think it would be much better for you to get what you want out there, when + you will have uncle to advise what is necessary. I should really think + some flannel shirts and a rough suit for the voyage will be the principal + things." + </p> + <p> + "I should think so, certainly," Tom agreed. "The less baggage one travels + with the better, for when I leave the railway I shall only want what I can + carry with me or pack on horses. Anything else would only be a nuisance. + As to a rough suit for the voyage, the clothes I had before I put these + on" (and he glanced at his black suit) "will do capitally. Of course I + shall go steerage. I can get out for four or five pounds that way, and I + shall be quite as well off as I should be as an apprentice. I know I must + have some money, but I won't take more than is absolutely necessary. I am + all right as far as I can see for everything, except three or four flannel + shirts. I don't see that another thing will be required except a small + trunk to hold them and the clothes I have on, which I don't suppose I + shall ever wear again, and a few other things. You know I would only allow + you to have this one black suit made. I was thinking of this, and it would + have been throwing away money to have got more. Of course, I don't know + what I shall want out there. I know it is a long way to travel by rail, + and I may have to keep myself for a month before I find uncle. I should + think five-and-twenty pounds when I land would be enough for everything." + </p> + <p> + "I shall draw fifty pounds," Carry said positively. "As you say, your + outfit will really cost nothing; ten pounds will pay for your journey to + Liverpool and your passage; that will leave you forty pounds in your + pocket when you land. That is the very least you could do with, for you + may find you will have to buy a horse, and though I believe they are very + cheap out there, I suppose you could not get one under ten pounds; and + then there would be the saddle and bridle and food for the journey, and + all sorts of things. I don't think forty pounds will be enough." + </p> + <p> + "I won't have a penny more, anyhow," Tom said. "If I find a horse too + expensive I can tramp on foot." + </p> + <p> + "And you must be sure not to get robbed," Janet said, breaking in for the + first time. "Just fancy your finding yourself without money in such a + place as that. I will make you a belt to wear under your things, with + pockets for the money." + </p> + <p> + "I hope I should not be such a fool as that, Janet, but anyhow I will be + as careful as I can. I shall be very glad of the belt. One does not know + what the fellows might be up to, and I would certainly rather not have my + money loose in my pocket; but even if I were robbed I don't think it would + be as desperate as you think. I expect a boy could always find something + to do to earn his living, and I should try and work my way along somehow, + but as that would not be pleasant at all I shall take good care of my + money, you may be sure." + </p> + <p> + For an hour they sat talking, and before the council broke up it was + agreed that they should look in the newspaper in the morning for a list of + vessels sailing for America, and should at once write and take a passage. + </p> + <p> + There was no time lost. Carry felt that it would be best for them all that + the parting should be got over as soon as possible. Letters were written + the next morning to two steamship companies and to the owners of two + sailing vessels asking the prices of steerage passages, agreeing that if + there was not much difference it would be better to save perhaps a + fortnight by taking the passage in a steamship. + </p> + <p> + The replies showed that the difference was indeed trifling, and a week + after their receipt Tom Wade started from Portsmouth to Liverpool. Even at + the last moment he was half-inclined to change his plans, it seemed so + hard to leave his sisters alone; but Carry and Janet had both convinced + themselves that his scheme was the best, and would not hear of his + wavering now. They kept up a show of good spirits until the last, talked + confidently of the success of their own plans, and how they should set + about carrying them out as soon as they were free to act. The younger + girls, although implored by the elders not to give way to their grief at + the departure of their brother, were in a state of constant tearfulness, + and were in consequence frequently got rid of by being sent on errands. + Tom, too, took them out for hours every day, and by telling them stories + of the wild animals he should hunt, and the Indians he should see, and of + the stores of gold he should find hidden, generally brought them home in a + more cheerful state of mind. + </p> + <p> + At last the parting was over, and after making heroic efforts to be + cheerful to the end, Tom waved a last adieu with his handkerchief to the + five weeping figures on the platform, and then threw himself back in his + seat and gave free vent to his own feelings. Two girls sitting beside him + sniggered at the sight of the strong-built young fellow giving way to + tears, but a motherly-looking woman opposite presently put her hand on his + knee. + </p> + <p> + "Don't be ashamed of crying, my lad," she said. "I have got a son years + older than you, and we always have a good cry together every time he + starts on a long voyage. Are you going far? I suppose those are your + sisters? I see you are all in black. Lost someone dear to you, no doubt? + It comes to us all, my boy, sooner or later." + </p> + <p> + "I am going to America," Tom replied, "and may not be back for years. Yes, + those are my sisters, and what upsets me most is that I have to leave them + all alone, for we have lost both our parents." + </p> + <p> + "Dear, dear, that is sad indeed! No wonder you are all upset. Well, well, + America is not so very far away—only a ten days' voyage by steamer, + they tell me, and my boy is away in a sailing ship. He is in China, I + reckon, now; he sailed five months ago, and did not expect to be home + under a year. I worry about him sometimes, but I know it is of no use + doing that. The last thing he said when I bade good-bye to him was, 'Keep + up your spirits, mother'; and I try to do so." + </p> + <p> + The old lady went on talking about her son, and Tom, listening to her + kindly attempts to draw him out of his own troubles, grew interested, and + by the time they reached Winchester, where she left the train, he had + shaken off his first depression. It was a long journey with several + changes, and he did not arrive in Liverpool until six o'clock in the + evening, having been nearly twelve hours on the road. Carry's last + injunction had been, "Take a cab when you get to Liverpool, Tom, and drive + straight down to the docks. Liverpool is a large place, and you might get + directed wrong. I shall be more comfortable if I know that, at any rate, + you will go straight on board." + </p> + <p> + Tom had thought it an unnecessary expense, but as he saw that Carry would + be more comfortable about him if he followed her advice, he promised to do + so, and was not sorry for it as he drove through the streets; for, in + spite of cutting down everything that seemed unnecessary for the voyage + and subsequent journey, the portmanteau was too heavy to carry far with + comfort, and although prepared to rough it to any extent when he had once + left England, he felt that he should not like to make his way along the + crowded streets with his trunk on his shoulder. + </p> + <p> + The cabman had no difficulty in finding the <i>Parthia</i>, which was + still in the basin. Tom was, however, only just in time to get on board, + for the men were already throwing off the warps, and ten minutes later she + passed out through the dock-gates, and soon anchored in the middle of the + river. Tom had been on board too many ships at Portsmouth to feel any of + that bewilderment common to emigrants starting on their first voyage. He + saw that at present everyone was too busy to attend to him, and so he put + his portmanteau down by the bulwark forward, and leaning on the rail + watched the process of warping the ship out of the docks. There were a + good many steerage passengers forward, but at present the after-part of + the ship was entirely deserted, as the cabin passengers would not come on + board until either late at night or early next morning. When the anchor + had been let drop he took up his trunk and asked a sailor where he ought + to go to. + </p> + <p> + "Show me your ticket. Ah! single man's quarters, right forward." + </p> + <p> + There he met a steward, who, after looking at his ticket, said: "You will + see the bunks down there, and can take any one that is unoccupied. I + should advise you to put your trunk into it, and keep the lid shut. People + come and go in the morning, and you might find that your things had gone + too. It would be just as well for you to keep it locked through the + voyage. I see that you have got a cord round it. Keep it corded; the more + things there are to unfasten to get at the contents the less chance there + is of anyone attempting it." + </p> + <p> + The place was crowded with berths, mere shallow trays, each containing a + straw mattress and pillow and two coloured blankets. They were in three + tiers, one above the other, and were arranged in lines three deep, with a + narrow passage between. He saw by the number into which bags and packets + had been thrown that the upper berths were the favourites, but he + concluded that the lower tiers were preferable. "It will be frightfully + hot and stuffy here," he said to himself, "and I should say the lower + berths will be cooler than the upper." He therefore placed his trunk in + one of those next to the central passage and near the door, and then went + up on deck. + </p> + <p> + The <i>Parthia</i> was a Cunarder, and although not equal in size to the + great ships of the present day, was a very fine vessel. The fare had been + somewhat higher than that for which he could have had a passage in a + sailing ship, but in addition to his saving time, there was the advantage + that on board the steamers, passengers were not obliged to provide their + own bedding, as they had to do in sailing vessels, and also the food was + cooked for them in the ship's galleys. + </p> + <p> + The first meal was served soon after the anchor dropped, and consisted of + a bowl of cocoa and a large piece of bread. Half an hour later a tender + came alongside with the last batch of steerage passengers, and Tom was + interested in watching the various groups as they came on board—men, + women, and children. + </p> + <p> + "Well," he said to himself, "I do think I am better fitted to make my way + out there than most of these people are, for they look as helpless and + confused as a flock of sheep. I pity those women with children. It will be + pretty crowded in our quarters, but there is a chance of getting a fair + night's sleep, while in a place crowded with babies and children it would + be awful." + </p> + <p> + Being a kind-hearted lad he at once set to work to help as far as he + could, volunteering to carry children down below, and to help with boxes + and bundles. + </p> + <p> + In many cases his assistance was thankfully accepted, but in some it was + sharply refused, the people's manner clearly showing their suspicions of + his motive. He was not surprised at this after all the warnings Carry had + given him against putting any confidence in strangers, but was satisfied, + after an hour's hard work, that he had rendered things somewhat easier for + many a worried and anxious woman. It was getting dusk even on deck by the + time he had finished. + </p> + <p> + "Thank you, lad," a man, who went up the companion ladder with him, said + as they stepped on to the deck. "You have done my missis a good turn by + taking care of those three young ones while we straightened up a bit, and + I saw you helping others too. You are the right sort, I can see. There + ain't many young chaps as puts themselves out of the way to do a bit of + kindness like that. My name is Bill Brown; what is yours?" + </p> + <p> + "Tom Wade. I had nothing to do, and was glad to be of a little help. + People who have never been on board ship before naturally feel confused in + such a crowd." + </p> + <p> + "Have you been to sea?" + </p> + <p> + "Not on a voyage, but I have lived at Portsmouth and have often been on + board troopships and men-of-war, so it does not seem so strange to me." + </p> + <p> + "Are you by yourself, or have you friends with you?" + </p> + <p> + "I am alone," Tom replied. "I am going out to join an uncle in the + States." + </p> + <p> + "I have been across before," the man said. "I am a carpenter, and have + worked out there six months, and came home six weeks back to fetch the + others over. I have got a place, where I was working before, to go to as + soon as I land. It makes a lot of difference to a man." + </p> + <p> + "It does indeed," Tom agreed. "I know if I were going out without any + fixed object beyond taking the first work that came to hand, I should not + feel so easy and comfortable about it as I do now." + </p> + <p> + "I have got two or three of my mates on board who are going out on my + report of the place, and three families from my wife's village. She and + the youngsters have been staying with her old folk while I was away. So we + are a biggish party, and if you want anything done on the voyage you have + only got to say the word to me." + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II — FINDING FRIENDS + </h2> + <p> + The weather was fine, and Tom Wade found the voyage more pleasant than he + had expected. The port-holes were kept open all the way, and the crowded + quarters were less uncomfortable than would have been the case had they + encountered rough weather. There were some very rough spirits among the + party forward, but the great majority were quiet men, and after the first + night all talking and larking were sternly repressed after the lights were + out. The food was abundant, and although some grumbled at the meat there + was no real cause of complaint. A rope across the deck divided the + steerage passengers from those aft, and as there were not much more than + one-half the emigrants aboard that the <i>Parthia</i> could carry, there + was plenty of room on deck. + </p> + <p> + But few of the passengers suffered from sea-sickness, and the women sat + and chatted and sewed in little groups while the children played about, + and the men walked up and down or gathered forward and smoked, while a few + who had provided themselves with newspapers or books sat in quiet corners + and read. Tom was one of these, for he had picked up a few books on the + United States at second-hand bookstalls at Portsmouth, and this prevented + him from finding the voyage monotonous. When indisposed to read he chatted + with Brown the carpenter and his mates, and sometimes getting a party of + children round him and telling them stories gathered from the books now + standing on the shelves in his room at Southsea. He was glad, however, + when the voyage was over; not because he was tired of it, but because he + was longing to be on his way west. Before leaving the ship he took a very + hearty farewell of his companions on the voyage, and on landing was + detained but a few minutes at the custom-house, and then entering an + omnibus that was in waiting at the gate, was driven straight to the + station of one of the western lines of railway. + </p> + <p> + From the information he had got up before sailing he had learnt that there + were several of these, but that there was very little difference either in + their speed or rates of fare, and that their through-rates to Denver were + practically the same. He had therefore fixed on the Chicago and Little + Rock line, not because its advantages were greater, but in order to be + able to go straight from the steamer to the station without having to make + up his mind between the competing lines. He found on arrival that the + emigrant trains ran to Omaha, where all the lines met, and that beyond + that he must proceed by the regular trains. An emigrant train was to leave + that evening at six o'clock. + </p> + <p> + "The train will be made up about four," a good-natured official said to + him, "and you had best be here by that time so as to get a corner seat, + for I can tell you that makes all the difference on a journey like this. + If you like to take your ticket at once you can register that trunk of + yours straight on to Denver, and then you won't have any more trouble + about it." + </p> + <p> + "Of course we stop to take our meals on the way?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes; but if you take my advice you will do as most of them do, get a big + basket and lay in a stock of bread and cooked meat, cheese, and anything + you fancy, then you will only have to go out and get a cup of tea at the + stopping-places. It comes a good bit cheaper, and you get done before + those who take their meals, and can slip back into the cars again quick + and keep your corner seat. There ain't much ceremony in emigrant trains, + and it is first come first served." + </p> + <p> + "How long shall we be in getting to Denver?" + </p> + <p> + "It will be fully a week, but there ain't any saying to a day. The + emigrant trains just jog along as they can between the freight trains and + the fast ones, and get shunted off a bit to let the expresses pass them." + </p> + <p> + Thanking the official for his advice, Tom took his ticket, registered his + trunk, and then went out and strolled about the streets of New York until + three o'clock. He took the advice as to provisions, and getting a small + hamper laid in a stock of food sufficient for three or four days. The + platform from which the train was to start was already occupied by a + considerable number of emigrants, but when the train came up he was able + to secure a corner seat. The cars were all packed with their full + complement of passengers. They were open from end to end, with a passage + down the middle. Other cars were added as the train filled up, but not + until all the places were already occupied. The majority of the passengers + were men, but there were a considerable number of women, and still more + children; and Tom congratulated himself on learning from the conversation + of those around him that a good many were not going beyond Chicago, and + that almost all would leave the train at stations between that place and + Omaha. + </p> + <p> + The journey to Chicago was the most unpleasant experience Tom had ever + gone through. The heat, the dust, and the close confinement seemed to tell + on the tempers of everyone. The children fidgeted perpetually, the little + ones and the babies cried, the women scolded, and the men grumbled and + occasionally quarrelled. It was even worse at night than during the day; + the children indeed were quieter, for they lay on the floor of the passage + and slept in comparative comfort, but for the men and women there was no + change of position, no possibility of rest. The backs of the seats were + low, and except for the fortunate ones by the windows there was no rest + for the head; but all took uneasy naps with their chins leaning forward on + their chest, or sometimes with their heads resting on their neighbour's + shoulder. Tom did not retain his corner seat, but resigned it a few hours + after starting to a weary woman with a baby in her arms who sat next to + him. He himself, strong as he was, felt utterly worn out by the fatigue + and sleeplessness. + </p> + <p> + Beyond Chicago there was somewhat more room, and it was possible to make a + change of position. Beyond Omaha it was much better; the train was + considerably faster and the number of passengers comparatively few. He now + generally got a seat to himself and could put his feet up. The people were + also, for the most part, acquainted with the country, and he was able to + learn a good deal from their conversation. There were but few women or + children among them, for except near the stations of the railway, + settlements were very rare; and the men were for the most part either + miners, ranchemen, or mechanics, going to the rising town of Denver, or + bound on the long journey across the plains to Utah or California. It was + on the eighth day after starting that Denver was reached. + </p> + <p> + Before leaving the ship Tom had put on his working clothes and a flannel + shirt, and had disposed of his black suit, for a small sum, to a + fellow-passenger who intended to remain at New York. This had somewhat + lightened his portmanteau, but he was glad when he found that there were + vehicles at the station to convey passengers up the hill to Denver, which + was some three miles away, and many hundred feet above it. He was too + tired to set about finding the Empire Saloon, but put up at the hotel at + which the omnibus stopped, took a bath and a hearty meal, and then went + straight to bed. + </p> + <p> + After breakfast the next morning he at once set out. He had no difficulty + in finding the whereabouts of the Empire Saloon, which he learned from the + clerk of the hotel was a small place frequented almost entirely by miners. + Its appearance was not prepossessing. It had been built in the earliest + days of Denver, and was a rough erection. The saloon was low, its bare + rafters were darkly coloured by smoke, a number of small tables stood on + the sanded floor, and across the farther end of the room ran a bar. On + shelves behind this stood a number of black bottles, and a man in his + shirt sleeves was engaged in washing up glasses. Two or three + rough-looking men in coloured flannel shirts, with the bottoms of their + trousers tucked into high boots, were seated at the tables smoking and + drinking. + </p> + <p> + "I am expecting a letter for me here," Tom said to the man behind the bar. + "My name is Wade." + </p> + <p> + "The boss is out now," the man said. "He will be here in an hour or so. If + there is anything for you he will know about it." + </p> + <p> + "Thank you. I will come again in an hour," Tom replied. The man nodded + shortly, and went on with his work. When Tom returned, the bar-tender said + to a man who was sitting at one of the tables talking to the miners, "This + is the chap I told you of as was here about the letter." + </p> + <p> + "Sit right down," the man said to Tom, "I will talk with you presently;" + and he continued his conversation in a low tone with the miners. It was + nearly half an hour before he concluded it. Then he rose, walked across + the room to Tom, and held out his hand. + </p> + <p> + "Shake, young fellow," he said; "that is, if you are the chap Straight + Harry told me might turn up here some day." + </p> + <p> + "I expect I am the fellow," Tom said with a smile. "My uncle's name is + Harry Wade." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, that is his name; although he is always called Straight Harry. Yes, + I have got a letter for you. Come along with me." He led the way into a + small room behind the saloon, that served at once as his bed-room and + office, and motioned to Tom to sit down on the only chair; then going to a + cupboard he took out a tin canister, and opening it shook out half a dozen + letters on to the table. + </p> + <p> + "That is yourn," he said, picking one out. + </p> + <p> + It was directed to Tom, and contained but a few lines. "<i>If you come I + have gone west. Pete Hoskings will tell you all he knows about me and put + you on the line. Your affectionate uncle.</i>" + </p> + <p> + "Are you Mr. Hoskings?" he asked the landlord. + </p> + <p> + "I am Pete Hoskings," the man said. "There ain't been no Mister to my name + as ever I can remember." + </p> + <p> + "My uncle tells me that you will be able to direct me to him, and will put + me on the line." + </p> + <p> + "It would take a darn sight cuter fellow than I am to direct you to him at + present," the man said with a laugh. "Straight Harry went away from here + three months ago, and he might be just anywhere now. He may be grubbing + away in a mine, he may be hunting and trapping, or he may have been wiped + out by the Indians. I know where he intended to go, at least in a general + sort of way. He did tell me he meant to stay about there, and it may be he + has done so. He said if he moved away and got a chance he would send me + word; but as there ain't nairy a post-office within about five hundred + miles of where he is, his only chance of sending a letter would be by a + hunter who chanced to be going down to the settlements, and who, like + enough, would put it into his hunting-shirt and never give it another + thought. So whether he has stayed there or not is more nor I can say." + </p> + <p> + "And where is <i>there?</i>" Tom asked. "It is among the hills to the west + of the Colorado River, which ain't much, seeing as the Colorado is about + two thousand miles long. However, I can put you closer than that, for he + showed me on a map the bit of country he intended to work. He said he + would be back here in six months from the time he started; and that if you + turned up here I was either to tell you the best way of getting there, or + to keep you here until he came back. Well, I may say at once that there + ain't no best way; there is only one way, and that is to get on a pony and + ride there, and a mighty bad way it is. The only thing for you to do is to + keep on west along the caravan tract. You have to cross the Green River,—that + is the name of the Colorado on its upper course. Fort Bridger is the place + for you to start from, but you have got to wait there until you sight some + one or other bound south; for as to going by yourself, it would be a sight + better to save yourself all trouble by putting that Colt hanging there to + your head, and pulling the trigger. It is a bad country, and it is full of + bad Indians, and there ain't many, even of the oldest hands, who care to + risk their lives by going where Straight Harry has gone. + </p> + <p> + "I did all I could to keep him from it; but he is just as obstinate as a + mule when he has made up his mind to a thing. I know him well, for we + worked as mates for over a year down on the Yuba in California. We made a + good pile, and as I had got a wife and wanted to settle I came back east. + This place had a couple of dozen houses then; but I saw it was likely to + boom, so I settled down and set up this saloon and sent for my wife to + come west to me. If she had lived I should have been in a sight bigger + place by this time; but she died six months after she got here, and then I + did not care a continental one way or the other; and I like better to stop + here, where I meet my old mates and can do as I like, than to run a big + hotel. It ain't much to look at, but it suits me, and I am content to know + that I could buy up the biggest place here if I had a fancy to. I don't + take much money now, but I did when the place was young; and I bought a + few lots of land, and you may bet they have turned out worth having. Well, + don't you act rashly in this business. Another three months your uncle + will turn up, if he is alive; and if he don't turn up at all I dare say I + can put you into a soft thing. If you go on it is about ten to one you get + scalped before you find him. Where are you staying?" + </p> + <p> + "At the Grand. The omnibus stopped there last night." + </p> + <p> + "Well, you stay there for a week and think it over. You have got to learn + about the country west of the Colorado. You had best come here to do that. + You might stay a month at the Grand and not find a soul who could tell you + anything worth knowing, but there ain't a day when you couldn't meet men + here who have either been there themselves or have heard tell of it from + men who have." + </p> + <p> + "Are the natives friendly now?" Tom asked. "In a letter he wrote two years + ago to us, my uncle said that he should put off going to a part of the + country he wanted to prospect until the Indians were quiet." + </p> + <p> + "The darned critters are never either friendly or quiet. A red-skin is + pizen, take him when you will. The only difference is, that sometimes they + go on the war-path and sometimes they don't; but you may bet that they are + always ready to take a white man's scalp if they get a chance." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I am very much obliged to you for your advice, which I will + certainly take; that is, I will not decide for a few days, and will come + in here and talk to the miners and learn what I can about it." + </p> + <p> + "You can hear at once," the landlord said. He stepped back into the + saloon, and said to the two men with whom he had been talking: "Boys, this + young chap is a Britisher, and he has come out all the way to join + Straight Harry, who is an uncle of his. Straight Harry is with Ben Gulston + and Sam Hicks, and they are prospecting somewhere west of the Colorado. He + wants to join them. Now, what do you reckon his chances would be of + finding them out and dropping in on their campfire?" + </p> + <p> + The men looked at Tom with open eyes. + </p> + <p> + "Waal," one of them drawled, "I should reckon you would have just about + the same chance of getting to the North Pole if you started off on foot, + as you would of getting to Straight Harry with your hair on." + </p> + <p> + Tom laughed. "That is not cheering," he said. + </p> + <p> + "It ain't. I don't say as an old hand on the plains might not manage it. + He would know the sort of place Harry and his mates would be likely to be + prospecting, he would know the ways of the red-skins and how to travel + among them without ever leaving a trail or making a smoke, but even for + him it would be risky work, and not many fellows would care to take the + chances even if they knew the country well. But for a tenderfoot to start + out on such a job would be downright foolishness. There are about six + points wanted in a man for such a journey. He has got to be as hard and + tough as leather, to be able to go for days without food or drink, to know + the country well, to sleep when he does sleep with his ears open, to be up + to every red skin trick, to be able to shoot straight enough to hit a man + plumb centre at three hundred yards at least, and to hit a dollar at + twenty yards sartin with his six-shooter. If you feel as you have got all + them qualifications you can start off as soon as you like, and the chances + aren't more'n twenty to one agin your finding him." + </p> + <p> + "I haven't anyone of them," Tom said. + </p> + <p> + "Waal, it is something if you know that, young chap. It is not every + tenderfoot who would own up as much. You stick to it that you don't know + anything, and at the same time do your best to learn something, and you + will do in time. You look a clean-built young chap, and you could not have + a better teacher than Straight Harry. What he don't know, whether it is + about prospecting for gold or hunting for beasts, ain't worth knowing, you + bet. What is your name, mate?" + </p> + <p> + "Tom Wade." + </p> + <p> + "Waal, let us drink. It ain't like you, Pete, to keep a stranger dry as + long as you have been doing." + </p> + <p> + "He ain't up to our customs yet," the landlord said, as he moved off + towards the bar. + </p> + <p> + "It is a custom everywhere," the miner said reprovingly, "for folks to + stand drink to a stranger; and good Bourbon hurts no man." + </p> + <p> + The landlord placed a bottle and four glasses on the counter. Each of the + miners filled his glass for himself, and the bottle was then handed to + Tom, who followed their example, as did Hoskings. + </p> + <p> + "Here is luck to you," the miner said, as he lifted his glass. Three + glasses were set down empty, but Tom had to stop half-way with his to + cough violently. + </p> + <p> + "It is strong stuff," he said apologetically, "and I never drank spirits + without water before. I had a glass of grog-and-water on board a ship + sometimes, but it has always been at least two parts of water to one of + spirits." + </p> + <p> + "We mostly drink our liquor straight out here," the miner said. "But I am + not saying it is the best way, especially for one who ain't used to it, + but you have got to learn to do it if you are going to live long in this + country." + </p> + <p> + "Standing drinks round is a custom here," Pete Hoskings explained, seeing + that Tom looked a little puzzled, "and there ain't no worse insult than to + refuse to drink with a man. There have been scores of men shot, ay, and + hundreds, for doing so. I don't say that you may not put water in, but if + you refuse to drink you had best do it with your hand on the butt of your + gun, for you will want to get it out quick, I can tell you." + </p> + <p> + "There is one advantage in such a custom anyhow," Tom said, "it will keep + anyone who does not want to drink from entering a saloon at all." + </p> + <p> + "That is so, lad," Pete Hoskings said heartily. "I keep a saloon, and have + made money by it, but for all that I say to every young fellow who hopes + to make his way some time, keep out of them altogether. In country places + you must go to a saloon to get a square meal, but everyone drinks tea or + coffee with their food, and there is no call to stay in the place a minute + after you have finished. Calling for drinks round has been the ruin of + many a good man; one calls first, then another calls, and no one likes to + stand out of it, and though you may only have gone in for one glass, you + may find you will have to drink a dozen before you get out." + </p> + <p> + "Why, you are a downright temperance preacher, Pete," one of the miners + laughed. + </p> + <p> + "I don't preach to a seasoned old hoss like you, Jerry. I keep my + preaching for those who may benefit by it, such as the youngster here; but + I say to him and to those like him, you keep out of saloons. If you don't + do that, you will find yourself no forwarder when you are fifty than you + are now, while there are plenty of openings all over the country for any + bright young fellow who will keep away from liquor." + </p> + <p> + "Thank you," Tom said warmly; "I will follow your advice, which will be + easy enough. Beyond a glass of beer with my dinner and a tot of grog, + perhaps once in three months when I have gone on board a ship, and did not + like to say no, I have never touched it, and have no wish to do so." + </p> + <p> + "Stick to that, lad; stick to that. You will find many temptations, but + you set your face hard against them, and except when you come upon a hard + man bent on kicking up a muss, you will find folks will think none the + worse of you when you say to them straight, 'I am much obliged to you all + the same, but I never touch liquor.'" + </p> + <p> + Tom remained four days at the hotel, spending a good deal of his time at + the saloon, where he met many miners, all of whom endorsed what the first + he had spoken to had said respecting the country, and the impossibility of + anyone but an old hand among the mountains making his way there. + </p> + <p> + On the fourth evening he said to Pete Hoskings: "I see that your advice + was good, and that it would be madness for me to attempt to go by myself, + but I don't see why I should not ride to Fort Bridger; not of course by + myself, but with one of the caravans going west. It would be a great deal + better for me to do that and to learn something of the plains and camping + than to stay here for perhaps three months. At Fort Bridger I shall be + able to learn more about the country, and might join some hunting party + and gain experience that way. I might find other prospectors going up + among the hills, and even if it were not near where my uncle is to be + found, I should gain by learning something, and should not be quite a + greenhorn when I join him." + </p> + <p> + "Well, that is sensible enough," Pete Hoskings said, "and I don't know as + I can say anything against it. You certainly would not be doing any good + for yourself here, and I don't say that either an hotel or a saloon is the + best place for you. I will think it over, and will let you know when you + come round in the morning; maybe I can put you a little in the way of + carrying it out." + </p> + <p> + The next morning when Tom went to the saloon, Jerry Curtis, one of the + miners he had first met there, was sitting chatting with Pete Hoskings. + </p> + <p> + "I had Jerry in my thoughts when I spoke to you last night, Tom," the + latter said. "I knew he was just starting west again, and thought I would + put the matter to him. He says he has no objection to your travelling with + him as far as Fort Bridger, where maybe he will make a stay himself. There + ain't no one as knows the plains much better than he does, and he can put + you up to more in the course of a month than you would learn in a year + just travelling with a caravan with farmers bound west." + </p> + <p> + "I should be very much obliged indeed," Tom said delightedly. "It would be + awfully good of you, Jerry, and I won't be more trouble than I can help." + </p> + <p> + "I don't reckon you will be any trouble at all," the miner said. "I was + never set much on travelling alone as some men are. I ain't much of a + talker, but I ain't fond of going two or three months without opening my + mouth except to put food and drink into it. So if you think you will like + it I shall be glad enough to take you. I know Straight Harry well, and I + can see you are teachable, and not set upon your own opinions as many + young fellows I have met out here are, but ready to allow that there are + some things as men who have been at them all their lives may know a little + more about than they do. So you may take it that it is a bargain. Now, + what have you got in the way of outfit?" + </p> + <p> + "I have not got anything beyond flannel shirts, and rough clothes like + these." + </p> + <p> + "They are good enough as far as they go. Two flannel shirts, one on and + one off, is enough for any man. Two or three pairs of thick stockings. + Them as is very particular can carry an extra pair of breeches in case of + getting caught in a storm, though for myself I think it is just as well to + let your things dry on you. You want a pair of high boots, a buffalo robe, + and a couple of blankets, one with a hole cut in the middle to put your + head through; that does as a cloak, and is like what the Mexicans call a + poncho. You don't want a coat or waistcoat; there ain't no good in them. + All you want to carry you can put in your saddle-bag. Get a pair of the + best blankets you can find. I will go with you and choose them for you. + You want a thing that will keep you warm when you sleep, and shoot off the + rain in bad weather. Common blankets are no better than a sponge. + </p> + <p> + "Then, of course, you must have a six-shooter and a rifle. No man in his + senses would start across the plains without them. It is true there ain't + much fear of red-skins between here and Bridger, but there is never any + saying when the varmint may be about. Can you shoot?" + </p> + <p> + "No; I never fired off a rifle or a pistol in my life." + </p> + <p> + "Well, you had better take a good stock of powder and ball, and you can + practise a bit as you go along. A man ain't any use out on these plains if + he cannot shoot. I have got a pony; but you must buy one, and a saddle, + and fixings. We will buy another between us to carry our swag. But you + need not trouble about the things, I will get all that fixed." + </p> + <p> + "Thank you very much. How much do you suppose it will all come to?" + </p> + <p> + "Never you mind what it comes to," Pete Hoskings said roughly. "I told + your uncle that if you turned up I would see you through. What you have + got to get I shall pay for, and when Straight Harry turns up we shall + square it. If he don't turn up at all, there is no harm done. This is my + business, and you have got nothing to do with it." + </p> + <p> + Tom saw that he should offend Hoskings if he made any demur, and the kind + offer was really a relief to him. He had thirty pounds still in his belt, + but he had made a mental calculation of the cost of the things Jerry had + considered essential, and found that the cost of a horse and saddle, of + half another horse, of the rifle, six-shooter ammunition, blankets, boots, + and provisions for the journey, must certainly amount up to more than that + sum, and would leave him without any funds to live on till he met his + uncle. + </p> + <p> + He was so anxious to proceed that he would have made no excuse, although + he saw that he might find himself in a very difficult position. Pete's + insistence, therefore, on taking all expenses upon himself, was a + considerable relief to him; for although determined to go, he had had an + uneasy consciousness that it was a foolish step. He therefore expressed + his warm thanks. + </p> + <p> + "There, that is enough said about it," the latter growled out. "The money + is nothing to me one way or the other, and it would be hard if I couldn't + do this little thing for my old mate's nephew. When are you thinking of + making a start, Jerry?" + </p> + <p> + "The sooner the better. I have been four months here already and have not + struck a vein, that is, not one really worth working, and the sooner I + make a fresh start the better. To-day is Wednesday. There will be plenty + of time to get all the things to-day and to-morrow, and we will start at + daylight on Friday. You may as well come with me, Tom, and learn something + about the prices of things. There are some Indians camped three miles + away. We will walk over there first and pick up a couple of ponies. I know + they have got a troop of them, that is what they come here to sell. They + only arrived yesterday, so we shall have the pick of them." + </p> + <p> + Before starting there was a short conversation between Jerry and the + landlord, and then the former put on his broad-brimmed hat. + </p> + <p> + "Have you seen any red-skins yet?" + </p> + <p> + "I saw a few at some of the stations the train stopped at between this and + Omaha." + </p> + <p> + "Those fellows are mostly Indians who have been turned out of their tribes + for theft or drunkenness, and they hang about the stations to sell + moccasins and other things their squaws make, to fresh arrivals. + </p> + <p> + "The fellows you are going to see are Navahoes, though not good specimens + of the tribe, or they would not be down here to sell ponies. Still, they + are a very different sort from those you have seen." + </p> + <p> + An hour's walking took them to a valley, in which the Indians were + encamped. There were eight wigwams. Some women paused in their work and + looked round at the newcomers. Their dogs ran up barking furiously, but + were driven back by a volley of stones thrown by three or four boys, with + so good an aim that they went off with sharp yelps. Jerry strolled along + without paying any attention to the dogs or boys towards a party of men + seated round a fire. One of them rose as they approached. + </p> + <p> + "My white brothers are welcome," he said courteously. "There is room by + the fire for them," and he motioned to them to sit down by his side. A + pipe, composed of a long flat wooden stem studded with brass nails, with a + bowl cut out of red pipe-stone, was now handed round, each taking a short + puff. + </p> + <p> + "Does my brother speak the language of the Navahoes?" the chief asked in + that tongue. + </p> + <p> + "I can get along with it," Jerry said, "as I can with most of your Indian + dialects." + </p> + <p> + "It is good," the chief said. "My brother is wise; he must have wandered + much." + </p> + <p> + "I have been a goodish bit among your hills, chief. Have you come from + far?" + </p> + <p> + "The moon was full when we left our village." + </p> + <p> + "Ah, then you have been a fortnight on the road. Well, chief, I have come + here to trade. I want to buy a couple of ponies." + </p> + <p> + The chief said a word or two to a boy standing near, and he with four or + five others at once started up the valley, and in a few minutes returned + with a drove of Indian ponies. + </p> + <p> + "They are not a bad lot," Jerry said to Tom. + </p> + <p> + "They don't look much, Jerry." + </p> + <p> + "Indian ponies never look much, but one of those ponies would gallop an + eastern-bred horse to a stand-still." + </p> + <p> + Jerry got up and inspected some of the horses closely, and presently + picked out two of them; at a word from the chief two of the lads jumped on + their backs and rode off on them at full speed, and then wheeling round + returned to the spot from where they started. + </p> + <p> + "My white brother is a judge of horses," the chief said; "he has picked + out the best of the lot." + </p> + <p> + "There are three or four others quite as good," Jerry said carelessly. + "Now, chief, how many blankets, how much powder and lead, and what else do + you want for those two horses?" + </p> + <p> + The chief stated his demands, to which Jerry replied: "You said just now, + chief, that I was a wise man; but it seems that you must regard me as a + fool." + </p> + <p> + For half an hour an animated argument went on. Two or three times Jerry + got up, and they started as if to quit the village, but each time the + chief called them back. So animated were their gestures and talk that Tom + had serious fears that they were coming to blows, but their voices soon + fell and the talk became amicable again. At last Jerry turned to Tom. + </p> + <p> + "The bargain is struck," he said; "but he has got the best of me, and has + charged an outrageous sum for them," Then, in his own language, he said to + the chief: + </p> + <p> + "At noon to-morrow you will send the ponies down to the town. I will meet + them at the big rock, half a mile this side of it, with the trade goods." + </p> + <p> + "They shall be there," the chief said, "though I am almost giving them to + you." + </p> + <p> + As they walked away, Tom said: + </p> + <p> + "So you have paid more than you expected, Jerry?" + </p> + <p> + "No, I have got them a bargain; only it would never have done to let the + chief know I thought so, or the horses would not have turned up to-morrow. + I expect they have all been stolen from some other tribe. The two I have + got are first-rate animals, and the goods will come to about fourteen + pounds. I shall ride one of them myself, and put our swag on my own pony. + That has been a very good stroke of business; they would never have sold + them at that price if they had been honestly come by." + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III — ON THE PLAINS + </h2> + <p> + The purchase of a buffalo robe, blankets, boots, and a Colt's revolver + occupied but a short time, but the rifle was a much more difficult matter. + </p> + <p> + "You can always rely upon a Colt," the miner said, "but rifles are + different things; and as your life may often depend upon your + shooting-iron carrying straight, you have got to be mighty careful about + it. A gun that has got the name of being a good weapon will fetch four + times as much as a new one." + </p> + <p> + Denver was but a small place; there was no regular gunsmith's shop, but + rifles and pistols were sold at almost every store in the town. In this + quest Jerry was assisted by Pete Hoskings, who knew of several men who + would be ready to dispose of their rifles. Some of these weapons were + taken out into the country and tried at marks by the two men. They made + what seemed to Tom wonderful shooting, but did not satisfy Hoskings. + </p> + <p> + "I should like the youngster to have a first-rate piece," he said, "and I + mean to get him one if I can. There are two of these would do if we can't + get a better, but if there is a first-rate one to be had in this township + I will have it." Suddenly he exclaimed, "I must have gone off my head, and + be going downright foolish! Why, I know the very weapon. You remember + Billy the scout?" + </p> + <p> + "In course I do, everyone knew him. I heard he had gone down just before I + got back here." + </p> + <p> + "That is so, Jerry. You know he had a bit of a place up in the hills, four + or five miles from here, where he lived with that Indian wife of his when + he was not away. I went out to see him a day or two afore he died. I asked + him if there was anything I could do for him. He said no, his squaw would + get on well enough there. She had been alone most of her time, and would + wrestle on just as well when he had gone under. He had a big garden-patch + which she cultivated, and brought the things down into the town here. They + always fetch a good price. Why more people don't grow them I can't make + out; it would pay better than gold-seeking, you bet. He had a few hundred + dollars laid by, and he said they might come in handy to her if she fell + sick, or if things went hard in winter. Well, you remember his gun?" + </p> + <p> + "In course—his gun was nigh as well known as Billy himself. He used + to call it Plumb-centre. You don't mean to say she hasn't sold it?" + </p> + <p> + "She hasn't; at least I should have been sure to hear if she had. I know + several of the boys who went to the funeral wanted to buy it, and offered + her long prices for it too; but she wouldn't trade. I will ride over there + this evening and see what I can do about it. She will sell to me if she + sells to anyone, for she knows I was a great chum of Billy's, and I have + done her a few good turns. She broke her leg some years back when he was + away, and luckily enough I chanced to ride over there the next day. Being + alone and without anyone to help, she would have got on badly. I sent a + surgeon up to her, and got a redskin woman to go up to nurse her. I don't + wonder she did not like to sell Billy's piece, seeing he was so famous + with it, and I feel sure money would not do it; but perhaps I can talk her + into it." + </p> + <p> + The next morning the articles agreed upon as the price of the horses were + packed on Jerry's pony, and they went out to the meeting-place. + </p> + <p> + "It is twenty minutes early," Jerry said, as Tom consulted his watch, "and + the red-skins won't be here till it is just twelve o'clock. A red-skin is + never five minutes before or five minutes after the time he has named for + a meeting. It may have been set six months before, and at a place a + thousand miles away, but just at the hour, neither before nor after, he + will be there. A white man will keep the appointment; but like enough he + will be there the night before, will make his camp, sleep, and cook a meal + or two, but he does not look for the red-skin till exactly the hour named, + whether it is sunrise or sunset or noon. Red-skins ain't got many virtues,—least + there ain't many of them has, though I have known some you could trust all + round as ready as any white man,—but for keeping an appintment they + licks creation." + </p> + <p> + A few minutes before twelve o'clock three Indians were seen coming down + the valley on horseback. They were riding at a leisurely pace, and it was + exactly the hour when they drew rein in front of Tom and his companion. + Jerry had already unloaded his pony and had laid out the contents of the + pack. First he proceeded to examine the two ponies, to make sure that they + were the same he had chosen. + </p> + <p> + "That is all right," he said; "they would hardly have tried to cheat us + over that—they would know that it would not pay with me. There, + chief, is your exchange. You will see that the blankets are of good + quality. There is the keg of powder, the bar of lead, ten plugs of + tobacco, the cloth for the squaws, and all the other things agreed on." + </p> + <p> + The chief examined them carefully, and nodded his satisfaction. "If all + the pale-faces dealt as fairly with the red man as you have done there + would not be so much trouble between them," he said. + </p> + <p> + "That is right enough, chief; it can't be gainsaid that a great many, ay, + I might say the most part, of the traders are rogues. But they would cheat + us just the same as they would you, and often do take us in. I have had + worthless goods passed off on me many a time; and I don't blame you a bit + if you put a bullet into the skull of a rogue who has cheated you, for I + should be mightily inclined to do the same myself." + </p> + <p> + No more words were wasted; the lads who had ridden the ponies down made up + the goods in great bundles and went up the valley with their chief, while + Jerry and Tom took the plaited leather lariats which were round the + ponies' necks and returned to Denver. A saddle of Mexican pattern, with + high peak and cantle, massive wooden framework, huge straps and heavy + stirrups, was next bought. Jerry folded a horse-rug and tried it in + different positions on the horse's back until the saddle fitted well upon + it. + </p> + <p> + "That is the thing that you have got to be most particular about, Tom. If + the saddle does not sit right the horse gets galled, and when a horse once + gets galled he ain't of much use till he is well again, though the Indians + ride them when they are in a terrible state; but then they have got so + many horses that, unless they are specially good, they don't hold them of + any account. You see the saddle is so high that there is good space + between it and the backbone, and the pressure comes fair on the ribs, so + the ponies don't get galled if the blankets are folded properly. The + Indians do not use saddles, but ride either on a pad or just a folded + blanket, and their ponies are always getting galled." + </p> + <p> + "The saddle is tremendously heavy." + </p> + <p> + "It is heavy, but a few pounds don't make much difference to the horse one + way or the other, so that he is carrying it comfortably. The saddles would + be no good if they were not made strong, for a horse may put his foot in a + hole and come down head over heels, or may tumble down a precipice, and + the saddle would be smashed up if it were not pretty near as strong as + cast-iron. Out on the plains a man thinks as much of his saddle as he does + of his horse, and more. If his horse dies he will put the saddle on his + head and carry it for days rather than part with it, for he knows he won't + be long before he gets a horse again. He can buy one for a few charges of + powder and ball from the first friendly Indians he comes across, or he may + get one given to him if he has nothing to exchange for it, or if he comes + across a herd of wild horses he can crease one." + </p> + <p> + "What is creasing a horse?" Tom asked. + </p> + <p> + "Well, it is a thing that wants a steady hand, for you have got to hit him + just on the right spot—an inch higher, you will miss him; half an + inch lower, you will kill him. You have got to put a bullet through his + neck two or three inches behind the ears and just above the spine. Of + course if you hit the spine you kill him, and he is no good except to give + you a meal or two if you are hard-up for food; but if the ball goes + through the muscles of the neck, just above the spine, the shock knocks + him over as surely as if you had hit him in the heart. It stuns him, and + you have only got to run up and put your lariat round his neck, and be + ready to mount him as soon as he rises, which he will do in two or three + minutes, and he will be none the worse for the shock; in fact you will be + able to break him in more easily than if you had caught him by the rope." + </p> + <p> + Jerry then adjusted his own saddle to the other Indian horse. + </p> + <p> + "Can you ride?" he asked. + </p> + <p> + "No, I have never had any chance of learning at home." + </p> + <p> + "Well, you had better have a lesson at once. This is a good way for a + beginner;" and he took a blanket, and having rolled it up tightly, + strapped it over the peak of the saddle and down the flaps. + </p> + <p> + "There," he said. "You get your knees against that, and what with the high + peak and the high cantle you can hardly be chucked out anyhow, that is, if + the horse does not buck; but I will try him as to that before you mount. + We will lead them out beyond the town, we don't want to make a circus of + ourselves in the streets; besides, if you get chucked, you will fall + softer there than you would on the road. But first of all we will give + them a feed of corn. You see they are skeary of us at present. Indian + horses are always afraid of white men at first, just as white men's horses + are afraid of Indians. A feed of corn will go a long way towards making us + good friends, for you may be sure they have never had a feed in their + lives beyond what they could pick up for themselves." + </p> + <p> + The horses snuffed the corn with some apprehension when it was held out + towards them, backing away from the sieves with their ears laid back; but + seeing that no harm came to them they presently investigated the food more + closely, and at last took a mouthful, after which they proceeded to eat + greedily, their new masters patting their necks and talking to them while + they did so. Then their saddles and bridles were put on, and they were led + out of the stable and along the streets. At first they were very fidgety + and wild at the unaccustomed sights and sounds, but their fear gradually + subsided, and by the time they were well in the country they went along + quietly enough. + </p> + <p> + "Now you hold my horse, Tom, and I will try yours." + </p> + <p> + Jerry mounted and galloped away; in ten minutes he returned. + </p> + <p> + "He will do," he said as he dismounted. "He is fresh yet and wants + training. I don't suppose he has been ridden half a dozen times, but with + patience and training he will turn out a first-rate beast. I could see + they were both fast when those boys rode them. I don't wonder the chief + asked what, for an Indian pony, was a mighty long price, though it was + cheap enough for such good animals. He must have two or three uncommon + good ones at home or he would never have parted with them, for when an + Indian gets hold of an extra good pony no price will tempt him to sell it, + for a man's life on the plains often depends on the speed and stay of his + horse. Now, I will take a gallop on my own, and when I come back you can + mount and we will ride on quietly together. + </p> + <p> + "There is not much difference between them," he said on his return. "Yours + is a bit faster. Pete told me to get you the best horse I could find, and + I fixed upon yours, directly my eye fell upon him, as being the pick of + the drove. But this is a good one too, and will suit me as well as yours, + for he is rather heavier, and will carry me better than yours would do on + a long journey. Now climb up into your saddle." + </p> + <p> + Jerry laughed at the difficulty Tom had in lifting his leg over the high + cantle. "You will have to practise presently putting your hands on the + saddle and vaulting into it. Half a minute in mounting may make all the + difference between getting away and being rubbed out. When you see the + red-skins coming yelling down on you fifty yards away, and your horse is + jumping about as scared as you are, it is not an easy matter to get on to + its back if you have got to put your foot in the stirrup first. You have + got to learn to chuck yourself straight into your seat whether you are + standing still or both on the run. There, how do you feel now?" + </p> + <p> + "I feel regularly wedged into the saddle." + </p> + <p> + "That is right. I will take up the stirrups a hole, then you will get your + knees firmer against the blanket. It is better to learn to ride without + it, even if you do get chucked off a few times, but as we start to-morrow + you have no time for that. In a few days, when you get at home in the + saddle, we will take off the blanket, and you have got to learn to hold on + by your knees and by the balance of your body. Now we will be moving on." + </p> + <p> + As soon as the reins were slackened the horses started together at an easy + canter. + </p> + <p> + "That is their pace," Jerry said. "Except on a very long journey, when he + has got squaws and baggage with him, a red-skin never goes at a walk, and + the horses will keep on at this lope for hours. That is right. Don't sit + so stiffly; you want your legs to be stiff and keeping a steady grip, but + from your hips you want to be as slack as possible, just giving to the + horse's action, the same way you give on board ship when vessels are + rolling. That is better. Ah! here comes Pete. I took this way because I + knew it was the line he would come back by—and, by gosh, he has got + the rifle, sure enough!" + </p> + <p> + Pete had seen them, and was waving the gun over his head. + </p> + <p> + "I've got it," he said as he reined up his horse when he met them. "It was + a stiff job, for she did not like to part with it. I had to talk to her a + long time. I put it to her that when she died the gun would have to go to + someone, and I wanted it for a nephew of Straight Harry, whom she knew + well enough; that it was for a young fellow who was safe to turn out a + great hunter and Indian fighter like her husband, and that he would be + sure to do credit to Plumb-centre, and make the gun as famous in his hands + as it had been in her husband's. That fetched her. She said I had been + kind to her, and though she could not have parted with the gun for money, + she would do it, partly to please me, and partly because she knew that + Straight Harry had been a friend of her husband's, and had fought by his + side, and that the young brave I spoke of, would be likely to do credit to + Plumb-centre. Her husband, she said, would be glad to know that it was in + such good hands. So she handed it over to me. She would not hear of taking + money for it; indeed, I did not press it, knowing that she would feel that + it was almost a part of her husband; but I will make it up to her in other + ways. There, Tom; there is as good a shooting-iron as there is in all the + territories." + </p> + <p> + "Thank you very much indeed, Pete. I shall value it immensely, and I only + hope that some day I shall be able to do credit to it, as the poor woman + said." + </p> + <p> + There was nothing particular in the appearance of the rifle. It was a + plainly-finished piece, with a small bore and heavy metal. + </p> + <p> + "It don't look much," Jerry said, "but it is a daisy, you bet." + </p> + <p> + "We will try a shot with it, Jerry. She gave me the bag of bullets and a + box of patches and his powder-horn with it. We will see what it will do in + our hands, we are both pretty good shots." + </p> + <p> + He loaded the rifle carefully. + </p> + <p> + "You see that bit of black rock cropping out of the hill-side. I guess it + is about two hundred and fifty yards away, and is about the size a + red-skin's head would be if he were crawling through the grass towards us. + Will you shoot first or shall I?" + </p> + <p> + "Fire away, Pete." + </p> + <p> + Hoskings took a steady aim and fired. + </p> + <p> + "You have hit it," Jerry exclaimed. "Just grazed it at the top." + </p> + <p> + They walked across to the rock; there was a chip just on the top. + </p> + <p> + "It was a good shot, Pete; especially considering how you are out of + practice. If it had been a red-skin it would have stunned him sure, for I + doubt whether it is not too high by a quarter of an inch or so, to have + finished him altogether." + </p> + <p> + [Image: JERRY GIVES TOM A LESSON IN SHOOTING.] + </p> + <p> + "It would have cut his top-knot off, Jerry, and that is all. I doubt + whether it would have even touched his skin." + </p> + <p> + They returned to the spot where Pete had fired, and Jerry threw himself + down on the grass and levelled his rifle. + </p> + <p> + "That is not fair, Jerry," Pete protested. + </p> + <p> + "It would not be fair if I was shooting against you, but we are only + trying the rifle, and if that rock were a red-skin you may be sure that I + should be lying down." + </p> + <p> + He fired: and on going to the stone again they found that the bullet had + struck it fair, within an inch of its central point. + </p> + <p> + "That is something like a rifle," Jerry said delighted. "Now, Tom, you + shall have a shot." + </p> + <p> + As they walked to the shooting-point, Jerry showed the lad how to hold the + rifle, instructed him as to the backsight, and showed him how to get the + foresight exactly on the nick of the backsight. "You must just see the + bead as if it were resting in the nick, and the object you aim at must + just show above the top point of the bead." He showed him how to load, and + then told him to lie down, as he had done, on his chest, and to steady the + rifle with the left arm, the elbow being on the ground. "You must be quite + comfortable," he said; "it is of no use trying to shoot if you are in a + cramped position. Now, take a steady aim, and the moment you have got the + two sights in a line on the rock, press the trigger steadily. Press pretty + hard; it is only a pull of about two pounds, but it is wonderful how stiff + a trigger feels the first time you pull at it. You need not be at all + afraid of the kick. If you press the butt tightly against your shoulder + you will hardly feel it, for there is plenty of weight in the barr'l, and + it carries but a small charge of powder. You won't want to shoot at + anything much beyond this range, but sometimes you may have to try at four + or five hundred yards when you are in want of a dinner. In that case you + can put in a charge and a half of powder. Now, are you comfortable? You + need not grip so hard with your left hand, the gun only wants to rest + between your thumb and fingers. That is better. Now take a steady aim, and + the moment you have got it press the trigger. Well done! that is a good + shot for a first. You hit the dust an inch or two to the right of the + stone. If it had been a red-skin you would have hit him in the shoulder. + You will do, lad, and by the time we get to Fort Bridger I guess you will + bring down a stag as clean as nine out of ten hunters." + </p> + <p> + "Don't get into the way of waiting too long before you fire, Tom," Pete + Hoskings said. "Better to try to shoot too quick to begin with than to be + too long about it. When you have made up your mind that you are going to + shoot, get your bead on your mark and fire at once. You may want to hit a + red-skin's head as he looks out from behind a tree, and to do that you + must fire the instant you see him or he will be in again. One of the best + shots I ever saw never used to raise his gun to his shoulder at all. He + just dropped his piece into the hollow of his left hand, and would fire as + he touched it. He did not seem to take any aim at all, but his bullet was + sartin to hit the thing he wanted to, even if it were no bigger than an + orange. He could not tell himself how he did it. 'I seen the thing and I + fired, Pete,' he would say; 'the gun seems to point right of its own + accord, I have not anything to say to it.' You see, shooting is a matter + of eye. Some men may shoot all their lives, and they will never be more + than just respectable, while others shoot well the first time that a gun + is put in their hands. Want of nerve is what spoils half men's shooting; + that and taking too long an aim. Well, it is time for us to be mounting + and getting back. I have got to see that the dinner is all ready. I never + can trust that black scoundrel, Sam, to do things right while I am away." + </p> + <p> + The preparations for the journey were completed by the evening. + </p> + <p> + "Now mind, Tom," Pete Hoskings said the last thing before going to bed, + "if you don't find your uncle, or if you hear that he has got wiped out, + be sure you come right back here. Whether you are cut out for a hunter or + not, it will do you a world of good to stick to the life until you get + four or five years older and settle as to how you like to fix yourself, + for there ain't no better training than a few years out on the plains, no + matter what you do afterwards. I will find a good chum for you, and see + you through it, both for the sake of my old mate, Straight Harry, and + because I have taken a liking to you myself." + </p> + <p> + "Why do you call my uncle Straight Harry?" Tom asked, after thanking Pete + for his promise. "Is he so very upright?" + </p> + <p> + "No, lad, no; it ain't nothing to do with that. There are plenty more + erect men than him about. He is about the size of Jerry, though, maybe a + bit taller. No; he got to be called Straight Harry because he was a square + man, a chap everyone could trust. If he said he would do a thing he would + do it; there weren't no occasion for any papers to bind him. When he said + a thing you could bet on it. You could buy a mine on his word: if he said + it was good you need not bother to take a journey to look at it, you knew + it was right there, and weren't a put-up job. Once when we were working + down on the Yuba we got to a place where there were a fault in the rock, + and the lode had slipped right away from us. Everyone in camp knew that we + had been doing well, and we had only got to pile up a few pieces of rock + at the bottom, and no one who would have seen it would have known that the + lode was gone. That is what most chaps would have done, and a third chap + who was working with us was all for doing it. Anyone would have given us + five hundred ounces for it. Well, I didn't say nothing, it was what pretty + nigh anyone on the mines would have done if he had the chance, but Harry + turned on our partner like a mountain lion. 'You are a mean skunk, New + Jersey' says he. 'Do you think that I would be one to rob a man only + because he would be fool enough to take a place without looking at it? + We've worked to the edge of the claim both ways, and I don't reckon there + is a dollar's worth of gold left in it, now that it has pettered out at + the bottom, and if there was I would not work another day with a man who + proposed to get up a swindle.' So as soon as he got up to the surface he + told everyone that the lode had gone out and that the claim weren't worth + a red cent. He and New Jersey had a big fight with fists that evening. The + other was bigger than Harry, and stronger, but he were no hand with his + pistol, and Harry is a dead shot; so he told New Jersey he would fight him + English fashion, and Harry gave him the biggest licking I ever saw a man + have. I felt pretty mean myself, you bet, for having thought of planting + the thing off; but as I hadn't spoken, Harry knew nothing about it. If he + had, I doubt if he would ever have given me his hand again. Yes, sir, he + is a straight man all round, and there is no man better liked than Harry. + Why, there are a score of men in this town who know him as I do, and, if + he came to them and said, 'I have struck it rich, I will go halves with + you if you will plank down twenty thousand dollars to open her up,' they + would pay down the cash without another word; and, I tell you, there ain't + ten men west of the Missouri of whom as much could be said." + </p> + <p> + The next morning at daybreak Jerry and Tom started. They rode due north, + skirting the foot of the hills, till they reached the emigrant route, for + the railway had not been carried farther than Wabash, from which point it + ran south to Denver. It was a journey of some five hundred miles to Fort + Bridger, and they took a month to accomplish it, sometimes following the + ordinary line of travel, sometimes branching off more to the north, where + game was still abundant. + </p> + <p> + "That is Fort Bridger, Tom. It ain't much of a place to look at; but is, + like all these forts, just a strong palisading, with a clump of wooden + huts for the men in the middle. Well, the first stage of your journey is + over, and you know a little more now than when you left Denver; but though + I have taught you a good bit, you will want another year's practice with + that shooting-iron afore you're a downright good shot; but you have come + on well, and the way you brought down that stag on a run yesterday was + uncommon good. You have made the most of your opportunities, and have got + a steady hand and a good eye. You are all right on your horse now, and can + be trusted to keep your seat if you have a pack of red-skins at your + heels. You have learnt to make a camp, and to sleep comfortable on the + ground; you can frizzle a bit of deer-flesh over the fire, and can bake + bread as well as a good many. Six months of it and you will be a good + plain's-man. I wish we had had a shot at buffalo. They are getting scarcer + than they were, and do not like crossing the trail. We ain't likely to see + many of them west of the Colorado; the ground gets too hilly for them, and + there are too many bad lands." + </p> + <p> + "What are bad lands, Jerry?" + </p> + <p> + "They are just lands where Nature, when she made them, had got plenty of + rock left, but mighty little soil or grass seed. There are bad lands all + over the country, but nowhere so bad as the tract on both sides of the + Green and Colorado rivers. You may ride fifty miles any way over bare rock + without seeing a blade of grass unless you get down into some of the + valleys, and you may die of thirst with water under your feet." + </p> + <p> + "How do you mean, Jerry?" + </p> + <p> + "The rivers there don't act like the rivers in other parts. Instead of + working round the foot of the hills they just go through them. You ride + along on what seems to be a plain, and you come suddenly to a crack that + ain't perhaps twenty or thirty feet across, and you look down, if you have + got head enough to do it, and there, two thousand feet or more below you, + you see a river foaming among rocks. It ain't one river or it ain't + another river as does it; every little stream from the hills cuts itself + its caņon and makes its way along till it meets two or three others, then + they go on together, cutting deeper and deeper until they run into one of + the arms of the Green River or the Colorado or the Grand. + </p> + <p> + "The Green and the Colorado are all the same river, only the upper part is + called the Green. For about a thousand miles it runs through great caņons. + No one has ever gone down them, and I don't suppose anyone ever will; and + people don't know what is the course of the river from the time it begins + this game till it comes out a big river on the southern plains. You see, + the lands are so bad there is no travelling across them, and the rapids + are so terrible that there is no going down them. Even the Indians never + go near the caņons if they can help it. I believe they think the whole + thing is the work of an evil spirit." + </p> + <p> + "But you said some of the valleys had grass?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes; I have gone down one or two myself from the mountains of Utah, where + the stream, instead of cutting a caņon for itself, has behaved for a bit + in the ordinary way and made a valley. Wonderfully good places they were—plenty + of grass, plenty of water, and no end of game. I have spent some months + among them, and got a wonderful lot of skins, beavers principally of + course, but half a dozen mountain lions and two grizzlies. I did not bring + home their skins, you bet. They were too heavy, and I should not have + troubled them if they had not troubled me. There was good fish, too, in + the streams, and I never had a better time. The red-skins happened to be + friendly, and I was with a hunter who had a red-skin wife and a dozen + ponies. If it hadn't been for that I should soon have had to quit, for it + ain't no good hunting if you can't carry away the skins. As it was I made + a good job of it, for I got nigh a thousand dollars for my skins at Utah. + </p> + <p> + "Well, here we are at the fort. I guess we may as well make our camp + outside. If you go in you have got to picket your horse here and put your + baggage there and come in at gun-fire, and all sorts of things that + troubles a man who is accustomed to act as he likes." + </p> + <p> + The horses were soon picketed. "I will go in first and see who is here, + Tom. There are usually a lot of loafing Indians about these forts, and + though it is safe enough to leave our traps, out on the plain, it will not + do here. We must stay with them, or at any rate keep them in sight; + besides, these two horses would be a temptation to any redskin who + happened to want an animal." + </p> + <p> + "I will wait willingly, Jerry; I should know nobody inside the fort if I + went in. I will see to making a fire and boiling the kettle, and I will + have supper ready at seven o'clock." + </p> + <p> + "I shall be sure to be back by that time; like enough I sha'n't be a + quarter of an hour away." + </p> + <p> + It was but half an hour, indeed, before Tom saw him returning, accompanied + by a tall red-skin. + </p> + <p> + "This is a friend of mine, Tom. He was a chief of the Senecas, but his + tribe are nearly wiped out, and he has been all his life a hunter, and + there are few of us who have been much out on the plains who don't know + him. Chief, this is Straight Harry's nephew I was telling you of, who has + come out here to join his uncle. Sit down, we have got some deer-flesh. + Tom here knocked one over on the run at two hundred and fifty yards by as + good a shot as you want to see; while it is cooking we can smoke a pipe + and have a chat." + </p> + <p> + The chief gravely seated himself by the fire. + </p> + <p> + "What have you been doing since I last saw you up near the Yellowstone?" + </p> + <p> + "Leaping Horse has been hunting," the Indian said quietly, with a wave of + his hand, denoting that he had been over a wide expanse of country. + </p> + <p> + "I guessed so," Jerry put in. + </p> + <p> + "And fighting with 'Rappahoes and Navahoes." + </p> + <p> + "Then you've been north and south?" + </p> + <p> + The Indian nodded. "Much trouble with both; they wanted our scalps. But + four of the 'Rappahoe lodges are without a master, and there are five + Navahoe widows." + </p> + <p> + "Then you were not alone?" + </p> + <p> + "Garrison was with me among the 'Rappahoes; and the Shoshone hunter, + Wind-that-blows, was with me when the Navahoes came on our trail." + </p> + <p> + "They had better have left you alone, chief. Do you know the Ute country?" + </p> + <p> + "The Leaping Horse has been there. The Utes are dogs." + </p> + <p> + "They are troublesome varmint, like most of the others," Jerry agreed. "I + was telling you Straight Harry is up in their country somewhere. Tom here + is anxious to join him, but of course that can't be. You have not heard + anything of him, I suppose?" + </p> + <p> + "The Leaping Horse was with him a week ago." + </p> + <p> + "You were, chief! Why did you not tell me so when I was saying we did not + know where he was?" + </p> + <p> + "My white brother did not ask," the chief said quietly. + </p> + <p> + "That is true enough, chief, but you might have told me without asking." + </p> + <p> + The Indian made no reply, but continued to smoke his hatchet pipe + tranquilly, as if the remark betrayed such ignorance of Indian manners + that it was not worth replying to. + </p> + <p> + Tom took up the conversation now. + </p> + <p> + "Was it far from here that you saw him?" + </p> + <p> + "Five days' journey, if travel quick." + </p> + <p> + "Was he hunting?" Jerry asked. + </p> + <p> + "Hunting, and looking for gold." + </p> + <p> + "Who had he with him?" + </p> + <p> + "Two white men. One was Ben Gulston. Leaping Horse had met him in Idaho. + The other was called Sam, a big man with a red beard." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, Sam Hicks; he only came back from California a few months back, so + you would not be likely to have met him before. Were they going to remain + where you left them?" + </p> + <p> + The Indian shook his head. "They were going farther north." + </p> + <p> + "Farther north!" Jerry repeated. "Don't you mean farther south?" + </p> + <p> + "Leaping Horse is not mistaken, he knows his right hand from his left." + </p> + <p> + "Of course, of course, chief," the miner said apologetically; "I only + thought that it was a slip of the tongue. Then if they were going farther + north they must have come back in this direction." + </p> + <p> + "They were on the banks of the Big Wind River when Leaping Horse met + them." + </p> + <p> + "Jerusalem!" the miner exclaimed. "What on airth are they doing there? + Why, we thought they had gone down to the west of the Colorado. I told you + so, chief, when I talked to you about it; and instead of that, here they + are up in the country of the 'Rappahoes and Shoshones." + </p> + <p> + "They went south," the Indian said quietly, "and had trouble with the Utes + and had to come back again, then they went north." + </p> + <p> + "Ah, that accounts for it. I wonder Harry didn't send word to Pete + Hoskings that he had gone up to the Big Wind River. I ain't heard of there + being any gold in that region, though some think that coming down through + the big hills from Yellowstone Valley on the northwest, metal might be + struck." + </p> + <p> + "Going to look for gold a little," the chief said, "hunt much; not stay + there very long, mean to go down south again after a bit. Leaping Horse go + with them." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, I see. The Utes had come upon them, and they knew that if they + stopped there they would lose their scalps sooner or later, so they came + up here and made north for a bit to hunt and fossick about in the hills, + and then go back when the Utes had quieted down." + </p> + <p> + The chief nodded. + </p> + <p> + "Well, well, that alters the affair altogether. Whereabouts did you leave + them?" + </p> + <p> + "Near the Buffalo Lake." + </p> + <p> + "Don't know it. Where does it lie?" + </p> + <p> + "On a stream that runs into the river from the west, from a valley running + up near Frémont's Buttes. They were going up so as to follow the Rivičre + de Noir, and then either strike up across the hills to the Upper + Yellowstone, or go out west and come down over the Grosventre range on to + the Wyoming range, and then down through Thompson's Pass, or else skirt + the foot-hills on to the Green River." + </p> + <p> + "Waal, chief, I reckon that among all those hills and mountains, one would + have just about the same chance of lighting on them as you would have of + finding a chipmunk in a big pine-forest." + </p> + <p> + "Couldn't find," the chief said, "but might follow. If they go fast never + catch them; if wait about, hunt beaver, look for gold and silver, then + might come up to them easy enough, if 'Rappahoes not catch and kill. Very + bad place. Leaping Horse told them so. White brother said he think so too; + but other men think they find gold somewhere, so they go on. They have got + horses, of course. Three horses to ride, three horses to carry + beaver-traps and food. Leaping Horse came back here to sell his skins. He + had promised to meet a friend here, or he would not have left Straight + Harry, who is a good man and a friend of Leaping Horse. Three men not + enough in bad country." + </p> + <p> + "Do you think there would be any chance of my finding them?" Tom asked + eagerly. + </p> + <p> + A slight gleam of amusement passed over the Indian's face. + </p> + <p> + "My brother is very young," he said. "He will be a brave warrior and a + great hunter some day, but his eyes are not opened yet. Were he to try he + would leave his scalp to dry in the 'Rappahoes' lodges." + </p> + <p> + "That is just what I told him, chief. It would be sheer madness." + </p> + <p> + The Indian made no reply, and Jerry turned the conversation. + </p> + <p> + "You don't drink spirits, chief, or I would go and get a bottle from the + fort." + </p> + <p> + "Leaping Horse is not a madman," the Indian said scornfully, "that he + should poison his brain with fire-water." + </p> + <p> + "Yes; I remembered, chief, that you had fallen into our ways and drink + tea." + </p> + <p> + "Tea is good," the Indian said. "It is the best thing the white man has + brought out on to the plains." + </p> + <p> + "That is so, chief, except tobacco. We did not bring that; but I reckon + you got it from the Spaniards long ago, though maybe you knew of it before + they came up from the south." + </p> + <p> + The meat was now cooked, and Tom took it off the fire and handed the + pieces on the ramrod, that had served as a spit, to the others, together + with some bread, poured out the tea from the kettle, and placed a bag of + sugar before them. There was little talk until after the meal was over. + Then the Indian and Jerry smoked steadily, while Tom took a single pipe, + having only commenced the use of tobacco since he had left Denver. + Presently the Indian arose. + </p> + <p> + "In the morning I will see my white friends again," he said, and without + further adieu turned and walked gravely back to the fort. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV — LEAPING HORSE + </h2> + <p> + "He is a fine fellow," Jerry said, after the Indian had left him. "You + must have a talk with him one of these days over his adventures among the + 'Rappahoes and Navahoes, who are both as troublesome rascals as are to be + found on the plains. An Indian seldom talks of his adventures, but + sometimes when you can get him in the right humour you may hear about + them." + </p> + <p> + "He talks very fair English," Tom said. + </p> + <p> + "Yes; he has been ten years among us. He was employed for two or three + years supplying the railway men with meat; but no Indian cares to hunt + long in one place, and he often goes away with parties of either hunters + or gold-seekers. He knows the country well, and is a first-rate shot; and + men are always glad to have him with them. There is no more trusty + red-skin on the plains, and he will go through fire and water for those + whom he regards as his special friends. I should say he is about the one + man alive who could take you to your uncle." + </p> + <p> + "Do you think he would?" Tom asked eagerly. + </p> + <p> + "Ah, that is another matter; I don't know what his plans are. If he is + engaged to go with another party he will go, for he would not fail anyone + to whom he had made a promise. If he isn't engaged he might perhaps do it. + Not for pay, for he has little use for money. His hunting supplies him + with all he wants. It gives him food, and occasionally he will go with a + bundle of pelts to the nearest town, and the money he gets for them will + supply him with tea and tobacco and ammunition, and such clothes as he + requires, which is little enough. Buckskin is everlasting wear, and he + gets his worked up for him by the women of any Indian tribe among whom he + may be hunting. If he were one of these fort Indians it would be only a + question of money; but it would never do to offer it to him. He does not + forget that he is a chief, though he has been away so many years from what + there is left of his old tribe. If he did it at all it would be for the + sake of your uncle. I know they have hunted together, and fought the + Apachés together. I won't say but that if we get at him the right way, and + he don't happen to have no other plans in his mind, that he might not be + willing to start with you." + </p> + <p> + "I should be glad if he would, Jerry. I have been quite dreading to get to + Fort Bridger. I have had such a splendid time of it with you that I should + feel awfully lonely after you had gone on." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, I dare say you would feel lonesome. I should have felt lonesome + myself if I did not light upon some mate going the same way. We got on + very well together, Tom. When Pete Hoskings first put it to me whether I + would be willing to take you with me as far as this, I thought that though + I liked you well enough, it would not be in my way to be playing a sort of + schoolmaster business to a young tenderfoot; but I had got to like the + notion before we left Denver, and now it seems to me that we have had a + rare good time of it together." + </p> + <p> + "We have indeed, Jerry; at least I have had. Even if the Indian would + agree to take me I should miss you awfully." + </p> + <p> + Jerry made no reply, but sat smoking his pipe and looking into the fire. + As he was sometimes inclined to be taciturn, Tom made no attempt to + continue the conversation; and after moving out and shifting the + picket-pegs so as to give the horses a fresh range of grass to munch + during the night, he returned to the fire, wrapped himself in his blankets + and lay down, his "Good-night, Jerry," meeting with no response, his + companion being evidently absorbed in his own thoughts. + </p> + <p> + "You are not going on to-day, Jerry, are you?" Tom said, as he threw off + his blankets and sat up in the morning. The sun was not yet up, but Jerry + had already stirred up the embers, put some meat over them to cook, and + put the kettle among them. + </p> + <p> + "No, I shall stop here for a day or two, lad. I am in no special hurry, + and have no call to push on. I have not made up my mind about things yet." + </p> + <p> + They had scarcely finished breakfast when Leaping Horse came down from the + fort. + </p> + <p> + "Tom here has been asking me, chief, whether there was any chance of + getting you to guide him to his uncle. I said, of course, that I did not + know what your plans were; but that if you had nothing special before you, + possibly you might be willing to do so, as I know that you and Straight + Harry have done some tall hunting and fighting together." + </p> + <p> + The Indian's face was impassive. + </p> + <p> + "Can my young brother ride day after day and night after night, can he go + long without food and water, is he ready to run the risk of his scalp + being taken by the 'Rappahoes? Can he crawl and hide, can he leave his + horse and travel on foot, can he hear the war-cry of the red-skins without + fear?" + </p> + <p> + "I don't say that I can do all these things, chief," Tom said; "but I can + do my best. And, anyhow, I think I can promise that if we should be + attacked you shall see no signs of my being afraid, whatever I may feel. I + am only a boy yet, but I hope I am not a coward." + </p> + <p> + "You have come a long way across the sea to find my brother, Straight + Harry. You would not have come so far alone if your heart had been weak. + Leaping Horse is going back to join his white brother again, and will take + you to him." + </p> + <p> + Tom felt that any outburst of delight would be viewed with distaste by + this grave Indian, and he replied simply: "I thank you with all my heart, + chief, and I am sure that my uncle will be grateful to you." + </p> + <p> + The chief nodded his head gravely, and then, as if the matter were settled + and no more need be said about it, he turned to Jerry: + </p> + <p> + "Which way is my white friend going?" + </p> + <p> + "I'm dog-goned if I know. I had reckoned to go down past Utah, and to go + out prospecting among the hills, say a hundred miles farther west; then + while I journeyed along with Tom I got mixed in my mind. I should like to + have handed him over safe to Harry; but if Harry had gone down to the Ute + hills with an idea of trying a spot I have heard him speak of, where he + thought he had struck it rich, he might not have cared to have had me come + there, and so I concluded last night it was best the lad should wait here + till Harry got back. Now the thing is altered; they are just hunting and + prospecting, and might be glad to have me with them, and I might as well + be there as anywhere else; so as you are going back there, I reckon I + shall be one of the party." + </p> + <p> + "That will be capital, Jerry," Tom said. "With you as well as the chief we + shall be sure to get through; and it will be awfully jolly having you with + us." + </p> + <p> + "Don't you make any mistake," the miner said, "I should not be of much + more use in finding them than you would. I ain't been up among the + mountains all these years without learning something, but I ain't no more + than a child by the side of the chief. And don't you think this affair is + going to be a circus. I tell you it is going to be a hard job. There ain't + a dozen white men as have been over that country, and we shall want to be + pretty spry if we are to bring back our scalps. It is a powerful rough + country. There are peaks there, lots of them, ten thousand feet high, and + some of them two or three thousand above that. There are rivers, torrents, + and defiles. I don't say there will be much chance of running short of + food, if it wasn't that half the time one will be afraid to fire for fear + the 'tarnal Indians should hear us. We ain't got above a month afore the + first snows fall. Altogether it is a risky business, look at it which way + you will." + </p> + <p> + "Well, Jerry, if it is as bad as that, I don't think it will be right for + you and the chief to risk your lives merely that I should find my uncle. + If he is alive he is sure to come back here sooner or later; or if he goes + some other way back to Denver he will hear from Pete that I am here, and + will either write or come for me." + </p> + <p> + "It ain't entirely on your account, lad, as I am thinking of going; and I + am pretty sure the chief would tell you that it is the same with him. You + see, he tried to persuade your uncle to turn back. My opinion is, that + though he had to come here to keep the appointment, he had it in his mind + to go back again to join your uncle. Haven't I about struck your thoughts, + chief?" + </p> + <p> + The chief nodded. "My white brother Harry is in danger," he said. "Leaping + Horse had to leave him; but would have started back to-day to take his + place by his side. The Hunting Dog will go with him." + </p> + <p> + "I thought so, chief; I am dog-goned if I did not think so. It was Hunting + Dog you came back here to meet, I suppose." + </p> + <p> + "Hunting Dog is of my tribe," he said; "he is my sister's son. He came + across the plains to join me. He has hunted in his own country; this is + the first time he has come out to take his place as a man. Leaping Horse + will teach him to be a warrior." + </p> + <p> + "That is good; the more the better, so that there ain't too many. Well, + what is your advice, chief? Shall we take our pack pony with the outfit?" + </p> + <p> + The chief shook his head decidedly. "Must travel quick and be able to + gallop fast. My white brothers must take nothing but what they can carry + with them." + </p> + <p> + "All right, chief; we will not overload ourselves. We will just take our + robes and blankets, our shooting-irons, some tea and sugar, and a few + pounds of flour. At what time shall we start?" + </p> + <p> + "In an hour we will ride out from the fort." + </p> + <p> + "We shall be ready. Ten minutes would fix us, except that I must go into + the fort and sell my critter and what flour and outfit we sha'n't want, to + a trader there. + </p> + <p> + "I ain't done badly by that deal," Jerry said when he returned. "I have + sold the pony for more than I gave for him; for the red-skins have been + keeping away from the fort of late, and the folks going by are always + wanting horses in place of those that have died on the way. The other + things all sold for a good bit more than we gave for them at Denver. + Carriage comes mighty high on these plains; besides, the trader took his + chances and reckoned them in." + </p> + <p> + "How do you mean, Jerry?" + </p> + <p> + "Waal, I told him we was going up to the Shoshone Sierra, and intended to + hunt about and to come back, maybe by the Yellowstone and then by the Bear + rivers, and that we would take the price of the goods out in trade when we + got back. That made it a sort of lottery for him, for if we never came + back at all he would never have to pay, so he could afford to take his + risks and offer me a good price. I reckon he thinks he has got them at a + gift. He has given two pieces of paper, one for you and one for me, saying + that he owes the two of us the money; so if I should go under and you + should get back, you will draw it all right." + </p> + <p> + They at once proceeded to pack their ponies. Divided between the + saddle-bags of the two animals were four pounds of tea, eight of sugar, + and thirty-six of flour. Each took a good store of ammunition, an extra + pair of breeches, a flannel shirt, and a pair of stockings. The rest of + their clothes had been packed, and taken up by Jerry to the traders to lie + there until their return. + </p> + <p> + "That is light enough for anything," Jerry said, when the things were + stowed into the saddle-bags. "Four-and-twenty pounds of grub and five + pounds of ammunition brings it up to nine-and-twenty pounds each, little + enough for a trip that may last three months for aught we know." + </p> + <p> + In addition to the ammunition in the saddle-bags, each carried a + powder-horn and a bag of bullets over his shoulder. The revolvers were in + their belts, and the rifles slung behind them. While Jerry was away at the + fort Tom had made and baked three loaves, which were cut up and put in the + holsters. + </p> + <p> + "Now we are ready, Tom; the Indians will be out in a minute or two. The + sun is just at its highest." + </p> + <p> + Two minutes later the chief and his companion rode out from the gate of + the fort. Jerry and Tom mounted their horses and cantered over to meet + them. As they came up, Tom looked with interest at the young Indian. He + judged him to be about nineteen, and he had a bright and intelligent face. + He was, like his uncle, attired in buckskin; but the shirt was fringed and + embroidered, as was the band that carried his powder-horn, a gift, + doubtless, from some Indian maiden at his departure from his village. No + greetings were exchanged; but the chief and Jerry rode at once side by + side towards the northeast, and Tom took his place by the side of the + young Indian. + </p> + <p> + "How are you?" he said, holding out his hand. The young Indian took it and + responded to the shake, but he shook his head. + </p> + <p> + "Ah, you don't speak English yet?" Hunting Dog again shook his head. "That + is a pity," Tom went on; "it would have been jolly if we could have talked + together." + </p> + <p> + The chief said something to Jerry, who turned around in his saddle. "His + uncle says he can talk some. He has taught him a little when he has paid + visits to the village, but he has had no practice in speaking it. He will + get on after a time." + </p> + <p> + All were well mounted, and they travelled fast. Just before sunset they + crossed the Green River at a ford used by the emigrants, and some fifty + miles northeast of Fort Bridger. They had seen a herd of deer by the way, + and the two Indians had dismounted and stalked them. The others lost sight + of them, but when two rifle-shots were heard Jerry said, "We will take the + horses along to them, you may be sure they have got meat; the chief is a + dead shot, and he says that his nephew has also gifts that way." As they + expected, they found the Indians standing beside two dead deer. Hunting + Dog laid open the stomachs with a slash of his knife, and removed the + entrails, then tying the hind legs together swung the carcasses on to his + horse behind the saddle, and the journey was at once renewed. + </p> + <p> + "You will make for Frémont's Buttes, I suppose, chief?" Jerry said, as + after riding up the river for three or four miles so as to be able to + obtain wood for their fire—as for a considerable distance on either + side of the emigrant trail not a shrub was to be seen—they + dismounted, turned the horses loose, lit a fire, and prepared a meal. + </p> + <p> + "Yes. We will go over the pass and camp at one of the little lakes at the + head of the north fork, thence we will ride across the plain and ford + Little Wind River, and then follow up the Sage Creek and make our camp at + night on Buffalo Lake. From there we must follow their trail." + </p> + <p> + "And where shall we have to begin to look out for the 'Rappahoes?" + </p> + <p> + "They may be over the next rise; no one can say. The 'Rappahoes are like + the dead leaves drifting before the wind. They come as far south as the + emigrant trail, and have attacked caravans many times. After to-night we + must look out for them always, and must put out our fires before dark." + </p> + <p> + Tom had noticed how carefully the young Indian had selected the wood for + the fire; searching carefully along by the edge of the river for + drift-wood, and rejecting all that contained any sap. He himself had + offered to cut down some wood with the axe he carried strapped to his + saddle, but Hunting Dog had shaken his head. + </p> + <p> + "No good, no good," he said. "Make heap smoke; smoke very bad." + </p> + <p> + Tom thought that the shrub he was about to cut would give out obnoxious + smoke that would perhaps flavour the meat hanging over it, but when the + Indian added, "Heap smoke, red-skins see a long way," he understood that + Hunting Dog had been so careful in choosing the wood in order to avoid + making any smoke whatever that might attract the attention of Indians at a + distance from them. It was his first lesson in the necessity for caution; + and as darkness set in he looked round several times, half expecting to + see some crouching red-skins. The careless demeanour of his companions, + however, reassured him, for he felt certain that if there was any fear of + a surprise, they would be watchful. + </p> + <p> + After supper the Indian talked over with Jerry the route they would most + probably have to pursue. The miner had never been in this part of the + country before; indeed, very few white men, with the exception of trappers + who had married Indian women and had been admitted into their tribes, had + ever penetrated into this, the wildest portion of the Rocky Mountains. + Vague rumours existed of the abundance of game there, and of the existence + of gold, but only one attempt had been made to prospect on a large scale. + This had taken place three years before, when a party of twenty + Californian miners penetrated into the mountains. None of them returned, + but reports brought down by Indians to the settlements were to the effect + that, while working a gold reef they had discovered, they were attacked + and killed to a man by a war party of Sioux. + </p> + <p> + "I was mighty nigh being one of that crowd," Jerry said when he told the + story to Tom, as they sat over the camp-fire that night. "I heard of their + start when I got back to Salt Lake City, after being away for some time + among the hills. I legged it arter them as fast as I could, but I found + when I got to the last settlement that they had gone on ten days before, + and as I did not know what line they had followed, and did not care to + cross the pass alone, I gave it up. Mighty lucky thing it was, though I + did not think so at the time." + </p> + <p> + "But why should my uncle's party have gone into such a dangerous country + when they knew that the natives were so hostile?" + </p> + <p> + "It is a mighty big place, it is pretty nigh as big as all the eastern + states chucked into one, and the red-skins are not thick. No one knows how + many there are, but it is agreed they are not a big tribe. Then it ain't + like the plains, where a party travelling can be seen by an Indian scout + miles and miles away. It is all broken ground, canons and valleys and + rocks. Then again, when we get on the other side of the Wind River they + tell me there are big forests. That is so, chief, isn't it?" + </p> + <p> + The chief nodded. "Heap forests," he said, "higher up rocks and bad lands; + all bad. In winter snow everywhere on hills. Red-skins not like cold; too + much cold, wigwam no good." + </p> + <p> + "That's it, you see, Tom. We are here a long way above the sea-level, and + so in the hills you soon get above the timber-line. It's barren land + there, just rock, without grass enough for horses, and in winter it is so + all-fired cold that the Indians can't live there in their wigwams. I + reckon their villages are down in the sheltered valleys, and if we don't + have the bad luck to run plump into one of these we may wander about a + mighty long time before we meet with a red-skin. That is what you mean, + isn't it, chief?" + </p> + <p> + Leaping Horse grunted an assent. + </p> + <p> + "What game is there in the country?" + </p> + <p> + "There are wapitis, which are big stag with thundering great horns, and + there are big-horns. Them are mountain sheep; they are mostly up above the + timber-line. Wapitis and big-horns are good for food, but their skins + ain't worth taking off. There is beaver, heaps of them; though I reckon + there ain't as many as there were by a long way, for since the whites came + out here and opened trade, and the red-skins found they could get good + prices for beaver, they have brought them down by thousands every year. + Still, there is no doubt there is plenty left, and that trappers would do + first-rate there if the red-skins were friendly. In course, there is + plenty of b'ars, but unless you happen to have a thundering good chance it + is just as well to leave the b'ars alone, for what with the chances of + getting badly mauled, and what with the weight of the skin, it don't pay + even when you come right side up out of a tussle." + </p> + <p> + "Are there any maps of the region?" + </p> + <p> + "None of any account. They are all just guess-work. You may take it that + this is just a heap of mountains chucked down anyhow. Such maps as there + are have been made from tales trappers who came in with pelts have told. + Well, firstly they only knew about just where the tribe they had joined + lived, and in the second place you may bet they warn't such fools as to + tell anything as would help other fellows to get there; so you may put + down that they told very little, and what they did tell was all lies. Some + day or other I suppose there will be an expedition fitted out to go right + through, and to punish these dog-goned red-skins and open the country; but + it will be a long time arter that afore it will be safe travelling, for I + reckon that soldiers might march and march for years through them + mountains without ever catching a sight of a red-skin if they chose to + keep out of their way. And now I reckon we had best get in atween our + blankets." + </p> + <p> + The two Indians had already lain down by the fire. Tom was some time + before he could get to sleep. The thought of the wild and unknown country + he was about to enter, with its great game, its hidden gold treasures, its + Indians and its dangers, so excited his imagination that, tired as he was + with the long ride, two or three hours passed before he fell off to sleep. + He was awoke by being shaken somewhat roughly by Jerry. + </p> + <p> + "Why, you are sleeping as sound as a b'ar in a hollow tree," the miner + said. "You are generally pretty spry in the morning." A dip in the cold + water of the river awoke Tom thoroughly, and by the time he had rejoined + his comrades breakfast was ready. The ground rose rapidly as they rode + forward. They were now following an Indian trail, a slightly-marked path + made by the Indians as they travelled down with their ponies laden with + beaver skins, to exchange for ammunition, blankets, and tobacco at the + trading station. The country was barren in the extreme, being covered only + with patches of sage brush. As they proceeded it became more and more + hilly, and distant ridges and peaks could be seen as they crossed over the + crests. + </p> + <p> + "These are the bad lands, I suppose?" + </p> + <p> + "You bet they are, Tom, but nothing like as bad as you will see afore you + are done. Sage brush will grow pretty nigh everywhere, but there are + thousands of square miles of rock where even sage brush cannot live." + </p> + <p> + The hills presently became broken up into fantastic shapes, while isolated + rocks and pinnacles rose high above the general level. + </p> + <p> + "How curiously they are coloured," Tom remarked, "just regular bands of + white and red and green and orange; and you see the same markings on all + these crags, at the same level." + </p> + <p> + "Just so, Tom. We reckon that this country, and it is just the same down + south, was once level, and the rains and the rivers and torrents cut their + way through it and wore it down, and just these buttes and crags and + spires were left standing, as if to show what the nature of the ground was + everywhere. Though why the different kinds of rocks has such different + colours is more than I can tell. I went out once with an old party as they + called a scientific explorer. I have heard him say this was all under + water once, and sometimes one kind of stuff settled down like mud to the + bottom, sometimes another, though where all the water came from is more + nor I can tell. He said something about the ground being raised + afterwards, and I suppose the water run off then. I did not pay much + attention to his talk, for he was so choke-full of larning, and had got + such a lot of hard names on the tip of his tongue, that there were no + making head or tail of what he was saying." + </p> + <p> + Tom had learnt something of the elements of geology, and could form an + idea of the processes by which the strange country at which he was looking + had been formed. + </p> + <p> + "That's Frémont's Buttes," the Indian said presently, pointing to a + flat-topped hill that towered above the others ahead. + </p> + <p> + "Why, I thought you said it was a fifty-mile ride to-day, Jerry, and we + can't have gone more than half that." + </p> + <p> + "How far do you suppose that hill is off?" + </p> + <p> + "Three or four miles, I should think." + </p> + <p> + "It is over twenty, lad. Up here in the mountains the air is so clear you + can see things plain as you couldn't make out the outlines of down below." + </p> + <p> + "But it seems to me so close that I could make out people walking about on + the top," Tom said a little incredulously. + </p> + <p> + "I dare say, lad. But you will see when you have ridden another hour it + won't seem much closer than it does now." + </p> + <p> + Tom found out that the miner was not joking with him, as he at first had + thought was the case. Mile after mile was ridden, and the landmark seemed + little nearer than before. Presently Hunting Dog said something to the + chief, pointing away to the right. Leaping Horse at once reined in, and + motioned to his white companions to do the same. + </p> + <p> + "What is it, chief?" Jerry asked. + </p> + <p> + "Wapiti," he replied. + </p> + <p> + "That is good news," the miner said. "It will be lucky if we can lay in a + supply of deer flesh here. The less we shoot after we get through the pass + the better. Shall we go with you, chief?" + </p> + <p> + "My white brothers had better ride on slowly," Leaping Horse said. "Might + scare deer. No good lose time." + </p> + <p> + Tom felt rather disappointed, but as he went on slowly with Jerry, the + miner said: "You will have plenty of chances later on, lad, and there is + no time to lose in fooling about. The red-skins will do the business." + </p> + <p> + Looking back, Tom saw the two Indians gallop away till they neared the + crest of a low swell. Then they leapt from their horses, and stooping low + went forward. In a short time they lay prone on the ground, and wriggled + along until just on the crest. + </p> + <p> + "I reckon the stag is just over there somewhere," Jerry said. "The young + red-skin must have caught sight of an antler." + </p> + <p> + They stopped their ponies altogether now, and sat watching the Indians. + These were half a mile away, but every movement was as clearly visible as + if they were but a hundred yards distant. The chief raised himself on his + arms and then on to his knees. A moment later he lay down again, and they + then crawled along parallel with the crest for a couple of hundred yards. + Then they paused, and with their rifles advanced they crept forward again. + </p> + <p> + "Now they see them," Jerry exclaimed. + </p> + <p> + The Indians lay for half a minute motionless. Then two tiny puffs of smoke + darted out. The Indians rose to their feet and dashed forward as the sound + of their shots reached the ears of their companions. + </p> + <p> + "Come on," Jerry said, "you may be sure they have brought down one stag + anyhow. The herd could not have been far from that crest or the boy would + not have seen the antler over it, and the chief is not likely to miss a + wapiti at a hundred yards." + </p> + <p> + Looking back presently Tom saw that the Indian ponies had disappeared. + </p> + <p> + "Ay, Hunting Dog has come back for them. You may be sure they won't be + long before they are up with us again." + </p> + <p> + In a quarter of an hour the two Indians rode up, each having the + hind-quarters of a deer fastened across his horse behind the saddle, while + the tongues hung from the peaks. + </p> + <p> + "Kill them both at first shot, chief?" Jerry asked; "I did not hear + another report." + </p> + <p> + "Close by," the chief said; "no could miss." + </p> + <p> + "It seems a pity to lose such a quantity of meat," Tom remarked. + </p> + <p> + "The Indians seldom carry off more than the hindquarters of a deer, never + if they think there is a chance of getting more soon. There is a lot more + flesh on the hindquarters than there is on the rest of the stag. But that + they are wasteful, the red-skins are, can't be denied. Even when they have + got plenty of meat they will shoot a buffalo any day just for the sake of + his tongue." + </p> + <p> + It was still early in the afternoon when they passed under the shadow of + the buttes, and, two miles farther, came upon a small lake, the water from + which ran north. Here they unsaddled the horses and prepared to camp. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V — IN DANGER + </h2> + <p> + There were no bushes that would serve their purpose near the lake; they + therefore formed their camp on the leeward side of a large boulder. The + greatest care was observed in gathering the fuel, and it burned with a + clear flame without giving out the slightest smoke. + </p> + <p> + "Dead wood dries like tinder in this here air," the miner said. "In + course, if there wur any red-skins within two or three miles on these + hills they would make out the camp, still that ain't likely; but any + loafing Indian who chanced to be hunting ten or even fifteen miles away + would see smoke if there was any, and when a red-skin sees smoke, if he + can't account for it, he is darned sartin to set about finding out who + made it." + </p> + <p> + The horses fared badly, for there was nothing for them to pick up save a + mouthful of stunted grass here and there. + </p> + <p> + "Plenty of grass to-morrow," the chief said in answer to a remark of Tom + as to the scantiness of their feed. "Grass down by Buffalo Lake good." + </p> + <p> + Early the next morning they mounted and rode down the hills into Big Wind + River valley. They did not go down to the river itself, but skirted the + foot of the hills until they reached Buffalo Lake. + </p> + <p> + "There," the chief said, pointing to a pile of ashes, "the fire of my + white brother." Alighting, he and Hunting Dog searched the ground + carefully round the fire. Presently the younger Indian lightly touched the + chief and pointed to the ground. They talked together, still carefully + examining the ground, and moved off in a straight line some fifty yards. + Then they returned. + </p> + <p> + "Indian here," Leaping Horse said, "one, two days ago. Found fire, went + off on trail of white men." + </p> + <p> + "That is bad news, chief." + </p> + <p> + "Heap bad," the Indian said gravely. + </p> + <p> + "Perhaps he won't follow far," Tom suggested. + </p> + <p> + The Indian made no answer. He evidently considered the remark to be + foolish. + </p> + <p> + "You don't know much of Indian nature yet, Tom," the miner said. "When a + red-skin comes upon the trail of whites in what he considers his country, + he will follow them if it takes him weeks to do it, till he finds out all + about them, and if he passes near one of his own villages he will tell the + news, and a score of the varmint will take up the trail with him. It's + them ashes as has done it. If the chief here had stopped with them till + they started this would not have happened, for he would have seen that + they swept every sign of their fire into the lake. I wonder they did not + think of it themselves. It was a dog-goned foolish trick to leave such a + mark as this. I expect they will be more keerful arterwards, but they + reckoned that they had scarce got into the Indian country." + </p> + <p> + "Do you think it was yesterday the red-skin was here, or the day before, + chief?" + </p> + <p> + "Leaping Horse can't say," the Indian replied. "Ground very hard, mark + very small. No rain, trail keep fresh a long time. Only find mark twice." + He led them to a spot where, on the light dust among the rocks, was the + slight impression of a footmark. + </p> + <p> + "That is the mark of a moccasin, sure enough," Jerry said; "but maybe one + of the whites, if not all of them, have put on moccasins for the journey. + They reckoned on climbing about some, and moccasins beat boots anyhow for + work among the hills." + </p> + <p> + "Red-skin foot," the Indian said quietly. + </p> + <p> + "Well, if you say it is, of course it is. I should know it myself if I saw + three or four of them in a line, but as there is only one mark it beats + me." + </p> + <p> + "How would you know, Jerry?" + </p> + <p> + "A white man always turns out his toes, lad, an Indian walks + straight-footed. There are other differences that a red-skin would see at + once, but which are beyond me, for I have never done any tracking work." + </p> + <p> + The Indian without speaking led them to another point some twenty yards + away, and pointed to another impression. This was so slight that it was + with difficulty that Tom could make out the outline. + </p> + <p> + "Yes, that settles it," Jerry said. "You see, lad, when there was only one + mark I could not tell whether it was turned out or not, for that would + depend on the direction the man was walking in. This one is just in a line + with the other, and so the foot must have been set down straight. Had it + been turned out a bit, the line, carried straight through the first + footprint, would have gone five or six yards away to the right." + </p> + <p> + It took Tom two or three minutes to reason this out to himself, but at + last he understood the drift of what his companion said. As the line + through one toe and heel passed along the centre of the other, the foot + must each time have been put down in a straight line, while if the + footprints had been made by a person who turned out his toes they would + never point straight towards those farther on. + </p> + <p> + "Well, what is your advice, chief?" Jerry asked. + </p> + <p> + "Must camp and eat," the Indian replied, "horses gone far enough. No fear + here, red-skin gone on trail." + </p> + <p> + "Do you think there have been more than one, chief?" + </p> + <p> + "Not know," Leaping Horse said; "find out by and by." + </p> + <p> + Tom now noticed that Hunting Dog had disappeared. + </p> + <p> + "Where shall we make the fire?" + </p> + <p> + The chief pointed to the ashes. + </p> + <p> + "That's it," Jerry said. "If any red-skin came along you see, Tom, there + would be nothing to tell them that more than one party had been here." + </p> + <p> + The chief this time undertook the collection of fuel himself, and a bright + fire was presently burning. Two hours later Hunting Dog came back. He + talked for some time earnestly with the chief, and taking out two leaves + from his wampum bag opened them and showed him two tiny heaps of black + dust. Jerry asked no questions until the conversation was done, and then + while Hunting Dog cut off a large chunk of deer's flesh, and placing it in + the hot ashes sat himself quietly down to wait until it was cooked, he + said: + </p> + <p> + "Well, chief, what is the news?" + </p> + <p> + "The Indian had a horse, Hunting Dog came upon the spot where he had left + it a hundred yards away. When he saw ashes, he came to look at them. + Afterwards he followed the trail quite plain on the soft ground at head of + lake. Over there," and he pointed to the foot of the hills, "Indian + stopped and fired twice." + </p> + <p> + "How on earth did he know that, chief?" + </p> + <p> + The chief pointed to the two leaves. The scout examined the powder. + "Wads," he said. "They are leather wads, Tom, shrivelled and burnt. What + did he fire at, chief?" + </p> + <p> + "Signal. Half a mile farther three other mounted redskins joined him. They + stopped and had heap talk. Then one rode away into hills, the others went + on at gallop on trail." + </p> + <p> + "That is all bad, chief. The fellow who went up the hills no doubt made + for a village?" + </p> + <p> + The chief nodded. + </p> + <p> + "The only comfort is that Harry has got a good start of them. It was a + week from the time you left them before we met you, that is three days + ago, so that if the red-skins took up the trail yesterday, Harry has ten + days' start of them." + </p> + <p> + Leaping Horse shook his head. "Long start if travel fast, little start if + travel slow." + </p> + <p> + "I see what you mean. If they pushed steadily on up the valley, they have + gone a good distance, but if they stopped to catch beaver or prospect for + gold they may not have got far away. Hadn't we better be pushing on, + chief?" + </p> + <p> + "No good, horses make three days' journey; rest well to-day, travel right + on to-morrow. If go farther to-night, little good to-morrow. Good camp + here, all rest." + </p> + <p> + "Well, no doubt you are right, chief, but it worries one to think that + while we are sitting here those 'tarnal red-skins may be attacking our + friends. My only hope is that Harry, who has done a lot of Indian + fighting, will hide his trail as much as possible as he goes on, and that + they will have a lot of trouble in finding it." + </p> + <p> + The chief nodded. "My white brother, Harry, knows Indian ways. He did not + think he had come to Indian country here or he would not have left his + ashes. But beyond this he will be sure to hide his trail, and the + 'Rappahoes will have to follow slow." + </p> + <p> + "You think they are 'Rappahoes, chief?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, this 'Rappahoe country. The Shoshones are further north, and are + friendly; the Bannacks and Nez Percés are in northwest, near Snake River; + and the Sioux more on the north and east, on other side of great + mountains. 'Rappahoes here." + </p> + <p> + "Waal," Jerry said wrathfully, "onless they catch Harry asleep, some of + the darned skunks will be rubbed out afore they get his scalp. It is a + good country for hiding trail. There are many streams coming down from the + hills into the Big Wind, and they can turn up or down any of them as they + please, and land on rocky ground too, so it would be no easy matter to + track them. By the lay of the country there does not seem much chance of + gold anywheres about here, and, as I reckon, they will be thinking more of + that than of beaver skins, so I think they would push straight on." + </p> + <p> + "Harry said he should get out of Big Wind River valley quick," Leaping + Horse said. "Too many Indians there. Get into mountains other side. Go up + Rivičre de Noir, then over big mountains into Sierra Shoshone, and then + down Buffalo through Jackson's Hole, and then strike Snake River. I told + him heap bad Indians in Jackson's Hole, Bannacks, and Nez Percés. He said + not go down into valley, keep on foot-hills. I told him, too bad journey, + but he and other pale-faces thought could do it, and might find much gold. + No good Leaping Horse talk." + </p> + <p> + "This is a dog-goned bad business I have brought you into, Tom. I reckoned + we should not get out without troubles, but I did not calkerlate on our + getting into them so soon." + </p> + <p> + "You did not bring me here, Jerry, so you need not blame yourself for + that. It was I brought you into it, for you did not make up your mind to + come till I had settled to go with Leaping Horse." + </p> + <p> + "I reckon I should have come anyhow," Jerry grumbled. "Directly the chief + said where Harry and the others had gone my mind was set on joining them. + It was a new country, and there wur no saying what they might strike, and + though I ain't a regular Indian-fighter, leaving them alone when they + leave me alone, I can't say as I am averse to a scrimmage with them if the + odds are anyways equal." + </p> + <p> + "It is a wonderful country," Tom said, looking at the almost perpendicular + cliffs across the valley, with their regular coloured markings, their deep + fissures, crags, and pinnacles, "and worth coming a long way to see." + </p> + <p> + "I don't say as it ain't curous, but I have seen the like down on the + Colorado, and I don't care if I never see no more of it if we carry our + scalps safe out of this. I don't say as I object to hills if they are + covered with forest, for there is safe to be plenty of game there, and the + wood comes in handy for timbering, but this kind of country that looks as + if some chaps with paint-pots had been making lines all over it, ain't to + my taste noway. Here, lad; I never travel without hooks and lines; you can + get a breakfast and dinner many a day when a gun would bring down on you a + score of red varmints. I expect you will find fish in the lake. Many of + these mountain lakes just swarm with them. You had better look about and + catch a few bugs, there ain't no better bait. Those jumping bugs are as + good as any," and he pointed to a grasshopper, somewhat to Tom's relief, + for the lad had just been wondering where he should look for bugs, not + having seen one since he landed in the States. + </p> + <p> + There were two lines and hooks in the miner's outfit, and Tom and Hunting + Dog, after catching some grasshoppers, went down to the lake, while Jerry + and the chief had a long and earnest conversation together. The baited + hooks were scarcely thrown into the water when they were seized, and in a + quarter of an hour ten fine lake trout were lying on the bank. Tom was + much delighted. He had fished from boats, but had never met with much + success, and his pleasure at landing five fish averaging four or five + pounds apiece was great. As it was evidently useless to catch more, they + wound up their lines, and Hunting Dog split the fish open and laid them + down on the rock, which was so hot that Tom could scarce bear his hand on + it. + </p> + <p> + Seeing the elder men engaged in talk Tom did not return to them, but + endeavoured to keep up a conversation with the young Indian, whom he found + to be willing enough to talk now they were alone, and who knew much more + English than he had given him credit for. As soon as the sun set the fire + was extinguished, and they lay down to sleep shortly afterwards. An hour + before daylight they were in the saddle. Hunting Dog rode ahead on the + line he had followed the day before. As soon as it became light Tom kept + his eyes fixed upon the ground, but it was only now and then, when the + Indian pointed to the print of a horse's hoof in the sand between the + rocks, that he could make them out. The two Indians followed the track, + however, without the slightest difficulty, the horses going at a hand + gallop. + </p> + <p> + "They don't look to me like horses' footprints," Tom said to Jerry when + they had passed a spot where the marks were unusually clear. + </p> + <p> + "I reckon you have never seen the track of an unshod horse before, Tom. + With a shod horse you see nothing but the mark of the shoe, here you get + the print of the whole hoof. Harry has been careful enough here, and has + taken the shoes off his ponies, for among all the marks, we have not seen + any made by a shod horse. The Indians never shoe theirs, and the mark of + an iron is enough to tell the first red-skin who passes that a white man + has gone along there. The chief and I took off the shoes of the four + horses yesterday afternoon when you were fishing. We put them and the + nails by to use when we get out of this dog-goned country." + </p> + <p> + After riding for two hours they came to the bank of a stream. The chief + held up his hand for them to stop, while he dismounted and examined the + foot-marks. Then he mounted again and rode across the stream, which was + some ten yards wide and from two to three feet deep. He went on a short + distance beyond it, leapt from his saddle, threw the reins on the horse's + neck, and returned to the bank on foot. He went a short distance up the + stream and then as much down, stooping low and examining every inch of the + ground. Then he stood up and told the others to cross. + </p> + <p> + [Image: "Leaping Horse Mounted, And Rode Across The Stream"] + </p> + <p> + "Leave your horses by mine," he said as they joined him. "Trail very bad, + all rock." He spoke to the young Indian, who, on dismounting, at once went + forward, quartering the ground like a spaniel in search of game, while the + chief as carefully searched along the bank. + </p> + <p> + "Best leave them to themselves, Tom; they know what they are doing." + </p> + <p> + "They are hunting for the trail, Jerry, I suppose?" + </p> + <p> + "Ay, lad. Harry struck on a good place when he crossed where he did, for + you see the rock here is as smooth as the top of a table, and the wind has + swept it as clean of dust as if it had been done by an eastern woman's + broom. If the horses had been shod there would have been scratches on the + rock that would have been enough for the dullest Indian to follow, but an + unshod horse leaves no mark on ground like this. I expect the red-skins + who followed them were just as much puzzled as the chief is. There ain't + no saying whether they crossed and went straight on, or whether they never + crossed at all or kept in the stream either up or down." + </p> + <p> + It was half an hour before the two Indians had concluded their examination + of the ground. + </p> + <p> + "Well, chief, what do you make of it?" Jerry asked when they had spoken a + few words together. + </p> + <p> + "Hunting Dog has good eyes," the chief said. "The white men went forward, + the red men could not find the trail, and thought that they had kept in + the river, so they went up to search for them. Come, let us go forward." + </p> + <p> + The miner and Tom mounted their horses, but the Indians led theirs forward + some three hundred yards. Then Hunting Dog pointed down, and the chief + stooped low and examined the spot. + </p> + <p> + "What is it, chief?" Jerry asked; and he and Tom both got off and knelt + down. They could see nothing whatever. + </p> + <p> + "That is it," Leaping Horse said, and pointed to a piece of rock + projecting half an inch above the flat. + </p> + <p> + "I am darned if I can see anything." + </p> + <p> + "There is a tiny hair there," Tom said, putting his face within a few + inches of the ground. "It might be a cat's hair; it is about the length, + but much thicker. It is brown." + </p> + <p> + "Good!" the chief said, putting his hand on Tom's shoulder. "Now let us + ride." He leapt into his saddle, the others following his example, and + they went on at the same pace as before. + </p> + <p> + "Well, chief," the miner said, "what does that hair tell you about it, for + I can't make neither head nor tail of it?" + </p> + <p> + "The white men killed a deer on their way up here, and they cut up the + hide and made shoes for horses, so that they should leave no tracks. One + of the horses trod on a little rock and a hair came out of the hide." + </p> + <p> + "That may be it, chief," the miner said, after thinking the matter over, + "though it ain't much of a thing to go by." + </p> + <p> + "Good enough," Leaping Horse said. "We know now the line they were taking. + When we get to soft ground see trail plainer." + </p> + <p> + "What will the others do when they cannot find the trail anywhere along + the bank?" + </p> + <p> + "Ride straight on," the chief said. "Search banks of next river, look at + mouths of valleys to make sure white men have not gone up there, meet more + of tribe, search everywhere closely, find trail at last." + </p> + <p> + "Well, that ought to give Harry a good start, anyhow." + </p> + <p> + "Not know how long gone on," the chief said gravely. "No rainfall. Six, + eight—perhaps only two days' start." + </p> + <p> + "But if they always hide their trail as well as they did here I don't see + how the Indians can find them at all—especially as they don't know + where they are making for, as we do." + </p> + <p> + "Find camp. Men on foot may hide traces, but with horses sure to find." + </p> + <p> + "That is so," Jerry agreed, shaking his head. "An Indian can see with half + an eye where the grass has been cropped or the leaves stripped off the + bushes. Yes, I am afraid that is so. There ain't no hiding a camp from + Indian eyes where horses have been about. It is sure to be near a stream. + Shall you look for them, chief?" + </p> + <p> + The Indian shook his head. "Lose time," he said. "We go straight to + Rivičre de Noir." + </p> + <p> + "You don't think, then, they are likely to turn off before that?" + </p> + <p> + "Leaping Horse thinks not. They know Indian about here. Perhaps found + Indian trail near first camp. Know, anyhow, many Indians. Think push + straight on." + </p> + <p> + "That is the likeliest. Anyhow, by keeping on we must get nearer to them. + The worst danger seems to me that we may overtake the red-skins who are + hunting them." + </p> + <p> + The chief nodded. + </p> + <p> + "It is an all-fired fix, Tom," Jerry went on. "If we go slow we may not be + in time to help Harry and the others to save their scalps; if we go fast + we may come on these 'tarnal red-skins, and have mighty hard work in + keeping our own ha'r on." + </p> + <p> + "I feel sure that the chief will find traces of them in time to prevent + our running into them, Jerry. Look how good their eyes are. Why, I might + have searched all my life without noticing a single hair on a rock." + </p> + <p> + After riding some fifteen miles beyond the stream, and crossing two + similar though smaller rivulets, the chief, after a few words with Jerry, + turned off to the left and followed the foot of the hills. At the mouth of + a narrow valley he stopped, examined the ground carefully, and then led + the way up it, carrying his rifle in readiness across the peak of the + saddle. The valley opened when they had passed its mouth, and a thick + grove of trees grew along the bottom. As soon as they were beneath their + shelter they dismounted. + </p> + <p> + The horses at once began to crop the grass. Hunting Dog went forward + through the trees, rifle in hand. + </p> + <p> + "Shall I take the bits out of the horses' mouths, Jerry?" Tom asked. + </p> + <p> + "Not till the young Indian returns. It is not likely there is a red-skin + village up there, for we should have seen a trail down below if there had + been. Still there may be a hut or two, and we can do nothing till he comes + back." + </p> + <p> + It was half an hour before Hunting Dog came through the trees again. He + shook his head, and without a word loosened the girths of his horse and + took off the bridle. + </p> + <p> + "He has seen no signs of them, so we can light a fire and get something to + eat. I am beginning to feel I want something badly." + </p> + <p> + Thus reminded, Tom felt at once that he was desperately hungry. They had + before starting taken a few mouthfuls of meat that had been cooked the day + before and purposely left over, but it was now three o'clock in the + afternoon, and he felt ravenous. The Indians quickly collected dried wood, + and four of the fish were soon frizzling on hot ashes, while the kettle, + hung in the flame, was beginning to sing. + </p> + <p> + "We have done nigh forty miles, Tom, and the horses must have a couple of + hours' rest. We will push on as fast as we can before dark, and then wait + until the moon rises; it will be up by ten. This ain't a country to ride + over in the dark. We will hide up before morning, and not go on again till + next night. Of course we shall not go so fast as by day, but we sha'n't + have any risk of being ambushed. The chief reckons from what he has heard + that the Indian villages are thick along that part of the valley, and that + it will never do to travel by day." + </p> + <p> + "Then you have given up all hopes of finding Harry's tracks?" + </p> + <p> + "It would be just wasting our time to look for them. We will push on sharp + till we are sure we are ahead of them. We may light upon them by chance, + but there can be no searching for them with these red varmint round us. It + would be just chucking away our lives without a chance of doing any good. + I expect Harry and his party are travelling at night too; but they won't + travel as fast as we do, not by a sight. They have got pack-ponies with + them, and they are likely to lay off a day or two if they come upon a good + place for hiding." + </p> + <p> + They travelled but a few miles after their halt, for the Indians declared + they could make out smoke rising in two or three places ahead; and + although neither Jerry nor Tom could distinguish it, they knew that the + Indians' sight was much keener than their own in a matter of this kind. + They therefore halted again behind a mass of rocks that had fallen down + the mountain-side. Hunting Dog lay down among the highest of the boulders + to keep watch, and the horses were hobbled to prevent their straying. The + miner and the chief lit their pipes, and Tom lay down on his back for a + sleep. A short time before it became dusk the call of a deer was heard. + </p> + <p> + "There are wapiti, chief. We can't take a shot at them; but it don't + matter, we have meat enough for a week." + </p> + <p> + The chief had already risen to his feet, rifle in hand. + </p> + <p> + "It is a signal from Hunting Dog," he said, "he has seen something in the + valley. My white brother had better get the horses together," and he made + his way up the rocks. In a minute or two he called out that the horses + might be left to feed, and presently came leisurely down to them. "Seen + Indians—ten 'Rappahoes." + </p> + <p> + "Which way were they going?" + </p> + <p> + "Riding from Big Wind River across valley. Been away hunting among hills + over there. Have got meat packed on horses, ride slow. Not have heard + about white men's trail. Going to village, where we saw smoke." + </p> + <p> + Tom was fast asleep when Jerry roused him, and told him that the moon was + rising, and that it was time to be off. + </p> + <p> + They started at a walk, the chief leading; Jerry followed him, while Tom + rode between him and Hunting Dog, who brought up the rear. Tom had been + warned that on no account was he to speak aloud. "If you have anything you + want to say, and feel that you must say it or bust," Jerry remarked, "just + come up alongside of me and whisper it. Keep your eyes open and your rifle + handy, we might come upon a party any minute. They might be going back to + their village after following Harry's trail as long as they could track + it, or it might be a messenger coming back to fetch up food, or those + fellows Hunting Dog made out going on to join those in front. Anyhow we + have got to travel as quiet as if there was ears all round us." + </p> + <p> + As they passed the clumps of trees where the Indian villages stood they + could see the reflection of the fires on the foliage, and heard the + frequent barking of dogs and an occasional shout. A quarter of a mile + farther the chief halted and spoke to Hunting Dog, who at once dismounted + and glided away towards the village. + </p> + <p> + "Gone to see how many men there," the chief said in explanation to Jerry. + "Too much laugh, no good." + </p> + <p> + "He means the men must have gone off again, Tom. If there were men in the + camp the boys would not be making a noise." + </p> + <p> + They were but a few hundred yards from the trees, and in a very short time + the Indian returned. + </p> + <p> + "Men are gone," he said; "only squaws and boys there." + </p> + <p> + "How many lodges are there?" the chief asked. Hunting Dog held up both + hands with extended fingers, and then one finger only. + </p> + <p> + "Eleven of them," Jerry said. "I expect they are all small villages, and + they move their lodges across into the forests when winter comes on." + </p> + <p> + As soon as they had mounted, the chief put his horse into a canter, and at + this pace they went forward for some hours, breaking into a walk + occasionally for a few minutes. + </p> + <p> + "I thought you said we should not go beyond a walk to-night, Jerry," Tom + remarked on the first of these occasions. + </p> + <p> + "That is what we kinder agreed, lad; but you may be sure the chief has + some good reason for going on faster. I dunno what it is, and I ain't + going to ask. Red-skins hate being questioned. If he wants to tell us he + will tell us without being asked." + </p> + <p> + A faint light was stealing over the sky when the chief halted his horse + and sat listening. No sound, however, broke the stillness of the night. + </p> + <p> + "Did you think you heard anything, chief?" + </p> + <p> + "Leaping Horse heard nothing, but he stopped to listen. What does my white + brother think of the 'Rappahoes having gone on directly they returned from + the chase?" + </p> + <p> + "I thought that when they got the news that some white men had gone + through, they might have started to join those following up the trail. + Isn't that what you think, chief?" + </p> + <p> + "Only three white men, plenty Indians on trail; no hurry to follow; might + have had feast after hunt and gone on in morning." + </p> + <p> + "So they might. You think the whites have been tracked, and are to be + attacked this morning?" + </p> + <p> + "Perhaps attacked yesterday. Perhaps have got strong place, 'Rappahoes + want more help to take it. White rifle shoot straight, perhaps want more + men to starve them out." + </p> + <p> + They again went forward, at a gallop now. Jerry did not think much of the + chief's idea. It seemed to him natural that the Indians should want to + join in the hunt for scalps, and to get a share of the white men's goods, + though he admitted that it was strange they should have gone on without + taking a meal. Presently the chief reined in his horse again, and sat with + head bent forward. Tom heard an angry grunt from between Hunting Dog's + teeth. Listening intently also, he was conscious of a faint, far-away + sound. + </p> + <p> + "You hear?" the chief said to Jerry. + </p> + <p> + "I heard something; but it might be anything. A waterfall in the hills + miles away, that is what it sounds like." + </p> + <p> + "Guns," the chief said laconically. + </p> + <p> + "Do you think so?" Jerry said doubtfully. "There don't seem to me anything + of guns in it. It is just a sort of murmur that keeps on and on." + </p> + <p> + "It is the mountains speaking back again," the chief said, waving his + hand. "Hills everywhere. They say to each other, the red men who live in + our bosoms are attacking the pale-face strangers." + </p> + <p> + "What do you think, Hunting Dog?" Tom whispered to the Indian. + </p> + <p> + "Gun-shot," he replied, in a tone of absolute conviction. + </p> + <p> + "Waal, chief, I will not gainsay your opinion," Jerry said. "How far do + you think it is off?" + </p> + <p> + "The horses will take us there in two hours," the chief replied. + </p> + <p> + "Then we can put it at twenty miles at least. Let us be going; whatever + the sound is, we shall know more about it before we have gone much + farther." + </p> + <p> + "Not too fast," Leaping Horse said as the miner was urging his horse + forward. "Maybe have to fight, maybe have to run. No good tire horse too + much." + </p> + <p> + It was more than an hour before Tom could hear any distinct change in the + character of the sound, but at last he was able to notice that, though + seemingly continuous, the sound really pulsated; sometimes it almost died + away, then suddenly swelled out again, and there were several vibrations + close together. Jerry, more accustomed to the sound of firearms in the + mountains, had before this come round to the chief's opinion. + </p> + <p> + "It is guns, sure enough, Tom; the chief has made no mistake about it. + Waal, there is one comfort, they ain't been surprised. They are making a + good fight of it, and we may be there in time to take a hand in the game." + </p> + <p> + "Shall we ride straight on and join them?" + </p> + <p> + "I reckon not, lad. We must wait until we see what sort of place Harry is + in, and how we can best help him, before we fix on any scheme." + </p> + <p> + The sound became louder and clearer. The echo was still continuous, but + the sound of the shots could be distinctly heard. + </p> + <p> + "It is over there, to the right," Jerry said. "They must have crossed the + Big Wind River." + </p> + <p> + "And gone up the De Noir valley," the chief said. "We ought to be close to + it now." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, I reckon it can't be far off, by what you told me about the + distance." + </p> + <p> + "Better cross Big Wind at once. They no see us now." + </p> + <p> + "I agree with you, chief; it would not do for them to get sight of us. If + they did our case would be worse than Harry's. I expect he has got + strongly posted, or he would have been wiped out long ago; that is what + would happen to us if they were to make us out and spy our numbers afore + we get to some place where we and Harry's outfit can help each other." + </p> + <p> + They rode rapidly down to the river. With the exception of a few yards in + the middle, where the horses had to swim, the depth was not great, and + they were soon on the other side. They rode to the foot of the hills, and + then kept along it. The sound of firing became louder and louder, and Tom + felt his heart beat quickly at the thought that he might soon be engaged + in a desperate fight with the Indians, and that with the odds greatly + against his party. + </p> + <p> + Presently the hills fell sharply away, and they were at the entrance of + the valley of the Rivičre de Noir, which is the principal arm of the Big + Wind River at this point. The firing had very much died out during the + last few minutes, and only an occasional shot was heard. + </p> + <p> + "They have beat off the attack so far," Jerry said to him encouragingly. + "Now we have got to lie low a bit, while the chief sees how things stand." + </p> + <p> + Leaping Horse dismounted at the mouth of a narrow canon running up into + the cliff beside them. A little stream trickled down its centre. + </p> + <p> + "Could not have been better," Jerry said. "Here is a place we four could + hold against a crowd of red-skins for hours. There is water anyway, and + where there is water there is mostly a little feed for horses. I will take + your horse, chief, and Tom will take Hunting Dog's, if so be you mean him + to go with you. + </p> + <p> + "Don't you worry yourself, lad," he went on, seeing how anxious Tom + looked, as they started with the horses up the caņon. "If Harry and his + friends have beaten off the first attack, you may bet your boots they are + safe for some time. It is clear the red-skins have drawn off, and are + holding a pow-wow as to how they are to try next. They attacked, you see, + just as the day was breaking; that is their favourite hour, and I reckon + Harry must have been expecting them, and that he and his mates were + prepared." + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI — UNITED + </h2> + <p> + The caņon showed no sign of widening until they had proceeded a quarter of + a mile from the entrance, then it broadened suddenly for a distance of a + hundred yards. + </p> + <p> + "There has been a big slip here both sides," the miner said, looking + round. "It must have taken place a great many years ago, for the winter + floods have swept away all signs of it, and there are grass and trees on + the slopes. The horses can find enough to keep them alive here for a day + or two, and that is all we shall want, I hope." + </p> + <p> + "It would be a nasty place to get out of, Jerry, for the cliffs are + perpendicular from half-way up." + </p> + <p> + "It ain't likely as there is any place we could get out without following + it to the upper end, which may be some fifty miles away. I don't know the + country it runs through, but the red-skins are pretty certain to know all + about it. If they were to track us here they would never try to fight + their way in, but would just set a guard at the mouth and at the upper end + and starve us out. It is a good place to hide in, but a dog-goned bad one + to be caught in. However, I hope it ain't coming to that. It is we who are + going to attack them, and not them us, and that makes all the difference. + The red-skins can't have a notion that there are any other white men in + this neighbourhood, and when we open fire on them it will raise such a + scare for a bit that it will give us a chance of joining the others if we + choose. That of course must depend on their position." + </p> + <p> + They walked back to the mouth of the caņon, and had not to wait long for + the return of the Indians. + </p> + <p> + "Come," Leaping Horse said briefly, at once turning and going off at a + swift pace. + </p> + <p> + Jerry asked no questions, but with Tom followed close on the Indians' + heels. There were bushes growing among the fallen rocks and débris from + the face of the cliff, and they were, therefore, able to go forward as + quickly as they could leap from boulder to boulder, without fear of being + seen. A quarter of an hour's run, and the chief climbed up to a ledge on + the face of the cliff where a stratum harder than those above it had + resisted the effects of the weather and formed a shelf some twelve feet + wide. He went down on his hands and knees, and keeping close to the wall + crawled along to a spot where some stunted bushes had made good their + hold. The others followed him, and lying down behind the bushes peered + through them. + </p> + <p> + The valley was four or five hundred yards wide, and down its centre ran + the stream. Close to the water's edge rose abruptly a steep rock. It was + some fifty feet in height and but four or five yards across at the top. On + the north and west the rocks were too perpendicular to be climbed, but the + other sides had crumbled down, the stones being covered with brushwood. + From the point where they were looking they could see the six horses lying + among the bushes. They were evidently tightly roped, and had probably been + led up there when the attack began and thrown at the highest point to + which they could be taken, a spot being chosen where the bushes concealed + their exact position from those below. The rock was about two hundred and + fifty yards from the spot where the party was lying, and their position + was about level with its top. Some twenty Indians were gathered a few + hundred yards higher up the valley, and about as many some distance down + it. + </p> + <p> + "Why didn't the varmint take their places here?" Jerry whispered to the + chief. + </p> + <p> + "They came here. See," and he pointed to a patch of blood a few feet + beyond him. "Indian guns not shoot far," he said, "powder weak; white + man's rifles carry here, red-skin not able to shoot so far. When they + found that, went away again." + </p> + <p> + "What are they going to do now, do you think?" + </p> + <p> + "Soon attack again." + </p> + <p> + Half an hour passed, and then a loud yell gave the signal and the two + troops galloped towards the rock. They had evidently had experience of the + accuracy of the white men's fire; not an Indian showed himself, each + dropping over one side of his pony, with an arm resting in a rope round + the animals' necks and one leg thrown over the back. So they dashed + forward until close to the foot of the rocks. Another instant and they + would have thrown themselves from their horses and taken to the bushes, + but although hidden from the sight of the defenders of the position, they + were exposed to the full view of the party on the ledge, from whom they + were distant not more than two hundred yards. The chief fired first, and + almost together the other three rifles flashed out. Three of the Indians + fell from their horses, another almost slipped off, but with an effort + recovered his hold with his leg. A yell of astonishment and fear broke + from the Indians. As the two bands mingled together, some of the riders + were exposed to those on the top of the rock, and three shots were fired. + Two more of the 'Rappahoes fell, and the whole band in obedience to a + shout from one of their chiefs galloped at full speed down the valley. The + three men sprang to their feet, waving their hats, while the party on the + ledge also leapt up with a shout. + </p> + <p> + "It's you, chief, I see!" one of those on the rocks shouted. "I have been + hoping ever since morning to hear the crack of your rifle, and I never + heard a more welcome sound. We should have been rubbed out sure. Who have + you got with you?" + </p> + <p> + "It's Jerry Curtis, Harry. I come up along with Leaping Horse, though I + did not expect to find you in such a bad fix. This young Indian is Hunting + Dog, and this young chap next to me is your nephew, Tom Wade. You did not + expect to meet him like this, I reckon?" + </p> + <p> + While he had been speaking, all had reloaded their rifles. + </p> + <p> + "You had best go across and talk it over with Harry, chief, and consart + measures with him for getting out of this fix. Those red-skins have got a + bad scare, but you may bet they ain't gone far; and they have lost six of + their bucks now beside what the others shot before, and it ain't in Indian + natur for them to put up with such a loss as that." He had been looking at + the rock as he spoke, and turning round uttered an exclamation of + surprise, for the chief was no longer there. Looking down they saw that he + had managed to make his way down the face of the cliff, and in another two + minutes was ascending the rock. There he stood for some time in earnest + conversation with the whites, and then returned to the ledge. + </p> + <p> + "Trouble over horses," he said. + </p> + <p> + "Ay, ay, I reckoned that was what you was talking over. There ain't no + going back for them now." + </p> + <p> + The chief shook his head. "'Rappahoes keep watch," he said, "cannot go + till night to fetch horses. All lie here to-day, go across to rock when + darkness comes, then white men go up valley till get to trees an hour's + march away; can see them from rock. Get in among trees and work up into + hills. Leaping Horse and Hunting Dog cross river, go down other side past + 'Rappahoes, then cross back and get into caņon, drive horses up. White men + meet them up in mountains." + </p> + <p> + "That seems a good plan enough, chief. That is, if you can get out at the + other end of the caņon." + </p> + <p> + "Caņon little up high," the chief replied. "Find some place to climb." + </p> + <p> + "But they may find the horses to-day." + </p> + <p> + The Indian nodded. "May find, perhaps not." + </p> + <p> + "Why should we not go across to the rock at once, chief?" + </p> + <p> + "Indian count on fingers how many. They do not know we only four; much + troubled in their mind where men come from, who can be. Red-skins not like + white men. Have many fancies. Fire come out of bush where 'Rappahoe had + been killed; think that bad medicine, keep together and talk. Think if men + here, why not go across to rock." + </p> + <p> + "I should not be surprised if you are right, chief. They are more likely + to fancy we have come down from above than from below, for they must have + reckoned for sure there were no other white men in the Big Wind valley, + and our not showing ourselves will give them an all-fired scare." + </p> + <p> + "What does the chief mean by bad medicine, Jerry?" Tom asked. + </p> + <p> + "A red-skin is full of all sorts of ideas. Anything he can't make head nor + tail of, is bad medicine; they think there is some magic in it, and that + old Nick has had his finger in the pie. When they get an idea like that in + their minds, even the bravest of them loses his pluck, and is like a child + who thinks he has seen a ghost. It is a mighty good notion for us to lie + low all day. The red-skins will reason it all out, and will say, if these + are white men who killed our brothers why the 'tarnal don't they go and + join the others, there ain't nothing to prevent them. If they ain't white + men, who are they? Maybe they can move without our being able to see them + and will shoot from some other place. No, I reckon it is likely they will + keep pretty close together and won't venture to scatter to look for + tracks, and in that case the chief's plan will work out all right. In + course, a good deal depends on their chief; one of them is among those we + shot, you can make out his feathers from here. If he is the boss chief, it + may be that they will give it up altogether; the next chief will throw the + blame on to him, and may like enough persuade them to draw off altogether. + If it ain't the boss chief, then they are bound to try again. He would not + like to take them back to their villages with the news that a grist of + them had been killed and narry a scalp taken. I expect you will see this + afternoon some of them come down to palaver with Harry." + </p> + <p> + The morning passed quietly and not unpleasantly, for they were lying in + the shade, but before noon the sun had climbed up over the cliff behind + them and shone down with great force, and they had to lie with their heads + well under the bushes to screen them from its rays. Presently, Leaping + Horse said: + </p> + <p> + "Indian chief come, no lift heads." + </p> + <p> + All shifted their position so as to look down the valley. An Indian chief, + holding up his hands to show that he was unarmed, was advancing on foot, + accompanied by another Indian also without arms. + </p> + <p> + "There is Harry going down to meet them," Jerry said. + </p> + <p> + Tom looked eagerly at the figure that came down from the rock and advanced + to meet the Indians. It seemed strange to him that after having come so + far to join his uncle they should remain for hours in sight of each other + without meeting. It was too far to distinguish his features, but he saw by + the light walk and easy swing of the figure that his uncle was a much more + active man than he had expected to see. He had known indeed that he was + but forty years old, but he had somehow expected that the life of hardship + he had led would have aged him, and he was surprised to see that his walk + and figure were those of a young man. + </p> + <p> + "Is it not rather dangerous, his coming down alone to meet two of them? + They may have arms hidden." + </p> + <p> + "They have got arms, you maybe sure," Jerry replied. "They have knives for + certain, and most likely tomahawks, but I expect Harry has got his + six-shooter. But it don't matter whether he has or not, there are his two + mates up on that rock with their rifles, and we are across here. The + 'Rappahoes would know well enough their lives wouldn't be worth a red cent + if they were to try any of their games. They don't mean business; they + will make out they have come to persuade Harry and his mates to give up, + which they know quite well they ain't fools enough to do. But what is + really in their minds is to try and find out who we are, and where we have + come from." + </p> + <p> + The conversation lasted a few minutes. Tom could see that questions were + being asked about the concealed party, for the chief pointed to the ledge + two or three times. When the talk was over the Indians went down the + valley again at a slow pace, never once looking back, and the Englishman + returned to the rocks. + </p> + <p> + "I don't suppose they have got much from Harry." + </p> + <p> + "I suppose uncle talks their language?" + </p> + <p> + "No, I don't reckon he knows the 'Rappahoe dialect. But the tribes on the + western side of the plains can mostly understand each other's talk; and as + I know he can get on well with the Utes, he is sure to be able to + understand the 'Rappahoes' talk." + </p> + <p> + "Leaping Horse will go along the ledge," the chief said a few minutes + later, after a short conversation with Hunting Dog. "The 'Rappahoes will + try to find out who are here; not like to attack the rock till find out." + </p> + <p> + The two Indians lay down flat on the ledge, and crawled along without + raising themselves in the slightest until they reached a point where the + cliffs projected somewhat. From here they could see down the valley, and + they lay immovable, with their rifles in front of them. + </p> + <p> + "They are not more than fifty yards or so from those bushes where we got + up on to the ledge. That is where the red-skins are likely to try crawling + up, for there they would be out of sight of the rock." + </p> + <p> + "Surely they would never venture to come along the ledge in daylight, + Jerry. They would have to pass along under the fire of uncle and his + mates, and would have our rifles to meet in front." + </p> + <p> + "No, it would only be one, or at most, two scouts. They would reckon that + from that point where the chief is lying they would get a view right along + the ledge to here, and be able to make out what we are. It is the + strangeness of the thing that has kept them quiet all these hours, and I + expect their chief will want to prove that there are only a few of us, and + that we are men for certain. I reckon they have sent off to the villages + already, and there will be more of the varmint here to-night. The Indians + are never fond of attacking in the dark; still, if they were sure about + us, they might try it. They would know they could get up to the foot of + that rock before being seen, and once among the bushes they would reckon + they could make easy work of it." + </p> + <p> + A quarter of an hour later there was the crack of a rifle, followed + instantly by an Indian yell. + </p> + <p> + "That is the chief's piece, Tom, and I reckon the lead has gone straight." + </p> + <p> + The silence remained unbroken for the next two hours, and then Leaping + Horse crawled back as quietly as he had gone. + </p> + <p> + "What was it, chief?" + </p> + <p> + "It was a 'Rappahoe, who will scout no more," the chief said quietly. "He + came up the bushes, but before he could step on to the ledge Leaping Horse + fired, and he will take no tales back to his tribe." + </p> + <p> + "They won't try again, chief?" + </p> + <p> + Leaping Horse shook his head. "First take rock," he said, "then when they + have the scalps of the white men they will watch us here. Will know we + cannot stay here long without water." + </p> + <p> + "You are right there, chief, and no m'stake; my tongue is like a piece of + leather now, and as soon as it gets dark I shall make a bee-line down to + the river. I want to have a talk with Harry, but just at present I want a + drink a blamed sight worse. If I had thought we were going to be stuck up + here all day I would have brought my water-bottle with me." + </p> + <p> + The time passed very slowly, although the air became cooler as soon as the + sun had gone down behind the opposite range. As soon as the light faded a + little, the Indian crawled farther along the ledge, and returned in a + short time saying that he had found a spot where the whites could descend. + Two or three times Jerry urged that it was dark enough, before the chief + consented to move. At last, however, he stood up and gave the cry of an + owl, and they were in a minute or two joined by Hunting Dog, who had until + now remained at his post. The chief at once led the way along the ledge + until he reached the spot where the rock had crumbled away somewhat. + </p> + <p> + "We had better go down one at a time," Jerry said. "For if there was a + slip or a tumble it might let down a gun-hammer, and we want our lead for + the 'Rappahoes, and not for each other." + </p> + <p> + When it came to Tom's turn, he found it a very difficult place to get down + in the semi-darkness, and two or three times he almost lost his footing. + As soon as all were down they fell into Indian file, and crossed the + valley to the rock, the chief giving the hoot of an owl twice as he + approached it. Three men at once stepped out from the bushes at its foot. + </p> + <p> + "I began to wonder when you were coming, and was just going to get the + ponies down before it was too dark to do it without running the risk of + breaking their legs. Well, I am right glad to see you, Jerry; and you too, + Tom, though it is too dark to see much of you. The chief has been telling + me how he brought you along. There is no time to talk now, but I am right + glad to see you, lad" and he shook Tom heartily by the hand. "Now, mates, + let us get the horses down." + </p> + <p> + "I must make tracks for the water first, Harry, the young un and I are + pretty near choking; and I expect the Indians are as bad, though it ain't + their natur to talk about it." + </p> + <p> + "Get down horses first," the chief said. "Too dark soon." + </p> + <p> + "Waal, I suppose five minutes won't make much difference," Jerry grumbled, + "so here goes." + </p> + <p> + "I have tied some hide over their hoofs," Harry said, "so as to make as + little noise as possible about it." + </p> + <p> + "Must make no noise," the chief said urgently. "Redskin scouts soon be + crawling up." + </p> + <p> + One by one the horses were brought down, Harry leading them, and the + others pushing aside the bushes as noiselessly as possible. Then their + loads were carried down and packed upon them. + </p> + <p> + "You get on my horse, Jerry," Harry Wade whispered, "I will walk with Tom. + I have had no time to say a word to him yet, or to ask about the people at + home. Where is the chief?" + </p> + <p> + Leaping Horse and his companion had stolen away as soon as the loads had + been adjusted. The others led the horses to the river, and allowed them to + drink, while Jerry and Tom lay down and took a long draught of the water. + The miners' bottles were filled, and they then started. + </p> + <p> + "It is lucky the river makes such a roar among these rocks here," Harry + said, "it will drown the sound of the horses' hoofs." + </p> + <p> + For half an hour they proceeded at a fast walk, then the skins were taken + off the horses' feet and they went on at a trot, the two Wades taking hold + of Jerry's stirrup-leathers and running alongside. In half an hour they + entered the belt of trees, and dismounting, at once began to ascend the + hill. They were some distance up when they heard a distant yell. + </p> + <p> + "You may yell as much as you like," Jerry panted, "you won't catch us now. + They have been a mighty long time finding out we were gone." + </p> + <p> + "They could not make out about you," Harry said. "I could see by the + chief's manner, and the glances the Indian with him kept giving to the + place where you were lying, that they were puzzled and alarmed. They + offered if we would surrender that they would allow us to return down the + valley without hurt. I said, of course, that I preferred staying where I + was; we had come up the valley and intended going farther; we didn't want + to interfere with them, and if they had left us alone we should have left + them alone; and they had only themselves to thank for the loss of some of + their braves. 'We have,' I said, 'many friends, who will protect us, and + much harm will fall on the Indians who venture to meddle with us.' + </p> + <p> + "'Are your friends white men?' the chief asked. 'Have they wings that they + have flown down here from the hills?' + </p> + <p> + "'They have come, that is enough,' I said. 'You see, when they were wanted + they were here, and if they are wanted again you will hear of them, and + your braves will die, and you will gain nothing. You had best go back to + your lodges and leave us to go away in peace. Whoever they are, they can + shoot, as you have found out to your cost. They have no ill-will to the + red-skins, providing the redskins let us alone. They only fired four + shots; if they had wished to, they could have killed many more.' When the + chief saw that he could get nothing further from me he went away. As usual + he spoke boastfully at last, and said that he had offered peace to us, and + if war came, it would be our faults. I laughed, and said that we could + take care of ourselves, and preferred doing so to trusting ourselves in + the hands of the 'Rappahoes, when we had made some of their squaws + widows." + </p> + <p> + "Would they have kept their word, uncle, do you think?" Tom asked. + </p> + <p> + "Not they. There are a few of the Indian tribes whose word can be taken, + but as a rule words mean nothing with them, and if we had put ourselves in + their power they would have tomahawked us instantly, or else taken us down + and tortured us at their villages, which would have been a deal worse. I + have no doubt they had a long talk after the chief returned to them, and + that it was some time after it became dark before they could pluck up + courage enough to climb the rock, though I expect they must have got close + to it very soon after we left. I reckon they have been crawling up inch by + inch. Of course, directly they got to where the horses had been tied they + knew we had gone, and I expect that yell was a signal for a rush forward + to the top. But we need not bother any more about them. They may ride as + far as the foot of the forest, but when they find we have gained that + safely they will give it up until morning; they will know well enough it + is no good starting to search the woods in the dark. We may as well rest + where we are until the moon is up, for we make so much noise crashing + through this undergrowth that they could hear us down there." + </p> + <p> + "Now tell me, lad, about your mother and sisters, and how you came out + after all." + </p> + <p> + Tom told his uncle of his mother's death, and the reason why he had left + his sisters to come out to join him. + </p> + <p> + "It is a very bad business, lad, and I take a lot of blame to myself. When + I got your mother's letter, telling me of poor John's death, and that she + would not hear of your coming out, I said some very hard things to myself. + Here had I been knocking about for twenty years, and having had a fair + share of luck, and yet I could not put my hand on five hundred dollars, + and there was my brother's widow and children, and I, their nearest + relative, could not help them. It made me feel a pretty mean man, I can + tell you. Your mother did not say much about her circumstances, but it did + not need that. I knew that John had retired from the navy with little + besides his half-pay, and that her pension as his widow must be a mighty + slim one. Altogether I had a pretty bad time of it. However, I took a tall + oath that the next rich strike I made the dollars should not be thrown + away. I reckoned that you would be out before long; for it was certain + that if you were a lad of spirit you would not be staying there doing + nothing. Your mother said that the girls all intended to take up teaching, + and it was not likely that you would let them work for the family while + you were loafing about at home. I know in my time it was hard enough to + get anything to do there, and young fellows who have come out here to + ranche tell me that it is harder than ever now. I thought you would fancy + this life, and that in time you would talk your mother over into letting + you come." + </p> + <p> + "I should never have got her to agree to it, uncle. I wanted to go to sea, + but after father's death she would not hear of it. She said I was her only + boy and that she could not spare me, and I had to promise to give up the + thought. She was still more against your plan, but when I wrote to you I + thought that possibly in time she might agree to it. But it was not long + afterwards that her health began to fail, and I saw then that I must give + up all thought of leaving her, and must, when I left school, take anything + that offered; and it was only after her death that I talked it over with + the girls, and they agreed that to come here was the best thing for me." + </p> + <p> + "And you left before my last letter arrived?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes; we had no letter after the one you wrote asking me to come out." + </p> + <p> + "No, I suppose you could not have had it. I wrote before I started out + three months ago from Salt Lake City. I had struck a ledge of pretty good + stuff, I and another. We sold out for a thousand dollars, and I sent my + share off to your mother, telling her that I had been having bad luck + since I got her letter, but that I hoped to do better in future, and I + thought, anyhow, I could promise to send her as much once a year, and if I + had a real stroke of luck she and her girls would have the benefit of it." + </p> + <p> + "That was good of you, uncle." + </p> + <p> + "Not good at all," Harry Wade grumbled. "I have behaved like a fool all + along; it is true that when I did get letters from your father, which was + not very often, he always wrote cheerfully, and said very little about how + he was situated as to money. But I ought to have known—I did know, + if I thought of it—that with a wife and six children it must be + mighty hard to make ends meet on a lieutenant's half-pay, and there was I, + often throwing away twice as much as his year's pension on a week's spree. + When I heard he was gone you may pretty well guess how I felt. However, + lad, if things turn out well I will make it up as far as I can. Now, let + us join the others." + </p> + <p> + The others, however, were all sound asleep, having wrapped themselves in + their blankets, and lain down as soon as the halt was decided upon. Jerry, + having had no sleep the previous night, and but little for four or five + days, had not even thought of asking the others for food, which they + doubtless had on their saddles, although he had tasted nothing for + twenty-four hours. Tom, however, less accustomed to enforced fasts, felt + ravenous. + </p> + <p> + "We have had nothing to eat to-day, uncle, except a crust left over from + yesterday's baking, and I don't think I could get to sleep if I did not + eat something." + </p> + <p> + "Bless me, I never thought of that, Tom. If I had I would have sent food + across by the chief this morning. There is no bread, but there is plenty + of cold meat. We cooked a lot yesterday evening, for we thought we might + not get a chance of cooking to-day." + </p> + <p> + "Then you knew, uncle, the Indians were near?" Tom went on, when he had + appeased his appetite and taken a drink of water, with a little whisky in + it from his uncle's flask. + </p> + <p> + "Ay, lad; we guessed somehow we had been followed all along. We had done + everything we could to throw them off the trail—travelling as much + as we could in the course of streams, muffling the feet of our ponies, and + picking out the hardest ground to travel on; but every morning before + daybreak one of us went up the hillside, and twice we made out mounted + Indians moving about down the valley. Yesterday morning ten of them came + galloping up within easy shot. I don't think they thought that we were so + near. They drew up their horses suddenly, had a talk, and then came riding + after us. It didn't need their yells to tell us what their intention was. + We knocked three of them out of their saddles, then threw our horses down + and lay behind them. + </p> + <p> + "They galloped round and round us shooting, but we picked two more off, + and then they rode away. We knew enough of them to be sure that they were + not going to give it up, but would follow us till joined by enough of + their tribe to attack us again. We made a long march, hoping to get to the + timber before they could come up, but just as the sun was setting we saw + them coming along, about fifteen of them; and we had just time to get up + to that rock. As they rode past we opened a smart fire and dropped four of + them; the others rode up the valley, so as to cut us off from going + farther. We filled our water-skins and got the horses half-way up as you + saw, and then lighted a fire and cooked. We kept watch all night, two down + below and one at the top; but everything was quiet, and we guessed they + were waiting for others to come up. + </p> + <p> + "About an hour before daylight we heard another gang arrive below us. They + halted there, and it was not long before they began crawling up from above + and below, and for a bit we shot pretty brisk. The odds were too much + against them, with us on the height, and they drew off. Then for an hour + they were pretty quiet while they were holding council, except that we did + some shooting with a party who had climbed up to that ledge opposite; then + we saw both bands mount, and reckoned they were going to make a dash for + us. We knew if they did it in earnest we must go down, for once among the + rocks and bushes there would be no keeping them from mounting up. We made + up our minds that the end was not far off, though I fancy we should have + accounted for a good many of them before they rubbed us out. When your + four rifles spoke from the ledge we thought it was a party who had gone + back there, for we felt sure that we had driven them all away, but it + wasn't more than a moment before we saw it wasn't that. There was no + mistaking the yell of astonishment from the Indians, and as the horses + swerved round we saw that three of them had fallen. You may guess we + didn't stop to argue who it was, but set to work to do our share; but it + seemed to us something like a miracle when the red-skins rode off. + </p> + <p> + "We had been talking of Leaping Horse during the night, for he had + promised to come back to join us, and I knew him well enough to be able to + bet all creation that he would come. He had only left us to keep an + appointment with his nephew, who was to join him at Fort Bridger. If there + had only been two guns fired we should have put it down to him, but being + four I don't think either of us thought of him till he stood up and + shouted. Now, lad, you had better take a sleep. We shall be moving on as + soon as the moon is fairly up, and it won't be over that hill behind us + till two or three. I will watch till then, but I don't think there is the + least chance of their following us to-night; they have been pretty roughly + handled, and I don't think they will follow until they have solved the + mystery of that ledge. They searched it, no doubt, as soon as they found + the rock was empty, and at daybreak they will set about tracing the trail + up. That will be easy enough for them when they have once got rid of the + idea that there was something uncanny about it, and then we shall have + them on our heels again and on the chief's too. The first thing for us to + do will be to make along the hill till we get to the edge of the caņon, + where Leaping Horse has gone for your ponies, and to follow it to its + upper end." + </p> + <p> + "I will watch, uncle, if you will wake me in an hour. I shall be all right + after a nap, but I can scarcely keep my eyes open now." + </p> + <p> + It seemed, however, to Tom that he had not been asleep five minutes when + his uncle shook him. The others were already on their feet. The moon was + shining down through the trees, and with cautious steps, and taking the + utmost trouble to avoid the branches, they started on their upward climb. + Not a word was spoken, for all knew how far sound travels on a still + night. There was, however, a slight breeze moving among the tree tops when + they started, and in an hour this had so far increased that the boughs + were swaying and the leaves rustling. + </p> + <p> + "I reckon there ain't no occasion to keep our mouths shut no longer," one + of the men said. "Now that the trees are on the move they would not hear + us if they were only a hundred yards away." + </p> + <p> + All were glad when daylight began to appear, Tom because the climbing + would be much easier when the ground could be seen, the others because + they were all longing for a pipe, but had hitherto not dared to light one, + for the flash of a match could be seen far away. They had been bearing + steadily to the right as they mounted, and shortly after daybreak they + suddenly found themselves on the edge of a caņon. + </p> + <p> + "Do you think this is the one, Jerry?" one of the men asked. + </p> + <p> + "That is more than I can tell, Ben. I did not see an opening in the valley + as we came up it, but we might very well have missed one in the dark. I + should think from the distance we have gone towards the right it must be + the one where we left our horses. Anyhow, whether it is or not, we must + follow it up to the top and wait there for a bit to see if the chief + comes." + </p> + <p> + "I reckon he will be there before us," Harry said; "that is if he got + round the red-skins all right and found the horses. There would be no + reason for him to wait, and I expect he would go straight on, and is like + enough to be waiting for us by this time." + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII — CHASED + </h2> + <p> + The party pressed forward as rapidly as they could. The ground was rough + and at times very steep, and those on foot were able to keep up with the + horses without much difficulty. + </p> + <p> + "You think the Indians will follow, uncle?" Tom asked. + </p> + <p> + "They will follow, you may bet your boots, Tom; by this time they have got + to the bottom of the mystery. The first thing this morning some of them + will go up on to the ledge where you were, follow your tracks down to the + caņon where you left the horses, and find that you came up the valley and + not down it. They will have made out that there were two whites and two + red-skins, and that the two red-skins have gone up the caņon with the + horses. Directly the matter is all cleared up, they will be hotter than + ever for our scalps, for there is nothing a red-skin hates worse than + being fooled. Of course, they will know that it is a good deal harder to + wipe out seven men than three, and I don't think they will attack us + openly; they know well enough that in a fair fight two red-skins, if not + three, are likely to go down for each white they rub out. But they will + bide their time: red-skins are a wonderful hand at that; time is nothing + to them, and they would not mind hanging about us for weeks and weeks if + they can but get us at last. However, we will talk it all over when the + Indians join us. I don't think there is any chance of fighting to-day, but + whether we shall get out of these mountains without having another + scrimmage is doubtful." + </p> + <p> + Tom noticed that in his talk with him his uncle dropped most of the + western expressions which when speaking with the others he used as freely + as they did. He was now able to have a fair look at him, and found that he + agreed pretty closely with the ideas he had formed of him. There was a + strong likeness between him and his brother. They were about the same + height, but Harry was broader and more strongly built. His face was deeply + bronzed by long exposure to the wind and sun. He had a large tawny beard, + while Tom's father had been clean shaved. The sailor was five years the + senior, but the miner looked far younger than Tom could ever remember his + father looking, for the latter had never thoroughly recovered his, health + after having had a long bout of fever on the Zanzibar station; and the + long stride and free carriage of his uncle was in striking contrast to the + walk of his father. Both had keen gray eyes, the same outline of face, the + same pleasant smile. + </p> + <p> + "Now that I can see you fairly, Tom," the miner said, when they halted + once for the horses to come up to them, "I can make out that you are a + good deal like your father as I can first remember him." + </p> + <p> + "I was thinking you were very like him, uncle." + </p> + <p> + "We used to be alike in the old days, but I reckon the different lives we + led must have changed us both a great deal. He sent me once a photograph + four or five years ago, and at first I should not have known it was he. I + could see the likeness after a bit, but he was very much changed. No doubt + I have changed still more; all this hair on my face makes a lot of + difference. You see, it is a very long time since we met. I was but twenty + when I left England, and I had not seen him for two or three years before + that, for he was on the Mediterranean station at the time. Well, here are + the horses again, and as the ground looks flatter ahead we shall have to + push on to keep up with them." They were presently altogether beyond the + forest, and a broad plateau of bare rock stretched away in front of them + for miles. + </p> + <p> + "There they are," Jerry Curtis shouted. "I was beginning to feel scared + that the 'Rappahoes had got them." + </p> + <p> + It was a minute or two before Tom could make out the distant figures, for + his eyes were less accustomed to search for moving objects than were those + of his companions. + </p> + <p> + "They are riding fast," Harry Wade said. "I reckon they have made out some + Indians on their trail." + </p> + <p> + The little dark mass Tom had first seen soon resolved itself into two + horsemen and two riderless animals. They were still three or four miles + away, but in twenty minutes they reached the party advancing to meet them. + The whites waved their hats and gave them a cheer as they rode up. + </p> + <p> + "So you have managed to get through them all right, chief?" + </p> + <p> + "The 'Rappahoes are dogs. They are frightened at shadows; their eyes were + closed. Leaping Horse stood near their fires and saw them go forward, and + knew that his white brothers must have gained the forest before the + 'Rappahoes got to the rock. He found the horses safe, but the caņon was + very dark and in some places very narrow, with many rocks in the road, so + that he had to stop till the moon was high. It was not until morning came + that he reached the head of the caņon, an hour's ride from here. Half an + hour back Leaping Horse went to the edge and looked down. There were ten + 'Rappahoes riding fast up the trail. Has my brother heard anything of the + others?" + </p> + <p> + "Nothing whatever," Harry said. "I reckon they did not begin to move until + daylight, and as we went on when the moon rose they must be a good two + hours behind us. Which way do you think we had better go, chief?" + </p> + <p> + "Where does my brother wish to go?" + </p> + <p> + "It matters mighty little. I should say for a bit we had better travel + along this plateau, keeping about the same distance from the timber-line. + I don't think the 'Rappahoes will venture to attack us in the open. If we + keep on here we can cross the divide and get into the Shoshones' country, + and either go down the Buffalo and then up the Snake and so work down + south, or go east and strike some of the streams running that way into the + Big Horn." + </p> + <p> + The chief shook his head. + </p> + <p> + "Too far, too many bad Indians; will talk over fire tonight." + </p> + <p> + "That is it, chief. It is a matter that wants a good deal of talking over. + Anyhow, we had better be moving on at once." + </p> + <p> + Tom was glad to find himself in the saddle again, and the party rode on at + a steady pace for some hours, then they halted, lit a fire, and cooked a + meal. Tom noticed that the Indians no longer took pains to gather dry + sticks, but took the first that came to hand. He remarked this to Jerry. + </p> + <p> + "They know it is no use trying to hide our trail here; the two bands of + Indians will follow, one up and one down, until they meet at the spot + where the chief joined us. From there they can track us easy enough. + Nothing would suit us better than for them to come up to us here, for we + should give them fits, sartin. This is a good place. This little stream + comes down from that snow peak you see over there, and we have got + everything we want, for this patch of bushes will keep us in firing for a + bit. You see, there are some more big hills in front of us, and we are + better here than we should be among them. I expect we shall camp here for + the night." + </p> + <p> + "Then you don't think the Indians will come up close?" + </p> + <p> + "Not they. They will send a spy or two to crawl up, you may be sure, but + they will know better than to come within reach of our rifles." + </p> + <p> + "I am mighty glad to have my teeth into some deer-flesh again," Ben + Gulston said. "We had two or three chances as we came along, but we dare + not fire, and we have just been living on bread and bacon. Where did you + kill these wapiti?" + </p> + <p> + "At our first halt, near Fremont's Pass. We got two." + </p> + <p> + "Well, you haven't eaten much, Jerry," Sam Hicks said. "I reckon four men + ought pretty well to have finished off two quarters by this time." + </p> + <p> + "I reckon we should have finished one of the bucks, Sam; but we caught a + grist of fish the same day, dried them in the sun, and I think we mostly + ate them. They would not keep as well as the flesh. That is as good as the + day we shot it, for up here in the dry air meat keeps a sight better than + down in the plains. Give me some more tea, Sam." + </p> + <p> + "What do you think, mates, of camping here?" Harry Wade said. "The chief + thinks we are better here than we should be if we moved on. He feels + certain the red-skins won't dare attack us." + </p> + <p> + There was a cordial agreement in favour of a halt, for after the work they + had gone through during the last week they were glad of a rest. No one + would have thought half an hour afterwards that the little party engaged + in washing their shirts at the stream or mending their clothes, were in + the heart of a country unknown to most of them, and menaced by a savage + foe. The horses cropped the scanty tufts of grass or munched the young + tops of the bushes, the rifles stood stacked by the fire, near which the + two Indians sat smoking and talking earnestly together, Hunting Dog + occasionally getting up and taking a long careful look over the plain. As + the men finished their various jobs they came back to the fire. + </p> + <p> + "Now, chief," Harry said, "let us hear your ideas as to what we had best + do. We are all pretty old hands at mountaineering, but we reckon you know + a great deal more about it than we do. You don't like the plans I + proposed." + </p> + <p> + "No can do it," the chief said positively. "In a moon the snow will fall, + and there will be no crossing mountains." + </p> + <p> + "That is true enough," Jerry said. "An old trapper who had lived among the + Shoshones told me that nine months in the year they were shut up in the + valleys by the snow on the passes." + </p> + <p> + "Then how can live?" the chief went on. "As long as we stay in this + country the 'Rappahoes will watch us. They will tell the Bannacks and the + Nez Percés, and they too would be on our trail. As long as we keep + together and watch they will not come, they fear the white man's rifle; + but we cannot live without hunting, and then they kill one, two, till all + killed. At night must always watch, at day cannot hunt. How we live? What + good to stay? If we stop all killed sure." + </p> + <p> + There was silence round the circle. Every one of them felt the truth of + the Indian's words, and yet they hated the thought of abandoning their + search for gold, or, failing that, of a return home with their horses + laden with beaver skins. + </p> + <p> + Harry was the first to speak. "I am afraid these varmint have interfered + with our plans, mates. If we had had the luck to drop into one of the + upper valleys without being noticed we could have hunted and trapped there + and looked for gold for months without much chance of being discovered, + but this has upset it all. I am afraid that what the chief says is true. + If we keep together we starve, if we break up and hunt we shall be + ambushed and killed. I hate giving up anything I have set my mind on, but + this time I don't see a way out of it. We ain't the first party that has + come up here and had to go back again with empty hands, and we know what + happened to that party of twenty old-time miners from California two years + ago, though none of them ever got back to tell the tale. We knew when we + started, it wur just a chance, and the cards have gone against us." + </p> + <p> + "That is so," Ben agreed; "if it had turned out well we might have made a + good strike. It ain't turned out well, and as every day we stay here there + will be more of those varmint swarming round us, I say the sooner we get + out of this dog-goned country the better." + </p> + <p> + "You can count me in with you, Ben," Sam Hicks said. "We have gone in for + the game and we don't hold hands, and it ain't no use bluffing against + them red-skins. We sha'n't have lost much time arter all, and I reckon we + have all learned something. Some day when the railroad goes right across, + Uncle Sam will have to send a grist of troops to reckon up with the + red-skins in these hills, and arter that it may be a good country for + mining and trapping, but for the present we are a darned sight more likely + to lose our scalps than to get skins." + </p> + <p> + "Well, Leaping Horse, which way would you advise us to take, then?" + </p> + <p> + "Go straight back to caņon, ride down there, cross river, go up mountains + other side, pass them north of Union Peak, come down on upper water Big + Wind River. From there little way on to Green River. Leaping Horse never + been there, but has heard. One long day's ride from here, go to upper + waters of Green River." + </p> + <p> + "That sounds good," Jerry Curtis said. "If we could once strike the Green + we should be out of the 'Rappahoe country altogether. I have known two or + three men who have been up the Green nearly to its head, and there is good + hunting and a good many beaver in the side streams. I should not have + thought it would have come anywhere like as near as this, but I don't + doubt the chief is right." + </p> + <p> + "Union Peak," the chief said, pointing to a crag rising among a tumble of + hills to the south. + </p> + <p> + "Are you sure, chief?" + </p> + <p> + The Indian nodded. "Forty, fifty miles away," he said. "Leaping Horse has + been to upper waters of Green River, seen the peak from other side." + </p> + <p> + "That settles it, then," Harry said. "That is our course, there cannot be + a doubt. I should never have proposed the other if I had had an idea that + we were within sixty or seventy miles of the Green River. And you think we + had better take the caņon you came up by, chief?" + </p> + <p> + The Indian nodded. "If go down through forest may be ambushed. Open ground + from here back to caņon. 'Rappahoes most in front. Think we go that way, + not think we go back. Get good start. Once across river follow up little + stream among hills other side, that the way to pass. If 'Rappahoes follow + us we fight them." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, we shall have them at an advantage there, for they would have to + come up under our fire, and there are sure to be places where half a dozen + men could keep fifty at bay. Very well, chief, that is settled. When do + you think we had better start?" + </p> + <p> + "When gets dark," the chief replied. "No lose time, more Indian come every + hour. Keep fire burning well, 'Rappahoes think we camp here. Take horses a + little way off and mount beyond light of fire." + </p> + <p> + "You think they will be watching us?" + </p> + <p> + "Sure to watch. First ride north half an hour, then turn and ride to + caņon. If spies see us go off take word to friends we gone north. Too dark + to follow trail. They think they catch us easy to-morrow, and take up + trail in morning; but too late then, we cross river before that." + </p> + <p> + There was a general murmur of assent. The thought of being constantly + watched, and suddenly attacked when least expecting it, made them feel + restless, and the thought of early action was pleasant to them. + </p> + <p> + "You don't think that there are any spies watching us now, uncle, do you?" + </p> + <p> + "Not close, Tom; they would know better than that. They could see us miles + away if we were to mount and ride off, and it is only when it gets dark + that they would venture to crawl up, for if one were sighted in the + daytime he would not have a ghost of a chance of getting away, for we + could ride him down sartin." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I reckon we may as well take a sleep," Sam Hicks said. "You lie + down for one, anyhow, Harry, for you watched last evening. We will toss up + which of us keeps awake." + </p> + <p> + "Leaping Horse will keep watch," the chief said quietly. "No fear of + Indians, but better to watch." + </p> + <p> + Knowing the power of the red-skins to keep awake for an almost unlimited + time, none of the others thought of refusing the offer, and in a few + minutes all were sound asleep. Towards sunset they were on their feet + again. Another meal was cooked and eaten, then as it became dusk the + horses were gathered fifty yards away, and Hunting Dog and Tom took their + places beside them. + </p> + <p> + "Keep your eyes open and your rifle handy, Tom," his uncle said. "It is + like enough that some young brave, anxious to distinguish himself, may + crawl up with the intention of stampeding the ponies, though I don't think + he would attempt it till he thought most of us were asleep. Still, there + is no saying." + </p> + <p> + The watch was undisturbed, and soon it became so dark that objects could + no longer be seen fifty yards away. Tom began to feel nervous. Every tuft + of ground, every little bush seemed to him to take the form of a crawling + Indian, and he felt a great sense of relief when he saw the figures round + the fire rise and walk towards him. + </p> + <p> + "I am glad you have come, uncle," he said frankly; "I began to feel very + uncomfortable several times. It seemed to me that some of the bushes + moved." + </p> + <p> + "That is just what I thought you would be feeling, Tom. But it was just as + well that your first watch should be a short one, without much chance of + an ambush being on foot; and I knew that if your eyes deceived you, + Hunting Dog was there. Next time you won't feel so nervous; that sort of + thing soon passes off." + </p> + <p> + A fresh armful of brushwood had been thrown on to the fire before the men + left it, and long after they had ridden away they could see the flames + mounting high. After riding north for a quarter of an hour they changed + their route and passed round, leaving the fire half a mile on their right. + The light of the stars was quite sufficient for them to travel by, and + after four hours' journey the chief, who was riding ahead, halted. + </p> + <p> + "Not far from caņon now. Listen." + </p> + <p> + A very faint murmur came to their ears, so faint that had not his + attention been drawn to it Tom would not have noticed it at all. + </p> + <p> + "What is that noise?" he asked. + </p> + <p> + "That is the stream down in the caņon," his uncle replied. "How far are we + from the head, chief?" + </p> + <p> + "Not far, must ride slow." + </p> + <p> + They proceeded at a walk, changing their course a little towards the east. + Hunting Dog went on ahead, and in a quarter of an hour they heard his + signal, the cry of an owl. It arose from a point still further east, and + quickening their pace, in a few minutes they came up to the young Indian, + who was standing by his horse at the edge of a steep descent, at the + bottom of which Tom could see a stream of water. + </p> + <p> + "It looks very steep," Jerry said. + </p> + <p> + "Steep, but smooth," the Indian replied. "Came up here with horses this + morning." + </p> + <p> + All dismounted, and Tom went up to his horse's head. "That won't do, Tom. + Never go before a horse down a steep place where you can't see your way, + always drive it before you." + </p> + <p> + There was some trouble in getting the horses to commence the descent, but + after a short time the chief's pony set the example; and tucking its hind + legs under it until it sat down on its haunches, began to slide down, + while the other animals, after staring into the darkness with ears laid + back and snorting with fear, were half-persuaded, half-forced to follow + its example, and the men went down after them. The descent was not so + steep as in the darkness it looked, and the depth was not over fifty feet. + As soon as they reached the bottom they mounted again, and the chief + leading the way, they rode down the caņon. At first they were able to + proceed at a fair pace, but as the sides grew higher and more precipitous + the darkness became more dense, and they were obliged to pick their way + with great caution among the boulders that strewed the bottom of the + ravine. Several times they had to dismount in order to get the horses over + heavy falls, and it was four hours from the time they entered the caņon + before they approached its mouth. When they entered the little wood where + they had first left the horses, the chief said, "Make fire, cook food + here. Leaping Horse and Hunting Dog go on and scout, maybe 'Rappahoes left + watch in valley." + </p> + <p> + "Very well, chief. It is seven hours since we started; I think the horses + will be all the better for an hour's rest, and I am sure we shall be the + better of a feed. Besides, when we are once out of this hole we may have + to travel fast." + </p> + <p> + "You don't think it likely that the 'Rappahoes are on the look-out for us + at the entrance?" Tom asked, as the Indians moved away. + </p> + <p> + "Not likely at all, Tom. Still, as they might reckon that if we gave their + searching party the slip we must come down again by the river or through + this caņon, they may have left a party or sent down word to some of their + villages to keep a watch in the valley." + </p> + <p> + It was more than an hour before the Indians returned. + </p> + <p> + "No 'Rappahoes in valley," the chief said, as he seated himself by the + fire and began without loss of time to eat the meat they had cooked in + readiness. "Better be going soon, must cross river and get on before light + come; have seen fires, Indian villages up on hillsides. When light comes + and 'Rappahoes find trail they come back quick." + </p> + <p> + "You may bet your boots they will, chief," Sam Hicks said. "They will be a + pretty mad crowd when they make out that we have come down again by the + caņon. As soon as they see which way we have headed some of them will make + a bee-line down here in hopes of cutting us off at the mouth, but by the + time they are here we shall be half-way up the hill." + </p> + <p> + The Indian made no reply, but he and Hunting Dog ate their meal steadily, + and as soon as they had finished rose to their feet, and saying "Time to + go" went out to fetch in their horses. + </p> + <p> + "I don't think the chief is as confident we shall get off without a fight + as Sam seemed to be," Tom said to his uncle. + </p> + <p> + "There is never any saying what an Indian thinks, Tom, even when he has + fallen into white man's ways, as Leaping Horse has done. It may be that + the sight of the fires he made out on the opposite hills has troubled him. + It will be light before we are far up on the side, and we may be made out + by some of the varmint there. They are always restless. Go into an Indian + village when you will, you will find some of them smoking by the fire. + Their ears are so 'tarnal sharp, they can hear sounds that would never + catch our ears, not at half the distance. The clink of a couple of pans + together, or a stone set rolling by a horse's tread, were it ever so + faint, would bring them on their feet directly, especially now they know + that a war-party is out." + </p> + <p> + The march was again resumed. Passing through the narrowest part of the + caņon they issued out into the valley and made for the river. Some time + was lost here, for Sam Hicks, who was leading one of the pack-ponies, was + carried down several hundred yards by the stream, and with difficulty + effected his landing. The horse's load shifted and had to be repacked. As + soon as this was done they followed the river down for two miles till they + came upon a stream running into it from the southwest. + </p> + <p> + "You think this is the stream we have to follow, chief?" + </p> + <p> + "Must be him, no other came in on this side for a long way; right line for + peak." + </p> + <p> + They turned up by the stream, and after riding a mile found themselves + entering a mountain gorge. It was not a caņon but a steep, narrow valley. + They picked their way with the greatest caution for some time, then the + two Indians stopped simultaneously. + </p> + <p> + "What is the matter, chief?" Harry, who was riding next to them, + whispered. + </p> + <p> + "Smell smoke." + </p> + <p> + Harry sniffed the air. + </p> + <p> + "I can't say I smell it, chief, but if you say you do that settles it. + Where do you think it comes from?" + </p> + <p> + "Up valley; wind light, but comes that way. Indian village up here." + </p> + <p> + "Well, so much the worse for the Indian village if it interferes with us," + Harry said grimly; "there is one thing certain, we have got to go through. + Probably most of the braves are away up in the hills." + </p> + <p> + They now went on with redoubled caution. The chief gave his bridle to + Hunting Dog and went forward on foot. A hundred yards farther the valley + made a sharp turn and then widened out considerably, and the glow of a + fire was visible among some trees standing on the hillside some fifty feet + above the level of the stream. The chief looked at the sky; a faint light + was breaking, and without pausing he continued to lead the way. They + passed under the Indian encampment, and had got a few yards higher when + the pony Sam Hicks was leading gave a sharp neigh. + </p> + <p> + "Darn its old ears!" Tom heard Jerry growl. Harry at the same moment put + his horse to a trot, and the others following clattered up the valley, + knowing that concealment was no longer of any use; indeed, an answering + neigh from above and hurried shouts were heard, followed a moment + afterwards by a loud yell as an Indian running through the trees caught + sight of them in the moonlight. + </p> + <p> + "We are in for it now, Tom; that is, if there are men enough in the + village to attack us." + </p> + <p> + The horses broke into a gallop. They had gone but fifty yards when a + rifle-shot was heard from behind, and Tom felt a shock as the ball struck + his saddle. Almost immediately another shot was fired abreast of him, and + an Indian yell rose loudly behind them. A moment later Leaping Horse with + a shout of triumph bounded down the rocks and leapt on to his horse. Four + or five more shots were fired from behind, but none of them were hit. A + hundred yards farther they were in shelter of a belt of trees that + extended down to the stream. As they entered it Harry looked back. He + could now see the hills beyond the main valley. + </p> + <p> + "Look, chief!" he exclaimed. "The varmint up there are signalling far off + above the timber-line." + </p> + <p> + Bright tongues of fire could be seen, two close together and one a short + distance to the left. + </p> + <p> + "What does that mean, uncle?" Tom asked, as the chief gave a short + exclamation of surprise and anger. + </p> + <p> + "It means, lad, that the red-skins have been sharper than we gave them + credit for. When their spies brought them news that we had started they + must have come down to the fire and followed our trail at once with + torches, before we had got above an hour or two away. No doubt it was slow + work, but they must have found where we changed our course, and made out + that we were making for the head of the caņon. I expect most of them lost + no time in following the trail farther, but rode straight for the head of + the caņon, and like enough they weren't half an hour behind us when we + came out. The others rode to the edge of the plateau and set those fires + alight." + </p> + <p> + "But what do they mean, uncle?" + </p> + <p> + "They are a warning to all the villages that we have headed back, you may + be sure of that, though I can't say what the message is, for every tribe + has its own signals, but it will have set them on the watch up and down + the valley; and like enough the signal has been repeated somewhere at a + point where it can be seen straight down the Big Wind Valley. The shooting + will tell them all which way we are making, and if the 'Rappahoes have + come out of the caņon, as I reckon they have, they need lose no more time + in looking for our trail. I reckon in half an hour we shall have a hundred + or so of the varmint after us. I only hope there are no more villages upon + this line. I don't so much care about the fellows who are following us, we + are sure to find some place where we can make a stand, but it would be + awkward if we find our way barred." + </p> + <p> + "But if there is no one in front, uncle, I should think we might be able + to keep ahead. Our horses are as good as they are likely to have." + </p> + <p> + "You and Jerry might be able to, Tom, for you have got hold of two + first-rate ponies; but the Indians' are nothing out of the way, and our + ponies ain't in it with you; besides, they and the pack-horses have all + been doing hard work for the last week with none too much food, and many + of the 'Rappahoes will be on fresh horses. I expect we have got some very + tall climbing to do before we get up to the pass, and we have got to do + our fighting before we get there." + </p> + <p> + The ground rose steeply, and was encumbered by fallen stones and boulders, + and it was not long before the pack-horses began to show signs of + distress, while those ridden by Harry and his two comrades were drawing + their breath in short gasps. After emerging from the trees the ravine had + run in almost a straight line for more than half a mile, and just as they + reached the end of this stretch a yell was heard down the valley. Looking + back they saw eight or ten mounted Indians emerging from the wood at the + lower end. + </p> + <p> + "That is a signal," Harry exclaimed, as four rifles were fired in quick + succession. "Well, we have got a bit of a start of them, and they won't + venture to attack us until some more come up. We had better take it a bit + quietly, chief, or our horses will give out. I expect we sha'n't be long + before we come upon a place where we can make a stand." + </p> + <p> + The Seneca looked round at the horses. "You, Sam, Ben and pack-horses go + on till you get to place where can fight. We four wait here; got good + horses, and can ride on. We stop them here for a bit." + </p> + <p> + "That would be best. I don't like being out of it, but we will do our + share presently." + </p> + <p> + No more words were necessary. Harry and his two mates rode on at a slower + pace than before, while the two Indians, Jerry, and Tom dismounted, left + their horses beyond the turn, and then coming back took up their positions + behind four large boulders. The Indians had noticed their returning + figures, for they suddenly drew up their horses and gathered together in + consultation. + </p> + <p> + "Draw your bullet, Tom," Jerry said, "and drop in half a charge more + powder; I reckon that piece of yours will send a bullet among them with + the help of a good charge. Allow a bit above that top notch for extra, + elevation. It's a good big mark, and you ought to be able to plump a + bullet among them." + </p> + <p> + Tom followed the instructions, and then resting the barrel on the top of + the boulder took a steady aim and fired. There was a sudden stir among the + group of Indians. A horse reared high in the air, almost unseating its + rider, and then they all rode off at the top of their speed, and halted + two or three hundred yards lower down the valley. The Senecas uttered a + grunt of approval. + </p> + <p> + "That was a good shot, Tom, though I wish you had hit one of the red-skins + instead of his critter. Still, it will give them a good lesson, and make + them mighty keerful. They won't care about showing their ugly heads within + range of a piece that will carry five hundred yards." + </p> + <p> + A quarter of an hour passed without any movement on the part of the + Indians. Then a large party of horsemen appeared from the trees below, and + were greeted by them with a yell of satisfaction. + </p> + <p> + "There must be well-nigh fifty of them," Jerry said. "I reckon it's the + party that came down the hill. They must have picked up a good many others + by the way. Now the fun is going to begin." + </p> + <p> + After five minutes' consultation some twenty of the Indians dismounted, + and dividing into two parties ascended the slopes of the valley and began + to move forward, taking advantage of every stone and bush, so that it was + but occasionally that a glimpse of one of their bodies was obtained. + </p> + <p> + "They are going to skirmish up to us," Jerry said, "till they are near + enough to make it hot for us if we show a head above the rocks to fire. As + soon as they can do that, the others will charge. I think they are not + more than four hundred yards off now, Tom. That is within your range, so + you may as well begin to show them that we are awake. If you can bring one + down it will check their pace." + </p> + <p> + Tom had just noticed three Indians run behind a clump of bushes, and he + now levelled his rifle so that it bore on a spot a foot on one side of it. + Half a minute later an Indian appeared at the bush and began to run + forward. Tom pressed the trigger. The Indian ran a few steps, and then + fell forward on his face. + </p> + <p> + "Bravo, Plumb-centre!" Jerry shouted. "We said that you would do the rifle + credit, Tom, and Billy the Scout could not have done better himself." + </p> + <p> + "Young white man make great hunter," the chief remarked approvingly. "Got + good eye and steady hand." + </p> + <p> + The lesson had its effect. The Indian advance was no longer rapid, but was + conducted with the greatest caution, and it was only occasionally that a + glimpse could be caught of a dusky figure passing from rock to rock. When + they came within three hundred yards the two Indians and Jerry also opened + fire. One fell to a shot from the chief, but neither of the others hit + their marks. Tom indeed did not fire again, the movements of the Indians + being so rapid that they were gone before he could bring his sight to bear + upon any of them. + </p> + <p> + "Go now," the chief said. "'Rappahoes fire soon; run quick." + </p> + <p> + It was but a few yards to shelter. As they dashed across the intervening + space two or three Indian rifles rang out, but the rest of the assailants + had been too much occupied in sheltering themselves and looking for the + next spot to make for, to keep an eye upon the defenders, and the + hastily-fired shots all missed. A moment later the party mounted their + horses and rode up the ravine, the yells of the Indians ringing in their + ears. + </p> + <p> + [Image: "A Moment Later The Indian Fell Forward On His Face."] + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VIII — IN SAFETY + </h2> + <p> + "We have gained half an hour anyhow," Jerry said, as they galloped up the + ravine, "and I reckon by the time we overtake them we shall find them + stowed away in some place where it will puzzle the red-skins to dislodge + us. The varmint will fight hard if they are cornered, but they ain't good + at advancing when there are a few rifle-tubes, in the hands of white men, + pointing at them, and they have had a lesson now that we can shoot." + </p> + <p> + The ravine continued to narrow. The stream had become a mere rivulet, and + they were high up on the hillside. + </p> + <p> + "I begin to be afeared there ain't no place for making a stand." Here he + was interrupted by an angry growl, as a great bear suddenly rose to his + feet behind a rock. + </p> + <p> + "You may thank your stars that we are too busy to attend to you," Jerry + said, as they rode past within a few yards of it. "That is a grizzly, Tom; + and an awkward beast you would have found him if you had come upon him by + yourself without your shooting-iron. He is a big one too, and his skin + would have been worth money down in the settlements. Ah, there they are." + </p> + <p> + The ravine made an abrupt turn to the west, and high up on its side they + saw their three companions with the five horses climbing up the + precipitous rocks. + </p> + <p> + "How ever did they get up there?" Jerry exclaimed. + </p> + <p> + "Found Indian trail," the chief said. "Let my brothers keep their eyes + open." + </p> + <p> + They rode on slowly now, examining every foot of the steep hillside. + Presently Hunting Dog, who was ahead, uttered an exclamation. Between two + great boulders there was a track, evidently a good deal used. + </p> + <p> + "Let Hunting Dog go first," the chief said. "Leaping Horse will follow the + white men." + </p> + <p> + "I reckon that this is the great Indian trail over the pass," Jerry said + to Tom, who preceded him. "I have heard there ain't no way over the + mountains atween that pass by Fremont's Buttes and the pass by this peak, + which they calls Union Peak, and the red-skins must travel by this when + they go down to hunt buffalo on the Green River. It is a wonder Harry + struck on it." + </p> + <p> + "Leaping Horse told him to keep his eyes open," the chief said from the + rear. "He knew that Indian trail led up this valley." + </p> + <p> + "Jee-rusalem! but it's a steep road," Jerry said presently. "I am + dog-goned if I can guess how the red-skins ever discovered it. I expect + they must have tracked some game up it, and followed to see where it went + to." + </p> + <p> + The trail wound about in a wonderful way. Sometimes it went horizontally + along narrow ledges, then there was a bit of steep climbing, where they + had to lead their horses; then it wound back again, and sometimes even + descended for a distance to avoid a projecting crag. + </p> + <p> + "Ah! would ye, yer varmint?" Jerry exclaimed, as a shot rang out from the + valley below and a bullet flattened itself against a rock within a foot or + two of his head. The shot was followed by a loud yell from below, as a + crowd of mounted Indians rode at full gallop round the angle of the + ravine. + </p> + <p> + "Hurry on, Hunting Dog, and get round the next corner, for we are regular + targets here." + </p> + <p> + A few yards farther a turn of the path took them out of sight of the + Indians, but not before a score of bullets came whistling up from below. + </p> + <p> + "The varmint have been riding too fast to shoot straight, I reckon. It + will be our turn directly." + </p> + <p> + Just as he spoke the chief called upon them to dismount. They threw their + bridles on their horses' necks, and descending to the ledge they had just + left, lay down on it. + </p> + <p> + "Get your revolver out, Tom, before you shoot," Jerry said. "They will be + off before you have time to load your rifle again." + </p> + <p> + The Indians were some four hundred feet below them, and were talking + excitedly, evidently hesitating whether to follow up the trail. The four + rifles cracked almost together. Two Indians fell, and the plunging of two + horses showed that they were hit. In an instant the whole mass were on + their way down the valley, followed by bullet after bullet from the + revolvers which Leaping Horse as well as the whites carried. Anything like + accurate aim was impossible, and no Indian was seen to fall, but it was + probable that some of the bullets had taken effect among the crowded + horsemen. + </p> + <p> + "Go on quiet now," Leaping Horse said, rising to his feet. "'Rappahoes not + follow any farther. One man with this"—and he touched his revolver—"keep + back whole tribe here." + </p> + <p> + Half an hour later they joined the party who had halted at the top of the + track. + </p> + <p> + "It air too bad our being out of it," Ben said. "I hope you have given + some of the varmint grist." + </p> + <p> + "Only five or six of them," Jerry replied regretfully, "counting in the + one Leaping Horse shot at the village. Tom here did a big shot, and + brought one down in his tracks at a good four hundred yards—as neat + a shot as ever I saw fired. The chief he accounted for another; then + atween us we wiped out two down below; and I reckon some of the others are + carrying some of our lead away. Waal, I think we have shook them off at + last any how. I suppose there ain't, no other road they can come up here + by, chief?" + </p> + <p> + "Leaping Horse only heard of one trail." + </p> + <p> + "You may bet your life there ain't another," Harry remarked. "They would + never have used such a dog-goned road as this if there had been any other + way of going up." + </p> + <p> + "Camp here," the chief said. "Long journey over pass, too much cold. Keep + watch here at head of trail." + </p> + <p> + "That is a very good plan. I have heard that the pass is over nine + thousand feet above the sea, and it would never do to have to camp up + there. Besides, I have been looking at the sky, and I don't much like its + appearance. Look over there to the north." + </p> + <p> + There were, indeed, evident signs of an approaching change in the weather. + On the previous day every peak and jagged crest stood out hard and + distinct in the clear air. Now all the higher summits were hidden by a + bank of white cloud. + </p> + <p> + "Snow," the Indian said gravely; "winter coming." + </p> + <p> + "That is just what I thought, chief. At any rate we know where we are + here, and there is brushwood to be gathered not far down the trail; and + even if we are shut up here we can manage well enough for a day or two. + These early snows don't lie long, but to be caught in a snow-storm higher + up would be a sight worse than fighting with red-skins." + </p> + <p> + From the spot where they were now standing at the edge of the ravine the + ground sloped very steeply up for some hundreds of feet, and then steep + crags rose in an unbroken wall; but from the view they had had of the + country from the other side they knew that behind this wall rose a range + of lofty summits. The Indian trail ran along close to the edge of the + ravine. The chief looked round earnestly. + </p> + <p> + "No good place to camp," he said. "Wind blow down hills, horses not able + to stand against it. Heap snow tumble down from there," and he pointed + upwards. "Carry everything down below." + </p> + <p> + "Well, if you think we had better push on, let us do so, chief." + </p> + <p> + The Indian shook his head and pointed to the clouds again. "See," he said; + "storm come very soon." + </p> + <p> + Even in the last two or three minutes a change was perceptible. The upper + edge of the clouds seemed to be suddenly broken up. Long streamers spread + out like signal flags of danger. Masses of clouds seemed to be wrenched + off and to fly with great rapidity for a short distance; some of them + sinking a little, floated back until they again formed a part of the + mountain cap, while others sped onwards towards the south. + </p> + <p> + "No time," the chief repeated earnestly; "must look for camp quick." He + spoke in the Indian tongue to Hunting Dog, and the two stood on a point + where the ground jutted out, and closely examined the ravine up whose side + they had climbed. The chief pointed farther along, and Hunting Dog started + at a run along the Indian trail. A few hundred yards farther he paused and + looked down, moved a few steps farther, and then disappeared from sight. + In three or four minutes he returned and held up his arms. + </p> + <p> + "Come," the chief said, and taking his horse's rein led it along the path. + The others followed his example, glad, indeed, to be in motion. Five + minutes before they had been bathed in perspiration from their climb up + the cliff; now they were conscious of the extraordinary change of + temperature that had suddenly set in, and each had snatched a blanket from + behind his saddle and wrapped it round him. They soon reached the spot + where Hunting Dog was standing, and looked down. Some thirty feet below + there was a sort of split in the face of the cliff, a wall of rock rising + to within four or five feet of the level of the edge of the ravine. At one + end it touched the face of the rock, at the other it was ten or twelve + feet from it, the space between being in the form of a long wedge, which + was completely filled up with trees and brushwood. A ledge ran down from + the point where Hunting Dog was standing to the mouth of the fissure. + </p> + <p> + "Jee-rusalem, chief!" Ben exclaimed. "That air just made for us—we + could not have found a better, not if we had sarched for a year. But I + reckon we shall have to clear the place a bit before we take the critters + down." + </p> + <p> + Two axes were taken from one of the pack-horses. + </p> + <p> + "Don't cut away the bigger stuff, Ben," Harry said as his two mates + proceeded down the ledge, "their heads will shelter us from the snow a + bit; and only clear away the bushes enough to give room for the horses and + us, and leave those standing across the entrance to make a screen. While + you are doing it we will fetch in as much more wood and grass as we can + get hold of before the snow begins to fall." + </p> + <p> + The horses were left standing while the men scattered along the top of the + ravine, and by the time Ben shouted that they were ready, a considerable + pile of brushwood and a heap of coarse grass had been collected. The + horses were then led down one by one, unsaddled, and packed together in + two lines, having beyond them a great pile of the bushes that had been cut + away. + </p> + <p> + "I am dog-goned if this ain't the best shelter I ever struck upon," Jerry + said. "We could not have fixed upon a better if we had had it built + special," the others cordially agreed. + </p> + <p> + The place they occupied was of some twelve feet square. On either side was + a perpendicular wall of rock; beyond were the horses; while at the + entrance the bush, from three to four feet high, had been left standing; + above them stretched a canopy of foliage. Enough dry wood had been + collected to start a fire. + </p> + <p> + "Don't make it too big. Jerry, we don't want to scorch up our roof," Harry + Wade said. "Well, I reckon we have got enough fuel here for a week, for + there is what you cut down and what we brought, and all that is left + standing beyond the horses; and with the leaves and the grass the ponies + should be able to hold out as long as the fuel lasts. We are short of + meat, but we have plenty of flour; and as for water, we can melt snow." + </p> + <p> + Buffalo rugs were laid down on each side by the rock walls, and on these + they took their seats and lighted their pipes. + </p> + <p> + "I have been wanting a smoke pretty bad," Jerry said; "I ain't had one + since we halted in that there caņon. Hello, here it comes!" + </p> + <p> + As he spoke a fierce gust of wind swayed the foliage overhead and sent the + smoke, that had before risen quietly upwards, whirling round the recess; + then for a moment all was quiet again; then came another and a stronger + gust, rising and gathering in power and laden with fine particles of snow. + A thick darkness fell, and Harry threw some more wood on the fire to make + a blaze. But loud as was the gale outside, the air in the shelter was + hardly moved, and there was but a slight rustling of the leaves overhead. + Thicker and thicker flew the snow flakes in the air outside, and yet none + seemed to fall through the leaves. + </p> + <p> + "I am dog-goned if I can make this out," Sam Hicks said. "We are as quiet + here as if we were in a stone house, and one would think there was a + copper-plated roof overhead. It don't seem nat'ral." + </p> + <p> + The others were also looking up with an air of puzzled surprise, not + unmingled with uneasiness. Harry went to the entrance and looked out over + the breastwork of bushes. "Look here, Sam," he said. + </p> + <p> + "Why, Harry, it looks to me as if it were snowing up instead of down," the + miner said as he joined him. + </p> + <p> + "That is just it. You see, we are in the elbow of the valley and are + looking straight down it, into the eye of the wind. It comes rushing up + the valley and meets this steep wall on its way, and pushed on by the wind + behind has to go somewhere, and so it is driven almost straight up here + and over the hilltops behind us. So you see the snow is carried up instead + of falling, and this rock outside us shoots it clear up over the path we + were following above. As long as the wind keeps north, I reckon we sha'n't + be troubled by the snow in here." + </p> + <p> + The explanation seemed satisfactory, and there was a general feeling of + relief. + </p> + <p> + "I remember reading," Tom said, as the others took their seats again, + "that people can stand on the edge of a cliff, facing a gale, without + feeling any wind. For the wind that strikes the cliff rushes up with such + force that it forms a sort of wall. Of course, it soon beats down again, + and not many yards back you can feel the gale as strongly as anywhere + else. But just at the edge the air is perfectly still." + </p> + <p> + The miners looked at Tom as if they thought that he was making a joke at + their expense. But his uncle said: + </p> + <p> + "Yes, I can quite believe that. You see, it is something like a waterfall; + you can stand right under that, for the force shoots it outwards, and I + reckon it is the same sort of thing here." The chief nodded gravely. He + too had been surprised at the lull in their shelter when the storm was + raging so furiously outside, but Harry's illustration of the action of + rushing water enlightened him more than his first explanation had done. + </p> + <p> + "But water ain't wind, Harry," Ben said. + </p> + <p> + "It is like water in many ways, Ben. You don't see it, but you can feel it + just the same. If you stand behind a tree or round a corner it rushes past + you, and you are in a sort of eddy, just as you would be if it was a river + that was moving alongside of you. Wind acts just the same way as water. If + it had been a big river coming along the valley at the same rate as the + wind it would rush up the rocks some distance and then sweep round and + race up the valley; but wind being light instead of being heavy is able to + rush straight up the hill till it gets right over the crest." + </p> + <p> + "Waal, if you say it is all right I suppose it is. Anyhow, it's a good + thing for us, and I don't care how long it goes on in the same way. I + reckoned that before morning we should have those branches breaking down + on us with the weight of snow; now I see we are like to have a quiet + night." + </p> + <p> + "I won't answer for that, Ben; it is early in the day yet, and there is no + saying how the wind may be blowing before to-morrow morning. Anyhow, now + we have time we may as well get some of those bundles of bushes that we + brought down, and pile them so as to thicken the shelter of these bushes + and lighten it a bit. If we do that, and hang a couple of blankets inside + of them, it will give us a good shelter even if the wind works round, and + will help to keep us warm. For though we haven't got wind or snow in here, + we have got cold." + </p> + <p> + "You bet," Jerry agreed; "it is a regular blizzard. And although I don't + say as it is too cold sitting here by the fire, it won't cost us anything + to make the place a bit warmer." + </p> + <p> + Accordingly the bundles of wood they had gathered were brought out, and + with these the screen of bush was thickened, and raised to a height of + five feet; and when this was hung inside with a couple of blankets, it was + agreed that they could get through the storm comfortably even if it lasted + for a month. + </p> + <p> + They cooked their last chunk of deer's flesh, after having first prepared + some bread and put it in the baking pot among the embers, and made some + tea from the water in the skins. When they had eaten their meal they + covered themselves up in buffalo robes and blankets, and lighted their + pipes. There was, however, but little talk, for the noise of the tempest + was so great, that it was necessary to raise the voice almost to a shout + to be heard, and it was not long before they were all asleep. + </p> + <p> + For hours there was no stir in the shelter, save when a horse pawed the + ground impatiently, or when Hunting Dog rose two or three times to put + fresh sticks on the fire. It seemed to Tom when he woke that it ought to + be nearly morning. He took out his watch, and by the light of the fire + made out to his surprise that it was but ten o'clock. The turmoil of the + wind seemed to him to be as loud as before, and he pulled the blankets + over his shoulder again and was soon sound asleep. When he next woke, it + was with the sensation of coldness in the face, and sitting up he saw that + the blankets and the ground were covered with a thick coating of fine + snow. There was a faint light in addition to that given by the embers of + the fire, and he knew that morning was breaking. His movement disturbed + his uncle, who was lying next him. He sat up and at once aroused the + others. + </p> + <p> + "Wake up, mates," he said; "we have had somewhere about eighteen hours' + sleep, and day is breaking." + </p> + <p> + In a minute all were astir. The snow was first shaken off the blankets, + and then Harry, taking a shovel, cleared the floor. Jerry took the largest + cooking-pot, and saying to Tom, "You bring that horse-bucket along," + pushed his way out through a small gap that had been left in the screen of + bushes. The wind had gone down a good deal, though it was still blowing + strongly. The snow had drifted against the entrance, and formed a steep + bank there; from this they filled the pot and bucket, pressing the snow + down. Tom was glad to get back again within the shelter, for the cold + outside was intense. The fire was already burning brightly, and the pot + and a frying-pan were placed over it, and kept replenished with snow as + fast as their contents melted. "We must keep on at this," Harry said, + "there is not a drop left in the skins, and the horses must have water." + </p> + <p> + As soon as enough had melted it was poured into the kettle. There was some + bacon among the trappers' stores, as they had calculated that they would + not be able to hunt until out of Big Wind Valley and far up among the + forests beyond. The frying-pan was now utilized for its proper work, while + the pail was placed close enough to the fire to thaw its contents, without + risking injury to it. Within an hour of breakfast being finished enough + snow had been thawed to give the horses half a bucket of water each. In + each pail a couple of pounds of flour had been stirred to help out what + nourishment could be obtained from the leaves, and from the small modicum + of grass given to each animal. + </p> + <p> + "It will be a big journey over the pass, anyhow," Harry had said. "Now + that we are making tracks for the settlements we need not be sparing of + the flour; indeed, the lighter we are the better." + </p> + <p> + The day did not pass so pleasantly as that preceding it, for the air was + filled with fine snow that blew in at the entrance and found its way + between the leaves overhead; while from time to time the snow accumulating + there came down with a crash, calling forth much strong language from the + man on whom it happened to fall, and shouts of laughter from his comrades. + The party was indeed a merry one. They had failed altogether in the + objects of their expedition, but they had escaped without a scratch from + the Indians, and had inflicted some damage upon them; and their luck in + finding so snug a shelter in such a storm far more than counterbalanced + their disappointment at their failure. + </p> + <p> + "Have you often been caught in the snow, uncle?" + </p> + <p> + "You bet, Tom; me and the chief here were mighty nigh rubbed out three + years ago. I was prospecting among the Ute hills, while Leaping Horse was + doing the hunting for us both. It was in the middle of winter; the snow + was deep on the ground in the valleys and on the tops of the hills, but + there was plenty of bare rock on the hillside, so I was able to go on with + my work. While as for hunting, the cold drove the big-horns down from the + heights where they feed in summer, and the chief often got a shot at them; + and they are good eating, I can tell you. + </p> + <p> + "We hadn't much fear of red-skins, for they ain't fond of cold and in + winter move their lodges down to the most sheltered valleys and live + mostly on dried meat. When they want a change they can always get a bear + or maybe a deer in the woods. We were camped in a grove of pines in a + valley and were snug enough. One day I had struck what I thought was the + richest vein I had ever come on. I got my pockets full of bits of quartz + with the gold sticking thick in it, and you may bet I went down to the + camp in high glee. A quarter of a mile before I got there I saw Leaping + Horse coming to meet me at a lope. It didn't want telling that there was + something wrong. As soon as he came up he said 'Utes.' 'Many of them, + chief?' I asked. He held up his open hands twice. + </p> + <p> + "'Twenty of them,' I said; 'that is pretty bad. How far are they away?' He + said he had seen them coming over a crest on the other side of the valley. + 'Then we have got to git,' I said, 'there ain't no doubt about that. What + the 'tarnal do the varmint do here?' 'War-party,' the chief said. 'Indian + hunter must have come across our trail and taken word back to the lodges.' + The place where he had met me was among a lot of rocks that had rolled + down. There had been no snow for a fortnight, and of course the red-skins + would see our tracks everywhere, going and coming from the camp. We were + on foot that time, though we had a pack-horse to carry our outfit. Of + course they would get that and everything at the camp. I did not think + much of the loss, the point was how were we to save our scalps? We had sat + down behind a rock as soon as he had joined me. Just then a yell came from + the direction of our camp, and we knew that the red-skins had found it. + 'They won't be able to follow your trail here, chief, will they?' He shook + his head. 'Trail everywhere, not know which was the last.' We could see + the grove where the camp was, and of course they could see the rocks, and + it was sartin that if we had made off up the hill they would have been + after us in a squirrel's jump; so there was nothing to do but to lie quiet + until it was dark. We got in among the boulders, and lay down where we + could watch the grove through a chink. + </p> + <p> + "'I don't see a sign of them,' I said. 'You would have thought they would + have been out in search of us.' + </p> + <p> + "'No search,' the chief said. 'No good look for us, not know where we have + gone to. Hide up in grove. Think we come back, and then catch us.' + </p> + <p> + "So it turned out. Not a sign of them was to be seen, and after that first + yell everything was as quiet as death. In a couple of hours it got dark, + and as soon as it did we were off. We talked matters over, you may be + sure. There weren't no denying we were cornered. There we were without an + ounce of flour or a bite of meat. The chief had caught up a couple of + buffalo rugs as soon as he sighted the red-skins. That gave us just a + chance, but it wasn't more. In the morning the red-skins would know we had + either sighted them or come on their trail, and would be scattering all + over the country in search of us. We agreed that we must travel a good way + apart, though keeping each other in sight. They would have noticed that + the trails were all single, and if they came upon two together going + straight away from the camp, would know for sure it was us making off. + </p> + <p> + "You may think that with so many tracks as we had made in the fortnight we + had been there, they would not have an idea which was made the first day + and which was made the last, but that ain't so. In the first place, the + snow was packed hard, and the footprints were very slight. Then, even when + it is always freezing there is an evaporation of the snow, and the + footprints would gradually disappear; besides that, the wind on most days + had been blowing a little, and though the drift does not count for much on + packed snow, a fine dust is blown along, and if the prints don't get + altogether covered there is enough drift in them to show which are old + ones and which are fresh. We both knew that they could not make much + mistake about it, and that they would be pretty sure to hit on the trail I + had made in the morning when I went out, and on that of the chief to the + rocks, and following mine back to the same place would guess that we had + cached there till it was dark. + </p> + <p> + "I could have done that myself; one can read such a trail as that like a + printed book. The worst of it was, there were no getting out of the valley + without leaving sign. On the bare hillsides and among the rocks we could + travel safe enough, but above them was everywhere snow, and do what we + would there would be no hiding our trail. We agreed that the only thing + was to cross the snow as quick as possible, to keep on the bare rock + whenever we got a chance, and wherever we struck wood, and to double + sometimes one way sometimes another, so as to give the red-skins plenty of + work to do to follow our trail. We walked all that night, and right on the + next day till early in the afternoon. Then we lay down and slept till + sunset, and then walked again all night. We did not see any game. If we + had we should have shot, for we knew the red-skins must be a long way + behind. When we stopped in the morning we were not so very far from the + camp we had started from, for if we had pushed straight back to the + settlements we should have been caught sure, for the Utes would have been + certain to have sent off a party that way to watch the valleys we should + have had to pass through. We lay down among some trees and slept for a few + hours and then set out to hunt, for we had been two days without food, and + I was beginning to feel that I must have a meal. + </p> + <p> + "We had not gone far when we came across the track of a black bear. We + both felt certain that the trail was not many hours old. We followed it + for two miles, and found it went up to a slide of rocks; they had come + down from a cliff some years before, for there were bushes growing among + them. As a rule a black bear will always leave you alone if you leave him, + and hasn't much fight in him at the best; so up we went, thinking we were + sure of our bear-steak without much trouble in getting it. I was ahead, + and had just climbed up on to a big rock, when, from a bush in front, the + bear came out at me with a growl. I expect it had cubs somewhere, I had + just time to take a shot from the hip and then he was on me, and gave me a + blow on the shoulder that ripped the flesh down to the elbow. + </p> + <p> + "But that was not the worst, for the blow sent me over the edge, and I + fell seven or eight feet down among the sharp rocks. I heard the chief's + rifle go off, and it was some time after that before I saw or heard + anything more. When I came to I found he had carried me down to the foot + of the slide and laid me there. He was cutting up some sticks when I + opened my eyes. 'Have you got the bear, Leaping Horse?' + </p> + <p> + "'The bear is dead,' he said. 'My brother is badly hurt.' + </p> + <p> + "'Oh, never mind the hurt,' I said, 'so that we have got him. What are you + doing, chief? You are not going to make a fire here, are you?' + </p> + <p> + "'My brother's leg is broken,' he said. 'I am cutting some sticks to keep + it straight.' + </p> + <p> + "That brought me round to my senses, as you may guess. To break one's leg + up in the mountains is bad at any time, but when it is in the middle of + winter, and you have got a tribe of red-skins at your heels, it means you + have got to go under. I sat up and looked at my leg. Sure enough, the left + one was snapt like a pipe-stem, about half-way between the knee and the + ankle. 'Why, chief,' I said, 'it would have been a sight better if you had + put a bullet through my head as I lay up there. I should have known + nothing about it.' + </p> + <p> + "'The Utes have not got my white brother yet.' + </p> + <p> + "'No,' said I, 'but it won't be long before they have me; maybe it will be + this afternoon, and maybe to-morrow morning.' The chief said nothing, but + went on with his work. When he had got five or six sticks about three feet + long and as many about a foot, and had cut them so that they each had one + flat side, he took off his buckskin shirt, and working round the bottom of + it cut a thong about an inch wide and five or six yards long. Then he + knelt down and got the bone in the right position, and then with what help + I could give him put on the splints and bandaged them tightly, a long one + and a short one alternately. The long ones he bandaged above the knee as + well as below, so that the whole leg was stiff. I felt pretty faint by the + time it was done, and Leaping Horse said, 'Want food; my white brother + will lie quiet, Leaping Horse will soon get him some.' + </p> + <p> + "He set to work and soon had a fire going, and then went up to the rocks + and came down again with the bear's hams and about half his hide. It was + not long before he had some slices cooked, and I can tell you I felt + better by the time we had finished. We had not said much to each other, + but I had been thinking all the time, and when we had done I said, 'Now, + chief, I know that you will be wanting to stay with me, but I ain't going + to have it. You know as well as I do that the Utes will be here to-morrow + at latest, and there ain't more chance of my getting away from them than + there is of my flying. It would be just throwing away your scalp if you + were to stop here, and it would not do me a bit of good, and would fret me + considerable. Now before you start I will get you to put me somewhere up + among those stones where I can make a good fight of it. You shall light a + fire by the side of me, and put a store of wood within reach and a few + pounds of bear's flesh. I will keep them off as long as I can with the + rifle, then there will be five shots with my Colt. I will keep the last + barrel for myself; I ain't going to let the Utes amuse themselves by + torturing me for a few hours before they finish me. Then you make straight + away for the settlements; they won't be so hot after you when they have + once got me. The next time you go near Denver you can go and tell Pete + Hoskings how it all came about.' + </p> + <p> + "'My white brother is weak with the pain,' the chief said quietly; 'he is + talking foolishly. He knows that Leaping Horse will stay with his friend. + He will go and look for a place.' Without listening to what I had to say + he took up his rifle and went up the valley, which was a steep one. He was + away better than half an hour and then came back. 'Leaping Horse found a + place,' he said, 'where he and his brother can make a good fight. Straight + Harry get on his friend's back.' It was clear that there weren't no use + talking to him. He lifted me up on to my feet, then he got me well up on + to his back, as if I had been a sack of coal, and went off with me, + striding along pretty near as quick as if I had not been there. It might + have been half a mile, when he turned up a narrow ravine that was little + more than a cleft in the rock that rose almost straight up from the + valley. It did not go in very far, for there had been a slide, and it was + blocked up by a pile of rocks and earth, forty or fifty feet high. It was + a big job even for the chief to get me up to the top of them. The snow had + drifted down thick into the ravine, and it was a nasty place to climb even + for a man who had got nothing but his rifle on his shoulder. However, he + got me up safely, and laid me down just over the crest. He had put my + buffalo robe over my shoulders before starting, and he rolled me up in + this and said, 'Leaping Horse will go and fetch rifles and bear-meat,' and + he set straight off and left me there by myself." + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IX — A BAD TIME + </h2> + <p> + "Even to me," Harry went on, after refilling and lighting his pipe, "it + did not seem long before the chief was back. He brought a heavy load, for + besides the rifles and bear's flesh he carried on his back a big faggot of + brushwood. After laying that down he searched among the rocks, and + presently set to work to dig out the snow and earth between two big + blocks, and was not long before he scooped out with his tomahawk a hole + big enough for the two of us to lie in comfortably. He laid the + bear's-skin down in this, then he carried me to it and helped me in and + then put the robes over me; and a snugger place you would not want to lie + in. + </p> + <p> + "It was about ten feet below the level of the crest of the heap of rocks, + and of course on the upper side, so that directly the red-skins made their + appearance he could help me up to the top. That the two of us could keep + the Utes back I did not doubt; we had our rifles, and the chief carried a + revolver as well as I did. After they had once caught a glimpse of the + sort of place we were on, I did not think they would venture into the + ravine, for they would have lost a dozen men before they got to the mound. + I had looked round while the chief was away, and I saw that a hundred + yards or so higher up, the ravine came to an end, the sides closing in, so + there was no fear of our being attacked from there. What I was afraid of + was that the Indians might be able to get up above and shoot down on us, + though whether they could or not depended on the nature of the ground + above, and of course I could not see beyond the edge of the rocks. + </p> + <p> + "But even if they could not get up in the daylight, they could crawl up at + night and finish us, or they could camp down at the mouth of the ravine + and starve us out, for there was no chance of our climbing the sides, even + if my leg had been all right. I was mighty sorry for the chief. He had + just thrown his life away, and it must come to the same in the end, as far + as I was concerned. Even now he could get away if he chose, but I knew + well enough it weren't any good talking to him. So I lay there, just + listening for the crack of his rifle above. He would bring down the first + man that came in, sartin, and there would be plenty of time after that to + get me up beside him, for they would be sure to have a long talk before + they made any move. I did not expect them until late in the afternoon, and + hoped it might be getting dark before they got down into the valley. There + had been a big wind sweeping down it since the snow had fallen, and though + it had drifted deep along the sides, the bottom was for the most part + bare. I noticed that the chief had picked his way carefully, and guessed + that, as they would have no reason for thinking we were near, they might + not take up the trail till morning. Of course they would find our fire and + the dead bear, or all that there was left of him, and they would fancy we + had only stopped to take a meal and had gone on again. They would see by + the fire that we had left pretty early in the day. I heard nothing of the + chief until it began to get dark; then he came down to me. + </p> + <p> + "'Leaping Horse will go out and scout,' he said. 'If Utes not come soon, + will come back here; if they come, will watch down at mouth of valley till + he sees Utes go to sleep.' 'Well, chief,' I said; 'at any rate you may as + well take this robe; one is enough to sleep with in this hole, and I shall + be as snug as a beaver wrapped up in mine. Half your hunting shirt is + gone, and you will find it mighty cold standing out there.' + </p> + <p> + "In an hour he came back again. 'Utes come,' he said. 'Have just lighted + fire and going to cook. No come tonight. Leaping Horse has good news for + his brother. There are no stars.' + </p> + <p> + "That is good news indeed,' I said. 'If it does but come on to snow + to-night we may carry our scalps back to the settlement yet.' + </p> + <p> + "'Leaping Horse can feel snow in the air,' he said. 'If it snows before + morning, good; if not, the Utes will tell their children how many lives + the scalps of the Englishman and the Seneca cost.' + </p> + <p> + "The chief lay down beside me. I did not get much sleep, for my leg was + hurting me mightily. From time to time he crawled out, and each time he + returned saying, 'No snow.' I had begun to fear that when it came it would + be too late. It could not have been long before daybreak when he said, as + he crawled in: 'The Great Manitou has sent snow. My brother can sleep in + peace.' An hour later I raised myself up a bit and looked out. It was + light now. The air was full of fine snow, and the earth the chief had + scraped out was already covered thickly. I could see as much as that, + though the chief had, when he came in for the last time, drawn the faggot + in after him. I wondered at the time why he did it, but I saw now. As soon + as the snow had fallen a little more it would hide up altogether the + entrance to our hole. Hour after hour passed, and it became impossible to + get even a peep out, for the snow had fallen so thickly on the leafy end + of the brushwood, which was outward, that it had entirely shut us in. All + day the snow kept on, as we could tell from the lessening light, and by + two o'clock only a faint twilight made its way in. + </p> + <p> + "'How long do you think we shall be imprisoned here, chief?' I asked. + </p> + <p> + "'Must not hurry,' he replied. 'There are trees up the valley, and the + Utes may make their camp there and stay till the storm is over. No use to + go out till my brother can walk. Wait till snow is over; then stay two or + three days to give time for Utes to go away. Got bear's flesh to eat; warm + in here, melt snow.' This was true enough, for I was feeling it downright + hot. Just before night came on the chief pushed the end of his ramrod + through the snow and looked out along the hole. + </p> + <p> + "'Snow very strong,' he said. 'When it is dark can go out if wish.' + </p> + <p> + "There is not much to tell about the next five days. The snow kept falling + steadily, and each evening after dark the chief went outside for a short + time to smoke his pipe, while I sat at the entrance and smoked mine, and + was glad enough to get a little fresh air. As soon as he came in again the + faggot was drawn back to its place, and we were imprisoned for another + twenty-four hours. One gets pretty tired after a time of eating raw bear's + flesh and drinking snow-water, and you bet I was pretty glad when the + chief, after looking out through a peephole, said that the snow had + stopped falling and the sun was shining. About the middle of that day he + said suddenly: 'I hear voices.' + </p> + <p> + "It was some time before I heard anything, but I presently made them out, + though the snow muffled them a good deal. They did not seem far off, and a + minute or two later they ceased. We lay there two days longer, and then + even the chief was of opinion that they would have moved off. My own idea + was that they had started the first afternoon after the snow had stopped + falling. + </p> + <p> + "'Leaping Horse will go out to scout as soon as it is dark,' he said. 'Go + to mouth of ravine. If Utes are in wood he will see their fires and come + back again. Not likely come up here again and find his traces.' + </p> + <p> + "That is what I had been saying for the last two days, for after some of + them had been up, and had satisfied themselves that there was no one in + the gully, they would not be likely to come through the snow again. When + the chief returned after an hour's absence, he told me that the Utes had + all gone. 'Fire cold,' he said; 'gone many hours. Leaping Horse has + brought some dry wood up from their hearth. Can light fire now.' You may + guess it was not long before we had a fire blazing in front of our den, + and I never knew how good bear-steak really was till that evening. + </p> + <p> + "The next morning the chief took off the splints and rebandaged my leg, + this time putting on a long strip of the bear's skin, which he had worked + until it was perfectly soft while we had been waiting there. Over this he + put on the splints again, and for the first time since that bear had + knocked me off the rock I felt at ease. We stayed there another fortnight, + by the end of which time the bones seemed to have knit pretty fairly. + However, I had made myself a good strong crutch from a straight branch + with a fork at the end, that the chief had cut for me, and I had lashed a + wad of bear's skin in the fork to make it easy. Then we started, making + short journeys at first, but getting longer every day as I became + accustomed to the crutch, and at the end of a week I was able to throw it + aside. + </p> + <p> + "We never saw a sign of an Indian trail all the way down to the + settlements, and by the time we got there I was ready to start on a + journey again. The chief found plenty of game on the way down, and I have + never had as much as a twinge in my leg since. So you see this affair + ain't a circumstance in comparison. Since then the chief and I have always + hunted together, and the word brother ain't only a mode of speaking with + us;" and he held out his hand to the Seneca, who gravely placed his own in + it. + </p> + <p> + "That war a tight corner, Harry, and no blamed mistake. Did you ever find + out whether they could have got on the top to shoot down on you?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, the chief went up the day after the Utes had left. It was level up + there, and they could have sat on the edge and fired down upon us, and + wiped us out without our having a show." + </p> + <p> + "And you have never since been to that place you struck the day the Utes + came down, Harry?" Jerry asked. "I have heard you talk of a place you knew + of, just at the edge of the bad lands, off the Utah hills. Were that it?" + </p> + <p> + Harry nodded. "I have never been there since. I went with a party into + Nevada the next spring, and last year the Utes were all the time upon the + war-path. I had meant to go down this fall, but the Utes were too lively, + so I struck up here instead; but I mean to go next spring whether they are + quiet or not, and to take my chances, and find out whether it is only good + on the surface and peters out to nothing when you get in, or whether it is + a real strong lode. Ben and Sam, and of course the chief, will go with me, + and Tom here, now he has come out, and if you like to come we shall be all + glad." + </p> + <p> + "You may count me in," Jerry said, "and I thank you for the offer. I have + had dog-goned bad luck for some time, and I reckon it is about time it was + over. How are you going to share?" + </p> + <p> + "We have settled that. The chief and I take two shares each as + discoverers. You four will take one share each." + </p> + <p> + "That is fair enough, Harry. Those are mining terms, and after your nearly + getting rubbed out in finding it, if you and the chief had each taken + three shares there would have been nothing for us to grunt at. They are a + 'tarnal bad lot are the Utes. I reckon they are bad by nature, but the + Mormons have made them worse. There ain't no doubt it's they who set them + on to attack the caravans. They could see from the first that if this was + going to be the main route west there would be so many coming along, and a + lot perhaps settle there, that the Gentiles, as they call the rest of us, + would get too strong for them. What they have been most afeard of is, that + a lot of gold or silver should be found up in the hills, and that would + soon put a stop to the Mormon business. They have been wise enough to tell + the red-skins that if men came in and found gold there would be such a lot + come that the hunting would be all spoilt. There is no doubt that in some + of the attacks made on the caravans there have been sham Indians mixed up + with the real ones. Red-skins are bad enough, but they are good men by the + side of scoundrels who are false to their colour, and who use Indians to + kill whites. That is one reason I want to see this railway go on till it + jines that on the other side. It will be bad for game, and I reckon in a + few years the last buffalo will be wiped out, but I will forgive it that, + so that it does but break up the Saints as they call themselves, though I + reckon there is about as little of the saint among them as you will find + if you search all creation." + </p> + <p> + "Right you are, Jerry," Sam Hicks said. "They pretty nigh wiped me out + once, and if Uncle Sam ever takes to fighting them you may bet that I am + in it, and won't ask for no pay." + </p> + <p> + "How did it come about, Sam?" Jerry asked. "I dunno as I have ever heard + you tell that story." + </p> + <p> + "Waal, I had been a good bit farther east, and had been doing some + scouting with the troops, who had been giving a lesson to the red-skins + there, that it was best for them to let up on plundering the caravans + going west. We had done the job, and I jined a caravan coming this way. It + was the usual crowd, eastern farmers going to settle west, miners, and + such like. Among them was two waggons, which kept mostly as far apart from + the others as they could. They was in charge of two fellows who dressed in + store clothes, and had a sanctimonious look about them. There was an old + man and a couple of old women, and two or three boys and some gals. They + did not talk much with the rest, but it got about that they were not going + farther than Salt Lake City, and we had not much difficulty in reckoning + them up as Mormons. There ain't no law perviding for the shooting of + Mormons without some sort of excuse, and as the people kept to themselves + and did not interfere with no one, nothing much was said agin them. On a + v'yage like that across the plains, folks has themselves to attend to, and + plenty to do both on the march and in camp, so no one troubles about any + one else's business. + </p> + <p> + "I hadn't no call to either, but I happened to go out near their waggons + one evening, and saw two or three bright-looking maids among them, and it + riled me to think that they was going to be handed over to some rich old + elder with perhaps a dozen other wives, and I used to feel as it would be + a satisfaction to pump some lead into them sleek-looking scoundrels who + had them in charge. I did not expect that the gals had any idea what was + in store for them. I know them Mormons when they goes out to get what they + call converts, preaches a lot about the prophet, and a good deal about the + comforts they would have in Utah. So much land for nothing, and so much + help to set them up, and all that kind of thing, but mighty little about + polygamy and the chance of their being handed over to some man old enough + to be their father, and without their having any say in the matter. + Howsoever, I did not see as I could interfere, and if I wanted to + interfere I could not have done it; because all those women believed what + they had been taught, and if I a stranger, and an ill-looking one at that, + was to tell them the contrary, they wouldn't believe a word what I had + said. So we went on till we got within four or five days' journey of Salt + Lake City, then one morning, just as the teams were being hitched up, two + fellows rode into camp. + </p> + <p> + "As we were in Utah now, there weren't nothing curious about that, but I + reckoned them up as two as hard-looking cusses as I had come across for a + long time. After asking a question or two they rode to the Mormon waggons, + and instead of starting with the rest, the cattle was taken out and they + stopped behind. Waal, I thought I would wait for a bit and see what they + were arter. It weren't no consarn of mine noways, but I knew I could catch + up the waggons if I started in the afternoon, and I concluded that I would + just wait; so I sat by the fire and smoked. When the caravan had gone on + the Mormons hitched up their cattle again. They were not very far away + from where I was sitting, and I could see one of the men in black pointing + to me as he talked with the two chaps who had just jined them. With that + the fellow walked across to where I was sitting. + </p> + <p> + "'Going to camp here?' says he. + </p> + <p> + "'Waal,' I says, 'I dunno, as I haven't made up my mind about it. Maybe I + shall, maybe I sha'n't.' + </p> + <p> + "'I allow it would be better for you to move on.' + </p> + <p> + "'And I allow,' says I, 'it would be better for you to attend to your own + affairs.' + </p> + <p> + "'Look here,' says he, 'I hear as you have been a-spying about them + waggons.' + </p> + <p> + "'Then,' says I, 'whosoever told you that, is an all-fired liar, and you + tell him so from me.' + </p> + <p> + "I had got my hand on the butt of my Colt, and the fellow weakened. + </p> + <p> + "'Waal,' he said, 'I have given you warning, that is all.' + </p> + <p> + "'All right,' says I, 'I don't care none for your warnings; and I would + rather anyhow be shot down by white skunks dressed up as red-skins, than I + would have a hand in helping to fool a lot of innercent women.' + </p> + <p> + "He swore pretty bad at this, but I could see as he wasn't real grit, and + he went off to the waggons. There was considerable talk when he got there, + but as the Mormons must have known as I had been a scout, and had brought + a lot of meat into the camp on the way, and as the chap that came across + must have seen my rifle lying handy beside me, I guess they allowed that I + had better be left alone. So a bit later the waggons started, and as I + expected they would, went up a side valley instead of going on by the + caravan route. The fellow had riz my dander, and after sitting for a bit I + made up my mind I would go after 'em. I had no particular motive, it wur + just out of cussedness. I was not going to be bluffed from going whar I + chose. This air a free country, and I had as much right to go up that + valley as they had." + </p> + <p> + "I should have thought yer had had more common sense, Sam Hicks," Jerry + said reproachfully, "than to go a-mixing yourself up in a business in + which you had no sort of consarn. Ef one of them women had asked you to + help her, or if you had thought she was being taken away agin her will, + you or any other man would have had a right to take a hand in the game; + but as it was, you war just fooling with your life to interfere with them + Mormons in their own country." + </p> + <p> + "That is so, Jerry, and I ain't a word to say agin it. It war just a piece + of cussedness, and I have asked myself forty-eleven times since, what on + arth made me make such a blame fool of myself. Afore that fellow came over + to bluff me I hadn't no thought of following the waggons, but arter that I + felt somehow as if he dared me to do it. I reckoned I was more nor a match + for the two fellows who just jined them, and as for the greasy-faced chaps + in black, I did not count them in, one way or the other. I had no thought + of getting the gals away, nor of getting into any muss with them if they + left me alone. It was just that I had got a right to go up that valley or + any other, and I was not going to be bluffed out of it. So I took up my + shooting-iron, strapped my blanket over my shoulder, and started. They war + maybe a mile away when I turned into the valley. I wasn't hungry for a + fight, so I didn't keep up the middle, but just skirted along at the foot + of the hill where it did not seem likely as they would see me. I did not + get any closer to them, and only caught sight of them now and then. + </p> + <p> + "As far as I could make out there was only one horseman with them, and I + reckoned the other was gone on ahead; looking for a camping-ground maybe, + or going on to one of the Mormon farms to tell them to get things ready + there. What I reckoned on doing, so far as I reckoned at all, was to scout + up to them as soon as it got dark and listen to their talk, and try to + find out for certain whether the women war goin' willing. Then I thought + as I would walk straight up to their fires and just bluff those four men + as they tried to bluff me. Waal, they went on until late in the afternoon, + unhitched the cattle, and camped. I waited for a bit, and now that I war + cooled down and could look at the thing reasonable, I allowed to myself + that I had showed up as a blamed fool, and I had pretty well made up my + mind to take back tracks and go down the valley, when I heard the sound of + some horses coming down fast from the camp. + </p> + <p> + "Then the thought that I was a 'tarnal fool came to me pretty strong, you + bet. One of those fellows had ridden on and brought down some of the + Regulators, as we used to call them in the mining camps, but I believe the + Mormons call them Destroying Angels, though there is mighty little of + angels about them. I hoped now that they had not caught sight of me during + the day, and that the band were going right down to the waggon camp; but + as I had not taken any particular pains to hide myself, I reckoned they + must have made me out. It war pretty nigh dark, and as I took cover behind + a bush I could scarce see them as they rode along. They went down about + two hundred yards and then stopped, and I could hear some of them + dismount. + </p> + <p> + "'You are sure we are far enough?' one said. + </p> + <p> + "'Yes; I can swear he was higher up than this when we saw him just before + we camped.' + </p> + <p> + "'If you two fellows hadn't been the worst kind of curs,' a man said + angrily, 'you would have hidden up as soon as you made out he was + following you and shot him as he came along.' + </p> + <p> + "'I told you,' another voice said, 'that the man is an Indian fighter, and + a dead shot. Suppose we had missed him.' + </p> + <p> + "'You could not have missed him if you had waited till he was close to you + before you fired; then you might have chucked him in among the bushes and + there would have been an end of it, and we should have been saved a + twenty-mile ride. Now then, look sharp for him and search every bush. + Between us and Johnson's party above we are sure to catch him.' + </p> + <p> + "I didn't see that, though I did wish the rocks behind had not been so + 'tarnal steep. I could have made my way up in the daylight, though even + then it would have been a tough job, but without light enough to see the + lay of the ledges and the best places for getting from one to another, it + was a business I didn't care about. I was just thinking of making across + to the other side of the valley when some horsemen came galloping back. + </p> + <p> + "'You stop here, brother Ephraim, and keep your ears well open, as well as + your eyes. You stop fifty yards higher up, Hiram, and the others at the + same distance apart. When the men among the rocks come abreast of you, + Ephraim, ride on and take your place at the other end of the line. You do + the same, Hiram, and so all in turn; I will ride up and down.' + </p> + <p> + "It was clear they meant business, and I was doubting whether I would take + my chance of hiding or make for the cliff, when I saw a light coming + dancing down from the camp, and knew it was a chap on horseback with a + torch. As he came up the man who had spoken before said: 'How many torches + have you got, brother Williams?' + </p> + <p> + "'A dozen of them.' + </p> + <p> + "'Give me six, and take the other six down to the men below. That is + right, I will light one from yours.' + </p> + <p> + "You may guess that settled me. I had got to git at once, so I began to + crawl off towards the foot of the cliffs. By the time I had got there, + there war six torches burning a hundred yards below, and the men who + carried them were searching every bush and prying under every rock. Along + the middle of the valley six other torches were burning fifty yards apart. + There was one advantage, the torches were pitch-pine and gave a fairish + light, but not so much as tarred rope would have done; but it was enough + for me to be able to make out the face of the cliff, and I saw a break by + which I could get up for a good bit anyhow. It was where a torrent came + down when the snows were melting, and as soon as I had got to the bottom I + made straight up. There were rocks piled at its foot, and I got to the top + of these without being seen. + </p> + <p> + "I hadn't got a dozen feet higher when my foot set a boulder rolling, and + down it went with a crash. There were shouts below, but I did not stop to + listen to what they said, but put up the bed of the torrent at a two-forty + gait. A shot rang out, and another and another, but I was getting now + above the light of their torches. A hundred feet higher I came to a + stand-still, for the rock rose right up in front of me, and the water had + here come down from above in a fall. This made it a tight place, you bet. + There war no ledge as I could see that I could get along, and I should + have to go down a good bit afore I got to one. They kept on firing from + below, but I felt pretty sure that they could not see me, for I could hear + the bullets striking high against the face of the rock that had stopped + me. + </p> + <p> + "You may bet I was careful how I went down again, and I took my time, for + I could see that the men with the torches had halted at the foot of the + heap of rocks below, not caring much, I expect, to begin to mount, while + the horsemen kept on firing, hoping to hear my body come rolling down; + besides, they must have known that with their torches they made a pretty + sure mark for me. At last I got down to the ledge. It war a narrow one, + and for a few yards I had to walk with my face to the rock and my arms + spread out, and that, when I knew that at any moment they might make me + out, and their bullets come singing up, warn't by no means pleasant. In a + few yards the ledge got wider and there was room enough on it for me to + lie down. I crawled along for a good bit, and then sat down with my back + against the rock and reckoned the matter up. All the torches war gathered + round where I had gone up. Four more men had come down from the camp on + horseback, and five or six on foot with torches were running down the + valley. They had been searching for me among the bushes higher up, and + when they heard the firing had started down to jine the others. The leader + was shouting to the men to climb up after me, but the men didn't seem to + see it. + </p> + <p> + "'What's the use?' I heard one fellow say; 'he must be chock-full of + bullets long ago. We will go up and find his carcass in the morning.' + </p> + <p> + "'But suppose he is not dead, you fool.' + </p> + <p> + "'Well, if he ain't dead he would just pick us off one after another as we + went up with torches.' + </p> + <p> + "'Well, put your torches out, then. Here, I will go first if you are + afraid,' and he jumped from his horse. + </p> + <p> + "You can bet your boots that my fingers itched to put a bullet into him. + But it warn't to be done; I did not know how far the ledge went or whether + there might be any way of getting off it, and now I had once got out of + their sight it would have been chucking away my life to let them know whar + I lay. So I got up again and walked on a bit farther. I came on a place + where the rock had crumbled enough for me to be able to get up on to the + next ledge, and after a lot of climbing up and down I got to the top in + about two hours, and then struck across the hills and came down at eight + o'clock next morning on to the caravan track. I hid up till evening in + case they should come down after me, and next morning I came up to the + caravan just as they were hitching the teams up for a start." + </p> + <p> + "You got out of that better than you deserved," Harry said. "I wouldn't + have believed that any man would have played such a fool's trick as to go + meddling with the Mormons in their own country without any kind of reason. + It war worse than childishness." + </p> + <p> + The other two miners assented vigorously, and Sam said: "Waal, you can't + think more meanly of me over that business than I do of myself. I have + never been able to make out why I did it, and you may bet it ain't often I + tells the story. It war a dog-goned piece of foolishness, and, as Harry + says, I didn't desarve to get out of it as I did. Still, it ain't made me + feel any kind of love for Mormons. When about two hundred shots have been + fired at a man it makes him feel kinder like as if he war going to pay + some of them back when he gets the chance, and you may bet I mean to." + </p> + <p> + "Jee-rusalem!" + </p> + <p> + The exclamation was elicited by the fall of a heavy mass of snow on to the + fire, over which the kettle had just begun to boil. The tripod from which + it hung was knocked over. A cloud of steam filled the place, and the party + all sprung to their feet to avoid being scalded. + </p> + <p> + "It might have waited a few minutes longer," Jerry grumbled, "then we + should have had our tea comfortable. Now the fire is out and the water is + spilt, and we have got to fetch in some more snow; that is the last lot + there was melted." + </p> + <p> + "It is all in the day's work, Jerry," Harry said cheerfully, "and it is + just as well we should have something to do. I will fetch the snow in if + the rest of you will clear the hearth again. It is a nuisance about the + snow, but we agreed that there is no help for it, and we may thank our + stars it is no worse." + </p> + <p> + It was not long before the fire was blazing again, but it took some time + before water was boiling and tea made, still longer before the bread which + had been soddened by the water from the kettle was fit to eat. By this + time it was dark. When the meal was over they all turned in for the night. + Tom was just going off to sleep, when he was roused by Leaping Dog + suddenly throwing off his buffalo robe and springing to his feet with his + rifle in his hand. + </p> + <p> + "Hist!" he said in a low tone. "Something comes!" + </p> + <p> + The men all seized their rifles and listened intently. Presently they + heard a soft step on the snow outside, then there was a snuffing sound. + </p> + <p> + "B'ar!" the Indian said. + </p> + <p> + A moment later a great head reared itself over the bushes at the entrance. + Five rifles rang out, the two Indians reserving their fire; the report was + followed by the dull sound of a heavy fall outside. + </p> + <p> + "Wait a moment," Harry said sharply, as the others were preparing to rush + out, "let us make sure he is dead." + </p> + <p> + "He is dead enough," Jerry said. "I reckon even a grizzly cannot walk off + with five bullets in his head." + </p> + <p> + Harry looked over the screen. "Yes, he is dead enough; anyhow he looks so. + Waal, this is a piece of luck." They all stepped out on to the platform. + </p> + <p> + "Is it a grizzly, uncle?" Tom asked excitedly. + </p> + <p> + "He is a grizzly, sure enough. You don't want to see his colour to know + that. Look at his size." + </p> + <p> + "Why, he is as big as a cow." + </p> + <p> + "Ay, lad, and a big cow too. You go in and make up the fire while we cut + off enough meat for supper." + </p> + <p> + The fact that they had eaten a meal but half an hour before, went for + nothing; slices of bear-meat were soon frizzling, and as hearty a meal was + eaten as if no food had been tasted since the previous day. The men were + in the highest spirits; the fact that they were out of meat had been the + greatest drawback to the prospect of being shut up for perhaps a week, for + badly-baked bread is but a poor diet to men accustomed to live almost + exclusively upon meat. + </p> + <p> + "What brought the bear down here?" Tom asked. + </p> + <p> + "Curiosity at first perhaps, and then hunger," his uncle replied. "I + expect he was going along on the path above when he saw the light among + the leaves, and then no doubt he smelt the bread, and perhaps us and the + horses, and came down to see what he could get. + </p> + <p> + "Curiosity is a bad fault, Tom. You have had two lessons in that this + evening. Bear in mind that in this part of the world the safest plan is + always to attend strictly to your own business." + </p> + <p> + All thought of sleep was for the present dissipated; their pipes were + again lighted, and it was midnight before they lay down. In the morning + the bear was with some difficulty skinned and cut up, the joints being + left outside to freeze through. The snow still fell steadily, but the wind + had almost died down. Sallying out they cut five or six long poles, and + with some difficulty fixed these from above across from the cliff to the + outstanding rock, pushed the bear's-skin across them, and lashed it there, + its bulk being sufficient to cover the space above the fire and a + considerable portion of their dwelling room. + </p> + <p> + After breakfast snow was again melted for the horses, and the work for the + day thus done they seated themselves contentedly round the fire. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER X — AN AVALANCHE + </h2> + <p> + "You don't think, chief," Harry asked, "that there is any chance of the + 'Rappahoes taking it into their heads to come up to have a look round?" + </p> + <p> + "Indians keep in lodges, no like cold; they think we have gone on over + pass. If weather gets fine perhaps they come to look for our guns and + packs. They think sure we die in snow-storm when we up in pass. When snow + stops falling, we make no more fire; but path from valley all shut up by + snow now." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, I don't think anyone would try to climb it till the sun has cleared + the track; it was a pretty bad place when we came up," Harry said. "I + don't say that men on foot could not make their way up; but as you say, + the red-skins are not likely to try it until the weather has cleared a + bit, though I don't say that they wouldn't if they knew we were camped + here close to the top." + </p> + <p> + "What noise is that?" Tom asked. "I have heard it several times before, + but not so loud as that." + </p> + <p> + "Snow-slide," Leaping Horse said. "Snow come down from mountains; break + off trees, roll rocks down. Bad place all along here." + </p> + <p> + "Yes. I saw that you looked up at the hills behind there before you looked + over the edge here, chief," Ben Gulston said, "and I reckoned that you had + snow-slides in your mind. I thought myself that it was like enough the + snow might come tumbling over the edge of that high wall and then come + scooting down over where we war, and there would have been no sort of show + for us if we had been camped whar the trail goes along." + </p> + <p> + "Leaping Horse has heard from his red brothers with whom he has spoken + that trail from top of valley very bad when snow falls. Many Indians + stopping too long at fort, to trade goods, have been swept away by + snow-slides when caught in storm here." + </p> + <p> + "I thought it looked a bad place," Harry remarked. "There ain't no fooling + with a snow-slide anyway. I have come across bones once or twice lying + scattered about in snug-looking valleys—bones of horses and men, and + it was easy to see they had been killed by a snow-slide coming down on + them. Rocks were heaped about among them, some of the bones were smashed. + They had been hunting or trapping, and sheltered up in a valley when the + storm came on and the slide had fallen on them, and there they had laid + till the sun melted the snow in summer, when the coyotes and the vultures + would soon clean the bones." He broke off suddenly; there was a dull + sound, and at the same moment a distinct vibration of the ground, then a + rustling murmur mingled with a rumbling as of a waggon passing over a + rocky ground. + </p> + <p> + "There is another one," Jerry exclaimed, "and it is somewhere just above + us. Keep your backs to the wall, boys." + </p> + <p> + [Image: "There Is Another Avalanche, Keep Your Backs To The Wall, Boys"] + </p> + <p> + Louder and louder grew the sound; the tremor of the earth increased, the + horses neighed with fright, the men stood with their backs against the + rock next to the hill. Suddenly the light was darkened as a vast mass of + snow mingled with rocks of all sizes leapt like a torrent over the edge of + the cliff, the impetus carrying it over the outer wall of their shelter + and down into the ravine. There was a mighty sound of the crashing of + trees, mingled with a thumping and rolling of the rocks as they clashed + against the side of the ravine and went leaping down into the valley. The + ground shook with a continuous tremor, and then the light returned as + suddenly as it had been cut off, and a few seconds later a dead stillness + succeeded the deafening roar from below. The passage of the avalanche + overhead had lasted but a minute, though to the men standing below it the + time had seemed vastly longer. Instinctively they had pressed themselves + against the rock, almost holding their breath, and expecting momentarily + that one of the boulders in its passage would strike the top of the + outside wall and fall in fragments among them. The silence that followed + was unbroken for some seconds, and then Sam Hicks stepped a pace forward. + </p> + <p> + "Jee-rusalem!" he said, "that was a close call. I don't know how you felt, + boys, but it seemed as if all the sand had gone out of me, and I weakened + so that my knees have not done shaking yet." + </p> + <p> + The men, accustomed as they were to danger, were all equally affected. Tom + felt relieved to see that the others all looked pale and shaken, for he + was conscious that he had been in a terrible fright, and that his legs + would scarcely support his weight. + </p> + <p> + "I am glad to hear you say so, Sam, for I was in an awful funk; but I + should not have said so if you hadn't spoken." + </p> + <p> + "You needn't be ashamed of that, Tom," his uncle put in. "You showed + plenty of pluck when we were in trouble with the red-skins, but I am sure + there was not one of us that did not weaken when that snow-slide shot over + us; and none of us need be ashamed to say so. A man with good grit will + brace up, keep his head cool and his fingers steady on the trigger to the + last, though he knows that he has come to the end of his journey and has + got to go down; but it is when there is nothing to do, no fight to be + made, when you are as helpless as a child and have no sort of show, that + the grit runs out of your boots. I have fought red-skins and Mexicans a + score of times; I have been in a dozen shooting scrapes in saloons at the + diggings; but I don't know that I ever felt so scared as I did just now. + Ben, there is a jar of whisky in our outfit; we agreed we would not touch + it unless one of us got hurt or ill, but I think a drop of medicine all + round now wouldn't be out of place." + </p> + <p> + There was a general assent. "But before we take it," he went on, "we will + take off our hats and say 'Thank God' for having taken us safe through + this thing. If He had put this shelter here for us express, He could not + have planted it better for us, and the least we can do is to thank Him for + having pulled us through it safe." + </p> + <p> + The men all took off their hats, and stood silent for a minute or two with + bent heads. When they had replaced their hats Ben Gulston went to the + corner where the pack-saddles and packs were piled, took out a small keg, + and poured out some whisky for each of the white men. The others drank it + straight; Tom mixed some water with his, and felt a good deal better after + drinking it. Ben did not offer it to the Indians, neither of whom would + touch spirits on any occasion. + </p> + <p> + "It is a good friend and a bad enemy," Harry said as he tossed off his + portion. "As a rule there ain't no doubt that one is better without it; + but there is no better medicine to carry about with you. I have seen many + a life saved by a bottle of whisky. Taken after the bite of a rattlesnake, + it is as good a thing as there is. In case of fever, and when a man is + just tired out after a twenty-four hours' tramp, a drop of it will put new + life into him for a bit. But I don't say as it hasn't killed a sight more + than it has cured. It is at the bottom of pretty nigh every shooting + scrape in the camps, and has been the ruin of hundreds of good men who + would have done well if they could but have kept from it." + </p> + <p> + "But you ain't a temperance man yourself, Harry?" + </p> + <p> + "No, Sam; but then, thank God, I am master of the liquor, and not the + liquor of me. I can take a glass, or perhaps two, without wanting more. + Though I have made a fool of myself in many ways since I have come out + here, no man can say he ever saw me drunk; if liquor were to get the + better of me once, I would swear off for the rest of my life. Don't you + ever take to it, Tom; that is, not to get so as to like to go on drinking + it. In our life we often have to go for months without it, and a man has + got to be very careful when he goes down to the settlements, else it would + be sure to get over him." + </p> + <p> + "I don't care for it at all, uncle." + </p> + <p> + "See you don't get to care for it, Tom. There are plenty start as you do, + and before they have been out here long they do get to like it, and from + that day they are never any good. It is a big temptation. A man has been + hunting or trapping, or fossicking for gold in the hills for months, and + he comes down to a fort or town and he meets a lot of mates. One says + 'Have a drink?' and another asks you, and it is mighty hard to be always + saying 'no'; and there ain't much to do in these places but to drink or to + gamble. A man here ain't so much to be blamed as folks who live in + comfortable houses, and have got wives and families and decent places of + amusement, and books and all that sort of thing, if they take to drink or + gambling. I have not any right to preach, for if I don't drink I do + gamble; that is, I have done; though I swore off that when I got the + letter telling me that your father had gone. Then I thought what a fool I + had made of myself for years. Why, if I had kept all the gold I had dug I + could go home now and live comfortably for the rest of my life, and have a + home for my nieces, as I ought to have. However, I have done with it now. + And I am mighty glad it was the cards and not drink that took my dust, for + it is a great deal easier to give up cards than it is to give up liquor + when you have once taken to it. Now let us talk of something else; I vote + we take a turn up on to the trail, and see what the snow-slide has done." + </p> + <p> + Throwing the buffalo robes round their shoulders the party went outside. + The air was too thick with snow to enable them to perceive from the + platform the destruction it had wrought in the valley below, but upon + ascending the path to the level above, the track of the avalanche was + plainly marked indeed. For the width of a hundred yards, the white mantle + of snow, that covered the slope up to the point where the wall of cliff + rose abruptly, had been cleared away as if with a mighty broom. Every rock + and boulder lying upon it had been swept off, and the surface of the bare + rock lay flat, and unbroken by even a tuft of grass. They walked along the + edge until they looked down upon their shelter. The bear's hide was still + in its place, sloping like a pent-house roof, from its upper side two or + three inches below the edge of the rock, to the other wall three feet + lower. It was, however, stripped of its hair, as cleanly as if it had been + shorn off with a razor, by the friction of the snow that had shot down + along it. + </p> + <p> + "That is the blamedest odd thing I ever saw," Sam Hicks said. "I wonder + the weight of the snow didn't break it in." + </p> + <p> + "I expect it just shot over it, Sam," Harry said. "It must have been + travelling so mighty fast that the whole mass jumped across, only just + rubbing the skin. Of course the boulders and stones must have gone clean + over. That shows what a narrow escape we have had; for if that outer rock + had been a foot or so higher, the skin would have caved in, and our place + would have been filled chock up with snow in a moment. Waal, we may as + well turn in again, for I feel cold to the bones already." + </p> + <p> + On the evening of the fifth day the snow ceased falling, and next morning + the sky was clear and bright. Preparations were at once made for a start. + A batch of bread had been baked on the previous evening. Some buckets of + hot gruel were given to the horses, a meal was hastily eaten, the horses + saddled and the packs arranged, and before the sun had been up half an + hour they were on their way. The usual stillness of the mountains was + broken by a variety of sounds. From the valley at their feet came up sharp + reports, as a limb of a tree, or sometimes the tree itself, broke beneath + the weight of the snow. A dull rumbling sound, echoing from hill to hill, + told of the falls of avalanches. Scarcely had the echoes of one ceased, + than they began again in a fresh quarter. The journey was toilsome in the + extreme, for the horses' hoofs sank deep in the freshly-fallen snow, + rendering their progress exceedingly slow. + </p> + <p> + "If we had been sure that this weather would hold, chief, it would have + been better to have waited a few days before making our start, for by that + time the snow would have been hard enough to travel on." + </p> + <p> + The chief shook his head. "Winter coming for good," he said, waving his + hand towards the range of snowy summits to the north. "Clouds there still; + if stop, not able to cross pass till next summer." + </p> + <p> + "That is so; we agreed as to that yesterday, and that if we don't get over + now the chances are we shall never get over at all. Yet, it is a pity we + can't wait a few days for a crust to form on the snow." + </p> + <p> + Twice in the course of the next hour avalanches came down from the hills + above them; the first sweeping down into the valley a quarter of a mile + behind them, the next but two or three hundred yards ahead of them. + Scarcely a word was spoken from end to end of the line. They travelled in + Indian file, and each horse stepped in the footprints of its predecessor. + Every few hundred yards they changed places, for the labour of the first + horse was very much heavier than of those following. At the end of an hour + the men drew together for a consultation. There was a wide break in the + line of cliffs, and a valley ran nearly due south. + </p> + <p> + "What do you think, chief? This confounded snow has covered up all signs + of the trail, and we have got to find our own way. There is no doubt this + valley below is running a deal too much to the west, and that the trail + must strike off somewhere south. It looks to me as if that were a likely + valley through the cliff. There is no hiding the fact that if we take the + wrong turn we are all gone coons." + </p> + <p> + "Leaping Horse knows no more than his brother," the chief said gravely. + "He knows the pass is on the western side of the great peak. The great + peak lies there," and he pointed a little to the west of the break in the + hills up which they were looking. + </p> + <p> + "It may be that we must cross the hills into another valley, or perhaps + this will turn west presently." + </p> + <p> + "I tell you what, Harry," Sam Hicks said, "my opinion is, that our best + plan by a long chalk will be to go back to our last place and to stop + there for a bit. We have got b'ar's flesh enough for another fortnight, + and we may kill some more game afore that is done. Ef this is but a spell + of snow it may melt enough in another ten days for us to make out the + trail and follow it. Ef, as the chief thinks, we have got winter right + down on us, we must wait till the snow crust hardens ef it is a month or + double. Anything is better than going on like this. What with this soft + snow and these 'tarnal snow-slides, there ain't no more chance of our + getting over that pass in one day's journey, than there air in our flying + right down to Salt Lake City. Ef the worst comes to the worst, I tell yer + I would rather go back and take our chance of following the Big Wind River + down, and fighting the red-skins, than I would of crossing over these + dog-goned hills." + </p> + <p> + The other three men were of the same opinion. + </p> + <p> + "Well, what do you say, chief?" Harry asked the Indian. + </p> + <p> + "Leaping Horse thinks that the trail will not be found until next summer," + the chief replied quietly. "Heap of hills in front and heap of snow. If + snow-storm catch us in the hills no find way anywhere. Leaping Horse is + ready to do whatever his white brother thinks." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I am with the others," Harry said. "I don't like the look of those + clouds. They are quiet enough now, but they may begin to shift any time, + and, as you say, if we are caught in a snow-storm on the hills there is an + end of us. I think Sam is right. Even if we have to rustle all through the + winter in that hut there, I would rather face it than keep on." + </p> + <p> + That settled it. The horses' heads were turned, and they retraced their + steps until they reached the shelter. The bear's-skin had been left where + it was, the fire was soon set going, and there was a general feeling of + satisfaction as they laid out the robes and blankets again. + </p> + <p> + "Look here, boys," Harry said, "this is not going to be a holiday time, + you bet. We have got to make this place a sight snugger than it is now, + for, I tell you, when the winter sets in in earnest, it will be cold + enough here to freeze a buffalo solid in an hour. We have got to set to + work to make a roof all over this place, and we have got to hunt to lay in + a big stock of meat. We have got to get a big store of food for the + horses, for we must be mighty careful with our flour now. We can wait a + fortnight to see how things go, but if it is clear then that we have got + to fight it out here through the winter, we must shoot the pack-ponies at + once, and I reckon the others will all have to go later. However, we will + give them a chance as long as we can." + </p> + <p> + "Take them down into the valley," the chief said. "All Indian horses." + </p> + <p> + "Ah, I didn't think of that, chief. Yes, they are accustomed to rustle for + their living, and they may make a shift to hold on down there. I don't + think there is much fear of Indians coming up." + </p> + <p> + "No Indians," Leaping Horse said. "Indians go away when winter set in. + Some go to forest, some go to lodges right down valley. No stop up here in + mountains. When winter comes plenty game—big-horn, wapiti." + </p> + <p> + "Ah, that is a more cheerful look-out, chief. If we can get plenty of meat + we can manage without flour, and can go down and give the ponies a pail of + hot gruel once a week, which will help them to keep life together. The + first thing, I take it, is to cut some poles for the roof. I am afraid we + shall have to go down to the bottom for them." + </p> + <p> + "Waal, we needn't begin that till to-morrow," Sam Hicks said. "If we had + them, we have got no skins to cover them." + </p> + <p> + "Cut brushwood," Indian said. "First put plenty of brushwood on poles, + then put skins over." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, that is the plan, chief. Well, if we get down there we shall have to + take our shovels and clear the snow off some of the narrow ledges. If we + do that we can lead one of the horses down to pack the poles up here." + </p> + <p> + The chief went out on to the platform. "No use clear snow now. Clouds + moving. In two hours snow fall again." + </p> + <p> + The others joined him outside. "I reckon you are right, chief," Jerry + said. "It is mighty lucky we didn't go on. It can't be much worse here + than it was before." + </p> + <p> + At three in the afternoon it began to snow heavily again. There was less + wind than there had been on the previous occasion, and the snow drifted + through the entrance less than before. Just as they were turning in for + the night an ominous crack was heard above. All leapt from their blankets, + and looking up they could see by the light of the fire that the poles + supporting the skin were all bent in a curve downwards. + </p> + <p> + "Jee-rusalem!" Sam Hicks exclaimed, "the whole outfit will be coming down + on us." + </p> + <p> + "That it will, Sam. You see, there is no wind as there was before, and one + of our jobs will be keeping the roof clear of snow. Turn out, boys; we + must get rid of it somehow." + </p> + <p> + They at once set to work to lash two poles, some eight feet long, to the + handles of the shovels, and as soon as this was done they all turned out. + On reaching the edge of the ravine above the roof, they first cleared away + the snow down to the rock so as to have firm standing, and then proceeded + to shovel the snow off the surface of the skin. It was easier work than + they expected, for as soon as it was touched it slid down the incline, and + in a very few minutes the whole was cleared off. + </p> + <p> + "I think that is good until morning now," Harry said. "As long as the snow + lasts we shall have to do it every few hours. Directly we get a spell of + fine weather we must put some more poles under it to strengthen it." + </p> + <p> + For six days the snow continued to fall without intermission. At daybreak, + at mid-day, and the last thing before they turned in at night the snow was + cleared off the hide. With this exception they did not stir out of the + shelter. They had also each day to clear out the inner portion of the + fissure, as the snow now frequently broke through the trees in masses, + startling the horses, and keeping them in a state of restlessness. The + sixth day it stopped snowing, and the next morning the sky was bright and + clear. The whole party at once started out, two of them taking shovels, + and the rest brooms that they had made during the long hours of their + confinement. By the middle of the day they had cleared the path down into + the valley, and on their way back to dinner each carried up a large bundle + of faggots. + </p> + <p> + The meal was cooked and eaten hastily, and the whole of the horses were + then led down into the valley. Here a couple of dozen stout poles for the + roof were cut by the whites, the two Indians at once going up the valley + in search of game. In half an hour two rifle-shots were heard, and + presently Hunting Dog ran in with the news that they had killed two + wapiti. Jerry and Sam Hicks at once went off with him, leading two horses, + and presently returned with the dead deer fastened across their backs. + </p> + <p> + "They are very like pictures I have seen of moose," Tom said to his uncle + as he examined the great stags. + </p> + <p> + "New-comers often call them moose, Tom; but there is a difference between + them, though what the difference is I cannot tell you, for I have never + hunted moose. I believe the wapiti are peculiar to the West. They often go + in great herds of three or four hundreds together." + </p> + <p> + "The chief says there are a great many of them up the valley," Jerry put + in. "They made off when he fired, but I could see their foot-tracks myself + all about. He says they have been driven down here by the storm for + shelter. He has gone round with the lad to head them back." + </p> + <p> + "That is good news, Jerry. The meat we have got already will last some + time, but it is as well to lay in a good stock, and we want the skins + badly to make our roof. You had better lead these horses to the foot of + the path, and then we will all take our post behind trees across the + valley." + </p> + <p> + An hour later they heard the reports of two rifles a long way up the + valley, and all stood in readiness. A few minutes later there was a dull + trampling sound, and almost directly afterwards a herd of wapiti came + along at a heavy trot, ploughing their way but slowly through the snow. + </p> + <p> + "Don't use your revolvers, boys," Harry had said, "except to finish off a + stag you have wounded with your rifle. The chance is all against your + bringing them down, and the poor brutes would only get away to die." + </p> + <p> + One after another the rifles rang out. Tom and his uncle both had the + satisfaction of seeing the stags they had aimed at, plunge forward before + they had gone many yards farther, and roll over dead. The other three had + each hit the animal they aimed at, but as these kept on their course they + dashed out in pursuit, firing their Colts, which in their hands were as + deadly weapons as a rifle, and the three stags all fell, although one got + nearly half a mile down the valley before he succumbed. A carcass was + hoisted on to each of the horses' backs, and the loaded animals were then + led up the track. + </p> + <p> + "Shall I wait until the Indians come back, uncle, and tell them why you + have gone up?" + </p> + <p> + "There is no occasion for that, Tom; they would hear the shots, and will + have guessed what has happened." + </p> + <p> + The poles were divided among the men and carried up to the top of the + path, and laid down just above the shelter. Harry and Sam Hicks at once + proceeded to cut them up into proper lengths, while the others skinned and + cut up the deer. A number of thongs were cut from one of the hides for + lashing cross-poles across those that were to act as ridge-poles. The + bear's-skin was removed and additional poles placed at that spot, and all + working together the framework of the roof was completed by nightfall. The + Indians had returned soon after the party began their work, and taking + their horses down fetched up the deer they had killed. + </p> + <p> + In the morning the roof was completed, hides being stretched over the + framework and securely lashed to it with thongs. The whole of the trees + and brushwood were then chopped down close to the ground so as to leave a + level floor. The foliage was given to the horses, and the wood cut up and + piled for fuel. The chief reported that at the upper end of the valley + there was a thick pine-wood, which would give good shelter to the horses. + Near it were plenty of bushes, and a level tract which had been a beaver + meadow, and was thickly covered with grass, as he could see where the + wapiti had scratched away the snow to get at it. This was excellent news, + for the question of how the horses could be fed through the winter had + troubled them much more than that of their own maintenance. The joints of + venison were hung up on a pole outside what they now called their hut, one + or two hams being suspended from the rafters over the fire, to be smoked. + </p> + <p> + "We shall have to rig up a b'ar-trap outside," Ben said, "or we shall be + having them here after the meat; and a b'ar's ham now and then will make a + change. Wapiti flesh ain't bad, but we should get dog-goned tired of it + arter a bit." + </p> + <p> + "You may bet we shall, Ben," Jerry agreed; "but I reckon that we shall be + able to get a lot of game through the winter. That valley down there is + just the place for them to shelter in, and I hope we shall get a big-horn + now and then. It will be a difficult thing to make a b'ar-trap outside. A + grizzly wants a pretty strong pen to keep him in, and though the horses + might drag up some big beams from below, there ain't no fastening them in + this rock." + </p> + <p> + "No; I don't think we can make that sort of trap," Harry said. "We must + contrive something else. We need not do all our work at once; we have got + plenty of time before us. We want three or four more skins to finish our + hut." + </p> + <p> + "You mean to fill up the entrance?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes; we will sew them together, and make a curtain to hang from the edge + of the roof to the ground. I tell you it is going to be mighty cold here, + and besides, it will keep the snow from drifting in." + </p> + <p> + "I wish to goodness we could make a chimney," Tom said. "The smoke went up + through the leaves all right, but my eyes are watering now, and if you + fill up the end with skins it will be something awful." + </p> + <p> + "You will get accustomed to it, Tom; but, of course, we must make a hole + at the top when we fill up the entrance. What do you think is the next + thing to be done, chief?" + </p> + <p> + "Get wood," the chief said emphatically. "Must fill all the end of hut + with wood." + </p> + <p> + "That will be a big job, chief, but there is no doubt we must lay in a + great store of it. Well, there is plenty of timber down in the valley, and + with ten horses we can bring up a tidy lot every day." + </p> + <p> + "Let us cut quick before snow comes again." + </p> + <p> + "We will begin to-morrow morning, chief. I agree with you, the sooner the + better." + </p> + <p> + Accordingly the next morning they went down to the valley. They had but + two axes, and Jerry and Sam Hicks, who had both done a good deal of + wood-cutting, undertook this portion of the work. The others took the + horses up to the beaver meadow, where they at once began scraping at the + snow, and were soon munching away at the rich grass. + </p> + <p> + "Why do you call it a beaver meadow, uncle? I don't see any beavers." + </p> + <p> + "They have gone long ago, perhaps a hundred years. As we know, this valley + is occupied by the Indians in summer, and they would soon clear out the + beavers. But it is called a beaver meadow because it was made by them. + They set to work and dammed up the stream, and gradually all this flat + became a lake. Well, in time, you know, leaves from the woods above, and + soil and dead wood and other things brought down by the stream, gradually + filled up the bottom. Then the beavers were killed, and their dams went to + ruin and the water drained off, and in a short time grass began to grow. + There are hundreds, ay, and thousands of beaver meadows among the hills, + and on the little streams that run into the big rivers, and nowhere is the + grass so rich. You will often see an Indian village by one of these + meadows. They grow their roots and plant their corn there. The horses will + do first-rate here through the winter if the snow don't get too deep for + them, and, anyhow, we can help them out with a bucket of gruel + occasionally." + </p> + <p> + "It will be awfully cold for them, though." + </p> + <p> + "It will be coldish, no doubt, but Indian ponies are accustomed to it." + </p> + <p> + "I should think, uncle, it would not take much trouble to make them a sort + of shed up among the trees there." + </p> + <p> + Sam laughed, and even the chief smiled. + </p> + <p> + "It would not be a bad plan, Tom," his uncle said; "not so much for the + sake of the warmth, though there is no doubt that the warmer they are the + less they can do with to eat, but if they have a place to go to they are + less likely to wander away, and we shall not have the trouble of hunting + for them. Well, we will think it over." + </p> + <p> + Following the valley up, they found that it extended some ten miles + farther, for the last two of which it was but a narrow caņon a few yards + wide. They shot a black bear and four small deer, and returned carrying + the skins, the hind-quarters of the deer, and the bear's hams. + </p> + <p> + "We seem to have got meat enough for anything," Tom remonstrated when they + shot the deer. + </p> + <p> + "Seven men will get through a lot of meat, Tom, when they have nothing + else to go with it; and we may be weeks before we can put our heads out of + our hut. Besides, the skins will be useful. We shall want deer-skin + shirts, trousers, and socks and caps; and the skin of these deer is softer + and more pliable than that of the wapiti. I don't want to kill more than I + can help, lad, for I hate taking life without there is a necessity for it, + but we can do with a lot more skins before we are stocked." + </p> + <p> + When, driving the horses before them, they returned to the woodcutters, + they found they had cut down and chopped into logs a number of trees; and + Tom was quite astonished at the great pile of firewood that had been got + ready by them in the course of a day's work. The logs were made up into + bundles, each weighing about eighty pounds. These were tied together with + the horses' lariats, and then secured, one on each side of the saddle, two + of the horses carrying the meat. Harry took the bridle of his horse and + started up the path, the others following at once. + </p> + <p> + "That is a good day's work," Harry said as the logs were piled at the + inner end of the hut. "That is about half a ton of wood. If we have but a + week of open weather we shall have a good store in our cellar." + </p> + <p> + The work continued steadily for a week. The horses were each day taken to + feed at the meadow, the two wood-choppers continued their work, while the + rest of the party hunted. The Indians had on the second day gone down the + valley, and returned with the report that the Indian lodges had all + disappeared and that the valley was entirely deserted. Eight more wapiti + were killed during the week, and fourteen smaller deer. Of an evening they + occupied themselves in sewing the skins together with thongs of leather, + the holes being made with their knives; and a curtain at the mouth of the + hut was completed and hung. Four wide slabs of wood had been cut. These + had been bound together with thongs so as to form a sort of chimney four + feet high, and with a good deal of difficulty this was secured by props in + its position over a hole cut through the skins, above the fire. + </p> + <p> + "The first avalanche will carry it away, Tom." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, uncle; but we have had one avalanche here, and it seems to me the + chances are strongly against our having another in exactly the same + place." + </p> + <p> + The skins of the smaller deer were carefully scraped with knives on the + inner side, smeared with bears' fat, and then rubbed and kneaded until + they were perfectly soft. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XI — WINTER + </h2> + <p> + The erection of Tom's shed for the horses did not take long. The whole + party, with the exception of the two Indians,—who, as usual, went + hunting,—proceeded to the pine-wood above the beaver meadow. After a + little search six trees were found conveniently situated with regard to + each other. The axemen cut down three young firs. One was lashed by the + others between the two central trees, to form a ridge-pole eight feet from + the ground; the others against the other trees, at a height of three feet, + to support the lower ends of the roof. They were but ten feet apart, so + that the roof might have a considerable pitch. Numbers of other young + trees were felled and fixed, six inches apart, from the ridge down to the + eaves. On these the branches of the young fir-trees were thickly laid, and + light poles were lashed lengthways over them to keep them in their places. + </p> + <p> + As the poles of the roof had been cut long enough to extend down to the + ground, no side walls were necessary. The ends were formed of poles lashed + across to the side trees, but extending down only to within four feet six + of the ground, so as to allow the horses to pass under, and were, like the + roof, thickly covered with boughs. The lower ends were left open for a + width of four feet in the middle, uprights being driven into the ground + and the sides completed as before. + </p> + <p> + "What do you want a doorway at both ends for?" Tom asked. "It would have + been easier and quicker to have shut one end up altogether, and it would + be a good deal warmer." + </p> + <p> + "So it would, Tom; but if a grizzly were to appear at the door, what would + the horses do? They would be caught in a trap." + </p> + <p> + "Do you think they are likely to come, uncle?" + </p> + <p> + "The likeliest thing in the world, Tom. Horses can smell bear a good + distance off, and if they heard one either coming down or going up the + valley, they would bolt through the opposite door. They will do first-rate + here; they will stand pretty close together, and the warmth of their + bodies will heat the place up. They won't know themselves, they will be so + comfortable. It has only taken us a day's work to make the shed; and + though we laughed at your idea at first, I think now that the day has been + well spent in getting them up such a good shelter. Jerry has got the big + pail boiling over his fire, and we will put in a few handfuls of the flour + we brought down. Bring the horses in from the meadow, and we will give + them each a drink of gruel in the shed. They will soon learn that it is to + be their home." + </p> + <p> + For two more days the open weather continued, and the horses took up three + loads of wood each afternoon, as they had done the previous week. Then, as + there were signs of change, they were given a good feed at their shed; the + saddles were taken off and hung up on some cross-poles over their heads. + </p> + <p> + The party had scarcely returned to the hut when the snow began to fall. + They were, however, weather-proof, and felt the immense additional comfort + of the changes they had made. Their stock of firewood was now a very large + one. At each journey the horses had brought up about fifteen + hundredweight; and as the work had gone on for nine days, they had, they + calculated, something like fourteen tons of firewood neatly stacked. They + had also a stock of poles in case the roof should require strengthening. A + certain amount of light found its way in at the edges of the curtain + across the entrance, but they depended principally upon the fire-light. + The smoke, however, was a serious grievance, and even the men were forced + occasionally to go outside into the open air to allay the smarting of + their eyes. + </p> + <p> + "Don't you think, uncle, we might do something to dry the wood?" + </p> + <p> + "I can't see that we can do more than we are doing, Tom. We always keep a + dozen logs lying round the fire to dry a bit before they are put on." + </p> + <p> + "I should think we might make a sort of stage about four feet above the + fire and keep some logs up there. We might pile them so that the hot air + and smoke could go up through them. They would dry a great deal faster + there than merely lying down on the ground." + </p> + <p> + "I think the idea is a very good one, Tom; but we shall have to make the + frame pretty strong, for if it happened to come down it might break some + of our legs." + </p> + <p> + The men all agreed that the idea was a capital one, and after some + consultation they set to to carry it out. Two strong poles were first + chosen. These were cut carefully to the right length, and were jambed + between the rocks at a height of seven feet above the floor and five feet + apart. They were driven in and wedged so tightly that they could each bear + the weight of two men swinging upon them without moving. Then four upright + poles were lashed to them, five feet apart, and these were connected with + cross-poles. + </p> + <p> + "That is strong enough for anything," Jerry said when the structure had + been so far completed. "If a horse were to run against one of the poles he + would hardly bring the thing down." + </p> + <p> + Four other short poles were now lashed to the uprights three feet below + the upper framework, and were crossed by others so as to form a gridiron. + On this, the logs were laid in tiers crossing each other, sufficient space + being left between them to allow for the passage of the hot air. + </p> + <p> + "That is a splendid contrivance," Harry said when they took their seats on + the buffalo robes round the fire and looked up admiringly at their work. + "The logs will get as dry as chips, and in future we sha'n't be bothered + with the smoke. Besides, it will do to stand the pail and pots full of + snow there, and keep a supply of water, without putting them down into the + fire and running the risk of an upset." + </p> + <p> + They had occupation now in manufacturing a suit of clothes a-piece from + the deer-skins. As the work required to be neater than that which sufficed + for the making of the curtain, pointed sticks hardened in the fire were + used for making the holes, and the thongs that served as thread were cut + as finely as possible; this being done by the Indians, who turned them out + no thicker than pack-thread. + </p> + <p> + There was no occasion for hurry, and there was much laughing and joking + over the work. Their hunting-shirts and breeches served as patterns from + which to cut out the skins; and as each strove to outvie the others, the + garments when completed were very fair specimens of work. The + hunting-shirts were made with hoods that, when pulled over the head, + covered the whole face except the eyes, nose, and mouth. As they had + plenty of skin, the hoods and shirts were made double, so that there was + hair both inside and out. They were made to come down half-way to the + knee, being kept close at the waists by their belts. The leggings were + made of single thickness only, as they would be worn over their breeches; + they were long and reached down below the ankle. The Indians made fresh + moccasins for the whole party; they were made higher than usual, so as to + come up over the bottom of the leggings. In addition each was provided + with long strips of hide, which were to be wound round and round the + leggings, from the knee to below the ankle, covering tightly the tops of + the moccasins, and so preventing the snow from finding its way in there. + Gloves were then manufactured, the fingers being in one and the thumb only + being free. + </p> + <p> + The work occupied them a fortnight, broken only by one day's spell of fine + weather, which they utilized by going down into the valley, taking with + them their kettles and pail, together with a few pounds of flour. They + found the horses out in the meadow, and these, as soon as they saw them, + came trotting to meet them with loud whinnies of pleasure. A fire was lit + near the shed, the snow melted, and an allowance of warm gruel given to + each horse. At Tom's suggestion a few fir-boughs were hung from the bar + over each entrance. These would swing aside as the horses entered, and + would keep out a good deal of wind. When at the end of a fortnight the sky + cleared, the chief said that he thought that there would be but little + more snow. + </p> + <p> + "If storm come, sure to bring snow, but not last long. Winter now set in; + soon snow harden. Now make snowshoes." + </p> + <p> + The hunters had all been accustomed to use these in winter. They had found + the last expedition through the deep snow a very toilsome one, and they + embraced the idea eagerly. Some of the poles were split into eight feet + lengths. These were wetted and hung over the fire, the process being + repeated until the wood was sufficiently softened to be bent into the + required shape. This was done by the chief. Two cross-pieces were added, + to stiffen them and keep them in the right shape when they dried; and the + wood was then trimmed up and scraped by the men. When it had dried and + hardened, the work of filling up the frame with a closely-stretched + network of leather was undertaken. This part of the work occupied three or + four days. The straps were attached to go across the toe and round the + heel, and they were then ready to set off. + </p> + <p> + The weather was now intensely cold, but as there was but little wind it + was not greatly felt; at the same time they were glad of their furs when + they ventured outside the hut. On the first day after their snow-shoes + were finished, the rest of the party started off to visit the horses, + Hunting Dog remaining behind to give Tom instructions in the use of the + snow-shoes, and to help him when he fell down. + </p> + <p> + Tom found it difficult work at first, the toe of the shoe frequently + catching in the snow, and pitching him head foremost into it, and he would + have had great difficulty in extricating himself, had not the young Indian + been at hand. Before the day was over, however, he could get on fairly + well; and after two or three more days' practice had made such progress + that he was considered capable of accompanying the rest. + </p> + <p> + The wood-drying apparatus had succeeded excellently. The wood was now + dried so thoroughly before being put on to the fire that there was no + annoyance from the smoke inside the hut, and scarce any could be perceived + coming from the chimney. Upon Harry's remarking upon this with + satisfaction the first time they went out after using the dry wood, Tom + said: + </p> + <p> + "What does it matter? There are no Indians in the valley." + </p> + <p> + "That is so, Tom; but as soon as the weather sets in clear, the red-skins + will be hunting again. Winter is their best time for laying in their stock + of pelts for trading. At other times the game is all high up in the + mountains, and it is very difficult to get within range of it. In the + winter the animals come down to the shelter of the forests and valleys, + and they can be shot in numbers; especially as the Indians in their + snow-shoes can get along almost as quickly as the wapiti can plough + through the snow. At present the red-skins think that we must have been + overtaken by that first storm and have all gone under; but as soon as they + begin to venture out of their lodges to hunt, a column of smoke here would + be sure to catch their eyes, and then we should be having them up the + valley to a certainty. The first thing they would do would be to find our + horses and drive them off, and the next thing would be to set themselves + to work to catch us." + </p> + <p> + "But we could hold the path against them, uncle." + </p> + <p> + "Yes; but we should have to keep watch every day, which would be a serious + trouble. Besides, there must be other places they could get up. No doubt + their regular trail comes up here, because it is the straightest way to + the pass, and possibly there may be no other point at which loaded animals + could mount anywhere about here. But there must be plenty of places where + Indians could climb, and even if it took them a detour of fifty miles they + would manage it. As long as there is no smoke we may hope they will not + discover us here, though any hunting party might come upon the horses. + That is what has bothered me all along; but the chief and I have talked it + over a dozen times, and can see no way of avoiding the risk. + </p> + <p> + "We can't keep the horses up here because we can't feed them; and even if + we were to bring ourselves to leave this comfortable place and to build a + hut down in the valley, we might be surprised and rubbed out by the + red-skins. Of course we might bring them up here every night and take them + down again in the morning, but it would be a troublesome business. We have + agreed that we won't do much more shooting down in the valley, and that in + coming and going to the horses we will keep along close to the foot of the + cliffs this side, so that if two or three Indians do come up they won't + see any tracks on the snow, unless they happen to come close up to the + cliff. Of course if they go up as far as the beaver flat they will light + upon the horses. There is no help for that; but the chief and I agreed + last night that in future two of us shall always stay up here, and shall + take it by turns to keep watch. It won't be necessary to stand outside. If + the curtain is pulled aside three or four inches one can see right down + the valley, and any Indians coming up could be made out. If the party is a + strong one a gun would be fired as a signal to those away hunting, and + some damp wood thrown on the fire. They might possibly push on up the + valley to have a look at the place, but the two up here with their rifles + would soon stop them. After that, of course, the horses would have to be + brought up here at night, and a watch kept by night as well as by day." + </p> + <p> + Two or three mornings later they found on going out that two joints of + venison had been carried off, and footprints in the snow showed that it + had been done by a grizzly bear. This turned their attention again to the + construction of a trap, which had not been thought of since the day it was + first mentioned. A young tree of four or five inches in diameter was cut + below and brought up. The butt was cut in the shape of a wedge, and this + was driven strongly into a fissure in the rock. A rope with a running + noose had been fastened to the tree, and this was bent down by the united + strength of four men, and fixed to a catch fastened in the ground, the + noose being kept open by two sticks placed across it. + </p> + <p> + A foot beyond the noose a joint of venison was hung, the rope passing over + a pole and then down to the catch, so that upon the joint being pulled the + catch would be loosened, when the tree would fly up and the noose catch + anything that might be through it. + </p> + <p> + A week later they were disturbed by an outburst of violent growling. + Seizing their rifles they rushed out. A huge bear was caught by one of his + paws. The animal's weight was too great for it to be lifted from the + ground, but it was standing upright with its paw above its head, making + furious efforts to free itself. A volley of bullets at once put an end to + its life. The tree was bent down again and the noose loosed, and they at + once returned to their rugs, leaving the bear where it fell. Four times + during the winter did they thus capture intruders, providing themselves + with an ample supply of bear's flesh, while the skins would sell well down + at the settlements. + </p> + <p> + Otherwise sport was not very good. No more wapiti came up, but black and + white tail deer were occasionally shot, and five or six big-horn sheep + also fell to their rifles. One day on approaching the beaver meadow the + chief pointed to some deep footprints. No explanation was needed. All knew + that they were made by a big grizzly, and that the animal was going up the + valley. No horses were in view on the flat, and grasping their rifles they + hurried towards the wood. Just as they reached it the horses came + galloping to meet them, whinnying and snorting. + </p> + <p> + "They have been scared by the critter," Jerry said. "Do you see their + coats are staring. Gosh, look at this pack-pony—the bear has had his + paw on him!" + </p> + <p> + The animal's hind-quarters were indeed badly torn. + </p> + <p> + "I wonder how it got away," Harry said. "When a grizzly once gets hold, it + don't often leave go." + </p> + <p> + "There is something in front of the hut," Tom exclaimed. + </p> + <p> + "It's the grizzly, sure enough," Harry said. "It is a rum place for it to + go to sleep." + </p> + <p> + They advanced, holding their rifles in readiness to fire, when Leaping + Horse said: + </p> + <p> + "Bear dead." + </p> + <p> + "What can have killed him?" Harry asked doubtfully. + </p> + <p> + "Horses kill him," the chief replied. They hurried up to the spot. The + bear was indeed dead, and there were signs of a desperate struggle. There + was blood on the snow from a point near the door of the hut to where the + animal was lying ten yards away. Round it the snow was all trampled + deeply. The bear's head was battered out of all shape; its jaw was broken, + and one of its eyes driven out. The Indians examined the ground closely. + </p> + <p> + "Well, what do you make of it, chief?" Harry asked. + </p> + <p> + "Bear walk round hut, come in other end. Horses not able to get out in + time. Pack-horse last, bear catch him by hind-quarters. Horse drag him a + little way and then fall. Then other horses come back, form ring round + bear and kick him. Look at prints of fore-feet deep in snow. That is where + they kick; they break bear's jaw, break his ribs, keep on kick till he + dead." + </p> + <p> + "I suppose that is how it came about, chief. I should not have thought + they would have done it." + </p> + <p> + The Seneca nodded. "When wild horses with young foals attacked by bear or + mountain-lion, they form circle with colts in the middle, stand heads in + and kick. Bears and mountain-lion afraid to attack them." + </p> + <p> + "Waal, I should hardly have believed if I had not seen it," Sam Hicks + said, "that horses would come back to attack a grizzly." + </p> + <p> + "Not come back," the chief said, "if not for friend. Friend cry out loud, + then horses come back, fight bear and kill him." + </p> + <p> + "Well, it was mighty plucky of them," Harry said. "I am afraid this pony + won't get over it; he is terribly torn." + </p> + <p> + The chief examined the horse's wounds again. "Get over it," he said. "Cold + stop wounds bleeding, get some fat and put in." + </p> + <p> + "I reckon you will find plenty inside the grizzly," Jerry said. The chief + shook his head. + </p> + <p> + "Bear's fat bad; other horses smell him, perhaps keep away from him, + perhaps kick him. Leaping Horse will bring fat from the big-horn he shot + yesterday." + </p> + <p> + The animal lay where it had fallen, a mile up the valley. They went up and + tied the great sheep's feet together, and putting a pole through them + brought it down to the hut. Partly skinning it, they obtained some fat and + melted this in a kettle over the fire. Sam Hicks had remained behind at + the fire, the horses all standing near him, excited at the prospect of + their usual meal. As soon as the fat was melted it was poured into the + horse's wounds. The mess of gruel was then prepared and given to the + animals. The bear was skinned and the hams cut off, then by a united + effort it was dragged some distance from the hut, and the carcass of the + big-horn, the bear's flesh and hide, were afterwards carried up to the + hut. + </p> + <p> + Early in February the cold reached its extreme point, and in spite of + keeping up a good fire they had long before this been compelled to build + up the entrance with a wall of firewood, the interstices being stuffed + with moss; the hut was lighted by lamps of bear and deer fat melted down + and poured into tin drinking-cups, the wicks being composed of strips of + birch bark. A watch was regularly kept all day, two always remaining in + the hut, one keeping watch through a small slip cut in the curtain before + the narrow orifice in the log wall, that served as a door, the other + looking after the fire, keeping up a good supply of melted snow, and + preparing dinner ready for the return of the hunters at sunset. Of an + evening they told stories, and their stock of yarns of their own + adventures and of those they had heard from others, seemed to Tom + inexhaustible. + </p> + <p> + Hunting Dog had made rapid advances with his English, and he and Tom had + become great friends, always hunting together, or when their turn came, + remaining together on guard. The cold was now so intense that the hunting + party was seldom out for more than two or three hours. Regularly twice a + week the horses were given their ration of hot gruel, and although they + had fallen away greatly in flesh they maintained their health, and were + capable of work if called upon to do it. It was one day in the middle of + February, that Hunting Dog, who was standing at the peep-hole, exclaimed: + </p> + <p> + "'Rappahoes!" + </p> + <p> + Tom sprang up from the side of the fire, and running to the entrance + pulled aside the curtain and looked out. Six Indians on snow-shoes were + coming up the valley. He ran out on to the platform and fired his ride. As + the sound of the report reached the Indians' ears they stopped suddenly. + </p> + <p> + "Shall I throw some green wood on the fire, Hunting Dog?" + </p> + <p> + "No need," the Indian replied. "The others only gone an hour, not farther + than horses' hut; hear gun plain enough. Perhaps 'Rappahoes go back." + </p> + <p> + The Indians remained for some time in consultation. + </p> + <p> + "Not know where gun fired," Hunting Dog said. "Soon see hut, then know." + </p> + <p> + After a time the red-skins continued their way up the valley, but instead + of coming on carelessly in the centre they separated, and going to the + other side crept along among the fallen boulders there, where they would + have escaped observation had it not been for their figures showing against + the white snow. + </p> + <p> + "Must fire now," the young Indian said, "then Leaping Horse know + 'Rappahoes coming up." + </p> + <p> + They went out on to the platform and opened fire. They knew that their + chance of hitting one of the Indians was small indeed; the other side of + the valley was a quarter of a mile away, and the height at which they were + standing rendered it difficult to judge the elevation necessary for their + rifles. However, they fired as fast as they could load. + </p> + <p> + The Indians made no reply, for their guns would not carry anything like + the distance. They occasionally gathered when they came upon a boulder of + rock sufficiently large to give shelter to them all, and then moved on + again one at a time. When opposite the lower end of the pathway they again + held a consultation. + </p> + <p> + "No go further," Hunting Dog said. "Afraid we come down path and stop + them. See, Leaping Horse among rocks." + </p> + <p> + It was some time before Tom could detect the Indian, so stealthily did he + move from rock to rock. + </p> + <p> + "Where are the others?" + </p> + <p> + "No see, somewhere in bushes. Leaping Horse go on to scout; not know how + many 'Rappahoes." + </p> + <p> + Presently they saw the chief raise his head behind a rock within a hundred + yards of that behind which the 'Rappahoes were sheltering. + </p> + <p> + "He see them now," Hunting Dog said. "See, he going to fire." There was a + puff of smoke and a sharp report, and almost simultaneously rose an Indian + yell, and the war-cry of the Seneca. Then five Indians leapt out from + behind the rock and made down the valley at full speed, while from a clump + of trees two hundred yards above the spot from which the chief had fired + the four white men hurried out rifle in hand. The chief waited until they + joined him, for the bend in the valley prevented him from seeing that the + 'Rappahoes were making straight down it, and it would have been imprudent + to have ventured out until his white allies came up. + </p> + <p> + "They have gone right down," Tom shouted at the top of his voice. Harry + waved his arm to show that he heard the words, and then the five men ran + to the corner. The Indians were already a quarter of a mile away, and were + just entering the wood below. The whites were about to fire, when the + chief stopped them. "No use fire," he said. "Stand back behind rocks; no + good let 'Rappahoes count our rifles." + </p> + <p> + "That is true enough, chief," Harry said, as they all sprang among the + rocks. "All they know at present is, that there are two up on the top + there and one down here. If we were sure that we could wipe them all out + it would be worth following and making a running fight of it, but there + would be no chance of that, and it is better to let them go without + learning more about us. Well, I should say the first thing is to get up + the horses." + </p> + <p> + The chief nodded. + </p> + <p> + "Get up," he said, "but no fear 'Rappahoes come back to-night. Many hours' + journey down to villages, then great council. Next night scouts come up + valley, look all about for sign, and then go back and tell friends." + </p> + <p> + "I dare say you are right, chief. Anyhow, I shall feel a great deal more + comfortable when we have got the critters up." + </p> + <p> + It was late in the afternoon before they reached the hut. Some hours were + spent in collecting tufts of grass in places sheltered from the snow, and + in cutting off great bundles of young fir-branches and the heads of + evergreen bushes, and the horses arrived almost hidden under the load of + grass and foliage they carried. Little was said until some hot tea had + been drunk and the bear steaks in readiness were disposed of, for although + they had worked hard and kept themselves comparatively warm down in the + valley, they had as they moved slowly up the path with the horses become + chilled to the bone. + </p> + <p> + "Now then, chief," Harry said, when they had lighted their pipes with the + mixture of tobacco and willow bark that they had taken to, as soon as they + found that they were likely to be imprisoned all the winter, "we must hold + a council. We have been longer than I expected without disturbance by + these varmint, but it has come now, and the question is what are we to do? + We have agreed all along that there is no getting over the pass till the + spring comes." + </p> + <p> + "Too cold," the chief said, "deep drift snow. Indians all say no can pass + over hills in winter." + </p> + <p> + "That air a fact," Jerry said. "Down in the valley there it is all right, + but up here the cold pretty near takes one's breath away. We ain't sure + about the way. We couldn't get over the pass in one day's tramp, and we + should be all stiff before morning. There would be no taking the horses, + and there is a hundred miles to be done over the snow before we reach the + fort. It ain't to be thought of. I would a sight rather go down the valley + and fight the hull tribe." + </p> + <p> + "I agree with you, Jerry. We might, with luck, get down the valley, but I + don't think there is a possibility of our crossing the pass till the + winter breaks." + </p> + <p> + "No can go down valley," Leaping Horse said; "they find trail on snow, + sure." + </p> + <p> + "That is so, chief, and in that case it is evident that we have got to + fight it out here." + </p> + <p> + "Good place to stop," the Seneca said; "no good place to fight." + </p> + <p> + This was self-evident. An enemy on the rock above would be able to fire + down through the roof, without their having a chance of making an + effectual reply. + </p> + <p> + "The only way I can see," Harry said after a long pause, "is to build a + sort of fort up above. If we put it just at the top of this pathway, we + should have them whether they came up by the trail from below or climbed + up anywhere else and came along above. It need not be a very big place, + only just big enough for us all to fire over. We might make a sort of + shelter in it with a fire, and keep guard there by turns." The chief + nodded, and there was a general exclamation of assent from the others. + </p> + <p> + "The worst of it is," Jerry said, "the ground is so 'tarnal hard that + there will be no driving posts into it. We have cut down all the trees + near the bottom of the pass, and it would be a risky thing to go up + higher, when we might have the red-skins come whooping up the valley at + any time." + </p> + <p> + "Why not make a snow fort?" Tom suggested. "There is four feet of snow up + there, and with the shovels we could make a wall ten feet high in a very + short time." + </p> + <p> + "So we might, Tom; that is a capital idea. The difficulty is, the snow + does not bind in this bitter cold as it does in England." + </p> + <p> + "If it was hammered down it would, I should think, uncle. You know the + Esquimaux make snow houses, and it is as cold there as it is here. The + snow at the top is light enough, but I should think as it gets down it + would be hard enough to cut out in blocks. We have plenty of water, and if + we pour it over each layer of blocks it would freeze into solid ice + directly. When we finish it we might pour more water down over the + outside, and it would make a regular wall of ice that no one could climb + up." + </p> + <p> + "Hooray! Bully for you, Tom!" Jerry shouted, while similar exclamations of + approval broke from all the others, while the chief said gravely, "My + young brother has the head of a man; he is able to teach warriors." + </p> + <p> + "You shall be engineer-in-chief, Tom," Harry said. "It is certain we may + sleep quietly to-night; at daybreak to-morrow we will begin the job." + </p> + <p> + The first thing in the morning a semicircular line was traced out at the + top of their pathway. It was thirty feet across, for, as Tom said, the + walls ought to be at least four feet thick; and six feet would be better, + as they would want a parapet at least two feet thick to fire over. It was + agreed that the whites should use the two shovels by turns. The Indians + were unaccustomed to the work, and were to undertake that of scouting + along the hillside, and of watching by turns at night. The frying-pan was + brought into requisition, a wooden handle being made for it. The hard + upper crust was removed with the shovels, and the layer beneath this was + sufficiently soft for the instrument to be used as a shovel. Below that it + hardened, and could be cut out in great blocks. The loose snow was thrown + inside of the line traced out. + </p> + <p> + As fast as the blocks were cut out they were carried and piled regularly + to form the face. Tom's share of the work was to keep on melting snow, and + to bring it up and pour between and over the blocks. As fast as a line of + these were made the loose snow was thrown in behind it and trampled down + hard. Except for meals there was no rest. The chief said that as there was + little chance of the 'Rappahoes coming up so soon, Hunting Dog had better + stay behind and help, and he lent his aid in carrying the blocks of snow + on a rough stretcher they made for the purpose. By the time it became dark + the wall had risen to a height of three feet above the general level of + the snow, and was already sufficient to form an excellent breastwork. + </p> + <p> + At the end farthest from the side from which the Indians were likely to + come, a gap was left between it and the edge of the ravine three feet + wide, in order that if necessary the horses could pass out. When it became + dark the chief returned. He had gone many miles along towards the main + valley, but had seen no sign of any Indians. After supper was over he took + one of the wapiti skins and his buffalo robe, went up to the "fort," as + they had already called it, and laid the deer-skin down on the slope of + snow behind the wall, wrapped the buffalo robe round him, and lay down + upon it. Hunting Dog then threw another robe over him, projecting a foot + beyond his head, so that he could from time to time raise it and look out + over the snow. The night was a dark one, but any object moving across the + unbroken white surface could be seen at a considerable distance. + </p> + <p> + "I feel sure I should go to sleep," Tom said, "if I were to lie down like + that." + </p> + <p> + "I have no doubt you would, Tom, but there is no fear with the chief. An + Indian never sleeps on the watch, or if he does sleep, it is like a dog: + he seems to hear as well as if he were awake, and every minute or two his + eyes open and he takes a look round. I would rather have an Indian sentry + than half a dozen white ones, unless it is in the open, where there is no + tree to lean against, and a man must keep moving." + </p> + <p> + Hunting Dog threw himself down as soon as he returned to the hut, and was + almost instantly asleep. Three hours later he rose and went out, and + Leaping Horse a minute or two later returned. + </p> + <p> + "All quiet," he said; and then after smoking for a short time also lay + down. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XII — THE SNOW FORT + </h2> + <p> + The hut was quiet at an unusually early hour, for the men had done a very + hard day's work, and felt the strain after the long weeks of inactivity. + At daybreak they were up and about, but could remain out but a few + minutes, for the cold was so intense that they felt unable to face it + until they had taken some hot tea and eaten something. Half an hour + sufficed for this early breakfast. Hunting Dog was again left behind by + the chief when he started. + </p> + <p> + "Two eyes enough," the latter said. "Hunting Dog more use here." + </p> + <p> + The wall of blocks was raised three more feet during the day, as it was + agreed to devote all their efforts to this, and to defer the work of + thickening it until the next day, for the snow had now been cleared so far + from its foot that it could no longer be thrown inside. Though but six + feet above the snow level, it was at least three feet more above the level + of the rock, and its face was a solid sheet of ice, Tom having, during the + two days, made innumerable journeys backwards and forwards with + snow-water. + </p> + <p> + "Another couple of feet and it will be high enough for anything," Harry + said. "I don't believe that the Indians will venture to attack us, but it + is just as well to have it so high that they can't help each other up to + the top. If they knew how strong it is, I am sure they would not attack, + and would leave us alone altogether, but if a hundred of them creep up in + the dark and make a rush, they will do their best to try to climb it. + Anyhow we sha'n't need to make the bank behind very high. If it goes to + within four feet and a half of the top, so that we can stand and fire over + the wall, that is all that is wanted." + </p> + <p> + Leaping Horse returned at dusk as before. He uttered a warm approval of + the work when he had examined it. + </p> + <p> + "Good fort," he said, "better than palisades. Indian no climb over it. No + opening to fire through, good as wall of town house." + </p> + <p> + "I think they will be puzzled when they get here, chief." + </p> + <p> + "Must watch well to-night," the chief said. "Indian scout sure to come. + Two men keep on watch; two better than one." + </p> + <p> + "That is so, chief; we will change every hour. But it will be mighty cold. + I don't see why we shouldn't rig up a shelter against the wall, and have a + bit of a fire there. Then the two on watch can take it by turns every few + minutes to come in and get a warm." + </p> + <p> + With poles and skins a lean-to was speedily constructed against the wall. + The snow was hammered down, and a hearth made of half a dozen logs packed + closely together. Some brands were brought up from the fire in the hut, + and the skins across the end of the lean-to dropped, so that the air + within could get warm while they were at supper. + </p> + <p> + "Hunting Dog and Tom shall take the first watch," Harry said; "Sam and I + will take the next, Jerry and Ben the third, then you, chief, can take the + next." + </p> + <p> + "Leaping Horse watch by himself," the Seneca said; "his eyes will be + open." + </p> + <p> + "Very well, chief. I know you are as good as any two of us, so that will + give us each one hour out and three hours in bed." + </p> + <p> + Wrapping buffalo robes round them, Tom and the young Indian went up to the + fort. Tom drew aside one of the skins and looked into the shelter. The + hearth was in a glow, and two logs lying on it were burning well. The + night was very still, except for the occasional rumble of some distant + snow-slide. For a few minutes they stood looking over the wall, but + keeping far back, so that only their heads were above its level. + </p> + <p> + "Tom go in by the fire," the Indian said. "All white, no need for four + eyes." + </p> + <p> + "Very well, I will go in first; but mind, you have got to go in + afterwards. I sha'n't go in if you don't." + </p> + <p> + After waiting for a few minutes in the shelter Tom went out again, and + Hunting Dog took his place. It was his first war-path, and nothing would + have persuaded him to retire from the watch had he not felt sure that even + white men's eyes could not fail to detect any dark object moving on the + surface of the snow. But although all white the surface was not level; + here and there were sudden elevations marking rises in the rock beneath. + Still it seemed impossible to Tom that anyone could approach unseen. + </p> + <p> + In spite of the protection of the buffalo robe it was intensely cold + outside, and he was glad each time when his turn came for a warm by the + fire. The changes, too, made the time pass quickly, and he was quite + surprised when his uncle and Sam came out to relieve them. The other two + men and the chief were still smoking by the fire. There was tea in the + kettle, and they evidently did not mean to lie down until after their + first watch. Every few minutes the chief got up and went out to the + platform, and stood listening there intently for a short time. Just before + it was time to change the guard again he said when he returned: + </p> + <p> + "Indian down in valley." + </p> + <p> + "Have you heard them, chief?" + </p> + <p> + "Leaping Horse heard a dead stick crack." + </p> + <p> + "That might have been a deer," Ben suggested. + </p> + <p> + The chief shook his head. "'Rappahoe; heard gun strike tree." + </p> + <p> + "Then I reckon they will be up in our watch," Ben said. "Well, we shall be + ready for them." + </p> + <p> + "Perhaps come, perhaps not come; perhaps scout up valley first see if some + of us there, and look for horses. Perhaps some come up path; but crawl up + slow, not know whether look-out there." + </p> + <p> + "Well, I don't envy them if they have got much crawling to do to-night; it + is cold enough to freeze one's breath." + </p> + <p> + "'Rappahoe not like cold," the chief said, "but wants scalp bad; that + makes his blood warm." + </p> + <p> + "I will let some of it out," Jerry said wrathfully, "if I get a chance to + lay a bead on one of them. Don't you be afeard, chief; we will look out + sharp enough, you bet. Waal, I reckon it is about our time to turn out, + Ben." + </p> + <p> + "Jerry tells me that you have heard noises below, chief," Harry said when + he came in. "We heard nothing, but it ain't easy to hear well with these + hoods over one's head." + </p> + <p> + "Hoods bad for hear," the chief assented. "Leaping Horse heard plain, + Indians down below." + </p> + <p> + "Well, it is only what we expected, chief. Anyhow, we are ready for them + when they come." + </p> + <p> + Tom lay down now, and knew nothing more till Hunting Dog touched him. + </p> + <p> + "Time to go and watch," he said. + </p> + <p> + "Has everything been quiet?" + </p> + <p> + The Indian nodded. "No come yet." + </p> + <p> + Leaping Horse remained at his post after they came out to relieve him. Tom + made no comment. Harry had impressed upon him the necessity for absolute + silence. + </p> + <p> + "If they hear voices they will never come near us," he had said, "and we + would rather they came than stopped away. The sooner we get this job over + the better." + </p> + <p> + The chief stood with his head slightly bent forward and the hood of his + hunting-shirt thrown back, listening attentively. Then he touched Hunting + Dog, and stooping low down whispered something in his ear, and then both + stood again listening. Tom, too, threw back his hood, but he could hear + nothing whatever, and was soon glad to pull it forward over his ears + again. He strained his eyes in the direction towards which they were + listening, which was apparently towards the edge of the ravine where the + Indian trail came up from below. All seemed to him to be white and bare. + </p> + <p> + Presently the chief's rifle went up to his shoulder; there was a sharp + crack, a dark figure leapt up from the snow fifty yards away and then fell + headlong down again. It seemed to Tom almost magical. His eyes had been + fixed in that direction for the last five minutes, and he could have sworn + that the surface of the snow was unbroken. A minute later the other four + men came running up. + </p> + <p> + "What is it, chief?" Harry whispered. + </p> + <p> + Leaping Horse pointed to the dark figure stretched out on the snow. + </p> + <p> + "So you have got the varmint. Good! Do you think there are any more of + them about?" + </p> + <p> + "More there sure," the chief said, pointing to the path up from below. + "Perhaps more there," and he pointed to a broad black line from the foot + of the cliffs to the edge of the ravine, where, three days before, an + avalanche from the hills above had swept the rock clear of snow. + </p> + <p> + "They must have made sure that we were all asleep, or that fellow would + never have shown himself on the snow," Harry said. + </p> + <p> + "He did not show himself, uncle. How he got there I don't know; but I was + looking at the spot when the chief fired, and I saw no signs of him + whatever. How he hid himself I don't know. If it had been anywhere else I + should have said he must have had a white sheet over him." + </p> + <p> + "It certainly was not that whatever it was, Tom. However, we shall see in + the morning. Well, we may as well turn in again. Will they try again, do + you think, chief?" + </p> + <p> + "Not try to-night, too cold; if any there, will hide up till daybreak. Now + they know we are awake, will not venture on snow." + </p> + <p> + Half an hour later a great fire was lighted out of gunshot range lower + down the valley, and three or four figures could be seen round it. + </p> + <p> + "Too cold," Hunting Dog said to Tom. "All gone down to get warm." + </p> + <p> + The watches were relieved regularly through the night, but there was no + further alarm until just after daylight had broken, when Sam Hicks + suddenly discharged his rifle. The others all turned out at once. He had + fired at a bush just at the point where the trail came up from below, and + he declared that he had seen a slight movement there, and that some pieces + of the snow had dropped from the leaves. + </p> + <p> + "We will make sure that there is no one there," Harry said, "and then we + will turn out and have a look. It is like enough that one of the red-skins + from below came up the path to have a look at us this morning." + </p> + <p> + He took a steady aim and fired. + </p> + <p> + "Fetch up an axe, Tom; we will cut that bush away at once. It is lucky + that Sam caught sight of the red-skin. If he had not done so he might have + got a bullet in his own head, for when the red-skin had finished taking a + view of the fort he would certainly have picked off Sam or myself before + he went down. It is a weak point, that from here one can't command the + path. If they come in force we shall have to keep watch on the platform + too. From there you can get a sight of two or three of its turnings." + </p> + <p> + [Image: "They Went Out To Look At The Indian The Chief Had Shot."] + </p> + <p> + They went out together, and as they passed, stopped to look at the body of + the Indian the chief had shot. He was a young brave of two-or + three-and-twenty, and the manner of his advance so far unperceived was now + evident. Favoured by a slight fall in the ground, he had crawled forward, + scooping a trench wide enough for his body a foot in depth, pushing the + snow always forward, so that it formed a sort of bank in front of him and + screened him from the sight of those on watch. The chief's keen eye had + perceived a slight movement of the snow, and after watching a moment had + fired at the point where he judged anyone concealed by it must be. He had + calculated accurately. The ball had struck on the shoulder close to the + neck, and had passed down through the body. The Indian had brought no + rifle with him, but had knife and tomahawk in his belt. + </p> + <p> + "Poor young fellow," Harry said. "He wanted to win a name for himself by a + deed of desperate bravery. It has cost him his life, but as he would have + taken ours if he had had a chance it is of no use regretting it." + </p> + <p> + They now went on to the bush. + </p> + <p> + "You were right, Sam," he went on, as they saw the impression on the snow + made by a figure lying down behind it. "There was an Indian here sure + enough, and here is the mark of the stock of his rifle, and no doubt he + would have picked off one of us if you had not scared him. I don't expect + you hit him; there are no signs of blood." + </p> + <p> + "Fire too high," the chief said, pointing to a twig that had been freshly + cut off two feet from the ground. "Always shoot low at man behind bush. + Man cannot float in air." + </p> + <p> + There was a general laugh at Sam, who replied: "I did not suppose he + could, chief. I just fired where I saw the snow fall, without thinking + about it one way or the other. I was an all-fired fool, but I shall know + better next time." + </p> + <p> + The bush was cut down, and also two or three others that grew along by the + edge of the ravine. On their way back to the hut Harry stopped by the dead + Indian. + </p> + <p> + "Fetch me a shovel, Tom," he said, "I will dig a hole in the snow; it + ain't a pleasant object to be looking at anyway." + </p> + <p> + Tom fetched the shovel, Harry dug down in the snow till he reached the + rock, then he and Jerry laid the body in it and filled in the snow again. + The chief looked on. + </p> + <p> + "Bears get him," he said when they had finished. + </p> + <p> + "That is like enough, chief, but we have done the best we can for him. + There is no digging into the rock." + </p> + <p> + "I thought the Indians always scalped enemies they shot?" Tom afterwards + said to his uncle. + </p> + <p> + "So they do, Tom; but you see the chief is a sort of civilized Indian. He + has consorted for years with whites, and he knows that we don't like it. I + don't say he wouldn't do it if he were on the war-path by himself, but + with us he doesn't, at any rate not openly. I have no doubt it went + against his grain to see the red-skin buried with his hair on, for the + scalp would have been a creditable one, as it would not have been got + without a clear eye and good judgment in shooting. I have no doubt he has + got some scalps about him now, though he don't show them; but they will be + hung up some day if he ever settles down in a wigwam of his own. + </p> + <p> + "Well, chief, and what do you think," he asked Leaping Horse, as, after + returning to the hut, they sat down to breakfast, "will they come or won't + they?" + </p> + <p> + "I think they no come," the chief said. "Scout behind bush will tell them + fort too strong to take; must cross snow, and many fall before they get to + it. Very hard to climb. No like cold, Leaping Horse thinks they will stop + in wigwams." + </p> + <p> + "No fools either," Jerry agreed; "a man would be worse than a natural if + he were to go fooling about in this weather, and run a pretty good big + risk of getting shot and nothing much to gain by it. They know we have + left their country now, and ain't likely to come back again either to hunt + there or to dig gold, and that all we want is to get away as soon as we + can. I allow that the chief is right, and that we sha'n't hear no more of + them, anyhow not for some time." + </p> + <p> + The chief nodded. "If come again, not come now. Wait a moon, then think + perhaps we sleep sound and try again; but more likely not try." + </p> + <p> + "Much more likely," Harry assented. "Unless they can do it by a surprise. + Indians are not fond of attacking; they know we shoot straighter than they + do and have better rifles. You remember that time when you and I and + Jersey Dick kept off a party of Navahoes from sunrise till sunset down + near the Emigrant trail? It was lucky for us that a post-rider who was + passing along heard the firing, and took the news to a fort, and that the + officer there brought out fifty troopers just as the sun went down, or we + should have been rubbed out that night sure." + </p> + <p> + The Seneca nodded. + </p> + <p> + "How was it, Harry?" Sam Hicks asked. + </p> + <p> + "It was just the usual thing, Sam. We had left the trail two days before, + and were hunting on our own account when the Navahoes came down. We had + just time to throw the three horses and lie down behind them. They were + within two hundred yards when I began and fetched the chief, who was + leading them, out of his saddle. Leaping Horse brought down another one + and Jersey Dick held his fire, and instead of keeping straight on they + began to straggle round. And they kept at that all day. Sometimes they + would get in pretty close, but each time they did the chief brought down a + horse, and when his rider, who was of course hanging on the other side of + him, got up to run, I fetched him down. Dick wasn't much of a shot, so we + would not let him fire. It discourages red-skins mightily when they see + that there is never a shot thrown away, and that it is sure death whenever + one draws a trigger. So at last they got careful and held off, knowing as + they would get us at night, when they could have crawled up on foot and + made a rush when they got close to us. + </p> + <p> + "The worst of it was we hadn't struck water the evening before, and it was + just one of the hottest days on the plains, and we were pretty nigh mad + with thirst before evening. I believe when the soldiers rode up I was + about as glad to get a drink from one of their bottles as I was that the + Navahoes bolted when they saw them coming. No, the red-skins ain't any + good for an open attack; they would have lost fewer men by riding straight + at us than they did by fooling round, but they could not bring themselves + to do it, and I reckon that is what it will be here. They may, as the + chief says, try, say six weeks on, when the frost begins to break, in + hopes that we may have given up keeping watch: but if they find us awake + they will never try an open attack, for they could not reckon on taking + the place without losing a score of men in doing so. If the snow was off + the ground it would be different. Then of a dark night they could crawl up + close and make a rush." + </p> + <p> + After breakfast the chief and Hunting Dog went out scouting. When they + returned they brought news that three Indians had come over the snow along + the side of the hills, that three others had come up the valley, and that + in a wood half a mile below where they had seen the fire, there had been a + large party encamped. + </p> + <p> + "I reckoned that would be about it, chief. Three fellows came along over + the hill, in case we should be keeping guard at the top of the path, and + they had a big force somewhere down below, so that if the scouts reported + that there was nothing to prevent them falling on us they would come up + before morning and wipe us out. I suppose they have all ridden off?" + </p> + <p> + "All gone. Leaping Horse and Hunting Dog followed right down valley. No + stop anywhere, gone back to lodges." + </p> + <p> + "Then in that case, Harry, we had best get the critters down to their shed + again. They have eaten all that stuff they brought up three days ago, I + gave them the last of it this morning. The Indians know that we keep a + pretty sharp look-out during the day and there ain't no fear of their + coming up here when it is light." + </p> + <p> + As the chief was also of opinion that there was no danger, the horses were + taken down the path into the valley, where on having their bridles + unbuckled they at once trotted off of their own accord towards the beaver + meadow. + </p> + <p> + For the next six weeks a watch was kept regularly, but by only one man at + a time. The horses were driven down to the valley every morning and + brought up again before sunset. There was little hunting now, for they had + as many skins as they could carry comfortably, and a supply of frozen meat + sufficient to last well into the spring. In March the weather became + perceptibly warmer, and the snow in the valley began to melt where the + full power of the sun at mid-day fell upon it. Day by day the crashes of + distant avalanches became more frequent, and they began to look forward to + the time when they should be able to proceed on their journey. + </p> + <p> + One night towards the end of the month Tom was on watch, when he heard a + rustling sound far up beyond the wall of cliff in front of him. It grew + louder and rose to a roar, and then a white mass came pouring down over + the cliff. Leaping from the wall he dashed down the path to the hut. It + needed no word to call the men to their feet, for a deep rumbling filled + the air and the rock seemed to quiver. The horses struggled to break their + head-ropes and snorted with fright. + </p> + <p> + "Your backs to the wall!" Harry shouted, and as all leapt across at his + order there was a crash overhead. The roof above them fell in and a mass + of snow followed; a minute later a deep silence followed the deafening + roar. + </p> + <p> + "Anyone hurt?" Harry shouted, and the replies came in muffled tones. Tom + was jambed against the rock by the snow; he was nearest to the entrance, + his uncle was next to him. + </p> + <p> + "I am all right at present, uncle, but I feel half smothered." + </p> + <p> + "All right, lad; I am pretty free, and I will soon clear you a bit." + </p> + <p> + The snow was pushed away from before Tom's face, his left arm was cleared, + and then his uncle with a vigorous pull brought him back close to him. + Here he was comparatively free, for a part of the roof had fallen close to + the wall and had partially kept off the snow. Then Harry turned, and with + some difficulty managed to get Jerry, who was next to him, freed from the + snow. + </p> + <p> + "Now, Jerry, you work along that way and get at the others. Tom and I will + try to burrow a way out." + </p> + <p> + It was a difficult task. Once through the passage in the log wall they + pushed to the left towards the edge of the platform, taking it by turns to + go first until the snow became lighter; then by a vigorous effort Harry + rose to his feet, sending a mass of snow tumbling over the edge of the + platform. As soon as Tom had joined him they set to work with hands and + knives, and soon cleared a passage back to the entrance. Just as they did + so Jerry crawled out from within. + </p> + <p> + "Are they all right, Jerry?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, the others are coming; only about twelve feet of the roof caved in, + and the two Indians and Sam soon got in among the horses. I had a lot of + trouble with Ben; he had been knocked down, and I thought that he was gone + when I got him out; but he is all right now, though he can't walk yet. The + Indians and Sam have got the shovels, and are working away to clear a + passage along by the wall; there is no getting Ben out through that + rabbit-hole you have made." + </p> + <p> + "Thank God we are all right," Harry said; "it does not matter a bit, now + that we know no one is badly hurt. We will begin at this end, but we + sha'n't be able to do much until we get the shovels, the snow will fall in + as fast as we get it out." + </p> + <p> + They soon found that they could do nothing in this way. + </p> + <p> + "We will try to tunnel again," Harry said, "it is not more than ten feet + along. If we get in and hump ourselves, we shall soon get it big enough to + drag Ben out, then the others can follow, and we can set to work with the + spades to clear the place." + </p> + <p> + After a good deal of effort they succeeded in enlarging the hole, and then + got Ben through it, one crawling backwards and pulling him while the other + shoved at his legs. + </p> + <p> + "How do you feel, Ben?" Harry asked him when they laid him down outside. + </p> + <p> + "I dunno, Harry; I am afraid my back is badly hurt. I don't seem to feel + my legs at all. I expect they are numbed from the weight of snow on them." + </p> + <p> + "I will crawl into our store and fetch out the keg." + </p> + <p> + "I reckon a drop of whisky will do me good if anything will," Ben said. "I + was crushed pretty near flat, and if my head hadn't been against the wall + I should have been smothered. Are you all right, young Tom?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, I am not hurt at all. The snow squeezed me against the rock, and I + could not move an inch, but uncle managed to get me a little free and then + pulled me out of it." + </p> + <p> + Harry soon came back with the whisky, and was followed by the Indians and + Sam, who found that they could do nothing with the snow, which fell in as + fast as they cleared it. Their first step was to dig out a buffalo robe to + wrap Ben in. His voice was stronger after he had drank some spirit, and he + said that he felt better already. The others at once set to work with the + shovels. They first cleared the platform along by the wall to the + entrance, and then attacked the snow which filled the space between the + two rock walls to the top. + </p> + <p> + Two of them worked with poles, loosening the snow above, and bringing it + down in masses, while those with shovels cast it out on to the platform, + going out occasionally to throw it over into the ravine. Hunting Dog made + his way up over the snow to the top of the path, and called down to say + that the fort was entirely swept away, and the chief told him to take up + his post at once at the top of the path leading from below. + </p> + <p> + "He need not have told us that the fort was gone," Jerry grumbled. "If it + had been made of cast-iron it would not have stood. The sooner we get our + rifles out the better." + </p> + <p> + This could not be done for a time, for the loosening of the snow above had + caused that below to slip, and the passage along by the wall had fallen + in. The Indians, however, who had slept beyond the part filled by snow, + had brought their pieces out with them, and could have defended the path + alone. Several times those at work were buried by falls of snow, and had + to be dragged out by the others. By daylight a considerable gap had been + made in the snow, and they were able to get into the space beyond the + fall. A number of logs, and a joint of meat that had been taken in the day + before to thaw, were brought out, and a fire was soon blazing on the + platform. + </p> + <p> + "I wonder why the snow did not shoot over as it did before?" Ben, who was + now able to sit up, remarked. + </p> + <p> + "I reckon it is the fort did it," Harry said. "Of course it went, but it + may have checked the rush of the snow for a moment, and those thick walls + couldn't have got the same way on as the rest of the snow had." + </p> + <p> + "But the fort wasn't over the roof, uncle," Tom remarked. + </p> + <p> + "No, but it may have blocked the slide a little, and thrown some of it + sideways; you see it is only this end that gave, while it shot right over + the rest of the roof just as before." + </p> + <p> + "It is mighty lucky it did not break in all along," Sam Hicks said, "for + it would have left us without horses if it had; and it would have been + mighty rough on us to have lost them, just as we are going to want them, + after our taking such pains with them all through the winter." + </p> + <p> + The chief took Hunting Dog's place as soon as he had finished his meal, + and remained on watch all day. The men worked without ceasing, but it was + not until sunset that the snow was completely cleared away. + </p> + <p> + "I reckon that we shall have to be starting before long," Jerry said as + they sat round the fire in what they before called their store-room, + having driven the horses as far in as possible to make room. "We could + have held out before as long as we liked, but it is different now. The + rock's cleared now for a hundred yards on each side of us, our fort's + gone, and there is nothing to prevent the redskins from crawling close up + the first dark night and making a rush. They are like enough to be sending + scouts up the valley occasionally, and it won't be long before they hear + that our fort has gone and the ground cleared of snow." + </p> + <p> + Leaping Horse nodded. "Two men must watch at top of path," he said. + </p> + <p> + "That is right enough, chief; but we know three of them came along the + hills before, and it is like enough they will all come that way next time. + They are safe to reckon that we shall hold the path." + </p> + <p> + "It is very unfortunate," Harry said; "in another month, we should have + been able to travel. Anyhow, it seems to me that we have got to try now; + it would never do to be caught in here by the red-skins. If we are to go, + the sooner the better. All our meat has been carried over the edge. This + is about the time we expected the Indians back, and it would be dangerous + to scatter hunting. It is a big risk, too, taking the horses down to the + meadow. No, I think we can manage to get over the pass. The snow gets + softer every day when the sun is on it; but it freezes at night. We have + the moon, too, so we shall be able to travel then; and even if we take + three or four days getting over the divide we can sleep in the daytime." + </p> + <p> + "We must get a little more meat anyhow before we start," Jerry said. "This + joint ain't more than enough for another square meal for us, and though I + reckon the bighorns will be coming up to the hills again now, it won't do + to risk that." + </p> + <p> + "We have the pack-horses, Jerry." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, I did not think of them. Horseflesh ain't so bad on a pinch; but I + don't want to lose our skins." + </p> + <p> + "Better our skins than our hair," Sam laughed. + </p> + <p> + "That is right enough, Sam, but I would like to save both." + </p> + <p> + "Perhaps there is some of the meat under the snow," Tom suggested. "It + hung near the wall, and the snow must have come straight down on it from + above, as it did in here." + </p> + <p> + "That is so, Tom; we will have a look the first thing in the morning. I am + so tired now I would not dig for it if it were gold." + </p> + <p> + As soon as it was light the next morning they began to clear the snow from + the rest of the platform, and found to their great satisfaction four bear + hams. The rest of the meat had been swept over the edge. The two Indians + had not shared in the work, having started away early without saying where + they were going. They returned to breakfast, each carrying a hind-quarter + of venison, which they had found in the snow below. + </p> + <p> + It was agreed that a start should be made that evening. By sunset the + horses were loaded, and half an hour later they moved away. Ben Gulston + had to be assisted on to his horse, for although in other respects + recovered, it was found that he had so severely strained his back across + the loins that he was scarcely able to walk a foot. The moon was shining + brightly, and as soon as they were on the snow they could see as plainly + as if it were day. All were in high spirits that they had left the spot + where for six months they had been prisoners. They had difficulty in + restraining themselves from shouting and singing, but the chief before + starting had warned them of the necessity for travelling silently. + "Snow-slides very bad now; shouting might set them going." + </p> + <p> + The others looked rather incredulous, but Harry said: + </p> + <p> + "I know he is right, boys; for I have heard that in the Alps the guides + always forbid talking when they are crossing places exposed to avalanches. + At any rate we may as well give the snow as little chance as may be of + going for us." + </p> + <p> + They travelled in Indian file from habit rather than necessity, for the + snow was firm and hard, and the horses made their way over it without + difficulty. There had been some debate as to the way they should go; but + they determined at last to take the valley through the cliff wall, and to + strike to the right whenever they came upon a likely spot for crossing. + Two such attempts were made in vain, the upper slopes of snow being found + too steep for the horses to climb; but at the third, which was made just + after morning broke, they succeeded in getting up the hill to their right, + and, after great difficulty, descended into another valley. This they had + little doubt was the one that led to the pass, for from the hill they + could see the great peak along whose foot the trail ran. + </p> + <p> + It was ten o'clock before they got down into the valley. The snow was + beginning to be soft on the surface, and the horses were tired out. They + therefore halted, made a fire with two or three of the logs they had + brought with them for the purpose, boiled water and had breakfast, and + gave half a bucket of gruel to each of the animals. Then wrapping + themselves in their buffalo robes they lay down and slept till late in the + afternoon. The journey was resumed at sunset, and before morning they had + crossed the divide; and when the sun rose obtained a view over the country + far to the south. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIII — A FRESH START + </h2> + <p> + In the evening they camped on the banks of the Green River, here a stream + of but small size, except when the melting snow swelled its waters into a + torrent. At the spot where they halted a rivulet ran into the stream from + a thickly-wooded little valley. It was frozen, but breaking the ice with + their axes they found that water was flowing underneath. They had observed + that there was a marked difference in temperature on this side of the + mountains, upon which the strength of the southern sun had already in many + places cleared away the snow. + </p> + <p> + "It is a comfort to be able to sit by a fire without the thought that + red-skins maybe crawling up towards you," Sam Hicks said heartily, "and to + sleep without being turned out to stand watch in the cold. + </p> + <p> + "You say the country ahead is bad, chief?" + </p> + <p> + "Bad lands both sides of Green River. Deep canons and bare rock." + </p> + <p> + "Well, we need not follow it; it don't make any difference to us whether + we get down to the fort in a fortnight or six weeks." + </p> + <p> + "None at all," Harry said. "We have agreed that when summer fairly sets in + we will try that place I hit on just as the Utes came down on us. It is + the richest place I have ever seen, and if the Indians will but let us + alone for a month we ought to bring back a big lot of dust; and if we do, + we can sell our share in it for a big sum, and take down enough men to + thrash the Utes out of their boots if they interfere with us. By our + reckoning it is the end of March now, though we don't at all agree as to + the day; but at any rate, it is there or thereabouts. That gives us a good + six weeks, and if we start in the middle of May it will be time enough. So + I propose that we strike more to the west, or to the east, whichever you + think is the best, chief, and try and pick up a few more pelts so as to + lay in a fresh stock of goods for our next trip." + </p> + <p> + "Bad hills everywhere," the chief said; "better go west, plenty of game + there." + </p> + <p> + "No fear of Indians?" + </p> + <p> + "Indians there peaceable; make good trade with whites. Ten years ago + fight, but lose many men and not get much plunder. Trappers here good + friends with them. Traders bring up powder and cloth and beads. Indians no + give trouble." + </p> + <p> + For the next six weeks, therefore, they travelled slowly, camping + sometimes for two or three days on a stream, and then making a long march + until they again came to water. The beaver traps had been left behind, but + they were fortunate enough to come upon several beaver villages, and by + exercising patience they were able to shoot a good many, getting in all + some fifty skins. Tom used to go out in the evening and lie down to watch + the beavers at work, but he would not take a gun. + </p> + <p> + "I could not shoot them down in cold blood, uncle. It is almost like + looking at a village of human beings at work. One can shoot a man who is + wanting to shoot you, without feeling much about it, but to fire at a man + labouring in the fields is murder. Of course, if we wanted the flesh for + food it would be different." + </p> + <p> + "I did not see you refuse that beaver-tail soup we had last night, Tom." + </p> + <p> + "No, and it was very good, uncle; but I would very much rather have gone + without it than shoot the beaver the tail belonged to." + </p> + <p> + "Well, Tom, as we have all got guns, and as none of us have any scruples + that way, there is no occasion whatever for you to draw a trigger on them. + They take some shooting, for if you hit them in the water they sink + directly, and you have got to kill them dead when they are on land, + otherwise they make for the water at once and dive into their houses and + die there." + </p> + <p> + They killed a good many other animals besides the beaver, including + several wolverines, and by the time they got down to the fort in the + middle of May they had had to give up riding and pack all the animals with + the skins they had obtained. None of these were of any great value, but + the whole brought enough to buy them a fresh outfit of clothes, a fresh + stock of provisions and powder, and to give them a hundred dollars each. + </p> + <p> + The evening after the sale was effected Tom wrote home to his sisters, + giving them a brief account of what had taken place since the letter he + had posted to them before starting for the mountains, but saying very + little of their adventures with Indians. "I am afraid you have been in a + great fright about me," he said, "but you must never fidget when you don't + get letters. We may often be for a long time away from any place where we + can post them, or, as they call it here, mail them, though I certainly do + not expect to be snowed up again for a whole winter. Owing to the Indians + being hostile we did not do nearly so well as we expected, for we could + not go down to hunt in the valleys. So after getting a fresh outfit for + our next journey our share is only a hundred dollars each. I did not want + to take a share, for of course I was not of much use to them, though I + have learnt a lot in the last six months, and can shoot now as well as any + of them, except the two Indians. + </p> + <p> + "However, they all insisted on my having the same share as the rest. Uncle + wanted me to take his hundred dollars and send them home to you with mine, + but I told him that I would not do so, for I know you have money enough to + go on with, even if your school has turned out a failure. So I think it + would be as well for us to keep our money in hand for the present. There + is never any saying what may happen; we may lose our horses and kit, and + it would be very awkward if we hadn't the money to replace them. As soon + as we get more we will send it off, as you know I always intended to do. I + have still some left of what I brought out with me, but that and the two + hundred dollars would not be more than enough to buy an entirely new + outfit for us both. + </p> + <p> + "I hope you got the five hundred dollars uncle sent you. He told me he + sent it off from Denver, and it ought to have got home a few weeks after I + left. It is horrid to think that there may be letters from you lying at + Denver, but it serves me right for being so stupid as not to put in the + short note I wrote you from here before I started, that you had better + direct to me at Fort Bridger, as I shall almost be sure to come back to it + before I go to Denver. I like uncle awfully; it seems to me that he is + just what I expected he would be. I suppose they all put in equal shares, + but the other men quite look upon him as their leader. Sometimes when he + is talking to me he speaks just as people do at home. When he talks to the + men he uses the same queer words they do. He is taller than father was, + and more strongly built. What I like in him is, he is always the same. + Sometimes the others used to get grumbly when we were shut up so long, but + it never seemed to make any difference in him. + </p> + <p> + "I told you when I wrote from Denver that he was called 'Straight Harry,' + because he always acted straightforwardly, and now I know him I can quite + understand their calling him so. One feels somehow that one could rely + upon his always being the same, whatever happened. Leaping Horse is a + first-rate fellow, and so is Hunting Dog, though of course he does not + know nearly as much as the chief does, but he knows a lot. The other three + are all nice fellows, too, so we were a very jolly party. They know a + tremendous lot of stories about hunting and red-skins and that sort of + thing. Some of them would make all you girls' hairs stand on end. We are + going to start off in two or three days to hunt up a gold mine uncle found + three years ago. The Indians are going, too; they will hunt while the rest + of us work. It will be quite a different journey to the last, and I expect + it will be just as hot this time as it was cold last. We may be away for + four months, and perhaps we may not come back till the snow sets in, so + don't expect a letter till you see it." + </p> + <p> + This was by far the longest letter Tom had ever written, and it took him + several hours to get through. He had the room to himself, for the others + were talking over their adventures with old friends they had met at the + fort. His uncle returned about ten o'clock. + </p> + <p> + "Where are the others?" Tom asked. + </p> + <p> + "In the saloon; but they are not drinking, that is, not drinking much. I + told them that if they were to get drunk one of them would be sure to blab + as to where we were going, or at any rate to say enough to excite + suspicion among some of the old miners, that we knew of a good thing, and + in that case we should get a lot of men following us, and it would + interfere with our plans altogether. A party as small as ours may live for + months without a red-skin happening to light on us, but if there were many + more they would be certain to find us. There would be too much noise going + on, too much shooting and driving backward and forward with food and + necessaries. We want it kept dark till we thoroughly prove the place. So I + made them all take an oath this morning that they would keep their heads + cool, and I told them that if one of them got drunk, or said a word about + our going after gold, I would not take him with us. I have given out that + we are going on another hunting party, and of course our having brought in + such a lot of skins will make them think that we have hit on a place where + game is abundant and are going back there for the summer." + </p> + <p> + Two more pack-ponies had been added to the outfit. They might be away for + five or six months, and were determined to take a good supply of flour + this time, for all were tired of the diet of meat only, on which they had + existed for the last six months, having devoted by far the greater part of + the flour to the horses. + </p> + <p> + When they started next day they turned their faces north, as if they + intended to hunt in the mountains where they had wintered. They made but a + short march, camped on a stream, and long before daybreak started again, + travelling for some hours to the west and then striking directly south. + For two days they travelled rapidly, Tom going out every morning with the + Indians hunting, while the others kept with the pack-horses. Ben had now + quite recovered from the strain which had crippled him for the first three + weeks of their march down to Fort Bridger. They were now fairly among the + Ute hills, and at their third camping-place Harry said: + </p> + <p> + "We must do no more shooting now till we get to our valley. We have got a + supply of deer-flesh for a week at least, and we must be careful in + future. We heard at the fort that several miners have been cut off and + killed by the Utes during the winter, and that they are more set than ever + against white men entering their country. Everyone says those rascally + Saints are at the bottom of it. We must hide our trail as much as we can. + We are just at the edge of the bad lands, and will travel on them for the + next two days. The red-skins don't go out that way much, there being + nothing either to hunt or to plunder, so there is little fear of their + coming on our trail on the bare rocks, especially as none of the horses + are shod. On the third day we shall strike right up into their mountains." + </p> + <p> + "Are you sure that you will know the place again, Harry?" + </p> + <p> + "I reckon I could find it, but I should not feel quite certain about it if + I had not the chief with me. There is no fear of his going wrong. When a + red-skin has once been to a place he can find his way straight back to it + again, even if he were a thousand miles off." + </p> + <p> + "You said when we were talking of it among the hills, uncle," Tom said, as + he rode beside him the next morning, "that Leaping Horse and you each took + two shares. I wonder what he will do with his if it turns out well." + </p> + <p> + "He won't do anything with it, Tom. The chief and I are like brothers. He + does not want gold, he has no use for it; and, besides, as a rule, Indians + never have anything to do with mining. He and Hunting Dog really come as + hunters, and he has an understanding with me that when the expedition is + over I shall pay them the same as they would earn from any English + sportsman who might engage them as guides and hunters, and that I shall + take their shares in whatever we may make. I need not say that if it turns + out as well as we expect, the Indians will get as many blankets and as + much ammunition as will last them their lives. You can't get a red-skin to + dig. Even the chief, who has been with us for years, would consider it + degrading to do work of that kind; and if you see an Indian at mining + work, you may be sure that he is one of the fellows who has left his tribe + and settled down to loaf and drink in the settlements, and is just doing a + spell to get himself enough fire-water to make himself drunk on. + </p> + <p> + "The Seneca would be just as willing to come and hunt for us for nothing. + He would get his food and the skins, which would pay for his tobacco and + ammunition, and, occasionally, a new suit of leggings and hunting-shirt, + made by an Indian woman, and with this he would be happy and contented. He + doesn't mind taking money in return for skins, and he and Hunting Dog had + their full share in the division at the fort. When I last talked to him + about this business, he said, 'Leaping Horse doesn't want money. Of what + use is it to him? He has got a bagful hidden at home, which he has been + paid when he was scouting with the army, and for the skins of beasts he + has shot. It is enough to buy many horses and blankets, and all that a + chief can want. He is going with his friend to hunt, and to fight by his + side if the Utes come; he wants none of the gold.' I explained the matter + to him, and he said carelessly: 'Leaping Horse will take the two shares, + but it will be for his brother, and that he may send it to the girls, the + sisters of his friend Tom, of whom he spoke one night by the fire.' + </p> + <p> + "Hunting Dog is like Leaping Horse, he will take no gold. I have told the + three men how matters stand. Of course, it makes no difference to them + whether the Indians keep their share or hand it over to me, but at the + same time I thought they ought to know how we stood. They said it was no + business of theirs; that as I was the discoverer I had a right to sell the + whole thing if I chose, and that they thought I had done the friendly + thing by them in letting them in as partners. So you see it is all right + and square. It is like enough, too, that we shall find some other lodes, + and of course there they will come in on even terms with us. So they are + pleased with the look-out, and know well enough it is likely to be the + best strike they ever made in their lives." + </p> + <p> + They kept near the edge of the bad lands, as had they gone farther out + they would have been obliged to make long detours to get round the head of + the caņons made by rivers running down into the Colorado. They had filled + their water-skins at the last stream where they had camped, and had taken + with them enough dried wood for their fires. These they lit each night in + a hollow, as from the upper slopes of the Ute hills a view could be + obtained for a great distance over the flat rocky plateau. Tom was + heartily glad when the two days' journey was over. Not a living creature + had met their eyes; there was no grass on which beasts could exist, no + earth in which prairie-dogs could burrow; even birds shunned the bare + waste of rock. + </p> + <p> + "It is a desolate country," he said, as they sat round the fire; "it would + be enough to give one the horrors if one were alone. It is hot now, and in + the height of summer the heat and glare from the rock must be awful." + </p> + <p> + "It is, Tom; many and many a man has died of thirst in the bad lands. And + what makes it more terrible is, that they can perhaps see water a thousand + feet below them and yet die from the want of it." + </p> + <p> + "When we were camped on the Green River, uncle, you said that no one had + ever followed it down." + </p> + <p> + "That is so, lad. One knows whereabouts it goes, as men driven by thirst + have followed caņons down to it; and in some places it runs for many miles + across low land before it plunges into another caņon. Then it cuts its way + for two or three hundred miles, perhaps, through the hills, with walls two + or three thousand feet high. No one, so far as I know, has gone down these + big caņons, but it is certain there are rapids and whirlpools and rocks in + them. Two or three parties have gone down through some of the shorter + caņons to escape Indians, and most of them have never been heard of again, + but one or two have got down some distance and managed to escape. + </p> + <p> + "No one has followed the course by land. They could not do so unless they + carried all their provisions, and drink and food for their animals, and + even then the expedition would take months, perhaps years to do; for every + spring from the hills runs down a caņon to the river, sometimes fifty + miles, sometimes a hundred long, and each time the party came upon one of + these they would have to work up to the mountains to get round it. It is + over a thousand miles in a straight line from the place where the Green + River first enters a caņon to where the Colorado issues out on to the + plains, and it may be quite twice that distance if one could follow all + its windings. Some day when the country fills up attempts will no doubt be + made to find out something about it; but it will be a big job whenever it + is tried, and may cost a lot of lives before the caņons are all explored." + </p> + <p> + In the morning they started westward for the hills. The greatest care was + observed on the march. They took advantage of every depression, and when + obliged to pass over level ground moved at a distance apart, as a clump or + string of moving animals would be made out at a distance from which a + solitary one would be unnoticed. By noon they had left the bare rock, and + were travelling up a valley clothed with grass and dotted with clumps of + trees. In the first of these they halted. + </p> + <p> + "We will stay here until it begins to get dusk," Harry said, "and then + move on as fast as we can go. If we don't lose our way we shall be there + before morning." + </p> + <p> + There was no moon, but the stars shone brilliantly, and the mountains, + with their summits still covered with snow, could be seen ahead. The chief + went on in front. Sometimes they proceeded up valleys, sometimes crossed + shoulders and spurs running down from the hills. They moved in Indian + file, and at times proceeded at a brisk pace, at other times more slowly; + but there was no halt or sign of hesitation on the part of their leader. + At last, just as morning was breaking, the chief led them into a clump of + trees. He moved a little distance in, and then reined in his horse and + dismounted. + </p> + <p> + "Does my brother remember that?" he said to Harry, pointing to something + on the ground. + </p> + <p> + "Jee-hoshaphat!" Harry exclaimed; "if that ain't my old pack-saddle! This + is the very spot where we camped, boys. Well, chief, you are certainly a + wonder. I doubt whether I could have found my way here in the daytime. + Half a dozen times to-night it seemed to me that you were going in the + wrong direction altogether, and yet you bring us as straight to the spot + as if all the time you had been following a main road." + </p> + <p> + "Bully for the chief!" Jerry said warmly. "I am blamed if that ain't a + fust-rate piece of tracking. Waal, here we are at our journey's end. Can + we make a fire?" + </p> + <p> + "Make small fire, but must put screen round." + </p> + <p> + "Very well; we will leave the fire to you, and we will unpack the + critters. There is a bundle of dry wood left, so we sha'n't have the + bother of looking for it now." + </p> + <p> + Before lighting the fire the two Indians stretched some blankets some six + feet above it, to prevent the light falling upon the foliage; then by + their directions Sam cut a dozen short poles, and fixed them in a circle + round the fire. Half a dozen more blankets were fastened to the poles, + forming a wall round the fire, which the chief then lighted. The nights + were, at that height above the sea-level, cool enough to make the heat + pleasant, and there was just room for the seven men to sit between the + blanket wall and the fire. + </p> + <p> + "Do you mean this to be our permanent camp, Harry?" + </p> + <p> + "What do you think, Leaping Horse?" + </p> + <p> + "Wait till me go up gold valley," the Seneca said. "If can't find a good + place there better stay here; if go backwards and forwards every day make + trail Indian squaw would notice." + </p> + <p> + "That is so, chief; but by what Harry says it is a mere gully, and the + horses will have to range." + </p> + <p> + "Horses must feed," the chief said. "If we find a place up there, make + hut, take saddles and outfit there. Tie up horses here, and let them loose + to feed at night. No regular track then. But talk after sleep." + </p> + <p> + "It will be broad daylight by the time that we have finished our meal," + Jerry said, "and I reckon none of us will be wanting to sleep till we have + got a sight of Harry's bonanza." + </p> + <p> + As soon as they had finished their meal, the mining implements, which had + been carefully hidden among the rest of their goods when they started from + the fort, were brought out. Among these were a dozen light pick-heads and + half a dozen handles, as many shovels, a flat iron plate for crushing ore + upon, and a short hammer, with a face six inches in diameter, as a + pounder; also a supply of long nails, to be used in fastening together + troughs, cradles, or any other woodwork that might be required; three or + four deep tin dishes, a bottle of mercury, a saw, and a few other tools. + Three of the pick-heads were now fastened to their handles, and taking + these, a couple of shovels, two of the tin basins, a sledge hammer, and + some steel wedges, and the peculiar wooden platter, in shape somewhat + resembling a small shield with an indentation in the middle, called a + vanner, and universally used by prospectors, the five whites and Leaping + Horse started from their camp for the spot where Harry had found the lode. + It lay about a mile up a narrow valley, running into the larger one. A + rivulet trickled down its centre. + </p> + <p> + "I reckoned on that," Harry said. "Of course it was frozen when we were + here, but I could see that there was water in summer. You see this hollow + runs right up into that wood, and there is sure to be water in it for the + next three months anyhow." + </p> + <p> + They had gone but a short distance up when they stopped at a spot where + the streamlet widened out into a pool. + </p> + <p> + "Let us try here," Jerry said, "and see if there is any sign." + </p> + <p> + Half a shovelful of sand was placed in the vanner with a small quantity of + water, and while Harry and Sam proceeded to wash some gravel roughly in + the pans, Tom stood watching Jerry's operations. He gave a gentle motion + to the vanner that caused its contents to revolve, the coarser particles + being thrown towards the edges while the finer remained in the centre. The + water was poured away and the rougher particles of gravel and sand swept + off by the hand; fresh water was then added, and the process repeated + again and again, until at last no more than a spoonful of fine sand + remained in the centre. A sideway action of the vanner caused this to + slope gradually down towards the edge. At the very bottom three tiny bits + of yellow metal were seen. They were no bigger than pins' heads. It seemed + to Tom that this was a miserably small return for five minutes' labour, + but the others seemed well satisfied, and were still more pleased when, on + the two pans being cleaned out, several little pieces of gold were found, + one of which was nearly as large as a small pea. + </p> + <p> + "That is good enough," Ben said; "it will run a lot richer when we get + down on to the rock." + </p> + <p> + At two other places on their way up they tried the experiments, with + increasingly good results. + </p> + <p> + "There is some tall work to be done here with washing," Harry said. "Now + come on to the vein. I only saw one of them, but there must be a lot more + or you would not find so much metal in the sand. However, the one I saw is + good enough for anything." They went on again to a point where the rock + cropped boldly out on both sides of the valley; Harry led them a few paces + up the side, and pointed to some white patches in the rock. "That is where + I chipped it off, lads, three years ago." + </p> + <p> + The face of the lode, discoloured by age and weather, differed but little + from the rock surrounding it; but where it had been broken off it was a + whitish yellow, thickly studded with little bits of dull yellow metal + sticking out of it. Tom was not greatly impressed; but he saw from the + faces of his companions that they were at once surprised and delighted. + </p> + <p> + "By gosh, Harry, you have done it this time!" Sam Hicks exclaimed. "You + have struck it rich, and no mistake. I thought from the way you talked of + it it must be something out of the way, but I am blamed if I thought it + was like this." + </p> + <p> + "Stand back, you chaps," Jerry said, lifting the heavy sledge hammer; "let + me get a drive at it. Here is a crack. Put one of them wedges in, Ben." + </p> + <p> + The wedge was placed in the fissure, and Ben held it while Jerry gave a + few light blows to get it firmly fixed. + </p> + <p> + "That will do, Ben; take away your hand and let me drive at it." Swinging + the hammer round his head Jerry brought it down with tremendous force on + the head of the wedge. Again and again the heavy hammer rose and fell, + with the accuracy of a machine, upon the right spot, until the wedge, + which was nine inches long, was buried in the crevice. + </p> + <p> + "Now another one, Ben. Give me a longer one this time." + </p> + <p> + This time Ben held the wedge until it was half buried, having perfect + confidence in Jerry's skill. It was not until the fourth wedge had been + driven in that a fragment of rock weighing four or five hundredweight + suddenly broke out from the face. All bent eagerly over it, and the miners + gave a shout of joy. The inner surface, which was white, but slightly + stained with yellow, with blurs of slate colour here and there, was + thickly studded with gold. It stuck out above the surface in thin, leafy + plates with ragged edges, with here and there larger spongy masses. + </p> + <p> + "I reckon that is good enough," Jerry said, wiping the sweat from his + forehead. "Ef there is but enough of it, it is the biggest thing that ever + was struck. There ain't no saying how rich it is, but I will bet my boots + it's over five hundred ounces to the ton. It ain't in nature that it is + going to run far like that, but it is good enough for anything. Well, what + is the next thing, Harry?" + </p> + <p> + "We will break it up," Harry said, "and carry it down with us to the camp. + If the Utes came down on us tomorrow, and we could get off with it, that + would be plenty to show if we want to make a sale." + </p> + <p> + It took them a long time to break up the rock, for the quartz was hard, + and was so bound together by the leafy gold running through it that each + of the four men had several spells with the hammer before it was broken up + into fragments weighing some twenty pounds apiece. As soon as this was + done the men collected earth, filled up the hole in the face of the rock, + and planted several large tufts of grass in it, and poured four or five + tins of water over them; then they smeared with mud the patches where + Harry had before broken pieces off. + </p> + <p> + "What is all that for, Jerry?" Tom asked. + </p> + <p> + "It is to hide up the traces, lad. We may have to bolt away from here + to-morrow morning for anything we know, and before we come back again + someone else may come along, and though we shall locate our claims at the + mining register, there would be a lot of trouble if anyone else had taken + possession, and was working the vein when we got back." + </p> + <p> + "It is not likely that anyone else would come along here, Jerry." + </p> + <p> + "Waal, I reckon that is so, but one ain't going to trust to chance when + one has struck on such a place as this." + </p> + <p> + The Seneca had been the only unmoved person in the party. + </p> + <p> + "What do you think of that, chief?" Harry asked him. + </p> + <p> + "If my white brother is pleased Leaping Horse is glad," he replied. "But + the Indian does not care for gold. What can he do with it? He has a good + gun, he does not want twenty. He does not want many hunting suits. If he + were to buy as many horses as would fill the valley he could not ride them + all, and he would soon tire of sitting in his lodge and being waited upon + by many wives. He has enough for his needs now. When he is old it will be + time to rest." + </p> + <p> + "Well, that is philosophy, chief, and I don't say you are wrong from your + way of looking at it. But that gold means a lot to us. It means going home + to our people. It means living in comfort for the rest of our lives. It + means making our friends happy." + </p> + <p> + "Leaping Horse is glad," the chief said gravely. "But he cannot forget + that to him it means that the white brother, with whom he has so long + hunted and camped and fought bad Indians, will go away across the great + salt water, and Leaping Horse will see him no more." + </p> + <p> + "That is so, chief," Harry said, grasping the Indian's hand warmly, "and I + was a selfish brute not to think of it before. There is one thing I will + promise you. Every year or so I will come out here and do a couple of + months' hunting with you. The journey is long, but it is quickly made now, + and I know that after knocking about for twenty years I shall never be + content if I don't take a run out on the plains for a bit every summer. I + will give you my word, Leaping Horse, that as long as I have health and + strength I will come out regularly, and that you shall see your white + brother's friendship is as strong as your own." + </p> + <p> + The Seneca's grave face lit up with pleasure. "My white brother is very + good," he said. "He has taken away the thorn out of the heart of Leaping + Horse. His Indian brother is all glad now." + </p> + <p> + The quartz was placed in sacks they had brought with them to carry down + samples, and they at once returned to the camp, where, after smoking a + pipe, they lay down to sleep; but it was some time before all went off, so + excited were they at the thought of the fortune that seemed before them. + </p> + <p> + In the afternoon they took one of the pieces of stone, weighing, by a + spring balance, twenty pounds, and with the flat plate and the + crushing-hammer went to the stream. The rock was first broken with the + sledge into pieces the size of a walnut. These were pulverized on the iron + plate and the result carefully washed, and when the work was finished the + gold was weighed in the miner's scales, and turned the four-ounce weight. + </p> + <p> + "That is nearly five hundred ounces to the ton," Harry said, "but of + course it is not going to run like that. I reckon it is a rich pocket; + there may be a ton of the stuff, and there may be fifty. Now let's go up + and have a quiet look for the lode, and see if we can trace it. We ought + to see it on the rock the other side." + </p> + <p> + A careful search showed them the quartz vein on the face of the rock some + fifty feet higher up the valley, and this showed them the direction of the + run of the lode. It was here, however, only six inches wide instead of + being two feet, as at the spot where it was first found. Some pieces were + broken off: there was gold embedded in it, but it was evident that it was + nothing like so rich as on the other side. A piece of ten pounds was + pounded up, it returned only a little over a pennyweight of gold. + </p> + <p> + "About twelve ounces to the ton," Harry said. "Not bad, but a mighty + falling off from the other. To-morrow morning we will follow the lode on + the other side and see if we can strike an outcrop." + </p> + <p> + The next day they found the lode cropping up through the rock some thirty + yards from their great find. It was about nine inches wide. They dug it + out with their picks to a depth of two feet so as to get a fair sample. + This when crushed gave a return at the rate of twenty ounces. + </p> + <p> + "That is rich enough again, and would pay splendidly if worked by + machinery. Of course the question is, how far it holds on as rich as we + found it at the face, and how it keeps on in depth? But that is just what + we can't find. We want drills and powder, as picks are no sort of good on + this hard quartz. Supposing it goes off gradually from the face to this + point, there would be millions of dollars in it, even supposing it pinched + in below, which there is no reason in the world to suppose. We may as well + take a few of these chunks of rock, they will show that the gold holds + fairly a good way back anyhow." + </p> + <p> + A few pieces were put aside and the rest thrown into the hole again, which + was stamped down and filled up with dust. The party then went back to + dinner, and a consultation was held as to what was next to be done. + </p> + <p> + "Of course we must stake out our claims at once," Harry said. "In the + first place there are our own eight claims—two for each of the + discoverers and one each for the others. Hunting Dog will not have a + share, but will be paid the regular rate as a hunter. Then we will take + twenty claims in the names of men we know. They wouldn't hold water if it + were a well-known place, and everyone scrambling to get a claim on the + lode; but as there is no one to cut in, and no one will know the place + till we have sold it and a company sends up to take possession and work + it, it ain't likely to be disputed. The question is, What shall we do now? + Shall we make back to the settlements, or try washing a bit?" + </p> + <p> + "Try washing, I should say," Jerry said. "You may be some time before you + can sell the place. Anyone buying will know that they will have to send up + a force big enough to fight the Utes, and besides they will want someone + to come up here to examine it before they close the bargain. I vote we + stick here and work the gravel for a bit so as to take enough away to keep + us till next spring. I reckon we shall find plenty of stuff in it as we go + down, and if that is so we can't do better than stick to it as long as + there is water in the creek." + </p> + <p> + "I agree with you there, Jerry; but it will never do to risk losing those + first samples. I am ready to stay here through the summer, but I vote we + sew them up in deer-hide, and put two or three thicknesses of skin on them + so as to prevent accidents. Two of us had best go with them to the fort + and ask the Major to let us stow them away in his magazine, then, if we + have to bolt, we sha'n't be weighted down with them. Besides, we might not + have time for packing them on the horses, and altogether it would be best + to get them away at once, then come what might we should have proofs of + the value of the mine." + </p> + <p> + This proposal was cordially agreed to, and it was settled that on the + following morning Harry himself should, with Hunting Dog and two + pack-horses, start for the fort, following the same route they came, while + the rest should set to work to construct a cradle, and troughs for leading + the water to it. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIV — AN INDIAN ATTACK + </h2> + <p> + A couple of trees were felled in the middle of the clump in which they + were still encamped. They were first roughly squared and then sawn into + planks, the three men taking it by turns to use the saw. The question of + shifting the camp up to the spot where they intended to work was discussed + the night before Harry started, but it was agreed at last that it would be + better to remain where they were. + </p> + <p> + "If Utes come, sure to find traces," the chief said. "Many horses in + valley make tracks as plain as noonday. Gold valley bad place for fight." + </p> + <p> + "That is so," Jerry agreed. "We should not have a show there. Even if we + made a log-house, and it would be a dog-goned trouble to carry up the + logs,—we might be shut up in it, and the red-skins would only have + to lie round and shoot us down if we came out. I reckon we had best stay + here after all, Harry. We could keep them outside the range of our rifles + anyhow by day." + </p> + <p> + "I don't see that that would be much good to us, Jerry; for if they came + by day they would not find us here. Still I don't know that it ain't best + for us to stay here; it would give us a lot of trouble to build a place. I + reckon two of us had better stay here all the day with the horses. If the + red-skins come, they can fire a couple of shots, and we shall hear them up + at the washing-place. The red-skins would be safe to draw off for a bit to + talk it over before they attacked, as they would not know how many there + were among the trees. That would give the rest time to come down." + </p> + <p> + It took three days' hard work to saw the planks and make the cradle, and + troughs sufficiently long to lead the water down into it from the stream + higher up. These were roughly but strongly made, the joints being smeared + with clay to prevent the water from running through. A dam was then made + to keep back the water above the spot where they intended to begin, which + was about fifty yards below the quartz vein, and from this dam the trough + was taken along on strong trestles to the cradle. + </p> + <p> + The horses were brought into the camp at daybreak every morning and tied + up to the trees, and were let out again at nightfall. Tom remained in + camp, the chief being with him. The latter, however, was, during the time + Harry was away, twice absent for a day on hunting excursions lower down + the valley, which was there thickly wooded. The first time, he returned + with the hams and a considerable portion of the rest of the flesh of a + bear. The second time, he brought up the carcass of a deer. + </p> + <p> + "How far does the valley run?" Tom asked. + </p> + <p> + "Valley last ten miles. Sides get steep and high, then caņon begin." + </p> + <p> + "That will run right down to the Colorado?" + </p> + <p> + The chief nodded. "Leaping Horse go no farther. Caņon must go down to the + river." + </p> + <p> + "How far is it before the sides of the valley get too steep to climb?" + </p> + <p> + "Two miles from here. Men could climb another mile or two, horses not." + </p> + <p> + "Is there much game down there, chief?" + </p> + <p> + The Seneca nodded. + </p> + <p> + "That is a comfort, we sha'n't be likely to run out of fresh meat." + </p> + <p> + The chief was very careful in choosing the wood for the fire, so that in + the daytime no smoke should be seen rising from the trees. When the dead + wood in the clump of trees was exhausted he rode down the valley each day, + and returned in an hour with a large faggot fastened behind him on the + horse. He always started before daybreak, so as to reduce the risk of + being seen from the hills. On the sixth day the men began their work at + the gravel. The bottle of mercury was emptied into the cradle, the bottom + of which had been made with the greatest care, so as to prevent any loss + from leakage. Two of the men brought up the gravel in buckets and pans, + until the cradle was half full. Then water was let in, and the third man + rocked the machine and kept on removing the coarse stuff that worked up to + the top, while the others continued bringing up fresh gravel. + </p> + <p> + "Well, what luck?" Tom asked, when they returned in the evening. + </p> + <p> + "We have not cleaned up yet; we shall let it run for three or four days + before we do. We are only on the surface yet, and the stuff wouldn't pay + for the trouble of washing out." + </p> + <p> + On the eighth day after their departure Harry and Hunting Dog returned. + </p> + <p> + "Well, boys, it is all stowed away safely," he said. "I know the Major + well, and he let me have a big chest, which he locked up, after I had put + the bags in, and had it stowed away in the magazine; so there is no fear + of its being touched. Any signs of the red-skins?" + </p> + <p> + "Nary a sign. We have none of us been up the valley beyond this, so that + unless they come right down here, they would find no trail. The horses are + always driven down the valley at night." + </p> + <p> + "How is the work going on, Jerry?" + </p> + <p> + "We began washing two days ago; to-morrow night we shall clean up. We all + think it is going to turn out pretty good, for we have seen gold in the + sand several times as we have carried it up in the pails." + </p> + <p> + The next day Tom went up with the others, the Indians remaining in camp. + Two men now worked at the cradle, while the other three brought up the + sand and gravel. Towards evening they began the work of cleaning up. No + more stuff was brought up to the machine, but the water was still run into + it. As fast as the shaking brought the rough gravel to the top it was + removed, until only a foot of sand remained at the bottom. The water was + now stopped and the sand dug out, and carefully washed in the pans by + hand. At the bottom of each pan there remained after all the sand had been + removed a certain amount of gold-dust, the quantity increasing as the + bottom was approached. The last two panfuls contained a considerable + amount. + </p> + <p> + "It does not look much," Tom said when the whole was collected together. + </p> + <p> + "It is heavy stuff, lad," Harry replied. "What do you think there is, + Jerry? About twelve ounces, I should fancy." + </p> + <p> + "All that, Harry; nigher fourteen, I should think." + </p> + <p> + The pan was now put at the bottom of the cradle, a plug pulled out, and + the quicksilver run into it. A portion of this was poured on wash-leather, + the ends of which were held up by the men so as to form a bag. Harry took + the leather, and holding it over another pan twisted it round and round. + As the pressure on the quicksilver increased it ran through the pores of + the leather in tiny streams, until at last a lump of pasty metal remained. + This was squeezed again and again, until not a single globule of + quicksilver passed through the leather. The ball, which was of the + consistency of half-dried mortar was then taken out, and the process + repeated again and again until the whole of the quicksilver had been + passed through the leather. Six lumps of amalgam about the size of small + hens' eggs remained. + </p> + <p> + "Is that good, uncle?" Tom asked. + </p> + <p> + "Very fair, lad; wonderfully good indeed, considering we have not got down + far yet. I should say we shall get a pound and a half of gold out of it." + </p> + <p> + "But how does the gold get into it, uncle?" + </p> + <p> + "There is what is called an affinity between quicksilver and gold. The + moment gold touches quicksilver it is absorbed by it, just as a drop of + water is taken up by a lump of salt. It thickens the quicksilver, and as + it is squeezed through the leather the quicksilver is as it were strained + out, and what remains behind becomes thicker and thicker, until, as you + see, it is almost solid. It is no good to use more pressure, for if you do + a certain amount of the gold would be squeezed through the leather. You + see, as the stuff in the cradle is shaken, the gold being heavier than the + sand finds its way down to the bottom, and every particle that comes in + contact with the quicksilver is swallowed up by it." + </p> + <p> + "And how do you get the quicksilver out of those lumps?" + </p> + <p> + "We put them in one of those clay crucibles you saw, with a pinch of + borax, cover them up, and put them in a heap of glowing embers. That + evaporates the quicksilver, and leaves the gold behind in the shape of a + button." This was done that evening, and when the buttons were placed in + the scales they just turned the two-pound weight. + </p> + <p> + "Well, boys, that is good enough for anything," Harry said. "That, with + the dust, makes a pound a day, which is as good as the very best stuff in + the early days of California." + </p> + <p> + They worked steadily for the next seven weeks. Contrary to their + expectations the gravel was but little richer lower down than they had + found it at the end of the first wash-up, but continued about equally + good, and the result averaged about a pound weight of gold a day. This was + put into little bags of deer-skin, each containing five pounds' weight, + and these bags were distributed among the saddle-bags, so that in case of + sudden disturbance there would be no risk of their being left behind. The + Indians took it by turns to hunt; at other times they remained on guard in + camp, Tom only staying when one of them was away. One day when the mining + party stopped work, and sat down to eat some bread and cold meat,—which + they had from the first brought up, so as to save them the loss of time + entailed by going to the camp and back,—the report of a gun came + upon their ears. All started to their feet and seized their rifles, and + then stood listening intently. A minute later two more shots were heard at + close intervals. + </p> + <p> + "Red-skins for sure!" Jerry exclaimed. "I thought as how our luck were too + good to last." They started at a run down the little valley, and only + paused when they reached its mouth. Harry then advanced cautiously until + he could obtain a view of the main valley. He paused for a minute and then + rejoined his companions. + </p> + <p> + "There are fifty of them," he said, "if there is one. They are Utes in + their war-paint. They are a bit up the valley. I think if we make a rush + we can get to the trees before they can cut us off." + </p> + <p> + "We must try anyhow," Sam Hicks said, "else they will get the two Indians + and our horses and saddles and all. Just let us get breath for a moment, + and then we will start." + </p> + <p> + "Keep close together as you run," Harry said, "and then if they do come up + we can get back to back and make a fight of it." After a short pause they + started. They had not gone twenty yards when a loud yell proclaimed that + the Indians had seen them. They had, however, but three hundred yards to + run, while the Utes were double that distance from the clump. + </p> + <p> + When the miners were within fifty yards of the trees two rifle-shots rang + out, and two of the Utes, who were somewhat ahead of the rest; fell from + their horses, while the rest swerved off, seeing that there was no hope of + cutting the party off. A few more yards and the miners were among the + trees. + </p> + <p> + "So the Utes have found us out, chief," Harry said as he joined Leaping + Horse, who had just reloaded his ride. + </p> + <p> + "Must have tracked us. They are a war-party," the Seneca replied. "Hunter + must have found tracks and taken news back to the villages." + </p> + <p> + "Well, we have got to fight for it, that is clear enough," Harry said. + "Anyhow, now they see there are seven of us they are not likely to attack + until it gets dark, so we have time to think over what had best be done. + We had just begun our meal when we heard your shot, and the best thing we + can do is to have a good feed at once. We may be too busy later on." + </p> + <p> + The chief said a word to the young Indian, and, leaving him on the watch, + accompanied the others to the fire. They had scarcely sat down when + Hunting Dog came up. + </p> + <p> + "More Utes," he said briefly, pointing across the valley. + </p> + <p> + They at once went to the outer line of trees. On the brow of the rise + opposite were a party of horsemen between twenty and thirty strong. + </p> + <p> + "That shows they have learnt all about our position," Harry said. "Those + fellows have been lying in wait somewhere over the hill to cut us off if + we took to our horses on seeing the main body. Let us have a look the + other side." + </p> + <p> + Crossing the clump of trees, they saw on the brow there another party of + Utes. + </p> + <p> + "I reckon they must have crossed that valley we were working in just after + we got through," Jerry said. "It is mighty lucky they did not come down on + us while we were washing, for they could have wiped us all out before we + had time to get hold of our guns. Well, Harry, we are in a pretty tight + fix, with fifty of them up the valley and five-and-twenty or so on each + side of us. We shall have to be dog-goned smart if we are to get out of + this scrape." + </p> + <p> + "Hand me your rifle, Tom," his uncle said, "it carries farther than mine, + and I will give those fellows a hint that they had best move off a bit." + </p> + <p> + Steadying his piece against a tree, he took a careful aim and fired. One + of the Indians swerved in his saddle, and then fell forward on the neck of + his horse, which turned and galloped off with the rest. + </p> + <p> + "Now we will have our meal and take council, chief," Harry said as he + turned away. "If we have got to fight there is no occasion to fight + hungry." + </p> + <p> + The fire was made up; there was no need to be careful now. Strips of + deer's flesh were hung over it, and the meal was soon ready. But little + was said while it was being eaten, then they all lighted their pipes and + each put a pannikin of hot tea beside him. + </p> + <p> + "Now, chief," Harry said, "have you arrived at any way out of this? It is + worse than it was the last time we got caught in this valley." + </p> + <p> + The chief shook his head. "No good fight here," he said; "when night come + they creep up all round." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, I see that we have got to bolt, but the question is, how? If we were + to ride they would ride us down, that is certain. Jerry and Tom might + possibly get away, though that ain't likely. Their critters are good, but + nothing downright extraordinary, and the chances are that some of the Utes + have got faster horses than theirs. As for the rest of us, they would have + us before we had ridden an hour." + </p> + <p> + "That ain't to be thought of," Jerry said. "It seems to me our best chance + would be to leave the critters behind, and to crawl out the moment it gets + dark, and try and get beyond them." + </p> + <p> + "They will close in as soon as it gets dark, Jerry. They will know well + enough that that is the time we shall be moving. I reckon we should not + have a chance worth a cent of getting through. What do you say, chief?" + </p> + <p> + Leaping Horse nodded in assent. + </p> + <p> + "Well, then," Sam Hicks said, "I vote we mount our horses and go right at + them. I would rather do that and get rubbed out in a fair fight than lie + here until they crawl up and finish us." + </p> + <p> + No one answered, and for some minutes they smoked on without a word being + spoken, then Harry said: + </p> + <p> + "There is only one chance for us that I can see, and that is to mount now + and to ride right down the valley. The chief says that in some places it + is not more than fifty yards wide, with steep cliffs on each side, and we + could make a much better fight there, for they could only attack us in + front. There would be nothing for them then but to dismount and close in + upon us from tree to tree, and we could make a running fight of it until + we come to the mouth of the caņon. There must be places there, that we + ought to be able to hold with our seven rifles against the lot of them." + </p> + <p> + "Bully for you, Harry! I reckon that would give us a chance anyhow. That + is, if we ain't cut off before we get to the wood." + </p> + <p> + "Let us have a look round and see what they are doing," Harry said. "Ah! + here comes Hunting Dog. He will tell us all about it." + </p> + <p> + "Utes on hills all gone up and joined the others," the young Indian said + as he came up. + </p> + <p> + "It could not be better news!" Harry exclaimed. "I reckon they have moved + away to tempt us to make a start for the fort, for they know if we go that + way they will have us all, sure. They have not reckoned on our riding down + the valley, for they will be sure we must have found out long ago that + there ain't any way out of it. Well, we had best lose no time. There is + some meat ready, Hunting Dog, and you had best fill up while we get ready + for a start." + </p> + <p> + The blankets and buffalo rugs were wrapped up and strapped behind the + saddles, as soon as these were placed behind the horses. They had only a + small quantity of meat left, as the chief was going out hunting the next + morning, but they fastened this, and eighty pounds of flour that still + remained, on to one of the pack-horses. They filled their powder-horns + from the keg, and each put three or four dozen bullets into his holsters, + together with all the cartridges for their pistols; the rest of the + ammunition was packed on another horse. When all was completed they + mounted. + </p> + <p> + "We may get a couple of hundred yards more start before we are seen," + Harry said. "Anyhow, we have got five hundred yards, and may reckon on + making the two miles to where the valley narrows before they catch us." + </p> + <p> + The instant, however, they emerged from the wood, two loud yells were + heard from Indians who had been left lying down on watch at the top of the + slopes on either side. Sam, who was the worst shot of the party, had + volunteered to lead the string of pack-horses, while Ben was ready to urge + them on behind. + </p> + <p> + "You may want to stop some of the leading varmint, and I should not be + much good at that game, so I will keep straight on without paying any + attention to them." + </p> + <p> + A loud answering yell rose from the Indians up the valley. + </p> + <p> + "We shall gain fifty yards or so before they are fairly in the saddle," + Harry said as they went off at the top of their speed, the horses seeming + to know that the loud war-cry boded danger. They had gone half a mile + before they looked round. The Indians were riding in a confused mass, and + were some distance past the grove the miners had left, but they still + appeared as far behind as they had been when they started. Another mile + and the mass had broken up; the best-mounted Indians had left the rest + some distance behind, and considerably decreased the gap between them and + the fugitives. Another five minutes and the latter reached the wood, that + began just where the valley narrowed and the cliffs rose almost + perpendicularly on each side. As soon as they did so they leapt from their + horses, and each posting himself behind a tree opened fire at their + pursuers, the nearest of whom were but two hundred yards away. Four fell + to the first seven shots; the others turned and galloped back to the main + body, who halted at once. + </p> + <p> + "They won't try a charge," Harry said; "it isn't in Indian nature to come + across the open with the muzzles of seven rifles pointed at them. They + will palaver now; they know they have got us in a trap, and they will wait + till night. Now, chief, I reckon that you and I and Hunting Dog had best + stay here, so that if they try, as they are pretty sure to do, to find out + whether we are here still, we can give them a hint to keep off. The other + four had better ride straight down the caņon, and go on for a bit, to find + out the best place for making a stand, and as soon as it is dark we will + go forward and join them. There will be no occasion for us to hurry. I + reckon the skunks will crawl up here soon after it is dark; but they won't + go much farther, for we might hide up somewhere and they might miss us. In + the morning they will come down on foot, sheltering behind the trees as + much as they can, till at last they locate us." + </p> + <p> + The chief nodded his approval of the plan, and Tom and the three miners at + once started, taking the pack-horses with them. On the way down they came + upon a bear. Ben was about to fire, but Jerry said: "Best leave him alone, + Ben; we are only three miles down, and these cliffs would echo the sound + and the red-skins would hear it and know that some of us had gone down the + valley, and might make a rush at once." In an hour and a half they came + down to a spot where the valley, after widening out a good bit, suddenly + terminated, and the stream entered a deep caņon in the face of the wall of + rock that closed it in. + </p> + <p> + "I reckon all this part of the valley was a lake once," Jerry said. "When + it got pretty well full it began to run over where this caņon is and + gradually cut its way out down to the Colorado. I wonder how far it is to + the river." + </p> + <p> + They had gone but a hundred yards down the caņon when they came to a place + where a recent fall of rocks blocked it up. Through these the stream, + which was but a small one, made its way. + </p> + <p> + "There is a grist of water comes down here when the snow melts in the + spring," Ben remarked. "You can see that the rocks are worn fifty feet up. + Waal, I reckon this place is good enough for us, Jerry." + </p> + <p> + "I reckon so, too," the latter agreed. "It will be a job to get our horses + over; but we have got to do it anyhow, if we have to carry them." The + animals, however, managed to scramble up the rocks that filled the caņon + to the height of some thirty feet. The distance between the rock walls was + not more than this in width. + </p> + <p> + "We could hold this place for a year," Ben said, "if they didn't take to + chucking rocks down from above." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, that is the only danger," Jerry agreed; "but the betting is they + could not get nigh enough to the edge to look down. Still, they might do + it if the ground is level above; anyhow, we should not show much at this + depth, for it is pretty dark down here, and the rocks must be seven or + eight hundred feet high." + </p> + <p> + It was, indeed, but a narrow strip of sky that they saw as they looked up, + and although still broad daylight in the valley they had left, it was + almost dark at the bottom of the deep gorge, and became pitch dark as soon + as the light above faded. + </p> + <p> + "The first job in the morning," Jerry said, "will be to explore this place + down below. I expect there are places where it widens out. If it does, and + there are trees and anything like grass, the horses can get a bite of + food; if not, they will mighty soon go under, that is if we don't come + upon any game, for if we don't we sha'n't be able to spare them flour." + </p> + <p> + "It is almost a pity we did not leave them in the valley to take their + chance," Tom said. + </p> + <p> + "Don't you make any mistake," Jerry said. "In the first place they may + come in useful to us yet, and even if we never get astride of them again + they may come in mighty handy for food. I don't say as we mayn't get a + bear if there are openings in the caņon, or terraces where they can come + down, but if there ain't it is just horse-meat we have got to depend on. + Look here, boys, it is 'tarnal dark here; I can't see my own hand. I vote + we get a light. There is a lot of drift-wood jammed in among the stones + where we climbed up, that will do to start a fire, and I saw a lot more + just at the mouth of this gap. We know the red-skins ain't near yet, so I + vote we grope our way up and bring some down. It will be a first-rate + thing, too, to make a bit of fire half-way between here and the mouth; + that would put a stop to their crawling up, as they are like enough to try + to do, to make out whereabouts we are. Of course we shall have to damp our + own fire down if they come, else we should show up agin the light if we + went up on the rock." + </p> + <p> + The others agreed at once, for it was dull work sitting there in the black + darkness. All had matches, and a piece of dry fir was soon found. This was + lighted, and served as a torch with which to climb over the rocks. Jammed + in between these on the upper side was a large quantity of drift-wood. + This was pulled out, made into bundles, and carried over the rock barrier, + and a fire was soon blazing there. Then taking a brand and two axes they + went up to the mouth of the gorge, cut up the arms of some trees that had + been brought down by the last floods and left there as the water sank. The + greater part of these were taken down to their camping-place; the rest, + with plenty of small wood to light them, were piled halfway between the + barrier and the mouth of the caņon, and were soon blazing brightly. + </p> + <p> + They were returning to their camping-place, when Ben exclaimed that he + heard the sound of horses' hoofs. All stopped to listen. + </p> + <p> + "There are not more than three of them," Ben said, "and they are coming + along at a canter. I don't expect we shall hear anything of the red-skins + until tomorrow morning." + </p> + <p> + They heard the horses enter the caņon, then Jerry shouted: "Are you all + right, Harry?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes; the red-skins were all quiet when we came away. Why, where are you?" + he shouted again when he came up to the fire. + </p> + <p> + "A hundred yards farther on I will show you a light." + </p> + <p> + Two or three blazing brands were brought up. Harry and the Indians had + dismounted at the first fire, and now led their horses up to the stone + barrier. + </p> + <p> + "What on arth have you lit that other fire for, Jerry?" Harry asked as he + stopped at the foot of the barrier. + </p> + <p> + "Because we shall sleep a dog-goned sight better with it there. As like as + not they may send on two or three young warriors to scout. It is as black + as a wolf's mouth, and we might have sat listening all night, and then + should not have heard them. But with that fire there they dare not come + on, for they would know they could not pass it without getting a bullet in + them." + </p> + <p> + "Well, it is a very good idea, Jerry; I could not think what was up when I + got there and did not see anybody. I see you have another fire over the + other side. I could make it out clear enough as we came on." + </p> + <p> + "It will burn down a bit presently," Jerry said. "I should not try to get + those horses up here now, Harry. It was a bad place to come up in + daylight, and like enough they would break their legs if they tried it + now. They will do just as well there as they would on this side, and you + can get them over as soon as the day breaks." + </p> + <p> + "I would rather get them over, Jerry; but I see it is a pretty rough + place." + </p> + <p> + Leaving the horses, Harry and the Indians climbed over the barrier, and + were soon seated with the others round their fire, over which the meat was + already frizzling. + </p> + <p> + "So the Indians kept quiet all the afternoon, Harry?" + </p> + <p> + "As quiet as is their nature. Two or three times some of them rode down, + and galloped backwards and forwards in front of us to make out if we were + there. Each time we let them fool about for a good long spell, and then + when they got a bit careless sent them a ball or two to let them know we + were still there. Hunting Dog went with the three horses half a mile down + the valley soon after you had gone, so that they might not hear us ride + off. + </p> + <p> + "As soon as it began to get dusk we started. We had to come pretty slow, + for it got so dark under the trees we could not make out the trunks, and + had to let the horses pick their own way. But we knew there was no hurry, + for they would not follow till morning, though of course their scouts + would creep up as soon as it was dark, and wouldn't be long before they + found out that we had left." + </p> + <p> + "I reckon they will all come and camp in the wood and wait for daylight + before they move, though I don't say two or three scouts may not crawl + down to try and find out where we are. They will move pretty slow, for + they will have to pick their way, and will know well enough that if a twig + cracks it will bring bullets among them. I reckon they won't get here + under four or five hours. It is sartin they won't try to pass that fire + above. As soon as they see us they will take word back to the others, and + we shall have the whole lot down here by morning." + </p> + <p> + "We shall have to get the horses over, the first thing. Two of us had best + go down, as soon as it is light enough to ride without risking our necks, + to see what the caņon is like below." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, that is most important, Jerry; there may be some break where the + red-skins could get down, and so catch us between two fires." + </p> + <p> + "I don't care a red cent for the Utes," Jerry said. "We can lick them out + of their boots in this caņon. What we have been thinking of, is whether + there is some place where the horses can get enough to keep them alive + while we are shut up here. If there is game, so much the better; if there + ain't, we have got to take to horseflesh." + </p> + <p> + "How long do you suppose that the Indians are likely to wait when they + find that they can't get at us?" Tom asked. + </p> + <p> + "There ain't no sort of saying," his uncle replied. "I reckon no one ever + found out yet how long a red-skin's patience will last. Time ain't nothing + to them. They will follow up this caņon both sides till they are sartin + that there ain't no place where a man can climb up. If there ain't, they + will just squat in that valley. Like enough they will send for their + lodges and squaws and fix themselves there till winter comes, and even + then they might not go. They have got wood and water. Some of them will + hunt and bring in meat, which they will dry for the winter; and they are + just as likely to stay here as to go up to their villages." + </p> + <p> + A vigilant watch was kept up all night, two of them being always on guard + at the top of the barrier. As soon as morning broke, the three horses were + got over, and half an hour later Harry and Sam Hicks rode off down the + caņon, while the others took their places on guard, keeping themselves + well behind the rocks, between which they looked out. They had not long to + wait, for an Indian was seen to dart rapidly across the mouth of the + caņon. Two rifles cracked out, but the Indian's appearance and + disappearance was so sudden and quick that they had no reason to believe + that they had hit him. + </p> + <p> + "They will know now that we are here, and are pretty wide awake," Ben + said. "You may be sure that he caught sight of these rocks." + </p> + <p> + A minute or two later several rifles flashed from among the fallen stones + at the mouth of the gorge. + </p> + <p> + "Keep your eyes open," Jerry said, "and when you see the slightest + movement, fire. But don't do it unless you feel certain that you make out + a head or a limb. We've got to show the Utes that it is sartin death to + try and crawl up here." + </p> + <p> + Almost immediately afterwards a head appeared above the stones, the + chief's rifle cracked, and at the same instant the head disappeared. + </p> + <p> + "Do you think you got him, chief?" + </p> + <p> + "Think so, not sure. Leaping Horse does not often miss his mark at two + hundred yards." + </p> + <p> + Almost directly afterwards Tom fired. An Indian sprang to his feet and + bounded away. + </p> + <p> + "What did you fire at, Tom?" + </p> + <p> + "I think it was his arm and shoulder," Tom replied. "I was not sure about + it, but I certainly saw something move." + </p> + <p> + "I fancy you must have hit him, or he would not have got up. Waal, now I + reckon we are going to have quiet for a bit. They must have had a good + look at the place while they were lying there, and must have seen that it + air too strong for them. I don't say they mayn't come on again tonight—that + they may do, but I think it air more likely they won't try it. They would + know that we should be on the watch, and with seven rifles and Colts we + should account for a grist of them afore they got over. What do you say, + chief?" + </p> + <p> + "Not come now," the Indian said positively. "Send men first along top see + if can get down. Not like come at night; the caņons of the Colorado very + bad medicine, red-skins no like come into them. If no way where we can get + up, then Utes sit down to starve us." + </p> + <p> + "That will be a longish job, chief. A horse a week will keep us for three + months." + </p> + <p> + "If no food for horse, horse die one week." + </p> + <p> + "So they will, chief. We must wait till Harry comes back, then we shall + know what our chances are." + </p> + <p> + It was six hours before Harry and Sam returned. There was a shout of + satisfaction from the men when they saw that they had on their saddles the + hind-quarters of a bear. + </p> + <p> + "Waal, what is the news, Harry?" + </p> + <p> + "It ain't altogether good, Ben. It goes down like this for about twelve + miles, then it widens out sudden. It gets into a crumbly rock which has + got worn away, and there is a place maybe about fifty yards wide and half + a mile long, with sloping sides going up a long way, and then cliff all + round. The bottom is all stones; there are a few tufts of coarse grass + growing between them. On the slopes there are some bushes, and on a ledge + high up we made out a bear. We had two or three shots at him, and at last + brought him down. There may be more among the bushes; there was plenty of + cover for them." + </p> + <p> + "There was no place where there was a chance of getting up, Harry?" + </p> + <p> + "Nary a place. I don't say as there may not be, but we couldn't see one." + </p> + <p> + "But the bear must have got down." + </p> + <p> + "No. He would come down here in the dry season looking for water-holes, + and finding the place to his liking he must have concluded to settle + there. It is just the place a bear would choose, for he might reckon + pretty confident that there weren't no chance of his being disturbed. + Well, we went on beyond that, and two miles lower the caņon opened again, + and five minutes took us down on to the bank of the Colorado. There was no + great room between the river and the cliff, but there were some good-sized + trees there, and plenty of bush growing up some distance. We caught sight + of another bear, but as we did not want him we left him alone." + </p> + <p> + "Waal, let us have some b'ar-meat first of all," Jerry said. "We finished + our meat last night, and bread don't make much of a meal, I reckon. Anyhow + we can all do with another, and after we have done we will have a talk. We + know what to expect now, and can figure it up better than we could + before." + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0015" id="link2HCH0015"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XV — THE COLORADO + </h2> + <p> + "Well, boys," Harry Wade began after they had smoked for some time in + silence, "we have got to look at this matter squarely. So far we have got + out of a mighty tight place better than we expected. Yesterday it seemed + to us that there weren't much chance of our carrying our hair away, but + now we are out of that scrape. But we are in another pretty nigh as bad, + though there ain't much chance of the red-skins getting at us." + </p> + <p> + "That air so, Harry. We are in a pretty tight hole, you bet. They ain't + likely to get our scalps for some time, but there ain't no denying that + our chance of carrying them off is dog-goned small." + </p> + <p> + "You bet there ain't, Jerry," Sam Hicks said. "Them pizon varmint will + camp outside here; for they know they have got us in a trap. They mayn't + attack us at present, but we have got to watch night and day. Any dark + night they may take it into their heads to come up, and there won't be + nothing to prevent them, for the rustling of the stream among the rocks + would cover any little noise they might make. The first we should know of + it would be the yell of the varmint at the foot of this barrier, and afore + we could get to the top the two on guard would be tomahawked, and they + would be down on us like a pack of wolves. I would a'most as soon put down + my rifle and walk straight out now and let them shoot me, if I knew they + would do it without any of their devilish tortures, as go on night after + night, expecting to be woke up with their war-yell in my ears. + </p> + <p> + "Of course they will be always keeping a watch there at the mouth of the + caņon,—a couple of boys are enough for that,—for they will + know that if we ride out on our horses we must go right up the valley, and + it is a nasty place to gallop through in the dark; besides, some of them + will no doubt be placed higher up to cut us off, and if we got through, + which ain't likely, they could ride us down in a few hours. If we crept + out on foot and got fairly among the trees we should be no better off, for + they would take up our trail in the morning and hunt us down. I tell you + fairly, boys, I don't see any way out of it. I reckon it will come to our + having to ride out together, and to wipe out as many of the Utes as + possible afore we go down. What do you say, chief?" + </p> + <p> + "Leaping Horse agrees with his white brother, Straight Harry, whose mind + he knows." + </p> + <p> + "Waal, go on then, Harry," Sam said. "I thought that you had made an end + of it or I wouldn't have opened out. I don't see no way out of it at + present, but if you do I am ready to fall in with it whatever it is." + </p> + <p> + "I see but one way out of it, boys. It is a mighty risky thing, but it + can't be more risky than stopping here, and there is just a chance. I + spoke to the chief last night, and he owned that it didn't seem to him + there was a chance in that or any other way. However, he said that if I + went he would go with me. My proposal is this, that we take to the river + and try and get through the caņons." + </p> + <p> + There was a deep silence among the men. The proposal took them by + surprise. No man had ever accomplished the journey. Though two parties + similarly attacked by Indians had attempted to raft down some of the + caņons higher up; one party perished to a man, one survivor of the other + party escaped to tell the tale; but as to the caņons below, through which + they would have to pass, no man had ever explored them. The Indians + regarded the river with deep awe, and believed the caņons to be peopled + with demons. The enterprise was so stupendous and the dangers to be met + with so terrible, that ready as the western hunters were to encounter + dangers, no one had ever attempted to investigate the windings and + turnings of the river that for two thousand miles made its way through + terrific precipices, and ran its course some three thousand feet below the + surrounding country, until it emerged on to the plains of Mexico. + </p> + <p> + "That was why I was so anxious to reach the river," Harry went on after a + pause. "I wanted to see whether there were some trees, by which we could + construct a raft, near its bank. Had there not been, I should have + proposed to follow it up or down, as far as we could make our way, in + hopes of lighting on some trees. However, as it is they are just handy for + us. I don't say as we shall get through, boys, but there is just a chance + of it. I don't see any other plan that would give us a show." + </p> + <p> + Jerry was the first to speak. + </p> + <p> + "Waal, Harry, you can count me in. One might as well be drowned in a rapid + or carried over a fall as killed, or, wuss, taken and tortured by the + red-skins." + </p> + <p> + "That is so, Jerry," Sam Hicks agreed. While Ben said: "Waal, if we git + through it will be something to talk about all our lives. In course there + ain't no taking the horses?" + </p> + <p> + "That is out of the question, Ben. We shall not have much time to spare, + for the Utes may take it into their heads to attack us any night; and, + besides, we have no means of making a big raft. We might tie two or three + trunks together with the lariats and spike a few cross-pieces on them, we + might even make two such rafts; that is the outside. They will carry us + and our stores, but as for the horses, we must either leave them down in + the hollow for the Indians to find, or put a bullet through their heads. I + expect the latter will be the best thing for them, poor beasts." + </p> + <p> + "No want trees," the chief said. "Got horses' skins; make canoes." + </p> + <p> + "You are right, chief," Harry exclaimed; "I never thought of that. That + would be the very thing. Canoes will go down the rapids where the + strongest rafts would be dashed to pieces, and if we come to a bad fall we + can make a shift to carry them round." + </p> + <p> + The others were no less pleased with the suggestion, and the doubtful + expression of their faces as they assented to the scheme now changed to + one of hopefulness, and they discussed the plan eagerly. It was agreed + that not a moment should be lost in setting to work to carry it out, and + that they should forthwith retreat to the mouth of the lower caņon; for + all entertained a secret misgiving that the Utes might make their attack + that night, and felt that if that attack were made in earnest it would + succeed. It was certain they would be able to find some point at which the + lower gorge could be held; and at any rate a day would be gained, for at + whatever hour of the night the Indians came up they would not venture + farther until daybreak, and there would probably be a long palaver before + they would enter the lower caņon. + </p> + <p> + Tom had not spoken. He recognized the justice of Harry's reasoning, but + had difficulty in keeping his tears back at the thought of his horse being + killed. For well-nigh a year it had carried him well; he had tended and + cared for it; it would come to his call and rub its muzzle against his + cheek. He thought that had he been alone he would have risked anything + rather than part with it. + </p> + <p> + "Don't you like the plan, Tom?" Harry said to him, as, having packed and + saddled the horses, they rode together down the caņon. "I don't suppose + the passage is so terrible after all." + </p> + <p> + "I am not thinking of the passage at all, uncle," Tom said almost + indignantly; "it will be a grand piece of adventure; but I don't like—I + hate—the thought of my horse being killed. It is like killing a dear + friend to save one's self." + </p> + <p> + "It is a wrench, lad," Harry said kindly; "I can quite understand your + feelings, and don't like the thought myself. But I see that it has got to + be done, and after all it will be better to kill the poor brutes than to + let them fall into the hands of the Indians, who don't know what mercy to + their beasts means, and will ride them till they drop dead without the + least compunction." + </p> + <p> + "I know it is better, uncle, ever so much better—but it is horrible + all the same. Anyhow, don't ask me to do it, for I could not." + </p> + <p> + "I will see to that, Tom. You shall be one of the guards of the caņon. You + would not be of much use in making the canoes, and you won't have to know + anything about it till you go down and get on board." + </p> + <p> + Tom nodded his thanks; his heart was too full for him to speak, and he + felt that if he said a word he should break down altogether. They rode + rapidly along, passed through the little valley where the bear had been + killed, without stopping, and went down the lower caņon, carefully + examining it to fix upon the most suitable point for defence. There had + been no recent fall, and though at some points great boulders lay thickly, + there was no one place that offered special facilities for defence. + </p> + <p> + "Look here, boys," Harry said, reining up his horse at a point within two + hundred yards of the lower end, "we can't do better than fix ourselves + here. An hour's work will get up a wall that will puzzle the red-skins to + get over, and there is the advantage that a shot fired here by the guard + will bring our whole force up in a couple of minutes. I vote we ride the + horses down to the river and let them pick up what they can, and then come + back here and build the wall. It will be getting dark in an hour's time, + and we may as well finish that job at once. Ben and Sam, you may as well + pick out a couple of young fir-trees and bring them down at once, then + there will be no time lost. Five of us will be enough for the wall. Keep + your eyes open. Likely enough there is a bear or two about, and it would + be a great thing for us to lay in a stock of meat before we start." + </p> + <p> + As soon as they issued from the gorge the horses were unsaddled and the + stores taken off the pack-animals. As they were doing this Harry said a + few words in a low tone to Sam. He then carefully examined the trees, and + picked out two young firs. Sam and Ben took their axes, and the other five + went up the gorge again, and were soon hard at work collecting boulders + and piling them in a wall. + </p> + <p> + "There is a gun, uncle," Tom exclaimed presently. + </p> + <p> + "Well, I hope they have got sight of a bear, we shall want a stock of meat + badly." + </p> + <p> + A dozen shots were fired, but Tom thought no more of it as he proceeded + with his work. The bottom of the caņon was but fifteen feet wide, and by + the time it was dark they had a solid wall across it nearly six feet high, + with places for them to stand on to fire over. + </p> + <p> + "Now then, Tom, you may as well take post here at once. I will send Sam or + Ben up to watch with you. I don't think there is a shadow of chance of + their coming to-night, but there is never any answering for red-skins. I + would leave Hunting Dog with you, but we shall want him to help make the + framework for the canoes; the Indians are a deal handier than we are in + making lashings. I will send your supper up here, lad, and your buffalo + robes. Then you can take it by turns to watch and sleep. I reckon we shall + be at work all night; we have got to get the job finished as quick as we + can." + </p> + <p> + A quarter of an hour later Sam Hicks came up. + </p> + <p> + "Have you got the trees down, Sam?" + </p> + <p> + "Lor' bless you, it didn't take a minute to do that. We got them down and + split them up, then lit a fire and got the meat over it and the kettle, + and mixed the dough." + </p> + <p> + "Did you kill another bear? We heard you firing." + </p> + <p> + "No; the critter was too high up, and I ain't much good at shooting. + Perhaps they will get sight of him tomorrow, and Harry and the chief will + bring him down if he is within range of their shooting-irons. It is + 'tarnal dark up here." + </p> + <p> + In twenty minutes two lights were seen approaching, and Harry and Hunting + Dog came up carrying pine-wood torches. Each had a great faggot of wood + fastened on his back, and Harry also carried the frying-pan, on which were + a pile of meat and two great hunks of bread, while Hunting Dog brought two + tin pannikins of hot tea. + </p> + <p> + "That will make it more cheerful for you," Harry said, as he unfastened + the rope that tied the faggot to his shoulders. "Now, Hunting Dog, get a + good fire as soon as you can, and then come down again to us." + </p> + <p> + The fire was soon blazing merrily, and Tom and Sam sat down to enjoy their + meal. + </p> + <p> + "Don't you think one of us ought to keep watch, Sam?" + </p> + <p> + "Not a bit of it," Sam said. "The red-skins will never dare to enter that + caņon until after dark, and if they started now and made their way + straight on, they would not be here for another three or four hours. I + would bet my boots they don't come at all tonight; even if they were not + scared at us, they would be scared at coming near the river in the dark. + No, we will just take our meal comfortable and smoke a pipe, and then I + will take first watch and you shall take a sleep. We ain't closed an eye + since the night before last." + </p> + <p> + Tom, indeed, was nearly asleep before he had finished his pipe, and felt + that he really must get a nap. So saying to Sam, "Be sure and wake me in + two hours," he rolled himself in his robe and instantly fell asleep. + </p> + <p> + It seemed to him that he had only just gone off when Sam roused him. He + leapt to his feet, however, rifle in hand. "Anything the matter, Sam?" + </p> + <p> + "Everything quiet," the miner replied. + </p> + <p> + "What did you wake me for then? I have not been asleep five minutes." + </p> + <p> + "According to my reckoning, mate, you have been asleep better'n five + hours. It was about half-past eight when you went off, and I reckon it is + two now, and will begin to get light in another hour. I would not have + waked you till daybreak, but I found myself dropping off." + </p> + <p> + "I am awfully sorry," Tom began. + </p> + <p> + "Don't you trouble, young un. By the time you have been as long in the + West as I have you won't think anything of two nights' watch. Now you keep + a sharp lookout. I don't think there is much chance of their coming, but I + don't want to be woke up with a red-skin coming right down on the top of + me." + </p> + <p> + "I see you have let the fire out, Sam," Tom said, with a little shiver. + </p> + <p> + "I put it out hours ago," Sam said, as he prepared to lie down. "It would + never have done to keep it all night, for a red-skin would see my head + over the top of the wall, while I should not get a sight of him till he + was within arm's-length." + </p> + <p> + Tom took up his post, and gazed earnestly into the darkness beyond the + wall. He felt that his sense of vision would be of no use whatever, and + therefore threw all his faculties into that of listening. Slight as was + the chance of the Indians coming, he yet felt somewhat nervous, and it was + a satisfaction to him to see beyond the mouth of the caņon the glow of the + fire, by which, as he knew, the others were hard at work. + </p> + <p> + In an hour the morning began to break, and as soon as he could see well up + the caņon he relighted the fire, jumping up to take a look over the wall + every minute or so. It was not long before he saw his uncle approaching + with a kettle. + </p> + <p> + "I saw your smoke, Tom, and guessed that you would be glad of a mug of hot + tea. You have seen no signs of Indians, I suppose?" + </p> + <p> + "We have heard nothing, uncle. As to seeing, up to half an hour ago there + was no possibility of making out anything. But I have not even been + listening; Sam went on guard directly we had finished supper, and I asked + him to call me in two hours, but he did not wake me until two o'clock." + </p> + <p> + "He is a good fellow," Harry said. "Well, don't wake him now. I can't + leave you the kettle, for we have to keep boiling water going, but you can + put his tin into the ashes and warm it up when he wakes. Here are a couple + of pieces of bread." + </p> + <p> + "Why do you have to keep the kettle boiling, uncle?" + </p> + <p> + "To bend the wood with. The piece we are working on is kept damp with + boiling water. We hold it for a time over the fire, pouring a little water + on as fast as it evaporates; that softens the wood, and we can bend it + much more evenly than we could if we did it by force. Besides, when it is + fastened into its position it remains, when it is dry, in that shape, and + throws no strain on to anything." + </p> + <p> + "Are you getting on well?" + </p> + <p> + "Capitally. We should have done both the frames by now, but we were + obliged to make them very strong so as to resist the bumps they are sure + to get against rocks. When they are finished you might almost let them + drop off the top of a house, they will be so strong and elastic. If the + Indians will but give us time we shall make a first-rate job of them." + </p> + <p> + Three hours later Harry came up again with the kettle and some cooked + meat. Sam had just woke up, and was quite angry with Tom for not rousing + him before. "The others have been working all night," he said, "and here + have I been asleep for five hours; a nice sort of mate they will think + me." + </p> + <p> + "Well, but you were watching five hours, Sam; and I would a deal rather + work all night than stand here for two hours in the dark, wondering all + the time whether the Indians are crawling up, and expecting at any moment + to hear a rush against the wall." + </p> + <p> + "I am going to take your place, Sam, when you have finished your + breakfast," Harry said, as he came up. "If the Utes found out last night + that we had gone, their scouts may be coming down before long. My rifle + shoots a bit straighter than yours does." + </p> + <p> + "It ain't the rifle, Harry," Sam said good-temperedly; "it is the eye that + is wrong, not the shooting-iron. I never had much practice with these long + guns, but when it comes to a six-shooter, I reckon I can do my share as + well as most. But they won't give me a chance with it." + </p> + <p> + "I hope they won't, Sam. I am sure they won't as long as there is light, + and I hope that before it gets dark they will conclude to leave us alone." + </p> + <p> + A vigilant watch was kept now. + </p> + <p> + "I think I saw a head look out from that corner," Tom exclaimed suddenly, + two hours after Sam had left them. + </p> + <p> + "I am quite sure I did, Tom. We must wait until he shows himself a bit + more. I reckon it is a good three hundred yards off, and a man's head is a + precious small mark at that distance. Stand a bit higher and lay your + rifle on the wall. Don't fire if he only puts his head out. They know we + can shoot, so there is not any occasion to give them another lesson. I + don't hold to killing, unless you have got to do it. Let him have a good + look at us. + </p> + <p> + "When he goes back and tells the tribe that there is a three hundred + yards' straight passage without shelter, and a strong wall across the end + of it, and two white men with rifles ready to shoot, I reckon they will + know a good deal better than to try to come up it, as long as there is + light. Besides, they won't think there is any occasion to hurry, for they + won't count on our taking to the river, and will know that we shall be + keeping watch at night. So it may very well be that they will reckon on + wearing us out, and that we may not hear of them for a week. There is the + fellow's head again!" + </p> + <p> + The head remained visible round the corner of the rock for two or three + minutes. + </p> + <p> + "He knows all about it now, Tom. You won't see any more of him to-day. I + will go down and lend them a hand below." + </p> + <p> + Tom asked no questions about the horses; he had thought of them a score of + times as he stood on guard, and the thought had occurred to him that it + was possible the shots he had heard while they were building the wall on + the previous afternoon, had been the death shots of the horses. It did not + occur to him when Sam was telling the story about the bear, that this was + a got-up tale, but when he came to think it over, he thought it probable + that it was so. Sam himself was not much of a shot, but Ben, although + inferior to Harry or either of the two Indians, shot as well as Jerry, and + would hardly have missed a bear three or four times running. Each time the + thought of the horses occurred to him he resolutely put it aside, and + concentrated his mind upon the probable perils of the passage down the + caņons and the wonderful gorges they would traverse, and the adventures + and excitement they were sure to pass through. He thought how fortunate it + was they had taken the precaution of sending their specimens of quartz + back to the fort; for were they in the canoes, the fruits of the journey + would be irrevocably lost were these to upset; for now the Indians had + twice discovered the presence of whites in the valley they would be sure + to watch it closely, and it would not be possible to go up to the mine + again unless in strong force. + </p> + <p> + The day passed quietly. Harry brought up Tom's meals, and late in the + afternoon all hands came up, and the wall of stones was raised four feet, + making it almost impregnable against a sudden attack. The two Indians took + post there with Tom, and watched alternately all night. The Utes, however, + remained perfectly quiet. They probably felt sure that the fugitives must + sooner or later be forced to surrender, and were disinclined to face the + loss that must occur before so strong a position, defended by seven men + armed with rifles and revolvers, could be carried. + </p> + <p> + At three o'clock on the following afternoon Hunting Dog came up. "Tom go + down and get dinner," he said, "Hunting Dog will watch." + </p> + <p> + Tom took his rifle and started down the caņon. + </p> + <p> + "Come on, lad," his uncle shouted. "We are pretty near ready for a start, + and have all had our dinner; so be quick about it. We want to get well + away from here before night." + </p> + <p> + Tom went to the fire and ate his meal. As he sat down he saw that the + stores, blankets, and robes had all been carried away. When he finished, + his uncle led him down to the river. Two canoes were floating in the + water, and the other men were standing beside them. + </p> + <p> + "There, Tom, what do you think of them?" + </p> + <p> + "They are splendid, uncle; it seems impossible that you can have built + them in two days." + </p> + <p> + "Five hands can do a lot of canoe-building in forty-eight hours' work, + Tom." + </p> + <p> + The canoes were indeed models of strength if not of beauty. They were each + about twenty feet long and five feet wide. Two strong pieces of pine two + inches square ran along the top of each side, and one of the same width + but an inch deeper formed the keel. The ribs, an inch wide and + three-quarters of an inch thick, were placed at intervals of eighteen + inches apart. The canoes were almost flat-bottomed. The ribs lay across + the keel, which was cut away to allow them to lie flush in it, a strong + nail being driven in at the point of junction—these being the only + nails used in the boat's construction. The ribs ran straight out to almost + the full width of the canoe, and were then turned sharp up, the ends being + lashed with thongs of hide to the upper stringers. + </p> + <p> + Outside the ribs were lashed longitudinal wattles of tough wood about an + inch wide. They were placed an inch apart, extending over the bottom and + halfway up the side. Over all was stretched the skin, five horses' hides + having been used for each boat. They were very strongly sewed together by + a double row of thongs, the overlaps having, before being sewed, been + smeared with melted fat. Cross-pieces of wood at the top kept the upper + framework in its place. The hair of the skin was outward, the inner + glistened with the fat that had been rubbed into it. + </p> + <p> + "They are strong indeed," Tom said. "They ought to stand anything, uncle." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, I think they would stand a blow against any rock if it hadn't a + cutting edge. They would just bound off as a basket would. Of course they + are very heavy for canoes; but as they won't have to carry more than the + weight of four men each, they will draw little over a couple of inches or + so of water. + </p> + <p> + "That is why we made them so wide. We could not get strength without + weight; and as there is no saying what shallows there may be, and how + close in some places rocks may come up to the surface, we were obliged to + build them wide to get light draught. You see we have made ten paddles, so + as to have a spare one or two in case of breakage. We have two spare + hides, so that we shall have the means of repairing damages." + </p> + <p> + Tom said nothing about the horses. Manufactured into a boat, as the skins + were, there was not much to remind him of them; but he pressed his uncle's + hand and said, "Thank you very much, uncle; I don't mind so much now, but + I should not like to have seen them before." + </p> + <p> + "That is all right, Tom; it was a case of necessity. Sam and Ben shot them + directly we got here." + </p> + <p> + The stores were all laid by the boats, being divided between them so that + the cargoes were in all respects duplicates of each other. Before Tom came + down some had already been placed in each boat, with a blanket thrown over + them. + </p> + <p> + "You have got the gold, I suppose, uncle?" + </p> + <p> + "You may bet that we did not leave that behind. There is half in each + boat, and the bags are lashed to the timbers, so that if there is an upset + they cannot get lost." + </p> + <p> + "How are we going?" + </p> + <p> + "We have settled that you and I and the two Indians shall go together, and + the rest in the other boat. The Indians know nothing of canoeing, and + won't be of very much use. I know you were accustomed to boats, and I did + some rowing when I was a young man. I wish we had a couple of Canadian + Indians with us, or of half-breeds; they are up to this sort of work, and + with one in the stern of each canoe it would be a much less risky business + going down the rapids. However, no doubt we shall get handy with the + paddles before long." + </p> + <p> + When everything was ready Harry fired his rifle, and in a couple of + minutes Hunting Dog came running down. The others had already taken their + seats. He stepped into Harry's boat, and they at once pushed off. + </p> + <p> + The river was running smoothly here, and Harry said, "Directly we get down + a little way we will turn the boat's head up stream and practise for a + bit. It would never do to get down into rough water before we can use the + paddles fairly." + </p> + <p> + Tom sat in the bow of his boat, Hunting Dog was next to him, then came the + chief, and Harry sat in the stern. A paddle is a much easier implement to + manage for a beginner than is an oar, and it was not long before they + found that they could propel the boats at a fair rate. In a short time + they had passed the end of the shelf at the mouth of the caņon, and the + cliffs on that side rose as abruptly as they did on the other. The river + was some eighty yards wide. + </p> + <p> + "We will turn here," Harry said, "and paddle up. We sha'n't do more than + keep abreast of these rocks now, for the stream runs fast though it is so + smooth." + </p> + <p> + They found, indeed, that they had to work hard to hold their position. + </p> + <p> + "Now, Tom," Harry sang out, "it is you and I do the steering, you know. + When you want the head to go to the right you must work your paddle out + from the boat, when you want to go to the left you must dip it in the + water rather farther out and draw it towards the boat. Of course when you + have got the paddle the other side you must do just the contrary. You must + sing out right or left according as you see rocks ahead, and I shall steer + with my paddle behind. I have a good deal more power over the boat than + you have, and you must depend upon me for the steering, unless there is + occasion for a smart swerve." + </p> + <p> + At first the two boats shot backwards and forwards across the stream in a + very erratic way, but after an hour's practice the steersmen found the + amount of force required. An hour later Harry thought that they were + competent to make a start, and turning they shot rapidly past the cliffs. + In a couple of miles there was a break in the rocks to the left. + </p> + <p> + "We will land there," Harry said. "There are trees near the water and + bushes farther up. We will make a camp there. There is no saying how far + we may have to go before we get another opportunity. We have done with the + Utes for good, and can get a sound night's sleep. If you, chief, will + start with Hunting Dog as soon as we land, we will get the things ashore + and light the fire. Maybe you will be able to get a bear for us." + </p> + <p> + They did not trouble to haul up the canoes, but fastened them by the + head-ropes, which were made from lariats, to trees on the shore. Daylight + was beginning to fade as they lighted the fire. No time was lost before + mixing the dough, and it was in readiness by the time that there were + sufficient glowing embers to stand the pot in. The kettle was filled and + hung on a tripod over the fire. In a short time the Indians returned + empty-handed. + </p> + <p> + "No find bear," the chief said, "getting too dark to hunt. To-morrow + morning try." + </p> + <p> + Harry got up and went to the boats, and returned directly with a joint of + meat. Tom looked up in surprise. + </p> + <p> + "It is not from yours, Tom," Jerry said as he saw him looking at it. "We + took the hind-quarters of the four pack-ponies, but left the others alone. + It was no use bringing more, for it would not keep." + </p> + <p> + "So it is horseflesh!" Tom rather shrank from the idea of eating it, and + nothing would have induced him to touch it had he thought that it came + from his own favourite. Some steaks were cut and placed in the frying-pan, + while strips were hung over the fire for those who preferred the meat in + that way. Tom felt strongly inclined to refuse altogether, but when he saw + that the others took their meat as a matter of course, and proceeded to + eat with a good appetite, he did not like to do so. He hesitated, however, + before tasting it; but Harry said with a laugh, "Fire away, Tom. You can + hardly tell it from beef, and they say that in Paris lots of horseflesh is + sold as beef." + </p> + <p> + Thus encouraged, Tom took a mouthful, and found it by no means bad, for + from their long stay in the valley the animals were all in excellent + condition, and he acknowledged to himself that he would not have known the + flesh from beef. + </p> + <p> + "I call it mighty good for a change." Terry said. "Out on the plains, + where one can get buffalo, one would not take horse for choice, but as we + have been eating deer and bear meat for about a year, horse-meat ain't bad + by no means. What! You won't take another bit, Tom?" + </p> + <p> + "Not to-night, Jerry; next time I shall be all right. But it is my first + trial, you know, and though I can't say it is not good, it gives me a + queer feeling, so I will stick to the bread." + </p> + <p> + "Well, boys," Harry said presently, "we have made a first-rate start, and + have got out of a big scrape, easier than I ever looked for. We could not + have got two better canoes for our work if we had had them brought special + from Canada, and it seems to me that they ought to go down pretty near + anywhere without much damage. We shall get real handy with our paddles in + two or three days, and I hope we sha'n't meet with any big rapids until we + have got into the way of managing them well." + </p> + <p> + "You bet, Harry, we have got out well," said Jerry. "I tell you it looked + downright ugly, and I wouldn't have given a continental for our chances. + As for the rapids, I guess we shall generally find rocks one side or the + other where we can make our way along, and we can let down the canoes by + the ropes. Anyhow, we need not get skeery over them. After getting out of + that valley with our hair on, the thought of them does not trouble me a + cent." + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0016" id="link2HCH0016"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVI — AFLOAT IN CANOES + </h2> + <p> + The two Indians were off long before daylight, and just as the others were + having a wash at the edge of the river they heard the crack of a rifle + some distance up the cliff. + </p> + <p> + "Bear!" Jerry exclaimed; "and I reckon they have got it, else we should + have heard another shot directly afterwards. That will set us up in food + for some time. Get the fire made up, Tom, you won't have to eat horse + steak for breakfast unless you like." + </p> + <p> + The Indians returned half an hour later laden with as much bear-flesh as + they could carry. + </p> + <p> + "I vote we stop here for two days," Harry said. "We have got a lot of meat + now, but it won't keep for twenty-four hours in this heat, so I vote we + cut it up and dry it as the Indians do buffalo-meat; it will keep any + time. Besides, we deserve a couple of days' rest, and we can practise + paddling while the meat dries. We got on very well yesterday, but I do + want us to get quite at home in the boats before we get to a bad bit." + </p> + <p> + The proposal was agreed to, and as soon as breakfast was over the whole of + the meat was cut up into thin slices and hung up on cords fastened from + tree to tree. + </p> + <p> + "It ought to take three days to do it properly, and four is better," Harry + said. "Still, as we have cut it very thin, I should think two days in this + hot sun ought to be enough." + </p> + <p> + "Are there any fish in the river, uncle?" + </p> + <p> + "I have no doubt there are, Tom, grists of them, but we have got no + hooks." + </p> + <p> + "Jerry has got some, he told me he never travelled without them, and we + caught a lot of fish with them up in the mountains just after we started + before. I don't know about line, but one might unravel one of the ropes." + </p> + <p> + "I think you might do better than that, Tom. The next small animal we + shoot we might make some lines from the gut. They needn't be above five or + six feet long. Beyond that we could cut a strip of thirty or forty feet + long from one of the hides. However, we can do nothing at present in that + way. Now let us get into the canoes and have a couple of hours' paddling. + After dinner we will have another good spell at the work." + </p> + <p> + By evening there was a marked improvement in the paddling over that of the + previous day, and after having had another day's practice all felt + confident that they should get on very well. By nightfall on the second + day, the meat was found to be thoroughly dried, and was taken down and + packed in bundles, and the next morning they started as soon as it was + light. It was agreed that the boats should follow each other at a distance + of a hundred yards, so that the leader could signal to the one behind if + serious difficulties were made out ahead, and so enable it to row to the + bank in time. Were both drawn together into the suck of a dangerous rapid + they might find themselves without either boats or stores, whereas if only + one of the boats was broken up, there would be the other to fall back + upon. Harry's boat was to take the lead on the first day, and Tom, as he + knelt in the bows, felt his heart beat with excitement at the thought of + the unknown that lay before them, and that they were about to make their + way down passes probably unpenetrated by man. Passing between what had + seemed to them the entrance to a narrow caņon, they were surprised to rind + the river widen out. On their right a great sweep of hills bent round like + a vast amphitheatre, the resemblance being heightened by the ledges + running in regular lines along it, the cliff being far from perpendicular. + </p> + <p> + "I should think one could climb up there," Tom said, half-turning round to + his uncle. + </p> + <p> + "It looks like it, Tom, but there is no saying; some of those steps may be + a good deal steeper than they look. However, I have no doubt one could + find places where it would be possible to climb if there were any use in + doing so, but as we should only find ourselves up on bad lands we should + gain nothing by it." + </p> + <p> + "I don't mean we should want to climb up now, uncle; but it seemed a sort + of satisfaction to know that there are places where one could climb in + case we got the boats smashed up." + </p> + <p> + "If we had to make our way up, lad, it would be much better to go by one + of the lateral canons like the one we came down by. I can see at least + half a dozen of them going up there. We should certainly find water, and + we might find game, but up on the plateau we should find neither one nor + the other." + </p> + <p> + On the left-hand bank of the river the cliffs fell still farther back in + wide terraces, that rose one behind the other up to a perpendicular cliff + half a mile back from the river. There was a shade of green here and + there, and the chief pointed far up the hill and exclaimed "Deer!" + </p> + <p> + "That is good," Harry said. "There are sure to be more of these places, + and I should think we are not likely to starve anyhow. We can't spare time + to stop now; we want to have a long day's paddle to see what it is going + to be like, and we have got meat enough for the present. If we happen to + see a deer within rifle-shot, so that we can get at him without much loss + of time, we will stop, for after all fresh meat is better eating than + dry." + </p> + <p> + "I should think it would be, uncle," Tom said. "From the look of the stuff + I should think it would be quite as tough as shoe leather and as + tasteless." + </p> + <p> + "It needs a set of sharp teeth, Tom, but if you are hard set I have no + doubt you will be able to get through it, and at any rate it constitutes + the chief food of the Indians between the Missouri and the Rockies." + </p> + <p> + For the next three hours they paddled along on the quiet surface of the + river. The other canoe had drawn up, since it was evident that here at + least there was no reason why they should keep apart. + </p> + <p> + "I didn't expect we should find it as quiet as this, Harry," Jerry Curtis + said. "It is a regular water-party, and I should not mind how long I was + at it if it were all like this." + </p> + <p> + "We shall have rough water enough presently, Jerry, and I expect we shall + look back on this as the pleasantest part of the trip. It seems to me that + the hills close in more towards the end of this sweep. It has made a + regular horseshoe." + </p> + <p> + "I reckon it depends upon the nature of the rock," Ben put in. + </p> + <p> + "That is it, you may be sure, Ben. Wherever it is soft rock, in time it + crumbles away like this; where it is hard the weather don't affect it + much, and we get straight cliffs. I expect it is there we shall find the + rapids worst. Well, we shall soon make a trial of them, I fancy. It looks + like a wall ahead, but the road must go through somewhere." + </p> + <p> + A quarter of an hour later Harry said: "You had better drop back now, + Jerry, there is the gap right ahead. If you see me hold up my paddle you + row ashore. When we come to a bad rapid we had better all get out, and + make our way down on the rocks as far as we can, to see what it is like. + It will never do to go at it blind. Of course we may find places where the + water comes to the wall faces on both sides, and then there is nothing to + do but to take our chance, but I don't propose to run any risks that I can + avoid." + </p> + <p> + There was a perceptible increase in the rate of the current as they neared + the gorge, and when they came within a short distance of it Harry gave the + signal to the boat behind, and both canoes made for the shore. As they + stepped out on to the rocks the chief pointed to a ledge far above them. + "There will be time for Hunting Dog to shoot a deer," he said, "while we + go down to see caņon." + </p> + <p> + Tom in vain endeavoured to make out the object at which the Indian was + pointing. Hunting Dog had evidently noticed it before landing, and upon + Harry giving a nod of assent, started off with his rifle. The others + waited until Jerry and his companions joined them, and then started along + the rocks that had fallen at the foot of the cliffs. They were soon able + to obtain a far better view of the gorge than they had done from the + canoe. The river ran for a bit in a smooth glassy flood, but a short + distance down, it began to form into waves, and beyond that they could see + a mass of white foam and breakers. They made their way along the rocks for + nearly two miles. It seemed well-nigh impossible to Tom that the boats + could go down without being swamped, for the waves were eight or ten feet + high, with steep sides capped with white. At last the gorge widened again, + and although the cliff to the right rose perpendicularly, on the other + side it became less steep, and seemed lower down to assume the same + character as that above the gorge. + </p> + <p> + "It looks pretty bad," Harry said, speaking for almost the first time + since they had started, for the roar of the water against the rocks, + echoed and re-echoed by the cliffs, rendered conversation an + impossibility. "It looks bad, but as far as I can see there are no rocks + that come up near the surface, and the canoes ought to go through the + broken water safely enough." + </p> + <p> + "It is an all-fired nasty-looking place," Jerry said; "but I have heard + men who had been in the north talk about rapids they had gone through, and + from what they said about them they must have been worse than this. We + have got to keep as near the side as we can; the waves ain't as high there + as they are in the middle, and we have got to keep the boat's head + straight, and to paddle all we know. If we do that, I reckon the canoes + will go through." + </p> + <p> + They retraced their steps up the gorge. Hunting Dog was standing by the + boat with the dead deer at his feet. Jerry picked it up. "I had better + take this, I reckon, Harry. You have got one man more than we have;" and + he and his two companions went on to their boat. + </p> + <p> + "Now, what do you think, Tom?" his uncle said. "Can you trust your head to + keep cool? It will need a lot of nerve, I can tell you, and if her head + swerves in the slightest she will swing round, and over she will go, and + it would want some tall swimming to get out of that race. You paddle as + well as the chief,—better, I think,—but the chief's nerves are + like iron. He has not been practising steering as you have, but as there + seem to be no rocks about, that won't matter so much. I ought to be able + to keep her straight, if you three paddle hard. It may need a turn of the + paddle now and then in the bow, but that we can't tell. So it shall be + just as you like, lad. If you think your nerves can stand it you take your + usual place, but if you have doubts about it, it were best to let the + chief go there." + </p> + <p> + "I think I could stand it, uncle, for I have been out in wherries in some + precious rough seas at Spithead; but I think it would be best for the + chief to take my place this time, and then I shall see how I feel." + </p> + <p> + Harry said a few words to the chief in his own language, and Leaping Horse + without a word stepped into the bow, while Tom took the seat behind him. + </p> + <p> + "We sha'n't be long going down," Harry said, "I reckon the stream is + running ten miles an hour, and as we shall be paddling, it will take us + through in ten minutes. We had all better sit farther aft, so as to take + her bow right out of water. She will go through it ever so much easier + so." + </p> + <p> + They shifted their seats until daylight could be seen under the keel a + foot from the bow. + </p> + <p> + "I think that is about the right trim," Harry said. "Now paddle all." + </p> + <p> + The boat shot off from the shore. A minute later it darted into the gorge, + the Indian setting a long sweeping stroke. There were two or three long + heaves, and then they dashed into the race. Tom held his breath at the + first wall of water, but, buoyant and lightly laden as the canoe was, with + fully a foot of free board, she rose like a feather over it, and darted + down into the hollow beyond. Tom kept his eyes fixed on the back of the + chief's head, clinched his teeth tightly, and paddled away with all his + strength. He felt that were he to look round he should turn giddy at the + turmoil of water. Once or twice he was vaguely conscious of Harry's + shouts, "Keep her head inshore!" or "A little farther out!" but like a man + rowing a race he heeded the words but little. His faculties were + concentrated on his work, but he could see a slight swerve of the Indian's + body when he was obeying an order. + </p> + <p> + He was not conscious of any change of motion, either in the boat or in the + water round, when Harry shouted, "Easy all!" and even then it was the + chief's ceasing to paddle rather than Harry's shout which caused him to + stop. Then he looked round and saw that the race was passed, and that the + canoe was floating in comparatively quiet water. + </p> + <p> + "She is a daisy!" Harry shouted; "we could not do better if we had been + all Canadian half-breeds, chief. Now, we had better set to and bale her + out as quickly as we can." + </p> + <p> + Tom now for the first time perceived that he was kneeling in water, and + that the boat was nearly half-full. + </p> + <p> + Their tea pannikins had been laid by their sides in readiness, and Hunting + Dog touched him and passed forward his tin and the chief's, both of which + had been swept aft. The Seneca at once began to throw out the water, but + Tom for a minute or two was unable to follow his example. He felt as weak + as a child. A nervous quivering ran through his body, and his hand + trembled so that he could not grasp the handle of the tin. + </p> + <p> + "Feel bad, Tom?" his uncle asked cheerily from behind. "Brace up, lad; it + was a pretty warm ten minutes, and I am not surprised you feel it. Now it + is over I am a little shaky myself." + </p> + <p> + "I shall be all right presently, uncle." A look at the chief's back did + more to steady Tom's nerves than his own efforts. While he himself was + panting heavily, and was bathed in perspiration, the chief's breath came + so quietly that he could scarce see his shoulders rise and fall, as he + baled out the water with perfect unconcern. With an effort the boy took + hold of his dipper, and by the time the boat was empty his nerves were + gaining their steadiness, though his breath still came quickly. As he laid + down his tin he looked round. + </p> + <p> + "Heap water," Hunting Dog said with a smile; "run like herd of buffalo." + </p> + <p> + The other boat lay twenty yards behind them, and was also engaged in + baling. + </p> + <p> + "All right now, Tom?" + </p> + <p> + "All right, uncle; but it is lucky you put the chief in the bows. I should + have made a mess of it; for from the time we got into the waves it seemed + nothing but confusion, and though I heard your voice I did not seem to + understand what you said." + </p> + <p> + "It was a trial to the nerves, Tom, but we shall all get accustomed to it + before we get through. Well, thank God, we have made our first run safely. + Now paddle on, we will stop at the first likely place and have a meal." + </p> + <p> + A mile farther they saw a pile of drift-wood on the left bank, and Harry + at once headed the canoe to it, and drawing the boat carefully alongside + they got out. A minute later the other canoe joined them. + </p> + <p> + "Jee-hoshaphat, Harry!" Jerry exclaimed as he stepped out; "that was worse + nor a cyclone. I would rather sit on the back of the worst kind of bucker + than jump over those waves again. If we are going to have much of this I + should say let us find our way back and ask the Utes to finish us off." + </p> + <p> + "It was a rough bit, Jerry; but it might have been a deal worse if there + had been rocks in the stream. All we had to do was to keep her straight + and paddle." + </p> + <p> + "And a pretty big all, too," Jerry grumbled. "I felt skeered pretty nigh + out of my wits, and the other two allow they were just as bad. If it + hadn't been for your boat ahead I reckon we should never have gone through + it, but as long as you kept on straight, there didn't seem any reason why + we shouldn't. I tell you I feel so shaky that if there were a grizzly + twenty yards off I am blamed if I could keep the muzzle of my rifle on + it." + </p> + <p> + Tom had been feeling a good deal ashamed of his nervousness, and was much + relieved at hearing that these seasoned men had felt somewhat the same as + he had done. + </p> + <p> + "What do you say, boys," Harry asked when breakfast had been cooked and + eaten, "if we stop here for to-day? Likely enough we may get some game, + and if not it won't matter, for the deer will last us a couple of days." + </p> + <p> + "You bet," Ben Gulston said; "I think we have had enough of the water for + to-day. I don't feel quite sure now I ain't going round and round, and I + don't think any of us will feel right till we have had a night's sleep. + Besides, all the rugs and blankets are wet and want spreading out in the + sun for a bit, and the flour will want overhauling." + </p> + <p> + "That settles it, Ben; let us get all the outfit out of the boats at + once." + </p> + <p> + After the things had been laid out to dry the two Indians went off in + search of game; but none of the others felt any inclination to move, and + they spent the rest of the day lying about smoking and dozing. The Indians + brought back a big-horn, and the next morning the canoes dropped down the + stream again. For some miles the river flowed quietly along a wide valley. + At the end of that time it made an abrupt turn and entered the heart of + the mountains. As before, Harry's canoe went in advance. The caņon was + here a deep gloomy chasm, with almost perpendicular sides, and for some + distance the river ran swiftly and smoothly, then white water was seen + ahead, so the two boats rowed in to the rocks at the foot of the + precipice, and the occupants proceeded to explore the pass ahead. It was + of a different character to the last. Black rocks rose everywhere above + the surface, and among these the river flowed with extraordinary force and + rapidity, foaming and roaring. + </p> + <p> + All agreed that it was madness to think of descending here, and that a + portage was necessary. The contents of the boats were lifted out, and then + one of them was carried down over the rocks by the united strength of the + party. They had gone half a mile when they came to a spot where they could + go no farther, as the water rushed along against the rock wall itself. + Some fifty yards further down they could see that the ledge again began. + </p> + <p> + "We must go and fetch the other boat," Harry shouted above the din of the + water, "and let them down one by one. There is no other way to do it." + </p> + <p> + The second boat was brought down, and another journey was made to bring + down the stores. The lariats were then tied together. + </p> + <p> + "Let us sit down and smoke a pipe before we do anything more," Jerry said. + "Three times up and down them rocks is worse nor thirty miles on a level." + </p> + <p> + All were glad to adopt this suggestion, and for half an hour they sat + watching the rushing waters. As they did so they discussed how they had + better divide their forces, and agreed that Harry's boat should, as + before, go down first. Three men would be required to let the boat down, + and it would need at least four to check the second boat when it came + abreast of them. Although all felt certain that a single line of the + plaited hide would be sufficient, they determined to use two lines to + ensure themselves against risk. + </p> + <p> + "I should let them run out fast at first, Jerry, only keeping enough + strain on them to keep her head well up stream. Begin to check her + gradually, and let her down only inch by inch. When you see we are close + to the rocks, hold her there while we get her alongside, and don't leave + go till we lift her from the water. Directly we are out, fasten the ropes + to the bow of your canoe, then launch her carefully; and whatever you do, + don't let go of the rope. Launch her stern first close to the wall, then + two get in and get well towards the stern, while the other holds the rope + until the last moment. Then those two in the boat must begin to paddle as + hard as they can, while the last man jumps in and snatches up his paddle. + Keep her head close to the wall, for if the current catches it and takes + her round she would capsize in a moment against those rocks. Paddle all + you know; we shall haul in the rope as fast as you come down. When you + come abreast two of us will check her, and the others will be on the rocks + to catch hold of her side as she swings in." + </p> + <p> + The first canoe was launched stern foremost, the four men took their seats + in her and began to paddle against, the stream with all their strength, + while Jerry and his companions let the lines run through their fingers. + The boat glanced along by the side of the wall. The men above put on more + and more strain, giving a turn of the ropes round a smooth water-worn rock + they had before picked out as suitable for the purpose. The water surged + against the bow of the canoe, lifting it higher and higher as the full + strain of the rope came upon it. The chief was kneeling in the stern + facing the rocks below, and as the canoe came abreast of them he brought + her in alongside. Harry held up his paddle, the men above gave another + turn of the ropes round the rock, and the canoe remained stationary. + Hunting Dog sprang out on to the rocks, and taking hold of the blade of + the chief's paddle, brought the canoe in so close that the others were + able to step ashore without difficulty. The baggage was taken out, and the + canoe lifted from the water, turned upside down, and laid on the rocks. + </p> + <p> + Harry held up his hand to show that they were ready, having before he did + so chosen a stone round which to wind the lariats. The other boat was then + launched. Sam and Ben took their places astern and began to paddle against + the stream. As they were in the back-water below the ledge of rock they + were able to keep her stationary while Jerry took his place and got out + his paddle. When all were ready, they paddled her out from the back-water. + As soon as the current caught her she flew past the cliff like an arrow, + although the three men were now paddling at the top of their speed. Harry + and the chief pulled in the rope hand over hand, while Hunting Dog and Tom + went a short way down the rocks. + </p> + <p> + "Don't check her too suddenly, chief," Harry shouted. "Let the rope run + out easy at first and bring the strain on gradually." + </p> + <p> + "The ropes will hold," the chief said. "One stop buffalo in gallop, two + stop boat." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, but you would pull the head out of the canoe; chief, if you stopped + her too suddenly." + </p> + <p> + The chief nodded. He had not thought of that. In spite of the efforts of + the oarsmen the canoe's head was swerving across the stream just as she + came abreast of them. A moment later she felt the check of the rope. + </p> + <p> + "Easy, chief, easy!" Harry shouted, as the water shot up high over the bow + of the canoe. "Wait till she gets a bit lower or we shall capsize her." + </p> + <p> + The check of the bow had caused the stern to swerve out, and when they + again checked her she was several lengths below them with her head + inclined to shore. More and more strain was put on the ropes, until they + were as taut as iron bars. A moment later Tom and Hunting Dog seized two + paddles held out to them, and the boat came gently in alongside. + </p> + <p> + "Gosh!" Ben exclaimed, as he stepped ashore, "it has taken as much out of + me as working a windlass for a day. I am blamed if I did not think the + hull boat was coming to pieces. I thought it was all over with us for + sure, Harry; when she first felt the rope, the water came in right over + the side." + </p> + <p> + "It was touch and go, Ben; but there was a rock just outside you, and if + we had not checked her a bit her head would have gone across it, and if it + had, I would not have given a red cent for your lives." + </p> + <p> + All day they toiled on foot, and by nightfall had made but four miles. + Then they camped for the night among the rocks. The next four days were + passed in similar labour. Two or three times they had to cross the torrent + in order to get on to fallen rocks on the other side to that which they + were following. These passages demanded the greatest caution. In each case + there were rocks showing above water in the middle of the channel. One of + these was chosen as most suited to their purpose, and by means of the + ropes a canoe was sheered out to it. Its occupants then took their places + on the rock, and in turn dropped the other boat down to the next suitable + point, the process being repeated, step by step, until the opposite bank + was reached. + </p> + <p> + At the end of the fourth day the geological formation changed. The rock + was softer, and the stream had worn a more even path for itself, and they + decided to take to the boats again. There was no occasion for paddling + now, it was only when a swell on the surface marked some hidden danger + below that a stroke or two of the paddle was needed to sweep them clear of + it. For four hours they were carried along at the rate of fully twelve + miles an hour, and at the end of that time they shot out from between the + overhanging walls into a comparatively broad valley. With a shout of + delight they headed the boats for shore, and leapt out on to a flat rock a + few inches above the water. + </p> + <p> + "If we could go on at that pace right down we should not be long before we + were out of the mountains," Tom said. + </p> + <p> + "We could do with a bit slower, Tom; that is too fast to be pleasant. Just + about half that would do—six miles an hour. Twelve hours a day would + take us out of the caņons in a fortnight or so. We might do that safely, + but we could not calculate on having such good luck as we have had to-day, + when going along at twelve miles an hour. The pace for the last four days + has been just as much too slow as this is too fast. Four miles a day + working from morning till night is heart-breaking. In spite of our run + to-day, we cannot have made much over a hundred miles since we started. + Well, there is one comfort, we are in no great hurry. We have got just the + boats for the work, and so far as we can see, we are likely to find plenty + of food. A job like this isn't to be reckoned child's play. So far I + consider we have had good luck; I shall be well content if it averages as + well all the way down. The fear is we may get to falls where we can + neither carry nor let the boats down. In that case we should have to get + out of the canon somewhere, pack as much flour as we could carry, and make + our way across country, though how far we might have to travel there is no + knowing. I hope it mayn't come to that; but at any rate I would rather go + through even worse places than that caņon above than have to quit the + boats." + </p> + <p> + "Right you are, Harry," Jerry agreed. "I would rather tote the canoe on my + back all the way down to Mexico, than have to try and make my way over the + bad lands to the hills. Besides, when we get a bit farther we shall be in + the Navahoe country, and the Utes ain't a sarcumstance to them. The Ute + ain't much of a fighter anyway. He will kill white men he finds up in his + hills, 'cause he don't want white men there, but he has to be five or six + to one before he will attack him. The Navahoe kills the white man 'cause + he is a white man, and 'cause he likes killing. He is a fighter, and don't + you forget it. If it had been Navahoes instead of Utes that had caught us + up in the hills, you may bet your bottom dollar our scalps would be drying + in their lodges now." + </p> + <p> + "That is so, Jerry," Ben put in. "Besides, the Navahoes and the Apaches + have got no fear of white men. They have been raiding Mexico for hundreds + of years, and man to man they can whip Mexikins out of their boots. I + don't say as they haven't a considerable respect for western hunters; they + have had a good many lessons that these can out-shoot them and out-fight + them; still they ain't scared of them as plain Indians are. They are a bad + lot, look at them which way you will, and I don't want to have to tramp + across their country noways. It was pretty hard work carrying that boat + along them rocks, but I would rather have to do so, right down to the + plains, then get into a muss with the Navahoes." + </p> + <p> + "How far does the Navahoe country come this way?" + </p> + <p> + "There ain't no fence, Tom, I expect. They reckon as it's their country + just as far as they like to come. They don't come up as far north as this, + but where they ends and where the Utes begin no one knows but themselves; + and I reckon it shifts according as the Navahoes are busy with the + Mexicans in the south, or have got a quiet spell, and take it into their + heads to hunt this way." + </p> + <p> + For many days they continued their journey, sometimes floating quietly + along a comparatively wide valley, sometimes carrying their boats past + dangerous rapids, sometimes rushing along at great speed on the black, + deep water, occasionally meeting with falls where everything had to be + taken out of the canoes, and the boats themselves allowed to shoot over + the falls with long ropes attached, by which they were drawn to shore + lower down. It was seldom that they were without meat, as several + big-horns and two bears were shot by the Indians. They had no doubt that + they could have caught fish, but as a rule they were too tired when they + arrived at their halting-place to do more than cook and eat their suppers + before they lay down to rest. + </p> + <p> + "I reckon it won't be very long before we come upon a Mexican village," + Harry said one day, after they had been six weeks on their downward + course. "I have heard there is one above the Grand Caņon." + </p> + <p> + The scenery had varied greatly. In some of the valleys groves of trees + bordered the river; sometimes not even a tuft of grass was to be seen. + Occasionally the cliffs ran in an even line for many miles, showing that + the country beyond was a level plateau, at other times rugged peaks and + pinnacles resembling ruined castles, lighthouses, and churches could be + seen. Frequently the cliffs rose three or four thousand feet in an almost + unbroken line, but more often there were rounded terraces, where it would + have been easy to ascend to the upper level. Everywhere the various strata + were of different colours: soft grays and browns, orange, vermilion, + purple, green, and yellow. They soon learned that when they passed through + soft strata, the river ran quietly; where the rocks were hard there were + falls and rapids; where the strata lay horizontal the stream ran smoothly, + though often with great rapidity; where they dipped up stream there were + dangerous rapids and falls. + </p> + <p> + Since the start the river had been largely swollen by the junctions of + other streams, and was much wider and deeper than it had been where they + embarked; and even where the rapids were fiercest they generally found + comparatively quiet water close to the bank on one side or the other. + Twice they had had upsets, both the boats having been capsized by striking + upon rocks but an inch or two below the surface of the water. Little harm + was done, for the guns and all other valuable articles were lashed to the + sides of the boats, while strips of hide, zigzagged across the ends of the + canoes at short distances apart, prevented the blankets and rugs and other + bulky articles from dropping out when the boat capsized. + </p> + <p> + Since the river had become wider and the dangers less frequent, the boats + always kept near each other. Upsets were therefore only the occasion for a + hearty laugh; for it took but a few minutes to right the canoe, bale it + out, and proceed on their way. Occasionally they had unpleasant visitors + at their camp, and altogether they killed ten or twelve rattle-snakes. In + some of the valleys they found the remains of the dwellings of a people + far anterior to the present Indian races. Some of these ruins appeared to + have been communal houses. At other points they saw cliff-dwellings in the + face of the rock, with rough sculptures and hieroglyphics. The canons + varied in length from ten to a hundred and fifty miles, the comparatively + flat country between them varying equally in point of appearance and in + the nature of the rocks. As they got lower they once or twice saw + roughly-made rafts, composed of three or four logs of wood, showing where + Indians had crossed the river. The journey so far had been much more + pleasant than they had expected, for as the river grew wider the dangers + were fewer and farther apart, and more easily avoided; and they looked + forward to the descent of the Grand Caņon, from which they knew they could + not be far distant, without much fear that it would prove impracticable. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0017" id="link2HCH0017"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVII — THE GRAND CAŅON + </h2> + <p> + Passing from a short caņon, the boats emerged into a valley with flat + shores for some distance from the river. On the right was a wide side + caņon, which might afford a passage up into the hills. Half a mile lower + down there were trees and signs of cultivation; and a light smoke rose + among them. At this, the first sign of human life they had seen since they + took to the boats, all hands paddled rapidly. They were approaching the + shore, when Leaping Horse said to Harry: "No go close. Stop in river and + see, perhaps bad Indians. Leaping Horse not like smoke." + </p> + <p> + Harry called to the other canoe, and they bore out into the stream again. + The chief stood up in the boat, and after gazing at the shore silently for + a moment said: + </p> + <p> + "Village burnt. Burnt little time ago, post still burning." As he resumed + his seat Harry stood up in turn. + </p> + <p> + "That is so, chief. There have only been five or six huts; whether Indian + or white, one can't tell now." + </p> + <p> + Just at this moment an Indian appeared on the bank. As his eye fell on the + boats he started. A moment later he raised a war-yell. + </p> + <p> + "Navahoe," the chief said. "Navahoe war-party come down, kill people and + burn village. Must row hard." + </p> + <p> + The yell had been answered from the wood, and in two or three minutes as + many score of Indians appeared on the banks. They shouted to the boats to + come to shore, and as no attention was paid, some of them at once opened + fire. The river was about a quarter of a mile wide, and although the shots + splashed round them the boats were not long in reaching the farther bank, + but not unharmed, for Ben had dropped his paddle and fallen back in the + boat. + </p> + <p> + "Is he badly hurt?" Harry asked anxiously, as the canoes drew alongside + each other near the bank, and Sam turned round to look at his comrade. + </p> + <p> + "He has finished his journey," Sam said in a hoarse voice. "He has gone + down, and a better mate and a truer heart I never met. The ball has hit + him in the middle of the forehead. It were to be, I guess, for it could + only have been a chance shot at that distance." + </p> + <p> + Exclamations of sorrow and fury broke from the others, and for a few + minutes there was no thought of the Indians, whose bullets were still + falling in the water, for the most part short of the boats. A sharp tap on + the side of Harry's canoe, followed by a jet of water, roused them. + </p> + <p> + "We mustn't stop here," Harry said, as Hunting Dog plugged the hole with a + piece of dried meat, "or poor Ben won't be the only one." + </p> + <p> + "Let us have a shot first," Jerry said. "Young Tom, do you take a shot + with Plumb-centre. It is about four hundred and fifty yards as near as I + can reckon, and she will carry pretty true that distance." + </p> + <p> + "We will give them a shot all round," Harry said, as he took up his rifle. + </p> + <p> + Six shots were discharged almost at the same moment. One of the Indians + was seen to fall, the rest bounded away to a short distance from the bank. + Then Hunting Dog at a word from the chief stepped into the other canoe. + Keeping close under the bank they paddled down. The Indians had ceased + firing, and had disappeared at a run. + </p> + <p> + "What are they up to now, chief?" + </p> + <p> + "Going down to mouth of caņon, river sure to be narrow; get there before + us." + </p> + <p> + "Wait, Jerry," Harry shouted to the other boat, which was some twenty + yards ahead. "The chief thinks they have gone to cut us off at the head of + the caņon, which is likely enough. I don't suppose it is fifty yards wide + there, and they will riddle us if we try to get through in daylight. We + had better stop and have a meal and talk it over." + </p> + <p> + The boats were rowed ashore, and the men landed and proceeded to light a + fire as unconcernedly as if no danger threatened them. Ben's death had + cast a heavy gloom over them, and but few words were spoken, until the + meal was cooked and eaten. + </p> + <p> + "It is a dog-goned bad business," Jerry said. "I don't say at night as we + mayn't get past them without being hit, but to go rushing into one of + those caņons in the dark would be as bad as standing their fire, if not + wuss. The question is—could we leave the boats and strike across?" + </p> + <p> + "We could not strike across this side anyhow," Harry said. "There are no + settlements west of the Colorado. We know nothing of the country, and it + is a hundred to one we should all die of thirst even if we could carry + enough grub to last us. If we land at all it must be on the other side, + and then we could not reckon on striking a settlement short of two hundred + miles, and two hundred miles across a country like this would be almost + certain death." + </p> + <p> + "As the Navahoes must have ridden down, Harry, there must be water. I + reckon they came down that caņon opposite." + </p> + <p> + "Navahoe on track in morning," the chief said quietly. "When they see we + not go down river look for boat, find where we land and take up trail. + Caņon very plain road. Some go up there straight, take all our scalps." + </p> + <p> + No one spoke for a moment or two. What the Seneca said was so evident to + them that it was useless to argue. "Well, chief, what do you advise + yourself?" Harry asked at length. + </p> + <p> + "Not possible go on foot, Harry. Country all rocks and caņons; cannot get + through, cannot get water. Trouble with Navahoes too. Only chance get down + in boat to-night. Keep close under this bank; perhaps Indians not see us, + night dark." + </p> + <p> + "Do you think they can cross over to this side?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes, got canoe. Two canoes in village, Leaping Horse saw them on bank. + When it gets dark, cross over." + </p> + <p> + "We will get a start of them," Harry said. "Directly it is dark we can be + off too. The shore is everywhere higher than our heads as we sit in the + canoes, and we can paddle in the shadow without being seen by them on the + other side, while they won't venture to cross till it is pitch dark. As + the stream runs something like three miles an hour, I reckon that they are + hardly likely to catch us. As for the rapids, they don't often begin until + you are some little distance in. At any rate we shall not have to go far, + for the red-skins will not dare to enter the caņon, so we can tie up till + morning as soon as we are a short distance in. We have got to run the + gauntlet of their fire, but after all that is better than taking our + chances by leaving the boats. If we lie down when we get near them they + may not see us at all; but if they do, a very few strokes will send us + past them. At any rate there seems less risk in that plan than in any + other." + </p> + <p> + The others agreed. + </p> + <p> + "Now, boys, let us dig a grave," he went on, as soon as the point was + settled. "It is a sort of clay here and we can manage it, and it is not + likely we shall find any place, when we are once in the caņon, where we + can do it." They had neither picks nor shovels with them, for their mining + tools had been left at the spot where they were at work, but with their + axes and knives they dug a shallow grave, laid Ben's body in it, covered + it up, and then rolled a number of boulders over it. + </p> + <p> + Ben's death affected Tom greatly. They had lived together and gone through + many perils and risks for nearly a year, and none had shown more + unflagging good-humour throughout than the man who had been killed. That + the boats might upset and all might perish together, was a thought that + had often occurred to him as they made their way down the river, but that + one should be cut off like this had never once been contemplated by him. + Their lives from the hour they met on the Big Wind River had seemed bound + up together, and this sudden loss of one of the party affected him + greatly. The others went about their work silently and sadly, but they had + been so accustomed to see life lost in sudden frays, and in one or other + of the many dangers that miners and hunters are exposed to, that it did + not affect them to the same extent as it did Tom. + </p> + <p> + Except two or three men who remained on watch on the opposite bank, though + carefully keeping out of rifle-range, they saw no signs of the Navahoes + during the day. As soon as it became so dark that they were sure their + movements could not be seen from the other side, they silently took their + places in the boats, and pushed off into the current. For a quarter of an + hour they lay in the canoes, then at a signal from Harry knelt up, took + their paddles and began to row very quietly and cautiously, the necessity + for dropping their paddles noiselessly into the water and for avoiding any + splashing having been impressed on all before starting. + </p> + <p> + "There is no occasion for haste," Harry said. "Long and gentle strokes of + the paddle will take us down as fast as we need go. If those fellows do + cross over, as I expect they will, they will find it difficult to travel + over the rocks in the dark as fast as we are going now, and there is no + fear whatever of their catching us if we go on steadily." + </p> + <p> + After an hour's rowing they could make out a dark mass rising like a wall + in front of them, and Harry passed the word back to the other canoe, which + was just behind them, that they should now cease paddling, only giving a + stroke occasionally to keep the head of the canoe straight, and to prevent + the boat from drifting out from under the shelter of the bank, in the + stillness of the night they could hear a low roaring, and knew that it was + caused by a rapid in the canon ahead. Higher and higher rose the wall of + rock, blotting out the stars in front of them till the darkness seemed to + spread half-way over the sky. + </p> + <p> + They could see that the boat was passing the shore more rapidly, as the + river accelerated its course before rushing into the gorge. Suddenly there + was a shout on the right, so close that Tom was startled, then there was a + rifle-shot, and a moment later a wild outburst of yells and a dozen other + shots. At the first shout the paddles dipped into the water, and at racing + speed the boats shot along. Eight or ten more rifle-shots were fired, each + farther behind them. + </p> + <p> + "Anyone hurt?" Harry asked. + </p> + <p> + There was a general negative. + </p> + <p> + "I don't believe they really saw us," Harry said. "The first fellow may + have caught sight of us, but I expect the others fired merely at random. + Now let us row in and fasten up, for judging from that roaring there must + be a big rapid close ahead." + </p> + <p> + The boats were soon fastened up against the rocks, and the chief stepped + ashore, saying: + </p> + <p> + "Leaping Horse and Hunting Dog will watch. Navahoes may come down here. + Don't think they will be brave enough to enter caņon, too dark to see. + Still, better watch." + </p> + <p> + "Just as you like, chief," Harry said, "but I have no belief that they + will come down here in the dark; it would be as much as they would dare do + in broad daylight. Besides, these rocks are steepish climbing anyway, and + I should not like myself to try to get over them, when it is so dark that + I can't see my own hand, except by putting it up between my eyes and the + stars." + </p> + <p> + "If it was not for that," Jerry said, "I would crawl along to the mouth + and see if I couldn't get a shot at them varmint on the other side." + </p> + <p> + "You would not find them there, Jerry. You may be sure that when they saw + us go through they would know it was of no use waiting there any longer. + They would flatter themselves that they had hit some of us, and even if + they hadn't, it would not seem to matter a cent to them, as the evil + spirit of the canon would surely swallow us up." + </p> + <p> + "Well, they have been wrong in their first supposition, uncle," Tom said, + "and I hope they will be equally wrong in the second." + </p> + <p> + "I hope so, Tom. Now we may as well go to sleep. As soon as there is any + light we must explore as far as we can go, for by the noise ahead it must + be either a fall or a desperately bad rapid." + </p> + <p> + When daylight broke, the whites found Hunting Dog sitting with his rifle + across his knees on a rock above them. + </p> + <p> + "Where is the chief?" Harry asked him. + </p> + <p> + "Leaping Horse went up the rocks to see if Navahoes have gone." + </p> + <p> + "Very well. Tell him when he comes back we have gone down to have a look + at the rapid. Tom, you may as well stay here. There is plenty of + drift-wood among those rocks, and we will breakfast before we start down. + I reckon we shall not have much time for anything of that sort after we + are once off." + </p> + <p> + Tom was by no means sorry to be saved a heavy climb. He collected some + wood and broke it up into suitable pieces, but at the suggestion of + Hunting Dog waited for the chief's return before lighting it. The chief + came down in a few minutes. "Navahoes all gone," he said briefly. + </p> + <p> + "Then I can light a fire, chief?" + </p> + <p> + Leaping Horse nodded, and Tom took out the tightly-fitting tin box in + which he kept his matches. Each of the party carried a box, and to secure + against the possibility of the matches being injured by the water in case + of a capsize, the boxes were kept in deer's bladders tightly tied at the + mouth. The fire was just alight when the others returned. + </p> + <p> + "It is better ahead than we expected," Harry said; "the noise was caused + by the echo from the smooth faces of the rocks. It is lucky we hauled in + here last night, for these rocks end fifty yards on, and as far as we can + see down, the water washes the foot of the wall on both sides. We were + able to climb up from them on to a narrow ledge, parallel with the water, + and went on to the next turn, but there was no change in the character of + the river. So we shall make a fair start anyway." + </p> + <p> + More wood was put on the fire, and in a quarter of an hour the kettle was + boiling and slices of meat cooked. Half an hour later they took their + places in the canoes and started. The caņon was similar to the one they + had last passed; the walls were steep and high, but with irregular shelves + running along them. Above these were steep slopes, running up to the foot + of smooth perpendicular cliffs of limestone. The stream was very rapid, + and they calculated that in the first half-hour they must have run six + miles. Here the walls receded to a distance, and ledges of rock and hills + of considerable heights intervened between the river and the cliffs. They + checked the pace of their canoes just as they reached this opening, for a + deep roar told of danger ahead. Fortunately there were rocks where they + were able to disembark, and a short way below they found that a natural + dam extended across the river. + </p> + <p> + "There has been an eruption of trap here," Harry said, looking at the + black rock on either side. "There has been a fissure, I suppose, and the + lava was squeezed up through it. You see the river has cut a path for + itself some hundreds of feet deep. It must have taken countless ages, Tom, + to have done the work." + </p> + <p> + Over this dam the water flowed swiftly and smoothly, and then shot down in + a fall six feet high. Below for a distance of two or three hundred yards + was a furious rapid, the water running among black rocks. With + considerable difficulty they made a portage of the boats and stores to the + lower end of the rapid. This transit occupied several hours, and they then + proceeded on their way. Five more miles were passed; several times the + boats were brought to the bank in order that falls ahead might be + examined. These proved to be not too high to shoot, and the boats paddled + over them. When they had first taken to the river they would never have + dreamt of shooting such falls, but they had now become so expert in the + management of the boats, and so confident in their buoyancy, that the + dangers which would then have appalled them were now faced without + uneasiness. + </p> + <p> + They now came to a long rapid, presenting so many dangers that they deemed + it advisable to let down the boats by lines. Again embarking they found + that the wall of rocks closed in and they entered a narrow gorge, through + which the river ran with great swiftness, touching the walls on each side. + Great care was needed to prevent the boats being dashed against the rock, + but they succeeded in keeping them fairly in the middle of the stream. + After travelling four miles through this gorge it opened somewhat, and on + one side was a strip of sand. + </p> + <p> + "We will land there," Harry said. "It looks to me like granite ahead, and + if it is we are in for bad times, sure." + </p> + <p> + The boats were soon pulled up, and they proceeded to examine the cliffs + below. Hitherto the danger had been in almost exact proportion to the + hardness of the rock, and as they were entering a far harder rock than + they had before encountered, greater difficulties than those they had + surmounted were to be expected. + </p> + <p> + They could not see a long distance down, but what they saw was enough to + justify their worst anticipations. The caņon was narrower than any they + had traversed, and the current extremely swift. There seemed but few + broken rocks in the channel, but on either side the walls jutted out in + sharp angles far into the river, with crags and pinnacles. + </p> + <p> + "Waal, it is of no use looking at it," Jerry said after a pause. "It is + certain we can't get along the sides, so there is nothing to do but to go + straight at it; and the sooner it is over the better." + </p> + <p> + Accordingly they returned to the boats, and soon darted at the speed of an + arrow into the race. Bad as it was at starting it speedily became worse: + ledges, pinnacles, and towers of rock rose above the surface of the stream + breaking it into falls and whirlpools. Every moment it seemed to Tom that + the boat must inevitably be dashed to pieces against one of these + obstructions, for the light boats were whirled about like a feather on the + torrent, and the paddlers could do but little to guide their course. The + very strength of the torrent, however, saved them from destruction, the + whirl from the rocks sweeping the boat's head aside when within a few feet + of them, and driving it past the danger before they had time to realize + that they had escaped wreck. Half an hour of this, and a side caņon came + in. Down this a vast quantity of boulders had been swept, forming a dam + across the river, but they managed to paddle into an eddy at the side, and + to make a portage of the boats to the water below the dam, over which + there was a fall of from thirty to forty feet high. Three more similar + dams were met with. Over one the canoes were carried, but on the others + there was a break in the boulder wall, and they were able to shoot the + falls. + </p> + <p> + After three days of incessant labour, they heard, soon after starting from + their last halting-place, a roar even louder and more menacing than they + had yet experienced. Cautiously they got as close as possible to the side, + and paddling against the stream were able to effect a landing just above + the rapid. On examining it they found that it was nearly half a mile long, + and in this distance the water made a fall of some eighty feet, the stream + being broken everywhere with ledges and jagged rocks, among which the + waves lashed themselves into a white foam. It seemed madness to attempt + such a descent, and they agreed that at any rate they would halt for the + day. The rocks through which the caņon ran were fully a thousand feet + high, but they decided that, great as the labour might be, it would be + better to make a portage, if possible, rather than descend the cataract. + </p> + <p> + "There is a gulch here running up on to the hill," Tom said. "Hunting Dog + and I will start at once and see if it is possible to get up it, and if so + how far it is to a place where we can get down again." + </p> + <p> + Harry assented; Leaping Horse without a word joined the explorers, and + they set off up the gulch. It was found that the ravine was steep, but not + too steep to climb. When they were nearly at the top Hunting Dog pointed + to the hillside above them, and they saw a big-horn standing at the edge + of the rock. The three fired their rifles simultaneously, and the wild + sheep made a spring into the air and then came tumbling down the side of + the ravine. As fresh meat was beginning to run short this was a stroke of + good fortune, and after reloading their guns they proceeded up the ravine + until they reached the crest of the hill. The soil was disintegrated + granite, and tufts of short grass grew here and there. After walking about + a mile, parallel to the course of the river, they found that the ground + descended again, and without much difficulty made their way down until + they reached the foot of a little valley; following this they were soon + standing by the side of the river. Above, its surface was as closely + studded with rocks as was the upper cataract; below, there was another + fall that looked impracticable, except that it seemed possible to pass + along on the rocks by the side. It was getting dark by the time they + rejoined their comrades. + </p> + <p> + "Your report is not a very cheerful one," Harry said, "but at any rate + there seems nothing else to be done than to make the portage. The meat you + have got for us will re-stock our larder, and as it is up there we sha'n't + have the trouble of carrying it over." + </p> + <p> + The next day was a laborious one. One by one the canoes were carried over, + but the operation took them from daybreak till dark. The next morning + another journey was made to bring over the rugs and stores, and they were + able in addition to these to carry down the carcass of the sheep, after + first skinning it and cutting off the head with its great horns. Nothing + was done for the rest of the day beyond trying whether another portage + could be made. This was found to be impracticable, and there was nothing + for them but to attempt the descent. They breakfasted as soon as day + broke, carried the boats down over the boulder dam with which the rapids + commenced, and put them into the water. For some little distance they were + able to let them down by ropes, then the rocks at the foot of the cliffs + came to an end. Fortunately the seven lariats furnished them with a + considerable length of line, and in addition to these the two Indians had + on their way down plaited a considerable length of rope, with thongs cut + from the skins of the animals they had killed. + </p> + <p> + The total available amount of rope was now divided into two lengths, the + ends being fastened to each canoe. One of the boats with its crew on board + was lowered to a point where the men were able to get a foothold on a + ledge. As soon as they had done so the other boat dropped down to them, + and the ropes were played out until they were in turn enabled to get a + footing on a similar ledge or jutting rock, sometimes so narrow that but + one man was able to stand. So alternately the boats were let down. + Sometimes when no foothold could be obtained on the rock wall, the + pinnacles and ledges in the stream were utilized. All the work had to be + done by gesture, for the thunder of the waters was so tremendous that the + loudest shout could not be heard a few yards away. Hour passed after hour. + Their progress was extremely slow, as each step had to be closely + considered and carried out with the greatest care. + </p> + <p> + At last a terrible accident happened. Harry, Leaping Horse, and Tom were + on a ledge. Below them was a fall of three feet, and in the foaming stream + below it, rose several jagged rocks. Jerry's canoe was got safely down the + fall, but in spite of the efforts of the rowers was carried against the + outer side of one of these rocks. They made a great effort to turn the + boat's head into the eddy behind it, but as the line touched the rock its + sharp edge severed the rope like a knife, and the boat shot away down the + rapid. Those on the ledge watched it with breathless anxiety. Two or three + dangers were safely passed, then to their horror they saw the head of the + canoe rise suddenly as it ran up a sunken ledge just under the water. An + instant later the stern swept round, bringing her broadside on to the + stream, and she at once capsized. + </p> + <p> + "Quick!" Harry exclaimed, "we must go to their rescue. Keep close to the + wall, chief, till we see signs of them. It is safest close in." + </p> + <p> + In an instant they were in their places, and as they released the canoe + she shot in a moment over the fall. For a short distance they kept her + close to the side, but a projecting ledge threw the current sharply + outwards, and the canoe shot out into the full force of the rapid. The + chief knelt up in the bow paddle in hand, keeping a vigilant eye for rocks + and ledges ahead, and often with a sharp stroke of the paddle, seconded by + the effort of Harry in the stern, sweeping her aside just when Tom thought + her destruction inevitable. Now she went headlong down a fall, then was + caught by an eddy, and was whirled round and round three or four times + before the efforts of the paddlers could take her beyond its influence. + Suddenly a cry came to their ears. Just as they approached a rocky ledge + some thirty feet long, and showing a saw-like edge a foot above the water, + the chief gave a shout and struck his paddle into the water. + </p> + <p> + "Behind the rock, Tom, behind the rock!" Harry exclaimed as he swept the + stern round. Tom paddled with all his might, and the canoe headed up + stream. Quickly as the movement was done, the boat was some twelve yards + below the rock as she came round with her nose just in the lower edge of + the eddy behind it, while from either side the current closed in on her. + Straining every nerve the three paddlers worked as for life. At first Tom + thought that the glancing waters would sweep her down, but inch by inch + they gained, and drove the boat forward from the grasp of the current into + the back eddy, until suddenly, as if released from a vice, she sprang + forward. Never in his life had Tom exerted himself so greatly. His eyes + were fixed on the rock in front of him, where Hunting Dog was clinging + with one hand, while with the other he supported Jerry's head above water. + He gave a shout of joy as the chief swept the head of the canoe round, + just as it touched the rock, and laid her broadside to it. + </p> + <p> + "Stick your paddle between two points of the rock, Tom," Harry shouted, + "while the chief and I get them in. Sit well over on the other side of the + boat." + </p> + <p> + With considerable difficulty Jerry, who was insensible, was lifted into + the boat. As soon as he was laid down Hunting Dog made his way hand over + hand on the gunwale until close to the stern, where he swung himself into + the boat without difficulty. + </p> + <p> + "Have you seen Sam?" Harry asked. + </p> + <p> + The young Indian shook his head. "Sam one side of the boat," he said, + "Jerry and Hunting Dog the other. Boat went down that chute between those + rocks above. Only just room for it. Jerry was knocked off by rock. Hunting + Dog was near the stern, there was room for him. He caught Jerry's + hunting-shirt, but could not hold on to boat. When came down here made + jump at corner of rock. Could not hold on, but current swept him into + eddy. Then swam here and held on, and kept calling. Knew his brothers + would come down soon." + </p> + <p> + "Here is a spare paddle," Harry said, as he pulled one out from below the + network, "there is not a moment to lose. Keep your eyes open, chief." + Again the boat moved down the stream. With four paddles going the + steersman had somewhat more control over her, but as she flew down the + seething water, glanced past rocks and sprang over falls, Tom expected her + to capsize every moment. At last he saw below them a stretch of quiet + water, and two or three minutes later they were floating upon it, and as + if by a common impulse all ceased rowing. + </p> + <p> + "Thanks be to God for having preserved us," Harry said reverently. "We are + half-full of water; another five minutes of that work and it would have + been all over with us. Do you see any signs of the canoe, chief?" + </p> + <p> + The chief pointed to a ledge of rock extending out into the stream. "Canoe + there," he said. They paddled across to it. After what the young Indian + had said they had no hopes of finding Sam with it, but Harry gave a deep + sigh as he stepped out on to the ledge. + </p> + <p> + "Another gone," he said. "How many of us will get through this place + alive? Let us carry Jerry ashore." + </p> + <p> + There was a patch of sand swept up by the eddy below the rock, and here + Jerry was taken out and laid down. He moaned as they lifted him. + </p> + <p> + "Easy with him," Harry said. "Steady with that arm. I think he has a + shoulder broken, as well as this knock on the head that has stunned him." + </p> + <p> + As soon as he was laid down Harry cut open his shirt on the shoulder. + "Broken," he said shortly. "Now, chief, I know that you are a good hand at + this sort of thing. How had this better be bandaged?" + </p> + <p> + "Want something soft first." + </p> + <p> + Tom ran to the canoe, brought out the little canvas sack in which he + carried his spare flannel shirt, and brought it to the chief. The latter + tore off a piece of stuff and rolled it into a wad. "Want two pieces of + wood," he said, holding his hands about a foot apart to show the length he + required. Harry fetched a spare paddle, and split a strip off each side of + the blade. The chief nodded as he took them. "Good," he said. He tore off + two more strips of flannel and wrapped them round the splints, then with + Harry's aid he placed the shoulder in its natural position, laid the wad + of flannel on the top of it, and over this put the two splints. The whole + was kept in its place by flannel bandages, and the arm was fastened firmly + across the body, so that it could not be moved. Then the little keg of + brandy was brought out of the canoe, a spoonful poured into the pannikin, + with half as much water, and allowed to trickle between Jerry's lips, + while a wad of wet flannel was placed on his head. + </p> + <p> + "There is nothing more we can do for him at present," Harry said. "Now we + will right the other boat, and get all the things out to dry." + </p> + <p> + Three or four pounds of flour were found to be completely soaked with + water, but the main store was safe, as the bag was sewn up in bear-skin. + This was only opened occasionally to take out two or three days' supply, + and then carefully closed again. On landing, Hunting Dog had at once + started in search of drift-wood, and by this time a fire was blazing. A + piece of bear's fat was placed in the frying-pan, and the wetted flour was + at once fried into thin cakes, which were tough and tasteless; but the + supply was too precious to allow of an ounce being wasted. Some slices of + the flesh of the big-horn were cooked. + </p> + <p> + "What is my white brother going to do?" the chief asked Harry. + </p> + <p> + "There is nothing to do that I can see, chief, but to keep on pegging + away. We agreed that it would be almost impossible to find our way over + these barren mountains. That is not to be thought of, now that one of our + number cannot walk. There is no choice left, we have got to go on." + </p> + <p> + "Leaping Horse understand that," the chief said. "He meant would you take + both canoes? One is big enough to take five." + </p> + <p> + "Quite big enough, chief, but it would be deeper in the water, and the + heavier it is the harder it will bump against any rock it meets; the + lighter they are the better. You see, this other canoe, which I dare say + struck a dozen times on its way down, shows no sign of damage except the + two rents in the skin, that we can mend in a few minutes. Another thing + is, two boats are absolutely necessary for this work of letting down by + ropes, of which we may expect plenty more. If we had only one, we should + be obliged to run every rapid. The only extra trouble that it will give us + is at the portages. I think we had better stay here for two or three days, + so as to give Jerry a chance of coming round. No doubt we could carry him + over the portages just as we can carry the boats, but after such a knock + on the head as he has had, it is best that he should be kept quiet for a + bit. If his skull is not cracked he won't be long in getting round. He is + as hard as nails, and will pull round in the tenth of the time it would + take a man in the towns to get over such a knock. It is a pity the halt is + not in a better place. There is not a shadow of a chance of finding game + among these crags and bare rocks." + </p> + <p> + From time to time fresh water was applied to the wad of flannel round + Jerry's head. + </p> + <p> + "Is there any chance, do you think, of finding poor Sam's body?" + </p> + <p> + The chief shook his head. "No shores where it could be washed up, rocks + tear it to pieces; or if it get in an eddy, might be there for weeks. No + see Sam any more." + </p> + <p> + The fire was kept blazing all night, and they took it by turns to sit + beside Jerry and to pour occasionally a little brandy and water between + his lips. As the men were moving about preparing breakfast the next + morning Jerry suddenly opened his eyes. He looked at Tom, who was sitting + beside him. + </p> + <p> + "Time to get up?" he asked. "Why did you not wake me?" And he made an + effort to move. Tom put his hand on him. + </p> + <p> + "Lie still, Jerry. You have had a knock on the head, but you are all right + now." + </p> + <p> + The miner lay quiet. His eyes wandered confusedly over the figures of the + others, who had, when they heard his voice, gathered round him. + </p> + <p> + "What in thunder is the matter with me?" he asked. "What is this thing on + my head? What is the matter with my arm, I don't seem able to move it?" + </p> + <p> + "It is the knock you have had, Jerry," Harry said cheerfully. "You have + got a bump upon your head half as big as a cocoa-nut, and you have damaged + your shoulder. You have got a wet flannel on your head, and the chief has + bandaged your arm. I expect your head will be all right in a day or two, + but I reckon you won't be able to use your arm for a bit." + </p> + <p> + Jerry lay quiet without speaking for a few minutes, then he said: "Oh, I + remember now; we were capsized. I had hold of the canoe, and I remember + seeing a rock just ahead. I suppose I knocked against it." + </p> + <p> + "That was it, mate. Hunting Dog let go his hold and caught you, and + managed to get into an eddy and cling to the rocks till we came down and + took you on board." + </p> + <p> + Jerry held out his hand to the Indian. "Thankee," he said. "I owe you one, + Hunting Dog. If I ever get the chance you can reckon on me sure, whatever + it is. But where is Sam? Why ain't he here?" + </p> + <p> + "Sam has gone under, mate," Harry replied. "That chute you went down was + only just wide enough for the boat to go through, and no doubt he was + knocked off it at the same time as you were; but as the Indian was on your + side, he saw nothing of Sam. I reckon he sank at once, just as you would + have done if Hunting Dog hadn't been behind you." + </p> + <p> + Jerry made no reply, but as he lay still, with his eyes closed, some big + tears made their way through the lids and rolled down his bronzed face. + The others thought it best to leave him by himself, and continued their + preparations for breakfast. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0018" id="link2HCH0018"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVIII — BACK TO DENVER + </h2> + <p> + "When are you going to make a start again?" Jerry asked, after drinking a + pannikin of tea. + </p> + <p> + "We are not going on to-day; perhaps not to-morrow. It will depend on how + you get on." + </p> + <p> + "I shall be a nuisance to you anyway," the miner said, "and it would be a + dog-goned sight the best way to leave me here; but I know you won't do + that, so it ain't no use my asking you. I expect I shall be all right + to-morrow except for this shoulder, but just now my head is buzzing as if + there was a swarm of wild bees inside." + </p> + <p> + "You will be all the better when you have had a good sleep; I reckon we + could all do a bit that way. Young Tom and Hunting Dog are going to try a + bit of fishing with those hooks of yours. We talked about it when we + started, you know, but we have not done anything until now. We want a + change of food badly. We may be a month going down this caņon for anything + I know, and if it keeps on like this there ain't a chance of seeing a head + of game. It ought to be a good place for fish at the foot of the rapids—that + is, if there are any fish here, and I reckon there should be any amount of + them. If they do catch some, we will wait here till we can dry a good + stock. We have nothing now but the dried flesh and some of the big-horn. + There ain't above twenty pounds of flour left, and we could clear up all + there is in the boat in a week. So you need not worry that you are keeping + us." + </p> + <p> + Half an hour later Hunting Dog and Tom put out in one of the canoes, and + paddling to the foot of the rapids let the lines drop overboard, the hooks + being baited with meat. It was not many minutes before the Indian felt a + sharp pull. There was no occasion to play the fish, for the line was + strong enough to hold a shark, and a trout of six pounds weight was soon + laid in the bottom of the boat. + </p> + <p> + "My turn now," Tom said; and the Indian with a smile took the paddle from + his hand, and kept the boat up stream while Tom attended to the lines. + Fish after fish was brought up in rapid succession, and when about mid-day + a call from below told them that it was time for dinner, they had some + thirty fish averaging five pounds' weight at the bottom of the boat. + </p> + <p> + There was a shout of satisfaction from Harry as he looked down into the + canoe, and even the chief gave vent to a grunt that testified his + pleasure. + </p> + <p> + "Hand me up four of them, Tom; I did not know how much I wanted a change + of food till my eyes lit on those beauties. We saw you pulling them out, + but I did not expect it was going to be as good as this." + </p> + <p> + The fish were speedily split open, and laid on ramrods over the fire. + </p> + <p> + "I reckon you will want another one for me," Jerry, who had been asleep + since they started, remarked. "I don't know that I am good for one as big + as those, but I reckon I can pick a bit anyhow." + </p> + <p> + A small fish was put on with the others, and as soon as they were grilled, + all set to at what seemed to Tom the best meal he had ever eaten in his + life. He thought when he handed them to Harry that two would have been + amply sufficient for them all, but he found no difficulty whatever in + disposing of a whole one single-handed. + </p> + <p> + "Now, Tom, the chief and I will take our turn while you and Hunting Dog + prepare your catch. He will show you how to do it, it is simple enough. + Cut off the heads, split and clean them, run a skewer through to keep them + flat, and then lay them on that rock in the sun to dry. Or wait, I will + rig up a line between two of the rocks for you to hang them on. There is + not much wind, but what there is will dry them better than if they were + laid flat." + </p> + <p> + Jerry went off to sleep again as soon as the meal was finished, and the + bandages round his head re-wetted. The paddle from which the strips had + been cut furnished wood for the skewers, and in the course of half an hour + the fish were all hanging on a line. Twenty two more were brought in at + sunset. Some of these, after being treated like the others, were hung in + the smoke of the fire, while the rest were suspended like the first batch. + </p> + <p> + The next morning Jerry was able to move about, and the fishing went on all + day, and by night a quantity, considered sufficient, had been brought + ashore. + </p> + <p> + "There are over four hundred pounds altogether," Harry said, "though by + the time they are dried they won't be more than half that weight. Two + pounds of dried fish a man is enough to keep him going, and they will last + us twenty days at that rate, and it will be hard luck if we don't find + something to help it out as we go down." + </p> + <p> + They stopped another day to allow the drying to be completed. The fish + were taken down and packed on board that evening, and at daylight they + were afloat again. For the next ten days their labours were continuous. + They passed several rapids as bad as the one that had cost them so dear; + but as they gained experience they became more skilful in letting down the + boats. Some days only two or three miles were gained, on others they made + as much as twelve. At last they got out of the granite; beyond this the + task was much easier, and on the fifteenth day after leaving their + fishing-ground, they emerged from the caņon. + </p> + <p> + By this time Jerry had perfectly recovered, and was with great difficulty + persuaded to keep his arm bandaged. He had chafed terribly at first at his + helplessness, and at being unable to take any share in the heavy labours + of the others; but after the rapids were passed he was more contented, and + sat quietly at the bottom of the boat smoking, while Harry and Tom + paddled, the two Indians forming the crew of the other canoe. The diet of + fish had been varied by bear's flesh, Leaping Horse having shot a large + brown bear soon after they got through the rapids. A shout of joy was + raised by the three whites as they issued from the gorge into a quiet + valley, through which the river ran, a broad tranquil stream. Even the + Indians were stirred to wave their paddles above their heads and to give a + ringing whoop as their companions cheered. The boats were headed for the + shore, and the camp was formed near a large clump of bushes. + </p> + <p> + Their joy at their deliverance from the dangers of the caņon was dashed + only by the thought of the loss of their two comrades. The next day three + short caņons were passed through, but these presented no difficulties, and + in the afternoon they reached the mouth of the Rio Virgen, and continuing + their journey arrived five days later at Fort Mojarve. This was a rising + settlement, for it was here that the traders' route between Los Angeles + and Santa Fé crossed the Colorado. Their appearance passed almost + unnoticed, for a large caravan had arrived that afternoon and was starting + east the next morning. + </p> + <p> + "We had best hold our tongues about it altogether," Harry said, as soon as + he heard that the caravan was going on the next morning. "In the first + place they won't believe us, and that would be likely to lead to trouble; + and in the next place we should be worried out of our lives with + questions. Besides, we have got to get a fresh outfit, for we are pretty + near in rags, and to buy horses, food, and kit. We can leave the boats on + the shore, no one is likely to come near them." + </p> + <p> + "I will stop and look after them," Tom said. "There are the saddles, + buffalo-robes, blankets, and ammunition. This shirt is in rags, and the + last moccasins Hunting Dog made me are pretty nearly cut to pieces by the + rocks. I would rather stay here and look after the boats than go into the + village; besides, it will save you the trouble of carrying all these bags + of gold about with you." + </p> + <p> + Harry nodded, cut two of the little bags free from their lashings and + dropped them into his pocket, and then went up to the Fort with Jerry and + the Indians. Tom cut the other bags loose and put them on the ground + beside him, threw a buffalo-robe over them, and then sat for some hours + watching the quiet river and thinking over all they had gone through. It + was almost dark when the others returned. + </p> + <p> + "It has taken us some time, Tom," his uncle said as they threw some + bundles down beside him; "the stores and clothes were easy enough, but we + had a lot of trouble to find horses. However, we did not mind much what we + paid for them, and the traders were ready to sell a few at the prices we + offered. So we have got five riding horses and two pack-ponies, which will + be enough for us. That bundle is your lot, riding breeches and boots, + three pairs of stockings, two flannel shirts, a Mexican hat, and a silk + neck handkerchief. We may as well change at once and go up to the + village." + </p> + <p> + The change was soon effected. Harry and Jerry Curtis had clothes similar + to those they had bought for Tom, while the Indians wore over their shirts + new deer-skin embroidered hunting-shirts, and had fringed Mexican leggings + instead of breeches and boots. They, too, had procured Mexican sombreros. + Taking their rifles and pistols, and hiding their stock of ammunition, the + gold, and their buffalo-robes and blankets, they went up to the village. + It was by this time quite dark: the houses were all lit up, and the + drinking-shops crowded with the teamsters, who seemed bent on making a + night of it, this being the last village through which they would pass + until their arrival at Santa Fé. + </p> + <p> + They slept as usual, wrapped up in their buffalo-robes by the side of the + boats, as all agreed that this was preferable to a close room in a Mexican + house. + </p> + <p> + They were all a-foot as soon as daylight broke, and went up and + breakfasted at a fonda, Tom enjoying the Mexican cookery after the simple + diet he had been accustomed to. Then they went to the stable where the + horses, which were strong serviceable-looking animals, had been placed, + and put on their saddles and bridles. + </p> + <p> + The pack-horses were then laden with flour, tea, sugar, bacon, and other + necessaries. By the time all was ready the caravan was just starting. + Harry had spoken the afternoon before to two of its leaders, and said that + he and four companions would be glad to ride with them to Santa Fé. + Permission was readily granted, the traders being pleased at the accession + of five well-armed men; for although Indian raids were comparatively rare + along this trail, there was still a certain amount of danger involved in + the journey. Some hours were occupied in crossing the river in two heavy + ferry-boats, and the process would have been still longer had not half the + waggons been sent across on the previous afternoon. + </p> + <p> + The long journey was made without incident, and no Indians were met with. + A few deer were shot, but as it was now late in the autumn the scanty + herbage on the plains was all withered up, and the game had for the most + part moved away into deep valleys where they could obtain food. + </p> + <p> + The tale of their passage of the caņons was told more than once, but + although it was listened to with interest, Harry perceived that it was not + really believed. That they had been hunting, had been attacked by Indians, + had made canoes and passed through some of the caņons was credible enough, + but that they should have traversed the whole of the lower course of the + Colorado, seemed to the traders, who were all men experienced in the + country, simply incredible. The party stopped at Santa Fé a few days, and + then started north, travelling through the Mexican villages, and finally + striking across to Denver. At Santa Fé they had converted the contents of + their bags into money, which had been equally shared among them. The + Indians were not willing to accept more than the recognized monthly pay, + but Harry would not hear of it. + </p> + <p> + "This has been no ordinary business, Leaping Horse," he said warmly; "we + have all been as brothers together, and for weeks have looked death in the + face every hour, and we must share all round alike in the gold we have + brought back. Gold is just as useful to an Indian as it is to a white man, + and when you add this to the hoard you spoke of, you will have enough to + buy as many horses and blankets as you can use all your lifetime, and to + settle down in your wigwam and take a wife to yourself whenever you + choose. I fancy from what you said, Hunting Dog has his eye on one of the + maidens of your tribe. Well, he can buy her father's favour now. The time + is coming, chief, when the Indians of the plains will have to take to + white men's ways. The buffaloes are fast dying out, and in a few years it + will be impossible to live by hunting, and the Indians will have to keep + cattle and build houses and live as we do. With his money Hunting Dog + could buy a tidy ranche with a few hundred head of cattle. Of course, he + can hunt as much as he likes so long as there is any game left, but he + will find that as his cattle increase, he will have plenty to look after + at home." + </p> + <p> + "We will take the gold if my brother wishes it," the chief replied + gravely. "He is wise, and though now it seems to Leaping Horse that + red-skins have no need of gold, it may be that some day he and Hunting Dog + may be glad that they have done as their brother wished." + </p> + <p> + "Thank you, Leaping Horse. It will make my heart glad when I may be far + away from you across the great salt water to know that there will always + be comfort in my brother's wigwam." + </p> + <p> + On arriving at Denver they went straight to the Empire. As they entered + the saloon Pete Hoskings looked hard at them. + </p> + <p> + "Straight Harry, by thunder!" he shouted; "and Jerry Curtis, and young + Tom; though I would not have known him if he hadn't been with the others. + Well, this air a good sight for the eyes, and to-morrow Christmas-day. I + had begun to be afeard that something had gone wrong with you, I looked + for news from you nigh three months ago. I got the message you sent me in + the spring, and I have asked every old hand who came along east since the + end of August, if there had been any news of you, and I began to fear that + you had been rubbed out by the Utes." + </p> + <p> + "We have had a near escape of it, Pete; but it is a long story. Can you + put us all up? You know Leaping Horse, don't you? The other is his + nephew." + </p> + <p> + "I should think I do know Leaping Horse," Pete said warmly, and went + across and shook the Indian's hand heartily. + </p> + <p> + "I was looking at you three, and did not notice who you had with you. In + that letter the chap brought me, you said that the chief was going with + you, and Sam Hicks and Ben Gulston. I did not know them so well; that is, + I never worked with them, though they have stopped here many a time." + </p> + <p> + "They have gone under, Pete. Sam was drowned in the Colorado, Ben shot by + the Navahoes. We have all had some close calls, I can tell you. Well now, + can you put us up?" + </p> + <p> + "You need not ask such a question as that, Harry," Pete said in an + aggrieved tone, "when you know very well that if the place was chock-full, + I would clear the crowd out to make room for you. There are three beds in + the room over this that will do for you three; and there is a room beside + it as Leaping Horse and his nephew can have, though I reckon they won't + care to sleep on the beds." + </p> + <p> + "No more shall we, Pete. We have been fifteen months and more sleeping in + the open, and we would rather have our buffalo-robes and blankets than the + softest bed in the world." + </p> + <p> + "You must have had a cold time of it the last three months up in those Ute + hills, where you said you were going." + </p> + <p> + "We left there five months ago, Pete. We have been down as low as Fort + Mojarve, and then crossed with a caravan of traders to Santa Fé." + </p> + <p> + Pete began pouring out the liquor. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, you won't take one, chief, nor the young brave. Yes; I remember you + do not touch the fire-water, and you may be sure I won't press you. Well, + luck to you all, and right glad I am to see you again. Ah! here is my + bartender. Now we will get a good fire lit in another room and hurry up + supper, and then we will talk it all over. You have put your horses up, I + suppose?" + </p> + <p> + "Yes; we knew you had no accommodation that way, Pete." + </p> + <p> + The room into which Pete now led them was not his own sanctum, but one + used occasionally when a party of miners coming in from the hills wanted + to have a feast by themselves, or when customers wished to talk over + private business. There was a table capable of seating some twelve people, + a great stove, and some benches. A negro soon lighted a large fire; then, + aided by a boy, laid the table, and it was not long before they sat down + to a good meal. When it was over, Pete said: + </p> + <p> + "Lend me a hand, Jerry, to push this table aside, then we will bring the + benches round the stove and hear all about it. I told the bar-tender that + I am not to be disturbed, and that if anyone wants to see me he is to say + that he has got to wait till to-morrow, for that I am engaged on important + business. Here are brandy and whisky, and tobacco and cigars, and coffee + for the chief and his nephew." + </p> + <p> + "I think you may say for all of us, Pete," Harry said. "After being a year + without spirits, Jerry, Tom, and I have agreed to keep without them. We + wouldn't say no to you when you asked us to take a drink, and we have not + sworn off, but Jerry and I have agreed that we have both been all the + better without them, and mean to keep to it; and as for Tom, he prefers + coffee." + </p> + <p> + "Do as you please," Pete said; "I am always glad to hear men say no. I + have made a lot of money out of it, but I have seen so many fellows ruined + by it that I am always pleased to see a man give up drink." + </p> + <p> + "There is one thing, Pete," Tom said, "before we begin. We left our + bundles of robes and blankets in the next room, if you don't mind I would + a deal rather spread them out here—and I am sure the chief and + Hunting Dog would—and squat down on them, instead of sitting on + these benches. It is a long story uncle will have to tell you." + </p> + <p> + "We will fetch ours too," Harry agreed. "Benches are all well enough for + sitting at the table to eat one's dinner, but why a man should sit on them + when he can sit on the ground is more than I can make out." + </p> + <p> + Pete nodded. "I will have my rocking-chair in," he said, "and then we + shall be fixed up for the evening." + </p> + <p> + The arrangements were soon made; pipes were lighted; the landlord sat in + his chair at some little distance back from the front of the stove; Tom + and the two Indians sat on their rugs on one side; Harry and Jerry Curtis + completed the semicircle on the other. + </p> + <p> + "Well, in the first place, Pete," Harry began, "you will be glad to hear + that we have struck it rich—the biggest thing I have ever seen. It + is up in the Ute country. We have staked out a claim for you next our own. + There are about five hundred pounds of samples lying at Fort Bridger, and + a bit of the rock we crushed, panned out five hundred ounces to the ton." + </p> + <p> + "You don't say!" Pete exclaimed. "If there is much of that stuff, Harry, + you have got a bonanza." + </p> + <p> + "There is a good bit of it anyhow, Pete. It is a true vein, and though it + is not all like that, it keeps good enough. Fifty feet back we found it + run twenty ounces. That is on the surface, we can't say how it goes down + in depth. Where we struck it on the face it was about fourteen feet high, + and the lode kept its width for that depth anyhow." + </p> + <p> + "That air good enough," the landlord said. "Now, what do you reckon on + doing?" + </p> + <p> + "The place is among the hills, Pete, and the Utes are hostile, and went + very nigh rubbing us all out. We reckon it ought to be worked by a party + of thirty men at least. They ought to be well armed, and must build a sort + of fort. I don't think the Utes would venture to attack them if they were + of that strength. There is a little stream runs close to the vein, and if + it were dammed up it would drive a couple of stamps, which, with a + concentrator and tables and blankets, would be quite enough for such stuff + as that. I reckon fifteen men will be quite enough to work, and to hold + the fort. The other fifteen men would include three or four hunters, and + the rest would go backwards and forwards to Bridger for supplies, and to + take the gold down. They would be seven or eight days away at a time; and + if there should be trouble with the red-skins they would always be back + before those at the fort were really pressed. But we should not be alone + long, the news that a rich thing had been struck would bring scores of + miners up in no time. + </p> + <p> + "We have taken up our own ten claims, which will include, of course, the + rich part. Then we have taken up the next eight or ten claims for our + friends. As I said, we put yours next to ours. We have not registered them + yet, but that will be the first job; and of course you and the others will + each have to put a man on your claims to hold them. The lode shows on the + other side of the creek, though not so rich; still plenty good enough to + work. But as we shall practically get all the water, the lode cannot be + worked by anyone but ourselves. Still the gravel is rich all down the + creek, as rich as anything I have seen in California, and will be sure to + be taken up by miners as soon as we are at work. So there will be no real + danger of trouble from the Indians then. What we propose is this. We don't + what to sell out, we think it is good enough to hold, but we want to get a + company to find the money for getting up the machinery, building a strong + block-house with a palisade, laying in stores, and working the place. + Jerry, Tom, and I would of course be in command, at any rate for the first + year or so, when the rich stuff was being worked." + </p> + <p> + "How much money do you think it will want, and what share do you think of + giving, Harry?" + </p> + <p> + "Well, I should say fifty thousand dollars, though I believe half that + would be enough. Not a penny would be required after the first ton of rock + goes through the stamps. But we should have to take the stamps and + ironwork from the railway terminus to Bridger, and then down. We might + calculate on a month or six weeks in getting up the fort, making the leat + and water-wheel, putting up the machinery, and laying down the flumes. Say + two months from the time we leave Bridger to the time we begin to work. + There would be the pay of the men all that time, the cost of transporting + stores, and all that sort of thing; so it would be better to say fifty + thousand dollars. What share ought we to offer for that?" + </p> + <p> + "Well, if you could bring that five hundredweight of stuff here and get it + crushed up, and it turns out as good as you say, I could get you the money + in twenty-four hours. I would not mind going half of it myself, and I + should say that a quarter share would be more than good enough." + </p> + <p> + "Well, we thought of a third, Pete." + </p> + <p> + "Well, if you say a third you may consider that part of the business is + done. You won't be able to apply for claims in the names of Sam and Ben, + and if you did it would be no good, because they could not assign them + over to the company. There are eight claims without them, and the one you + have put down in my name is nine. Well, I can get say eleven men in this + place, who will give you an assignment of their claims for five dollars + apiece. That is done every day. I just say to them, I am registering a + share in your name in the Tom Cat Mine, write an assignment to me of it + and I am good for five dollars' worth of liquor, take it out as you like. + The thing is as easy as falling off a log. Well, what are you thinking of + doing next?" + </p> + <p> + "We shall buy a light waggon and team to-morrow or next day and drive + straight over to Bridger, then we shall go to Salt Lake City and register + our claims at the mining-office there. We need not give the locality very + precisely. Indeed, we could not describe it ourselves so that anyone could + find it, and nobody would go looking for it before spring comes and the + snow clears. Besides, there are scores of wild-cat claims registered every + year. Until they turn out good no one thinks anything of them. When we + have got that done we will go back to Bridger, and fetch the rock over + here. We will write to-morrow to Pittsburg for the mining outfit, for all + the ironwork of the stamps, the concentrator, and everything required, + with axes, picks, and shovels, blasting tools and powder, to be sent as + far as they have got the railway." + </p> + <p> + "But they will want the money with the order, Harry," Pete said in a tone + of surprise. + </p> + <p> + "They will have the money. We washed the gravel for a couple of months + before the Utes lit on us, and after buying horses and a fresh outfit for + us all at Fort Mojarve, we have between us got something like five + thousand dollars in gold and greenbacks." + </p> + <p> + "Jee-hoshaphat!" Pete exclaimed; "that was good indeed for two months' + work. Well, look here, there is no hurry for a few days about your + starting back to Bridger. Here we are now, nearly at the end of December. + It will take you a month to get there, say another fortnight to go on to + Salt Lake City and register your claim and get back to Bridger, then it + would be a month getting back here again; that would take you to the + middle of March. Well, you see it would be pretty nigh the end of April + before you were back at Bridger, then you would have to get your waggons + and your men, and that would be too late altogether. + </p> + <p> + "You have got to pick your miners carefully, I can tell you; and it is not + a job to be done in a hurry. When they see what gold there is in the rock + they will soon set to work washing the gravel, and the day they do they + will chuck up your work altogether. I will tell you what I would rather + do, and that is, pick up green hands from the east. There are scores of + them here now; men who have come as far as this, and can't start west till + the snows melt. You need not think anything more about the money. You tell + me what you crushed is a fair sample of that five hundred pounds, and that + is quite good enough for me, and the gravel being so rich is another proof + of what the lode was when the stream cut through it. I can put the + twenty-five thousand dollars down, and there are plenty of men here who + will take my word for the affair and plank their money down too. If there + weren't I would put a mortgage on my houses, so that matter is done. + To-morrow I will get the men whose names you are to give in for a claim + each; it will be time in another two months to begin to look about for + some steady chaps from the east, farmers' sons and such like. That is, if + you think that plan is a good one. I mean to see this thing through, and I + shall go with you myself, and we three can do the blasting." + </p> + <p> + "We shall be wanted to look after the stamps and pans," Harry said. "We + had best get three or four old hands for the rock." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, that is best," Pete said. "Between us it is hard if we can't lay our + hands upon men we can trust, and who will give us their word to stay with + us if we offer them six dollars a day." + </p> + <p> + "We might offer them ten dollars," Harry said, "without hurting ourselves; + but we can say six dollars to begin with, and put some more on + afterwards." + </p> + <p> + "There is old Mat Morgan," Jerry put in. "I don't know whether he is about + here now. I would trust him. He is getting old for prospecting among the + hills now, but he is as good a miner as ever swung a sledge-hammer, and as + straight as they make them." + </p> + <p> + "Yes, he is a good man," Pete agreed. And after some talk they settled + upon three others, all of whom, Pete said, were either in the town or + would be coming in shortly. + </p> + <p> + "Now, you stop here for a week or two, or a month if you like, Harry, then + you can go to Salt Lake City as you propose, and then go back to Bridger. + If as you pass through you send me five-and-twenty pounds of that rock by + express, it will make it easier for me to arrange the money affair. When + you get back you might crush the rest up and send me word what it has + panned out, then later on you can go down again to Salt Lake City and buy + the waggons and flour and bacon, and take them back to Bridger. When March + comes in, I will start from here with some waggons. We want them to take + the machinery, and powder and tools, and the tea and coffee and things + like that, of which we will make a list, on to Bridger, with the four men + we pick out, if I can get them all; if not, some others in their place, + and a score of young emigrants. I shall have no difficulty in picking out + sober, steady chaps, for in a place like this I can find out about their + habits before I engage them. However, there will be plenty of time to + settle all those points. Now, let us hear all about your adventures. I + have not heard about you since Tom left, except that he wrote me a short + letter from Bridger saying that you had passed the winter up among the + mountains by the Big Wind River. That you had had troubles with the + Indians, and hadn't been able to do much trapping or looking for gold." + </p> + <p> + "Well, we will tell it between us," Harry said, "for it is a long yarn." + </p> + <p> + It was, indeed, past midnight before the story was all told. Long before + it was finished the two Indians had taken up their rugs and gone up to + their room, and although the other three had taken by turns to tell the + tale of their adventures, they were all hoarse with speaking by the time + they got through. Pete had often stopped them to ask question at various + points where the narrators had been inclined to cut the story short. + </p> + <p> + "That beats all," he said, when they brought it to an end. "Only to think + that you have gone down the Grand Caņon. I would not have minded being + with you when you were fighting the 'Rappahoes or the Utes, but I would + not try going down the caņons for all the gold in California. Well, look + here, boys, I know that what you tell me is gospel truth, and all the men + who know you well, will believe every word you say, but I would not tell + the tale to strangers, for they would look on you as the all-firedest + liars in creation." + </p> + <p> + "We have learnt that already, Pete," Harry laughed, "and we mean to keep + it to ourselves, at any rate till we have got the mine at work. People may + not believe the story of a man in a red shirt, and, mind you, I have heard + a good many powerful lies told round a miner's fire, but when it is known + we have got a wonderfully rich gold mine, I fancy it will be different. + The men would say, if fellows are sharp enough to find a bonanza, it + stands to reason they may be sharp enough to find their way down a caņon. + Now, let us be off to bed, for the heat of the stove has made me so sleepy + that for the last hour I have hardly been able to keep my eyes open, and + have scarcely heard a word of what Jerry and Tom have been saying." + </p> + <p> + They only remained a few days at Denver. After the life they had been + leading they were very speedily tired of that of the town, and at the end + of a week they started on horseback, with a light waggon drawn by a good + team, to carry their stores for the journey and to serve as a + sleeping-place. There had been no question about the Indians accompanying + them, this was regarded as a matter of course. It was by no means a + pleasant journey. They had frequent snow-storms and biting wind, and had + sometimes to work for hours to get the waggon out of deep snow, which had + filled up gullies and converted them into traps. After a stay of three + days at Fort Bridger to rest the animals, they went on to Utah, having + forwarded the sample of quartz to Pete Hoskings. + </p> + <p> + A fortnight was spent at Salt Lake City. Waggons, bullocks, and stores + were purchased, and Harry arranged with some teamsters to bring the + waggons out to Fort Bridger as soon as the snow cleared from the ground. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0019" id="link2HCH0019"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIX — A FORTUNE + </h2> + <p> + On their return to Fort Bridger Harry and his companions pounded up the + quartz that had been left there, and found that its average equalled that + of the piece they had tried at the mine. The gold was packed in a box and + sent to Pete Hoskings. A letter came back in return from him, saying that + five of his friends had put in five thousand dollars each, and that he + should start with the stores and machinery as soon as the track was clear + of snow. The season was an early one, and in the middle of April he + arrived with four large waggons and twenty active-looking young emigrants, + and four miners, all of whom were known to Harry. There was a good deal of + talk at Bridger about the expedition, and many offered to take service in + it. But when Harry said that the lode they were going to prospect was in + the heart of the Ute country, and that he himself had been twice attacked + by the red-skins, the eagerness to accompany him abated considerably. + </p> + <p> + The fact, too, that it was a vein that would have to be worked by + machinery, was in itself sufficient to deter solitary miners from trying + to follow it up. Scarce a miner but had located a score of claims in + different parts of the country, and these being absolutely useless to + them, without capital to work them with, they would gladly have disposed + of them for a few dollars. It was not, therefore, worth while to risk a + perilous journey merely on the chance of being able to find another vein + in the neighbourhood of that worked by Harry and the men who had gone into + it with him. There was, however, some surprise among the old hands when + Pete Hoskings arrived with the waggons. + </p> + <p> + "What! Have you cut the saloon, Pete, and are you going in for mining + again?" one of them said as he alighted from his horse. + </p> + <p> + Pete gave a portentous wink. + </p> + <p> + "I guess I know what I am doing, Joe Radley. I am looking after the + interests of a few speculators at Denver, who have an idea that they are + going to get rich all of a sudden. I was sick of the city, and it just + suited me to take a run and to get out of the place for a few months." + </p> + <p> + "Do you think it is rich, Pete?" + </p> + <p> + "One never can say," Hoskings replied with a grin. "We are not greenhorns + any of us, and we know there is no saying how things are going to turn + out. Straight Harry has had a run of bad luck for the last two years, and + I am glad to give him a shoulder up, you know. I reckon he won't come + badly off any way it turns out." + </p> + <p> + It was not much, but it was quite enough to send a rumour round the fort + that Pete Hoskings had been puffing up a wild-cat mine in Denver for the + sake of getting Straight Harry appointed boss of the expedition to test + it. + </p> + <p> + Everything was ready at Bridger, and they delayed but twenty-four hours + there. The teams had arrived from Salt Lake City with the stores a week + before, and the eight waggons set off together. Pete, the three partners, + the two Indians, and the four miners were all mounted. There were eight + other horses ridden by as many of the young fellows Pete had brought with + him, the rest walked on foot. They marched directly for the mine, as with + such a force it was not necessary to make a detour over the bad lands. At + the first halting-place some long cases Pete had brought with him were + opened, and a musket handed to each of the emigrants, together with a + packet of ammunition. + </p> + <p> + "Now," Pete said, "if the Utes meddle with us we will give them fits. But + I reckon they will know better than to interfere with us." + </p> + <p> + The rate of progress with the heavy waggons was necessarily very much + slower than that at which the party had travelled on their previous + journey, and it was not until the afternoon of the eighth day after + starting, that they came down into the valley. A halt was made at the + former camping-place in the grove of trees, and the next morning Pete and + the miners went up with Harry and his friends to choose a spot for the + fort, and to examine the lode. As soon as the earth was scraped away from + the spot from which the rock had been taken, exclamations of astonishment + broke from the miners. They had been told by Pete that Harry had struck it + rich, but all were astonished at the numerous particles and flakes of gold + that protruded from the rock. Pete had forwarded early in the spring to + Harry the list of the claimants to the mine, and the latter and Tom had + ridden over to Salt Lake City a few days before the waggons came up from + there to register the claims at the mining-office, and the first step was + to stake out these claims upon the lode. + </p> + <p> + "It doesn't run like this far," Harry said to the miners, "and I reckon + that beyond our ground it doesn't run above two ounces to the ton, so I + don't think it is worth while your taking up claims beyond. Of course, you + can do so if you like, and we will allow you an hour off every few days + during the season to work your claims enough to keep possession, and of an + evening you can do a bit of washing down below. You will find it good-pay + dirt everywhere. At least we did as far as we tried it." + </p> + <p> + They now fixed on the site for the fort. It was upon the top of the bank, + some twenty yards above the lode, and it was settled there should be a + strong double palisade running down from it to the stream, so that in case + of siege they could fetch water without being exposed to the bullets of an + enemy taking post higher up the creek. Among the men from Denver were two + or three experienced carpenters, and a blacksmith, for whose use a + portable forge had been brought in the waggons. + </p> + <p> + The party returned to breakfast, and as soon as this was over the teams + were put in and the waggons were brought up and unloaded, the stores being + protected from wet by the canvas that formed the tilts. Some of the men + accustomed to the use of the axe had been left in the valley to fell + trees, and as soon as the waggons were unloaded they were sent down to + bring up timber. All worked hard, and at the end of the week a log-hut + fifty feet long and twenty-five feet wide had been erected. The walls were + five feet high, and the roof was formed of the trunks of young trees + squared, and laid side by side. + </p> + <p> + As rain fell seldom in that region it was not considered necessary to + place shingles over them, as this could, in case of need, be done later + on. The door opened out into the passage between the palisades down to the + water, and the windows were all placed on the same side, loopholes being + cut at short intervals round the other three sides. Another fortnight + completed the preparations for work. The stamps were erected, with the + water-wheel to work them; the stream dammed a hundred yards up, and a leat + constructed to bring the water down to the wheel. + </p> + <p> + The waggons were formed up in a square. In this the horses were shut every + night, four of the men by turns keeping guard there. During the last few + days the miners had been at work blasting the quartz, and as soon as the + stamps and machinery were in position they were ready to begin. The men + were all told off to various duties, some to carry the rock down to the + stamps, others to break it up into convenient sizes; two men fed the + stamps, others attended to the concentrator and blankets, supervised by + Harry. It was the duty of some to take the horses down to the valley and + guard them while they were feeding, and bring them back at night. Two men + were to bake and cook, Pete Hoskings taking this special department under + his care. Jerry worked with the miners, and Tom was his uncle's assistant. + </p> + <p> + The stamps were to be kept going night and day, and each could crush a ton + in twenty-four hours. To their great satisfaction each of the men was + allowed one day a week to himself, during which he could prospect for + other lodes or wash gravel as he pleased. The old cradle was found where + it had been left, and as five of the men were off duty each day, they + formed themselves into gangs and worked the cradle by turns, adding very + considerably to the liberal pay they received. The two Indians hunted, and + seldom returned without game of some sort or other. As the quicksilver in + the concentrator was squeezed by Harry or Tom, and the blankets washed by + them, none but themselves knew what the returns were. They and their + partners were, however, more than satisfied with the result, for although + the lode was found to pinch in as they got lower, it maintained for the + first six weeks the extraordinary average of that they had first crushed. + </p> + <p> + At the end of that time the Indians reported that they had seen traces of + the Utes having visited the valley. The number of men who went down with + the horses was at once doubled, one or other of the Indians staying down + with them, preceding them in the morning by half an hour to see that the + valley was clear. A week later the horses were seen coming back again a + quarter of an hour after they had started. The men caught up their guns, + which were always placed handy for them while at work, and ran out to meet + the returning party. + </p> + <p> + "What is it, Hunting Dog?" + </p> + <p> + "A large war-party," the Indian replied. "Three hundred or more." + </p> + <p> + The horses were driven into the inclosure, half the men took their places + among the waggons, and the others, clustered round the hut, prepared to + enter it as soon as the Indians made their appearance. + </p> + <p> + The partners had already arranged what course to take if the Indians + should come down on them, and were for all reasons most anxious that + hostilities should if possible be avoided. + </p> + <p> + Presently the Indians were seen approaching at a gallop. As soon as they + caught sight of the log-house and the inclosure of waggons they reined in + their horses. The men had been ordered to show themselves, and the sight + of some forty white men all armed with rifles brought the Indians to a + dead stand-still. + </p> + <p> + Pete Hoskings went forward a little and waved a white cloth, and then + Harry and the chief, leaving their rifles behind them stepped up to his + side and held their arms aloft. There was a short consultation among the + Indians, and then two chiefs dismounted, handed their rifles and spears to + their men, and in turn advanced. Harry and Leaping Horse went forward + until they met the chiefs halfway between the two parties. Harry began the + conversation. + </p> + <p> + "Why do my red brothers wish to fight?" he asked. "We are doing them no + harm. We are digging in the hills. Why should we not be friends?" + </p> + <p> + "The white men killed many of the Utes when they were here last year," one + of the chiefs replied. "Why do they come upon the Utes' land?" + </p> + <p> + "It was the fault of the Utes," Harry said. "The white men wished only to + work in peace. The Utes tried to take their scalps, and the white men were + forced against their will to fight. No one can be blamed for defending his + life. We wish for peace, but, as the Utes can see, we are quite ready to + defend ourselves. There are forty rifles loaded and ready, and, as you may + see, a strong house. We have no fear. Last time we were but few, but the + Utes found that it was not easy to kill us. Now we are many, and how many + of the Utes would die before they took our scalps? Nevertheless we wish + for peace. The land is the land of the Utes, and although we are strong + and could hold it if we chose, we do not wish to take it by force from our + red brothers. We are ready to pay for the right to live and work quietly. + Let the chiefs go back to their friends and talk together, and say how + many blankets and how many guns and what weight of ammunition and tobacco + they will be content with. Then if they do not ask too much, the white men + will, so long as they remain here, pay that amount each year in order that + they may live in peace with the Utes." + </p> + <p> + The two Indians glanced at each other. "My white brother is wise," one + said. "Why did he not tell the Utes so last year?" + </p> + <p> + "Because you never gave us time, chief. If you had done so we would have + said the same to you then, and your young men would be with you now; but + you came as enemies upon us, and when the rifle is speaking the voice is + silent." + </p> + <p> + "I will speak with my braves," the chief said gravely. And turning round + they walked back to their party, while Harry and the chief returned to the + huts. + </p> + <p> + "What do you think, chief? Will it be peace?" + </p> + <p> + Leaping Horse nodded. "Too many rifles," he said. "The Utes will know they + could never take block-house." + </p> + <p> + It was nearly two hours before the two Utes advanced as before, and Harry + and the Seneca went out to meet them. + </p> + <p> + "My white brother's words are good," the chief said. "The Utes are great + warriors, but they do not wish to fight against the white men who come as + friends. The chiefs have talked with their braves, and the hatchets will + be buried. This is what the Utes ask that the white men who have taken + their land shall pay them." + </p> + <p> + Harry had arranged that the chief, who spoke the Ute language more + perfectly than he did, should take charge of the bargaining. On the list + being given Leaping Horse assumed an expression of stolid indifference. + </p> + <p> + "The land must be very dear in the Ute country," he said. "Do my brothers + suppose that the white men are mad that they ask such terms? Peace would + be too dear if bought at such a price. They are willing to deal liberally + with the Utes, but not to give as much as would buy twenty hills. They + will give this." And he enumerated a list of articles, amounting to about + one quarter of the Indians' demands. + </p> + <p> + The bargaining now went on in earnest, and finally it was settled that a + quantity of goods, amounting to about half the Indians' first demand, + should be accepted, and both parties returned to their friends well + satisfied. + </p> + <p> + A certain amount of goods had been brought out with a view to such a + contingency, and half the amount claimed was handed over to the Utes. They + had, indeed, more than enough to satisfy the demands, but Leaping Horse + had suggested to Harry that only a portion should be given, as otherwise + the Indians might suppose that their wealth was boundless. It would be + better to promise to deliver the rest in three months' time. A dozen of + the principal men of the Utes came over. The goods were examined and + accepted, the calumet of peace was smoked and a solemn covenant of + friendship entered into, and by the next morning the Indians had + disappeared. + </p> + <p> + One end of the hut had been partitioned off for the use of the leaders of + the party, and the gold obtained each day was carried by them there and + deposited in a strong iron box, of which several had been brought by Pete + Hoskings from Denver. + </p> + <p> + The day after the Indians left, a waggon, was sent off under the escort of + eight mounted labourers to Bridger, and this continued to make the journey + backward and forward regularly with the boxes of gold, Jerry and Pete + Hoskings taking it by turns to command the escort. Harry and Pete had had + a talk with the officer in command at Bridger on the evening before they + had started on the expedition. + </p> + <p> + "You think you are going to send in a large quantity of gold?" the officer + asked. + </p> + <p> + "If the mines are such as we think, Major, we may be sending down two or + three hundredweight a month." + </p> + <p> + "Of course, the gold will be perfectly safe as long as it is in the fort, + but if it gets known how much there is, you will want a strong convoy to + take it across to the railway, and it would not be safe even then. Of + course, the bulk is nothing. I should say at any rate you had better get + it in here with as little fuss as possible." + </p> + <p> + "If you will keep it here for awhile," Pete said, "we will think over + afterwards how it is to be taken further." + </p> + <p> + The officer nodded. "It mayn't turn out as difficult a business as you + think," he said with a smile. "You are both old hands enough to know that + mines very seldom turn out as rich as they are expected to do." + </p> + <p> + "We both know that," Pete Hoskings agreed. "I dunno as I ever did hear of + a mine that turned out anything nigh as good as it ought to have done from + samples, but I reckon that this is going to be an exception." + </p> + <p> + When within a few miles of the fort the escort always placed their rifles + in the waggon and rode on some distance ahead of it, only one or two with + their leader remaining by it. The boxes, which were of no great size, were + covered by a sack or two thrown down in the corner of the waggon, and on + its arrival in the fort it was taken first to the store, where a + considerable quantity of provisions, flour, molasses, bacon, tea and + sugar, currants and raisins, and other articles were purchased and placed + in it. This was the ostensible purpose of the journey to the fort. Late in + the evening Jerry or Pete, whichever happened to be the leader, and one of + the men, carried the boxes across to the Major's quarters and stored them + in a cellar beneath it. + </p> + <p> + There was a real need of provisions at the mine, for the population of the + valley rapidly increased as the season went on. The upper part of the bed + of the stream had been staked out into claims, the miners and other men + each taking up one, but below them the ground was of course open to all, + and although not nearly so rich as the upper gravel it was good enough to + pay fairly for working. A stout palisading now surrounded the ground taken + up by the machinery and the mine itself, and no one except those engaged + by the company were allowed to enter here. Considerable surprise was felt + in the camp when the first two or three miners came up and staked out + claims on the stream. + </p> + <p> + "I wonder how they could have heard of it," Tom said to his uncle. + </p> + <p> + "The fact that we are remaining out here is enough to show that we are + doing something, anyhow. The men who go in are always strictly ordered to + say no word about what our luck is, but the mere fact that they hold their + tongues—and you may be sure they are questioned sharply—is + enough to excite curiosity, and these men have come to find out and see + what the country is like, and to prospect the hills round where we are + working. You will see a lot of them here before long." + </p> + <p> + As more came up it was determined to open a store. In the first place it + furnished an explanation for the waggon going down so often, and in the + second the fact that they were ready to sell provisions at cost prices + would deter others from coming and setting up stores. There was no liquor + kept on the mine, and Pete and Harry were very anxious that no places for + its sale should be opened in the valley. + </p> + <p> + During the winter and spring Tom had received several letters from his + sisters. They expressed themselves as very grateful for the money that he + and their uncle had sent on their return to Denver, but begged them to + send no more, as the school was flourishing and they were perfectly able + to meet all their expenses. "It is very good of you, Tom," Carry said. "Of + course, we are all very pleased to know that you have been able to send + the money, because it relieves our anxiety about you; but we really don't + want it, and it makes us afraid that you are stinting yourself. Besides, + even if you are not, it would be much better for you to keep the money, as + you may find some opportunity of using it to your advantage, while here it + would only lie in the bank and do no good. It would be different if we had + nothing to fall back upon in case of anything happening, such as some of + us getting ill, or our having a case of fever in the school, or anything + of that sort, but as we have only used fifty pounds of mother's money we + have plenty to go on with for a very long time; so that really we would + very much rather you did not send us any over. Now that we know your + address and can write to you at Fort Bridger, it seems to bring you close + to us. But we have had two very anxious times; especially the first, when + we did not hear of you for six months. The second time was not so bad, as + you had told us that it might be a long time before we should hear, and we + were prepared for it, but I do hope it will never be so long again." + </p> + <p> + There had been some discussion as to whether the mine should be shut down + in winter, but it was soon decided that work should go on regularly. Six + more stamps were ordered to be sent from the east, with a steam-engine + powerful enough to work the whole battery, and in September this and other + machinery had reached the mine. Fresh buildings had been erected—a + storehouse, a house for the officers, and a shed covering the whole of the + machinery and yard. By the time this was all ready and in place the valley + below was deserted, the gravel having been washed out to the bed-rock. No + other lodes of sufficient richness to work had been discovered by the + prospectors, and with winter at hand there was no inducement for them to + stay longer there. + </p> + <p> + Only two or three of the men at the mine wished to leave when their + engagement for the season terminated. All had been well paid, and had in + addition made money at gold-washing. Their food had been excellent, and + their comforts attended to in all ways. Accordingly, with these exceptions + all were ready to renew their engagements. + </p> + <p> + An arrangement was made with the Major at Fort Bridger for an escort under + a subaltern officer to proceed with two waggons with the treasure to + Denver. Pete Hoskings and Jerry were to remain as managers of the mine + throughout the winter. Harry and Tom had made up their minds to go to + England and to return in the spring. The ore was now very much poorer than + it had been at first. The lode had pinched out below and they had worked + some distance along it. The falling off, however, was only relative; the + mine was still an extraordinarily rich one, although it contained little + more than a tenth of the gold that had been extracted from the first + hundred and fifty tons crushed. + </p> + <p> + None but Harry, Pete Hoskings, Jerry, and Tom had any idea of the amount + of gold extracted in less than six months, although the miners were well + aware that the amount must be very large. It was so indeed, for after + repaying the amount expended in preliminary expenses, together with the + new machinery, the wages of the men, provisions, and all outgoings, they + calculated the treasure sent down to be worth one hundred and twenty-eight + thousand pounds, while the mine if sold would fetch at least double that + sum. After a hearty farewell to Pete and Jerry, Harry and Tom with the two + Indians rode with the last waggon down to Bridger. The iron boxes had all + been sewn up in deer-skins when they were sent down, and at night they + were placed in the waggons by Harry and his companions. Over them were + placed the provisions for the journey, as it was just as well that even + the soldiers should not suspect the amount of treasure they were + escorting. + </p> + <p> + They encountered some severe snow-storms by the way, but reached Denver + without incident. The place had wonderfully changed since Tom had arrived + there more than two years before. It had trebled in size; broad streets + and handsome houses had been erected, and the town had spread in all + directions. They drove straight to the bank, to which Pete Hoskings had + sent down a letter a fortnight before they had started, and the boxes were + taken out of the waggon and carried down into the vaults of the bank. A + handsome present was made to each of the soldiers of the escort, a brace + of revolvers was given by Harry to the subaltern, and the handsomest watch + and chain that could be purchased in Denver was sent by him to the Major, + with an inscription expressing the thanks of the company to him for his + kindness. + </p> + <p> + "Well, Tom, I am thankful that that is off my mind," Harry said. "I have + had a good many troubles in the course of my life, but this is the first + time that money has ever been a care to me. Well, we are rich men, Tom, + and we shall be richer, for the mine will run another two or three years + before it finishes up the lode as far as we have traced it, and as we have + now filed claims for a quarter of a mile farther back, it may be good for + aught I know for another ten years. Not so good as it has been this year, + but good enough to give handsome profits. Have you calculated what our + share is?" + </p> + <p> + "No, uncle. I know it must be a lot, but I have never thought about what + each share will be." + </p> + <p> + "Well, to begin with, a third of it goes to Pete Hoskings and his friends, + that leaves eighty-five thousand. The remainder is divided into seven + shares; I was to have two, the Indians three between them, you one, and + Jerry one. His share is then about twelve thousand, which leaves + seventy-three thousand between you and me. Of course, we shall divide + equally." + </p> + <p> + "No, indeed, uncle; that would be ridiculous. I have been of very little + use through it all, and I certainly ought not to have as much as Jerry. + You and the chief discovered it, and it was entirely owing to you that any + of the rest of us have a share of the profits, and of course your + arrangement with the two Indians is only because the chief is so fond of + you." + </p> + <p> + "Partly that, Tom; but chiefly because it is in accordance with red-skin + customs. They are hunters, fighters, and guides, but they are not miners, + and they never go in for shares in an enterprise of this sort. It went + very much against the grain for Leaping Horse to take that three or four + hundred pounds that came to him at the end of the last expedition, and he + would be seriously offended if I were to press upon him more than his + ordinary payment now; he would say that he has been simply hunting this + year, that he has run no risks, and has had nothing to do with the mine. + To-morrow morning we will go out to see what there is in the way of + horse-flesh in Denver, and will buy him and Hunting Dog the two best + horses in the town, whatever they may cost, with saddles, bridles, new + blankets, and so on. If I can get anything special in the way of rifles I + shall get a couple of them, and if not I shall get them in New York, and + send them to him at Bridger. These are presents he would value infinitely + more than all the gold we have stowed away in the bank to-day. He is going + back to his tribe for the winter, and he and Hunting Dog will be at the + mine before us next spring." + </p> + <p> + In the morning Harry was two hours at the bank, where he saw the gold + weighed out, and received a receipt for the value, which came to within a + hundred pounds of what they had calculated, as the dust had been very + carefully weighed each time it was sent off. In accordance with the + arrangement he had made with Pete Hoskings and Jerry the amount of their + respective shares was placed to their credit at the bank. Drawing a + thousand pounds in cash, he received a draft for the rest upon a firm at + New York, where he would be able to exchange it for one on London. He then + inquired at the hotel as to who was considered to possess the best horses + in the town, and as money was no object to him, he succeeded in persuading + the owners to sell two splendid animals; these with the saddles were sent + to the hotel. He then bought two finely finished Sharpe's rifles of long + range, and two brace of silver-mounted revolvers. + </p> + <p> + "Now, Tom," he said, "I shall give one of these outfits to the chief and + you give the other to Hunting Dog; he has been your special chum since we + started, and the presents will come better from you than from me. I expect + them here in half an hour; I told them I should be busy all the morning." + </p> + <p> + The two Indians were delighted with their presents, even the chief being + moved out of his usual impassive demeanour. "My white brothers are too + good. Leaping Horse knows that Straight Harry is his friend; he does not + want presents to show him that; but he will value them because he loves + his white brothers, even more than for themselves." As for Hunting Dog, he + was for a long time incredulous that the splendid horse, the rifle and + pistols could really be for him, and he was so exuberant in his delight + that it was not until Leaping Horse frowned at him severely that he + subsided into silent admiration of the gifts. + </p> + <p> + "Here are papers, chief, that you and Hunting Dog had better keep: they + are the receipts for the two horses, and two forms that I have had + witnessed by a lawyer, saying that we have given you the horses in token + of our gratitude for the services that you have rendered; possibly you may + find them useful. You may fall in with rough fellows who may make a + pretence that the horses have been stolen. Oh, yes! I know that you can + hold your own; still, it may avoid trouble." + </p> + <p> + They had now no further use for their horses, so these were sold for a few + pounds. They purchased a stock of clothes sufficient only for their + journey to England. + </p> + <p> + "You may as well put your revolver in your pocket, Tom," Harry said as + they prepared to start the next day. "I have sewn up the draft in the + lining of my coat, but sometimes a train gets held up and robbed, and as + we have six hundred pounds in gold and notes in our wallets, I certainly + should not give it up without a fight." + </p> + <p> + The Indians accompanied them to the station. "Now, chief, you take my + advice and look out for a nice wife before next spring. You are forty now, + and it is high time you thought of settling down." + </p> + <p> + "Leaping Horse will think over it," the Seneca said gravely. "It may be + that in the spring he will have a wigwam in the valley." + </p> + <p> + A few minutes later the train started east, and five days later they + reached New York. A steamer left the next day for England, and in this + they secured two first-class berths; and although Tom had managed very + well on his way out, he thoroughly enjoyed the vastly superior comfort of + the homeward trip. They went straight through to Southampton, for, as + Harry said, they could run up to London and get their clothes any day; and + he saw that Tom was in a fever of excitement to get home. Harriet came to + the door of the little house at Southsea when they knocked. She looked + surprised at seeing two gentlemen standing there. In the two years and a + half that had passed since Tom had left he had altered greatly. He had + gone through much toil and hardship, and the bronze of the previous + summer's sun was not yet off his cheeks; he had grown four or five inches, + and the man's work that he had been doing had made almost a man of him. + </p> + <p> + "Don't you know me, Harriet?" Tom said. + </p> + <p> + The girl at once recognized the voice, and with a loud cry of delight + threw her arms round his neck. The cry brought Carry out from the parlour. + "Why, Harriet," she exclaimed, "have you gone mad?" + </p> + <p> + "Don't you see it's Tom?" Harriet said, turning round, laughing and crying + together. + </p> + <p> + "It is Tom, sure enough, Carry; you need not look so incredulous; and this + is Uncle Harry." + </p> + <p> + There were a few minutes of wild joy, then they calmed down and assembled + in the sitting-room. + </p> + <p> + "It is lucky the girls have all gone home to dinner," Carry said, "or they + would certainly have carried the news to their friends that we were all + mad. It is a half-holiday too, nothing could be more fortunate. Now we + want to hear everything. Tom's letters were so short and unsatisfactory, + uncle, that he told us next to nothing, except that you had found a mine, + and that you were both working there, and that it was satisfactory." + </p> + <p> + "Well, my dears, that is the pith of the thing," Harry said. "The first + thing for you to do is to send round notes to the mothers of these + children saying that from unforeseen circumstances you have retired from + the profession, and that the school has finally closed from this + afternoon." + </p> + <p> + There was a general exclamation from the girls: + </p> + <p> + "What do you mean, uncle?" + </p> + <p> + "I mean what I say, girls. Tom and I have made our fortunes, and there is + no occasion for you to go on teaching any longer. We have not yet made any + plans for the future, but at any rate the first step is, that there is to + be no more teaching." + </p> + <p> + "But are you quite, quite sure, uncle?" Carry said doubtfully. "We are + getting on very nicely now, and it would be a pity to lose the + connection." + </p> + <p> + Harry and Tom both laughed. + </p> + <p> + "Well, my girl," the former said, "that is of course a point to be thought + of. But as Tom and I have over thirty-five thousand pounds apiece, and the + mine will bring us in a good round sum for some years to come, I think we + can afford to run the risk of the connection going." + </p> + <p> + After that it was a long while before they settled down to talk quietly + again. + </p> + <p> + A week later they all went up to London for a month, while what Harry + called "outfits" were purchased for the girls, as well as for him and Tom, + and all the sights of London visited. Before their story came to an end, + the grand consultation as to future plans had been held, and a handsome + house purchased at Blackheath. + </p> + <p> + Tom did not return to Utah in the spring; his uncle strongly advised him + not to do so. + </p> + <p> + "I shall go back myself, Tom; partly because I should feel like a fish out + of water with nothing to do here, partly because I promised the chief to + go back for a bit every year. I am beginning to feel dull already, and am + looking forward to the trip across the water, but it will certainly be + better for you to stay at home. You left school early, you see, and it + would be a good thing for you to get a man to come and read with you for + two or three hours a day for the next year or two. We have settled that + the three younger girls are to go to school; and I don't see why you, + Carry, and Janet, should not go, in the first place, for two or three + months on to the Continent. They have had a dull life since you have been + away, and the trip will be a treat for them, and perhaps do you some good + also. It will be time enough to settle down to reading when you come + back." + </p> + <p> + The mine returned large profits that year, the increased amount stamped + making up to some extent for the falling off in the value of the ore, and + the shares of the various proprietors were more than half what they had + been at the end of the first season's work. The third year it fell off + considerably. There was a further decrease the year after, and the fifth + year it barely paid its expenses, and it was decided to abandon it. Harry + Wade went over every season for many years, but spent only the first at + the mine. After that he went hunting expeditions with Leaping Horse, who, + to his amusement, had met him at his first return to the mine with a + pretty squaw, and Hunting Dog had also brought a wife with him. Two + wigwams were erected that year near the mine, but after that they returned + to their tribe, of which Leaping Horse became the leading chief. + </p> + <p> + Tom's sisters all in due time married, each being presented on her + wedding-day with a cheque for ten thousand pounds, as a joint present from + her uncle and brother. + </p> + <p> + Tom himself did not remain a bachelor, but six years after his return to + England took a wife to himself, and the house at Blackheath was none too + large for his family. Harry Wade's home is with Tom, and he is still hale + and hearty. Up to the last few years he paid occasional visits to America, + and stayed for a while with his red brother Leaping Horse, when they + lamented together over the disappearance of game and the extinction of the + buffalo. Hunting Dog had, at Harry's urgent advice, settled down in the + ways of civilization, taking up a ranche and breeding cattle, of which he + now owns a large herd. Jerry Curtis and Pete Hoskings made a journey + together to Europe after the closing of the mine. They stayed for a month + at Blackheath, and ten years later Tom received a lawyer's letter from + Denver saying that Peter Hoskings was dead, and that he had left his large + house and other property in Denver to Mr. Thomas Wade's children. Jerry + still lives at the age of seventy-five in that city. + </p> + <div style="height: 6em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's In the Heart of the Rockies, by G. A. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: In the Heart of the Rockies + A Story of Adventure in Colorado + +Author: G. A. Henty + +Posting Date: June 2, 2012 [EBook #8670] +Release Date: August, 2005 +First Posted: July, 31, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN THE HEART OF THE ROCKIES *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Franks, Michelle Shephard, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + + + + + + +IN THE HEART OF THE ROCKIES + +A STORY OF ADVENTURE IN COLORADO + +BY G. A. HENTY + + + + + + + +[Illustration: HUNTING DOG SAVES JERRY FROM THE RAPIDS.] + + + +PREFACE + + +MY DEAR LADS, + +Until comparatively lately that portion of the United States in which I +have laid this story was wholly unexplored. The marvellous canyons of the +Colorado River extend through a country absolutely bare and waterless, +and save the tales told by a few hunters or gold-seekers who, pressed by +Indians, made the descent of some of them, but little was known +regarding this region. It was not until 1869 that a thorough exploration +of the canyons was made by a government expedition under the command of +Major Powell. This expedition passed through the whole of the canyons, +from those high up on the Green River to the point where the Colorado +issues out on to the plains. Four years were occupied by the party in +making a detailed survey of the course of the main river and its +tributaries. These explorations took place some eight or nine years +after the date of my story. The country in which the Big Wind River has +its source, and the mountain chains contained in it, were almost unknown +until, after the completion of the railway to California, the United +States government was forced to send an expedition into it to punish the +Indians for their raids upon settlers in the plains. For details of the +geography and scenery I have relied upon the narrative of Mr. +Baillie-Grohman, who paid several visits to the country in 1878 and the +following years in quest of sport, and was the first white man to +penetrate the recesses of the higher mountains. At that time the Indians +had almost entirely deserted the country. For the details of the dangers +and difficulties of the passage through the canyons I am indebted to the +official report of Major Powell, published by the United States +government. + + + Yours sincerely, + + + G. A. HENTY. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAP. + + + I. TOM'S CHOICE + II. FINDING FRIENDS + III. ON THE PLAINS + IV. LEAPING HORSE + V. IN DANGER + VI. UNITED + VII. CHASED + VIII. IN SAFETY + IX. A BAD TIME + X. AN AVALANCHE + XI. WINTER + XII. THE SNOW FORT + XIII. A FRESH START + XIV. AN INDIAN ATTACK + XV. THE COLORADO + XVI. AFLOAT IN CANOES + XVII. THE GRAND CANYON +XVIII. BACK TO DENVER + XIX. A FORTUNE + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +Hunting Dog Saves Jerry From The Rapids +Carry Reads Uncle Harry's Letter +Jerry Gives Tom A Lesson In Shooting +Leaping Horse Mounted, And Rode Across The Stream +A Moment Later The Indian Fell Forward On His Face +"There Is Another Avalanche, Keep Your Backs To The Wall, Boys" +They Went Out To Look At The Indian The Chief Had Shot +"No Good Fight Here," Said Leaping Horse. + + + + + +CHAPTER I + +TOM'S CHOICE + + +"I can be of no use here, Carry. What am I good for? Why, I could not +earn money enough to pay for my own food, even if we knew anyone who +would help me to get a clerkship. I am too young for it yet. I would +rather go before the mast than take a place in a shop. I am too young +even to enlist. I know just about as much as other boys at school, and I +certainly have no talent anyway, as far as I can see at present. I can +sail a boat, and I won the swimming prize a month ago, and the sergeant +who gives us lessons in single-stick and boxing says that he considers +me his best pupil with the gloves, but all these things put together +would not bring me in sixpence a week. I don't want to go away, and +nothing would induce me to do so if I could be of the slightest use to +you here. But can I be of any use? What is there for me to look forward +to if I stay? I am sure that you would be always worrying over me if I +did get some sort of situation that you would know father and mother +would not have liked to see me in, and would seem to offer no chance for +the future, whereas if I went out there it would not matter what I did, +and anything I earned I could send home to you." + +The speaker was a lad of sixteen. He and his sister, who was two years +his senior, were both dressed in deep mourning, and were sitting on a +bench near Southsea Castle looking across to Spithead, and the Isle of +Wight stretching away behind. They had three days before followed their +mother to the grave, and laid her beside their father, a lieutenant of +the navy, who had died two years before. This was the first time they +had left the house, where remained their four sisters--Janet, who came +between Carry and Tom; Blanche, who was fourteen; Lucie, twelve; and +Harriet, eight. Tom had proposed the walk. + +"Come out for some fresh air, Carry," he had said. "You have been shut +up for a month. Let us two go together;" and Carry had understood that +he wanted a talk alone with her. There was need, indeed, that they +should look the future in the face. Since Lieutenant Wade's death their +means had been very straitened. Their mother had received a small +pension as his widow, and on this, eked out by drafts reluctantly drawn +upon the thousand pounds she had brought him on her marriage, which had +been left untouched during his lifetime, they had lived since his death. +Two hundred pounds had been drawn from their little capital, and the +balance was all that now remained. It had long been arranged that Carry +and Janet should go out as governesses as soon as they each reached the +age of eighteen, but it was now clear that Carry must remain at home in +charge of the young ones. + +That morning the two girls had had a talk together, and had settled +that, as Janet was too young to take even the humblest place as a +governess, they would endeavour to open a little school, and so, for the +present at any rate, keep the home together. Carry could give music +lessons, for she was already an excellent pianist, having been well +taught by her mother, who was an accomplished performer, and Janet was +sufficiently advanced to teach young girls. She had communicated their +decision to Tom, who had heartily agreed with it. + +"The rent is only twenty pounds a year," he said, "and, as you say, the +eight hundred pounds bring in thirty-two pounds a year, which will pay +the rent and leave something over. If you don't get many pupils at first +it will help, and you can draw a little from the capital till the school +gets big enough to pay all your expenses. It is horrible to me that I +don't seem to be able to help, but at any rate I don't intend to remain +a drag upon you. If mother had only allowed me to go to sea after +father's death I should be off your hands now, and I might even have +been able to help a little. As it is, what is there for me to do here?" +And then he pointed out how hopeless the prospect seemed at Portsmouth. + +Carry was silent for a minute or two when he ceased speaking, and sat +looking out over the sea. + +"Certainly, we should not wish you to go into a shop, Tom, and what you +say about going into an office is also right enough. We have no sort of +interest, and the sort of clerkship you would be likely to get here +would not lead to anything. I know what you are thinking about--that +letter of Uncle Harry's; but you know that mother could not bear the +thought of it, and it would be dreadful for us if you were to go away." + +"I would not think of going, Carry, if I could see any chance of helping +you here, and I don't want to go as I did when the letter first came. It +seems such a cowardly thing to run away and leave all the burden upon +your shoulders, yours and Janet's, though I know it will be principally +on yours; but what else is there to do? It was not for my own sake that +I wanted before to go, but I did not see what there was for me to do +here even when I grew up. Still, as mother said it would break her heart +if I went away, of course there was an end of it for the time, though I +have always thought it would be something to fall back upon if, when I +got to eighteen or nineteen, nothing else turned up, which seemed to me +very likely would be the case. Certainly, if it came to a choice between +that and enlisting, I should choose that: and now it seems to me the +only thing to be done." + +"It is such a long way off, Tom," the girl said in a tone of deep pain; +"and you know when people get away so far they seem to forget those at +home and give up writing. We had not heard from uncle for ten years when +that letter came." + +"There would be no fear of my forgetting you, Carry. I would write to +you whenever I got a chance." + +"But even going out there does not seem to lead to anything, Tom. Uncle +has been away twenty-five years, and he does not seem to have made any +money at all." + +"Oh, but then he owned in his letter, Carry, that it was principally his +own fault. He said he had made a good sum several times at mining, and +chucked it away; but that next time he strikes a good thing he was +determined to keep what he made and to come home to live upon it. I +sha'n't chuck it away if I make it, but shall send every penny home that +I can spare." + +"But uncle will not expect you, Tom, mother refused so positively to let +you go. Perhaps he has gone away from the part of the country he wrote +from, and you may not be able to find him." + +"I shall be able to find him," Tom said confidently. "When that letter +went, I sent one of my own to him, and said that though mother would not +hear of my going now, I might come out to him when I got older if I +could get nothing to do here, and asked him to send me a few words +directed to the post-office telling me how I might find him. He wrote +back saying that if I called at the Empire Saloon at a small town called +Denver, in Colorado, I should be likely to hear whereabouts he was, and +that he would sometimes send a line there with instructions if he should +be long away." + +"I see you have set your mind on going, Tom," Carry said sadly. + +"No, I have not set my mind on it, Carry. I am perfectly ready to stop +here if you can see any way for me to earn money, but I cannot stop here +idle, eating and drinking, while you girls are working for us all." + +"If you were but three or four years older, Tom, I should not so much +mind, and though it would be a terrible blow to part with you, I do not +see that you could do anything better; but you are only sixteen." + +"Yes, but I am strong and big for my age; I am quite as strong as a good +many men. Of course I don't mean the boatmen and the dockyard maties, +but men who don't do hard work. Anyhow, there are lots of men who go out +to America who are no stronger than I am, and of course I shall get +stronger every month. I can walk thirty miles a day easy, and I have +never had a day's illness." + +"It is not your strength, Tom; I shall have no fears about your breaking +down; on the contrary, I should say that a life such as uncle wrote +about, must be wonderfully healthy. But you seem so young to make such a +long journey, and you may have to travel about in such rough places and +among such rough men before you can find Uncle Harry." + +"I expect that I shall get on a great deal easier than a man would," Tom +said confidently. "Fellows might play tricks with a grown-up fellow who +they see is a stranger and not up to things, and might get into quarrels +with him, but no one is likely to interfere with a boy. No, I don't +think that there is anything in that, Carry,--the only real difficulty +is in going away so far from you, and perhaps being away for a long +time." + +"Well, Tom," the girl said after another pause, "it seems very terrible, +but I own that I can see nothing better for you. There is no way that +you can earn money here, and I am sure we would rather think of you as +mining and hunting with uncle, than as sitting as a sort of boy-clerk in +some dark little office in London or Portsmouth. It is no worse than +going to sea anyhow, and after all you may, as uncle says, hit on a rich +mine and come back with a fortune. Let us be going home. I can hardly +bear to think of it now, but I will tell Janet, and will talk about it +again this evening after the little ones have gone to bed." + +Tom had the good sense to avoid any expression of satisfaction. He gave +Carry's hand a silent squeeze, and as they walked across the common +talked over their plans for setting to work to get pupils, and said no +word that would give her a hint of the excitement he felt at the thought +of the life of adventure in a wild country that lay before him. He had +in his blood a large share of the restless spirit of enterprise that has +been the main factor in making the Anglo-Saxons the dominant race of the +world. His father and his grandfather had both been officers in the +royal navy, and a great-uncle had commanded a merchantman that traded in +the Eastern seas, and had never come back from one of its voyages; there +had been little doubt that all on board had been massacred and the ship +burned by Malay pirates. His Uncle Harry had gone away when little more +than a boy to seek a fortune in America, and had, a few years after his +landing there, crossed the plains with one of the first parties that +started out at news of the discovery of gold in California. + +Tom himself had longed above all things to be a sailor. His father had +not sufficient interest to get him into the royal navy, but had intended +to obtain for him a berth as apprentice in the merchant service; but his +sudden death had cut that project short, and his mother, who had always +been opposed to it, would not hear of his going to sea. But the life +that now seemed open to him was in the boy's eyes even preferable to +that he had longed for. The excitement of voyages to India or China and +back was as nothing to that of a gold-seeker and hunter in the West, +where there were bears and Indians and all sorts of adventures to be +encountered. He soon calmed down, however, on reaching home. The empty +chair, the black dresses and pale faces of the girls, brought back in +its full force the sense of loss. + +In a short time he went up to his room, and sat there thinking it all +over again, and asking himself whether it was fair of him to leave his +sisters, and whether he was not acting selfishly in thus choosing his +own life. He had gone over this ground again and again in the last few +days, and he now came to the same conclusion, namely, that he could do +no better for the girls by stopping at home, and that he had not decided +upon accepting his uncle's invitation because the life was just what he +would have chosen, but because he could see nothing that offered equal +chances of his being able permanently to aid them at home. + +When he came downstairs again Carry said: + +"The others have gone out, Tom; you had better go round and see some of +your school-fellows. You look fagged and worn out. You cannot help me +here, and I shall go about my work more cheerfully if I know that you +are out and about." + +Tom nodded, put on his cap and went out; but he felt far too restless to +follow her advice and call on some of his friends, so he walked across +the common and lay down on the beach and went all over it again, until +at last he went off to sleep, and did not wake up until, glancing at his +watch, he found that it was time to return to tea. He felt fresher and +better for his rest, for indeed he had slept but little for the past +fortnight, and Carry nodded approvingly as she saw that his eyes were +brighter, and the lines of fatigue and sleeplessness less strongly +marked on his face. + +Two hours later, when the younger girls had gone to bed, Carry said: +"Now we will have a family council. I have told Janet about our talk, +Tom, and she is altogether on your side, and only regrets that she is +not a boy and able to go out with you. We need not go over the ground +again, we are quite agreed with you that there seems no prospect here of +your obtaining work such as we should like to see you at, or that would +lead to anything. There are only two things open to you, the one is to +go to sea, the other to go out to Uncle Harry. You are old to go as an +apprentice, but not too old, and that plan could be carried out; still, +we both think that the other is better. You would be almost as much +separated from us if you went to sea as you would be if you went out to +America. But before you quite decide I will read uncle's letter, which I +have found this afternoon among some other papers." + +She took out the letter and opened it. + +"'My dear Jack,--I am afraid it is a very long time since I wrote last; +I don't like to think how long. I have been intending to do so a score +of times, but you know I always hated writing, and I have been waiting +to tell you that I had hit upon something good at last. Even now I can +only tell you that I have been knocking about and getting older, but so +far I cannot say I have been getting richer. As I told you when I wrote +last I have several times made good hauls and struck it rich, but +somehow the money has always slipped through my fingers. Sometimes I +have put it into things that looked well enough but turned out +worthless; sometimes I have chucked it away in the fool's manner men do +here. I have just come back from a prospecting tour in the country of +the Utes, where I found two or three things that seemed good; one of +them first-rate, the best thing, I think, I have seen since I came out +here. + +"'Unfortunately I cannot do anything with them at present, for the Utes +are getting troublesome, and it would be as much as one's life is worth +to go back there with a small party; so that matter must rest for a bit, +and I must look out in another quarter until the Utes settle down again. +I am going to join a hunting party that starts for the mountains next +week. I have done pretty nearly as much hunting as mining since I came +out, and though there is no big pile to be made at it, it is a pretty +certain living. How are you all getting on? I hope some day to drop in +on your quiet quarters at Southsea with some big bags of gold-dust, and +to end my days in a nook by your fireside; which I know you will give +me, old fellow, with or without the gold bags. '" + +[Illustration: CARRY READS UNCLE HARRY'S LETTER.] + +"'I suppose your boy is thirteen or fourteen years old by this time. +That is too young for him to come out here, but if in two or three years +you don't see any opening for him at home, send him out to me, and I +will make a man of him; and even if he does not make a fortune in +gold-seeking, there are plenty of things a young fellow can turn his +hand to in this country with a good certainty of making his way, if he +is but steady. You may think that my example is not likely to be of much +benefit to him, but I should do for an object lesson, and seriously, +would do my very best to set him in a straight path. Anyhow, three or +four years' knocking about with me would enable him to cut his +eye-teeth, and hold his own in the world. At the end of that time he +could look round and see what line he would take up, and I need not say +that I would help him to the utmost of my power, and though I have not +done any good for myself I might do good for him. + +"'In the first place, I know pretty well every one in Colorado, Montana, +and Idaho; in the next place, in my wanderings I have come across a +score of bits of land in out-of-the-way places where a young fellow +could set up a ranche and breed cattle and horses and make a good thing +of it; or if he has a turn for mechanics, I could show him places where +he could set up saw-mills for lumber, with water-power all the year +round, and with markets not far away. Of course, he is too young yet, +but unless he is going to walk in your steps and turn sailor he might do +worse than come out to me in three or four years' time. Rough as the +life is, it is a man's life, and a week of it is worth more than a +year's quill-driving in an office. It is a pity your family have run to +girls, for if one boy had made up his mind for the sea you might have +spared me another.' + +"That is all. You know mother sent an answer saying that dear father had +gone, and that she should never be able to let you go so far away and +take up such a rough and dangerous life. However, Tom, as you wrote to +uncle, her refusal would not matter, and by his sending you instructions +how to find him, it is evident that he will not be surprised at your +turning up. In the first place, are you sure that you would prefer this +to the sea?" + +"Quite sure, Carry; I should like it much better. But the principal +thing is that I may soon be able to help you from there, while it would +be years before I should get pay enough at sea to enable me to do so." + +"Then that is settled, Tom. And now, I suppose," and her voice quivered +a little, "you will want to be off as soon as you can?" + +"I think so," Tom replied. "If I am to go, it seems to me the sooner I +go the better; there is nothing that I can do here, and we shall all be +restless and unsettled until I am off." + +Carry nodded. "I think you are right, Tom; we shall never be able to +settle to our work here when we are thinking of your going away. The +first thing to do will be to draw some money from the bank. There will +be your outfit to get and your passage to pay to America, and a supply +of money to take you out West, and keep you until you join uncle." + +"That is what I hate," Tom said gloomily. "It seems beastly that when I +want to help you I must begin by taking some of your money." + +"That can't be helped," Carry said cheerfully. "One must not grudge a +sprat to catch a whale, and besides it would cost ever so much more if +we had to apprentice you to the sea, and get your outfit. You will not +want many clothes now. You have enough for the voyage and journey, and I +should think it would be much better for you to get what you want out +there, when you will have uncle to advise what is necessary. I should +really think some flannel shirts and a rough suit for the voyage will be +the principal things." + +"I should think so, certainly," Tom agreed. "The less baggage one +travels with the better, for when I leave the railway I shall only want +what I can carry with me or pack on horses. Anything else would only be +a nuisance. As to a rough suit for the voyage, the clothes I had before +I put these on" (and he glanced at his black suit) "will do capitally. +Of course I shall go steerage. I can get out for four or five pounds +that way, and I shall be quite as well off as I should be as an +apprentice. I know I must have some money, but I won't take more than is +absolutely necessary. I am all right as far as I can see for everything, +except three or four flannel shirts. I don't see that another thing will +be required except a small trunk to hold them and the clothes I have on, +which I don't suppose I shall ever wear again, and a few other things. +You know I would only allow you to have this one black suit made. I was +thinking of this, and it would have been throwing away money to have got +more. Of course, I don't know what I shall want out there. I know it is +a long way to travel by rail, and I may have to keep myself for a month +before I find uncle. I should think five-and-twenty pounds when I land +would be enough for everything." + +"I shall draw fifty pounds," Carry said positively. "As you say, your +outfit will really cost nothing; ten pounds will pay for your journey to +Liverpool and your passage; that will leave you forty pounds in your +pocket when you land. That is the very least you could do with, for you +may find you will have to buy a horse, and though I believe they are +very cheap out there, I suppose you could not get one under ten pounds; +and then there would be the saddle and bridle and food for the journey, +and all sorts of things. I don't think forty pounds will be enough." + +"I won't have a penny more, anyhow," Tom said. "If I find a horse too +expensive I can tramp on foot." + +"And you must be sure not to get robbed," Janet said, breaking in for +the first time. "Just fancy your finding yourself without money in such +a place as that. I will make you a belt to wear under your things, with +pockets for the money." + +"I hope I should not be such a fool as that, Janet, but anyhow I will be +as careful as I can. I shall be very glad of the belt. One does not know +what the fellows might be up to, and I would certainly rather not have +my money loose in my pocket; but even if I were robbed I don't think it +would be as desperate as you think. I expect a boy could always find +something to do to earn his living, and I should try and work my way +along somehow, but as that would not be pleasant at all I shall take +good care of my money, you may be sure." + +For an hour they sat talking, and before the council broke up it was +agreed that they should look in the newspaper in the morning for a list +of vessels sailing for America, and should at once write and take a +passage. + +There was no time lost. Carry felt that it would be best for them all +that the parting should be got over as soon as possible. Letters were +written the next morning to two steamship companies and to the owners of +two sailing vessels asking the prices of steerage passages, agreeing +that if there was not much difference it would be better to save perhaps +a fortnight by taking the passage in a steamship. + +The replies showed that the difference was indeed trifling, and a week +after their receipt Tom Wade started from Portsmouth to Liverpool. Even +at the last moment he was half-inclined to change his plans, it seemed +so hard to leave his sisters alone; but Carry and Janet had both +convinced themselves that his scheme was the best, and would not hear of +his wavering now. They kept up a show of good spirits until the last, +talked confidently of the success of their own plans, and how they +should set about carrying them out as soon as they were free to act. The +younger girls, although implored by the elders not to give way to their +grief at the departure of their brother, were in a state of constant +tearfulness, and were in consequence frequently got rid of by being sent +on errands. Tom, too, took them out for hours every day, and by telling +them stories of the wild animals he should hunt, and the Indians he +should see, and of the stores of gold he should find hidden, generally +brought them home in a more cheerful state of mind. + +At last the parting was over, and after making heroic efforts to be +cheerful to the end, Tom waved a last adieu with his handkerchief to the +five weeping figures on the platform, and then threw himself back in his +seat and gave free vent to his own feelings. Two girls sitting beside +him sniggered at the sight of the strong-built young fellow giving way +to tears, but a motherly-looking woman opposite presently put her hand +on his knee. + +"Don't be ashamed of crying, my lad," she said. "I have got a son years +older than you, and we always have a good cry together every time he +starts on a long voyage. Are you going far? I suppose those are your +sisters? I see you are all in black. Lost someone dear to you, no doubt? +It comes to us all, my boy, sooner or later." + +"I am going to America," Tom replied, "and may not be back for years. +Yes, those are my sisters, and what upsets me most is that I have to +leave them all alone, for we have lost both our parents." + +"Dear, dear, that is sad indeed! No wonder you are all upset. Well, +well, America is not so very far away--only a ten days' voyage by +steamer, they tell me, and my boy is away in a sailing ship. He is in +China, I reckon, now; he sailed five months ago, and did not expect to +be home under a year. I worry about him sometimes, but I know it is of +no use doing that. The last thing he said when I bade good-bye to him +was, 'Keep up your spirits, mother'; and I try to do so." + +The old lady went on talking about her son, and Tom, listening to her +kindly attempts to draw him out of his own troubles, grew interested, +and by the time they reached Winchester, where she left the train, he +had shaken off his first depression. It was a long journey with several +changes, and he did not arrive in Liverpool until six o'clock in the +evening, having been nearly twelve hours on the road. Carry's last +injunction had been, "Take a cab when you get to Liverpool, Tom, and +drive straight down to the docks. Liverpool is a large place, and you +might get directed wrong. I shall be more comfortable if I know that, at +any rate, you will go straight on board." + +Tom had thought it an unnecessary expense, but as he saw that Carry +would be more comfortable about him if he followed her advice, he +promised to do so, and was not sorry for it as he drove through the +streets; for, in spite of cutting down everything that seemed +unnecessary for the voyage and subsequent journey, the portmanteau was +too heavy to carry far with comfort, and although prepared to rough it +to any extent when he had once left England, he felt that he should not +like to make his way along the crowded streets with his trunk on his +shoulder. + +The cabman had no difficulty in finding the _Parthia_, which was still +in the basin. Tom was, however, only just in time to get on board, for +the men were already throwing off the warps, and ten minutes later she +passed out through the dock-gates, and soon anchored in the middle of +the river. Tom had been on board too many ships at Portsmouth to feel +any of that bewilderment common to emigrants starting on their first +voyage. He saw that at present everyone was too busy to attend to him, +and so he put his portmanteau down by the bulwark forward, and leaning +on the rail watched the process of warping the ship out of the docks. +There were a good many steerage passengers forward, but at present the +after-part of the ship was entirely deserted, as the cabin passengers +would not come on board until either late at night or early next +morning. When the anchor had been let drop he took up his trunk and +asked a sailor where he ought to go to. + +"Show me your ticket. Ah! single man's quarters, right forward." + +There he met a steward, who, after looking at his ticket, said: "You +will see the bunks down there, and can take any one that is unoccupied. +I should advise you to put your trunk into it, and keep the lid shut. +People come and go in the morning, and you might find that your things +had gone too. It would be just as well for you to keep it locked through +the voyage. I see that you have got a cord round it. Keep it corded; the +more things there are to unfasten to get at the contents the less chance +there is of anyone attempting it." + +The place was crowded with berths, mere shallow trays, each containing a +straw mattress and pillow and two coloured blankets. They were in three +tiers, one above the other, and were arranged in lines three deep, with +a narrow passage between. He saw by the number into which bags and +packets had been thrown that the upper berths were the favourites, but +he concluded that the lower tiers were preferable. "It will be +frightfully hot and stuffy here," he said to himself, "and I should say +the lower berths will be cooler than the upper." He therefore placed his +trunk in one of those next to the central passage and near the door, and +then went up on deck. + +The _Parthia_ was a Cunarder, and although not equal in size to the +great ships of the present day, was a very fine vessel. The fare had +been somewhat higher than that for which he could have had a passage in +a sailing ship, but in addition to his saving time, there was the +advantage that on board the steamers, passengers were not obliged to +provide their own bedding, as they had to do in sailing vessels, and +also the food was cooked for them in the ship's galleys. + +The first meal was served soon after the anchor dropped, and consisted +of a bowl of cocoa and a large piece of bread. Half an hour later a +tender came alongside with the last batch of steerage passengers, and +Tom was interested in watching the various groups as they came on +board--men, women, and children. + +"Well," he said to himself, "I do think I am better fitted to make my +way out there than most of these people are, for they look as helpless +and confused as a flock of sheep. I pity those women with children. It +will be pretty crowded in our quarters, but there is a chance of getting +a fair night's sleep, while in a place crowded with babies and children +it would be awful." + +Being a kind-hearted lad he at once set to work to help as far as he +could, volunteering to carry children down below, and to help with boxes +and bundles. + +In many cases his assistance was thankfully accepted, but in some it was +sharply refused, the people's manner clearly showing their suspicions of +his motive. He was not surprised at this after all the warnings Carry +had given him against putting any confidence in strangers, but was +satisfied, after an hour's hard work, that he had rendered things +somewhat easier for many a worried and anxious woman. It was getting +dusk even on deck by the time he had finished. + +"Thank you, lad," a man, who went up the companion ladder with him, said +as they stepped on to the deck. "You have done my missis a good turn by +taking care of those three young ones while we straightened up a bit, +and I saw you helping others too. You are the right sort, I can see. +There ain't many young chaps as puts themselves out of the way to do a +bit of kindness like that. My name is Bill Brown; what is yours?" + +"Tom Wade. I had nothing to do, and was glad to be of a little help. +People who have never been on board ship before naturally feel confused +in such a crowd." + +"Have you been to sea?" + +"Not on a voyage, but I have lived at Portsmouth and have often been on +board troopships and men-of-war, so it does not seem so strange to me." + +"Are you by yourself, or have you friends with you?" + +"I am alone," Tom replied. "I am going out to join an uncle in the +States." + +"I have been across before," the man said. "I am a carpenter, and have +worked out there six months, and came home six weeks back to fetch the +others over. I have got a place, where I was working before, to go to as +soon as I land. It makes a lot of difference to a man." + +"It does indeed," Tom agreed. "I know if I were going out without any +fixed object beyond taking the first work that came to hand, I should +not feel so easy and comfortable about it as I do now." + +"I have got two or three of my mates on board who are going out on my +report of the place, and three families from my wife's village. She and +the youngsters have been staying with her old folk while I was away. So +we are a biggish party, and if you want anything done on the voyage you +have only got to say the word to me." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +FINDING FRIENDS + + +The weather was fine, and Tom Wade found the voyage more pleasant than +he had expected. The port-holes were kept open all the way, and the +crowded quarters were less uncomfortable than would have been the case +had they encountered rough weather. There were some very rough spirits +among the party forward, but the great majority were quiet men, and +after the first night all talking and larking were sternly repressed +after the lights were out. The food was abundant, and although some +grumbled at the meat there was no real cause of complaint. A rope across +the deck divided the steerage passengers from those aft, and as there +were not much more than one-half the emigrants aboard that the _Parthia_ +could carry, there was plenty of room on deck. + +But few of the passengers suffered from sea-sickness, and the women sat +and chatted and sewed in little groups while the children played about, +and the men walked up and down or gathered forward and smoked, while a +few who had provided themselves with newspapers or books sat in quiet +corners and read. Tom was one of these, for he had picked up a few books +on the United States at second-hand bookstalls at Portsmouth, and this +prevented him from finding the voyage monotonous. When indisposed to +read he chatted with Brown the carpenter and his mates, and sometimes +getting a party of children round him and telling them stories gathered +from the books now standing on the shelves in his room at Southsea. He +was glad, however, when the voyage was over; not because he was tired of +it, but because he was longing to be on his way west. Before leaving the +ship he took a very hearty farewell of his companions on the voyage, and +on landing was detained but a few minutes at the custom-house, and then +entering an omnibus that was in waiting at the gate, was driven straight +to the station of one of the western lines of railway. + +From the information he had got up before sailing he had learnt that +there were several of these, but that there was very little difference +either in their speed or rates of fare, and that their through-rates to +Denver were practically the same. He had therefore fixed on the Chicago +and Little Rock line, not because its advantages were greater, but in +order to be able to go straight from the steamer to the station without +having to make up his mind between the competing lines. He found on +arrival that the emigrant trains ran to Omaha, where all the lines met, +and that beyond that he must proceed by the regular trains. An emigrant +train was to leave that evening at six o'clock. + +"The train will be made up about four," a good-natured official said to +him, "and you had best be here by that time so as to get a corner seat, +for I can tell you that makes all the difference on a journey like this. +If you like to take your ticket at once you can register that trunk of +yours straight on to Denver, and then you won't have any more trouble +about it." + +"Of course we stop to take our meals on the way?" + +"Yes; but if you take my advice you will do as most of them do, get a +big basket and lay in a stock of bread and cooked meat, cheese, and +anything you fancy, then you will only have to go out and get a cup of +tea at the stopping-places. It comes a good bit cheaper, and you get +done before those who take their meals, and can slip back into the cars +again quick and keep your corner seat. There ain't much ceremony in +emigrant trains, and it is first come first served." + +"How long shall we be in getting to Denver?" + +"It will be fully a week, but there ain't any saying to a day. The +emigrant trains just jog along as they can between the freight trains +and the fast ones, and get shunted off a bit to let the expresses pass +them." + +Thanking the official for his advice, Tom took his ticket, registered +his trunk, and then went out and strolled about the streets of New York +until three o'clock. He took the advice as to provisions, and getting a +small hamper laid in a stock of food sufficient for three or four days. +The platform from which the train was to start was already occupied by a +considerable number of emigrants, but when the train came up he was able +to secure a corner seat. The cars were all packed with their full +complement of passengers. They were open from end to end, with a passage +down the middle. Other cars were added as the train filled up, but not +until all the places were already occupied. The majority of the +passengers were men, but there were a considerable number of women, and +still more children; and Tom congratulated himself on learning from the +conversation of those around him that a good many were not going beyond +Chicago, and that almost all would leave the train at stations between +that place and Omaha. + +The journey to Chicago was the most unpleasant experience Tom had ever +gone through. The heat, the dust, and the close confinement seemed to +tell on the tempers of everyone. The children fidgeted perpetually, the +little ones and the babies cried, the women scolded, and the men +grumbled and occasionally quarrelled. It was even worse at night than +during the day; the children indeed were quieter, for they lay on the +floor of the passage and slept in comparative comfort, but for the men +and women there was no change of position, no possibility of rest. The +backs of the seats were low, and except for the fortunate ones by the +windows there was no rest for the head; but all took uneasy naps with +their chins leaning forward on their chest, or sometimes with their +heads resting on their neighbour's shoulder. Tom did not retain his +corner seat, but resigned it a few hours after starting to a weary woman +with a baby in her arms who sat next to him. He himself, strong as he +was, felt utterly worn out by the fatigue and sleeplessness. + +Beyond Chicago there was somewhat more room, and it was possible to make +a change of position. Beyond Omaha it was much better; the train was +considerably faster and the number of passengers comparatively few. He +now generally got a seat to himself and could put his feet up. The +people were also, for the most part, acquainted with the country, and he +was able to learn a good deal from their conversation. There were but +few women or children among them, for except near the stations of the +railway, settlements were very rare; and the men were for the most part +either miners, ranchemen, or mechanics, going to the rising town of +Denver, or bound on the long journey across the plains to Utah or +California. It was on the eighth day after starting that Denver was +reached. + +Before leaving the ship Tom had put on his working clothes and a flannel +shirt, and had disposed of his black suit, for a small sum, to a +fellow-passenger who intended to remain at New York. This had somewhat +lightened his portmanteau, but he was glad when he found that there were +vehicles at the station to convey passengers up the hill to Denver, +which was some three miles away, and many hundred feet above it. He was +too tired to set about finding the Empire Saloon, but put up at the +hotel at which the omnibus stopped, took a bath and a hearty meal, and +then went straight to bed. + +After breakfast the next morning he at once set out. He had no +difficulty in finding the whereabouts of the Empire Saloon, which he +learned from the clerk of the hotel was a small place frequented almost +entirely by miners. Its appearance was not prepossessing. It had been +built in the earliest days of Denver, and was a rough erection. The +saloon was low, its bare rafters were darkly coloured by smoke, a number +of small tables stood on the sanded floor, and across the farther end of +the room ran a bar. On shelves behind this stood a number of black +bottles, and a man in his shirt sleeves was engaged in washing up +glasses. Two or three rough-looking men in coloured flannel shirts, with +the bottoms of their trousers tucked into high boots, were seated at the +tables smoking and drinking. + +"I am expecting a letter for me here," Tom said to the man behind the +bar. "My name is Wade." + +"The boss is out now," the man said. "He will be here in an hour or so. +If there is anything for you he will know about it." + +"Thank you. I will come again in an hour," Tom replied. The man nodded +shortly, and went on with his work. When Tom returned, the bar-tender +said to a man who was sitting at one of the tables talking to the +miners, "This is the chap I told you of as was here about the letter." + +"Sit right down," the man said to Tom, "I will talk with you presently;" +and he continued his conversation in a low tone with the miners. It was +nearly half an hour before he concluded it. Then he rose, walked across +the room to Tom, and held out his hand. + +"Shake, young fellow," he said; "that is, if you are the chap Straight +Harry told me might turn up here some day." + +"I expect I am the fellow," Tom said with a smile. "My uncle's name is +Harry Wade." + +"Yes, that is his name; although he is always called Straight Harry. +Yes, I have got a letter for you. Come along with me." He led the way +into a small room behind the saloon, that served at once as his bed-room +and office, and motioned to Tom to sit down on the only chair; then +going to a cupboard he took out a tin canister, and opening it shook out +half a dozen letters on to the table. + +"That is yourn," he said, picking one out. + +It was directed to Tom, and contained but a few lines. "_If you come I +have gone west. Pete Hoskings will tell you all he knows about me and +put you on the line. Your affectionate uncle._" + +"Are you Mr. Hoskings?" he asked the landlord. + +"I am Pete Hoskings," the man said. "There ain't been no Mister to my +name as ever I can remember." + +"My uncle tells me that you will be able to direct me to him, and will +put me on the line." + +"It would take a darn sight cuter fellow than I am to direct you to him +at present," the man said with a laugh. "Straight Harry went away from +here three months ago, and he might be just anywhere now. He may be +grubbing away in a mine, he may be hunting and trapping, or he may have +been wiped out by the Indians. I know where he intended to go, at least +in a general sort of way. He did tell me he meant to stay about there, +and it may be he has done so. He said if he moved away and got a chance +he would send me word; but as there ain't nairy a post-office within +about five hundred miles of where he is, his only chance of sending a +letter would be by a hunter who chanced to be going down to the +settlements, and who, like enough, would put it into his hunting-shirt +and never give it another thought. So whether he has stayed there or not +is more nor I can say." + +"And where is _there?_" Tom asked. "It is among the hills to the west +of the Colorado River, which ain't much, seeing as the Colorado is about +two thousand miles long. However, I can put you closer than that, for he +showed me on a map the bit of country he intended to work. He said he +would be back here in six months from the time he started; and that if +you turned up here I was either to tell you the best way of getting +there, or to keep you here until he came back. Well, I may say at once +that there ain't no best way; there is only one way, and that is to get +on a pony and ride there, and a mighty bad way it is. The only thing for +you to do is to keep on west along the caravan tract. You have to cross +the Green River,--that is the name of the Colorado on its upper course. +Fort Bridger is the place for you to start from, but you have got to +wait there until you sight some one or other bound south; for as to +going by yourself, it would be a sight better to save yourself all +trouble by putting that Colt hanging there to your head, and pulling the +trigger. It is a bad country, and it is full of bad Indians, and there +ain't many, even of the oldest hands, who care to risk their lives by +going where Straight Harry has gone. + +"I did all I could to keep him from it; but he is just as obstinate as a +mule when he has made up his mind to a thing. I know him well, for we +worked as mates for over a year down on the Yuba in California. We made +a good pile, and as I had got a wife and wanted to settle I came back +east. This place had a couple of dozen houses then; but I saw it was +likely to boom, so I settled down and set up this saloon and sent for my +wife to come west to me. If she had lived I should have been in a sight +bigger place by this time; but she died six months after she got here, +and then I did not care a continental one way or the other; and I like +better to stop here, where I meet my old mates and can do as I like, +than to run a big hotel. It ain't much to look at, but it suits me, and +I am content to know that I could buy up the biggest place here if I had +a fancy to. I don't take much money now, but I did when the place was +young; and I bought a few lots of land, and you may bet they have turned +out worth having. Well, don't you act rashly in this business. Another +three months your uncle will turn up, if he is alive; and if he don't +turn up at all I dare say I can put you into a soft thing. If you go on +it is about ten to one you get scalped before you find him. Where are +you staying?" + +"At the Grand. The omnibus stopped there last night." + +"Well, you stay there for a week and think it over. You have got to +learn about the country west of the Colorado. You had best come here to +do that. You might stay a month at the Grand and not find a soul who +could tell you anything worth knowing, but there ain't a day when you +couldn't meet men here who have either been there themselves or have +heard tell of it from men who have." + +"Are the natives friendly now?" Tom asked. "In a letter he wrote two +years ago to us, my uncle said that he should put off going to a part of +the country he wanted to prospect until the Indians were quiet." + +"The darned critters are never either friendly or quiet. A red-skin is +pizen, take him when you will. The only difference is, that sometimes +they go on the war-path and sometimes they don't; but you may bet that +they are always ready to take a white man's scalp if they get a chance." + +"Well, I am very much obliged to you for your advice, which I will +certainly take; that is, I will not decide for a few days, and will come +in here and talk to the miners and learn what I can about it." + +"You can hear at once," the landlord said. He stepped back into the +saloon, and said to the two men with whom he had been talking: "Boys, +this young chap is a Britisher, and he has come out all the way to join +Straight Harry, who is an uncle of his. Straight Harry is with Ben +Gulston and Sam Hicks, and they are prospecting somewhere west of the +Colorado. He wants to join them. Now, what do you reckon his chances +would be of finding them out and dropping in on their campfire?" + +The men looked at Tom with open eyes. + +"Waal," one of them drawled, "I should reckon you would have just about +the same chance of getting to the North Pole if you started off on foot, +as you would of getting to Straight Harry with your hair on." + +Tom laughed. "That is not cheering," he said. + +"It ain't. I don't say as an old hand on the plains might not manage it. +He would know the sort of place Harry and his mates would be likely to +be prospecting, he would know the ways of the red-skins and how to +travel among them without ever leaving a trail or making a smoke, but +even for him it would be risky work, and not many fellows would care to +take the chances even if they knew the country well. But for a +tenderfoot to start out on such a job would be downright foolishness. +There are about six points wanted in a man for such a journey. He has +got to be as hard and tough as leather, to be able to go for days +without food or drink, to know the country well, to sleep when he does +sleep with his ears open, to be up to every red skin trick, to be able +to shoot straight enough to hit a man plumb centre at three hundred +yards at least, and to hit a dollar at twenty yards sartin with his +six-shooter. If you feel as you have got all them qualifications you can +start off as soon as you like, and the chances aren't more'n twenty to +one agin your finding him." + +"I haven't anyone of them," Tom said. + +"Waal, it is something if you know that, young chap. It is not every +tenderfoot who would own up as much. You stick to it that you don't know +anything, and at the same time do your best to learn something, and you +will do in time. You look a clean-built young chap, and you could not +have a better teacher than Straight Harry. What he don't know, whether +it is about prospecting for gold or hunting for beasts, ain't worth +knowing, you bet. What is your name, mate?" + +"Tom Wade." + +"Waal, let us drink. It ain't like you, Pete, to keep a stranger dry as +long as you have been doing." + +"He ain't up to our customs yet," the landlord said, as he moved off +towards the bar. + +"It is a custom everywhere," the miner said reprovingly, "for folks to +stand drink to a stranger; and good Bourbon hurts no man." + +The landlord placed a bottle and four glasses on the counter. Each of +the miners filled his glass for himself, and the bottle was then handed +to Tom, who followed their example, as did Hoskings. + +"Here is luck to you," the miner said, as he lifted his glass. Three +glasses were set down empty, but Tom had to stop half-way with his to +cough violently. + +"It is strong stuff," he said apologetically, "and I never drank spirits +without water before. I had a glass of grog-and-water on board a ship +sometimes, but it has always been at least two parts of water to one of +spirits." + +"We mostly drink our liquor straight out here," the miner said. "But I +am not saying it is the best way, especially for one who ain't used to +it, but you have got to learn to do it if you are going to live long in +this country." + +"Standing drinks round is a custom here," Pete Hoskings explained, +seeing that Tom looked a little puzzled, "and there ain't no worse +insult than to refuse to drink with a man. There have been scores of men +shot, ay, and hundreds, for doing so. I don't say that you may not put +water in, but if you refuse to drink you had best do it with your hand +on the butt of your gun, for you will want to get it out quick, I can +tell you." + +"There is one advantage in such a custom anyhow," Tom said, "it will +keep anyone who does not want to drink from entering a saloon at all." + +"That is so, lad," Pete Hoskings said heartily. "I keep a saloon, and +have made money by it, but for all that I say to every young fellow who +hopes to make his way some time, keep out of them altogether. In country +places you must go to a saloon to get a square meal, but everyone drinks +tea or coffee with their food, and there is no call to stay in the place +a minute after you have finished. Calling for drinks round has been the +ruin of many a good man; one calls first, then another calls, and no one +likes to stand out of it, and though you may only have gone in for one +glass, you may find you will have to drink a dozen before you get out." + +"Why, you are a downright temperance preacher, Pete," one of the miners +laughed. + +"I don't preach to a seasoned old hoss like you, Jerry. I keep my +preaching for those who may benefit by it, such as the youngster here; +but I say to him and to those like him, you keep out of saloons. If you +don't do that, you will find yourself no forwarder when you are fifty +than you are now, while there are plenty of openings all over the +country for any bright young fellow who will keep away from liquor." + +"Thank you," Tom said warmly; "I will follow your advice, which will be +easy enough. Beyond a glass of beer with my dinner and a tot of grog, +perhaps once in three months when I have gone on board a ship, and did +not like to say no, I have never touched it, and have no wish to do so." + +"Stick to that, lad; stick to that. You will find many temptations, but +you set your face hard against them, and except when you come upon a +hard man bent on kicking up a muss, you will find folks will think none +the worse of you when you say to them straight, 'I am much obliged to +you all the same, but I never touch liquor.'" + +Tom remained four days at the hotel, spending a good deal of his time at +the saloon, where he met many miners, all of whom endorsed what the +first he had spoken to had said respecting the country, and the +impossibility of anyone but an old hand among the mountains making his +way there. + +On the fourth evening he said to Pete Hoskings: "I see that your advice +was good, and that it would be madness for me to attempt to go by +myself, but I don't see why I should not ride to Fort Bridger; not of +course by myself, but with one of the caravans going west. It would be a +great deal better for me to do that and to learn something of the plains +and camping than to stay here for perhaps three months. At Fort Bridger +I shall be able to learn more about the country, and might join some +hunting party and gain experience that way. I might find other +prospectors going up among the hills, and even if it were not near where +my uncle is to be found, I should gain by learning something, and should +not be quite a greenhorn when I join him." + +"Well, that is sensible enough," Pete Hoskings said, "and I don't know +as I can say anything against it. You certainly would not be doing any +good for yourself here, and I don't say that either an hotel or a saloon +is the best place for you. I will think it over, and will let you know +when you come round in the morning; maybe I can put you a little in the +way of carrying it out." + +The next morning when Tom went to the saloon, Jerry Curtis, one of the +miners he had first met there, was sitting chatting with Pete Hoskings. + +"I had Jerry in my thoughts when I spoke to you last night, Tom," the +latter said. "I knew he was just starting west again, and thought I +would put the matter to him. He says he has no objection to your +travelling with him as far as Fort Bridger, where maybe he will make a +stay himself. There ain't no one as knows the plains much better than he +does, and he can put you up to more in the course of a month than you +would learn in a year just travelling with a caravan with farmers bound +west." + +"I should be very much obliged indeed," Tom said delightedly. "It would +be awfully good of you, Jerry, and I won't be more trouble than I can +help." + +"I don't reckon you will be any trouble at all," the miner said. "I was +never set much on travelling alone as some men are. I ain't much of a +talker, but I ain't fond of going two or three months without opening my +mouth except to put food and drink into it. So if you think you will +like it I shall be glad enough to take you. I know Straight Harry well, +and I can see you are teachable, and not set upon your own opinions as +many young fellows I have met out here are, but ready to allow that +there are some things as men who have been at them all their lives may +know a little more about than they do. So you may take it that it is a +bargain. Now, what have you got in the way of outfit?" + +"I have not got anything beyond flannel shirts, and rough clothes like +these." + +"They are good enough as far as they go. Two flannel shirts, one on and +one off, is enough for any man. Two or three pairs of thick stockings. +Them as is very particular can carry an extra pair of breeches in case +of getting caught in a storm, though for myself I think it is just as +well to let your things dry on you. You want a pair of high boots, a +buffalo robe, and a couple of blankets, one with a hole cut in the +middle to put your head through; that does as a cloak, and is like what +the Mexicans call a poncho. You don't want a coat or waistcoat; there +ain't no good in them. All you want to carry you can put in your +saddle-bag. Get a pair of the best blankets you can find. I will go with +you and choose them for you. You want a thing that will keep you warm +when you sleep, and shoot off the rain in bad weather. Common blankets +are no better than a sponge. + +"Then, of course, you must have a six-shooter and a rifle. No man in his +senses would start across the plains without them. It is true there +ain't much fear of red-skins between here and Bridger, but there is +never any saying when the varmint may be about. Can you shoot?" + +"No; I never fired off a rifle or a pistol in my life." + +"Well, you had better take a good stock of powder and ball, and you can +practise a bit as you go along. A man ain't any use out on these plains +if he cannot shoot. I have got a pony; but you must buy one, and a +saddle, and fixings. We will buy another between us to carry our swag. +But you need not trouble about the things, I will get all that fixed." + +"Thank you very much. How much do you suppose it will all come to?" + +"Never you mind what it comes to," Pete Hoskings said roughly. "I told +your uncle that if you turned up I would see you through. What you have +got to get I shall pay for, and when Straight Harry turns up we shall +square it. If he don't turn up at all, there is no harm done. This is my +business, and you have got nothing to do with it." + +Tom saw that he should offend Hoskings if he made any demur, and the +kind offer was really a relief to him. He had thirty pounds still in his +belt, but he had made a mental calculation of the cost of the things +Jerry had considered essential, and found that the cost of a horse and +saddle, of half another horse, of the rifle, six-shooter ammunition, +blankets, boots, and provisions for the journey, must certainly amount +up to more than that sum, and would leave him without any funds to live +on till he met his uncle. + +He was so anxious to proceed that he would have made no excuse, although +he saw that he might find himself in a very difficult position. Pete's +insistence, therefore, on taking all expenses upon himself, was a +considerable relief to him; for although determined to go, he had had an +uneasy consciousness that it was a foolish step. He therefore expressed +his warm thanks. + +"There, that is enough said about it," the latter growled out. "The +money is nothing to me one way or the other, and it would be hard if I +couldn't do this little thing for my old mate's nephew. When are you +thinking of making a start, Jerry?" + +"The sooner the better. I have been four months here already and have +not struck a vein, that is, not one really worth working, and the sooner +I make a fresh start the better. To-day is Wednesday. There will be +plenty of time to get all the things to-day and to-morrow, and we will +start at daylight on Friday. You may as well come with me, Tom, and +learn something about the prices of things. There are some Indians +camped three miles away. We will walk over there first and pick up a +couple of ponies. I know they have got a troop of them, that is what +they come here to sell. They only arrived yesterday, so we shall have +the pick of them." + +Before starting there was a short conversation between Jerry and the +landlord, and then the former put on his broad-brimmed hat. + +"Have you seen any red-skins yet?" + +"I saw a few at some of the stations the train stopped at between this +and Omaha." + +"Those fellows are mostly Indians who have been turned out of their +tribes for theft or drunkenness, and they hang about the stations to +sell moccasins and other things their squaws make, to fresh arrivals. + +"The fellows you are going to see are Navahoes, though not good +specimens of the tribe, or they would not be down here to sell ponies. +Still, they are a very different sort from those you have seen." + +An hour's walking took them to a valley, in which the Indians were +encamped. There were eight wigwams. Some women paused in their work and +looked round at the newcomers. Their dogs ran up barking furiously, but +were driven back by a volley of stones thrown by three or four boys, +with so good an aim that they went off with sharp yelps. Jerry strolled +along without paying any attention to the dogs or boys towards a party +of men seated round a fire. One of them rose as they approached. + +"My white brothers are welcome," he said courteously. "There is room by +the fire for them," and he motioned to them to sit down by his side. A +pipe, composed of a long flat wooden stem studded with brass nails, with +a bowl cut out of red pipe-stone, was now handed round, each taking a +short puff. + +"Does my brother speak the language of the Navahoes?" the chief asked in +that tongue. + +"I can get along with it," Jerry said, "as I can with most of your +Indian dialects." + +"It is good," the chief said. "My brother is wise; he must have wandered +much." + +"I have been a goodish bit among your hills, chief. Have you come from +far?" + +"The moon was full when we left our village." + +"Ah, then you have been a fortnight on the road. Well, chief, I have +come here to trade. I want to buy a couple of ponies." + +The chief said a word or two to a boy standing near, and he with four or +five others at once started up the valley, and in a few minutes returned +with a drove of Indian ponies. + +"They are not a bad lot," Jerry said to Tom. + +"They don't look much, Jerry." + +"Indian ponies never look much, but one of those ponies would gallop an +eastern-bred horse to a stand-still." + +Jerry got up and inspected some of the horses closely, and presently +picked out two of them; at a word from the chief two of the lads jumped +on their backs and rode off on them at full speed, and then wheeling +round returned to the spot from where they started. + +"My white brother is a judge of horses," the chief said; "he has picked +out the best of the lot." + +"There are three or four others quite as good," Jerry said carelessly. +"Now, chief, how many blankets, how much powder and lead, and what else +do you want for those two horses?" + +The chief stated his demands, to which Jerry replied: "You said just +now, chief, that I was a wise man; but it seems that you must regard me +as a fool." + +For half an hour an animated argument went on. Two or three times Jerry +got up, and they started as if to quit the village, but each time the +chief called them back. So animated were their gestures and talk that +Tom had serious fears that they were coming to blows, but their voices +soon fell and the talk became amicable again. At last Jerry turned to +Tom. + +"The bargain is struck," he said; "but he has got the best of me, and +has charged an outrageous sum for them," Then, in his own language, he +said to the chief: + +"At noon to-morrow you will send the ponies down to the town. I will +meet them at the big rock, half a mile this side of it, with the trade +goods." + +"They shall be there," the chief said, "though I am almost giving them +to you." + +As they walked away, Tom said: + +"So you have paid more than you expected, Jerry?" + +"No, I have got them a bargain; only it would never have done to let the +chief know I thought so, or the horses would not have turned up +to-morrow. I expect they have all been stolen from some other tribe. The +two I have got are first-rate animals, and the goods will come to about +fourteen pounds. I shall ride one of them myself, and put our swag on my +own pony. That has been a very good stroke of business; they would never +have sold them at that price if they had been honestly come by." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +ON THE PLAINS + + +The purchase of a buffalo robe, blankets, boots, and a Colt's revolver +occupied but a short time, but the rifle was a much more difficult +matter. + +"You can always rely upon a Colt," the miner said, "but rifles are +different things; and as your life may often depend upon your +shooting-iron carrying straight, you have got to be mighty careful about +it. A gun that has got the name of being a good weapon will fetch four +times as much as a new one." + +Denver was but a small place; there was no regular gunsmith's shop, but +rifles and pistols were sold at almost every store in the town. In this +quest Jerry was assisted by Pete Hoskings, who knew of several men who +would be ready to dispose of their rifles. Some of these weapons were +taken out into the country and tried at marks by the two men. They made +what seemed to Tom wonderful shooting, but did not satisfy Hoskings. + +"I should like the youngster to have a first-rate piece," he said, "and +I mean to get him one if I can. There are two of these would do if we +can't get a better, but if there is a first-rate one to be had in this +township I will have it." Suddenly he exclaimed, "I must have gone off +my head, and be going downright foolish! Why, I know the very weapon. +You remember Billy the scout?" + +"In course I do, everyone knew him. I heard he had gone down just before +I got back here." + +"That is so, Jerry. You know he had a bit of a place up in the hills, +four or five miles from here, where he lived with that Indian wife of +his when he was not away. I went out to see him a day or two afore he +died. I asked him if there was anything I could do for him. He said no, +his squaw would get on well enough there. She had been alone most of her +time, and would wrestle on just as well when he had gone under. He had a +big garden-patch which she cultivated, and brought the things down into +the town here. They always fetch a good price. Why more people don't +grow them I can't make out; it would pay better than gold-seeking, you +bet. He had a few hundred dollars laid by, and he said they might come +in handy to her if she fell sick, or if things went hard in winter. +Well, you remember his gun?" + +"In course--his gun was nigh as well known as Billy himself. He used to +call it Plumb-centre. You don't mean to say she hasn't sold it?" + +"She hasn't; at least I should have been sure to hear if she had. I know +several of the boys who went to the funeral wanted to buy it, and +offered her long prices for it too; but she wouldn't trade. I will ride +over there this evening and see what I can do about it. She will sell to +me if she sells to anyone, for she knows I was a great chum of Billy's, +and I have done her a few good turns. She broke her leg some years back +when he was away, and luckily enough I chanced to ride over there the +next day. Being alone and without anyone to help, she would have got on +badly. I sent a surgeon up to her, and got a redskin woman to go up to +nurse her. I don't wonder she did not like to sell Billy's piece, seeing +he was so famous with it, and I feel sure money would not do it; but +perhaps I can talk her into it." + +The next morning the articles agreed upon as the price of the horses +were packed on Jerry's pony, and they went out to the meeting-place. + +"It is twenty minutes early," Jerry said, as Tom consulted his watch, +"and the red-skins won't be here till it is just twelve o'clock. A +red-skin is never five minutes before or five minutes after the time he +has named for a meeting. It may have been set six months before, and at +a place a thousand miles away, but just at the hour, neither before nor +after, he will be there. A white man will keep the appointment; but like +enough he will be there the night before, will make his camp, sleep, and +cook a meal or two, but he does not look for the red-skin till exactly +the hour named, whether it is sunrise or sunset or noon. Red-skins ain't +got many virtues,--least there ain't many of them has, though I have +known some you could trust all round as ready as any white man,--but +for keeping an appintment they licks creation." + +A few minutes before twelve o'clock three Indians were seen coming down +the valley on horseback. They were riding at a leisurely pace, and it +was exactly the hour when they drew rein in front of Tom and his +companion. Jerry had already unloaded his pony and had laid out the +contents of the pack. First he proceeded to examine the two ponies, to +make sure that they were the same he had chosen. + +"That is all right," he said; "they would hardly have tried to cheat us +over that--they would know that it would not pay with me. There, chief, +is your exchange. You will see that the blankets are of good quality. +There is the keg of powder, the bar of lead, ten plugs of tobacco, the +cloth for the squaws, and all the other things agreed on." + +The chief examined them carefully, and nodded his satisfaction. "If all +the pale-faces dealt as fairly with the red man as you have done there +would not be so much trouble between them," he said. + +"That is right enough, chief; it can't be gainsaid that a great many, +ay, I might say the most part, of the traders are rogues. But they would +cheat us just the same as they would you, and often do take us in. I +have had worthless goods passed off on me many a time; and I don't blame +you a bit if you put a bullet into the skull of a rogue who has cheated +you, for I should be mightily inclined to do the same myself." + +No more words were wasted; the lads who had ridden the ponies down made +up the goods in great bundles and went up the valley with their chief, +while Jerry and Tom took the plaited leather lariats which were round +the ponies' necks and returned to Denver. A saddle of Mexican pattern, +with high peak and cantle, massive wooden framework, huge straps and +heavy stirrups, was next bought. Jerry folded a horse-rug and tried it +in different positions on the horse's back until the saddle fitted well +upon it. + +"That is the thing that you have got to be most particular about, Tom. +If the saddle does not sit right the horse gets galled, and when a horse +once gets galled he ain't of much use till he is well again, though the +Indians ride them when they are in a terrible state; but then they have +got so many horses that, unless they are specially good, they don't hold +them of any account. You see the saddle is so high that there is good +space between it and the backbone, and the pressure comes fair on the +ribs, so the ponies don't get galled if the blankets are folded +properly. The Indians do not use saddles, but ride either on a pad or +just a folded blanket, and their ponies are always getting galled." + +"The saddle is tremendously heavy." + +"It is heavy, but a few pounds don't make much difference to the horse +one way or the other, so that he is carrying it comfortably. The saddles +would be no good if they were not made strong, for a horse may put his +foot in a hole and come down head over heels, or may tumble down a +precipice, and the saddle would be smashed up if it were not pretty near +as strong as cast-iron. Out on the plains a man thinks as much of his +saddle as he does of his horse, and more. If his horse dies he will put +the saddle on his head and carry it for days rather than part with it, +for he knows he won't be long before he gets a horse again. He can buy +one for a few charges of powder and ball from the first friendly Indians +he comes across, or he may get one given to him if he has nothing to +exchange for it, or if he comes across a herd of wild horses he can +crease one." + +"What is creasing a horse?" Tom asked. + +"Well, it is a thing that wants a steady hand, for you have got to hit +him just on the right spot--an inch higher, you will miss him; half an +inch lower, you will kill him. You have got to put a bullet through his +neck two or three inches behind the ears and just above the spine. Of +course if you hit the spine you kill him, and he is no good except to +give you a meal or two if you are hard-up for food; but if the ball goes +through the muscles of the neck, just above the spine, the shock knocks +him over as surely as if you had hit him in the heart. It stuns him, and +you have only got to run up and put your lariat round his neck, and be +ready to mount him as soon as he rises, which he will do in two or three +minutes, and he will be none the worse for the shock; in fact you will +be able to break him in more easily than if you had caught him by the +rope." + +Jerry then adjusted his own saddle to the other Indian horse. + +"Can you ride?" he asked. + +"No, I have never had any chance of learning at home." + +"Well, you had better have a lesson at once. This is a good way for a +beginner;" and he took a blanket, and having rolled it up tightly, +strapped it over the peak of the saddle and down the flaps. + +"There," he said. "You get your knees against that, and what with the +high peak and the high cantle you can hardly be chucked out anyhow, that +is, if the horse does not buck; but I will try him as to that before you +mount. We will lead them out beyond the town, we don't want to make a +circus of ourselves in the streets; besides, if you get chucked, you +will fall softer there than you would on the road. But first of all we +will give them a feed of corn. You see they are skeary of us at present. +Indian horses are always afraid of white men at first, just as white +men's horses are afraid of Indians. A feed of corn will go a long way +towards making us good friends, for you may be sure they have never had +a feed in their lives beyond what they could pick up for themselves." + +The horses snuffed the corn with some apprehension when it was held out +towards them, backing away from the sieves with their ears laid back; +but seeing that no harm came to them they presently investigated the +food more closely, and at last took a mouthful, after which they +proceeded to eat greedily, their new masters patting their necks and +talking to them while they did so. Then their saddles and bridles were +put on, and they were led out of the stable and along the streets. At +first they were very fidgety and wild at the unaccustomed sights and +sounds, but their fear gradually subsided, and by the time they were +well in the country they went along quietly enough. + +"Now you hold my horse, Tom, and I will try yours." + +Jerry mounted and galloped away; in ten minutes he returned. + +"He will do," he said as he dismounted. "He is fresh yet and wants +training. I don't suppose he has been ridden half a dozen times, but +with patience and training he will turn out a first-rate beast. I could +see they were both fast when those boys rode them. I don't wonder the +chief asked what, for an Indian pony, was a mighty long price, though it +was cheap enough for such good animals. He must have two or three +uncommon good ones at home or he would never have parted with them, for +when an Indian gets hold of an extra good pony no price will tempt him +to sell it, for a man's life on the plains often depends on the speed +and stay of his horse. Now, I will take a gallop on my own, and when I +come back you can mount and we will ride on quietly together. + +"There is not much difference between them," he said on his return. +"Yours is a bit faster. Pete told me to get you the best horse I could +find, and I fixed upon yours, directly my eye fell upon him, as being +the pick of the drove. But this is a good one too, and will suit me as +well as yours, for he is rather heavier, and will carry me better than +yours would do on a long journey. Now climb up into your saddle." + +Jerry laughed at the difficulty Tom had in lifting his leg over the high +cantle. "You will have to practise presently putting your hands on the +saddle and vaulting into it. Half a minute in mounting may make all the +difference between getting away and being rubbed out. When you see the +red-skins coming yelling down on you fifty yards away, and your horse is +jumping about as scared as you are, it is not an easy matter to get on +to its back if you have got to put your foot in the stirrup first. You +have got to learn to chuck yourself straight into your seat whether you +are standing still or both on the run. There, how do you feel now?" + +"I feel regularly wedged into the saddle." + +"That is right. I will take up the stirrups a hole, then you will get +your knees firmer against the blanket. It is better to learn to ride +without it, even if you do get chucked off a few times, but as we start +to-morrow you have no time for that. In a few days, when you get at home +in the saddle, we will take off the blanket, and you have got to learn +to hold on by your knees and by the balance of your body. Now we will be +moving on." + +As soon as the reins were slackened the horses started together at an +easy canter. + +"That is their pace," Jerry said. "Except on a very long journey, when +he has got squaws and baggage with him, a red-skin never goes at a walk, +and the horses will keep on at this lope for hours. That is right. Don't +sit so stiffly; you want your legs to be stiff and keeping a steady +grip, but from your hips you want to be as slack as possible, just +giving to the horse's action, the same way you give on board ship when +vessels are rolling. That is better. Ah! here comes Pete. I took this +way because I knew it was the line he would come back by--and, by gosh, +he has got the rifle, sure enough!" + +Pete had seen them, and was waving the gun over his head. + +"I've got it," he said as he reined up his horse when he met them. "It +was a stiff job, for she did not like to part with it. I had to talk to +her a long time. I put it to her that when she died the gun would have +to go to someone, and I wanted it for a nephew of Straight Harry, whom +she knew well enough; that it was for a young fellow who was safe to +turn out a great hunter and Indian fighter like her husband, and that he +would be sure to do credit to Plumb-centre, and make the gun as famous +in his hands as it had been in her husband's. That fetched her. She said +I had been kind to her, and though she could not have parted with the +gun for money, she would do it, partly to please me, and partly because +she knew that Straight Harry had been a friend of her husband's, and had +fought by his side, and that the young brave I spoke of, would be likely +to do credit to Plumb-centre. Her husband, she said, would be glad to +know that it was in such good hands. So she handed it over to me. She +would not hear of taking money for it; indeed, I did not press it, +knowing that she would feel that it was almost a part of her husband; +but I will make it up to her in other ways. There, Tom; there is as good +a shooting-iron as there is in all the territories." + +"Thank you very much indeed, Pete. I shall value it immensely, and I +only hope that some day I shall be able to do credit to it, as the poor +woman said." + +There was nothing particular in the appearance of the rifle. It was a +plainly-finished piece, with a small bore and heavy metal. + +"It don't look much," Jerry said, "but it is a daisy, you bet." + +"We will try a shot with it, Jerry. She gave me the bag of bullets and a +box of patches and his powder-horn with it. We will see what it will do +in our hands, we are both pretty good shots." + +He loaded the rifle carefully. + +"You see that bit of black rock cropping out of the hill-side. I guess +it is about two hundred and fifty yards away, and is about the size a +red-skin's head would be if he were crawling through the grass towards +us. Will you shoot first or shall I?" + +"Fire away, Pete." + +Hoskings took a steady aim and fired. + +"You have hit it," Jerry exclaimed. "Just grazed it at the top." + +They walked across to the rock; there was a chip just on the top. + +"It was a good shot, Pete; especially considering how you are out of +practice. If it had been a red-skin it would have stunned him sure, for +I doubt whether it is not too high by a quarter of an inch or so, to +have finished him altogether." + +[Illustration: JERRY GIVES TOM A LESSON IN SHOOTING.] + +"It would have cut his top-knot off, Jerry, and that is all. I doubt +whether it would have even touched his skin." + +They returned to the spot where Pete had fired, and Jerry threw himself +down on the grass and levelled his rifle. + +"That is not fair, Jerry," Pete protested. + +"It would not be fair if I was shooting against you, but we are only +trying the rifle, and if that rock were a red-skin you may be sure that +I should be lying down." + +He fired: and on going to the stone again they found that the bullet had +struck it fair, within an inch of its central point. + +"That is something like a rifle," Jerry said delighted. "Now, Tom, you +shall have a shot." + +As they walked to the shooting-point, Jerry showed the lad how to hold +the rifle, instructed him as to the backsight, and showed him how to get +the foresight exactly on the nick of the backsight. "You must just see +the bead as if it were resting in the nick, and the object you aim at +must just show above the top point of the bead." He showed him how to +load, and then told him to lie down, as he had done, on his chest, and +to steady the rifle with the left arm, the elbow being on the ground. +"You must be quite comfortable," he said; "it is of no use trying to +shoot if you are in a cramped position. Now, take a steady aim, and the +moment you have got the two sights in a line on the rock, press the +trigger steadily. Press pretty hard; it is only a pull of about two +pounds, but it is wonderful how stiff a trigger feels the first time you +pull at it. You need not be at all afraid of the kick. If you press the +butt tightly against your shoulder you will hardly feel it, for there is +plenty of weight in the barr'l, and it carries but a small charge of +powder. You won't want to shoot at anything much beyond this range, but +sometimes you may have to try at four or five hundred yards when you are +in want of a dinner. In that case you can put in a charge and a half of +powder. Now, are you comfortable? You need not grip so hard with your +left hand, the gun only wants to rest between your thumb and fingers. +That is better. Now take a steady aim, and the moment you have got it +press the trigger. Well done! that is a good shot for a first. You hit +the dust an inch or two to the right of the stone. If it had been a +red-skin you would have hit him in the shoulder. You will do, lad, and +by the time we get to Fort Bridger I guess you will bring down a stag as +clean as nine out of ten hunters." + +"Don't get into the way of waiting too long before you fire, Tom," Pete +Hoskings said. "Better to try to shoot too quick to begin with than to +be too long about it. When you have made up your mind that you are going +to shoot, get your bead on your mark and fire at once. You may want to +hit a red-skin's head as he looks out from behind a tree, and to do that +you must fire the instant you see him or he will be in again. One of the +best shots I ever saw never used to raise his gun to his shoulder at +all. He just dropped his piece into the hollow of his left hand, and +would fire as he touched it. He did not seem to take any aim at all, but +his bullet was sartin to hit the thing he wanted to, even if it were no +bigger than an orange. He could not tell himself how he did it. 'I seen +the thing and I fired, Pete,' he would say; 'the gun seems to point +right of its own accord, I have not anything to say to it.' You see, +shooting is a matter of eye. Some men may shoot all their lives, and +they will never be more than just respectable, while others shoot well +the first time that a gun is put in their hands. Want of nerve is what +spoils half men's shooting; that and taking too long an aim. Well, it is +time for us to be mounting and getting back. I have got to see that the +dinner is all ready. I never can trust that black scoundrel, Sam, to do +things right while I am away." + +The preparations for the journey were completed by the evening. + +"Now mind, Tom," Pete Hoskings said the last thing before going to bed, +"if you don't find your uncle, or if you hear that he has got wiped out, +be sure you come right back here. Whether you are cut out for a hunter +or not, it will do you a world of good to stick to the life until you +get four or five years older and settle as to how you like to fix +yourself, for there ain't no better training than a few years out on the +plains, no matter what you do afterwards. I will find a good chum for +you, and see you through it, both for the sake of my old mate, Straight +Harry, and because I have taken a liking to you myself." + +"Why do you call my uncle Straight Harry?" Tom asked, after thanking +Pete for his promise. "Is he so very upright?" + +"No, lad, no; it ain't nothing to do with that. There are plenty more +erect men than him about. He is about the size of Jerry, though, maybe a +bit taller. No; he got to be called Straight Harry because he was a +square man, a chap everyone could trust. If he said he would do a thing +he would do it; there weren't no occasion for any papers to bind him. +When he said a thing you could bet on it. You could buy a mine on his +word: if he said it was good you need not bother to take a journey to +look at it, you knew it was right there, and weren't a put-up job. Once +when we were working down on the Yuba we got to a place where there were +a fault in the rock, and the lode had slipped right away from us. +Everyone in camp knew that we had been doing well, and we had only got +to pile up a few pieces of rock at the bottom, and no one who would have +seen it would have known that the lode was gone. That is what most chaps +would have done, and a third chap who was working with us was all for +doing it. Anyone would have given us five hundred ounces for it. Well, I +didn't say nothing, it was what pretty nigh anyone on the mines would +have done if he had the chance, but Harry turned on our partner like a +mountain lion. 'You are a mean skunk, New Jersey' says he. 'Do you think +that I would be one to rob a man only because he would be fool enough to +take a place without looking at it? We've worked to the edge of the +claim both ways, and I don't reckon there is a dollar's worth of gold +left in it, now that it has pettered out at the bottom, and if there was +I would not work another day with a man who proposed to get up a +swindle.' So as soon as he got up to the surface he told everyone that +the lode had gone out and that the claim weren't worth a red cent. He +and New Jersey had a big fight with fists that evening. The other was +bigger than Harry, and stronger, but he were no hand with his pistol, +and Harry is a dead shot; so he told New Jersey he would fight him +English fashion, and Harry gave him the biggest licking I ever saw a man +have. I felt pretty mean myself, you bet, for having thought of planting +the thing off; but as I hadn't spoken, Harry knew nothing about it. If +he had, I doubt if he would ever have given me his hand again. Yes, sir, +he is a straight man all round, and there is no man better liked than +Harry. Why, there are a score of men in this town who know him as I do, +and, if he came to them and said, 'I have struck it rich, I will go +halves with you if you will plank down twenty thousand dollars to open +her up,' they would pay down the cash without another word; and, I tell +you, there ain't ten men west of the Missouri of whom as much could be +said." + +The next morning at daybreak Jerry and Tom started. They rode due north, +skirting the foot of the hills, till they reached the emigrant route, +for the railway had not been carried farther than Wabash, from which +point it ran south to Denver. It was a journey of some five hundred +miles to Fort Bridger, and they took a month to accomplish it, sometimes +following the ordinary line of travel, sometimes branching off more to +the north, where game was still abundant. + +"That is Fort Bridger, Tom. It ain't much of a place to look at; but is, +like all these forts, just a strong palisading, with a clump of wooden +huts for the men in the middle. Well, the first stage of your journey is +over, and you know a little more now than when you left Denver; but +though I have taught you a good bit, you will want another year's +practice with that shooting-iron afore you're a downright good shot; but +you have come on well, and the way you brought down that stag on a run +yesterday was uncommon good. You have made the most of your +opportunities, and have got a steady hand and a good eye. You are all +right on your horse now, and can be trusted to keep your seat if you +have a pack of red-skins at your heels. You have learnt to make a camp, +and to sleep comfortable on the ground; you can frizzle a bit of +deer-flesh over the fire, and can bake bread as well as a good many. Six +months of it and you will be a good plain's-man. I wish we had had a +shot at buffalo. They are getting scarcer than they were, and do not +like crossing the trail. We ain't likely to see many of them west of the +Colorado; the ground gets too hilly for them, and there are too many bad +lands." + +"What are bad lands, Jerry?" + +"They are just lands where Nature, when she made them, had got plenty of +rock left, but mighty little soil or grass seed. There are bad lands all +over the country, but nowhere so bad as the tract on both sides of the +Green and Colorado rivers. You may ride fifty miles any way over bare +rock without seeing a blade of grass unless you get down into some of +the valleys, and you may die of thirst with water under your feet." + +"How do you mean, Jerry?" + +"The rivers there don't act like the rivers in other parts. Instead of +working round the foot of the hills they just go through them. You ride +along on what seems to be a plain, and you come suddenly to a crack that +ain't perhaps twenty or thirty feet across, and you look down, if you +have got head enough to do it, and there, two thousand feet or more +below you, you see a river foaming among rocks. It ain't one river or it +ain't another river as does it; every little stream from the hills cuts +itself its canyon and makes its way along till it meets two or three +others, then they go on together, cutting deeper and deeper until they +run into one of the arms of the Green River or the Colorado or the +Grand. + +"The Green and the Colorado are all the same river, only the upper part +is called the Green. For about a thousand miles it runs through great +canyons. No one has ever gone down them, and I don't suppose anyone ever +will; and people don't know what is the course of the river from the +time it begins this game till it comes out a big river on the southern +plains. You see, the lands are so bad there is no travelling across +them, and the rapids are so terrible that there is no going down them. +Even the Indians never go near the canyons if they can help it. I believe +they think the whole thing is the work of an evil spirit." + +"But you said some of the valleys had grass?" + +"Yes; I have gone down one or two myself from the mountains of Utah, +where the stream, instead of cutting a canyon for itself, has behaved for +a bit in the ordinary way and made a valley. Wonderfully good places +they were--plenty of grass, plenty of water, and no end of game. I have +spent some months among them, and got a wonderful lot of skins, beavers +principally of course, but half a dozen mountain lions and two +grizzlies. I did not bring home their skins, you bet. They were too +heavy, and I should not have troubled them if they had not troubled me. +There was good fish, too, in the streams, and I never had a better time. +The red-skins happened to be friendly, and I was with a hunter who had a +red-skin wife and a dozen ponies. If it hadn't been for that I should +soon have had to quit, for it ain't no good hunting if you can't carry +away the skins. As it was I made a good job of it, for I got nigh a +thousand dollars for my skins at Utah. + +"Well, here we are at the fort. I guess we may as well make our camp +outside. If you go in you have got to picket your horse here and put +your baggage there and come in at gun-fire, and all sorts of things that +troubles a man who is accustomed to act as he likes." + +The horses were soon picketed. "I will go in first and see who is here, +Tom. There are usually a lot of loafing Indians about these forts, and +though it is safe enough to leave our traps, out on the plain, it will +not do here. We must stay with them, or at any rate keep them in sight; +besides, these two horses would be a temptation to any redskin who +happened to want an animal." + +"I will wait willingly, Jerry; I should know nobody inside the fort if I +went in. I will see to making a fire and boiling the kettle, and I will +have supper ready at seven o'clock." + +"I shall be sure to be back by that time; like enough I sha'n't be a +quarter of an hour away." + +It was but half an hour, indeed, before Tom saw him returning, +accompanied by a tall red-skin. + +"This is a friend of mine, Tom. He was a chief of the Senecas, but his +tribe are nearly wiped out, and he has been all his life a hunter, and +there are few of us who have been much out on the plains who don't know +him. Chief, this is Straight Harry's nephew I was telling you of, who +has come out here to join his uncle. Sit down, we have got some +deer-flesh. Tom here knocked one over on the run at two hundred and +fifty yards by as good a shot as you want to see; while it is cooking we +can smoke a pipe and have a chat." + +The chief gravely seated himself by the fire. + +"What have you been doing since I last saw you up near the Yellowstone?" + +"Leaping Horse has been hunting," the Indian said quietly, with a wave +of his hand, denoting that he had been over a wide expanse of country. + +"I guessed so," Jerry put in. + +"And fighting with 'Rappahoes and Navahoes." + +"Then you've been north and south?" + +The Indian nodded. "Much trouble with both; they wanted our scalps. But +four of the 'Rappahoe lodges are without a master, and there are five +Navahoe widows." + +"Then you were not alone?" + +"Garrison was with me among the 'Rappahoes; and the Shoshone hunter, +Wind-that-blows, was with me when the Navahoes came on our trail." + +"They had better have left you alone, chief. Do you know the Ute +country?" + +"The Leaping Horse has been there. The Utes are dogs." + +"They are troublesome varmint, like most of the others," Jerry agreed. +"I was telling you Straight Harry is up in their country somewhere. Tom +here is anxious to join him, but of course that can't be. You have not +heard anything of him, I suppose?" + +"The Leaping Horse was with him a week ago." + +"You were, chief! Why did you not tell me so when I was saying we did +not know where he was?" + +"My white brother did not ask," the chief said quietly. + +"That is true enough, chief, but you might have told me without asking." + +The Indian made no reply, but continued to smoke his hatchet pipe +tranquilly, as if the remark betrayed such ignorance of Indian manners +that it was not worth replying to. + +Tom took up the conversation now. + +"Was it far from here that you saw him?" + +"Five days' journey, if travel quick." + +"Was he hunting?" Jerry asked. + +"Hunting, and looking for gold." + +"Who had he with him?" + +"Two white men. One was Ben Gulston. Leaping Horse had met him in Idaho. +The other was called Sam, a big man with a red beard." + +"Yes, Sam Hicks; he only came back from California a few months back, so +you would not be likely to have met him before. Were they going to +remain where you left them?" + +The Indian shook his head. "They were going farther north." + +"Farther north!" Jerry repeated. "Don't you mean farther south?" + +"Leaping Horse is not mistaken, he knows his right hand from his left." + +"Of course, of course, chief," the miner said apologetically; "I only +thought that it was a slip of the tongue. Then if they were going +farther north they must have come back in this direction." + +"They were on the banks of the Big Wind River when Leaping Horse met +them." + +"Jerusalem!" the miner exclaimed. "What on airth are they doing there? +Why, we thought they had gone down to the west of the Colorado. I told +you so, chief, when I talked to you about it; and instead of that, here +they are up in the country of the 'Rappahoes and Shoshones." + +"They went south," the Indian said quietly, "and had trouble with the +Utes and had to come back again, then they went north." + +"Ah, that accounts for it. I wonder Harry didn't send word to Pete +Hoskings that he had gone up to the Big Wind River. I ain't heard of +there being any gold in that region, though some think that coming down +through the big hills from Yellowstone Valley on the northwest, metal +might be struck." + +"Going to look for gold a little," the chief said, "hunt much; not stay +there very long, mean to go down south again after a bit. Leaping Horse +go with them." + +"Oh, I see. The Utes had come upon them, and they knew that if they +stopped there they would lose their scalps sooner or later, so they came +up here and made north for a bit to hunt and fossick about in the hills, +and then go back when the Utes had quieted down." + +The chief nodded. + +"Well, well, that alters the affair altogether. Whereabouts did you +leave them?" + +"Near the Buffalo Lake." + +"Don't know it. Where does it lie?" + +"On a stream that runs into the river from the west, from a valley +running up near Fremont's Buttes. They were going up so as to follow the +Riviere de Noir, and then either strike up across the hills to the Upper +Yellowstone, or go out west and come down over the Grosventre range on +to the Wyoming range, and then down through Thompson's Pass, or else +skirt the foot-hills on to the Green River." + +"Waal, chief, I reckon that among all those hills and mountains, one +would have just about the same chance of lighting on them as you would +have of finding a chipmunk in a big pine-forest." + +"Couldn't find," the chief said, "but might follow. If they go fast +never catch them; if wait about, hunt beaver, look for gold and silver, +then might come up to them easy enough, if 'Rappahoes not catch and +kill. Very bad place. Leaping Horse told them so. White brother said he +think so too; but other men think they find gold somewhere, so they go +on. They have got horses, of course. Three horses to ride, three horses +to carry beaver-traps and food. Leaping Horse came back here to sell his +skins. He had promised to meet a friend here, or he would not have left +Straight Harry, who is a good man and a friend of Leaping Horse. Three +men not enough in bad country." + +"Do you think there would be any chance of my finding them?" Tom asked +eagerly. + +A slight gleam of amusement passed over the Indian's face. + +"My brother is very young," he said. "He will be a brave warrior and a +great hunter some day, but his eyes are not opened yet. Were he to try +he would leave his scalp to dry in the 'Rappahoes' lodges." + +"That is just what I told him, chief. It would be sheer madness." + +The Indian made no reply, and Jerry turned the conversation. + +"You don't drink spirits, chief, or I would go and get a bottle from the +fort." + +"Leaping Horse is not a madman," the Indian said scornfully, "that he +should poison his brain with fire-water." + +"Yes; I remembered, chief, that you had fallen into our ways and drink +tea." + +"Tea is good," the Indian said. "It is the best thing the white man has +brought out on to the plains." + +"That is so, chief, except tobacco. We did not bring that; but I reckon +you got it from the Spaniards long ago, though maybe you knew of it +before they came up from the south." + +The meat was now cooked, and Tom took it off the fire and handed the +pieces on the ramrod, that had served as a spit, to the others, together +with some bread, poured out the tea from the kettle, and placed a bag of +sugar before them. There was little talk until after the meal was over. +Then the Indian and Jerry smoked steadily, while Tom took a single pipe, +having only commenced the use of tobacco since he had left Denver. +Presently the Indian arose. + +"In the morning I will see my white friends again," he said, and without +further adieu turned and walked gravely back to the fort. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +LEAPING HORSE + + +"He is a fine fellow," Jerry said, after the Indian had left him. "You +must have a talk with him one of these days over his adventures among +the 'Rappahoes and Navahoes, who are both as troublesome rascals as are +to be found on the plains. An Indian seldom talks of his adventures, but +sometimes when you can get him in the right humour you may hear about +them." + +"He talks very fair English," Tom said. + +"Yes; he has been ten years among us. He was employed for two or three +years supplying the railway men with meat; but no Indian cares to hunt +long in one place, and he often goes away with parties of either hunters +or gold-seekers. He knows the country well, and is a first-rate shot; +and men are always glad to have him with them. There is no more trusty +red-skin on the plains, and he will go through fire and water for those +whom he regards as his special friends. I should say he is about the one +man alive who could take you to your uncle." + +"Do you think he would?" Tom asked eagerly. + +"Ah, that is another matter; I don't know what his plans are. If he is +engaged to go with another party he will go, for he would not fail +anyone to whom he had made a promise. If he isn't engaged he might +perhaps do it. Not for pay, for he has little use for money. His hunting +supplies him with all he wants. It gives him food, and occasionally he +will go with a bundle of pelts to the nearest town, and the money he +gets for them will supply him with tea and tobacco and ammunition, and +such clothes as he requires, which is little enough. Buckskin is +everlasting wear, and he gets his worked up for him by the women of any +Indian tribe among whom he may be hunting. If he were one of these fort +Indians it would be only a question of money; but it would never do to +offer it to him. He does not forget that he is a chief, though he has +been away so many years from what there is left of his old tribe. If he +did it at all it would be for the sake of your uncle. I know they have +hunted together, and fought the Apaches together. I won't say but that +if we get at him the right way, and he don't happen to have no other +plans in his mind, that he might not be willing to start with you." + +"I should be glad if he would, Jerry. I have been quite dreading to get +to Fort Bridger. I have had such a splendid time of it with you that I +should feel awfully lonely after you had gone on." + +"Yes, I dare say you would feel lonesome. I should have felt lonesome +myself if I did not light upon some mate going the same way. We got on +very well together, Tom. When Pete Hoskings first put it to me whether I +would be willing to take you with me as far as this, I thought that +though I liked you well enough, it would not be in my way to be playing +a sort of schoolmaster business to a young tenderfoot; but I had got to +like the notion before we left Denver, and now it seems to me that we +have had a rare good time of it together." + +"We have indeed, Jerry; at least I have had. Even if the Indian would +agree to take me I should miss you awfully." + +Jerry made no reply, but sat smoking his pipe and looking into the fire. +As he was sometimes inclined to be taciturn, Tom made no attempt to +continue the conversation; and after moving out and shifting the +picket-pegs so as to give the horses a fresh range of grass to munch +during the night, he returned to the fire, wrapped himself in his +blankets and lay down, his "Good-night, Jerry," meeting with no +response, his companion being evidently absorbed in his own thoughts. + +"You are not going on to-day, Jerry, are you?" Tom said, as he threw off +his blankets and sat up in the morning. The sun was not yet up, but +Jerry had already stirred up the embers, put some meat over them to +cook, and put the kettle among them. + +"No, I shall stop here for a day or two, lad. I am in no special hurry, +and have no call to push on. I have not made up my mind about things +yet." + +They had scarcely finished breakfast when Leaping Horse came down from +the fort. + +"Tom here has been asking me, chief, whether there was any chance of +getting you to guide him to his uncle. I said, of course, that I did not +know what your plans were; but that if you had nothing special before +you, possibly you might be willing to do so, as I know that you and +Straight Harry have done some tall hunting and fighting together." + +The Indian's face was impassive. + +"Can my young brother ride day after day and night after night, can he +go long without food and water, is he ready to run the risk of his scalp +being taken by the 'Rappahoes? Can he crawl and hide, can he leave his +horse and travel on foot, can he hear the war-cry of the red-skins +without fear?" + +"I don't say that I can do all these things, chief," Tom said; "but I +can do my best. And, anyhow, I think I can promise that if we should be +attacked you shall see no signs of my being afraid, whatever I may feel. +I am only a boy yet, but I hope I am not a coward." + +"You have come a long way across the sea to find my brother, Straight +Harry. You would not have come so far alone if your heart had been weak. +Leaping Horse is going back to join his white brother again, and will +take you to him." + +Tom felt that any outburst of delight would be viewed with distaste by +this grave Indian, and he replied simply: "I thank you with all my +heart, chief, and I am sure that my uncle will be grateful to you." + +The chief nodded his head gravely, and then, as if the matter were +settled and no more need be said about it, he turned to Jerry: + +"Which way is my white friend going?" + +"I'm dog-goned if I know. I had reckoned to go down past Utah, and to go +out prospecting among the hills, say a hundred miles farther west; then +while I journeyed along with Tom I got mixed in my mind. I should like +to have handed him over safe to Harry; but if Harry had gone down to the +Ute hills with an idea of trying a spot I have heard him speak of, where +he thought he had struck it rich, he might not have cared to have had me +come there, and so I concluded last night it was best the lad should +wait here till Harry got back. Now the thing is altered; they are just +hunting and prospecting, and might be glad to have me with them, and I +might as well be there as anywhere else; so as you are going back there, +I reckon I shall be one of the party." + +"That will be capital, Jerry," Tom said. "With you as well as the chief +we shall be sure to get through; and it will be awfully jolly having you +with us." + +"Don't you make any mistake," the miner said, "I should not be of much +more use in finding them than you would. I ain't been up among the +mountains all these years without learning something, but I ain't no +more than a child by the side of the chief. And don't you think this +affair is going to be a circus. I tell you it is going to be a hard job. +There ain't a dozen white men as have been over that country, and we +shall want to be pretty spry if we are to bring back our scalps. It is a +powerful rough country. There are peaks there, lots of them, ten +thousand feet high, and some of them two or three thousand above that. +There are rivers, torrents, and defiles. I don't say there will be much +chance of running short of food, if it wasn't that half the time one +will be afraid to fire for fear the 'tarnal Indians should hear us. We +ain't got above a month afore the first snows fall. Altogether it is a +risky business, look at it which way you will." + +"Well, Jerry, if it is as bad as that, I don't think it will be right +for you and the chief to risk your lives merely that I should find my +uncle. If he is alive he is sure to come back here sooner or later; or +if he goes some other way back to Denver he will hear from Pete that I +am here, and will either write or come for me." + +"It ain't entirely on your account, lad, as I am thinking of going; and +I am pretty sure the chief would tell you that it is the same with him. +You see, he tried to persuade your uncle to turn back. My opinion is, +that though he had to come here to keep the appointment, he had it in +his mind to go back again to join your uncle. Haven't I about struck +your thoughts, chief?" + +The chief nodded. "My white brother Harry is in danger," he said. +"Leaping Horse had to leave him; but would have started back to-day to +take his place by his side. The Hunting Dog will go with him." + +"I thought so, chief; I am dog-goned if I did not think so. It was +Hunting Dog you came back here to meet, I suppose." + +"Hunting Dog is of my tribe," he said; "he is my sister's son. He came +across the plains to join me. He has hunted in his own country; this is +the first time he has come out to take his place as a man. Leaping Horse +will teach him to be a warrior." + +"That is good; the more the better, so that there ain't too many. Well, +what is your advice, chief? Shall we take our pack pony with the +outfit?" + +The chief shook his head decidedly. "Must travel quick and be able to +gallop fast. My white brothers must take nothing but what they can carry +with them." + +"All right, chief; we will not overload ourselves. We will just take our +robes and blankets, our shooting-irons, some tea and sugar, and a few +pounds of flour. At what time shall we start?" + +"In an hour we will ride out from the fort." + +"We shall be ready. Ten minutes would fix us, except that I must go into +the fort and sell my critter and what flour and outfit we sha'n't want, +to a trader there. + +"I ain't done badly by that deal," Jerry said when he returned. "I have +sold the pony for more than I gave for him; for the red-skins have been +keeping away from the fort of late, and the folks going by are always +wanting horses in place of those that have died on the way. The other +things all sold for a good bit more than we gave for them at Denver. +Carriage comes mighty high on these plains; besides, the trader took his +chances and reckoned them in." + +"How do you mean, Jerry?" + +"Waal, I told him we was going up to the Shoshone Sierra, and intended +to hunt about and to come back, maybe by the Yellowstone and then by the +Bear rivers, and that we would take the price of the goods out in trade +when we got back. That made it a sort of lottery for him, for if we +never came back at all he would never have to pay, so he could afford to +take his risks and offer me a good price. I reckon he thinks he has got +them at a gift. He has given two pieces of paper, one for you and one +for me, saying that he owes the two of us the money; so if I should go +under and you should get back, you will draw it all right." + +They at once proceeded to pack their ponies. Divided between the +saddle-bags of the two animals were four pounds of tea, eight of sugar, +and thirty-six of flour. Each took a good store of ammunition, an extra +pair of breeches, a flannel shirt, and a pair of stockings. The rest of +their clothes had been packed, and taken up by Jerry to the traders to +lie there until their return. + +"That is light enough for anything," Jerry said, when the things were +stowed into the saddle-bags. "Four-and-twenty pounds of grub and five +pounds of ammunition brings it up to nine-and-twenty pounds each, little +enough for a trip that may last three months for aught we know." + +In addition to the ammunition in the saddle-bags, each carried a +powder-horn and a bag of bullets over his shoulder. The revolvers were +in their belts, and the rifles slung behind them. While Jerry was away +at the fort Tom had made and baked three loaves, which were cut up and +put in the holsters. + +"Now we are ready, Tom; the Indians will be out in a minute or two. The +sun is just at its highest." + +Two minutes later the chief and his companion rode out from the gate of +the fort. Jerry and Tom mounted their horses and cantered over to meet +them. As they came up, Tom looked with interest at the young Indian. He +judged him to be about nineteen, and he had a bright and intelligent +face. He was, like his uncle, attired in buckskin; but the shirt was +fringed and embroidered, as was the band that carried his powder-horn, a +gift, doubtless, from some Indian maiden at his departure from his +village. No greetings were exchanged; but the chief and Jerry rode at +once side by side towards the northeast, and Tom took his place by the +side of the young Indian. + +"How are you?" he said, holding out his hand. The young Indian took it +and responded to the shake, but he shook his head. + +"Ah, you don't speak English yet?" Hunting Dog again shook his head. +"That is a pity," Tom went on; "it would have been jolly if we could +have talked together." + +The chief said something to Jerry, who turned around in his saddle. "His +uncle says he can talk some. He has taught him a little when he has paid +visits to the village, but he has had no practice in speaking it. He +will get on after a time." + +All were well mounted, and they travelled fast. Just before sunset they +crossed the Green River at a ford used by the emigrants, and some fifty +miles northeast of Fort Bridger. They had seen a herd of deer by the +way, and the two Indians had dismounted and stalked them. The others +lost sight of them, but when two rifle-shots were heard Jerry said, "We +will take the horses along to them, you may be sure they have got meat; +the chief is a dead shot, and he says that his nephew has also gifts +that way." As they expected, they found the Indians standing beside two +dead deer. Hunting Dog laid open the stomachs with a slash of his knife, +and removed the entrails, then tying the hind legs together swung the +carcasses on to his horse behind the saddle, and the journey was at once +renewed. + +"You will make for Fremont's Buttes, I suppose, chief?" Jerry said, as +after riding up the river for three or four miles so as to be able to +obtain wood for their fire--as for a considerable distance on either +side of the emigrant trail not a shrub was to be seen--they dismounted, +turned the horses loose, lit a fire, and prepared a meal. + +"Yes. We will go over the pass and camp at one of the little lakes at +the head of the north fork, thence we will ride across the plain and +ford Little Wind River, and then follow up the Sage Creek and make our +camp at night on Buffalo Lake. From there we must follow their trail." + +"And where shall we have to begin to look out for the 'Rappahoes?" + +"They may be over the next rise; no one can say. The 'Rappahoes are like +the dead leaves drifting before the wind. They come as far south as the +emigrant trail, and have attacked caravans many times. After to-night we +must look out for them always, and must put out our fires before dark." + +Tom had noticed how carefully the young Indian had selected the wood for +the fire; searching carefully along by the edge of the river for +drift-wood, and rejecting all that contained any sap. He himself had +offered to cut down some wood with the axe he carried strapped to his +saddle, but Hunting Dog had shaken his head. + +"No good, no good," he said. "Make heap smoke; smoke very bad." + +Tom thought that the shrub he was about to cut would give out obnoxious +smoke that would perhaps flavour the meat hanging over it, but when the +Indian added, "Heap smoke, red-skins see a long way," he understood that +Hunting Dog had been so careful in choosing the wood in order to avoid +making any smoke whatever that might attract the attention of Indians at +a distance from them. It was his first lesson in the necessity for +caution; and as darkness set in he looked round several times, half +expecting to see some crouching red-skins. The careless demeanour of his +companions, however, reassured him, for he felt certain that if there +was any fear of a surprise, they would be watchful. + +After supper the Indian talked over with Jerry the route they would most +probably have to pursue. The miner had never been in this part of the +country before; indeed, very few white men, with the exception of +trappers who had married Indian women and had been admitted into their +tribes, had ever penetrated into this, the wildest portion of the Rocky +Mountains. Vague rumours existed of the abundance of game there, and of +the existence of gold, but only one attempt had been made to prospect on +a large scale. This had taken place three years before, when a party of +twenty Californian miners penetrated into the mountains. None of them +returned, but reports brought down by Indians to the settlements were to +the effect that, while working a gold reef they had discovered, they +were attacked and killed to a man by a war party of Sioux. + +"I was mighty nigh being one of that crowd," Jerry said when he told the +story to Tom, as they sat over the camp-fire that night. "I heard of +their start when I got back to Salt Lake City, after being away for some +time among the hills. I legged it arter them as fast as I could, but I +found when I got to the last settlement that they had gone on ten days +before, and as I did not know what line they had followed, and did not +care to cross the pass alone, I gave it up. Mighty lucky thing it was, +though I did not think so at the time." + +"But why should my uncle's party have gone into such a dangerous country +when they knew that the natives were so hostile?" + +"It is a mighty big place, it is pretty nigh as big as all the eastern +states chucked into one, and the red-skins are not thick. No one knows +how many there are, but it is agreed they are not a big tribe. Then it +ain't like the plains, where a party travelling can be seen by an Indian +scout miles and miles away. It is all broken ground, canyons and valleys +and rocks. Then again, when we get on the other side of the Wind River +they tell me there are big forests. That is so, chief, isn't it?" + +The chief nodded. "Heap forests," he said, "higher up rocks and bad +lands; all bad. In winter snow everywhere on hills. Red-skins not like +cold; too much cold, wigwam no good." + +"That's it, you see, Tom. We are here a long way above the sea-level, +and so in the hills you soon get above the timber-line. It's barren land +there, just rock, without grass enough for horses, and in winter it is +so all-fired cold that the Indians can't live there in their wigwams. I +reckon their villages are down in the sheltered valleys, and if we don't +have the bad luck to run plump into one of these we may wander about a +mighty long time before we meet with a red-skin. That is what you mean, +isn't it, chief?" + +Leaping Horse grunted an assent. + +"What game is there in the country?" + +"There are wapitis, which are big stag with thundering great horns, and +there are big-horns. Them are mountain sheep; they are mostly up above +the timber-line. Wapitis and big-horns are good for food, but their +skins ain't worth taking off. There is beaver, heaps of them; though I +reckon there ain't as many as there were by a long way, for since the +whites came out here and opened trade, and the red-skins found they +could get good prices for beaver, they have brought them down by +thousands every year. Still, there is no doubt there is plenty left, and +that trappers would do first-rate there if the red-skins were friendly. +In course, there is plenty of b'ars, but unless you happen to have a +thundering good chance it is just as well to leave the b'ars alone, for +what with the chances of getting badly mauled, and what with the weight +of the skin, it don't pay even when you come right side up out of a +tussle." + +"Are there any maps of the region?" + +"None of any account. They are all just guess-work. You may take it that +this is just a heap of mountains chucked down anyhow. Such maps as there +are have been made from tales trappers who came in with pelts have told. +Well, firstly they only knew about just where the tribe they had joined +lived, and in the second place you may bet they warn't such fools as to +tell anything as would help other fellows to get there; so you may put +down that they told very little, and what they did tell was all lies. +Some day or other I suppose there will be an expedition fitted out to go +right through, and to punish these dog-goned red-skins and open the +country; but it will be a long time arter that afore it will be safe +travelling, for I reckon that soldiers might march and march for years +through them mountains without ever catching a sight of a red-skin if +they chose to keep out of their way. And now I reckon we had best get in +atween our blankets." + +The two Indians had already lain down by the fire. Tom was some time +before he could get to sleep. The thought of the wild and unknown +country he was about to enter, with its great game, its hidden gold +treasures, its Indians and its dangers, so excited his imagination that, +tired as he was with the long ride, two or three hours passed before he +fell off to sleep. He was awoke by being shaken somewhat roughly by +Jerry. + +"Why, you are sleeping as sound as a b'ar in a hollow tree," the miner +said. "You are generally pretty spry in the morning." A dip in the cold +water of the river awoke Tom thoroughly, and by the time he had rejoined +his comrades breakfast was ready. The ground rose rapidly as they rode +forward. They were now following an Indian trail, a slightly-marked path +made by the Indians as they travelled down with their ponies laden with +beaver skins, to exchange for ammunition, blankets, and tobacco at the +trading station. The country was barren in the extreme, being covered +only with patches of sage brush. As they proceeded it became more and +more hilly, and distant ridges and peaks could be seen as they crossed +over the crests. + +"These are the bad lands, I suppose?" + +"You bet they are, Tom, but nothing like as bad as you will see afore +you are done. Sage brush will grow pretty nigh everywhere, but there are +thousands of square miles of rock where even sage brush cannot live." + +The hills presently became broken up into fantastic shapes, while +isolated rocks and pinnacles rose high above the general level. + +"How curiously they are coloured," Tom remarked, "just regular bands of +white and red and green and orange; and you see the same markings on all +these crags, at the same level." + +"Just so, Tom. We reckon that this country, and it is just the same down +south, was once level, and the rains and the rivers and torrents cut +their way through it and wore it down, and just these buttes and crags +and spires were left standing, as if to show what the nature of the +ground was everywhere. Though why the different kinds of rocks has such +different colours is more than I can tell. I went out once with an old +party as they called a scientific explorer. I have heard him say this +was all under water once, and sometimes one kind of stuff settled down +like mud to the bottom, sometimes another, though where all the water +came from is more nor I can tell. He said something about the ground +being raised afterwards, and I suppose the water run off then. I did not +pay much attention to his talk, for he was so choke-full of larning, and +had got such a lot of hard names on the tip of his tongue, that there +were no making head or tail of what he was saying." + +Tom had learnt something of the elements of geology, and could form an +idea of the processes by which the strange country at which he was +looking had been formed. + +"That's Fremont's Buttes," the Indian said presently, pointing to a +flat-topped hill that towered above the others ahead. + +"Why, I thought you said it was a fifty-mile ride to-day, Jerry, and we +can't have gone more than half that." + +"How far do you suppose that hill is off?" + +"Three or four miles, I should think." + +"It is over twenty, lad. Up here in the mountains the air is so clear +you can see things plain as you couldn't make out the outlines of down +below." + +"But it seems to me so close that I could make out people walking about +on the top," Tom said a little incredulously. + +"I dare say, lad. But you will see when you have ridden another hour it +won't seem much closer than it does now." + +Tom found out that the miner was not joking with him, as he at first had +thought was the case. Mile after mile was ridden, and the landmark +seemed little nearer than before. Presently Hunting Dog said something +to the chief, pointing away to the right. Leaping Horse at once reined +in, and motioned to his white companions to do the same. + +"What is it, chief?" Jerry asked. + +"Wapiti," he replied. + +"That is good news," the miner said. "It will be lucky if we can lay in +a supply of deer flesh here. The less we shoot after we get through the +pass the better. Shall we go with you, chief?" + +"My white brothers had better ride on slowly," Leaping Horse said. +"Might scare deer. No good lose time." + +Tom felt rather disappointed, but as he went on slowly with Jerry, the +miner said: "You will have plenty of chances later on, lad, and there is +no time to lose in fooling about. The red-skins will do the business." + +Looking back, Tom saw the two Indians gallop away till they neared the +crest of a low swell. Then they leapt from their horses, and stooping +low went forward. In a short time they lay prone on the ground, and +wriggled along until just on the crest. + +"I reckon the stag is just over there somewhere," Jerry said. "The young +red-skin must have caught sight of an antler." + +They stopped their ponies altogether now, and sat watching the Indians. +These were half a mile away, but every movement was as clearly visible +as if they were but a hundred yards distant. The chief raised himself on +his arms and then on to his knees. A moment later he lay down again, and +they then crawled along parallel with the crest for a couple of hundred +yards. Then they paused, and with their rifles advanced they crept +forward again. + +"Now they see them," Jerry exclaimed. + +The Indians lay for half a minute motionless. Then two tiny puffs of +smoke darted out. The Indians rose to their feet and dashed forward as +the sound of their shots reached the ears of their companions. + +"Come on," Jerry said, "you may be sure they have brought down one stag +anyhow. The herd could not have been far from that crest or the boy +would not have seen the antler over it, and the chief is not likely to +miss a wapiti at a hundred yards." + +Looking back presently Tom saw that the Indian ponies had disappeared. + +"Ay, Hunting Dog has come back for them. You may be sure they won't be +long before they are up with us again." + +In a quarter of an hour the two Indians rode up, each having the +hind-quarters of a deer fastened across his horse behind the saddle, +while the tongues hung from the peaks. + +"Kill them both at first shot, chief?" Jerry asked; "I did not hear +another report." + +"Close by," the chief said; "no could miss." + +"It seems a pity to lose such a quantity of meat," Tom remarked. + +"The Indians seldom carry off more than the hindquarters of a deer, +never if they think there is a chance of getting more soon. There is a +lot more flesh on the hindquarters than there is on the rest of the +stag. But that they are wasteful, the red-skins are, can't be denied. +Even when they have got plenty of meat they will shoot a buffalo any day +just for the sake of his tongue." + +It was still early in the afternoon when they passed under the shadow of +the buttes, and, two miles farther, came upon a small lake, the water +from which ran north. Here they unsaddled the horses and prepared to +camp. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +IN DANGER + + +There were no bushes that would serve their purpose near the lake; they +therefore formed their camp on the leeward side of a large boulder. The +greatest care was observed in gathering the fuel, and it burned with a +clear flame without giving out the slightest smoke. + +"Dead wood dries like tinder in this here air," the miner said. "In +course, if there wur any red-skins within two or three miles on these +hills they would make out the camp, still that ain't likely; but any +loafing Indian who chanced to be hunting ten or even fifteen miles away +would see smoke if there was any, and when a red-skin sees smoke, if he +can't account for it, he is darned sartin to set about finding out who +made it." + +The horses fared badly, for there was nothing for them to pick up save a +mouthful of stunted grass here and there. + +"Plenty of grass to-morrow," the chief said in answer to a remark of Tom +as to the scantiness of their feed. "Grass down by Buffalo Lake good." + +Early the next morning they mounted and rode down the hills into Big +Wind River valley. They did not go down to the river itself, but skirted +the foot of the hills until they reached Buffalo Lake. + +"There," the chief said, pointing to a pile of ashes, "the fire of my +white brother." Alighting, he and Hunting Dog searched the ground +carefully round the fire. Presently the younger Indian lightly touched +the chief and pointed to the ground. They talked together, still +carefully examining the ground, and moved off in a straight line some +fifty yards. Then they returned. + +"Indian here," Leaping Horse said, "one, two days ago. Found fire, went +off on trail of white men." + +"That is bad news, chief." + +"Heap bad," the Indian said gravely. + +"Perhaps he won't follow far," Tom suggested. + +The Indian made no answer. He evidently considered the remark to be +foolish. + +"You don't know much of Indian nature yet, Tom," the miner said. "When a +red-skin comes upon the trail of whites in what he considers his +country, he will follow them if it takes him weeks to do it, till he +finds out all about them, and if he passes near one of his own villages +he will tell the news, and a score of the varmint will take up the trail +with him. It's them ashes as has done it. If the chief here had stopped +with them till they started this would not have happened, for he would +have seen that they swept every sign of their fire into the lake. I +wonder they did not think of it themselves. It was a dog-goned foolish +trick to leave such a mark as this. I expect they will be more keerful +arterwards, but they reckoned that they had scarce got into the Indian +country." + +"Do you think it was yesterday the red-skin was here, or the day before, +chief?" + +"Leaping Horse can't say," the Indian replied. "Ground very hard, mark +very small. No rain, trail keep fresh a long time. Only find mark +twice." He led them to a spot where, on the light dust among the rocks, +was the slight impression of a footmark. + +"That is the mark of a moccasin, sure enough," Jerry said; "but maybe +one of the whites, if not all of them, have put on moccasins for the +journey. They reckoned on climbing about some, and moccasins beat boots +anyhow for work among the hills." + +"Red-skin foot," the Indian said quietly. + +"Well, if you say it is, of course it is. I should know it myself if I +saw three or four of them in a line, but as there is only one mark it +beats me." + +"How would you know, Jerry?" + +"A white man always turns out his toes, lad, an Indian walks +straight-footed. There are other differences that a red-skin would see +at once, but which are beyond me, for I have never done any tracking +work." + +The Indian without speaking led them to another point some twenty yards +away, and pointed to another impression. This was so slight that it was +with difficulty that Tom could make out the outline. + +"Yes, that settles it," Jerry said. "You see, lad, when there was only +one mark I could not tell whether it was turned out or not, for that +would depend on the direction the man was walking in. This one is just +in a line with the other, and so the foot must have been set down +straight. Had it been turned out a bit, the line, carried straight +through the first footprint, would have gone five or six yards away to +the right." + +It took Tom two or three minutes to reason this out to himself, but at +last he understood the drift of what his companion said. As the line +through one toe and heel passed along the centre of the other, the foot +must each time have been put down in a straight line, while if the +footprints had been made by a person who turned out his toes they would +never point straight towards those farther on. + +"Well, what is your advice, chief?" Jerry asked. + +"Must camp and eat," the Indian replied, "horses gone far enough. No +fear here, red-skin gone on trail." + +"Do you think there have been more than one, chief?" + +"Not know," Leaping Horse said; "find out by and by." + +Tom now noticed that Hunting Dog had disappeared. + +"Where shall we make the fire?" + +The chief pointed to the ashes. + +"That's it," Jerry said. "If any red-skin came along you see, Tom, there +would be nothing to tell them that more than one party had been here." + +The chief this time undertook the collection of fuel himself, and a +bright fire was presently burning. Two hours later Hunting Dog came +back. He talked for some time earnestly with the chief, and taking out +two leaves from his wampum bag opened them and showed him two tiny heaps +of black dust. Jerry asked no questions until the conversation was done, +and then while Hunting Dog cut off a large chunk of deer's flesh, and +placing it in the hot ashes sat himself quietly down to wait until it +was cooked, he said: + +"Well, chief, what is the news?" + +"The Indian had a horse, Hunting Dog came upon the spot where he had +left it a hundred yards away. When he saw ashes, he came to look at +them. Afterwards he followed the trail quite plain on the soft ground at +head of lake. Over there," and he pointed to the foot of the hills, +"Indian stopped and fired twice." + +"How on earth did he know that, chief?" + +The chief pointed to the two leaves. The scout examined the powder. +"Wads," he said. "They are leather wads, Tom, shrivelled and burnt. What +did he fire at, chief?" + +"Signal. Half a mile farther three other mounted redskins joined him. +They stopped and had heap talk. Then one rode away into hills, the +others went on at gallop on trail." + +"That is all bad, chief. The fellow who went up the hills no doubt made +for a village?" + +The chief nodded. + +"The only comfort is that Harry has got a good start of them. It was a +week from the time you left them before we met you, that is three days +ago, so that if the red-skins took up the trail yesterday, Harry has ten +days' start of them." + +Leaping Horse shook his head. "Long start if travel fast, little start +if travel slow." + +"I see what you mean. If they pushed steadily on up the valley, they +have gone a good distance, but if they stopped to catch beaver or +prospect for gold they may not have got far away. Hadn't we better be +pushing on, chief?" + +"No good, horses make three days' journey; rest well to-day, travel +right on to-morrow. If go farther to-night, little good to-morrow. Good +camp here, all rest." + +"Well, no doubt you are right, chief, but it worries one to think that +while we are sitting here those 'tarnal red-skins may be attacking our +friends. My only hope is that Harry, who has done a lot of Indian +fighting, will hide his trail as much as possible as he goes on, and +that they will have a lot of trouble in finding it." + +The chief nodded. "My white brother, Harry, knows Indian ways. He did +not think he had come to Indian country here or he would not have left +his ashes. But beyond this he will be sure to hide his trail, and the +'Rappahoes will have to follow slow." + +"You think they are 'Rappahoes, chief?" + +"Yes, this 'Rappahoe country. The Shoshones are further north, and are +friendly; the Bannacks and Nez Perces are in northwest, near Snake +River; and the Sioux more on the north and east, on other side of great +mountains. 'Rappahoes here." + +"Waal," Jerry said wrathfully, "onless they catch Harry asleep, some of +the darned skunks will be rubbed out afore they get his scalp. It is a +good country for hiding trail. There are many streams coming down from +the hills into the Big Wind, and they can turn up or down any of them as +they please, and land on rocky ground too, so it would be no easy matter +to track them. By the lay of the country there does not seem much chance +of gold anywheres about here, and, as I reckon, they will be thinking +more of that than of beaver skins, so I think they would push straight +on." + +"Harry said he should get out of Big Wind River valley quick," Leaping +Horse said. "Too many Indians there. Get into mountains other side. Go +up Riviere de Noir, then over big mountains into Sierra Shoshone, and +then down Buffalo through Jackson's Hole, and then strike Snake River. I +told him heap bad Indians in Jackson's Hole, Bannacks, and Nez Perces. +He said not go down into valley, keep on foot-hills. I told him, too bad +journey, but he and other pale-faces thought could do it, and might find +much gold. No good Leaping Horse talk." + +"This is a dog-goned bad business I have brought you into, Tom. I +reckoned we should not get out without troubles, but I did not +calkerlate on our getting into them so soon." + +"You did not bring me here, Jerry, so you need not blame yourself for +that. It was I brought you into it, for you did not make up your mind to +come till I had settled to go with Leaping Horse." + +"I reckon I should have come anyhow," Jerry grumbled. "Directly the +chief said where Harry and the others had gone my mind was set on +joining them. It was a new country, and there wur no saying what they +might strike, and though I ain't a regular Indian-fighter, leaving them +alone when they leave me alone, I can't say as I am averse to a +scrimmage with them if the odds are anyways equal." + +"It is a wonderful country," Tom said, looking at the almost +perpendicular cliffs across the valley, with their regular coloured +markings, their deep fissures, crags, and pinnacles, "and worth coming a +long way to see." + +"I don't say as it ain't curous, but I have seen the like down on the +Colorado, and I don't care if I never see no more of it if we carry our +scalps safe out of this. I don't say as I object to hills if they are +covered with forest, for there is safe to be plenty of game there, and +the wood comes in handy for timbering, but this kind of country that +looks as if some chaps with paint-pots had been making lines all over +it, ain't to my taste noway. Here, lad; I never travel without hooks and +lines; you can get a breakfast and dinner many a day when a gun would +bring down on you a score of red varmints. I expect you will find fish +in the lake. Many of these mountain lakes just swarm with them. You had +better look about and catch a few bugs, there ain't no better bait. +Those jumping bugs are as good as any," and he pointed to a grasshopper, +somewhat to Tom's relief, for the lad had just been wondering where he +should look for bugs, not having seen one since he landed in the States. + +There were two lines and hooks in the miner's outfit, and Tom and +Hunting Dog, after catching some grasshoppers, went down to the lake, +while Jerry and the chief had a long and earnest conversation together. +The baited hooks were scarcely thrown into the water when they were +seized, and in a quarter of an hour ten fine lake trout were lying on +the bank. Tom was much delighted. He had fished from boats, but had +never met with much success, and his pleasure at landing five fish +averaging four or five pounds apiece was great. As it was evidently +useless to catch more, they wound up their lines, and Hunting Dog split +the fish open and laid them down on the rock, which was so hot that Tom +could scarce bear his hand on it. + +Seeing the elder men engaged in talk Tom did not return to them, but +endeavoured to keep up a conversation with the young Indian, whom he +found to be willing enough to talk now they were alone, and who knew +much more English than he had given him credit for. As soon as the sun +set the fire was extinguished, and they lay down to sleep shortly +afterwards. An hour before daylight they were in the saddle. Hunting Dog +rode ahead on the line he had followed the day before. As soon as it +became light Tom kept his eyes fixed upon the ground, but it was only +now and then, when the Indian pointed to the print of a horse's hoof in +the sand between the rocks, that he could make them out. The two Indians +followed the track, however, without the slightest difficulty, the +horses going at a hand gallop. + +"They don't look to me like horses' footprints," Tom said to Jerry when +they had passed a spot where the marks were unusually clear. + +"I reckon you have never seen the track of an unshod horse before, Tom. +With a shod horse you see nothing but the mark of the shoe, here you get +the print of the whole hoof. Harry has been careful enough here, and has +taken the shoes off his ponies, for among all the marks, we have not +seen any made by a shod horse. The Indians never shoe theirs, and the +mark of an iron is enough to tell the first red-skin who passes that a +white man has gone along there. The chief and I took off the shoes of +the four horses yesterday afternoon when you were fishing. We put them +and the nails by to use when we get out of this dog-goned country." + +After riding for two hours they came to the bank of a stream. The chief +held up his hand for them to stop, while he dismounted and examined the +foot-marks. Then he mounted again and rode across the stream, which was +some ten yards wide and from two to three feet deep. He went on a short +distance beyond it, leapt from his saddle, threw the reins on the +horse's neck, and returned to the bank on foot. He went a short distance +up the stream and then as much down, stooping low and examining every +inch of the ground. Then he stood up and told the others to cross. + +[Illustration: "Leaping Horse Mounted, And Rode Across The Stream"] + +"Leave your horses by mine," he said as they joined him. "Trail very +bad, all rock." He spoke to the young Indian, who, on dismounting, at +once went forward, quartering the ground like a spaniel in search of +game, while the chief as carefully searched along the bank. + +"Best leave them to themselves, Tom; they know what they are doing." + +"They are hunting for the trail, Jerry, I suppose?" + +"Ay, lad. Harry struck on a good place when he crossed where he did, for +you see the rock here is as smooth as the top of a table, and the wind +has swept it as clean of dust as if it had been done by an eastern +woman's broom. If the horses had been shod there would have been +scratches on the rock that would have been enough for the dullest Indian +to follow, but an unshod horse leaves no mark on ground like this. I +expect the red-skins who followed them were just as much puzzled as the +chief is. There ain't no saying whether they crossed and went straight +on, or whether they never crossed at all or kept in the stream either up +or down." + +It was half an hour before the two Indians had concluded their +examination of the ground. + +"Well, chief, what do you make of it?" Jerry asked when they had spoken +a few words together. + +"Hunting Dog has good eyes," the chief said. "The white men went +forward, the red men could not find the trail, and thought that they had +kept in the river, so they went up to search for them. Come, let us go +forward." + +The miner and Tom mounted their horses, but the Indians led theirs +forward some three hundred yards. Then Hunting Dog pointed down, and the +chief stooped low and examined the spot. + +"What is it, chief?" Jerry asked; and he and Tom both got off and knelt +down. They could see nothing whatever. + +"That is it," Leaping Horse said, and pointed to a piece of rock +projecting half an inch above the flat. + +"I am darned if I can see anything." + +"There is a tiny hair there," Tom said, putting his face within a few +inches of the ground. "It might be a cat's hair; it is about the length, +but much thicker. It is brown." + +"Good!" the chief said, putting his hand on Tom's shoulder. "Now let us +ride." He leapt into his saddle, the others following his example, and +they went on at the same pace as before. + +"Well, chief," the miner said, "what does that hair tell you about it, +for I can't make neither head nor tail of it?" + +"The white men killed a deer on their way up here, and they cut up the +hide and made shoes for horses, so that they should leave no tracks. One +of the horses trod on a little rock and a hair came out of the hide." + +"That may be it, chief," the miner said, after thinking the matter over, +"though it ain't much of a thing to go by." + +"Good enough," Leaping Horse said. "We know now the line they were +taking. When we get to soft ground see trail plainer." + +"What will the others do when they cannot find the trail anywhere along +the bank?" + +"Ride straight on," the chief said. "Search banks of next river, look at +mouths of valleys to make sure white men have not gone up there, meet +more of tribe, search everywhere closely, find trail at last." + +"Well, that ought to give Harry a good start, anyhow." + +"Not know how long gone on," the chief said gravely. "No rainfall. Six, +eight--perhaps only two days' start." + +"But if they always hide their trail as well as they did here I don't +see how the Indians can find them at all--especially as they don't know +where they are making for, as we do." + +"Find camp. Men on foot may hide traces, but with horses sure to find." + +"That is so," Jerry agreed, shaking his head. "An Indian can see with +half an eye where the grass has been cropped or the leaves stripped off +the bushes. Yes, I am afraid that is so. There ain't no hiding a camp +from Indian eyes where horses have been about. It is sure to be near a +stream. Shall you look for them, chief?" + +The Indian shook his head. "Lose time," he said. "We go straight to +Riviere de Noir." + +"You don't think, then, they are likely to turn off before that?" + +"Leaping Horse thinks not. They know Indian about here. Perhaps found +Indian trail near first camp. Know, anyhow, many Indians. Think push +straight on." + +"That is the likeliest. Anyhow, by keeping on we must get nearer to +them. The worst danger seems to me that we may overtake the red-skins +who are hunting them." + +The chief nodded. + +"It is an all-fired fix, Tom," Jerry went on. "If we go slow we may not +be in time to help Harry and the others to save their scalps; if we go +fast we may come on these 'tarnal red-skins, and have mighty hard work +in keeping our own ha'r on." + +"I feel sure that the chief will find traces of them in time to prevent +our running into them, Jerry. Look how good their eyes are. Why, I might +have searched all my life without noticing a single hair on a rock." + +After riding some fifteen miles beyond the stream, and crossing two +similar though smaller rivulets, the chief, after a few words with +Jerry, turned off to the left and followed the foot of the hills. At the +mouth of a narrow valley he stopped, examined the ground carefully, and +then led the way up it, carrying his rifle in readiness across the peak +of the saddle. The valley opened when they had passed its mouth, and a +thick grove of trees grew along the bottom. As soon as they were beneath +their shelter they dismounted. + +The horses at once began to crop the grass. Hunting Dog went forward +through the trees, rifle in hand. + +"Shall I take the bits out of the horses' mouths, Jerry?" Tom asked. + +"Not till the young Indian returns. It is not likely there is a red-skin +village up there, for we should have seen a trail down below if there +had been. Still there may be a hut or two, and we can do nothing till he +comes back." + +It was half an hour before Hunting Dog came through the trees again. He +shook his head, and without a word loosened the girths of his horse and +took off the bridle. + +"He has seen no signs of them, so we can light a fire and get something +to eat. I am beginning to feel I want something badly." + +Thus reminded, Tom felt at once that he was desperately hungry. They had +before starting taken a few mouthfuls of meat that had been cooked the +day before and purposely left over, but it was now three o'clock in the +afternoon, and he felt ravenous. The Indians quickly collected dried +wood, and four of the fish were soon frizzling on hot ashes, while the +kettle, hung in the flame, was beginning to sing. + +"We have done nigh forty miles, Tom, and the horses must have a couple +of hours' rest. We will push on as fast as we can before dark, and then +wait until the moon rises; it will be up by ten. This ain't a country to +ride over in the dark. We will hide up before morning, and not go on +again till next night. Of course we shall not go so fast as by day, but +we sha'n't have any risk of being ambushed. The chief reckons from what +he has heard that the Indian villages are thick along that part of the +valley, and that it will never do to travel by day." + +"Then you have given up all hopes of finding Harry's tracks?" + +"It would be just wasting our time to look for them. We will push on +sharp till we are sure we are ahead of them. We may light upon them by +chance, but there can be no searching for them with these red varmint +round us. It would be just chucking away our lives without a chance of +doing any good. I expect Harry and his party are travelling at night +too; but they won't travel as fast as we do, not by a sight. They have +got pack-ponies with them, and they are likely to lay off a day or two +if they come upon a good place for hiding." + +They travelled but a few miles after their halt, for the Indians +declared they could make out smoke rising in two or three places ahead; +and although neither Jerry nor Tom could distinguish it, they knew that +the Indians' sight was much keener than their own in a matter of this +kind. They therefore halted again behind a mass of rocks that had fallen +down the mountain-side. Hunting Dog lay down among the highest of the +boulders to keep watch, and the horses were hobbled to prevent their +straying. The miner and the chief lit their pipes, and Tom lay down on +his back for a sleep. A short time before it became dusk the call of a +deer was heard. + +"There are wapiti, chief. We can't take a shot at them; but it don't +matter, we have meat enough for a week." + +The chief had already risen to his feet, rifle in hand. + +"It is a signal from Hunting Dog," he said, "he has seen something in +the valley. My white brother had better get the horses together," and he +made his way up the rocks. In a minute or two he called out that the +horses might be left to feed, and presently came leisurely down to them. +"Seen Indians--ten 'Rappahoes." + +"Which way were they going?" + +"Riding from Big Wind River across valley. Been away hunting among hills +over there. Have got meat packed on horses, ride slow. Not have heard +about white men's trail. Going to village, where we saw smoke." + +Tom was fast asleep when Jerry roused him, and told him that the moon +was rising, and that it was time to be off. + +They started at a walk, the chief leading; Jerry followed him, while Tom +rode between him and Hunting Dog, who brought up the rear. Tom had been +warned that on no account was he to speak aloud. "If you have anything +you want to say, and feel that you must say it or bust," Jerry remarked, +"just come up alongside of me and whisper it. Keep your eyes open and +your rifle handy, we might come upon a party any minute. They might be +going back to their village after following Harry's trail as long as +they could track it, or it might be a messenger coming back to fetch up +food, or those fellows Hunting Dog made out going on to join those in +front. Anyhow we have got to travel as quiet as if there was ears all +round us." + +As they passed the clumps of trees where the Indian villages stood they +could see the reflection of the fires on the foliage, and heard the +frequent barking of dogs and an occasional shout. A quarter of a mile +farther the chief halted and spoke to Hunting Dog, who at once +dismounted and glided away towards the village. + +"Gone to see how many men there," the chief said in explanation to +Jerry. "Too much laugh, no good." + +"He means the men must have gone off again, Tom. If there were men in +the camp the boys would not be making a noise." + +They were but a few hundred yards from the trees, and in a very short +time the Indian returned. + +"Men are gone," he said; "only squaws and boys there." + +"How many lodges are there?" the chief asked. Hunting Dog held up both +hands with extended fingers, and then one finger only. + +"Eleven of them," Jerry said. "I expect they are all small villages, and +they move their lodges across into the forests when winter comes on." + +As soon as they had mounted, the chief put his horse into a canter, and +at this pace they went forward for some hours, breaking into a walk +occasionally for a few minutes. + +"I thought you said we should not go beyond a walk to-night, Jerry," Tom +remarked on the first of these occasions. + +"That is what we kinder agreed, lad; but you may be sure the chief has +some good reason for going on faster. I dunno what it is, and I ain't +going to ask. Red-skins hate being questioned. If he wants to tell us he +will tell us without being asked." + +A faint light was stealing over the sky when the chief halted his horse +and sat listening. No sound, however, broke the stillness of the night. + +"Did you think you heard anything, chief?" + +"Leaping Horse heard nothing, but he stopped to listen. What does my +white brother think of the 'Rappahoes having gone on directly they +returned from the chase?" + +"I thought that when they got the news that some white men had gone +through, they might have started to join those following up the trail. +Isn't that what you think, chief?" + +"Only three white men, plenty Indians on trail; no hurry to follow; +might have had feast after hunt and gone on in morning." + +"So they might. You think the whites have been tracked, and are to be +attacked this morning?" + +"Perhaps attacked yesterday. Perhaps have got strong place, 'Rappahoes +want more help to take it. White rifle shoot straight, perhaps want more +men to starve them out." + +They again went forward, at a gallop now. Jerry did not think much of +the chief's idea. It seemed to him natural that the Indians should want +to join in the hunt for scalps, and to get a share of the white men's +goods, though he admitted that it was strange they should have gone on +without taking a meal. Presently the chief reined in his horse again, +and sat with head bent forward. Tom heard an angry grunt from between +Hunting Dog's teeth. Listening intently also, he was conscious of a +faint, far-away sound. + +"You hear?" the chief said to Jerry. + +"I heard something; but it might be anything. A waterfall in the hills +miles away, that is what it sounds like." + +"Guns," the chief said laconically. + +"Do you think so?" Jerry said doubtfully. "There don't seem to me +anything of guns in it. It is just a sort of murmur that keeps on and +on." + +"It is the mountains speaking back again," the chief said, waving his +hand. "Hills everywhere. They say to each other, the red men who live in +our bosoms are attacking the pale-face strangers." + +"What do you think, Hunting Dog?" Tom whispered to the Indian. + +"Gun-shot," he replied, in a tone of absolute conviction. + +"Waal, chief, I will not gainsay your opinion," Jerry said. "How far do +you think it is off?" + +"The horses will take us there in two hours," the chief replied. + +"Then we can put it at twenty miles at least. Let us be going; whatever +the sound is, we shall know more about it before we have gone much +farther." + +"Not too fast," Leaping Horse said as the miner was urging his horse +forward. "Maybe have to fight, maybe have to run. No good tire horse too +much." + +It was more than an hour before Tom could hear any distinct change in +the character of the sound, but at last he was able to notice that, +though seemingly continuous, the sound really pulsated; sometimes it +almost died away, then suddenly swelled out again, and there were +several vibrations close together. Jerry, more accustomed to the sound +of firearms in the mountains, had before this come round to the chief's +opinion. + +"It is guns, sure enough, Tom; the chief has made no mistake about it. +Waal, there is one comfort, they ain't been surprised. They are making a +good fight of it, and we may be there in time to take a hand in the +game." + +"Shall we ride straight on and join them?" + +"I reckon not, lad. We must wait until we see what sort of place Harry +is in, and how we can best help him, before we fix on any scheme." + +The sound became louder and clearer. The echo was still continuous, but +the sound of the shots could be distinctly heard. + +"It is over there, to the right," Jerry said. "They must have crossed +the Big Wind River." + +"And gone up the De Noir valley," the chief said. "We ought to be close +to it now." + +"Yes, I reckon it can't be far off, by what you told me about the +distance." + +"Better cross Big Wind at once. They no see us now." + +"I agree with you, chief; it would not do for them to get sight of us. +If they did our case would be worse than Harry's. I expect he has got +strongly posted, or he would have been wiped out long ago; that is what +would happen to us if they were to make us out and spy our numbers afore +we get to some place where we and Harry's outfit can help each other." + +They rode rapidly down to the river. With the exception of a few yards +in the middle, where the horses had to swim, the depth was not great, +and they were soon on the other side. They rode to the foot of the +hills, and then kept along it. The sound of firing became louder and +louder, and Tom felt his heart beat quickly at the thought that he might +soon be engaged in a desperate fight with the Indians, and that with the +odds greatly against his party. + +Presently the hills fell sharply away, and they were at the entrance of +the valley of the Riviere de Noir, which is the principal arm of the Big +Wind River at this point. The firing had very much died out during the +last few minutes, and only an occasional shot was heard. + +"They have beat off the attack so far," Jerry said to him encouragingly. +"Now we have got to lie low a bit, while the chief sees how things +stand." + +Leaping Horse dismounted at the mouth of a narrow canyon running up into +the cliff beside them. A little stream trickled down its centre. + +"Could not have been better," Jerry said. "Here is a place we four could +hold against a crowd of red-skins for hours. There is water anyway, and +where there is water there is mostly a little feed for horses. I will +take your horse, chief, and Tom will take Hunting Dog's, if so be you +mean him to go with you. + +"Don't you worry yourself, lad," he went on, seeing how anxious Tom +looked, as they started with the horses up the canyon. "If Harry and his +friends have beaten off the first attack, you may bet your boots they +are safe for some time. It is clear the red-skins have drawn off, and +are holding a pow-wow as to how they are to try next. They attacked, you +see, just as the day was breaking; that is their favourite hour, and I +reckon Harry must have been expecting them, and that he and his mates +were prepared." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +UNITED + + +The canyon showed no sign of widening until they had proceeded a quarter +of a mile from the entrance, then it broadened suddenly for a distance +of a hundred yards. + +"There has been a big slip here both sides," the miner said, looking +round. "It must have taken place a great many years ago, for the winter +floods have swept away all signs of it, and there are grass and trees on +the slopes. The horses can find enough to keep them alive here for a day +or two, and that is all we shall want, I hope." + +"It would be a nasty place to get out of, Jerry, for the cliffs are +perpendicular from half-way up." + +"It ain't likely as there is any place we could get out without +following it to the upper end, which may be some fifty miles away. I +don't know the country it runs through, but the red-skins are pretty +certain to know all about it. If they were to track us here they would +never try to fight their way in, but would just set a guard at the mouth +and at the upper end and starve us out. It is a good place to hide in, +but a dog-goned bad one to be caught in. However, I hope it ain't coming +to that. It is we who are going to attack them, and not them us, and +that makes all the difference. The red-skins can't have a notion that +there are any other white men in this neighbourhood, and when we open +fire on them it will raise such a scare for a bit that it will give us a +chance of joining the others if we choose. That of course must depend on +their position." + +They walked back to the mouth of the canyon, and had not to wait long for +the return of the Indians. + +"Come," Leaping Horse said briefly, at once turning and going off at a +swift pace. + +Jerry asked no questions, but with Tom followed close on the Indians' +heels. There were bushes growing among the fallen rocks and debris from +the face of the cliff, and they were, therefore, able to go forward as +quickly as they could leap from boulder to boulder, without fear of +being seen. A quarter of an hour's run, and the chief climbed up to a +ledge on the face of the cliff where a stratum harder than those above +it had resisted the effects of the weather and formed a shelf some +twelve feet wide. He went down on his hands and knees, and keeping close +to the wall crawled along to a spot where some stunted bushes had made +good their hold. The others followed him, and lying down behind the +bushes peered through them. + +The valley was four or five hundred yards wide, and down its centre ran +the stream. Close to the water's edge rose abruptly a steep rock. It was +some fifty feet in height and but four or five yards across at the top. +On the north and west the rocks were too perpendicular to be climbed, +but the other sides had crumbled down, the stones being covered with +brushwood. From the point where they were looking they could see the six +horses lying among the bushes. They were evidently tightly roped, and +had probably been led up there when the attack began and thrown at the +highest point to which they could be taken, a spot being chosen where +the bushes concealed their exact position from those below. The rock was +about two hundred and fifty yards from the spot where the party was +lying, and their position was about level with its top. Some twenty +Indians were gathered a few hundred yards higher up the valley, and +about as many some distance down it. + +"Why didn't the varmint take their places here?" Jerry whispered to the +chief. + +"They came here. See," and he pointed to a patch of blood a few feet +beyond him. "Indian guns not shoot far," he said, "powder weak; white +man's rifles carry here, red-skin not able to shoot so far. When they +found that, went away again." + +"What are they going to do now, do you think?" + +"Soon attack again." + + +Half an hour passed, and then a loud yell gave the signal and the two +troops galloped towards the rock. They had evidently had experience of +the accuracy of the white men's fire; not an Indian showed himself, each +dropping over one side of his pony, with an arm resting in a rope round +the animals' necks and one leg thrown over the back. So they dashed +forward until close to the foot of the rocks. Another instant and they +would have thrown themselves from their horses and taken to the bushes, +but although hidden from the sight of the defenders of the position, +they were exposed to the full view of the party on the ledge, from whom +they were distant not more than two hundred yards. The chief fired +first, and almost together the other three rifles flashed out. Three of +the Indians fell from their horses, another almost slipped off, but with +an effort recovered his hold with his leg. A yell of astonishment and +fear broke from the Indians. As the two bands mingled together, some of +the riders were exposed to those on the top of the rock, and three shots +were fired. Two more of the 'Rappahoes fell, and the whole band in +obedience to a shout from one of their chiefs galloped at full speed +down the valley. The three men sprang to their feet, waving their hats, +while the party on the ledge also leapt up with a shout. + +"It's you, chief, I see!" one of those on the rocks shouted. "I have +been hoping ever since morning to hear the crack of your rifle, and I +never heard a more welcome sound. We should have been rubbed out sure. +Who have you got with you?" + +"It's Jerry Curtis, Harry. I come up along with Leaping Horse, though I +did not expect to find you in such a bad fix. This young Indian is +Hunting Dog, and this young chap next to me is your nephew, Tom Wade. +You did not expect to meet him like this, I reckon?" + +While he had been speaking, all had reloaded their rifles. + +"You had best go across and talk it over with Harry, chief, and consart +measures with him for getting out of this fix. Those red-skins have got +a bad scare, but you may bet they ain't gone far; and they have lost six +of their bucks now beside what the others shot before, and it ain't in +Indian natur for them to put up with such a loss as that." He had been +looking at the rock as he spoke, and turning round uttered an +exclamation of surprise, for the chief was no longer there. Looking down +they saw that he had managed to make his way down the face of the cliff, +and in another two minutes was ascending the rock. There he stood for +some time in earnest conversation with the whites, and then returned to +the ledge. + +"Trouble over horses," he said. + +"Ay, ay, I reckoned that was what you was talking over. There ain't no +going back for them now." + +The chief shook his head. "'Rappahoes keep watch," he said, "cannot go +till night to fetch horses. All lie here to-day, go across to rock when +darkness comes, then white men go up valley till get to trees an hour's +march away; can see them from rock. Get in among trees and work up into +hills. Leaping Horse and Hunting Dog cross river, go down other side +past 'Rappahoes, then cross back and get into canyon, drive horses up. +White men meet them up in mountains." + +"That seems a good plan enough, chief. That is, if you can get out at +the other end of the canyon." + +"Canyon little up high," the chief replied. "Find some place to climb." + +"But they may find the horses to-day." + +The Indian nodded. "May find, perhaps not." + +"Why should we not go across to the rock at once, chief?" + +"Indian count on fingers how many. They do not know we only four; much +troubled in their mind where men come from, who can be. Red-skins not +like white men. Have many fancies. Fire come out of bush where 'Rappahoe +had been killed; think that bad medicine, keep together and talk. Think +if men here, why not go across to rock." + +"I should not be surprised if you are right, chief. They are more likely +to fancy we have come down from above than from below, for they must +have reckoned for sure there were no other white men in the Big Wind +valley, and our not showing ourselves will give them an all-fired +scare." + +"What does the chief mean by bad medicine, Jerry?" Tom asked. + +"A red-skin is full of all sorts of ideas. Anything he can't make head +nor tail of, is bad medicine; they think there is some magic in it, and +that old Nick has had his finger in the pie. When they get an idea like +that in their minds, even the bravest of them loses his pluck, and is +like a child who thinks he has seen a ghost. It is a mighty good notion +for us to lie low all day. The red-skins will reason it all out, and +will say, if these are white men who killed our brothers why the 'tarnal +don't they go and join the others, there ain't nothing to prevent them. +If they ain't white men, who are they? Maybe they can move without our +being able to see them and will shoot from some other place. No, I +reckon it is likely they will keep pretty close together and won't +venture to scatter to look for tracks, and in that case the chief's plan +will work out all right. In course, a good deal depends on their chief; +one of them is among those we shot, you can make out his feathers from +here. If he is the boss chief, it may be that they will give it up +altogether; the next chief will throw the blame on to him, and may like +enough persuade them to draw off altogether. If it ain't the boss chief, +then they are bound to try again. He would not like to take them back to +their villages with the news that a grist of them had been killed and +narry a scalp taken. I expect you will see this afternoon some of them +come down to palaver with Harry." + +The morning passed quietly and not unpleasantly, for they were lying in +the shade, but before noon the sun had climbed up over the cliff behind +them and shone down with great force, and they had to lie with their +heads well under the bushes to screen them from its rays. Presently, +Leaping Horse said: + +"Indian chief come, no lift heads." + +All shifted their position so as to look down the valley. An Indian +chief, holding up his hands to show that he was unarmed, was advancing +on foot, accompanied by another Indian also without arms. + +"There is Harry going down to meet them," Jerry said. + +Tom looked eagerly at the figure that came down from the rock and +advanced to meet the Indians. It seemed strange to him that after having +come so far to join his uncle they should remain for hours in sight of +each other without meeting. It was too far to distinguish his features, +but he saw by the light walk and easy swing of the figure that his uncle +was a much more active man than he had expected to see. He had known +indeed that he was but forty years old, but he had somehow expected that +the life of hardship he had led would have aged him, and he was +surprised to see that his walk and figure were those of a young man. + +"Is it not rather dangerous, his coming down alone to meet two of them? +They may have arms hidden." + +"They have got arms, you maybe sure," Jerry replied. "They have knives +for certain, and most likely tomahawks, but I expect Harry has got his +six-shooter. But it don't matter whether he has or not, there are his +two mates up on that rock with their rifles, and we are across here. The +'Rappahoes would know well enough their lives wouldn't be worth a red +cent if they were to try any of their games. They don't mean business; +they will make out they have come to persuade Harry and his mates to +give up, which they know quite well they ain't fools enough to do. But +what is really in their minds is to try and find out who we are, and +where we have come from." + +The conversation lasted a few minutes. Tom could see that questions were +being asked about the concealed party, for the chief pointed to the +ledge two or three times. When the talk was over the Indians went down +the valley again at a slow pace, never once looking back, and the +Englishman returned to the rocks. + +"I don't suppose they have got much from Harry." + +"I suppose uncle talks their language?" + +"No, I don't reckon he knows the 'Rappahoe dialect. But the tribes on +the western side of the plains can mostly understand each other's talk; +and as I know he can get on well with the Utes, he is sure to be able to +understand the 'Rappahoes' talk." + +"Leaping Horse will go along the ledge," the chief said a few minutes +later, after a short conversation with Hunting Dog. "The 'Rappahoes will +try to find out who are here; not like to attack the rock till find +out." + +The two Indians lay down flat on the ledge, and crawled along without +raising themselves in the slightest until they reached a point where the +cliffs projected somewhat. From here they could see down the valley, and +they lay immovable, with their rifles in front of them. + +"They are not more than fifty yards or so from those bushes where we got +up on to the ledge. That is where the red-skins are likely to try +crawling up, for there they would be out of sight of the rock." + +"Surely they would never venture to come along the ledge in daylight, +Jerry. They would have to pass along under the fire of uncle and his +mates, and would have our rifles to meet in front." + +"No, it would only be one, or at most, two scouts. They would reckon +that from that point where the chief is lying they would get a view +right along the ledge to here, and be able to make out what we are. It +is the strangeness of the thing that has kept them quiet all these +hours, and I expect their chief will want to prove that there are only a +few of us, and that we are men for certain. I reckon they have sent off +to the villages already, and there will be more of the varmint here +to-night. The Indians are never fond of attacking in the dark; still, if +they were sure about us, they might try it. They would know they could +get up to the foot of that rock before being seen, and once among the +bushes they would reckon they could make easy work of it." + +A quarter of an hour later there was the crack of a rifle, followed +instantly by an Indian yell. + +"That is the chief's piece, Tom, and I reckon the lead has gone +straight." + +The silence remained unbroken for the next two hours, and then Leaping +Horse crawled back as quietly as he had gone. + +"What was it, chief?" + +"It was a 'Rappahoe, who will scout no more," the chief said quietly. +"He came up the bushes, but before he could step on to the ledge Leaping +Horse fired, and he will take no tales back to his tribe." + +"They won't try again, chief?" + +Leaping Horse shook his head. "First take rock," he said, "then when +they have the scalps of the white men they will watch us here. Will know +we cannot stay here long without water." + +"You are right there, chief, and no m'stake; my tongue is like a piece +of leather now, and as soon as it gets dark I shall make a bee-line down +to the river. I want to have a talk with Harry, but just at present I +want a drink a blamed sight worse. If I had thought we were going to be +stuck up here all day I would have brought my water-bottle with me." + +The time passed very slowly, although the air became cooler as soon as +the sun had gone down behind the opposite range. As soon as the light +faded a little, the Indian crawled farther along the ledge, and returned +in a short time saying that he had found a spot where the whites could +descend. Two or three times Jerry urged that it was dark enough, before +the chief consented to move. At last, however, he stood up and gave the +cry of an owl, and they were in a minute or two joined by Hunting Dog, +who had until now remained at his post. The chief at once led the way +along the ledge until he reached the spot where the rock had crumbled +away somewhat. + +"We had better go down one at a time," Jerry said. "For if there was a +slip or a tumble it might let down a gun-hammer, and we want our lead +for the 'Rappahoes, and not for each other." + +When it came to Tom's turn, he found it a very difficult place to get +down in the semi-darkness, and two or three times he almost lost his +footing. As soon as all were down they fell into Indian file, and +crossed the valley to the rock, the chief giving the hoot of an owl +twice as he approached it. Three men at once stepped out from the bushes +at its foot. + +"I began to wonder when you were coming, and was just going to get the +ponies down before it was too dark to do it without running the risk of +breaking their legs. Well, I am right glad to see you, Jerry; and you +too, Tom, though it is too dark to see much of you. The chief has been +telling me how he brought you along. There is no time to talk now, but I +am right glad to see you, lad" and he shook Tom heartily by the hand. +"Now, mates, let us get the horses down." + +"I must make tracks for the water first, Harry, the young un and I are +pretty near choking; and I expect the Indians are as bad, though it +ain't their natur to talk about it." + +"Get down horses first," the chief said. "Too dark soon." + +"Waal, I suppose five minutes won't make much difference," Jerry +grumbled, "so here goes." + +"I have tied some hide over their hoofs," Harry said, "so as to make as +little noise as possible about it." + +"Must make no noise," the chief said urgently. "Redskin scouts soon be +crawling up." + +One by one the horses were brought down, Harry leading them, and the +others pushing aside the bushes as noiselessly as possible. Then their +loads were carried down and packed upon them. + +"You get on my horse, Jerry," Harry Wade whispered, "I will walk with +Tom. I have had no time to say a word to him yet, or to ask about the +people at home. Where is the chief?" + +Leaping Horse and his companion had stolen away as soon as the loads had +been adjusted. The others led the horses to the river, and allowed them +to drink, while Jerry and Tom lay down and took a long draught of the +water. The miners' bottles were filled, and they then started. + +"It is lucky the river makes such a roar among these rocks here," Harry +said, "it will drown the sound of the horses' hoofs." + +For half an hour they proceeded at a fast walk, then the skins were +taken off the horses' feet and they went on at a trot, the two Wades +taking hold of Jerry's stirrup-leathers and running alongside. In half +an hour they entered the belt of trees, and dismounting, at once began +to ascend the hill. They were some distance up when they heard a distant +yell. + +"You may yell as much as you like," Jerry panted, "you won't catch us +now. They have been a mighty long time finding out we were gone." + +"They could not make out about you," Harry said. "I could see by the +chief's manner, and the glances the Indian with him kept giving to the +place where you were lying, that they were puzzled and alarmed. They +offered if we would surrender that they would allow us to return down +the valley without hurt. I said, of course, that I preferred staying +where I was; we had come up the valley and intended going farther; we +didn't want to interfere with them, and if they had left us alone we +should have left them alone; and they had only themselves to thank for +the loss of some of their braves. 'We have,' I said, 'many friends, who +will protect us, and much harm will fall on the Indians who venture to +meddle with us.' + +"'Are your friends white men?' the chief asked. 'Have they wings that +they have flown down here from the hills?' + +"'They have come, that is enough,' I said. 'You see, when they were +wanted they were here, and if they are wanted again you will hear of +them, and your braves will die, and you will gain nothing. You had best +go back to your lodges and leave us to go away in peace. Whoever they +are, they can shoot, as you have found out to your cost. They have no +ill-will to the red-skins, providing the redskins let us alone. They +only fired four shots; if they had wished to, they could have killed +many more.' When the chief saw that he could get nothing further from me +he went away. As usual he spoke boastfully at last, and said that he had +offered peace to us, and if war came, it would be our faults. I laughed, +and said that we could take care of ourselves, and preferred doing so to +trusting ourselves in the hands of the 'Rappahoes, when we had made some +of their squaws widows." + +"Would they have kept their word, uncle, do you think?" Tom asked. + +"Not they. There are a few of the Indian tribes whose word can be taken, +but as a rule words mean nothing with them, and if we had put ourselves +in their power they would have tomahawked us instantly, or else taken us +down and tortured us at their villages, which would have been a deal +worse. I have no doubt they had a long talk after the chief returned to +them, and that it was some time after it became dark before they could +pluck up courage enough to climb the rock, though I expect they must +have got close to it very soon after we left. I reckon they have been +crawling up inch by inch. Of course, directly they got to where the +horses had been tied they knew we had gone, and I expect that yell was a +signal for a rush forward to the top. But we need not bother any more +about them. They may ride as far as the foot of the forest, but when +they find we have gained that safely they will give it up until morning; +they will know well enough it is no good starting to search the woods in +the dark. We may as well rest where we are until the moon is up, for we +make so much noise crashing through this undergrowth that they could +hear us down there." + +"Now tell me, lad, about your mother and sisters, and how you came out +after all." + +Tom told his uncle of his mother's death, and the reason why he had left +his sisters to come out to join him. + +"It is a very bad business, lad, and I take a lot of blame to myself. +When I got your mother's letter, telling me of poor John's death, and +that she would not hear of your coming out, I said some very hard things +to myself. Here had I been knocking about for twenty years, and having +had a fair share of luck, and yet I could not put my hand on five +hundred dollars, and there was my brother's widow and children, and I, +their nearest relative, could not help them. It made me feel a pretty +mean man, I can tell you. Your mother did not say much about her +circumstances, but it did not need that. I knew that John had retired +from the navy with little besides his half-pay, and that her pension as +his widow must be a mighty slim one. Altogether I had a pretty bad time +of it. However, I took a tall oath that the next rich strike I made the +dollars should not be thrown away. I reckoned that you would be out +before long; for it was certain that if you were a lad of spirit you +would not be staying there doing nothing. Your mother said that the +girls all intended to take up teaching, and it was not likely that you +would let them work for the family while you were loafing about at home. +I know in my time it was hard enough to get anything to do there, and +young fellows who have come out here to ranche tell me that it is harder +than ever now. I thought you would fancy this life, and that in time you +would talk your mother over into letting you come." + +"I should never have got her to agree to it, uncle. I wanted to go to +sea, but after father's death she would not hear of it. She said I was +her only boy and that she could not spare me, and I had to promise to +give up the thought. She was still more against your plan, but when I +wrote to you I thought that possibly in time she might agree to it. But +it was not long afterwards that her health began to fail, and I saw then +that I must give up all thought of leaving her, and must, when I left +school, take anything that offered; and it was only after her death that +I talked it over with the girls, and they agreed that to come here was +the best thing for me." + +"And you left before my last letter arrived?" + +"Yes; we had no letter after the one you wrote asking me to come out." + +"No, I suppose you could not have had it. I wrote before I started out +three months ago from Salt Lake City. I had struck a ledge of pretty +good stuff, I and another. We sold out for a thousand dollars, and I +sent my share off to your mother, telling her that I had been having bad +luck since I got her letter, but that I hoped to do better in future, +and I thought, anyhow, I could promise to send her as much once a year, +and if I had a real stroke of luck she and her girls would have the +benefit of it." + +"That was good of you, uncle." + +"Not good at all," Harry Wade grumbled. "I have behaved like a fool all +along; it is true that when I did get letters from your father, which +was not very often, he always wrote cheerfully, and said very little +about how he was situated as to money. But I ought to have known--I did +know, if I thought of it--that with a wife and six children it must be +mighty hard to make ends meet on a lieutenant's half-pay, and there was +I, often throwing away twice as much as his year's pension on a week's +spree. When I heard he was gone you may pretty well guess how I felt. +However, lad, if things turn out well I will make it up as far as I can. +Now, let us join the others." + +The others, however, were all sound asleep, having wrapped themselves in +their blankets, and lain down as soon as the halt was decided upon. +Jerry, having had no sleep the previous night, and but little for four +or five days, had not even thought of asking the others for food, which +they doubtless had on their saddles, although he had tasted nothing for +twenty-four hours. Tom, however, less accustomed to enforced fasts, felt +ravenous. + +"We have had nothing to eat to-day, uncle, except a crust left over from +yesterday's baking, and I don't think I could get to sleep if I did not +eat something." + +"Bless me, I never thought of that, Tom. If I had I would have sent food +across by the chief this morning. There is no bread, but there is plenty +of cold meat. We cooked a lot yesterday evening, for we thought we might +not get a chance of cooking to-day." + +"Then you knew, uncle, the Indians were near?" Tom went on, when he had +appeased his appetite and taken a drink of water, with a little whisky +in it from his uncle's flask. + +"Ay, lad; we guessed somehow we had been followed all along. We had done +everything we could to throw them off the trail--travelling as much as +we could in the course of streams, muffling the feet of our ponies, and +picking out the hardest ground to travel on; but every morning before +daybreak one of us went up the hillside, and twice we made out mounted +Indians moving about down the valley. Yesterday morning ten of them came +galloping up within easy shot. I don't think they thought that we were +so near. They drew up their horses suddenly, had a talk, and then came +riding after us. It didn't need their yells to tell us what their +intention was. We knocked three of them out of their saddles, then threw +our horses down and lay behind them. + +"They galloped round and round us shooting, but we picked two more off, +and then they rode away. We knew enough of them to be sure that they +were not going to give it up, but would follow us till joined by enough +of their tribe to attack us again. We made a long march, hoping to get +to the timber before they could come up, but just as the sun was setting +we saw them coming along, about fifteen of them; and we had just time to +get up to that rock. As they rode past we opened a smart fire and +dropped four of them; the others rode up the valley, so as to cut us off +from going farther. We filled our water-skins and got the horses +half-way up as you saw, and then lighted a fire and cooked. We kept +watch all night, two down below and one at the top; but everything was +quiet, and we guessed they were waiting for others to come up. + +"About an hour before daylight we heard another gang arrive below us. +They halted there, and it was not long before they began crawling up +from above and below, and for a bit we shot pretty brisk. The odds were +too much against them, with us on the height, and they drew off. Then +for an hour they were pretty quiet while they were holding council, +except that we did some shooting with a party who had climbed up to that +ledge opposite; then we saw both bands mount, and reckoned they were +going to make a dash for us. We knew if they did it in earnest we must +go down, for once among the rocks and bushes there would be no keeping +them from mounting up. We made up our minds that the end was not far +off, though I fancy we should have accounted for a good many of them +before they rubbed us out. When your four rifles spoke from the ledge we +thought it was a party who had gone back there, for we felt sure that we +had driven them all away, but it wasn't more than a moment before we saw +it wasn't that. There was no mistaking the yell of astonishment from the +Indians, and as the horses swerved round we saw that three of them had +fallen. You may guess we didn't stop to argue who it was, but set to +work to do our share; but it seemed to us something like a miracle when +the red-skins rode off. + +"We had been talking of Leaping Horse during the night, for he had +promised to come back to join us, and I knew him well enough to be able +to bet all creation that he would come. He had only left us to keep an +appointment with his nephew, who was to join him at Fort Bridger. If +there had only been two guns fired we should have put it down to him, +but being four I don't think either of us thought of him till he stood +up and shouted. Now, lad, you had better take a sleep. We shall be +moving on as soon as the moon is fairly up, and it won't be over that +hill behind us till two or three. I will watch till then, but I don't +think there is the least chance of their following us to-night; they +have been pretty roughly handled, and I don't think they will follow +until they have solved the mystery of that ledge. They searched it, no +doubt, as soon as they found the rock was empty, and at daybreak they +will set about tracing the trail up. That will be easy enough for them +when they have once got rid of the idea that there was something uncanny +about it, and then we shall have them on our heels again and on the +chief's too. The first thing for us to do will be to make along the hill +till we get to the edge of the canyon, where Leaping Horse has gone for +your ponies, and to follow it to its upper end." + +"I will watch, uncle, if you will wake me in an hour. I shall be all +right after a nap, but I can scarcely keep my eyes open now." + +It seemed, however, to Tom that he had not been asleep five minutes when +his uncle shook him. The others were already on their feet. The moon was +shining down through the trees, and with cautious steps, and taking the +utmost trouble to avoid the branches, they started on their upward +climb. Not a word was spoken, for all knew how far sound travels on a +still night. There was, however, a slight breeze moving among the tree +tops when they started, and in an hour this had so far increased that +the boughs were swaying and the leaves rustling. + +"I reckon there ain't no occasion to keep our mouths shut no longer," +one of the men said. "Now that the trees are on the move they would not +hear us if they were only a hundred yards away." + +All were glad when daylight began to appear, Tom because the climbing +would be much easier when the ground could be seen, the others because +they were all longing for a pipe, but had hitherto not dared to light +one, for the flash of a match could be seen far away. They had been +bearing steadily to the right as they mounted, and shortly after +daybreak they suddenly found themselves on the edge of a canyon. + +"Do you think this is the one, Jerry?" one of the men asked. + +"That is more than I can tell, Ben. I did not see an opening in the +valley as we came up it, but we might very well have missed one in the +dark. I should think from the distance we have gone towards the right it +must be the one where we left our horses. Anyhow, whether it is or not, +we must follow it up to the top and wait there for a bit to see if the +chief comes." + +"I reckon he will be there before us," Harry said; "that is if he got +round the red-skins all right and found the horses. There would be no +reason for him to wait, and I expect he would go straight on, and is +like enough to be waiting for us by this time." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +CHASED + + +The party pressed forward as rapidly as they could. The ground was rough +and at times very steep, and those on foot were able to keep up with the +horses without much difficulty. + +"You think the Indians will follow, uncle?" Tom asked. + +"They will follow, you may bet your boots, Tom; by this time they have +got to the bottom of the mystery. The first thing this morning some of +them will go up on to the ledge where you were, follow your tracks down +to the canyon where you left the horses, and find that you came up the +valley and not down it. They will have made out that there were two +whites and two red-skins, and that the two red-skins have gone up the +canyon with the horses. Directly the matter is all cleared up, they will +be hotter than ever for our scalps, for there is nothing a red-skin +hates worse than being fooled. Of course, they will know that it is a +good deal harder to wipe out seven men than three, and I don't think +they will attack us openly; they know well enough that in a fair fight +two red-skins, if not three, are likely to go down for each white they +rub out. But they will bide their time: red-skins are a wonderful hand +at that; time is nothing to them, and they would not mind hanging about +us for weeks and weeks if they can but get us at last. However, we will +talk it all over when the Indians join us. I don't think there is any +chance of fighting to-day, but whether we shall get out of these +mountains without having another scrimmage is doubtful." + +Tom noticed that in his talk with him his uncle dropped most of the +western expressions which when speaking with the others he used as +freely as they did. He was now able to have a fair look at him, and +found that he agreed pretty closely with the ideas he had formed of him. +There was a strong likeness between him and his brother. They were about +the same height, but Harry was broader and more strongly built. His face +was deeply bronzed by long exposure to the wind and sun. He had a large +tawny beard, while Tom's father had been clean shaved. The sailor was +five years the senior, but the miner looked far younger than Tom could +ever remember his father looking, for the latter had never thoroughly +recovered his, health after having had a long bout of fever on the +Zanzibar station; and the long stride and free carriage of his uncle was +in striking contrast to the walk of his father. Both had keen gray eyes, +the same outline of face, the same pleasant smile. + +"Now that I can see you fairly, Tom," the miner said, when they halted +once for the horses to come up to them, "I can make out that you are a +good deal like your father as I can first remember him." + +"I was thinking you were very like him, uncle." + +"We used to be alike in the old days, but I reckon the different lives +we led must have changed us both a great deal. He sent me once a +photograph four or five years ago, and at first I should not have known +it was he. I could see the likeness after a bit, but he was very much +changed. No doubt I have changed still more; all this hair on my face +makes a lot of difference. You see, it is a very long time since we met. +I was but twenty when I left England, and I had not seen him for two or +three years before that, for he was on the Mediterranean station at the +time. Well, here are the horses again, and as the ground looks flatter +ahead we shall have to push on to keep up with them." They were +presently altogether beyond the forest, and a broad plateau of bare rock +stretched away in front of them for miles. + +"There they are," Jerry Curtis shouted. "I was beginning to feel scared +that the 'Rappahoes had got them." + +It was a minute or two before Tom could make out the distant figures, +for his eyes were less accustomed to search for moving objects than were +those of his companions. + +"They are riding fast," Harry Wade said. "I reckon they have made out +some Indians on their trail." + +The little dark mass Tom had first seen soon resolved itself into two +horsemen and two riderless animals. They were still three or four miles +away, but in twenty minutes they reached the party advancing to meet +them. The whites waved their hats and gave them a cheer as they rode up. + +"So you have managed to get through them all right, chief?" + +"The 'Rappahoes are dogs. They are frightened at shadows; their eyes +were closed. Leaping Horse stood near their fires and saw them go +forward, and knew that his white brothers must have gained the forest +before the 'Rappahoes got to the rock. He found the horses safe, but the +canyon was very dark and in some places very narrow, with many rocks in +the road, so that he had to stop till the moon was high. It was not +until morning came that he reached the head of the canyon, an hour's ride +from here. Half an hour back Leaping Horse went to the edge and looked +down. There were ten 'Rappahoes riding fast up the trail. Has my brother +heard anything of the others?" + +"Nothing whatever," Harry said. "I reckon they did not begin to move +until daylight, and as we went on when the moon rose they must be a good +two hours behind us. Which way do you think we had better go, chief?" + +"Where does my brother wish to go?" + +"It matters mighty little. I should say for a bit we had better travel +along this plateau, keeping about the same distance from the +timber-line. I don't think the 'Rappahoes will venture to attack us in +the open. If we keep on here we can cross the divide and get into the +Shoshones' country, and either go down the Buffalo and then up the Snake +and so work down south, or go east and strike some of the streams +running that way into the Big Horn." + +The chief shook his head. + +"Too far, too many bad Indians; will talk over fire tonight." + +"That is it, chief. It is a matter that wants a good deal of talking +over. Anyhow, we had better be moving on at once." + +Tom was glad to find himself in the saddle again, and the party rode on +at a steady pace for some hours, then they halted, lit a fire, and +cooked a meal. Tom noticed that the Indians no longer took pains to +gather dry sticks, but took the first that came to hand. He remarked +this to Jerry. + +"They know it is no use trying to hide our trail here; the two bands of +Indians will follow, one up and one down, until they meet at the spot +where the chief joined us. From there they can track us easy enough. +Nothing would suit us better than for them to come up to us here, for we +should give them fits, sartin. This is a good place. This little stream +comes down from that snow peak you see over there, and we have got +everything we want, for this patch of bushes will keep us in firing for +a bit. You see, there are some more big hills in front of us, and we are +better here than we should be among them. I expect we shall camp here +for the night." + +"Then you don't think the Indians will come up close?" + +"Not they. They will send a spy or two to crawl up, you may be sure, but +they will know better than to come within reach of our rifles." + +"I am mighty glad to have my teeth into some deer-flesh again," Ben +Gulston said. "We had two or three chances as we came along, but we dare +not fire, and we have just been living on bread and bacon. Where did you +kill these wapiti?" + +"At our first halt, near Fremont's Pass. We got two." + +"Well, you haven't eaten much, Jerry," Sam Hicks said. "I reckon four +men ought pretty well to have finished off two quarters by this time." + +"I reckon we should have finished one of the bucks, Sam; but we caught a +grist of fish the same day, dried them in the sun, and I think we mostly +ate them. They would not keep as well as the flesh. That is as good as +the day we shot it, for up here in the dry air meat keeps a sight better +than down in the plains. Give me some more tea, Sam." + +"What do you think, mates, of camping here?" Harry Wade said. "The chief +thinks we are better here than we should be if we moved on. He feels +certain the red-skins won't dare attack us." + +There was a cordial agreement in favour of a halt, for after the work +they had gone through during the last week they were glad of a rest. No +one would have thought half an hour afterwards that the little party +engaged in washing their shirts at the stream or mending their clothes, +were in the heart of a country unknown to most of them, and menaced by a +savage foe. The horses cropped the scanty tufts of grass or munched the +young tops of the bushes, the rifles stood stacked by the fire, near +which the two Indians sat smoking and talking earnestly together, +Hunting Dog occasionally getting up and taking a long careful look over +the plain. As the men finished their various jobs they came back to the +fire. + +"Now, chief," Harry said, "let us hear your ideas as to what we had best +do. We are all pretty old hands at mountaineering, but we reckon you +know a great deal more about it than we do. You don't like the plans I +proposed." + +"No can do it," the chief said positively. "In a moon the snow will +fall, and there will be no crossing mountains." + +"That is true enough," Jerry said. "An old trapper who had lived among +the Shoshones told me that nine months in the year they were shut up in +the valleys by the snow on the passes." + +"Then how can live?" the chief went on. "As long as we stay in this +country the 'Rappahoes will watch us. They will tell the Bannacks and +the Nez Perces, and they too would be on our trail. As long as we keep +together and watch they will not come, they fear the white man's rifle; +but we cannot live without hunting, and then they kill one, two, till +all killed. At night must always watch, at day cannot hunt. How we live? +What good to stay? If we stop all killed sure." + +There was silence round the circle. Every one of them felt the truth of +the Indian's words, and yet they hated the thought of abandoning their +search for gold, or, failing that, of a return home with their horses +laden with beaver skins. + +Harry was the first to speak. "I am afraid these varmint have interfered +with our plans, mates. If we had had the luck to drop into one of the +upper valleys without being noticed we could have hunted and trapped +there and looked for gold for months without much chance of being +discovered, but this has upset it all. I am afraid that what the chief +says is true. If we keep together we starve, if we break up and hunt we +shall be ambushed and killed. I hate giving up anything I have set my +mind on, but this time I don't see a way out of it. We ain't the first +party that has come up here and had to go back again with empty hands, +and we know what happened to that party of twenty old-time miners from +California two years ago, though none of them ever got back to tell the +tale. We knew when we started, it wur just a chance, and the cards have +gone against us." + +"That is so," Ben agreed; "if it had turned out well we might have made +a good strike. It ain't turned out well, and as every day we stay here +there will be more of those varmint swarming round us, I say the sooner +we get out of this dog-goned country the better." + +"You can count me in with you, Ben," Sam Hicks said. "We have gone in +for the game and we don't hold hands, and it ain't no use bluffing +against them red-skins. We sha'n't have lost much time arter all, and I +reckon we have all learned something. Some day when the railroad goes +right across, Uncle Sam will have to send a grist of troops to reckon up +with the red-skins in these hills, and arter that it may be a good +country for mining and trapping, but for the present we are a darned +sight more likely to lose our scalps than to get skins." + +"Well, Leaping Horse, which way would you advise us to take, then?" + +"Go straight back to canyon, ride down there, cross river, go up +mountains other side, pass them north of Union Peak, come down on upper +water Big Wind River. From there little way on to Green River. Leaping +Horse never been there, but has heard. One long day's ride from here, go +to upper waters of Green River." + +"That sounds good," Jerry Curtis said. "If we could once strike the +Green we should be out of the 'Rappahoe country altogether. I have known +two or three men who have been up the Green nearly to its head, and +there is good hunting and a good many beaver in the side streams. I +should not have thought it would have come anywhere like as near as +this, but I don't doubt the chief is right." + +"Union Peak," the chief said, pointing to a crag rising among a tumble +of hills to the south. + +"Are you sure, chief?" + +The Indian nodded. "Forty, fifty miles away," he said. "Leaping Horse +has been to upper waters of Green River, seen the peak from other side." + +"That settles it, then," Harry said. "That is our course, there cannot +be a doubt. I should never have proposed the other if I had had an idea +that we were within sixty or seventy miles of the Green River. And you +think we had better take the canyon you came up by, chief?" + +The Indian nodded. "If go down through forest may be ambushed. Open +ground from here back to canyon. 'Rappahoes most in front. Think we go +that way, not think we go back. Get good start. Once across river follow +up little stream among hills other side, that the way to pass. If +'Rappahoes follow us we fight them." + +"Yes, we shall have them at an advantage there, for they would have to +come up under our fire, and there are sure to be places where half a +dozen men could keep fifty at bay. Very well, chief, that is settled. +When do you think we had better start?" + +"When gets dark," the chief replied. "No lose time, more Indian come +every hour. Keep fire burning well, 'Rappahoes think we camp here. Take +horses a little way off and mount beyond light of fire." + +"You think they will be watching us?" + +"Sure to watch. First ride north half an hour, then turn and ride to +canyon. If spies see us go off take word to friends we gone north. Too +dark to follow trail. They think they catch us easy to-morrow, and take +up trail in morning; but too late then, we cross river before that." + +There was a general murmur of assent. The thought of being constantly +watched, and suddenly attacked when least expecting it, made them feel +restless, and the thought of early action was pleasant to them. + +"You don't think that there are any spies watching us now, uncle, do +you?" + +"Not close, Tom; they would know better than that. They could see us +miles away if we were to mount and ride off, and it is only when it gets +dark that they would venture to crawl up, for if one were sighted in the +daytime he would not have a ghost of a chance of getting away, for we +could ride him down sartin." + +"Well, I reckon we may as well take a sleep," Sam Hicks said. "You lie +down for one, anyhow, Harry, for you watched last evening. We will toss +up which of us keeps awake." + +"Leaping Horse will keep watch," the chief said quietly. "No fear of +Indians, but better to watch." + +Knowing the power of the red-skins to keep awake for an almost unlimited +time, none of the others thought of refusing the offer, and in a few +minutes all were sound asleep. Towards sunset they were on their feet +again. Another meal was cooked and eaten, then as it became dusk the +horses were gathered fifty yards away, and Hunting Dog and Tom took +their places beside them. + +"Keep your eyes open and your rifle handy, Tom," his uncle said. "It is +like enough that some young brave, anxious to distinguish himself, may +crawl up with the intention of stampeding the ponies, though I don't +think he would attempt it till he thought most of us were asleep. Still, +there is no saying." + +The watch was undisturbed, and soon it became so dark that objects could +no longer be seen fifty yards away. Tom began to feel nervous. Every +tuft of ground, every little bush seemed to him to take the form of a +crawling Indian, and he felt a great sense of relief when he saw the +figures round the fire rise and walk towards him. + +"I am glad you have come, uncle," he said frankly; "I began to feel very +uncomfortable several times. It seemed to me that some of the bushes +moved." + +"That is just what I thought you would be feeling, Tom. But it was just +as well that your first watch should be a short one, without much chance +of an ambush being on foot; and I knew that if your eyes deceived you, +Hunting Dog was there. Next time you won't feel so nervous; that sort of +thing soon passes off." + +A fresh armful of brushwood had been thrown on to the fire before the +men left it, and long after they had ridden away they could see the +flames mounting high. After riding north for a quarter of an hour they +changed their route and passed round, leaving the fire half a mile on +their right. The light of the stars was quite sufficient for them to +travel by, and after four hours' journey the chief, who was riding +ahead, halted. + +"Not far from canyon now. Listen." + +A very faint murmur came to their ears, so faint that had not his +attention been drawn to it Tom would not have noticed it at all. + +"What is that noise?" he asked. + +"That is the stream down in the canyon," his uncle replied. "How far are +we from the head, chief?" + +"Not far, must ride slow." + +They proceeded at a walk, changing their course a little towards the +east. Hunting Dog went on ahead, and in a quarter of an hour they heard +his signal, the cry of an owl. It arose from a point still further east, +and quickening their pace, in a few minutes they came up to the young +Indian, who was standing by his horse at the edge of a steep descent, at +the bottom of which Tom could see a stream of water. + +"It looks very steep," Jerry said. + +"Steep, but smooth," the Indian replied. "Came up here with horses this +morning." + +All dismounted, and Tom went up to his horse's head. "That won't do, +Tom. Never go before a horse down a steep place where you can't see your +way, always drive it before you." + +There was some trouble in getting the horses to commence the descent, +but after a short time the chief's pony set the example; and tucking its +hind legs under it until it sat down on its haunches, began to slide +down, while the other animals, after staring into the darkness with ears +laid back and snorting with fear, were half-persuaded, half-forced to +follow its example, and the men went down after them. The descent was +not so steep as in the darkness it looked, and the depth was not over +fifty feet. As soon as they reached the bottom they mounted again, and +the chief leading the way, they rode down the canyon. At first they were +able to proceed at a fair pace, but as the sides grew higher and more +precipitous the darkness became more dense, and they were obliged to +pick their way with great caution among the boulders that strewed the +bottom of the ravine. Several times they had to dismount in order to get +the horses over heavy falls, and it was four hours from the time they +entered the canyon before they approached its mouth. When they entered +the little wood where they had first left the horses, the chief said, +"Make fire, cook food here. Leaping Horse and Hunting Dog go on and +scout, maybe 'Rappahoes left watch in valley." + +"Very well, chief. It is seven hours since we started; I think the +horses will be all the better for an hour's rest, and I am sure we shall +be the better of a feed. Besides, when we are once out of this hole we +may have to travel fast." + +"You don't think it likely that the 'Rappahoes are on the look-out for +us at the entrance?" Tom asked, as the Indians moved away. + +"Not likely at all, Tom. Still, as they might reckon that if we gave +their searching party the slip we must come down again by the river or +through this canyon, they may have left a party or sent down word to some +of their villages to keep a watch in the valley." + +It was more than an hour before the Indians returned. + +"No 'Rappahoes in valley," the chief said, as he seated himself by the +fire and began without loss of time to eat the meat they had cooked in +readiness. "Better be going soon, must cross river and get on before +light come; have seen fires, Indian villages up on hillsides. When light +comes and 'Rappahoes find trail they come back quick." + +"You may bet your boots they will, chief," Sam Hicks said. "They will be +a pretty mad crowd when they make out that we have come down again by +the canyon. As soon as they see which way we have headed some of them +will make a bee-line down here in hopes of cutting us off at the mouth, +but by the time they are here we shall be half-way up the hill." + +The Indian made no reply, but he and Hunting Dog ate their meal +steadily, and as soon as they had finished rose to their feet, and +saying "Time to go" went out to fetch in their horses. + +"I don't think the chief is as confident we shall get off without a +fight as Sam seemed to be," Tom said to his uncle. + +"There is never any saying what an Indian thinks, Tom, even when he has +fallen into white man's ways, as Leaping Horse has done. It may be that +the sight of the fires he made out on the opposite hills has troubled +him. It will be light before we are far up on the side, and we may be +made out by some of the varmint there. They are always restless. Go into +an Indian village when you will, you will find some of them smoking by +the fire. Their ears are so 'tarnal sharp, they can hear sounds that +would never catch our ears, not at half the distance. The clink of a +couple of pans together, or a stone set rolling by a horse's tread, were +it ever so faint, would bring them on their feet directly, especially +now they know that a war-party is out." + +The march was again resumed. Passing through the narrowest part of the +canyon they issued out into the valley and made for the river. Some time +was lost here, for Sam Hicks, who was leading one of the pack-ponies, +was carried down several hundred yards by the stream, and with +difficulty effected his landing. The horse's load shifted and had to be +repacked. As soon as this was done they followed the river down for two +miles till they came upon a stream running into it from the southwest. + +"You think this is the stream we have to follow, chief?" + +"Must be him, no other came in on this side for a long way; right line +for peak." + +They turned up by the stream, and after riding a mile found themselves +entering a mountain gorge. It was not a canyon but a steep, narrow +valley. They picked their way with the greatest caution for some time, +then the two Indians stopped simultaneously. + +"What is the matter, chief?" Harry, who was riding next to them, +whispered. + +"Smell smoke." + +Harry sniffed the air. + +"I can't say I smell it, chief, but if you say you do that settles it. +Where do you think it comes from?" + +"Up valley; wind light, but comes that way. Indian village up here." + +"Well, so much the worse for the Indian village if it interferes with +us," Harry said grimly; "there is one thing certain, we have got to go +through. Probably most of the braves are away up in the hills." + +They now went on with redoubled caution. The chief gave his bridle to +Hunting Dog and went forward on foot. A hundred yards farther the valley +made a sharp turn and then widened out considerably, and the glow of a +fire was visible among some trees standing on the hillside some fifty +feet above the level of the stream. The chief looked at the sky; a faint +light was breaking, and without pausing he continued to lead the way. +They passed under the Indian encampment, and had got a few yards higher +when the pony Sam Hicks was leading gave a sharp neigh. + +"Darn its old ears!" Tom heard Jerry growl. Harry at the same moment put +his horse to a trot, and the others following clattered up the valley, +knowing that concealment was no longer of any use; indeed, an answering +neigh from above and hurried shouts were heard, followed a moment +afterwards by a loud yell as an Indian running through the trees caught +sight of them in the moonlight. + +"We are in for it now, Tom; that is, if there are men enough in the +village to attack us." + +The horses broke into a gallop. They had gone but fifty yards when a +rifle-shot was heard from behind, and Tom felt a shock as the ball +struck his saddle. Almost immediately another shot was fired abreast of +him, and an Indian yell rose loudly behind them. A moment later Leaping +Horse with a shout of triumph bounded down the rocks and leapt on to his +horse. Four or five more shots were fired from behind, but none of them +were hit. A hundred yards farther they were in shelter of a belt of +trees that extended down to the stream. As they entered it Harry looked +back. He could now see the hills beyond the main valley. + +"Look, chief!" he exclaimed. "The varmint up there are signalling far +off above the timber-line." + +Bright tongues of fire could be seen, two close together and one a short +distance to the left. + +"What does that mean, uncle?" Tom asked, as the chief gave a short +exclamation of surprise and anger. + +"It means, lad, that the red-skins have been sharper than we gave them +credit for. When their spies brought them news that we had started they +must have come down to the fire and followed our trail at once with +torches, before we had got above an hour or two away. No doubt it was +slow work, but they must have found where we changed our course, and +made out that we were making for the head of the canyon. I expect most of +them lost no time in following the trail farther, but rode straight for +the head of the canyon, and like enough they weren't half an hour behind +us when we came out. The others rode to the edge of the plateau and set +those fires alight." + +"But what do they mean, uncle?" + +"They are a warning to all the villages that we have headed back, you +may be sure of that, though I can't say what the message is, for every +tribe has its own signals, but it will have set them on the watch up and +down the valley; and like enough the signal has been repeated somewhere +at a point where it can be seen straight down the Big Wind Valley. The +shooting will tell them all which way we are making, and if the +'Rappahoes have come out of the canyon, as I reckon they have, they need +lose no more time in looking for our trail. I reckon in half an hour we +shall have a hundred or so of the varmint after us. I only hope there are +no more villages upon this line. I don't so much care about the fellows +who are following us, we are sure to find some place where we can make a +stand, but it would be awkward if we find our way barred." + +"But if there is no one in front, uncle, I should think we might be able +to keep ahead. Our horses are as good as they are likely to have." + +"You and Jerry might be able to, Tom, for you have got hold of two +first-rate ponies; but the Indians' are nothing out of the way, and our +ponies ain't in it with you; besides, they and the pack-horses have all +been doing hard work for the last week with none too much food, and many +of the 'Rappahoes will be on fresh horses. I expect we have got some +very tall climbing to do before we get up to the pass, and we have got +to do our fighting before we get there." + +The ground rose steeply, and was encumbered by fallen stones and +boulders, and it was not long before the pack-horses began to show signs +of distress, while those ridden by Harry and his two comrades were +drawing their breath in short gasps. After emerging from the trees the +ravine had run in almost a straight line for more than half a mile, and +just as they reached the end of this stretch a yell was heard down the +valley. Looking back they saw eight or ten mounted Indians emerging from +the wood at the lower end. + +"That is a signal," Harry exclaimed, as four rifles were fired in quick +succession. "Well, we have got a bit of a start of them, and they won't +venture to attack us until some more come up. We had better take it a +bit quietly, chief, or our horses will give out. I expect we sha'n't be +long before we come upon a place where we can make a stand." + +The Seneca looked round at the horses. "You, Sam, Ben and pack-horses go +on till you get to place where can fight. We four wait here; got good +horses, and can ride on. We stop them here for a bit." + +"That would be best. I don't like being out of it, but we will do our +share presently." + +No more words were necessary. Harry and his two mates rode on at a +slower pace than before, while the two Indians, Jerry, and Tom +dismounted, left their horses beyond the turn, and then coming back took +up their positions behind four large boulders. The Indians had noticed +their returning figures, for they suddenly drew up their horses and +gathered together in consultation. + +"Draw your bullet, Tom," Jerry said, "and drop in half a charge more +powder; I reckon that piece of yours will send a bullet among them with +the help of a good charge. Allow a bit above that top notch for extra, +elevation. It's a good big mark, and you ought to be able to plump a +bullet among them." + +Tom followed the instructions, and then resting the barrel on the top of +the boulder took a steady aim and fired. There was a sudden stir among +the group of Indians. A horse reared high in the air, almost unseating +its rider, and then they all rode off at the top of their speed, and +halted two or three hundred yards lower down the valley. The Senecas +uttered a grunt of approval. + +"That was a good shot, Tom, though I wish you had hit one of the +red-skins instead of his critter. Still, it will give them a good +lesson, and make them mighty keerful. They won't care about showing +their ugly heads within range of a piece that will carry five hundred +yards." + +A quarter of an hour passed without any movement on the part of the +Indians. Then a large party of horsemen appeared from the trees below, +and were greeted by them with a yell of satisfaction. + +"There must be well-nigh fifty of them," Jerry said. "I reckon it's the +party that came down the hill. They must have picked up a good many +others by the way. Now the fun is going to begin." + +After five minutes' consultation some twenty of the Indians dismounted, +and dividing into two parties ascended the slopes of the valley and +began to move forward, taking advantage of every stone and bush, so that +it was but occasionally that a glimpse of one of their bodies was +obtained. + +"They are going to skirmish up to us," Jerry said, "till they are near +enough to make it hot for us if we show a head above the rocks to fire. +As soon as they can do that, the others will charge. I think they are +not more than four hundred yards off now, Tom. That is within your +range, so you may as well begin to show them that we are awake. If you +can bring one down it will check their pace." + +Tom had just noticed three Indians run behind a clump of bushes, and he +now levelled his rifle so that it bore on a spot a foot on one side of +it. Half a minute later an Indian appeared at the bush and began to run +forward. Tom pressed the trigger. The Indian ran a few steps, and then +fell forward on his face. + +"Bravo, Plumb-centre!" Jerry shouted. "We said that you would do the +rifle credit, Tom, and Billy the Scout could not have done better +himself." + +"Young white man make great hunter," the chief remarked approvingly. +"Got good eye and steady hand." + +The lesson had its effect. The Indian advance was no longer rapid, but +was conducted with the greatest caution, and it was only occasionally +that a glimpse could be caught of a dusky figure passing from rock to +rock. When they came within three hundred yards the two Indians and +Jerry also opened fire. One fell to a shot from the chief, but neither +of the others hit their marks. Tom indeed did not fire again, the +movements of the Indians being so rapid that they were gone before he +could bring his sight to bear upon any of them. + +"Go now," the chief said. "'Rappahoes fire soon; run quick." + +It was but a few yards to shelter. As they dashed across the intervening +space two or three Indian rifles rang out, but the rest of the +assailants had been too much occupied in sheltering themselves and +looking for the next spot to make for, to keep an eye upon the +defenders, and the hastily-fired shots all missed. A moment later the +party mounted their horses and rode up the ravine, the yells of the +Indians ringing in their ears. + +[Illustration: "A Moment Later The Indian Fell Forward On His Face."] + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +IN SAFETY + + +"We have gained half an hour anyhow," Jerry said, as they galloped up +the ravine, "and I reckon by the time we overtake them we shall find +them stowed away in some place where it will puzzle the red-skins to +dislodge us. The varmint will fight hard if they are cornered, but they +ain't good at advancing when there are a few rifle-tubes, in the hands +of white men, pointing at them, and they have had a lesson now that we +can shoot." + +The ravine continued to narrow. The stream had become a mere rivulet, +and they were high up on the hillside. + +"I begin to be afeared there ain't no place for making a stand." Here he +was interrupted by an angry growl, as a great bear suddenly rose to his +feet behind a rock. + +"You may thank your stars that we are too busy to attend to you," Jerry +said, as they rode past within a few yards of it. "That is a grizzly, +Tom; and an awkward beast you would have found him if you had come upon +him by yourself without your shooting-iron. He is a big one too, and his +skin would have been worth money down in the settlements. Ah, there they +are." + +The ravine made an abrupt turn to the west, and high up on its side they +saw their three companions with the five horses climbing up the +precipitous rocks. + +"How ever did they get up there?" Jerry exclaimed. + +"Found Indian trail," the chief said. "Let my brothers keep their eyes +open." + +They rode on slowly now, examining every foot of the steep hillside. +Presently Hunting Dog, who was ahead, uttered an exclamation. Between +two great boulders there was a track, evidently a good deal used. + +"Let Hunting Dog go first," the chief said. "Leaping Horse will follow +the white men." + +"I reckon that this is the great Indian trail over the pass," Jerry said +to Tom, who preceded him. "I have heard there ain't no way over the +mountains atween that pass by Fremont's Buttes and the pass by this +peak, which they calls Union Peak, and the red-skins must travel by this +when they go down to hunt buffalo on the Green River. It is a wonder +Harry struck on it." + +"Leaping Horse told him to keep his eyes open," the chief said from the +rear. "He knew that Indian trail led up this valley." + +"Jee-rusalem! but it's a steep road," Jerry said presently. "I am +dog-goned if I can guess how the red-skins ever discovered it. I expect +they must have tracked some game up it, and followed to see where it +went to." + +The trail wound about in a wonderful way. Sometimes it went horizontally +along narrow ledges, then there was a bit of steep climbing, where they +had to lead their horses; then it wound back again, and sometimes even +descended for a distance to avoid a projecting crag. + +"Ah! would ye, yer varmint?" Jerry exclaimed, as a shot rang out from +the valley below and a bullet flattened itself against a rock within a +foot or two of his head. The shot was followed by a loud yell from +below, as a crowd of mounted Indians rode at full gallop round the angle +of the ravine. + +"Hurry on, Hunting Dog, and get round the next corner, for we are +regular targets here." + +A few yards farther a turn of the path took them out of sight of the +Indians, but not before a score of bullets came whistling up from below. + +"The varmint have been riding too fast to shoot straight, I reckon. It +will be our turn directly." + +Just as he spoke the chief called upon them to dismount. They threw +their bridles on their horses' necks, and descending to the ledge they +had just left, lay down on it. + +"Get your revolver out, Tom, before you shoot," Jerry said. "They will +be off before you have time to load your rifle again." + +The Indians were some four hundred feet below them, and were talking +excitedly, evidently hesitating whether to follow up the trail. The four +rifles cracked almost together. Two Indians fell, and the plunging of +two horses showed that they were hit. In an instant the whole mass were +on their way down the valley, followed by bullet after bullet from the +revolvers which Leaping Horse as well as the whites carried. Anything +like accurate aim was impossible, and no Indian was seen to fall, but it +was probable that some of the bullets had taken effect among the crowded +horsemen. + +"Go on quiet now," Leaping Horse said, rising to his feet. "'Rappahoes +not follow any farther. One man with this"--and he touched his +revolver--"keep back whole tribe here." + +Half an hour later they joined the party who had halted at the top of +the track. + +"It air too bad our being out of it," Ben said. "I hope you have given +some of the varmint grist." + +"Only five or six of them," Jerry replied regretfully, "counting in the +one Leaping Horse shot at the village. Tom here did a big shot, and +brought one down in his tracks at a good four hundred yards--as neat a +shot as ever I saw fired. The chief he accounted for another; then +atween us we wiped out two down below; and I reckon some of the others +are carrying some of our lead away. Waal, I think we have shook them off +at last any how. I suppose there ain't, no other road they can come up +here by, chief?" + +"Leaping Horse only heard of one trail." + +"You may bet your life there ain't another," Harry remarked. "They would +never have used such a dog-goned road as this if there had been any +other way of going up." + +"Camp here," the chief said. "Long journey over pass, too much cold. +Keep watch here at head of trail." + +"That is a very good plan. I have heard that the pass is over nine +thousand feet above the sea, and it would never do to have to camp up +there. Besides, I have been looking at the sky, and I don't much like +its appearance. Look over there to the north." + +There were, indeed, evident signs of an approaching change in the +weather. On the previous day every peak and jagged crest stood out hard +and distinct in the clear air. Now all the higher summits were hidden by +a bank of white cloud. + +"Snow," the Indian said gravely; "winter coming." + +"That is just what I thought, chief. At any rate we know where we are +here, and there is brushwood to be gathered not far down the trail; and +even if we are shut up here we can manage well enough for a day or two. +These early snows don't lie long, but to be caught in a snow-storm +higher up would be a sight worse than fighting with red-skins." + +From the spot where they were now standing at the edge of the ravine the +ground sloped very steeply up for some hundreds of feet, and then steep +crags rose in an unbroken wall; but from the view they had had of the +country from the other side they knew that behind this wall rose a range +of lofty summits. The Indian trail ran along close to the edge of the +ravine. The chief looked round earnestly. + +"No good place to camp," he said. "Wind blow down hills, horses not able +to stand against it. Heap snow tumble down from there," and he pointed +upwards. "Carry everything down below." + +"Well, if you think we had better push on, let us do so, chief." + +The Indian shook his head and pointed to the clouds again. "See," he +said; "storm come very soon." + +Even in the last two or three minutes a change was perceptible. The +upper edge of the clouds seemed to be suddenly broken up. Long streamers +spread out like signal flags of danger. Masses of clouds seemed to be +wrenched off and to fly with great rapidity for a short distance; some +of them sinking a little, floated back until they again formed a part of +the mountain cap, while others sped onwards towards the south. + +"No time," the chief repeated earnestly; "must look for camp quick." He +spoke in the Indian tongue to Hunting Dog, and the two stood on a point +where the ground jutted out, and closely examined the ravine up whose +side they had climbed. The chief pointed farther along, and Hunting Dog +started at a run along the Indian trail. A few hundred yards farther he +paused and looked down, moved a few steps farther, and then disappeared +from sight. In three or four minutes he returned and held up his arms. + +"Come," the chief said, and taking his horse's rein led it along the +path. The others followed his example, glad, indeed, to be in motion. +Five minutes before they had been bathed in perspiration from their +climb up the cliff; now they were conscious of the extraordinary change +of temperature that had suddenly set in, and each had snatched a blanket +from behind his saddle and wrapped it round him. They soon reached the +spot where Hunting Dog was standing, and looked down. Some thirty feet +below there was a sort of split in the face of the cliff, a wall of rock +rising to within four or five feet of the level of the edge of the +ravine. At one end it touched the face of the rock, at the other it was +ten or twelve feet from it, the space between being in the form of a +long wedge, which was completely filled up with trees and brushwood. A +ledge ran down from the point where Hunting Dog was standing to the +mouth of the fissure. + +"Jee-rusalem, chief!" Ben exclaimed. "That air just made for us--we +could not have found a better, not if we had sarched for a year. But I +reckon we shall have to clear the place a bit before we take the +critters down." + +Two axes were taken from one of the pack-horses. + +"Don't cut away the bigger stuff, Ben," Harry said as his two mates +proceeded down the ledge, "their heads will shelter us from the snow a +bit; and only clear away the bushes enough to give room for the horses +and us, and leave those standing across the entrance to make a screen. +While you are doing it we will fetch in as much more wood and grass as +we can get hold of before the snow begins to fall." + +The horses were left standing while the men scattered along the top of +the ravine, and by the time Ben shouted that they were ready, a +considerable pile of brushwood and a heap of coarse grass had been +collected. The horses were then led down one by one, unsaddled, and +packed together in two lines, having beyond them a great pile of the +bushes that had been cut away. + +"I am dog-goned if this ain't the best shelter I ever struck upon," +Jerry said. "We could not have fixed upon a better if we had had it +built special," the others cordially agreed. + +The place they occupied was of some twelve feet square. On either side +was a perpendicular wall of rock; beyond were the horses; while at the +entrance the bush, from three to four feet high, had been left standing; +above them stretched a canopy of foliage. Enough dry wood had been +collected to start a fire. + +"Don't make it too big. Jerry, we don't want to scorch up our roof," +Harry Wade said. "Well, I reckon we have got enough fuel here for a +week, for there is what you cut down and what we brought, and all that +is left standing beyond the horses; and with the leaves and the grass +the ponies should be able to hold out as long as the fuel lasts. We are +short of meat, but we have plenty of flour; and as for water, we can +melt snow." + +Buffalo rugs were laid down on each side by the rock walls, and on these +they took their seats and lighted their pipes. + +"I have been wanting a smoke pretty bad," Jerry said; "I ain't had one +since we halted in that there canyon. Hello, here it comes!" + +As he spoke a fierce gust of wind swayed the foliage overhead and sent +the smoke, that had before risen quietly upwards, whirling round the +recess; then for a moment all was quiet again; then came another and a +stronger gust, rising and gathering in power and laden with fine +particles of snow. A thick darkness fell, and Harry threw some more wood +on the fire to make a blaze. But loud as was the gale outside, the air +in the shelter was hardly moved, and there was but a slight rustling of +the leaves overhead. Thicker and thicker flew the snow flakes in the air +outside, and yet none seemed to fall through the leaves. + +"I am dog-goned if I can make this out," Sam Hicks said. "We are as +quiet here as if we were in a stone house, and one would think there was +a copper-plated roof overhead. It don't seem nat'ral." + +The others were also looking up with an air of puzzled surprise, not +unmingled with uneasiness. Harry went to the entrance and looked out +over the breastwork of bushes. "Look here, Sam," he said. + +"Why, Harry, it looks to me as if it were snowing up instead of down," +the miner said as he joined him. + +"That is just it. You see, we are in the elbow of the valley and are +looking straight down it, into the eye of the wind. It comes rushing up +the valley and meets this steep wall on its way, and pushed on by the +wind behind has to go somewhere, and so it is driven almost straight up +here and over the hilltops behind us. So you see the snow is carried up +instead of falling, and this rock outside us shoots it clear up over the +path we were following above. As long as the wind keeps north, I reckon +we sha'n't be troubled by the snow in here." + +The explanation seemed satisfactory, and there was a general feeling of +relief. + +"I remember reading," Tom said, as the others took their seats again, +"that people can stand on the edge of a cliff, facing a gale, without +feeling any wind. For the wind that strikes the cliff rushes up with +such force that it forms a sort of wall. Of course, it soon beats down +again, and not many yards back you can feel the gale as strongly as +anywhere else. But just at the edge the air is perfectly still." + +The miners looked at Tom as if they thought that he was making a joke at +their expense. But his uncle said: + +"Yes, I can quite believe that. You see, it is something like a +waterfall; you can stand right under that, for the force shoots it +outwards, and I reckon it is the same sort of thing here." The chief +nodded gravely. He too had been surprised at the lull in their shelter +when the storm was raging so furiously outside, but Harry's illustration +of the action of rushing water enlightened him more than his first +explanation had done. + +"But water ain't wind, Harry," Ben said. + + +"It is like water in many ways, Ben. You don't see it, but you can feel +it just the same. If you stand behind a tree or round a corner it rushes +past you, and you are in a sort of eddy, just as you would be if it was +a river that was moving alongside of you. Wind acts just the same way as +water. If it had been a big river coming along the valley at the same +rate as the wind it would rush up the rocks some distance and then sweep +round and race up the valley; but wind being light instead of being +heavy is able to rush straight up the hill till it gets right over the +crest." + +"Waal, if you say it is all right I suppose it is. Anyhow, it's a good +thing for us, and I don't care how long it goes on in the same way. I +reckoned that before morning we should have those branches breaking down +on us with the weight of snow; now I see we are like to have a quiet +night." + +"I won't answer for that, Ben; it is early in the day yet, and there is +no saying how the wind may be blowing before to-morrow morning. Anyhow, +now we have time we may as well get some of those bundles of bushes that +we brought down, and pile them so as to thicken the shelter of these +bushes and lighten it a bit. If we do that, and hang a couple of +blankets inside of them, it will give us a good shelter even if the wind +works round, and will help to keep us warm. For though we haven't got +wind or snow in here, we have got cold." + +"You bet," Jerry agreed; "it is a regular blizzard. And although I don't +say as it is too cold sitting here by the fire, it won't cost us +anything to make the place a bit warmer." + +Accordingly the bundles of wood they had gathered were brought out, and +with these the screen of bush was thickened, and raised to a height of +five feet; and when this was hung inside with a couple of blankets, it +was agreed that they could get through the storm comfortably even if it +lasted for a month. + +They cooked their last chunk of deer's flesh, after having first +prepared some bread and put it in the baking pot among the embers, and +made some tea from the water in the skins. When they had eaten their +meal they covered themselves up in buffalo robes and blankets, and +lighted their pipes. There was, however, but little talk, for the noise +of the tempest was so great, that it was necessary to raise the voice +almost to a shout to be heard, and it was not long before they were all +asleep. + +For hours there was no stir in the shelter, save when a horse pawed the +ground impatiently, or when Hunting Dog rose two or three times to put +fresh sticks on the fire. It seemed to Tom when he woke that it ought to +be nearly morning. He took out his watch, and by the light of the fire +made out to his surprise that it was but ten o'clock. The turmoil of the +wind seemed to him to be as loud as before, and he pulled the blankets +over his shoulder again and was soon sound asleep. When he next woke, it +was with the sensation of coldness in the face, and sitting up he saw +that the blankets and the ground were covered with a thick coating of +fine snow. There was a faint light in addition to that given by the +embers of the fire, and he knew that morning was breaking. His movement +disturbed his uncle, who was lying next him. He sat up and at once +aroused the others. + +"Wake up, mates," he said; "we have had somewhere about eighteen hours' +sleep, and day is breaking." + +In a minute all were astir. The snow was first shaken off the blankets, +and then Harry, taking a shovel, cleared the floor. Jerry took the +largest cooking-pot, and saying to Tom, "You bring that horse-bucket +along," pushed his way out through a small gap that had been left in the +screen of bushes. The wind had gone down a good deal, though it was +still blowing strongly. The snow had drifted against the entrance, and +formed a steep bank there; from this they filled the pot and bucket, +pressing the snow down. Tom was glad to get back again within the +shelter, for the cold outside was intense. The fire was already burning +brightly, and the pot and a frying-pan were placed over it, and kept +replenished with snow as fast as their contents melted. "We must keep on +at this," Harry said, "there is not a drop left in the skins, and the +horses must have water." + +As soon as enough had melted it was poured into the kettle. There was +some bacon among the trappers' stores, as they had calculated that they +would not be able to hunt until out of Big Wind Valley and far up among +the forests beyond. The frying-pan was now utilized for its proper work, +while the pail was placed close enough to the fire to thaw its contents, +without risking injury to it. Within an hour of breakfast being finished +enough snow had been thawed to give the horses half a bucket of water +each. In each pail a couple of pounds of flour had been stirred to help +out what nourishment could be obtained from the leaves, and from the +small modicum of grass given to each animal. + +"It will be a big journey over the pass, anyhow," Harry had said. "Now +that we are making tracks for the settlements we need not be sparing of +the flour; indeed, the lighter we are the better." + +The day did not pass so pleasantly as that preceding it, for the air was +filled with fine snow that blew in at the entrance and found its way +between the leaves overhead; while from time to time the snow +accumulating there came down with a crash, calling forth much strong +language from the man on whom it happened to fall, and shouts of +laughter from his comrades. The party was indeed a merry one. They had +failed altogether in the objects of their expedition, but they had +escaped without a scratch from the Indians, and had inflicted some +damage upon them; and their luck in finding so snug a shelter in such a +storm far more than counterbalanced their disappointment at their +failure. + +"Have you often been caught in the snow, uncle?" + +"You bet, Tom; me and the chief here were mighty nigh rubbed out three +years ago. I was prospecting among the Ute hills, while Leaping Horse +was doing the hunting for us both. It was in the middle of winter; the +snow was deep on the ground in the valleys and on the tops of the hills, +but there was plenty of bare rock on the hillside, so I was able to go +on with my work. While as for hunting, the cold drove the big-horns down +from the heights where they feed in summer, and the chief often got a +shot at them; and they are good eating, I can tell you. + +"We hadn't much fear of red-skins, for they ain't fond of cold and in +winter move their lodges down to the most sheltered valleys and live +mostly on dried meat. When they want a change they can always get a bear +or maybe a deer in the woods. We were camped in a grove of pines in a +valley and were snug enough. One day I had struck what I thought was the +richest vein I had ever come on. I got my pockets full of bits of quartz +with the gold sticking thick in it, and you may bet I went down to the +camp in high glee. A quarter of a mile before I got there I saw Leaping +Horse coming to meet me at a lope. It didn't want telling that there was +something wrong. As soon as he came up he said 'Utes.' 'Many of them, +chief?' I asked. He held up his open hands twice. + +"'Twenty of them,' I said; 'that is pretty bad. How far are they away?' +He said he had seen them coming over a crest on the other side of the +valley. 'Then we have got to git,' I said, 'there ain't no doubt about +that. What the 'tarnal do the varmint do here?' 'War-party,' the chief +said. 'Indian hunter must have come across our trail and taken word back +to the lodges.' The place where he had met me was among a lot of rocks +that had rolled down. There had been no snow for a fortnight, and of +course the red-skins would see our tracks everywhere, going and coming +from the camp. We were on foot that time, though we had a pack-horse to +carry our outfit. Of course they would get that and everything at the +camp. I did not think much of the loss, the point was how were we to +save our scalps? We had sat down behind a rock as soon as he had joined +me. Just then a yell came from the direction of our camp, and we knew +that the red-skins had found it. 'They won't be able to follow your +trail here, chief, will they?' He shook his head. 'Trail everywhere, not +know which was the last.' We could see the grove where the camp was, and +of course they could see the rocks, and it was sartin that if we had +made off up the hill they would have been after us in a squirrel's jump; +so there was nothing to do but to lie quiet until it was dark. We got in +among the boulders, and lay down where we could watch the grove through +a chink. + +"'I don't see a sign of them,' I said. 'You would have thought they +would have been out in search of us.' + +"'No search,' the chief said. 'No good look for us, not know where we +have gone to. Hide up in grove. Think we come back, and then catch us.' + +"So it turned out. Not a sign of them was to be seen, and after that +first yell everything was as quiet as death. In a couple of hours it got +dark, and as soon as it did we were off. We talked matters over, you may +be sure. There weren't no denying we were cornered. There we were +without an ounce of flour or a bite of meat. The chief had caught up a +couple of buffalo rugs as soon as he sighted the red-skins. That gave us +just a chance, but it wasn't more. In the morning the red-skins would +know we had either sighted them or come on their trail, and would be +scattering all over the country in search of us. We agreed that we must +travel a good way apart, though keeping each other in sight. They would +have noticed that the trails were all single, and if they came upon two +together going straight away from the camp, would know for sure it was +us making off. + +"You may think that with so many tracks as we had made in the fortnight +we had been there, they would not have an idea which was made the first +day and which was made the last, but that ain't so. In the first place, +the snow was packed hard, and the footprints were very slight. Then, +even when it is always freezing there is an evaporation of the snow, and +the footprints would gradually disappear; besides that, the wind on most +days had been blowing a little, and though the drift does not count for +much on packed snow, a fine dust is blown along, and if the prints don't +get altogether covered there is enough drift in them to show which are +old ones and which are fresh. We both knew that they could not make much +mistake about it, and that they would be pretty sure to hit on the trail +I had made in the morning when I went out, and on that of the chief to +the rocks, and following mine back to the same place would guess that we +had cached there till it was dark. + +"I could have done that myself; one can read such a trail as that like a +printed book. The worst of it was, there were no getting out of the +valley without leaving sign. On the bare hillsides and among the rocks +we could travel safe enough, but above them was everywhere snow, and do +what we would there would be no hiding our trail. We agreed that the +only thing was to cross the snow as quick as possible, to keep on the +bare rock whenever we got a chance, and wherever we struck wood, and to +double sometimes one way sometimes another, so as to give the red-skins +plenty of work to do to follow our trail. We walked all that night, and +right on the next day till early in the afternoon. Then we lay down and +slept till sunset, and then walked again all night. We did not see any +game. If we had we should have shot, for we knew the red-skins must be a +long way behind. When we stopped in the morning we were not so very far +from the camp we had started from, for if we had pushed straight back to +the settlements we should have been caught sure, for the Utes would have +been certain to have sent off a party that way to watch the valleys we +should have had to pass through. We lay down among some trees and slept +for a few hours and then set out to hunt, for we had been two days +without food, and I was beginning to feel that I must have a meal. + +"We had not gone far when we came across the track of a black bear. We +both felt certain that the trail was not many hours old. We followed it +for two miles, and found it went up to a slide of rocks; they had come +down from a cliff some years before, for there were bushes growing among +them. As a rule a black bear will always leave you alone if you leave +him, and hasn't much fight in him at the best; so up we went, thinking +we were sure of our bear-steak without much trouble in getting it. I was +ahead, and had just climbed up on to a big rock, when, from a bush in +front, the bear came out at me with a growl. I expect it had cubs +somewhere, I had just time to take a shot from the hip and then he was +on me, and gave me a blow on the shoulder that ripped the flesh down to +the elbow. + +"But that was not the worst, for the blow sent me over the edge, and I +fell seven or eight feet down among the sharp rocks. I heard the chief's +rifle go off, and it was some time after that before I saw or heard +anything more. When I came to I found he had carried me down to the foot +of the slide and laid me there. He was cutting up some sticks when I +opened my eyes. 'Have you got the bear, Leaping Horse?' + +"'The bear is dead,' he said. 'My brother is badly hurt.' + +"'Oh, never mind the hurt,' I said, 'so that we have got him. What are +you doing, chief? You are not going to make a fire here, are you?' + +"'My brother's leg is broken,' he said. 'I am cutting some sticks to +keep it straight.' + +"That brought me round to my senses, as you may guess. To break one's +leg up in the mountains is bad at any time, but when it is in the middle +of winter, and you have got a tribe of red-skins at your heels, it means +you have got to go under. I sat up and looked at my leg. Sure enough, +the left one was snapt like a pipe-stem, about half-way between the knee +and the ankle. 'Why, chief,' I said, 'it would have been a sight better +if you had put a bullet through my head as I lay up there. I should have +known nothing about it.' + +"'The Utes have not got my white brother yet.' + +"'No,' said I, 'but it won't be long before they have me; maybe it will +be this afternoon, and maybe to-morrow morning.' The chief said nothing, +but went on with his work. When he had got five or six sticks about +three feet long and as many about a foot, and had cut them so that they +each had one flat side, he took off his buckskin shirt, and working +round the bottom of it cut a thong about an inch wide and five or six +yards long. Then he knelt down and got the bone in the right position, +and then with what help I could give him put on the splints and bandaged +them tightly, a long one and a short one alternately. The long ones he +bandaged above the knee as well as below, so that the whole leg was +stiff. I felt pretty faint by the time it was done, and Leaping Horse +said, 'Want food; my white brother will lie quiet, Leaping Horse will +soon get him some.' + +"He set to work and soon had a fire going, and then went up to the rocks +and came down again with the bear's hams and about half his hide. It was +not long before he had some slices cooked, and I can tell you I felt +better by the time we had finished. We had not said much to each other, +but I had been thinking all the time, and when we had done I said, 'Now, +chief, I know that you will be wanting to stay with me, but I ain't +going to have it. You know as well as I do that the Utes will be here +to-morrow at latest, and there ain't more chance of my getting away from +them than there is of my flying. It would be just throwing away your +scalp if you were to stop here, and it would not do me a bit of good, +and would fret me considerable. Now before you start I will get you to +put me somewhere up among those stones where I can make a good fight of +it. You shall light a fire by the side of me, and put a store of wood +within reach and a few pounds of bear's flesh. I will keep them off as +long as I can with the rifle, then there will be five shots with my +Colt. I will keep the last barrel for myself; I ain't going to let the +Utes amuse themselves by torturing me for a few hours before they finish +me. Then you make straight away for the settlements; they won't be so +hot after you when they have once got me. The next time you go near +Denver you can go and tell Pete Hoskings how it all came about.' + +"'My white brother is weak with the pain,' the chief said quietly; 'he +is talking foolishly. He knows that Leaping Horse will stay with his +friend. He will go and look for a place.' Without listening to what I +had to say he took up his rifle and went up the valley, which was a +steep one. He was away better than half an hour and then came back. +'Leaping Horse found a place,' he said, 'where he and his brother can +make a good fight. Straight Harry get on his friend's back.' It was +clear that there weren't no use talking to him. He lifted me up on to my +feet, then he got me well up on to his back, as if I had been a sack of +coal, and went off with me, striding along pretty near as quick as if I +had not been there. It might have been half a mile, when he turned up a +narrow ravine that was little more than a cleft in the rock that rose +almost straight up from the valley. It did not go in very far, for there +had been a slide, and it was blocked up by a pile of rocks and earth, +forty or fifty feet high. It was a big job even for the chief to get me +up to the top of them. The snow had drifted down thick into the ravine, +and it was a nasty place to climb even for a man who had got nothing but +his rifle on his shoulder. However, he got me up safely, and laid me +down just over the crest. He had put my buffalo robe over my shoulders +before starting, and he rolled me up in this and said, 'Leaping Horse +will go and fetch rifles and bear-meat,' and he set straight off and +left me there by myself." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +A BAD TIME + + +"Even to me," Harry went on, after refilling and lighting his pipe, "it +did not seem long before the chief was back. He brought a heavy load, +for besides the rifles and bear's flesh he carried on his back a big +faggot of brushwood. After laying that down he searched among the rocks, +and presently set to work to dig out the snow and earth between two big +blocks, and was not long before he scooped out with his tomahawk a hole +big enough for the two of us to lie in comfortably. He laid the +bear's-skin down in this, then he carried me to it and helped me in and +then put the robes over me; and a snugger place you would not want to +lie in. + +"It was about ten feet below the level of the crest of the heap of +rocks, and of course on the upper side, so that directly the red-skins +made their appearance he could help me up to the top. That the two of us +could keep the Utes back I did not doubt; we had our rifles, and the +chief carried a revolver as well as I did. After they had once caught a +glimpse of the sort of place we were on, I did not think they would +venture into the ravine, for they would have lost a dozen men before +they got to the mound. I had looked round while the chief was away, and +I saw that a hundred yards or so higher up, the ravine came to an end, +the sides closing in, so there was no fear of our being attacked from +there. What I was afraid of was that the Indians might be able to get up +above and shoot down on us, though whether they could or not depended on +the nature of the ground above, and of course I could not see beyond the +edge of the rocks. + +"But even if they could not get up in the daylight, they could crawl up +at night and finish us, or they could camp down at the mouth of the +ravine and starve us out, for there was no chance of our climbing the +sides, even if my leg had been all right. I was mighty sorry for the +chief. He had just thrown his life away, and it must come to the same in +the end, as far as I was concerned. Even now he could get away if he +chose, but I knew well enough it weren't any good talking to him. So I +lay there, just listening for the crack of his rifle above. He would +bring down the first man that came in, sartin, and there would be plenty +of time after that to get me up beside him, for they would be sure to +have a long talk before they made any move. I did not expect them until +late in the afternoon, and hoped it might be getting dark before they +got down into the valley. There had been a big wind sweeping down it +since the snow had fallen, and though it had drifted deep along the +sides, the bottom was for the most part bare. I noticed that the chief +had picked his way carefully, and guessed that, as they would have no +reason for thinking we were near, they might not take up the trail till +morning. Of course they would find our fire and the dead bear, or all +that there was left of him, and they would fancy we had only stopped to +take a meal and had gone on again. They would see by the fire that we +had left pretty early in the day. I heard nothing of the chief until it +began to get dark; then he came down to me. + +"'Leaping Horse will go out and scout,' he said. 'If Utes not come soon, +will come back here; if they come, will watch down at mouth of valley +till he sees Utes go to sleep.' 'Well, chief,' I said; 'at any rate you +may as well take this robe; one is enough to sleep with in this hole, +and I shall be as snug as a beaver wrapped up in mine. Half your hunting +shirt is gone, and you will find it mighty cold standing out there.' + +"In an hour he came back again. 'Utes come,' he said. 'Have just lighted +fire and going to cook. No come tonight. Leaping Horse has good news for +his brother. There are no stars.' + +"That is good news indeed,' I said. 'If it does but come on to snow +to-night we may carry our scalps back to the settlement yet.' + +"'Leaping Horse can feel snow in the air,' he said. 'If it snows before +morning, good; if not, the Utes will tell their children how many lives +the scalps of the Englishman and the Seneca cost.' + +"The chief lay down beside me. I did not get much sleep, for my leg was +hurting me mightily. From time to time he crawled out, and each time he +returned saying, 'No snow.' I had begun to fear that when it came it +would be too late. It could not have been long before daybreak when he +said, as he crawled in: 'The Great Manitou has sent snow. My brother can +sleep in peace.' An hour later I raised myself up a bit and looked out. +It was light now. The air was full of fine snow, and the earth the chief +had scraped out was already covered thickly. I could see as much as +that, though the chief had, when he came in for the last time, drawn the +faggot in after him. I wondered at the time why he did it, but I saw +now. As soon as the snow had fallen a little more it would hide up +altogether the entrance to our hole. Hour after hour passed, and it +became impossible to get even a peep out, for the snow had fallen so +thickly on the leafy end of the brushwood, which was outward, that it +had entirely shut us in. All day the snow kept on, as we could tell from +the lessening light, and by two o'clock only a faint twilight made its +way in. + +"'How long do you think we shall be imprisoned here, chief?' I asked. + +"'Must not hurry,' he replied. 'There are trees up the valley, and the +Utes may make their camp there and stay till the storm is over. No use +to go out till my brother can walk. Wait till snow is over; then stay +two or three days to give time for Utes to go away. Got bear's flesh to +eat; warm in here, melt snow.' This was true enough, for I was feeling +it downright hot. Just before night came on the chief pushed the end of +his ramrod through the snow and looked out along the hole. + +"'Snow very strong,' he said. 'When it is dark can go out if wish.' + +"There is not much to tell about the next five days. The snow kept +falling steadily, and each evening after dark the chief went outside for +a short time to smoke his pipe, while I sat at the entrance and smoked +mine, and was glad enough to get a little fresh air. As soon as he came +in again the faggot was drawn back to its place, and we were imprisoned +for another twenty-four hours. One gets pretty tired after a time of +eating raw bear's flesh and drinking snow-water, and you bet I was +pretty glad when the chief, after looking out through a peephole, said +that the snow had stopped falling and the sun was shining. About the +middle of that day he said suddenly: 'I hear voices.' + +"It was some time before I heard anything, but I presently made them +out, though the snow muffled them a good deal. They did not seem far +off, and a minute or two later they ceased. We lay there two days +longer, and then even the chief was of opinion that they would have +moved off. My own idea was that they had started the first afternoon +after the snow had stopped falling. + +"'Leaping Horse will go out to scout as soon as it is dark,' he said. +'Go to mouth of ravine. If Utes are in wood he will see their fires and +come back again. Not likely come up here again and find his traces.' + +"That is what I had been saying for the last two days, for after some of +them had been up, and had satisfied themselves that there was no one in +the gully, they would not be likely to come through the snow again. When +the chief returned after an hour's absence, he told me that the Utes had +all gone. 'Fire cold,' he said; 'gone many hours. Leaping Horse has +brought some dry wood up from their hearth. Can light fire now.' You may +guess it was not long before we had a fire blazing in front of our den, +and I never knew how good bear-steak really was till that evening. + +"The next morning the chief took off the splints and rebandaged my leg, +this time putting on a long strip of the bear's skin, which he had +worked until it was perfectly soft while we had been waiting there. Over +this he put on the splints again, and for the first time since that bear +had knocked me off the rock I felt at ease. We stayed there another +fortnight, by the end of which time the bones seemed to have knit pretty +fairly. However, I had made myself a good strong crutch from a straight +branch with a fork at the end, that the chief had cut for me, and I had +lashed a wad of bear's skin in the fork to make it easy. Then we +started, making short journeys at first, but getting longer every day as +I became accustomed to the crutch, and at the end of a week I was able +to throw it aside. + +"We never saw a sign of an Indian trail all the way down to the +settlements, and by the time we got there I was ready to start on a +journey again. The chief found plenty of game on the way down, and I +have never had as much as a twinge in my leg since. So you see this +affair ain't a circumstance in comparison. Since then the chief and I +have always hunted together, and the word brother ain't only a mode of +speaking with us;" and he held out his hand to the Seneca, who gravely +placed his own in it. + +"That war a tight corner, Harry, and no blamed mistake. Did you ever +find out whether they could have got on the top to shoot down on you?" + +"Yes, the chief went up the day after the Utes had left. It was level up +there, and they could have sat on the edge and fired down upon us, and +wiped us out without our having a show." + +"And you have never since been to that place you struck the day the Utes +came down, Harry?" Jerry asked. "I have heard you talk of a place you +knew of, just at the edge of the bad lands, off the Utah hills. Were +that it?" + +Harry nodded. "I have never been there since. I went with a party into +Nevada the next spring, and last year the Utes were all the time upon +the war-path. I had meant to go down this fall, but the Utes were too +lively, so I struck up here instead; but I mean to go next spring +whether they are quiet or not, and to take my chances, and find out +whether it is only good on the surface and peters out to nothing when +you get in, or whether it is a real strong lode. Ben and Sam, and of +course the chief, will go with me, and Tom here, now he has come out, +and if you like to come we shall be all glad." + +"You may count me in," Jerry said, "and I thank you for the offer. I +have had dog-goned bad luck for some time, and I reckon it is about time +it was over. How are you going to share?" + +"We have settled that. The chief and I take two shares each as +discoverers. You four will take one share each." + +"That is fair enough, Harry. Those are mining terms, and after your +nearly getting rubbed out in finding it, if you and the chief had each +taken three shares there would have been nothing for us to grunt at. +They are a 'tarnal bad lot are the Utes. I reckon they are bad by +nature, but the Mormons have made them worse. There ain't no doubt it's +they who set them on to attack the caravans. They could see from the +first that if this was going to be the main route west there would be so +many coming along, and a lot perhaps settle there, that the Gentiles, as +they call the rest of us, would get too strong for them. What they have +been most afeard of is, that a lot of gold or silver should be found up +in the hills, and that would soon put a stop to the Mormon business. +They have been wise enough to tell the red-skins that if men came in and +found gold there would be such a lot come that the hunting would be all +spoilt. There is no doubt that in some of the attacks made on the +caravans there have been sham Indians mixed up with the real ones. +Red-skins are bad enough, but they are good men by the side of +scoundrels who are false to their colour, and who use Indians to kill +whites. That is one reason I want to see this railway go on till it +jines that on the other side. It will be bad for game, and I reckon in a +few years the last buffalo will be wiped out, but I will forgive it +that, so that it does but break up the Saints as they call themselves, +though I reckon there is about as little of the saint among them as you +will find if you search all creation." + +"Right you are, Jerry," Sam Hicks said. "They pretty nigh wiped me out +once, and if Uncle Sam ever takes to fighting them you may bet that I am +in it, and won't ask for no pay." + +"How did it come about, Sam?" Jerry asked. "I dunno as I have ever heard +you tell that story." + +"Waal, I had been a good bit farther east, and had been doing some +scouting with the troops, who had been giving a lesson to the red-skins +there, that it was best for them to let up on plundering the caravans +going west. We had done the job, and I jined a caravan coming this way. +It was the usual crowd, eastern farmers going to settle west, miners, +and such like. Among them was two waggons, which kept mostly as far +apart from the others as they could. They was in charge of two fellows +who dressed in store clothes, and had a sanctimonious look about them. +There was an old man and a couple of old women, and two or three boys +and some gals. They did not talk much with the rest, but it got about +that they were not going farther than Salt Lake City, and we had not +much difficulty in reckoning them up as Mormons. There ain't no law +perviding for the shooting of Mormons without some sort of excuse, and +as the people kept to themselves and did not interfere with no one, +nothing much was said agin them. On a v'yage like that across the +plains, folks has themselves to attend to, and plenty to do both on the +march and in camp, so no one troubles about any one else's business. + +"I hadn't no call to either, but I happened to go out near their waggons +one evening, and saw two or three bright-looking maids among them, and +it riled me to think that they was going to be handed over to some rich +old elder with perhaps a dozen other wives, and I used to feel as it +would be a satisfaction to pump some lead into them sleek-looking +scoundrels who had them in charge. I did not expect that the gals had +any idea what was in store for them. I know them Mormons when they goes +out to get what they call converts, preaches a lot about the prophet, +and a good deal about the comforts they would have in Utah. So much land +for nothing, and so much help to set them up, and all that kind of +thing, but mighty little about polygamy and the chance of their being +handed over to some man old enough to be their father, and without their +having any say in the matter. Howsoever, I did not see as I could +interfere, and if I wanted to interfere I could not have done it; +because all those women believed what they had been taught, and if I a +stranger, and an ill-looking one at that, was to tell them the contrary, +they wouldn't believe a word what I had said. So we went on till we got +within four or five days' journey of Salt Lake City, then one morning, +just as the teams were being hitched up, two fellows rode into camp. + +"As we were in Utah now, there weren't nothing curious about that, but I +reckoned them up as two as hard-looking cusses as I had come across for +a long time. After asking a question or two they rode to the Mormon +waggons, and instead of starting with the rest, the cattle was taken out +and they stopped behind. Waal, I thought I would wait for a bit and see +what they were arter. It weren't no consarn of mine noways, but I knew I +could catch up the waggons if I started in the afternoon, and I +concluded that I would just wait; so I sat by the fire and smoked. When +the caravan had gone on the Mormons hitched up their cattle again. They +were not very far away from where I was sitting, and I could see one of +the men in black pointing to me as he talked with the two chaps who had +just jined them. With that the fellow walked across to where I was +sitting. + +"'Going to camp here?' says he. + +"'Waal,' I says, 'I dunno, as I haven't made up my mind about it. Maybe +I shall, maybe I sha'n't.' + +"'I allow it would be better for you to move on.' + +"'And I allow,' says I, 'it would be better for you to attend to your +own affairs.' + +"'Look here,' says he, 'I hear as you have been a-spying about them +waggons.' + +"'Then,' says I, 'whosoever told you that, is an all-fired liar, and you +tell him so from me.' + +"I had got my hand on the butt of my Colt, and the fellow weakened. + +"'Waal,' he said, 'I have given you warning, that is all.' + +"'All right,' says I, 'I don't care none for your warnings; and I would +rather anyhow be shot down by white skunks dressed up as red-skins, than +I would have a hand in helping to fool a lot of innercent women.' + +"He swore pretty bad at this, but I could see as he wasn't real grit, +and he went off to the waggons. There was considerable talk when he got +there, but as the Mormons must have known as I had been a scout, and had +brought a lot of meat into the camp on the way, and as the chap that +came across must have seen my rifle lying handy beside me, I guess they +allowed that I had better be left alone. So a bit later the waggons +started, and as I expected they would, went up a side valley instead of +going on by the caravan route. The fellow had riz my dander, and after +sitting for a bit I made up my mind I would go after 'em. I had no +particular motive, it wur just out of cussedness. I was not going to be +bluffed from going whar I chose. This air a free country, and I had as +much right to go up that valley as they had." + +"I should have thought yer had had more common sense, Sam Hicks," Jerry +said reproachfully, "than to go a-mixing yourself up in a business in +which you had no sort of consarn. Ef one of them women had asked you to +help her, or if you had thought she was being taken away agin her will, +you or any other man would have had a right to take a hand in the game; +but as it was, you war just fooling with your life to interfere with +them Mormons in their own country." + +"That is so, Jerry, and I ain't a word to say agin it. It war just a +piece of cussedness, and I have asked myself forty-eleven times since, +what on arth made me make such a blame fool of myself. Afore that fellow +came over to bluff me I hadn't no thought of following the waggons, but +arter that I felt somehow as if he dared me to do it. I reckoned I was +more nor a match for the two fellows who just jined them, and as for the +greasy-faced chaps in black, I did not count them in, one way or the +other. I had no thought of getting the gals away, nor of getting into +any muss with them if they left me alone. It was just that I had got a +right to go up that valley or any other, and I was not going to be +bluffed out of it. So I took up my shooting-iron, strapped my blanket +over my shoulder, and started. They war maybe a mile away when I turned +into the valley. I wasn't hungry for a fight, so I didn't keep up the +middle, but just skirted along at the foot of the hill where it did not +seem likely as they would see me. I did not get any closer to them, and +only caught sight of them now and then. + +"As far as I could make out there was only one horseman with them, and I +reckoned the other was gone on ahead; looking for a camping-ground +maybe, or going on to one of the Mormon farms to tell them to get things +ready there. What I reckoned on doing, so far as I reckoned at all, was +to scout up to them as soon as it got dark and listen to their talk, and +try to find out for certain whether the women war goin' willing. Then I +thought as I would walk straight up to their fires and just bluff those +four men as they tried to bluff me. Waal, they went on until late in the +afternoon, unhitched the cattle, and camped. I waited for a bit, and now +that I war cooled down and could look at the thing reasonable, I allowed +to myself that I had showed up as a blamed fool, and I had pretty well +made up my mind to take back tracks and go down the valley, when I heard +the sound of some horses coming down fast from the camp. + +"Then the thought that I was a 'tarnal fool came to me pretty strong, +you bet. One of those fellows had ridden on and brought down some of the +Regulators, as we used to call them in the mining camps, but I believe +the Mormons call them Destroying Angels, though there is mighty little +of angels about them. I hoped now that they had not caught sight of me +during the day, and that the band were going right down to the waggon +camp; but as I had not taken any particular pains to hide myself, I +reckoned they must have made me out. It war pretty nigh dark, and as I +took cover behind a bush I could scarce see them as they rode along. +They went down about two hundred yards and then stopped, and I could +hear some of them dismount. + +"'You are sure we are far enough?' one said. + +"'Yes; I can swear he was higher up than this when we saw him just +before we camped.' + +"'If you two fellows hadn't been the worst kind of curs,' a man said +angrily, 'you would have hidden up as soon as you made out he was +following you and shot him as he came along.' + +"'I told you,' another voice said, 'that the man is an Indian fighter, +and a dead shot. Suppose we had missed him.' + +"'You could not have missed him if you had waited till he was close to +you before you fired; then you might have chucked him in among the +bushes and there would have been an end of it, and we should have been +saved a twenty-mile ride. Now then, look sharp for him and search every +bush. Between us and Johnson's party above we are sure to catch him.' + +"I didn't see that, though I did wish the rocks behind had not been so +'tarnal steep. I could have made my way up in the daylight, though even +then it would have been a tough job, but without light enough to see the +lay of the ledges and the best places for getting from one to another, +it was a business I didn't care about. I was just thinking of making +across to the other side of the valley when some horsemen came galloping +back. + +"'You stop here, brother Ephraim, and keep your ears well open, as well +as your eyes. You stop fifty yards higher up, Hiram, and the others at +the same distance apart. When the men among the rocks come abreast of +you, Ephraim, ride on and take your place at the other end of the line. +You do the same, Hiram, and so all in turn; I will ride up and down.' + +"It was clear they meant business, and I was doubting whether I would +take my chance of hiding or make for the cliff, when I saw a light +coming dancing down from the camp, and knew it was a chap on horseback +with a torch. As he came up the man who had spoken before said: 'How +many torches have you got, brother Williams?' + +"'A dozen of them.' + +"'Give me six, and take the other six down to the men below. That is +right, I will light one from yours.' + +"You may guess that settled me. I had got to git at once, so I began to +crawl off towards the foot of the cliffs. By the time I had got there, +there war six torches burning a hundred yards below, and the men who +carried them were searching every bush and prying under every rock. +Along the middle of the valley six other torches were burning fifty +yards apart. There was one advantage, the torches were pitch-pine and +gave a fairish light, but not so much as tarred rope would have done; +but it was enough for me to be able to make out the face of the cliff, +and I saw a break by which I could get up for a good bit anyhow. It was +where a torrent came down when the snows were melting, and as soon as I +had got to the bottom I made straight up. There were rocks piled at its +foot, and I got to the top of these without being seen. + +"I hadn't got a dozen feet higher when my foot set a boulder rolling, +and down it went with a crash. There were shouts below, but I did not +stop to listen to what they said, but put up the bed of the torrent at a +two-forty gait. A shot rang out, and another and another, but I was +getting now above the light of their torches. A hundred feet higher I +came to a stand-still, for the rock rose right up in front of me, and +the water had here come down from above in a fall. This made it a tight +place, you bet. There war no ledge as I could see that I could get +along, and I should have to go down a good bit afore I got to one. They +kept on firing from below, but I felt pretty sure that they could not +see me, for I could hear the bullets striking high against the face of +the rock that had stopped me. + +"You may bet I was careful how I went down again, and I took my time, +for I could see that the men with the torches had halted at the foot of +the heap of rocks below, not caring much, I expect, to begin to mount, +while the horsemen kept on firing, hoping to hear my body come rolling +down; besides, they must have known that with their torches they made a +pretty sure mark for me. At last I got down to the ledge. It war a +narrow one, and for a few yards I had to walk with my face to the rock +and my arms spread out, and that, when I knew that at any moment they +might make me out, and their bullets come singing up, warn't by no means +pleasant. In a few yards the ledge got wider and there was room enough +on it for me to lie down. I crawled along for a good bit, and then sat +down with my back against the rock and reckoned the matter up. All the +torches war gathered round where I had gone up. Four more men had come +down from the camp on horseback, and five or six on foot with torches +were running down the valley. They had been searching for me among the +bushes higher up, and when they heard the firing had started down to +jine the others. The leader was shouting to the men to climb up after +me, but the men didn't seem to see it. + +"'What's the use?' I heard one fellow say; 'he must be chock-full of +bullets long ago. We will go up and find his carcass in the morning.' + +"'But suppose he is not dead, you fool.' + +"'Well, if he ain't dead he would just pick us off one after another as +we went up with torches.' + +"'Well, put your torches out, then. Here, I will go first if you are +afraid,' and he jumped from his horse. + +"You can bet your boots that my fingers itched to put a bullet into him. +But it warn't to be done; I did not know how far the ledge went or +whether there might be any way of getting off it, and now I had once got +out of their sight it would have been chucking away my life to let them +know whar I lay. So I got up again and walked on a bit farther. I came +on a place where the rock had crumbled enough for me to be able to get +up on to the next ledge, and after a lot of climbing up and down I got +to the top in about two hours, and then struck across the hills and came +down at eight o'clock next morning on to the caravan track. I hid up +till evening in case they should come down after me, and next morning I +came up to the caravan just as they were hitching the teams up for a +start." + +"You got out of that better than you deserved," Harry said. "I wouldn't +have believed that any man would have played such a fool's trick as to +go meddling with the Mormons in their own country without any kind of +reason. It war worse than childishness." + +The other two miners assented vigorously, and Sam said: "Waal, you can't +think more meanly of me over that business than I do of myself. I have +never been able to make out why I did it, and you may bet it ain't often +I tells the story. It war a dog-goned piece of foolishness, and, as +Harry says, I didn't desarve to get out of it as I did. Still, it ain't +made me feel any kind of love for Mormons. When about two hundred shots +have been fired at a man it makes him feel kinder like as if he war +going to pay some of them back when he gets the chance, and you may bet +I mean to." + +"Jee-rusalem!" + +The exclamation was elicited by the fall of a heavy mass of snow on to +the fire, over which the kettle had just begun to boil. The tripod from +which it hung was knocked over. A cloud of steam filled the place, and +the party all sprung to their feet to avoid being scalded. + +"It might have waited a few minutes longer," Jerry grumbled, "then we +should have had our tea comfortable. Now the fire is out and the water +is spilt, and we have got to fetch in some more snow; that is the last +lot there was melted." + +"It is all in the day's work, Jerry," Harry said cheerfully, "and it is +just as well we should have something to do. I will fetch the snow in if +the rest of you will clear the hearth again. It is a nuisance about the +snow, but we agreed that there is no help for it, and we may thank our +stars it is no worse." + +It was not long before the fire was blazing again, but it took some time +before water was boiling and tea made, still longer before the bread +which had been soddened by the water from the kettle was fit to eat. By +this time it was dark. When the meal was over they all turned in for the +night. Tom was just going off to sleep, when he was roused by Leaping +Dog suddenly throwing off his buffalo robe and springing to his feet +with his rifle in his hand. + +"Hist!" he said in a low tone. "Something comes!" + +The men all seized their rifles and listened intently. Presently they +heard a soft step on the snow outside, then there was a snuffing sound. + +"B'ar!" the Indian said. + +A moment later a great head reared itself over the bushes at the +entrance. Five rifles rang out, the two Indians reserving their fire; +the report was followed by the dull sound of a heavy fall outside. + +"Wait a moment," Harry said sharply, as the others were preparing to +rush out, "let us make sure he is dead." + +"He is dead enough," Jerry said. "I reckon even a grizzly cannot walk +off with five bullets in his head." + +Harry looked over the screen. "Yes, he is dead enough; anyhow he looks +so. Waal, this is a piece of luck." They all stepped out on to the +platform. + +"Is it a grizzly, uncle?" Tom asked excitedly. + +"He is a grizzly, sure enough. You don't want to see his colour to know +that. Look at his size." + +"Why, he is as big as a cow." + +"Ay, lad, and a big cow too. You go in and make up the fire while we cut +off enough meat for supper." + +The fact that they had eaten a meal but half an hour before, went for +nothing; slices of bear-meat were soon frizzling, and as hearty a meal +was eaten as if no food had been tasted since the previous day. The men +were in the highest spirits; the fact that they were out of meat had +been the greatest drawback to the prospect of being shut up for perhaps +a week, for badly-baked bread is but a poor diet to men accustomed to +live almost exclusively upon meat. + +"What brought the bear down here?" Tom asked. + +"Curiosity at first perhaps, and then hunger," his uncle replied. "I +expect he was going along on the path above when he saw the light among +the leaves, and then no doubt he smelt the bread, and perhaps us and the +horses, and came down to see what he could get. + +"Curiosity is a bad fault, Tom. You have had two lessons in that this +evening. Bear in mind that in this part of the world the safest plan is +always to attend strictly to your own business." + +All thought of sleep was for the present dissipated; their pipes were +again lighted, and it was midnight before they lay down. In the morning +the bear was with some difficulty skinned and cut up, the joints being +left outside to freeze through. The snow still fell steadily, but the +wind had almost died down. Sallying out they cut five or six long poles, +and with some difficulty fixed these from above across from the cliff to +the outstanding rock, pushed the bear's-skin across them, and lashed it +there, its bulk being sufficient to cover the space above the fire and a +considerable portion of their dwelling room. + +After breakfast snow was again melted for the horses, and the work for +the day thus done they seated themselves contentedly round the fire. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +AN AVALANCHE + + +"You don't think, chief," Harry asked, "that there is any chance of the +'Rappahoes taking it into their heads to come up to have a look round?" + +"Indians keep in lodges, no like cold; they think we have gone on over +pass. If weather gets fine perhaps they come to look for our guns and +packs. They think sure we die in snow-storm when we up in pass. When +snow stops falling, we make no more fire; but path from valley all shut +up by snow now." + +"Yes, I don't think anyone would try to climb it till the sun has +cleared the track; it was a pretty bad place when we came up," Harry +said. "I don't say that men on foot could not make their way up; but as +you say, the red-skins are not likely to try it until the weather has +cleared a bit, though I don't say that they wouldn't if they knew we +were camped here close to the top." + +"What noise is that?" Tom asked. "I have heard it several times before, +but not so loud as that." + +"Snow-slide," Leaping Horse said. "Snow come down from mountains; break +off trees, roll rocks down. Bad place all along here." + +"Yes. I saw that you looked up at the hills behind there before you +looked over the edge here, chief," Ben Gulston said, "and I reckoned +that you had snow-slides in your mind. I thought myself that it was like +enough the snow might come tumbling over the edge of that high wall and +then come scooting down over where we war, and there would have been no +sort of show for us if we had been camped whar the trail goes along." + +"Leaping Horse has heard from his red brothers with whom he has spoken +that trail from top of valley very bad when snow falls. Many Indians +stopping too long at fort, to trade goods, have been swept away by +snow-slides when caught in storm here." + +"I thought it looked a bad place," Harry remarked. "There ain't no +fooling with a snow-slide anyway. I have come across bones once or twice +lying scattered about in snug-looking valleys--bones of horses and men, +and it was easy to see they had been killed by a snow-slide coming down +on them. Rocks were heaped about among them, some of the bones were +smashed. They had been hunting or trapping, and sheltered up in a valley +when the storm came on and the slide had fallen on them, and there they +had laid till the sun melted the snow in summer, when the coyotes and +the vultures would soon clean the bones." He broke off suddenly; there +was a dull sound, and at the same moment a distinct vibration of the +ground, then a rustling murmur mingled with a rumbling as of a waggon +passing over a rocky ground. + +"There is another one," Jerry exclaimed, "and it is somewhere just above +us. Keep your backs to the wall, boys." + +[Illustration: "There Is Another Avalanche, Keep Your Backs To The Wall, +Boys"] + +Louder and louder grew the sound; the tremor of the earth increased, the +horses neighed with fright, the men stood with their backs against the +rock next to the hill. Suddenly the light was darkened as a vast mass of +snow mingled with rocks of all sizes leapt like a torrent over the edge +of the cliff, the impetus carrying it over the outer wall of their +shelter and down into the ravine. There was a mighty sound of the +crashing of trees, mingled with a thumping and rolling of the rocks as +they clashed against the side of the ravine and went leaping down into +the valley. The ground shook with a continuous tremor, and then the +light returned as suddenly as it had been cut off, and a few seconds +later a dead stillness succeeded the deafening roar from below. The +passage of the avalanche overhead had lasted but a minute, though to the +men standing below it the time had seemed vastly longer. Instinctively +they had pressed themselves against the rock, almost holding their +breath, and expecting momentarily that one of the boulders in its +passage would strike the top of the outside wall and fall in fragments +among them. The silence that followed was unbroken for some seconds, and +then Sam Hicks stepped a pace forward. + +"Jee-rusalem!" he said, "that was a close call. I don't know how you +felt, boys, but it seemed as if all the sand had gone out of me, and I +weakened so that my knees have not done shaking yet." + +The men, accustomed as they were to danger, were all equally affected. +Tom felt relieved to see that the others all looked pale and shaken, for +he was conscious that he had been in a terrible fright, and that his +legs would scarcely support his weight. + +"I am glad to hear you say so, Sam, for I was in an awful funk; but I +should not have said so if you hadn't spoken." + +"You needn't be ashamed of that, Tom," his uncle put in. "You showed +plenty of pluck when we were in trouble with the red-skins, but I am +sure there was not one of us that did not weaken when that snow-slide +shot over us; and none of us need be ashamed to say so. A man with good +grit will brace up, keep his head cool and his fingers steady on the +trigger to the last, though he knows that he has come to the end of his +journey and has got to go down; but it is when there is nothing to do, +no fight to be made, when you are as helpless as a child and have no +sort of show, that the grit runs out of your boots. I have fought +red-skins and Mexicans a score of times; I have been in a dozen shooting +scrapes in saloons at the diggings; but I don't know that I ever felt so +scared as I did just now. Ben, there is a jar of whisky in our outfit; +we agreed we would not touch it unless one of us got hurt or ill, but I +think a drop of medicine all round now wouldn't be out of place." + +There was a general assent. "But before we take it," he went on, "we +will take off our hats and say 'Thank God' for having taken us safe +through this thing. If He had put this shelter here for us express, He +could not have planted it better for us, and the least we can do is to +thank Him for having pulled us through it safe." + +The men all took off their hats, and stood silent for a minute or two +with bent heads. When they had replaced their hats Ben Gulston went to +the corner where the pack-saddles and packs were piled, took out a small +keg, and poured out some whisky for each of the white men. The others +drank it straight; Tom mixed some water with his, and felt a good deal +better after drinking it. Ben did not offer it to the Indians, neither +of whom would touch spirits on any occasion. + +"It is a good friend and a bad enemy," Harry said as he tossed off his +portion. "As a rule there ain't no doubt that one is better without it; +but there is no better medicine to carry about with you. I have seen +many a life saved by a bottle of whisky. Taken after the bite of a +rattlesnake, it is as good a thing as there is. In case of fever, and +when a man is just tired out after a twenty-four hours' tramp, a drop of +it will put new life into him for a bit. But I don't say as it hasn't +killed a sight more than it has cured. It is at the bottom of pretty +nigh every shooting scrape in the camps, and has been the ruin of +hundreds of good men who would have done well if they could but have +kept from it." + +"But you ain't a temperance man yourself, Harry?" + +"No, Sam; but then, thank God, I am master of the liquor, and not the +liquor of me. I can take a glass, or perhaps two, without wanting more. +Though I have made a fool of myself in many ways since I have come out +here, no man can say he ever saw me drunk; if liquor were to get the +better of me once, I would swear off for the rest of my life. Don't you +ever take to it, Tom; that is, not to get so as to like to go on +drinking it. In our life we often have to go for months without it, and +a man has got to be very careful when he goes down to the settlements, +else it would be sure to get over him." + +"I don't care for it at all, uncle." + +"See you don't get to care for it, Tom. There are plenty start as you +do, and before they have been out here long they do get to like it, and +from that day they are never any good. It is a big temptation. A man has +been hunting or trapping, or fossicking for gold in the hills for +months, and he comes down to a fort or town and he meets a lot of mates. +One says 'Have a drink?' and another asks you, and it is mighty hard to +be always saying 'no'; and there ain't much to do in these places but to +drink or to gamble. A man here ain't so much to be blamed as folks who +live in comfortable houses, and have got wives and families and decent +places of amusement, and books and all that sort of thing, if they take +to drink or gambling. I have not any right to preach, for if I don't +drink I do gamble; that is, I have done; though I swore off that when I +got the letter telling me that your father had gone. Then I thought what +a fool I had made of myself for years. Why, if I had kept all the gold I +had dug I could go home now and live comfortably for the rest of my +life, and have a home for my nieces, as I ought to have. However, I have +done with it now. And I am mighty glad it was the cards and not drink +that took my dust, for it is a great deal easier to give up cards than +it is to give up liquor when you have once taken to it. Now let us talk +of something else; I vote we take a turn up on to the trail, and see +what the snow-slide has done." + +Throwing the buffalo robes round their shoulders the party went outside. +The air was too thick with snow to enable them to perceive from the +platform the destruction it had wrought in the valley below, but upon +ascending the path to the level above, the track of the avalanche was +plainly marked indeed. For the width of a hundred yards, the white +mantle of snow, that covered the slope up to the point where the wall of +cliff rose abruptly, had been cleared away as if with a mighty broom. +Every rock and boulder lying upon it had been swept off, and the surface +of the bare rock lay flat, and unbroken by even a tuft of grass. They +walked along the edge until they looked down upon their shelter. The +bear's hide was still in its place, sloping like a pent-house roof, from +its upper side two or three inches below the edge of the rock, to the +other wall three feet lower. It was, however, stripped of its hair, as +cleanly as if it had been shorn off with a razor, by the friction of the +snow that had shot down along it. + +"That is the blamedest odd thing I ever saw," Sam Hicks said. "I wonder +the weight of the snow didn't break it in." + +"I expect it just shot over it, Sam," Harry said. "It must have been +travelling so mighty fast that the whole mass jumped across, only just +rubbing the skin. Of course the boulders and stones must have gone clean +over. That shows what a narrow escape we have had; for if that outer +rock had been a foot or so higher, the skin would have caved in, and our +place would have been filled chock up with snow in a moment. Waal, we +may as well turn in again, for I feel cold to the bones already." + +On the evening of the fifth day the snow ceased falling, and next +morning the sky was clear and bright. Preparations were at once made for +a start. A batch of bread had been baked on the previous evening. Some +buckets of hot gruel were given to the horses, a meal was hastily eaten, +the horses saddled and the packs arranged, and before the sun had been +up half an hour they were on their way. The usual stillness of the +mountains was broken by a variety of sounds. From the valley at their +feet came up sharp reports, as a limb of a tree, or sometimes the tree +itself, broke beneath the weight of the snow. A dull rumbling sound, +echoing from hill to hill, told of the falls of avalanches. Scarcely had +the echoes of one ceased, than they began again in a fresh quarter. The +journey was toilsome in the extreme, for the horses' hoofs sank deep in +the freshly-fallen snow, rendering their progress exceedingly slow. + +"If we had been sure that this weather would hold, chief, it would have +been better to have waited a few days before making our start, for by +that time the snow would have been hard enough to travel on." + +The chief shook his head. "Winter coming for good," he said, waving his +hand towards the range of snowy summits to the north. "Clouds there +still; if stop, not able to cross pass till next summer." + +"That is so; we agreed as to that yesterday, and that if we don't get +over now the chances are we shall never get over at all. Yet, it is a +pity we can't wait a few days for a crust to form on the snow." + +Twice in the course of the next hour avalanches came down from the hills +above them; the first sweeping down into the valley a quarter of a mile +behind them, the next but two or three hundred yards ahead of them. +Scarcely a word was spoken from end to end of the line. They travelled +in Indian file, and each horse stepped in the footprints of its +predecessor. Every few hundred yards they changed places, for the labour +of the first horse was very much heavier than of those following. At the +end of an hour the men drew together for a consultation. There was a +wide break in the line of cliffs, and a valley ran nearly due south. + +"What do you think, chief? This confounded snow has covered up all signs +of the trail, and we have got to find our own way. There is no doubt +this valley below is running a deal too much to the west, and that the +trail must strike off somewhere south. It looks to me as if that were a +likely valley through the cliff. There is no hiding the fact that if we +take the wrong turn we are all gone coons." + +"Leaping Horse knows no more than his brother," the chief said gravely. +"He knows the pass is on the western side of the great peak. The great +peak lies there," and he pointed a little to the west of the break in +the hills up which they were looking. + +"It may be that we must cross the hills into another valley, or perhaps +this will turn west presently." + +"I tell you what, Harry," Sam Hicks said, "my opinion is, that our best +plan by a long chalk will be to go back to our last place and to stop +there for a bit. We have got b'ar's flesh enough for another fortnight, +and we may kill some more game afore that is done. Ef this is but a +spell of snow it may melt enough in another ten days for us to make out +the trail and follow it. Ef, as the chief thinks, we have got winter +right down on us, we must wait till the snow crust hardens ef it is a +month or double. Anything is better than going on like this. What with +this soft snow and these 'tarnal snow-slides, there ain't no more chance +of our getting over that pass in one day's journey, than there air in +our flying right down to Salt Lake City. Ef the worst comes to the +worst, I tell yer I would rather go back and take our chance of +following the Big Wind River down, and fighting the red-skins, than I +would of crossing over these dog-goned hills." + +The other three men were of the same opinion. + +"Well, what do you say, chief?" Harry asked the Indian. + +"Leaping Horse thinks that the trail will not be found until next +summer," the chief replied quietly. "Heap of hills in front and heap of +snow. If snow-storm catch us in the hills no find way anywhere. Leaping +Horse is ready to do whatever his white brother thinks." + +"Well, I am with the others," Harry said. "I don't like the look of +those clouds. They are quiet enough now, but they may begin to shift any +time, and, as you say, if we are caught in a snow-storm on the hills +there is an end of us. I think Sam is right. Even if we have to rustle +all through the winter in that hut there, I would rather face it than +keep on." + +That settled it. The horses' heads were turned, and they retraced their +steps until they reached the shelter. The bear's-skin had been left +where it was, the fire was soon set going, and there was a general +feeling of satisfaction as they laid out the robes and blankets again. + +"Look here, boys," Harry said, "this is not going to be a holiday time, +you bet. We have got to make this place a sight snugger than it is now, +for, I tell you, when the winter sets in in earnest, it will be cold +enough here to freeze a buffalo solid in an hour. We have got to set to +work to make a roof all over this place, and we have got to hunt to lay +in a big stock of meat. We have got to get a big store of food for the +horses, for we must be mighty careful with our flour now. We can wait a +fortnight to see how things go, but if it is clear then that we have got +to fight it out here through the winter, we must shoot the pack-ponies +at once, and I reckon the others will all have to go later. However, we +will give them a chance as long as we can." + +"Take them down into the valley," the chief said. "All Indian horses." + +"Ah, I didn't think of that, chief. Yes, they are accustomed to rustle +for their living, and they may make a shift to hold on down there. I +don't think there is much fear of Indians coming up." + +"No Indians," Leaping Horse said. "Indians go away when winter set in. +Some go to forest, some go to lodges right down valley. No stop up here +in mountains. When winter comes plenty game--big-horn, wapiti." + +"Ah, that is a more cheerful look-out, chief. If we can get plenty of +meat we can manage without flour, and can go down and give the ponies a +pail of hot gruel once a week, which will help them to keep life +together. The first thing, I take it, is to cut some poles for the roof. +I am afraid we shall have to go down to the bottom for them." + +"Waal, we needn't begin that till to-morrow," Sam Hicks said. "If we had +them, we have got no skins to cover them." + +"Cut brushwood," Indian said. "First put plenty of brushwood on poles, +then put skins over." + +"Yes, that is the plan, chief. Well, if we get down there we shall have +to take our shovels and clear the snow off some of the narrow ledges. If +we do that we can lead one of the horses down to pack the poles up +here." + +The chief went out on to the platform. "No use clear snow now. Clouds +moving. In two hours snow fall again." + +The others joined him outside. "I reckon you are right, chief," Jerry +said. "It is mighty lucky we didn't go on. It can't be much worse here +than it was before." + +At three in the afternoon it began to snow heavily again. There was less +wind than there had been on the previous occasion, and the snow drifted +through the entrance less than before. Just as they were turning in for +the night an ominous crack was heard above. All leapt from their +blankets, and looking up they could see by the light of the fire that +the poles supporting the skin were all bent in a curve downwards. + +"Jee-rusalem!" Sam Hicks exclaimed, "the whole outfit will be coming +down on us." + +"That it will, Sam. You see, there is no wind as there was before, and +one of our jobs will be keeping the roof clear of snow. Turn out, boys; +we must get rid of it somehow." + +They at once set to work to lash two poles, some eight feet long, to the +handles of the shovels, and as soon as this was done they all turned +out. On reaching the edge of the ravine above the roof, they first +cleared away the snow down to the rock so as to have firm standing, and +then proceeded to shovel the snow off the surface of the skin. It was +easier work than they expected, for as soon as it was touched it slid +down the incline, and in a very few minutes the whole was cleared off. + +"I think that is good until morning now," Harry said. "As long as the +snow lasts we shall have to do it every few hours. Directly we get a +spell of fine weather we must put some more poles under it to strengthen +it." + +For six days the snow continued to fall without intermission. At +daybreak, at mid-day, and the last thing before they turned in at night +the snow was cleared off the hide. With this exception they did not stir +out of the shelter. They had also each day to clear out the inner +portion of the fissure, as the snow now frequently broke through the +trees in masses, startling the horses, and keeping them in a state of +restlessness. The sixth day it stopped snowing, and the next morning the +sky was bright and clear. The whole party at once started out, two of +them taking shovels, and the rest brooms that they had made during the +long hours of their confinement. By the middle of the day they had +cleared the path down into the valley, and on their way back to dinner +each carried up a large bundle of faggots. + +The meal was cooked and eaten hastily, and the whole of the horses were +then led down into the valley. Here a couple of dozen stout poles for +the roof were cut by the whites, the two Indians at once going up the +valley in search of game. In half an hour two rifle-shots were heard, +and presently Hunting Dog ran in with the news that they had killed two +wapiti. Jerry and Sam Hicks at once went off with him, leading two +horses, and presently returned with the dead deer fastened across their +backs. + +"They are very like pictures I have seen of moose," Tom said to his +uncle as he examined the great stags. + +"New-comers often call them moose, Tom; but there is a difference +between them, though what the difference is I cannot tell you, for I +have never hunted moose. I believe the wapiti are peculiar to the West. +They often go in great herds of three or four hundreds together." + +"The chief says there are a great many of them up the valley," Jerry put +in. "They made off when he fired, but I could see their foot-tracks +myself all about. He says they have been driven down here by the storm +for shelter. He has gone round with the lad to head them back." + +"That is good news, Jerry. The meat we have got already will last some +time, but it is as well to lay in a good stock, and we want the skins +badly to make our roof. You had better lead these horses to the foot of +the path, and then we will all take our post behind trees across the +valley." + +An hour later they heard the reports of two rifles a long way up the +valley, and all stood in readiness. A few minutes later there was a dull +trampling sound, and almost directly afterwards a herd of wapiti came +along at a heavy trot, ploughing their way but slowly through the snow. + +"Don't use your revolvers, boys," Harry had said, "except to finish off +a stag you have wounded with your rifle. The chance is all against your +bringing them down, and the poor brutes would only get away to die." + +One after another the rifles rang out. Tom and his uncle both had the +satisfaction of seeing the stags they had aimed at, plunge forward +before they had gone many yards farther, and roll over dead. The other +three had each hit the animal they aimed at, but as these kept on their +course they dashed out in pursuit, firing their Colts, which in their +hands were as deadly weapons as a rifle, and the three stags all fell, +although one got nearly half a mile down the valley before he succumbed. +A carcass was hoisted on to each of the horses' backs, and the loaded +animals were then led up the track. + +"Shall I wait until the Indians come back, uncle, and tell them why you +have gone up?" + +"There is no occasion for that, Tom; they would hear the shots, and will +have guessed what has happened." + +The poles were divided among the men and carried up to the top of the +path, and laid down just above the shelter. Harry and Sam Hicks at once +proceeded to cut them up into proper lengths, while the others skinned +and cut up the deer. A number of thongs were cut from one of the hides +for lashing cross-poles across those that were to act as ridge-poles. +The bear's-skin was removed and additional poles placed at that spot, +and all working together the framework of the roof was completed by +nightfall. The Indians had returned soon after the party began their +work, and taking their horses down fetched up the deer they had killed. + +In the morning the roof was completed, hides being stretched over the +framework and securely lashed to it with thongs. The whole of the trees +and brushwood were then chopped down close to the ground so as to leave +a level floor. The foliage was given to the horses, and the wood cut up +and piled for fuel. The chief reported that at the upper end of the +valley there was a thick pine-wood, which would give good shelter to the +horses. Near it were plenty of bushes, and a level tract which had been +a beaver meadow, and was thickly covered with grass, as he could see +where the wapiti had scratched away the snow to get at it. This was +excellent news, for the question of how the horses could be fed through +the winter had troubled them much more than that of their own +maintenance. The joints of venison were hung up on a pole outside what +they now called their hut, one or two hams being suspended from the +rafters over the fire, to be smoked. + +"We shall have to rig up a b'ar-trap outside," Ben said, "or we shall be +having them here after the meat; and a b'ar's ham now and then will make +a change. Wapiti flesh ain't bad, but we should get dog-goned tired of +it arter a bit." + +"You may bet we shall, Ben," Jerry agreed; "but I reckon that we shall +be able to get a lot of game through the winter. That valley down there +is just the place for them to shelter in, and I hope we shall get a +big-horn now and then. It will be a difficult thing to make a b'ar-trap +outside. A grizzly wants a pretty strong pen to keep him in, and though +the horses might drag up some big beams from below, there ain't no +fastening them in this rock." + +"No; I don't think we can make that sort of trap," Harry said. "We must +contrive something else. We need not do all our work at once; we have +got plenty of time before us. We want three or four more skins to finish +our hut." + +"You mean to fill up the entrance?" + +"Yes; we will sew them together, and make a curtain to hang from the +edge of the roof to the ground. I tell you it is going to be mighty cold +here, and besides, it will keep the snow from drifting in." + +"I wish to goodness we could make a chimney," Tom said. "The smoke went +up through the leaves all right, but my eyes are watering now, and if +you fill up the end with skins it will be something awful." + +"You will get accustomed to it, Tom; but, of course, we must make a hole +at the top when we fill up the entrance. What do you think is the next +thing to be done, chief?" + +"Get wood," the chief said emphatically. "Must fill all the end of hut +with wood." + +"That will be a big job, chief, but there is no doubt we must lay in a +great store of it. Well, there is plenty of timber down in the valley, +and with ten horses we can bring up a tidy lot every day." + +"Let us cut quick before snow comes again." + +"We will begin to-morrow morning, chief. I agree with you, the sooner +the better." + +Accordingly the next morning they went down to the valley. They had but +two axes, and Jerry and Sam Hicks, who had both done a good deal of +wood-cutting, undertook this portion of the work. The others took the +horses up to the beaver meadow, where they at once began scraping at the +snow, and were soon munching away at the rich grass. + +"Why do you call it a beaver meadow, uncle? I don't see any beavers." + +"They have gone long ago, perhaps a hundred years. As we know, this +valley is occupied by the Indians in summer, and they would soon clear +out the beavers. But it is called a beaver meadow because it was made by +them. They set to work and dammed up the stream, and gradually all this +flat became a lake. Well, in time, you know, leaves from the woods +above, and soil and dead wood and other things brought down by the +stream, gradually filled up the bottom. Then the beavers were killed, +and their dams went to ruin and the water drained off, and in a short +time grass began to grow. There are hundreds, ay, and thousands of +beaver meadows among the hills, and on the little streams that run into +the big rivers, and nowhere is the grass so rich. You will often see an +Indian village by one of these meadows. They grow their roots and plant +their corn there. The horses will do first-rate here through the winter +if the snow don't get too deep for them, and, anyhow, we can help them +out with a bucket of gruel occasionally." + +"It will be awfully cold for them, though." + +"It will be coldish, no doubt, but Indian ponies are accustomed to it." + +"I should think, uncle, it would not take much trouble to make them a +sort of shed up among the trees there." + +Sam laughed, and even the chief smiled. + +"It would not be a bad plan, Tom," his uncle said; "not so much for the +sake of the warmth, though there is no doubt that the warmer they are +the less they can do with to eat, but if they have a place to go to they +are less likely to wander away, and we shall not have the trouble of +hunting for them. Well, we will think it over." + +Following the valley up, they found that it extended some ten miles +farther, for the last two of which it was but a narrow canyon a few yards +wide. They shot a black bear and four small deer, and returned carrying +the skins, the hind-quarters of the deer, and the bear's hams. + +"We seem to have got meat enough for anything," Tom remonstrated when +they shot the deer. + +"Seven men will get through a lot of meat, Tom, when they have nothing +else to go with it; and we may be weeks before we can put our heads out +of our hut. Besides, the skins will be useful. We shall want deer-skin +shirts, trousers, and socks and caps; and the skin of these deer is +softer and more pliable than that of the wapiti. I don't want to kill +more than I can help, lad, for I hate taking life without there is a +necessity for it, but we can do with a lot more skins before we are +stocked." + +When, driving the horses before them, they returned to the woodcutters, +they found they had cut down and chopped into logs a number of trees; +and Tom was quite astonished at the great pile of firewood that had been +got ready by them in the course of a day's work. The logs were made up +into bundles, each weighing about eighty pounds. These were tied +together with the horses' lariats, and then secured, one on each side of +the saddle, two of the horses carrying the meat. Harry took the bridle +of his horse and started up the path, the others following at once. + +"That is a good day's work," Harry said as the logs were piled at the +inner end of the hut. "That is about half a ton of wood. If we have but +a week of open weather we shall have a good store in our cellar." + +The work continued steadily for a week. The horses were each day taken +to feed at the meadow, the two wood-choppers continued their work, while +the rest of the party hunted. The Indians had on the second day gone +down the valley, and returned with the report that the Indian lodges had +all disappeared and that the valley was entirely deserted. Eight more +wapiti were killed during the week, and fourteen smaller deer. Of an +evening they occupied themselves in sewing the skins together with +thongs of leather, the holes being made with their knives; and a curtain +at the mouth of the hut was completed and hung. Four wide slabs of wood +had been cut. These had been bound together with thongs so as to form a +sort of chimney four feet high, and with a good deal of difficulty this +was secured by props in its position over a hole cut through the skins, +above the fire. + +"The first avalanche will carry it away, Tom." + +"Yes, uncle; but we have had one avalanche here, and it seems to me the +chances are strongly against our having another in exactly the same +place." + +The skins of the smaller deer were carefully scraped with knives on the +inner side, smeared with bears' fat, and then rubbed and kneaded until +they were perfectly soft. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +WINTER + + +The erection of Tom's shed for the horses did not take long. The whole +party, with the exception of the two Indians,--who, as usual, went +hunting,--proceeded to the pine-wood above the beaver meadow. After a +little search six trees were found conveniently situated with regard to +each other. The axemen cut down three young firs. One was lashed by the +others between the two central trees, to form a ridge-pole eight feet +from the ground; the others against the other trees, at a height of +three feet, to support the lower ends of the roof. They were but ten +feet apart, so that the roof might have a considerable pitch. Numbers of +other young trees were felled and fixed, six inches apart, from the +ridge down to the eaves. On these the branches of the young fir-trees +were thickly laid, and light poles were lashed lengthways over them to +keep them in their places. + +As the poles of the roof had been cut long enough to extend down to the +ground, no side walls were necessary. The ends were formed of poles +lashed across to the side trees, but extending down only to within four +feet six of the ground, so as to allow the horses to pass under, and +were, like the roof, thickly covered with boughs. The lower ends were +left open for a width of four feet in the middle, uprights being driven +into the ground and the sides completed as before. + +"What do you want a doorway at both ends for?" Tom asked. "It would have +been easier and quicker to have shut one end up altogether, and it would +be a good deal warmer." + +"So it would, Tom; but if a grizzly were to appear at the door, what +would the horses do? They would be caught in a trap." + +"Do you think they are likely to come, uncle?" + +"The likeliest thing in the world, Tom. Horses can smell bear a good +distance off, and if they heard one either coming down or going up the +valley, they would bolt through the opposite door. They will do +first-rate here; they will stand pretty close together, and the warmth +of their bodies will heat the place up. They won't know themselves, they +will be so comfortable. It has only taken us a day's work to make the +shed; and though we laughed at your idea at first, I think now that the +day has been well spent in getting them up such a good shelter. Jerry +has got the big pail boiling over his fire, and we will put in a few +handfuls of the flour we brought down. Bring the horses in from the +meadow, and we will give them each a drink of gruel in the shed. They +will soon learn that it is to be their home." + +For two more days the open weather continued, and the horses took up +three loads of wood each afternoon, as they had done the previous week. +Then, as there were signs of change, they were given a good feed at +their shed; the saddles were taken off and hung up on some cross-poles +over their heads. + +The party had scarcely returned to the hut when the snow began to fall. +They were, however, weather-proof, and felt the immense additional +comfort of the changes they had made. Their stock of firewood was now a +very large one. At each journey the horses had brought up about fifteen +hundredweight; and as the work had gone on for nine days, they had, they +calculated, something like fourteen tons of firewood neatly stacked. +They had also a stock of poles in case the roof should require +strengthening. A certain amount of light found its way in at the edges +of the curtain across the entrance, but they depended principally upon +the fire-light. The smoke, however, was a serious grievance, and even +the men were forced occasionally to go outside into the open air to +allay the smarting of their eyes. + +"Don't you think, uncle, we might do something to dry the wood?" + +"I can't see that we can do more than we are doing, Tom. We always keep +a dozen logs lying round the fire to dry a bit before they are put on." + +"I should think we might make a sort of stage about four feet above the +fire and keep some logs up there. We might pile them so that the hot air +and smoke could go up through them. They would dry a great deal faster +there than merely lying down on the ground." + +"I think the idea is a very good one, Tom; but we shall have to make the +frame pretty strong, for if it happened to come down it might break some +of our legs." + +The men all agreed that the idea was a capital one, and after some +consultation they set to to carry it out. Two strong poles were first +chosen. These were cut carefully to the right length, and were jambed +between the rocks at a height of seven feet above the floor and five +feet apart. They were driven in and wedged so tightly that they could +each bear the weight of two men swinging upon them without moving. Then +four upright poles were lashed to them, five feet apart, and these were +connected with cross-poles. + +"That is strong enough for anything," Jerry said when the structure had +been so far completed. "If a horse were to run against one of the poles +he would hardly bring the thing down." + +Four other short poles were now lashed to the uprights three feet below +the upper framework, and were crossed by others so as to form a +gridiron. On this, the logs were laid in tiers crossing each other, +sufficient space being left between them to allow for the passage of the +hot air. + +"That is a splendid contrivance," Harry said when they took their seats +on the buffalo robes round the fire and looked up admiringly at their +work. "The logs will get as dry as chips, and in future we sha'n't be +bothered with the smoke. Besides, it will do to stand the pail and pots +full of snow there, and keep a supply of water, without putting them +down into the fire and running the risk of an upset." + +They had occupation now in manufacturing a suit of clothes a-piece from +the deer-skins. As the work required to be neater than that which +sufficed for the making of the curtain, pointed sticks hardened in the +fire were used for making the holes, and the thongs that served as +thread were cut as finely as possible; this being done by the Indians, +who turned them out no thicker than pack-thread. + +There was no occasion for hurry, and there was much laughing and joking +over the work. Their hunting-shirts and breeches served as patterns from +which to cut out the skins; and as each strove to outvie the others, the +garments when completed were very fair specimens of work. The +hunting-shirts were made with hoods that, when pulled over the head, +covered the whole face except the eyes, nose, and mouth. As they had +plenty of skin, the hoods and shirts were made double, so that there was +hair both inside and out. They were made to come down half-way to the +knee, being kept close at the waists by their belts. The leggings were +made of single thickness only, as they would be worn over their +breeches; they were long and reached down below the ankle. The Indians +made fresh moccasins for the whole party; they were made higher than +usual, so as to come up over the bottom of the leggings. In addition +each was provided with long strips of hide, which were to be wound round +and round the leggings, from the knee to below the ankle, covering +tightly the tops of the moccasins, and so preventing the snow from +finding its way in there. Gloves were then manufactured, the fingers +being in one and the thumb only being free. + +The work occupied them a fortnight, broken only by one day's spell of +fine weather, which they utilized by going down into the valley, taking +with them their kettles and pail, together with a few pounds of flour. +They found the horses out in the meadow, and these, as soon as they saw +them, came trotting to meet them with loud whinnies of pleasure. A fire +was lit near the shed, the snow melted, and an allowance of warm gruel +given to each horse. At Tom's suggestion a few fir-boughs were hung from +the bar over each entrance. These would swing aside as the horses +entered, and would keep out a good deal of wind. When at the end of a +fortnight the sky cleared, the chief said that he thought that there +would be but little more snow. + +"If storm come, sure to bring snow, but not last long. Winter now set +in; soon snow harden. Now make snowshoes." + +The hunters had all been accustomed to use these in winter. They had +found the last expedition through the deep snow a very toilsome one, and +they embraced the idea eagerly. Some of the poles were split into eight +feet lengths. These were wetted and hung over the fire, the process +being repeated until the wood was sufficiently softened to be bent into +the required shape. This was done by the chief. Two cross-pieces were +added, to stiffen them and keep them in the right shape when they dried; +and the wood was then trimmed up and scraped by the men. When it had +dried and hardened, the work of filling up the frame with a +closely-stretched network of leather was undertaken. This part of the +work occupied three or four days. The straps were attached to go across +the toe and round the heel, and they were then ready to set off. + +The weather was now intensely cold, but as there was but little wind it +was not greatly felt; at the same time they were glad of their furs when +they ventured outside the hut. On the first day after their snow-shoes +were finished, the rest of the party started off to visit the horses, +Hunting Dog remaining behind to give Tom instructions in the use of the +snow-shoes, and to help him when he fell down. + +Tom found it difficult work at first, the toe of the shoe frequently +catching in the snow, and pitching him head foremost into it, and he +would have had great difficulty in extricating himself, had not the +young Indian been at hand. Before the day was over, however, he could +get on fairly well; and after two or three more days' practice had made +such progress that he was considered capable of accompanying the rest. + +The wood-drying apparatus had succeeded excellently. The wood was now +dried so thoroughly before being put on to the fire that there was no +annoyance from the smoke inside the hut, and scarce any could be +perceived coming from the chimney. Upon Harry's remarking upon this with +satisfaction the first time they went out after using the dry wood, Tom +said: + +"What does it matter? There are no Indians in the valley." + +"That is so, Tom; but as soon as the weather sets in clear, the +red-skins will be hunting again. Winter is their best time for laying in +their stock of pelts for trading. At other times the game is all high up +in the mountains, and it is very difficult to get within range of it. In +the winter the animals come down to the shelter of the forests and +valleys, and they can be shot in numbers; especially as the Indians in +their snow-shoes can get along almost as quickly as the wapiti can +plough through the snow. At present the red-skins think that we must +have been overtaken by that first storm and have all gone under; but as +soon as they begin to venture out of their lodges to hunt, a column of +smoke here would be sure to catch their eyes, and then we should be +having them up the valley to a certainty. The first thing they would do +would be to find our horses and drive them off, and the next thing would +be to set themselves to work to catch us." + +"But we could hold the path against them, uncle." + +"Yes; but we should have to keep watch every day, which would be a +serious trouble. Besides, there must be other places they could get up. +No doubt their regular trail comes up here, because it is the +straightest way to the pass, and possibly there may be no other point at +which loaded animals could mount anywhere about here. But there must be +plenty of places where Indians could climb, and even if it took them a +detour of fifty miles they would manage it. As long as there is no smoke +we may hope they will not discover us here, though any hunting party +might come upon the horses. That is what has bothered me all along; but +the chief and I have talked it over a dozen times, and can see no way of +avoiding the risk. + +"We can't keep the horses up here because we can't feed them; and even +if we were to bring ourselves to leave this comfortable place and to +build a hut down in the valley, we might be surprised and rubbed out by +the red-skins. Of course we might bring them up here every night and +take them down again in the morning, but it would be a troublesome +business. We have agreed that we won't do much more shooting down in the +valley, and that in coming and going to the horses we will keep along +close to the foot of the cliffs this side, so that if two or three +Indians do come up they won't see any tracks on the snow, unless they +happen to come close up to the cliff. Of course if they go up as far as +the beaver flat they will light upon the horses. There is no help for +that; but the chief and I agreed last night that in future two of us +shall always stay up here, and shall take it by turns to keep watch. It +won't be necessary to stand outside. If the curtain is pulled aside +three or four inches one can see right down the valley, and any Indians +coming up could be made out. If the party is a strong one a gun would be +fired as a signal to those away hunting, and some damp wood thrown on +the fire. They might possibly push on up the valley to have a look at +the place, but the two up here with their rifles would soon stop them. +After that, of course, the horses would have to be brought up here at +night, and a watch kept by night as well as by day." + +Two or three mornings later they found on going out that two joints of +venison had been carried off, and footprints in the snow showed that it +had been done by a grizzly bear. This turned their attention again to +the construction of a trap, which had not been thought of since the day +it was first mentioned. A young tree of four or five inches in diameter +was cut below and brought up. The butt was cut in the shape of a wedge, +and this was driven strongly into a fissure in the rock. A rope with a +running noose had been fastened to the tree, and this was bent down by +the united strength of four men, and fixed to a catch fastened in the +ground, the noose being kept open by two sticks placed across it. + +A foot beyond the noose a joint of venison was hung, the rope passing +over a pole and then down to the catch, so that upon the joint being +pulled the catch would be loosened, when the tree would fly up and the +noose catch anything that might be through it. + +A week later they were disturbed by an outburst of violent growling. +Seizing their rifles they rushed out. A huge bear was caught by one of +his paws. The animal's weight was too great for it to be lifted from the +ground, but it was standing upright with its paw above its head, making +furious efforts to free itself. A volley of bullets at once put an end +to its life. The tree was bent down again and the noose loosed, and they +at once returned to their rugs, leaving the bear where it fell. Four +times during the winter did they thus capture intruders, providing +themselves with an ample supply of bear's flesh, while the skins would +sell well down at the settlements. + +Otherwise sport was not very good. No more wapiti came up, but black and +white tail deer were occasionally shot, and five or six big-horn sheep +also fell to their rifles. One day on approaching the beaver meadow the +chief pointed to some deep footprints. No explanation was needed. All +knew that they were made by a big grizzly, and that the animal was going +up the valley. No horses were in view on the flat, and grasping their +rifles they hurried towards the wood. Just as they reached it the horses +came galloping to meet them, whinnying and snorting. + +"They have been scared by the critter," Jerry said. "Do you see their +coats are staring. Gosh, look at this pack-pony--the bear has had his +paw on him!" + +The animal's hind-quarters were indeed badly torn. + +"I wonder how it got away," Harry said. "When a grizzly once gets hold, +it don't often leave go." + +"There is something in front of the hut," Tom exclaimed. + +"It's the grizzly, sure enough," Harry said. "It is a rum place for it +to go to sleep." + +They advanced, holding their rifles in readiness to fire, when Leaping +Horse said: + +"Bear dead." + +"What can have killed him?" Harry asked doubtfully. + +"Horses kill him," the chief replied. They hurried up to the spot. The +bear was indeed dead, and there were signs of a desperate struggle. +There was blood on the snow from a point near the door of the hut to +where the animal was lying ten yards away. Round it the snow was all +trampled deeply. The bear's head was battered out of all shape; its jaw +was broken, and one of its eyes driven out. The Indians examined the +ground closely. + +"Well, what do you make of it, chief?" Harry asked. + +"Bear walk round hut, come in other end. Horses not able to get out in +time. Pack-horse last, bear catch him by hind-quarters. Horse drag him a +little way and then fall. Then other horses come back, form ring round +bear and kick him. Look at prints of fore-feet deep in snow. That is +where they kick; they break bear's jaw, break his ribs, keep on kick +till he dead." + +"I suppose that is how it came about, chief. I should not have thought +they would have done it." + +The Seneca nodded. "When wild horses with young foals attacked by bear +or mountain-lion, they form circle with colts in the middle, stand heads +in and kick. Bears and mountain-lion afraid to attack them." + +"Waal, I should hardly have believed if I had not seen it," Sam Hicks +said, "that horses would come back to attack a grizzly." + +"Not come back," the chief said, "if not for friend. Friend cry out +loud, then horses come back, fight bear and kill him." + +"Well, it was mighty plucky of them," Harry said. "I am afraid this pony +won't get over it; he is terribly torn." + +The chief examined the horse's wounds again. "Get over it," he said. +"Cold stop wounds bleeding, get some fat and put in." + +"I reckon you will find plenty inside the grizzly," Jerry said. The +chief shook his head. + +"Bear's fat bad; other horses smell him, perhaps keep away from him, +perhaps kick him. Leaping Horse will bring fat from the big-horn he shot +yesterday." + +The animal lay where it had fallen, a mile up the valley. They went up +and tied the great sheep's feet together, and putting a pole through +them brought it down to the hut. Partly skinning it, they obtained some +fat and melted this in a kettle over the fire. Sam Hicks had remained +behind at the fire, the horses all standing near him, excited at the +prospect of their usual meal. As soon as the fat was melted it was +poured into the horse's wounds. The mess of gruel was then prepared and +given to the animals. The bear was skinned and the hams cut off, then by +a united effort it was dragged some distance from the hut, and the +carcass of the big-horn, the bear's flesh and hide, were afterwards +carried up to the hut. + +Early in February the cold reached its extreme point, and in spite of +keeping up a good fire they had long before this been compelled to build +up the entrance with a wall of firewood, the interstices being stuffed +with moss; the hut was lighted by lamps of bear and deer fat melted down +and poured into tin drinking-cups, the wicks being composed of strips of +birch bark. A watch was regularly kept all day, two always remaining in +the hut, one keeping watch through a small slip cut in the curtain +before the narrow orifice in the log wall, that served as a door, the +other looking after the fire, keeping up a good supply of melted snow, +and preparing dinner ready for the return of the hunters at sunset. Of +an evening they told stories, and their stock of yarns of their own +adventures and of those they had heard from others, seemed to Tom +inexhaustible. + +Hunting Dog had made rapid advances with his English, and he and Tom had +become great friends, always hunting together, or when their turn came, +remaining together on guard. The cold was now so intense that the +hunting party was seldom out for more than two or three hours. Regularly +twice a week the horses were given their ration of hot gruel, and +although they had fallen away greatly in flesh they maintained their +health, and were capable of work if called upon to do it. It was one day +in the middle of February, that Hunting Dog, who was standing at the +peep-hole, exclaimed: + +"'Rappahoes!" + +Tom sprang up from the side of the fire, and running to the entrance +pulled aside the curtain and looked out. Six Indians on snow-shoes were +coming up the valley. He ran out on to the platform and fired his ride. +As the sound of the report reached the Indians' ears they stopped +suddenly. + +"Shall I throw some green wood on the fire, Hunting Dog?" + +"No need," the Indian replied. "The others only gone an hour, not +farther than horses' hut; hear gun plain enough. Perhaps 'Rappahoes go +back." + +The Indians remained for some time in consultation. + +"Not know where gun fired," Hunting Dog said. "Soon see hut, then know." + +After a time the red-skins continued their way up the valley, but +instead of coming on carelessly in the centre they separated, and going +to the other side crept along among the fallen boulders there, where +they would have escaped observation had it not been for their figures +showing against the white snow. + +"Must fire now," the young Indian said, "then Leaping Horse know +'Rappahoes coming up." + +They went out on to the platform and opened fire. They knew that their +chance of hitting one of the Indians was small indeed; the other side of +the valley was a quarter of a mile away, and the height at which they +were standing rendered it difficult to judge the elevation necessary for +their rifles. However, they fired as fast as they could load. + +The Indians made no reply, for their guns would not carry anything like +the distance. They occasionally gathered when they came upon a boulder +of rock sufficiently large to give shelter to them all, and then moved +on again one at a time. When opposite the lower end of the pathway they +again held a consultation. + +"No go further," Hunting Dog said. "Afraid we come down path and stop +them. See, Leaping Horse among rocks." + +It was some time before Tom could detect the Indian, so stealthily did +he move from rock to rock. + +"Where are the others?" + +"No see, somewhere in bushes. Leaping Horse go on to scout; not know how +many 'Rappahoes." + +Presently they saw the chief raise his head behind a rock within a +hundred yards of that behind which the 'Rappahoes were sheltering. + +"He see them now," Hunting Dog said. "See, he going to fire." There was +a puff of smoke and a sharp report, and almost simultaneously rose an +Indian yell, and the war-cry of the Seneca. Then five Indians leapt out +from behind the rock and made down the valley at full speed, while from +a clump of trees two hundred yards above the spot from which the chief +had fired the four white men hurried out rifle in hand. The chief waited +until they joined him, for the bend in the valley prevented him from +seeing that the 'Rappahoes were making straight down it, and it would +have been imprudent to have ventured out until his white allies came up. + +"They have gone right down," Tom shouted at the top of his voice. Harry +waved his arm to show that he heard the words, and then the five men ran +to the corner. The Indians were already a quarter of a mile away, and +were just entering the wood below. The whites were about to fire, when +the chief stopped them. "No use fire," he said. "Stand back behind +rocks; no good let 'Rappahoes count our rifles." + +"That is true enough, chief," Harry said, as they all sprang among the +rocks. "All they know at present is, that there are two up on the top +there and one down here. If we were sure that we could wipe them all out +it would be worth following and making a running fight of it, but there +would be no chance of that, and it is better to let them go without +learning more about us. Well, I should say the first thing is to get up +the horses." + +The chief nodded. + +"Get up," he said, "but no fear 'Rappahoes come back to-night. Many +hours' journey down to villages, then great council. Next night scouts +come up valley, look all about for sign, and then go back and tell +friends." + +"I dare say you are right, chief. Anyhow, I shall feel a great deal more +comfortable when we have got the critters up." + +It was late in the afternoon before they reached the hut. Some hours +were spent in collecting tufts of grass in places sheltered from the +snow, and in cutting off great bundles of young fir-branches and the +heads of evergreen bushes, and the horses arrived almost hidden under +the load of grass and foliage they carried. Little was said until some +hot tea had been drunk and the bear steaks in readiness were disposed +of, for although they had worked hard and kept themselves comparatively +warm down in the valley, they had as they moved slowly up the path with +the horses become chilled to the bone. + +"Now then, chief," Harry said, when they had lighted their pipes with +the mixture of tobacco and willow bark that they had taken to, as soon +as they found that they were likely to be imprisoned all the winter, "we +must hold a council. We have been longer than I expected without +disturbance by these varmint, but it has come now, and the question is +what are we to do? We have agreed all along that there is no getting +over the pass till the spring comes." + +"Too cold," the chief said, "deep drift snow. Indians all say no can +pass over hills in winter." + +"That air a fact," Jerry said. "Down in the valley there it is all +right, but up here the cold pretty near takes one's breath away. We +ain't sure about the way. We couldn't get over the pass in one day's +tramp, and we should be all stiff before morning. There would be no +taking the horses, and there is a hundred miles to be done over the snow +before we reach the fort. It ain't to be thought of. I would a sight +rather go down the valley and fight the hull tribe." + +"I agree with you, Jerry. We might, with luck, get down the valley, but +I don't think there is a possibility of our crossing the pass till the +winter breaks." + +"No can go down valley," Leaping Horse said; "they find trail on snow, +sure." + +"That is so, chief, and in that case it is evident that we have got to +fight it out here." + +"Good place to stop," the Seneca said; "no good place to fight." + +This was self-evident. An enemy on the rock above would be able to fire +down through the roof, without their having a chance of making an +effectual reply. + +"The only way I can see," Harry said after a long pause, "is to build a +sort of fort up above. If we put it just at the top of this pathway, we +should have them whether they came up by the trail from below or climbed +up anywhere else and came along above. It need not be a very big place, +only just big enough for us all to fire over. We might make a sort of +shelter in it with a fire, and keep guard there by turns." The chief +nodded, and there was a general exclamation of assent from the others. + +"The worst of it is," Jerry said, "the ground is so 'tarnal hard that +there will be no driving posts into it. We have cut down all the trees +near the bottom of the pass, and it would be a risky thing to go up +higher, when we might have the red-skins come whooping up the valley at +any time." + +"Why not make a snow fort?" Tom suggested. "There is four feet of snow +up there, and with the shovels we could make a wall ten feet high in a +very short time." + +"So we might, Tom; that is a capital idea. The difficulty is, the snow +does not bind in this bitter cold as it does in England." + +"If it was hammered down it would, I should think, uncle. You know the +Esquimaux make snow houses, and it is as cold there as it is here. The +snow at the top is light enough, but I should think as it gets down it +would be hard enough to cut out in blocks. We have plenty of water, and +if we pour it over each layer of blocks it would freeze into solid ice +directly. When we finish it we might pour more water down over the +outside, and it would make a regular wall of ice that no one could climb +up." + +"Hooray! Bully for you, Tom!" Jerry shouted, while similar exclamations +of approval broke from all the others, while the chief said gravely, "My +young brother has the head of a man; he is able to teach warriors." + +"You shall be engineer-in-chief, Tom," Harry said. "It is certain we may +sleep quietly to-night; at daybreak to-morrow we will begin the job." + +The first thing in the morning a semicircular line was traced out at the +top of their pathway. It was thirty feet across, for, as Tom said, the +walls ought to be at least four feet thick; and six feet would be +better, as they would want a parapet at least two feet thick to fire +over. It was agreed that the whites should use the two shovels by turns. +The Indians were unaccustomed to the work, and were to undertake that of +scouting along the hillside, and of watching by turns at night. The +frying-pan was brought into requisition, a wooden handle being made for +it. The hard upper crust was removed with the shovels, and the layer +beneath this was sufficiently soft for the instrument to be used as a +shovel. Below that it hardened, and could be cut out in great blocks. +The loose snow was thrown inside of the line traced out. + +As fast as the blocks were cut out they were carried and piled regularly +to form the face. Tom's share of the work was to keep on melting snow, +and to bring it up and pour between and over the blocks. As fast as a +line of these were made the loose snow was thrown in behind it and +trampled down hard. Except for meals there was no rest. The chief said +that as there was little chance of the 'Rappahoes coming up so soon, +Hunting Dog had better stay behind and help, and he lent his aid in +carrying the blocks of snow on a rough stretcher they made for the +purpose. By the time it became dark the wall had risen to a height of +three feet above the general level of the snow, and was already +sufficient to form an excellent breastwork. + +At the end farthest from the side from which the Indians were likely to +come, a gap was left between it and the edge of the ravine three feet +wide, in order that if necessary the horses could pass out. When it +became dark the chief returned. He had gone many miles along towards the +main valley, but had seen no sign of any Indians. After supper was over +he took one of the wapiti skins and his buffalo robe, went up to the +"fort," as they had already called it, and laid the deer-skin down on +the slope of snow behind the wall, wrapped the buffalo robe round him, +and lay down upon it. Hunting Dog then threw another robe over him, +projecting a foot beyond his head, so that he could from time to time +raise it and look out over the snow. The night was a dark one, but any +object moving across the unbroken white surface could be seen at a +considerable distance. + +"I feel sure I should go to sleep," Tom said, "if I were to lie down +like that." + +"I have no doubt you would, Tom, but there is no fear with the chief. An +Indian never sleeps on the watch, or if he does sleep, it is like a dog: +he seems to hear as well as if he were awake, and every minute or two +his eyes open and he takes a look round. I would rather have an Indian +sentry than half a dozen white ones, unless it is in the open, where +there is no tree to lean against, and a man must keep moving." + +Hunting Dog threw himself down as soon as he returned to the hut, and +was almost instantly asleep. Three hours later he rose and went out, and +Leaping Horse a minute or two later returned. + +"All quiet," he said; and then after smoking for a short time also lay +down. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE SNOW FORT + + +The hut was quiet at an unusually early hour, for the men had done a +very hard day's work, and felt the strain after the long weeks of +inactivity. At daybreak they were up and about, but could remain out but +a few minutes, for the cold was so intense that they felt unable to face +it until they had taken some hot tea and eaten something. Half an hour +sufficed for this early breakfast. Hunting Dog was again left behind by +the chief when he started. + +"Two eyes enough," the latter said. "Hunting Dog more use here." + +The wall of blocks was raised three more feet during the day, as it was +agreed to devote all their efforts to this, and to defer the work of +thickening it until the next day, for the snow had now been cleared so +far from its foot that it could no longer be thrown inside. Though but +six feet above the snow level, it was at least three feet more above the +level of the rock, and its face was a solid sheet of ice, Tom having, +during the two days, made innumerable journeys backwards and forwards +with snow-water. + +"Another couple of feet and it will be high enough for anything," Harry +said. "I don't believe that the Indians will venture to attack us, but +it is just as well to have it so high that they can't help each other up +to the top. If they knew how strong it is, I am sure they would not +attack, and would leave us alone altogether, but if a hundred of them +creep up in the dark and make a rush, they will do their best to try to +climb it. Anyhow we sha'n't need to make the bank behind very high. If +it goes to within four feet and a half of the top, so that we can stand +and fire over the wall, that is all that is wanted." + +Leaping Horse returned at dusk as before. He uttered a warm approval of +the work when he had examined it. + +"Good fort," he said, "better than palisades. Indian no climb over it. +No opening to fire through, good as wall of town house." + +"I think they will be puzzled when they get here, chief." + +"Must watch well to-night," the chief said. "Indian scout sure to come. +Two men keep on watch; two better than one." + +"That is so, chief; we will change every hour. But it will be mighty +cold. I don't see why we shouldn't rig up a shelter against the wall, +and have a bit of a fire there. Then the two on watch can take it by +turns every few minutes to come in and get a warm." + +With poles and skins a lean-to was speedily constructed against the +wall. The snow was hammered down, and a hearth made of half a dozen logs +packed closely together. Some brands were brought up from the fire in +the hut, and the skins across the end of the lean-to dropped, so that +the air within could get warm while they were at supper. + +"Hunting Dog and Tom shall take the first watch," Harry said; "Sam and I +will take the next, Jerry and Ben the third, then you, chief, can take +the next." + +"Leaping Horse watch by himself," the Seneca said; "his eyes will be +open." + +"Very well, chief. I know you are as good as any two of us, so that will +give us each one hour out and three hours in bed." + +Wrapping buffalo robes round them, Tom and the young Indian went up to +the fort. Tom drew aside one of the skins and looked into the shelter. +The hearth was in a glow, and two logs lying on it were burning well. +The night was very still, except for the occasional rumble of some +distant snow-slide. For a few minutes they stood looking over the wall, +but keeping far back, so that only their heads were above its level. + +"Tom go in by the fire," the Indian said. "All white, no need for four +eyes." + +"Very well, I will go in first; but mind, you have got to go in +afterwards. I sha'n't go in if you don't." + +After waiting for a few minutes in the shelter Tom went out again, and +Hunting Dog took his place. It was his first war-path, and nothing would +have persuaded him to retire from the watch had he not felt sure that +even white men's eyes could not fail to detect any dark object moving on +the surface of the snow. But although all white the surface was not +level; here and there were sudden elevations marking rises in the rock +beneath. Still it seemed impossible to Tom that anyone could approach +unseen. + +In spite of the protection of the buffalo robe it was intensely cold +outside, and he was glad each time when his turn came for a warm by the +fire. The changes, too, made the time pass quickly, and he was quite +surprised when his uncle and Sam came out to relieve them. The other two +men and the chief were still smoking by the fire. There was tea in the +kettle, and they evidently did not mean to lie down until after their +first watch. Every few minutes the chief got up and went out to the +platform, and stood listening there intently for a short time. Just +before it was time to change the guard again he said when he returned: + +"Indian down in valley." + +"Have you heard them, chief?" + +"Leaping Horse heard a dead stick crack." + +"That might have been a deer," Ben suggested. + +The chief shook his head. "'Rappahoe; heard gun strike tree." + +"Then I reckon they will be up in our watch," Ben said. "Well, we shall +be ready for them." + +"Perhaps come, perhaps not come; perhaps scout up valley first see if +some of us there, and look for horses. Perhaps some come up path; but +crawl up slow, not know whether look-out there." + +"Well, I don't envy them if they have got much crawling to do to-night; +it is cold enough to freeze one's breath." + +"'Rappahoe not like cold," the chief said, "but wants scalp bad; that +makes his blood warm." + +"I will let some of it out," Jerry said wrathfully, "if I get a chance +to lay a bead on one of them. Don't you be afeard, chief; we will look +out sharp enough, you bet. Waal, I reckon it is about our time to turn +out, Ben." + +"Jerry tells me that you have heard noises below, chief," Harry said +when he came in. "We heard nothing, but it ain't easy to hear well with +these hoods over one's head." + +"Hoods bad for hear," the chief assented. "Leaping Horse heard plain, +Indians down below." + +"Well, it is only what we expected, chief. Anyhow, we are ready for them +when they come." + +Tom lay down now, and knew nothing more till Hunting Dog touched him. + +"Time to go and watch," he said. + +"Has everything been quiet?" + +The Indian nodded. "No come yet." + +Leaping Horse remained at his post after they came out to relieve him. +Tom made no comment. Harry had impressed upon him the necessity for +absolute silence. + +"If they hear voices they will never come near us," he had said, "and we +would rather they came than stopped away. The sooner we get this job +over the better." + +The chief stood with his head slightly bent forward and the hood of his +hunting-shirt thrown back, listening attentively. Then he touched +Hunting Dog, and stooping low down whispered something in his ear, and +then both stood again listening. Tom, too, threw back his hood, but he +could hear nothing whatever, and was soon glad to pull it forward over +his ears again. He strained his eyes in the direction towards which they +were listening, which was apparently towards the edge of the ravine +where the Indian trail came up from below. All seemed to him to be white +and bare. + +Presently the chief's rifle went up to his shoulder; there was a sharp +crack, a dark figure leapt up from the snow fifty yards away and then +fell headlong down again. It seemed to Tom almost magical. His eyes had +been fixed in that direction for the last five minutes, and he could +have sworn that the surface of the snow was unbroken. A minute later the +other four men came running up. + +"What is it, chief?" Harry whispered. + +Leaping Horse pointed to the dark figure stretched out on the snow. + +"So you have got the varmint. Good! Do you think there are any more of +them about?" + +"More there sure," the chief said, pointing to the path up from below. +"Perhaps more there," and he pointed to a broad black line from the foot +of the cliffs to the edge of the ravine, where, three days before, an +avalanche from the hills above had swept the rock clear of snow. + +"They must have made sure that we were all asleep, or that fellow would +never have shown himself on the snow," Harry said. + +"He did not show himself, uncle. How he got there I don't know; but I +was looking at the spot when the chief fired, and I saw no signs of him +whatever. How he hid himself I don't know. If it had been anywhere else +I should have said he must have had a white sheet over him." + +"It certainly was not that whatever it was, Tom. However, we shall see +in the morning. Well, we may as well turn in again. Will they try again, +do you think, chief?" + +"Not try to-night, too cold; if any there, will hide up till daybreak. +Now they know we are awake, will not venture on snow." + +Half an hour later a great fire was lighted out of gunshot range lower +down the valley, and three or four figures could be seen round it. + +"Too cold," Hunting Dog said to Tom. "All gone down to get warm." + +The watches were relieved regularly through the night, but there was no +further alarm until just after daylight had broken, when Sam Hicks +suddenly discharged his rifle. The others all turned out at once. He had +fired at a bush just at the point where the trail came up from below, +and he declared that he had seen a slight movement there, and that some +pieces of the snow had dropped from the leaves. + +"We will make sure that there is no one there," Harry said, "and then we +will turn out and have a look. It is like enough that one of the +red-skins from below came up the path to have a look at us this +morning." + +He took a steady aim and fired. + +"Fetch up an axe, Tom; we will cut that bush away at once. It is lucky +that Sam caught sight of the red-skin. If he had not done so he might +have got a bullet in his own head, for when the red-skin had finished +taking a view of the fort he would certainly have picked off Sam or +myself before he went down. It is a weak point, that from here one can't +command the path. If they come in force we shall have to keep watch on +the platform too. From there you can get a sight of two or three of its +turnings." + +[Illustration: "They Went Out To Look At The Indian The Chief Had +Shot."] + +They went out together, and as they passed, stopped to look at the body +of the Indian the chief had shot. He was a young brave of two-or +three-and-twenty, and the manner of his advance so far unperceived was +now evident. Favoured by a slight fall in the ground, he had crawled +forward, scooping a trench wide enough for his body a foot in depth, +pushing the snow always forward, so that it formed a sort of bank in +front of him and screened him from the sight of those on watch. The +chief's keen eye had perceived a slight movement of the snow, and after +watching a moment had fired at the point where he judged anyone +concealed by it must be. He had calculated accurately. The ball had +struck on the shoulder close to the neck, and had passed down through +the body. The Indian had brought no rifle with him, but had knife and +tomahawk in his belt. + +"Poor young fellow," Harry said. "He wanted to win a name for himself by +a deed of desperate bravery. It has cost him his life, but as he would +have taken ours if he had had a chance it is of no use regretting it." + +They now went on to the bush. + +"You were right, Sam," he went on, as they saw the impression on the +snow made by a figure lying down behind it. "There was an Indian here +sure enough, and here is the mark of the stock of his rifle, and no +doubt he would have picked off one of us if you had not scared him. I +don't expect you hit him; there are no signs of blood." + +"Fire too high," the chief said, pointing to a twig that had been +freshly cut off two feet from the ground. "Always shoot low at man +behind bush. Man cannot float in air." + +There was a general laugh at Sam, who replied: "I did not suppose he +could, chief. I just fired where I saw the snow fall, without thinking +about it one way or the other. I was an all-fired fool, but I shall know +better next time." + +The bush was cut down, and also two or three others that grew along by +the edge of the ravine. On their way back to the hut Harry stopped by +the dead Indian. + +"Fetch me a shovel, Tom," he said, "I will dig a hole in the snow; it +ain't a pleasant object to be looking at anyway." + +Tom fetched the shovel, Harry dug down in the snow till he reached the +rock, then he and Jerry laid the body in it and filled in the snow +again. The chief looked on. + +"Bears get him," he said when they had finished. + +"That is like enough, chief, but we have done the best we can for him. +There is no digging into the rock." + +"I thought the Indians always scalped enemies they shot?" Tom afterwards +said to his uncle. + +"So they do, Tom; but you see the chief is a sort of civilized Indian. +He has consorted for years with whites, and he knows that we don't like +it. I don't say he wouldn't do it if he were on the war-path by himself, +but with us he doesn't, at any rate not openly. I have no doubt it went +against his grain to see the red-skin buried with his hair on, for the +scalp would have been a creditable one, as it would not have been got +without a clear eye and good judgment in shooting. I have no doubt he +has got some scalps about him now, though he don't show them; but they +will be hung up some day if he ever settles down in a wigwam of his own. + +"Well, chief, and what do you think," he asked Leaping Horse, as, after +returning to the hut, they sat down to breakfast, "will they come or +won't they?" + +"I think they no come," the chief said. "Scout behind bush will tell +them fort too strong to take; must cross snow, and many fall before they +get to it. Very hard to climb. No like cold, Leaping Horse thinks they +will stop in wigwams." + +"No fools either," Jerry agreed; "a man would be worse than a natural if +he were to go fooling about in this weather, and run a pretty good big +risk of getting shot and nothing much to gain by it. They know we have +left their country now, and ain't likely to come back again either to +hunt there or to dig gold, and that all we want is to get away as soon +as we can. I allow that the chief is right, and that we sha'n't hear no +more of them, anyhow not for some time." + +The chief nodded. "If come again, not come now. Wait a moon, then think +perhaps we sleep sound and try again; but more likely not try." + +"Much more likely," Harry assented. "Unless they can do it by a +surprise. Indians are not fond of attacking; they know we shoot +straighter than they do and have better rifles. You remember that time +when you and I and Jersey Dick kept off a party of Navahoes from sunrise +till sunset down near the Emigrant trail? It was lucky for us that a +post-rider who was passing along heard the firing, and took the news to +a fort, and that the officer there brought out fifty troopers just as +the sun went down, or we should have been rubbed out that night sure." + +The Seneca nodded. + +"How was it, Harry?" Sam Hicks asked. + +"It was just the usual thing, Sam. We had left the trail two days +before, and were hunting on our own account when the Navahoes came down. +We had just time to throw the three horses and lie down behind them. +They were within two hundred yards when I began and fetched the chief, +who was leading them, out of his saddle. Leaping Horse brought down +another one and Jersey Dick held his fire, and instead of keeping +straight on they began to straggle round. And they kept at that all day. +Sometimes they would get in pretty close, but each time they did the +chief brought down a horse, and when his rider, who was of course +hanging on the other side of him, got up to run, I fetched him down. +Dick wasn't much of a shot, so we would not let him fire. It discourages +red-skins mightily when they see that there is never a shot thrown +away, and that it is sure death whenever one draws a trigger. So at last +they got careful and held off, knowing as they would get us at night, +when they could have crawled up on foot and made a rush when they got +close to us. + +"The worst of it was we hadn't struck water the evening before, and it +was just one of the hottest days on the plains, and we were pretty nigh +mad with thirst before evening. I believe when the soldiers rode up I +was about as glad to get a drink from one of their bottles as I was that +the Navahoes bolted when they saw them coming. No, the red-skins ain't +any good for an open attack; they would have lost fewer men by riding +straight at us than they did by fooling round, but they could not bring +themselves to do it, and I reckon that is what it will be here. They +may, as the chief says, try, say six weeks on, when the frost begins to +break, in hopes that we may have given up keeping watch: but if they +find us awake they will never try an open attack, for they could not +reckon on taking the place without losing a score of men in doing so. If +the snow was off the ground it would be different. Then of a dark night +they could crawl up close and make a rush." + +After breakfast the chief and Hunting Dog went out scouting. When they +returned they brought news that three Indians had come over the snow +along the side of the hills, that three others had come up the valley, +and that in a wood half a mile below where they had seen the fire, there +had been a large party encamped. + +"I reckoned that would be about it, chief. Three fellows came along over +the hill, in case we should be keeping guard at the top of the path, and +they had a big force somewhere down below, so that if the scouts +reported that there was nothing to prevent them falling on us they would +come up before morning and wipe us out. I suppose they have all ridden +off?" + +"All gone. Leaping Horse and Hunting Dog followed right down valley. No +stop anywhere, gone back to lodges." + +"Then in that case, Harry, we had best get the critters down to their +shed again. They have eaten all that stuff they brought up three days +ago, I gave them the last of it this morning. The Indians know that we +keep a pretty sharp look-out during the day and there ain't no fear of +their coming up here when it is light." + +As the chief was also of opinion that there was no danger, the horses +were taken down the path into the valley, where on having their bridles +unbuckled they at once trotted off of their own accord towards the +beaver meadow. + +For the next six weeks a watch was kept regularly, but by only one man +at a time. The horses were driven down to the valley every morning and +brought up again before sunset. There was little hunting now, for they +had as many skins as they could carry comfortably, and a supply of +frozen meat sufficient to last well into the spring. In March the +weather became perceptibly warmer, and the snow in the valley began to +melt where the full power of the sun at mid-day fell upon it. Day by +day the crashes of distant avalanches became more frequent, and they +began to look forward to the time when they should be able to proceed on +their journey. + +One night towards the end of the month Tom was on watch, when he heard a +rustling sound far up beyond the wall of cliff in front of him. It grew +louder and rose to a roar, and then a white mass came pouring down over +the cliff. Leaping from the wall he dashed down the path to the hut. It +needed no word to call the men to their feet, for a deep rumbling filled +the air and the rock seemed to quiver. The horses struggled to break +their head-ropes and snorted with fright. + +"Your backs to the wall!" Harry shouted, and as all leapt across at his +order there was a crash overhead. The roof above them fell in and a mass +of snow followed; a minute later a deep silence followed the deafening +roar. + +"Anyone hurt?" Harry shouted, and the replies came in muffled tones. Tom +was jambed against the rock by the snow; he was nearest to the entrance, +his uncle was next to him. + +"I am all right at present, uncle, but I feel half smothered." + +"All right, lad; I am pretty free, and I will soon clear you a bit." + +The snow was pushed away from before Tom's face, his left arm was +cleared, and then his uncle with a vigorous pull brought him back close +to him. Here he was comparatively free, for a part of the roof had +fallen close to the wall and had partially kept off the snow. Then Harry +turned, and with some difficulty managed to get Jerry, who was next to +him, freed from the snow. + +"Now, Jerry, you work along that way and get at the others. Tom and I +will try to burrow a way out." + +It was a difficult task. Once through the passage in the log wall they +pushed to the left towards the edge of the platform, taking it by turns +to go first until the snow became lighter; then by a vigorous effort +Harry rose to his feet, sending a mass of snow tumbling over the edge of +the platform. As soon as Tom had joined him they set to work with hands +and knives, and soon cleared a passage back to the entrance. Just as +they did so Jerry crawled out from within. + +"Are they all right, Jerry?" + +"Yes, the others are coming; only about twelve feet of the roof caved +in, and the two Indians and Sam soon got in among the horses. I had a +lot of trouble with Ben; he had been knocked down, and I thought that he +was gone when I got him out; but he is all right now, though he can't +walk yet. The Indians and Sam have got the shovels, and are working away +to clear a passage along by the wall; there is no getting Ben out +through that rabbit-hole you have made." + +"Thank God we are all right," Harry said; "it does not matter a bit, now +that we know no one is badly hurt. We will begin at this end, but we +sha'n't be able to do much until we get the shovels, the snow will fall +in as fast as we get it out." + +They soon found that they could do nothing in this way. + +"We will try to tunnel again," Harry said, "it is not more than ten feet +along. If we get in and hump ourselves, we shall soon get it big enough +to drag Ben out, then the others can follow, and we can set to work with +the spades to clear the place." + +After a good deal of effort they succeeded in enlarging the hole, and +then got Ben through it, one crawling backwards and pulling him while +the other shoved at his legs. + +"How do you feel, Ben?" Harry asked him when they laid him down outside. + +"I dunno, Harry; I am afraid my back is badly hurt. I don't seem to feel +my legs at all. I expect they are numbed from the weight of snow on +them." + +"I will crawl into our store and fetch out the keg." + +"I reckon a drop of whisky will do me good if anything will," Ben said. +"I was crushed pretty near flat, and if my head hadn't been against the +wall I should have been smothered. Are you all right, young Tom?" + +"Yes, I am not hurt at all. The snow squeezed me against the rock, and I +could not move an inch, but uncle managed to get me a little free and +then pulled me out of it." + +Harry soon came back with the whisky, and was followed by the Indians +and Sam, who found that they could do nothing with the snow, which fell +in as fast as they cleared it. Their first step was to dig out a buffalo +robe to wrap Ben in. His voice was stronger after he had drank some +spirit, and he said that he felt better already. The others at once set +to work with the shovels. They first cleared the platform along by the +wall to the entrance, and then attacked the snow which filled the space +between the two rock walls to the top. + +Two of them worked with poles, loosening the snow above, and bringing it +down in masses, while those with shovels cast it out on to the platform, +going out occasionally to throw it over into the ravine. Hunting Dog +made his way up over the snow to the top of the path, and called down to +say that the fort was entirely swept away, and the chief told him to +take up his post at once at the top of the path leading from below. + +"He need not have told us that the fort was gone," Jerry grumbled. "If +it had been made of cast-iron it would not have stood. The sooner we get +our rifles out the better." + +This could not be done for a time, for the loosening of the snow above +had caused that below to slip, and the passage along by the wall had +fallen in. The Indians, however, who had slept beyond the part filled by +snow, had brought their pieces out with them, and could have defended +the path alone. Several times those at work were buried by falls of +snow, and had to be dragged out by the others. By daylight a +considerable gap had been made in the snow, and they were able to get +into the space beyond the fall. A number of logs, and a joint of meat +that had been taken in the day before to thaw, were brought out, and a +fire was soon blazing on the platform. + +"I wonder why the snow did not shoot over as it did before?" Ben, who +was now able to sit up, remarked. + +"I reckon it is the fort did it," Harry said. "Of course it went, but it +may have checked the rush of the snow for a moment, and those thick +walls couldn't have got the same way on as the rest of the snow had." + +"But the fort wasn't over the roof, uncle," Tom remarked. + +"No, but it may have blocked the slide a little, and thrown some of it +sideways; you see it is only this end that gave, while it shot right +over the rest of the roof just as before." + +"It is mighty lucky it did not break in all along," Sam Hicks said, "for +it would have left us without horses if it had; and it would have been +mighty rough on us to have lost them, just as we are going to want them, +after our taking such pains with them all through the winter." + +The chief took Hunting Dog's place as soon as he had finished his meal, +and remained on watch all day. The men worked without ceasing, but it +was not until sunset that the snow was completely cleared away. + +"I reckon that we shall have to be starting before long," Jerry said as +they sat round the fire in what they before called their store-room, +having driven the horses as far in as possible to make room. "We could +have held out before as long as we liked, but it is different now. The +rock's cleared now for a hundred yards on each side of us, our fort's +gone, and there is nothing to prevent the redskins from crawling close +up the first dark night and making a rush. They are like enough to be +sending scouts up the valley occasionally, and it won't be long before +they hear that our fort has gone and the ground cleared of snow." + +Leaping Horse nodded. "Two men must watch at top of path," he said. + +"That is right enough, chief; but we know three of them came along the +hills before, and it is like enough they will all come that way next +time. They are safe to reckon that we shall hold the path." + +"It is very unfortunate," Harry said; "in another month, we should have +been able to travel. Anyhow, it seems to me that we have got to try now; +it would never do to be caught in here by the red-skins. If we are to +go, the sooner the better. All our meat has been carried over the edge. +This is about the time we expected the Indians back, and it would be +dangerous to scatter hunting. It is a big risk, too, taking the horses +down to the meadow. No, I think we can manage to get over the pass. The +snow gets softer every day when the sun is on it; but it freezes at +night. We have the moon, too, so we shall be able to travel then; and +even if we take three or four days getting over the divide we can sleep +in the daytime." + +"We must get a little more meat anyhow before we start," Jerry said. +"This joint ain't more than enough for another square meal for us, and +though I reckon the bighorns will be coming up to the hills again now, +it won't do to risk that." + +"We have the pack-horses, Jerry." + +"Yes, I did not think of them. Horseflesh ain't so bad on a pinch; but I +don't want to lose our skins." + +"Better our skins than our hair," Sam laughed. + +"That is right enough, Sam, but I would like to save both." + +"Perhaps there is some of the meat under the snow," Tom suggested. "It +hung near the wall, and the snow must have come straight down on it from +above, as it did in here." + +"That is so, Tom; we will have a look the first thing in the morning. I +am so tired now I would not dig for it if it were gold." + +As soon as it was light the next morning they began to clear the snow +from the rest of the platform, and found to their great satisfaction +four bear hams. The rest of the meat had been swept over the edge. The +two Indians had not shared in the work, having started away early +without saying where they were going. They returned to breakfast, each +carrying a hind-quarter of venison, which they had found in the snow +below. + +It was agreed that a start should be made that evening. By sunset the +horses were loaded, and half an hour later they moved away. Ben Gulston +had to be assisted on to his horse, for although in other respects +recovered, it was found that he had so severely strained his back across +the loins that he was scarcely able to walk a foot. The moon was shining +brightly, and as soon as they were on the snow they could see as plainly +as if it were day. All were in high spirits that they had left the spot +where for six months they had been prisoners. They had difficulty in +restraining themselves from shouting and singing, but the chief before +starting had warned them of the necessity for travelling silently. +"Snow-slides very bad now; shouting might set them going." + +The others looked rather incredulous, but Harry said: + +"I know he is right, boys; for I have heard that in the Alps the guides +always forbid talking when they are crossing places exposed to +avalanches. At any rate we may as well give the snow as little chance as +may be of going for us." + +They travelled in Indian file from habit rather than necessity, for the +snow was firm and hard, and the horses made their way over it without +difficulty. There had been some debate as to the way they should go; but +they determined at last to take the valley through the cliff wall, and +to strike to the right whenever they came upon a likely spot for +crossing. Two such attempts were made in vain, the upper slopes of snow +being found too steep for the horses to climb; but at the third, which +was made just after morning broke, they succeeded in getting up the hill +to their right, and, after great difficulty, descended into another +valley. This they had little doubt was the one that led to the pass, for +from the hill they could see the great peak along whose foot the trail +ran. + +It was ten o'clock before they got down into the valley. The snow was +beginning to be soft on the surface, and the horses were tired out. They +therefore halted, made a fire with two or three of the logs they had +brought with them for the purpose, boiled water and had breakfast, and +gave half a bucket of gruel to each of the animals. Then wrapping +themselves in their buffalo robes they lay down and slept till late in +the afternoon. The journey was resumed at sunset, and before morning +they had crossed the divide; and when the sun rose obtained a view over +the country far to the south. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A FRESH START + + +In the evening they camped on the banks of the Green River, here a +stream of but small size, except when the melting snow swelled its +waters into a torrent. At the spot where they halted a rivulet ran into +the stream from a thickly-wooded little valley. It was frozen, but +breaking the ice with their axes they found that water was flowing +underneath. They had observed that there was a marked difference in +temperature on this side of the mountains, upon which the strength of +the southern sun had already in many places cleared away the snow. + +"It is a comfort to be able to sit by a fire without the thought that +red-skins maybe crawling up towards you," Sam Hicks said heartily, "and +to sleep without being turned out to stand watch in the cold. + +"You say the country ahead is bad, chief?" + +"Bad lands both sides of Green River. Deep canyons and bare rock." + +"Well, we need not follow it; it don't make any difference to us whether +we get down to the fort in a fortnight or six weeks." + +"None at all," Harry said. "We have agreed that when summer fairly sets +in we will try that place I hit on just as the Utes came down on us. It +is the richest place I have ever seen, and if the Indians will but let +us alone for a month we ought to bring back a big lot of dust; and if we +do, we can sell our share in it for a big sum, and take down enough men +to thrash the Utes out of their boots if they interfere with us. By our +reckoning it is the end of March now, though we don't at all agree as to +the day; but at any rate, it is there or thereabouts. That gives us a +good six weeks, and if we start in the middle of May it will be time +enough. So I propose that we strike more to the west, or to the east, +whichever you think is the best, chief, and try and pick up a few more +pelts so as to lay in a fresh stock of goods for our next trip." + +"Bad hills everywhere," the chief said; "better go west, plenty of game +there." + +"No fear of Indians?" + +"Indians there peaceable; make good trade with whites. Ten years ago +fight, but lose many men and not get much plunder. Trappers here good +friends with them. Traders bring up powder and cloth and beads. Indians +no give trouble." + +For the next six weeks, therefore, they travelled slowly, camping +sometimes for two or three days on a stream, and then making a long +march until they again came to water. The beaver traps had been left +behind, but they were fortunate enough to come upon several beaver +villages, and by exercising patience they were able to shoot a good +many, getting in all some fifty skins. Tom used to go out in the evening +and lie down to watch the beavers at work, but he would not take a gun. + +"I could not shoot them down in cold blood, uncle. It is almost like +looking at a village of human beings at work. One can shoot a man who is +wanting to shoot you, without feeling much about it, but to fire at a +man labouring in the fields is murder. Of course, if we wanted the flesh +for food it would be different." + +"I did not see you refuse that beaver-tail soup we had last night, Tom." + +"No, and it was very good, uncle; but I would very much rather have gone +without it than shoot the beaver the tail belonged to." + +"Well, Tom, as we have all got guns, and as none of us have any scruples +that way, there is no occasion whatever for you to draw a trigger on +them. They take some shooting, for if you hit them in the water they +sink directly, and you have got to kill them dead when they are on land, +otherwise they make for the water at once and dive into their houses and +die there." + +They killed a good many other animals besides the beaver, including +several wolverines, and by the time they got down to the fort in the +middle of May they had had to give up riding and pack all the animals +with the skins they had obtained. None of these were of any great value, +but the whole brought enough to buy them a fresh outfit of clothes, a +fresh stock of provisions and powder, and to give them a hundred dollars +each. + +The evening after the sale was effected Tom wrote home to his sisters, +giving them a brief account of what had taken place since the letter he +had posted to them before starting for the mountains, but saying very +little of their adventures with Indians. "I am afraid you have been in a +great fright about me," he said, "but you must never fidget when you +don't get letters. We may often be for a long time away from any place +where we can post them, or, as they call it here, mail them, though I +certainly do not expect to be snowed up again for a whole winter. Owing +to the Indians being hostile we did not do nearly so well as we +expected, for we could not go down to hunt in the valleys. So after +getting a fresh outfit for our next journey our share is only a hundred +dollars each. I did not want to take a share, for of course I was not of +much use to them, though I have learnt a lot in the last six months, and +can shoot now as well as any of them, except the two Indians. + +"However, they all insisted on my having the same share as the rest. +Uncle wanted me to take his hundred dollars and send them home to you +with mine, but I told him that I would not do so, for I know you have +money enough to go on with, even if your school has turned out a +failure. So I think it would be as well for us to keep our money in hand +for the present. There is never any saying what may happen; we may lose +our horses and kit, and it would be very awkward if we hadn't the money +to replace them. As soon as we get more we will send it off, as you know +I always intended to do. I have still some left of what I brought out +with me, but that and the two hundred dollars would not be more than +enough to buy an entirely new outfit for us both. + +"I hope you got the five hundred dollars uncle sent you. He told me he +sent it off from Denver, and it ought to have got home a few weeks after +I left. It is horrid to think that there may be letters from you lying +at Denver, but it serves me right for being so stupid as not to put in +the short note I wrote you from here before I started, that you had +better direct to me at Fort Bridger, as I shall almost be sure to come +back to it before I go to Denver. I like uncle awfully; it seems to me +that he is just what I expected he would be. I suppose they all put in +equal shares, but the other men quite look upon him as their leader. +Sometimes when he is talking to me he speaks just as people do at home. +When he talks to the men he uses the same queer words they do. He is +taller than father was, and more strongly built. What I like in him is, +he is always the same. Sometimes the others used to get grumbly when we +were shut up so long, but it never seemed to make any difference in him. + +"I told you when I wrote from Denver that he was called 'Straight +Harry,' because he always acted straightforwardly, and now I know him I +can quite understand their calling him so. One feels somehow that one +could rely upon his always being the same, whatever happened. Leaping +Horse is a first-rate fellow, and so is Hunting Dog, though of course he +does not know nearly as much as the chief does, but he knows a lot. The +other three are all nice fellows, too, so we were a very jolly party. +They know a tremendous lot of stories about hunting and red-skins and +that sort of thing. Some of them would make all you girls' hairs stand +on end. We are going to start off in two or three days to hunt up a gold +mine uncle found three years ago. The Indians are going, too; they will +hunt while the rest of us work. It will be quite a different journey to +the last, and I expect it will be just as hot this time as it was cold +last. We may be away for four months, and perhaps we may not come back +till the snow sets in, so don't expect a letter till you see it." + +This was by far the longest letter Tom had ever written, and it took him +several hours to get through. He had the room to himself, for the others +were talking over their adventures with old friends they had met at the +fort. His uncle returned about ten o'clock. + +"Where are the others?" Tom asked. + +"In the saloon; but they are not drinking, that is, not drinking much. I +told them that if they were to get drunk one of them would be sure to +blab as to where we were going, or at any rate to say enough to excite +suspicion among some of the old miners, that we knew of a good thing, +and in that case we should get a lot of men following us, and it would +interfere with our plans altogether. A party as small as ours may live +for months without a red-skin happening to light on us, but if there +were many more they would be certain to find us. There would be too much +noise going on, too much shooting and driving backward and forward with +food and necessaries. We want it kept dark till we thoroughly prove the +place. So I made them all take an oath this morning that they would keep +their heads cool, and I told them that if one of them got drunk, or said +a word about our going after gold, I would not take him with us. I have +given out that we are going on another hunting party, and of course our +having brought in such a lot of skins will make them think that we have +hit on a place where game is abundant and are going back there for the +summer." + +Two more pack-ponies had been added to the outfit. They might be away +for five or six months, and were determined to take a good supply of +flour this time, for all were tired of the diet of meat only, on which +they had existed for the last six months, having devoted by far the +greater part of the flour to the horses. + +When they started next day they turned their faces north, as if they +intended to hunt in the mountains where they had wintered. They made but +a short march, camped on a stream, and long before daybreak started +again, travelling for some hours to the west and then striking directly +south. For two days they travelled rapidly, Tom going out every morning +with the Indians hunting, while the others kept with the pack-horses. +Ben had now quite recovered from the strain which had crippled him for +the first three weeks of their march down to Fort Bridger. They were now +fairly among the Ute hills, and at their third camping-place Harry said: + +"We must do no more shooting now till we get to our valley. We have got +a supply of deer-flesh for a week at least, and we must be careful in +future. We heard at the fort that several miners have been cut off and +killed by the Utes during the winter, and that they are more set than +ever against white men entering their country. Everyone says those +rascally Saints are at the bottom of it. We must hide our trail as much +as we can. We are just at the edge of the bad lands, and will travel on +them for the next two days. The red-skins don't go out that way much, +there being nothing either to hunt or to plunder, so there is little +fear of their coming on our trail on the bare rocks, especially as none +of the horses are shod. On the third day we shall strike right up into +their mountains." + +"Are you sure that you will know the place again, Harry?" + +"I reckon I could find it, but I should not feel quite certain about it +if I had not the chief with me. There is no fear of his going wrong. +When a red-skin has once been to a place he can find his way straight +back to it again, even if he were a thousand miles off." + +"You said when we were talking of it among the hills, uncle," Tom said, +as he rode beside him the next morning, "that Leaping Horse and you each +took two shares. I wonder what he will do with his if it turns out +well." + +"He won't do anything with it, Tom. The chief and I are like brothers. +He does not want gold, he has no use for it; and, besides, as a rule, +Indians never have anything to do with mining. He and Hunting Dog really +come as hunters, and he has an understanding with me that when the +expedition is over I shall pay them the same as they would earn from any +English sportsman who might engage them as guides and hunters, and that +I shall take their shares in whatever we may make. I need not say that +if it turns out as well as we expect, the Indians will get as many +blankets and as much ammunition as will last them their lives. You can't +get a red-skin to dig. Even the chief, who has been with us for years, +would consider it degrading to do work of that kind; and if you see an +Indian at mining work, you may be sure that he is one of the fellows who +has left his tribe and settled down to loaf and drink in the +settlements, and is just doing a spell to get himself enough fire-water +to make himself drunk on. + +"The Seneca would be just as willing to come and hunt for us for +nothing. He would get his food and the skins, which would pay for his +tobacco and ammunition, and, occasionally, a new suit of leggings and +hunting-shirt, made by an Indian woman, and with this he would be happy +and contented. He doesn't mind taking money in return for skins, and he +and Hunting Dog had their full share in the division at the fort. When I +last talked to him about this business, he said, 'Leaping Horse doesn't +want money. Of what use is it to him? He has got a bagful hidden at +home, which he has been paid when he was scouting with the army, and for +the skins of beasts he has shot. It is enough to buy many horses and +blankets, and all that a chief can want. He is going with his friend to +hunt, and to fight by his side if the Utes come; he wants none of the +gold.' I explained the matter to him, and he said carelessly: 'Leaping +Horse will take the two shares, but it will be for his brother, and that +he may send it to the girls, the sisters of his friend Tom, of whom he +spoke one night by the fire.' + +"Hunting Dog is like Leaping Horse, he will take no gold. I have told +the three men how matters stand. Of course, it makes no difference to +them whether the Indians keep their share or hand it over to me, but at +the same time I thought they ought to know how we stood. They said it +was no business of theirs; that as I was the discoverer I had a right to +sell the whole thing if I chose, and that they thought I had done the +friendly thing by them in letting them in as partners. So you see it is +all right and square. It is like enough, too, that we shall find some +other lodes, and of course there they will come in on even terms with +us. So they are pleased with the look-out, and know well enough it is +likely to be the best strike they ever made in their lives." + +They kept near the edge of the bad lands, as had they gone farther out +they would have been obliged to make long detours to get round the head +of the canyons made by rivers running down into the Colorado. They had +filled their water-skins at the last stream where they had camped, and +had taken with them enough dried wood for their fires. These they lit +each night in a hollow, as from the upper slopes of the Ute hills a view +could be obtained for a great distance over the flat rocky plateau. Tom +was heartily glad when the two days' journey was over. Not a living +creature had met their eyes; there was no grass on which beasts could +exist, no earth in which prairie-dogs could burrow; even birds shunned +the bare waste of rock. + +"It is a desolate country," he said, as they sat round the fire; "it +would be enough to give one the horrors if one were alone. It is hot +now, and in the height of summer the heat and glare from the rock must +be awful." + +"It is, Tom; many and many a man has died of thirst in the bad lands. +And what makes it more terrible is, that they can perhaps see water a +thousand feet below them and yet die from the want of it." + +"When we were camped on the Green River, uncle, you said that no one had +ever followed it down." + +"That is so, lad. One knows whereabouts it goes, as men driven by thirst +have followed canyons down to it; and in some places it runs for many +miles across low land before it plunges into another canyon. Then it cuts +its way for two or three hundred miles, perhaps, through the hills, with +walls two or three thousand feet high. No one, so far as I know, has +gone down these big canyons, but it is certain there are rapids and +whirlpools and rocks in them. Two or three parties have gone down +through some of the shorter canyons to escape Indians, and most of them +have never been heard of again, but one or two have got down some +distance and managed to escape. + +"No one has followed the course by land. They could not do so unless +they carried all their provisions, and drink and food for their animals, +and even then the expedition would take months, perhaps years to do; for +every spring from the hills runs down a canyon to the river, sometimes +fifty miles, sometimes a hundred long, and each time the party came upon +one of these they would have to work up to the mountains to get round +it. It is over a thousand miles in a straight line from the place where +the Green River first enters a canyon to where the Colorado issues out on +to the plains, and it may be quite twice that distance if one could +follow all its windings. Some day when the country fills up attempts +will no doubt be made to find out something about it; but it will be a +big job whenever it is tried, and may cost a lot of lives before the +canyons are all explored." + +In the morning they started westward for the hills. The greatest care +was observed on the march. They took advantage of every depression, and +when obliged to pass over level ground moved at a distance apart, as a +clump or string of moving animals would be made out at a distance from +which a solitary one would be unnoticed. By noon they had left the bare +rock, and were travelling up a valley clothed with grass and dotted with +clumps of trees. In the first of these they halted. + +"We will stay here until it begins to get dusk," Harry said, "and then +move on as fast as we can go. If we don't lose our way we shall be there +before morning." + +There was no moon, but the stars shone brilliantly, and the mountains, +with their summits still covered with snow, could be seen ahead. The +chief went on in front. Sometimes they proceeded up valleys, sometimes +crossed shoulders and spurs running down from the hills. They moved in +Indian file, and at times proceeded at a brisk pace, at other times more +slowly; but there was no halt or sign of hesitation on the part of their +leader. At last, just as morning was breaking, the chief led them into a +clump of trees. He moved a little distance in, and then reined in his +horse and dismounted. + +"Does my brother remember that?" he said to Harry, pointing to something +on the ground. + +"Jee-hoshaphat!" Harry exclaimed; "if that ain't my old pack-saddle! +This is the very spot where we camped, boys. Well, chief, you are +certainly a wonder. I doubt whether I could have found my way here in +the daytime. Half a dozen times to-night it seemed to me that you were +going in the wrong direction altogether, and yet you bring us as +straight to the spot as if all the time you had been following a main +road." + +"Bully for the chief!" Jerry said warmly. "I am blamed if that ain't a +fust-rate piece of tracking. Waal, here we are at our journey's end. +Can we make a fire?" + +"Make small fire, but must put screen round." + +"Very well; we will leave the fire to you, and we will unpack the +critters. There is a bundle of dry wood left, so we sha'n't have the +bother of looking for it now." + +Before lighting the fire the two Indians stretched some blankets some +six feet above it, to prevent the light falling upon the foliage; then +by their directions Sam cut a dozen short poles, and fixed them in a +circle round the fire. Half a dozen more blankets were fastened to the +poles, forming a wall round the fire, which the chief then lighted. The +nights were, at that height above the sea-level, cool enough to make the +heat pleasant, and there was just room for the seven men to sit between +the blanket wall and the fire. + +"Do you mean this to be our permanent camp, Harry?" + +"What do you think, Leaping Horse?" + +"Wait till me go up gold valley," the Seneca said. "If can't find a good +place there better stay here; if go backwards and forwards every day +make trail Indian squaw would notice." + +"That is so, chief; but by what Harry says it is a mere gully, and the +horses will have to range." + +"Horses must feed," the chief said. "If we find a place up there, make +hut, take saddles and outfit there. Tie up horses here, and let them +loose to feed at night. No regular track then. But talk after sleep." + +"It will be broad daylight by the time that we have finished our meal," +Jerry said, "and I reckon none of us will be wanting to sleep till we +have got a sight of Harry's bonanza." + +As soon as they had finished their meal, the mining implements, which +had been carefully hidden among the rest of their goods when they +started from the fort, were brought out. Among these were a dozen light +pick-heads and half a dozen handles, as many shovels, a flat iron plate +for crushing ore upon, and a short hammer, with a face six inches in +diameter, as a pounder; also a supply of long nails, to be used in +fastening together troughs, cradles, or any other woodwork that might be +required; three or four deep tin dishes, a bottle of mercury, a saw, and +a few other tools. Three of the pick-heads were now fastened to their +handles, and taking these, a couple of shovels, two of the tin basins, a +sledge hammer, and some steel wedges, and the peculiar wooden platter, +in shape somewhat resembling a small shield with an indentation in the +middle, called a vanner, and universally used by prospectors, the five +whites and Leaping Horse started from their camp for the spot where +Harry had found the lode. It lay about a mile up a narrow valley, +running into the larger one. A rivulet trickled down its centre. + +"I reckoned on that," Harry said. "Of course it was frozen when we were +here, but I could see that there was water in summer. You see this +hollow runs right up into that wood, and there is sure to be water in it +for the next three months anyhow." + +They had gone but a short distance up when they stopped at a spot where +the streamlet widened out into a pool. + +"Let us try here," Jerry said, "and see if there is any sign." + +Half a shovelful of sand was placed in the vanner with a small quantity +of water, and while Harry and Sam proceeded to wash some gravel roughly +in the pans, Tom stood watching Jerry's operations. He gave a gentle +motion to the vanner that caused its contents to revolve, the coarser +particles being thrown towards the edges while the finer remained in the +centre. The water was poured away and the rougher particles of gravel +and sand swept off by the hand; fresh water was then added, and the +process repeated again and again, until at last no more than a spoonful +of fine sand remained in the centre. A sideway action of the vanner +caused this to slope gradually down towards the edge. At the very bottom +three tiny bits of yellow metal were seen. They were no bigger than +pins' heads. It seemed to Tom that this was a miserably small return for +five minutes' labour, but the others seemed well satisfied, and were +still more pleased when, on the two pans being cleaned out, several +little pieces of gold were found, one of which was nearly as large as a +small pea. + +"That is good enough," Ben said; "it will run a lot richer when we get +down on to the rock." + +At two other places on their way up they tried the experiments, with +increasingly good results. + +"There is some tall work to be done here with washing," Harry said. "Now +come on to the vein. I only saw one of them, but there must be a lot +more or you would not find so much metal in the sand. However, the one I +saw is good enough for anything." They went on again to a point where +the rock cropped boldly out on both sides of the valley; Harry led them +a few paces up the side, and pointed to some white patches in the rock. +"That is where I chipped it off, lads, three years ago." + +The face of the lode, discoloured by age and weather, differed but +little from the rock surrounding it; but where it had been broken off it +was a whitish yellow, thickly studded with little bits of dull yellow +metal sticking out of it. Tom was not greatly impressed; but he saw from +the faces of his companions that they were at once surprised and +delighted. + +"By gosh, Harry, you have done it this time!" Sam Hicks exclaimed. "You +have struck it rich, and no mistake. I thought from the way you talked +of it it must be something out of the way, but I am blamed if I thought +it was like this." + +"Stand back, you chaps," Jerry said, lifting the heavy sledge hammer; +"let me get a drive at it. Here is a crack. Put one of them wedges in, +Ben." + +The wedge was placed in the fissure, and Ben held it while Jerry gave a +few light blows to get it firmly fixed. + +"That will do, Ben; take away your hand and let me drive at it." +Swinging the hammer round his head Jerry brought it down with tremendous +force on the head of the wedge. Again and again the heavy hammer rose +and fell, with the accuracy of a machine, upon the right spot, until the +wedge, which was nine inches long, was buried in the crevice. + +"Now another one, Ben. Give me a longer one this time." + +This time Ben held the wedge until it was half buried, having perfect +confidence in Jerry's skill. It was not until the fourth wedge had been +driven in that a fragment of rock weighing four or five hundredweight +suddenly broke out from the face. All bent eagerly over it, and the +miners gave a shout of joy. The inner surface, which was white, but +slightly stained with yellow, with blurs of slate colour here and there, +was thickly studded with gold. It stuck out above the surface in thin, +leafy plates with ragged edges, with here and there larger spongy +masses. + +"I reckon that is good enough," Jerry said, wiping the sweat from his +forehead. "Ef there is but enough of it, it is the biggest thing that +ever was struck. There ain't no saying how rich it is, but I will bet my +boots it's over five hundred ounces to the ton. It ain't in nature that +it is going to run far like that, but it is good enough for anything. +Well, what is the next thing, Harry?" + +"We will break it up," Harry said, "and carry it down with us to the +camp. If the Utes came down on us tomorrow, and we could get off with +it, that would be plenty to show if we want to make a sale." + +It took them a long time to break up the rock, for the quartz was hard, +and was so bound together by the leafy gold running through it that each +of the four men had several spells with the hammer before it was broken +up into fragments weighing some twenty pounds apiece. As soon as this +was done the men collected earth, filled up the hole in the face of the +rock, and planted several large tufts of grass in it, and poured four or +five tins of water over them; then they smeared with mud the patches +where Harry had before broken pieces off. + +"What is all that for, Jerry?" Tom asked. + +"It is to hide up the traces, lad. We may have to bolt away from here +to-morrow morning for anything we know, and before we come back again +someone else may come along, and though we shall locate our claims at +the mining register, there would be a lot of trouble if anyone else had +taken possession, and was working the vein when we got back." + +"It is not likely that anyone else would come along here, Jerry." + +"Waal, I reckon that is so, but one ain't going to trust to chance when +one has struck on such a place as this." + +The Seneca had been the only unmoved person in the party. + +"What do you think of that, chief?" Harry asked him. + +"If my white brother is pleased Leaping Horse is glad," he replied. "But +the Indian does not care for gold. What can he do with it? He has a good +gun, he does not want twenty. He does not want many hunting suits. If he +were to buy as many horses as would fill the valley he could not ride +them all, and he would soon tire of sitting in his lodge and being +waited upon by many wives. He has enough for his needs now. When he is +old it will be time to rest." + +"Well, that is philosophy, chief, and I don't say you are wrong from +your way of looking at it. But that gold means a lot to us. It means +going home to our people. It means living in comfort for the rest of our +lives. It means making our friends happy." + +"Leaping Horse is glad," the chief said gravely. "But he cannot forget +that to him it means that the white brother, with whom he has so long +hunted and camped and fought bad Indians, will go away across the great +salt water, and Leaping Horse will see him no more." + +"That is so, chief," Harry said, grasping the Indian's hand warmly, "and +I was a selfish brute not to think of it before. There is one thing I +will promise you. Every year or so I will come out here and do a couple +of months' hunting with you. The journey is long, but it is quickly made +now, and I know that after knocking about for twenty years I shall never +be content if I don't take a run out on the plains for a bit every +summer. I will give you my word, Leaping Horse, that as long as I have +health and strength I will come out regularly, and that you shall see +your white brother's friendship is as strong as your own." + +The Seneca's grave face lit up with pleasure. "My white brother is very +good," he said. "He has taken away the thorn out of the heart of Leaping +Horse. His Indian brother is all glad now." + +The quartz was placed in sacks they had brought with them to carry down +samples, and they at once returned to the camp, where, after smoking a +pipe, they lay down to sleep; but it was some time before all went off, +so excited were they at the thought of the fortune that seemed before +them. + +In the afternoon they took one of the pieces of stone, weighing, by a +spring balance, twenty pounds, and with the flat plate and the +crushing-hammer went to the stream. The rock was first broken with the +sledge into pieces the size of a walnut. These were pulverized on the +iron plate and the result carefully washed, and when the work was +finished the gold was weighed in the miner's scales, and turned the +four-ounce weight. + +"That is nearly five hundred ounces to the ton," Harry said, "but of +course it is not going to run like that. I reckon it is a rich pocket; +there may be a ton of the stuff, and there may be fifty. Now let's go up +and have a quiet look for the lode, and see if we can trace it. We ought +to see it on the rock the other side." + +A careful search showed them the quartz vein on the face of the rock +some fifty feet higher up the valley, and this showed them the direction +of the run of the lode. It was here, however, only six inches wide +instead of being two feet, as at the spot where it was first found. Some +pieces were broken off: there was gold embedded in it, but it was +evident that it was nothing like so rich as on the other side. A piece +of ten pounds was pounded up, it returned only a little over a +pennyweight of gold. + +"About twelve ounces to the ton," Harry said. "Not bad, but a mighty +falling off from the other. To-morrow morning we will follow the lode on +the other side and see if we can strike an outcrop." + +The next day they found the lode cropping up through the rock some +thirty yards from their great find. It was about nine inches wide. They +dug it out with their picks to a depth of two feet so as to get a fair +sample. This when crushed gave a return at the rate of twenty ounces. + +"That is rich enough again, and would pay splendidly if worked by +machinery. Of course the question is, how far it holds on as rich as we +found it at the face, and how it keeps on in depth? But that is just +what we can't find. We want drills and powder, as picks are no sort of +good on this hard quartz. Supposing it goes off gradually from the face +to this point, there would be millions of dollars in it, even supposing +it pinched in below, which there is no reason in the world to suppose. +We may as well take a few of these chunks of rock, they will show that +the gold holds fairly a good way back anyhow." + +A few pieces were put aside and the rest thrown into the hole again, +which was stamped down and filled up with dust. The party then went back +to dinner, and a consultation was held as to what was next to be done. + +"Of course we must stake out our claims at once," Harry said. "In the +first place there are our own eight claims--two for each of the +discoverers and one each for the others. Hunting Dog will not have a +share, but will be paid the regular rate as a hunter. Then we will take +twenty claims in the names of men we know. They wouldn't hold water if +it were a well-known place, and everyone scrambling to get a claim on +the lode; but as there is no one to cut in, and no one will know the +place till we have sold it and a company sends up to take possession and +work it, it ain't likely to be disputed. The question is, What shall we +do now? Shall we make back to the settlements, or try washing a bit?" + +"Try washing, I should say," Jerry said. "You may be some time before +you can sell the place. Anyone buying will know that they will have to +send up a force big enough to fight the Utes, and besides they will want +someone to come up here to examine it before they close the bargain. I +vote we stick here and work the gravel for a bit so as to take enough +away to keep us till next spring. I reckon we shall find plenty of stuff +in it as we go down, and if that is so we can't do better than stick to +it as long as there is water in the creek." + +"I agree with you there, Jerry; but it will never do to risk losing +those first samples. I am ready to stay here through the summer, but I +vote we sew them up in deer-hide, and put two or three thicknesses of +skin on them so as to prevent accidents. Two of us had best go with them +to the fort and ask the Major to let us stow them away in his magazine, +then, if we have to bolt, we sha'n't be weighted down with them. +Besides, we might not have time for packing them on the horses, and +altogether it would be best to get them away at once, then come what +might we should have proofs of the value of the mine." + +This proposal was cordially agreed to, and it was settled that on the +following morning Harry himself should, with Hunting Dog and two +pack-horses, start for the fort, following the same route they came, +while the rest should set to work to construct a cradle, and troughs for +leading the water to it. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +AN INDIAN ATTACK + + +A couple of trees were felled in the middle of the clump in which they +were still encamped. They were first roughly squared and then sawn into +planks, the three men taking it by turns to use the saw. The question of +shifting the camp up to the spot where they intended to work was +discussed the night before Harry started, but it was agreed at last that +it would be better to remain where they were. + +"If Utes come, sure to find traces," the chief said. "Many horses in +valley make tracks as plain as noonday. Gold valley bad place for +fight." + +"That is so," Jerry agreed. "We should not have a show there. Even if we +made a log-house, and it would be a dog-goned trouble to carry up the +logs,--we might be shut up in it, and the red-skins would only have to +lie round and shoot us down if we came out. I reckon we had best stay +here after all, Harry. We could keep them outside the range of our +rifles anyhow by day." + +"I don't see that that would be much good to us, Jerry; for if they came +by day they would not find us here. Still I don't know that it ain't +best for us to stay here; it would give us a lot of trouble to build a +place. I reckon two of us had better stay here all the day with the +horses. If the red-skins come, they can fire a couple of shots, and we +shall hear them up at the washing-place. The red-skins would be safe to +draw off for a bit to talk it over before they attacked, as they would +not know how many there were among the trees. That would give the rest +time to come down." + +It took three days' hard work to saw the planks and make the cradle, and +troughs sufficiently long to lead the water down into it from the stream +higher up. These were roughly but strongly made, the joints being +smeared with clay to prevent the water from running through. A dam was +then made to keep back the water above the spot where they intended to +begin, which was about fifty yards below the quartz vein, and from this +dam the trough was taken along on strong trestles to the cradle. + +The horses were brought into the camp at daybreak every morning and tied +up to the trees, and were let out again at nightfall. Tom remained in +camp, the chief being with him. The latter, however, was, during the +time Harry was away, twice absent for a day on hunting excursions lower +down the valley, which was there thickly wooded. The first time, he +returned with the hams and a considerable portion of the rest of the +flesh of a bear. The second time, he brought up the carcass of a deer. + +"How far does the valley run?" Tom asked. + +"Valley last ten miles. Sides get steep and high, then canyon begin." + +"That will run right down to the Colorado?" + +The chief nodded. "Leaping Horse go no farther. Canyon must go down to +the river." + +"How far is it before the sides of the valley get too steep to climb?" + +"Two miles from here. Men could climb another mile or two, horses not." + +"Is there much game down there, chief?" + +The Seneca nodded. + +"That is a comfort, we sha'n't be likely to run out of fresh meat." + +The chief was very careful in choosing the wood for the fire, so that in +the daytime no smoke should be seen rising from the trees. When the dead +wood in the clump of trees was exhausted he rode down the valley each +day, and returned in an hour with a large faggot fastened behind him on +the horse. He always started before daybreak, so as to reduce the risk +of being seen from the hills. On the sixth day the men began their work +at the gravel. The bottle of mercury was emptied into the cradle, the +bottom of which had been made with the greatest care, so as to prevent +any loss from leakage. Two of the men brought up the gravel in buckets +and pans, until the cradle was half full. Then water was let in, and the +third man rocked the machine and kept on removing the coarse stuff that +worked up to the top, while the others continued bringing up fresh +gravel. + +"Well, what luck?" Tom asked, when they returned in the evening. + +"We have not cleaned up yet; we shall let it run for three or four days +before we do. We are only on the surface yet, and the stuff wouldn't pay +for the trouble of washing out." + +On the eighth day after their departure Harry and Hunting Dog returned. + +"Well, boys, it is all stowed away safely," he said. "I know the Major +well, and he let me have a big chest, which he locked up, after I had +put the bags in, and had it stowed away in the magazine; so there is no +fear of its being touched. Any signs of the red-skins?" + +"Nary a sign. We have none of us been up the valley beyond this, so that +unless they come right down here, they would find no trail. The horses +are always driven down the valley at night." + +"How is the work going on, Jerry?" + +"We began washing two days ago; to-morrow night we shall clean up. We +all think it is going to turn out pretty good, for we have seen gold in +the sand several times as we have carried it up in the pails." + +The next day Tom went up with the others, the Indians remaining in camp. +Two men now worked at the cradle, while the other three brought up the +sand and gravel. Towards evening they began the work of cleaning up. No +more stuff was brought up to the machine, but the water was still run +into it. As fast as the shaking brought the rough gravel to the top it +was removed, until only a foot of sand remained at the bottom. The water +was now stopped and the sand dug out, and carefully washed in the pans +by hand. At the bottom of each pan there remained after all the sand had +been removed a certain amount of gold-dust, the quantity increasing as +the bottom was approached. The last two panfuls contained a considerable +amount. + +"It does not look much," Tom said when the whole was collected together. + +"It is heavy stuff, lad," Harry replied. "What do you think there is, +Jerry? About twelve ounces, I should fancy." + +"All that, Harry; nigher fourteen, I should think." + +The pan was now put at the bottom of the cradle, a plug pulled out, and +the quicksilver run into it. A portion of this was poured on +wash-leather, the ends of which were held up by the men so as to form a +bag. Harry took the leather, and holding it over another pan twisted it +round and round. As the pressure on the quicksilver increased it ran +through the pores of the leather in tiny streams, until at last a lump +of pasty metal remained. This was squeezed again and again, until not a +single globule of quicksilver passed through the leather. The ball, +which was of the consistency of half-dried mortar was then taken out, +and the process repeated again and again until the whole of the +quicksilver had been passed through the leather. Six lumps of amalgam +about the size of small hens' eggs remained. + +"Is that good, uncle?" Tom asked. + +"Very fair, lad; wonderfully good indeed, considering we have not got +down far yet. I should say we shall get a pound and a half of gold out +of it." + +"But how does the gold get into it, uncle?" + +"There is what is called an affinity between quicksilver and gold. The +moment gold touches quicksilver it is absorbed by it, just as a drop of +water is taken up by a lump of salt. It thickens the quicksilver, and as +it is squeezed through the leather the quicksilver is as it were +strained out, and what remains behind becomes thicker and thicker, +until, as you see, it is almost solid. It is no good to use more +pressure, for if you do a certain amount of the gold would be squeezed +through the leather. You see, as the stuff in the cradle is shaken, the +gold being heavier than the sand finds its way down to the bottom, and +every particle that comes in contact with the quicksilver is swallowed +up by it." + +"And how do you get the quicksilver out of those lumps?" + +"We put them in one of those clay crucibles you saw, with a pinch of +borax, cover them up, and put them in a heap of glowing embers. That +evaporates the quicksilver, and leaves the gold behind in the shape of a +button." This was done that evening, and when the buttons were placed in +the scales they just turned the two-pound weight. + +"Well, boys, that is good enough for anything," Harry said. "That, with +the dust, makes a pound a day, which is as good as the very best stuff +in the early days of California." + +They worked steadily for the next seven weeks. Contrary to their +expectations the gravel was but little richer lower down than they had +found it at the end of the first wash-up, but continued about equally +good, and the result averaged about a pound weight of gold a day. This +was put into little bags of deer-skin, each containing five pounds' +weight, and these bags were distributed among the saddle-bags, so that +in case of sudden disturbance there would be no risk of their being left +behind. The Indians took it by turns to hunt; at other times they +remained on guard in camp, Tom only staying when one of them was away. +One day when the mining party stopped work, and sat down to eat some +bread and cold meat,--which they had from the first brought up, so as to +save them the loss of time entailed by going to the camp and back,--the +report of a gun came upon their ears. All started to their feet and +seized their rifles, and then stood listening intently. A minute later +two more shots were heard at close intervals. + +"Red-skins for sure!" Jerry exclaimed. "I thought as how our luck were +too good to last." They started at a run down the little valley, and +only paused when they reached its mouth. Harry then advanced cautiously +until he could obtain a view of the main valley. He paused for a minute +and then rejoined his companions. + +"There are fifty of them," he said, "if there is one. They are Utes in +their war-paint. They are a bit up the valley. I think if we make a rush +we can get to the trees before they can cut us off." + +"We must try anyhow," Sam Hicks said, "else they will get the two +Indians and our horses and saddles and all. Just let us get breath for a +moment, and then we will start." + +"Keep close together as you run," Harry said, "and then if they do come +up we can get back to back and make a fight of it." After a short pause +they started. They had not gone twenty yards when a loud yell proclaimed +that the Indians had seen them. They had, however, but three hundred +yards to run, while the Utes were double that distance from the clump. + +When the miners were within fifty yards of the trees two rifle-shots +rang out, and two of the Utes, who were somewhat ahead of the rest; fell +from their horses, while the rest swerved off, seeing that there was no +hope of cutting the party off. A few more yards and the miners were +among the trees. + +"So the Utes have found us out, chief," Harry said as he joined Leaping +Horse, who had just reloaded his ride. + +"Must have tracked us. They are a war-party," the Seneca replied. +"Hunter must have found tracks and taken news back to the villages." + +"Well, we have got to fight for it, that is clear enough," Harry said. +"Anyhow, now they see there are seven of us they are not likely to +attack until it gets dark, so we have time to think over what had best +be done. We had just begun our meal when we heard your shot, and the +best thing we can do is to have a good feed at once. We may be too busy +later on." + +The chief said a word to the young Indian, and, leaving him on the +watch, accompanied the others to the fire. They had scarcely sat down +when Hunting Dog came up. + +"More Utes," he said briefly, pointing across the valley. + +They at once went to the outer line of trees. On the brow of the rise +opposite were a party of horsemen between twenty and thirty strong. + +"That shows they have learnt all about our position," Harry said. "Those +fellows have been lying in wait somewhere over the hill to cut us off if +we took to our horses on seeing the main body. Let us have a look the +other side." + +Crossing the clump of trees, they saw on the brow there another party of +Utes. + +"I reckon they must have crossed that valley we were working in just +after we got through," Jerry said. "It is mighty lucky they did not come +down on us while we were washing, for they could have wiped us all out +before we had time to get hold of our guns. Well, Harry, we are in a +pretty tight fix, with fifty of them up the valley and five-and-twenty +or so on each side of us. We shall have to be dog-goned smart if we are +to get out of this scrape." + +"Hand me your rifle, Tom," his uncle said, "it carries farther than +mine, and I will give those fellows a hint that they had best move off a +bit." + +Steadying his piece against a tree, he took a careful aim and fired. One +of the Indians swerved in his saddle, and then fell forward on the neck +of his horse, which turned and galloped off with the rest. + +"Now we will have our meal and take council, chief," Harry said as he +turned away. "If we have got to fight there is no occasion to fight +hungry." + +The fire was made up; there was no need to be careful now. Strips of +deer's flesh were hung over it, and the meal was soon ready. But little +was said while it was being eaten, then they all lighted their pipes and +each put a pannikin of hot tea beside him. + +"Now, chief," Harry said, "have you arrived at any way out of this? It +is worse than it was the last time we got caught in this valley." + +The chief shook his head. "No good fight here," he said; "when night +come they creep up all round." + +"Yes, I see that we have got to bolt, but the question is, how? If we +were to ride they would ride us down, that is certain. Jerry and Tom +might possibly get away, though that ain't likely. Their critters are +good, but nothing downright extraordinary, and the chances are that some +of the Utes have got faster horses than theirs. As for the rest of us, +they would have us before we had ridden an hour." + +"That ain't to be thought of," Jerry said. "It seems to me our best +chance would be to leave the critters behind, and to crawl out the +moment it gets dark, and try and get beyond them." + +"They will close in as soon as it gets dark, Jerry. They will know well +enough that that is the time we shall be moving. I reckon we should not +have a chance worth a cent of getting through. What do you say, chief?" + +Leaping Horse nodded in assent. + +"Well, then," Sam Hicks said, "I vote we mount our horses and go right +at them. I would rather do that and get rubbed out in a fair fight than +lie here until they crawl up and finish us." + +No one answered, and for some minutes they smoked on without a word +being spoken, then Harry said: + +"There is only one chance for us that I can see, and that is to mount +now and to ride right down the valley. The chief says that in some +places it is not more than fifty yards wide, with steep cliffs on each +side, and we could make a much better fight there, for they could only +attack us in front. There would be nothing for them then but to dismount +and close in upon us from tree to tree, and we could make a running +fight of it until we come to the mouth of the canyon. There must be +places there, that we ought to be able to hold with our seven rifles +against the lot of them." + +"Bully for you, Harry! I reckon that would give us a chance anyhow. That +is, if we ain't cut off before we get to the wood." + +"Let us have a look round and see what they are doing," Harry said. "Ah! +here comes Hunting Dog. He will tell us all about it." + +"Utes on hills all gone up and joined the others," the young Indian said +as he came up. + +"It could not be better news!" Harry exclaimed. "I reckon they have +moved away to tempt us to make a start for the fort, for they know if we +go that way they will have us all, sure. They have not reckoned on our +riding down the valley, for they will be sure we must have found out +long ago that there ain't any way out of it. Well, we had best lose no +time. There is some meat ready, Hunting Dog, and you had best fill up +while we get ready for a start." + +The blankets and buffalo rugs were wrapped up and strapped behind the +saddles, as soon as these were placed behind the horses. They had only a +small quantity of meat left, as the chief was going out hunting the next +morning, but they fastened this, and eighty pounds of flour that still +remained, on to one of the pack-horses. They filled their powder-horns +from the keg, and each put three or four dozen bullets into his +holsters, together with all the cartridges for their pistols; the rest +of the ammunition was packed on another horse. When all was completed +they mounted. + +"We may get a couple of hundred yards more start before we are seen," +Harry said. "Anyhow, we have got five hundred yards, and may reckon on +making the two miles to where the valley narrows before they catch us." + +The instant, however, they emerged from the wood, two loud yells were +heard from Indians who had been left lying down on watch at the top of +the slopes on either side. Sam, who was the worst shot of the party, had +volunteered to lead the string of pack-horses, while Ben was ready to +urge them on behind. + +"You may want to stop some of the leading varmint, and I should not be +much good at that game, so I will keep straight on without paying any +attention to them." + +A loud answering yell rose from the Indians up the valley. + +"We shall gain fifty yards or so before they are fairly in the saddle," +Harry said as they went off at the top of their speed, the horses +seeming to know that the loud war-cry boded danger. They had gone half a +mile before they looked round. The Indians were riding in a confused +mass, and were some distance past the grove the miners had left, but +they still appeared as far behind as they had been when they started. +Another mile and the mass had broken up; the best-mounted Indians had +left the rest some distance behind, and considerably decreased the gap +between them and the fugitives. Another five minutes and the latter +reached the wood, that began just where the valley narrowed and the +cliffs rose almost perpendicularly on each side. As soon as they did so +they leapt from their horses, and each posting himself behind a tree +opened fire at their pursuers, the nearest of whom were but two hundred +yards away. Four fell to the first seven shots; the others turned and +galloped back to the main body, who halted at once. + +"They won't try a charge," Harry said; "it isn't in Indian nature to +come across the open with the muzzles of seven rifles pointed at them. +They will palaver now; they know they have got us in a trap, and they +will wait till night. Now, chief, I reckon that you and I and Hunting +Dog had best stay here, so that if they try, as they are pretty sure to +do, to find out whether we are here still, we can give them a hint to +keep off. The other four had better ride straight down the canyon, and go +on for a bit, to find out the best place for making a stand, and as soon +as it is dark we will go forward and join them. There will be no +occasion for us to hurry. I reckon the skunks will crawl up here soon +after it is dark; but they won't go much farther, for we might hide up +somewhere and they might miss us. In the morning they will come down on +foot, sheltering behind the trees as much as they can, till at last they +locate us." + +The chief nodded his approval of the plan, and Tom and the three miners +at once started, taking the pack-horses with them. On the way down they +came upon a bear. Ben was about to fire, but Jerry said: "Best leave him +alone, Ben; we are only three miles down, and these cliffs would echo +the sound and the red-skins would hear it and know that some of us had +gone down the valley, and might make a rush at once." In an hour and a +half they came down to a spot where the valley, after widening out a +good bit, suddenly terminated, and the stream entered a deep canyon in +the face of the wall of rock that closed it in. + +"I reckon all this part of the valley was a lake once," Jerry said. +"When it got pretty well full it began to run over where this canyon is +and gradually cut its way out down to the Colorado. I wonder how far it +is to the river." + +They had gone but a hundred yards down the canyon when they came to a +place where a recent fall of rocks blocked it up. Through these the +stream, which was but a small one, made its way. + +"There is a grist of water comes down here when the snow melts in the +spring," Ben remarked. "You can see that the rocks are worn fifty feet +up. Waal, I reckon this place is good enough for us, Jerry." + +"I reckon so, too," the latter agreed. "It will be a job to get our +horses over; but we have got to do it anyhow, if we have to carry them." +The animals, however, managed to scramble up the rocks that filled the +canyon to the height of some thirty feet. The distance between the rock +walls was not more than this in width. + +"We could hold this place for a year," Ben said, "if they didn't take to +chucking rocks down from above." + +"Yes, that is the only danger," Jerry agreed; "but the betting is they +could not get nigh enough to the edge to look down. Still, they might do +it if the ground is level above; anyhow, we should not show much at this +depth, for it is pretty dark down here, and the rocks must be seven or +eight hundred feet high." + +It was, indeed, but a narrow strip of sky that they saw as they looked +up, and although still broad daylight in the valley they had left, it +was almost dark at the bottom of the deep gorge, and became pitch dark +as soon as the light above faded. + +"The first job in the morning," Jerry said, "will be to explore this +place down below. I expect there are places where it widens out. If it +does, and there are trees and anything like grass, the horses can get a +bite of food; if not, they will mighty soon go under, that is if we +don't come upon any game, for if we don't we sha'n't be able to spare +them flour." + +"It is almost a pity we did not leave them in the valley to take their +chance," Tom said. + +"Don't you make any mistake," Jerry said. "In the first place they may +come in useful to us yet, and even if we never get astride of them again +they may come in mighty handy for food. I don't say as we mayn't get a +bear if there are openings in the canyon, or terraces where they can come +down, but if there ain't it is just horse-meat we have got to depend on. +Look here, boys, it is 'tarnal dark here; I can't see my own hand. I +vote we get a light. There is a lot of drift-wood jammed in among the +stones where we climbed up, that will do to start a fire, and I saw a +lot more just at the mouth of this gap. We know the red-skins ain't near +yet, so I vote we grope our way up and bring some down. It will be a +first-rate thing, too, to make a bit of fire half-way between here and +the mouth; that would put a stop to their crawling up, as they are like +enough to try to do, to make out whereabouts we are. Of course we shall +have to damp our own fire down if they come, else we should show up agin +the light if we went up on the rock." + +The others agreed at once, for it was dull work sitting there in the +black darkness. All had matches, and a piece of dry fir was soon found. +This was lighted, and served as a torch with which to climb over the +rocks. Jammed in between these on the upper side was a large quantity of +drift-wood. This was pulled out, made into bundles, and carried over the +rock barrier, and a fire was soon blazing there. Then taking a brand and +two axes they went up to the mouth of the gorge, cut up the arms of some +trees that had been brought down by the last floods and left there as +the water sank. The greater part of these were taken down to their +camping-place; the rest, with plenty of small wood to light them, were +piled halfway between the barrier and the mouth of the canyon, and were +soon blazing brightly. + +They were returning to their camping-place, when Ben exclaimed that he +heard the sound of horses' hoofs. All stopped to listen. + +"There are not more than three of them," Ben said, "and they are coming +along at a canter. I don't expect we shall hear anything of the +red-skins until tomorrow morning." + +They heard the horses enter the canyon, then Jerry shouted: "Are you all +right, Harry?" + +"Yes; the red-skins were all quiet when we came away. Why, where are +you?" he shouted again when he came up to the fire. + +"A hundred yards farther on I will show you a light." + +Two or three blazing brands were brought up. Harry and the Indians had +dismounted at the first fire, and now led their horses up to the stone +barrier. + +"What on arth have you lit that other fire for, Jerry?" Harry asked as +he stopped at the foot of the barrier. + +"Because we shall sleep a dog-goned sight better with it there. As like +as not they may send on two or three young warriors to scout. It is as +black as a wolf's mouth, and we might have sat listening all night, and +then should not have heard them. But with that fire there they dare not +come on, for they would know they could not pass it without getting a +bullet in them." + +"Well, it is a very good idea, Jerry; I could not think what was up when +I got there and did not see anybody. I see you have another fire over +the other side. I could make it out clear enough as we came on." + +"It will burn down a bit presently," Jerry said. "I should not try to +get those horses up here now, Harry. It was a bad place to come up in +daylight, and like enough they would break their legs if they tried it +now. They will do just as well there as they would on this side, and you +can get them over as soon as the day breaks." + +"I would rather get them over, Jerry; but I see it is a pretty rough +place." + +Leaving the horses, Harry and the Indians climbed over the barrier, and +were soon seated with the others round their fire, over which the meat +was already frizzling. + +"So the Indians kept quiet all the afternoon, Harry?" + +"As quiet as is their nature. Two or three times some of them rode down, +and galloped backwards and forwards in front of us to make out if we +were there. Each time we let them fool about for a good long spell, and +then when they got a bit careless sent them a ball or two to let them +know we were still there. Hunting Dog went with the three horses half a +mile down the valley soon after you had gone, so that they might not +hear us ride off. + +"As soon as it began to get dusk we started. We had to come pretty slow, +for it got so dark under the trees we could not make out the trunks, and +had to let the horses pick their own way. But we knew there was no +hurry, for they would not follow till morning, though of course their +scouts would creep up as soon as it was dark, and wouldn't be long +before they found out that we had left." + +"I reckon they will all come and camp in the wood and wait for daylight +before they move, though I don't say two or three scouts may not crawl +down to try and find out where we are. They will move pretty slow, for +they will have to pick their way, and will know well enough that if a +twig cracks it will bring bullets among them. I reckon they won't get +here under four or five hours. It is sartin they won't try to pass that +fire above. As soon as they see us they will take word back to the +others, and we shall have the whole lot down here by morning." + +"We shall have to get the horses over, the first thing. Two of us had +best go down, as soon as it is light enough to ride without risking our +necks, to see what the canyon is like below." + +"Yes, that is most important, Jerry; there may be some break where the +red-skins could get down, and so catch us between two fires." + +"I don't care a red cent for the Utes," Jerry said. "We can lick them +out of their boots in this canyon. What we have been thinking of, is +whether there is some place where the horses can get enough to keep them +alive while we are shut up here. If there is game, so much the better; +if there ain't, we have got to take to horseflesh." + +"How long do you suppose that the Indians are likely to wait when they +find that they can't get at us?" Tom asked. + +"There ain't no sort of saying," his uncle replied. "I reckon no one +ever found out yet how long a red-skin's patience will last. Time ain't +nothing to them. They will follow up this canyon both sides till they are +sartin that there ain't no place where a man can climb up. If there +ain't, they will just squat in that valley. Like enough they will send +for their lodges and squaws and fix themselves there till winter comes, +and even then they might not go. They have got wood and water. Some of +them will hunt and bring in meat, which they will dry for the winter; +and they are just as likely to stay here as to go up to their villages." + +A vigilant watch was kept up all night, two of them being always on +guard at the top of the barrier. As soon as morning broke, the three +horses were got over, and half an hour later Harry and Sam Hicks rode +off down the canyon, while the others took their places on guard, keeping +themselves well behind the rocks, between which they looked out. They +had not long to wait, for an Indian was seen to dart rapidly across the +mouth of the canyon. Two rifles cracked out, but the Indian's appearance +and disappearance was so sudden and quick that they had no reason to +believe that they had hit him. + +"They will know now that we are here, and are pretty wide awake," Ben +said. "You may be sure that he caught sight of these rocks." + +A minute or two later several rifles flashed from among the fallen +stones at the mouth of the gorge. + +"Keep your eyes open," Jerry said, "and when you see the slightest +movement, fire. But don't do it unless you feel certain that you make +out a head or a limb. We've got to show the Utes that it is sartin death +to try and crawl up here." + +Almost immediately afterwards a head appeared above the stones, the +chief's rifle cracked, and at the same instant the head disappeared. + +"Do you think you got him, chief?" + +"Think so, not sure. Leaping Horse does not often miss his mark at two +hundred yards." + +Almost directly afterwards Tom fired. An Indian sprang to his feet and +bounded away. + +"What did you fire at, Tom?" + +"I think it was his arm and shoulder," Tom replied. "I was not sure +about it, but I certainly saw something move." + +"I fancy you must have hit him, or he would not have got up. Waal, now I +reckon we are going to have quiet for a bit. They must have had a good +look at the place while they were lying there, and must have seen that +it air too strong for them. I don't say they mayn't come on again +tonight--that they may do, but I think it air more likely they won't try +it. They would know that we should be on the watch, and with seven +rifles and Colts we should account for a grist of them afore they got +over. What do you say, chief?" + +"Not come now," the Indian said positively. "Send men first along top +see if can get down. Not like come at night; the canyons of the Colorado +very bad medicine, red-skins no like come into them. If no way where we +can get up, then Utes sit down to starve us." + +"That will be a longish job, chief. A horse a week will keep us for +three months." + +"If no food for horse, horse die one week." + +"So they will, chief. We must wait till Harry comes back, then we shall +know what our chances are." + +It was six hours before Harry and Sam returned. There was a shout of +satisfaction from the men when they saw that they had on their saddles +the hind-quarters of a bear. + +"Waal, what is the news, Harry?" + +"It ain't altogether good, Ben. It goes down like this for about twelve +miles, then it widens out sudden. It gets into a crumbly rock which has +got worn away, and there is a place maybe about fifty yards wide and +half a mile long, with sloping sides going up a long way, and then cliff +all round. The bottom is all stones; there are a few tufts of coarse +grass growing between them. On the slopes there are some bushes, and on +a ledge high up we made out a bear. We had two or three shots at him, +and at last brought him down. There may be more among the bushes; there +was plenty of cover for them." + +"There was no place where there was a chance of getting up, Harry?" + +"Nary a place. I don't say as there may not be, but we couldn't see +one." + +"But the bear must have got down." + +"No. He would come down here in the dry season looking for water-holes, +and finding the place to his liking he must have concluded to settle +there. It is just the place a bear would choose, for he might reckon +pretty confident that there weren't no chance of his being disturbed. +Well, we went on beyond that, and two miles lower the canyon opened +again, and five minutes took us down on to the bank of the Colorado. +There was no great room between the river and the cliff, but there were +some good-sized trees there, and plenty of bush growing up some +distance. We caught sight of another bear, but as we did not want him we +left him alone." + +"Waal, let us have some b'ar-meat first of all," Jerry said. "We +finished our meat last night, and bread don't make much of a meal, I +reckon. Anyhow we can all do with another, and after we have done we +will have a talk. We know what to expect now, and can figure it up +better than we could before." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE COLORADO + + +"Well, boys," Harry Wade began after they had smoked for some time in +silence, "we have got to look at this matter squarely. So far we have +got out of a mighty tight place better than we expected. Yesterday it +seemed to us that there weren't much chance of our carrying our hair +away, but now we are out of that scrape. But we are in another pretty +nigh as bad, though there ain't much chance of the red-skins getting at +us." + +"That air so, Harry. We are in a pretty tight hole, you bet. They ain't +likely to get our scalps for some time, but there ain't no denying that +our chance of carrying them off is dog-goned small." + +"You bet there ain't, Jerry," Sam Hicks said. "Them pizon varmint will +camp outside here; for they know they have got us in a trap. They mayn't +attack us at present, but we have got to watch night and day. Any dark +night they may take it into their heads to come up, and there won't be +nothing to prevent them, for the rustling of the stream among the rocks +would cover any little noise they might make. The first we should know +of it would be the yell of the varmint at the foot of this barrier, and +afore we could get to the top the two on guard would be tomahawked, and +they would be down on us like a pack of wolves. I would a'most as soon +put down my rifle and walk straight out now and let them shoot me, if I +knew they would do it without any of their devilish tortures, as go on +night after night, expecting to be woke up with their war-yell in my +ears. + +"Of course they will be always keeping a watch there at the mouth of the +canyon,--a couple of boys are enough for that,--for they will know that +if we ride out on our horses we must go right up the valley, and it is a +nasty place to gallop through in the dark; besides, some of them will no +doubt be placed higher up to cut us off, and if we got through, which +ain't likely, they could ride us down in a few hours. If we crept out on +foot and got fairly among the trees we should be no better off, for they +would take up our trail in the morning and hunt us down. I tell you +fairly, boys, I don't see any way out of it. I reckon it will come to +our having to ride out together, and to wipe out as many of the Utes as +possible afore we go down. What do you say, chief?" + +"Leaping Horse agrees with his white brother, Straight Harry, whose mind +he knows." + +"Waal, go on then, Harry," Sam said. "I thought that you had made an end +of it or I wouldn't have opened out. I don't see no way out of it at +present, but if you do I am ready to fall in with it whatever it is." + +"I see but one way out of it, boys. It is a mighty risky thing, but it +can't be more risky than stopping here, and there is just a chance. I +spoke to the chief last night, and he owned that it didn't seem to him +there was a chance in that or any other way. However, he said that if I +went he would go with me. My proposal is this, that we take to the river +and try and get through the canyons." + +There was a deep silence among the men. The proposal took them by +surprise. No man had ever accomplished the journey. Though two parties +similarly attacked by Indians had attempted to raft down some of the +canyons higher up; one party perished to a man, one survivor of the other +party escaped to tell the tale; but as to the canyons below, through +which they would have to pass, no man had ever explored them. The +Indians regarded the river with deep awe, and believed the canyons to be +peopled with demons. The enterprise was so stupendous and the dangers to +be met with so terrible, that ready as the western hunters were to +encounter dangers, no one had ever attempted to investigate the windings +and turnings of the river that for two thousand miles made its way +through terrific precipices, and ran its course some three thousand feet +below the surrounding country, until it emerged on to the plains of +Mexico. + +"That was why I was so anxious to reach the river," Harry went on after +a pause. "I wanted to see whether there were some trees, by which we +could construct a raft, near its bank. Had there not been, I should have +proposed to follow it up or down, as far as we could make our way, in +hopes of lighting on some trees. However, as it is they are just handy +for us. I don't say as we shall get through, boys, but there is just a +chance of it. I don't see any other plan that would give us a show." + +Jerry was the first to speak. + +"Waal, Harry, you can count me in. One might as well be drowned in a +rapid or carried over a fall as killed, or, wuss, taken and tortured by +the red-skins." + +"That is so, Jerry," Sam Hicks agreed. While Ben said: "Waal, if we git +through it will be something to talk about all our lives. In course +there ain't no taking the horses?" + +"That is out of the question, Ben. We shall not have much time to spare, +for the Utes may take it into their heads to attack us any night; and, +besides, we have no means of making a big raft. We might tie two or +three trunks together with the lariats and spike a few cross-pieces on +them, we might even make two such rafts; that is the outside. They will +carry us and our stores, but as for the horses, we must either leave +them down in the hollow for the Indians to find, or put a bullet through +their heads. I expect the latter will be the best thing for them, poor +beasts." + +"No want trees," the chief said. "Got horses' skins; make canoes." + +"You are right, chief," Harry exclaimed; "I never thought of that. That +would be the very thing. Canoes will go down the rapids where the +strongest rafts would be dashed to pieces, and if we come to a bad fall +we can make a shift to carry them round." + +The others were no less pleased with the suggestion, and the doubtful +expression of their faces as they assented to the scheme now changed to +one of hopefulness, and they discussed the plan eagerly. It was agreed +that not a moment should be lost in setting to work to carry it out, and +that they should forthwith retreat to the mouth of the lower canyon; for +all entertained a secret misgiving that the Utes might make their attack +that night, and felt that if that attack were made in earnest it would +succeed. It was certain they would be able to find some point at which +the lower gorge could be held; and at any rate a day would be gained, +for at whatever hour of the night the Indians came up they would not +venture farther until daybreak, and there would probably be a long +palaver before they would enter the lower canyon. + +Tom had not spoken. He recognized the justice of Harry's reasoning, but +had difficulty in keeping his tears back at the thought of his horse +being killed. For well-nigh a year it had carried him well; he had +tended and cared for it; it would come to his call and rub its muzzle +against his cheek. He thought that had he been alone he would have +risked anything rather than part with it. + +"Don't you like the plan, Tom?" Harry said to him, as, having packed and +saddled the horses, they rode together down the canyon. "I don't suppose +the passage is so terrible after all." + +"I am not thinking of the passage at all, uncle," Tom said almost +indignantly; "it will be a grand piece of adventure; but I don't like--I +hate--the thought of my horse being killed. It is like killing a dear +friend to save one's self." + +"It is a wrench, lad," Harry said kindly; "I can quite understand your +feelings, and don't like the thought myself. But I see that it has got +to be done, and after all it will be better to kill the poor brutes than +to let them fall into the hands of the Indians, who don't know what +mercy to their beasts means, and will ride them till they drop dead +without the least compunction." + +"I know it is better, uncle, ever so much better--but it is horrible all +the same. Anyhow, don't ask me to do it, for I could not." + +"I will see to that, Tom. You shall be one of the guards of the canyon. +You would not be of much use in making the canoes, and you won't have to +know anything about it till you go down and get on board." + +Tom nodded his thanks; his heart was too full for him to speak, and he +felt that if he said a word he should break down altogether. They rode +rapidly along, passed through the little valley where the bear had been +killed, without stopping, and went down the lower canyon, carefully +examining it to fix upon the most suitable point for defence. There had +been no recent fall, and though at some points great boulders lay +thickly, there was no one place that offered special facilities for +defence. + +"Look here, boys," Harry said, reining up his horse at a point within +two hundred yards of the lower end, "we can't do better than fix +ourselves here. An hour's work will get up a wall that will puzzle the +red-skins to get over, and there is the advantage that a shot fired here +by the guard will bring our whole force up in a couple of minutes. I +vote we ride the horses down to the river and let them pick up what they +can, and then come back here and build the wall. It will be getting dark +in an hour's time, and we may as well finish that job at once. Ben and +Sam, you may as well pick out a couple of young fir-trees and bring +them down at once, then there will be no time lost. Five of us will be +enough for the wall. Keep your eyes open. Likely enough there is a bear +or two about, and it would be a great thing for us to lay in a stock of +meat before we start." + +As soon as they issued from the gorge the horses were unsaddled and the +stores taken off the pack-animals. As they were doing this Harry said a +few words in a low tone to Sam. He then carefully examined the trees, +and picked out two young firs. Sam and Ben took their axes, and the +other five went up the gorge again, and were soon hard at work +collecting boulders and piling them in a wall. + +"There is a gun, uncle," Tom exclaimed presently. + +"Well, I hope they have got sight of a bear, we shall want a stock of +meat badly." + +A dozen shots were fired, but Tom thought no more of it as he proceeded +with his work. The bottom of the canyon was but fifteen feet wide, and by +the time it was dark they had a solid wall across it nearly six feet +high, with places for them to stand on to fire over. + +"Now then, Tom, you may as well take post here at once. I will send Sam +or Ben up to watch with you. I don't think there is a shadow of chance +of their coming to-night, but there is never any answering for +red-skins. I would leave Hunting Dog with you, but we shall want him to +help make the framework for the canoes; the Indians are a deal handier +than we are in making lashings. I will send your supper up here, lad, +and your buffalo robes. Then you can take it by turns to watch and +sleep. I reckon we shall be at work all night; we have got to get the +job finished as quick as we can." + +A quarter of an hour later Sam Hicks came up. + +"Have you got the trees down, Sam?" + +"Lor' bless you, it didn't take a minute to do that. We got them down +and split them up, then lit a fire and got the meat over it and the +kettle, and mixed the dough." + +"Did you kill another bear? We heard you firing." + +"No; the critter was too high up, and I ain't much good at shooting. +Perhaps they will get sight of him tomorrow, and Harry and the chief +will bring him down if he is within range of their shooting-irons. It is +'tarnal dark up here." + +In twenty minutes two lights were seen approaching, and Harry and +Hunting Dog came up carrying pine-wood torches. Each had a great faggot +of wood fastened on his back, and Harry also carried the frying-pan, on +which were a pile of meat and two great hunks of bread, while Hunting +Dog brought two tin pannikins of hot tea. + +"That will make it more cheerful for you," Harry said, as he unfastened +the rope that tied the faggot to his shoulders. "Now, Hunting Dog, get a +good fire as soon as you can, and then come down again to us." + +The fire was soon blazing merrily, and Tom and Sam sat down to enjoy +their meal. + +"Don't you think one of us ought to keep watch, Sam?" + +"Not a bit of it," Sam said. "The red-skins will never dare to enter +that canyon until after dark, and if they started now and made their way +straight on, they would not be here for another three or four hours. I +would bet my boots they don't come at all tonight; even if they were not +scared at us, they would be scared at coming near the river in the dark. +No, we will just take our meal comfortable and smoke a pipe, and then I +will take first watch and you shall take a sleep. We ain't closed an eye +since the night before last." + +Tom, indeed, was nearly asleep before he had finished his pipe, and felt +that he really must get a nap. So saying to Sam, "Be sure and wake me in +two hours," he rolled himself in his robe and instantly fell asleep. + +It seemed to him that he had only just gone off when Sam roused him. He +leapt to his feet, however, rifle in hand. "Anything the matter, Sam?" + +"Everything quiet," the miner replied. + +"What did you wake me for then? I have not been asleep five minutes." + +"According to my reckoning, mate, you have been asleep better'n five +hours. It was about half-past eight when you went off, and I reckon it +is two now, and will begin to get light in another hour. I would not +have waked you till daybreak, but I found myself dropping off." + +"I am awfully sorry," Tom began. + +"Don't you trouble, young un. By the time you have been as long in the +West as I have you won't think anything of two nights' watch. Now you +keep a sharp lookout. I don't think there is much chance of their +coming, but I don't want to be woke up with a red-skin coming right down +on the top of me." + +"I see you have let the fire out, Sam," Tom said, with a little shiver. + +"I put it out hours ago," Sam said, as he prepared to lie down. "It +would never have done to keep it all night, for a red-skin would see my +head over the top of the wall, while I should not get a sight of him +till he was within arm's-length." + +Tom took up his post, and gazed earnestly into the darkness beyond the +wall. He felt that his sense of vision would be of no use whatever, and +therefore threw all his faculties into that of listening. Slight as was +the chance of the Indians coming, he yet felt somewhat nervous, and it +was a satisfaction to him to see beyond the mouth of the canyon the glow +of the fire, by which, as he knew, the others were hard at work. + +In an hour the morning began to break, and as soon as he could see well +up the canyon he relighted the fire, jumping up to take a look over the +wall every minute or so. It was not long before he saw his uncle +approaching with a kettle. + +"I saw your smoke, Tom, and guessed that you would be glad of a mug of +hot tea. You have seen no signs of Indians, I suppose?" + +"We have heard nothing, uncle. As to seeing, up to half an hour ago +there was no possibility of making out anything. But I have not even +been listening; Sam went on guard directly we had finished supper, and I +asked him to call me in two hours, but he did not wake me until two +o'clock." + +"He is a good fellow," Harry said. "Well, don't wake him now. I can't +leave you the kettle, for we have to keep boiling water going, but you +can put his tin into the ashes and warm it up when he wakes. Here are a +couple of pieces of bread." + +"Why do you have to keep the kettle boiling, uncle?" + +"To bend the wood with. The piece we are working on is kept damp with +boiling water. We hold it for a time over the fire, pouring a little +water on as fast as it evaporates; that softens the wood, and we can +bend it much more evenly than we could if we did it by force. Besides, +when it is fastened into its position it remains, when it is dry, in +that shape, and throws no strain on to anything." + +"Are you getting on well?" + +"Capitally. We should have done both the frames by now, but we were +obliged to make them very strong so as to resist the bumps they are sure +to get against rocks. When they are finished you might almost let them +drop off the top of a house, they will be so strong and elastic. If the +Indians will but give us time we shall make a first-rate job of them." + +Three hours later Harry came up again with the kettle and some cooked +meat. Sam had just woke up, and was quite angry with Tom for not rousing +him before. "The others have been working all night," he said, "and here +have I been asleep for five hours; a nice sort of mate they will think +me." + +"Well, but you were watching five hours, Sam; and I would a deal rather +work all night than stand here for two hours in the dark, wondering all +the time whether the Indians are crawling up, and expecting at any +moment to hear a rush against the wall." + +"I am going to take your place, Sam, when you have finished your +breakfast," Harry said, as he came up. "If the Utes found out last night +that we had gone, their scouts may be coming down before long. My rifle +shoots a bit straighter than yours does." + +"It ain't the rifle, Harry," Sam said good-temperedly; "it is the eye +that is wrong, not the shooting-iron. I never had much practice with +these long guns, but when it comes to a six-shooter, I reckon I can do +my share as well as most. But they won't give me a chance with it." + +"I hope they won't, Sam. I am sure they won't as long as there is light, +and I hope that before it gets dark they will conclude to leave us +alone." + +A vigilant watch was kept now. + +"I think I saw a head look out from that corner," Tom exclaimed +suddenly, two hours after Sam had left them. + +"I am quite sure I did, Tom. We must wait until he shows himself a bit +more. I reckon it is a good three hundred yards off, and a man's head is +a precious small mark at that distance. Stand a bit higher and lay your +rifle on the wall. Don't fire if he only puts his head out. They know we +can shoot, so there is not any occasion to give them another lesson. I +don't hold to killing, unless you have got to do it. Let him have a good +look at us. + +"When he goes back and tells the tribe that there is a three hundred +yards' straight passage without shelter, and a strong wall across the +end of it, and two white men with rifles ready to shoot, I reckon they +will know a good deal better than to try to come up it, as long as there +is light. Besides, they won't think there is any occasion to hurry, for +they won't count on our taking to the river, and will know that we shall +be keeping watch at night. So it may very well be that they will reckon +on wearing us out, and that we may not hear of them for a week. There is +the fellow's head again!" + +The head remained visible round the corner of the rock for two or three +minutes. + +"He knows all about it now, Tom. You won't see any more of him to-day. I +will go down and lend them a hand below." + +Tom asked no questions about the horses; he had thought of them a score +of times as he stood on guard, and the thought had occurred to him that +it was possible the shots he had heard while they were building the wall +on the previous afternoon, had been the death shots of the horses. It +did not occur to him when Sam was telling the story about the bear, that +this was a got-up tale, but when he came to think it over, he thought it +probable that it was so. Sam himself was not much of a shot, but Ben, +although inferior to Harry or either of the two Indians, shot as well as +Jerry, and would hardly have missed a bear three or four times running. +Each time the thought of the horses occurred to him he resolutely put it +aside, and concentrated his mind upon the probable perils of the passage +down the canyons and the wonderful gorges they would traverse, and the +adventures and excitement they were sure to pass through. He thought how +fortunate it was they had taken the precaution of sending their +specimens of quartz back to the fort; for were they in the canoes, the +fruits of the journey would be irrevocably lost were these to upset; for +now the Indians had twice discovered the presence of whites in the +valley they would be sure to watch it closely, and it would not be +possible to go up to the mine again unless in strong force. + +The day passed quietly. Harry brought up Tom's meals, and late in the +afternoon all hands came up, and the wall of stones was raised four +feet, making it almost impregnable against a sudden attack. The two +Indians took post there with Tom, and watched alternately all night. The +Utes, however, remained perfectly quiet. They probably felt sure that +the fugitives must sooner or later be forced to surrender, and were +disinclined to face the loss that must occur before so strong a +position, defended by seven men armed with rifles and revolvers, could +be carried. + +At three o'clock on the following afternoon Hunting Dog came up. "Tom go +down and get dinner," he said, "Hunting Dog will watch." + +Tom took his rifle and started down the canyon. + +"Come on, lad," his uncle shouted. "We are pretty near ready for a +start, and have all had our dinner; so be quick about it. We want to get +well away from here before night." + +Tom went to the fire and ate his meal. As he sat down he saw that the +stores, blankets, and robes had all been carried away. When he finished, +his uncle led him down to the river. Two canoes were floating in the +water, and the other men were standing beside them. + +"There, Tom, what do you think of them?" + +"They are splendid, uncle; it seems impossible that you can have built +them in two days." + +"Five hands can do a lot of canoe-building in forty-eight hours' work, +Tom." + +The canoes were indeed models of strength if not of beauty. They were +each about twenty feet long and five feet wide. Two strong pieces of +pine two inches square ran along the top of each side, and one of the +same width but an inch deeper formed the keel. The ribs, an inch wide +and three-quarters of an inch thick, were placed at intervals of +eighteen inches apart. The canoes were almost flat-bottomed. The ribs +lay across the keel, which was cut away to allow them to lie flush in +it, a strong nail being driven in at the point of junction--these being +the only nails used in the boat's construction. The ribs ran straight +out to almost the full width of the canoe, and were then turned sharp +up, the ends being lashed with thongs of hide to the upper stringers. + +Outside the ribs were lashed longitudinal wattles of tough wood about an +inch wide. They were placed an inch apart, extending over the bottom and +halfway up the side. Over all was stretched the skin, five horses' hides +having been used for each boat. They were very strongly sewed together +by a double row of thongs, the overlaps having, before being sewed, been +smeared with melted fat. Cross-pieces of wood at the top kept the upper +framework in its place. The hair of the skin was outward, the inner +glistened with the fat that had been rubbed into it. + +"They are strong indeed," Tom said. "They ought to stand anything, +uncle." + +"Yes, I think they would stand a blow against any rock if it hadn't a +cutting edge. They would just bound off as a basket would. Of course +they are very heavy for canoes; but as they won't have to carry more +than the weight of four men each, they will draw little over a couple of +inches or so of water. + +"That is why we made them so wide. We could not get strength without +weight; and as there is no saying what shallows there may be, and how +close in some places rocks may come up to the surface, we were obliged +to build them wide to get light draught. You see we have made ten +paddles, so as to have a spare one or two in case of breakage. We have +two spare hides, so that we shall have the means of repairing damages." + +Tom said nothing about the horses. Manufactured into a boat, as the +skins were, there was not much to remind him of them; but he pressed his +uncle's hand and said, "Thank you very much, uncle; I don't mind so much +now, but I should not like to have seen them before." + +"That is all right, Tom; it was a case of necessity. Sam and Ben shot +them directly we got here." + +The stores were all laid by the boats, being divided between them so +that the cargoes were in all respects duplicates of each other. Before +Tom came down some had already been placed in each boat, with a blanket +thrown over them. + +"You have got the gold, I suppose, uncle?" + +"You may bet that we did not leave that behind. There is half in each +boat, and the bags are lashed to the timbers, so that if there is an +upset they cannot get lost." + +"How are we going?" + +"We have settled that you and I and the two Indians shall go together, +and the rest in the other boat. The Indians know nothing of canoeing, +and won't be of very much use. I know you were accustomed to boats, and +I did some rowing when I was a young man. I wish we had a couple of +Canadian Indians with us, or of half-breeds; they are up to this sort of +work, and with one in the stern of each canoe it would be a much less +risky business going down the rapids. However, no doubt we shall get +handy with the paddles before long." + +When everything was ready Harry fired his rifle, and in a couple of +minutes Hunting Dog came running down. The others had already taken +their seats. He stepped into Harry's boat, and they at once pushed off. + +The river was running smoothly here, and Harry said, "Directly we get +down a little way we will turn the boat's head up stream and practise +for a bit. It would never do to get down into rough water before we can +use the paddles fairly." + +Tom sat in the bow of his boat, Hunting Dog was next to him, then came +the chief, and Harry sat in the stern. A paddle is a much easier +implement to manage for a beginner than is an oar, and it was not long +before they found that they could propel the boats at a fair rate. In a +short time they had passed the end of the shelf at the mouth of the +canyon, and the cliffs on that side rose as abruptly as they did on the +other. The river was some eighty yards wide. + +"We will turn here," Harry said, "and paddle up. We sha'n't do more than +keep abreast of these rocks now, for the stream runs fast though it is +so smooth." + +They found, indeed, that they had to work hard to hold their position. + +"Now, Tom," Harry sang out, "it is you and I do the steering, you know. +When you want the head to go to the right you must work your paddle out +from the boat, when you want to go to the left you must dip it in the +water rather farther out and draw it towards the boat. Of course when +you have got the paddle the other side you must do just the contrary. +You must sing out right or left according as you see rocks ahead, and I +shall steer with my paddle behind. I have a good deal more power over +the boat than you have, and you must depend upon me for the steering, +unless there is occasion for a smart swerve." + +At first the two boats shot backwards and forwards across the stream in +a very erratic way, but after an hour's practice the steersmen found the +amount of force required. An hour later Harry thought that they were +competent to make a start, and turning they shot rapidly past the +cliffs. In a couple of miles there was a break in the rocks to the left. + +"We will land there," Harry said. "There are trees near the water and +bushes farther up. We will make a camp there. There is no saying how far +we may have to go before we get another opportunity. We have done with +the Utes for good, and can get a sound night's sleep. If you, chief, +will start with Hunting Dog as soon as we land, we will get the things +ashore and light the fire. Maybe you will be able to get a bear for us." + +They did not trouble to haul up the canoes, but fastened them by the +head-ropes, which were made from lariats, to trees on the shore. +Daylight was beginning to fade as they lighted the fire. No time was +lost before mixing the dough, and it was in readiness by the time that +there were sufficient glowing embers to stand the pot in. The kettle was +filled and hung on a tripod over the fire. In a short time the Indians +returned empty-handed. + +"No find bear," the chief said, "getting too dark to hunt. To-morrow +morning try." + +Harry got up and went to the boats, and returned directly with a joint +of meat. Tom looked up in surprise. + +"It is not from yours, Tom," Jerry said as he saw him looking at it. "We +took the hind-quarters of the four pack-ponies, but left the others +alone. It was no use bringing more, for it would not keep." + +"So it is horseflesh!" Tom rather shrank from the idea of eating it, and +nothing would have induced him to touch it had he thought that it came +from his own favourite. Some steaks were cut and placed in the +frying-pan, while strips were hung over the fire for those who preferred +the meat in that way. Tom felt strongly inclined to refuse altogether, +but when he saw that the others took their meat as a matter of course, +and proceeded to eat with a good appetite, he did not like to do so. He +hesitated, however, before tasting it; but Harry said with a laugh, +"Fire away, Tom. You can hardly tell it from beef, and they say that in +Paris lots of horseflesh is sold as beef." + +Thus encouraged, Tom took a mouthful, and found it by no means bad, for +from their long stay in the valley the animals were all in excellent +condition, and he acknowledged to himself that he would not have known +the flesh from beef. + +"I call it mighty good for a change." Terry said. "Out on the plains, +where one can get buffalo, one would not take horse for choice, but as +we have been eating deer and bear meat for about a year, horse-meat +ain't bad by no means. What! You won't take another bit, Tom?" + +"Not to-night, Jerry; next time I shall be all right. But it is my first +trial, you know, and though I can't say it is not good, it gives me a +queer feeling, so I will stick to the bread." + +"Well, boys," Harry said presently, "we have made a first-rate start, +and have got out of a big scrape, easier than I ever looked for. We +could not have got two better canoes for our work if we had had them +brought special from Canada, and it seems to me that they ought to go +down pretty near anywhere without much damage. We shall get real handy +with our paddles in two or three days, and I hope we sha'n't meet with +any big rapids until we have got into the way of managing them well." + +"You bet, Harry, we have got out well," said Jerry. "I tell you it +looked downright ugly, and I wouldn't have given a continental for our +chances. As for the rapids, I guess we shall generally find rocks one +side or the other where we can make our way along, and we can let down +the canoes by the ropes. Anyhow, we need not get skeery over them. After +getting out of that valley with our hair on, the thought of them does +not trouble me a cent." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +AFLOAT IN CANOES + + +The two Indians were off long before daylight, and just as the others +were having a wash at the edge of the river they heard the crack of a +rifle some distance up the cliff. + +"Bear!" Jerry exclaimed; "and I reckon they have got it, else we should +have heard another shot directly afterwards. That will set us up in food +for some time. Get the fire made up, Tom, you won't have to eat horse +steak for breakfast unless you like." + +The Indians returned half an hour later laden with as much bear-flesh as +they could carry. + +"I vote we stop here for two days," Harry said. "We have got a lot of +meat now, but it won't keep for twenty-four hours in this heat, so I +vote we cut it up and dry it as the Indians do buffalo-meat; it will +keep any time. Besides, we deserve a couple of days' rest, and we can +practise paddling while the meat dries. We got on very well yesterday, +but I do want us to get quite at home in the boats before we get to a +bad bit." + +The proposal was agreed to, and as soon as breakfast was over the whole +of the meat was cut up into thin slices and hung up on cords fastened +from tree to tree. + +"It ought to take three days to do it properly, and four is better," +Harry said. "Still, as we have cut it very thin, I should think two days +in this hot sun ought to be enough." + +"Are there any fish in the river, uncle?" + +"I have no doubt there are, Tom, grists of them, but we have got no +hooks." + +"Jerry has got some, he told me he never travelled without them, and we +caught a lot of fish with them up in the mountains just after we started +before. I don't know about line, but one might unravel one of the +ropes." + +"I think you might do better than that, Tom. The next small animal we +shoot we might make some lines from the gut. They needn't be above five +or six feet long. Beyond that we could cut a strip of thirty or forty +feet long from one of the hides. However, we can do nothing at present +in that way. Now let us get into the canoes and have a couple of hours' +paddling. After dinner we will have another good spell at the work." + +By evening there was a marked improvement in the paddling over that of +the previous day, and after having had another day's practice all felt +confident that they should get on very well. By nightfall on the second +day, the meat was found to be thoroughly dried, and was taken down and +packed in bundles, and the next morning they started as soon as it was +light. It was agreed that the boats should follow each other at a +distance of a hundred yards, so that the leader could signal to the one +behind if serious difficulties were made out ahead, and so enable it to +row to the bank in time. Were both drawn together into the suck of a +dangerous rapid they might find themselves without either boats or +stores, whereas if only one of the boats was broken up, there would be +the other to fall back upon. Harry's boat was to take the lead on the +first day, and Tom, as he knelt in the bows, felt his heart beat with +excitement at the thought of the unknown that lay before them, and that +they were about to make their way down passes probably unpenetrated by +man. Passing between what had seemed to them the entrance to a narrow +canyon, they were surprised to rind the river widen out. On their right a +great sweep of hills bent round like a vast amphitheatre, the +resemblance being heightened by the ledges running in regular lines +along it, the cliff being far from perpendicular. + +"I should think one could climb up there," Tom said, half-turning round +to his uncle. + +"It looks like it, Tom, but there is no saying; some of those steps may +be a good deal steeper than they look. However, I have no doubt one +could find places where it would be possible to climb if there were any +use in doing so, but as we should only find ourselves up on bad lands we +should gain nothing by it." + +"I don't mean we should want to climb up now, uncle; but it seemed a +sort of satisfaction to know that there are places where one could climb +in case we got the boats smashed up." + +"If we had to make our way up, lad, it would be much better to go by one +of the lateral canyons like the one we came down by. I can see at least +half a dozen of them going up there. We should certainly find water, and +we might find game, but up on the plateau we should find neither one nor +the other." + +On the left-hand bank of the river the cliffs fell still farther back in +wide terraces, that rose one behind the other up to a perpendicular +cliff half a mile back from the river. There was a shade of green here +and there, and the chief pointed far up the hill and exclaimed "Deer!" + +"That is good," Harry said. "There are sure to be more of these places, +and I should think we are not likely to starve anyhow. We can't spare +time to stop now; we want to have a long day's paddle to see what it is +going to be like, and we have got meat enough for the present. If we +happen to see a deer within rifle-shot, so that we can get at him +without much loss of time, we will stop, for after all fresh meat is +better eating than dry." + +"I should think it would be, uncle," Tom said. "From the look of the +stuff I should think it would be quite as tough as shoe leather and as +tasteless." + +"It needs a set of sharp teeth, Tom, but if you are hard set I have no +doubt you will be able to get through it, and at any rate it constitutes +the chief food of the Indians between the Missouri and the Rockies." + +For the next three hours they paddled along on the quiet surface of the +river. The other canoe had drawn up, since it was evident that here at +least there was no reason why they should keep apart. + +"I didn't expect we should find it as quiet as this, Harry," Jerry +Curtis said. "It is a regular water-party, and I should not mind how +long I was at it if it were all like this." + +"We shall have rough water enough presently, Jerry, and I expect we +shall look back on this as the pleasantest part of the trip. It seems to +me that the hills close in more towards the end of this sweep. It has +made a regular horseshoe." + +"I reckon it depends upon the nature of the rock," Ben put in. + +"That is it, you may be sure, Ben. Wherever it is soft rock, in time it +crumbles away like this; where it is hard the weather don't affect it +much, and we get straight cliffs. I expect it is there we shall find the +rapids worst. Well, we shall soon make a trial of them, I fancy. It +looks like a wall ahead, but the road must go through somewhere." + +A quarter of an hour later Harry said: "You had better drop back now, +Jerry, there is the gap right ahead. If you see me hold up my paddle you +row ashore. When we come to a bad rapid we had better all get out, and +make our way down on the rocks as far as we can, to see what it is like. +It will never do to go at it blind. Of course we may find places where +the water comes to the wall faces on both sides, and then there is +nothing to do but to take our chance, but I don't propose to run any +risks that I can avoid." + +There was a perceptible increase in the rate of the current as they +neared the gorge, and when they came within a short distance of it Harry +gave the signal to the boat behind, and both canoes made for the shore. +As they stepped out on to the rocks the chief pointed to a ledge far +above them. "There will be time for Hunting Dog to shoot a deer," he +said, "while we go down to see canyon." + +Tom in vain endeavoured to make out the object at which the Indian was +pointing. Hunting Dog had evidently noticed it before landing, and upon +Harry giving a nod of assent, started off with his rifle. The others +waited until Jerry and his companions joined them, and then started +along the rocks that had fallen at the foot of the cliffs. They were +soon able to obtain a far better view of the gorge than they had done +from the canoe. The river ran for a bit in a smooth glassy flood, but a +short distance down, it began to form into waves, and beyond that they +could see a mass of white foam and breakers. They made their way along +the rocks for nearly two miles. It seemed well-nigh impossible to Tom +that the boats could go down without being swamped, for the waves were +eight or ten feet high, with steep sides capped with white. At last the +gorge widened again, and although the cliff to the right rose +perpendicularly, on the other side it became less steep, and seemed +lower down to assume the same character as that above the gorge. + +"It looks pretty bad," Harry said, speaking for almost the first time +since they had started, for the roar of the water against the rocks, +echoed and re-echoed by the cliffs, rendered conversation an +impossibility. "It looks bad, but as far as I can see there are no rocks +that come up near the surface, and the canoes ought to go through the +broken water safely enough." + +"It is an all-fired nasty-looking place," Jerry said; "but I have heard +men who had been in the north talk about rapids they had gone through, +and from what they said about them they must have been worse than this. +We have got to keep as near the side as we can; the waves ain't as high +there as they are in the middle, and we have got to keep the boat's head +straight, and to paddle all we know. If we do that, I reckon the canoes +will go through." + +They retraced their steps up the gorge. Hunting Dog was standing by the +boat with the dead deer at his feet. Jerry picked it up. "I had better +take this, I reckon, Harry. You have got one man more than we have;" and +he and his two companions went on to their boat. + +"Now, what do you think, Tom?" his uncle said. "Can you trust your head +to keep cool? It will need a lot of nerve, I can tell you, and if her +head swerves in the slightest she will swing round, and over she will +go, and it would want some tall swimming to get out of that race. You +paddle as well as the chief,--better, I think,--but the chief's nerves +are like iron. He has not been practising steering as you have, but as +there seem to be no rocks about, that won't matter so much. I ought to +be able to keep her straight, if you three paddle hard. It may need a +turn of the paddle now and then in the bow, but that we can't tell. So +it shall be just as you like, lad. If you think your nerves can stand it +you take your usual place, but if you have doubts about it, it were best +to let the chief go there." + +"I think I could stand it, uncle, for I have been out in wherries in +some precious rough seas at Spithead; but I think it would be best for +the chief to take my place this time, and then I shall see how I feel." + +Harry said a few words to the chief in his own language, and Leaping +Horse without a word stepped into the bow, while Tom took the seat +behind him. + +"We sha'n't be long going down," Harry said, "I reckon the stream is +running ten miles an hour, and as we shall be paddling, it will take us +through in ten minutes. We had all better sit farther aft, so as to take +her bow right out of water. She will go through it ever so much easier +so." + +They shifted their seats until daylight could be seen under the keel a +foot from the bow. + +"I think that is about the right trim," Harry said. "Now paddle all." + +The boat shot off from the shore. A minute later it darted into the +gorge, the Indian setting a long sweeping stroke. There were two or +three long heaves, and then they dashed into the race. Tom held his +breath at the first wall of water, but, buoyant and lightly laden as the +canoe was, with fully a foot of free board, she rose like a feather over +it, and darted down into the hollow beyond. Tom kept his eyes fixed on +the back of the chief's head, clinched his teeth tightly, and paddled +away with all his strength. He felt that were he to look round he should +turn giddy at the turmoil of water. Once or twice he was vaguely +conscious of Harry's shouts, "Keep her head inshore!" or "A little +farther out!" but like a man rowing a race he heeded the words but +little. His faculties were concentrated on his work, but he could see a +slight swerve of the Indian's body when he was obeying an order. + +He was not conscious of any change of motion, either in the boat or in +the water round, when Harry shouted, "Easy all!" and even then it was +the chief's ceasing to paddle rather than Harry's shout which caused him +to stop. Then he looked round and saw that the race was passed, and that +the canoe was floating in comparatively quiet water. + +"She is a daisy!" Harry shouted; "we could not do better if we had been +all Canadian half-breeds, chief. Now, we had better set to and bale her +out as quickly as we can." + +Tom now for the first time perceived that he was kneeling in water, and +that the boat was nearly half-full. + +Their tea pannikins had been laid by their sides in readiness, and +Hunting Dog touched him and passed forward his tin and the chief's, both +of which had been swept aft. The Seneca at once began to throw out the +water, but Tom for a minute or two was unable to follow his example. He +felt as weak as a child. A nervous quivering ran through his body, and +his hand trembled so that he could not grasp the handle of the tin. + +"Feel bad, Tom?" his uncle asked cheerily from behind. "Brace up, lad; +it was a pretty warm ten minutes, and I am not surprised you feel it. +Now it is over I am a little shaky myself." + +"I shall be all right presently, uncle." A look at the chief's back did +more to steady Tom's nerves than his own efforts. While he himself was +panting heavily, and was bathed in perspiration, the chief's breath came +so quietly that he could scarce see his shoulders rise and fall, as he +baled out the water with perfect unconcern. With an effort the boy took +hold of his dipper, and by the time the boat was empty his nerves were +gaining their steadiness, though his breath still came quickly. As he +laid down his tin he looked round. + +"Heap water," Hunting Dog said with a smile; "run like herd of buffalo." + +The other boat lay twenty yards behind them, and was also engaged in +baling. + +"All right now, Tom?" + +"All right, uncle; but it is lucky you put the chief in the bows. I +should have made a mess of it; for from the time we got into the waves +it seemed nothing but confusion, and though I heard your voice I did not +seem to understand what you said." + +"It was a trial to the nerves, Tom, but we shall all get accustomed to +it before we get through. Well, thank God, we have made our first run +safely. Now paddle on, we will stop at the first likely place and have a +meal." + +A mile farther they saw a pile of drift-wood on the left bank, and Harry +at once headed the canoe to it, and drawing the boat carefully alongside +they got out. A minute later the other canoe joined them. + +"Jee-hoshaphat, Harry!" Jerry exclaimed as he stepped out; "that was +worse nor a cyclone. I would rather sit on the back of the worst kind of +bucker than jump over those waves again. If we are going to have much of +this I should say let us find our way back and ask the Utes to finish us +off." + +"It was a rough bit, Jerry; but it might have been a deal worse if there +had been rocks in the stream. All we had to do was to keep her straight +and paddle." + +"And a pretty big all, too," Jerry grumbled. "I felt skeered pretty nigh +out of my wits, and the other two allow they were just as bad. If it +hadn't been for your boat ahead I reckon we should never have gone +through it, but as long as you kept on straight, there didn't seem any +reason why we shouldn't. I tell you I feel so shaky that if there were a +grizzly twenty yards off I am blamed if I could keep the muzzle of my +rifle on it." + +Tom had been feeling a good deal ashamed of his nervousness, and was +much relieved at hearing that these seasoned men had felt somewhat the +same as he had done. + +"What do you say, boys," Harry asked when breakfast had been cooked and +eaten, "if we stop here for to-day? Likely enough we may get some game, +and if not it won't matter, for the deer will last us a couple of days." + +"You bet," Ben Gulston said; "I think we have had enough of the water +for to-day. I don't feel quite sure now I ain't going round and round, +and I don't think any of us will feel right till we have had a night's +sleep. Besides, all the rugs and blankets are wet and want spreading out +in the sun for a bit, and the flour will want overhauling." + +"That settles it, Ben; let us get all the outfit out of the boats at +once." + +After the things had been laid out to dry the two Indians went off in +search of game; but none of the others felt any inclination to move, and +they spent the rest of the day lying about smoking and dozing. The +Indians brought back a big-horn, and the next morning the canoes dropped +down the stream again. For some miles the river flowed quietly along a +wide valley. At the end of that time it made an abrupt turn and entered +the heart of the mountains. As before, Harry's canoe went in advance. +The canyon was here a deep gloomy chasm, with almost perpendicular sides, +and for some distance the river ran swiftly and smoothly, then white +water was seen ahead, so the two boats rowed in to the rocks at the foot +of the precipice, and the occupants proceeded to explore the pass ahead. +It was of a different character to the last. Black rocks rose everywhere +above the surface, and among these the river flowed with extraordinary +force and rapidity, foaming and roaring. + +All agreed that it was madness to think of descending here, and that a +portage was necessary. The contents of the boats were lifted out, and +then one of them was carried down over the rocks by the united strength +of the party. They had gone half a mile when they came to a spot where +they could go no farther, as the water rushed along against the rock +wall itself. Some fifty yards further down they could see that the ledge +again began. + +"We must go and fetch the other boat," Harry shouted above the din of +the water, "and let them down one by one. There is no other way to do +it." + +The second boat was brought down, and another journey was made to bring +down the stores. The lariats were then tied together. + +"Let us sit down and smoke a pipe before we do anything more," Jerry +said. "Three times up and down them rocks is worse nor thirty miles on a +level." + +All were glad to adopt this suggestion, and for half an hour they sat +watching the rushing waters. As they did so they discussed how they had +better divide their forces, and agreed that Harry's boat should, as +before, go down first. Three men would be required to let the boat down, +and it would need at least four to check the second boat when it came +abreast of them. Although all felt certain that a single line of the +plaited hide would be sufficient, they determined to use two lines to +ensure themselves against risk. + +"I should let them run out fast at first, Jerry, only keeping enough +strain on them to keep her head well up stream. Begin to check her +gradually, and let her down only inch by inch. When you see we are close +to the rocks, hold her there while we get her alongside, and don't leave +go till we lift her from the water. Directly we are out, fasten the +ropes to the bow of your canoe, then launch her carefully; and whatever +you do, don't let go of the rope. Launch her stern first close to the +wall, then two get in and get well towards the stern, while the other +holds the rope until the last moment. Then those two in the boat must +begin to paddle as hard as they can, while the last man jumps in and +snatches up his paddle. Keep her head close to the wall, for if the +current catches it and takes her round she would capsize in a moment +against those rocks. Paddle all you know; we shall haul in the rope as +fast as you come down. When you come abreast two of us will check her, +and the others will be on the rocks to catch hold of her side as she +swings in." + +The first canoe was launched stern foremost, the four men took their +seats in her and began to paddle against, the stream with all their +strength, while Jerry and his companions let the lines run through their +fingers. The boat glanced along by the side of the wall. The men above +put on more and more strain, giving a turn of the ropes round a smooth +water-worn rock they had before picked out as suitable for the purpose. +The water surged against the bow of the canoe, lifting it higher and +higher as the full strain of the rope came upon it. The chief was +kneeling in the stern facing the rocks below, and as the canoe came +abreast of them he brought her in alongside. Harry held up his paddle, +the men above gave another turn of the ropes round the rock, and the +canoe remained stationary. Hunting Dog sprang out on to the rocks, and +taking hold of the blade of the chief's paddle, brought the canoe in so +close that the others were able to step ashore without difficulty. The +baggage was taken out, and the canoe lifted from the water, turned +upside down, and laid on the rocks. + +Harry held up his hand to show that they were ready, having before he +did so chosen a stone round which to wind the lariats. The other boat +was then launched. Sam and Ben took their places astern and began to +paddle against the stream. As they were in the back-water below the +ledge of rock they were able to keep her stationary while Jerry took his +place and got out his paddle. When all were ready, they paddled her out +from the back-water. As soon as the current caught her she flew past the +cliff like an arrow, although the three men were now paddling at the top +of their speed. Harry and the chief pulled in the rope hand over hand, +while Hunting Dog and Tom went a short way down the rocks. + +"Don't check her too suddenly, chief," Harry shouted. "Let the rope run +out easy at first and bring the strain on gradually." + +"The ropes will hold," the chief said. "One stop buffalo in gallop, two +stop boat." + +"Yes, but you would pull the head out of the canoe; chief, if you +stopped her too suddenly." + +The chief nodded. He had not thought of that. In spite of the efforts of +the oarsmen the canoe's head was swerving across the stream just as she +came abreast of them. A moment later she felt the check of the rope. + +"Easy, chief, easy!" Harry shouted, as the water shot up high over the +bow of the canoe. "Wait till she gets a bit lower or we shall capsize +her." + +The check of the bow had caused the stern to swerve out, and when they +again checked her she was several lengths below them with her head +inclined to shore. More and more strain was put on the ropes, until they +were as taut as iron bars. A moment later Tom and Hunting Dog seized two +paddles held out to them, and the boat came gently in alongside. + +"Gosh!" Ben exclaimed, as he stepped ashore, "it has taken as much out +of me as working a windlass for a day. I am blamed if I did not think +the hull boat was coming to pieces. I thought it was all over with us +for sure, Harry; when she first felt the rope, the water came in right +over the side." + +"It was touch and go, Ben; but there was a rock just outside you, and if +we had not checked her a bit her head would have gone across it, and if +it had, I would not have given a red cent for your lives." + +All day they toiled on foot, and by nightfall had made but four miles. +Then they camped for the night among the rocks. The next four days were +passed in similar labour. Two or three times they had to cross the +torrent in order to get on to fallen rocks on the other side to that +which they were following. These passages demanded the greatest caution. +In each case there were rocks showing above water in the middle of the +channel. One of these was chosen as most suited to their purpose, and by +means of the ropes a canoe was sheered out to it. Its occupants then +took their places on the rock, and in turn dropped the other boat down +to the next suitable point, the process being repeated, step by step, +until the opposite bank was reached. + +At the end of the fourth day the geological formation changed. The rock +was softer, and the stream had worn a more even path for itself, and +they decided to take to the boats again. There was no occasion for +paddling now, it was only when a swell on the surface marked some hidden +danger below that a stroke or two of the paddle was needed to sweep them +clear of it. For four hours they were carried along at the rate of fully +twelve miles an hour, and at the end of that time they shot out from +between the overhanging walls into a comparatively broad valley. With a +shout of delight they headed the boats for shore, and leapt out on to a +flat rock a few inches above the water. + +"If we could go on at that pace right down we should not be long before +we were out of the mountains," Tom said. + +"We could do with a bit slower, Tom; that is too fast to be pleasant. +Just about half that would do--six miles an hour. Twelve hours a day +would take us out of the canyons in a fortnight or so. We might do that +safely, but we could not calculate on having such good luck as we have +had to-day, when going along at twelve miles an hour. The pace for the +last four days has been just as much too slow as this is too fast. Four +miles a day working from morning till night is heart-breaking. In spite +of our run to-day, we cannot have made much over a hundred miles since +we started. Well, there is one comfort, we are in no great hurry. We +have got just the boats for the work, and so far as we can see, we are +likely to find plenty of food. A job like this isn't to be reckoned +child's play. So far I consider we have had good luck; I shall be well +content if it averages as well all the way down. The fear is we may get +to falls where we can neither carry nor let the boats down. In that case +we should have to get out of the canyon somewhere, pack as much flour as +we could carry, and make our way across country, though how far we might +have to travel there is no knowing. I hope it mayn't come to that; but +at any rate I would rather go through even worse places than that canyon +above than have to quit the boats." + +"Right you are, Harry," Jerry agreed. "I would rather tote the canoe on +my back all the way down to Mexico, than have to try and make my way +over the bad lands to the hills. Besides, when we get a bit farther we +shall be in the Navahoe country, and the Utes ain't a sarcumstance to +them. The Ute ain't much of a fighter anyway. He will kill white men he +finds up in his hills, 'cause he don't want white men there, but he has +to be five or six to one before he will attack him. The Navahoe kills +the white man 'cause he is a white man, and 'cause he likes killing. He +is a fighter, and don't you forget it. If it had been Navahoes instead +of Utes that had caught us up in the hills, you may bet your bottom +dollar our scalps would be drying in their lodges now." + +"That is so, Jerry," Ben put in. "Besides, the Navahoes and the Apaches +have got no fear of white men. They have been raiding Mexico for +hundreds of years, and man to man they can whip Mexikins out of their +boots. I don't say as they haven't a considerable respect for western +hunters; they have had a good many lessons that these can out-shoot them +and out-fight them; still they ain't scared of them as plain Indians +are. They are a bad lot, look at them which way you will, and I don't +want to have to tramp across their country noways. It was pretty hard +work carrying that boat along them rocks, but I would rather have to do +so, right down to the plains, then get into a muss with the Navahoes." + +"How far does the Navahoe country come this way?" + +"There ain't no fence, Tom, I expect. They reckon as it's their country +just as far as they like to come. They don't come up as far north as +this, but where they ends and where the Utes begin no one knows but +themselves; and I reckon it shifts according as the Navahoes are busy +with the Mexicans in the south, or have got a quiet spell, and take it +into their heads to hunt this way." + +For many days they continued their journey, sometimes floating quietly +along a comparatively wide valley, sometimes carrying their boats past +dangerous rapids, sometimes rushing along at great speed on the black, +deep water, occasionally meeting with falls where everything had to be +taken out of the canoes, and the boats themselves allowed to shoot over +the falls with long ropes attached, by which they were drawn to shore +lower down. It was seldom that they were without meat, as several +big-horns and two bears were shot by the Indians. They had no doubt that +they could have caught fish, but as a rule they were too tired when they +arrived at their halting-place to do more than cook and eat their +suppers before they lay down to rest. + +"I reckon it won't be very long before we come upon a Mexican village," +Harry said one day, after they had been six weeks on their downward +course. "I have heard there is one above the Grand Canyon." + +The scenery had varied greatly. In some of the valleys groves of trees +bordered the river; sometimes not even a tuft of grass was to be seen. +Occasionally the cliffs ran in an even line for many miles, showing that +the country beyond was a level plateau, at other times rugged peaks and +pinnacles resembling ruined castles, lighthouses, and churches could be +seen. Frequently the cliffs rose three or four thousand feet in an +almost unbroken line, but more often there were rounded terraces, where +it would have been easy to ascend to the upper level. Everywhere the +various strata were of different colours: soft grays and browns, orange, +vermilion, purple, green, and yellow. They soon learned that when they +passed through soft strata, the river ran quietly; where the rocks were +hard there were falls and rapids; where the strata lay horizontal the +stream ran smoothly, though often with great rapidity; where they dipped +up stream there were dangerous rapids and falls. + +Since the start the river had been largely swollen by the junctions of +other streams, and was much wider and deeper than it had been where they +embarked; and even where the rapids were fiercest they generally found +comparatively quiet water close to the bank on one side or the other. +Twice they had had upsets, both the boats having been capsized by +striking upon rocks but an inch or two below the surface of the water. +Little harm was done, for the guns and all other valuable articles were +lashed to the sides of the boats, while strips of hide, zigzagged across +the ends of the canoes at short distances apart, prevented the blankets +and rugs and other bulky articles from dropping out when the boat +capsized. + +Since the river had become wider and the dangers less frequent, the +boats always kept near each other. Upsets were therefore only the +occasion for a hearty laugh; for it took but a few minutes to right the +canoe, bale it out, and proceed on their way. Occasionally they had +unpleasant visitors at their camp, and altogether they killed ten or +twelve rattle-snakes. In some of the valleys they found the remains of +the dwellings of a people far anterior to the present Indian races. Some +of these ruins appeared to have been communal houses. At other points +they saw cliff-dwellings in the face of the rock, with rough sculptures +and hieroglyphics. The canyons varied in length from ten to a hundred and +fifty miles, the comparatively flat country between them varying equally +in point of appearance and in the nature of the rocks. As they got lower +they once or twice saw roughly-made rafts, composed of three or four +logs of wood, showing where Indians had crossed the river. The journey +so far had been much more pleasant than they had expected, for as the +river grew wider the dangers were fewer and farther apart, and more +easily avoided; and they looked forward to the descent of the Grand +Canyon, from which they knew they could not be far distant, without much +fear that it would prove impracticable. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE GRAND CANYON + + +Passing from a short canyon, the boats emerged into a valley with flat +shores for some distance from the river. On the right was a wide side +canyon, which might afford a passage up into the hills. Half a mile lower +down there were trees and signs of cultivation; and a light smoke rose +among them. At this, the first sign of human life they had seen since +they took to the boats, all hands paddled rapidly. They were approaching +the shore, when Leaping Horse said to Harry: "No go close. Stop in river +and see, perhaps bad Indians. Leaping Horse not like smoke." + +Harry called to the other canoe, and they bore out into the stream +again. The chief stood up in the boat, and after gazing at the shore +silently for a moment said: + +"Village burnt. Burnt little time ago, post still burning." As he +resumed his seat Harry stood up in turn. + +"That is so, chief. There have only been five or six huts; whether +Indian or white, one can't tell now." + +Just at this moment an Indian appeared on the bank. As his eye fell on +the boats he started. A moment later he raised a war-yell. + +"Navahoe," the chief said. "Navahoe war-party come down, kill people and +burn village. Must row hard." + +The yell had been answered from the wood, and in two or three minutes as +many score of Indians appeared on the banks. They shouted to the boats +to come to shore, and as no attention was paid, some of them at once +opened fire. The river was about a quarter of a mile wide, and although +the shots splashed round them the boats were not long in reaching the +farther bank, but not unharmed, for Ben had dropped his paddle and +fallen back in the boat. + +"Is he badly hurt?" Harry asked anxiously, as the canoes drew alongside +each other near the bank, and Sam turned round to look at his comrade. + +"He has finished his journey," Sam said in a hoarse voice. "He has gone +down, and a better mate and a truer heart I never met. The ball has hit +him in the middle of the forehead. It were to be, I guess, for it could +only have been a chance shot at that distance." + +Exclamations of sorrow and fury broke from the others, and for a few +minutes there was no thought of the Indians, whose bullets were still +falling in the water, for the most part short of the boats. A sharp tap +on the side of Harry's canoe, followed by a jet of water, roused them. + +"We mustn't stop here," Harry said, as Hunting Dog plugged the hole with +a piece of dried meat, "or poor Ben won't be the only one." + +"Let us have a shot first," Jerry said. "Young Tom, do you take a shot +with Plumb-centre. It is about four hundred and fifty yards as near as I +can reckon, and she will carry pretty true that distance." + +"We will give them a shot all round," Harry said, as he took up his +rifle. + +Six shots were discharged almost at the same moment. One of the Indians +was seen to fall, the rest bounded away to a short distance from the +bank. Then Hunting Dog at a word from the chief stepped into the other +canoe. Keeping close under the bank they paddled down. The Indians had +ceased firing, and had disappeared at a run. + +"What are they up to now, chief?" + +"Going down to mouth of canyon, river sure to be narrow; get there before +us." + +"Wait, Jerry," Harry shouted to the other boat, which was some twenty +yards ahead. "The chief thinks they have gone to cut us off at the head +of the canyon, which is likely enough. I don't suppose it is fifty yards +wide there, and they will riddle us if we try to get through in +daylight. We had better stop and have a meal and talk it over." + +The boats were rowed ashore, and the men landed and proceeded to light a +fire as unconcernedly as if no danger threatened them. Ben's death had +cast a heavy gloom over them, and but few words were spoken, until the +meal was cooked and eaten. + +"It is a dog-goned bad business," Jerry said. "I don't say at night as +we mayn't get past them without being hit, but to go rushing into one of +those canyons in the dark would be as bad as standing their fire, if not +wuss. The question is--could we leave the boats and strike across?" + +"We could not strike across this side anyhow," Harry said. "There are no +settlements west of the Colorado. We know nothing of the country, and it +is a hundred to one we should all die of thirst even if we could carry +enough grub to last us. If we land at all it must be on the other side, +and then we could not reckon on striking a settlement short of two +hundred miles, and two hundred miles across a country like this would be +almost certain death." + +"As the Navahoes must have ridden down, Harry, there must be water. I +reckon they came down that canyon opposite." + +"Navahoe on track in morning," the chief said quietly. "When they see we +not go down river look for boat, find where we land and take up trail. +Canyon very plain road. Some go up there straight, take all our scalps." + +No one spoke for a moment or two. What the Seneca said was so evident to +them that it was useless to argue. "Well, chief, what do you advise +yourself?" Harry asked at length. + +"Not possible go on foot, Harry. Country all rocks and canyons; cannot +get through, cannot get water. Trouble with Navahoes too. Only chance +get down in boat to-night. Keep close under this bank; perhaps Indians +not see us, night dark." + +"Do you think they can cross over to this side?" + +"Yes, got canoe. Two canoes in village, Leaping Horse saw them on bank. +When it gets dark, cross over." + +"We will get a start of them," Harry said. "Directly it is dark we can +be off too. The shore is everywhere higher than our heads as we sit in +the canoes, and we can paddle in the shadow without being seen by them +on the other side, while they won't venture to cross till it is pitch +dark. As the stream runs something like three miles an hour, I reckon +that they are hardly likely to catch us. As for the rapids, they don't +often begin until you are some little distance in. At any rate we shall +not have to go far, for the red-skins will not dare to enter the canyon, +so we can tie up till morning as soon as we are a short distance in. We +have got to run the gauntlet of their fire, but after all that is better +than taking our chances by leaving the boats. If we lie down when we get +near them they may not see us at all; but if they do, a very few strokes +will send us past them. At any rate there seems less risk in that plan +than in any other." + +The others agreed. + +"Now, boys, let us dig a grave," he went on, as soon as the point was +settled. "It is a sort of clay here and we can manage it, and it is not +likely we shall find any place, when we are once in the canyon, where we +can do it." They had neither picks nor shovels with them, for their +mining tools had been left at the spot where they were at work, but with +their axes and knives they dug a shallow grave, laid Ben's body in it, +covered it up, and then rolled a number of boulders over it. + +Ben's death affected Tom greatly. They had lived together and gone +through many perils and risks for nearly a year, and none had shown more +unflagging good-humour throughout than the man who had been killed. That +the boats might upset and all might perish together, was a thought that +had often occurred to him as they made their way down the river, but +that one should be cut off like this had never once been contemplated by +him. Their lives from the hour they met on the Big Wind River had seemed +bound up together, and this sudden loss of one of the party affected him +greatly. The others went about their work silently and sadly, but they +had been so accustomed to see life lost in sudden frays, and in one or +other of the many dangers that miners and hunters are exposed to, that +it did not affect them to the same extent as it did Tom. + +Except two or three men who remained on watch on the opposite bank, +though carefully keeping out of rifle-range, they saw no signs of the +Navahoes during the day. As soon as it became so dark that they were +sure their movements could not be seen from the other side, they +silently took their places in the boats, and pushed off into the +current. For a quarter of an hour they lay in the canoes, then at a +signal from Harry knelt up, took their paddles and began to row very +quietly and cautiously, the necessity for dropping their paddles +noiselessly into the water and for avoiding any splashing having been +impressed on all before starting. + +"There is no occasion for haste," Harry said. "Long and gentle strokes +of the paddle will take us down as fast as we need go. If those fellows +do cross over, as I expect they will, they will find it difficult to +travel over the rocks in the dark as fast as we are going now, and there +is no fear whatever of their catching us if we go on steadily." + +After an hour's rowing they could make out a dark mass rising like a +wall in front of them, and Harry passed the word back to the other +canoe, which was just behind them, that they should now cease paddling, +only giving a stroke occasionally to keep the head of the canoe +straight, and to prevent the boat from drifting out from under the +shelter of the bank, in the stillness of the night they could hear a low +roaring, and knew that it was caused by a rapid in the canyon ahead. +Higher and higher rose the wall of rock, blotting out the stars in front +of them till the darkness seemed to spread half-way over the sky. + +They could see that the boat was passing the shore more rapidly, as the +river accelerated its course before rushing into the gorge. Suddenly +there was a shout on the right, so close that Tom was startled, then +there was a rifle-shot, and a moment later a wild outburst of yells and +a dozen other shots. At the first shout the paddles dipped into the +water, and at racing speed the boats shot along. Eight or ten more +rifle-shots were fired, each farther behind them. + +"Anyone hurt?" Harry asked. + +There was a general negative. + +"I don't believe they really saw us," Harry said. "The first fellow may +have caught sight of us, but I expect the others fired merely at random. +Now let us row in and fasten up, for judging from that roaring there +must be a big rapid close ahead." + +The boats were soon fastened up against the rocks, and the chief stepped +ashore, saying: + +"Leaping Horse and Hunting Dog will watch. Navahoes may come down here. +Don't think they will be brave enough to enter canyon, too dark to see. +Still, better watch." + +"Just as you like, chief," Harry said, "but I have no belief that they +will come down here in the dark; it would be as much as they would dare +do in broad daylight. Besides, these rocks are steepish climbing anyway, +and I should not like myself to try to get over them, when it is so dark +that I can't see my own hand, except by putting it up between my eyes +and the stars." + +"If it was not for that," Jerry said, "I would crawl along to the mouth +and see if I couldn't get a shot at them varmint on the other side." + +"You would not find them there, Jerry. You may be sure that when they +saw us go through they would know it was of no use waiting there any +longer. They would flatter themselves that they had hit some of us, and +even if they hadn't, it would not seem to matter a cent to them, as the +evil spirit of the canyon would surely swallow us up." + +"Well, they have been wrong in their first supposition, uncle," Tom +said, "and I hope they will be equally wrong in the second." + +"I hope so, Tom. Now we may as well go to sleep. As soon as there is any +light we must explore as far as we can go, for by the noise ahead it +must be either a fall or a desperately bad rapid." + +When daylight broke, the whites found Hunting Dog sitting with his rifle +across his knees on a rock above them. + +"Where is the chief?" Harry asked him. + +"Leaping Horse went up the rocks to see if Navahoes have gone." + +"Very well. Tell him when he comes back we have gone down to have a look +at the rapid. Tom, you may as well stay here. There is plenty of +drift-wood among those rocks, and we will breakfast before we start +down. I reckon we shall not have much time for anything of that sort +after we are once off." + +Tom was by no means sorry to be saved a heavy climb. He collected some +wood and broke it up into suitable pieces, but at the suggestion of +Hunting Dog waited for the chief's return before lighting it. The chief +came down in a few minutes. "Navahoes all gone," he said briefly. + +"Then I can light a fire, chief?" + +Leaping Horse nodded, and Tom took out the tightly-fitting tin box in +which he kept his matches. Each of the party carried a box, and to +secure against the possibility of the matches being injured by the water +in case of a capsize, the boxes were kept in deer's bladders tightly +tied at the mouth. The fire was just alight when the others returned. + +"It is better ahead than we expected," Harry said; "the noise was caused +by the echo from the smooth faces of the rocks. It is lucky we hauled in +here last night, for these rocks end fifty yards on, and as far as we +can see down, the water washes the foot of the wall on both sides. We +were able to climb up from them on to a narrow ledge, parallel with the +water, and went on to the next turn, but there was no change in the +character of the river. So we shall make a fair start anyway." + +More wood was put on the fire, and in a quarter of an hour the kettle +was boiling and slices of meat cooked. Half an hour later they took +their places in the canoes and started. The canyon was similar to the one +they had last passed; the walls were steep and high, but with irregular +shelves running along them. Above these were steep slopes, running up to +the foot of smooth perpendicular cliffs of limestone. The stream was +very rapid, and they calculated that in the first half-hour they must +have run six miles. Here the walls receded to a distance, and ledges of +rock and hills of considerable heights intervened between the river and +the cliffs. They checked the pace of their canoes just as they reached +this opening, for a deep roar told of danger ahead. Fortunately there +were rocks where they were able to disembark, and a short way below they +found that a natural dam extended across the river. + +"There has been an eruption of trap here," Harry said, looking at the +black rock on either side. "There has been a fissure, I suppose, and the +lava was squeezed up through it. You see the river has cut a path for +itself some hundreds of feet deep. It must have taken countless ages, +Tom, to have done the work." + +Over this dam the water flowed swiftly and smoothly, and then shot down +in a fall six feet high. Below for a distance of two or three hundred +yards was a furious rapid, the water running among black rocks. With +considerable difficulty they made a portage of the boats and stores to +the lower end of the rapid. This transit occupied several hours, and +they then proceeded on their way. Five more miles were passed; several +times the boats were brought to the bank in order that falls ahead might +be examined. These proved to be not too high to shoot, and the boats +paddled over them. When they had first taken to the river they would +never have dreamt of shooting such falls, but they had now become so +expert in the management of the boats, and so confident in their +buoyancy, that the dangers which would then have appalled them were now +faced without uneasiness. + +They now came to a long rapid, presenting so many dangers that they +deemed it advisable to let down the boats by lines. Again embarking they +found that the wall of rocks closed in and they entered a narrow gorge, +through which the river ran with great swiftness, touching the walls on +each side. Great care was needed to prevent the boats being dashed +against the rock, but they succeeded in keeping them fairly in the +middle of the stream. After travelling four miles through this gorge it +opened somewhat, and on one side was a strip of sand. + +"We will land there," Harry said. "It looks to me like granite ahead, +and if it is we are in for bad times, sure." + +The boats were soon pulled up, and they proceeded to examine the cliffs +below. Hitherto the danger had been in almost exact proportion to the +hardness of the rock, and as they were entering a far harder rock than +they had before encountered, greater difficulties than those they had +surmounted were to be expected. + +They could not see a long distance down, but what they saw was enough to +justify their worst anticipations. The canyon was narrower than any they +had traversed, and the current extremely swift. There seemed but few +broken rocks in the channel, but on either side the walls jutted out in +sharp angles far into the river, with crags and pinnacles. + +"Waal, it is of no use looking at it," Jerry said after a pause. "It is +certain we can't get along the sides, so there is nothing to do but to +go straight at it; and the sooner it is over the better." + +Accordingly they returned to the boats, and soon darted at the speed of +an arrow into the race. Bad as it was at starting it speedily became +worse: ledges, pinnacles, and towers of rock rose above the surface of +the stream breaking it into falls and whirlpools. Every moment it seemed +to Tom that the boat must inevitably be dashed to pieces against one of +these obstructions, for the light boats were whirled about like a +feather on the torrent, and the paddlers could do but little to guide +their course. The very strength of the torrent, however, saved them from +destruction, the whirl from the rocks sweeping the boat's head aside +when within a few feet of them, and driving it past the danger before +they had time to realize that they had escaped wreck. Half an hour of +this, and a side canyon came in. Down this a vast quantity of boulders +had been swept, forming a dam across the river, but they managed to +paddle into an eddy at the side, and to make a portage of the boats to +the water below the dam, over which there was a fall of from thirty to +forty feet high. Three more similar dams were met with. Over one the +canoes were carried, but on the others there was a break in the boulder +wall, and they were able to shoot the falls. + +After three days of incessant labour, they heard, soon after starting +from their last halting-place, a roar even louder and more menacing than +they had yet experienced. Cautiously they got as close as possible to +the side, and paddling against the stream were able to effect a landing +just above the rapid. On examining it they found that it was nearly half +a mile long, and in this distance the water made a fall of some eighty +feet, the stream being broken everywhere with ledges and jagged rocks, +among which the waves lashed themselves into a white foam. It seemed +madness to attempt such a descent, and they agreed that at any rate they +would halt for the day. The rocks through which the canyon ran were fully +a thousand feet high, but they decided that, great as the labour might +be, it would be better to make a portage, if possible, rather than +descend the cataract. + +"There is a gulch here running up on to the hill," Tom said. "Hunting +Dog and I will start at once and see if it is possible to get up it, and +if so how far it is to a place where we can get down again." + +Harry assented; Leaping Horse without a word joined the explorers, and +they set off up the gulch. It was found that the ravine was steep, but +not too steep to climb. When they were nearly at the top Hunting Dog +pointed to the hillside above them, and they saw a big-horn standing at +the edge of the rock. The three fired their rifles simultaneously, and +the wild sheep made a spring into the air and then came tumbling down +the side of the ravine. As fresh meat was beginning to run short this +was a stroke of good fortune, and after reloading their guns they +proceeded up the ravine until they reached the crest of the hill. The +soil was disintegrated granite, and tufts of short grass grew here and +there. After walking about a mile, parallel to the course of the river, +they found that the ground descended again, and without much difficulty +made their way down until they reached the foot of a little valley; +following this they were soon standing by the side of the river. Above, +its surface was as closely studded with rocks as was the upper cataract; +below, there was another fall that looked impracticable, except that it +seemed possible to pass along on the rocks by the side. It was getting +dark by the time they rejoined their comrades. + +"Your report is not a very cheerful one," Harry said, "but at any rate +there seems nothing else to be done than to make the portage. The meat +you have got for us will re-stock our larder, and as it is up there we +sha'n't have the trouble of carrying it over." + +The next day was a laborious one. One by one the canoes were carried +over, but the operation took them from daybreak till dark. The next +morning another journey was made to bring over the rugs and stores, and +they were able in addition to these to carry down the carcass of the +sheep, after first skinning it and cutting off the head with its great +horns. Nothing was done for the rest of the day beyond trying whether +another portage could be made. This was found to be impracticable, and +there was nothing for them but to attempt the descent. They breakfasted +as soon as day broke, carried the boats down over the boulder dam with +which the rapids commenced, and put them into the water. For some little +distance they were able to let them down by ropes, then the rocks at the +foot of the cliffs came to an end. Fortunately the seven lariats +furnished them with a considerable length of line, and in addition to +these the two Indians had on their way down plaited a considerable +length of rope, with thongs cut from the skins of the animals they had +killed. + +The total available amount of rope was now divided into two lengths, the +ends being fastened to each canoe. One of the boats with its crew on +board was lowered to a point where the men were able to get a foothold +on a ledge. As soon as they had done so the other boat dropped down to +them, and the ropes were played out until they were in turn enabled to +get a footing on a similar ledge or jutting rock, sometimes so narrow +that but one man was able to stand. So alternately the boats were let +down. Sometimes when no foothold could be obtained on the rock wall, the +pinnacles and ledges in the stream were utilized. All the work had to be +done by gesture, for the thunder of the waters was so tremendous that +the loudest shout could not be heard a few yards away. Hour passed after +hour. Their progress was extremely slow, as each step had to be closely +considered and carried out with the greatest care. + +At last a terrible accident happened. Harry, Leaping Horse, and Tom were +on a ledge. Below them was a fall of three feet, and in the foaming +stream below it, rose several jagged rocks. Jerry's canoe was got safely +down the fall, but in spite of the efforts of the rowers was carried +against the outer side of one of these rocks. They made a great effort +to turn the boat's head into the eddy behind it, but as the line touched +the rock its sharp edge severed the rope like a knife, and the boat shot +away down the rapid. Those on the ledge watched it with breathless +anxiety. Two or three dangers were safely passed, then to their horror +they saw the head of the canoe rise suddenly as it ran up a sunken ledge +just under the water. An instant later the stern swept round, bringing +her broadside on to the stream, and she at once capsized. + +"Quick!" Harry exclaimed, "we must go to their rescue. Keep close to the +wall, chief, till we see signs of them. It is safest close in." + +In an instant they were in their places, and as they released the canoe +she shot in a moment over the fall. For a short distance they kept her +close to the side, but a projecting ledge threw the current sharply +outwards, and the canoe shot out into the full force of the rapid. The +chief knelt up in the bow paddle in hand, keeping a vigilant eye for +rocks and ledges ahead, and often with a sharp stroke of the paddle, +seconded by the effort of Harry in the stern, sweeping her aside just +when Tom thought her destruction inevitable. Now she went headlong down +a fall, then was caught by an eddy, and was whirled round and round +three or four times before the efforts of the paddlers could take her +beyond its influence. Suddenly a cry came to their ears. Just as they +approached a rocky ledge some thirty feet long, and showing a saw-like +edge a foot above the water, the chief gave a shout and struck his +paddle into the water. + +"Behind the rock, Tom, behind the rock!" Harry exclaimed as he swept the +stern round. Tom paddled with all his might, and the canoe headed up +stream. Quickly as the movement was done, the boat was some twelve yards +below the rock as she came round with her nose just in the lower edge of +the eddy behind it, while from either side the current closed in on her. +Straining every nerve the three paddlers worked as for life. At first +Tom thought that the glancing waters would sweep her down, but inch by +inch they gained, and drove the boat forward from the grasp of the +current into the back eddy, until suddenly, as if released from a vice, +she sprang forward. Never in his life had Tom exerted himself so +greatly. His eyes were fixed on the rock in front of him, where Hunting +Dog was clinging with one hand, while with the other he supported +Jerry's head above water. He gave a shout of joy as the chief swept the +head of the canoe round, just as it touched the rock, and laid her +broadside to it. + +"Stick your paddle between two points of the rock, Tom," Harry shouted, +"while the chief and I get them in. Sit well over on the other side of +the boat." + +With considerable difficulty Jerry, who was insensible, was lifted into +the boat. As soon as he was laid down Hunting Dog made his way hand over +hand on the gunwale until close to the stern, where he swung himself +into the boat without difficulty. + +"Have you seen Sam?" Harry asked. + +The young Indian shook his head. "Sam one side of the boat," he said, +"Jerry and Hunting Dog the other. Boat went down that chute between +those rocks above. Only just room for it. Jerry was knocked off by rock. +Hunting Dog was near the stern, there was room for him. He caught +Jerry's hunting-shirt, but could not hold on to boat. When came down +here made jump at corner of rock. Could not hold on, but current swept +him into eddy. Then swam here and held on, and kept calling. Knew his +brothers would come down soon." + +"Here is a spare paddle," Harry said, as he pulled one out from below +the network, "there is not a moment to lose. Keep your eyes open, +chief." Again the boat moved down the stream. With four paddles going +the steersman had somewhat more control over her, but as she flew down +the seething water, glanced past rocks and sprang over falls, Tom +expected her to capsize every moment. At last he saw below them a +stretch of quiet water, and two or three minutes later they were +floating upon it, and as if by a common impulse all ceased rowing. + +"Thanks be to God for having preserved us," Harry said reverently. "We +are half-full of water; another five minutes of that work and it would +have been all over with us. Do you see any signs of the canoe, chief?" + +The chief pointed to a ledge of rock extending out into the stream. +"Canoe there," he said. They paddled across to it. After what the young +Indian had said they had no hopes of finding Sam with it, but Harry gave +a deep sigh as he stepped out on to the ledge. + +"Another gone," he said. "How many of us will get through this place +alive? Let us carry Jerry ashore." + +There was a patch of sand swept up by the eddy below the rock, and here +Jerry was taken out and laid down. He moaned as they lifted him. + +"Easy with him," Harry said. "Steady with that arm. I think he has a +shoulder broken, as well as this knock on the head that has stunned +him." + +As soon as he was laid down Harry cut open his shirt on the shoulder. +"Broken," he said shortly. "Now, chief, I know that you are a good hand +at this sort of thing. How had this better be bandaged?" + +"Want something soft first." + +Tom ran to the canoe, brought out the little canvas sack in which he +carried his spare flannel shirt, and brought it to the chief. The latter +tore off a piece of stuff and rolled it into a wad. "Want two pieces of +wood," he said, holding his hands about a foot apart to show the length +he required. Harry fetched a spare paddle, and split a strip off each +side of the blade. The chief nodded as he took them. "Good," he said. He +tore off two more strips of flannel and wrapped them round the splints, +then with Harry's aid he placed the shoulder in its natural position, +laid the wad of flannel on the top of it, and over this put the two +splints. The whole was kept in its place by flannel bandages, and the +arm was fastened firmly across the body, so that it could not be moved. +Then the little keg of brandy was brought out of the canoe, a spoonful +poured into the pannikin, with half as much water, and allowed to +trickle between Jerry's lips, while a wad of wet flannel was placed on +his head. + +"There is nothing more we can do for him at present," Harry said. "Now +we will right the other boat, and get all the things out to dry." + +Three or four pounds of flour were found to be completely soaked with +water, but the main store was safe, as the bag was sewn up in bear-skin. +This was only opened occasionally to take out two or three days' supply, +and then carefully closed again. On landing, Hunting Dog had at once +started in search of drift-wood, and by this time a fire was blazing. A +piece of bear's fat was placed in the frying-pan, and the wetted flour +was at once fried into thin cakes, which were tough and tasteless; but +the supply was too precious to allow of an ounce being wasted. Some +slices of the flesh of the big-horn were cooked. + +"What is my white brother going to do?" the chief asked Harry. + +"There is nothing to do that I can see, chief, but to keep on pegging +away. We agreed that it would be almost impossible to find our way over +these barren mountains. That is not to be thought of, now that one of +our number cannot walk. There is no choice left, we have got to go on." + +"Leaping Horse understand that," the chief said. "He meant would you +take both canoes? One is big enough to take five." + +"Quite big enough, chief, but it would be deeper in the water, and the +heavier it is the harder it will bump against any rock it meets; the +lighter they are the better. You see, this other canoe, which I dare say +struck a dozen times on its way down, shows no sign of damage except the +two rents in the skin, that we can mend in a few minutes. Another thing +is, two boats are absolutely necessary for this work of letting down by +ropes, of which we may expect plenty more. If we had only one, we should +be obliged to run every rapid. The only extra trouble that it will give +us is at the portages. I think we had better stay here for two or three +days, so as to give Jerry a chance of coming round. No doubt we could +carry him over the portages just as we can carry the boats, but after +such a knock on the head as he has had, it is best that he should be +kept quiet for a bit. If his skull is not cracked he won't be long in +getting round. He is as hard as nails, and will pull round in the tenth +of the time it would take a man in the towns to get over such a knock. +It is a pity the halt is not in a better place. There is not a shadow of +a chance of finding game among these crags and bare rocks." + +From time to time fresh water was applied to the wad of flannel round +Jerry's head. + +"Is there any chance, do you think, of finding poor Sam's body?" + +The chief shook his head. "No shores where it could be washed up, rocks +tear it to pieces; or if it get in an eddy, might be there for weeks. No +see Sam any more." + +The fire was kept blazing all night, and they took it by turns to sit +beside Jerry and to pour occasionally a little brandy and water between +his lips. As the men were moving about preparing breakfast the next +morning Jerry suddenly opened his eyes. He looked at Tom, who was +sitting beside him. + +"Time to get up?" he asked. "Why did you not wake me?" And he made an +effort to move. Tom put his hand on him. + +"Lie still, Jerry. You have had a knock on the head, but you are all +right now." + +The miner lay quiet. His eyes wandered confusedly over the figures of +the others, who had, when they heard his voice, gathered round him. + +"What in thunder is the matter with me?" he asked. "What is this thing +on my head? What is the matter with my arm, I don't seem able to move +it?" + +"It is the knock you have had, Jerry," Harry said cheerfully. "You have +got a bump upon your head half as big as a cocoa-nut, and you have +damaged your shoulder. You have got a wet flannel on your head, and the +chief has bandaged your arm. I expect your head will be all right in a +day or two, but I reckon you won't be able to use your arm for a bit." + +Jerry lay quiet without speaking for a few minutes, then he said: "Oh, I +remember now; we were capsized. I had hold of the canoe, and I remember +seeing a rock just ahead. I suppose I knocked against it." + +"That was it, mate. Hunting Dog let go his hold and caught you, and +managed to get into an eddy and cling to the rocks till we came down and +took you on board." + +Jerry held out his hand to the Indian. "Thankee," he said. "I owe you +one, Hunting Dog. If I ever get the chance you can reckon on me sure, +whatever it is. But where is Sam? Why ain't he here?" + +"Sam has gone under, mate," Harry replied. "That chute you went down was +only just wide enough for the boat to go through, and no doubt he was +knocked off it at the same time as you were; but as the Indian was on +your side, he saw nothing of Sam. I reckon he sank at once, just as you +would have done if Hunting Dog hadn't been behind you." + +Jerry made no reply, but as he lay still, with his eyes closed, some big +tears made their way through the lids and rolled down his bronzed face. +The others thought it best to leave him by himself, and continued their +preparations for breakfast. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +BACK TO DENVER + + +"When are you going to make a start again?" Jerry asked, after drinking +a pannikin of tea. + +"We are not going on to-day; perhaps not to-morrow. It will depend on +how you get on." + +"I shall be a nuisance to you anyway," the miner said, "and it would be +a dog-goned sight the best way to leave me here; but I know you won't +do that, so it ain't no use my asking you. I expect I shall be all right +to-morrow except for this shoulder, but just now my head is buzzing as +if there was a swarm of wild bees inside." + +"You will be all the better when you have had a good sleep; I reckon we +could all do a bit that way. Young Tom and Hunting Dog are going to try +a bit of fishing with those hooks of yours. We talked about it when we +started, you know, but we have not done anything until now. We want a +change of food badly. We may be a month going down this canyon for +anything I know, and if it keeps on like this there ain't a chance of +seeing a head of game. It ought to be a good place for fish at the foot +of the rapids--that is, if there are any fish here, and I reckon there +should be any amount of them. If they do catch some, we will wait here +till we can dry a good stock. We have nothing now but the dried flesh +and some of the big-horn. There ain't above twenty pounds of flour left, +and we could clear up all there is in the boat in a week. So you need +not worry that you are keeping us." + +Half an hour later Hunting Dog and Tom put out in one of the canoes, and +paddling to the foot of the rapids let the lines drop overboard, the +hooks being baited with meat. It was not many minutes before the Indian +felt a sharp pull. There was no occasion to play the fish, for the line +was strong enough to hold a shark, and a trout of six pounds weight was +soon laid in the bottom of the boat. + +"My turn now," Tom said; and the Indian with a smile took the paddle +from his hand, and kept the boat up stream while Tom attended to the +lines. Fish after fish was brought up in rapid succession, and when +about mid-day a call from below told them that it was time for dinner, +they had some thirty fish averaging five pounds' weight at the bottom of +the boat. + +There was a shout of satisfaction from Harry as he looked down into the +canoe, and even the chief gave vent to a grunt that testified his +pleasure. + +"Hand me up four of them, Tom; I did not know how much I wanted a change +of food till my eyes lit on those beauties. We saw you pulling them out, +but I did not expect it was going to be as good as this." + +The fish were speedily split open, and laid on ramrods over the fire. + +"I reckon you will want another one for me," Jerry, who had been asleep +since they started, remarked. "I don't know that I am good for one as +big as those, but I reckon I can pick a bit anyhow." + +A small fish was put on with the others, and as soon as they were +grilled, all set to at what seemed to Tom the best meal he had ever +eaten in his life. He thought when he handed them to Harry that two +would have been amply sufficient for them all, but he found no +difficulty whatever in disposing of a whole one single-handed. + +"Now, Tom, the chief and I will take our turn while you and Hunting Dog +prepare your catch. He will show you how to do it, it is simple enough. +Cut off the heads, split and clean them, run a skewer through to keep +them flat, and then lay them on that rock in the sun to dry. Or wait, I +will rig up a line between two of the rocks for you to hang them on. +There is not much wind, but what there is will dry them better than if +they were laid flat." + +Jerry went off to sleep again as soon as the meal was finished, and the +bandages round his head re-wetted. The paddle from which the strips had +been cut furnished wood for the skewers, and in the course of half an +hour the fish were all hanging on a line. Twenty two more were brought +in at sunset. Some of these, after being treated like the others, were +hung in the smoke of the fire, while the rest were suspended like the +first batch. + +The next morning Jerry was able to move about, and the fishing went on +all day, and by night a quantity, considered sufficient, had been +brought ashore. + +"There are over four hundred pounds altogether," Harry said, "though by +the time they are dried they won't be more than half that weight. Two +pounds of dried fish a man is enough to keep him going, and they will +last us twenty days at that rate, and it will be hard luck if we don't +find something to help it out as we go down." + +They stopped another day to allow the drying to be completed. The fish +were taken down and packed on board that evening, and at daylight they +were afloat again. For the next ten days their labours were continuous. +They passed several rapids as bad as the one that had cost them so dear; +but as they gained experience they became more skilful in letting down +the boats. Some days only two or three miles were gained, on others they +made as much as twelve. At last they got out of the granite; beyond this +the task was much easier, and on the fifteenth day after leaving their +fishing-ground, they emerged from the canyon. + +By this time Jerry had perfectly recovered, and was with great +difficulty persuaded to keep his arm bandaged. He had chafed terribly at +first at his helplessness, and at being unable to take any share in the +heavy labours of the others; but after the rapids were passed he was +more contented, and sat quietly at the bottom of the boat smoking, while +Harry and Tom paddled, the two Indians forming the crew of the other +canoe. The diet of fish had been varied by bear's flesh, Leaping Horse +having shot a large brown bear soon after they got through the rapids. A +shout of joy was raised by the three whites as they issued from the +gorge into a quiet valley, through which the river ran, a broad tranquil +stream. Even the Indians were stirred to wave their paddles above their +heads and to give a ringing whoop as their companions cheered. The boats +were headed for the shore, and the camp was formed near a large clump of +bushes. + +Their joy at their deliverance from the dangers of the canyon was dashed +only by the thought of the loss of their two comrades. The next day +three short canyons were passed through, but these presented no +difficulties, and in the afternoon they reached the mouth of the Rio +Virgen, and continuing their journey arrived five days later at Fort +Mojarve. This was a rising settlement, for it was here that the traders' +route between Los Angeles and Santa Fe crossed the Colorado. Their +appearance passed almost unnoticed, for a large caravan had arrived that +afternoon and was starting east the next morning. + +"We had best hold our tongues about it altogether," Harry said, as soon +as he heard that the caravan was going on the next morning. "In the +first place they won't believe us, and that would be likely to lead to +trouble; and in the next place we should be worried out of our lives +with questions. Besides, we have got to get a fresh outfit, for we are +pretty near in rags, and to buy horses, food, and kit. We can leave the +boats on the shore, no one is likely to come near them." + +"I will stop and look after them," Tom said. "There are the saddles, +buffalo-robes, blankets, and ammunition. This shirt is in rags, and the +last moccasins Hunting Dog made me are pretty nearly cut to pieces by +the rocks. I would rather stay here and look after the boats than go +into the village; besides, it will save you the trouble of carrying all +these bags of gold about with you." + +Harry nodded, cut two of the little bags free from their lashings and +dropped them into his pocket, and then went up to the Fort with Jerry +and the Indians. Tom cut the other bags loose and put them on the ground +beside him, threw a buffalo-robe over them, and then sat for some hours +watching the quiet river and thinking over all they had gone through. It +was almost dark when the others returned. + +"It has taken us some time, Tom," his uncle said as they threw some +bundles down beside him; "the stores and clothes were easy enough, but +we had a lot of trouble to find horses. However, we did not mind much +what we paid for them, and the traders were ready to sell a few at the +prices we offered. So we have got five riding horses and two +pack-ponies, which will be enough for us. That bundle is your lot, +riding breeches and boots, three pairs of stockings, two flannel shirts, +a Mexican hat, and a silk neck handkerchief. We may as well change at +once and go up to the village." + +The change was soon effected. Harry and Jerry Curtis had clothes similar +to those they had bought for Tom, while the Indians wore over their +shirts new deer-skin embroidered hunting-shirts, and had fringed Mexican +leggings instead of breeches and boots. They, too, had procured Mexican +sombreros. Taking their rifles and pistols, and hiding their stock of +ammunition, the gold, and their buffalo-robes and blankets, they went up +to the village. It was by this time quite dark: the houses were all lit +up, and the drinking-shops crowded with the teamsters, who seemed bent +on making a night of it, this being the last village through which they +would pass until their arrival at Santa Fe. + +They slept as usual, wrapped up in their buffalo-robes by the side of +the boats, as all agreed that this was preferable to a close room in a +Mexican house. + +They were all a-foot as soon as daylight broke, and went up and +breakfasted at a fonda, Tom enjoying the Mexican cookery after the +simple diet he had been accustomed to. Then they went to the stable +where the horses, which were strong serviceable-looking animals, had +been placed, and put on their saddles and bridles. + +The pack-horses were then laden with flour, tea, sugar, bacon, and other +necessaries. By the time all was ready the caravan was just starting. +Harry had spoken the afternoon before to two of its leaders, and said +that he and four companions would be glad to ride with them to Santa Fe. +Permission was readily granted, the traders being pleased at the +accession of five well-armed men; for although Indian raids were +comparatively rare along this trail, there was still a certain amount of +danger involved in the journey. Some hours were occupied in crossing the +river in two heavy ferry-boats, and the process would have been still +longer had not half the waggons been sent across on the previous +afternoon. + +The long journey was made without incident, and no Indians were met +with. A few deer were shot, but as it was now late in the autumn the +scanty herbage on the plains was all withered up, and the game had for +the most part moved away into deep valleys where they could obtain food. + +The tale of their passage of the canyons was told more than once, but +although it was listened to with interest, Harry perceived that it was +not really believed. That they had been hunting, had been attacked by +Indians, had made canoes and passed through some of the canyons was +credible enough, but that they should have traversed the whole of the +lower course of the Colorado, seemed to the traders, who were all men +experienced in the country, simply incredible. The party stopped at +Santa Fe a few days, and then started north, travelling through the +Mexican villages, and finally striking across to Denver. At Santa Fe +they had converted the contents of their bags into money, which had been +equally shared among them. The Indians were not willing to accept more +than the recognized monthly pay, but Harry would not hear of it. + +"This has been no ordinary business, Leaping Horse," he said warmly; "we +have all been as brothers together, and for weeks have looked death in +the face every hour, and we must share all round alike in the gold we +have brought back. Gold is just as useful to an Indian as it is to a +white man, and when you add this to the hoard you spoke of, you will +have enough to buy as many horses and blankets as you can use all your +lifetime, and to settle down in your wigwam and take a wife to yourself +whenever you choose. I fancy from what you said, Hunting Dog has his eye +on one of the maidens of your tribe. Well, he can buy her father's +favour now. The time is coming, chief, when the Indians of the plains +will have to take to white men's ways. The buffaloes are fast dying out, +and in a few years it will be impossible to live by hunting, and the +Indians will have to keep cattle and build houses and live as we do. +With his money Hunting Dog could buy a tidy ranche with a few hundred +head of cattle. Of course, he can hunt as much as he likes so long as +there is any game left, but he will find that as his cattle increase, he +will have plenty to look after at home." + +"We will take the gold if my brother wishes it," the chief replied +gravely. "He is wise, and though now it seems to Leaping Horse that +red-skins have no need of gold, it may be that some day he and Hunting +Dog may be glad that they have done as their brother wished." + +"Thank you, Leaping Horse. It will make my heart glad when I may be far +away from you across the great salt water to know that there will always +be comfort in my brother's wigwam." + +On arriving at Denver they went straight to the Empire. As they entered +the saloon Pete Hoskings looked hard at them. + +"Straight Harry, by thunder!" he shouted; "and Jerry Curtis, and young +Tom; though I would not have known him if he hadn't been with the +others. Well, this air a good sight for the eyes, and to-morrow +Christmas-day. I had begun to be afeard that something had gone wrong +with you, I looked for news from you nigh three months ago. I got the +message you sent me in the spring, and I have asked every old hand who +came along east since the end of August, if there had been any news of +you, and I began to fear that you had been rubbed out by the Utes." + +"We have had a near escape of it, Pete; but it is a long story. Can you +put us all up? You know Leaping Horse, don't you? The other is his +nephew." + +"I should think I do know Leaping Horse," Pete said warmly, and went +across and shook the Indian's hand heartily. + +"I was looking at you three, and did not notice who you had with you. In +that letter the chap brought me, you said that the chief was going with +you, and Sam Hicks and Ben Gulston. I did not know them so well; that +is, I never worked with them, though they have stopped here many a +time." + +"They have gone under, Pete. Sam was drowned in the Colorado, Ben shot +by the Navahoes. We have all had some close calls, I can tell you. Well +now, can you put us up?" + +"You need not ask such a question as that, Harry," Pete said in an +aggrieved tone, "when you know very well that if the place was +chock-full, I would clear the crowd out to make room for you. There are +three beds in the room over this that will do for you three; and there +is a room beside it as Leaping Horse and his nephew can have, though I +reckon they won't care to sleep on the beds." + +"No more shall we, Pete. We have been fifteen months and more sleeping +in the open, and we would rather have our buffalo-robes and blankets +than the softest bed in the world." + +"You must have had a cold time of it the last three months up in those +Ute hills, where you said you were going." + +"We left there five months ago, Pete. We have been down as low as Fort +Mojarve, and then crossed with a caravan of traders to Santa Fe." + +Pete began pouring out the liquor. + +"Oh, you won't take one, chief, nor the young brave. Yes; I remember you +do not touch the fire-water, and you may be sure I won't press you. +Well, luck to you all, and right glad I am to see you again. Ah! here is +my bartender. Now we will get a good fire lit in another room and hurry +up supper, and then we will talk it all over. You have put your horses +up, I suppose?" + +"Yes; we knew you had no accommodation that way, Pete." + +The room into which Pete now led them was not his own sanctum, but one +used occasionally when a party of miners coming in from the hills wanted +to have a feast by themselves, or when customers wished to talk over +private business. There was a table capable of seating some twelve +people, a great stove, and some benches. A negro soon lighted a large +fire; then, aided by a boy, laid the table, and it was not long before +they sat down to a good meal. When it was over, Pete said: + +"Lend me a hand, Jerry, to push this table aside, then we will bring the +benches round the stove and hear all about it. I told the bar-tender +that I am not to be disturbed, and that if anyone wants to see me he is +to say that he has got to wait till to-morrow, for that I am engaged on +important business. Here are brandy and whisky, and tobacco and cigars, +and coffee for the chief and his nephew." + +"I think you may say for all of us, Pete," Harry said. "After being a +year without spirits, Jerry, Tom, and I have agreed to keep without +them. We wouldn't say no to you when you asked us to take a drink, and +we have not sworn off, but Jerry and I have agreed that we have both +been all the better without them, and mean to keep to it; and as for +Tom, he prefers coffee." + +"Do as you please," Pete said; "I am always glad to hear men say no. I +have made a lot of money out of it, but I have seen so many fellows +ruined by it that I am always pleased to see a man give up drink." + +"There is one thing, Pete," Tom said, "before we begin. We left our +bundles of robes and blankets in the next room, if you don't mind I +would a deal rather spread them out here--and I am sure the chief and +Hunting Dog would--and squat down on them, instead of sitting on these +benches. It is a long story uncle will have to tell you." + +"We will fetch ours too," Harry agreed. "Benches are all well enough for +sitting at the table to eat one's dinner, but why a man should sit on +them when he can sit on the ground is more than I can make out." + +Pete nodded. "I will have my rocking-chair in," he said, "and then we +shall be fixed up for the evening." + +The arrangements were soon made; pipes were lighted; the landlord sat in +his chair at some little distance back from the front of the stove; Tom +and the two Indians sat on their rugs on one side; Harry and Jerry +Curtis completed the semicircle on the other. + +"Well, in the first place, Pete," Harry began, "you will be glad to hear +that we have struck it rich--the biggest thing I have ever seen. It is +up in the Ute country. We have staked out a claim for you next our own. +There are about five hundred pounds of samples lying at Fort Bridger, and +a bit of the rock we crushed, panned out five hundred ounces to the ton." + +"You don't say!" Pete exclaimed. "If there is much of that stuff, Harry, +you have got a bonanza." + +"There is a good bit of it anyhow, Pete. It is a true vein, and though +it is not all like that, it keeps good enough. Fifty feet back we found +it run twenty ounces. That is on the surface, we can't say how it goes +down in depth. Where we struck it on the face it was about fourteen feet +high, and the lode kept its width for that depth anyhow." + +"That air good enough," the landlord said. "Now, what do you reckon on +doing?" + +"The place is among the hills, Pete, and the Utes are hostile, and went +very nigh rubbing us all out. We reckon it ought to be worked by a party +of thirty men at least. They ought to be well armed, and must build a +sort of fort. I don't think the Utes would venture to attack them if +they were of that strength. There is a little stream runs close to the +vein, and if it were dammed up it would drive a couple of stamps, which, +with a concentrator and tables and blankets, would be quite enough for +such stuff as that. I reckon fifteen men will be quite enough to work, +and to hold the fort. The other fifteen men would include three or four +hunters, and the rest would go backwards and forwards to Bridger for +supplies, and to take the gold down. They would be seven or eight days +away at a time; and if there should be trouble with the red-skins they +would always be back before those at the fort were really pressed. But +we should not be alone long, the news that a rich thing had been struck +would bring scores of miners up in no time. + +"We have taken up our own ten claims, which will include, of course, the +rich part. Then we have taken up the next eight or ten claims for our +friends. As I said, we put yours next to ours. We have not registered +them yet, but that will be the first job; and of course you and the +others will each have to put a man on your claims to hold them. The lode +shows on the other side of the creek, though not so rich; still plenty +good enough to work. But as we shall practically get all the water, the +lode cannot be worked by anyone but ourselves. Still the gravel is rich +all down the creek, as rich as anything I have seen in California, and +will be sure to be taken up by miners as soon as we are at work. So +there will be no real danger of trouble from the Indians then. What we +propose is this. We don't what to sell out, we think it is good enough +to hold, but we want to get a company to find the money for getting up +the machinery, building a strong block-house with a palisade, laying in +stores, and working the place. Jerry, Tom, and I would of course be in +command, at any rate for the first year or so, when the rich stuff was +being worked." + +"How much money do you think it will want, and what share do you think +of giving, Harry?" + +"Well, I should say fifty thousand dollars, though I believe half that +would be enough. Not a penny would be required after the first ton of +rock goes through the stamps. But we should have to take the stamps and +ironwork from the railway terminus to Bridger, and then down. We might +calculate on a month or six weeks in getting up the fort, making the +leat and water-wheel, putting up the machinery, and laying down the +flumes. Say two months from the time we leave Bridger to the time we +begin to work. There would be the pay of the men all that time, the cost +of transporting stores, and all that sort of thing; so it would be +better to say fifty thousand dollars. What share ought we to offer for +that?" + +"Well, if you could bring that five hundredweight of stuff here and get +it crushed up, and it turns out as good as you say, I could get you the +money in twenty-four hours. I would not mind going half of it myself, +and I should say that a quarter share would be more than good enough." + +"Well, we thought of a third, Pete." + +"Well, if you say a third you may consider that part of the business is +done. You won't be able to apply for claims in the names of Sam and Ben, +and if you did it would be no good, because they could not assign them +over to the company. There are eight claims without them, and the one +you have put down in my name is nine. Well, I can get say eleven men in +this place, who will give you an assignment of their claims for five +dollars apiece. That is done every day. I just say to them, I am +registering a share in your name in the Tom Cat Mine, write an +assignment to me of it and I am good for five dollars' worth of liquor, +take it out as you like. The thing is as easy as falling off a log. +Well, what are you thinking of doing next?" + +"We shall buy a light waggon and team to-morrow or next day and drive +straight over to Bridger, then we shall go to Salt Lake City and +register our claims at the mining-office there. We need not give the +locality very precisely. Indeed, we could not describe it ourselves so +that anyone could find it, and nobody would go looking for it before +spring comes and the snow clears. Besides, there are scores of wild-cat +claims registered every year. Until they turn out good no one thinks +anything of them. When we have got that done we will go back to Bridger, +and fetch the rock over here. We will write to-morrow to Pittsburg for +the mining outfit, for all the ironwork of the stamps, the concentrator, +and everything required, with axes, picks, and shovels, blasting tools +and powder, to be sent as far as they have got the railway." + +"But they will want the money with the order, Harry," Pete said in a +tone of surprise. + +"They will have the money. We washed the gravel for a couple of months +before the Utes lit on us, and after buying horses and a fresh outfit +for us all at Fort Mojarve, we have between us got something like five +thousand dollars in gold and greenbacks." + +"Jee-hoshaphat!" Pete exclaimed; "that was good indeed for two months' +work. Well, look here, there is no hurry for a few days about your +starting back to Bridger. Here we are now, nearly at the end of +December. It will take you a month to get there, say another fortnight +to go on to Salt Lake City and register your claim and get back to +Bridger, then it would be a month getting back here again; that would +take you to the middle of March. Well, you see it would be pretty nigh +the end of April before you were back at Bridger, then you would have to +get your waggons and your men, and that would be too late altogether. + +"You have got to pick your miners carefully, I can tell you; and it is +not a job to be done in a hurry. When they see what gold there is in the +rock they will soon set to work washing the gravel, and the day they do +they will chuck up your work altogether. I will tell you what I would +rather do, and that is, pick up green hands from the east. There are +scores of them here now; men who have come as far as this, and can't +start west till the snows melt. You need not think anything more about +the money. You tell me what you crushed is a fair sample of that five +hundred pounds, and that is quite good enough for me, and the gravel +being so rich is another proof of what the lode was when the stream cut +through it. I can put the twenty-five thousand dollars down, and there +are plenty of men here who will take my word for the affair and plank +their money down too. If there weren't I would put a mortgage on my +houses, so that matter is done. To-morrow I will get the men whose names +you are to give in for a claim each; it will be time in another two +months to begin to look about for some steady chaps from the east, +farmers' sons and such like. That is, if you think that plan is a good +one. I mean to see this thing through, and I shall go with you myself, +and we three can do the blasting." + +"We shall be wanted to look after the stamps and pans," Harry said. "We +had best get three or four old hands for the rock." + +"Yes, that is best," Pete said. "Between us it is hard if we can't lay +our hands upon men we can trust, and who will give us their word to stay +with us if we offer them six dollars a day." + +"We might offer them ten dollars," Harry said, "without hurting +ourselves; but we can say six dollars to begin with, and put some more +on afterwards." + +"There is old Mat Morgan," Jerry put in. "I don't know whether he is +about here now. I would trust him. He is getting old for prospecting +among the hills now, but he is as good a miner as ever swung a +sledge-hammer, and as straight as they make them." + +"Yes, he is a good man," Pete agreed. And after some talk they settled +upon three others, all of whom, Pete said, were either in the town or +would be coming in shortly. + +"Now, you stop here for a week or two, or a month if you like, Harry, +then you can go to Salt Lake City as you propose, and then go back to +Bridger. If as you pass through you send me five-and-twenty pounds of +that rock by express, it will make it easier for me to arrange the money +affair. When you get back you might crush the rest up and send me word +what it has panned out, then later on you can go down again to Salt Lake +City and buy the waggons and flour and bacon, and take them back to +Bridger. When March comes in, I will start from here with some waggons. +We want them to take the machinery, and powder and tools, and the tea +and coffee and things like that, of which we will make a list, on to +Bridger, with the four men we pick out, if I can get them all; if not, +some others in their place, and a score of young emigrants. I shall have +no difficulty in picking out sober, steady chaps, for in a place like +this I can find out about their habits before I engage them. However, +there will be plenty of time to settle all those points. Now, let us +hear all about your adventures. I have not heard about you since Tom +left, except that he wrote me a short letter from Bridger saying that +you had passed the winter up among the mountains by the Big Wind River. +That you had had troubles with the Indians, and hadn't been able to do +much trapping or looking for gold." + +"Well, we will tell it between us," Harry said, "for it is a long yarn." + +It was, indeed, past midnight before the story was all told. Long before +it was finished the two Indians had taken up their rugs and gone up to +their room, and although the other three had taken by turns to tell the +tale of their adventures, they were all hoarse with speaking by the time +they got through. Pete had often stopped them to ask question at various +points where the narrators had been inclined to cut the story short. + +"That beats all," he said, when they brought it to an end. "Only to +think that you have gone down the Grand Canyon. I would not have minded +being with you when you were fighting the 'Rappahoes or the Utes, but I +would not try going down the canyons for all the gold in California. +Well, look here, boys, I know that what you tell me is gospel truth, and +all the men who know you well, will believe every word you say, but I +would not tell the tale to strangers, for they would look on you as the +all-firedest liars in creation." + +"We have learnt that already, Pete," Harry laughed, "and we mean to keep +it to ourselves, at any rate till we have got the mine at work. People +may not believe the story of a man in a red shirt, and, mind you, I have +heard a good many powerful lies told round a miner's fire, but when it +is known we have got a wonderfully rich gold mine, I fancy it will be +different. The men would say, if fellows are sharp enough to find a +bonanza, it stands to reason they may be sharp enough to find their way +down a canyon. Now, let us be off to bed, for the heat of the stove has +made me so sleepy that for the last hour I have hardly been able to keep +my eyes open, and have scarcely heard a word of what Jerry and Tom have +been saying." + +They only remained a few days at Denver. After the life they had been +leading they were very speedily tired of that of the town, and at the +end of a week they started on horseback, with a light waggon drawn by a +good team, to carry their stores for the journey and to serve as a +sleeping-place. There had been no question about the Indians +accompanying them, this was regarded as a matter of course. It was by no +means a pleasant journey. They had frequent snow-storms and biting +wind, and had sometimes to work for hours to get the waggon out of deep +snow, which had filled up gullies and converted them into traps. After a +stay of three days at Fort Bridger to rest the animals, they went on to +Utah, having forwarded the sample of quartz to Pete Hoskings. + +A fortnight was spent at Salt Lake City. Waggons, bullocks, and stores +were purchased, and Harry arranged with some teamsters to bring the +waggons out to Fort Bridger as soon as the snow cleared from the ground. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +A FORTUNE + + +On their return to Fort Bridger Harry and his companions pounded up the +quartz that had been left there, and found that its average equalled +that of the piece they had tried at the mine. The gold was packed in a +box and sent to Pete Hoskings. A letter came back in return from him, +saying that five of his friends had put in five thousand dollars each, +and that he should start with the stores and machinery as soon as the +track was clear of snow. The season was an early one, and in the middle +of April he arrived with four large waggons and twenty active-looking +young emigrants, and four miners, all of whom were known to Harry. There +was a good deal of talk at Bridger about the expedition, and many +offered to take service in it. But when Harry said that the lode they +were going to prospect was in the heart of the Ute country, and that he +himself had been twice attacked by the red-skins, the eagerness to +accompany him abated considerably. + +The fact, too, that it was a vein that would have to be worked by +machinery, was in itself sufficient to deter solitary miners from trying +to follow it up. Scarce a miner but had located a score of claims in +different parts of the country, and these being absolutely useless to +them, without capital to work them with, they would gladly have disposed +of them for a few dollars. It was not, therefore, worth while to risk a +perilous journey merely on the chance of being able to find another vein +in the neighbourhood of that worked by Harry and the men who had gone +into it with him. There was, however, some surprise among the old hands +when Pete Hoskings arrived with the waggons. + +"What! Have you cut the saloon, Pete, and are you going in for mining +again?" one of them said as he alighted from his horse. + +Pete gave a portentous wink. + +"I guess I know what I am doing, Joe Radley. I am looking after the +interests of a few speculators at Denver, who have an idea that they are +going to get rich all of a sudden. I was sick of the city, and it just +suited me to take a run and to get out of the place for a few months." + +"Do you think it is rich, Pete?" + +"One never can say," Hoskings replied with a grin. "We are not +greenhorns any of us, and we know there is no saying how things are +going to turn out. Straight Harry has had a run of bad luck for the last +two years, and I am glad to give him a shoulder up, you know. I reckon +he won't come badly off any way it turns out." + +It was not much, but it was quite enough to send a rumour round the fort +that Pete Hoskings had been puffing up a wild-cat mine in Denver for the +sake of getting Straight Harry appointed boss of the expedition to test +it. + +Everything was ready at Bridger, and they delayed but twenty-four hours +there. The teams had arrived from Salt Lake City with the stores a week +before, and the eight waggons set off together. Pete, the three +partners, the two Indians, and the four miners were all mounted. There +were eight other horses ridden by as many of the young fellows Pete had +brought with him, the rest walked on foot. They marched directly for the +mine, as with such a force it was not necessary to make a detour over +the bad lands. At the first halting-place some long cases Pete had +brought with him were opened, and a musket handed to each of the +emigrants, together with a packet of ammunition. + +"Now," Pete said, "if the Utes meddle with us we will give them fits. +But I reckon they will know better than to interfere with us." + +The rate of progress with the heavy waggons was necessarily very much +slower than that at which the party had travelled on their previous +journey, and it was not until the afternoon of the eighth day after +starting, that they came down into the valley. A halt was made at the +former camping-place in the grove of trees, and the next morning Pete +and the miners went up with Harry and his friends to choose a spot for +the fort, and to examine the lode. As soon as the earth was scraped away +from the spot from which the rock had been taken, exclamations of +astonishment broke from the miners. They had been told by Pete that +Harry had struck it rich, but all were astonished at the numerous +particles and flakes of gold that protruded from the rock. Pete had +forwarded early in the spring to Harry the list of the claimants to the +mine, and the latter and Tom had ridden over to Salt Lake City a few +days before the waggons came up from there to register the claims at the +mining-office, and the first step was to stake out these claims upon the +lode. + +"It doesn't run like this far," Harry said to the miners, "and I reckon +that beyond our ground it doesn't run above two ounces to the ton, so I +don't think it is worth while your taking up claims beyond. Of course, +you can do so if you like, and we will allow you an hour off every few +days during the season to work your claims enough to keep possession, +and of an evening you can do a bit of washing down below. You will find +it good-pay dirt everywhere. At least we did as far as we tried it." + +They now fixed on the site for the fort. It was upon the top of the +bank, some twenty yards above the lode, and it was settled there should +be a strong double palisade running down from it to the stream, so that +in case of siege they could fetch water without being exposed to the +bullets of an enemy taking post higher up the creek. Among the men from +Denver were two or three experienced carpenters, and a blacksmith, for +whose use a portable forge had been brought in the waggons. + +The party returned to breakfast, and as soon as this was over the teams +were put in and the waggons were brought up and unloaded, the stores +being protected from wet by the canvas that formed the tilts. Some of +the men accustomed to the use of the axe had been left in the valley to +fell trees, and as soon as the waggons were unloaded they were sent down +to bring up timber. All worked hard, and at the end of the week a +log-hut fifty feet long and twenty-five feet wide had been erected. The +walls were five feet high, and the roof was formed of the trunks of +young trees squared, and laid side by side. + +As rain fell seldom in that region it was not considered necessary to +place shingles over them, as this could, in case of need, be done later +on. The door opened out into the passage between the palisades down to +the water, and the windows were all placed on the same side, loopholes +being cut at short intervals round the other three sides. Another +fortnight completed the preparations for work. The stamps were erected, +with the water-wheel to work them; the stream dammed a hundred yards up, +and a leat constructed to bring the water down to the wheel. + +The waggons were formed up in a square. In this the horses were shut +every night, four of the men by turns keeping guard there. During the +last few days the miners had been at work blasting the quartz, and as +soon as the stamps and machinery were in position they were ready to +begin. The men were all told off to various duties, some to carry the +rock down to the stamps, others to break it up into convenient sizes; +two men fed the stamps, others attended to the concentrator and +blankets, supervised by Harry. It was the duty of some to take the +horses down to the valley and guard them while they were feeding, and +bring them back at night. Two men were to bake and cook, Pete Hoskings +taking this special department under his care. Jerry worked with the +miners, and Tom was his uncle's assistant. + +The stamps were to be kept going night and day, and each could crush a +ton in twenty-four hours. To their great satisfaction each of the men +was allowed one day a week to himself, during which he could prospect +for other lodes or wash gravel as he pleased. The old cradle was found +where it had been left, and as five of the men were off duty each day, +they formed themselves into gangs and worked the cradle by turns, adding +very considerably to the liberal pay they received. The two Indians +hunted, and seldom returned without game of some sort or other. As the +quicksilver in the concentrator was squeezed by Harry or Tom, and the +blankets washed by them, none but themselves knew what the returns were. +They and their partners were, however, more than satisfied with the +result, for although the lode was found to pinch in as they got lower, +it maintained for the first six weeks the extraordinary average of that +they had first crushed. + +At the end of that time the Indians reported that they had seen traces +of the Utes having visited the valley. The number of men who went down +with the horses was at once doubled, one or other of the Indians staying +down with them, preceding them in the morning by half an hour to see +that the valley was clear. A week later the horses were seen coming back +again a quarter of an hour after they had started. The men caught up +their guns, which were always placed handy for them while at work, and +ran out to meet the returning party. + +"What is it, Hunting Dog?" + +"A large war-party," the Indian replied. "Three hundred or more." + +The horses were driven into the inclosure, half the men took their +places among the waggons, and the others, clustered round the hut, +prepared to enter it as soon as the Indians made their appearance. + +The partners had already arranged what course to take if the Indians +should come down on them, and were for all reasons most anxious that +hostilities should if possible be avoided. + +Presently the Indians were seen approaching at a gallop. As soon as they +caught sight of the log-house and the inclosure of waggons they reined +in their horses. The men had been ordered to show themselves, and the +sight of some forty white men all armed with rifles brought the Indians +to a dead stand-still. + +Pete Hoskings went forward a little and waved a white cloth, and then +Harry and the chief, leaving their rifles behind them stepped up to his +side and held their arms aloft. There was a short consultation among the +Indians, and then two chiefs dismounted, handed their rifles and spears +to their men, and in turn advanced. Harry and Leaping Horse went forward +until they met the chiefs halfway between the two parties. Harry began +the conversation. + +"Why do my red brothers wish to fight?" he asked. "We are doing them no +harm. We are digging in the hills. Why should we not be friends?" + +"The white men killed many of the Utes when they were here last year," +one of the chiefs replied. "Why do they come upon the Utes' land?" + +"It was the fault of the Utes," Harry said. "The white men wished only +to work in peace. The Utes tried to take their scalps, and the white men +were forced against their will to fight. No one can be blamed for +defending his life. We wish for peace, but, as the Utes can see, we are +quite ready to defend ourselves. There are forty rifles loaded and +ready, and, as you may see, a strong house. We have no fear. Last time +we were but few, but the Utes found that it was not easy to kill us. Now +we are many, and how many of the Utes would die before they took our +scalps? Nevertheless we wish for peace. The land is the land of the +Utes, and although we are strong and could hold it if we chose, we do +not wish to take it by force from our red brothers. We are ready to pay +for the right to live and work quietly. Let the chiefs go back to their +friends and talk together, and say how many blankets and how many guns +and what weight of ammunition and tobacco they will be content with. +Then if they do not ask too much, the white men will, so long as they +remain here, pay that amount each year in order that they may live in +peace with the Utes." + +The two Indians glanced at each other. "My white brother is wise," one +said. "Why did he not tell the Utes so last year?" + +"Because you never gave us time, chief. If you had done so we would have +said the same to you then, and your young men would be with you now; but +you came as enemies upon us, and when the rifle is speaking the voice is +silent." + +"I will speak with my braves," the chief said gravely. And turning round +they walked back to their party, while Harry and the chief returned to +the huts. + +"What do you think, chief? Will it be peace?" + +Leaping Horse nodded. "Too many rifles," he said. "The Utes will know +they could never take block-house." + +It was nearly two hours before the two Utes advanced as before, and +Harry and the Seneca went out to meet them. + +"My white brother's words are good," the chief said. "The Utes are great +warriors, but they do not wish to fight against the white men who come +as friends. The chiefs have talked with their braves, and the hatchets +will be buried. This is what the Utes ask that the white men who have +taken their land shall pay them." + +Harry had arranged that the chief, who spoke the Ute language more +perfectly than he did, should take charge of the bargaining. On the list +being given Leaping Horse assumed an expression of stolid indifference. + +"The land must be very dear in the Ute country," he said. "Do my +brothers suppose that the white men are mad that they ask such terms? +Peace would be too dear if bought at such a price. They are willing to +deal liberally with the Utes, but not to give as much as would buy +twenty hills. They will give this." And he enumerated a list of +articles, amounting to about one quarter of the Indians' demands. + +The bargaining now went on in earnest, and finally it was settled that a +quantity of goods, amounting to about half the Indians' first demand, +should be accepted, and both parties returned to their friends well +satisfied. + +A certain amount of goods had been brought out with a view to such a +contingency, and half the amount claimed was handed over to the Utes. +They had, indeed, more than enough to satisfy the demands, but Leaping +Horse had suggested to Harry that only a portion should be given, as +otherwise the Indians might suppose that their wealth was boundless. It +would be better to promise to deliver the rest in three months' time. A +dozen of the principal men of the Utes came over. The goods were +examined and accepted, the calumet of peace was smoked and a solemn +covenant of friendship entered into, and by the next morning the Indians +had disappeared. + +One end of the hut had been partitioned off for the use of the leaders +of the party, and the gold obtained each day was carried by them there +and deposited in a strong iron box, of which several had been brought by +Pete Hoskings from Denver. + +The day after the Indians left, a waggon, was sent off under the escort +of eight mounted labourers to Bridger, and this continued to make the +journey backward and forward regularly with the boxes of gold, Jerry and +Pete Hoskings taking it by turns to command the escort. Harry and Pete +had had a talk with the officer in command at Bridger on the evening +before they had started on the expedition. + +"You think you are going to send in a large quantity of gold?" the +officer asked. + +"If the mines are such as we think, Major, we may be sending down two or +three hundredweight a month." + +"Of course, the gold will be perfectly safe as long as it is in the +fort, but if it gets known how much there is, you will want a strong +convoy to take it across to the railway, and it would not be safe even +then. Of course, the bulk is nothing. I should say at any rate you had +better get it in here with as little fuss as possible." + +"If you will keep it here for awhile," Pete said, "we will think over +afterwards how it is to be taken further." + +The officer nodded. "It mayn't turn out as difficult a business as you +think," he said with a smile. "You are both old hands enough to know +that mines very seldom turn out as rich as they are expected to do." + +"We both know that," Pete Hoskings agreed. "I dunno as I ever did hear +of a mine that turned out anything nigh as good as it ought to have done +from samples, but I reckon that this is going to be an exception." + +When within a few miles of the fort the escort always placed their +rifles in the waggon and rode on some distance ahead of it, only one or +two with their leader remaining by it. The boxes, which were of no great +size, were covered by a sack or two thrown down in the corner of the +waggon, and on its arrival in the fort it was taken first to the store, +where a considerable quantity of provisions, flour, molasses, bacon, tea +and sugar, currants and raisins, and other articles were purchased and +placed in it. This was the ostensible purpose of the journey to the +fort. Late in the evening Jerry or Pete, whichever happened to be the +leader, and one of the men, carried the boxes across to the Major's +quarters and stored them in a cellar beneath it. + +There was a real need of provisions at the mine, for the population of +the valley rapidly increased as the season went on. The upper part of +the bed of the stream had been staked out into claims, the miners and +other men each taking up one, but below them the ground was of course +open to all, and although not nearly so rich as the upper gravel it was +good enough to pay fairly for working. A stout palisading now surrounded +the ground taken up by the machinery and the mine itself, and no one +except those engaged by the company were allowed to enter here. +Considerable surprise was felt in the camp when the first two or three +miners came up and staked out claims on the stream. + +"I wonder how they could have heard of it," Tom said to his uncle. + +"The fact that we are remaining out here is enough to show that we are +doing something, anyhow. The men who go in are always strictly ordered +to say no word about what our luck is, but the mere fact that they hold +their tongues--and you may be sure they are questioned sharply--is +enough to excite curiosity, and these men have come to find out and see +what the country is like, and to prospect the hills round where we are +working. You will see a lot of them here before long." + +As more came up it was determined to open a store. In the first place it +furnished an explanation for the waggon going down so often, and in the +second the fact that they were ready to sell provisions at cost prices +would deter others from coming and setting up stores. There was no +liquor kept on the mine, and Pete and Harry were very anxious that no +places for its sale should be opened in the valley. + +During the winter and spring Tom had received several letters from his +sisters. They expressed themselves as very grateful for the money that +he and their uncle had sent on their return to Denver, but begged them +to send no more, as the school was flourishing and they were perfectly +able to meet all their expenses. "It is very good of you, Tom," Carry +said. "Of course, we are all very pleased to know that you have been +able to send the money, because it relieves our anxiety about you; but +we really don't want it, and it makes us afraid that you are stinting +yourself. Besides, even if you are not, it would be much better for you +to keep the money, as you may find some opportunity of using it to your +advantage, while here it would only lie in the bank and do no good. It +would be different if we had nothing to fall back upon in case of +anything happening, such as some of us getting ill, or our having a case +of fever in the school, or anything of that sort, but as we have only +used fifty pounds of mother's money we have plenty to go on with for a +very long time; so that really we would very much rather you did not +send us any over. Now that we know your address and can write to you at +Fort Bridger, it seems to bring you close to us. But we have had two +very anxious times; especially the first, when we did not hear of you +for six months. The second time was not so bad, as you had told us that +it might be a long time before we should hear, and we were prepared for +it, but I do hope it will never be so long again." + +There had been some discussion as to whether the mine should be shut +down in winter, but it was soon decided that work should go on +regularly. Six more stamps were ordered to be sent from the east, with a +steam-engine powerful enough to work the whole battery, and in September +this and other machinery had reached the mine. Fresh buildings had been +erected--a storehouse, a house for the officers, and a shed covering the +whole of the machinery and yard. By the time this was all ready and in +place the valley below was deserted, the gravel having been washed out +to the bed-rock. No other lodes of sufficient richness to work had been +discovered by the prospectors, and with winter at hand there was no +inducement for them to stay longer there. + +Only two or three of the men at the mine wished to leave when their +engagement for the season terminated. All had been well paid, and had in +addition made money at gold-washing. Their food had been excellent, and +their comforts attended to in all ways. Accordingly, with these +exceptions all were ready to renew their engagements. + +An arrangement was made with the Major at Fort Bridger for an escort +under a subaltern officer to proceed with two waggons with the treasure +to Denver. Pete Hoskings and Jerry were to remain as managers of the +mine throughout the winter. Harry and Tom had made up their minds to go +to England and to return in the spring. The ore was now very much poorer +than it had been at first. The lode had pinched out below and they had +worked some distance along it. The falling off, however, was only +relative; the mine was still an extraordinarily rich one, although it +contained little more than a tenth of the gold that had been extracted +from the first hundred and fifty tons crushed. + +None but Harry, Pete Hoskings, Jerry, and Tom had any idea of the amount +of gold extracted in less than six months, although the miners were well +aware that the amount must be very large. It was so indeed, for after +repaying the amount expended in preliminary expenses, together with the +new machinery, the wages of the men, provisions, and all outgoings, they +calculated the treasure sent down to be worth one hundred and +twenty-eight thousand pounds, while the mine if sold would fetch at +least double that sum. After a hearty farewell to Pete and Jerry, Harry +and Tom with the two Indians rode with the last waggon down to Bridger. +The iron boxes had all been sewn up in deer-skins when they were sent +down, and at night they were placed in the waggons by Harry and his +companions. Over them were placed the provisions for the journey, as it +was just as well that even the soldiers should not suspect the amount of +treasure they were escorting. + +They encountered some severe snow-storms by the way, but reached Denver +without incident. The place had wonderfully changed since Tom had +arrived there more than two years before. It had trebled in size; broad +streets and handsome houses had been erected, and the town had spread in +all directions. They drove straight to the bank, to which Pete Hoskings +had sent down a letter a fortnight before they had started, and the +boxes were taken out of the waggon and carried down into the vaults of +the bank. A handsome present was made to each of the soldiers of the +escort, a brace of revolvers was given by Harry to the subaltern, and +the handsomest watch and chain that could be purchased in Denver was +sent by him to the Major, with an inscription expressing the thanks of +the company to him for his kindness. + +"Well, Tom, I am thankful that that is off my mind," Harry said. "I have +had a good many troubles in the course of my life, but this is the first +time that money has ever been a care to me. Well, we are rich men, Tom, +and we shall be richer, for the mine will run another two or three years +before it finishes up the lode as far as we have traced it, and as we +have now filed claims for a quarter of a mile farther back, it may be +good for aught I know for another ten years. Not so good as it has been +this year, but good enough to give handsome profits. Have you calculated +what our share is?" + +"No, uncle. I know it must be a lot, but I have never thought about what +each share will be." + +"Well, to begin with, a third of it goes to Pete Hoskings and his +friends, that leaves eighty-five thousand. The remainder is divided into +seven shares; I was to have two, the Indians three between them, you +one, and Jerry one. His share is then about twelve thousand, which +leaves seventy-three thousand between you and me. Of course, we shall +divide equally." + +"No, indeed, uncle; that would be ridiculous. I have been of very little +use through it all, and I certainly ought not to have as much as Jerry. +You and the chief discovered it, and it was entirely owing to you that +any of the rest of us have a share of the profits, and of course your +arrangement with the two Indians is only because the chief is so fond of +you." + +"Partly that, Tom; but chiefly because it is in accordance with red-skin +customs. They are hunters, fighters, and guides, but they are not +miners, and they never go in for shares in an enterprise of this sort. +It went very much against the grain for Leaping Horse to take that three +or four hundred pounds that came to him at the end of the last +expedition, and he would be seriously offended if I were to press upon +him more than his ordinary payment now; he would say that he has been +simply hunting this year, that he has run no risks, and has had nothing +to do with the mine. To-morrow morning we will go out to see what there +is in the way of horse-flesh in Denver, and will buy him and Hunting Dog +the two best horses in the town, whatever they may cost, with saddles, +bridles, new blankets, and so on. If I can get anything special in the +way of rifles I shall get a couple of them, and if not I shall get them +in New York, and send them to him at Bridger. These are presents he +would value infinitely more than all the gold we have stowed away in the +bank to-day. He is going back to his tribe for the winter, and he and +Hunting Dog will be at the mine before us next spring." + +In the morning Harry was two hours at the bank, where he saw the gold +weighed out, and received a receipt for the value, which came to within +a hundred pounds of what they had calculated, as the dust had been very +carefully weighed each time it was sent off. In accordance with the +arrangement he had made with Pete Hoskings and Jerry the amount of their +respective shares was placed to their credit at the bank. Drawing a +thousand pounds in cash, he received a draft for the rest upon a firm at +New York, where he would be able to exchange it for one on London. He +then inquired at the hotel as to who was considered to possess the best +horses in the town, and as money was no object to him, he succeeded in +persuading the owners to sell two splendid animals; these with the +saddles were sent to the hotel. He then bought two finely finished +Sharpe's rifles of long range, and two brace of silver-mounted +revolvers. + +"Now, Tom," he said, "I shall give one of these outfits to the chief and +you give the other to Hunting Dog; he has been your special chum since +we started, and the presents will come better from you than from me. I +expect them here in half an hour; I told them I should be busy all the +morning." + +The two Indians were delighted with their presents, even the chief being +moved out of his usual impassive demeanour. "My white brothers are too +good. Leaping Horse knows that Straight Harry is his friend; he does not +want presents to show him that; but he will value them because he loves +his white brothers, even more than for themselves." As for Hunting Dog, +he was for a long time incredulous that the splendid horse, the rifle +and pistols could really be for him, and he was so exuberant in his +delight that it was not until Leaping Horse frowned at him severely that +he subsided into silent admiration of the gifts. + +"Here are papers, chief, that you and Hunting Dog had better keep: they +are the receipts for the two horses, and two forms that I have had +witnessed by a lawyer, saying that we have given you the horses in token +of our gratitude for the services that you have rendered; possibly you +may find them useful. You may fall in with rough fellows who may make a +pretence that the horses have been stolen. Oh, yes! I know that you can +hold your own; still, it may avoid trouble." + +They had now no further use for their horses, so these were sold for a +few pounds. They purchased a stock of clothes sufficient only for their +journey to England. + +"You may as well put your revolver in your pocket, Tom," Harry said as +they prepared to start the next day. "I have sewn up the draft in the +lining of my coat, but sometimes a train gets held up and robbed, and as +we have six hundred pounds in gold and notes in our wallets, I certainly +should not give it up without a fight." + +The Indians accompanied them to the station. "Now, chief, you take my +advice and look out for a nice wife before next spring. You are forty +now, and it is high time you thought of settling down." + +"Leaping Horse will think over it," the Seneca said gravely. "It may be +that in the spring he will have a wigwam in the valley." + +A few minutes later the train started east, and five days later they +reached New York. A steamer left the next day for England, and in this +they secured two first-class berths; and although Tom had managed very +well on his way out, he thoroughly enjoyed the vastly superior comfort +of the homeward trip. They went straight through to Southampton, for, as +Harry said, they could run up to London and get their clothes any day; +and he saw that Tom was in a fever of excitement to get home. Harriet +came to the door of the little house at Southsea when they knocked. She +looked surprised at seeing two gentlemen standing there. In the two +years and a half that had passed since Tom had left he had altered +greatly. He had gone through much toil and hardship, and the bronze of +the previous summer's sun was not yet off his cheeks; he had grown four +or five inches, and the man's work that he had been doing had made +almost a man of him. + +"Don't you know me, Harriet?" Tom said. + +The girl at once recognized the voice, and with a loud cry of delight +threw her arms round his neck. The cry brought Carry out from the +parlour. "Why, Harriet," she exclaimed, "have you gone mad?" + +"Don't you see it's Tom?" Harriet said, turning round, laughing and +crying together. + +"It is Tom, sure enough, Carry; you need not look so incredulous; and +this is Uncle Harry." + +There were a few minutes of wild joy, then they calmed down and +assembled in the sitting-room. + +"It is lucky the girls have all gone home to dinner," Carry said, "or +they would certainly have carried the news to their friends that we were +all mad. It is a half-holiday too, nothing could be more fortunate. Now +we want to hear everything. Tom's letters were so short and +unsatisfactory, uncle, that he told us next to nothing, except that you +had found a mine, and that you were both working there, and that it was +satisfactory." + +"Well, my dears, that is the pith of the thing," Harry said. "The first +thing for you to do is to send round notes to the mothers of these +children saying that from unforeseen circumstances you have retired from +the profession, and that the school has finally closed from this +afternoon." + +There was a general exclamation from the girls: + +"What do you mean, uncle?" + +"I mean what I say, girls. Tom and I have made our fortunes, and there +is no occasion for you to go on teaching any longer. We have not yet +made any plans for the future, but at any rate the first step is, that +there is to be no more teaching." + +"But are you quite, quite sure, uncle?" Carry said doubtfully. "We are +getting on very nicely now, and it would be a pity to lose the +connection." + +Harry and Tom both laughed. + +"Well, my girl," the former said, "that is of course a point to be +thought of. But as Tom and I have over thirty-five thousand pounds +apiece, and the mine will bring us in a good round sum for some years to +come, I think we can afford to run the risk of the connection going." + +After that it was a long while before they settled down to talk quietly +again. + +A week later they all went up to London for a month, while what Harry +called "outfits" were purchased for the girls, as well as for him and +Tom, and all the sights of London visited. Before their story came to an +end, the grand consultation as to future plans had been held, and a +handsome house purchased at Blackheath. + +Tom did not return to Utah in the spring; his uncle strongly advised him +not to do so. + +"I shall go back myself, Tom; partly because I should feel like a fish +out of water with nothing to do here, partly because I promised the +chief to go back for a bit every year. I am beginning to feel dull +already, and am looking forward to the trip across the water, but it +will certainly be better for you to stay at home. You left school early, +you see, and it would be a good thing for you to get a man to come and +read with you for two or three hours a day for the next year or two. We +have settled that the three younger girls are to go to school; and I +don't see why you, Carry, and Janet, should not go, in the first place, +for two or three months on to the Continent. They have had a dull life +since you have been away, and the trip will be a treat for them, and +perhaps do you some good also. It will be time enough to settle down to +reading when you come back." + +The mine returned large profits that year, the increased amount stamped +making up to some extent for the falling off in the value of the ore, +and the shares of the various proprietors were more than half what they +had been at the end of the first season's work. The third year it fell +off considerably. There was a further decrease the year after, and the +fifth year it barely paid its expenses, and it was decided to abandon +it. Harry Wade went over every season for many years, but spent only the +first at the mine. After that he went hunting expeditions with Leaping +Horse, who, to his amusement, had met him at his first return to the +mine with a pretty squaw, and Hunting Dog had also brought a wife with +him. Two wigwams were erected that year near the mine, but after that +they returned to their tribe, of which Leaping Horse became the leading +chief. + +Tom's sisters all in due time married, each being presented on her +wedding-day with a cheque for ten thousand pounds, as a joint present +from her uncle and brother. + +Tom himself did not remain a bachelor, but six years after his return to +England took a wife to himself, and the house at Blackheath was none too +large for his family. Harry Wade's home is with Tom, and he is still +hale and hearty. Up to the last few years he paid occasional visits to +America, and stayed for a while with his red brother Leaping Horse, when +they lamented together over the disappearance of game and the extinction +of the buffalo. Hunting Dog had, at Harry's urgent advice, settled down +in the ways of civilization, taking up a ranche and breeding cattle, of +which he now owns a large herd. Jerry Curtis and Pete Hoskings made a +journey together to Europe after the closing of the mine. They stayed +for a month at Blackheath, and ten years later Tom received a lawyer's +letter from Denver saying that Peter Hoskings was dead, and that he had +left his large house and other property in Denver to Mr. Thomas Wade's +children. Jerry still lives at the age of seventy-five in that city. + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's In the Heart of the Rockies, by G. A. 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Henty + +Release Date: August, 2005 [EBook #8670] +[This file was first posted on July 31, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, IN THE HEART OF THE ROCKIES *** + + + + +E-text prepared by Charles Franks, Michelle Shephard, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +IN THE HEART OF THE ROCKIES + +A STORY OF ADVENTURE IN COLORADO + +BY G. A. HENTY + + + + + + + +[Illustration: HUNTING DOG SAVES JERRY FROM THE RAPIDS.] + + + +PREFACE + + +MY DEAR LADS, + +Until comparatively lately that portion of the United States in which I +have laid this story was wholly unexplored. The marvellous canons of the +Colorado River extend through a country absolutely bare and waterless, +and save the tales told by a few hunters or gold-seekers who, pressed by +Indians, made the descent of some of them, but little was known +regarding this region. It was not until 1869 that a thorough exploration +of the canons was made by a government expedition under the command of +Major Powell. This expedition passed through the whole of the canons, +from those high up on the Green River to the point where the Colorado +issues out on to the plains. Four years were occupied by the party in +making a detailed survey of the course of the main river and its +tributaries. These explorations took place some eight or nine years +after the date of my story. The country in which the Big Wind River has +its source, and the mountain chains contained in it, were almost unknown +until, after the completion of the railway to California, the United +States government was forced to send an expedition into it to punish the +Indians for their raids upon settlers in the plains. For details of the +geography and scenery I have relied upon the narrative of Mr. +Baillie-Grohman, who paid several visits to the country in 1878 and the +following years in quest of sport, and was the first white man to +penetrate the recesses of the higher mountains. At that time the Indians +had almost entirely deserted the country. For the details of the dangers +and difficulties of the passage through the canons I am indebted to the +official report of Major Powell, published by the United States +government. + + + Yours sincerely, + + + G. A. HENTY. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAP. + + + I. TOM'S CHOICE + II. FINDING FRIENDS + III. ON THE PLAINS + IV. LEAPING HORSE + V. IN DANGER + VI. UNITED + VII. CHASED + VIII. IN SAFETY + IX. A BAD TIME + X. AN AVALANCHE + XI. WINTER + XII. THE SNOW FORT + XIII. A FRESH START + XIV. AN INDIAN ATTACK + XV. THE COLORADO + XVI. AFLOAT IN CANOES + XVII. THE GRAND CANON +XVIII. BACK TO DENVER + XIX. A FORTUNE + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +Hunting Dog Saves Jerry From The Rapids +Carry Reads Uncle Harry's Letter +Jerry Gives Tom A Lesson In Shooting +Leaping Horse Mounted, And Rode Across The Stream +A Moment Later The Indian Fell Forward On His Face +"There Is Another Avalanche, Keep Your Backs To The Wall, Boys" +They Went Out To Look At The Indian The Chief Had Shot +"No Good Fight Here," Said Leaping Horse. + + + + + +CHAPTER I + +TOM'S CHOICE + + +"I can be of no use here, Carry. What am I good for? Why, I could not +earn money enough to pay for my own food, even if we knew anyone who +would help me to get a clerkship. I am too young for it yet. I would +rather go before the mast than take a place in a shop. I am too young +even to enlist. I know just about as much as other boys at school, and I +certainly have no talent anyway, as far as I can see at present. I can +sail a boat, and I won the swimming prize a month ago, and the sergeant +who gives us lessons in single-stick and boxing says that he considers +me his best pupil with the gloves, but all these things put together +would not bring me in sixpence a week. I don't want to go away, and +nothing would induce me to do so if I could be of the slightest use to +you here. But can I be of any use? What is there for me to look forward +to if I stay? I am sure that you would be always worrying over me if I +did get some sort of situation that you would know father and mother +would not have liked to see me in, and would seem to offer no chance for +the future, whereas if I went out there it would not matter what I did, +and anything I earned I could send home to you." + +The speaker was a lad of sixteen. He and his sister, who was two years +his senior, were both dressed in deep mourning, and were sitting on a +bench near Southsea Castle looking across to Spithead, and the Isle of +Wight stretching away behind. They had three days before followed their +mother to the grave, and laid her beside their father, a lieutenant of +the navy, who had died two years before. This was the first time they +had left the house, where remained their four sisters--Janet, who came +between Carry and Tom; Blanche, who was fourteen; Lucie, twelve; and +Harriet, eight. Tom had proposed the walk. + +"Come out for some fresh air, Carry," he had said. "You have been shut +up for a month. Let us two go together;" and Carry had understood that +he wanted a talk alone with her. There was need, indeed, that they +should look the future in the face. Since Lieutenant Wade's death their +means had been very straitened. Their mother had received a small +pension as his widow, and on this, eked out by drafts reluctantly drawn +upon the thousand pounds she had brought him on her marriage, which had +been left untouched during his lifetime, they had lived since his death. +Two hundred pounds had been drawn from their little capital, and the +balance was all that now remained. It had long been arranged that Carry +and Janet should go out as governesses as soon as they each reached the +age of eighteen, but it was now clear that Carry must remain at home in +charge of the young ones. + +That morning the two girls had had a talk together, and had settled +that, as Janet was too young to take even the humblest place as a +governess, they would endeavour to open a little school, and so, for the +present at any rate, keep the home together. Carry could give music +lessons, for she was already an excellent pianist, having been well +taught by her mother, who was an accomplished performer, and Janet was +sufficiently advanced to teach young girls. She had communicated their +decision to Tom, who had heartily agreed with it. + +"The rent is only twenty pounds a year," he said, "and, as you say, the +eight hundred pounds bring in thirty-two pounds a year, which will pay +the rent and leave something over. If you don't get many pupils at first +it will help, and you can draw a little from the capital till the school +gets big enough to pay all your expenses. It is horrible to me that I +don't seem to be able to help, but at any rate I don't intend to remain +a drag upon you. If mother had only allowed me to go to sea after +father's death I should be off your hands now, and I might even have +been able to help a little. As it is, what is there for me to do here?" +And then he pointed out how hopeless the prospect seemed at Portsmouth. + +Carry was silent for a minute or two when he ceased speaking, and sat +looking out over the sea. + +"Certainly, we should not wish you to go into a shop, Tom, and what you +say about going into an office is also right enough. We have no sort of +interest, and the sort of clerkship you would be likely to get here +would not lead to anything. I know what you are thinking about--that +letter of Uncle Harry's; but you know that mother could not bear the +thought of it, and it would be dreadful for us if you were to go away." + +"I would not think of going, Carry, if I could see any chance of helping +you here, and I don't want to go as I did when the letter first came. It +seems such a cowardly thing to run away and leave all the burden upon +your shoulders, yours and Janet's, though I know it will be principally +on yours; but what else is there to do? It was not for my own sake that +I wanted before to go, but I did not see what there was for me to do +here even when I grew up. Still, as mother said it would break her heart +if I went away, of course there was an end of it for the time, though I +have always thought it would be something to fall back upon if, when I +got to eighteen or nineteen, nothing else turned up, which seemed to me +very likely would be the case. Certainly, if it came to a choice between +that and enlisting, I should choose that: and now it seems to me the +only thing to be done." + +"It is such a long way off, Tom," the girl said in a tone of deep pain; +"and you know when people get away so far they seem to forget those at +home and give up writing. We had not heard from uncle for ten years when +that letter came." + +"There would be no fear of my forgetting you, Carry. I would write to +you whenever I got a chance." + +"But even going out there does not seem to lead to anything, Tom. Uncle +has been away twenty-five years, and he does not seem to have made any +money at all." + +"Oh, but then he owned in his letter, Carry, that it was principally his +own fault. He said he had made a good sum several times at mining, and +chucked it away; but that next time he strikes a good thing he was +determined to keep what he made and to come home to live upon it. I +sha'n't chuck it away if I make it, but shall send every penny home that +I can spare." + +"But uncle will not expect you, Tom, mother refused so positively to let +you go. Perhaps he has gone away from the part of the country he wrote +from, and you may not be able to find him." + +"I shall be able to find him," Tom said confidently. "When that letter +went, I sent one of my own to him, and said that though mother would not +hear of my going now, I might come out to him when I got older if I +could get nothing to do here, and asked him to send me a few words +directed to the post-office telling me how I might find him. He wrote +back saying that if I called at the Empire Saloon at a small town called +Denver, in Colorado, I should be likely to hear whereabouts he was, and +that he would sometimes send a line there with instructions if he should +be long away." + +"I see you have set your mind on going, Tom," Carry said sadly. + +"No, I have not set my mind on it, Carry. I am perfectly ready to stop +here if you can see any way for me to earn money, but I cannot stop here +idle, eating and drinking, while you girls are working for us all." + +"If you were but three or four years older, Tom, I should not so much +mind, and though it would be a terrible blow to part with you, I do not +see that you could do anything better; but you are only sixteen." + +"Yes, but I am strong and big for my age; I am quite as strong as a good +many men. Of course I don't mean the boatmen and the dockyard maties, +but men who don't do hard work. Anyhow, there are lots of men who go out +to America who are no stronger than I am, and of course I shall get +stronger every month. I can walk thirty miles a day easy, and I have +never had a day's illness." + +"It is not your strength, Tom; I shall have no fears about your breaking +down; on the contrary, I should say that a life such as uncle wrote +about, must be wonderfully healthy. But you seem so young to make such a +long journey, and you may have to travel about in such rough places and +among such rough men before you can find Uncle Harry." + +"I expect that I shall get on a great deal easier than a man would," Tom +said confidently. "Fellows might play tricks with a grown-up fellow who +they see is a stranger and not up to things, and might get into quarrels +with him, but no one is likely to interfere with a boy. No, I don't +think that there is anything in that, Carry,--the only real difficulty +is in going away so far from you, and perhaps being away for a long +time." + +"Well, Tom," the girl said after another pause, "it seems very terrible, +but I own that I can see nothing better for you. There is no way that +you can earn money here, and I am sure we would rather think of you as +mining and hunting with uncle, than as sitting as a sort of boy-clerk in +some dark little office in London or Portsmouth. It is no worse than +going to sea anyhow, and after all you may, as uncle says, hit on a rich +mine and come back with a fortune. Let us be going home. I can hardly +bear to think of it now, but I will tell Janet, and will talk about it +again this evening after the little ones have gone to bed." + +Tom had the good sense to avoid any expression of satisfaction. He gave +Carry's hand a silent squeeze, and as they walked across the common +talked over their plans for setting to work to get pupils, and said no +word that would give her a hint of the excitement he felt at the thought +of the life of adventure in a wild country that lay before him. He had +in his blood a large share of the restless spirit of enterprise that has +been the main factor in making the Anglo-Saxons the dominant race of the +world. His father and his grandfather had both been officers in the +royal navy, and a great-uncle had commanded a merchantman that traded in +the Eastern seas, and had never come back from one of its voyages; there +had been little doubt that all on board had been massacred and the ship +burned by Malay pirates. His Uncle Harry had gone away when little more +than a boy to seek a fortune in America, and had, a few years after his +landing there, crossed the plains with one of the first parties that +started out at news of the discovery of gold in California. + +Tom himself had longed above all things to be a sailor. His father had +not sufficient interest to get him into the royal navy, but had intended +to obtain for him a berth as apprentice in the merchant service; but his +sudden death had cut that project short, and his mother, who had always +been opposed to it, would not hear of his going to sea. But the life +that now seemed open to him was in the boy's eyes even preferable to +that he had longed for. The excitement of voyages to India or China and +back was as nothing to that of a gold-seeker and hunter in the West, +where there were bears and Indians and all sorts of adventures to be +encountered. He soon calmed down, however, on reaching home. The empty +chair, the black dresses and pale faces of the girls, brought back in +its full force the sense of loss. + +In a short time he went up to his room, and sat there thinking it all +over again, and asking himself whether it was fair of him to leave his +sisters, and whether he was not acting selfishly in thus choosing his +own life. He had gone over this ground again and again in the last few +days, and he now came to the same conclusion, namely, that he could do +no better for the girls by stopping at home, and that he had not decided +upon accepting his uncle's invitation because the life was just what he +would have chosen, but because he could see nothing that offered equal +chances of his being able permanently to aid them at home. + +When he came downstairs again Carry said: + +"The others have gone out, Tom; you had better go round and see some of +your school-fellows. You look fagged and worn out. You cannot help me +here, and I shall go about my work more cheerfully if I know that you +are out and about." + +Tom nodded, put on his cap and went out; but he felt far too restless to +follow her advice and call on some of his friends, so he walked across +the common and lay down on the beach and went all over it again, until +at last he went off to sleep, and did not wake up until, glancing at his +watch, he found that it was time to return to tea. He felt fresher and +better for his rest, for indeed he had slept but little for the past +fortnight, and Carry nodded approvingly as she saw that his eyes were +brighter, and the lines of fatigue and sleeplessness less strongly +marked on his face. + +Two hours later, when the younger girls had gone to bed, Carry said: +"Now we will have a family council. I have told Janet about our talk, +Tom, and she is altogether on your side, and only regrets that she is +not a boy and able to go out with you. We need not go over the ground +again, we are quite agreed with you that there seems no prospect here of +your obtaining work such as we should like to see you at, or that would +lead to anything. There are only two things open to you, the one is to +go to sea, the other to go out to Uncle Harry. You are old to go as an +apprentice, but not too old, and that plan could be carried out; still, +we both think that the other is better. You would be almost as much +separated from us if you went to sea as you would be if you went out to +America. But before you quite decide I will read uncle's letter, which I +have found this afternoon among some other papers." + +She took out the letter and opened it. + +"'My dear Jack,--I am afraid it is a very long time since I wrote last; +I don't like to think how long. I have been intending to do so a score +of times, but you know I always hated writing, and I have been waiting +to tell you that I had hit upon something good at last. Even now I can +only tell you that I have been knocking about and getting older, but so +far I cannot say I have been getting richer. As I told you when I wrote +last I have several times made good hauls and struck it rich, but +somehow the money has always slipped through my fingers. Sometimes I +have put it into things that looked well enough but turned out +worthless; sometimes I have chucked it away in the fool's manner men do +here. I have just come back from a prospecting tour in the country of +the Utes, where I found two or three things that seemed good; one of +them first-rate, the best thing, I think, I have seen since I came out +here. + +"'Unfortunately I cannot do anything with them at present, for the Utes +are getting troublesome, and it would be as much as one's life is worth +to go back there with a small party; so that matter must rest for a bit, +and I must look out in another quarter until the Utes settle down again. +I am going to join a hunting party that starts for the mountains next +week. I have done pretty nearly as much hunting as mining since I came +out, and though there is no big pile to be made at it, it is a pretty +certain living. How are you all getting on? I hope some day to drop in +on your quiet quarters at Southsea with some big bags of gold-dust, and +to end my days in a nook by your fireside; which I know you will give +me, old fellow, with or without the gold bags. '" + +[Illustration: CARRY READS UNCLE HARRY'S LETTER.] + +"'I suppose your boy is thirteen or fourteen years old by this time. +That is too young for him to come out here, but if in two or three years +you don't see any opening for him at home, send him out to me, and I +will make a man of him; and even if he does not make a fortune in +gold-seeking, there are plenty of things a young fellow can turn his +hand to in this country with a good certainty of making his way, if he +is but steady. You may think that my example is not likely to be of much +benefit to him, but I should do for an object lesson, and seriously, +would do my very best to set him in a straight path. Anyhow, three or +four years' knocking about with me would enable him to cut his +eye-teeth, and hold his own in the world. At the end of that time he +could look round and see what line he would take up, and I need not say +that I would help him to the utmost of my power, and though I have not +done any good for myself I might do good for him. + +"'In the first place, I know pretty well every one in Colorado, Montana, +and Idaho; in the next place, in my wanderings I have come across a +score of bits of land in out-of-the-way places where a young fellow +could set up a ranche and breed cattle and horses and make a good thing +of it; or if he has a turn for mechanics, I could show him places where +he could set up saw-mills for lumber, with water-power all the year +round, and with markets not far away. Of course, he is too young yet, +but unless he is going to walk in your steps and turn sailor he might do +worse than come out to me in three or four years' time. Rough as the +life is, it is a man's life, and a week of it is worth more than a +year's quill-driving in an office. It is a pity your family have run to +girls, for if one boy had made up his mind for the sea you might have +spared me another.' + +"That is all. You know mother sent an answer saying that dear father had +gone, and that she should never be able to let you go so far away and +take up such a rough and dangerous life. However, Tom, as you wrote to +uncle, her refusal would not matter, and by his sending you instructions +how to find him, it is evident that he will not be surprised at your +turning up. In the first place, are you sure that you would prefer this +to the sea?" + +"Quite sure, Carry; I should like it much better. But the principal +thing is that I may soon be able to help you from there, while it would +be years before I should get pay enough at sea to enable me to do so." + +"Then that is settled, Tom. And now, I suppose," and her voice quivered +a little, "you will want to be off as soon as you can?" + +"I think so," Tom replied. "If I am to go, it seems to me the sooner I +go the better; there is nothing that I can do here, and we shall all be +restless and unsettled until I am off." + +Carry nodded. "I think you are right, Tom; we shall never be able to +settle to our work here when we are thinking of your going away. The +first thing to do will be to draw some money from the bank. There will +be your outfit to get and your passage to pay to America, and a supply +of money to take you out West, and keep you until you join uncle." + +"That is what I hate," Tom said gloomily. "It seems beastly that when I +want to help you I must begin by taking some of your money." + +"That can't be helped," Carry said cheerfully. "One must not grudge a +sprat to catch a whale, and besides it would cost ever so much more if +we had to apprentice you to the sea, and get your outfit. You will not +want many clothes now. You have enough for the voyage and journey, and I +should think it would be much better for you to get what you want out +there, when you will have uncle to advise what is necessary. I should +really think some flannel shirts and a rough suit for the voyage will be +the principal things." + +"I should think so, certainly," Tom agreed. "The less baggage one +travels with the better, for when I leave the railway I shall only want +what I can carry with me or pack on horses. Anything else would only be +a nuisance. As to a rough suit for the voyage, the clothes I had before +I put these on" (and he glanced at his black suit) "will do capitally. +Of course I shall go steerage. I can get out for four or five pounds +that way, and I shall be quite as well off as I should be as an +apprentice. I know I must have some money, but I won't take more than is +absolutely necessary. I am all right as far as I can see for everything, +except three or four flannel shirts. I don't see that another thing will +be required except a small trunk to hold them and the clothes I have on, +which I don't suppose I shall ever wear again, and a few other things. +You know I would only allow you to have this one black suit made. I was +thinking of this, and it would have been throwing away money to have got +more. Of course, I don't know what I shall want out there. I know it is +a long way to travel by rail, and I may have to keep myself for a month +before I find uncle. I should think five-and-twenty pounds when I land +would be enough for everything." + +"I shall draw fifty pounds," Carry said positively. "As you say, your +outfit will really cost nothing; ten pounds will pay for your journey to +Liverpool and your passage; that will leave you forty pounds in your +pocket when you land. That is the very least you could do with, for you +may find you will have to buy a horse, and though I believe they are +very cheap out there, I suppose you could not get one under ten pounds; +and then there would be the saddle and bridle and food for the journey, +and all sorts of things. I don't think forty pounds will be enough." + +"I won't have a penny more, anyhow," Tom said. "If I find a horse too +expensive I can tramp on foot." + +"And you must be sure not to get robbed," Janet said, breaking in for +the first time. "Just fancy your finding yourself without money in such +a place as that. I will make you a belt to wear under your things, with +pockets for the money." + +"I hope I should not be such a fool as that, Janet, but anyhow I will be +as careful as I can. I shall be very glad of the belt. One does not know +what the fellows might be up to, and I would certainly rather not have +my money loose in my pocket; but even if I were robbed I don't think it +would be as desperate as you think. I expect a boy could always find +something to do to earn his living, and I should try and work my way +along somehow, but as that would not be pleasant at all I shall take +good care of my money, you may be sure." + +For an hour they sat talking, and before the council broke up it was +agreed that they should look in the newspaper in the morning for a list +of vessels sailing for America, and should at once write and take a +passage. + +There was no time lost. Carry felt that it would be best for them all +that the parting should be got over as soon as possible. Letters were +written the next morning to two steamship companies and to the owners of +two sailing vessels asking the prices of steerage passages, agreeing +that if there was not much difference it would be better to save perhaps +a fortnight by taking the passage in a steamship. + +The replies showed that the difference was indeed trifling, and a week +after their receipt Tom Wade started from Portsmouth to Liverpool. Even +at the last moment he was half-inclined to change his plans, it seemed +so hard to leave his sisters alone; but Carry and Janet had both +convinced themselves that his scheme was the best, and would not hear of +his wavering now. They kept up a show of good spirits until the last, +talked confidently of the success of their own plans, and how they +should set about carrying them out as soon as they were free to act. The +younger girls, although implored by the elders not to give way to their +grief at the departure of their brother, were in a state of constant +tearfulness, and were in consequence frequently got rid of by being sent +on errands. Tom, too, took them out for hours every day, and by telling +them stories of the wild animals he should hunt, and the Indians he +should see, and of the stores of gold he should find hidden, generally +brought them home in a more cheerful state of mind. + +At last the parting was over, and after making heroic efforts to be +cheerful to the end, Tom waved a last adieu with his handkerchief to the +five weeping figures on the platform, and then threw himself back in his +seat and gave free vent to his own feelings. Two girls sitting beside +him sniggered at the sight of the strong-built young fellow giving way +to tears, but a motherly-looking woman opposite presently put her hand +on his knee. + +"Don't be ashamed of crying, my lad," she said. "I have got a son years +older than you, and we always have a good cry together every time he +starts on a long voyage. Are you going far? I suppose those are your +sisters? I see you are all in black. Lost someone dear to you, no doubt? +It comes to us all, my boy, sooner or later." + +"I am going to America," Tom replied, "and may not be back for years. +Yes, those are my sisters, and what upsets me most is that I have to +leave them all alone, for we have lost both our parents." + +"Dear, dear, that is sad indeed! No wonder you are all upset. Well, +well, America is not so very far away--only a ten days' voyage by +steamer, they tell me, and my boy is away in a sailing ship. He is in +China, I reckon, now; he sailed five months ago, and did not expect to +be home under a year. I worry about him sometimes, but I know it is of +no use doing that. The last thing he said when I bade good-bye to him +was, 'Keep up your spirits, mother'; and I try to do so." + +The old lady went on talking about her son, and Tom, listening to her +kindly attempts to draw him out of his own troubles, grew interested, +and by the time they reached Winchester, where she left the train, he +had shaken off his first depression. It was a long journey with several +changes, and he did not arrive in Liverpool until six o'clock in the +evening, having been nearly twelve hours on the road. Carry's last +injunction had been, "Take a cab when you get to Liverpool, Tom, and +drive straight down to the docks. Liverpool is a large place, and you +might get directed wrong. I shall be more comfortable if I know that, at +any rate, you will go straight on board." + +Tom had thought it an unnecessary expense, but as he saw that Carry +would be more comfortable about him if he followed her advice, he +promised to do so, and was not sorry for it as he drove through the +streets; for, in spite of cutting down everything that seemed +unnecessary for the voyage and subsequent journey, the portmanteau was +too heavy to carry far with comfort, and although prepared to rough it +to any extent when he had once left England, he felt that he should not +like to make his way along the crowded streets with his trunk on his +shoulder. + +The cabman had no difficulty in finding the _Parthia_, which was still +in the basin. Tom was, however, only just in time to get on board, for +the men were already throwing off the warps, and ten minutes later she +passed out through the dock-gates, and soon anchored in the middle of +the river. Tom had been on board too many ships at Portsmouth to feel +any of that bewilderment common to emigrants starting on their first +voyage. He saw that at present everyone was too busy to attend to him, +and so he put his portmanteau down by the bulwark forward, and leaning +on the rail watched the process of warping the ship out of the docks. +There were a good many steerage passengers forward, but at present the +after-part of the ship was entirely deserted, as the cabin passengers +would not come on board until either late at night or early next +morning. When the anchor had been let drop he took up his trunk and +asked a sailor where he ought to go to. + +"Show me your ticket. Ah! single man's quarters, right forward." + +There he met a steward, who, after looking at his ticket, said: "You +will see the bunks down there, and can take any one that is unoccupied. +I should advise you to put your trunk into it, and keep the lid shut. +People come and go in the morning, and you might find that your things +had gone too. It would be just as well for you to keep it locked through +the voyage. I see that you have got a cord round it. Keep it corded; the +more things there are to unfasten to get at the contents the less chance +there is of anyone attempting it." + +The place was crowded with berths, mere shallow trays, each containing a +straw mattress and pillow and two coloured blankets. They were in three +tiers, one above the other, and were arranged in lines three deep, with +a narrow passage between. He saw by the number into which bags and +packets had been thrown that the upper berths were the favourites, but +he concluded that the lower tiers were preferable. "It will be +frightfully hot and stuffy here," he said to himself, "and I should say +the lower berths will be cooler than the upper." He therefore placed his +trunk in one of those next to the central passage and near the door, and +then went up on deck. + +The _Parthia_ was a Cunarder, and although not equal in size to the +great ships of the present day, was a very fine vessel. The fare had +been somewhat higher than that for which he could have had a passage in +a sailing ship, but in addition to his saving time, there was the +advantage that on board the steamers, passengers were not obliged to +provide their own bedding, as they had to do in sailing vessels, and +also the food was cooked for them in the ship's galleys. + +The first meal was served soon after the anchor dropped, and consisted +of a bowl of cocoa and a large piece of bread. Half an hour later a +tender came alongside with the last batch of steerage passengers, and +Tom was interested in watching the various groups as they came on +board--men, women, and children. + +"Well," he said to himself, "I do think I am better fitted to make my +way out there than most of these people are, for they look as helpless +and confused as a flock of sheep. I pity those women with children. It +will be pretty crowded in our quarters, but there is a chance of getting +a fair night's sleep, while in a place crowded with babies and children +it would be awful." + +Being a kind-hearted lad he at once set to work to help as far as he +could, volunteering to carry children down below, and to help with boxes +and bundles. + +In many cases his assistance was thankfully accepted, but in some it was +sharply refused, the people's manner clearly showing their suspicions of +his motive. He was not surprised at this after all the warnings Carry +had given him against putting any confidence in strangers, but was +satisfied, after an hour's hard work, that he had rendered things +somewhat easier for many a worried and anxious woman. It was getting +dusk even on deck by the time he had finished. + +"Thank you, lad," a man, who went up the companion ladder with him, said +as they stepped on to the deck. "You have done my missis a good turn by +taking care of those three young ones while we straightened up a bit, +and I saw you helping others too. You are the right sort, I can see. +There ain't many young chaps as puts themselves out of the way to do a +bit of kindness like that. My name is Bill Brown; what is yours?" + +"Tom Wade. I had nothing to do, and was glad to be of a little help. +People who have never been on board ship before naturally feel confused +in such a crowd." + +"Have you been to sea?" + +"Not on a voyage, but I have lived at Portsmouth and have often been on +board troopships and men-of-war, so it does not seem so strange to me." + +"Are you by yourself, or have you friends with you?" + +"I am alone," Tom replied. "I am going out to join an uncle in the +States." + +"I have been across before," the man said. "I am a carpenter, and have +worked out there six months, and came home six weeks back to fetch the +others over. I have got a place, where I was working before, to go to as +soon as I land. It makes a lot of difference to a man." + +"It does indeed," Tom agreed. "I know if I were going out without any +fixed object beyond taking the first work that came to hand, I should +not feel so easy and comfortable about it as I do now." + +"I have got two or three of my mates on board who are going out on my +report of the place, and three families from my wife's village. She and +the youngsters have been staying with her old folk while I was away. So +we are a biggish party, and if you want anything done on the voyage you +have only got to say the word to me." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +FINDING FRIENDS + + +The weather was fine, and Tom Wade found the voyage more pleasant than +he had expected. The port-holes were kept open all the way, and the +crowded quarters were less uncomfortable than would have been the case +had they encountered rough weather. There were some very rough spirits +among the party forward, but the great majority were quiet men, and +after the first night all talking and larking were sternly repressed +after the lights were out. The food was abundant, and although some +grumbled at the meat there was no real cause of complaint. A rope across +the deck divided the steerage passengers from those aft, and as there +were not much more than one-half the emigrants aboard that the _Parthia_ +could carry, there was plenty of room on deck. + +But few of the passengers suffered from sea-sickness, and the women sat +and chatted and sewed in little groups while the children played about, +and the men walked up and down or gathered forward and smoked, while a +few who had provided themselves with newspapers or books sat in quiet +corners and read. Tom was one of these, for he had picked up a few books +on the United States at second-hand bookstalls at Portsmouth, and this +prevented him from finding the voyage monotonous. When indisposed to +read he chatted with Brown the carpenter and his mates, and sometimes +getting a party of children round him and telling them stories gathered +from the books now standing on the shelves in his room at Southsea. He +was glad, however, when the voyage was over; not because he was tired of +it, but because he was longing to be on his way west. Before leaving the +ship he took a very hearty farewell of his companions on the voyage, and +on landing was detained but a few minutes at the custom-house, and then +entering an omnibus that was in waiting at the gate, was driven straight +to the station of one of the western lines of railway. + +From the information he had got up before sailing he had learnt that +there were several of these, but that there was very little difference +either in their speed or rates of fare, and that their through-rates to +Denver were practically the same. He had therefore fixed on the Chicago +and Little Rock line, not because its advantages were greater, but in +order to be able to go straight from the steamer to the station without +having to make up his mind between the competing lines. He found on +arrival that the emigrant trains ran to Omaha, where all the lines met, +and that beyond that he must proceed by the regular trains. An emigrant +train was to leave that evening at six o'clock. + +"The train will be made up about four," a good-natured official said to +him, "and you had best be here by that time so as to get a corner seat, +for I can tell you that makes all the difference on a journey like this. +If you like to take your ticket at once you can register that trunk of +yours straight on to Denver, and then you won't have any more trouble +about it." + +"Of course we stop to take our meals on the way?" + +"Yes; but if you take my advice you will do as most of them do, get a +big basket and lay in a stock of bread and cooked meat, cheese, and +anything you fancy, then you will only have to go out and get a cup of +tea at the stopping-places. It comes a good bit cheaper, and you get +done before those who take their meals, and can slip back into the cars +again quick and keep your corner seat. There ain't much ceremony in +emigrant trains, and it is first come first served." + +"How long shall we be in getting to Denver?" + +"It will be fully a week, but there ain't any saying to a day. The +emigrant trains just jog along as they can between the freight trains +and the fast ones, and get shunted off a bit to let the expresses pass +them." + +Thanking the official for his advice, Tom took his ticket, registered +his trunk, and then went out and strolled about the streets of New York +until three o'clock. He took the advice as to provisions, and getting a +small hamper laid in a stock of food sufficient for three or four days. +The platform from which the train was to start was already occupied by a +considerable number of emigrants, but when the train came up he was able +to secure a corner seat. The cars were all packed with their full +complement of passengers. They were open from end to end, with a passage +down the middle. Other cars were added as the train filled up, but not +until all the places were already occupied. The majority of the +passengers were men, but there were a considerable number of women, and +still more children; and Tom congratulated himself on learning from the +conversation of those around him that a good many were not going beyond +Chicago, and that almost all would leave the train at stations between +that place and Omaha. + +The journey to Chicago was the most unpleasant experience Tom had ever +gone through. The heat, the dust, and the close confinement seemed to +tell on the tempers of everyone. The children fidgeted perpetually, the +little ones and the babies cried, the women scolded, and the men +grumbled and occasionally quarrelled. It was even worse at night than +during the day; the children indeed were quieter, for they lay on the +floor of the passage and slept in comparative comfort, but for the men +and women there was no change of position, no possibility of rest. The +backs of the seats were low, and except for the fortunate ones by the +windows there was no rest for the head; but all took uneasy naps with +their chins leaning forward on their chest, or sometimes with their +heads resting on their neighbour's shoulder. Tom did not retain his +corner seat, but resigned it a few hours after starting to a weary woman +with a baby in her arms who sat next to him. He himself, strong as he +was, felt utterly worn out by the fatigue and sleeplessness. + +Beyond Chicago there was somewhat more room, and it was possible to make +a change of position. Beyond Omaha it was much better; the train was +considerably faster and the number of passengers comparatively few. He +now generally got a seat to himself and could put his feet up. The +people were also, for the most part, acquainted with the country, and he +was able to learn a good deal from their conversation. There were but +few women or children among them, for except near the stations of the +railway, settlements were very rare; and the men were for the most part +either miners, ranchemen, or mechanics, going to the rising town of +Denver, or bound on the long journey across the plains to Utah or +California. It was on the eighth day after starting that Denver was +reached. + +Before leaving the ship Tom had put on his working clothes and a flannel +shirt, and had disposed of his black suit, for a small sum, to a +fellow-passenger who intended to remain at New York. This had somewhat +lightened his portmanteau, but he was glad when he found that there were +vehicles at the station to convey passengers up the hill to Denver, +which was some three miles away, and many hundred feet above it. He was +too tired to set about finding the Empire Saloon, but put up at the +hotel at which the omnibus stopped, took a bath and a hearty meal, and +then went straight to bed. + +After breakfast the next morning he at once set out. He had no +difficulty in finding the whereabouts of the Empire Saloon, which he +learned from the clerk of the hotel was a small place frequented almost +entirely by miners. Its appearance was not prepossessing. It had been +built in the earliest days of Denver, and was a rough erection. The +saloon was low, its bare rafters were darkly coloured by smoke, a number +of small tables stood on the sanded floor, and across the farther end of +the room ran a bar. On shelves behind this stood a number of black +bottles, and a man in his shirt sleeves was engaged in washing up +glasses. Two or three rough-looking men in coloured flannel shirts, with +the bottoms of their trousers tucked into high boots, were seated at the +tables smoking and drinking. + +"I am expecting a letter for me here," Tom said to the man behind the +bar. "My name is Wade." + +"The boss is out now," the man said. "He will be here in an hour or so. +If there is anything for you he will know about it." + +"Thank you. I will come again in an hour," Tom replied. The man nodded +shortly, and went on with his work. When Tom returned, the bar-tender +said to a man who was sitting at one of the tables talking to the +miners, "This is the chap I told you of as was here about the letter." + +"Sit right down," the man said to Tom, "I will talk with you presently;" +and he continued his conversation in a low tone with the miners. It was +nearly half an hour before he concluded it. Then he rose, walked across +the room to Tom, and held out his hand. + +"Shake, young fellow," he said; "that is, if you are the chap Straight +Harry told me might turn up here some day." + +"I expect I am the fellow," Tom said with a smile. "My uncle's name is +Harry Wade." + +"Yes, that is his name; although he is always called Straight Harry. +Yes, I have got a letter for you. Come along with me." He led the way +into a small room behind the saloon, that served at once as his bed-room +and office, and motioned to Tom to sit down on the only chair; then +going to a cupboard he took out a tin canister, and opening it shook out +half a dozen letters on to the table. + +"That is yourn," he said, picking one out. + +It was directed to Tom, and contained but a few lines. "_If you come I +have gone west. Pete Hoskings will tell you all he knows about me and +put you on the line. Your affectionate uncle._" + +"Are you Mr. Hoskings?" he asked the landlord. + +"I am Pete Hoskings," the man said. "There ain't been no Mister to my +name as ever I can remember." + +"My uncle tells me that you will be able to direct me to him, and will +put me on the line." + +"It would take a darn sight cuter fellow than I am to direct you to him +at present," the man said with a laugh. "Straight Harry went away from +here three months ago, and he might be just anywhere now. He may be +grubbing away in a mine, he may be hunting and trapping, or he may have +been wiped out by the Indians. I know where he intended to go, at least +in a general sort of way. He did tell me he meant to stay about there, +and it may be he has done so. He said if he moved away and got a chance +he would send me word; but as there ain't nairy a post-office within +about five hundred miles of where he is, his only chance of sending a +letter would be by a hunter who chanced to be going down to the +settlements, and who, like enough, would put it into his hunting-shirt +and never give it another thought. So whether he has stayed there or not +is more nor I can say." + +"And where is _there?_" Tom asked. "It is among the hills to the west +of the Colorado River, which ain't much, seeing as the Colorado is about +two thousand miles long. However, I can put you closer than that, for he +showed me on a map the bit of country he intended to work. He said he +would be back here in six months from the time he started; and that if +you turned up here I was either to tell you the best way of getting +there, or to keep you here until he came back. Well, I may say at once +that there ain't no best way; there is only one way, and that is to get +on a pony and ride there, and a mighty bad way it is. The only thing for +you to do is to keep on west along the caravan tract. You have to cross +the Green River,--that is the name of the Colorado on its upper course. +Fort Bridger is the place for you to start from, but you have got to +wait there until you sight some one or other bound south; for as to +going by yourself, it would be a sight better to save yourself all +trouble by putting that Colt hanging there to your head, and pulling the +trigger. It is a bad country, and it is full of bad Indians, and there +ain't many, even of the oldest hands, who care to risk their lives by +going where Straight Harry has gone. + +"I did all I could to keep him from it; but he is just as obstinate as a +mule when he has made up his mind to a thing. I know him well, for we +worked as mates for over a year down on the Yuba in California. We made +a good pile, and as I had got a wife and wanted to settle I came back +east. This place had a couple of dozen houses then; but I saw it was +likely to boom, so I settled down and set up this saloon and sent for my +wife to come west to me. If she had lived I should have been in a sight +bigger place by this time; but she died six months after she got here, +and then I did not care a continental one way or the other; and I like +better to stop here, where I meet my old mates and can do as I like, +than to run a big hotel. It ain't much to look at, but it suits me, and +I am content to know that I could buy up the biggest place here if I had +a fancy to. I don't take much money now, but I did when the place was +young; and I bought a few lots of land, and you may bet they have turned +out worth having. Well, don't you act rashly in this business. Another +three months your uncle will turn up, if he is alive; and if he don't +turn up at all I dare say I can put you into a soft thing. If you go on +it is about ten to one you get scalped before you find him. Where are +you staying?" + +"At the Grand. The omnibus stopped there last night." + +"Well, you stay there for a week and think it over. You have got to +learn about the country west of the Colorado. You had best come here to +do that. You might stay a month at the Grand and not find a soul who +could tell you anything worth knowing, but there ain't a day when you +couldn't meet men here who have either been there themselves or have +heard tell of it from men who have." + +"Are the natives friendly now?" Tom asked. "In a letter he wrote two +years ago to us, my uncle said that he should put off going to a part of +the country he wanted to prospect until the Indians were quiet." + +"The darned critters are never either friendly or quiet. A red-skin is +pizen, take him when you will. The only difference is, that sometimes +they go on the war-path and sometimes they don't; but you may bet that +they are always ready to take a white man's scalp if they get a chance." + +"Well, I am very much obliged to you for your advice, which I will +certainly take; that is, I will not decide for a few days, and will come +in here and talk to the miners and learn what I can about it." + +"You can hear at once," the landlord said. He stepped back into the +saloon, and said to the two men with whom he had been talking: "Boys, +this young chap is a Britisher, and he has come out all the way to join +Straight Harry, who is an uncle of his. Straight Harry is with Ben +Gulston and Sam Hicks, and they are prospecting somewhere west of the +Colorado. He wants to join them. Now, what do you reckon his chances +would be of finding them out and dropping in on their campfire?" + +The men looked at Tom with open eyes. + +"Waal," one of them drawled, "I should reckon you would have just about +the same chance of getting to the North Pole if you started off on foot, +as you would of getting to Straight Harry with your hair on." + +Tom laughed. "That is not cheering," he said. + +"It ain't. I don't say as an old hand on the plains might not manage it. +He would know the sort of place Harry and his mates would be likely to +be prospecting, he would know the ways of the red-skins and how to +travel among them without ever leaving a trail or making a smoke, but +even for him it would be risky work, and not many fellows would care to +take the chances even if they knew the country well. But for a +tenderfoot to start out on such a job would be downright foolishness. +There are about six points wanted in a man for such a journey. He has +got to be as hard and tough as leather, to be able to go for days +without food or drink, to know the country well, to sleep when he does +sleep with his ears open, to be up to every red skin trick, to be able +to shoot straight enough to hit a man plumb centre at three hundred +yards at least, and to hit a dollar at twenty yards sartin with his +six-shooter. If you feel as you have got all them qualifications you can +start off as soon as you like, and the chances aren't more'n twenty to +one agin your finding him." + +"I haven't anyone of them," Tom said. + +"Waal, it is something if you know that, young chap. It is not every +tenderfoot who would own up as much. You stick to it that you don't know +anything, and at the same time do your best to learn something, and you +will do in time. You look a clean-built young chap, and you could not +have a better teacher than Straight Harry. What he don't know, whether +it is about prospecting for gold or hunting for beasts, ain't worth +knowing, you bet. What is your name, mate?" + +"Tom Wade." + +"Waal, let us drink. It ain't like you, Pete, to keep a stranger dry as +long as you have been doing." + +"He ain't up to our customs yet," the landlord said, as he moved off +towards the bar. + +"It is a custom everywhere," the miner said reprovingly, "for folks to +stand drink to a stranger; and good Bourbon hurts no man." + +The landlord placed a bottle and four glasses on the counter. Each of +the miners filled his glass for himself, and the bottle was then handed +to Tom, who followed their example, as did Hoskings. + +"Here is luck to you," the miner said, as he lifted his glass. Three +glasses were set down empty, but Tom had to stop half-way with his to +cough violently. + +"It is strong stuff," he said apologetically, "and I never drank spirits +without water before. I had a glass of grog-and-water on board a ship +sometimes, but it has always been at least two parts of water to one of +spirits." + +"We mostly drink our liquor straight out here," the miner said. "But I +am not saying it is the best way, especially for one who ain't used to +it, but you have got to learn to do it if you are going to live long in +this country." + +"Standing drinks round is a custom here," Pete Hoskings explained, +seeing that Tom looked a little puzzled, "and there ain't no worse +insult than to refuse to drink with a man. There have been scores of men +shot, ay, and hundreds, for doing so. I don't say that you may not put +water in, but if you refuse to drink you had best do it with your hand +on the butt of your gun, for you will want to get it out quick, I can +tell you." + +"There is one advantage in such a custom anyhow," Tom said, "it will +keep anyone who does not want to drink from entering a saloon at all." + +"That is so, lad," Pete Hoskings said heartily. "I keep a saloon, and +have made money by it, but for all that I say to every young fellow who +hopes to make his way some time, keep out of them altogether. In country +places you must go to a saloon to get a square meal, but everyone drinks +tea or coffee with their food, and there is no call to stay in the place +a minute after you have finished. Calling for drinks round has been the +ruin of many a good man; one calls first, then another calls, and no one +likes to stand out of it, and though you may only have gone in for one +glass, you may find you will have to drink a dozen before you get out." + +"Why, you are a downright temperance preacher, Pete," one of the miners +laughed. + +"I don't preach to a seasoned old hoss like you, Jerry. I keep my +preaching for those who may benefit by it, such as the youngster here; +but I say to him and to those like him, you keep out of saloons. If you +don't do that, you will find yourself no forwarder when you are fifty +than you are now, while there are plenty of openings all over the +country for any bright young fellow who will keep away from liquor." + +"Thank you," Tom said warmly; "I will follow your advice, which will be +easy enough. Beyond a glass of beer with my dinner and a tot of grog, +perhaps once in three months when I have gone on board a ship, and did +not like to say no, I have never touched it, and have no wish to do so." + +"Stick to that, lad; stick to that. You will find many temptations, but +you set your face hard against them, and except when you come upon a +hard man bent on kicking up a muss, you will find folks will think none +the worse of you when you say to them straight, 'I am much obliged to +you all the same, but I never touch liquor.'" + +Tom remained four days at the hotel, spending a good deal of his time at +the saloon, where he met many miners, all of whom endorsed what the +first he had spoken to had said respecting the country, and the +impossibility of anyone but an old hand among the mountains making his +way there. + +On the fourth evening he said to Pete Hoskings: "I see that your advice +was good, and that it would be madness for me to attempt to go by +myself, but I don't see why I should not ride to Fort Bridger; not of +course by myself, but with one of the caravans going west. It would be a +great deal better for me to do that and to learn something of the plains +and camping than to stay here for perhaps three months. At Fort Bridger +I shall be able to learn more about the country, and might join some +hunting party and gain experience that way. I might find other +prospectors going up among the hills, and even if it were not near where +my uncle is to be found, I should gain by learning something, and should +not be quite a greenhorn when I join him." + +"Well, that is sensible enough," Pete Hoskings said, "and I don't know +as I can say anything against it. You certainly would not be doing any +good for yourself here, and I don't say that either an hotel or a saloon +is the best place for you. I will think it over, and will let you know +when you come round in the morning; maybe I can put you a little in the +way of carrying it out." + +The next morning when Tom went to the saloon, Jerry Curtis, one of the +miners he had first met there, was sitting chatting with Pete Hoskings. + +"I had Jerry in my thoughts when I spoke to you last night, Tom," the +latter said. "I knew he was just starting west again, and thought I +would put the matter to him. He says he has no objection to your +travelling with him as far as Fort Bridger, where maybe he will make a +stay himself. There ain't no one as knows the plains much better than he +does, and he can put you up to more in the course of a month than you +would learn in a year just travelling with a caravan with farmers bound +west" + +"I should be very much obliged indeed," Tom said delightedly. "It would +be awfully good of you, Jerry, and I won't be more trouble than I can +help." + +"I don't reckon you will be any trouble at all" the miner said. "I was +never set much on travelling alone as some men are. I ain't much of a +talker, but I ain't fond of going two or three months without opening my +mouth except to put food and drink into it. So if you think you will +like it I shall be glad enough to take you. I know Straight Harry well, +and I can see you are teachable, and not set upon your own opinions as +many young fellows I have met out here are, but ready to allow that +there are some things as men who have been at them all their lives may +know a little more about than they do. So you may take it that it is a +bargain. Now, what have you got in the way of outfit?" + +"I have not got anything beyond flannel shirts, and rough clothes like +these." + +"They are good enough as far as they go. Two flannel shirts, one on and +one off, is enough for any man. Two or three pairs of thick stockings. +Them as is very particular can carry an extra pair of breeches in case +of getting caught in a storm, though for myself I think it is just as +well to let your things dry on you. You want a pair of high boots, a +buffalo robe, and a couple of blankets, one with a hole cut in the +middle to put your head through; that does as a cloak, and is like what +the Mexicans call a poncho. You don't want a coat or waistcoat; there +ain't no good in them. All you want to carry you can put in your +saddle-bag. Get a pair of the best blankets you can find. I will go with +you and choose them for you. You want a thing that will keep you warm +when you sleep, and shoot off the rain in bad weather. Common blankets +are no better than a sponge. + +"Then, of course, you must have a six-shooter and a rifle. No man in his +senses would start across the plains without them. It is true there +ain't much fear of red-skins between here and Bridger, but there is +never any saying when the varmint may be about. Can you shoot?" + +"No; I never fired off a rifle or a pistol in my life." + +"Well, you had better take a good stock of powder and ball, and you can +practise a bit as you go along. A man ain't any use out on these plains +if he cannot shoot. I have got a pony; but you must buy one, and a +saddle, and fixings. We will buy another between us to carry our swag. +But you need not trouble about the things, I will get all that fixed." + +"Thank you very much. How much do you suppose it will all come to?" + +"Never you mind what it comes to," Pete Hoskings said roughly. "I told +your uncle that if you turned up I would see you through. What you have +got to get I shall pay for, and when Straight Harry turns up we shall +square it. If he don't turn up at all, there is no harm done. This is my +business, and you have got nothing to do with it." + +Tom saw that he should offend Hoskings if he made any demur, and the +kind offer was really a relief to him. He had thirty pounds still in his +belt, but he had made a mental calculation of the cost of the things +Jerry had considered essential, and found that the cost of a horse and +saddle, of half another horse, of the rifle, six-shooter ammunition, +blankets, boots, and provisions for the journey, must certainly amount +up to more than that sum, and would leave him without any funds to live +on till he met his uncle. + +He was so anxious to proceed that he would have made no excuse, although +he saw that he might find himself in a very difficult position. Pete's +insistence, therefore, on taking all expenses upon himself, was a +considerable relief to him; for although determined to go, he had had an +uneasy consciousness that it was a foolish step. He therefore expressed +his warm thanks. + +"There, that is enough said about it," the latter growled out. "The +money is nothing to me one way or the other, and it would be hard if I +couldn't do this little thing for my old mate's nephew. When are you +thinking of making a start, Jerry?" + +"The sooner the better. I have been four months here already and have +not struck a vein, that is, not one really worth working, and the sooner +I make a fresh start the better. To-day is Wednesday. There will be +plenty of time to get all the things to-day and to-morrow, and we will +start at daylight on Friday. You may as well come with me, Tom, and +learn something about the prices of things. There are some Indians +camped three miles away. We will walk over there first and pick up a +couple of ponies. I know they have got a troop of them, that is what +they come here to sell. They only arrived yesterday, so we shall have +the pick of them." + +Before starting there was a short conversation between Jerry and the +landlord, and then the former put on his broad-brimmed hat. + +"Have you seen any red-skins yet?" + +"I saw a few at some of the stations the train stopped at between this +and Omaha." + +"Those fellows are mostly Indians who have been turned out of their +tribes for theft or drunkenness, and they hang about the stations to +sell moccasins and other things their squaws make, to fresh arrivals. + +"The fellows you are going to see are Navahoes, though not good +specimens of the tribe, or they would not be down here to sell ponies. +Still, they are a very different sort from those you have seen." + +An hour's walking took them to a valley, in which the Indians were +encamped. There were eight wigwams. Some women paused in their work and +looked round at the newcomers. Their dogs ran up barking furiously, but +were driven back by a volley of stones thrown by three or four boys, +with so good an aim that they went off with sharp yelps. Jerry strolled +along without paying any attention to the dogs or boys towards a party +of men seated round a fire. One of them rose as they approached. + +"My white brothers are welcome," he said courteously. "There is room by +the fire for them," and he motioned to them to sit down by his side. A +pipe, composed of a long flat wooden stem studded with brass nails, with +a bowl cut out of red pipe-stone, was now handed round, each taking a +short puff. + +"Does my brother speak the language of the Navahoes?" the chief asked in +that tongue. + +"I can get along with it," Jerry said, "as I can with most of your +Indian dialects." + +"It is good," the chief said. "My brother is wise; he must have wandered +much." + +"I have been a goodish bit among your hills, chief. Have you come from +far?" + +"The moon was full when we left our village." + +"Ah, then you have been a fortnight on the road. Well, chief, I have +come here to trade. I want to buy a couple of ponies." + +The chief said a word or two to a boy standing near, and he with four or +five others at once started up the valley, and in a few minutes returned +with a drove of Indian ponies. + +"They are not a bad lot," Jerry said to Tom. + +"They don't look much, Jerry." + +"Indian ponies never look much, but one of those ponies would gallop an +eastern-bred horse to a stand-still." + +Jerry got up and inspected some of the horses closely, and presently +picked out two of them; at a word from the chief two of the lads jumped +on their backs and rode off on them at full speed, and then wheeling +round returned to the spot from where they started. + +"My white brother is a judge of horses," the chief said; "he has picked +out the best of the lot." + +"There are three or four others quite as good," Jerry said carelessly. +"Now, chief, how many blankets, how much powder and lead, and what else +do you want for those two horses?" + +The chief stated his demands, to which Jerry replied: "You said just +now, chief, that I was a wise man; but it seems that you must regard me +as a fool." + +For half an hour an animated argument went on. Two or three times Jerry +got up, and they started as if to quit the village, but each time the +chief called them back. So animated were their gestures and talk that +Tom had serious fears that they were coming to blows, but their voices +soon fell and the talk became amicable again. At last Jerry turned to +Tom. + +"The bargain is struck," he said; "but he has got the best of me, and +has charged an outrageous sum for them," Then, in his own language, he +said to the chief: + +"At noon to-morrow you will send the ponies down to the town. I will +meet them at the big rock, half a mile this side of it, with the trade +goods." + +"They shall be there," the chief said, "though I am almost giving them +to you." + +As they walked away, Tom said: + +"So you have paid more than you expected, Jerry?" + +"No, I have got them a bargain; only it would never have done to let the +chief know I thought so, or the horses would not have turned up +to-morrow. I expect they have all been stolen from some other tribe. The +two I have got are first-rate animals, and the goods will come to about +fourteen pounds. I shall ride one of them myself, and put our swag on my +own pony. That has been a very good stroke of business; they would never +have sold them at that price if they had been honestly come by." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +ON THE PLAINS + + +The purchase of a buffalo robe, blankets, boots, and a Colt's revolver +occupied but a short time, but the rifle was a much more difficult +matter. + +"You can always rely upon a Colt," the miner said, "but rifles are +different things; and as your life may often depend upon your +shooting-iron carrying straight, you have got to be mighty careful about +it. A gun that has got the name of being a good weapon will fetch four +times as much as a new one." + +Denver was but a small place; there was no regular gunsmith's shop, but +rifles and pistols were sold at almost every store in the town. In this +quest Jerry was assisted by Pete Hoskings, who knew of several men who +would be ready to dispose of their rifles. Some of these weapons were +taken out into the country and tried at marks by the two men. They made +what seemed to Tom wonderful shooting, but did not satisfy Hoskings. + +"I should like the youngster to have a first-rate piece," he said, "and +I mean to get him one if I can. There are two of these would do if we +can't get a better, but if there is a first-rate one to be had in this +township I will have it." Suddenly he exclaimed, "I must have gone off +my head, and be going downright foolish! Why, I know the very weapon. +You remember Billy the scout?" + +"In course I do, everyone knew him. I heard he had gone down just before +I got back here." + +"That is so, Jerry. You know he had a bit of a place up in the hills, +four or five miles from here, where he lived with that Indian wife of +his when he was not away. I went out to see him a day or two afore he +died. I asked him if there was anything I could do for him. He said no, +his squaw would get on well enough there. She had been alone most of her +time, and would wrestle on just as well when he had gone under. He had a +big garden-patch which she cultivated, and brought the things down into +the town here. They always fetch a good price. Why more people don't +grow them I can't make out; it would pay better than gold-seeking, you +bet. He had a few hundred dollars laid by, and he said they might come +in handy to her if she fell sick, or if things went hard in winter. +Well, you remember his gun?" + +"In course--his gun was nigh as well known as Billy himself. He used to +call it Plumb-centre. You don't mean to say she hasn't sold it?" + +"She hasn't; at least I should have been sure to hear if she had. I know +several of the boys who went to the funeral wanted to buy it, and +offered her long prices for it too; but she wouldn't trade. I will ride +over there this evening and see what I can do about it. She will sell to +me if she sells to anyone, for she knows I was a great chum of Billy's, +and I have done her a few good turns. She broke her leg some years back +when he was away, and luckily enough I chanced to ride over there the +next day. Being alone and without anyone to help, she would have got on +badly. I sent a surgeon up to her, and got a redskin woman to go up to +nurse her. I don't wonder she did not like to sell Billy's piece, seeing +he was so famous with it, and I feel sure money would not do it; but +perhaps I can talk her into it." + +The next morning the articles agreed upon as the price of the horses +were packed on Jerry's pony, and they went out to the meeting-place. + +"It is twenty minutes early," Jerry said, as Tom consulted his watch, +"and the red-skins won't be here till it is just twelve o'clock. A +red-skin is never five minutes before or five minutes after the time he +has named for a meeting. It may have been set six months before, and at +a place a thousand miles away, but just at the hour, neither before nor +after, he will be there. A white man will keep the appointment; but like +enough he will be there the night before, will make his camp, sleep, and +cook a meal or two, but he does not look for the red-skin till exactly +the hour named, whether it is sunrise or sunset or noon. Red-skins ain't +got many virtues,--least there ain't many of them has, though I have +known some you could trust all round as ready as any white man,--but +for keeping an appintment they licks creation." + +A few minutes before twelve o'clock three Indians were seen coming down +the valley on horseback. They were riding at a leisurely pace, and it +was exactly the hour when they drew rein in front of Tom and his +companion. Jerry had already unloaded his pony and had laid out the +contents of the pack. First he proceeded to examine the two ponies, to +make sure that they were the same he had chosen. + +"That is all right," he said; "they would hardly have tried to cheat us +over that--they would know that it would not pay with me. There, chief, +is your exchange. You will see that the blankets are of good quality. +There is the keg of powder, the bar of lead, ten plugs of tobacco, the +cloth for the squaws, and all the other things agreed on." + +The chief examined them carefully, and nodded his satisfaction. "If all +the pale-faces dealt as fairly with the red man as you have done there +would not be so much trouble between them," he said. + +"That is right enough, chief; it can't be gainsaid that a great many, +ay, I might say the most part, of the traders are rogues. But they would +cheat us just the same as they would you, and often do take us in. I +have had worthless goods passed off on me many a time; and I don't blame +you a bit if you put a bullet into the skull of a rogue who has cheated +you, for I should be mightily inclined to do the same myself." + +No more words were wasted; the lads who had ridden the ponies down made +up the goods in great bundles and went up the valley with their chief, +while Jerry and Tom took the plaited leather lariats which were round +the ponies' necks and returned to Denver. A saddle of Mexican pattern, +with high peak and cantle, massive wooden framework, huge straps and +heavy stirrups, was next bought. Jerry folded a horse-rug and tried it +in different positions on the horse's back until the saddle fitted well +upon it. + +"That is the thing that you have got to be most particular about, Tom. +If the saddle does not sit right the horse gets galled, and when a horse +once gets galled he ain't of much use till he is well again, though the +Indians ride them when they are in a terrible state; but then they have +got so many horses that, unless they are specially good, they don't hold +them of any account. You see the saddle is so high that there is good +space between it and the backbone, and the pressure comes fair on the +ribs, so the ponies don't get galled if the blankets are folded +properly. The Indians do not use saddles, but ride either on a pad or +just a folded blanket, and their ponies are always getting galled." + +"The saddle is tremendously heavy." + +"It is heavy, but a few pounds don't make much difference to the horse +one way or the other, so that he is carrying it comfortably. The saddles +would be no good if they were not made strong, for a horse may put his +foot in a hole and come down head over heels, or may tumble down a +precipice, and the saddle would be smashed up if it were not pretty near +as strong as cast-iron. Out on the plains a man thinks as much of his +saddle as he does of his horse, and more. If his horse dies he will put +the saddle on his head and carry it for days rather than part with it, +for he knows he won't be long before he gets a horse again. He can buy +one for a few charges of powder and ball from the first friendly Indians +he comes across, or he may get one given to him if he has nothing to +exchange for it, or if he comes across a herd of wild horses he can +crease one." + +"What is creasing a horse?" Tom asked. + +"Well, it is a thing that wants a steady hand, for you have got to hit +him just on the right spot--an inch higher, you will miss him; half an +inch lower, you will kill him. You have got to put a bullet through his +neck two or three inches behind the ears and just above the spine. Of +course if you hit the spine you kill him, and he is no good except to +give you a meal or two if you are hard-up for food; but if the ball goes +through the muscles of the neck, just above the spine, the shock knocks +him over as surely as if you had hit him in the heart. It stuns him, and +you have only got to run up and put your lariat round his neck, and be +ready to mount him as soon as he rises, which he will do in two or three +minutes, and he will be none the worse for the shock; in fact you will +be able to break him in more easily than if you had caught him by the +rope." + +Jerry then adjusted his own saddle to the other Indian horse. + +"Can you ride?" he asked. + +"No, I have never had any chance of learning at home." + +"Well, you had better have a lesson at once. This is a good way for a +beginner;" and he took a blanket, and having rolled it up tightly, +strapped it over the peak of the saddle and down the flaps. + +"There," he said. "You get your knees against that, and what with the +high peak and the high cantle you can hardly be chucked out anyhow, that +is, if the horse does not buck; but I will try him as to that before you +mount. We will lead them out beyond the town, we don't want to make a +circus of ourselves in the streets; besides, if you get chucked, you +will fall softer there than you would on the road. But first of all we +will give them a feed of corn. You see they are skeary of us at present. +Indian horses are always afraid of white men at first, just as white +men's horses are afraid of Indians. A feed of corn will go a long way +towards making us good friends, for you may be sure they have never had +a feed in their lives beyond what they could pick up for themselves." + +The horses snuffed the corn with some apprehension when it was held out +towards them, backing away from the sieves with their ears laid back; +but seeing that no harm came to them they presently investigated the +food more closely, and at last took a mouthful, after which they +proceeded to eat greedily, their new masters patting their necks and +talking to them while they did so. Then their saddles and bridles were +put on, and they were led out of the stable and along the streets. At +first they were very fidgety and wild at the unaccustomed sights and +sounds, but their fear gradually subsided, and by the time they were +well in the country they went along quietly enough. + +"Now you hold my horse, Tom, and I will try yours." + +Jerry mounted and galloped away; in ten minutes he returned. + +"He will do," he said as he dismounted. "He is fresh yet and wants +training. I don't suppose he has been ridden half a dozen times, but +with patience and training he will turn out a first-rate beast. I could +see they were both fast when those boys rode them. I don't wonder the +chief asked what, for an Indian pony, was a mighty long price, though it +was cheap enough for such good animals. He must have two or three +uncommon good ones at home or he would never have parted with them, for +when an Indian gets hold of an extra good pony no price will tempt him +to sell it, for a man's life on the plains often depends on the speed +and stay of his horse. Now, I will take a gallop on my own, and when I +come back you can mount and we will ride on quietly together. + +"There is not much difference between them," he said on his return. +"Yours is a bit faster. Pete told me to get you the best horse I could +find, and I fixed upon yours, directly my eye fell upon him, as being +the pick of the drove. But this is a good one too, and will suit me as +well as yours, for he is rather heavier, and will carry me better than +yours would do on a long journey. Now climb up into your saddle." + +Jerry laughed at the difficulty Tom had in lifting his leg over the high +cantle. "You will have to practise presently putting your hands on the +saddle and vaulting into it. Half a minute in mounting may make all the +difference between getting away and being rubbed out. When you see the +red-skins coming yelling down on you fifty yards away, and your horse is +jumping about as scared as you are, it is not an easy matter to get on +to its back if you have got to put your foot in the stirrup first. You +have got to learn to chuck yourself straight into your seat whether you +are standing still or both on the run. There, how do you feel now?" + +"I feel regularly wedged into the saddle." + +"That is right. I will take up the stirrups a hole, then you will get +your knees firmer against the blanket. It is better to learn to ride +without it, even if you do get chucked off a few times, but as we start +to-morrow you have no time for that. In a few days, when you get at home +in the saddle, we will take off the blanket, and you have got to learn +to hold on by your knees and by the balance of your body. Now we will be +moving on." + +As soon as the reins were slackened the horses started together at an +easy canter. + +"That is their pace," Jerry said. "Except on a very long journey, when +he has got squaws and baggage with him, a red-skin never goes at a walk, +and the horses will keep on at this lope for hours. That is right. Don't +sit so stiffly; you want your legs to be stiff and keeping a steady +grip, but from your hips you want to be as slack as possible, just +giving to the horse's action, the same way you give on board ship when +vessels are rolling. That is better. Ah! here comes Pete. I took this +way because I knew it was the line he would come back by--and, by gosh, +he has got the rifle, sure enough!" + +Pete had seen them, and was waving the gun over his head. + +"I've got it," he said as he reined up his horse when he met them. "It +was a stiff job, for she did not like to part with it. I had to talk to +her a long time. I put it to her that when she died the gun would have +to go to someone, and I wanted it for a nephew of Straight Harry, whom +she knew well enough; that it was for a young fellow who was safe to +turn out a great hunter and Indian fighter like her husband, and that he +would be sure to do credit to Plumb-centre, and make the gun as famous +in his hands as it had been in her husband's. That fetched her. She said +I had been kind to her, and though she could not have parted with the +gun for money, she would do it, partly to please me, and partly because +she knew that Straight Harry had been a friend of her husband's, and had +fought by his side, and that the young brave I spoke of, would be likely +to do credit to Plumb-centre. Her husband, she said, would be glad to +know that it was in such good hands. So she handed it over to me. She +would not hear of taking money for it; indeed, I did not press it, +knowing that she would feel that it was almost a part of her husband; +but I will make it up to her in other ways. There, Tom; there is as good +a shooting-iron as there is in all the territories." + +"Thank you very much indeed, Pete. I shall value it immensely, and I +only hope that some day I shall be able to do credit to it, as the poor +woman said." + +There was nothing particular in the appearance of the rifle. It was a +plainly-finished piece, with a small bore and heavy metal. + +"It don't look much," Jerry said, "but it is a daisy, you bet." + +"We will try a shot with it, Jerry. She gave me the bag of bullets and a +box of patches and his powder-horn with it. We will see what it will do +in our hands, we are both pretty good shots." + +He loaded the rifle carefully. + +"You see that bit of black rock cropping out of the hill-side. I guess +it is about two hundred and fifty yards away, and is about the size a +red-skin's head would be if he were crawling through the grass towards +us. Will you shoot first or shall I?" + +"Fire away, Pete." + +Hoskings took a steady aim and fired. + +"You have hit it," Jerry exclaimed. "Just grazed it at the top." + +They walked across to the rock; there was a chip just on the top. + +"It was a good shot, Pete; especially considering how you are out of +practice. If it had been a red-skin it would have stunned him sure, for +I doubt whether it is not too high by a quarter of an inch or so, to +have finished him altogether." + +[Illustration: JERRY GIVES TOM A LESSON IN SHOOTING.] + +"It would have cut his top-knot off, Jerry, and that is all. I doubt +whether it would have even touched his skin." + +They returned to the spot where Pete had fired, and Jerry threw himself +down on the grass and levelled his rifle. + +"That is not fair, Jerry," Pete protested. + +"It would not be fair if I was shooting against you, but we are only +trying the rifle, and if that rock were a red-skin you may be sure that +I should be lying down." + +He fired: and on going to the stone again they found that the bullet had +struck it fair, within an inch of its central point. + +"That is something like a rifle," Jerry said delighted. "Now, Tom, you +shall have a shot." + +As they walked to the shooting-point, Jerry showed the lad how to hold +the rifle, instructed him as to the backsight, and showed him how to get +the foresight exactly on the nick of the backsight. "You must just see +the bead as if it were resting in the nick, and the object you aim at +must just show above the top point of the bead." He showed him how to +load, and then told him to lie down, as he had done, on his chest, and +to steady the rifle with the left arm, the elbow being on the ground. +"You must be quite comfortable," he said; "it is of no use trying to +shoot if you are in a cramped position. Now, take a steady aim, and the +moment you have got the two sights in a line on the rock, press the +trigger steadily. Press pretty hard; it is only a pull of about two +pounds, but it is wonderful how stiff a trigger feels the first time you +pull at it. You need not be at all afraid of the kick. If you press the +butt tightly against your shoulder you will hardly feel it, for there is +plenty of weight in the barr'l, and it carries but a small charge of +powder. You won't want to shoot at anything much beyond this range, but +sometimes you may have to try at four or five hundred yards when you are +in want of a dinner. In that case you can put in a charge and a half of +powder. Now, are you comfortable? You need not grip so hard with your +left hand, the gun only wants to rest between your thumb and fingers. +That is better. Now take a steady aim, and the moment you have got it +press the trigger. Well done! that is a good shot for a first. You hit +the dust an inch or two to the right of the stone. If it had been a +red-skin you would have hit him in the shoulder. You will do, lad, and +by the time we get to Fort Bridger I guess you will bring down a stag as +clean as nine out of ten hunters." + +"Don't get into the way of waiting too long before you fire, Tom," Pete +Hoskings said. "Better to try to shoot too quick to begin with than to +be too long about it. When you have made up your mind that you are going +to shoot, get your bead on your mark and fire at once. You may want to +hit a red-skin's head as he looks out from behind a tree, and to do that +you must fire the instant you see him or he will be in again. One of the +best shots I ever saw never used to raise his gun to his shoulder at +all. He just dropped his piece into the hollow of his left hand, and +would fire as he touched it. He did not seem to take any aim at all, but +his bullet was sartin to hit the thing he wanted to, even if it were no +bigger than an orange. He could not tell himself how he did it. 'I seen +the thing and I fired, Pete,' he would say; 'the gun seems to point +right of its own accord, I have not anything to say to it.' You see, +shooting is a matter of eye. Some men may shoot all their lives, and +they will never be more than just respectable, while others shoot well +the first time that a gun is put in their hands. Want of nerve is what +spoils half men's shooting; that and taking too long an aim. Well, it is +time for us to be mounting and getting back. I have got to see that the +dinner is all ready. I never can trust that black scoundrel, Sam, to do +things right while I am away." + +The preparations for the journey were completed by the evening. + +"Now mind, Tom," Pete Hoskings said the last thing before going to bed, +"if you don't find your uncle, or if you hear that he has got wiped out, +be sure you come right back here. Whether you are cut out for a hunter +or not, it will do you a world of good to stick to the life until you +get four or five years older and settle as to how you like to fix +yourself, for there ain't no better training than a few years out on the +plains, no matter what you do afterwards. I will find a good chum for +you, and see you through it, both for the sake of my old mate, Straight +Harry, and because I have taken a liking to you myself." + +"Why do you call my uncle Straight Harry?" Tom asked, after thanking +Pete for his promise. "Is he so very upright?" + +"No, lad, no; it ain't nothing to do with that. There are plenty more +erect men than him about. He is about the size of Jerry, though, maybe a +bit taller. No; he got to be called Straight Harry because he was a +square man, a chap everyone could trust. If he said he would do a thing +he would do it; there weren't no occasion for any papers to bind him. +When he said a thing you could bet on it. You could buy a mine on his +word: if he said it was good you need not bother to take a journey to +look at it, you knew it was right there, and weren't a put-up job. Once +when we were working down on the Yuba we got to a place where there were +a fault in the rock, and the lode had slipped right away from us. +Everyone in camp knew that we had been doing well, and we had only got +to pile up a few pieces of rock at the bottom, and no one who would have +seen it would have known that the lode was gone. That is what most chaps +would have done, and a third chap who was working with us was all for +doing it. Anyone would have given us five hundred ounces for it. Well, I +didn't say nothing, it was what pretty nigh anyone on the mines would +have done if he had the chance, but Harry turned on our partner like a +mountain lion. 'You are a mean skunk, New Jersey' says he. 'Do you think +that I would be one to rob a man only because he would be fool enough to +take a place without looking at it? We've worked to the edge of the +claim both ways, and I don't reckon there is a dollar's worth of gold +left in it, now that it has pettered out at the bottom, and if there was +I would not work another day with a man who proposed to get up a +swindle.' So as soon as he got up to the surface he told everyone that +the lode had gone out and that the claim weren't worth a red cent. He +and New Jersey had a big fight with fists that evening. The other was +bigger than Harry, and stronger, but he were no hand with his pistol, +and Harry is a dead shot; so he told New Jersey he would fight him +English fashion, and Harry gave him the biggest licking I ever saw a man +have. I felt pretty mean myself, you bet, for having thought of planting +the thing off; but as I hadn't spoken, Harry knew nothing about it. If +he had, I doubt if he would ever have given me his hand again. Yes, sir, +he is a straight man all round, and there is no man better liked than +Harry. Why, there are a score of men in this town who know him as I do, +and, if he came to them and said, 'I have struck it rich, I will go +halves with you if you will plank down twenty thousand dollars to open +her up,' they would pay down the cash without another word; and, I tell +you, there ain't ten men west of the Missouri of whom as much could be +said." + +The next morning at daybreak Jerry and Tom started. They rode due north, +skirting the foot of the hills, till they reached the emigrant route, +for the railway had not been carried farther than Wabash, from which +point it ran south to Denver. It was a journey of some five hundred +miles to Fort Bridger, and they took a month to accomplish it, sometimes +following the ordinary line of travel, sometimes branching off more to +the north, where game was still abundant. + +"That is Fort Bridger, Tom. It ain't much of a place to look at; but is, +like all these forts, just a strong palisading, with a clump of wooden +huts for the men in the middle. Well, the first stage of your journey is +over, and you know a little more now than when you left Denver; but +though I have taught you a good bit, you will want another year's +practice with that shooting-iron afore you're a downright good shot; but +you have come on well, and the way you brought down that stag on a run +yesterday was uncommon good. You have made the most of your +opportunities, and have got a steady hand and a good eye. You are all +right on your horse now, and can be trusted to keep your seat if you +have a pack of red-skins at your heels. You have learnt to make a camp, +and to sleep comfortable on the ground; you can frizzle a bit of +deer-flesh over the fire, and can bake bread as well as a good many. Six +months of it and you will be a good plain's-man. I wish we had had a +shot at buffalo. They are getting scarcer than they were, and do not +like crossing the trail. We ain't likely to see many of them west of the +Colorado; the ground gets too hilly for them, and there are too many bad +lands." + +"What are bad lands, Jerry?" + +"They are just lands where Nature, when she made them, had got plenty of +rock left, but mighty little soil or grass seed. There are bad lands all +over the country, but nowhere so bad as the tract on both sides of the +Green and Colorado rivers. You may ride fifty miles any way over bare +rock without seeing a blade of grass unless you get down into some of +the valleys, and you may die of thirst with water under your feet." + +"How do you mean, Jerry?" + +"The rivers there don't act like the rivers in other parts. Instead of +working round the foot of the hills they just go through them. You ride +along on what seems to be a plain, and you come suddenly to a crack that +ain't perhaps twenty or thirty feet across, and you look down, if you +have got head enough to do it, and there, two thousand feet or more +below you, you see a river foaming among rocks. It ain't one river or it +ain't another river as does it; every little stream from the hills cuts +itself its canon and makes its way along till it meets two or three +others, then they go on together, cutting deeper and deeper until they +run into one of the arms of the Green River or the Colorado or the +Grand. + +"The Green and the Colorado are all the same river, only the upper part +is called the Green. For about a thousand miles it runs through great +canons. No one has ever gone down them, and I don't suppose anyone ever +will; and people don't know what is the course of the river from the +time it begins this game till it comes out a big river on the southern +plains. You see, the lands are so bad there is no travelling across +them, and the rapids are so terrible that there is no going down them. +Even the Indians never go near the canons if they can help it. I believe +they think the whole thing is the work of an evil spirit." + +"But you said some of the valleys had grass?" + +"Yes; I have gone down one or two myself from the mountains of Utah, +where the stream, instead of cutting a canon for itself, has behaved for +a bit in the ordinary way and made a valley. Wonderfully good places +they were--plenty of grass, plenty of water, and no end of game. I have +spent some months among them, and got a wonderful lot of skins, beavers +principally of course, but half a dozen mountain lions and two +grizzlies. I did not bring home their skins, you bet. They were too +heavy, and I should not have troubled them if they had not troubled me. +There was good fish, too, in the streams, and I never had a better time. +The red-skins happened to be friendly, and I was with a hunter who had a +red-skin wife and a dozen ponies. If it hadn't been for that I should +soon have had to quit, for it ain't no good hunting if you can't carry +away the skins. As it was I made a good job of it, for I got nigh a +thousand dollars for my skins at Utah. + +"Well, here we are at the fort. I guess we may as well make our camp +outside. If you go in you have got to picket your horse here and put +your baggage there and come in at gun-fire, and all sorts of things that +troubles a man who is accustomed to act as he likes." + +The horses were soon picketed. "I will go in first and see who is here, +Tom. There are usually a lot of loafing Indians about these forts, and +though it is safe enough to leave our traps, out on the plain, it will +not do here. We must stay with them, or at any rate keep them in sight; +besides, these two horses would be a temptation to any redskin who +happened to want an animal." + +"I will wait willingly, Jerry; I should know nobody inside the fort if I +went in. I will see to making a fire and boiling the kettle, and I will +have supper ready at seven o'clock." + +"I shall be sure to be back by that time; like enough I sha'n't be a +quarter of an hour away." + +It was but half an hour, indeed, before Tom saw him returning, +accompanied by a tall red-skin. + +"This is a friend of mine, Tom. He was a chief of the Senecas, but his +tribe are nearly wiped out, and he has been all his life a hunter, and +there are few of us who have been much out on the plains who don't know +him. Chief, this is Straight Harry's nephew I was telling you of, who +has come out here to join his uncle. Sit down, we have got some +deer-flesh. Tom here knocked one over on the run at two hundred and +fifty yards by as good a shot as you want to see; while it is cooking we +can smoke a pipe and have a chat." + +The chief gravely seated himself by the fire. + +"What have you been doing since I last saw you up near the Yellowstone?" + +"Leaping Horse has been hunting," the Indian said quietly, with a wave +of his hand, denoting that he had been over a wide expanse of country. + +"I guessed so," Jerry put in. + +"And fighting with 'Rappahoes and Navahoes." + +"Then you've been north and south?" + +The Indian nodded. "Much trouble with both; they wanted our scalps. But +four of the 'Rappahoe lodges are without a master, and there are five +Navahoe widows." + +"Then you were not alone?" + +"Garrison was with me among the 'Rappahoes; and the Shoshone hunter, +Wind-that-blows, was with me when the Navahoes came on our trail." + +"They had better have left you alone, chief. Do you know the Ute +country?" + +"The Leaping Horse has been there. The Utes are dogs." + +"They are troublesome varmint, like most of the others," Jerry agreed. +"I was telling you Straight Harry is up in their country somewhere. Tom +here is anxious to join him, but of course that can't be. You have not +heard anything of him, I suppose?" + +"The Leaping Horse was with him a week ago." + +"You were, chief! Why did you not tell me so when I was saying we did +not know where he was?" + +"My white brother did not ask," the chief said quietly. + +"That is true enough, chief, but you might have told me without asking." + +The Indian made no reply, but continued to smoke his hatchet pipe +tranquilly, as if the remark betrayed such ignorance of Indian manners +that it was not worth replying to. + +Tom took up the conversation now. + +"Was it far from here that you saw him?" + +"Five days' journey, if travel quick." + +"Was he hunting?" Jerry asked. + +"Hunting, and looking for gold." + +"Who had he with him?" + +"Two white men. One was Ben Gulston. Leaping Horse had met him in Idaho. +The other was called Sam, a big man with a red beard." + +"Yes, Sam Hicks; he only came back from California a few months back, so +you would not be likely to have met him before. Were they going to +remain where you left them?" + +The Indian shook his head. "They were going farther north." + +"Farther north!" Jerry repeated. "Don't you mean farther south?" + +"Leaping Horse is not mistaken, he knows his right hand from his left." + +"Of course, of course, chief," the miner said apologetically; "I only +thought that it was a slip of the tongue. Then if they were going +farther north they must have come back in this direction." + +"They were on the banks of the Big Wind River when Leaping Horse met +them." + +"Jerusalem!" the miner exclaimed. "What on airth are they doing there? +Why, we thought they had gone down to the west of the Colorado. I told +you so, chief, when I talked to you about it; and instead of that, here +they are up in the country of the 'Rappahoes and Shoshones." + +"They went south," the Indian said quietly, "and had trouble with the +Utes and had to come back again, then they went north." + +"Ah, that accounts for it. I wonder Harry didn't send word to Pete +Hoskings that he had gone up to the Big Wind River. I ain't heard of +there being any gold in that region, though some think that coming down +through the big hills from Yellowstone Valley on the northwest, metal +might be struck." + +"Going to look for gold a little," the chief said, "hunt much; not stay +there very long, mean to go down south again after a bit. Leaping Horse +go with them." + +"Oh, I see. The Utes had come upon them, and they knew that if they +stopped there they would lose their scalps sooner or later, so they came +up here and made north for a bit to hunt and fossick about in the hills, +and then go back when the Utes had quieted down." + +The chief nodded. + +"Well, well, that alters the affair altogether. Whereabouts did you +leave them?" + +"Near the Buffalo Lake." + +"Don't know it. Where does it lie?" + +"On a stream that runs into the river from the west, from a valley +running up near Fremont's Buttes. They were going up so as to follow the +Riviere de Noir, and then either strike up across the hills to the Upper +Yellowstone, or go out west and come down over the Grosventre range on +to the Wyoming range, and then down through Thompson's Pass, or else +skirt the foot-hills on to the Green River." + +"Waal, chief, I reckon that among all those hills and mountains, one +would have just about the same chance of lighting on them as you would +have of finding a chipmunk in a big pine-forest." + +"Couldn't find," the chief said, "but might follow. If they go fast +never catch them; if wait about, hunt beaver, look for gold and silver, +then might come up to them easy enough, if 'Rappahoes not catch and +kill. Very bad place. Leaping Horse told them so. White brother said he +think so too; but other men think they find gold somewhere, so they go +on. They have got horses, of course. Three horses to ride, three horses +to carry beaver-traps and food. Leaping Horse came back here to sell his +skins. He had promised to meet a friend here, or he would not have left +Straight Harry, who is a good man and a friend of Leaping Horse. Three +men not enough in bad country." + +"Do you think there would be any chance of my finding them?" Tom asked +eagerly. + +A slight gleam of amusement passed over the Indian's face. + +"My brother is very young," he said. "He will be a brave warrior and a +great hunter some day, but his eyes are not opened yet. Were he to try +he would leave his scalp to dry in the 'Rappahoes' lodges." + +"That is just what I told him, chief. It would be sheer madness." + +The Indian made no reply, and Jerry turned the conversation. + +"You don't drink spirits, chief, or I would go and get a bottle from the +fort." + +"Leaping Horse is not a madman," the Indian said scornfully, "that he +should poison his brain with fire-water." + +"Yes; I remembered, chief, that you had fallen into our ways and drink +tea." + +"Tea is good," the Indian said. "It is the best thing the white man has +brought out on to the plains." + +"That is so, chief, except tobacco. We did not bring that; but I reckon +you got it from the Spaniards long ago, though maybe you knew of it +before they came up from the south." + +The meat was now cooked, and Tom took it off the fire and handed the +pieces on the ramrod, that had served as a spit, to the others, together +with some bread, poured out the tea from the kettle, and placed a bag of +sugar before them. There was little talk until after the meal was over. +Then the Indian and Jerry smoked steadily, while Tom took a single pipe, +having only commenced the use of tobacco since he had left Denver. +Presently the Indian arose. + +"In the morning I will see my white friends again," he said, and without +further adieu turned and walked gravely back to the fort. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +LEAPING HORSE + + +"He is a fine fellow," Jerry said, after the Indian had left him. "You +must have a talk with him one of these days over his adventures among +the 'Rappahoes and Navahoes, who are both as troublesome rascals as are +to be found on the plains. An Indian seldom talks of his adventures, but +sometimes when you can get him in the right humour you may hear about +them." "He talks very fair English," Tom said. + +"Yes; he has been ten years among us. He was employed for two or three +years supplying the railway men with meat; but no Indian cares to hunt +long in one place, and he often goes away with parties of either hunters +or gold-seekers. He knows the country well, and is a first-rate shot; +and men are always glad to have him with them. There is no more trusty +red-skin on the plains, and he will go through fire and water for those +whom he regards as his special friends. I should say he is about the one +man alive who could take you to your uncle." + +"Do you think he would?" Tom asked eagerly. + +"Ah, that is another matter; I don't know what his plans are. If he is +engaged to go with another party he will go, for he would not fail +anyone to whom he had made a promise. If he isn't engaged he might +perhaps do it. Not for pay, for he has little use for money. His hunting +supplies him with all he wants. It gives him food, and occasionally he +will go with a bundle of pelts to the nearest town, and the money he +gets for them will supply him with tea and tobacco and ammunition, and +such clothes as he requires, which is little enough. Buckskin is +everlasting wear, and he gets his worked up for him by the women of any +Indian tribe among whom he may be hunting. If he were one of these fort +Indians it would be only a question of money; but it would never do to +offer it to him. He does not forget that he is a chief, though he has +been away so many years from what there is left of his old tribe. If he +did it at all it would be for the sake of your uncle. I know they have +hunted together, and fought the Apaches together. I won't say but that +if we get at him the right way, and he don't happen to have no other +plans in his mind, that he might not be willing to start with you." + +"I should be glad if he would, Jerry. I have been quite dreading to get +to Fort Bridger. I have had such a splendid time of it with you that I +should feel awfully lonely after you had gone on." + +"Yes, I dare say you would feel lonesome. I should have felt lonesome +myself if I did not light upon some mate going the same way. We got on +very well together, Tom. When Pete Hoskings first put it to me whether I +would be willing to take you with me as far as this, I thought that +though I liked you well enough, it would not be in my way to be playing +a sort of schoolmaster business to a young tenderfoot; but I had got to +like the notion before we left Denver, and now it seems to me that we +have had a rare good time of it together." + +"We have indeed, Jerry; at least I have had. Even if the Indian would +agree to take me I should miss you awfully." + +Jerry made no reply, but sat smoking his pipe and looking into the fire. +As he was sometimes inclined to be taciturn, Tom made no attempt to +continue the conversation; and after moving out and shifting the +picket-pegs so as to give the horses a fresh range of grass to munch +during the night, he returned to the fire, wrapped himself in his +blankets and lay down, his "Good-night, Jerry," meeting with no +response, his companion being evidently absorbed in his own thoughts. + +"You are not going on to-day, Jerry, are you?" Tom said, as he threw off +his blankets and sat up in the morning. The sun was not yet up, but +Jerry had already stirred up the embers, put some meat over them to +cook, and put the kettle among them. + +"No, I shall stop here for a day or two, lad. I am in no special hurry, +and have no call to push on. I have not made up my mind about things +yet." + +They had scarcely finished breakfast when Leaping Horse came down from +the fort. + +"Tom here has been asking me, chief, whether there was any chance of +getting you to guide him to his uncle. I said, of course, that I did not +know what your plans were; but that if you had nothing special before +you, possibly you might be willing to do so, as I know that you and +Straight Harry have done some tall hunting and fighting together." + +The Indian's face was impassive. + +"Can my young brother ride day after day and night after night, can he +go long without food and water, is he ready to run the risk of his scalp +being taken by the 'Rappahoes? Can he crawl and hide, can he leave his +horse and travel on foot, can he hear the war-cry of the red-skins +without fear?" + +"I don't say that I can do all these things, chief," Tom said; "but I +can do my best. And, anyhow, I think I can promise that if we should be +attacked you shall see no signs of my being afraid, whatever I may feel. +I am only a boy yet, but I hope I am not a coward." + +"You have come a long way across the sea to find my brother, Straight +Harry. You would not have come so far alone if your heart had been weak. +Leaping Horse is going back to join his white brother again, and will +take you to him." + +Tom felt that any outburst of delight would be viewed with distaste by +this grave Indian, and he replied simply: "I thank you with all my +heart, chief, and I am sure that my uncle will be grateful to you." + +The chief nodded his head gravely, and then, as if the matter were +settled and no more need be said about it, he turned to Jerry: + +"Which way is my white friend going?" + +"I'm dog-goned if I know. I had reckoned to go down past Utah, and to go +out prospecting among the hills, say a hundred miles farther west; then +while I journeyed along with Tom I got mixed in my mind. I should like +to have handed him over safe to Harry; but if Harry had gone down to the +Ute hills with an idea of trying a spot I have heard him speak of, where +he thought he had struck it rich, he might not have cared to have had me +come there, and so I concluded last night it was best the lad should +wait here till Harry got back. Now the thing is altered; they are just +hunting and prospecting, and might be glad to have me with them, and I +might as well be there as anywhere else; so as you are going back there, +I reckon I shall be one of the party." + +"That will be capital, Jerry," Tom said. "With you as well as the chief +we shall be sure to get through; and it will be awfully jolly having you +with us." + +"Don't you make any mistake," the miner said, "I should not be of much +more use in finding them than you would. I ain't been up among the +mountains all these years without learning something, but I ain't no +more than a child by the side of the chief. And don't you think this +affair is going to be a circus. I tell you it is going to be a hard job. +There ain't a dozen white men as have been over that country, and we +shall want to be pretty spry if we are to bring back our scalps. It is a +powerful rough country. There are peaks there, lots of them, ten +thousand feet high, and some of them two or three thousand above that. +There are rivers, torrents, and defiles. I don't say there will be much +chance of running short of food, if it wasn't that half the time one +will be afraid to fire for fear the 'tarnal Indians should hear us. We +ain't got above a month afore the first snows fall. Altogether it is a +risky business, look at it which way you will." + +"Well, Jerry, if it is as bad as that, I don't think it will be right +for you and the chief to risk your lives merely that I should find my +uncle. If he is alive he is sure to come back here sooner or later; or +if he goes some other way back to Denver he will hear from Pete that I +am here, and will either write or come for me." + +"It ain't entirely on your account, lad, as I am thinking of going; and +I am pretty sure the chief would tell you that it is the same with him. +You see, he tried to persuade your uncle to turn back. My opinion is, +that though he had to come here to keep the appointment, he had it in +his mind to go back again to join your uncle. Haven't I about struck +your thoughts, chief?" + +The chief nodded. "My white brother Harry is in danger," he said. +"Leaping Horse had to leave him; but would have started back to-day to +take his place by his side. The Hunting Dog will go with him." + +"I thought so, chief; I am dog-goned if I did not think so. It was +Hunting Dog you came back here to meet, I suppose." + +"Hunting Dog is of my tribe," he said; "he is my sister's son. He came +across the plains to join me. He has hunted in his own country; this is +the first time he has come out to take his place as a man. Leaping Horse +will teach him to be a warrior." + +"That is good; the more the better, so that there ain't too many. Well, +what is your advice, chief? Shall we take our pack pony with the +outfit?" + +The chief shook his head decidedly. "Must travel quick and be able to +gallop fast. My white brothers must take nothing but what they can carry +with them." + +"All right, chief; we will not overload ourselves. We will just take our +robes and blankets, our shooting-irons, some tea and sugar, and a few +pounds of flour. At what time shall we start?" + +"In an hour we will ride out from the fort." + +"We shall be ready. Ten minutes would fix us, except that I must go into +the fort and sell my critter and what flour and outfit we sha'n't want, +to a trader there. + +"I ain't done badly by that deal," Jerry said when he returned. "I have +sold the pony for more than I gave for him; for the red-skins have been +keeping away from the fort of late, and the folks going by are always +wanting horses in place of those that have died on the way. The other +things all sold for a good bit more than we gave for them at Denver. +Carriage comes mighty high on these plains; besides, the trader took his +chances and reckoned them in." + +"How do you mean, Jerry?" + +"Waal, I told him we was going up to the Shoshone Sierra, and intended +to hunt about and to come back, maybe by the Yellowstone and then by the +Bear rivers, and that we would take the price of the goods out in trade +when we got back. That made it a sort of lottery for him, for if we +never came back at all he would never have to pay, so he could afford to +take his risks and offer me a good price. I reckon he thinks he has got +them at a gift. He has given two pieces of paper, one for you and one +for me, saying that he owes the two of us the money; so if I should go +under and you should get back, you will draw it all right." + +They at once proceeded to pack their ponies. Divided between the +saddle-bags of the two animals were four pounds of tea, eight of sugar, +and thirty-six of flour. Each took a good store of ammunition, an extra +pair of breeches, a flannel shirt, and a pair of stockings. The rest of +their clothes had been packed, and taken up by Jerry to the traders to +lie there until their return. + +"That is light enough for anything," Jerry said, when the things were +stowed into the saddle-bags. "Four-and-twenty pounds of grub and five +pounds of ammunition brings it up to nine-and-twenty pounds each, little +enough for a trip that may last three months for aught we know." + +In addition to the ammunition in the saddle-bags, each carried a +powder-horn and a bag of bullets over his shoulder. The revolvers were +in their belts, and the rifles slung behind them. While Jerry was away +at the fort Tom had made and baked three loaves, which were cut up and +put in the holsters. + +"Now we are ready, Tom; the Indians will be out in a minute or two. The +sun is just at its highest." + +Two minutes later the chief and his companion rode out from the gate of +the fort. Jerry and Tom mounted their horses and cantered over to meet +them. As they came up, Tom looked with interest at the young Indian. He +judged him to be about nineteen, and he had a bright and intelligent +face. He was, like his uncle, attired in buckskin; but the shirt was +fringed and embroidered, as was the band that carried his powder-horn, a +gift, doubtless, from some Indian maiden at his departure from his +village. No greetings were exchanged; but the chief and Jerry rode at +once side by side towards the northeast, and Tom took his place by the +side of the young Indian. + +"How are you?" he said, holding out his hand. The young Indian took it +and responded to the shake, but he shook his head. + +"Ah, you don't speak English yet?" Hunting Dog again shook his head. +"That is a pity," Tom went on; "it would have been jolly if we could +have talked together." + +The chief said something to Jerry, who turned around in his saddle. "His +uncle says he can talk some. He has taught him a little when he has paid +visits to the village, but he has had no practice in speaking it. He +will get on after a time." + +All were well mounted, and they travelled fast. Just before sunset they +crossed the Green River at a ford used by the emigrants, and some fifty +miles northeast of Fort Bridger. They had seen a herd of deer by the +way, and the two Indians had dismounted and stalked them. The others +lost sight of them, but when two rifle-shots were heard Jerry said, "We +will take the horses along to them, you may be sure they have got meat; +the chief is a dead shot, and he says that his nephew has also gifts +that way." As they expected, they found the Indians standing beside two +dead deer. Hunting Dog laid open the stomachs with a slash of his knife, +and removed the entrails, then tying the hind legs together swung the +carcasses on to his horse behind the saddle, and the journey was at once +renewed. + +"You will make for Fremont's Buttes, I suppose, chief?" Jerry said, as +after riding up the river for three or four miles so as to be able to +obtain wood for their fire--as for a considerable distance on either +side of the emigrant trail not a shrub was to be seen--they dismounted, +turned the horses loose, lit a fire, and prepared a meal. + +"Yes. We will go over the pass and camp at one of the little lakes at +the head of the north fork, thence we will ride across the plain and +ford Little Wind River, and then follow up the Sage Creek and make our +camp at night on Buffalo Lake. From there we must follow their trail." + +"And where shall we have to begin to look out for the 'Rappahoes?" + +"They may be over the next rise; no one can say. The 'Rappahoes are like +the dead leaves drifting before the wind. They come as far south as the +emigrant trail, and have attacked caravans many times. After to-night we +must look out for them always, and must put out our fires before dark." + +Tom had noticed how carefully the young Indian had selected the wood for +the fire; searching carefully along by the edge of the river for +drift-wood, and rejecting all that contained any sap. He himself had +offered to cut down some wood with the axe he carried strapped to his +saddle, but Hunting Dog had shaken his head. + +"No good, no good," he said. "Make heap smoke; smoke very bad." + +Tom thought that the shrub he was about to cut would give out obnoxious +smoke that would perhaps flavour the meat hanging over it, but when the +Indian added, "Heap smoke, red-skins see a long way," he understood that +Hunting Dog had been so careful in choosing the wood in order to avoid +making any smoke whatever that might attract the attention of Indians at +a distance from them. It was his first lesson in the necessity for +caution; and as darkness set in he looked round several times, half +expecting to see some crouching red-skins. The careless demeanour of his +companions, however, reassured him, for he felt certain that if there +was any fear of a surprise, they would be watchful. + +After supper the Indian talked over with Jerry the route they would most +probably have to pursue. The miner had never been in this part of the +country before; indeed, very few white men, with the exception of +trappers who had married Indian women and had been admitted into their +tribes, had ever penetrated into this, the wildest portion of the Rocky +Mountains. Vague rumours existed of the abundance of game there, and of +the existence of gold, but only one attempt had been made to prospect on +a large scale. This had taken place three years before, when a party of +twenty Californian miners penetrated into the mountains. None of them +returned, but reports brought down by Indians to the settlements were to +the effect that, while working a gold reef they had discovered, they +were attacked and killed to a man by a war party of Sioux. + +"I was mighty nigh being one of that crowd," Jerry said when he told the +story to Tom, as they sat over the camp-fire that night. "I heard of +their start when I got back to Salt Lake City, after being away for some +time among the hills. I legged it arter them as fast as I could, but I +found when I got to the last settlement that they had gone on ten days +before, and as I did not know what line they had followed, and did not +care to cross the pass alone, I gave it up. Mighty lucky thing it was, +though I did not think so at the time." + +"But why should my uncle's party have gone into such a dangerous country +when they knew that the natives were so hostile?" + +"It is a mighty big place, it is pretty nigh as big as all the eastern +states chucked into one, and the red-skins are not thick. No one knows +how many there are, but it is agreed they are not a big tribe. Then it +ain't like the plains, where a party travelling can be seen by an Indian +scout miles and miles away. It is all broken ground, canons and valleys +and rocks. Then again, when we get on the other side of the Wind River +they tell me there are big forests. That is so, chief, isn't it?" + +The chief nodded. "Heap forests," he said, "higher up rocks and bad +lands; all bad. In winter snow everywhere on hills. Red-skins not like +cold; too much cold, wigwam no good." + +"That's it, you see, Tom. We are here a long way above the sea-level, +and so in the hills you soon get above the timber-line. It's barren land +there, just rock, without grass enough for horses, and in winter it is +so all-fired cold that the Indians can't live there in their wigwams. I +reckon their villages are down in the sheltered valleys, and if we don't +have the bad luck to run plump into one of these we may wander about a +mighty long time before we meet with a red-skin. That is what you mean, +isn't it, chief?" + +Leaping Horse grunted an assent. + +"What game is there in the country?" + +"There are wapitis, which are big stag with thundering great horns, and +there are big-horns. Them are mountain sheep; they are mostly up above +the timber-line. Wapitis and big-horns are good for food, but their +skins ain't worth taking off. There is beaver, heaps of them; though I +reckon there ain't as many as there were by a long way, for since the +whites came out here and opened trade, and the red-skins found they +could get good prices for beaver, they have brought them down by +thousands every year. Still, there is no doubt there is plenty left, and +that trappers would do first-rate there if the red-skins were friendly. +In course, there is plenty of b'ars, but unless you happen to have a +thundering good chance it is just as well to leave the b'ars alone, for +what with the chances of getting badly mauled, and what with the weight +of the skin, it don't pay even when you come right side up out of a +tussle." + +"Are there any maps of the region?" + +"None of any account. They are all just guess-work. You may take it that +this is just a heap of mountains chucked down anyhow. Such maps as there +are have been made from tales trappers who came in with pelts have told. +Well, firstly they only knew about just where the tribe they had joined +lived, and in the second place you may bet they warn't such fools as to +tell anything as would help other fellows to get there; so you may put +down that they told very little, and what they did tell was all lies. +Some day or other I suppose there will be an expedition fitted out to go +right through, and to punish these dog-goned red-skins and open the +country; but it will be a long time arter that afore it will be safe +travelling, for I reckon that soldiers might march and march for years +through them mountains without ever catching a sight of a red-skin if +they chose to keep out of their way. And now I reckon we had best get in +atween our blankets." + +The two Indians had already lain down by the fire. Tom was some time +before he could get to sleep. The thought of the wild and unknown +country he was about to enter, with its great game, its hidden gold +treasures, its Indians and its dangers, so excited his imagination that, +tired as he was with the long ride, two or three hours passed before he +fell off to sleep. He was awoke by being shaken somewhat roughly by +Jerry. + +"Why, you are sleeping as sound as a b'ar in a hollow tree," the miner +said. "You are generally pretty spry in the morning." A dip in the cold +water of the river awoke Tom thoroughly, and by the time he had rejoined +his comrades breakfast was ready. The ground rose rapidly as they rode +forward. They were now following an Indian trail, a slightly-marked path +made by the Indians as they travelled down with their ponies laden with +beaver skins, to exchange for ammunition, blankets, and tobacco at the +trading station. The country was barren in the extreme, being covered +only with patches of sage brush. As they proceeded it became more and +more hilly, and distant ridges and peaks could be seen as they crossed +over the crests. + +"These are the bad lands, I suppose?" + +"You bet they are, Tom, but nothing like as bad as you will see afore +you are done. Sage brush will grow pretty nigh everywhere, but there are +thousands of square miles of rock where even sage brush cannot live." + +The hills presently became broken up into fantastic shapes, while +isolated rocks and pinnacles rose high above the general level. + +"How curiously they are coloured," Tom remarked, "just regular bands of +white and red and green and orange; and you see the same markings on all +these crags, at the same level." + +"Just so, Tom. We reckon that this country, and it is just the same down +south, was once level, and the rains and the rivers and torrents cut +their way through it and wore it down, and just these buttes and crags +and spires were left standing, as if to show what the nature of the +ground was everywhere. Though why the different kinds of rocks has such +different colours is more than I can tell. I went out once with an old +party as they called a scientific explorer. I have heard him say this +was all under water once, and sometimes one kind of stuff settled down +like mud to the bottom, sometimes another, though where all the water +came from is more nor I can tell. He said something about the ground +being raised afterwards, and I suppose the water run off then. I did not +pay much attention to his talk, for he was so choke-full of larning, and +had got such a lot of hard names on the tip of his tongue, that there +were no making head or tail of what he was saying." + +Tom had learnt something of the elements of geology, and could form an +idea of the processes by which the strange country at which he was +looking had been formed. + +"That's Fremont's Buttes," the Indian said presently, pointing to a +flat-topped hill that towered above the others ahead. + +"Why, I thought you said it was a fifty-mile ride to-day, Jerry, and we +can't have gone more than half that." + +"How far do you suppose that hill is off?" + +"Three or four miles, I should think." + +"It is over twenty, lad. Up here in the mountains the air is so clear +you can see things plain as you couldn't make out the outlines of down +below." + +"But it seems to me so close that I could make out people walking about +on the top," Tom said a little incredulously. + +"I dare say, lad. But you will see when you have ridden another hour it +won't seem much closer than it does now." + +Tom found out that the miner was not joking with him, as he at first had +thought was the case. Mile after mile was ridden, and the landmark +seemed little nearer than before. Presently Hunting Dog said something +to the chief, pointing away to the right. Leaping Horse at once reined +in, and motioned to his white companions to do the same. + +"What is it, chief?" Jerry asked. + +"Wapiti," he replied. + +"That is good news," the miner said. "It will be lucky if we can lay in +a supply of deer flesh here. The less we shoot after we get through the +pass the better. Shall we go with you, chief?" + +"My white brothers had better ride on slowly," Leaping Horse said. +"Might scare deer. No good lose time." + +Tom felt rather disappointed, but as he went on slowly with Jerry, the +miner said: "You will have plenty of chances later on, lad, and there is +no time to lose in fooling about. The red-skins will do the business." + +Looking back, Tom saw the two Indians gallop away till they neared the +crest of a low swell. Then they leapt from their horses, and stooping +low went forward. In a short time they lay prone on the ground, and +wriggled along until just on the crest. + +"I reckon the stag is just over there somewhere," Jerry said. "The young +red-skin must have caught sight of an antler." + +They stopped their ponies altogether now, and sat watching the Indians. +These were half a mile away, but every movement was as clearly visible +as if they were but a hundred yards distant. The chief raised himself on +his arms and then on to his knees. A moment later he lay down again, and +they then crawled along parallel with the crest for a couple of hundred +yards. Then they paused, and with their rifles advanced they crept +forward again. + +"Now they see them," Jerry exclaimed. + +The Indians lay for half a minute motionless. Then two tiny puffs of +smoke darted out. The Indians rose to their feet and dashed forward as +the sound of their shots reached the ears of their companions. + +"Come on," Jerry said, "you may be sure they have brought down one stag +anyhow. The herd could not have been far from that crest or the boy +would not have seen the antler over it, and the chief is not likely to +miss a wapiti at a hundred yards." + +Looking back presently Tom saw that the Indian ponies had disappeared. + +"Ay, Hunting Dog has come back for them. You may be sure they won't be +long before they are up with us again." + +In a quarter of an hour the two Indians rode up, each having the +hind-quarters of a deer fastened across his horse behind the saddle, +while the tongues hung from the peaks. + +"Kill them both at first shot, chief?" Jerry asked; "I did not hear +another report." + +"Close by," the chief said; "no could miss." + +"It seems a pity to lose such a quantity of meat," Tom remarked. + +"The Indians seldom carry off more than the hindquarters of a deer, +never if they think there is a chance of getting more soon. There is a +lot more flesh on the hindquarters than there is on the rest of the +stag. But that they are wasteful, the red-skins are, can't be denied. +Even when they have got plenty of meat they will shoot a buffalo any day +just for the sake of his tongue." + +It was still early in the afternoon when they passed under the shadow of +the buttes, and, two miles farther, came upon a small lake, the water +from which ran north. Here they unsaddled the horses and prepared to +camp. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +IN DANGER + + +There were no bushes that would serve their purpose near the lake; they +therefore formed their camp on the leeward side of a large boulder. The +greatest care was observed in gathering the fuel, and it burned with a +clear flame without giving out the slightest smoke. + +"Dead wood dries like tinder in this here air," the miner said. "In +course, if there wur any red-skins within two or three miles on these +hills they would make out the camp, still that ain't likely; but any +loafing Indian who chanced to be hunting ten or even fifteen miles away +would see smoke if there was any, and when a red-skin sees smoke, if he +can't account for it, he is darned sartin to set about finding out who +made it." + +The horses fared badly, for there was nothing for them to pick up save a +mouthful of stunted grass here and there. + +"Plenty of grass to-morrow," the chief said in answer to a remark of Tom +as to the scantiness of their feed. "Grass down by Buffalo Lake good." + +Early the next morning they mounted and rode down the hills into Big +Wind River valley. They did not go down to the river itself, but skirted +the foot of the hills until they reached Buffalo Lake. + +"There," the chief said, pointing to a pile of ashes, "the fire of my +white brother." Alighting, he and Hunting Dog searched the ground +carefully round the fire. Presently the younger Indian lightly touched +the chief and pointed to the ground. They talked together, still +carefully examining the ground, and moved off in a straight line some +fifty yards. Then they returned. + +"Indian here," Leaping Horse said, "one, two days ago. Found fire, went +off on trail of white men." + +"That is bad news, chief." + +"Heap bad," the Indian said gravely. + +"Perhaps he won't follow far," Tom suggested. + +The Indian made no answer. He evidently considered the remark to be +foolish. + +"You don't know much of Indian nature yet, Tom," the miner said. "When a +red-skin comes upon the trail of whites in what he considers his +country, he will follow them if it takes him weeks to do it, till he +finds out all about them, and if he passes near one of his own villages +he will tell the news, and a score of the varmint will take up the trail +with him. It's them ashes as has done it. If the chief here had stopped +with them till they started this would not have happened, for he would +have seen that they swept every sign of their fire into the lake. I +wonder they did not think of it themselves. It was a dog-goned foolish +trick to leave such a mark as this. I expect they will be more keerful +arterwards, but they reckoned that they had scarce got into the Indian +country." + +"Do you think it was yesterday the red-skin was here, or the day before, +chief?" + +"Leaping Horse can't say," the Indian replied. "Ground very hard, mark +very small. No rain, trail keep fresh a long time. Only find mark +twice." He led them to a spot where, on the light dust among the rocks, +was the slight impression of a footmark. + +"That is the mark of a moccasin, sure enough," Jerry said; "but maybe +one of the whites, if not all of them, have put on moccasins for the +journey. They reckoned on climbing about some, and moccasins beat boots +anyhow for work among the hills." + +"Red-skin foot," the Indian said quietly. + +"Well, if you say it is, of course it is. I should know it myself if I +saw three or four of them in a line, but as there is only one mark it +beats me." + +"How would you know, Jerry?" + +"A white man always turns out his toes, lad, an Indian walks +straight-footed. There are other differences that a red-skin would see +at once, but which are beyond me, for I have never done any tracking +work." + +The Indian without speaking led them to another point some twenty yards +away, and pointed to another impression. This was so slight that it was +with difficulty that Tom could make out the outline. + +"Yes, that settles it," Jerry said. "You see, lad, when there was only +one mark I could not tell whether it was turned out or not, for that +would depend on the direction the man was walking in. This one is just +in a line with the other, and so the foot must have been set down +straight. Had it been turned out a bit, the line, carried straight +through the first footprint, would have gone five or six yards away to +the right." + +It took Tom two or three minutes to reason this out to himself, but at +last he understood the drift of what his companion said. As the line +through one toe and heel passed along the centre of the other, the foot +must each time have been put down in a straight line, while if the +footprints had been made by a person who turned out his toes they would +never point straight towards those farther on. + +"Well, what is your advice, chief?" Jerry asked. + +"Must camp and eat," the Indian replied, "horses gone far enough. No +fear here, red-skin gone on trail." + +"Do you think there have been more than one, chief?" + +"Not know," Leaping Horse said; "find out by and by." + +Tom now noticed that Hunting Dog had disappeared. + +"Where shall we make the fire?" + +The chief pointed to the ashes. + +"That's it," Jerry said. "If any red-skin came along you see, Tom, there +would be nothing to tell them that more than one party had been here." + +The chief this time undertook the collection of fuel himself, and a +bright fire was presently burning. Two hours later Hunting Dog came +back. He talked for some time earnestly with the chief, and taking out +two leaves from his wampum bag opened them and showed him two tiny heaps +of black dust. Jerry asked no questions until the conversation was done, +and then while Hunting Dog cut off a large chunk of deer's flesh, and +placing it in the hot ashes sat himself quietly down to wait until it +was cooked, he said: + +"Well, chief, what is the news?" + +"The Indian had a horse, Hunting Dog came upon the spot where he had +left it a hundred yards away. When he saw ashes, he came to look at +them. Afterwards he followed the trail quite plain on the soft ground at +head of lake. Over there," and he pointed to the foot of the hills, +"Indian stopped and fired twice." + +"How on earth did he know that, chief?" + +The chief pointed to the two leaves. The scout examined the powder. +"Wads," he said. "They are leather wads, Tom, shrivelled and burnt. What +did he fire at, chief?" + +"Signal. Half a mile farther three other mounted redskins joined him. +They stopped and had heap talk. Then one rode away into hills, the +others went on at gallop on trail." + +"That is all bad, chief. The fellow who went up the hills no doubt made +for a village?" + +The chief nodded. + +"The only comfort is that Harry has got a good start of them. It was a +week from the time you left them before we met you, that is three days +ago, so that if the red-skins took up the trail yesterday, Harry has ten +days' start of them." + +Leaping Horse shook his head. "Long start if travel fast, little start +if travel slow." + +"I see what you mean. If they pushed steadily on up the valley, they +have gone a good distance, but if they stopped to catch beaver or +prospect for gold they may not have got far away. Hadn't we better be +pushing on, chief?" + +"No good, horses make three days' journey; rest well to-day, travel +right on to-morrow. If go farther to-night, little good to-morrow. Good +camp here, all rest." + +"Well, no doubt you are right, chief, but it worries one to think that +while we are sitting here those 'tarnal red-skins may be attacking our +friends. My only hope is that Harry, who has done a lot of Indian +fighting, will hide his trail as much as possible as he goes on, and +that they will have a lot of trouble in finding it." + +The chief nodded. "My white brother, Harry, knows Indian ways. He did +not think he had come to Indian country here or he would not have left +his ashes. But beyond this he will be sure to hide his trail, and the +'Rappahoes will have to follow slow." + +"You think they are 'Rappahoes, chief?" + +"Yes, this 'Rappahoe country. The Shoshones are further north, and are +friendly; the Bannacks and Nez Perces are in northwest, near Snake +River; and the Sioux more on the north and east, on other side of great +mountains. 'Rappahoes here." + +"Waal," Jerry said wrathfully, "onless they catch Harry asleep, some of +the darned skunks will be rubbed out afore they get his scalp. It is a +good country for hiding trail. There are many streams coming down from +the hills into the Big Wind, and they can turn up or down any of them as +they please, and land on rocky ground too, so it would be no easy matter +to track them. By the lay of the country there does not seem much chance +of gold anywheres about here, and, as I reckon, they will be thinking +more of that than of beaver skins, so I think they would push straight +on." + +"Harry said he should get out of Big Wind River valley quick," Leaping +Horse said. "Too many Indians there. Get into mountains other side. Go +up Riviere de Noir, then over big mountains into Sierra Shoshone, and +then down Buffalo through Jackson's Hole, and then strike Snake River. I +told him heap bad Indians in Jackson's Hole, Bannacks, and Nez Perces. +He said not go down into valley, keep on foot-hills. I told him, too bad +journey, but he and other pale-faces thought could do it, and might find +much gold. No good Leaping Horse talk." + +"This is a dog-goned bad business I have brought you into, Tom. I +reckoned we should not get out without troubles, but I did not +calkerlate on our getting into them so soon." + +"You did not bring me here, Jerry, so you need not blame yourself for +that. It was I brought you into it, for you did not make up your mind to +come till I had settled to go with Leaping Horse." + +"I reckon I should have come anyhow," Jerry grumbled. "Directly the +chief said where Harry and the others had gone my mind was set on +joining them. It was a new country, and there wur no saying what they +might strike, and though I ain't a regular Indian-fighter, leaving them +alone when they leave me alone, I can't say as I am averse to a +scrimmage with them if the odds are anyways equal." + +"It is a wonderful country," Tom said, looking at the almost +perpendicular cliffs across the valley, with their regular coloured +markings, their deep fissures, crags, and pinnacles, "and worth coming a +long way to see." + +"I don't say as it ain't curous, but I have seen the like down on the +Colorado, and I don't care if I never see no more of it if we carry our +scalps safe out of this. I don't say as I object to hills if they are +covered with forest, for there is safe to be plenty of game there, and +the wood comes in handy for timbering, but this kind of country that +looks as if some chaps with paint-pots had been making lines all over +it, ain't to my taste noway. Here, lad; I never travel without hooks and +lines; you can get a breakfast and dinner many a day when a gun would +bring down on you a score of red varmints. I expect you will find fish +in the lake. Many of these mountain lakes just swarm with them. You had +better look about and catch a few bugs, there ain't no better bait. +Those jumping bugs are as good as any," and he pointed to a grasshopper, +somewhat to Tom's relief, for the lad had just been wondering where he +should look for bugs, not having seen one since he landed in the States. + +There were two lines and hooks in the miner's outfit, and Tom and +Hunting Dog, after catching some grasshoppers, went down to the lake, +while Jerry and the chief had a long and earnest conversation together. +The baited hooks were scarcely thrown into the water when they were +seized, and in a quarter of an hour ten fine lake trout were lying on +the bank. Tom was much delighted. He had fished from boats, but had +never met with much success, and his pleasure at landing five fish +averaging four or five pounds apiece was great. As it was evidently +useless to catch more, they wound up their lines, and Hunting Dog split +the fish open and laid them down on the rock, which was so hot that Tom +could scarce bear his hand on it. + +Seeing the elder men engaged in talk Tom did not return to them, but +endeavoured to keep up a conversation with the young Indian, whom he +found to be willing enough to talk now they were alone, and who knew +much more English than he had given him credit for. As soon as the sun +set the fire was extinguished, and they lay down to sleep shortly +afterwards. An hour before daylight they were in the saddle. Hunting Dog +rode ahead on the line he had followed the day before. As soon as it +became light Tom kept his eyes fixed upon the ground, but it was only +now and then, when the Indian pointed to the print of a horse's hoof in +the sand between the rocks, that he could make them out. The two Indians +followed the track, however, without the slightest difficulty, the +horses going at a hand gallop. + +"They don't look to me like horses' footprints," Tom said to Jerry when +they had passed a spot where the marks were unusually clear. + +"I reckon you have never seen the track of an unshod horse before, Tom. +With a shod horse you see nothing but the mark of the shoe, here you get +the print of the whole hoof. Harry has been careful enough here, and has +taken the shoes off his ponies, for among all the marks, we have not +seen any made by a shod horse. The Indians never shoe theirs, and the +mark of an iron is enough to tell the first red-skin who passes that a +white man has gone along there. The chief and I took off the shoes of +the four horses yesterday afternoon when you were fishing. We put them +and the nails by to use when we get out of this dog-goned country." + +After riding for two hours they came to the bank of a stream. The chief +held up his hand for them to stop, while he dismounted and examined the +foot-marks. Then he mounted again and rode across the stream, which was +some ten yards wide and from two to three feet deep. He went on a short +distance beyond it, leapt from his saddle, threw the reins on the +horse's neck, and returned to the bank on foot. He went a short distance +up the stream and then as much down, stooping low and examining every +inch of the ground. Then he stood up and told the others to cross. + +[Illustration: "Leaping Horse Mounted, And Rode Across The Stream"] + +"Leave your horses by mine," he said as they joined him. "Trail very +bad, all rock." He spoke to the young Indian, who, on dismounting, at +once went forward, quartering the ground like a spaniel in search of +game, while the chief as carefully searched along the bank. + +"Best leave them to themselves, Tom; they know what they are doing." + +"They are hunting for the trail, Jerry, I suppose?" + +"Ay, lad. Harry struck on a good place when he crossed where he did, for +you see the rock here is as smooth as the top of a table, and the wind +has swept it as clean of dust as if it had been done by an eastern +woman's broom. If the horses had been shod there would have been +scratches on the rock that would have been enough for the dullest Indian +to follow, but an unshod horse leaves no mark on ground like this. I +expect the red-skins who followed them were just as much puzzled as the +chief is. There ain't no saying whether they crossed and went straight +on, or whether they never crossed at all or kept in the stream either up +or down." + +It was half an hour before the two Indians had concluded their +examination of the ground. + +"Well, chief, what do you make of it?" Jerry asked when they had spoken +a few words together. + +"Hunting Dog has good eyes," the chief said. "The white men went +forward, the red men could not find the trail, and thought that they had +kept in the river, so they went up to search for them. Come, let us go +forward." + +The miner and Tom mounted their horses, but the Indians led theirs +forward some three hundred yards. Then Hunting Dog pointed down, and the +chief stooped low and examined the spot. + +"What is it, chief?" Jerry asked; and he and Tom both got off and knelt +down. They could see nothing whatever. + +"That is it," Leaping Horse said, and pointed to a piece of rock +projecting half an inch above the flat. + +"I am darned if I can see anything." + +"There is a tiny hair there," Tom said, putting his face within a few +inches of the ground. "It might be a cat's hair; it is about the length, +but much thicker. It is brown." + +"Good!" the chief said, putting his hand on Tom's shoulder. "Now let us +ride." He leapt into his saddle, the others following his example, and +they went on at the same pace as before. + +"Well, chief," the miner said, "what does that hair tell you about it, +for I can't make neither head nor tail of it?" + +"The white men killed a deer on their way up here, and they cut up the +hide and made shoes for horses, so that they should leave no tracks. One +of the horses trod on a little rock and a hair came out of the hide." + +"That may be it, chief," the miner said, after thinking the matter over, +"though it ain't much of a thing to go by." + +"Good enough," Leaping Horse said. "We know now the line they were +taking. When we get to soft ground see trail plainer." + +"What will the others do when they cannot find the trail anywhere along +the bank?" + +"Ride straight on," the chief said. "Search banks of next river, look at +mouths of valleys to make sure white men have not gone up there, meet +more of tribe, search everywhere closely, find trail at last." + +"Well, that ought to give Harry a good start, anyhow." + +"Not know how long gone on," the chief said gravely. "No rainfall. Six, +eight--perhaps only two days' start." + +"But if they always hide their trail as well as they did here I don't +see how the Indians can find them at all--especially as they don't know +where they are making for, as we do." + +"Find camp. Men on foot may hide traces, but with horses sure to find." + +"That is so," Jerry agreed, shaking his head. "An Indian can see with +half an eye where the grass has been cropped or the leaves stripped off +the bushes. Yes, I am afraid that is so. There ain't no hiding a camp +from Indian eyes where horses have been about. It is sure to be near a +stream. Shall you look for them, chief?" + +The Indian shook his head. "Lose time," he said. "We go straight to +Riviere de Noir." + +"You don't think, then, they are likely to turn off before that?" + +"Leaping Horse thinks not. They know Indian about here. Perhaps found +Indian trail near first camp. Know, anyhow, many Indians. Think push +straight on." + +"That is the likeliest. Anyhow, by keeping on we must get nearer to +them. The worst danger seems to me that we may overtake the red-skins +who are hunting them." + +The chief nodded. + +"It is an all-fired fix, Tom," Jerry went on. "If we go slow we may not +be in time to help Harry and the others to save their scalps; if we go +fast we may come on these 'tarnal red-skins, and have mighty hard work +in keeping our own ha'r on." + +"I feel sure that the chief will find traces of them in time to prevent +our running into them, Jerry. Look how good their eyes are. Why, I might +have searched all my life without noticing a single hair on a rock." + +After riding some fifteen miles beyond the stream, and crossing two +similar though smaller rivulets, the chief, after a few words with +Jerry, turned off to the left and followed the foot of the hills. At the +mouth of a narrow valley he stopped, examined the ground carefully, and +then led the way up it, carrying his rifle in readiness across the peak +of the saddle. The valley opened when they had passed its mouth, and a +thick grove of trees grew along the bottom. As soon as they were beneath +their shelter they dismounted. + +The horses at once began to crop the grass. Hunting Dog went forward +through the trees, rifle in hand. + +"Shall I take the bits out of the horses' mouths, Jerry?" Tom asked. + +"Not till the young Indian returns. It is not likely there is a red-skin +village up there, for we should have seen a trail down below if there +had been. Still there may be a hut or two, and we can do nothing till he +comes back." + +It was half an hour before Hunting Dog came through the trees again. He +shook his head, and without a word loosened the girths of his horse and +took off the bridle. + +"He has seen no signs of them, so we can light a fire and get something +to eat. I am beginning to feel I want something badly." + +Thus reminded, Tom felt at once that he was desperately hungry. They had +before starting taken a few mouthfuls of meat that had been cooked the +day before and purposely left over, but it was now three o'clock in the +afternoon, and he felt ravenous. The Indians quickly collected dried +wood, and four of the fish were soon frizzling on hot ashes, while the +kettle, hung in the flame, was beginning to sing. + +"We have done nigh forty miles, Tom, and the horses must have a couple +of hours' rest. We will push on as fast as we can before dark, and then +wait until the moon rises; it will be up by ten. This ain't a country to +ride over in the dark. We will hide up before morning, and not go on +again till next night. Of course we shall not go so fast as by day, but +we sha'n't have any risk of being ambushed. The chief reckons from what +he has heard that the Indian villages are thick along that part of the +valley, and that it will never do to travel by day." + +"Then you have given up all hopes of finding Harry's tracks?" + +"It would be just wasting our time to look for them. We will push on +sharp till we are sure we are ahead of them. We may light upon them by +chance, but there can be no searching for them with these red varmint +round us. It would be just chucking away our lives without a chance of +doing any good. I expect Harry and his party are travelling at night +too; but they won't travel as fast as we do, not by a sight. They have +got pack-ponies with them, and they are likely to lay off a day or two +if they come upon a good place for hiding." + +They travelled but a few miles after their halt, for the Indians +declared they could make out smoke rising in two or three places ahead; +and although neither Jerry nor Tom could distinguish it, they knew that +the Indians' sight was much keener than their own in a matter of this +kind. They therefore halted again behind a mass of rocks that had fallen +down the mountain-side. Hunting Dog lay down among the highest of the +boulders to keep watch, and the horses were hobbled to prevent their +straying. The miner and the chief lit their pipes, and Tom lay down on +his back for a sleep. A short time before it became dusk the call of a +deer was heard. + +"There are wapiti, chief. We can't take a shot at them; but it don't +matter, we have meat enough for a week." + +The chief had already risen to his feet, rifle in hand. + +"It is a signal from Hunting Dog," he said, "he has seen something in +the valley. My white brother had better get the horses together," and he +made his way up the rocks. In a minute or two he called out that the +horses might be left to feed, and presently came leisurely down to them. +"Seen Indians--ten 'Rappahoes." + +"Which way were they going?" + +"Riding from Big Wind River across valley. Been away hunting among hills +over there. Have got meat packed on horses, ride slow. Not have heard +about white men's trail. Going to village, where we saw smoke." + +Tom was fast asleep when Jerry roused him, and told him that the moon +was rising, and that it was time to be off. + +They started at a walk, the chief leading; Jerry followed him, while Tom +rode between him and Hunting Dog, who brought up the rear. Tom had been +warned that on no account was he to speak aloud. "If you have anything +you want to say, and feel that you must say it or bust," Jerry remarked, +"just come up alongside of me and whisper it. Keep your eyes open and +your rifle handy, we might come upon a party any minute. They might be +going back to their village after following Harry's trail as long as +they could track it, or it might be a messenger coming back to fetch up +food, or those fellows Hunting Dog made out going on to join those in +front. Anyhow we have got to travel as quiet as if there was ears all +round us." + +As they passed the clumps of trees where the Indian villages stood they +could see the reflection of the fires on the foliage, and heard the +frequent barking of dogs and an occasional shout. A quarter of a mile +farther the chief halted and spoke to Hunting Dog, who at once +dismounted and glided away towards the village. + +"Gone to see how many men there," the chief said in explanation to +Jerry. "Too much laugh, no good." + +"He means the men must have gone off again, Tom. If there were men in +the camp the boys would not be making a noise." + +They were but a few hundred yards from the trees, and in a very short +time the Indian returned. + +"Men are gone," he said; "only squaws and boys there." + +"How many lodges are there?" the chief asked. Hunting Dog held up both +hands with extended fingers, and then one finger only. + +"Eleven of them," Jerry said. "I expect they are all small villages, and +they move their lodges across into the forests when winter comes on." + +As soon as they had mounted, the chief put his horse into a canter, and +at this pace they went forward for some hours, breaking into a walk +occasionally for a few minutes. + +"I thought you said we should not go beyond a walk to-night, Jerry," Tom +remarked on the first of these occasions. + +"That is what we kinder agreed, lad; but you may be sure the chief has +some good reason for going on faster. I dunno what it is, and I ain't +going to ask. Red-skins hate being questioned. If he wants to tell us he +will tell us without being asked." + +A faint light was stealing over the sky when the chief halted his horse +and sat listening. No sound, however, broke the stillness of the night. + +"Did you think you heard anything, chief?" + +"Leaping Horse heard nothing, but he stopped to listen. What does my +white brother think of the 'Rappahoes having gone on directly they +returned from the chase?" + +"I thought that when they got the news that some white men had gone +through, they might have started to join those following up the trail. +Isn't that what you think, chief?" + +"Only three white men, plenty Indians on trail; no hurry to follow; +might have had feast after hunt and gone on in morning." + +"So they might. You think the whites have been tracked, and are to be +attacked this morning?" + +"Perhaps attacked yesterday. Perhaps have got strong place, 'Rappahoes +want more help to take it. White rifle shoot straight, perhaps want more +men to starve them out." + +They again went forward, at a gallop now. Jerry did not think much of +the chief's idea. It seemed to him natural that the Indians should want +to join in the hunt for scalps, and to get a share of the white men's +goods, though he admitted that it was strange they should have gone on +without taking a meal. Presently the chief reined in his horse again, +and sat with head bent forward. Tom heard an angry grunt from between +Hunting Dog's teeth. Listening intently also, he was conscious of a +faint, far-away sound. + +"You hear?" the chief said to Jerry. + +"I heard something; but it might be anything. A waterfall in the hills +miles away, that is what it sounds like." + +"Guns," the chief said laconically. + +"Do you think so?" Jerry said doubtfully. "There don't seem to me +anything of guns in it. It is just a sort of murmur that keeps on and +on." + +"It is the mountains speaking back again," the chief said, waving his +hand. "Hills everywhere. They say to each other, the red men who live in +our bosoms are attacking the pale-face strangers." + +"What do you think, Hunting Dog?" Tom whispered to the Indian. + +"Gun-shot," he replied, in a tone of absolute conviction. + +"Waal, chief, I will not gainsay your opinion," Jerry said. "How far do +you think it is off?" + +"The horses will take us there in two hours," the chief replied. + +"Then we can put it at twenty miles at least. Let us be going; whatever +the sound is, we shall know more about it before we have gone much +farther." + +"Not too fast," Leaping Horse said as the miner was urging his horse +forward. "Maybe have to fight, maybe have to run. No good tire horse too +much." + +It was more than an hour before Tom could hear any distinct change in +the character of the sound, but at last he was able to notice that, +though seemingly continuous, the sound really pulsated; sometimes it +almost died away, then suddenly swelled out again, and there were +several vibrations close together. Jerry, more accustomed to the sound +of firearms in the mountains, had before this come round to the chief's +opinion. + +"It is guns, sure enough, Tom; the chief has made no mistake about it. +Waal, there is one comfort, they ain't been surprised. They are making a +good fight of it, and we may be there in time to take a hand in the +game." + +"Shall we ride straight on and join them?" + +"I reckon not, lad. We must wait until we see what sort of place Harry +is in, and how we can best help him, before we fix on any scheme." + +The sound became louder and clearer. The echo was still continuous, but +the sound of the shots could be distinctly heard. + +"It is over there, to the right," Jerry said. "They must have crossed +the Big Wind River." + +"And gone up the De Noir valley," the chief said. "We ought to be close +to it now." + +"Yes, I reckon it can't be far off, by what you told me about the +distance." + +"Better cross Big Wind at once. They no see us now." + +"I agree with you, chief; it would not do for them to get sight of us. +If they did our case would be worse than Harry's. I expect he has got +strongly posted, or he would have been wiped out long ago; that is what +would happen to us if they were to make us out and spy our numbers afore +we get to some place where we and Harry's outfit can help each other." + +They rode rapidly down to the river. With the exception of a few yards +in the middle, where the horses had to swim, the depth was not great, +and they were soon on the other side. They rode to the foot of the +hills, and then kept along it. The sound of firing became louder and +louder, and Tom felt his heart beat quickly at the thought that he might +soon be engaged in a desperate fight with the Indians, and that with the +odds greatly against his party. + +Presently the hills fell sharply away, and they were at the entrance of +the valley of the Riviere de Noir, which is the principal arm of the Big +Wind River at this point. The firing had very much died out during the +last few minutes, and only an occasional shot was heard. + +"They have beat off the attack so far," Jerry said to him encouragingly. +"Now we have got to lie low a bit, while the chief sees how things +stand." + +Leaping Horse dismounted at the mouth of a narrow canon running up into +the cliff beside them. A little stream trickled down its centre. + +"Could not have been better," Jerry said. "Here is a place we four could +hold against a crowd of red-skins for hours. There is water anyway, and +where there is water there is mostly a little feed for horses. I will +take your horse, chief, and Tom will take Hunting Dog's, if so be you +mean him to go with you. + +"Don't you worry yourself, lad," he went on, seeing how anxious Tom +looked, as they started with the horses up the canon. "If Harry and his +friends have beaten off the first attack, you may bet your boots they +are safe for some time. It is clear the red-skins have drawn off, and +are holding a pow-wow as to how they are to try next. They attacked, you +see, just as the day was breaking; that is their favourite hour, and I +reckon Harry must have been expecting them, and that he and his mates +were prepared." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +UNITED + + +The canon showed no sign of widening until they had proceeded a quarter +of a mile from the entrance, then it broadened suddenly for a distance +of a hundred yards. + +"There has been a big slip here both sides," the miner said, looking +round. "It must have taken place a great many years ago, for the winter +floods have swept away all signs of it, and there are grass and trees on +the slopes. The horses can find enough to keep them alive here for a day +or two, and that is all we shall want, I hope." + +"It would be a nasty place to get out of, Jerry, for the cliffs are +perpendicular from half-way up." + +"It ain't likely as there is any place we could get out without +following it to the upper end, which may be some fifty miles away. I +don't know the country it runs through, but the red-skins are pretty +certain to know all about it. If they were to track us here they would +never try to fight their way in, but would just set a guard at the mouth +and at the upper end and starve us out. It is a good place to hide in, +but a dog-goned bad one to be caught in. However, I hope it ain't coming +to that. It is we who are going to attack them, and not them us, and +that makes all the difference. The red-skins can't have a notion that +there are any other white men in this neighbourhood, and when we open +fire on them it will raise such a scare for a bit that it will give us a +chance of joining the others if we choose. That of course must depend on +their position." + +They walked back to the mouth of the canon, and had not to wait long for +the return of the Indians. + +"Come," Leaping Horse said briefly, at once turning and going off at a +swift pace. + +Jerry asked no questions, but with Tom followed close on the Indians' +heels. There were bushes growing among the fallen rocks and debris from +the face of the cliff, and they were, therefore, able to go forward as +quickly as they could leap from boulder to boulder, without fear of +being seen. A quarter of an hour's run, and the chief climbed up to a +ledge on the face of the cliff where a stratum harder than those above +it had resisted the effects of the weather and formed a shelf some +twelve feet wide. He went down on his hands and knees, and keeping close +to the wall crawled along to a spot where some stunted bushes had made +good their hold. The others followed him, and lying down behind the +bushes peered through them. + +The valley was four or five hundred yards wide, and down its centre ran +the stream. Close to the water's edge rose abruptly a steep rock. It was +some fifty feet in height and but four or five yards across at the top. +On the north and west the rocks were too perpendicular to be climbed, +but the other sides had crumbled down, the stones being covered with +brushwood. From the point where they were looking they could see the six +horses lying among the bushes. They were evidently tightly roped, and +had probably been led up there when the attack began and thrown at the +highest point to which they could be taken, a spot being chosen where +the bushes concealed their exact position from those below. The rock was +about two hundred and fifty yards from the spot where the party was +lying, and their position was about level with its top. Some twenty +Indians were gathered a few hundred yards higher up the valley, and +about as many some distance down it. + +"Why didn't the varmint take their places here?" Jerry whispered to the +chief. + +"They came here. See," and he pointed to a patch of blood a few feet +beyond him. "Indian guns not shoot far," he said, "powder weak; white +man's rifles carry here, red-skin not able to shoot so far. When they +found that, went away again." + +"What are they going to do now, do you think?" + +"Soon attack again." + + +Half an hour passed, and then a loud yell gave the signal and the two +troops galloped towards the rock. They had evidently had experience of +the accuracy of the white men's fire; not an Indian showed himself, each +dropping over one side of his pony, with an arm resting in a rope round +the animals' necks and one leg thrown over the back. So they dashed +forward until close to the foot of the rocks. Another instant and they +would have thrown themselves from their horses and taken to the bushes, +but although hidden from the sight of the defenders of the position, +they were exposed to the full view of the party on the ledge, from whom +they were distant not more than two hundred yards. The chief fired +first, and almost together the other three rifles flashed out. Three of +the Indians fell from their horses, another almost slipped off, but with +an effort recovered his hold with his leg. A yell of astonishment and +fear broke from the Indians. As the two bands mingled together, some of +the riders were exposed to those on the top of the rock, and three shots +were fired. Two more of the 'Rappahoes fell, and the whole band in +obedience to a shout from one of their chiefs galloped at full speed +down the valley. The three men sprang to their feet, waving their hats, +while the party on the ledge also leapt up with a shout. + +"It's you, chief, I see!" one of those on the rocks shouted. "I have +been hoping ever since morning to hear the crack of your rifle, and I +never heard a more welcome sound. We should have been rubbed out sure. +Who have you got with you?" + +"It's Jerry Curtis, Harry. I come up along with Leaping Horse, though I +did not expect to find you in such a bad fix. This young Indian is +Hunting Dog, and this young chap next to me is your nephew, Tom Wade. +You did not expect to meet him like this, I reckon?" + +While he had been speaking, all had reloaded their rifles. + +"You had best go across and talk it over with Harry, chief, and consart +measures with him for getting out of this fix. Those red-skins have got +a bad scare, but you may bet they ain't gone far; and they have lost six +of their bucks now beside what the others shot before, and it ain't in +Indian natur for them to put up with such a loss as that." He had been +looking at the rock as he spoke, and turning round uttered an +exclamation of surprise, for the chief was no longer there. Looking down +they saw that he had managed to make his way down the face of the cliff, +and in another two minutes was ascending the rock. There he stood for +some time in earnest conversation with the whites, and then returned to +the ledge. + +"Trouble over horses," he said. + +"Ay, ay, I reckoned that was what you was talking over. There ain't no +going back for them now." + +The chief shook his head. "'Rappahoes keep watch," he said, "cannot go +till night to fetch horses. All lie here to-day, go across to rock when +darkness comes, then white men go up valley till get to trees an hour's +march away; can see them from rock. Get in among trees and work up into +hills. Leaping Horse and Hunting Dog cross river, go down other side +past 'Rappahoes, then cross back and get into canon, drive horses up. +White men meet them up in mountains." + +"That seems a good plan enough, chief. That is, if you can get out at +the other end of the canon." + +"Canon little up high," the chief replied. "Find some place to climb." + +"But they may find the horses to-day." + +The Indian nodded. "May find, perhaps not." + +"Why should we not go across to the rock at once, chief?" + +"Indian count on fingers how many. They do not know we only four; much +troubled in their mind where men come from, who can be. Red-skins not +like white men. Have many fancies. Fire come out of bush where 'Rappahoe +had been killed; think that bad medicine, keep together and talk. Think +if men here, why not go across to rock." + +"I should not be surprised if you are right, chief. They are more likely +to fancy we have come down from above than from below, for they must +have reckoned for sure there were no other white men in the Big Wind +valley, and our not showing ourselves will give them an all-fired +scare." + +"What does the chief mean by bad medicine, Jerry?" Tom asked. + +"A red-skin is full of all sorts of ideas. Anything he can't make head +nor tail of, is bad medicine; they think there is some magic in it, and +that old Nick has had his finger in the pie. When they get an idea like +that in their minds, even the bravest of them loses his pluck, and is +like a child who thinks he has seen a ghost. It is a mighty good notion +for us to lie low all day. The red-skins will reason it all out, and +will say, if these are white men who killed our brothers why the 'tarnal +don't they go and join the others, there ain't nothing to prevent them. +If they ain't white men, who are they? Maybe they can move without our +being able to see them and will shoot from some other place. No, I +reckon it is likely they will keep pretty close together and won't +venture to scatter to look for tracks, and in that case the chief's plan +will work out all right. In course, a good deal depends on their chief; +one of them is among those we shot, you can make out his feathers from +here. If he is the boss chief, it may be that they will give it up +altogether; the next chief will throw the blame on to him, and may like +enough persuade them to draw off altogether. If it ain't the boss chief, +then they are bound to try again. He would not like to take them back to +their villages with the news that a grist of them had been killed and +narry a scalp taken. I expect you will see this afternoon some of them +come down to palaver with Harry." + +The morning passed quietly and not unpleasantly, for they were lying in +the shade, but before noon the sun had climbed up over the cliff behind +them and shone down with great force, and they had to lie with their +heads well under the bushes to screen them from its rays. Presently, +Leaping Horse said: + +"Indian chief come, no lift heads." + +All shifted their position so as to look down the valley. An Indian +chief, holding up his hands to show that he was unarmed, was advancing +on foot, accompanied by another Indian also without arms. + +"There is Harry going down to meet them," Jerry said. + +Tom looked eagerly at the figure that came down from the rock and +advanced to meet the Indians. It seemed strange to him that after having +come so far to join his uncle they should remain for hours in sight of +each other without meeting. It was too far to distinguish his features, +but he saw by the light walk and easy swing of the figure that his uncle +was a much more active man than he had expected to see. He had known +indeed that he was but forty years old, but he had somehow expected that +the life of hardship he had led would have aged him, and he was +surprised to see that his walk and figure were those of a young man. + +"Is it not rather dangerous, his coming down alone to meet two of them? +They may have arms hidden." + +"They have got arms, you maybe sure," Jerry replied. "They have knives +for certain, and most likely tomahawks, but I expect Harry has got his +six-shooter. But it don't matter whether he has or not, there are his +two mates up on that rock with their rifles, and we are across here. The +'Rappahoes would know well enough their lives wouldn't be worth a red +cent if they were to try any of their games. They don't mean business; +they will make out they have come to persuade Harry and his mates to +give up, which they know quite well they ain't fools enough to do. But +what is really in their minds is to try and find out who we are, and +where we have come from." + +The conversation lasted a few minutes. Tom could see that questions were +being asked about the concealed party, for the chief pointed to the +ledge two or three times. When the talk was over the Indians went down +the valley again at a slow pace, never once looking back, and the +Englishman returned to the rocks. + +"I don't suppose they have got much from Harry." + +"I suppose uncle talks their language?" + +"No, I don't reckon he knows the 'Rappahoe dialect. But the tribes on +the western side of the plains can mostly understand each other's talk; +and as I know he can get on well with the Utes, he is sure to be able to +understand the 'Rappahoes' talk." + +"Leaping Horse will go along the ledge," the chief said a few minutes +later, after a short conversation with Hunting Dog. "The 'Rappahoes will +try to find out who are here; not like to attack the rock till find +out." + +The two Indians lay down flat on the ledge, and crawled along without +raising themselves in the slightest until they reached a point where the +cliffs projected somewhat. From here they could see down the valley, and +they lay immovable, with their rifles in front of them. + +"They are not more than fifty yards or so from those bushes where we got +up on to the ledge. That is where the red-skins are likely to try +crawling up, for there they would be out of sight of the rock." + +"Surely they would never venture to come along the ledge in daylight, +Jerry. They would have to pass along under the fire of uncle and his +mates, and would have our rifles to meet in front." + +"No, it would only be one, or at most, two scouts. They would reckon +that from that point where the chief is lying they would get a view +right along the ledge to here, and be able to make out what we are. It +is the strangeness of the thing that has kept them quiet all these +hours, and I expect their chief will want to prove that there are only a +few of us, and that we are men for certain. I reckon they have sent off +to the villages already, and there will be more of the varmint here +to-night. The Indians are never fond of attacking in the dark; still, if +they were sure about us, they might try it. They would know they could +get up to the foot of that rock before being seen, and once among the +bushes they would reckon they could make easy work of it." + +A quarter of an hour later there was the crack of a rifle, followed +instantly by an Indian yell. + +"That is the chief's piece, Tom, and I reckon the lead has gone +straight." + +The silence remained unbroken for the next two hours, and then Leaping +Horse crawled back as quietly as he had gone. + +"What was it, chief?" + +"It was a 'Rappahoe, who will scout no more," the chief said quietly. +"He came up the bushes, but before he could step on to the ledge Leaping +Horse fired, and he will take no tales back to his tribe." + +"They won't try again, chief?" + +Leaping Horse shook his head. "First take rock," he said, "then when +they have the scalps of the white men they will watch us here. Will know +we cannot stay here long without water." + +"You are right there, chief, and no m'stake; my tongue is like a piece +of leather now, and as soon as it gets dark I shall make a bee-line down +to the river. I want to have a talk with Harry, but just at present I +want a drink a blamed sight worse. If I had thought we were going to be +stuck up here all day I would have brought my water-bottle with me." + +The time passed very slowly, although the air became cooler as soon as +the sun had gone down behind the opposite range. As soon as the light +faded a little, the Indian crawled farther along the ledge, and returned +in a short time saying that he had found a spot where the whites could +descend. Two or three times Jerry urged that it was dark enough, before +the chief consented to move. At last, however, he stood up and gave the +cry of an owl, and they were in a minute or two joined by Hunting Dog, +who had until now remained at his post. The chief at once led the way +along the ledge until he reached the spot where the rock had crumbled +away somewhat. + +"We had better go down one at a time," Jerry said. "For if there was a +slip or a tumble it might let down a gun-hammer, and we want our lead +for the 'Rappahoes, and not for each other." + +When it came to Tom's turn, he found it a very difficult place to get +down in the semi-darkness, and two or three times he almost lost his +footing. As soon as all were down they fell into Indian file, and +crossed the valley to the rock, the chief giving the hoot of an owl +twice as he approached it. Three men at once stepped out from the bushes +at its foot. + +"I began to wonder when you were coming, and was just going to get the +ponies down before it was too dark to do it without running the risk of +breaking their legs. Well, I am right glad to see you, Jerry; and you +too, Tom, though it is too dark to see much of you. The chief has been +telling me how he brought you along. There is no time to talk now, but I +am right glad to see you, lad" and he shook Tom heartily by the hand. +"Now, mates, let us get the horses down." + +"I must make tracks for the water first, Harry, the young un and I are +pretty near choking; and I expect the Indians are as bad, though it +ain't their natur to talk about it." + +"Get down horses first," the chief said. "Too dark soon." + +"Waal, I suppose five minutes won't make much difference," Jerry +grumbled, "so here goes." + +"I have tied some hide over their hoofs," Harry said, "so as to make as +little noise as possible about it." + +"Must make no noise," the chief said urgently. "Redskin scouts soon be +crawling up." + +One by one the horses were brought down, Harry leading them, and the +others pushing aside the bushes as noiselessly as possible. Then their +loads were carried down and packed upon them. + +"You get on my horse, Jerry," Harry Wade whispered, "I will walk with +Tom. I have had no time to say a word to him yet, or to ask about the +people at home. Where is the chief?" + +Leaping Horse and his companion had stolen away as soon as the loads had +been adjusted. The others led the horses to the river, and allowed them +to drink, while Jerry and Tom lay down and took a long draught of the +water. The miners' bottles were filled, and they then started. + +"It is lucky the river makes such a roar among these rocks here," Harry +said, "it will drown the sound of the horses' hoofs." + +For half an hour they proceeded at a fast walk, then the skins were +taken off the horses' feet and they went on at a trot, the two Wades +taking hold of Jerry's stirrup-leathers and running alongside. In half +an hour they entered the belt of trees, and dismounting, at once began +to ascend the hill. They were some distance up when they heard a distant +yell. + +"You may yell as much as you like," Jerry panted, "you won't catch us +now. They have been a mighty long time finding out we were gone." + +"They could not make out about you," Harry said. "I could see by the +chief's manner, and the glances the Indian with him kept giving to the +place where you were lying, that they were puzzled and alarmed. They +offered if we would surrender that they would allow us to return down +the valley without hurt. I said, of course, that I preferred staying +where I was; we had come up the valley and intended going farther; we +didn't want to interfere with them, and if they had left us alone we +should have left them alone; and they had only themselves to thank for +the loss of some of their braves. 'We have,' I said, 'many friends, who +will protect us, and much harm will fall on the Indians who venture to +meddle with us.' + +"'Are your friends white men?' the chief asked. 'Have they wings that +they have flown down here from the hills?' + +"'They have come, that is enough,' I said. 'You see, when they were +wanted they were here, and if they are wanted again you will hear of +them, and your braves will die, and you will gain nothing. You had best +go back to your lodges and leave us to go away in peace. Whoever they +are, they can shoot, as you have found out to your cost. They have no +ill-will to the red-skins, providing the redskins let us alone. They +only fired four shots; if they had wished to, they could have killed +many more.' When the chief saw that he could get nothing further from me +he went away. As usual he spoke boastfully at last, and said that he had +offered peace to us, and if war came, it would be our faults. I laughed, +and said that we could take care of ourselves, and preferred doing so to +trusting ourselves in the hands of the 'Rappahoes, when we had made some +of their squaws widows." + +"Would they have kept their word, uncle, do you think?" Tom asked. + +"Not they. There are a few of the Indian tribes whose word can be taken, +but as a rule words mean nothing with them, and if we had put ourselves +in their power they would have tomahawked us instantly, or else taken us +down and tortured us at their villages, which would have been a deal +worse. I have no doubt they had a long talk after the chief returned to +them, and that it was some time after it became dark before they could +pluck up courage enough to climb the rock, though I expect they must +have got close to it very soon after we left. I reckon they have been +crawling up inch by inch. Of course, directly they got to where the +horses had been tied they knew we had gone, and I expect that yell was a +signal for a rush forward to the top. But we need not bother any more +about them. They may ride as far as the foot of the forest, but when +they find we have gained that safely they will give it up until morning; +they will know well enough it is no good starting to search the woods in +the dark. We may as well rest where we are until the moon is up, for we +make so much noise crashing through this undergrowth that they could +hear us down there." + +"Now tell me, lad, about your mother and sisters, and how you came out +after all." + +Tom told his uncle of his mother's death, and the reason why he had left +his sisters to come out to join him. + +"It is a very bad business, lad, and I take a lot of blame to myself. +When I got your mother's letter, telling me of poor John's death, and +that she would not hear of your coming out, I said some very hard things +to myself. Here had I been knocking about for twenty years, and having +had a fair share of luck, and yet I could not put my hand on five +hundred dollars, and there was my brother's widow and children, and I, +their nearest relative, could not help them. It made me feel a pretty +mean man, I can tell you. Your mother did not say much about her +circumstances, but it did not need that. I knew that John had retired +from the navy with little besides his half-pay, and that her pension as +his widow must be a mighty slim one. Altogether I had a pretty bad time +of it. However, I took a tall oath that the next rich strike I made the +dollars should not be thrown away. I reckoned that you would be out +before long; for it was certain that if you were a lad of spirit you +would not be staying there doing nothing. Your mother said that the +girls all intended to take up teaching, and it was not likely that you +would let them work for the family while you were loafing about at home. +I know in my time it was hard enough to get anything to do there, and +young fellows who have come out here to ranche tell me that it is harder +than ever now. I thought you would fancy this life, and that in time you +would talk your mother over into letting you come." + +"I should never have got her to agree to it, uncle. I wanted to go to +sea, but after father's death she would not hear of it. She said I was +her only boy and that she could not spare me, and I had to promise to +give up the thought. She was still more against your plan, but when I +wrote to you I thought that possibly in time she might agree to it. But +it was not long afterwards that her health began to fail, and I saw then +that I must give up all thought of leaving her, and must, when I left +school, take anything that offered; and it was only after her death that +I talked it over with the girls, and they agreed that to come here was +the best thing for me." + +"And you left before my last letter arrived?" + +"Yes; we had no letter after the one you wrote asking me to come out." + +"No, I suppose you could not have had it. I wrote before I started out +three months ago from Salt Lake City. I had struck a ledge of pretty +good stuff, I and another. We sold out for a thousand dollars, and I +sent my share off to your mother, telling her that I had been having bad +luck since I got her letter, but that I hoped to do better in future, +and I thought, anyhow, I could promise to send her as much once a year, +and if I had a real stroke of luck she and her girls would have the +benefit of it." + +"That was good of you, uncle." + +"Not good at all," Harry Wade grumbled. "I have behaved like a fool all +along; it is true that when I did get letters from your father, which +was not very often, he always wrote cheerfully, and said very little +about how he was situated as to money. But I ought to have known--I did +know, if I thought of it--that with a wife and six children it must be +mighty hard to make ends meet on a lieutenant's half-pay, and there was +I, often throwing away twice as much as his year's pension on a week's +spree. When I heard he was gone you may pretty well guess how I felt. +However, lad, if things turn out well I will make it up as far as I can. +Now, let us join the others." + +The others, however, were all sound asleep, having wrapped themselves in +their blankets, and lain down as soon as the halt was decided upon. +Jerry, having had no sleep the previous night, and but little for four +or five days, had not even thought of asking the others for food, which +they doubtless had on their saddles, although he had tasted nothing for +twenty-four hours. Tom, however, less accustomed to enforced fasts, felt +ravenous. + +"We have had nothing to eat to-day, uncle, except a crust left over from +yesterday's baking, and I don't think I could get to sleep if I did not +eat something." + +"Bless me, I never thought of that, Tom. If I had I would have sent food +across by the chief this morning. There is no bread, but there is plenty +of cold meat. We cooked a lot yesterday evening, for we thought we might +not get a chance of cooking to-day." + +"Then you knew, uncle, the Indians were near?" Tom went on, when he had +appeased his appetite and taken a drink of water, with a little whisky +in it from his uncle's flask. + +"Ay, lad; we guessed somehow we had been followed all along. We had done +everything we could to throw them off the trail--travelling as much as +we could in the course of streams, muffling the feet of our ponies, and +picking out the hardest ground to travel on; but every morning before +daybreak one of us went up the hillside, and twice we made out mounted +Indians moving about down the valley. Yesterday morning ten of them came +galloping up within easy shot. I don't think they thought that we were +so near. They drew up their horses suddenly, had a talk, and then came +riding after us. It didn't need their yells to tell us what their +intention was. We knocked three of them out of their saddles, then threw +our horses down and lay behind them. + +"They galloped round and round us shooting, but we picked two more off, +and then they rode away. We knew enough of them to be sure that they +were not going to give it up, but would follow us till joined by enough +of their tribe to attack us again. We made a long march, hoping to get +to the timber before they could come up, but just as the sun was setting +we saw them coming along, about fifteen of them; and we had just time to +get up to that rock. As they rode past we opened a smart fire and +dropped four of them; the others rode up the valley, so as to cut us off +from going farther. We filled our water-skins and got the horses +half-way up as you saw, and then lighted a fire and cooked. We kept +watch all night, two down below and one at the top; but everything was +quiet, and we guessed they were waiting for others to come up. + +"About an hour before daylight we heard another gang arrive below us. +They halted there, and it was not long before they began crawling up +from above and below, and for a bit we shot pretty brisk. The odds were +too much against them, with us on the height, and they drew off. Then +for an hour they were pretty quiet while they were holding council, +except that we did some shooting with a party who had climbed up to that +ledge opposite; then we saw both bands mount, and reckoned they were +going to make a dash for us. We knew if they did it in earnest we must +go down, for once among the rocks and bushes there would be no keeping +them from mounting up. We made up our minds that the end was not far +off, though I fancy we should have accounted for a good many of them +before they rubbed us out. When your four rifles spoke from the ledge we +thought it was a party who had gone back there, for we felt sure that we +had driven them all away, but it wasn't more than a moment before we saw +it wasn't that. There was no mistaking the yell of astonishment from the +Indians, and as the horses swerved round we saw that three of them had +fallen. You may guess we didn't stop to argue who it was, but set to +work to do our share; but it seemed to us something like a miracle when +the red-skins rode off. + +"We had been talking of Leaping Horse during the night, for he had +promised to come back to join us, and I knew him well enough to be able +to bet all creation that he would come. He had only left us to keep an +appointment with his nephew, who was to join him at Fort Bridger. If +there had only been two guns fired we should have put it down to him, +but being four I don't think either of us thought of him till he stood +up and shouted. Now, lad, you had better take a sleep. We shall be +moving on as soon as the moon is fairly up, and it won't be over that +hill behind us till two or three. I will watch till then, but I don't +think there is the least chance of their following us to-night; they +have been pretty roughly handled, and I don't think they will follow +until they have solved the mystery of that ledge. They searched it, no +doubt, as soon as they found the rock was empty, and at daybreak they +will set about tracing the trail up. That will be easy enough for them +when they have once got rid of the idea that there was something uncanny +about it, and then we shall have them on our heels again and on the +chief's too. The first thing for us to do will be to make along the hill +till we get to the edge of the canon, where Leaping Horse has gone for +your ponies, and to follow it to its upper end." + +"I will watch, uncle, if you will wake me in an hour. I shall be all +right after a nap, but I can scarcely keep my eyes open now." + +It seemed, however, to Tom that he had not been asleep five minutes when +his uncle shook him. The others were already on their feet. The moon was +shining down through the trees, and with cautious steps, and taking the +utmost trouble to avoid the branches, they started on their upward +climb. Not a word was spoken, for all knew how far sound travels on a +still night. There was, however, a slight breeze moving among the tree +tops when they started, and in an hour this had so far increased that +the boughs were swaying and the leaves rustling. + +"I reckon there ain't no occasion to keep our mouths shut no longer," +one of the men said. "Now that the trees are on the move they would not +hear us if they were only a hundred yards away." + +All were glad when daylight began to appear, Tom because the climbing +would be much easier when the ground could be seen, the others because +they were all longing for a pipe, but had hitherto not dared to light +one, for the flash of a match could be seen far away. They had been +bearing steadily to the right as they mounted, and shortly after +daybreak they suddenly found themselves on the edge of a canon. + +"Do you think this is the one, Jerry?" one of the men asked. + +"That is more than I can tell, Ben. I did not see an opening in the +valley as we came up it, but we might very well have missed one in the +dark. I should think from the distance we have gone towards the right it +must be the one where we left our horses. Anyhow, whether it is or not, +we must follow it up to the top and wait there for a bit to see if the +chief comes." + +"I reckon he will be there before us," Harry said; "that is if he got +round the red-skins all right and found the horses. There would be no +reason for him to wait, and I expect he would go straight on, and is +like enough to be waiting for us by this time." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +CHASED + + +The party pressed forward as rapidly as they could. The ground was rough +and at times very steep, and those on foot were able to keep up with the +horses without much difficulty. + +"You think the Indians will follow, uncle?" Tom asked. + +"They will follow, you may bet your boots, Tom; by this time they have +got to the bottom of the mystery. The first thing this morning some of +them will go up on to the ledge where you were, follow your tracks down +to the canon where you left the horses, and find that you came up the +valley and not down it. They will have made out that there were two +whites and two red-skins, and that the two red-skins have gone up the +canon with the horses. Directly the matter is all cleared up, they will +be hotter than ever for our scalps, for there is nothing a red-skin +hates worse than being fooled. Of course, they will know that it is a +good deal harder to wipe out seven men than three, and I don't think +they will attack us openly; they know well enough that in a fair fight +two red-skins, if not three, are likely to go down for each white they +rub out. But they will bide their time: red-skins are a wonderful hand +at that; time is nothing to them, and they would not mind hanging about +us for weeks and weeks if they can but get us at last. However, we will +talk it all over when the Indians join us. I don't think there is any +chance of fighting to-day, but whether we shall get out of these +mountains without having another scrimmage is doubtful." + +Tom noticed that in his talk with him his uncle dropped most of the +western expressions which when speaking with the others he used as +freely as they did. He was now able to have a fair look at him, and +found that he agreed pretty closely with the ideas he had formed of him. +There was a strong likeness between him and his brother. They were about +the same height, but Harry was broader and more strongly built. His face +was deeply bronzed by long exposure to the wind and sun. He had a large +tawny beard, while Tom's father had been clean shaved. The sailor was +five years the senior, but the miner looked far younger than Tom could +ever remember his father looking, for the latter had never thoroughly +recovered his, health after having had a long bout of fever on the +Zanzibar station; and the long stride and free carriage of his uncle was +in striking contrast to the walk of his father. Both had keen gray eyes, +the same outline of face, the same pleasant smile. + +"Now that I can see you fairly, Tom," the miner said, when they halted +once for the horses to come up to them, "I can make out that you are a +good deal like your father as I can first remember him." + +"I was thinking you were very like him, uncle." + +"We used to be alike in the old days, but I reckon the different lives +we led must have changed us both a great deal. He sent me once a +photograph four or five years ago, and at first I should not have known +it was he. I could see the likeness after a bit, but he was very much +changed. No doubt I have changed still more; all this hair on my face +makes a lot of difference. You see, it is a very long time since we met. +I was but twenty when I left England, and I had not seen him for two or +three years before that, for he was on the Mediterranean station at the +time. Well, here are the horses again, and as the ground looks flatter +ahead we shall have to push on to keep up with them." They were +presently altogether beyond the forest, and a broad plateau of bare rock +stretched away in front of them for miles. + +"There they are," Jerry Curtis shouted. "I was beginning to feel scared +that the 'Rappahoes had got them." + +It was a minute or two before Tom could make out the distant figures, +for his eyes were less accustomed to search for moving objects than were +those of his companions. + +"They are riding fast," Harry Wade said. "I reckon they have made out +some Indians on their trail." + +The little dark mass Tom had first seen soon resolved itself into two +horsemen and two riderless animals. They were still three or four miles +away, but in twenty minutes they reached the party advancing to meet +them. The whites waved their hats and gave them a cheer as they rode up. + +"So you have managed to get through them all right, chief?" + +"The 'Rappahoes are dogs. They are frightened at shadows; their eyes +were closed. Leaping Horse stood near their fires and saw them go +forward, and knew that his white brothers must have gained the forest +before the 'Rappahoes got to the rock. He found the horses safe, but the +canon was very dark and in some places very narrow, with many rocks in +the road, so that he had to stop till the moon was high. It was not +until morning came that he reached the head of the canon, an hour's ride +from here. Half an hour back Leaping Horse went to the edge and looked +down. There were ten 'Rappahoes riding fast up the trail. Has my brother +heard anything of the others?" + +"Nothing whatever," Harry said. "I reckon they did not begin to move +until daylight, and as we went on when the moon rose they must be a good +two hours behind us. Which way do you think we had better go, chief?" + +"Where does my brother wish to go?" + +"It matters mighty little. I should say for a bit we had better travel +along this plateau, keeping about the same distance from the +timber-line. I don't think the 'Rappahoes will venture to attack us in +the open. If we keep on here we can cross the divide and get into the +Shoshones' country, and either go down the Buffalo and then up the Snake +and so work down south, or go east and strike some of the streams +running that way into the Big Horn." + +The chief shook his head. + +"Too far, too many bad Indians; will talk over fire tonight." + +"That is it, chief. It is a matter that wants a good deal of talking +over. Anyhow, we had better be moving on at once." + +Tom was glad to find himself in the saddle again, and the party rode on +at a steady pace for some hours, then they halted, lit a fire, and +cooked a meal. Tom noticed that the Indians no longer took pains to +gather dry sticks, but took the first that came to hand. He remarked +this to Jerry. + +"They know it is no use trying to hide our trail here; the two bands of +Indians will follow, one up and one down, until they meet at the spot +where the chief joined us. From there they can track us easy enough. +Nothing would suit us better than for them to come up to us here, for we +should give them fits, sartin. This is a good place. This little stream +comes down from that snow peak you see over there, and we have got +everything we want, for this patch of bushes will keep us in firing for +a bit. You see, there are some more big hills in front of us, and we are +better here than we should be among them. I expect we shall camp here +for the night." + +"Then you don't think the Indians will come up close?" + +"Not they. They will send a spy or two to crawl up, you may be sure, but +they will know better than to come within reach of our rifles." + +"I am mighty glad to have my teeth into some deer-flesh again," Ben +Gulston said. "We had two or three chances as we came along, but we dare +not fire, and we have just been living on bread and bacon. Where did you +kill these wapiti?" + +"At our first halt, near Fremont's Pass. We got two." + +"Well, you haven't eaten much, Jerry," Sam Hicks said. "I reckon four +men ought pretty well to have finished off two quarters by this time." + +"I reckon we should have finished one of the bucks, Sam; but we caught a +grist of fish the same day, dried them in the sun, and I think we mostly +ate them. They would not keep as well as the flesh. That is as good as +the day we shot it, for up here in the dry air meat keeps a sight better +than down in the plains. Give me some more tea, Sam." + +"What do you think, mates, of camping here?" Harry Wade said. "The chief +thinks we are better here than we should be if we moved on. He feels +certain the red-skins won't dare attack us." + +There was a cordial agreement in favour of a halt, for after the work +they had gone through during the last week they were glad of a rest. No +one would have thought half an hour afterwards that the little party +engaged in washing their shirts at the stream or mending their clothes, +were in the heart of a country unknown to most of them, and menaced by a +savage foe. The horses cropped the scanty tufts of grass or munched the +young tops of the bushes, the rifles stood stacked by the fire, near +which the two Indians sat smoking and talking earnestly together, +Hunting Dog occasionally getting up and taking a long careful look over +the plain. As the men finished their various jobs they came back to the +fire. + +"Now, chief," Harry said, "let us hear your ideas as to what we had best +do. We are all pretty old hands at mountaineering, but we reckon you +know a great deal more about it than we do. You don't like the plans I +proposed." + +"No can do it," the chief said positively. "In a moon the snow will +fall, and there will be no crossing mountains." + +"That is true enough," Jerry said. "An old trapper who had lived among +the Shoshones told me that nine months in the year they were shut up in +the valleys by the snow on the passes." + +"Then how can live?" the chief went on. "As long as we stay in this +country the 'Rappahoes will watch us. They will tell the Bannacks and +the Nez Perces, and they too would be on our trail. As long as we keep +together and watch they will not come, they fear the white man's rifle; +but we cannot live without hunting, and then they kill one, two, till +all killed. At night must always watch, at day cannot hunt. How we live? +What good to stay? If we stop all killed sure." + +There was silence round the circle. Every one of them felt the truth of +the Indian's words, and yet they hated the thought of abandoning their +search for gold, or, failing that, of a return home with their horses +laden with beaver skins. + +Harry was the first to speak. "I am afraid these varmint have interfered +with our plans, mates. If we had had the luck to drop into one of the +upper valleys without being noticed we could have hunted and trapped +there and looked for gold for months without much chance of being +discovered, but this has upset it all. I am afraid that what the chief +says is true. If we keep together we starve, if we break up and hunt we +shall be ambushed and killed. I hate giving up anything I have set my +mind on, but this time I don't see a way out of it. We ain't the first +party that has come up here and had to go back again with empty hands, +and we know what happened to that party of twenty old-time miners from +California two years ago, though none of them ever got back to tell the +tale. We knew when we started, it wur just a chance, and the cards have +gone against us." + +"That is so," Ben agreed; "if it had turned out well we might have made +a good strike. It ain't turned out well, and as every day we stay here +there will be more of those varmint swarming round us, I say the sooner +we get out of this dog-goned country the better." + +"You can count me in with you, Ben," Sam Hicks said. "We have gone in +for the game and we don't hold hands, and it ain't no use bluffing +against them red-skins. We sha'n't have lost much time arter all, and I +reckon we have all learned something. Some day when the railroad goes +right across, Uncle Sam will have to send a grist of troops to reckon up +with the red-skins in these hills, and arter that it may be a good +country for mining and trapping, but for the present we are a darned +sight more likely to lose our scalps than to get skins." + +"Well, Leaping Horse, which way would you advise us to take, then?" + +"Go straight back to canon, ride down there, cross river, go up +mountains other side, pass them north of Union Peak, come down on upper +water Big Wind River. From there little way on to Green River. Leaping +Horse never been there, but has heard. One long day's ride from here, go +to upper waters of Green River." + +"That sounds good," Jerry Curtis said. "If we could once strike the +Green we should be out of the 'Rappahoe country altogether. I have known +two or three men who have been up the Green nearly to its head, and +there is good hunting and a good many beaver in the side streams. I +should not have thought it would have come anywhere like as near as +this, but I don't doubt the chief is right." + +"Union Peak," the chief said, pointing to a crag rising among a tumble +of hills to the south. + +"Are you sure, chief?" + +The Indian nodded. "Forty, fifty miles away," he said. "Leaping Horse +has been to upper waters of Green River, seen the peak from other side." + +"That settles it, then," Harry said. "That is our course, there cannot +be a doubt. I should never have proposed the other if I had had an idea +that we were within sixty or seventy miles of the Green River. And you +think we had better take the canon you came up by, chief?" + +The Indian nodded. "If go down through forest may be ambushed. Open +ground from here back to canon. 'Rappahoes most in front. Think we go +that way, not think we go back. Get good start. Once across river follow +up little stream among hills other side, that the way to pass. If +'Rappahoes follow us we fight them." + +"Yes, we shall have them at an advantage there, for they would have to +come up under our fire, and there are sure to be places where half a +dozen men could keep fifty at bay. Very well, chief, that is settled. +When do you think we had better start?" + +"When gets dark," the chief replied. "No lose time, more Indian come +every hour. Keep fire burning well, 'Rappahoes think we camp here. Take +horses a little way off and mount beyond light of fire." + +"You think they will be watching us?" + +"Sure to watch. First ride north half an hour, then turn and ride to +canon. If spies see us go off take word to friends we gone north. Too +dark to follow trail. They think they catch us easy to-morrow, and take +up trail in morning; but too late then, we cross river before that." + +There was a general murmur of assent. The thought of being constantly +watched, and suddenly attacked when least expecting it, made them feel +restless, and the thought of early action was pleasant to them. + +"You don't think that there are any spies watching us now, uncle, do +you?" + +"Not close, Tom; they would know better than that. They could see us +miles away if we were to mount and ride off, and it is only when it gets +dark that they would venture to crawl up, for if one were sighted in the +daytime he would not have a ghost of a chance of getting away, for we +could ride him down sartin." + +"Well, I reckon we may as well take a sleep," Sam Hicks said. "You lie +down for one, anyhow, Harry, for you watched last evening. We will toss +up which of us keeps awake." + +"Leaping Horse will keep watch," the chief said quietly. "No fear of +Indians, but better to watch." + +Knowing the power of the red-skins to keep awake for an almost unlimited +time, none of the others thought of refusing the offer, and in a few +minutes all were sound asleep. Towards sunset they were on their feet +again. Another meal was cooked and eaten, then as it became dusk the +horses were gathered fifty yards away, and Hunting Dog and Tom took +their places beside them. + +"Keep your eyes open and your rifle handy, Tom," his uncle said. "It is +like enough that some young brave, anxious to distinguish himself, may +crawl up with the intention of stampeding the ponies, though I don't +think he would attempt it till he thought most of us were asleep. Still, +there is no saying." + +The watch was undisturbed, and soon it became so dark that objects could +no longer be seen fifty yards away. Tom began to feel nervous. Every +tuft of ground, every little bush seemed to him to take the form of a +crawling Indian, and he felt a great sense of relief when he saw the +figures round the fire rise and walk towards him. + +"I am glad you have come, uncle," he said frankly; "I began to feel very +uncomfortable several times. It seemed to me that some of the bushes +moved." + +"That is just what I thought you would be feeling, Tom. But it was just +as well that your first watch should be a short one, without much chance +of an ambush being on foot; and I knew that if your eyes deceived you, +Hunting Dog was there. Next time you won't feel so nervous; that sort of +thing soon passes off." + +A fresh armful of brushwood had been thrown on to the fire before the +men left it, and long after they had ridden away they could see the +flames mounting high. After riding north for a quarter of an hour they +changed their route and passed round, leaving the fire half a mile on +their right. The light of the stars was quite sufficient for them to +travel by, and after four hours' journey the chief, who was riding +ahead, halted. + +"Not far from canon now. Listen." + +A very faint murmur came to their ears, so faint that had not his +attention been drawn to it Tom would not have noticed it at all. + +"What is that noise?" he asked. + +"That is the stream down in the canon," his uncle replied. "How far are +we from the head, chief?" + +"Not far, must ride slow." + +They proceeded at a walk, changing their course a little towards the +east. Hunting Dog went on ahead, and in a quarter of an hour they heard +his signal, the cry of an owl. It arose from a point still further east, +and quickening their pace, in a few minutes they came up to the young +Indian, who was standing by his horse at the edge of a steep descent, at +the bottom of which Tom could see a stream of water. + +"It looks very steep," Jerry said. + +"Steep, but smooth," the Indian replied. "Came up here with horses this +morning." + +All dismounted, and Tom went up to his horse's head. "That won't do, +Tom. Never go before a horse down a steep place where you can't see your +way, always drive it before you." + +There was some trouble in getting the horses to commence the descent, +but after a short time the chief's pony set the example; and tucking its +hind legs under it until it sat down on its haunches, began to slide +down, while the other animals, after staring into the darkness with ears +laid back and snorting with fear, were half-persuaded, half-forced to +follow its example, and the men went down after them. The descent was +not so steep as in the darkness it looked, and the depth was not over +fifty feet. As soon as they reached the bottom they mounted again, and +the chief leading the way, they rode down the canon. At first they were +able to proceed at a fair pace, but as the sides grew higher and more +precipitous the darkness became more dense, and they were obliged to +pick their way with great caution among the boulders that strewed the +bottom of the ravine. Several times they had to dismount in order to get +the horses over heavy falls, and it was four hours from the time they +entered the canon before they approached its mouth. When they entered +the little wood where they had first left the horses, the chief said, +"Make fire, cook food here. Leaping Horse and Hunting Dog go on and +scout, maybe 'Rappahoes left watch in valley." + +"Very well, chief. It is seven hours since we started; I think the +horses will be all the better for an hour's rest, and I am sure we shall +be the better of a feed. Besides, when we are once out of this hole we +may have to travel fast." + +"You don't think it likely that the 'Rappahoes are on the look-out for +us at the entrance?" Tom asked, as the Indians moved away. + +"Not likely at all, Tom. Still, as they might reckon that if we gave +their searching party the slip we must come down again by the river or +through this canon, they may have left a party or sent down word to some +of their villages to keep a watch in the valley." + +It was more than an hour before the Indians returned. + +"No 'Rappahoes in valley," the chief said, as he seated himself by the +fire and began without loss of time to eat the meat they had cooked in +readiness. "Better be going soon, must cross river and get on before +light come; have seen fires, Indian villages up on hillsides. When light +comes and 'Rappahoes find trail they come back quick." + +"You may bet your boots they will, chief," Sam Hicks said. "They will be +a pretty mad crowd when they make out that we have come down again by +the canon. As soon as they see which way we have headed some of them +will make a bee-line down here in hopes of cutting us off at the mouth, +but by the time they are here we shall be half-way up the hill." + +The Indian made no reply, but he and Hunting Dog ate their meal +steadily, and as soon as they had finished rose to their feet, and +saying "Time to go" went out to fetch in their horses. + +"I don't think the chief is as confident we shall get off without a +fight as Sam seemed to be," Tom said to his uncle. + +"There is never any saying what an Indian thinks, Tom, even when he has +fallen into white man's ways, as Leaping Horse has done. It may be that +the sight of the fires he made out on the opposite hills has troubled +him. It will be light before we are far up on the side, and we may be +made out by some of the varmint there. They are always restless. Go into +an Indian village when you will, you will find some of them smoking by +the fire. Their ears are so 'tarnal sharp, they can hear sounds that +would never catch our ears, not at half the distance. The clink of a +couple of pans together, or a stone set rolling by a horse's tread, were +it ever so faint, would bring them on their feet directly, especially +now they know that a war-party is out." + +The march was again resumed. Passing through the narrowest part of the +canon they issued out into the valley and made for the river. Some time +was lost here, for Sam Hicks, who was leading one of the pack-ponies, +was carried down several hundred yards by the stream, and with +difficulty effected his landing. The horse's load shifted and had to be +repacked. As soon as this was done they followed the river down for two +miles till they came upon a stream running into it from the southwest. + +"You think this is the stream we have to follow, chief?" + +"Must be him, no other came in on this side for a long way; right line +for peak." + +They turned up by the stream, and after riding a mile found themselves +entering a mountain gorge. It was not a canon but a steep, narrow +valley. They picked their way with the greatest caution for some time, +then the two Indians stopped simultaneously. + +"What is the matter, chief?" Harry, who was riding next to them, +whispered. + +"Smell smoke." + +Harry sniffed the air. + +"I can't say I smell it, chief, but if you say you do that settles it. +Where do you think it comes from?" + +"Up valley; wind light, but comes that way. Indian village up here." + +"Well, so much the worse for the Indian village if it interferes with +us," Harry said grimly; "there is one thing certain, we have got to go +through. Probably most of the braves are away up in the hills." + +They now went on with redoubled caution. The chief gave his bridle to +Hunting Dog and went forward on foot. A hundred yards farther the valley +made a sharp turn and then widened out considerably, and the glow of a +fire was visible among some trees standing on the hillside some fifty +feet above the level of the stream. The chief looked at the sky; a faint +light was breaking, and without pausing he continued to lead the way. +They passed under the Indian encampment, and had got a few yards higher +when the pony Sam Hicks was leading gave a sharp neigh. + +"Darn its old ears!" Tom heard Jerry growl. Harry at the same moment put +his horse to a trot, and the others following clattered up the valley, +knowing that concealment was no longer of any use; indeed, an answering +neigh from above and hurried shouts were heard, followed a moment +afterwards by a loud yell as an Indian running through the trees caught +sight of them in the moonlight. + +"We are in for it now, Tom; that is, if there are men enough in the +village to attack us." + +The horses broke into a gallop. They had gone but fifty yards when a +rifle-shot was heard from behind, and Tom felt a shock as the ball +struck his saddle. Almost immediately another shot was fired abreast of +him, and an Indian yell rose loudly behind them. A moment later Leaping +Horse with a shout of triumph bounded down the rocks and leapt on to his +horse. Four or five more shots were fired from behind, but none of them +were hit. A hundred yards farther they were in shelter of a belt of +trees that extended down to the stream. As they entered it Harry looked +back. He could now see the hills beyond the main valley. + +"Look, chief!" he exclaimed. "The varmint up there are signalling far +off above the timber-line." + +Bright tongues of fire could be seen, two close together and one a short +distance to the left. + +"What does that mean, uncle?" Tom asked, as the chief gave a short +exclamation of surprise and anger. + +"It means, lad, that the red-skins have been sharper than we gave them +credit for. When their spies brought them news that we had started they +must have come down to the fire and followed our trail at once with +torches, before we had got above an hour or two away. No doubt it was +slow work, but they must have found where we changed our course, and +made out that we were making for the head of the canon. I expect most of +them lost no time in following the trail farther, but rode straight for +the head of the canon, and like enough they weren't half an hour behind +us when we came out. The others rode to the edge of the plateau and set +those fires alight." + +"But what do they mean, uncle?" + +"They are a warning to all the villages that we have headed back, you +may be sure of that, though I can't say what the message is, for every +tribe has its own signals, but it will have set them on the watch up and +down the valley; and like enough the signal has been repeated somewhere +at a point where it can be seen straight down the Big Wind Valley. The +shooting will tell them all which way we are making, and if the +'Rappahoes have come out of the canon, as I reckon they have, they need +lose no more time in looking for our trail. I reckon in half an hour we +shall have a hundred or so of the varmint after us. I only hope there are +no more villages upon this line. I don't so much care about the fellows +who are following us, we are sure to find some place where we can make a +stand, but it would be awkward if we find our way barred." + +"But if there is no one in front, uncle, I should think we might be able +to keep ahead. Our horses are as good as they are likely to have." + +"You and Jerry might be able to, Tom, for you have got hold of two +first-rate ponies; but the Indians' are nothing out of the way, and our +ponies ain't in it with you; besides, they and the pack-horses have all +been doing hard work for the last week with none too much food, and many +of the 'Rappahoes will be on fresh horses. I expect we have got some +very tall climbing to do before we get up to the pass, and we have got +to do our fighting before we get there." + +The ground rose steeply, and was encumbered by fallen stones and +boulders, and it was not long before the pack-horses began to show signs +of distress, while those ridden by Harry and his two comrades were +drawing their breath in short gasps. After emerging from the trees the +ravine had run in almost a straight line for more than half a mile, and +just as they reached the end of this stretch a yell was heard down the +valley. Looking back they saw eight or ten mounted Indians emerging from +the wood at the lower end. + +"That is a signal," Harry exclaimed, as four rifles were fired in quick +succession. "Well, we have got a bit of a start of them, and they won't +venture to attack us until some more come up. We had better take it a +bit quietly, chief, or our horses will give out. I expect we sha'n't be +long before we come upon a place where we can make a stand." + +The Seneca looked round at the horses. "You, Sam, Ben and pack-horses go +on till you get to place where can fight. We four wait here; got good +horses, and can ride on. We stop them here for a bit." + +"That would be best. I don't like being out of it, but we will do our +share presently." + +No more words were necessary. Harry and his two mates rode on at a +slower pace than before, while the two Indians, Jerry, and Tom +dismounted, left their horses beyond the turn, and then coming back took +up their positions behind four large boulders. The Indians had noticed +their returning figures, for they suddenly drew up their horses and +gathered together in consultation. + +"Draw your bullet, Tom," Jerry said, "and drop in half a charge more +powder; I reckon that piece of yours will send a bullet among them with +the help of a good charge. Allow a bit above that top notch for extra, +elevation. It's a good big mark, and you ought to be able to plump a +bullet among them." + +Tom followed the instructions, and then resting the barrel on the top of +the boulder took a steady aim and fired. There was a sudden stir among +the group of Indians. A horse reared high in the air, almost unseating +its rider, and then they all rode off at the top of their speed, and +halted two or three hundred yards lower down the valley. The Senecas +uttered a grunt of approval. + +"That was a good shot, Tom, though I wish you had hit one of the +red-skins instead of his critter. Still, it will give them a good +lesson, and make them mighty keerful. They won't care about showing +their ugly heads within range of a piece that will carry five hundred +yards." + +A quarter of an hour passed without any movement on the part of the +Indians. Then a large party of horsemen appeared from the trees below, +and were greeted by them with a yell of satisfaction. + +"There must be well-nigh fifty of them," Jerry said. "I reckon it's the +party that came down the hill. They must have picked up a good many +others by the way. Now the fun is going to begin." + +After five minutes' consultation some twenty of the Indians dismounted, +and dividing into two parties ascended the slopes of the valley and +began to move forward, taking advantage of every stone and bush, so that +it was but occasionally that a glimpse of one of their bodies was +obtained. + +"They are going to skirmish up to us," Jerry said, "till they are near +enough to make it hot for us if we show a head above the rocks to fire. +As soon as they can do that, the others will charge. I think they are +not more than four hundred yards off now, Tom. That is within your +range, so you may as well begin to show them that we are awake. If you +can bring one down it will check their pace." + +Tom had just noticed three Indians run behind a clump of bushes, and he +now levelled his rifle so that it bore on a spot a foot on one side of +it. Half a minute later an Indian appeared at the bush and began to run +forward. Tom pressed the trigger. The Indian ran a few steps, and then +fell forward on his face. + +"Bravo, Plumb-centre!" Jerry shouted. "We said that you would do the +rifle credit, Tom, and Billy the Scout could not have done better +himself." + +"Young white man make great hunter," the chief remarked approvingly. +"Got good eye and steady hand." + +The lesson had its effect. The Indian advance was no longer rapid, but +was conducted with the greatest caution, and it was only occasionally +that a glimpse could be caught of a dusky figure passing from rock to +rock. When they came within three hundred yards the two Indians and +Jerry also opened fire. One fell to a shot from the chief, but neither +of the others hit their marks. Tom indeed did not fire again, the +movements of the Indians being so rapid that they were gone before he +could bring his sight to bear upon any of them. + +"Go now," the chief said. "'Rappahoes fire soon; run quick." + +It was but a few yards to shelter. As they dashed across the intervening +space two or three Indian rifles rang out, but the rest of the +assailants had been too much occupied in sheltering themselves and +looking for the next spot to make for, to keep an eye upon the +defenders, and the hastily-fired shots all missed. A moment later the +party mounted their horses and rode up the ravine, the yells of the +Indians ringing in their ears. + +[Illustration: "A Moment Later The Indian Fell Forward On His Face."] + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +IN SAFETY + + +"We have gained half an hour anyhow," Jerry said, as they galloped up +the ravine, "and I reckon by the time we overtake them we shall find +them stowed away in some place where it will puzzle the red-skins to +dislodge us. The varmint will fight hard if they are cornered, but they +ain't good at advancing when there are a few rifle-tubes, in the hands +of white men, pointing at them, and they have had a lesson now that we +can shoot." + +The ravine continued to narrow. The stream had become a mere rivulet, +and they were high up on the hillside. + +"I begin to be afeared there ain't no place for making a stand." Here he +was interrupted by an angry growl, as a great bear suddenly rose to his +feet behind a rock. + +"You may thank your stars that we are too busy to attend to you," Jerry +said, as they rode past within a few yards of it. "That is a grizzly, +Tom; and an awkward beast you would have found him if you had come upon +him by yourself without your shooting-iron. He is a big one too, and his +skin would have been worth money down in the settlements. Ah, there they +are." + +The ravine made an abrupt turn to the west, and high up on its side they +saw their three companions with the five horses climbing up the +precipitous rocks. + +"How ever did they get up there?" Jerry exclaimed. + +"Found Indian trail," the chief said. "Let my brothers keep their eyes +open." + +They rode on slowly now, examining every foot of the steep hillside. +Presently Hunting Dog, who was ahead, uttered an exclamation. Between +two great boulders there was a track, evidently a good deal used. + +"Let Hunting Dog go first," the chief said. "Leaping Horse will follow +the white men." + +"I reckon that this is the great Indian trail over the pass," Jerry said +to Tom, who preceded him. "I have heard there ain't no way over the +mountains atween that pass by Fremont's Buttes and the pass by this +peak, which they calls Union Peak, and the red-skins must travel by this +when they go down to hunt buffalo on the Green River. It is a wonder +Harry struck on it." + +"Leaping Horse told him to keep his eyes open," the chief said from the +rear. "He knew that Indian trail led up this valley." + +"Jee-rusalem! but it's a steep road," Jerry said presently. "I am +dog-goned if I can guess how the red-skins ever discovered it. I expect +they must have tracked some game up it, and followed to see where it +went to." + +The trail wound about in a wonderful way. Sometimes it went horizontally +along narrow ledges, then there was a bit of steep climbing, where they +had to lead their horses; then it wound back again, and sometimes even +descended for a distance to avoid a projecting crag. + +"Ah! would ye, yer varmint?" Jerry exclaimed, as a shot rang out from +the valley below and a bullet flattened itself against a rock within a +foot or two of his head. The shot was followed by a loud yell from +below, as a crowd of mounted Indians rode at full gallop round the angle +of the ravine. + +"Hurry on, Hunting Dog, and get round the next corner, for we are +regular targets here." + +A few yards farther a turn of the path took them out of sight of the +Indians, but not before a score of bullets came whistling up from below. + +"The varmint have been riding too fast to shoot straight, I reckon. It +will be our turn directly." + +Just as he spoke the chief called upon them to dismount. They threw +their bridles on their horses' necks, and descending to the ledge they +had just left, lay down on it. + +"Get your revolver out, Tom, before you shoot," Jerry said. "They will +be off before you have time to load your rifle again." + +The Indians were some four hundred feet below them, and were talking +excitedly, evidently hesitating whether to follow up the trail. The four +rifles cracked almost together. Two Indians fell, and the plunging of +two horses showed that they were hit. In an instant the whole mass were +on their way down the valley, followed by bullet after bullet from the +revolvers which Leaping Horse as well as the whites carried. Anything +like accurate aim was impossible, and no Indian was seen to fall, but it +was probable that some of the bullets had taken effect among the crowded +horsemen. + +"Go on quiet now," Leaping Horse said, rising to his feet. "'Rappahoes +not follow any farther. One man with this"--and he touched his +revolver--"keep back whole tribe here." + +Half an hour later they joined the party who had halted at the top of +the track. + +"It air too bad our being out of it," Ben said. "I hope you have given +some of the varmint grist." + +"Only five or six of them," Jerry replied regretfully, "counting in the +one Leaping Horse shot at the village. Tom here did a big shot, and +brought one down in his tracks at a good four hundred yards--as neat a +shot as ever I saw fired. The chief he accounted for another; then +atween us we wiped out two down below; and I reckon some of the others +are carrying some of our lead away. Waal, I think we have shook them off +at last any how. I suppose there ain't, no other road they can come up +here by, chief?" + +"Leaping Horse only heard of one trail." + +"You may bet your life there ain't another," Harry remarked. "They would +never have used such a dog-goned road as this if there had been any +other way of going up." + +"Camp here," the chief said. "Long journey over pass, too much cold. +Keep watch here at head of trail." + +"That is a very good plan. I have heard that the pass is over nine +thousand feet above the sea, and it would never do to have to camp up +there. Besides, I have been looking at the sky, and I don't much like +its appearance. Look over there to the north." + +There were, indeed, evident signs of an approaching change in the +weather. On the previous day every peak and jagged crest stood out hard +and distinct in the clear air. Now all the higher summits were hidden by +a bank of white cloud. + +"Snow" the Indian said gravely; "winter coming." + +"That is just what I thought, chief. At any rate we know where we are +here, and there is brushwood to be gathered not far down the trail; and +even if we are shut up here we can manage well enough for a day or two. +These early snows don't lie long, but to be caught in a snow-storm +higher up would be a sight worse than fighting with red-skins." + +From the spot where they were now standing at the edge of the ravine the +ground sloped very steeply up for some hundreds of feet, and then steep +crags rose in an unbroken wall; but from the view they had had of the +country from the other side they knew that behind this wall rose a range +of lofty summits. The Indian trail ran along close to the edge of the +ravine. The chief looked round earnestly. + +"No good place to camp," he said. "Wind blow down hills, horses not able +to stand against it. Heap snow tumble down from there," and he pointed +upwards. "Carry everything down below." + +"Well, if you think we had better push on, let us do so, chief." + +The Indian shook his head and pointed to the clouds again. "See," he +said; "storm come very soon." + +Even in the last two or three minutes a change was perceptible. The +upper edge of the clouds seemed to be suddenly broken up. Long streamers +spread out like signal flags of danger. Masses of clouds seemed to be +wrenched off and to fly with great rapidity for a short distance; some +of them sinking a little, floated back until they again formed a part of +the mountain cap, while others sped onwards towards the south. + +"No time," the chief repeated earnestly; "must look for camp quick." He +spoke in the Indian tongue to Hunting Dog, and the two stood on a point +where the ground jutted out, and closely examined the ravine up whose +side they had climbed. The chief pointed farther along, and Hunting Dog +started at a run along the Indian trail. A few hundred yards farther he +paused and looked down, moved a few steps farther, and then disappeared +from sight. In three or four minutes he returned and held up his arms. + +"Come," the chief said, and taking his horse's rein led it along the +path. The others followed his example, glad, indeed, to be in motion. +Five minutes before they had been bathed in perspiration from their +climb up the cliff; now they were conscious of the extraordinary change +of temperature that had suddenly set in, and each had snatched a blanket +from behind his saddle and wrapped it round him. They soon reached the +spot where Hunting Dog was standing, and looked down. Some thirty feet +below there was a sort of split in the face of the cliff, a wall of rock +rising to within four or five feet of the level of the edge of the +ravine. At one end it touched the face of the rock, at the other it was +ten or twelve feet from it, the space between being in the form of a +long wedge, which was completely filled up with trees and brushwood. A +ledge ran down from the point where Hunting Dog was standing to the +mouth of the fissure. + +"Jee-rusalem, chief!" Ben exclaimed. "That air just made for us--we +could not have found a better, not if we had sarched for a year. But I +reckon we shall have to clear the place a bit before we take the +critters down." + +Two axes were taken from one of the pack-horses. + +"Don't cut away the bigger stuff, Ben," Harry said as his two mates +proceeded down the ledge, "their heads will shelter us from the snow a +bit; and only clear away the bushes enough to give room for the horses +and us, and leave those standing across the entrance to make a screen. +While you are doing it we will fetch in as much more wood and grass as +we can get hold of before the snow begins to fall." + +The horses were left standing while the men scattered along the top of +the ravine, and by the time Ben shouted that they were ready, a +considerable pile of brushwood and a heap of coarse grass had been +collected. The horses were then led down one by one, unsaddled, and +packed together in two lines, having beyond them a great pile of the +bushes that had been cut away. + +"I am dog-goned if this ain't the best shelter I ever struck upon," +Jerry said. "We could not have fixed upon a better if we had had it +built special," the others cordially agreed. + +The place they occupied was of some twelve feet square. On either side +was a perpendicular wall of rock; beyond were the horses; while at the +entrance the bush, from three to four feet high, had been left standing; +above them stretched a canopy of foliage. Enough dry wood had been +collected to start a fire. + +"Don't make it too big. Jerry, we don't want to scorch up our roof," +Harry Wade said. "Well, I reckon we have got enough fuel here for a +week, for there is what you cut down and what we brought, and all that +is left standing beyond the horses; and with the leaves and the grass +the ponies should be able to hold out as long as the fuel lasts. We are +short of meat, but we have plenty of flour; and as for water, we can +melt snow." + +Buffalo rugs were laid down on each side by the rock walls, and on these +they took their seats and lighted their pipes. + +"I have been wanting a smoke pretty bad," Jerry said; "I ain't had one +since we halted in that there canon. Hello, here it comes!" + +As he spoke a fierce gust of wind swayed the foliage overhead and sent +the smoke, that had before risen quietly upwards, whirling round the +recess; then for a moment all was quiet again; then came another and a +stronger gust, rising and gathering in power and laden with fine +particles of snow. A thick darkness fell, and Harry threw some more wood +on the fire to make a blaze. But loud as was the gale outside, the air +in the shelter was hardly moved, and there was but a slight rustling of +the leaves overhead. Thicker and thicker flew the snow flakes in the air +outside, and yet none seemed to fall through the leaves. + +"I am dog-goned if I can make this out," Sam Hicks said. "We are as +quiet here as if we were in a stone house, and one would think there was +a copper-plated roof overhead. It don't seem nat'ral." + +The others were also looking up with an air of puzzled surprise, not +unmingled with uneasiness. Harry went to the entrance and looked out +over the breastwork of bushes. "Look here, Sam," he said. + +"Why, Harry, it looks to me as if it were snowing up instead of down," +the miner said as he joined him. + +"That is just it. You see, we are in the elbow of the valley and are +looking straight down it, into the eye of the wind. It comes rushing up +the valley and meets this steep wall on its way, and pushed on by the +wind behind has to go somewhere, and so it is driven almost straight up +here and over the hilltops behind us. So you see the snow is carried up +instead of falling, and this rock outside us shoots it clear up over the +path we were following above. As long as the wind keeps north, I reckon +we sha'n't be troubled by the snow in here." + +The explanation seemed satisfactory, and there was a general feeling of +relief. + +"I remember reading," Tom said, as the others took their seats again, +"that people can stand on the edge of a cliff, facing a gale, without +feeling any wind. For the wind that strikes the cliff rushes up with +such force that it forms a sort of wall. Of course, it soon beats down +again, and not many yards back you can feel the gale as strongly as +anywhere else. But just at the edge the air is perfectly still." + +The miners looked at Tom as if they thought that he was making a joke at +their expense. But his uncle said: + +"Yes, I can quite believe that. You see, it is something like a +waterfall; you can stand right under that, for the force shoots it +outwards, and I reckon it is the same sort of thing here." The chief +nodded gravely. He too had been surprised at the lull in their shelter +when the storm was raging so furiously outside, but Harry's illustration +of the action of rushing water enlightened him more than his first +explanation had done. + +"But water ain't wind, Harry," Ben said. + + +"It is like water in many ways, Ben. You don't see it, but you can feel +it just the same. If you stand behind a tree or round a corner it rushes +past you, and you are in a sort of eddy, just as you would be if it was +a river that was moving alongside of you. Wind acts just the same way as +water. If it had been a big river coming along the valley at the same +rate as the wind it would rush up the rocks some distance and then sweep +round and race up the valley; but wind being light instead of being +heavy is able to rush straight up the hill till it gets right over the +crest." + +"Waal, if you say it is all right I suppose it is. Anyhow, it's a good +thing for us, and I don't care how long it goes on in the same way. I +reckoned that before morning we should have those branches breaking down +on us with the weight of snow; now I see we are like to have a quiet +night." + +"I won't answer for that, Ben; it is early in the day yet, and there is +no saying how the wind may be blowing before to-morrow morning. Anyhow, +now we have time we may as well get some of those bundles of bushes that +we brought down, and pile them so as to thicken the shelter of these +bushes and lighten it a bit. If we do that, and hang a couple of +blankets inside of them, it will give us a good shelter even if the wind +works round, and will help to keep us warm. For though we haven't got +wind or snow in here, we have got cold." + +"You bet," Jerry agreed; "it is a regular blizzard. And although I don't +say as it is too cold sitting here by the fire, it won't cost us +anything to make the place a bit warmer." + +Accordingly the bundles of wood they had gathered were brought out, and +with these the screen of bush was thickened, and raised to a height of +five feet; and when this was hung inside with a couple of blankets, it +was agreed that they could get through the storm comfortably even if it +lasted for a month. + +They cooked their last chunk of deer's flesh, after having first +prepared some bread and put it in the baking pot among the embers, and +made some tea from the water in the skins. When they had eaten their +meal they covered themselves up in buffalo robes and blankets, and +lighted their pipes. There was, however, but little talk, for the noise +of the tempest was so great, that it was necessary to raise the voice +almost to a shout to be heard, and it was not long before they were all +asleep. + +For hours there was no stir in the shelter, save when a horse pawed the +ground impatiently, or when Hunting Dog rose two or three times to put +fresh sticks on the fire. It seemed to Tom when he woke that it ought to +be nearly morning. He took out his watch, and by the light of the fire +made out to his surprise that it was but ten o'clock. The turmoil of the +wind seemed to him to be as loud as before, and he pulled the blankets +over his shoulder again and was soon sound asleep. When he next woke, it +was with the sensation of coldness in the face, and sitting up he saw +that the blankets and the ground were covered with a thick coating of +fine snow. There was a faint light in addition to that given by the +embers of the fire, and he knew that morning was breaking. His movement +disturbed his uncle, who was lying next him. He sat up and at once +aroused the others. + +"Wake up, mates," he said; "we have had somewhere about eighteen hours' +sleep, and day is breaking." + +In a minute all were astir. The snow was first shaken off the blankets, +and then Harry, taking a shovel, cleared the floor. Jerry took the +largest cooking-pot, and saying to Tom, "You bring that horse-bucket +along," pushed his way out through a small gap that had been left in the +screen of bushes. The wind had gone down a good deal, though it was +still blowing strongly. The snow had drifted against the entrance, and +formed a steep bank there; from this they filled the pot and bucket, +pressing the snow down. Tom was glad to get back again within the +shelter, for the cold outside was intense. The fire was already burning +brightly, and the pot and a frying-pan were placed over it, and kept +replenished with snow as fast as their contents melted. "We must keep on +at this," Harry said, "there is not a drop left in the skins, and the +horses must have water." + +As soon as enough had melted it was poured into the kettle. There was +some bacon among the trappers' stores, as they had calculated that they +would not be able to hunt until out of Big Wind Valley and far up among +the forests beyond. The frying-pan was now utilized for its proper work, +while the pail was placed close enough to the fire to thaw its contents, +without risking injury to it. Within an hour of breakfast being finished +enough snow had been thawed to give the horses half a bucket of water +each. In each pail a couple of pounds of flour had been stirred to help +out what nourishment could be obtained from the leaves, and from the +small modicum of grass given to each animal. + +"It will be a big journey over the pass, anyhow," Harry had said. "Now +that we are making tracks for the settlements we need not be sparing of +the flour; indeed, the lighter we are the better." + +The day did not pass so pleasantly as that preceding it, for the air was +filled with fine snow that blew in at the entrance and found its way +between the leaves overhead; while from time to time the snow +accumulating there came down with a crash, calling forth much strong +language from the man on whom it happened to fall, and shouts of +laughter from his comrades. The party was indeed a merry one. They had +failed altogether in the objects of their expedition, but they had +escaped without a scratch from the Indians, and had inflicted some +damage upon them; and their luck in finding so snug a shelter in such a +storm far more than counterbalanced their disappointment at their +failure. + +"Have you often been caught in the snow, uncle?" + +"You bet, Tom; me and the chief here were mighty nigh rubbed out three +years ago. I was prospecting among the Ute hills, while Leaping Horse +was doing the hunting for us both. It was in the middle of winter; the +snow was deep on the ground in the valleys and on the tops of the hills, +but there was plenty of bare rock on the hillside, so I was able to go +on with my work. While as for hunting, the cold drove the big-horns down +from the heights where they feed in summer, and the chief often got a +shot at them; and they are good eating, I can tell you. + +"We hadn't much fear of red-skins, for they ain't fond of cold and in +winter move their lodges down to the most sheltered valleys and live +mostly on dried meat. When they want a change they can always get a bear +or maybe a deer in the woods. We were camped in a grove of pines in a +valley and were snug enough. One day I had struck what I thought was the +richest vein I had ever come on. I got my pockets full of bits of quartz +with the gold sticking thick in it, and you may bet I went down to the +camp in high glee. A quarter of a mile before I got there I saw Leaping +Horse coming to meet me at a lope. It didn't want telling that there was +something wrong. As soon as he came up he said 'Utes.' 'Many of them, +chief?' I asked. He held up his open hands twice. + +"'Twenty of them,' I said; 'that is pretty bad. How far are they away?' +He said he had seen them coming over a crest on the other side of the +valley. 'Then we have got to git,' I said, 'there ain't no doubt about +that. What the 'tarnal do the varmint do here?' 'War-party,' the chief +said. 'Indian hunter must have come across our trail and taken word back +to the lodges.' The place where he had met me was among a lot of rocks +that had rolled down. There had been no snow for a fortnight, and of +course the red-skins would see our tracks everywhere, going and coming +from the camp. We were on foot that time, though we had a pack-horse to +carry our outfit. Of course they would get that and everything at the +camp. I did not think much of the loss, the point was how were we to +save our scalps? We had sat down behind a rock as soon as he had joined +me. Just then a yell came from the direction of our camp, and we knew +that the red-skins had found it. 'They won't be able to follow your +trail here, chief, will they?' He shook his head. 'Trail everywhere, not +know which was the last.' We could see the grove where the camp was, and +of course they could see the rocks, and it was sartin that if we had +made off up the hill they would have been after us in a squirrel's jump; +so there was nothing to do but to lie quiet until it was dark. We got in +among the boulders, and lay down where we could watch the grove through +a chink. + +"'I don't see a sign of them,' I said. 'You would have thought they +would have been out in search of us.' + +"'No search,' the chief said. 'No good look for us, not know where we +have gone to. Hide up in grove. Think we come back, and then catch us.' + +"So it turned out. Not a sign of them was to be seen, and after that +first yell everything was as quiet as death. In a couple of hours it got +dark, and as soon as it did we were off. We talked matters over, you may +be sure. There weren't no denying we were cornered. There we were +without an ounce of flour or a bite of meat. The chief had caught up a +couple of buffalo rugs as soon as he sighted the red-skins. That gave us +just a chance, but it wasn't more. In the morning the red-skins would +know we had either sighted them or come on their trail, and would be +scattering all over the country in search of us. We agreed that we must +travel a good way apart, though keeping each other in sight. They would +have noticed that the trails were all single, and if they came upon two +together going straight away from the camp, would know for sure it was +us making off. + +"You may think that with so many tracks as we had made in the fortnight +we had been there, they would not have an idea which was made the first +day and which was made the last, but that ain't so. In the first place, +the snow was packed hard, and the footprints were very slight. Then, +even when it is always freezing there is an evaporation of the snow, and +the footprints would gradually disappear; besides that, the wind on most +days had been blowing a little, and though the drift does not count for +much on packed snow, a fine dust is blown along, and if the prints don't +get altogether covered there is enough drift in them to show which are +old ones and which are fresh. We both knew that they could not make much +mistake about it, and that they would be pretty sure to hit on the trail +I had made in the morning when I went out, and on that of the chief to +the rocks, and following mine back to the same place would guess that we +had cached there till it was dark. + +"I could have done that myself; one can read such a trail as that like a +printed book. The worst of it was, there were no getting out of the +valley without leaving sign. On the bare hillsides and among the rocks +we could travel safe enough, but above them was everywhere snow, and do +what we would there would be no hiding our trail. We agreed that the +only thing was to cross the snow as quick as possible, to keep on the +bare rock whenever we got a chance, and wherever we struck wood, and to +double sometimes one way sometimes another, so as to give the red-skins +plenty of work to do to follow our trail. We walked all that night, and +right on the next day till early in the afternoon. Then we lay down and +slept till sunset, and then walked again all night. We did not see any +game. If we had we should have shot, for we knew the red-skins must be a +long way behind. When we stopped in the morning we were not so very far +from the camp we had started from, for if we had pushed straight back to +the settlements we should have been caught sure, for the Utes would have +been certain to have sent off a party that way to watch the valleys we +should have had to pass through. We lay down among some trees and slept +for a few hours and then set out to hunt, for we had been two days +without food, and I was beginning to feel that I must have a meal. + +"We had not gone far when we came across the track of a black bear. We +both felt certain that the trail was not many hours old. We followed it +for two miles, and found it went up to a slide of rocks; they had come +down from a cliff some years before, for there were bushes growing among +them. As a rule a black bear will always leave you alone if you leave +him, and hasn't much fight in him at the best; so up we went, thinking +we were sure of our bear-steak without much trouble in getting it. I was +ahead, and had just climbed up on to a big rock, when, from a bush in +front, the bear came out at me with a growl. I expect it had cubs +somewhere, I had just time to take a shot from the hip and then he was +on me, and gave me a blow on the shoulder that ripped the flesh down to +the elbow. + +"But that was not the worst, for the blow sent me over the edge, and I +fell seven or eight feet down among the sharp rocks. I heard the chief's +rifle go off, and it was some time after that before I saw or heard +anything more. When I came to I found he had carried me down to the foot +of the slide and laid me there. He was cutting up some sticks when I +opened my eyes. 'Have you got the bear, Leaping Horse?' + +"'The bear is dead,' he said. 'My brother is badly hurt.' + +"'Oh, never mind the hurt,' I said, 'so that we have got him. What are +you doing, chief? You are not going to make a fire here, are you?' + +"'My brother's leg is broken,' he said. 'I am cutting some sticks to +keep it straight.' + +"That brought me round to my senses, as you may guess. To break one's +leg up in the mountains is bad at any time, but when it is in the middle +of winter, and you have got a tribe of red-skins at your heels, it means +you have got to go under. I sat up and looked at my leg. Sure enough, +the left one was snapt like a pipe-stem, about half-way between the knee +and the ankle. 'Why, chief,' I said, 'it would have been a sight better +if you had put a bullet through my head as I lay up there. I should have +known nothing about it.' + +"'The Utes have not got my white brother yet.' + +"'No,' said I, 'but it won't be long before they have me; maybe it will +be this afternoon, and maybe to-morrow morning.' The chief said nothing, +but went on with his work. When he had got five or six sticks about +three feet long and as many about a foot, and had cut them so that they +each had one flat side, he took off his buckskin shirt, and working +round the bottom of it cut a thong about an inch wide and five or six +yards long. Then he knelt down and got the bone in the right position, +and then with what help I could give him put on the splints and bandaged +them tightly, a long one and a short one alternately. The long ones he +bandaged above the knee as well as below, so that the whole leg was +stiff. I felt pretty faint by the time it was done, and Leaping Horse +said, 'Want food; my white brother will lie quiet, Leaping Horse will +soon get him some.' + +"He set to work and soon had a fire going, and then went up to the rocks +and came down again with the bear's hams and about half his hide. It was +not long before he had some slices cooked, and I can tell you I felt +better by the time we had finished. We had not said much to each other, +but I had been thinking all the time, and when we had done I said, 'Now, +chief, I know that you will be wanting to stay with me, but I ain't +going to have it. You know as well as I do that the Utes will be here +to-morrow at latest, and there ain't more chance of my getting away from +them than there is of my flying. It would be just throwing away your +scalp if you were to stop here, and it would not do me a bit of good, +and would fret me considerable. Now before you start I will get you to +put me somewhere up among those stones where I can make a good fight of +it. You shall light a fire by the side of me, and put a store of wood +within reach and a few pounds of bear's flesh. I will keep them off as +long as I can with the rifle, then there will be five shots with my +Colt. I will keep the last barrel for myself; I ain't going to let the +Utes amuse themselves by torturing me for a few hours before they finish +me. Then you make straight away for the settlements; they won't be so +hot after you when they have once got me. The next time you go near +Denver you can go and tell Pete Hoskings how it all came about.' + +"'My white brother is weak with the pain,' the chief said quietly; 'he +is talking foolishly. He knows that Leaping Horse will stay with his +friend. He will go and look for a place.' Without listening to what I +had to say he took up his rifle and went up the valley, which was a +steep one. He was away better than half an hour and then came back. +'Leaping Horse found a place,' he said, 'where he and his brother can +make a good fight. Straight Harry get on his friend's back.' It was +clear that there weren't no use talking to him. He lifted me up on to my +feet, then he got me well up on to his back, as if I had been a sack of +coal, and went off with me, striding along pretty near as quick as if I +had not been there. It might have been half a mile, when he turned up a +narrow ravine that was little more than a cleft in the rock that rose +almost straight up from the valley. It did not go in very far, for there +had been a slide, and it was blocked up by a pile of rocks and earth, +forty or fifty feet high. It was a big job even for the chief to get me +up to the top of them. The snow had drifted down thick into the ravine, +and it was a nasty place to climb even for a man who had got nothing but +his rifle on his shoulder. However, he got me up safely, and laid me +down just over the crest. He had put my buffalo robe over my shoulders +before starting, and he rolled me up in this and said, 'Leaping Horse +will go and fetch rifles and bear-meat,' and he set straight off and +left me there by myself." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +A BAD TIME + + +"Even to me," Harry went on, after refilling and lighting his pipe, "it +did not seem long before the chief was back. He brought a heavy load, +for besides the rifles and bear's flesh he carried on his back a big +faggot of brushwood. After laying that down he searched among the rocks, +and presently set to work to dig out the snow and earth between two big +blocks, and was not long before he scooped out with his tomahawk a hole +big enough for the two of us to lie in comfortably. He laid the +bear's-skin down in this, then he carried me to it and helped me in and +then put the robes over me; and a snugger place you would not want to +lie in. + +"It was about ten feet below the level of the crest of the heap of +rocks, and of course on the upper side, so that directly the red-skins +made their appearance he could help me up to the top. That the two of us +could keep the Utes back I did not doubt; we had our rifles, and the +chief carried a revolver as well as I did. After they had once caught a +glimpse of the sort of place we were on, I did not think they would +venture into the ravine, for they would have lost a dozen men before +they got to the mound. I had looked round while the chief was away, and +I saw that a hundred yards or so higher up, the ravine came to an end, +the sides closing in, so there was no fear of our being attacked from +there. What I was afraid of was that the Indians might be able to get up +above and shoot down on us, though whether they could or not depended on +the nature of the ground above, and of course I could not see beyond the +edge of the rocks. + +"But even if they could not get up in the daylight, they could crawl up +at night and finish us, or they could camp down at the mouth of the +ravine and starve us out, for there was no chance of our climbing the +sides, even if my leg had been all right. I was mighty sorry for the +chief. He had just thrown his life away, and it must come to the same in +the end, as far as I was concerned. Even now he could get away if he +chose, but I knew well enough it weren't any good talking to him. So I +lay there, just listening for the crack of his rifle above. He would +bring down the first man that came in, sartin, and there would be plenty +of time after that to get me up beside him, for they would be sure to +have a long talk before they made any move. I did not expect them until +late in the afternoon, and hoped it might be getting dark before they +got down into the valley. There had been a big wind sweeping down it +since the snow had fallen, and though it had drifted deep along the +sides, the bottom was for the most part bare. I noticed that the chief +had picked his way carefully, and guessed that, as they would have no +reason for thinking we were near, they might not take up the trail till +morning. Of course they would find our fire and the dead bear, or all +that there was left of him, and they would fancy we had only stopped to +take a meal and had gone on again. They would see by the fire that we +had left pretty early in the day. I heard nothing of the chief until it +began to get dark; then he came down to me. + +"'Leaping Horse will go out and scout,' he said. 'If Utes not come soon, +will come back here; if they come, will watch down at mouth of valley +till he sees Utes go to sleep.' 'Well, chief,' I said; 'at any rate you +may as well take this robe; one is enough to sleep with in this hole, +and I shall be as snug as a beaver wrapped up in mine. Half your hunting +shirt is gone, and you will find it mighty cold standing out there.' + +"In an hour he came back again. 'Utes come,' he said. 'Have just lighted +fire and going to cook. No come tonight. Leaping Horse has good news for +his brother. There are no stars.' + +"That is good news indeed,' I said. 'If it does but come on to snow +to-night we may carry our scalps back to the settlement yet.' + +"'Leaping Horse can feel snow in the air,' he said. 'If it snows before +morning, good; if not, the Utes will tell their children how many lives +the scalps of the Englishman and the Seneca cost.' + +"The chief lay down beside me. I did not get much sleep, for my leg was +hurting me mightily. From time to time he crawled out, and each time he +returned saying, 'No snow.' I had begun to fear that when it came it +would be too late. It could not have been long before daybreak when he +said, as he crawled in: 'The Great Manitou has sent snow. My brother can +sleep in peace.' An hour later I raised myself up a bit and looked out. +It was light now. The air was full of fine snow, and the earth the chief +had scraped out was already covered thickly. I could see as much as +that, though the chief had, when he came in for the last time, drawn the +faggot in after him. I wondered at the time why he did it, but I saw +now. As soon as the snow had fallen a little more it would hide up +altogether the entrance to our hole. Hour after hour passed, and it +became impossible to get even a peep out, for the snow had fallen so +thickly on the leafy end of the brushwood, which was outward, that it +had entirely shut us in. All day the snow kept on, as we could tell from +the lessening light, and by two o'clock only a faint twilight made its +way in. + +"'How long do you think we shall be imprisoned here, chief?' I asked. + +"'Must not hurry,' he replied. 'There are trees up the valley, and the +Utes may make their camp there and stay till the storm is over. No use +to go out till my brother can walk. Wait till snow is over; then stay +two or three days to give time for Utes to go away. Got bear's flesh to +eat; warm in here, melt snow.' This was true enough, for I was feeling +it downright hot. Just before night came on the chief pushed the end of +his ramrod through the snow and looked out along the hole. + +"'Snow very strong,' he said. 'When it is dark can go out if wish.' + +"There is not much to tell about the next five days. The snow kept +falling steadily, and each evening after dark the chief went outside for +a short time to smoke his pipe, while I sat at the entrance and smoked +mine, and was glad enough to get a little fresh air. As soon as he came +in again the faggot was drawn back to its place, and we were imprisoned +for another twenty-four hours. One gets pretty tired after a time of +eating raw bear's flesh and drinking snow-water, and you bet I was +pretty glad when the chief, after looking out through a peephole, said +that the snow had stopped falling and the sun was shining. About the +middle of that day he said suddenly: 'I hear voices.' + +"It was some time before I heard anything, but I presently made them +out, though the snow muffled them a good deal. They did not seem far +off, and a minute or two later they ceased. We lay there two days +longer, and then even the chief was of opinion that they would have +moved off. My own idea was that they had started the first afternoon +after the snow had stopped falling. + +"'Leaping Horse will go out to scout as soon as it is dark,' he said. +'Go to mouth of ravine. If Utes are in wood he will see their fires and +come back again. Not likely come up here again and find his traces.' + +"That is what I had been saying for the last two days, for after some of +them had been up, and had satisfied themselves that there was no one in +the gully, they would not be likely to come through the snow again. When +the chief returned after an hour's absence, he told me that the Utes had +all gone. 'Fire cold,' he said; 'gone many hours. Leaping Horse has +brought some dry wood up from their hearth. Can light fire now.' You may +guess it was not long before we had a fire blazing in front of our den, +and I never knew how good bear-steak really was till that evening. + +"The next morning the chief took off the splints and rebandaged my leg, +this time putting on a long strip of the bear's skin, which he had +worked until it was perfectly soft while we had been waiting there. Over +this he put on the splints again, and for the first time since that bear +had knocked me off the rock I felt at ease. We stayed there another +fortnight, by the end of which time the bones seemed to have knit pretty +fairly. However, I had made myself a good strong crutch from a straight +branch with a fork at the end, that the chief had cut for me, and I had +lashed a wad of bear's skin in the fork to make it easy. Then we +started, making short journeys at first, but getting longer every day as +I became accustomed to the crutch, and at the end of a week I was able +to throw it aside. + +"We never saw a sign of an Indian trail all the way down to the +settlements, and by the time we got there I was ready to start on a +journey again. The chief found plenty of game on the way down, and I +have never had as much as a twinge in my leg since. So you see this +affair ain't a circumstance in comparison. Since then the chief and I +have always hunted together, and the word brother ain't only a mode of +speaking with us;" and he held out his hand to the Seneca, who gravely +placed his own in it. + +"That war a tight corner, Harry, and no blamed mistake. Did you ever +find out whether they could have got on the top to shoot down on you?" + +"Yes, the chief went up the day after the Utes had left. It was level up +there, and they could have sat on the edge and fired down upon us, and +wiped us out without our having a show." + +"And you have never since been to that place you struck the day the Utes +came down, Harry?" Jerry asked. "I have heard you talk of a place you +knew of, just at the edge of the bad lands, off the Utah hills. Were +that it?" + +Harry nodded. "I have never been there since. I went with a party into +Nevada the next spring, and last year the Utes were all the time upon +the war-path. I had meant to go down this fall, but the Utes were too +lively, so I struck up here instead; but I mean to go next spring +whether they are quiet or not, and to take my chances, and find out +whether it is only good on the surface and peters out to nothing when +you get in, or whether it is a real strong lode. Ben and Sam, and of +course the chief, will go with me, and Tom here, now he has come out, +and if you like to come we shall be all glad." + +"You may count me in," Jerry said, "and I thank you for the offer. I +have had dog-goned bad luck for some time, and I reckon it is about time +it was over. How are you going to share?" + +"We have settled that. The chief and I take two shares each as +discoverers. You four will take one share each." + +"That is fair enough, Harry. Those are mining terms, and after your +nearly getting rubbed out in finding it, if you and the chief had each +taken three shares there would have been nothing for us to grunt at. +They are a 'tarnal bad lot are the Utes. I reckon they are bad by +nature, but the Mormons have made them worse. There ain't no doubt it's +they who set them on to attack the caravans. They could see from the +first that if this was going to be the main route west there would be so +many coming along, and a lot perhaps settle there, that the Gentiles, as +they call the rest of us, would get too strong for them. What they have +been most afeard of is, that a lot of gold or silver should be found up +in the hills, and that would soon put a stop to the Mormon business. +They have been wise enough to tell the red-skins that if men came in and +found gold there would be such a lot come that the hunting would be all +spoilt. There is no doubt that in some of the attacks made on the +caravans there have been sham Indians mixed up with the real ones. +Red-skins are bad enough, but they are good men by the side of +scoundrels who are false to their colour, and who use Indians to kill +whites. That is one reason I want to see this railway go on till it +jines that on the other side. It will be bad for game, and I reckon in a +few years the last buffalo will be wiped out, but I will forgive it +that, so that it does but break up the Saints as they call themselves, +though I reckon there is about as little of the saint among them as you +will find if you search all creation." + +"Right you are, Jerry," Sam Hicks said. "They pretty nigh wiped me out +once, and if Uncle Sam ever takes to fighting them you may bet that I am +in it, and won't ask for no pay." + +"How did it come about, Sam?" Jerry asked. "I dunno as I have ever heard +you tell that story." + +"Waal, I had been a good bit farther east, and had been doing some +scouting with the troops, who had been giving a lesson to the red-skins +there, that it was best for them to let up on plundering the caravans +going west. We had done the job, and I jined a caravan coming this way. +It was the usual crowd, eastern farmers going to settle west, miners, +and such like. Among them was two waggons, which kept mostly as far +apart from the others as they could. They was in charge of two fellows +who dressed in store clothes, and had a sanctimonious look about them. +There was an old man and a couple of old women, and two or three boys +and some gals. They did not talk much with the rest, but it got about +that they were not going farther than Salt Lake City, and we had not +much difficulty in reckoning them up as Mormons. There ain't no law +perviding for the shooting of Mormons without some sort of excuse, and +as the people kept to themselves and did not interfere with no one, +nothing much was said agin them. On a v'yage like that across the +plains, folks has themselves to attend to, and plenty to do both on the +march and in camp, so no one troubles about any one else's business. + +"I hadn't no call to either, but I happened to go out near their waggons +one evening, and saw two or three bright-looking maids among them, and +it riled me to think that they was going to be handed over to some rich +old elder with perhaps a dozen other wives, and I used to feel as it +would be a satisfaction to pump some lead into them sleek-looking +scoundrels who had them in charge. I did not expect that the gals had +any idea what was in store for them. I know them Mormons when they goes +out to get what they call converts, preaches a lot about the prophet, +and a good deal about the comforts they would have in Utah. So much land +for nothing, and so much help to set them up, and all that kind of +thing, but mighty little about polygamy and the chance of their being +handed over to some man old enough to be their father, and without their +having any say in the matter. Howsoever, I did not see as I could +interfere, and if I wanted to interfere I could not have done it; +because all those women believed what they had been taught, and if I a +stranger, and an ill-looking one at that, was to tell them the contrary, +they wouldn't believe a word what I had said. So we went on till we got +within four or five days' journey of Salt Lake City, then one morning, +just as the teams were being hitched up, two fellows rode into camp. + +"As we were in Utah now, there weren't nothing curious about that, but I +reckoned them up as two as hard-looking cusses as I had come across for +a long time. After asking a question or two they rode to the Mormon +waggons, and instead of starting with the rest, the cattle was taken out +and they stopped behind. Waal, I thought I would wait for a bit and see +what they were arter. It weren't no consarn of mine noways, but I knew I +could catch up the waggons if I started in the afternoon, and I +concluded that I would just wait; so I sat by the fire and smoked. When +the caravan had gone on the Mormons hitched up their cattle again. They +were not very far away from where I was sitting, and I could see one of +the men in black pointing to me as he talked with the two chaps who had +just jined them. With that the fellow walked across to where I was +sitting. + +"'Going to camp here?' says he. + +"'Waal,' I says, 'I dunno, as I haven't made up my mind about it. Maybe +I shall, maybe I sha'n't.' + +"'I allow it would be better for you to move on.' + +"'And I allow,' says I, 'it would be better for you to attend to your +own affairs.' + +"'Look here,' says he, 'I hear as you have been a-spying about them +waggons.' + +"'Then,' says I, 'whosoever told you that, is an all-fired liar, and you +tell him so from me.' + +"I had got my hand on the butt of my Colt, and the fellow weakened. + +"'Waal,' he said, 'I have given you warning, that is all.' + +"'All right,' says I, 'I don't care none for your warnings; and I would +rather anyhow be shot down by white skunks dressed up as red-skins, than +I would have a hand in helping to fool a lot of innercent women.' + +"He swore pretty bad at this, but I could see as he wasn't real grit, +and he went off to the waggons. There was considerable talk when he got +there, but as the Mormons must have known as I had been a scout, and had +brought a lot of meat into the camp on the way, and as the chap that +came across must have seen my rifle lying handy beside me, I guess they +allowed that I had better be left alone. So a bit later the waggons +started, and as I expected they would, went up a side valley instead of +going on by the caravan route. The fellow had riz my dander, and after +sitting for a bit I made up my mind I would go after 'em. I had no +particular motive, it wur just out of cussedness. I was not going to be +bluffed from going whar I chose. This air a free country, and I had as +much right to go up that valley as they had." + +"I should have thought yer had had more common sense, Sam Hicks," Jerry +said reproachfully, "than to go a-mixing yourself up in a business in +which you had no sort of consarn. Ef one of them women had asked you to +help her, or if you had thought she was being taken away agin her will, +you or any other man would have had a right to take a hand in the game; +but as it was, you war just fooling with your life to interfere with +them Mormons in their own country." + +"That is so, Jerry, and I ain't a word to say agin it. It war just a +piece of cussedness, and I have asked myself forty-eleven times since, +what on arth made me make such a blame fool of myself. Afore that fellow +came over to bluff me I hadn't no thought of following the waggons, but +arter that I felt somehow as if he dared me to do it. I reckoned I was +more nor a match for the two fellows who just jined them, and as for the +greasy-faced chaps in black, I did not count them in, one way or the +other. I had no thought of getting the gals away, nor of getting into +any muss with them if they left me alone. It was just that I had got a +right to go up that valley or any other, and I was not going to be +bluffed out of it. So I took up my shooting-iron, strapped my blanket +over my shoulder, and started. They war maybe a mile away when I turned +into the valley. I wasn't hungry for a fight, so I didn't keep up the +middle, but just skirted along at the foot of the hill where it did not +seem likely as they would see me. I did not get any closer to them, and +only caught sight of them now and then. + +"As far as I could make out there was only one horseman with them, and I +reckoned the other was gone on ahead; looking for a camping-ground +maybe, or going on to one of the Mormon farms to tell them to get things +ready there. What I reckoned on doing, so far as I reckoned at all, was +to scout up to them as soon as it got dark and listen to their talk, and +try to find out for certain whether the women war goin' willing. Then I +thought as I would walk straight up to their fires and just bluff those +four men as they tried to bluff me. Waal, they went on until late in the +afternoon, unhitched the cattle, and camped. I waited for a bit, and now +that I war cooled down and could look at the thing reasonable, I allowed +to myself that I had showed up as a blamed fool, and I had pretty well +made up my mind to take back tracks and go down the valley, when I heard +the sound of some horses coming down fast from the camp. + +"Then the thought that I was a 'tarnal fool came to me pretty strong, +you bet. One of those fellows had ridden on and brought down some of the +Regulators, as we used to call them in the mining camps, but I believe +the Mormons call them Destroying Angels, though there is mighty little +of angels about them. I hoped now that they had not caught sight of me +during the day, and that the band were going right down to the waggon +camp; but as I had not taken any particular pains to hide myself, I +reckoned they must have made me out. It war pretty nigh dark, and as I +took cover behind a bush I could scarce see them as they rode along. +They went down about two hundred yards and then stopped, and I could +hear some of them dismount. + +"'You are sure we are far enough?' one said. + +"'Yes; I can swear he was higher up than this when we saw him just +before we camped.' + +"'If you two fellows hadn't been the worst kind of curs,' a man said +angrily, 'you would have hidden up as soon as you made out he was +following you and shot him as he came along.' + +"'I told you,' another voice said, 'that the man is an Indian fighter, +and a dead shot. Suppose we had missed him.' + +"'You could not have missed him if you had waited till he was close to +you before you fired; then you might have chucked him in among the +bushes and there would have been an end of it, and we should have been +saved a twenty-mile ride. Now then, look sharp for him and search every +bush. Between us and Johnson's party above we are sure to catch him.' + +"I didn't see that, though I did wish the rocks behind had not been so +'tarnal steep. I could have made my way up in the daylight, though even +then it would have been a tough job, but without light enough to see the +lay of the ledges and the best places for getting from one to another, +it was a business I didn't care about. I was just thinking of making +across to the other side of the valley when some horsemen came galloping +back. + +"'You stop here, brother Ephraim, and keep your ears well open, as well +as your eyes. You stop fifty yards higher up, Hiram, and the others at +the same distance apart. When the men among the rocks come abreast of +you, Ephraim, ride on and take your place at the other end of the line. +You do the same, Hiram, and so all in turn; I will ride up and down.' + +"It was clear they meant business, and I was doubting whether I would +take my chance of hiding or make for the cliff, when I saw a light +coming dancing down from the camp, and knew it was a chap on horseback +with a torch. As he came up the man who had spoken before said: 'How +many torches have you got, brother Williams?' + +"'A dozen of them.' + +"'Give me six, and take the other six down to the men below. That is +right, I will light one from yours.' + +"You may guess that settled me. I had got to git at once, so I began to +crawl off towards the foot of the cliffs. By the time I had got there, +there war six torches burning a hundred yards below, and the men who +carried them were searching every bush and prying under every rock. +Along the middle of the valley six other torches were burning fifty +yards apart. There was one advantage, the torches were pitch-pine and +gave a fairish light, but not so much as tarred rope would have done; +but it was enough for me to be able to make out the face of the cliff, +and I saw a break by which I could get up for a good bit anyhow. It was +where a torrent came down when the snows were melting, and as soon as I +had got to the bottom I made straight up. There were rocks piled at its +foot, and I got to the top of these without being seen. + +"I hadn't got a dozen feet higher when my foot set a boulder rolling, +and down it went with a crash. There were shouts below, but I did not +stop to listen to what they said, but put up the bed of the torrent at a +two-forty gait. A shot rang out, and another and another, but I was +getting now above the light of their torches. A hundred feet higher I +came to a stand-still, for the rock rose right up in front of me, and +the water had here come down from above in a fall. This made it a tight +place, you bet. There war no ledge as I could see that I could get +along, and I should have to go down a good bit afore I got to one. They +kept on firing from below, but I felt pretty sure that they could not +see me, for I could hear the bullets striking high against the face of +the rock that had stopped me. + +"You may bet I was careful how I went down again, and I took my time, +for I could see that the men with the torches had halted at the foot of +the heap of rocks below, not caring much, I expect, to begin to mount, +while the horsemen kept on firing, hoping to hear my body come rolling +down; besides, they must have known that with their torches they made a +pretty sure mark for me. At last I got down to the ledge. It war a +narrow one, and for a few yards I had to walk with my face to the rock +and my arms spread out, and that, when I knew that at any moment they +might make me out, and their bullets come singing up, warn't by no means +pleasant. In a few yards the ledge got wider and there was room enough +on it for me to lie down. I crawled along for a good bit, and then sat +down with my back against the rock and reckoned the matter up. All the +torches war gathered round where I had gone up. Four more men had come +down from the camp on horseback, and five or six on foot with torches +were running down the valley. They had been searching for me among the +bushes higher up, and when they heard the firing had started down to +jine the others. The leader was shouting to the men to climb up after +me, but the men didn't seem to see it. + +"'What's the use?' I heard one fellow say; 'he must be chock-full of +bullets long ago. We will go up and find his carcass in the morning.' + +"'But suppose he is not dead, you fool.' + +"'Well, if he ain't dead he would just pick us off one after another as +we went up with torches.' + +"'Well, put your torches out, then. Here, I will go first if you are +afraid,' and he jumped from his horse. + +"You can bet your boots that my fingers itched to put a bullet into him. +But it warn't to be done; I did not know how far the ledge went or +whether there might be any way of getting off it, and now I had once got +out of their sight it would have been chucking away my life to let them +know whar I lay. So I got up again and walked on a bit farther. I came +on a place where the rock had crumbled enough for me to be able to get +up on to the next ledge, and after a lot of climbing up and down I got +to the top in about two hours, and then struck across the hills and came +down at eight o'clock next morning on to the caravan track. I hid up +till evening in case they should come down after me, and next morning I +came up to the caravan just as they were hitching the teams up for a +start." + +"You got out of that better than you deserved," Harry said. "I wouldn't +have believed that any man would have played such a fool's trick as to +go meddling with the Mormons in their own country without any kind of +reason. It war worse than childishness." + +The other two miners assented vigorously, and Sam said: "Waal, you can't +think more meanly of me over that business than I do of myself. I have +never been able to make out why I did it, and you may bet it ain't often +I tells the story. It war a dog-goned piece of foolishness, and, as +Harry says, I didn't desarve to get out of it as I did. Still, it ain't +made me feel any kind of love for Mormons. When about two hundred shots +have been fired at a man it makes him feel kinder like as if he war +going to pay some of them back when he gets the chance, and you may bet +I mean to." + +"Jee-rusalem!" + +The exclamation was elicited by the fall of a heavy mass of snow on to +the fire, over which the kettle had just begun to boil. The tripod from +which it hung was knocked over. A cloud of steam filled the place, and +the party all sprung to their feet to avoid being scalded. + +"It might have waited a few minutes longer," Jerry grumbled, "then we +should have had our tea comfortable. Now the fire is out and the water +is spilt, and we have got to fetch in some more snow; that is the last +lot there was melted." + +"It is all in the day's work, Jerry," Harry said cheerfully, "and it is +just as well we should have something to do. I will fetch the snow in if +the rest of you will clear the hearth again. It is a nuisance about the +snow, but we agreed that there is no help for it, and we may thank our +stars it is no worse." + +It was not long before the fire was blazing again, but it took some time +before water was boiling and tea made, still longer before the bread +which had been soddened by the water from the kettle was fit to eat. By +this time it was dark. When the meal was over they all turned in for the +night. Tom was just going off to sleep, when he was roused by Leaping +Dog suddenly throwing off his buffalo robe and springing to his feet +with his rifle in his hand. + +"Hist!" he said in a low tone. "Something comes!" + +The men all seized their rifles and listened intently. Presently they +heard a soft step on the snow outside, then there was a snuffing sound. + +"B'ar!" the Indian said. + +A moment later a great head reared itself over the bushes at the +entrance. Five rifles rang out, the two Indians reserving their fire; +the report was followed by the dull sound of a heavy fall outside. + +"Wait a moment," Harry said sharply, as the others were preparing to +rush out, "let us make sure he is dead." + +"He is dead enough," Jerry said. "I reckon even a grizzly cannot walk +off with five bullets in his head." + +Harry looked over the screen. "Yes, he is dead enough; anyhow he looks +so. Waal, this is a piece of luck." They all stepped out on to the +platform. + +"Is it a grizzly, uncle?" Tom asked excitedly. + +"He is a grizzly, sure enough. You don't want to see his colour to know +that. Look at his size." + +"Why, he is as big as a cow." + +"Ay, lad, and a big cow too. You go in and make up the fire while we cut +off enough meat for supper." + +The fact that they had eaten a meal but half an hour before, went for +nothing; slices of bear-meat were soon frizzling, and as hearty a meal +was eaten as if no food had been tasted since the previous day. The men +were in the highest spirits; the fact that they were out of meat had +been the greatest drawback to the prospect of being shut up for perhaps +a week, for badly-baked bread is but a poor diet to men accustomed to +live almost exclusively upon meat. + +"What brought the bear down here?" Tom asked. + +"Curiosity at first perhaps, and then hunger," his uncle replied. "I +expect he was going along on the path above when he saw the light among +the leaves, and then no doubt he smelt the bread, and perhaps us and the +horses, and came down to see what he could get. + +"Curiosity is a bad fault, Tom. You have had two lessons in that this +evening. Bear in mind that in this part of the world the safest plan is +always to attend strictly to your own business." + +All thought of sleep was for the present dissipated; their pipes were +again lighted, and it was midnight before they lay down. In the morning +the bear was with some difficulty skinned and cut up, the joints being +left outside to freeze through. The snow still fell steadily, but the +wind had almost died down. Sallying out they cut five or six long poles, +and with some difficulty fixed these from above across from the cliff to +the outstanding rock, pushed the bear's-skin across them, and lashed it +there, its bulk being sufficient to cover the space above the fire and a +considerable portion of their dwelling room. + +After breakfast snow was again melted for the horses, and the work for +the day thus done they seated themselves contentedly round the fire. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +AN AVALANCHE + + +"You don't think, chief," Harry asked, "that there is any chance of the +'Rappahoes taking it into their heads to come up to have a look round?" + +"Indians keep in lodges, no like cold; they think we have gone on over +pass. If weather gets fine perhaps they come to look for our guns and +packs. They think sure we die in snow-storm when we up in pass. When +snow stops falling, we make no more fire; but path from valley all shut +up by snow now." + +"Yes, I don't think anyone would try to climb it till the sun has +cleared the track; it was a pretty bad place when we came up," Harry +said. "I don't say that men on foot could not make their way up; but as +you say, the red-skins are not likely to try it until the weather has +cleared a bit, though I don't say that they wouldn't if they knew we +were camped here close to the top." + +"What noise is that?" Tom asked. "I have heard it several times before, +but not so loud as that." + +"Snow-slide," Leaping Horse said. "Snow come down from mountains; break +off trees, roll rocks down. Bad place all along here." + +"Yes. I saw that you looked up at the hills behind there before you +looked over the edge here, chief," Ben Gulston said, "and I reckoned +that you had snow-slides in your mind. I thought myself that it was like +enough the snow might come tumbling over the edge of that high wall and +then come scooting down over where we war, and there would have been no +sort of show for us if we had been camped whar the trail goes along." + +"Leaping Horse has heard from his red brothers with whom he has spoken +that trail from top of valley very bad when snow falls. Many Indians +stopping too long at fort, to trade goods, have been swept away by +snow-slides when caught in storm here." + +"I thought it looked a bad place," Harry remarked. "There ain't no +fooling with a snow-slide anyway. I have come across bones once or twice +lying scattered about in snug-looking valleys--bones of horses and men, +and it was easy to see they had been killed by a snow-slide coming down +on them. Rocks were heaped about among them, some of the bones were +smashed. They had been hunting or trapping, and sheltered up in a valley +when the storm came on and the slide had fallen on them, and there they +had laid till the sun melted the snow in summer, when the coyotes and +the vultures would soon clean the bones." He broke off suddenly; there +was a dull sound, and at the same moment a distinct vibration of the +ground, then a rustling murmur mingled with a rumbling as of a waggon +passing over a rocky ground. + +"There is another one," Jerry exclaimed, "and it is somewhere just above +us. Keep your backs to the wall, boys." + +[Illustration: "There Is Another Avalanche, Keep Your Backs To The Wall, +Boys"] + +Louder and louder grew the sound; the tremor of the earth increased, the +horses neighed with fright, the men stood with their backs against the +rock next to the hill. Suddenly the light was darkened as a vast mass of +snow mingled with rocks of all sizes leapt like a torrent over the edge +of the cliff, the impetus carrying it over the outer wall of their +shelter and down into the ravine. There was a mighty sound of the +crashing of trees, mingled with a thumping and rolling of the rocks as +they clashed against the side of the ravine and went leaping down into +the valley. The ground shook with a continuous tremor, and then the +light returned as suddenly as it had been cut off, and a few seconds +later a dead stillness succeeded the deafening roar from below. The +passage of the avalanche overhead had lasted but a minute, though to the +men standing below it the time had seemed vastly longer. Instinctively +they had pressed themselves against the rock, almost holding their +breath, and expecting momentarily that one of the boulders in its +passage would strike the top of the outside wall and fall in fragments +among them. The silence that followed was unbroken for some seconds, and +then Sam Hicks stepped a pace forward. + +"Jee-rusalem!" he said, "that was a close call. I don't know how you +felt, boys, but it seemed as if all the sand had gone out of me, and I +weakened so that my knees have not done shaking yet." + +The men, accustomed as they were to danger, were all equally affected. +Tom felt relieved to see that the others all looked pale and shaken, for +he was conscious that he had been in a terrible fright, and that his +legs would scarcely support his weight. + +"I am glad to hear you say so, Sam, for I was in an awful funk; but I +should not have said so if you hadn't spoken." + +"You needn't be ashamed of that, Tom," his uncle put in. "You showed +plenty of pluck when we were in trouble with the red-skins, but I am +sure there was not one of us that did not weaken when that snow-slide +shot over us; and none of us need be ashamed to say so. A man with good +grit will brace up, keep his head cool and his fingers steady on the +trigger to the last, though he knows that he has come to the end of his +journey and has got to go down; but it is when there is nothing to do, +no fight to be made, when you are as helpless as a child and have no +sort of show, that the grit runs out of your boots. I have fought +red-skins and Mexicans a score of times; I have been in a dozen shooting +scrapes in saloons at the diggings; but I don't know that I ever felt so +scared as I did just now. Ben, there is a jar of whisky in our outfit; +we agreed we would not touch it unless one of us got hurt or ill, but I +think a drop of medicine all round now wouldn't be out of place." + +There was a general assent. "But before we take it," he went on, "we +will take off our hats and say 'Thank God' for having taken us safe +through this thing. If He had put this shelter here for us express, He +could not have planted it better for us, and the least we can do is to +thank Him for having pulled us through it safe." + +The men all took off their hats, and stood silent for a minute or two +with bent heads. When they had replaced their hats Ben Gulston went to +the corner where the pack-saddles and packs were piled, took out a small +keg, and poured out some whisky for each of the white men. The others +drank it straight; Tom mixed some water with his, and felt a good deal +better after drinking it. Ben did not offer it to the Indians, neither +of whom would touch spirits on any occasion. + +"It is a good friend and a bad enemy," Harry said as he tossed off his +portion. "As a rule there ain't no doubt that one is better without it; +but there is no better medicine to carry about with you. I have seen +many a life saved by a bottle of whisky. Taken after the bite of a +rattlesnake, it is as good a thing as there is. In case of fever, and +when a man is just tired out after a twenty-four hours' tramp, a drop of +it will put new life into him for a bit. But I don't say as it hasn't +killed a sight more than it has cured. It is at the bottom of pretty +nigh every shooting scrape in the camps, and has been the ruin of +hundreds of good men who would have done well if they could but have +kept from it." + +"But you ain't a temperance man yourself, Harry?" + +"No, Sam; but then, thank God, I am master of the liquor, and not the +liquor of me. I can take a glass, or perhaps two, without wanting more. +Though I have made a fool of myself in many ways since I have come out +here, no man can say he ever saw me drunk; if liquor were to get the +better of me once, I would swear off for the rest of my life. Don't you +ever take to it, Tom; that is, not to get so as to like to go on +drinking it. In our life we often have to go for months without it, and +a man has got to be very careful when he goes down to the settlements, +else it would be sure to get over him." + +"I don't care for it at all, uncle." + +"See you don't get to care for it, Tom. There are plenty start as you +do, and before they have been out here long they do get to like it, and +from that day they are never any good. It is a big temptation. A man has +been hunting or trapping, or fossicking for gold in the hills for +months, and he comes down to a fort or town and he meets a lot of mates. +One says 'Have a drink?' and another asks you, and it is mighty hard to +be always saying 'no'; and there ain't much to do in these places but to +drink or to gamble. A man here ain't so much to be blamed as folks who +live in comfortable houses, and have got wives and families and decent +places of amusement, and books and all that sort of thing, if they take +to drink or gambling. I have not any right to preach, for if I don't +drink I do gamble; that is, I have done; though I swore off that when I +got the letter telling me that your father had gone. Then I thought what +a fool I had made of myself for years. Why, if I had kept all the gold I +had dug I could go home now and live comfortably for the rest of my +life, and have a home for my nieces, as I ought to have. However, I have +done with it now. And I am mighty glad it was the cards and not drink +that took my dust, for it is a great deal easier to give up cards than +it is to give up liquor when you have once taken to it. Now let us talk +of something else; I vote we take a turn up on to the trail, and see +what the snow-slide has done." + +Throwing the buffalo robes round their shoulders the party went outside. +The air was too thick with snow to enable them to perceive from the +platform the destruction it had wrought in the valley below, but upon +ascending the path to the level above, the track of the avalanche was +plainly marked indeed. For the width of a hundred yards, the white +mantle of snow, that covered the slope up to the point where the wall of +cliff rose abruptly, had been cleared away as if with a mighty broom. +Every rock and boulder lying upon it had been swept off, and the surface +of the bare rock lay flat, and unbroken by even a tuft of grass. They +walked along the edge until they looked down upon their shelter. The +bear's hide was still in its place, sloping like a pent-house roof, from +its upper side two or three inches below the edge of the rock, to the +other wall three feet lower. It was, however, stripped of its hair, as +cleanly as if it had been shorn off with a razor, by the friction of the +snow that had shot down along it. + +"That is the blamedest odd thing I ever saw," Sam Hicks said. "I wonder +the weight of the snow didn't break it in." + +"I expect it just shot over it, Sam," Harry said. "It must have been +travelling so mighty fast that the whole mass jumped across, only just +rubbing the skin. Of course the boulders and stones must have gone clean +over. That shows what a narrow escape we have had; for if that outer +rock had been a foot or so higher, the skin would have caved in, and our +place would have been filled chock up with snow in a moment. Waal, we +may as well turn in again, for I feel cold to the bones already." + +On the evening of the fifth day the snow ceased falling, and next +morning the sky was clear and bright. Preparations were at once made for +a start. A batch of bread had been baked on the previous evening. Some +buckets of hot gruel were given to the horses, a meal was hastily eaten, +the horses saddled and the packs arranged, and before the sun had been +up half an hour they were on their way. The usual stillness of the +mountains was broken by a variety of sounds. From the valley at their +feet came up sharp reports, as a limb of a tree, or sometimes the tree +itself, broke beneath the weight of the snow. A dull rumbling sound, +echoing from hill to hill, told of the falls of avalanches. Scarcely had +the echoes of one ceased, than they began again in a fresh quarter. The +journey was toilsome in the extreme, for the horses' hoofs sank deep in +the freshly-fallen snow, rendering their progress exceedingly slow. + +"If we had been sure that this weather would hold, chief, it would have +been better to have waited a few days before making our start, for by +that time the snow would have been hard enough to travel on." + +The chief shook his head. "Winter coming for good," he said, waving his +hand towards the range of snowy summits to the north. "Clouds there +still; if stop, not able to cross pass till next summer." + +"That is so; we agreed as to that yesterday, and that if we don't get +over now the chances are we shall never get over at all. Yet, it is a +pity we can't wait a few days for a crust to form on the snow." + +Twice in the course of the next hour avalanches came down from the hills +above them; the first sweeping down into the valley a quarter of a mile +behind them, the next but two or three hundred yards ahead of them. +Scarcely a word was spoken from end to end of the line. They travelled +in Indian file, and each horse stepped in the footprints of its +predecessor. Every few hundred yards they changed places, for the labour +of the first horse was very much heavier than of those following. At the +end of an hour the men drew together for a consultation. There was a +wide break in the line of cliffs, and a valley ran nearly due south. + +"What do you think, chief? This confounded snow has covered up all signs +of the trail, and we have got to find our own way. There is no doubt +this valley below is running a deal too much to the west, and that the +trail must strike off somewhere south. It looks to me as if that were a +likely valley through the cliff. There is no hiding the fact that if we +take the wrong turn we are all gone coons." + +"Leaping Horse knows no more than his brother," the chief said gravely. +"He knows the pass is on the western side of the great peak. The great +peak lies there," and he pointed a little to the west of the break in +the hills up which they were looking. + +"It may be that we must cross the hills into another valley, or perhaps +this will turn west presently." + +"I tell you what, Harry," Sam Hicks said, "my opinion is, that our best +plan by a long chalk will be to go back to our last place and to stop +there for a bit. We have got b'ar's flesh enough for another fortnight, +and we may kill some more game afore that is done. Ef this is but a +spell of snow it may melt enough in another ten days for us to make out +the trail and follow it. Ef, as the chief thinks, we have got winter +right down on us, we must wait till the snow crust hardens ef it is a +month or double. Anything is better than going on like this. What with +this soft snow and these 'tarnal snow-slides, there ain't no more chance +of our getting over that pass in one day's journey, than there air in +our flying right down to Salt Lake City. Ef the worst comes to the +worst, I tell yer I would rather go back and take our chance of +following the Big Wind River down, and fighting the red-skins, than I +would of crossing over these dog-goned hills." + +The other three men were of the same opinion. + +"Well, what do you say, chief?" Harry asked the Indian. + +"Leaping Horse thinks that the trail will not be found until next +summer," the chief replied quietly. "Heap of hills in front and heap of +snow. If snow-storm catch us in the hills no find way anywhere. Leaping +Horse is ready to do whatever his white brother thinks." + +"Well, I am with the others," Harry said. "I don't like the look of +those clouds. They are quiet enough now, but they may begin to shift any +time, and, as you say, if we are caught in a snow-storm on the hills +there is an end of us. I think Sam is right. Even if we have to rustle +all through the winter in that hut there, I would rather face it than +keep on." + +That settled it. The horses' heads were turned, and they retraced their +steps until they reached the shelter. The bear's-skin had been left +where it was, the fire was soon set going, and there was a general +feeling of satisfaction as they laid out the robes and blankets again. + +"Look here, boys," Harry said, "this is not going to be a holiday time, +you bet. We have got to make this place a sight snugger than it is now, +for, I tell you, when the winter sets in in earnest, it will be cold +enough here to freeze a buffalo solid in an hour. We have got to set to +work to make a roof all over this place, and we have got to hunt to lay +in a big stock of meat. We have got to get a big store of food for the +horses, for we must be mighty careful with our flour now. We can wait a +fortnight to see how things go, but if it is clear then that we have got +to fight it out here through the winter, we must shoot the pack-ponies +at once, and I reckon the others will all have to go later. However, we +will give them a chance as long as we can." + +"Take them down into the valley," the chief said. "All Indian horses." + +"Ah, I didn't think of that, chief. Yes, they are accustomed to rustle +for their living, and they may make a shift to hold on down there. I +don't think there is much fear of Indians coming up." + +"No Indians," Leaping Horse said. "Indians go away when winter set in. +Some go to forest, some go to lodges right down valley. No stop up here +in mountains. When winter comes plenty game--big-horn, wapiti." + +"Ah, that is a more cheerful look-out, chief. If we can get plenty of +meat we can manage without flour, and can go down and give the ponies a +pail of hot gruel once a week, which will help them to keep life +together. The first thing, I take it, is to cut some poles for the roof. +I am afraid we shall have to go down to the bottom for them." + +"Waal, we needn't begin that till to-morrow," Sam Hicks said. "If we had +them, we have got no skins to cover them." + +"Cut brushwood," Indian said. "First put plenty of brushwood on poles, +then put skins over." + +"Yes, that is the plan, chief. Well, if we get down there we shall have +to take our shovels and clear the snow off some of the narrow ledges. If +we do that we can lead one of the horses down to pack the poles up +here." + +The chief went out on to the platform. "No use clear snow now. Clouds +moving. In two hours snow fall again." + +The others joined him outside. "I reckon you are right, chief," Jerry +said. "It is mighty lucky we didn't go on. It can't be much worse here +than it was before." + +At three in the afternoon it began to snow heavily again. There was less +wind than there had been on the previous occasion, and the snow drifted +through the entrance less than before. Just as they were turning in for +the night an ominous crack was heard above. All leapt from their +blankets, and looking up they could see by the light of the fire that +the poles supporting the skin were all bent in a curve downwards. + +"Jee-rusalem!" Sam Hicks exclaimed, "the whole outfit will be coming +down on us." + +"That it will, Sam. You see, there is no wind as there was before, and +one of our jobs will be keeping the roof clear of snow. Turn out, boys; +we must get rid of it somehow." + +They at once set to work to lash two poles, some eight feet long, to the +handles of the shovels, and as soon as this was done they all turned +out. On reaching the edge of the ravine above the roof, they first +cleared away the snow down to the rock so as to have firm standing, and +then proceeded to shovel the snow off the surface of the skin. It was +easier work than they expected, for as soon as it was touched it slid +down the incline, and in a very few minutes the whole was cleared off. + +"I think that is good until morning now," Harry said. "As long as the +snow lasts we shall have to do it every few hours. Directly we get a +spell of fine weather we must put some more poles under it to strengthen +it." + +For six days the snow continued to fall without intermission. At +daybreak, at mid-day, and the last thing before they turned in at night +the snow was cleared off the hide. With this exception they did not stir +out of the shelter. They had also each day to clear out the inner +portion of the fissure, as the snow now frequently broke through the +trees in masses, startling the horses, and keeping them in a state of +restlessness. The sixth day it stopped snowing, and the next morning the +sky was bright and clear. The whole party at once started out, two of +them taking shovels, and the rest brooms that they had made during the +long hours of their confinement. By the middle of the day they had +cleared the path down into the valley, and on their way back to dinner +each carried up a large bundle of faggots. + +The meal was cooked and eaten hastily, and the whole of the horses were +then led down into the valley. Here a couple of dozen stout poles for +the roof were cut by the whites, the two Indians at once going up the +valley in search of game. In half an hour two rifle-shots were heard, +and presently Hunting Dog ran in with the news that they had killed two +wapiti. Jerry and Sam Hicks at once went off with him, leading two +horses, and presently returned with the dead deer fastened across their +backs. + +"They are very like pictures I have seen of moose," Tom said to his +uncle as he examined the great stags. + +"New-comers often call them moose, Tom; but there is a difference +between them, though what the difference is I cannot tell you, for I +have never hunted moose. I believe the wapiti are peculiar to the West. +They often go in great herds of three or four hundreds together." + +"The chief says there are a great many of them up the valley," Jerry put +in. "They made off when he fired, but I could see their foot-tracks +myself all about. He says they have been driven down here by the storm +for shelter. He has gone round with the lad to head them back." + +"That is good news, Jerry. The meat we have got already will last some +time, but it is as well to lay in a good stock, and we want the skins +badly to make our roof. You had better lead these horses to the foot of +the path, and then we will all take our post behind trees across the +valley." + +An hour later they heard the reports of two rifles a long way up the +valley, and all stood in readiness. A few minutes later there was a dull +trampling sound, and almost directly afterwards a herd of wapiti came +along at a heavy trot, ploughing their way but slowly through the snow. + +"Don't use your revolvers, boys," Harry had said, "except to finish off +a stag you have wounded with your rifle. The chance is all against your +bringing them down, and the poor brutes would only get away to die." + +One after another the rifles rang out. Tom and his uncle both had the +satisfaction of seeing the stags they had aimed at, plunge forward +before they had gone many yards farther, and roll over dead. The other +three had each hit the animal they aimed at, but as these kept on their +course they dashed out in pursuit, firing their Colts, which in their +hands were as deadly weapons as a rifle, and the three stags all fell, +although one got nearly half a mile down the valley before he succumbed. +A carcass was hoisted on to each of the horses' backs, and the loaded +animals were then led up the track. + +"Shall I wait until the Indians come back, uncle, and tell them why you +have gone up?" + +"There is no occasion for that, Tom; they would hear the shots, and will +have guessed what has happened." + +The poles were divided among the men and carried up to the top of the +path, and laid down just above the shelter. Harry and Sam Hicks at once +proceeded to cut them up into proper lengths, while the others skinned +and cut up the deer. A number of thongs were cut from one of the hides +for lashing cross-poles across those that were to act as ridge-poles. +The bear's-skin was removed and additional poles placed at that spot, +and all working together the framework of the roof was completed by +nightfall. The Indians had returned soon after the party began their +work, and taking their horses down fetched up the deer they had killed. + +In the morning the roof was completed, hides being stretched over the +framework and securely lashed to it with thongs. The whole of the trees +and brushwood were then chopped down close to the ground so as to leave +a level floor. The foliage was given to the horses, and the wood cut up +and piled for fuel. The chief reported that at the upper end of the +valley there was a thick pine-wood, which would give good shelter to the +horses. Near it were plenty of bushes, and a level tract which had been +a beaver meadow, and was thickly covered with grass, as he could see +where the wapiti had scratched away the snow to get at it. This was +excellent news, for the question of how the horses could be fed through +the winter had troubled them much more than that of their own +maintenance. The joints of venison were hung up on a pole outside what +they now called their hut, one or two hams being suspended from the +rafters over the fire, to be smoked. + +"We shall have to rig up a b'ar-trap outside," Ben said, "or we shall be +having them here after the meat; and a b'ar's ham now and then will make +a change. Wapiti flesh ain't bad, but we should get dog-goned tired of +it arter a bit." + +"You may bet we shall, Ben," Jerry agreed; "but I reckon that we shall +be able to get a lot of game through the winter. That valley down there +is just the place for them to shelter in, and I hope we shall get a +big-horn now and then. It will be a difficult thing to make a b'ar-trap +outside. A grizzly wants a pretty strong pen to keep him in, and though +the horses might drag up some big beams from below, there ain't no +fastening them in this rock." + +"No; I don't think we can make that sort of trap," Harry said. "We must +contrive something else. We need not do all our work at once; we have +got plenty of time before us. We want three or four more skins to finish +our hut." + +"You mean to fill up the entrance?" + +"Yes; we will sew them together, and make a curtain to hang from the +edge of the roof to the ground. I tell you it is going to be mighty cold +here, and besides, it will keep the snow from drifting in." + +"I wish to goodness we could make a chimney," Tom said. "The smoke went +up through the leaves all right, but my eyes are watering now, and if +you fill up the end with skins it will be something awful." + +"You will get accustomed to it, Tom; but, of course, we must make a hole +at the top when we fill up the entrance. What do you think is the next +thing to be done, chief?" + +"Get wood," the chief said emphatically. "Must fill all the end of hut +with wood." + +"That will be a big job, chief, but there is no doubt we must lay in a +great store of it. Well, there is plenty of timber down in the valley, +and with ten horses we can bring up a tidy lot every day." + +"Let us cut quick before snow comes again." + +"We will begin to-morrow morning, chief. I agree with you, the sooner +the better." + +Accordingly the next morning they went down to the valley. They had but +two axes, and Jerry and Sam Hicks, who had both done a good deal of +wood-cutting, undertook this portion of the work. The others took the +horses up to the beaver meadow, where they at once began scraping at the +snow, and were soon munching away at the rich grass. + +"Why do you call it a beaver meadow, uncle? I don't see any beavers." + +"They have gone long ago, perhaps a hundred years. As we know, this +valley is occupied by the Indians in summer, and they would soon clear +out the beavers. But it is called a beaver meadow because it was made by +them. They set to work and dammed up the stream, and gradually all this +flat became a lake. Well, in time, you know, leaves from the woods +above, and soil and dead wood and other things brought down by the +stream, gradually filled up the bottom. Then the beavers were killed, +and their dams went to ruin and the water drained off, and in a short +time grass began to grow. There are hundreds, ay, and thousands of +beaver meadows among the hills, and on the little streams that run into +the big rivers, and nowhere is the grass so rich. You will often see an +Indian village by one of these meadows. They grow their roots and plant +their corn there. The horses will do first-rate here through the winter +if the snow don't get too deep for them, and, anyhow, we can help them +out with a bucket of gruel occasionally." + +"It will be awfully cold for them, though." + +"It will be coldish, no doubt, but Indian ponies are accustomed to it." + +"I should think, uncle, it would not take much trouble to make them a +sort of shed up among the trees there." + +Sam laughed, and even the chief smiled. + +"It would not be a bad plan, Tom," his uncle said; "not so much for the +sake of the warmth, though there is no doubt that the warmer they are +the less they can do with to eat, but if they have a place to go to they +are less likely to wander away, and we shall not have the trouble of +hunting for them. Well, we will think it over." + +Following the valley up, they found that it extended some ten miles +farther, for the last two of which it was but a narrow canon a few yards +wide. They shot a black bear and four small deer, and returned carrying +the skins, the hind-quarters of the deer, and the bear's hams. + +"We seem to have got meat enough for anything," Tom remonstrated when +they shot the deer. + +"Seven men will get through a lot of meat, Tom, when they have nothing +else to go with it; and we may be weeks before we can put our heads out +of our hut. Besides, the skins will be useful. We shall want deer-skin +shirts, trousers, and socks and caps; and the skin of these deer is +softer and more pliable than that of the wapiti. I don't want to kill +more than I can help, lad, for I hate taking life without there is a +necessity for it, but we can do with a lot more skins before we are +stocked." + +When, driving the horses before them, they returned to the woodcutters, +they found they had cut down and chopped into logs a number of trees; +and Tom was quite astonished at the great pile of firewood that had been +got ready by them in the course of a day's work. The logs were made up +into bundles, each weighing about eighty pounds. These were tied +together with the horses' lariats, and then secured, one on each side of +the saddle, two of the horses carrying the meat. Harry took the bridle +of his horse and started up the path, the others following at once. + +"That is a good day's work," Harry said as the logs were piled at the +inner end of the hut. "That is about half a ton of wood. If we have but +a week of open weather we shall have a good store in our cellar." + +The work continued steadily for a week. The horses were each day taken +to feed at the meadow, the two wood-choppers continued their work, while +the rest of the party hunted. The Indians had on the second day gone +down the valley, and returned with the report that the Indian lodges had +all disappeared and that the valley was entirely deserted. Eight more +wapiti were killed during the week, and fourteen smaller deer. Of an +evening they occupied themselves in sewing the skins together with +thongs of leather, the holes being made with their knives; and a curtain +at the mouth of the hut was completed and hung. Four wide slabs of wood +had been cut. These had been bound together with thongs so as to form a +sort of chimney four feet high, and with a good deal of difficulty this +was secured by props in its position over a hole cut through the skins, +above the fire. + +"The first avalanche will carry it away, Tom." + +"Yes, uncle; but we have had one avalanche here, and it seems to me the +chances are strongly against our having another in exactly the same +place." + +The skins of the smaller deer were carefully scraped with knives on the +inner side, smeared with bears' fat, and then rubbed and kneaded until +they were perfectly soft. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +WINTER + + +The erection of Tom's shed for the horses did not take long. The whole +party, with the exception of the two Indians,--who, as usual, went +hunting,--proceeded to the pine-wood above the beaver meadow. After a +little search six trees were found conveniently situated with regard to +each other. The axemen cut down three young firs. One was lashed by the +others between the two central trees, to form a ridge-pole eight feet +from the ground; the others against the other trees, at a height of +three feet, to support the lower ends of the roof. They were but ten +feet apart, so that the roof might have a considerable pitch. Numbers of +other young trees were felled and fixed, six inches apart, from the +ridge down to the eaves. On these the branches of the young fir-trees +were thickly laid, and light poles were lashed lengthways over them to +keep them in their places. + +As the poles of the roof had been cut long enough to extend down to the +ground, no side walls were necessary. The ends were formed of poles +lashed across to the side trees, but extending down only to within four +feet six of the ground, so as to allow the horses to pass under, and +were, like the roof, thickly covered with boughs. The lower ends were +left open for a width of four feet in the middle, uprights being driven +into the ground and the sides completed as before. + +"What do you want a doorway at both ends for?" Tom asked. "It would have +been easier and quicker to have shut one end up altogether, and it would +be a good deal warmer." + +"So it would, Tom; but if a grizzly were to appear at the door, what +would the horses do? They would be caught in a trap." + +"Do you think they are likely to come, uncle?" + +"The likeliest thing in the world, Tom. Horses can smell bear a good +distance off, and if they heard one either coming down or going up the +valley, they would bolt through the opposite door. They will do +first-rate here; they will stand pretty close together, and the warmth +of their bodies will heat the place up. They won't know themselves, they +will be so comfortable. It has only taken us a day's work to make the +shed; and though we laughed at your idea at first, I think now that the +day has been well spent in getting them up such a good shelter. Jerry +has got the big pail boiling over his fire, and we will put in a few +handfuls of the flour we brought down. Bring the horses in from the +meadow, and we will give them each a drink of gruel in the shed. They +will soon learn that it is to be their home." + +For two more days the open weather continued, and the horses took up +three loads of wood each afternoon, as they had done the previous week. +Then, as there were signs of change, they were given a good feed at +their shed; the saddles were taken off and hung up on some cross-poles +over their heads. + +The party had scarcely returned to the hut when the snow began to fall. +They were, however, weather-proof, and felt the immense additional +comfort of the changes they had made. Their stock of firewood was now a +very large one. At each journey the horses had brought up about fifteen +hundredweight; and as the work had gone on for nine days, they had, they +calculated, something like fourteen tons of firewood neatly stacked. +They had also a stock of poles in case the roof should require +strengthening. A certain amount of light found its way in at the edges +of the curtain across the entrance, but they depended principally upon +the fire-light. The smoke, however, was a serious grievance, and even +the men were forced occasionally to go outside into the open air to +allay the smarting of their eyes. + +"Don't you think, uncle, we might do something to dry the wood?" + +"I can't see that we can do more than we are doing, Tom. We always keep +a dozen logs lying round the fire to dry a bit before they are put on." + +"I should think we might make a sort of stage about four feet above the +fire and keep some logs up there. We might pile them so that the hot air +and smoke could go up through them. They would dry a great deal faster +there than merely lying down on the ground." + +"I think the idea is a very good one, Tom; but we shall have to make the +frame pretty strong, for if it happened to come down it might break some +of our legs." + +The men all agreed that the idea was a capital one, and after some +consultation they set to to carry it out. Two strong poles were first +chosen. These were cut carefully to the right length, and were jambed +between the rocks at a height of seven feet above the floor and five +feet apart. They were driven in and wedged so tightly that they could +each bear the weight of two men swinging upon them without moving. Then +four upright poles were lashed to them, five feet apart, and these were +connected with cross-poles. + +"That is strong enough for anything," Jerry said when the structure had +been so far completed. "If a horse were to run against one of the poles +he would hardly bring the thing down." + +Four other short poles were now lashed to the uprights three feet below +the upper framework, and were crossed by others so as to form a +gridiron. On this, the logs were laid in tiers crossing each other, +sufficient space being left between them to allow for the passage of the +hot air. + +"That is a splendid contrivance," Harry said when they took their seats +on the buffalo robes round the fire and looked up admiringly at their +work. "The logs will get as dry as chips, and in future we sha'n't be +bothered with the smoke. Besides, it will do to stand the pail and pots +full of snow there, and keep a supply of water, without putting them +down into the fire and running the risk of an upset." + +They had occupation now in manufacturing a suit of clothes a-piece from +the deer-skins. As the work required to be neater than that which +sufficed for the making of the curtain, pointed sticks hardened in the +fire were used for making the holes, and the thongs that served as +thread were cut as finely as possible; this being done by the Indians, +who turned them out no thicker than pack-thread. + +There was no occasion for hurry, and there was much laughing and joking +over the work. Their hunting-shirts and breeches served as patterns from +which to cut out the skins; and as each strove to outvie the others, the +garments when completed were very fair specimens of work. The +hunting-shirts were made with hoods that, when pulled over the head, +covered the whole face except the eyes, nose, and mouth. As they had +plenty of skin, the hoods and shirts were made double, so that there was +hair both inside and out. They were made to come down half-way to the +knee, being kept close at the waists by their belts. The leggings were +made of single thickness only, as they would be worn over their +breeches; they were long and reached down below the ankle. The Indians +made fresh moccasins for the whole party; they were made higher than +usual, so as to come up over the bottom of the leggings. In addition +each was provided with long strips of hide, which were to be wound round +and round the leggings, from the knee to below the ankle, covering +tightly the tops of the moccasins, and so preventing the snow from +finding its way in there. Gloves were then manufactured, the fingers +being in one and the thumb only being free. + +The work occupied them a fortnight, broken only by one day's spell of +fine weather, which they utilized by going down into the valley, taking +with them their kettles and pail, together with a few pounds of flour. +They found the horses out in the meadow, and these, as soon as they saw +them, came trotting to meet them with loud whinnies of pleasure. A fire +was lit near the shed, the snow melted, and an allowance of warm gruel +given to each horse. At Tom's suggestion a few fir-boughs were hung from +the bar over each entrance. These would swing aside as the horses +entered, and would keep out a good deal of wind. When at the end of a +fortnight the sky cleared, the chief said that he thought that there +would be but little more snow. + +"If storm come, sure to bring snow, but not last long. Winter now set +in; soon snow harden. Now make snowshoes." + +The hunters had all been accustomed to use these in winter. They had +found the last expedition through the deep snow a very toilsome one, and +they embraced the idea eagerly. Some of the poles were split into eight +feet lengths. These were wetted and hung over the fire, the process +being repeated until the wood was sufficiently softened to be bent into +the required shape. This was done by the chief. Two cross-pieces were +added, to stiffen them and keep them in the right shape when they dried; +and the wood was then trimmed up and scraped by the men. When it had +dried and hardened, the work of filling up the frame with a +closely-stretched network of leather was undertaken. This part of the +work occupied three or four days. The straps were attached to go across +the toe and round the heel, and they were then ready to set off. + +The weather was now intensely cold, but as there was but little wind it +was not greatly felt; at the same time they were glad of their furs when +they ventured outside the hut. On the first day after their snow-shoes +were finished, the rest of the party started off to visit the horses, +Hunting Dog remaining behind to give Tom instructions in the use of the +snow-shoes, and to help him when he fell down. + +Tom found it difficult work at first, the toe of the shoe frequently +catching in the snow, and pitching him head foremost into it, and he +would have had great difficulty in extricating himself, had not the +young Indian been at hand. Before the day was over, however, he could +get on fairly well; and after two or three more days' practice had made +such progress that he was considered capable of accompanying the rest. + +The wood-drying apparatus had succeeded excellently. The wood was now +dried so thoroughly before being put on to the fire that there was no +annoyance from the smoke inside the hut, and scarce any could be +perceived coming from the chimney. Upon Harry's remarking upon this with +satisfaction the first time they went out after using the dry wood, Tom +said: + +"What does it matter? There are no Indians in the valley." + +"That is so, Tom; but as soon as the weather sets in clear, the +red-skins will be hunting again. Winter is their best time for laying in +their stock of pelts for trading. At other times the game is all high up +in the mountains, and it is very difficult to get within range of it. In +the winter the animals come down to the shelter of the forests and +valleys, and they can be shot in numbers; especially as the Indians in +their snow-shoes can get along almost as quickly as the wapiti can +plough through the snow. At present the red-skins think that we must +have been overtaken by that first storm and have all gone under; but as +soon as they begin to venture out of their lodges to hunt, a column of +smoke here would be sure to catch their eyes, and then we should be +having them up the valley to a certainty. The first thing they would do +would be to find our horses and drive them off, and the next thing would +be to set themselves to work to catch us." + +"But we could hold the path against them, uncle." + +"Yes; but we should have to keep watch every day, which would be a +serious trouble. Besides, there must be other places they could get up. +No doubt their regular trail comes up here, because it is the +straightest way to the pass, and possibly there may be no other point at +which loaded animals could mount anywhere about here. But there must be +plenty of places where Indians could climb, and even if it took them a +detour of fifty miles they would manage it. As long as there is no smoke +we may hope they will not discover us here, though any hunting party +might come upon the horses. That is what has bothered me all along; but +the chief and I have talked it over a dozen times, and can see no way of +avoiding the risk. + +"We can't keep the horses up here because we can't feed them; and even +if we were to bring ourselves to leave this comfortable place and to +build a hut down in the valley, we might be surprised and rubbed out by +the red-skins. Of course we might bring them up here every night and +take them down again in the morning, but it would be a troublesome +business. We have agreed that we won't do much more shooting down in the +valley, and that in coming and going to the horses we will keep along +close to the foot of the cliffs this side, so that if two or three +Indians do come up they won't see any tracks on the snow, unless they +happen to come close up to the cliff. Of course if they go up as far as +the beaver flat they will light upon the horses. There is no help for +that; but the chief and I agreed last night that in future two of us +shall always stay up here, and shall take it by turns to keep watch. It +won't be necessary to stand outside. If the curtain is pulled aside +three or four inches one can see right down the valley, and any Indians +coming up could be made out. If the party is a strong one a gun would be +fired as a signal to those away hunting, and some damp wood thrown on +the fire. They might possibly push on up the valley to have a look at +the place, but the two up here with their rifles would soon stop them. +After that, of course, the horses would have to be brought up here at +night, and a watch kept by night as well as by day." + +Two or three mornings later they found on going out that two joints of +venison had been carried off, and footprints in the snow showed that it +had been done by a grizzly bear. This turned their attention again to +the construction of a trap, which had not been thought of since the day +it was first mentioned. A young tree of four or five inches in diameter +was cut below and brought up. The butt was cut in the shape of a wedge, +and this was driven strongly into a fissure in the rock. A rope with a +running noose had been fastened to the tree, and this was bent down by +the united strength of four men, and fixed to a catch fastened in the +ground, the noose being kept open by two sticks placed across it. + +A foot beyond the noose a joint of venison was hung, the rope passing +over a pole and then down to the catch, so that upon the joint being +pulled the catch would be loosened, when the tree would fly up and the +noose catch anything that might be through it. + +A week later they were disturbed by an outburst of violent growling. +Seizing their rifles they rushed out. A huge bear was caught by one of +his paws. The animal's weight was too great for it to be lifted from the +ground, but it was standing upright with its paw above its head, making +furious efforts to free itself. A volley of bullets at once put an end +to its life. The tree was bent down again and the noose loosed, and they +at once returned to their rugs, leaving the bear where it fell. Four +times during the winter did they thus capture intruders, providing +themselves with an ample supply of bear's flesh, while the skins would +sell well down at the settlements. + +Otherwise sport was not very good. No more wapiti came up, but black and +white tail deer were occasionally shot, and five or six big-horn sheep +also fell to their rifles. One day on approaching the beaver meadow the +chief pointed to some deep footprints. No explanation was needed. All +knew that they were made by a big grizzly, and that the animal was going +up the valley. No horses were in view on the flat, and grasping their +rifles they hurried towards the wood. Just as they reached it the horses +came galloping to meet them, whinnying and snorting. + +"They have been scared by the critter," Jerry said. "Do you see their +coats are staring. Gosh, look at this pack-pony--the bear has had his +paw on him!" + +The animal's hind-quarters were indeed badly torn. + +"I wonder how it got away," Harry said. "When a grizzly once gets hold, +it don't often leave go." + +"There is something in front of the hut," Tom exclaimed. + +"It's the grizzly, sure enough," Harry said. "It is a rum place for it +to go to sleep." + +They advanced, holding their rifles in readiness to fire, when Leaping +Horse said: + +"Bear dead." + +"What can have killed him?" Harry asked doubtfully. + +"Horses kill him," the chief replied. They hurried up to the spot. The +bear was indeed dead, and there were signs of a desperate struggle. +There was blood on the snow from a point near the door of the hut to +where the animal was lying ten yards away. Round it the snow was all +trampled deeply. The bear's head was battered out of all shape; its jaw +was broken, and one of its eyes driven out. The Indians examined the +ground closely. + +"Well, what do you make of it, chief?" Harry asked. + +"Bear walk round hut, come in other end. Horses not able to get out in +time. Pack-horse last, bear catch him by hind-quarters. Horse drag him a +little way and then fall. Then other horses come back, form ring round +bear and kick him. Look at prints of fore-feet deep in snow. That is +where they kick; they break bear's jaw, break his ribs, keep on kick +till he dead." + +"I suppose that is how it came about, chief. I should not have thought +they would have done it." + +The Seneca nodded. "When wild horses with young foals attacked by bear +or mountain-lion, they form circle with colts in the middle, stand heads +in and kick. Bears and mountain-lion afraid to attack them." + +"Waal, I should hardly have believed if I had not seen it," Sam Hicks +said, "that horses would come back to attack a grizzly." + +"Not come back," the chief said, "if not for friend. Friend cry out +loud, then horses come back, fight bear and kill him." + +"Well, it was mighty plucky of them," Harry said. "I am afraid this pony +won't get over it; he is terribly torn." + +The chief examined the horse's wounds again. "Get over it," he said. +"Cold stop wounds bleeding, get some fat and put in." + +"I reckon you will find plenty inside the grizzly," Jerry said. The +chief shook his head. + +"Bear's fat bad; other horses smell him, perhaps keep away from him, +perhaps kick him. Leaping Horse will bring fat from the big-horn he shot +yesterday." + +The animal lay where it had fallen, a mile up the valley. They went up +and tied the great sheep's feet together, and putting a pole through +them brought it down to the hut. Partly skinning it, they obtained some +fat and melted this in a kettle over the fire. Sam Hicks had remained +behind at the fire, the horses all standing near him, excited at the +prospect of their usual meal. As soon as the fat was melted it was +poured into the horse's wounds. The mess of gruel was then prepared and +given to the animals. The bear was skinned and the hams cut off, then by +a united effort it was dragged some distance from the hut, and the +carcass of the big-horn, the bear's flesh and hide, were afterwards +carried up to the hut. + +Early in February the cold reached its extreme point, and in spite of +keeping up a good fire they had long before this been compelled to build +up the entrance with a wall of firewood, the interstices being stuffed +with moss; the hut was lighted by lamps of bear and deer fat melted down +and poured into tin drinking-cups, the wicks being composed of strips of +birch bark. A watch was regularly kept all day, two always remaining in +the hut, one keeping watch through a small slip cut in the curtain +before the narrow orifice in the log wall, that served as a door, the +other looking after the fire, keeping up a good supply of melted snow, +and preparing dinner ready for the return of the hunters at sunset. Of +an evening they told stories, and their stock of yarns of their own +adventures and of those they had heard from others, seemed to Tom +inexhaustible. + +Hunting Dog had made rapid advances with his English, and he and Tom had +become great friends, always hunting together, or when their turn came, +remaining together on guard. The cold was now so intense that the +hunting party was seldom out for more than two or three hours. Regularly +twice a week the horses were given their ration of hot gruel, and +although they had fallen away greatly in flesh they maintained their +health, and were capable of work if called upon to do it. It was one day +in the middle of February, that Hunting Dog, who was standing at the +peep-hole, exclaimed: + +"'Rappahoes!" + +Tom sprang up from the side of the fire, and running to the entrance +pulled aside the curtain and looked out. Six Indians on snow-shoes were +coming up the valley. He ran out on to the platform and fired his ride. +As the sound of the report reached the Indians' ears they stopped +suddenly. + +"Shall I throw some green wood on the fire, Hunting Dog?" + +"No need," the Indian replied. "The others only gone an hour, not +farther than horses' hut; hear gun plain enough. Perhaps 'Rappahoes go +back." + +The Indians remained for some time in consultation. + +"Not know where gun fired," Hunting Dog said. "Soon see hut, then know." + +After a time the red-skins continued their way up the valley, but +instead of coming on carelessly in the centre they separated, and going +to the other side crept along among the fallen boulders there, where +they would have escaped observation had it not been for their figures +showing against the white snow. + +"Must fire now," the young Indian said, "then Leaping Horse know +'Rappahoes coming up." + +They went out on to the platform and opened fire. They knew that their +chance of hitting one of the Indians was small indeed; the other side of +the valley was a quarter of a mile away, and the height at which they +were standing rendered it difficult to judge the elevation necessary for +their rifles. However, they fired as fast as they could load. + +The Indians made no reply, for their guns would not carry anything like +the distance. They occasionally gathered when they came upon a boulder +of rock sufficiently large to give shelter to them all, and then moved +on again one at a time. When opposite the lower end of the pathway they +again held a consultation. + +"No go further," Hunting Dog said. "Afraid we come down path and stop +them. See, Leaping Horse among rocks." + +It was some time before Tom could detect the Indian, so stealthily did +he move from rock to rock. + +"Where are the others?" + +"No see, somewhere in bushes. Leaping Horse go on to scout; not know how +many 'Rappahoes." + +Presently they saw the chief raise his head behind a rock within a +hundred yards of that behind which the 'Rappahoes were sheltering. + +"He see them now," Hunting Dog said. "See, he going to fire." There was +a puff of smoke and a sharp report, and almost simultaneously rose an +Indian yell, and the war-cry of the Seneca. Then five Indians leapt out +from behind the rock and made down the valley at full speed, while from +a clump of trees two hundred yards above the spot from which the chief +had fired the four white men hurried out rifle in hand. The chief waited +until they joined him, for the bend in the valley prevented him from +seeing that the 'Rappahoes were making straight down it, and it would +have been imprudent to have ventured out until his white allies came up. + +"They have gone right down," Tom shouted at the top of his voice. Harry +waved his arm to show that he heard the words, and then the five men ran +to the corner. The Indians were already a quarter of a mile away, and +were just entering the wood below. The whites were about to fire, when +the chief stopped them. "No use fire," he said. "Stand back behind +rocks; no good let 'Rappahoes count our rifles." + +"That is true enough, chief," Harry said, as they all sprang among the +rocks. "All they know at present is, that there are two up on the top +there and one down here. If we were sure that we could wipe them all out +it would be worth following and making a running fight of it, but there +would be no chance of that, and it is better to let them go without +learning more about us. Well, I should say the first thing is to get up +the horses." + +The chief nodded. + +"Get up," he said, "but no fear 'Rappahoes come back to-night. Many +hours' journey down to villages, then great council. Next night scouts +come up valley, look all about for sign, and then go back and tell +friends." + +"I dare say you are right, chief. Anyhow, I shall feel a great deal more +comfortable when we have got the critters up." + +It was late in the afternoon before they reached the hut. Some hours +were spent in collecting tufts of grass in places sheltered from the +snow, and in cutting off great bundles of young fir-branches and the +heads of evergreen bushes, and the horses arrived almost hidden under +the load of grass and foliage they carried. Little was said until some +hot tea had been drunk and the bear steaks in readiness were disposed +of, for although they had worked hard and kept themselves comparatively +warm down in the valley, they had as they moved slowly up the path with +the horses become chilled to the bone. + +"Now then, chief," Harry said, when they had lighted their pipes with +the mixture of tobacco and willow bark that they had taken to, as soon +as they found that they were likely to be imprisoned all the winter, "we +must hold a council. We have been longer than I expected without +disturbance by these varmint, but it has come now, and the question is +what are we to do? We have agreed all along that there is no getting +over the pass till the spring comes." + +"Too cold," the chief said, "deep drift snow. Indians all say no can +pass over hills in winter." + +"That air a fact," Jerry said. "Down in the valley there it is all +right, but up here the cold pretty near takes one's breath away. We +ain't sure about the way. We couldn't get over the pass in one day's +tramp, and we should be all stiff before morning. There would be no +taking the horses, and there is a hundred miles to be done over the snow +before we reach the fort. It ain't to be thought of. I would a sight +rather go down the valley and fight the hull tribe." + +"I agree with you, Jerry. We might, with luck, get down the valley, but +I don't think there is a possibility of our crossing the pass till the +winter breaks." + +"No can go down valley," Leaping Horse said; "they find trail on snow, +sure." + +"That is so, chief, and in that case it is evident that we have got to +fight it out here." + +"Good place to stop," the Seneca said; "no good place to fight." + +This was self-evident. An enemy on the rock above would be able to fire +down through the roof, without their having a chance of making an +effectual reply. + +"The only way I can see," Harry said after a long pause, "is to build a +sort of fort up above. If we put it just at the top of this pathway, we +should have them whether they came up by the trail from below or climbed +up anywhere else and came along above. It need not be a very big place, +only just big enough for us all to fire over. We might make a sort of +shelter in it with a fire, and keep guard there by turns." The chief +nodded, and there was a general exclamation of assent from the others. + +"The worst of it is," Jerry said, "the ground is so 'tarnal hard that +there will be no driving posts into it. We have cut down all the trees +near the bottom of the pass, and it would be a risky thing to go up +higher, when we might have the red-skins come whooping up the valley at +any time." + +"Why not make a snow fort?" Tom suggested. "There is four feet of snow +up there, and with the shovels we could make a wall ten feet high in a +very short time." + +"So we might, Tom; that is a capital idea. The difficulty is, the snow +does not bind in this bitter cold as it does in England." + +"If it was hammered down it would, I should think, uncle. You know the +Esquimaux make snow houses, and it is as cold there as it is here. The +snow at the top is light enough, but I should think as it gets down it +would be hard enough to cut out in blocks. We have plenty of water, and +if we pour it over each layer of blocks it would freeze into solid ice +directly. When we finish it we might pour more water down over the +outside, and it would make a regular wall of ice that no one could climb +up." + +"Hooray! Bully for you, Tom!" Jerry shouted, while similar exclamations +of approval broke from all the others, while the chief said gravely, "My +young brother has the head of a man; he is able to teach warriors." + +"You shall be engineer-in-chief, Tom," Harry said. "It is certain we may +sleep quietly to-night; at daybreak to-morrow we will begin the job." + +The first thing in the morning a semicircular line was traced out at the +top of their pathway. It was thirty feet across, for, as Tom said, the +walls ought to be at least four feet thick; and six feet would be +better, as they would want a parapet at least two feet thick to fire +over. It was agreed that the whites should use the two shovels by turns. +The Indians were unaccustomed to the work, and were to undertake that of +scouting along the hillside, and of watching by turns at night. The +frying-pan was brought into requisition, a wooden handle being made for +it. The hard upper crust was removed with the shovels, and the layer +beneath this was sufficiently soft for the instrument to be used as a +shovel. Below that it hardened, and could be cut out in great blocks. +The loose snow was thrown inside of the line traced out. + +As fast as the blocks were cut out they were carried and piled regularly +to form the face. Tom's share of the work was to keep on melting snow, +and to bring it up and pour between and over the blocks. As fast as a +line of these were made the loose snow was thrown in behind it and +trampled down hard. Except for meals there was no rest. The chief said +that as there was little chance of the 'Rappahoes coming up so soon, +Hunting Dog had better stay behind and help, and he lent his aid in +carrying the blocks of snow on a rough stretcher they made for the +purpose. By the time it became dark the wall had risen to a height of +three feet above the general level of the snow, and was already +sufficient to form an excellent breastwork. + +At the end farthest from the side from which the Indians were likely to +come, a gap was left between it and the edge of the ravine three feet +wide, in order that if necessary the horses could pass out. When it +became dark the chief returned. He had gone many miles along towards the +main valley, but had seen no sign of any Indians. After supper was over +he took one of the wapiti skins and his buffalo robe, went up to the +"fort," as they had already called it, and laid the deer-skin down on +the slope of snow behind the wall, wrapped the buffalo robe round him, +and lay down upon it. Hunting Dog then threw another robe over him, +projecting a foot beyond his head, so that he could from time to time +raise it and look out over the snow. The night was a dark one, but any +object moving across the unbroken white surface could be seen at a +considerable distance. + +"I feel sure I should go to sleep," Tom said, "if I were to lie down +like that." + +"I have no doubt you would, Tom, but there is no fear with the chief. An +Indian never sleeps on the watch, or if he does sleep, it is like a dog: +he seems to hear as well as if he were awake, and every minute or two +his eyes open and he takes a look round. I would rather have an Indian +sentry than half a dozen white ones, unless it is in the open, where +there is no tree to lean against, and a man must keep moving." + +Hunting Dog threw himself down as soon as he returned to the hut, and +was almost instantly asleep. Three hours later he rose and went out, and +Leaping Horse a minute or two later returned. + +"All quiet," he said; and then after smoking for a short time also lay +down. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE SNOW FORT + + +The hut was quiet at an unusually early hour, for the men had done a +very hard day's work, and felt the strain after the long weeks of +inactivity. At daybreak they were up and about, but could remain out but +a few minutes, for the cold was so intense that they felt unable to face +it until they had taken some hot tea and eaten something. Half an hour +sufficed for this early breakfast. Hunting Dog was again left behind by +the chief when he started. + +"Two eyes enough," the latter said. "Hunting Dog more use here." + +The wall of blocks was raised three more feet during the day, as it was +agreed to devote all their efforts to this, and to defer the work of +thickening it until the next day, for the snow had now been cleared so +far from its foot that it could no longer be thrown inside. Though but +six feet above the snow level, it was at least three feet more above the +level of the rock, and its face was a solid sheet of ice, Tom having, +during the two days, made innumerable journeys backwards and forwards +with snow-water. + +"Another couple of feet and it will be high enough for anything," Harry +said. "I don't believe that the Indians will venture to attack us, but +it is just as well to have it so high that they can't help each other up +to the top. If they knew how strong it is, I am sure they would not +attack, and would leave us alone altogether, but if a hundred of them +creep up in the dark and make a rush, they will do their best to try to +climb it. Anyhow we sha'n't need to make the bank behind very high. If +it goes to within four feet and a half of the top, so that we can stand +and fire over the wall, that is all that is wanted." + +Leaping Horse returned at dusk as before. He uttered a warm approval of +the work when he had examined it. + +"Good fort," he said, "better than palisades. Indian no climb over it. +No opening to fire through, good as wall of town house." + +"I think they will be puzzled when they get here, chief." + +"Must watch well to-night," the chief said. "Indian scout sure to come. +Two men keep on watch; two better than one." + +"That is so, chief; we will change every hour. But it will be mighty +cold. I don't see why we shouldn't rig up a shelter against the wall, +and have a bit of a fire there. Then the two on watch can take it by +turns every few minutes to come in and get a warm." + +With poles and skins a lean-to was speedily constructed against the +wall. The snow was hammered down, and a hearth made of half a dozen logs +packed closely together. Some brands were brought up from the fire in +the hut, and the skins across the end of the lean-to dropped, so that +the air within could get warm while they were at supper. + +"Hunting Dog and Tom shall take the first watch," Harry said; "Sam and I +will take the next, Jerry and Ben the third, then you, chief, can take +the next." + +"Leaping Horse watch by himself," the Seneca said; "his eyes will be +open." + +"Very well, chief. I know you are as good as any two of us, so that will +give us each one hour out and three hours in bed." + +Wrapping buffalo robes round them, Tom and the young Indian went up to +the fort. Tom drew aside one of the skins and looked into the shelter. +The hearth was in a glow, and two logs lying on it were burning well. +The night was very still, except for the occasional rumble of some +distant snow-slide. For a few minutes they stood looking over the wall, +but keeping far back, so that only their heads were above its level. + +"Tom go in by the fire," the Indian said. "All white, no need for four +eyes." + +"Very well, I will go in first; but mind, you have got to go in +afterwards. I sha'n't go in if you don't." + +After waiting for a few minutes in the shelter Tom went out again, and +Hunting Dog took his place. It was his first war-path, and nothing would +have persuaded him to retire from the watch had he not felt sure that +even white men's eyes could not fail to detect any dark object moving on +the surface of the snow. But although all white the surface was not +level; here and there were sudden elevations marking rises in the rock +beneath. Still it seemed impossible to Tom that anyone could approach +unseen. + +In spite of the protection of the buffalo robe it was intensely cold +outside, and he was glad each time when his turn came for a warm by the +fire. The changes, too, made the time pass quickly, and he was quite +surprised when his uncle and Sam came out to relieve them. The other two +men and the chief were still smoking by the fire. There was tea in the +kettle, and they evidently did not mean to lie down until after their +first watch. Every few minutes the chief got up and went out to the +platform, and stood listening there intently for a short time. Just +before it was time to change the guard again he said when he returned: + +"Indian down in valley." + +"Have you heard them, chief?" + +"Leaping Horse heard a dead stick crack." + +"That might have been a deer," Ben suggested. + +The chief shook his head. "'Rappahoe; heard gun strike tree." + +"Then I reckon they will be up in our watch," Ben said. "Well, we shall +be ready for them." + +"Perhaps come, perhaps not come; perhaps scout up valley first see if +some of us there, and look for horses. Perhaps some come up path; but +crawl up slow, not know whether look-out there." + +"Well, I don't envy them if they have got much crawling to do to-night; +it is cold enough to freeze one's breath." + +"'Rappahoe not like cold," the chief said, "but wants scalp bad; that +makes his blood warm." + +"I will let some of it out," Jerry said wrathfully, "if I get a chance +to lay a bead on one of them. Don't you be afeard, chief; we will look +out sharp enough, you bet. Waal, I reckon it is about our time to turn +out, Ben." + +"Jerry tells me that you have heard noises below, chief," Harry said +when he came in. "We heard nothing, but it ain't easy to hear well with +these hoods over one's head." + +"Hoods bad for hear," the chief assented. "Leaping Horse heard plain, +Indians down below." + +"Well, it is only what we expected, chief. Anyhow, we are ready for them +when they come." + +Tom lay down now, and knew nothing more till Hunting Dog touched him. + +"Time to go and watch," he said. + +"Has everything been quiet?" + +The Indian nodded. "No come yet." + +Leaping Horse remained at his post after they came out to relieve him. +Tom made no comment. Harry had impressed upon him the necessity for +absolute silence. + +"If they hear voices they will never come near us," he had said, "and we +would rather they came than stopped away. The sooner we get this job +over the better." + +The chief stood with his head slightly bent forward and the hood of his +hunting-shirt thrown back, listening attentively. Then he touched +Hunting Dog, and stooping low down whispered something in his ear, and +then both stood again listening. Tom, too, threw back his hood, but he +could hear nothing whatever, and was soon glad to pull it forward over +his ears again. He strained his eyes in the direction towards which they +were listening, which was apparently towards the edge of the ravine +where the Indian trail came up from below. All seemed to him to be white +and bare. + +Presently the chief's rifle went up to his shoulder; there was a sharp +crack, a dark figure leapt up from the snow fifty yards away and then +fell headlong down again. It seemed to Tom almost magical. His eyes had +been fixed in that direction for the last five minutes, and he could +have sworn that the surface of the snow was unbroken. A minute later the +other four men came running up. + +"What is it, chief?" Harry whispered. + +Leaping Horse pointed to the dark figure stretched out on the snow. + +"So you have got the varmint. Good! Do you think there are any more of +them about?" + +"More there sure," the chief said, pointing to the path up from below. +"Perhaps more there," and he pointed to a broad black line from the foot +of the cliffs to the edge of the ravine, where, three days before, an +avalanche from the hills above had swept the rock clear of snow. + +"They must have made sure that we were all asleep, or that fellow would +never have shown himself on the snow," Harry said. + +"He did not show himself, uncle. How he got there I don't know; but I +was looking at the spot when the chief fired, and I saw no signs of him +whatever. How he hid himself I don't know. If it had been anywhere else +I should have said he must have had a white sheet over him." + +"It certainly was not that whatever it was, Tom. However, we shall see +in the morning. Well, we may as well turn in again. Will they try again, +do you think, chief?" + +"Not try to-night, too cold; if any there, will hide up till daybreak. +Now they know we are awake, will not venture on snow." + +Half an hour later a great fire was lighted out of gunshot range lower +down the valley, and three or four figures could be seen round it. + +"Too cold," Hunting Dog said to Tom. "All gone down to get warm." + +The watches were relieved regularly through the night, but there was no +further alarm until just after daylight had broken, when Sam Hicks +suddenly discharged his rifle. The others all turned out at once. He had +fired at a bush just at the point where the trail came up from below, +and he declared that he had seen a slight movement there, and that some +pieces of the snow had dropped from the leaves. + +"We will make sure that there is no one there," Harry said, "and then we +will turn out and have a look. It is like enough that one of the +red-skins from below came up the path to have a look at us this +morning." + +He took a steady aim and fired. + +"Fetch up an axe, Tom; we will cut that bush away at once. It is lucky +that Sam caught sight of the red-skin. If he had not done so he might +have got a bullet in his own head, for when the red-skin had finished +taking a view of the fort he would certainly have picked off Sam or +myself before he went down. It is a weak point, that from here one can't +command the path. If they come in force we shall have to keep watch on +the platform too. From there you can get a sight of two or three of its +turnings." + +[Illustration: "They Went Out To Look At The Indian The Chief Had +Shot."] + +They went out together, and as they passed, stopped to look at the body +of the Indian the chief had shot. He was a young brave of two-or +three-and-twenty, and the manner of his advance so far unperceived was +now evident. Favoured by a slight fall in the ground, he had crawled +forward, scooping a trench wide enough for his body a foot in depth, +pushing the snow always forward, so that it formed a sort of bank in +front of him and screened him from the sight of those on watch. The +chief's keen eye had perceived a slight movement of the snow, and after +watching a moment had fired at the point where he judged anyone +concealed by it must be. He had calculated accurately. The ball had +struck on the shoulder close to the neck, and had passed down through +the body. The Indian had brought no rifle with him, but had knife and +tomahawk in his belt. + +"Poor young fellow," Harry said. "He wanted to win a name for himself by +a deed of desperate bravery. It has cost him his life, but as he would +have taken ours if he had had a chance it is of no use regretting it." + +They now went on to the bush. + +"You were right, Sam," he went on, as they saw the impression on the +snow made by a figure lying down behind it. "There was an Indian here +sure enough, and here is the mark of the stock of his rifle, and no +doubt he would have picked off one of us if you had not scared him. I +don't expect you hit him; there are no signs of blood." + +"Fire too high," the chief said, pointing to a twig that had been +freshly cut off two feet from the ground. "Always shoot low at man +behind bush. Man cannot float in air." + +There was a general laugh at Sam, who replied: "I did not suppose he +could, chief. I just fired where I saw the snow fall, without thinking +about it one way or the other. I was an all-fired fool, but I shall know +better next time." + +The bush was cut down, and also two or three others that grew along by +the edge of the ravine. On their way back to the hut Harry stopped by +the dead Indian. + +"Fetch me a shovel, Tom," he said, "I will dig a hole in the snow; it +ain't a pleasant object to be looking at anyway." + +Tom fetched the shovel, Harry dug down in the snow till he reached the +rock, then he and Jerry laid the body in it and filled in the snow +again. The chief looked on. + +"Bears get him," he said when they had finished. + +"That is like enough, chief, but we have done the best we can for him. +There is no digging into the rock." + +"I thought the Indians always scalped enemies they shot?" Tom afterwards +said to his uncle. + +"So they do, Tom; but you see the chief is a sort of civilized Indian. +He has consorted for years with whites, and he knows that we don't like +it. I don't say he wouldn't do it if he were on the war-path by himself, +but with us he doesn't, at any rate not openly. I have no doubt it went +against his grain to see the red-skin buried with his hair on, for the +scalp would have been a creditable one, as it would not have been got +without a clear eye and good judgment in shooting. I have no doubt he +has got some scalps about him now, though he don't show them; but they +will be hung up some day if he ever settles down in a wigwam of his own. + +"Well, chief, and what do you think," he asked Leaping Horse, as, after +returning to the hut, they sat down to breakfast, "will they come or +won't they?" + +"I think they no come," the chief said. "Scout behind bush will tell +them fort too strong to take; must cross snow, and many fall before they +get to it. Very hard to climb. No like cold, Leaping Horse thinks they +will stop in wigwams." + +"No fools either," Jerry agreed; "a man would be worse than a natural if +he were to go fooling about in this weather, and run a pretty good big +risk of getting shot and nothing much to gain by it. They know we have +left their country now, and ain't likely to come back again either to +hunt there or to dig gold, and that all we want is to get away as soon +as we can. I allow that the chief is right, and that we sha'n't hear no +more of them, anyhow not for some time." + +The chief nodded. "If come again, not come now. Wait a moon, then think +perhaps we sleep sound and try again; but more likely not try." + +"Much more likely," Harry assented. "Unless they can do it by a +surprise. Indians are not fond of attacking; they know we shoot +straighter than they do and have better rifles. You remember that time +when you and I and Jersey Dick kept off a party of Navahoes from sunrise +till sunset down near the Emigrant trail? It was lucky for us that a +post-rider who was passing along heard the firing, and took the news to +a fort, and that the officer there brought out fifty troopers just as +the sun went down, or we should have been rubbed out that night sure." + +The Seneca nodded. + +"How was it, Harry?" Sam Hicks asked. + +"It was just the usual thing, Sam. We had left the trail two days +before, and were hunting on our own account when the Navahoes came down. +We had just time to throw the three horses and lie down behind them. +They were within two hundred yards when I began and fetched the chief, +who was leading them, out of his saddle. Leaping Horse brought down +another one and Jersey Dick held his fire, and instead of keeping +straight on they began to straggle round. And they kept at that all day. +Sometimes they would get in pretty close, but each time they did the +chief brought down a horse, and when his rider, who was of course +hanging on the other side of him, got up to run, I fetched him down. +Dick wasn't much of a shot, so we would not let him fire. It discourages +red-skins mightily when they see that there is never a shot thrown +away, and that it is sure death whenever one draws a trigger. So at last +they got careful and held off, knowing as they would get us at night, +when they could have crawled up on foot and made a rush when they got +close to us. + +"The worst of it was we hadn't struck water the evening before, and it +was just one of the hottest days on the plains, and we were pretty nigh +mad with thirst before evening. I believe when the soldiers rode up I +was about as glad to get a drink from one of their bottles as I was that +the Navahoes bolted when they saw them coming. No, the red-skins ain't +any good for an open attack; they would have lost fewer men by riding +straight at us than they did by fooling round, but they could not bring +themselves to do it, and I reckon that is what it will be here. They +may, as the chief says, try, say six weeks on, when the frost begins to +break, in hopes that we may have given up keeping watch: but if they +find us awake they will never try an open attack, for they could not +reckon on taking the place without losing a score of men in doing so. If +the snow was off the ground it would be different. Then of a dark night +they could crawl up close and make a rush." + +After breakfast the chief and Hunting Dog went out scouting. When they +returned they brought news that three Indians had come over the snow +along the side of the hills, that three others had come up the valley, +and that in a wood half a mile below where they had seen the fire, there +had been a large party encamped. + +"I reckoned that would be about it, chief. Three fellows came along over +the hill, in case we should be keeping guard at the top of the path, and +they had a big force somewhere down below, so that if the scouts +reported that there was nothing to prevent them falling on us they would +come up before morning and wipe us out. I suppose they have all ridden +off?" + +"All gone. Leaping Horse and Hunting Dog followed right down valley. No +stop anywhere, gone back to lodges." + +"Then in that case, Harry, we had best get the critters down to their +shed again. They have eaten all that stuff they brought up three days +ago, I gave them the last of it this morning. The Indians know that we +keep a pretty sharp look-out during the day and there ain't no fear of +their coming up here when it is light." + +As the chief was also of opinion that there was no danger, the horses +were taken down the path into the valley, where on having their bridles +unbuckled they at once trotted off of their own accord towards the +beaver meadow. + +For the next six weeks a watch was kept regularly, but by only one man +at a time. The horses were driven down to the valley every morning and +brought up again before sunset. There was little hunting now, for they +had as many skins as they could carry comfortably, and a supply of +frozen meat sufficient to last well into the spring. In March the +weather became perceptibly warmer, and the snow in the valley began to +melt where the full power of the sun at mid-day fell upon it. Day by +day the crashes of distant avalanches became more frequent, and they +began to look forward to the time when they should be able to proceed on +their journey. + +One night towards the end of the month Tom was on watch, when he heard a +rustling sound far up beyond the wall of cliff in front of him. It grew +louder and rose to a roar, and then a white mass came pouring down over +the cliff. Leaping from the wall he dashed down the path to the hut. It +needed no word to call the men to their feet, for a deep rumbling filled +the air and the rock seemed to quiver. The horses struggled to break +their head-ropes and snorted with fright. + +"Your backs to the wall!" Harry shouted, and as all leapt across at his +order there was a crash overhead. The roof above them fell in and a mass +of snow followed; a, minute later a deep silence followed the deafening +roar. + +"Anyone hurt?" Harry shouted, and the replies came in muffled tones. Tom +was jambed against the rock by the snow; he was nearest to the entrance, +his uncle was next to him. + +"I am all right at present, uncle, but I feel half smothered." + +"All right, lad; I am pretty free, and I will soon clear you a bit." + +The snow was pushed away from before Tom's face, his left arm was +cleared, and then his uncle with a vigorous pull brought him back close +to him. Here he was comparatively free, for a part of the roof had +fallen close to the wall and had partially kept off the snow. Then Harry +turned, and with some difficulty managed to get Jerry, who was next to +him, freed from the snow. + +"Now, Jerry, you work along that way and get at the others. Tom and I +will try to burrow a way out." + +It was a difficult task. Once through the passage in the log wall they +pushed to the left towards the edge of the platform, taking it by turns +to go first until the snow became lighter; then by a vigorous effort +Harry rose to his feet, sending a mass of snow tumbling over the edge of +the platform. As soon as Tom had joined him they set to work with hands +and knives, and soon cleared a passage back to the entrance. Just as +they did so Jerry crawled out from within. + +"Are they all right, Jerry?" + +"Yes, the others are coming; only about twelve feet of the roof caved +in, and the two Indians and Sam soon got in among the horses. I had a +lot of trouble with Ben; he had been knocked down, and I thought that he +was gone when I got him out; but he is all right now, though he can't +walk yet. The Indians and Sam have got the shovels, and are working away +to clear a passage along by the wall; there is no getting Ben out +through that rabbit-hole you have made." + +"Thank God we are all right," Harry said; "it does not matter a bit, now +that we know no one is badly hurt. We will begin at this end, but we +sha'n't be able to do much until we get the shovels, the snow will fall +in as fast as we get it out." + +They soon found that they could do nothing in this way. + +"We will try to tunnel again," Harry said, "it is not more than ten feet +along. If we get in and hump ourselves, we shall soon get it big enough +to drag Ben out, then the others can follow, and we can set to work with +the spades to clear the place." + +After a good deal of effort they succeeded in enlarging the hole, and +then got Ben through it, one crawling backwards and pulling him while +the other shoved at his legs. + +"How do you feel, Ben?" Harry asked him when they laid him down outside. + +"I dunno, Harry; I am afraid my back is badly hurt. I don't seem to feel +my legs at all. I expect they are numbed from the weight of snow on +them." + +"I will crawl into our store and fetch out the keg." + +"I reckon a drop of whisky will do me good if anything will," Ben said. +"I was crushed pretty near flat, and if my head hadn't been against the +wall I should have been smothered. Are you all right, young Tom?" + +"Yes, I am not hurt at all. The snow squeezed me against the rock, and I +could not move an inch, but uncle managed to get me a little free and +then pulled me out of it." + +Harry soon came back with the whisky, and was followed by the Indians +and Sam, who found that they could do nothing with the snow, which fell +in as fast as they cleared it. Their first step was to dig out a buffalo +robe to wrap Ben in. His voice was stronger after he had drank some +spirit, and he said that he felt better already. The others at once set +to work with the shovels. They first cleared the platform along by the +wall to the entrance, and then attacked the snow which filled the space +between the two rock walls to the top. + +Two of them worked with poles, loosening the snow above, and bringing it +down in masses, while those with shovels cast it out on to the platform, +going out occasionally to throw it over into the ravine. Hunting Dog +made his way up over the snow to the top of the path, and called down to +say that the fort was entirely swept away, and the chief told him to +take up his post at once at the top of the path leading from below. + +"He need not have told us that the fort was gone," Jerry grumbled. "If +it had been made of cast-iron it would not have stood. The sooner we get +our rifles out the better." + +This could not be done for a time, for the loosening of the snow above +had caused that below to slip, and the passage along by the wall had +fallen in. The Indians, however, who had slept beyond the part filled by +snow, had brought their pieces out with them, and could have defended +the path alone. Several times those at work were buried by falls of +snow, and had to be dragged out by the others. By daylight a +considerable gap had been made in the snow, and they were able to get +into the space beyond the fall. A number of logs, and a joint of meat +that had been taken in the day before to thaw, were brought out, and a +fire was soon blazing on the platform. + +"I wonder why the snow did not shoot over as it did before?" Ben, who +was now able to sit up, remarked. + +"I reckon it is the fort did it," Harry said. "Of course it went, but it +may have checked the rush of the snow for a moment, and those thick +walls couldn't have got the same way on as the rest of the snow had." + +"But the fort wasn't over the roof, uncle," Tom remarked. + +"No, but it may have blocked the slide a little, and thrown some of it +sideways; you see it is only this end that gave, while it shot right +over the rest of the roof just as before." + +"It is mighty lucky it did not break in all along," Sam Hicks said, "for +it would have left us without horses if it had; and it would have been +mighty rough on us to have lost them, just as we are going to want them, +after our taking such pains with them all through the winter." + +The chief took Hunting Dog's place as soon as he had finished his meal, +and remained on watch all day. The men worked without ceasing, but it +was not until sunset that the snow was completely cleared away. + +"I reckon that we shall have to be starting before long," Jerry said as +they sat round the fire in what they before called their store-room, +having driven the horses as far in as possible to make room. "We could +have held out before as long as we liked, but it is different now. The +rock's cleared now for a hundred yards on each side of us, our fort's +gone, and there is nothing to prevent the redskins from crawling close +up the first dark night and making a rush. They are like enough to be +sending scouts up the valley occasionally, and it won't be long before +they hear that our fort has gone and the ground cleared of snow." + +Leaping Horse nodded. "Two men must watch at top of path," he said. + +"That is right enough, chief; but we know three of them came along the +hills before, and it is like enough they will all come that way next +time. They are safe to reckon that we shall hold the path." + +"It is very unfortunate," Harry said; "in another month, we should have +been able to travel. Anyhow, it seems to me that we have got to try now; +it would never do to be caught in here by the red-skins. If we are to +go, the sooner the better. All our meat has been carried over the edge. +This is about the time we expected the Indians back, and it would be +dangerous to scatter hunting. It is a big risk, too, taking the horses +down to the meadow. No, I think we can manage to get over the pass. The +snow gets softer every day when the sun is on it; but it freezes at +night. We have the moon, too, so we shall be able to travel then; and +even if we take three or four days getting over the divide we can sleep +in the daytime." + +"We must get a little more meat anyhow before we start," Jerry said. +"This joint ain't more than enough for another square meal for us, and +though I reckon the bighorns will be coming up to the hills again now, +it won't do to risk that." + +"We have the pack-horses, Jerry." + +"Yes, I did not think of them. Horseflesh ain't so bad on a pinch; but I +don't want to lose our skins." + +"Better our skins than our hair," Sam laughed. + +"That is right enough, Sam, but I would like to save both." + +"Perhaps there is some of the meat under the snow," Tom suggested. "It +hung near the wall, and the snow must have come straight down on it from +above, as it did in here." + +"That is so, Tom; we will have a look the first thing in the morning. I +am so tired now I would not dig for it if it were gold." + +As soon as it was light the next morning they began to clear the snow +from the rest of the platform, and found to their great satisfaction +four bear hams. The rest of the meat had been swept over the edge. The +two Indians had not shared in the work, having started away early +without saying where they were going. They returned to breakfast, each +carrying a hind-quarter of venison, which they had found in the snow +below. + +It was agreed that a start should be made that evening. By sunset the +horses were loaded, and half an hour later they moved away. Ben Gulston +had to be assisted on to his horse, for although in other respects +recovered, it was found that he had so severely strained his back across +the loins that he was scarcely able to walk a foot. The moon was shining +brightly, and as soon as they were on the snow they could see as plainly +as if it were day. All were in high spirits that they had left the spot +where for six months they had been prisoners. They had difficulty in +restraining themselves from shouting and singing, but the chief before +starting had warned them of the necessity for travelling silently. +"Snow-slides very bad now; shouting might set them going." + +The others looked rather incredulous, but Harry said: + +"I know he is right, boys; for I have heard that in the Alps the guides +always forbid talking when they are crossing places exposed to +avalanches. At any rate we may as well give the snow as little chance as +may be of going for us." + +They travelled in Indian file from habit rather than necessity, for the +snow was firm and hard, and the horses made their way over it without +difficulty. There had been some debate as to the way they should go; but +they determined at last to take the valley through the cliff wall, and +to strike to the right whenever they came upon a likely spot for +crossing. Two such attempts were made in vain, the upper slopes of snow +being found too steep for the horses to climb; but at the third, which +was made just after morning broke, they succeeded in getting up the hill +to their right, and, after great difficulty, descended into another +valley. This they had little doubt was the one that led to the pass, for +from the hill they could see the great peak along whose foot the trail +ran. + +It was ten o'clock before they got down into the valley. The snow was +beginning to be soft on the surface, and the horses were tired out. They +therefore halted, made a fire with two or three of the logs they had +brought with them for the purpose, boiled water and had breakfast, and +gave half a bucket of gruel to each of the animals. Then wrapping +themselves in their buffalo robes they lay down and slept till late in +the afternoon. The journey was resumed at sunset, and before morning +they had crossed the divide; and when the sun rose obtained a view over +the country far to the south. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A FRESH START + + +In the evening they camped on the banks of the Green River, here a +stream of but small size, except when the melting snow swelled its +waters into a torrent. At the spot where they halted a rivulet ran into +the stream from a thickly-wooded little valley. It was frozen, but +breaking the ice with their axes they found that water was flowing +underneath. They had observed that there was a marked difference in +temperature on this side of the mountains, upon which the strength of +the southern sun had already in many places cleared away the snow. + +"It is a comfort to be able to sit by a fire without the thought that +red-skins maybe crawling up towards you," Sam Hicks said heartily, "and +to sleep without being turned out to stand watch in the cold. + +"You say the country ahead is bad, chief?" + +"Bad lands both sides of Green River. Deep canons and bare rock." + +"Well, we need not follow it; it don't make any difference to us whether +we get down to the fort in a fortnight or six weeks." + +"None at all," Harry said. "We have agreed that when summer fairly sets +in we will try that place I hit on just as the Utes came down on us. It +is the richest place I have ever seen, and if the Indians will but let +us alone for a month we ought to bring back a big lot of dust; and if we +do, we can sell our share in it for a big sum, and take down enough men +to thrash the Utes out of their boots if they interfere with us. By our +reckoning it is the end of March now, though we don't at all agree as to +the day; but at any rate, it is there or thereabouts. That gives us a +good six weeks, and if we start in the middle of May it will be time +enough. So I propose that we strike more to the west, or to the east, +whichever you think is the best, chief, and try and pick up a few more +pelts so as to lay in a fresh stock of goods for our next trip." + +"Bad hills everywhere," the chief said; "better go west, plenty of game +there." + +"No fear of Indians?" + +"Indians there peaceable; make good trade with whites. Ten years ago +fight, but lose many men and not get much plunder. Trappers here good +friends with them. Traders bring up powder and cloth and beads. Indians +no give trouble." + +For the next six weeks, therefore, they travelled slowly, camping +sometimes for two or three days on a stream, and then making a long +march until they again came to water. The beaver traps had been left +behind, but they were fortunate enough to come upon several beaver +villages, and by exercising patience they were able to shoot a good +many, getting in all some fifty skins. Tom used to go out in the evening +and lie down to watch the beavers at work, but he would not take a gun. + +"I could not shoot them down in cold blood, uncle. It is almost like +looking at a village of human beings at work. One can shoot a man who is +wanting to shoot you, without feeling much about it, but to fire at a +man labouring in the fields is murder. Of course, if we wanted the flesh +for food it would be different." + +"I did not see you refuse that beaver-tail soup we had last night, Tom." + +"No, and it was very good, uncle; but I would very much rather have gone +without it than shoot the beaver the tail belonged to." + +"Well, Tom, as we have all got guns, and as none of us have any scruples +that way, there is no occasion whatever for you to draw a trigger on +them. They take some shooting, for if you hit them in the water they +sink directly, and you have got to kill them dead when they are on land, +otherwise they make for the water at once and dive into their houses and +die there." + +They killed a good many other animals besides the beaver, including +several wolverines, and by the time they got down to the fort in the +middle of May they had had to give up riding and pack all the animals +with the skins they had obtained. None of these were of any great value, +but the whole brought enough to buy them a fresh outfit of clothes, a +fresh stock of provisions and powder, and to give them a hundred dollars +each. + +The evening after the sale was effected Tom wrote home to his sisters, +giving them a brief account of what had taken place since the letter he +had posted to them before starting for the mountains, but saying very +little of their adventures with Indians. "I am afraid you have been in a +great fright about me," he said, "but you must never fidget when you +don't get letters. We may often be for a long time away from any place +where we can post them, or, as they call it here, mail them, though I +certainly do not expect to be snowed up again for a whole winter. Owing +to the Indians being hostile we did not do nearly so well as we +expected, for we could not go down to hunt in the valleys. So after +getting a fresh outfit for our next journey our share is only a hundred +dollars each. I did not want to take a share, for of course I was not of +much use to them, though I have learnt a lot in the last six months, and +can shoot now as well as any of them, except the two Indians. + +"However, they all insisted on my having the same share as the rest. +Uncle wanted me to take his hundred dollars and send them home to you +with mine, but I told him that I would not do so, for I know you have +money enough to go on with, even if your school has turned out a +failure. So I think it would be as well for us to keep our money in hand +for the present. There is never any saying what may happen; we may lose +our horses and kit, and it would be very awkward if we hadn't the money +to replace them. As soon as we get more we will send it off, as you know +I always intended to do. I have still some left of what I brought out +with me, but that and the two hundred dollars would not be more than +enough to buy an entirely new outfit for us both. + +"I hope you got the five hundred dollars uncle sent you. He told me he +sent it off from Denver, and it ought to have got home a few weeks after +I left. It is horrid to think that there may be letters from you lying +at Denver, but it serves me right for being so stupid as not to put in +the short note I wrote you from here before I started, that you had +better direct to me at Fort Bridger, as I shall almost be sure to come +back to it before I go to Denver. I like uncle awfully; it seems to me +that he is just what I expected he would be. I suppose they all put in +equal shares, but the other men quite look upon him as their leader. +Sometimes when he is talking to me he speaks just as people do at home. +When he talks to the men he uses the same queer words they do. He is +taller than father was, and more strongly built. What I like in him is, +he is always the same. Sometimes the others used to get grumbly when we +were shut up so long, but it never seemed to make any difference in him. + +"I told you when I wrote from Denver that he was called 'Straight +Harry,' because he always acted straightforwardly, and now I know him I +can quite understand their calling him so. One feels somehow that one +could rely upon his always being the same, whatever happened. Leaping +Horse is a first-rate fellow, and so is Hunting Dog, though of course he +does not know nearly as much as the chief does, but he knows a lot. The +other three are all nice fellows, too, so we were a very jolly party. +They know a tremendous lot of stories about hunting and red-skins and +that sort of thing. Some of them would make all you girls' hairs stand +on end. We are going to start off in two or three days to hunt up a gold +mine uncle found three years ago. The Indians are going, too; they will +hunt while the rest of us work. It will be quite a different journey to +the last, and I expect it will be just as hot this time as it was cold +last. We may be away for four months, and perhaps we may not come back +till the snow sets in, so don't expect a letter till you see it." + +This was by far the longest letter Tom had ever written, and it took him +several hours to get through. He had the room to himself, for the others +were talking over their adventures with old friends they had met at the +fort. His uncle returned about ten o'clock. + +"Where are the others?" Tom asked. + +"In the saloon; but they are not drinking, that is, not drinking much. I +told them that if they were to get drunk one of them would be sure to +blab as to where we were going, or at any rate to say enough to excite +suspicion among some of the old miners, that we knew of a good thing, +and in that case we should get a lot of men following us, and it would +interfere with our plans altogether. A party as small as ours may live +for months without a red-skin happening to light on us, but if there +were many more they would be certain to find us. There would be too much +noise going on, too much shooting and driving backward and forward with +food and necessaries. We want it kept dark till we thoroughly prove the +place. So I made them all take an oath this morning that they would keep +their heads cool, and I told them that if one of them got drunk, or said +a word about our going after gold, I would not take him with us. I have +given out that we are going on another hunting party, and of course our +having brought in such a lot of skins will make them think that we have +hit on a place where game is abundant and are going back there for the +summer." + +Two more pack-ponies had been added to the outfit. They might be away +for five or six months, and were determined to take a good supply of +flour this time, for all were tired of the diet of meat only, on which +they had existed for the last six months, having devoted by far the +greater part of the flour to the horses. + +When they started next day they turned their faces north, as if they +intended to hunt in the mountains where they had wintered. They made but +a short march, camped on a stream, and long before daybreak started +again, travelling for some hours to the west and then striking directly +south. For two days they travelled rapidly, Tom going out every morning +with the Indians hunting, while the others kept with the pack-horses. +Ben had now quite recovered from the strain which had crippled him for +the first three weeks of their march down to Fort Bridger. They were now +fairly among the Ute hills, and at their third camping-place Harry said: + +"We must do no more shooting now till we get to our valley. We have got +a supply of deer-flesh for a week at least, and we must be careful in +future. We heard at the fort that several miners have been cut off and +killed by the Utes during the winter, and that they are more set than +ever against white men entering their country. Everyone says those +rascally Saints are at the bottom of it. We must hide our trail as much +as we can. We are just at the edge of the bad lands, and will travel on +them for the next two days. The red-skins don't go out that way much, +there being nothing either to hunt or to plunder, so there is little +fear of their coming on our trail on the bare rocks, especially as none +of the horses are shod. On the third day we shall strike right up into +their mountains." + +"Are you sure that you will know the place again, Harry?" + +"I reckon I could find it, but I should not feel quite certain about it +if I had not the chief with me. There is no fear of his going wrong. +When a red-skin has once been to a place he can find his way straight +back to it again, even if he were a thousand miles off." + +"You said when we were talking of it among the hills, uncle," Tom said, +as he rode beside him the next morning, "that Leaping Horse and you each +took two shares. I wonder what he will do with his if it turns out +well." + +"He won't do anything with it, Tom. The chief and I are like brothers. +He does not want gold, he has no use for it; and, besides, as a rule, +Indians never have anything to do with mining. He and Hunting Dog really +come as hunters, and he has an understanding with me that when the +expedition is over I shall pay them the same as they would earn from any +English sportsman who might engage them as guides and hunters, and that +I shall take their shares in whatever we may make. I need not say that +if it turns out as well as we expect, the Indians will get as many +blankets and as much ammunition as will last them their lives. You can't +get a red-skin to dig. Even the chief, who has been with us for years, +would consider it degrading to do work of that kind; and if you see an +Indian at mining work, you may be sure that he is one of the fellows who +has left his tribe and settled down to loaf and drink in the +settlements, and is just doing a spell to get himself enough fire-water +to make himself drunk on. + +"The Seneca would be just as willing to come and hunt for us for +nothing. He would get his food and the skins, which would pay for his +tobacco and ammunition, and, occasionally, a new suit of leggings and +hunting-shirt, made by an Indian woman, and with this he would be happy +and contented. He doesn't mind taking money in return for skins, and he +and Hunting Dog had their full share in the division at the fort. When I +last talked to him about this business, he said, 'Leaping Horse doesn't +want money. Of what use is it to him? He has got a bagful hidden at +home, which he has been paid when he was scouting with the army, and for +the skins of beasts he has shot. It is enough to buy many horses and +blankets, and all that a chief can want. He is going with his friend to +hunt, and to fight by his side if the Utes come; he wants none of the +gold.' I explained the matter to him, and he said carelessly: 'Leaping +Horse will take the two shares, but it will be for his brother, and that +he may send it to the girls, the sisters of his friend Tom, of whom he +spoke one night by the fire.' + +"Hunting Dog is like Leaping Horse, he will take no gold. I have told +the three men how matters stand. Of course, it makes no difference to +them whether the Indians keep their share or hand it over to me, but at +the same time I thought they ought to know how we stood. They said it +was no business of theirs; that as I was the discoverer I had a right to +sell the whole thing if I chose, and that they thought I had done the +friendly thing by them in letting them in as partners. So you see it is +all right and square. It is like enough, too, that we shall find some +other lodes, and of course there they will come in on even terms with +us. So they are pleased with the look-out, and know well enough it is +likely to be the best strike they ever made in their lives." + +They kept near the edge of the bad lands, as had they gone farther out +they would have been obliged to make long detours to get round the head +of the canons made by rivers running down into the Colorado. They had +filled their water-skins at the last stream where they had camped, and +had taken with them enough dried wood for their fires. These they lit +each night in a hollow, as from the upper slopes of the Ute hills a view +could be obtained for a great distance over the flat rocky plateau. Tom +was heartily glad when the two days' journey was over. Not a living +creature had met their eyes; there was no grass on which beasts could +exist, no earth in which prairie-dogs could burrow; even birds shunned +the bare waste of rock. + +"It is a desolate country," he said, as they sat round the fire; "it +would be enough to give one the horrors if one were alone. It is hot +now, and in the height of summer the heat and glare from the rock must +be awful." + +"It is, Tom; many and many a man has died of thirst in the bad lands. +And what makes it more terrible is, that they can perhaps see water a +thousand feet below them and yet die from the want of it." + +"When we were camped on the Green River, uncle, you said that no one had +ever followed it down." + +"That is so, lad. One knows whereabouts it goes, as men driven by thirst +have followed canons down to it; and in some places it runs for many +miles across low land before it plunges into another canon. Then it cuts +its way for two or three hundred miles, perhaps, through the hills, with +walls two or three thousand feet high. No one, so far as I know, has +gone down these big canons, but it is certain there are rapids and +whirlpools and rocks in them. Two or three parties have gone down +through some of the shorter canons to escape Indians, and most of them +have never been heard of again, but one or two have got down some +distance and managed to escape. + +"No one has followed the course by land. They could not do so unless +they carried all their provisions, and drink and food for their animals, +and even then the expedition would take months, perhaps years to do; for +every spring from the hills runs down a canon to the river, sometimes +fifty miles, sometimes a hundred long, and each time the party came upon +one of these they would have to work up to the mountains to get round +it. It is over a thousand miles in a straight line from the place where +the Green River first enters a canon to where the Colorado issues out on +to the plains, and it may be quite twice that distance if one could +follow all its windings. Some day when the country fills up attempts +will no doubt be made to find out something about it; but it will be a +big job whenever it is tried, and may cost a lot of lives before the +canons are all explored." + +In the morning they started westward for the hills. The greatest care +was observed on the march. They took advantage of every depression, and +when obliged to pass over level ground moved at a distance apart, as a +clump or string of moving animals would be made out at a distance from +which a solitary one would be unnoticed. By noon they had left the bare +rock, and were travelling up a valley clothed with grass and dotted with +clumps of trees. In the first of these they halted. + +"We will stay here until it begins to get dusk," Harry said, "and then +move on as fast as we can go. If we don't lose our way we shall be there +before morning." + +There was no moon, but the stars shone brilliantly, and the mountains, +with their summits still covered with snow, could be seen ahead. The +chief went on in front. Sometimes they proceeded up valleys, sometimes +crossed shoulders and spurs running down from the hills. They moved in +Indian file, and at times proceeded at a brisk pace, at other times more +slowly; but there was no halt or sign of hesitation on the part of their +leader. At last, just as morning was breaking, the chief led them into a +clump of trees. He moved a little distance in, and then reined in his +horse and dismounted. + +"Does my brother remember that?" he said to Harry, pointing to something +on the ground. + +"Jee-hoshaphat!" Harry exclaimed; "if that ain't my old pack-saddle! +This is the very spot where we camped, boys. Well, chief, you are +certainly a wonder. I doubt whether I could have found my way here in +the daytime. Half a dozen times to-night it seemed to me that you were +going in the wrong direction altogether, and yet you bring us as +straight to the spot as if all the time you had been following a main +road." + +"Bully for the chief!" Jerry said warmly. "I am blamed if that ain't a +fust-rate piece of tracking. Waal, here we are at our journey's end. +Can we make a fire?" + +"Make small fire, but must put screen round." + +"Very well; we will leave the fire to you, and we will unpack the +critters. There is a bundle of dry wood left, so we sha'n't have the +bother of looking for it now." + +Before lighting the fire the two Indians stretched some blankets some +six feet above it, to prevent the light falling upon the foliage; then +by their directions Sam cut a dozen short poles, and fixed them in a +circle round the fire. Half a dozen more blankets were fastened to the +poles, forming a wall round the fire, which the chief then lighted. The +nights were, at that height above the sea-level, cool enough to make the +heat pleasant, and there was just room for the, seven men to sit between +the blanket wall and the fire. + +"Do you mean this to be our permanent camp, Harry?" + +"What do you think, Leaping Horse?" + +"Wait till me go up gold valley," the Seneca said. "If can't find a good +place there better stay here; if go backwards and forwards every day +make trail Indian squaw would notice." + +"That is so, chief; but by what Harry says it is a mere gully, and the +horses will have to range." + +"Horses must feed," the chief said. "If we find a place up there, make +hut, take saddles and outfit there. Tie up horses here, and let them +loose to feed at night. No regular track then. But talk after sleep." + +"It will be broad daylight by the time that we have finished our meal," +Jerry said, "and I reckon none of us will be wanting to sleep till we +have got a sight of Harry's bonanza." + +As soon as they had finished their meal, the mining implements, which +had been carefully hidden among the rest of their goods when they +started from the fort, were brought out. Among these were a dozen light +pick-heads and half a dozen handles, as many shovels, a flat iron plate +for crushing ore upon, and a short hammer, with a face six inches in +diameter, as a pounder; also a supply of long nails, to be used in +fastening together troughs, cradles, or any other woodwork that might be +required; three or four deep tin dishes, a bottle of mercury, a saw, and +a few other tools. Three of the pick-heads were now fastened to their +handles, and taking these, a couple of shovels, two of the tin basins, a +sledge hammer, and some steel wedges, and the peculiar wooden platter, +in shape somewhat resembling a small shield with an indentation in the +middle, called a vanner, and universally used by prospectors, the five +whites and Leaping Horse started from their camp for the spot where +Harry had found the lode. It lay about a mile up a narrow valley, +running into the larger one. A rivulet trickled down its centre. + +"I reckoned on that," Harry said. "Of course it was frozen when we were +here, but I could see that there was water in summer. You see this +hollow runs right up into that wood, and there is sure to be water in it +for the next three months anyhow." + +They had gone but a short distance up when they stopped at a spot where +the streamlet widened out into a pool. + +"Let us try here," Jerry said, "and see if there is any sign." + +Half a shovelful of sand was placed in the vanner with a small quantity +of water, and while Harry and Sam proceeded to wash some gravel roughly +in the pans, Tom stood watching Jerry's operations. He gave a gentle +motion to the vanner that caused its contents to revolve, the coarser +particles being thrown towards the edges while the finer remained in the +centre. The water was poured away and the rougher particles of gravel +and sand swept off by the hand; fresh water was then added, and the +process repeated again and again, until at last no more than a spoonful +of fine sand remained in the centre. A sideway action of the vanner +caused this to slope gradually down towards the edge. At the very bottom +three tiny bits of yellow metal were seen. They were no bigger than +pins' heads. It seemed to Tom that this was a miserably small return for +five minutes' labour, but the others seemed well satisfied, and were +still more pleased when, on the two pans being cleaned out, several +little pieces of gold were found, one of which was nearly as large as a +small pea. + +"That is good enough," Ben said; "it will run a lot richer when we get +down on to the rock." + +At two other places on their way up they tried the experiments, with +increasingly good results. + +"There is some tall work to be done here with washing," Harry said. "Now +come on to the vein. I only saw one of them, but there must be a lot +more or you would not find so much metal in the sand. However, the one I +saw is good enough for anything." They went on again to a point where +the rock cropped boldly out on both sides of the valley; Harry led them +a few paces up the side, and pointed to some white patches in the rock. +"That is where I chipped it off, lads, three years ago." + +The face of the lode, discoloured by age and weather, differed but +little from the rock surrounding it; but where it had been broken off it +was a whitish yellow, thickly studded with little bits of dull yellow +metal sticking out of it. Tom was not greatly impressed; but he saw from +the faces of his companions that they were at once surprised and +delighted. + +"By gosh, Harry, you have done it this time!" Sam Hicks exclaimed. "You +have struck it rich, and no mistake. I thought from the way you talked +of it it must be something out of the way, but I am blamed if I thought +it was like this." + +"Stand back, you chaps," Jerry said, lifting the heavy sledge hammer; +"let me get a drive at it. Here is a crack. Put one of them wedges in, +Ben." + +The wedge was placed in the fissure, and Ben held it while Jerry gave a +few light blows to get it firmly fixed. + +"That will do, Ben; take away your hand and let me drive at it." +Swinging the hammer round his head Jerry brought it down with tremendous +force on the head of the wedge. Again and again the heavy hammer rose +and fell, with the accuracy of a machine, upon the right spot, until the +wedge, which was nine inches long, was buried in the crevice. + +"Now another one, Ben. Give me a longer one this time." + +This time Ben held the wedge until it was half buried, having perfect +confidence in Jerry's skill. It was not until the fourth wedge had been +driven in that a fragment of rock weighing four or five hundredweight +suddenly broke out from the face. All bent eagerly over it, and the +miners gave a shout of joy. The inner surface, which was white, but +slightly stained with yellow, with blurs of slate colour here and there, +was thickly studded with gold. It stuck out above the surface in thin, +leafy plates with ragged edges, with here and there larger spongy +masses. + +"I reckon that is good enough," Jerry said, wiping the sweat from his +forehead. "Ef there is but enough of it, it is the biggest thing that +ever was struck. There ain't no saying how rich it is, but I will bet my +boots it's over five hundred ounces to the ton. It ain't in nature that +it is going to run far like that, but it is good enough for anything. +Well, what is the next thing, Harry?" + +"We will break it up," Harry said, "and carry it down with us to the +camp. If the Utes came down on us tomorrow, and we could get off with +it, that would be plenty to show if we want to make a sale." + +It took them a long time to break up the rock, for the quartz was hard, +and was so bound together by the leafy gold running through it that each +of the four men had several spells with the hammer before it was broken +up into fragments weighing some twenty pounds apiece. As soon as this +was done the men collected earth, filled up the hole in the face of the +rock, and planted several large tufts of grass in it, and poured four or +five tins of water over them; then they smeared with mud the patches +where Harry had before broken pieces off. + +"What is all that for, Jerry?" Tom asked. + +"It is to hide up the traces, lad. We may have to bolt away from here +to-morrow morning for anything we know, and before we come back again +someone else may come along, and though we shall locate our claims at +the mining register, there would be a lot of trouble if anyone else had +taken possession, and was working the vein when we got back." + +"It is not likely that anyone else would come along here, Jerry." + +"Waal, I reckon that is so, but one ain't going to trust to chance when +one has struck on such a place as this." + +The Seneca had been the only unmoved person in the party. + +"What do you think of that, chief?" Harry asked him. + +"If my white brother is pleased Leaping Horse is glad," he replied. "But +the Indian does not care for gold. What can he do with it? He has a good +gun, he does not want twenty. He does not want many hunting suits. If he +were to buy as many horses as would fill the valley he could not ride +them all, and he would soon tire of sitting in his lodge and being +waited upon by many wives. He has enough for his needs now. When he is +old it will be time to rest." + +"Well, that is philosophy, chief, and I don't say you are wrong from +your way of looking at it. But that gold means a lot to us. It means +going home to our people. It means living in comfort for the rest of our +lives. It means making our friends happy." + +"Leaping Horse is glad," the chief said gravely. "But he cannot forget +that to him it means that the white brother, with whom he has so long +hunted and camped and fought bad Indians, will go away across the great +salt water, and Leaping Horse will see him no more." + +"That is so, chief," Harry said, grasping the Indian's hand warmly, "and +I was a selfish brute not to think of it before. There is one thing I +will promise you. Every year or so I will come out here and do a couple +of months' hunting with you. The journey is long, but it is quickly made +now, and I know that after knocking about for twenty years I shall never +be content if I don't take a run out on the plains for a bit every +summer. I will give you my word, Leaping Horse, that as long as I have +health and strength I will come out regularly, and that you shall see +your white brother's friendship is as strong as your own." + +The Seneca's grave face lit up with pleasure. "My white brother is very +good," he said. "He has taken away the thorn out of the heart of Leaping +Horse. His Indian brother is all glad now." + +The quartz was placed in sacks they had brought with them to carry down +samples, and they at once returned to the camp, where, after smoking a +pipe, they lay down to sleep; but it was some time before all went off, +so excited were they at the thought of the fortune that seemed before +them. + +In the afternoon they took one of the pieces of stone, weighing, by a +spring balance, twenty pounds, and with the flat plate and the +crushing-hammer went to the stream. The rock was first broken with the +sledge into pieces the size of a walnut. These were pulverized on the +iron plate and the result carefully washed, and when the work was +finished the gold was weighed in the miner's scales, and turned the +four-ounce weight. + +"That is nearly five hundred ounces to the ton," Harry said, "but of +course it is not going to run like that. I reckon it is a rich pocket; +there may be a ton of the stuff, and there may be fifty. Now let's go up +and have a quiet look for the lode, and see if we can trace it. We ought +to see it on the rock the other side." + +A careful search showed them the quartz vein on the face of the rock +some fifty feet higher up the valley, and this showed them the direction +of the run of the lode. It was here, however, only six inches wide +instead of being two feet, as at the spot where it was first found. Some +pieces were broken off: there was gold embedded in it, but it was +evident that it was nothing like so rich as on the other side. A piece +of ten pounds was pounded up, it returned only a little over a +pennyweight of gold. + +"About twelve ounces to the ton," Harry said. "Not bad, but a mighty +falling off from the other. To-morrow morning we will follow the lode on +the other side and see if we can strike an outcrop." + +The next day they found the lode cropping up through the rock some +thirty yards from their great find. It was about nine inches wide. They +dug it out with their picks to a depth of two feet so as to get a fair +sample. This when crushed gave a return at the rate of twenty ounces. + +"That is rich enough again, and would pay splendidly if worked by +machinery. Of course the question is, how far it holds on as rich as we +found it at the face, and how it keeps on in depth? But that is just +what we can't find. We want drills and powder, as picks are no sort of +good on this hard quartz. Supposing it goes off gradually from the face +to this point, there would be millions of dollars in it, even supposing +it pinched in below, which there is no reason in the world to suppose. +We may as well take a few of these chunks of rock, they will show that +the gold holds fairly a good way back anyhow." + +A few pieces were put aside and the rest thrown into the hole again, +which was stamped down and filled up with dust. The party then went back +to dinner, and a consultation was held as to what was next to be done. + +"Of course we must stake out our claims at once," Harry said. "In the +first place there are our own eight claims--two for each of the +discoverers and one each for the others. Hunting Dog will not have a +share, but will be paid the regular rate as a hunter. Then we will take +twenty claims in the names of men we know. They wouldn't hold water if +it were a well-known place, and everyone scrambling to get a claim on +the lode; but as there is no one to cut in, and no one will know the +place till we have sold it and a company sends up to take possession and +work it, it ain't likely to be disputed. The question is, What shall we +do now? Shall we make back to the settlements, or try washing a bit?" + +"Try washing, I should say," Jerry said. "You may be some time before +you can sell the place. Anyone buying will know that they will have to +send up a force big enough to fight the Utes, and besides they will want +someone to come up here to examine it before they close the bargain. I +vote we stick here and work the gravel for a bit so as to take enough +away to keep us till next spring. I reckon we shall find plenty of stuff +in it as we go down, and if that is so we can't do better than stick to +it as long as there is water in the creek." + +"I agree with you there, Jerry; but it will never do to risk losing +those first samples. I am ready to stay here through the summer, but I +vote we sew them up in deer-hide, and put two or three thicknesses of +skin on them so as to prevent accidents. Two of us had best go with them +to the fort and ask the Major to let us stow them away in his magazine, +then, if we have to bolt, we sha'n't be weighted down with them. +Besides, we might not have time for packing them on the horses, and +altogether it would be best to get them away at once, then come what +might we should have proofs of the value of the mine." + +This proposal was cordially agreed to, and it was settled that on the +following morning Harry himself should, with Hunting Dog and two +pack-horses, start for the fort, following the same route they came, +while the rest should set to work to construct a cradle, and troughs for +leading the water to it. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +AN INDIAN ATTACK + + +A couple of trees were felled in the middle of the clump in which they +were still encamped. They were first roughly squared and then sawn into +planks, the three men taking it by turns to use the saw. The question of +shifting the camp up to the spot where they intended to work was +discussed the night before Harry started, but it was agreed at last that +it would be better to remain where they were. + +"If Utes come, sure to find traces," the chief said. "Many horses in +valley make tracks as plain as noonday. Gold valley bad place for +fight." + +"That is so," Jerry agreed. "We should not have a show there. Even if we +made a log-house, and it would be a dog-goned trouble to carry up the +logs,--we might be shut up in it, and the red-skins would only have to +lie round and shoot us down if we came out. I reckon we had best stay +here after all, Harry. We could keep them outside the range of our +rifles anyhow by day." + +"I don't see that that would be much good to us, Jerry; for if they came +by day they would not find us here. Still I don't know that it ain't +best for us to stay here; it would give us a lot of trouble to build a +place. I reckon two of us had better stay here all the day with the +horses. If the red-skins come, they can fire a couple of shots, and we +shall hear them up at the washing-place. The red-skins would be safe to +draw off for a bit to talk it over before they attacked, as they would +not know how many there were among the trees. That would give the rest +time to come down." + +It took three days' hard work to saw the planks and make the cradle, and +troughs sufficiently long to lead the water down into it from the stream +higher up. These were roughly but strongly made, the joints being +smeared with clay to prevent the water from running through. A dam was +then made to keep back the water above the spot where they intended to +begin, which was about fifty yards below the quartz vein, and from this +dam the trough was taken along on strong trestles to the cradle. + +The horses were brought into the camp at daybreak every morning and tied +up to the trees, and were let out again at nightfall. Tom remained in +camp, the chief being with him. The latter, however, was, during the +time Harry was away, twice absent for a day on hunting excursions lower +down the valley, which was there thickly wooded. The first time, he +returned with the hams and a considerable portion of the rest of the +flesh of a bear. The second time, he brought up the carcass of a deer. + +"How far does the valley run?" Tom asked. + +"Valley last ten miles. Sides get steep and high, then canon begin." + +"That will run right down to the Colorado?" + +The chief nodded. "Leaping Horse go no farther. Canon must go down to +the river." + +"How far is it before the sides of the valley get too steep to climb?" + +"Two miles from here. Men could climb another mile or two, horses not." + +"Is there much game down there, chief?" + +The Seneca nodded. + +"That is a comfort, we sha'n't be likely to run out of fresh meat." + +The chief was very careful in choosing the wood for the fire, so that in +the daytime no smoke should be seen rising from the trees. When the dead +wood in the clump of trees was exhausted he rode down the valley each +day, and returned in an hour with a large faggot fastened behind him on +the horse. He always started before daybreak, so as to reduce the risk +of being seen from the hills. On the sixth day the men began their work +at the gravel. The bottle of mercury was emptied into the cradle, the +bottom of which had been made with the greatest care, so as to prevent +any loss from leakage. Two of the men brought up the gravel in buckets +and pans, until the cradle was half full. Then water was let in, and the +third man rocked the machine and kept on removing the coarse stuff that +worked up to the top, while the others continued bringing up fresh +gravel. + +"Well, what luck?" Tom asked, when they returned in the evening. + +"We have not cleaned up yet; we shall let it run for three or four days +before we do. We are only on the surface yet, and the stuff wouldn't pay +for the trouble of washing out." + +On the eighth day after their departure Harry and Hunting Dog returned. + +"Well, boys, it is all stowed away safely," he said. "I know the Major +well, and he let me have a big chest, which he locked up, after I had +put the bags in, and had it stowed away in the magazine; so there is no +fear of its being touched. Any signs of the red-skins?" + +"Nary a sign. We have none of us been up the valley beyond this, so that +unless they come right down here, they would find no trail. The horses +are always driven down the valley at night." + +"How is the work going on, Jerry?" + +"We began washing two days ago; to-morrow night we shall clean up. We +all think it is going to turn out pretty good, for we have seen gold in +the sand several times as we have carried it up in the pails." + +The next day Tom went up with the others, the Indians remaining in camp. +Two men now worked at the cradle, while the other three brought up the +sand and gravel. Towards evening they began the work of cleaning up. No +more stuff was brought up to the machine, but the water was still run +into it. As fast as the shaking brought the rough gravel to the top it +was removed, until only a foot of sand remained at the bottom. The water +was now stopped and the sand dug out, and carefully washed in the pans +by hand. At the bottom of each pan there remained after all the sand had +been removed a certain amount of gold-dust, the quantity increasing as +the bottom was approached. The last two panfuls contained a considerable +amount. + +"It does not look much," Tom said when the whole was collected together. + +"It is heavy stuff, lad," Harry replied. "What do you think there is, +Jerry? About twelve ounces, I should fancy." + +"All that, Harry; nigher fourteen, I should think." + +The pan was now put at the bottom of the cradle, a plug pulled out, and +the quicksilver run into it. A portion of this was poured on +wash-leather, the ends of which were held up by the men so as to form a +bag. Harry took the leather, and holding it over another pan twisted it +round and round. As the pressure on the quicksilver increased it ran +through the pores of the leather in tiny streams, until at last a lump +of pasty metal remained. This was squeezed again and again, until not a +single globule of quicksilver passed through the leather. The ball, +which was of the consistency of half-dried mortar was then taken out, +and the process repeated again and again until the whole of the +quicksilver had been passed through the leather. Six lumps of amalgam +about the size of small hens' eggs remained. + +"Is that good, uncle?" Tom asked. + +"Very fair, lad; wonderfully good indeed, considering we have not got +down far yet. I should say we shall get a pound and a half of gold out +of it." + +"But how does the gold get into it, uncle?" + +"There is what is called an affinity between quicksilver and gold. The +moment gold touches quicksilver it is absorbed by it, just as a drop of +water is taken up by a lump of salt. It thickens the quicksilver, and as +it is squeezed through the leather the quicksilver is as it were +strained out, and what remains behind becomes thicker and thicker, +until, as you see, it is almost solid. It is no good to use more +pressure, for if you do a certain amount of the gold would be squeezed +through the leather. You see, as the stuff in the cradle is shaken, the +gold being heavier than the sand finds its way down to the bottom, and +every particle that comes in contact with the quicksilver is swallowed +up by it." + +"And how do you get the quicksilver out of those lumps?" + +"We put them in one of those clay crucibles you saw, with a pinch of +borax, cover them up, and put them in a heap of glowing embers. That +evaporates the quicksilver, and leaves the gold behind in the shape of a +button." This was done that evening, and when the buttons were placed in +the scales they just turned the two-pound weight. + +"Well, boys, that is good enough for anything," Harry said. "That, with +the dust, makes a pound a day, which is as good as the very best stuff +in the early days of California." + +They worked steadily for the next seven weeks. Contrary to their +expectations the gravel was but little richer lower down than they had +found it at the end of the first wash-up, but continued about equally +good, and the result averaged about a pound weight of gold a day. This +was put into little bags of deer-skin, each containing five pounds' +weight, and these bags were distributed among the saddle-bags, so that +in case of sudden disturbance there would be no risk of their being left +behind. The Indians took it by turns to hunt; at other times they +remained on guard in camp, Tom only staying when one of them was away. +One day when the mining party stopped work, and sat down to eat some +bread and cold meat,--which they had from the first brought up, so as to +save them the loss of time entailed by going to the camp and back,--the +report of a gun came upon their ears. All started to their feet and +seized their rifles, and then stood listening intently. A minute later +two more shots were heard at close intervals. + +"Red-skins for sure!" Jerry exclaimed. "I thought as how our luck were +too good to last." They started at a run down the little valley, and +only paused when they reached its mouth. Harry then advanced cautiously +until he could obtain a view of the main valley. He paused for a minute +and then rejoined his companions. + +"There are fifty of them," he said, "if there is one. They are Utes in +their war-paint. They are a bit up the valley. I think if we make a rush +we can get to the trees before they can cut us off." + +"We must try anyhow," Sam Hicks said, "else they will get the two +Indians and our horses and saddles and all. Just let us get breath for a +moment, and then we will start." + +"Keep close together as you run," Harry said, "and then if they do come +up we can get back to back and make a fight of it." After a short pause +they started. They had not gone twenty yards when a loud yell proclaimed +that the Indians had seen them. They had, however, but three hundred +yards to run, while the Utes were double that distance from the clump. + +When the miners were within fifty yards of the trees two rifle-shots +rang out, and two of the Utes, who were somewhat ahead of the rest; fell +from their horses, while the rest swerved off, seeing that there was no +hope of cutting the party off. A few more yards and the miners were +among the trees. + +"So the Utes have found us out, chief," Harry said as he joined Leaping +Horse, who had just reloaded his ride. + +"Must have tracked us. They are a war-party," the Seneca replied. +"Hunter must have found tracks and taken news back to the villages." + +"Well, we have got to fight for it, that is clear enough," Harry said. +"Anyhow, now they see there are seven of us they are not likely to +attack until it gets dark, so we have time to think over what had best +be done. We had just begun our meal when we heard your shot, and the +best thing we can do is to have a good feed at once. We may be too busy +later on." + +The chief said a word to the young Indian, and, leaving him on the +watch, accompanied the others to the fire. They had scarcely sat down +when Hunting Dog came up. + +"More Utes," he said briefly, pointing across the valley. + +They at once went to the outer line of trees. On the brow of the rise +opposite were a party of horsemen between twenty and thirty strong. + +"That shows they have learnt all about our position," Harry said. "Those +fellows have been lying in wait somewhere over the hill to cut us off if +we took to our horses on seeing the main body. Let us have a look the +other side." + +Crossing the clump of trees, they saw on the brow there another party of +Utes. + +"I reckon they must have crossed that valley we were working in just +after we got through," Jerry said. "It is mighty lucky they did not come +down on us while we were washing, for they could have wiped us all out +before we had time to get hold of our guns. Well, Harry, we are in a +pretty tight fix, with fifty of them up the valley and five-and-twenty +or so on each side of us. We shall have to be dog-goned smart if we are +to get out of this scrape." + +"Hand me your rifle, Tom," his uncle said, "it carries farther than +mine, and I will give those fellows a hint that they had best move off a +bit." + +Steadying his piece against a tree, he took a careful aim and fired. One +of the Indians swerved in his saddle, and then fell forward on the neck +of his horse, which turned and galloped off with the rest. + +"Now we will have our meal and take council, chief," Harry said as he +turned away. "If we have got to fight there is no occasion to fight +hungry." + +The fire was made up; there was no need to be careful now. Strips of +deer's flesh were hung over it, and the meal was soon ready. But little +was said while it was being eaten, then they all lighted their pipes and +each put a pannikin of hot tea beside him. + +"Now, chief," Harry said, "have you arrived at any way out of this? It +is worse than it was the last time we got caught in this valley." + +The chief shook his head. "No good fight here," he said; "when night +come they creep up all round." + +"Yes, I see that we have got to bolt, but the question is, how? If we +were to ride they would ride us down, that is certain. Jerry and Tom +might possibly get away, though that ain't likely. Their critters are +good, but nothing downright extraordinary, and the chances are that some +of the Utes have got faster horses than theirs. As for the rest of us, +they would have us before we had ridden an hour." + +"That ain't to be thought of," Jerry said. "It seems to me our best +chance would be to leave the critters behind, and to crawl out the +moment it gets dark, and try and get beyond them." + +"They will close in as soon as it gets dark, Jerry. They will know well +enough that that is the time we shall be moving. I reckon we should not +have a chance worth a cent of getting through. What do you say, chief?" + +Leaping Horse nodded in assent. + +"Well, then," Sam Hicks said, "I vote we mount our horses and go right +at them. I would rather do that and get rubbed out in a fair fight than +lie here until they crawl up and finish us." + +No one answered, and for some minutes they smoked on without a word +being spoken, then Harry said: + +"There is only one chance for us that I can see, and that is to mount +now and to ride right down the valley. The chief says that in some +places it is not more than fifty yards wide, with steep cliffs on each +side, and we could make a much better fight there, for they could only +attack us in front. There would be nothing for them then but to dismount +and close in upon us from tree to tree, and we could make a running +fight of it until we come to the mouth of the canon. There must be +places there, that we ought to be able to hold with our seven rifles +against the lot of them." + +"Bully for you, Harry! I reckon that would give us a chance anyhow. That +is, if we ain't cut off before we get to the wood." + +"Let us have a look round and see what they are doing," Harry said. "Ah! +here comes Hunting Dog. He will tell us all about it." + +"Utes on hills all gone up and joined the others," the young Indian said +as he came up. + +"It could not be better news!" Harry exclaimed. "I reckon they have +moved away to tempt us to make a start for the fort, for they know if we +go that way they will have us all, sure. They have not reckoned on our +riding down the valley, for they will be sure we must have found out +long ago that there ain't any way out of it. Well, we had best lose no +time. There is some meat ready, Hunting Dog, and you had best fill up +while we get ready for a start." + +The blankets and buffalo rugs were wrapped up and strapped behind the +saddles, as soon as these were placed behind the horses. They had only a +small quantity of meat left, as the chief was going out hunting the next +morning, but they fastened this, and eighty pounds of flour that still +remained, on to one of the pack-horses. They filled their powder-horns +from the keg, and each put three or four dozen bullets into his +holsters, together with all the cartridges for their pistols; the rest +of the ammunition was packed on another horse. When all was completed +they mounted. + +"We may get a couple of hundred yards more start before we are seen," +Harry said. "Anyhow, we have got five hundred yards, and may reckon on +making the two miles to where the valley narrows before they catch us." + +The instant, however, they emerged from the wood, two loud yells were +heard from Indians who had been left lying down on watch at the top of +the slopes on either side. Sam, who was the worst shot of the party, had +volunteered to lead the string of pack-horses, while Ben was ready to +urge them on behind. + +"You may want to stop some of the leading varmint, and I should not be +much good at that game, so I will keep straight on without paying any +attention to them." + +A loud answering yell rose from the Indians up the valley. + +"We shall gain fifty yards or so before they are fairly in the saddle," +Harry said as they went off at the top of their speed, the horses +seeming to know that the loud war-cry boded danger. They had gone half a +mile before they looked round. The Indians were riding in a confused +mass, and were some distance past the grove the miners had left, but +they still appeared as far behind as they had been when they started. +Another mile and the mass had broken up; the best-mounted Indians had +left the rest some distance behind, and considerably decreased the gap +between them and the fugitives. Another five minutes and the latter +reached the wood, that began just where the valley narrowed and the +cliffs rose almost perpendicularly on each side. As soon as they did so +they leapt from their horses, and each posting himself behind a tree +opened fire at their pursuers, the nearest of whom were but two hundred +yards away. Four fell to the first seven shots; the others turned and +galloped back to the main body, who halted at once. + +"They won't try a charge," Harry said; "it isn't in Indian nature to +come across the open with the muzzles of seven rifles pointed at them. +They will palaver now; they know they have got us in a trap, and they +will wait till night. Now, chief, I reckon that you and I and Hunting +Dog had best stay here, so that if they try, as they are pretty sure to +do, to find out whether we are here still, we can give them a hint to +keep off. The other four had better ride straight down the canon, and go +on for a bit, to find out the best place for making a stand, and as soon +as it is dark we will go forward and join them. There will be no +occasion for us to hurry. I reckon the skunks will crawl up here soon +after it is dark; but they won't go much farther, for we might hide up +somewhere and they might miss us. In the morning they will come down on +foot, sheltering behind the trees as much as they can, till at last they +locate us." + +The chief nodded his approval of the plan, and Tom and the three miners +at once started, taking the pack-horses with them. On the way down they +came upon a bear. Ben was about to fire, but Jerry said: "Best leave him +alone, Ben; we are only three miles down, and these cliffs would echo +the sound and the red-skins would hear it and know that some of us had +gone down the valley, and might make a rush at once." In an hour and a +half they came down to a spot where the valley, after widening out a +good bit, suddenly terminated, and the stream entered a deep canon in +the face of the wall of rock that closed it in. + +"I reckon all this part of the valley was a lake once," Jerry said. +"When it got pretty well full it began to run over where this canon is +and gradually cut its way out down to the Colorado. I wonder how far it +is to the river." + +They had gone but a hundred yards down the canon when they came to a +place where a recent fall of rocks blocked it up. Through these the +stream, which was but a small one, made its way. + +"There is a grist of water comes down here when the snow melts in the +spring," Ben remarked. "You can see that the rocks are worn fifty feet +up. Waal, I reckon this place is good enough for us, Jerry." + +"I reckon so, too," the latter agreed. "It will be a job to get our +horses over; but we have got to do it anyhow, if we have to carry them." +The animals, however, managed to scramble up the rocks that filled the +canon to the height of some thirty feet. The distance between the rock +walls was not more than this in width. + +"We could hold this place for a year," Ben said, "if they didn't take to +chucking rocks down from above." + +"Yes, that is the only danger," Jerry agreed; "but the betting is they +could not get nigh enough to the edge to look down. Still, they might do +it if the ground is level above; anyhow, we should not show much at this +depth, for it is pretty dark down here, and the rocks must be seven or +eight hundred feet high." + +It was, indeed, but a narrow strip of sky that they saw as they looked +up, and although still broad daylight in the valley they had left, it +was almost dark at the bottom of the deep gorge, and became pitch dark +as soon as the light above faded. + +"The first job in the morning," Jerry said, "will be to explore this +place down below. I expect there are places where it widens out. If it +does, and there are trees and anything like grass, the horses can get a +bite of food; if not, they will mighty soon go under, that is if we +don't come upon any game, for if we don't we sha'n't be able to spare +them flour." + +"It is almost a pity we did not leave them in the valley to take their +chance," Tom said. + +"Don't you make any mistake," Jerry said. "In the first place they may +come in useful to us yet, and even if we never get astride of them again +they may come in mighty handy for food. I don't say as we mayn't get a +bear if there are openings in the canon, or terraces where they can come +down, but if there ain't it is just horse-meat we have got to depend on. +Look here, boys, it is 'tarnal dark here; I can't see my own hand. I +vote we get a light. There is a lot of drift-wood jammed in among the +stones where we climbed up, that will do to start a fire, and I saw a +lot more just at the mouth of this gap. We know the red-skins ain't near +yet, so I vote we grope our way up and bring some down. It will be a +first-rate thing, too, to make a bit of fire half-way between here and +the mouth; that would put a stop to their crawling up, as they are like +enough to try to do, to make out whereabouts we are. Of course we shall +have to damp our own fire down if they come, else we should show up agin +the light if we went up on the rock." + +The others agreed at once, for it was dull work sitting there in the +black darkness. All had matches, and a piece of dry fir was soon found. +This was lighted, and served as a torch with which to climb over the +rocks. Jammed in between these on the upper side was a large quantity of +drift-wood. This was pulled out, made into bundles, and carried over the +rock barrier, and a fire was soon blazing there. Then taking a brand and +two axes they went up to the mouth of the gorge, cut up the arms of some +trees that had been brought down by the last floods and left there as +the water sank. The greater part of these were taken down to their +camping-place; the rest, with plenty of small wood to light them, were +piled halfway between the barrier and the mouth of the canon, and were +soon blazing brightly. + +They were returning to their camping-place, when Ben exclaimed that he +heard the sound of horses' hoofs. All stopped to listen. + +"There are not more than three of them," Ben said, "and they are coming +along at a canter. I don't expect we shall hear anything of the +red-skins until tomorrow morning." + +They heard the horses enter the canon, then Jerry shouted: "Are you all +right, Harry?" + +"Yes; the red-skins were all quiet when we came away. Why, where are +you?" he shouted again when he came up to the fire. + +"A hundred yards farther on I will show you a light." + +Two or three blazing brands were brought up. Harry and the Indians had +dismounted at the first fire, and now led their horses up to the stone +barrier. + +"What on arth have you lit that other fire for, Jerry?" Harry asked as +he stopped at the foot of the barrier. + +"Because we shall sleep a dog-goned sight better with it there. As like +as not they may send on two or three young warriors to scout. It is as +black as a wolf's mouth, and we might have sat listening all night, and +then should not have heard them. But with that fire there they dare not +come on, for they would know they could not pass it without getting a +bullet in them." + +"Well, it is a very good idea, Jerry; I could not think what was up when +I got there and did not see anybody. I see you have another fire over +the other side. I could make it out clear enough as we came on." + +"It will burn down a bit presently," Jerry said. "I should not try to +get those horses up here now, Harry. It was a bad place to come up in +daylight, and like enough they would break their legs if they tried it +now. They will do just as well there as they would on this side, and you +can get them over as soon as the day breaks." + +"I would rather get them over, Jerry; but I see it is a pretty rough +place." + +Leaving the horses, Harry and the Indians climbed over the barrier, and +were soon seated with the others round their fire, over which the meat +was already frizzling. + +"So the Indians kept quiet all the afternoon, Harry?" + +"As quiet as is their nature. Two or three times some of them rode down, +and galloped backwards and forwards in front of us to make out if we +were there. Each time we let them fool about for a good long spell, and +then when they got a bit careless sent them a ball or two to let them +know we were still there. Hunting Dog went with the three horses half a +mile down the valley soon after you had gone, so that they might not +hear us ride off. + +"As soon as it began to get dusk we started. We had to come pretty slow, +for it got so dark under the trees we could not make out the trunks, and +had to let the horses pick their own way. But we knew there was no +hurry, for they would not follow till morning, though of course their +scouts would creep up as soon as it was dark, and wouldn't be long +before they found out that we had left." + +"I reckon they will all come and camp in the wood and wait for daylight +before they move, though I don't say two or three scouts may not crawl +down to try and find out where we are. They will move pretty slow, for +they will have to pick their way, and will know well enough that if a +twig cracks it will bring bullets among them. I reckon they won't get +here under four or five hours. It is sartin they won't try to pass that +fire above. As soon as they see us they will take word back to the +others, and we shall have the whole lot down here by morning." + +"We shall have to get the horses over, the first thing. Two of us had +best go down, as soon as it is light enough to ride without risking our +necks, to see what the canon is like below." + +"Yes, that is most important, Jerry; there may be some break where the +red-skins could get down, and so catch us between two fires." + +"I don't care a red cent for the Utes," Jerry said. "We can lick them +out of their boots in this canon. What we have been thinking of, is +whether there is some place where the horses can get enough to keep them +alive while we are shut up here. If there is game, so much the better; +if there ain't, we have got to take to horseflesh." + +"How long do you suppose that the Indians are likely to wait when they +find that they can't get at us?" Tom asked. + +"There ain't no sort of saying," his uncle replied. "I reckon no one +ever found out yet how long a red-skin's patience will last. Time ain't +nothing to them. They will follow up this canon both sides till they are +sartin that there ain't no place where a man can climb up. If there +ain't, they will just squat in that valley. Like enough they will send +for their lodges and squaws and fix themselves there till winter comes, +and even then they might not go. They have got wood and water. Some of +them will hunt and bring in meat, which they will dry for the winter; +and they are just as likely to stay here as to go up to their villages." + +A vigilant watch was kept up all night, two of them being always on +guard at the top of the barrier. As soon as morning broke, the three +horses were got over, and half an hour later Harry and Sam Hicks rode +off down the canon, while the others took their places on guard, keeping +themselves well behind the rocks, between which they looked out. They +had not long to wait, for an Indian was seen to dart rapidly across the +mouth of the canon. Two rifles cracked out, but the Indian's appearance +and disappearance was so sudden and quick that they had no reason to +believe that they had hit him. + +"They will know now that we are here, and are pretty wide awake," Ben +said. "You may be sure that he caught sight of these rocks." + +A minute or two later several rifles flashed from among the fallen +stones at the mouth of the gorge. + +"Keep your eyes open," Jerry said, "and when you see the slightest +movement, fire. But don't do it unless you feel certain that you make +out a head or a limb. We've got to show the Utes that it is sartin death +to try and crawl up here." + +Almost immediately afterwards a head appeared above the stones, the +chief's rifle cracked, and at the same instant the head disappeared. + +"Do you think you got him, chief?" + +"Think so, not sure. Leaping Horse does not often miss his mark at two +hundred yards." + +Almost directly afterwards Tom fired. An Indian sprang to his feet and +bounded away. + +"What did you fire at, Tom?" + +"I think it was his arm and shoulder," Tom replied. "I was not sure +about it, but I certainly saw something move." + +"I fancy you must have hit him, or he would not have got up. Waal, now I +reckon we are going to have quiet for a bit. They must have had a good +look at the place while they were lying there, and must have seen that +it air too strong for them. I don't say they mayn't come on again +tonight--that they may do, but I think it air more likely they won't try +it. They would know that we should be on the watch, and with seven +rifles and Colts we should account for a grist of them afore they got +over. What do you say, chief?" + +"Not come now," the Indian said positively. "Send men first along top +see if can get down. Not like come at night; the canons of the Colorado +very bad medicine, red-skins no like come into them. If no way where we +can get up, then Utes sit down to starve us." + +"That will be a longish job, chief. A horse a week will keep us for +three months." + +"If no food for horse, horse die one week." + +"So they will, chief. We must wait till Harry comes back, then we shall +know what our chances are." + +It was six hours before Harry and Sam returned. There was a shout of +satisfaction from the men when they saw that they had on their saddles +the hind-quarters of a bear. + +"Waal, what is the news, Harry?" + +"It ain't altogether good, Ben. It goes down like this for about twelve +miles, then it widens out sudden. It gets into a crumbly rock which has +got worn away, and there is a place maybe about fifty yards wide and +half a mile long, with sloping sides going up a long way, and then cliff +all round. The bottom is all stones; there are a few tufts of coarse +grass growing between them. On the slopes there are some bushes, and on +a ledge high up we made out a bear. We had two or three shots at him, +and at last brought him down. There may be more among the bushes; there +was plenty of cover for them." + +"There was no place where there was a chance of getting up, Harry?" + +"Nary a place. I don't say as there may not be, but we couldn't see +one." "But the bear must have got down." + +"No. He would come down here in the dry season looking for water-holes, +and finding the place to his liking he must have concluded to settle +there. It is just the place a bear would choose, for he might reckon +pretty confident that there weren't no chance of his being disturbed. +Well, we went on beyond that, and two miles lower the canon opened +again, and five minutes took us down on to the bank of the Colorado. +There was no great room between the river and the cliff, but there were +some good-sized trees there, and plenty of bush growing up some +distance. We caught sight of another bear, but as we did not want him we +left him alone." + +"Waal, let us have some b'ar-meat first of all," Jerry said. "We +finished our meat last night, and bread don't make much of a meal, I +reckon. Anyhow we can all do with another, and after we have done we +will have a talk. We know what to expect now, and can figure it up +better than we could before." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE COLORADO + + +"Well, boys," Harry Wade began after they had smoked for some time in +silence, "we have got to look at this matter squarely. So far we have +got out of a mighty tight place better than we expected. Yesterday it +seemed to us that there weren't much chance of our carrying our hair +away, but now we are out of that scrape. But we are in another pretty +nigh as bad, though there ain't much chance of the red-skins getting at +us." + +"That air so, Harry. We are in a pretty tight hole, you bet. They ain't +likely to get our scalps for some time, but there ain't no denying that +our chance of carrying them off is dog-goned small." + +"You bet there ain't, Jerry," Sam Hicks said. "Them pizon varmint will +camp outside here; for they know they have got us in a trap. They mayn't +attack us at present, but we have got to watch night and day. Any dark +night they may take it into their heads to come up, and there won't be +nothing to prevent them, for the rustling of the stream among the rocks +would cover any little noise they might make. The first we should know +of it would be the yell of the varmint at the foot of this barrier, and +afore we could get to the top the two on guard would be tomahawked, and +they would be down on us like a pack of wolves. I would a'most as soon +put down my rifle and walk straight out now and let them shoot me, if I +knew they would do it without any of their devilish tortures, as go on +night after night, expecting to be woke up with their war-yell in my +ears. + +"Of course they will be always keeping a watch there at the mouth of the +canon,--a couple of boys are enough for that,--for they will know that +if we ride out on our horses we must go right up the valley, and it is a +nasty place to gallop through in the dark; besides, some of them will no +doubt be placed higher up to cut us off, and if we got through, which +ain't likely, they could ride us down in a few hours. If we crept out on +foot and got fairly among the trees we should be no better off, for they +would take up our trail in the morning and hunt us down. I tell you +fairly, boys, I don't see any way out of it. I reckon it will come to +our having to ride out together, and to wipe out as many of the Utes as +possible afore we go down. What do you say, chief?" "Leaping Horse +agrees with his white brother, Straight Harry, whose mind he knows." + +"Waal, go on then, Harry," Sam said. "I thought that you had made an end +of it or I wouldn't have opened out. I don't see no way out of it at +present, but if you do I am ready to fall in with it whatever it is." + +"I see but one way out of it, boys. It is a mighty risky thing, but it +can't be more risky than stopping here, and there is just a chance. I +spoke to the chief last night, and he owned that it didn't seem to him +there was a chance in that or any other way. However, he said that if I +went he would go with me. My proposal is this, that we take to the river +and try and get through the canons." + +There was a deep silence among the men. The proposal took them by +surprise. No man had ever accomplished the journey. Though two parties +similarly attacked by Indians had attempted to raft down some of the +canons higher up; one party perished to a man, one survivor of the other +party escaped to tell the tale; but as to the canons below, through +which they would have to pass, no man had ever explored them. The +Indians regarded the river with deep awe, and believed the canons to be +peopled with demons. The enterprise was so stupendous and the dangers to +be met with so terrible, that ready as the western hunters were to +encounter dangers, no one had ever attempted to investigate the windings +and turnings of the river that for two thousand miles made its way +through terrific precipices, and ran its course some three thousand feet +below the surrounding country, until it emerged on to the plains of +Mexico. + +"That was why I was so anxious to reach the river," Harry went on after +a pause. "I wanted to see whether there were some trees, by which we +could construct a raft, near its bank. Had there not been, I should have +proposed to follow it up or down, as far as we could make our way, in +hopes of lighting on some trees. However, as it is they are just handy +for us. I don't say as we shall get through, boys, but there is just a +chance of it. I don't see any other plan that would give us a show." + +Jerry was the first to speak. + +"Waal, Harry, you can count me in. One might as well be drowned in a +rapid or carried over a fall as killed, or, wuss, taken and tortured by +the red-skins." + +"That is so, Jerry," Sam Hicks agreed. While Ben said: "Waal, if we git +through it will be something to talk about all our lives. In course +there ain't no taking the horses?" + +"That is out of the question, Ben. We shall not have much time to spare, +for the Utes may take it into their heads to attack us any night; and, +besides, we have no means of making a big raft. We might tie two or +three trunks together with the lariats and spike a few cross-pieces on +them, we might even make two such rafts; that is the outside. They will +carry us and our stores, but as for the horses, we must either leave +them down in the hollow for the Indians to find, or put a bullet through +their heads. I expect the latter will be the best thing for them, poor +beasts." + +"No want trees," the chief said. "Got horses' skins; make canoes." + +"You are right, chief," Harry exclaimed; "I never thought of that. That +would be the very thing. Canoes will go down the rapids where the +strongest rafts would be dashed to pieces, and if we come to a bad fall +we can make a shift to carry them round." + +The others were no less pleased with the suggestion, and the doubtful +expression of their faces as they assented to the scheme now changed to +one of hopefulness, and they discussed the plan eagerly. It was agreed +that not a moment should be lost in setting to work to carry it out, and +that they should forthwith retreat to the mouth of the lower canon; for +all entertained a secret misgiving that the Utes might make their attack +that night, and felt that if that attack were made in earnest it would +succeed. It was certain they would be able to find some point at which +the lower gorge could be held; and at any rate a day would be gained, +for at whatever hour of the night the Indians came up they would not +venture farther until daybreak, and there would probably be a long +palaver before they would enter the lower canon. + +Tom had not spoken. He recognized the justice of Harry's reasoning, but +had difficulty in keeping his tears back at the thought of his horse +being killed. For well-nigh a year it had carried him well; he had +tended and cared for it; it would come to his call and rub its muzzle +against his cheek. He thought that had he been alone he would have +risked anything rather than part with it. + +"Don't you like the plan, Tom?" Harry said to him, as, having packed and +saddled the horses, they rode together down the canon. "I don't suppose +the passage is so terrible after all." + +"I am not thinking of the passage at all, uncle," Tom said almost +indignantly; "it will be a grand piece of adventure; but I don't like--I +hate--the thought of my horse being killed. It is like killing a dear +friend to save one's self." + +"It is a wrench, lad," Harry said kindly; "I can quite understand your +feelings, and don't like the thought myself. But I see that it has got +to be done, and after all it will be better to kill the poor brutes than +to let them fall into the hands of the Indians, who don't know what +mercy to their beasts means, and will ride them till they drop dead +without the least compunction." + +"I know it is better, uncle, ever so much better--but it is horrible all +the same. Anyhow, don't ask me to do it, for I could not." + +"I will see to that, Tom. You shall be one of the guards of the canon. +You would not be of much use in making the canoes, and you won't have to +know anything about it till you go down and get on board." + +Tom nodded his thanks; his heart was too full for him to speak, and he +felt that if he said a word he should break down altogether. They rode +rapidly along, passed through the little valley where the bear had been +killed, without stopping, and went down the lower canon, carefully +examining it to fix upon the most suitable point for defence. There had +been no recent fall, and though at some points great boulders lay +thickly, there was no one place that offered special facilities for +defence. + +"Look here, boys," Harry said, reining up his horse at a point within +two hundred yards of the lower end, "we can't do better than fix +ourselves here. An hour's work will get up a wall that will puzzle the +red-skins to get over, and there is the advantage that a shot fired here +by the guard will bring our whole force up in a couple of minutes. I +vote we ride the horses down to the river and let them pick up what they +can, and then come back here and build the wall. It will be getting dark +in an hour's time, and we may as well finish that job at once. Ben and +Sam, you may as well pick out a couple of young fir-trees and bring +them down at once, then there will be no time lost. Five of us will be +enough for the wall. Keep your eyes open. Likely enough there is a bear +or two about, and it would be a great thing for us to lay in a stock of +meat before we start." + +As soon as they issued from the gorge the horses were unsaddled and the +stores taken off the pack-animals. As they were doing this Harry said a +few words in a low tone to Sam. He then carefully examined the trees, +and picked out two young firs. Sam and Ben took their axes, and the +other five went up the gorge again, and were soon hard at work +collecting boulders and piling them in a wall. + +"There is a gun, uncle," Tom exclaimed presently. + +"Well, I hope they have got sight of a bear, we shall want a stock of +meat badly." + +A dozen shots were fired, but Tom thought no more of it as he proceeded +with his work. The bottom of the canon was but fifteen feet wide, and by +the time it was dark they had a solid wall across it nearly six feet +high, with places for them to stand on to fire over. + +"Now then, Tom, you may as well take post here at once. I will send Sam +or Ben up to watch with you. I don't think there is a shadow of chance +of their coming to-night, but there is never any answering for +red-skins. I would leave Hunting Dog with you, but we shall want him to +help make the framework for the canoes; the Indians are a deal handier +than we are in making lashings. I will send your supper up here, lad, +and your buffalo robes. Then you can take it by turns to watch and +sleep. I reckon we shall be at work all night; we have got to get the +job finished as quick as we can." + +A quarter of an hour later Sam Hicks came up. + +"Have you got the trees down, Sam?" + +"Lor' bless you, it didn't take a minute to do that. We got them down +and split them up, then lit a fire and got the meat over it and the +kettle, and mixed the dough." + +"Did you kill another bear? We heard you firing." + +"No; the critter was too high up, and I ain't much good at shooting. +Perhaps they will get sight of him tomorrow, and Harry and the chief +will bring him down if he is within range of their shooting-irons. It is +'tarnal dark up here." + +In twenty minutes two lights were seen approaching, and Harry and +Hunting Dog came up carrying pine-wood torches. Each had a great faggot +of wood fastened on his back, and Harry also carried the frying-pan, on +which were a pile of meat and two great hunks of bread, while Hunting +Dog brought two tin pannikins of hot tea. + +"That will make it more cheerful for you," Harry said, as he unfastened +the rope that tied the faggot to his shoulders. "Now, Hunting Dog, get a +good fire as soon as you can, and then come down again to us." + +The fire was soon blazing merrily, and Tom and Sam sat down to enjoy +their meal. + +"Don't you think one of us ought to keep watch, Sam?" + +"Not a bit of it," Sam said. "The red-skins will never dare to enter +that canon until after dark, and if they started now and made their way +straight on, they would not be here for another three or four hours. I +would bet my boots they don't come at all tonight; even if they were not +scared at us, they would be scared at coming near the river in the dark. +No, we will just take our meal comfortable and smoke a pipe, and then I +will take first watch and you shall take a sleep. We ain't closed an eye +since the night before last." + +Tom, indeed, was nearly asleep before he had finished his pipe, and felt +that he really must get a nap. So saying to Sam, "Be sure and wake me in +two hours," he rolled himself in his robe and instantly fell asleep. + +It seemed to him that he had only just gone off when Sam roused him. He +leapt to his feet, however, rifle in hand. "Anything the matter, Sam?" + +"Everything quiet," the miner replied. + +"What did you wake me for then? I have not been asleep five minutes." + +"According to my reckoning, mate, you have been asleep better'n five +hours. It was about half-past eight when you went off, and I reckon it +is two now, and will begin to get light in another hour. I would not +have waked you till daybreak, but I found myself dropping off." + +"I am awfully sorry," Tom began. + +"Don't you trouble, young un. By the time you have been as long in the +West as I have you won't think anything of two nights' watch. Now you +keep a sharp lookout. I don't think there is much chance of their +coming, but I don't want to be woke up with a red-skin coming right down +on the top of me." + +"I see you have let the fire out, Sam," Tom said, with a little shiver. + +"I put it out hours ago," Sam said, as he prepared to lie down. "It +would never have done to keep it all night, for a red-skin would see my +head over the top of the wall, while I should not get a sight of him +till he was within arm's-length." + +Tom took up his post, and gazed earnestly into the darkness beyond the +wall. He felt that his sense of vision would be of no use whatever, and +therefore threw all his faculties into that of listening. Slight as was +the chance of the Indians coming, he yet felt somewhat nervous, and it +was a satisfaction to him to see beyond the mouth of the canon the glow +of the fire, by which, as he knew, the others were hard at work. + +In an hour the morning began to break, and as soon as he could see well +up the canon he relighted the fire, jumping up to take a look over the +wall every minute or so. It was not long before he saw his uncle +approaching with a kettle. + +"I saw your smoke, Tom, and guessed that you would be glad of a mug of +hot tea. You have seen no signs of Indians, I suppose?" + +"We have heard nothing, uncle. As to seeing, up to half an hour ago +there was no possibility of making out anything. But I have not even +been listening; Sam went on guard directly we had finished supper, and I +asked him to call me in two hours, but he did not wake me until two +o'clock." + +"He is a good fellow," Harry said. "Well, don't wake him now. I can't +leave you the kettle, for we have to keep boiling water going, but you +can put his tin into the ashes and warm it up when he wakes. Here are a +couple of pieces of bread." + +"Why do you have to keep the kettle boiling, uncle?" + +"To bend the wood with. The piece we are working on is kept damp with +boiling water. We hold it for a time over the fire, pouring a little +water on as fast as it evaporates; that softens the wood, and we can +bend it much more evenly than we could if we did it by force. Besides, +when it is fastened into its position it remains, when it is dry, in +that shape, and throws no strain on to anything." + +"Are you getting on well?" + +"Capitally. We should have done both the frames by now, but we were +obliged to make them very strong so as to resist the bumps they are sure +to get against rocks. When they are finished you might almost let them +drop off the top of a house, they will be so strong and elastic. If the +Indians will but give us time we shall make a first-rate job of them." + +Three hours later Harry came up again with the kettle and some cooked +meat. Sam had just woke up, and was quite angry with Tom for not rousing +him before. "The others have been working all night," he said, "and here +have I been asleep for five hours; a nice sort of mate they will think +me." + +"Well, but you were watching five hours, Sam; and I would a deal rather +work all night than stand here for two hours in the dark, wondering all +the time whether the Indians are crawling up, and expecting at any +moment to hear a rush against the wall." + +"I am going to take your place, Sam, when you have finished your +breakfast," Harry said, as he came up. "If the Utes found out last night +that we had gone, their scouts may be coming down before long. My rifle +shoots a bit straighter than yours does." + +"It ain't the rifle, Harry," Sam said good-temperedly; "it is the eye +that is wrong, not the shooting-iron. I never had much practice with +these long guns, but when it comes to a six-shooter, I reckon I can do +my share as well as most. But they won't give me a chance with it." + +"I hope they won't, Sam. I am sure they won't as long as there is light, +and I hope that before it gets dark they will conclude to leave us +alone." + +A vigilant watch was kept now. + +"I think I saw a head look out from that corner," Tom exclaimed +suddenly, two hours after Sam had left them. + +"I am quite sure I did, Tom. We must wait until he shows himself a bit +more. I reckon it is a good three hundred yards off, and a man's head is +a precious small mark at that distance. Stand a bit higher and lay your +rifle on the wall. Don't fire if he only puts his head out. They know we +can shoot, so there is not any occasion to give them another lesson. I +don't hold to killing, unless you have got to do it. Let him have a good +look at us. + +"When he goes back and tells the tribe that there is a three hundred +yards' straight passage without shelter, and a strong wall across the +end of it, and two white men with rifles ready to shoot, I reckon they +will know a good deal better than to try to come up it, as long as there +is light. Besides, they won't think there is any occasion to hurry, for +they won't count on our taking to the river, and will know that we shall +be keeping watch at night. So it may very well be that they will reckon +on wearing us out, and that we may not hear of them for a week. There is +the fellow's head again!" + +The head remained visible round the corner of the rock for two or three +minutes. + +"He knows all about it now, Tom. You won't see any more of him to-day. I +will go down and lend them a hand below." + +Tom asked no questions about the horses; he had thought of them a score +of times as he stood on guard, and the thought had occurred to him that +it was possible the shots he had heard while they were building the wall +on the previous afternoon, had been the death shots of the horses. It +did not occur to him when Sam was telling the story about the bear, that +this was a got-up tale, but when he came to think it over, he thought it +probable that it was so. Sam himself was not much of a shot, but Ben, +although inferior to Harry or either of the two Indians, shot as well as +Jerry, and would hardly have missed a bear three or four times running. +Each time the thought of the horses occurred to him he resolutely put it +aside, and concentrated his mind upon the probable perils of the passage +down the canons and the wonderful gorges they would traverse, and the +adventures and excitement they were sure to pass through. He thought how +fortunate it was they had taken the precaution of sending their +specimens of quartz back to the fort; for were they in the canoes, the +fruits of the journey would be irrevocably lost were these to upset; for +now the Indians had twice discovered the presence of whites in the +valley they would be sure to watch it closely, and it would not be +possible to go up to the mine again unless in strong force. + +The day passed quietly. Harry brought up Tom's meals, and late in the +afternoon all hands came up, and the wall of stones was raised four +feet, making it almost impregnable against a sudden attack. The two +Indians took post there with Tom, and watched alternately all night. The +Utes, however, remained perfectly quiet. They probably felt sure that +the fugitives must sooner or later be forced to surrender, and were +disinclined to face the loss that must occur before so strong a +position, defended by seven men armed with rifles and revolvers, could +be carried. + +At three o'clock on the following afternoon Hunting Dog came up. "Tom go +down and get dinner," he said, "Hunting Dog will watch." + +Tom took his rifle and started down the canon. + +"Come on, lad," his uncle shouted. "We are pretty near ready for a +start, and have all had our dinner; so be quick about it. We want to get +well away from here before night." + +Tom went to the fire and ate his meal. As he sat down he saw that the +stores, blankets, and robes had all been carried away. When he finished, +his uncle led him down to the river. Two canoes were floating in the +water, and the other men were standing beside them. + +"There, Tom, what do you think of them?" + +"They are splendid, uncle; it seems impossible that you can have built +them in two days." + +"Five hands can do a lot of canoe-building in forty-eight hours' work, +Tom." + +The canoes were indeed models of strength if not of beauty. They were +each about twenty feet long and five feet wide. Two strong pieces of +pine two inches square ran along the top of each side, and one of the +same width but an inch deeper formed the keel. The ribs, an inch wide +and three-quarters of an inch thick, were placed at intervals of +eighteen inches apart. The canoes were almost flat-bottomed. The ribs +lay across the keel, which was cut away to allow them to lie flush in +it, a strong nail being driven in at the point of junction--these being +the only nails used in the boat's construction. The ribs ran straight +out to almost the full width of the canoe, and were then turned sharp +up, the ends being lashed with thongs of hide to the upper stringers. + +Outside the ribs were lashed longitudinal wattles of tough wood about an +inch wide. They were placed an inch apart, extending over the bottom and +halfway up the side. Over all was stretched the skin, five horses' hides +having been used for each boat. They were very strongly sewed together +by a double row of thongs, the overlaps having, before being sewed, been +smeared with melted fat. Cross-pieces of wood at the top kept the upper +framework in its place. The hair of the skin was outward, the inner +glistened with the fat that had been rubbed into it. + +"They are strong indeed," Tom said. "They ought to stand anything, +uncle." + +"Yes, I think they would stand a blow against any rock if it hadn't a +cutting edge. They would just bound off as a basket would. Of course +they are very heavy for canoes; but as they won't have to carry more +than the weight of four men each, they will draw little over a couple of +inches or so of water. + +"That is why we made them so wide. We could not get strength without +weight; and as there is no saying what shallows there may be, and how +close in some places rocks may come up to the surface, we were obliged +to build them wide to get light draught. You see we have made ten +paddles, so as to have a spare one or two in case of breakage. We have +two spare hides, so that we shall have the means of repairing damages." + +Tom said nothing about the horses. Manufactured into a boat, as the +skins were, there was not much to remind him of them; but he pressed his +uncle's hand and said, "Thank you very much, uncle; I don't mind so much +now, but I should not like to have seen them before." + +"That is all right, Tom; it was a case of necessity. Sam and Ben shot +them directly we got here." + +The stores were all laid by the boats, being divided between them so +that the cargoes were in all respects duplicates of each other. Before +Tom came down some had already been placed in each boat, with a blanket +thrown over them. + +"You have got the gold, I suppose, uncle?" + +"You may bet that we did not leave that behind. There is half in each +boat, and the bags are lashed to the timbers, so that if there is an +upset they cannot get lost." + +"How are we going?" + +"We have settled that you and I and the two Indians shall go together, +and the rest in the other boat. The Indians know nothing of canoeing, +and won't be of very much use. I know you were accustomed to boats, and +I did some rowing when I was a young man. I wish we had a couple of +Canadian Indians with us, or of half-breeds; they are up to this sort of +work, and with one in the stern of each canoe it would be a much less +risky business going down the rapids. However, no doubt we shall get +handy with the paddles before long." + +When everything was ready Harry fired his rifle, and in a couple of +minutes Hunting Dog came running down. The others had already taken +their seats. He stepped into Harry's boat, and they at once pushed off. + +The river was running smoothly here, and Harry said, "Directly we get +down a little way we will turn the boat's head up stream and practise +for a bit. It would never do to get down into rough water before we can +use the paddles fairly." + +Tom sat in the bow of his boat, Hunting Dog was next to him, then came +the chief, and Harry sat in the stern. A paddle is a much easier +implement to manage for a beginner than is an oar, and it was not long +before they found that they could propel the boats at a fair rate. In a +short time they had passed the end of the shelf at the mouth of the +canon, and the cliffs on that side rose as abruptly as they did on the +other. The river was some eighty yards wide. + +"We will turn here," Harry said, "and paddle up. We sha'n't do more than +keep abreast of these rocks now, for the stream runs fast though it is +so smooth." + +They found, indeed, that they had to work hard to hold their position. + +"Now, Tom," Harry sang out, "it is you and I do the steering, you know. +When you want the head to go to the right you must work your paddle out +from the boat, when you want to go to the left you must dip it in the +water rather farther out and draw it towards the boat. Of course when +you have got the paddle the other side you must do just the contrary. +You must sing out right or left according as you see rocks ahead, and I +shall steer with my paddle behind. I have a good deal more power over +the boat than you have, and you must depend upon me for the steering, +unless there is occasion for a smart swerve." + +At first the two boats shot backwards and forwards across the stream in +a very erratic way, but after an hour's practice the steersmen found the +amount of force required. An hour later Harry thought that they were +competent to make a start, and turning they shot rapidly past the +cliffs. In a couple of miles there was a break in the rocks to the left. + +"We will land there," Harry said. "There are trees near the water and +bushes farther up. We will make a camp there. There is no saying how far +we may have to go before we get another opportunity. We have done with +the Utes for good, and can get a sound night's sleep. If you, chief, +will start with Hunting Dog as soon as we land, we will get the things +ashore and light the fire. Maybe you will be able to get a bear for us." + +They did not trouble to haul up the canoes, but fastened them by the +head-ropes, which were made from lariats, to trees on the shore. +Daylight was beginning to fade as they lighted the fire. No time was +lost before mixing the dough, and it was in readiness by the time that +there were sufficient glowing embers to stand the pot in. The kettle was +filled and hung on a tripod over the fire. In a short time the Indians +returned empty-handed. + +"No find bear," the chief said, "getting too dark to hunt. To-morrow +morning try." + +Harry got up and went to the boats, and returned directly with a joint +of meat. Tom looked up in surprise. + +"It is not from yours, Tom," Jerry said as he saw him looking at it. "We +took the hind-quarters of the four pack-ponies, but left the others +alone. It was no use bringing more, for it would not keep." + +"So it is horseflesh!" Tom rather shrank from the idea of eating it, and +nothing would have induced him to touch it had he thought that it came +from his own favourite. Some steaks were cut and placed in the +frying-pan, while strips were hung over the fire for those who preferred +the meat in that way. Tom felt strongly inclined to refuse altogether, +but when he saw that the others took their meat as a matter of course, +and proceeded to eat with a good appetite, he did not like to do so. He +hesitated, however, before tasting it; but Harry said with a laugh, +"Fire away, Tom. You can hardly tell it from beef, and they say that in +Paris lots of horseflesh is sold as beef." + +Thus encouraged, Tom took a mouthful, and found it by no means bad, for +from their long stay in the valley the animals were all in excellent +condition, and he acknowledged to himself that he would not have known +the flesh from beef. + +"I call it mighty good for a change." Terry said. "Out on the plains, +where one can get buffalo, one would not take horse for choice, but as +we have been eating deer and bear meat for about a year, horse-meat +ain't bad by no means. What! You won't take another bit, Tom?" + +"Not to-night, Jerry; next time I shall be all right. But it is my first +trial, you know, and though I can't say it is not good, it gives me a +queer feeling, so I will stick to the bread." + +"Well, boys," Harry said presently, "we have made a first-rate start, +and have got out of a big scrape, easier than I ever looked for. We +could not have got two better canoes for our work if we had had them +brought special from Canada, and it seems to me that they ought to go +down pretty near anywhere without much damage. We shall get real handy +with our paddles in two or three days, and I hope we sha'n't meet with +any big rapids until we have got into the way of managing them well." + +"You bet, Harry, we have got out well," said Jerry. "I tell you it +looked downright ugly, and I wouldn't have given a continental for our +chances. As for the rapids, I guess we shall generally find rocks one +side or the other where we can make our way along, and we can let down +the canoes by the ropes. Anyhow, we need not get skeery over them. After +getting out of that valley with our hair on, the thought of them does +not trouble me a cent." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +AFLOAT IN CANOES + + +The two Indians were off long before daylight, and just as the others +were having a wash at the edge of the river they heard the crack of a +rifle some distance up the cliff. + +"Bear!" Jerry exclaimed; "and I reckon they have got it, else we should +have heard another shot directly afterwards. That will set us up in food +for some time. Get the fire made up, Tom, you won't have to eat horse +steak for breakfast unless you like." + +The Indians returned half an hour later laden with as much bear-flesh as +they could carry. + +"I vote we stop here for two days," Harry said. "We have got a lot of +meat now, but it won't keep for twenty-four hours in this heat, so I +vote we cut it up and dry it as the Indians do buffalo-meat; it will +keep any time. Besides, we deserve a couple of days' rest, and we can +practise paddling while the meat dries. We got on very well yesterday, +but I do want us to get quite at home in the boats before we get to a +bad bit." + +The proposal was agreed to, and as soon as breakfast was over the whole +of the meat was cut up into thin slices and hung up on cords fastened +from tree to tree. + +"It ought to take three days to do it properly, and four is better," +Harry said. "Still, as we have cut it very thin, I should think two days +in this hot sun ought to be enough." + +"Are there any fish in the river, uncle?" + +"I have no doubt there are, Tom, grists of them, but we have got no +hooks." + +"Jerry has got some, he told me he never travelled without them, and we +caught a lot of fish with them up in the mountains just after we started +before. I don't know about line, but one might unravel one of the +ropes." + +"I think you might do better than that, Tom. The next small animal we +shoot we might make some lines from the gut. They needn't be above five +or six feet long. Beyond that we could cut a strip of thirty or forty +feet long from one of the hides. However, we can do nothing at present +in that way. Now let us get into the canoes and have a couple of hours' +paddling. After dinner we will have another good spell at the work." + +By evening there was a marked improvement in the paddling over that of +the previous day, and after having had another day's practice all felt +confident that they should get on very well. By nightfall on the second +day, the meat was found to be thoroughly dried, and was taken down and +packed in bundles, and the next morning they started as soon as it was +light. It was agreed that the boats should follow each other at a +distance of a hundred yards, so that the leader could signal to the one +behind if serious difficulties were made out ahead, and so enable it to +row to the bank in time. Were both drawn together into the suck of a +dangerous rapid they might find themselves without either boats or +stores, whereas if only one of the boats was broken up, there would be +the other to fall back upon. Harry's boat was to take the lead on the +first day, and Tom, as he knelt in the bows, felt his heart beat with +excitement at the thought of the unknown that lay before them, and that +they were about to make their way down passes probably unpenetrated by +man. Passing between what had seemed to them the entrance to a narrow +canon, they were surprised to rind the river widen out. On their right a +great sweep of hills bent round like a vast amphitheatre, the +resemblance being heightened by the ledges running in regular lines +along it, the cliff being far from perpendicular. + +"I should think one could climb up there," Tom said, half-turning round +to his uncle. + +"It looks like it, Tom, but there is no saying; some of those steps may +be a good deal steeper than they look. However, I have no doubt one +could find places where it would be possible to climb if there were any +use in doing so, but as we should only find ourselves up on bad lands we +should gain nothing by it." + +"I don't mean we should want to climb up now, uncle; but it seemed a +sort of satisfaction to know that there are places where one could climb +in case we got the boats smashed up." + +"If we had to make our way up, lad, it would be much better to go by one +of the lateral canons like the one we came down by. I can see at least +half a dozen of them going up there. We should certainly find water, and +we might find game, but up on the plateau we should find neither one nor +the other." + +On the left-hand bank of the river the cliffs fell still farther back in +wide terraces, that rose one behind the other up to a perpendicular +cliff half a mile back from the river. There was a shade of green here +and there, and the chief pointed far up the hill and exclaimed "Deer!" + +"That is good," Harry said. "There are sure to be more of these places, +and I should think we are not likely to starve anyhow. We can't spare +time to stop now; we want to have a long day's paddle to see what it is +going to be like, and we have got meat enough for the present. If we +happen to see a deer within rifle-shot, so that we can get at him +without much loss of time, we will stop, for after all fresh meat is +better eating than dry." + +"I should think it would be, uncle," Tom said. "From the look of the +stuff I should think it would be quite as tough as shoe leather and as +tasteless." + +"It needs a set of sharp teeth, Tom, but if you are hard set I have no +doubt you will be able to get through it, and at any rate it constitutes +the chief food of the Indians between the Missouri and the Rockies." + +For the next three hours they paddled along on the quiet surface of the +river. The other canoe had drawn up, since it was evident that here at +least there was no reason why they should keep apart. + +"I didn't expect we should find it as quiet as this, Harry," Jerry +Curtis said. "It is a regular water-party, and I should not mind how +long I was at it if it were all like this." + +"We shall have rough water enough presently, Jerry, and I expect we +shall look back on this as the pleasantest part of the trip. It seems to +me that the hills close in more towards the end of this sweep. It has +made a regular horseshoe." + +"I reckon it depends upon the nature of the rock," Ben put in. + +"That is it, you may be sure, Ben. Wherever it is soft rock, in time it +crumbles away like this; where it is hard the weather don't affect it +much, and we get straight cliffs. I expect it is there we shall find the +rapids worst. Well, we shall soon make a trial of them, I fancy. It +looks like a wall ahead, but the road must go through somewhere." + +A quarter of an hour later Harry said: "You had better drop back now, +Jerry, there is the gap right ahead. If you see me hold up my paddle you +row ashore. When we come to a bad rapid we had better all get out, and +make our way down on the rocks as far as we can, to see what it is like. +It will never do to go at it blind. Of course we may find places where +the water comes to the wall faces on both sides, and then there is +nothing to do but to take our chance, but I don't propose to run any +risks that I can avoid." + +There was a perceptible increase in the rate of the current as they +neared the gorge, and when they came within a short distance of it Harry +gave the signal to the boat behind, and both canoes made for the shore. +As they stepped out on to the rocks the chief pointed to a ledge far +above them. "There will be time for Hunting Dog to shoot a deer," he +said, "while we go down to see canon." + +Tom in vain endeavoured to make out the object at which the Indian was +pointing. Hunting Dog had evidently noticed it before landing, and upon +Harry giving a nod of assent, started off with his rifle. The others +waited until Jerry and his companions joined them, and then started +along the rocks that had fallen at the foot of the cliffs. They were +soon able to obtain a far better view of the gorge than they had done +from the canoe. The river ran for a bit in a smooth glassy flood, but a +short distance down, it began to form into waves, and beyond that they +could see a mass of white foam and breakers. They made their way along +the rocks for nearly two miles. It seemed well-nigh impossible to Tom +that the boats could go down without being swamped, for the waves were +eight or ten feet high, with steep sides capped with white. At last the +gorge widened again, and although the cliff to the right rose +perpendicularly, on the other side it became less steep, and seemed +lower down to assume the same character as that above the gorge. + +"It looks pretty bad," Harry said, speaking for almost the first time +since they had started, for the roar of the water against the rocks, +echoed and re-echoed by the cliffs, rendered conversation an +impossibility. "It looks bad, but as far as I can see there are no rocks +that come up near the surface, and the canoes ought to go through the +broken water safely enough." + +"It is an all-fired nasty-looking place," Jerry said; "but I have heard +men who had been in the north talk about rapids they had gone through, +and from what they said about them they must have been worse than this. +We have got to keep as near the side as we can; the waves ain't as high +there as they are in the middle, and we have got to keep the boat's head +straight, and to paddle all we know. If we do that, I reckon the canoes +will go through." + +They retraced their steps up the gorge. Hunting Dog was standing by the +boat with the dead deer at his feet. Jerry picked it up. "I had better +take this, I reckon, Harry. You have got one man more than we have;" and +he and his two companions went on to their boat. + +"Now, what do you think, Tom?" his uncle said. "Can you trust your head +to keep cool? It will need a lot of nerve, I can tell you, and if her +head swerves in the slightest she will swing round, and over she will +go, and it would want some tall swimming to get out of that race. You +paddle as well as the chief,--better, I think,--but the chief's nerves +are like iron. He has not been practising steering as you have, but as +there seem to be no rocks about, that won't matter so much. I ought to +be able to keep her straight, if you three paddle hard. It may need a +turn of the paddle now and then in the bow, but that we can't tell. So +it shall be just as you like, lad. If you think your nerves can stand it +you take your usual place, but if you have doubts about it, it were best +to let the chief go there." + +"I think I could stand it, uncle, for I have been out in wherries in +some precious rough seas at Spithead; but I think it would be best for +the chief to take my place this time, and then I shall see how I feel." + +Harry said a few words to the chief in his own language, and Leaping +Horse without a word stepped into the bow, while Tom took the seat +behind him. + +"We sha'n't be long going down," Harry said, "I reckon the stream is +running ten miles an hour, and as we shall be paddling, it will take us +through in ten minutes. We had all better sit farther aft, so as to take +her bow right out of water. She will go through it ever so much easier +so." + +They shifted their seats until daylight could be seen under the keel a +foot from the bow. + +"I think that is about the right trim," Harry said. "Now paddle all." + +The boat shot off from the shore. A minute later it darted into the +gorge, the Indian setting a long sweeping stroke. There were two or +three long heaves, and then they dashed into the race. Tom held his +breath at the first wall of water, but, buoyant and lightly laden as the +canoe was, with fully a foot of free board, she rose like a feather over +it, and darted down into the hollow beyond. Tom kept his eyes fixed on +the back of the chief's head, clinched his teeth tightly, and paddled +away with all his strength. He felt that were he to look round he should +turn giddy at the turmoil of water. Once or twice he was vaguely +conscious of Harry's shouts, "Keep her head inshore!" or "A little +farther out!" but like a man rowing a race he heeded the words but +little. His faculties were concentrated on his work, but he could see a +slight swerve of the Indian's body when he was obeying an order. + +He was not conscious of any change of motion, either in the boat or in +the water round, when Harry shouted, "Easy all!" and even then it was +the chief's ceasing to paddle rather than Harry's shout which caused him +to stop. Then he looked round and saw that the race was passed, and that +the canoe was floating in comparatively quiet water. + +"She is a daisy!" Harry shouted; "we could not do better if we had been +all Canadian half-breeds, chief. Now, we had better set to and bale her +out as quickly as we can." + +Tom now for the first time perceived that he was kneeling in water, and +that the boat was nearly half-full. + +Their tea pannikins had been laid by their sides in readiness, and +Hunting Dog touched him and passed forward his tin and the chief's, both +of which had been swept aft. The Seneca at once began to throw out the +water, but Tom for a minute or two was unable to follow his example. He +felt as weak as a child. A nervous quivering ran through his body, and +his hand trembled so that he could not grasp the handle of the tin. + +"Feel bad, Tom?" his uncle asked cheerily from behind. "Brace up, lad; +it was a pretty warm ten minutes, and I am not surprised you feel it. +Now it is over I am a little shaky myself." + +"I shall be all right presently, uncle." A look at the chief's back did +more to steady Tom's nerves than his own efforts. While he himself was +panting heavily, and was bathed in perspiration, the chief's breath came +so quietly that he could scarce see his shoulders rise and fall, as he +baled out the water with perfect unconcern. With an effort the boy took +hold of his dipper, and by the time the boat was empty his nerves were +gaining their steadiness, though his breath still came quickly. As he +laid down his tin he looked round. + +"Heap water," Hunting Dog said with a smile; "run like herd of buffalo." + +The other boat lay twenty yards behind them, and was also engaged in +baling. + +"All right now, Tom?" + +"All right, uncle; but it is lucky you put the chief in the bows. I +should have made a mess of it; for from the time we got into the waves +it seemed nothing but confusion, and though I heard your voice I did not +seem to understand what you said." + +"It was a trial to the nerves, Tom, but we shall all get accustomed to +it before we get through. Well, thank God, we have made our first run +safely. Now paddle on, we will stop at the first likely place and have a +meal." + +A mile farther they saw a pile of drift-wood on the left bank, and Harry +at once headed the canoe to it, and drawing the boat carefully alongside +they got out. A minute later the other canoe joined them. + +"Jee-hoshaphat, Harry!" Jerry exclaimed as he stepped out; "that was +worse nor a cyclone. I would rather sit on the back of the worst kind of +bucker than jump over those waves again. If we are going to have much of +this I should say let us find our way back and ask the Utes to finish us +off." + +"It was a rough bit, Jerry; but it might have been a deal worse if there +had been rocks in the stream. All we had to do was to keep her straight +and paddle." + +"And a pretty big all, too," Jerry grumbled. "I felt skeered pretty nigh +out of my wits, and the other two allow they were just as bad. If it +hadn't been for your boat ahead I reckon we should never have gone +through it, but as long as you kept on straight, there didn't seem any +reason why we shouldn't. I tell you I feel so shaky that if there were a +grizzly twenty yards off I am blamed if I could keep the muzzle of my +rifle on it." + +Tom had been feeling a good deal ashamed of his nervousness, and was +much relieved at hearing that these seasoned men had felt somewhat the +same as he had done. + +"What do you say, boys," Harry asked when breakfast had been cooked and +eaten, "if we stop here for to-day? Likely enough we may get some game, +and if not it won't matter, for the deer will last us a couple of days." + +"You bet," Ben Gulston said; "I think we have had enough of the water +for to-day. I don't feel quite sure now I ain't going round and round, +and I don't think any of us will feel right till we have had a night's +sleep. Besides, all the rugs and blankets are wet and want spreading out +in the sun for a bit, and the flour will want overhauling." + +"That settles it, Ben; let us get all the outfit out of the boats at +once." + +After the things had been laid out to dry the two Indians went off in +search of game; but none of the others felt any inclination to move, and +they spent the rest of the day lying about smoking and dozing. The +Indians brought back a big-horn, and the next morning the canoes dropped +down the stream again. For some miles the river flowed quietly along a +wide valley. At the end of that time it made an abrupt turn and entered +the heart of the mountains. As before, Harry's canoe went in advance. +The canon was here a deep gloomy chasm, with almost perpendicular sides, +and for some distance the river ran swiftly and smoothly, then white +water was seen ahead, so the two boats rowed in to the rocks at the foot +of the precipice, and the occupants proceeded to explore the pass ahead. +It was of a different character to the last. Black rocks rose everywhere +above the surface, and among these the river flowed with extraordinary +force and rapidity, foaming and roaring. + +All agreed that it was madness to think of descending here, and that a +portage was necessary. The contents of the boats were lifted out, and +then one of them was carried down over the rocks by the united strength +of the party. They had gone half a mile when they came to a spot where +they could go no farther, as the water rushed along against the rock +wall itself. Some fifty yards further down they could see that the ledge +again began. + +"We must go and fetch the other boat," Harry shouted above the din of +the water, "and let them down one by one. There is no other way to do +it." + +The second boat was brought down, and another journey was made to bring +down the stores. The lariats were then tied together. + +"Let us sit down and smoke a pipe before we do anything more," Jerry +said. "Three times up and down them rocks is worse nor thirty miles on a +level." + +All were glad to adopt this suggestion, and for half an hour they sat +watching the rushing waters. As they did so they discussed how they had +better divide their forces, and agreed that Harry's boat should, as +before, go down first. Three men would be required to let the boat down, +and it would need at least four to check the second boat when it came +abreast of them. Although all felt certain that a single line of the +plaited hide would be sufficient, they determined to use two lines to +ensure themselves against risk. + +"I should let them run out fast at first, Jerry, only keeping enough +strain on them to keep her head well up stream. Begin to check her +gradually, and let her down only inch by inch. When you see we are close +to the rocks, hold her there while we get her alongside, and don't leave +go till we lift her from the water. Directly we are out, fasten the +ropes to the bow of your canoe, then launch her carefully; and whatever +you do, don't let go of the rope. Launch her stern first close to the +wall, then two get in and get well towards the stern, while the other +holds the rope until the last moment. Then those two in the boat must +begin to paddle as hard as they can, while the last man jumps in and +snatches up his paddle. Keep her head close to the wall, for if the +current catches it and takes her round she would capsize in a moment +against those rocks. Paddle all you know; we shall haul in the rope as +fast as you come down. When you come abreast two of us will check her, +and the others will be on the rocks to catch hold of her side as she +swings in." + +The first canoe was launched stern foremost, the four men took their +seats in her and began to paddle against, the stream with all their +strength, while Jerry and his companions let the lines run through their +fingers. The boat glanced along by the side of the wall. The men above +put on more and more strain, giving a turn of the ropes round a smooth +water-worn rock they had before picked out as suitable for the purpose. +The water surged against the bow of the canoe, lifting it higher and +higher as the full strain of the rope came upon it. The chief was +kneeling in the stern facing the rocks below, and as the canoe came +abreast of them he brought her in alongside. Harry held up his paddle, +the men above gave another turn of the ropes round the rock, and the +canoe remained stationary. Hunting Dog sprang out on to the rocks, and +taking hold of the blade of the chief's paddle, brought the canoe in so +close that the others were able to step ashore without difficulty. The +baggage was taken out, and the canoe lifted from the water, turned +upside down, and laid on the rocks. + +Harry held up his hand to show that they were ready, having before he +did so chosen a stone round which to wind the lariats. The other boat +was then launched. Sam and Ben took their places astern and began to +paddle against the stream. As they were in the back-water below the +ledge of rock they were able to keep her stationary while Jerry took his +place and got out his paddle. When all were ready, they paddled her out +from the back-water. As soon as the current caught her she flew past the +cliff like an arrow, although the three men were now paddling at the top +of their speed. Harry and the chief pulled in the rope hand over hand, +while Hunting Dog and Tom went a short way down the rocks. + +"Don't check her too suddenly, chief," Harry shouted. "Let the rope run +out easy at first and bring the strain on gradually." + +"The ropes will hold," the chief said. "One stop buffalo in gallop, two +stop boat." + +"Yes, but you would pull the head out of the canoe; chief, if you +stopped her too suddenly." + +The chief nodded. He had not thought of that. In spite of the efforts of +the oarsmen the canoe's head was swerving across the stream just as she +came abreast of them. A moment later she felt the check of the rope. + +"Easy, chief, easy!" Harry shouted, as the water shot up high over the +bow of the canoe. "Wait till she gets a bit lower or we shall capsize +her." + +The check of the bow had caused the stern to swerve out, and when they +again checked her she was several lengths below them with her head +inclined to shore. More and more strain was put on the ropes, until they +were as taut as iron bars. A moment later Tom and Hunting Dog seized two +paddles held out to them, and the boat came gently in alongside. + +"Gosh!" Ben exclaimed, as he stepped ashore, "it has taken as much out +of me as working a windlass for a day. I am blamed if I did not think +the hull boat was coming to pieces. I thought it was all over with us +for sure, Harry; when she first felt the rope, the water came in right +over the side." + +"It was touch and go, Ben; but there was a rock just outside you, and if +we had not checked her a bit her head would have gone across it, and if +it had, I would not have given a red cent for your lives." + +All day they toiled on foot, and by nightfall had made but four miles. +Then they camped for the night among the rocks. The next four days were +passed in similar labour. Two or three times they had to cross the +torrent in order to get on to fallen rocks on the other side to that +which they were following. These passages demanded the greatest caution. +In each case there were rocks showing above water in the middle of the +channel. One of these was chosen as most suited to their purpose, and by +means of the ropes a canoe was sheered out to it. Its occupants then +took their places on the rock, and in turn dropped the other boat down +to the next suitable point, the process being repeated, step by step, +until the opposite bank was reached. + +At the end of the fourth day the geological formation changed. The rock +was softer, and the stream had worn a more even path for itself, and +they decided to take to the boats again. There was no occasion for +paddling now, it was only when a swell on the surface marked some hidden +danger below that a stroke or two of the paddle was needed to sweep them +clear of it. For four hours they were carried along at the rate of fully +twelve miles an hour, and at the end of that time they shot out from +between the overhanging walls into a comparatively broad valley. With a +shout of delight they headed the boats for shore, and leapt out on to a +flat rock a few inches above the water. + +"If we could go on at that pace right down we should not be long before +we were out of the mountains," Tom said. + +"We could do with a bit slower, Tom; that is too fast to be pleasant. +Just about half that would do--six miles an hour. Twelve hours a day +would take us out of the canons in a fortnight or so. We might do that +safely, but we could not calculate on having such good luck as we have +had to-day, when going along at twelve miles an hour. The pace for the +last four days has been just as much too slow as this is too fast. Four +miles a day working from morning till night is heart-breaking. In spite +of our run to-day, we cannot have made much over a hundred miles since +we started. Well, there is one comfort, we are in no great hurry. We +have got just the boats for the work, and so far as we can see, we are +likely to find plenty of food. A job like this isn't to be reckoned +child's play. So far I consider we have had good luck; I shall be well +content if it averages as well all the way down. The fear is we may get +to falls where we can neither carry nor let the boats down. In that case +we should have to get out of the canon somewhere, pack as much flour as +we could carry, and make our way across country, though how far we might +have to travel there is no knowing. I hope it mayn't come to that; but +at any rate I would rather go through even worse places than that canon +above than have to quit the boats." + +"Right you are, Harry," Jerry agreed. "I would rather tote the canoe on +my back all the way down to Mexico, than have to try and make my way +over the bad lands to the hills. Besides, when we get a bit farther we +shall be in the Navahoe country, and the Utes ain't a sarcumstance to +them. The Ute ain't much of a fighter anyway. He will kill white men he +finds up in his hills, 'cause he don't want white men there, but he has +to be five or six to one before he will attack him. The Navahoe kills +the white man 'cause he is a white man, and 'cause he likes killing. He +is a fighter, and don't you forget it. If it had been Navahoes instead +of Utes that had caught us up in the hills, you may bet your bottom +dollar our scalps would be drying in their lodges now." + +"That is so, Jerry," Ben put in. "Besides, the Navahoes and the Apaches +have got no fear of white men. They have been raiding Mexico for +hundreds of years, and man to man they can whip Mexikins out of their +boots. I don't say as they haven't a considerable respect for western +hunters; they have had a good many lessons that these can out-shoot them +and out-fight them; still they ain't scared of them as plain Indians +are. They are a bad lot, look at them which way you will, and I don't +want to have to tramp across their country noways. It was pretty hard +work carrying that boat along them rocks, but I would rather have to do +so, right down to the plains, then get into a muss with the Navahoes." + +"How far does the Navahoe country come this way?" + +"There ain't no fence, Tom, I expect. They reckon as it's their country +just as far as they like to come. They don't come up as far north as +this, but where they ends and where the Utes begin no one knows but +themselves; and I reckon it shifts according as the Navahoes are busy +with the Mexicans in the south, or have got a quiet spell, and take it +into their heads to hunt this way." + +For many days they continued their journey, sometimes floating quietly +along a comparatively wide valley, sometimes carrying their boats past +dangerous rapids, sometimes rushing along at great speed on the black, +deep water, occasionally meeting with falls where everything had to be +taken out of the canoes, and the boats themselves allowed to shoot over +the falls with long ropes attached, by which they were drawn to shore +lower down. It was seldom that they were without meat, as several +big-horns and two bears were shot by the Indians. They had no doubt that +they could have caught fish, but as a rule they were too tired when they +arrived at their halting-place to do more than cook and eat their +suppers before they lay down to rest. + +"I reckon it won't be very long before we come upon a Mexican village," +Harry said one day, after they had been six weeks on their downward +course. "I have heard there is one above the Grand Canon." + +The scenery had varied greatly. In some of the valleys groves of trees +bordered the river; sometimes not even a tuft of grass was to be seen. +Occasionally the cliffs ran in an even line for many miles, showing that +the country beyond was a level plateau, at other times rugged peaks and +pinnacles resembling ruined castles, lighthouses, and churches could be +seen. Frequently the cliffs rose three or four thousand feet in an +almost unbroken line, but more often there were rounded terraces, where +it would have been easy to ascend to the upper level. Everywhere the +various strata were of different colours: soft grays and browns, orange, +vermilion, purple, green, and yellow. They soon learned that when they +passed through soft strata, the river ran quietly; where the rocks were +hard there were falls and rapids; where the strata lay horizontal the +stream ran smoothly, though often with great rapidity; where they dipped +up stream there were dangerous rapids and falls. + +Since the start the river had been largely swollen by the junctions of +other streams, and was much wider and deeper than it had been where they +embarked; and even where the rapids were fiercest they generally found +comparatively quiet water close to the bank on one side or the other. +Twice they had had upsets, both the boats having been capsized by +striking upon rocks but an inch or two below the surface of the water. +Little harm was done, for the guns and all other valuable articles were +lashed to the sides of the boats, while strips of hide, zigzagged across +the ends of the canoes at short distances apart, prevented the blankets +and rugs and other bulky articles from dropping out when the boat +capsized. + +Since the river had become wider and the dangers less frequent, the +boats always kept near each other. Upsets were therefore only the +occasion for a hearty laugh; for it took but a few minutes to right the +canoe, bale it out, and proceed on their way. Occasionally they had +unpleasant visitors at their camp, and altogether they killed ten or +twelve rattle-snakes. In some of the valleys they found the remains of +the dwellings of a people far anterior to the present Indian races. Some +of these ruins appeared to have been communal houses. At other points +they saw cliff-dwellings in the face of the rock, with rough sculptures +and hieroglyphics. The canons varied in length from ten to a hundred and +fifty miles, the comparatively flat country between them varying equally +in point of appearance and in the nature of the rocks. As they got lower +they once or twice saw roughly-made rafts, composed of three or four +logs of wood, showing where Indians had crossed the river. The journey +so far had been much more pleasant than they had expected, for as the +river grew wider the dangers were fewer and farther apart, and more +easily avoided; and they looked forward to the descent of the Grand +Canon, from which they knew they could not be far distant, without much +fear that it would prove impracticable. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE GRAND CANON + + +Passing from a short canon, the boats emerged into a valley with flat +shores for some distance from the river. On the right was a wide side +canon, which might afford a passage up into the hills. Half a mile lower +down there were trees and signs of cultivation; and a light smoke rose +among them. At this, the first sign of human life they had seen since +they took to the boats, all hands paddled rapidly. They were approaching +the shore, when Leaping Horse said to Harry: "No go close. Stop in river +and see, perhaps bad Indians. Leaping Horse not like smoke." + +Harry called to the other canoe, and they bore out into the stream +again. The chief stood up in the boat, and after gazing at the shore +silently for a moment said: + +"Village burnt. Burnt little time ago, post still burning." As he +resumed his seat Harry stood up in turn. + +"That is so, chief. There have only been five or six huts; whether +Indian or white, one can't tell now." + +Just at this moment an Indian appeared on the bank. As his eye fell on +the boats he started. A moment later he raised a war-yell. + +"Navahoe," the chief said. "Navahoe war-party come down, kill people and +burn village. Must row hard." + +The yell had been answered from the wood, and in two or three minutes as +many score of Indians appeared on the banks. They shouted to the boats +to come to shore, and as no attention was paid, some of them at once +opened fire. The river was about a quarter of a mile wide, and although +the shots splashed round them the boats were not long in reaching the +farther bank, but not unharmed, for Ben had dropped his paddle and +fallen back in the boat. + +"Is he badly hurt?" Harry asked anxiously, as the canoes drew alongside +each other near the bank, and Sam turned round to look at his comrade. + +"He has finished his journey," Sam said in a hoarse voice. "He has gone +down, and a better mate and a truer heart I never met. The ball has hit +him in the middle of the forehead. It were to be, I guess, for it could +only have been a chance shot at that distance." + +Exclamations of sorrow and fury broke from the others, and for a few +minutes there was no thought of the Indians, whose bullets were still +falling in the water, for the most part short of the boats. A sharp tap +on the side of Harry's canoe, followed by a jet of water, roused them. + +"We mustn't stop here," Harry said, as Hunting Dog plugged the hole with +a piece of dried meat, "or poor Ben won't be the only one." + +"Let us have a shot first," Jerry said. "Young Tom, do you take a shot +with Plumb-centre. It is about four hundred and fifty yards as near as I +can reckon, and she will carry pretty true that distance." + +"We will give them a shot all round," Harry said, as he took up his +rifle. + +Six shots were discharged almost at the same moment. One of the Indians +was seen to fall, the rest bounded away to a short distance from the +bank. Then Hunting Dog at a word from the chief stepped into the other +canoe. Keeping close under the bank they paddled down. The Indians had +ceased firing, and had disappeared at a run. + +"What are they up to now, chief?" + +"Going down to mouth of canon, river sure to be narrow; get there before +us." + +"Wait, Jerry," Harry shouted to the other boat, which was some twenty +yards ahead. "The chief thinks they have gone to cut us off at the head +of the canon, which is likely enough. I don't suppose it is fifty yards +wide there, and they will riddle us if we try to get through in +daylight. We had better stop and have a meal and talk it over." + +The boats were rowed ashore, and the men landed and proceeded to light a +fire as unconcernedly as if no danger threatened them. Ben's death had +cast a heavy gloom over them, and but few words were spoken, until the +meal was cooked and eaten. + +"It is a dog-goned bad business," Jerry said. "I don't say at night as +we mayn't get past them without being hit, but to go rushing into one of +those canons in the dark would be as bad as standing their fire, if not +wuss. The question is--could we leave the boats and strike across?" + +"We could not strike across this side anyhow," Harry said. "There are no +settlements west of the Colorado. We know nothing of the country, and it +is a hundred to one we should all die of thirst even if we could carry +enough grub to last us. If we land at all it must be on the other side, +and then we could not reckon on striking a settlement short of two +hundred miles, and two hundred miles across a country like this would be +almost certain death." + +"As the Navahoes must have ridden down, Harry, there must be water. I +reckon they came down that canon opposite." + +"Navahoe on track in morning," the chief said quietly. "When they see we +not go down river look for boat, find where we land and take up trail. +Canon very plain road. Some go up there straight, take all our scalps." + +No one spoke for a moment or two. What the Seneca said was so evident to +them that it was useless to argue. "Well, chief, what do you advise +yourself?" Harry asked at length. + +"Not possible go on foot, Harry. Country all rocks and canons; cannot +get through, cannot get water. Trouble with Navahoes too. Only chance +get down in boat to-night. Keep close under this bank; perhaps Indians +not see us, night dark." + +"Do you think they can cross over to this side?" + +"Yes, got canoe. Two canoes in village, Leaping Horse saw them on bank. +When it gets dark, cross over." + +"We will get a start of them," Harry said. "Directly it is dark we can +be off too. The shore is everywhere higher than our heads as we sit in +the canoes, and we can paddle in the shadow without being seen by them +on the other side, while they won't venture to cross till it is pitch +dark. As the stream runs something like three miles an hour, I reckon +that they are hardly likely to catch us. As for the rapids, they don't +often begin until you are some little distance in. At any rate we shall +not have to go far, for the red-skins will not dare to enter the canon, +so we can tie up till morning as soon as we are a short distance in. We +have got to run the gauntlet of their fire, but after all that is better +than taking our chances by leaving the boats. If we lie down when we get +near them they may not see us at all; but if they do, a very few strokes +will send us past them. At any rate there seems less risk in that plan +than in any other." + +The others agreed. + +"Now, boys, let us dig a grave," he went on, as soon as the point was +settled. "It is a sort of clay here and we can manage it, and it is not +likely we shall find any place, when we are once in the canon, where we +can do it." They had neither picks nor shovels with them, for their +mining tools had been left at the spot where they were at work, but with +their axes and knives they dug a shallow grave, laid Ben's body in it, +covered it up, and then rolled a number of boulders over it. + +Ben's death affected Tom greatly. They had lived together and gone +through many perils and risks for nearly a year, and none had shown more +unflagging good-humour throughout than the man who had been killed. That +the boats might upset and all might perish together, was a thought that +had often occurred to him as they made their way down the river, but +that one should be cut off like this had never once been contemplated by +him. Their lives from the hour they met on the Big Wind River had seemed +bound up together, and this sudden loss of one of the party affected him +greatly. The others went about their work silently and sadly, but they +had been so accustomed to see life lost in sudden frays, and in one or +other of the many dangers that miners and hunters are exposed to, that +it did not affect them to the same extent as it did Tom. + +Except two or three men who remained on watch on the opposite bank, +though carefully keeping out of rifle-range, they saw no signs of the +Navahoes during the day. As soon as it became so dark that they were +sure their movements could not be seen from the other side, they +silently took their places in the boats, and pushed off into the +current. For a quarter of an hour they lay in the canoes, then at a +signal from Harry knelt up, took their paddles and began to row very +quietly and cautiously, the necessity for dropping their paddles +noiselessly into the water and for avoiding any splashing having been +impressed on all before starting. + +"There is no occasion for haste," Harry said. "Long and gentle strokes +of the paddle will take us down as fast as we need go. If those fellows +do cross over, as I expect they will, they will find it difficult to +travel over the rocks in the dark as fast as we are going now, and there +is no fear whatever of their catching us if we go on steadily." + +After an hour's rowing they could make out a dark mass rising like a +wall in front of them, and Harry passed the word back to the other +canoe, which was just behind them, that they should now cease paddling, +only giving a stroke occasionally to keep the head of the canoe +straight, and to prevent the boat from drifting out from under the +shelter of the bank, in the stillness of the night they could hear a low +roaring, and knew that it was caused by a rapid in the canon ahead. +Higher and higher rose the wall of rock, blotting out the stars in front +of them till the darkness seemed to spread half-way over the sky. + +They could see that the boat was passing the shore more rapidly, as the +river accelerated its course before rushing into the gorge. Suddenly +there was a shout on the right, so close that Tom was startled, then +there was a rifle-shot, and a moment later a wild outburst of yells and +a dozen other shots. At the first shout the paddles dipped into the +water, and at racing speed the boats shot along. Eight or ten more +rifle-shots were fired, each farther behind them. + +"Anyone hurt?" Harry asked. + +There was a general negative. + +"I don't believe they really saw us," Harry said. "The first fellow may +have caught sight of us, but I expect the others fired merely at random. +Now let us row in and fasten up, for judging from that roaring there +must be a big rapid close ahead." + +The boats were soon fastened up against the rocks, and the chief stepped +ashore, saying: + +"Leaping Horse and Hunting Dog will watch. Navahoes may come down here. +Don't think they will be brave enough to enter canon, too dark to see. +Still, better watch." + +"Just as you like, chief," Harry said, "but I have no belief that they +will come down here in the dark; it would be as much as they would dare +do in broad daylight. Besides, these rocks are steepish climbing anyway, +and I should not like myself to try to get over them, when it is so dark +that I can't see my own hand, except by putting it up between my eyes +and the stars." + +"If it was not for that," Jerry said, "I would crawl along to the mouth +and see if I couldn't get a shot at them varmint on the other side." + +"You would not find them there, Jerry. You may be sure that when they +saw us go through they would know it was of no use waiting there any +longer. They would flatter themselves that they had hit some of us, and +even if they hadn't, it would not seem to matter a cent to them, as the +evil spirit of the canon would surely swallow us up." + +"Well, they have been wrong in their first supposition, uncle," Tom +said, "and I hope they will be equally wrong in the second." + +"I hope so, Tom. Now we may as well go to sleep. As soon as there is any +light we must explore as far as we can go, for by the noise ahead it +must be either a fall or a desperately bad rapid." + +When daylight broke, the whites found Hunting Dog sitting with his rifle +across his knees on a rock above them. + +"Where is the chief?" Harry asked him. + +"Leaping Horse went up the rocks to see if Navahoes have gone." + +"Very well. Tell him when he comes back we have gone down to have a look +at the rapid. Tom, you may as well stay here. There is plenty of +drift-wood among those rocks, and we will breakfast before we start +down. I reckon we shall not have much time for anything of that sort +after we are once off." + +Tom was by no means sorry to be saved a heavy climb. He collected some +wood and broke it up into suitable pieces, but at the suggestion of +Hunting Dog waited for the chief's return before lighting it. The chief +came down in a few minutes. "Navahoes all gone," he said briefly. + +"Then I can light a fire, chief?" + +Leaping Horse nodded, and Tom took out the tightly-fitting tin box in +which he kept his matches. Each of the party carried a box, and to +secure against the possibility of the matches being injured by the water +in case of a capsize, the boxes were kept in deer's bladders tightly +tied at the mouth. The fire was just alight when the others returned. + +"It is better ahead than we expected," Harry said; "the noise was caused +by the echo from the smooth faces of the rocks. It is lucky we hauled in +here last night, for these rocks end fifty yards on, and as far as we +can see down, the water washes the foot of the wall on both sides. We +were able to climb up from them on to a narrow ledge, parallel with the +water, and went on to the next turn, but there was no change in the +character of the river. So we shall make a fair start anyway." + +More wood was put on the fire, and in a quarter of an hour the kettle +was boiling and slices of meat cooked. Half an hour later they took +their places in the canoes and started. The canon was similar to the one +they had last passed; the walls were steep and high, but with irregular +shelves running along them. Above these were steep slopes, running up to +the foot of smooth perpendicular cliffs of limestone. The stream was +very rapid, and they calculated that in the first half-hour they must +have run six miles. Here the walls receded to a distance, and ledges of +rock and hills of considerable heights intervened between the river and +the cliffs. They checked the pace of their canoes just as they reached +this opening, for a deep roar told of danger ahead. Fortunately there +were rocks where they were able to disembark, and a short way below they +found that a natural dam extended across the river. + +"There has been an eruption of trap here," Harry said, looking at the +black rock on either side. "There has been a fissure, I suppose, and the +lava was squeezed up through it. You see the river has cut a path for +itself some hundreds of feet deep. It must have taken countless ages, +Tom, to have done the work." + +Over this dam the water flowed swiftly and smoothly, and then shot down +in a fall six feet high. Below for a distance of two or three hundred +yards was a furious rapid, the water running among black rocks. With +considerable difficulty they made a portage of the boats and stores to +the lower end of the rapid. This transit occupied several hours, and +they then proceeded on their way. Five more miles were passed; several +times the boats were brought to the bank in order that falls ahead might +be examined. These proved to be not too high to shoot, and the boats +paddled over them. When they had first taken to the river they would +never have dreamt of shooting such falls, but they had now become so +expert in the management of the boats, and so confident in their +buoyancy, that the dangers which would then have appalled them were now +faced without uneasiness. + +They now came to a long rapid, presenting so many dangers that they +deemed it advisable to let down the boats by lines. Again embarking they +found that the wall of rocks closed in and they entered a narrow gorge, +through which the river ran with great swiftness, touching the walls on +each side. Great care was needed to prevent the boats being dashed +against the rock, but they succeeded in keeping them fairly in the +middle of the stream. After travelling four miles through this gorge it +opened somewhat, and on one side was a strip of sand. + +"We will land there," Harry said. "It looks to me like granite ahead, +and if it is we are in for bad times, sure." + +The boats were soon pulled up, and they proceeded to examine the cliffs +below. Hitherto the danger had been in almost exact proportion to the +hardness of the rock, and as they were entering a far harder rock than +they had before encountered, greater difficulties than those they had +surmounted were to be expected. + +They could not see a long distance down, but what they saw was enough to +justify their worst anticipations. The canon was narrower than any they +had traversed, and the current extremely swift. There seemed but few +broken rocks in the channel, but on either side the walls jutted out in +sharp angles far into the river, with crags and pinnacles. + +"Waal, it is of no use looking at it," Jerry said after a pause. "It is +certain we can't get along the sides, so there is nothing to do but to +go straight at it; and the sooner it is over the better." + +Accordingly they returned to the boats, and soon darted at the speed of +an arrow into the race. Bad as it was at starting it speedily became +worse: ledges, pinnacles, and towers of rock rose above the surface of +the stream breaking it into falls and whirlpools. Every moment it seemed +to Tom that the boat must inevitably be dashed to pieces against one of +these obstructions, for the light boats were whirled about like a +feather on the torrent, and the paddlers could do but little to guide +their course. The very strength of the torrent, however, saved them from +destruction, the whirl from the rocks sweeping the boat's head aside +when within a few feet of them, and driving it past the danger before +they had time to realize that they had escaped wreck. Half an hour of +this, and a side canon came in. Down this a vast quantity of boulders +had been swept, forming a dam across the river, but they managed to +paddle into an eddy at the side, and to make a portage of the boats to +the water below the dam, over which there was a fall of from thirty to +forty feet high. Three more similar dams were met with. Over one the +canoes were carried, but on the others there was a break in the boulder +wall, and they were able to shoot the falls. + +After three days of incessant labour, they heard, soon after starting +from their last halting-place, a roar even louder and more menacing than +they had yet experienced. Cautiously they got as close as possible to +the side, and paddling against the stream were able to effect a landing +just above the rapid. On examining it they found that it was nearly half +a mile long, and in this distance the water made a fall of some eighty +feet, the stream being broken everywhere with ledges and jagged rocks, +among which the waves lashed themselves into a white foam. It seemed +madness to attempt such a descent, and they agreed that at any rate they +would halt for the day. The rocks through which the canon ran were fully +a thousand feet high, but they decided that, great as the labour might +be, it would be better to make a portage, if possible, rather than +descend the cataract. + +"There is a gulch here running up on to the hill," Tom said. "Hunting +Dog and I will start at once and see if it is possible to get up it, and +if so how far it is to a place where we can get down again." + +Harry assented; Leaping Horse without a word joined the explorers, and +they set off up the gulch. It was found that the ravine was steep, but +not too steep to climb. When they were nearly at the top Hunting Dog +pointed to the hillside above them, and they saw a big-horn standing at +the edge of the rock. The three fired their rifles simultaneously, and +the wild sheep made a spring into the air and then came tumbling down +the side of the ravine. As fresh meat was beginning to run short this +was a stroke of good fortune, and after reloading their guns they +proceeded up the ravine until they reached the crest of the hill. The +soil was disintegrated granite, and tufts of short grass grew here and +there. After walking about a mile, parallel to the course of the river, +they found that the ground descended again, and without much difficulty +made their way down until they reached the foot of a little valley; +following this they were soon standing by the side of the river. Above, +its surface was as closely studded with rocks as was the upper cataract; +below, there was another fall that looked impracticable, except that it +seemed possible to pass along on the rocks by the side. It was getting +dark by the time they rejoined their comrades. + +"Your report is not a very cheerful one," Harry said, "but at any rate +there seems nothing else to be done than to make the portage. The meat +you have got for us will re-stock our larder, and as it is up there we +sha'n't have the trouble of carrying it over." + +The next day was a laborious one. One by one the canoes were carried +over, but the operation took them from daybreak till dark. The next +morning another journey was made to bring over the rugs and stores, and +they were able in addition to these to carry down the carcass of the +sheep, after first skinning it and cutting off the head with its great +horns. Nothing was done for the rest of the day beyond trying whether +another portage could be made. This was found to be impracticable, and +there was nothing for them but to attempt the descent. They breakfasted +as soon as day broke, carried the boats down over the boulder dam with +which the rapids commenced, and put them into the water. For some little +distance they were able to let them down by ropes, then the rocks at the +foot of the cliffs came to an end. Fortunately the seven lariats +furnished them with a considerable length of line, and in addition to +these the two Indians had on their way down plaited a considerable +length of rope, with thongs cut from the skins of the animals they had +killed. + +The total available amount of rope was now divided into two lengths, the +ends being fastened to each canoe. One of the boats with its crew on +board was lowered to a point where the men were able to get a foothold +on a ledge. As soon as they had done so the other boat dropped down to +them, and the ropes were played out until they were in turn enabled to +get a footing on a similar ledge or jutting rock, sometimes so narrow +that but one man was able to stand. So alternately the boats were let +down. Sometimes when no foothold could be obtained on the rock wall, the +pinnacles and ledges in the stream were utilized. All the work had to be +done by gesture, for the thunder of the waters was so tremendous that +the loudest shout could not be heard a few yards away. Hour passed after +hour. Their progress was extremely slow, as each step had to be closely +considered and carried out with the greatest care. + +At last a terrible accident happened. Harry, Leaping Horse, and Tom were +on a ledge. Below them was a fall of three feet, and in the foaming +stream below it, rose several jagged rocks. Jerry's canoe was got safely +down the fall, but in spite of the efforts of the rowers was carried +against the outer side of one of these rocks. They made a great effort +to turn the boat's head into the eddy behind it, but as the line touched +the rock its sharp edge severed the rope like a knife, and the boat shot +away down the rapid. Those on the ledge watched it with breathless +anxiety. Two or three dangers were safely passed, then to their horror +they saw the head of the canoe rise suddenly as it ran up a sunken ledge +just under the water. An instant later the stern swept round, bringing +her broadside on to the stream, and she at once capsized. + +"Quick!" Harry exclaimed, "we must go to their rescue. Keep close to the +wall, chief, till we see signs of them. It is safest close in." + +In an instant they were in their places, and as they released the canoe +she shot in a moment over the fall. For a short distance they kept her +close to the side, but a projecting ledge threw the current sharply +outwards, and the canoe shot out into the full force of the rapid. The +chief knelt up in the bow paddle in hand, keeping a vigilant eye for +rocks and ledges ahead, and often with a sharp stroke of the paddle, +seconded by the effort of Harry in the stern, sweeping her aside just +when Tom thought her destruction inevitable. Now she went headlong down +a fall, then was caught by an eddy, and was whirled round and round +three or four times before the efforts of the paddlers could take her +beyond its influence. Suddenly a cry came to their ears. Just as they +approached a rocky ledge some thirty feet long, and showing a saw-like +edge a foot above the water, the chief gave a shout and struck his +paddle into the water. + +"Behind the rock, Tom, behind the rock!" Harry exclaimed as he swept the +stern round. Tom paddled with all his might, and the canoe headed up +stream. Quickly as the movement was done, the boat was some twelve yards +below the rock as she came round with her nose just in the lower edge of +the eddy behind it, while from either side the current closed in on her. +Straining every nerve the three paddlers worked as for life. At first +Tom thought that the glancing waters would sweep her down, but inch by +inch they gained, and drove the boat forward from the grasp of the +current into the back eddy, until suddenly, as if released from a vice, +she sprang forward. Never in his life had Tom exerted himself so +greatly. His eyes were fixed on the rock in front of him, where Hunting +Dog was clinging with one hand, while with the other he supported +Jerry's head above water. He gave a shout of joy as the chief swept the +head of the canoe round, just as it touched the rock, and laid her +broadside to it. + +"Stick your paddle between two points of the rock, Tom," Harry shouted, +"while the chief and I get them in. Sit well over on the other side of +the boat." + +With considerable difficulty Jerry, who was insensible, was lifted into +the boat. As soon as he was laid down Hunting Dog made his way hand over +hand on the gunwale until close to the stern, where he swung himself +into the boat without difficulty. + +"Have you seen Sam?" Harry asked. + +The young Indian shook his head. "Sam one side of the boat," he said, +"Jerry and Hunting Dog the other. Boat went down that chute between +those rocks above. Only just room for it. Jerry was knocked off by rock. +Hunting Dog was near the stern, there was room for him. He caught +Jerry's hunting-shirt, but could not hold on to boat. When came down +here made jump at corner of rock. Could not hold on, but current swept +him into eddy. Then swam here and held on, and kept calling. Knew his +brothers would come down soon." + +"Here is a spare paddle," Harry said, as he pulled one out from below +the network, "there is not a moment to lose. Keep your eyes open, +chief." Again the boat moved down the stream. With four paddles going +the steersman had somewhat more control over her, but as she flew down +the seething water, glanced past rocks and sprang over falls, Tom +expected her to capsize every moment. At last he saw below them a +stretch of quiet water, and two or three minutes later they were +floating upon it, and as if by a common impulse all ceased rowing. + +"Thanks be to God for having preserved us," Harry said reverently. "We +are half-full of water; another five minutes of that work and it would +have been all over with us. Do you see any signs of the canoe, chief?" + +The chief pointed to a ledge of rock extending out into the stream. +"Canoe there," he said. They paddled across to it. After what the young +Indian had said they had no hopes of finding Sam with it, but Harry gave +a deep sigh as he stepped out on to the ledge. + +"Another gone," he said. "How many of us will get through this place +alive? Let us carry Jerry ashore." + +There was a patch of sand swept up by the eddy below the rock, and here +Jerry was taken out and laid down. He moaned as they lifted him. + +"Easy with him," Harry said. "Steady with that arm. I think he has a +shoulder broken, as well as this knock on the head that has stunned +him." + +As soon as he was laid down Harry cut open his shirt on the shoulder. +"Broken," he said shortly. "Now, chief, I know that you are a good hand +at this sort of thing. How had this better be bandaged?" + +"Want something soft first." + +Tom ran to the canoe, brought out the little canvas sack in which he +carried his spare flannel shirt, and brought it to the chief. The latter +tore off a piece of stuff and rolled it into a wad. "Want two pieces of +wood," he said, holding his hands about a foot apart to show the length +he required. Harry fetched a spare paddle, and split a strip off each +side of the blade. The chief nodded as he took them. "Good," he said. He +tore off two more strips of flannel and wrapped them round the splints, +then with Harry's aid he placed the shoulder in its natural position, +laid the wad of flannel on the top of it, and over this put the two +splints. The whole was kept in its place by flannel bandages, and the +arm was fastened firmly across the body, so that it could not be moved. +Then the little keg of brandy was brought out of the canoe, a spoonful +poured into the pannikin, with half as much water, and allowed to +trickle between Jerry's lips, while a wad of wet flannel was placed on +his head. + +"There is nothing more we can do for him at present," Harry said. "Now +we will right the other boat, and get all the things out to dry." + +Three or four pounds of flour were found to be completely soaked with +water, but the main store was safe, as the bag was sewn up in bear-skin. +This was only opened occasionally to take out two or three days' supply, +and then carefully closed again. On landing, Hunting Dog had at once +started in search of drift-wood, and by this time a fire was blazing. A +piece of bear's fat was placed in the frying-pan, and the wetted flour +was at once fried into thin cakes, which were tough and tasteless; but +the supply was too precious to allow of an ounce being wasted. Some +slices of the flesh of the big-horn were cooked. + +"What is my white brother going to do?" the chief asked Harry. + +"There is nothing to do that I can see, chief, but to keep on pegging +away. We agreed that it would be almost impossible to find our way over +these barren mountains. That is not to be thought of, now that one of +our number cannot walk. There is no choice left, we have got to go on." + +"Leaping Horse understand that," the chief said. "He meant would you +take both canoes? One is big enough to take five." + +"Quite big enough, chief, but it would be deeper in the water, and the +heavier it is the harder it will bump against any rock it meets; the +lighter they are the better. You see, this other canoe, which I dare say +struck a dozen times on its way down, shows no sign of damage except the +two rents in the skin, that we can mend in a few minutes. Another thing +is, two boats are absolutely necessary for this work of letting down by +ropes, of which we may expect plenty more. If we had only one, we should +be obliged to run every rapid. The only extra trouble that it will give +us is at the portages. I think we had better stay here for two or three +days, so as to give Jerry a chance of coming round. No doubt we could +carry him over the portages just as we can carry the boats, but after +such a knock on the head as he has had, it is best that he should be +kept quiet for a bit. If his skull is not cracked he won't be long in +getting round. He is as hard as nails, and will pull round in the tenth +of the time it would take a man in the towns to get over such a knock. +It is a pity the halt is not in a better place. There is not a shadow of +a chance of finding game among these crags and bare rocks." + +From time to time fresh water was applied to the wad of flannel round +Jerry's head. + +"Is there any chance, do you think, of finding poor Sam's body?" + +The chief shook his head. "No shores where it could be washed up, rocks +tear it to pieces; or if it get in an eddy, might be there for weeks. No +see Sam any more." + +The fire was kept blazing all night, and they took it by turns to sit +beside Jerry and to pour occasionally a little brandy and water between +his lips. As the men were moving about preparing breakfast the next +morning Jerry suddenly opened his eyes. He looked at Tom, who was +sitting beside him. + +"Time to get up?" he asked. "Why did you not wake me?" And he made an +effort to move. Tom put his hand on him. + +"Lie still, Jerry. You have had a knock on the head, but you are all +right now." + +The miner lay quiet. His eyes wandered confusedly over the figures of +the others, who had, when they heard his voice, gathered round him. + +"What in thunder is the matter with me?" he asked. "What is this thing +on my head? What is the matter with my arm, I don't seem able to move +it?" + +"It is the knock you have had, Jerry," Harry said cheerfully. "You have +got a bump upon your head half as big as a cocoa-nut, and you have +damaged your shoulder. You have got a wet flannel on your head, and the +chief has bandaged your arm. I expect your head will be all right in a +day or two, but I reckon you won't be able to use your arm for a bit." + +Jerry lay quiet without speaking for a few minutes, then he said: "Oh, I +remember now; we were capsized. I had hold of the canoe, and I remember +seeing a rock just ahead. I suppose I knocked against it." + +"That was it, mate. Hunting Dog let go his hold and caught you, and +managed to get into an eddy and cling to the rocks till we came down and +took you on board." + +Jerry held out his hand to the Indian. "Thankee," he said. "I owe you +one, Hunting Dog. If I ever get the chance you can reckon on me sure, +whatever it is. But where is Sam? Why ain't he here?" + +"Sam has gone under, mate," Harry replied. "That chute you went down was +only just wide enough for the boat to go through, and no doubt he was +knocked off it at the same time as you were; but as the Indian was on +your side, he saw nothing of Sam. I reckon he sank at once, just as you +would have done if Hunting Dog hadn't been behind you." + +Jerry made no reply, but as he lay still, with his eyes closed, some big +tears made their way through the lids and rolled down his bronzed face. +The others thought it best to leave him by himself, and continued their +preparations for breakfast. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +BACK TO DENVER + + +"When are you going to make a start again?" Jerry asked, after drinking +a, pannikin of tea. + +"We are not going on to-day; perhaps not to-morrow. It will depend on +how you get on." + +"I shall be a nuisance to you anyway," the miner said, "and it would be +a dog-goned sight the best way to leave me here; but I know you won't +do that, so it ain't no use my asking you. I expect I shall be all right +to-morrow except for this shoulder, but just now my head is buzzing as +if there was a swarm of wild bees inside." + +"You will be all the better when you have had a good sleep; I reckon we +could all do a bit that way. Young Tom and Hunting Dog are going to try +a bit of fishing with those hooks of yours. We talked about it when we +started, you know, but we have not done anything until now. We want a +change of food badly. We may be a month going down this canon for +anything I know, and if it keeps on like this there ain't a chance of +seeing a head of game. It ought to be a good place for fish at the foot +of the rapids--that is, if there are any fish here, and I reckon there +should be any amount of them. If they do catch some, we will wait here +till we can dry a good stock. We have nothing now but the dried flesh +and some of the big-horn. There ain't above twenty pounds of flour left, +and we could clear up all there is in the boat in a week. So you need +not worry that you are keeping us." + +Half an hour later Hunting Dog and Tom put out in one of the canoes, and +paddling to the foot of the rapids let the lines drop overboard, the +hooks being baited with meat. It was not many minutes before the Indian +felt a sharp pull. There was no occasion to play the fish, for the line +was strong enough to hold a shark, and a trout of six pounds weight was +soon laid in the bottom of the boat. + +"My turn now," Tom said; and the Indian with a smile took the paddle +from his hand, and kept the boat up stream while Tom attended to the +lines. Fish after fish was brought up in rapid succession, and when +about mid-day a call from below told them that it was time for dinner, +they had some thirty fish averaging five pounds' weight at the bottom of +the boat. + +There was a shout of satisfaction from Harry as he looked down into the +canoe, and even the chief gave vent to a grunt that testified his +pleasure. + +"Hand me up four of them, Tom; I did not know how much I wanted a change +of food till my eyes lit on those beauties. We saw you pulling them out, +but I did not expect it was going to be as good as this." + +The fish were speedily split open, and laid on ramrods over the fire. + +"I reckon you will want another one for me," Jerry, who had been asleep +since they started, remarked. "I don't know that I am good for one as +big as those, but I reckon I can pick a bit anyhow." + +A small fish was put on with the others, and as soon as they were +grilled, all set to at what seemed to Tom the best meal he had ever +eaten in his life. He thought when he handed them to Harry that two +would have been amply sufficient for them all, but he found no +difficulty whatever in disposing of a whole one single-handed. + +"Now, Tom, the chief and I will take our turn while you and Hunting Dog +prepare your catch. He will show you how to do it, it is simple enough. +Cut off the heads, split and clean them, run a skewer through to keep +them flat, and then lay them on that rock in the sun to dry. Or wait, I +will rig up a line between two of the rocks for you to hang them on. +There is not much wind, but what there is will dry them better than if +they were laid flat." + +Jerry went off to sleep again as soon as the meal was finished, and the +bandages round his head re-wetted. The paddle from which the strips had +been cut furnished wood for the skewers, and in the course of half an +hour the fish were all hanging on a line. Twenty two more were brought +in at sunset. Some of these, after being treated like the others, were +hung in the smoke of the fire, while the rest were suspended like the +first batch. + +The next morning Jerry was able to move about, and the fishing went on +all day, and by night a quantity, considered sufficient, had been +brought ashore. + +"There are over four hundred pounds altogether," Harry said, "though by +the time they are dried they won't be more than half that weight. Two +pounds of dried fish a man is enough to keep him going, and they will +last us twenty days at that rate, and it will be hard luck if we don't +find something to help it out as we go down." + +They stopped another day to allow the drying to be completed. The fish +were taken down and packed on board that evening, and at daylight they +were afloat again. For the next ten days their labours were continuous. +They passed several rapids as bad as the one that had cost them so dear; +but as they gained experience they became more skilful in letting down +the boats. Some days only two or three miles were gained, on others they +made as much as twelve. At last they got out of the granite; beyond this +the task was much easier, and on the fifteenth day after leaving their +fishing-ground, they emerged from the canon. + +By this time Jerry had perfectly recovered, and was with great +difficulty persuaded to keep his arm bandaged. He had chafed terribly at +first at his helplessness, and at being unable to take any share in the +heavy labours of the others; but after the rapids were passed he was +more contented, and sat quietly at the bottom of the boat smoking, while +Harry and Tom paddled, the two Indians forming the crew of the other +canoe. The diet of fish had been varied by bear's flesh, Leaping Horse +having shot a large brown bear soon after they got through the rapids. A +shout of joy was raised by the three whites as they issued from the +gorge into a quiet valley, through which the river ran, a broad tranquil +stream. Even the Indians were stirred to wave their paddles above their +heads and to give a ringing whoop as their companions cheered. The boats +were headed for the shore, and the camp was formed near a large clump of +bushes. + +Their joy at their deliverance from the dangers of the canon was dashed +only by the thought of the loss of their two comrades. The next day +three short canons were passed through, but these presented no +difficulties, and in the afternoon they reached the mouth of the Rio +Virgen, and continuing their journey arrived five days later at Fort +Mojarve. This was a rising settlement, for it was here that the traders' +route between Los Angeles and Santa Fe crossed the Colorado. Their +appearance passed almost unnoticed, for a large caravan had arrived that +afternoon and was starting east the next morning. + +"We had best hold our tongues about it altogether," Harry said, as soon +as he heard that the caravan was going on the next morning. "In the +first place they won't believe us, and that would be likely to lead to +trouble; and in the next place we should be worried out of our lives +with questions. Besides, we have got to get a fresh outfit, for we are +pretty near in rags, and to buy horses, food, and kit. We can leave the +boats on the shore, no one is likely to come near them." + +"I will stop and look after them," Tom said. "There are the saddles, +buffalo-robes, blankets, and ammunition. This shirt is in rags, and the +last moccasins Hunting Dog made me are pretty nearly cut to pieces by +the rocks. I would rather stay here and look after the boats than go +into the village; besides, it will save you the trouble of carrying all +these bags of gold about with you." + +Harry nodded, cut two of the little bags free from their lashings and +dropped them into his pocket, and then went up to the Fort with Jerry +and the Indians. Tom cut the other bags loose and put them on the ground +beside him, threw a buffalo-robe over them, and then sat for some hours +watching the quiet river and thinking over all they had gone through. It +was almost dark when the others returned. + +"It has taken us some time, Tom," his uncle said as they threw some +bundles down beside him; "the stores and clothes were easy enough, but +we had a lot of trouble to find horses. However, we did not mind much +what we paid for them, and the traders were ready to sell a few at the +prices we offered. So we have got five riding horses and two +pack-ponies, which will be enough for us. That bundle is your lot, +riding breeches and boots, three pairs of stockings, two flannel shirts, +a Mexican hat, and a silk neck handkerchief. We may as well change at +once and go up to the village." + +The change was soon effected. Harry and Jerry Curtis had clothes similar +to those they had bought for Tom, while the Indians wore over their +shirts new deer-skin embroidered hunting-shirts, and had fringed Mexican +leggings instead of breeches and boots. They, too, had procured Mexican +sombreros. Taking their rifles and pistols, and hiding their stock of +ammunition, the gold, and their buffalo-robes and blankets, they went up +to the village. It was by this time quite dark: the houses were all lit +up, and the drinking-shops crowded with the teamsters, who seemed bent +on making a night of it, this being the last village through which they +would pass until their arrival at Santa Fe. + +They slept as usual, wrapped up in their buffalo-robes by the side of +the boats, as all agreed that this was preferable to a close room in a +Mexican house. + +They were all a-foot as soon as daylight broke, and went up and +breakfasted at a fonda, Tom enjoying the Mexican cookery after the +simple diet he had been accustomed to. Then they went to the stable +where the horses, which were strong serviceable-looking animals, had +been placed, and put on their saddles and bridles. + +The pack-horses were then laden with flour, tea, sugar, bacon, and other +necessaries. By the time all was ready the caravan was just starting. +Harry had spoken the afternoon before to two of its leaders, and said +that he and four companions would be glad to ride with them to Santa Fe. +Permission was readily granted, the traders being pleased at the +accession of five well-armed men; for although Indian raids were +comparatively rare along this trail, there was still a certain amount of +danger involved in the journey. Some hours were occupied in crossing the +river in two heavy ferry-boats, and the process would have been still +longer had not half the waggons been sent across on the previous +afternoon. + +The long journey was made without incident, and no Indians were met +with. A few deer were shot, but as it was now late in the autumn the +scanty herbage on the plains was all withered up, and the game had for +the most part moved away into deep valleys where they could obtain food. + +The tale of their passage of the canons was told more than once, but +although it was listened to with interest, Harry perceived that it was +not really believed. That they had been hunting, had been attacked by +Indians, had made canoes and passed through some of the canons was +credible enough, but that they should have traversed the whole of the +lower course of the Colorado, seemed to the traders, who were all men +experienced in the country, simply incredible. The party stopped at +Santa Fe a few days, and then started north, travelling through the +Mexican villages, and finally striking across to Denver. At Santa Fe +they had converted the contents of their bags into money, which had been +equally shared among them. The Indians were not willing to accept more +than the recognized monthly pay, but Harry would not hear of it. + +"This has been no ordinary business, Leaping Horse," he said warmly; "we +have all been as brothers together, and for weeks have looked death in +the face every hour, and we must share all round alike in the gold we +have brought back. Gold is just as useful to an Indian as it is to a +white man, and when you add this to the hoard you spoke of, you will +have enough to buy as many horses and blankets as you can use all your +lifetime, and to settle down in your wigwam and take a wife to yourself +whenever you choose. I fancy from what you said, Hunting Dog has his eye +on one of the maidens of your tribe. Well, he can buy her father's +favour now. The time is coming, chief, when the Indians of the plains +will have to take to white men's ways. The buffaloes are fast dying out, +and in a few years it will be impossible to live by hunting, and the +Indians will have to keep cattle and build houses and live as we do. +With his money Hunting Dog could buy a tidy ranche with a few hundred +head of cattle. Of course, he can hunt as much as he likes so long as +there is any game left, but he will find that as his cattle increase, he +will have plenty to look after at home." + +"We will take the gold if my brother wishes it," the chief replied +gravely. "He is wise, and though now it seems to Leaping Horse that +red-skins have no need of gold, it may be that some day he and Hunting +Dog may be glad that they have done as their brother wished." + +"Thank you, Leaping Horse. It will make my heart glad when I may be far +away from you across the great salt water to know that there will always +be comfort in my brother's wigwam." + +On arriving at Denver they went straight to the Empire. As they entered +the saloon Pete Hoskings looked hard at them. + +"Straight Harry, by thunder!" he shouted; "and Jerry Curtis, and young +Tom; though I would not have known him if he hadn't been with the +others. Well, this air a good sight for the eyes, and to-morrow +Christmas-day. I had begun to be afeard that something had gone wrong +with you, I looked for news from you nigh three months ago. I got the +message you sent me in the spring, and I have asked every old hand who +came along east since the end of August, if there had been any news of +you, and I began to fear that you had been rubbed out by the Utes." + +"We have had a near escape of it, Pete; but it is a long story. Can you +put us all up? You know Leaping Horse, don't you? The other is his +nephew." + +"I should think I do know Leaping Horse," Pete said warmly, and went +across and shook the Indian's hand heartily. + +"I was looking at you three, and did not notice who you had with you. In +that letter the chap brought me, you said that the chief was going with +you, and Sam Hicks and Ben Gulston. I did not know them so well; that +is, I never worked with them, though they have stopped here many a +time." + +"They have gone under, Pete. Sam was drowned in the Colorado, Ben shot +by the Navahoes. We have all had some close calls, I can tell you. Well +now, can you put us up?" + +"You need not ask such a question as that, Harry," Pete said in an +aggrieved tone, "when you know very well that if the place was +chock-full, I would clear the crowd out to make room for you. There are +three beds in the room over this that will do for you three; and there +is a room beside it as Leaping Horse and his nephew can have, though I +reckon they won't care to sleep on the beds." + +"No more shall we, Pete. We have been fifteen months and more sleeping +in the open, and we would rather have our buffalo-robes and blankets +than the softest bed in the world." + +"You must have had a cold time of it the last three months up in those +Ute hills, where you said you were going." + +"We left there five months ago, Pete. We have been down as low as Fort +Mojarve, and then crossed with a caravan of traders to Santa Fe" + +Pete began pouring out the liquor. + +"Oh, you won't take one, chief, nor the young brave. Yes; I remember you +do not touch the fire-water, and you may be sure I won't press you. +Well, luck to you all, and right glad I am to see you again. Ah! here is +my bartender. Now we will get a good fire lit in another room and hurry +up supper, and then we will talk it all over. You have put your horses +up, I suppose?" + +"Yes; we knew you had no accommodation that way, Pete." + +The room into which Pete now led them was not his own sanctum, but one +used occasionally when a party of miners coming in from the hills wanted +to have a feast by themselves, or when customers wished to talk over +private business. There was a table capable of seating some twelve +people, a great stove, and some benches. A negro soon lighted a large +fire; then, aided by a boy, laid the table, and it was not long before +they sat down to a good meal. When it was over, Pete said: + +"Lend me a hand, Jerry, to push this table aside, then we will bring the +benches round the stove and hear all about it. I told the bar-tender +that I am not to be disturbed, and that if anyone wants to see me he is +to say that he has got to wait till to-morrow, for that I am engaged on +important business. Here are brandy and whisky, and tobacco and cigars, +and coffee for the chief and his nephew." + +"I think you may say for all of us, Pete," Harry said. "After being a +year without spirits, Jerry, Tom, and I have agreed to keep without +them. We wouldn't say no to you when you asked us to take a drink, and +we have not sworn off, but Jerry and I have agreed that we have both +been all the better without them, and mean to keep to it; and as for +Tom, he prefers coffee." + +"Do as you please," Pete said; "I am always glad to hear men say no. I +have made a lot of money out of it, but I have seen so many fellows +ruined by it that I am always pleased to see a man give up drink." + +"There is one thing, Pete," Tom said, "before we begin. We left our +bundles of robes and blankets in the next room, if you don't mind I +would a deal rather spread them out here--and I am sure the chief and +Hunting Dog would--and squat down on them, instead of sitting on these +benches. It is a long story uncle will have to tell you." + +"We will fetch ours too," Harry agreed. "Benches are all well enough for +sitting at the table to eat one's dinner, but why a man should sit on +them when he can sit on the ground is more than I can make out." + +Pete nodded. "I will have my rocking-chair in," he said, "and then we +shall be fixed up for the evening." + +The arrangements were soon made; pipes were lighted; the landlord sat in +his chair at some little distance back from the front of the stove; Tom +and the two Indians sat on their rugs on one side; Harry and Jerry +Curtis completed the semicircle on the other. + +"Well, in the first place, Pete," Harry began, "you will be glad to hear +that we have struck it rich--the biggest thing I have ever seen. It is +up in the Ute country. We have staked out a claim for you next our own. +There are about five hundred pounds of samples lying at Fort Bridger, and +a bit of the rock we crushed, panned out five hundred ounces to the ton." + +"You don't say!" Pete exclaimed. "If there is much of that stuff, Harry, +you have got a bonanza." + +"There is a good bit of it anyhow, Pete. It is a true vein, and though +it is not all like that, it keeps good enough. Fifty feet back we found +it run twenty ounces. That is on the surface, we can't say how it goes +down in depth. Where we struck it on the face it was about fourteen feet +high, and the lode kept its width for that depth anyhow." + +"That air good enough," the landlord said. "Now, what do you reckon on +doing?" + +"The place is among the hills, Pete, and the Utes are hostile, and went +very nigh rubbing us all out. We reckon it ought to be worked by a party +of thirty men at least. They ought to be well armed, and must build a +sort of fort. I don't think the Utes would venture to attack them if +they were of that strength. There is a little stream runs close to the +vein, and if it were dammed up it would drive a couple of stamps, which, +with a concentrator and tables and blankets, would be quite enough for +such stuff as that. I reckon fifteen men will be quite enough to work, +and to hold the fort. The other fifteen men would include three or four +hunters, and the rest would go backwards and forwards to Bridger for +supplies, and to take the gold down. They would be seven or eight days +away at a time; and if there should be trouble with the red-skins they +would always be back before those at the fort were really pressed. But +we should not be alone long, the news that a rich thing had been struck +would bring scores of miners up in no time. + +"We have taken up our own ten claims, which will include, of course, the +rich part. Then we have taken up the next eight or ten claims for our +friends. As I said, we put yours next to ours. We have not registered +them yet, but that will be the first job; and of course you and the +others will each have to put a man on your claims to hold them. The lode +shows on the other side of the creek, though not so rich; still plenty +good enough to work. But as we shall practically get all the water, the +lode cannot be worked by anyone but ourselves. Still the gravel is rich +all down the creek, as rich as anything I have seen in California, and +will be sure to be taken up by miners as soon as we are at work. So +there will be no real danger of trouble from the Indians then. What we +propose is this. We don't what to sell out, we think it is good enough +to hold, but we want to get a company to find the money for getting up +the machinery, building a strong block-house with a palisade, laying in +stores, and working the place. Jerry, Tom, and I would of course be in +command, at any rate for the first year or so, when the rich stuff was +being worked." + +"How much money do you think it will want, and what share do you think +of giving, Harry?" + +"Well, I should say fifty thousand dollars, though I believe half that +would be enough. Not a penny would be required after the first ton of +rock goes through the stamps. But we should have to take the stamps and +ironwork from the railway terminus to Bridger, and then down. We might +calculate on a month or six weeks in getting up the fort, making the +leat and water-wheel, putting up the machinery, and laying down the +flumes. Say two months from the time we leave Bridger to the time we +begin to work. There would be the pay of the men all that time, the cost +of transporting stores, and all that sort of thing; so it would be +better to say fifty thousand dollars. What share ought we to offer for +that?" + +"Well, if you could bring that five hundredweight of stuff here and get +it crushed up, and it turns out as good as you say, I could get you the +money in twenty-four hours. I would not mind going half of it myself, +and I should say that a quarter share would be more than good enough." + +"Well, we thought of a third, Pete." + +"Well, if you say a third you may consider that part of the business is +done. You won't be able to apply for claims in the names of Sam and Ben, +and if you did it would be no good, because they could not assign them +over to the company. There are eight claims without them, and the one +you have put down in my name is nine. Well, I can get say eleven men in +this place, who will give you an assignment of their claims for five +dollars apiece. That is done every day. I just say to them, I am +registering a share in your name in the Tom Cat Mine, write an +assignment to me of it and I am good for five dollars' worth of liquor, +take it out as you like. The thing is as easy as falling off a log. +Well, what are you thinking of doing next?" + +"We shall buy a light waggon and team to-morrow or next day and drive +straight over to Bridger, then we shall go to Salt Lake City and +register our claims at the mining-office there. We need not give the +locality very precisely. Indeed, we could not describe it ourselves so +that anyone could find it, and nobody would go looking for it before +spring comes and the snow clears. Besides, there are scores of wild-cat +claims registered every year. Until they turn out good no one thinks +anything of them. When we have got that done we will go back to Bridger, +and fetch the rock over here. We will write to-morrow to Pittsburg for +the mining outfit, for all the ironwork of the stamps, the concentrator, +and everything required, with axes, picks, and shovels, blasting tools +and powder, to be sent as far as they have got the railway." + +"But they will want the money with the order, Harry," Pete said in a +tone of surprise. + +"They will have the money. We washed the gravel for a couple of months +before the Utes lit on us, and after buying horses and a fresh outfit +for us all at Fort Mojarve, we have between us got something like five +thousand dollars in gold and greenbacks." + +"Jee-hoshaphat!" Pete exclaimed; "that was good indeed for two months' +work. Well, look here, there is no hurry for a few days about your +starting back to Bridger. Here we are now, nearly at the end of +December. It will take you a month to get there, say another fortnight +to go on to Salt Lake City and register your claim and get back to +Bridger, then it would be a month getting back here again; that would +take you to the middle of March. Well, you see it would be pretty nigh +the end of April before you were back at Bridger, then you would have to +get your waggons and your men, and that would be too late altogether. + +"You have got to pick your miners carefully, I can tell you; and it is +not a job to be done in a hurry. When they see what gold there is in the +rock they will soon set to work washing the gravel, and the day they do +they will chuck up your work altogether. I will tell you what I would +rather do, and that is, pick up green hands from the east. There are +scores of them here now; men who have come as far as this, and can't +start west till the snows melt. You need not think anything more about +the money. You tell me what you crushed is a fair sample of that five +hundred pounds, and that is quite good enough for me, and the gravel +being so rich is another proof of what the lode was when the stream cut +through it. I can put the twenty-five thousand dollars down, and there +are plenty of men here who will take my word for the affair and plank +their money down too. If there weren't I would put a mortgage on my +houses, so that matter is done. To-morrow I will get the men whose names +you are to give in for a claim each; it will be time in another two +months to begin to look about for some steady chaps from the east, +farmers' sons and such like. That is, if you think that plan is a good +one. I mean to see this thing through, and I shall go with you myself, +and we three can do the blasting." + +"We shall be wanted to look after the stamps and pans," Harry said. "We +had best get three or four old hands for the rock." + +"Yes, that is best," Pete said. "Between us it is hard if we can't lay +our hands upon men we can trust, and who will give us their word to stay +with us if we offer them six dollars a day." + +"We might offer them ten dollars," Harry said, "without hurting +ourselves; but we can say six dollars to begin with, and put some more +on afterwards." + +"There is old Mat Morgan," Jerry put in. "I don't know whether he is +about here now. I would trust him. He is getting old for prospecting +among the hills now, but he is as good a miner as ever swung a +sledge-hammer, and as straight as they make them." + +"Yes, he is a good man," Pete agreed. And after some talk they settled +upon three others, all of whom, Pete said, were either in the town or +would be coming in shortly. + +"Now, you stop here for a week or two, or a month if you like, Harry, +then you can go to Salt Lake City as you propose, and then go back to +Bridger. If as you pass through you send me five-and-twenty pounds of +that rock by express, it will make it easier for me to arrange the money +affair. When you get back you might crush the rest up and send me word +what it has panned out, then later on you can go down again to Salt Lake +City and buy the waggons and flour and bacon, and take them back to +Bridger. When March comes in, I will start from here with some waggons. +We want them to take the machinery, and powder and tools, and the tea +and coffee and things like that, of which we will make a list, on to +Bridger, with the four men we pick out, if I can get them all; if not, +some others in their place, and a score of young emigrants. I shall have +no difficulty in picking out sober, steady chaps, for in a place like +this I can find out about their habits before I engage them. However, +there will be plenty of time to settle all those points. Now, let us +hear all about your adventures. I have not heard about you since Tom +left, except that he wrote me a short letter from Bridger saying that +you had passed the winter up among the mountains by the Big Wind River. +That you had had troubles with the Indians, and hadn't been able to do +much trapping or looking for gold." + +"Well, we will tell it between us," Harry said, "for it is a long yarn." + +It was, indeed, past midnight before the story was all told. Long before +it was finished the two Indians had taken up their rugs and gone up to +their room, and although the other three had taken by turns to tell the +tale of their adventures, they were all hoarse with speaking by the time +they got through. Pete had often stopped them to ask question at various +points where the narrators had been inclined to cut the story short. + +"That beats all," he said, when they brought it to an end. "Only to +think that you have gone down the Grand Canon. I would not have minded +being with you when you were fighting the 'Rappahoes or the Utes, but I +would not try going down the canons for all the gold in California. +Well, look here, boys, I know that what you tell me is gospel truth, and +all the men who know you well, will believe every word you say, but I +would not tell the tale to strangers, for they would look on you as the +all-firedest liars in creation." + +"We have learnt that already, Pete," Harry laughed, "and we mean to keep +it to ourselves, at any rate till we have got the mine at work. People +may not believe the story of a man in a red shirt, and, mind you, I have +heard a good many powerful lies told round a miner's fire, but when it +is known we have got a wonderfully rich gold mine, I fancy it will be +different. The men would say, if fellows are sharp enough to find a +bonanza, it stands to reason they may be sharp enough to find their way +down a canon. Now, let us be off to bed, for the heat of the stove has +made me so sleepy that for the last hour I have hardly been able to keep +my eyes open, and have scarcely heard a word of what Jerry and Tom have +been saying." + +They only remained a few days at Denver. After the life they had been +leading they were very speedily tired of that of the town, and at the +end of a week they started on horseback, with a light waggon drawn by a +good team, to carry their stores for the journey and to serve as a +sleeping-place. There had been no question about the Indians +accompanying them, this was regarded as a matter of course. It was by no +means a pleasant journey. They had frequent snow-storms and biting +wind, and had sometimes to work for hours to get the waggon out of deep +snow, which had filled up gullies and converted them into traps. After a +stay of three days at Fort Bridger to rest the animals, they went on to +Utah, having forwarded the sample of quartz to Pete Hoskings. + +A fortnight was spent at Salt Lake City. Waggons, bullocks, and stores +were purchased, and Harry arranged with some teamsters to bring the +waggons out to Fort Bridger as soon as the snow cleared from the ground. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +A FORTUNE + + +On their return to Fort Bridger Harry and his companions pounded up the +quartz that had been left there, and found that its average equalled +that of the piece they had tried at the mine. The gold was packed in a +box and sent to Pete Hoskings. A letter came back in return from him, +saying that five of his friends had put in five thousand dollars each, +and that he should start with the stores and machinery as soon as the +track was clear of snow. The season was an early one, and in the middle +of April he arrived with four large waggons and twenty active-looking +young emigrants, and four miners, all of whom were known to Harry. There +was a good deal of talk at Bridger about the expedition, and many +offered to take service in it. But when Harry said that the lode they +were going to prospect was in the heart of the Ute country, and that he +himself had been twice attacked by the red-skins, the eagerness to +accompany him abated considerably. + +The fact, too, that it was a vein that would have to be worked by +machinery, was in itself sufficient to deter solitary miners from trying +to follow it up. Scarce a miner but had located a score of claims in +different parts of the country, and these being absolutely useless to +them, without capital to work them with, they would gladly have disposed +of them for a few dollars. It was not, therefore, worth while to risk a +perilous journey merely on the chance of being able to find another vein +in the neighbourhood of that worked by Harry and the men who had gone +into it with him. There was, however, some surprise among the old hands +when Pete Hoskings arrived with the waggons. + +"What! Have you cut the saloon, Pete, and are you going in for mining +again?" one of them said as he alighted from his horse. + +Pete gave a portentous wink. + +"I guess I know what I am doing, Joe Radley. I am looking after the +interests of a few speculators at Denver, who have an idea that they are +going to get rich all of a sudden. I was sick of the city, and it just +suited me to take a run and to get out of the place for a few months." + +"Do you think it is rich, Pete?" + +"One never can say," Hoskings replied with a grin. "We are not +greenhorns any of us, and we know there is no saying how things are +going to turn out. Straight Harry has had a run of bad luck for the last +two years, and I am glad to give him a shoulder up, you know. I reckon +he won't come badly off any way it turns out." + +It was not much, but it was quite enough to send a rumour round the fort +that Pete Hoskings had been puffing up a wild-cat mine in Denver for the +sake of getting Straight Harry appointed boss of the expedition to test +it. + +Everything was ready at Bridger, and they delayed but twenty-four hours +there. The teams had arrived from Salt Lake City with the stores a week +before, and the eight waggons set off together. Pete, the three +partners, the two Indians, and the four miners were all mounted. There +were eight other horses ridden by as many of the young fellows Pete had +brought with him, the rest walked on foot. They marched directly for the +mine, as with such a force it was not necessary to make a detour over +the bad lands. At the first halting-place some long cases Pete had +brought with him were opened, and a musket handed to each of the +emigrants, together with a packet of ammunition. + +"Now," Pete said, "if the Utes meddle with us we will give them fits. +But I reckon they will know better than to interfere with us." + +The rate of progress with the heavy waggons was necessarily very much +slower than that at which the party had travelled on their previous +journey, and it was not until the afternoon of the eighth day after +starting, that they came down into the valley. A halt was made at the +former camping-place in the grove of trees, and the next morning Pete +and the miners went up with Harry and his friends to choose a spot for +the fort, and to examine the lode. As soon as the earth was scraped away +from the spot from which the rock had been taken, exclamations of +astonishment broke from the miners. They had been told by Pete that +Harry had struck it rich, but all were astonished at the numerous +particles and flakes of gold that protruded from the rock. Pete had +forwarded early in the spring to Harry the list of the claimants to the +mine, and the latter and Tom had ridden over to Salt Lake City a few +days before the waggons came up from there to register the claims at the +mining-office, and the first step was to stake out these claims upon the +lode. + +"It doesn't run like this far," Harry said to the miners, "and I reckon +that beyond our ground it doesn't run above two ounces to the ton, so I +don't think it is worth while your taking up claims beyond. Of course, +you can do so if you like, and we will allow you an hour off every few +days during the season to work your claims enough to keep possession, +and of an evening you can do a bit of washing down below. You will find +it good-pay dirt everywhere. At least we did as far as we tried it." + +They now fixed on the site for the fort. It was upon the top of the +bank, some twenty yards above the lode, and it was settled there should +be a strong double palisade running down from it to the stream, so that +in case of siege they could fetch water without being exposed to the +bullets of an enemy taking post higher up the creek. Among the men from +Denver were two or three experienced carpenters, and a blacksmith, for +whose use a portable forge had been brought in the waggons. + +The party returned to breakfast, and as soon as this was over the teams +were put in and the waggons were brought up and unloaded, the stores +being protected from wet by the canvas that formed the tilts. Some of +the men accustomed to the use of the axe had been left in the valley to +fell trees, and as soon as the waggons were unloaded they were sent down +to bring up timber. All worked hard, and at the end of the week a +log-hut fifty feet long and twenty-five feet wide had been erected. The +walls were five feet high, and the roof was formed of the trunks of +young trees squared, and laid side by side. + +As rain fell seldom in that region it was not considered necessary to +place shingles over them, as this could, in case of need, be done later +on. The door opened out into the passage between the palisades down to +the water, and the windows were all placed on the same side, loopholes +being cut at short intervals round the other three sides. Another +fortnight completed the preparations for work. The stamps were erected, +with the water-wheel to work them; the stream dammed a hundred yards up, +and a leat constructed to bring the water down to the wheel. + +The waggons were formed up in a square. In this the horses were shut +every night, four of the men by turns keeping guard there. During the +last few days the miners had been at work blasting the quartz, and as +soon as the stamps and machinery were in position they were ready to +begin. The men were all told off to various duties, some to carry the +rock down to the stamps, others to break it up into convenient sizes; +two men fed the stamps, others attended to the concentrator and +blankets, supervised by Harry. It was the duty of some to take the +horses down to the valley and guard them while they were feeding, and +bring them back at night. Two men were to bake and cook, Pete Hoskings +taking this special department under his care. Jerry worked with the +miners, and Tom was his uncle's assistant. + +The stamps were to be kept going night and day, and each could crush a +ton in twenty-four hours. To their great satisfaction each of the men +was allowed one day a week to himself, during which he could prospect +for other lodes or wash gravel as he pleased. The old cradle was found +where it had been left, and as five of the men were off duty each day, +they formed themselves into gangs and worked the cradle by turns, adding +very considerably to the liberal pay they received. The two Indians +hunted, and seldom returned without game of some sort or other. As the +quicksilver in the concentrator was squeezed by Harry or Tom, and the +blankets washed by them, none but themselves knew what the returns were. +They and their partners were, however, more than satisfied with the +result, for although the lode was found to pinch in as they got lower, +it maintained for the first six weeks the extraordinary average of that +they had first crushed. + +At the end of that time the Indians reported that they had seen traces +of the Utes having visited the valley. The number of men who went down +with the horses was at once doubled, one or other of the Indians staying +down with them, preceding them in the morning by half an hour to see +that the valley was clear. A week later the horses were seen coming back +again a quarter of an hour after they had started. The men caught up +their guns, which were always placed handy for them while at work, and +ran out to meet the returning party. + +"What is it, Hunting Dog?" + +"A large war-party," the Indian replied. "Three hundred or more." + +The horses were driven into the inclosure, half the men took their +places among the waggons, and the others, clustered round the hut, +prepared to enter it as soon as the Indians made their appearance. + +The partners had already arranged what course to take if the Indians +should come down on them, and were for all reasons most anxious that +hostilities should if possible be avoided. + +Presently the Indians were seen approaching at a gallop. As soon as they +caught sight of the log-house and the inclosure of waggons they reined +in their horses. The men had been ordered to show themselves, and the +sight of some forty white men all armed with rifles brought the Indians +to a dead stand-still. + +Pete Hoskings went forward a little and waved a white cloth, and then +Harry and the chief, leaving their rifles behind them stepped up to his +side and held their arms aloft. There was a short consultation among the +Indians, and then two chiefs dismounted, handed their rifles and spears +to their men, and in turn advanced. Harry and Leaping Horse went forward +until they met the chiefs halfway between the two parties. Harry began +the conversation. + +"Why do my red brothers wish to fight?" he asked. "We are doing them no +harm. We are digging in the hills. Why should we not be friends?" + +"The white men killed many of the Utes when they were here last year," +one of the chiefs replied. "Why do they come upon the Utes' land?" + +"It was the fault of the Utes," Harry said. "The white men wished only +to work in peace. The Utes tried to take their scalps, and the white men +were forced against their will to fight. No one can be blamed for +defending his life. We wish for peace, but, as the Utes can see, we are +quite ready to defend ourselves. There are forty rifles loaded and +ready, and, as you may see, a strong house. We have no fear. Last time +we were but few, but the Utes found that it was not easy to kill us. Now +we are many, and how many of the Utes would die before they took our +scalps? Nevertheless we wish for peace. The land is the land of the +Utes, and although we are strong and could hold it if we chose, we do +not wish to take it by force from our red brothers. We are ready to pay +for the right to live and work quietly. Let the chiefs go back to their +friends and talk together, and say how many blankets and how many guns +and what weight of ammunition and tobacco they will be content with. +Then if they do not ask too much, the white men will, so long as they +remain here, pay that amount each year in order that they may live in +peace with the Utes." + +The two Indians glanced at each other. "My white brother is wise," one +said. "Why did he not tell the Utes so last year?" + +"Because you never gave us time, chief. If you had done so we would have +said the same to you then, and your young men would be with you now; but +you came as enemies upon us, and when the rifle is speaking the voice is +silent." + +"I will speak with my braves," the chief said gravely. And turning round +they walked back to their party, while Harry and the chief returned to +the huts. + +"What do you think, chief? Will it be peace?" + +Leaping Horse nodded. "Too many rifles," he said. "The Utes will know +they could never take block-house." + +It was nearly two hours before the two Utes advanced as before, and +Harry and the Seneca went out to meet them. + +"My white brother's words are good," the chief said. "The Utes are great +warriors, but they do not wish to fight against the white men who come +as friends. The chiefs have talked with their braves, and the hatchets +will be buried. This is what the Utes ask that the white men who have +taken their land shall pay them." + +Harry had arranged that the chief, who spoke the Ute language more +perfectly than he did, should take charge of the bargaining. On the list +being given Leaping Horse assumed an expression of stolid indifference. + +"The land must be very dear in the Ute country," he said. "Do my +brothers suppose that the white men are mad that they ask such terms? +Peace would be too dear if bought at such a price. They are willing to +deal liberally with the Utes, but not to give as much as would buy +twenty hills. They will give this." And he enumerated a list of +articles, amounting to about one quarter of the Indians' demands. + +The bargaining now went on in earnest, and finally it was settled that a +quantity of goods, amounting to about half the Indians' first demand, +should be accepted, and both parties returned to their friends well +satisfied. + +A certain amount of goods had been brought out with a view to such a +contingency, and half the amount claimed was handed over to the Utes. +They had, indeed, more than enough to satisfy the demands, but Leaping +Horse had suggested to Harry that only a portion should be given, as +otherwise the Indians might suppose that their wealth was boundless. It +would be better to promise to deliver the rest in three months' time. A +dozen of the principal men of the Utes came over. The goods were +examined and accepted, the calumet of peace was smoked and a solemn +covenant of friendship entered into, and by the next morning the Indians +had disappeared. + +One end of the hut had been partitioned off for the use of the leaders +of the party, and the gold obtained each day was carried by them there +and deposited in a strong iron box, of which several had been brought by +Pete Hoskings from Denver. + +The day after the Indians left, a waggon, was sent off under the escort +of eight mounted labourers to Bridger, and this continued to make the +journey backward and forward regularly with the boxes of gold, Jerry and +Pete Hoskings taking it by turns to command the escort. Harry and Pete +had had a talk with the officer in command at Bridger on the evening +before they had started on the expedition. + +"You think you are going to send in a large quantity of gold?" the +officer asked. + +"If the mines are such as we think, Major, we may be sending down two or +three hundredweight a month." + +"Of course, the gold will be perfectly safe as long as it is in the +fort, but if it gets known how much there is, you will want a strong +convoy to take it across to the railway, and it would not be safe even +then. Of course, the bulk is nothing. I should say at any rate you had +better get it in here with as little fuss as possible." + +"If you will keep it here for awhile," Pete said, "we will think over +afterwards how it is to be taken further." + +The officer nodded. "It mayn't turn out as difficult a business as you +think," he said with a smile. "You are both old hands enough to know +that mines very seldom turn out as rich as they are expected to do." + +"We both know that," Pete Hoskings agreed. "I dunno as I ever did hear +of a mine that turned out anything nigh as good as it ought to have done +from samples, but I reckon that this is going to be an exception." + +When within a few miles of the fort the escort always placed their +rifles in the waggon and rode on some distance ahead of it, only one or +two with their leader remaining by it. The boxes, which were of no great +size, were covered by a sack or two thrown down in the corner of the +waggon, and on its arrival in the fort it was taken first to the store, +where a considerable quantity of provisions, flour, molasses, bacon, tea +and sugar, currants and raisins, and other articles were purchased and +placed in it. This was the ostensible purpose of the journey to the +fort. Late in the evening Jerry or Pete, whichever happened to be the +leader, and one of the men, carried the boxes across to the Major's +quarters and stored them in a cellar beneath it. + +There was a real need of provisions at the mine, for the population of +the valley rapidly increased as the season went on. The upper part of +the bed of the stream had been staked out into claims, the miners and +other men each taking up one, but below them the ground was of course +open to all, and although not nearly so rich as the upper gravel it was +good enough to pay fairly for working. A stout palisading now surrounded +the ground taken up by the machinery and the mine itself, and no one +except those engaged by the company were allowed to enter here. +Considerable surprise was felt in the camp when the first two or three +miners came up and staked out claims on the stream. + +"I wonder how they could have heard of it," Tom said to his uncle. + +"The fact that we are remaining out here is enough to show that we are +doing something, anyhow. The men who go in are always strictly ordered +to say no word about what our luck is, but the mere fact that they hold +their tongues--and you may be sure they are questioned sharply--is +enough to excite curiosity, and these men have come to find out and see +what the country is like, and to prospect the hills round where we are +working. You will see a lot of them here before long." + +As more came up it was determined to open a store. In the first place it +furnished an explanation for the waggon going down so often, and in the +second the fact that they were ready to sell provisions at cost prices +would deter others from coming and setting up stores. There was no +liquor kept on the mine, and Pete and Harry were very anxious that no +places for its sale should be opened in the valley. + +During the winter and spring Tom had received several letters from his +sisters. They expressed themselves as very grateful for the money that +he and their uncle had sent on their return to Denver, but begged them +to send no more, as the school was flourishing and they were perfectly +able to meet all their expenses. "It is very good of you, Tom," Carry +said. "Of course, we are all very pleased to know that you have been +able to send the money, because it relieves our anxiety about you; but +we really don't want it, and it makes us afraid that you are stinting +yourself. Besides, even if you are not, it would be much better for you +to keep the money, as you may find some opportunity of using it to your +advantage, while here it would only lie in the bank and do no good. It +would be different if we had nothing to fall back upon in case of +anything happening, such as some of us getting ill, or our having a case +of fever in the school, or anything of that sort, but as we have only +used fifty pounds of mother's money we have plenty to go on with for a +very long time; so that really we would very much rather you did not +send us any over. Now that we know your address and can write to you at +Fort Bridger, it seems to bring you close to us. But we have had two +very anxious times; especially the first, when we did not hear of you +for six months. The second time was not so bad, as you had told us that +it might be a long time before we should hear, and we were prepared for +it, but I do hope it will never be so long again." + +There had been some discussion as to whether the mine should be shut +down in winter, but it was soon decided that work should go on +regularly. Six more stamps were ordered to be sent from the east, with a +steam-engine powerful enough to work the whole battery, and in September +this and other machinery had reached the mine. Fresh buildings had been +erected--a storehouse, a house for the officers, and a shed covering the +whole of the machinery and yard. By the time this was all ready and in +place the valley below was deserted, the gravel having been washed out +to the bed-rock. No other lodes of sufficient richness to work had been +discovered by the prospectors, and with winter at hand there was no +inducement for them to stay longer there. + +Only two or three of the men at the mine wished to leave when their +engagement for the season terminated. All had been well paid, and had in +addition made money at gold-washing. Their food had been excellent, and +their comforts attended to in all ways. Accordingly, with these +exceptions all were ready to renew their engagements. + +An arrangement was made with the Major at Fort Bridger for an escort +under a subaltern officer to proceed with two waggons with the treasure +to Denver. Pete Hoskings and Jerry were to remain as managers of the +mine throughout the winter. Harry and Tom had made up their minds to go +to England and to return in the spring. The ore was now very much poorer +than it had been at first. The lode had pinched out below and they had +worked some distance along it. The falling off, however, was only +relative; the mine was still an extraordinarily rich one, although it +contained little more than a tenth of the gold that had been extracted +from the first hundred and fifty tons crushed. + +None but Harry, Pete Hoskings, Jerry, and Tom had any idea of the amount +of gold extracted in less than six months, although the miners were well +aware that the amount must be very large. It was so indeed, for after +repaying the amount expended in preliminary expenses, together with the +new machinery, the wages of the men, provisions, and all outgoings, they +calculated the treasure sent down to be worth one hundred and +twenty-eight thousand pounds, while the mine if sold would fetch at +least double that sum. After a hearty farewell to Pete and Jerry, Harry +and Tom with the two Indians rode with the last waggon down to Bridger. +The iron boxes had all been sewn up in deer-skins when they were sent +down, and at night they were placed in the waggons by Harry and his +companions. Over them were placed the provisions for the journey, as it +was just as well that even the soldiers should not suspect the amount of +treasure they were escorting. + +They encountered some severe snow-storms by the way, but reached Denver +without incident. The place had wonderfully changed since Tom had +arrived there more than two years before. It had trebled in size; broad +streets and handsome houses had been erected, and the town had spread in +all directions. They drove straight to the bank, to which Pete Hoskings +had sent down a letter a fortnight before they had started, and the +boxes were taken out of the waggon and carried down into the vaults of +the bank. A handsome present was made to each of the soldiers of the +escort, a brace of revolvers was given by Harry to the subaltern, and +the handsomest watch and chain that could be purchased in Denver was +sent by him to the Major, with an inscription expressing the thanks of +the company to him for his kindness. + +"Well, Tom, I am thankful that that is off my mind," Harry said. "I have +had a good many troubles in the course of my life, but this is the first +time that money has ever been a care to me. Well, we are rich men, Tom, +and we shall be richer, for the mine will run another two or three years +before it finishes up the lode as far as we have traced it, and as we +have now filed claims for a quarter of a mile farther back, it may be +good for aught I know for another ten years. Not so good as it has been +this year, but good enough to give handsome profits. Have you calculated +what our share is?" + +"No, uncle. I know it must be a lot, but I have never thought about what +each share will be." + +"Well, to begin with, a third of it goes to Pete Hoskings and his +friends, that leaves eighty-five thousand. The remainder is divided into +seven shares; I was to have two, the Indians three between them, you +one, and Jerry one. His share is then about twelve thousand, which +leaves seventy-three thousand between you and me. Of course, we shall +divide equally." + +"No, indeed, uncle; that would be ridiculous. I have been of very little +use through it all, and I certainly ought not to have as much as Jerry. +You and the chief discovered it, and it was entirely owing to you that +any of the rest of us have a share of the profits, and of course your +arrangement with the two Indians is only because the chief is so fond of +you." + +"Partly that, Tom; but chiefly because it is in accordance with red-skin +customs. They are hunters, fighters, and guides, but they are not +miners, and they never go in for shares in an enterprise of this sort. +It went very much against the grain for Leaping Horse to take that three +or four hundred pounds that came to him at the end of the last +expedition, and he would be seriously offended if I were to press upon +him more than his ordinary payment now; he would say that he has been +simply hunting this year, that he has run no risks, and has had nothing +to do with the mine. To-morrow morning we will go out to see what there +is in the way of horse-flesh in Denver, and will buy him and Hunting Dog +the two best horses in the town, whatever they may cost, with saddles, +bridles, new blankets, and so on. If I can get anything special in the +way of rifles I shall get a couple of them, and if not I shall get them +in New York, and send them to him at Bridger. These are presents he +would value infinitely more than all the gold we have stowed away in the +bank to-day. He is going back to his tribe for the winter, and he and +Hunting Dog will be at the mine before us next spring." + +In the morning Harry was two hours at the bank, where he saw the gold +weighed out, and received a receipt for the value, which came to within +a hundred pounds of what they had calculated, as the dust had been very +carefully weighed each time it was sent off. In accordance with the +arrangement he had made with Pete Hoskings and Jerry the amount of their +respective shares was placed to their credit at the bank. Drawing a +thousand pounds in cash, he received a draft for the rest upon a firm at +New York, where he would be able to exchange it for one on London. He +then inquired at the hotel as to who was considered to possess the best +horses in the town, and as money was no object to him, he succeeded in +persuading the owners to sell two splendid animals; these with the +saddles were sent to the hotel. He then bought two finely finished +Sharpe's rifles of long range, and two brace of silver-mounted +revolvers. + +"Now, Tom," he said, "I shall give one of these outfits to the chief and +you give the other to Hunting Dog; he has been your special chum since +we started, and the presents will come better from you than from me. I +expect them here in half an hour; I told them I should be busy all the +morning." + +The two Indians were delighted with their presents, even the chief being +moved out of his usual impassive demeanour. "My white brothers are too +good. Leaping Horse knows that Straight Harry is his friend; he does not +want presents to show him that; but he will value them because he loves +his white brothers, even more than for themselves." As for Hunting Dog, +he was for a long time incredulous that the splendid horse, the rifle +and pistols could really be for him, and he was so exuberant in his +delight that it was not until Leaping Horse frowned at him severely that +he subsided into silent admiration of the gifts. + +"Here are papers, chief, that you and Hunting Dog had better keep: they +are the receipts for the two horses, and two forms that I have had +witnessed by a lawyer, saying that we have given you the horses in token +of our gratitude for the services that you have rendered; possibly you +may find them useful. You may fall in with rough fellows who may make a +pretence that the horses have been stolen. Oh, yes! I know that you can +hold your own; still, it may avoid trouble." + +They had now no further use for their horses, so these were sold for a +few pounds. They purchased a stock of clothes sufficient only for their +journey to England. + +"You may as well put your revolver in your pocket, Tom," Harry said as +they prepared to start the next day. "I have sewn up the draft in the +lining of my coat, but sometimes a train gets held up and robbed, and as +we have six hundred pounds in gold and notes in our wallets, I certainly +should not give it up without a fight." + +The Indians accompanied them to the station. "Now, chief, you take my +advice and look out for a nice wife before next spring. You are forty +now, and it is high time you thought of settling down." + +"Leaping Horse will think over it," the Seneca said gravely. "It may be +that in the spring he will have a wigwam in the valley." + +A few minutes later the train started east, and five days later they +reached New York. A steamer left the next day for England, and in this +they secured two first-class berths; and although Tom had managed very +well on his way out, he thoroughly enjoyed the vastly superior comfort +of the homeward trip. They went straight through to Southampton, for, as +Harry said, they could run up to London and get their clothes any day; +and he saw that Tom was in a fever of excitement to get home. Harriet +came to the door of the little house at Southsea when they knocked. She +looked surprised at seeing two gentlemen standing there. In the two +years and a half that had passed since Tom had left he had altered +greatly. He had gone through much toil and hardship, and the bronze of +the previous summer's sun was not yet off his cheeks; he had grown four +or five inches, and the man's work that he had been doing had made +almost a man of him. + +"Don't you know me, Harriet?" Tom said. + +The girl at once recognized the voice, and with a loud cry of delight +threw her arms round his neck. The cry brought Carry out from the +parlour. "Why, Harriet," she exclaimed, "have you gone mad?" + +"Don't you see it's Tom?" Harriet said, turning round, laughing and +crying together. + +"It is Tom, sure enough, Carry; you need not look so incredulous; and +this is Uncle Harry." + +There were a few minutes of wild joy, then they calmed down and +assembled in the sitting-room. + +"It is lucky the girls have all gone home to dinner," Carry said, "or +they would certainly have carried the news to their friends that we were +all mad. It is a half-holiday too, nothing could be more fortunate. Now +we want to hear everything. Tom's letters were so short and +unsatisfactory, uncle, that he told us next to nothing, except that you +had found a mine, and that you were both working there, and that it was +satisfactory." + +"Well, my dears, that is the pith of the thing," Harry said. "The first +thing for you to do is to send round notes to the mothers of these +children saying that from unforeseen circumstances you have retired from +the profession, and that the school has finally closed from this +afternoon." + +There was a general exclamation from the girls: + +"What do you mean, uncle?" + +"I mean what I say, girls. Tom and I have made our fortunes, and there +is no occasion for you to go on teaching any longer. We have not yet +made any plans for the future, but at any rate the first step is, that +there is to be no more teaching." + +"But are you quite, quite sure, uncle?" Carry said doubtfully. "We are +getting on very nicely now, and it would be a pity to lose the +connection." + +Harry and Tom both laughed. + +"Well, my girl," the former said, "that is of course a point to be +thought of. But as Tom and I have over thirty-five thousand pounds +apiece, and the mine will bring us in a good round sum for some years to +come, I think we can afford to run the risk of the connection going." + +After that it was a long while before they settled down to talk quietly +again. + +A week later they all went up to London for a month, while what Harry +called "outfits" were purchased for the girls, as well as for him and +Tom, and all the sights of London visited. Before their story came to an +end, the grand consultation as to future plans had been held, and a +handsome house purchased at Blackheath. + +Tom did not return to Utah in the spring; his uncle strongly advised him +not to do so. + +"I shall go back myself, Tom; partly because I should feel like a fish +out of water with nothing to do here, partly because I promised the +chief to go back for a bit every year. I am beginning to feel dull +already, and am looking forward to the trip across the water, but it +will certainly be better for you to stay at home. You left school early, +you see, and it would be a good thing for you to get a man to come and +read with you for two or three hours a day for the next year or two. We +have settled that the three younger girls are to go to school; and I +don't see why you, Carry, and Janet, should not go, in the first place, +for two or three months on to the Continent. They have had a dull life +since you have been away, and the trip will be a treat for them, and +perhaps do you some good also. It will be time enough to settle down to +reading when you come back." + +The mine returned large profits that year, the increased amount stamped +making up to some extent for the falling off in the value of the ore, +and the shares of the various proprietors were more than half what they +had been at the end of the first season's work. The third year it fell +off considerably. There was a further decrease the year after, and the +fifth year it barely paid its expenses, and it was decided to abandon +it. Harry Wade went over every season for many years, but spent only the +first at the mine. After that he went hunting expeditions with Leaping +Horse, who, to his amusement, had met him at his first return to the +mine with a pretty squaw, and Hunting Dog had also brought a wife with +him. Two wigwams were erected that year near the mine, but after that +they returned to their tribe, of which Leaping Horse became the leading +chief. + +Tom's sisters all in due time married, each being presented on her +wedding-day with a cheque for ten thousand pounds, as a joint present +from her uncle and brother. + +Tom himself did not remain a bachelor, but six years after his return to +England took a wife to himself, and the house at Blackheath was none too +large for his family. Harry Wade's home is with Tom, and he is still +hale and hearty. Up to the last few years he paid occasional visits to +America, and stayed for a while with his red brother Leaping Horse, when +they lamented together over the disappearance of game and the extinction +of the buffalo. Hunting Dog had, at Harry's urgent advice, settled down +in the ways of civilization, taking up a ranche and breeding cattle, of +which he now owns a large herd. Jerry Curtis and Pete Hoskings made a +journey together to Europe after the closing of the mine. They stayed +for a month at Blackheath, and ten years later Tom received a lawyer's +letter from Denver saying that Peter Hoskings was dead, and that he had +left his large house and other property in Denver to Mr. Thomas Wade's +children. Jerry still lives at the age of seventy-five in that city. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, IN THE HEART OF THE ROCKIES *** + +This file should be named 7htrk10.txt or 7htrk10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 7htrk11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 7htrk10a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: In The Heart Of The Rockies + +Author: G. A. Henty + +Release Date: August, 2005 [EBook #8670] +[This file was first posted on July 31, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, IN THE HEART OF THE ROCKIES *** + + + + +E-text prepared by Charles Franks, Michelle Shephard, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +IN THE HEART OF THE ROCKIES + +A STORY OF ADVENTURE IN COLORADO + +BY G. A. HENTY + + + + + + + +[Illustration: HUNTING DOG SAVES JERRY FROM THE RAPIDS.] + + + +PREFACE + + +MY DEAR LADS, + +Until comparatively lately that portion of the United States in which I +have laid this story was wholly unexplored. The marvellous caņons of the +Colorado River extend through a country absolutely bare and waterless, +and save the tales told by a few hunters or gold-seekers who, pressed by +Indians, made the descent of some of them, but little was known +regarding this region. It was not until 1869 that a thorough exploration +of the caņons was made by a government expedition under the command of +Major Powell. This expedition passed through the whole of the caņons, +from those high up on the Green River to the point where the Colorado +issues out on to the plains. Four years were occupied by the party in +making a detailed survey of the course of the main river and its +tributaries. These explorations took place some eight or nine years +after the date of my story. The country in which the Big Wind River has +its source, and the mountain chains contained in it, were almost unknown +until, after the completion of the railway to California, the United +States government was forced to send an expedition into it to punish the +Indians for their raids upon settlers in the plains. For details of the +geography and scenery I have relied upon the narrative of Mr. +Baillie-Grohman, who paid several visits to the country in 1878 and the +following years in quest of sport, and was the first white man to +penetrate the recesses of the higher mountains. At that time the Indians +had almost entirely deserted the country. For the details of the dangers +and difficulties of the passage through the caņons I am indebted to the +official report of Major Powell, published by the United States +government. + + + Yours sincerely, + + + G. A. HENTY. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAP. + + + I. TOM'S CHOICE + II. FINDING FRIENDS + III. ON THE PLAINS + IV. LEAPING HORSE + V. IN DANGER + VI. UNITED + VII. CHASED + VIII. IN SAFETY + IX. A BAD TIME + X. AN AVALANCHE + XI. WINTER + XII. THE SNOW FORT + XIII. A FRESH START + XIV. AN INDIAN ATTACK + XV. THE COLORADO + XVI. AFLOAT IN CANOES + XVII. THE GRAND CANON +XVIII. BACK TO DENVER + XIX. A FORTUNE + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +Hunting Dog Saves Jerry From The Rapids +Carry Reads Uncle Harry's Letter +Jerry Gives Tom A Lesson In Shooting +Leaping Horse Mounted, And Rode Across The Stream +A Moment Later The Indian Fell Forward On His Face +"There Is Another Avalanche, Keep Your Backs To The Wall, Boys" +They Went Out To Look At The Indian The Chief Had Shot +"No Good Fight Here," Said Leaping Horse. + + + + + +CHAPTER I + +TOM'S CHOICE + + +"I can be of no use here, Carry. What am I good for? Why, I could not +earn money enough to pay for my own food, even if we knew anyone who +would help me to get a clerkship. I am too young for it yet. I would +rather go before the mast than take a place in a shop. I am too young +even to enlist. I know just about as much as other boys at school, and I +certainly have no talent anyway, as far as I can see at present. I can +sail a boat, and I won the swimming prize a month ago, and the sergeant +who gives us lessons in single-stick and boxing says that he considers +me his best pupil with the gloves, but all these things put together +would not bring me in sixpence a week. I don't want to go away, and +nothing would induce me to do so if I could be of the slightest use to +you here. But can I be of any use? What is there for me to look forward +to if I stay? I am sure that you would be always worrying over me if I +did get some sort of situation that you would know father and mother +would not have liked to see me in, and would seem to offer no chance for +the future, whereas if I went out there it would not matter what I did, +and anything I earned I could send home to you." + +The speaker was a lad of sixteen. He and his sister, who was two years +his senior, were both dressed in deep mourning, and were sitting on a +bench near Southsea Castle looking across to Spithead, and the Isle of +Wight stretching away behind. They had three days before followed their +mother to the grave, and laid her beside their father, a lieutenant of +the navy, who had died two years before. This was the first time they +had left the house, where remained their four sisters--Janet, who came +between Carry and Tom; Blanche, who was fourteen; Lucie, twelve; and +Harriet, eight. Tom had proposed the walk. + +"Come out for some fresh air, Carry," he had said. "You have been shut +up for a month. Let us two go together;" and Carry had understood that +he wanted a talk alone with her. There was need, indeed, that they +should look the future in the face. Since Lieutenant Wade's death their +means had been very straitened. Their mother had received a small +pension as his widow, and on this, eked out by drafts reluctantly drawn +upon the thousand pounds she had brought him on her marriage, which had +been left untouched during his lifetime, they had lived since his death. +Two hundred pounds had been drawn from their little capital, and the +balance was all that now remained. It had long been arranged that Carry +and Janet should go out as governesses as soon as they each reached the +age of eighteen, but it was now clear that Carry must remain at home in +charge of the young ones. + +That morning the two girls had had a talk together, and had settled +that, as Janet was too young to take even the humblest place as a +governess, they would endeavour to open a little school, and so, for the +present at any rate, keep the home together. Carry could give music +lessons, for she was already an excellent pianist, having been well +taught by her mother, who was an accomplished performer, and Janet was +sufficiently advanced to teach young girls. She had communicated their +decision to Tom, who had heartily agreed with it. + +"The rent is only twenty pounds a year," he said, "and, as you say, the +eight hundred pounds bring in thirty-two pounds a year, which will pay +the rent and leave something over. If you don't get many pupils at first +it will help, and you can draw a little from the capital till the school +gets big enough to pay all your expenses. It is horrible to me that I +don't seem to be able to help, but at any rate I don't intend to remain +a drag upon you. If mother had only allowed me to go to sea after +father's death I should be off your hands now, and I might even have +been able to help a little. As it is, what is there for me to do here?" +And then he pointed out how hopeless the prospect seemed at Portsmouth. + +Carry was silent for a minute or two when he ceased speaking, and sat +looking out over the sea. + +"Certainly, we should not wish you to go into a shop, Tom, and what you +say about going into an office is also right enough. We have no sort of +interest, and the sort of clerkship you would be likely to get here +would not lead to anything. I know what you are thinking about--that +letter of Uncle Harry's; but you know that mother could not bear the +thought of it, and it would be dreadful for us if you were to go away." + +"I would not think of going, Carry, if I could see any chance of helping +you here, and I don't want to go as I did when the letter first came. It +seems such a cowardly thing to run away and leave all the burden upon +your shoulders, yours and Janet's, though I know it will be principally +on yours; but what else is there to do? It was not for my own sake that +I wanted before to go, but I did not see what there was for me to do +here even when I grew up. Still, as mother said it would break her heart +if I went away, of course there was an end of it for the time, though I +have always thought it would be something to fall back upon if, when I +got to eighteen or nineteen, nothing else turned up, which seemed to me +very likely would be the case. Certainly, if it came to a choice between +that and enlisting, I should choose that: and now it seems to me the +only thing to be done." + +"It is such a long way off, Tom," the girl said in a tone of deep pain; +"and you know when people get away so far they seem to forget those at +home and give up writing. We had not heard from uncle for ten years when +that letter came." + +"There would be no fear of my forgetting you, Carry. I would write to +you whenever I got a chance." + +"But even going out there does not seem to lead to anything, Tom. Uncle +has been away twenty-five years, and he does not seem to have made any +money at all." + +"Oh, but then he owned in his letter, Carry, that it was principally his +own fault. He said he had made a good sum several times at mining, and +chucked it away; but that next time he strikes a good thing he was +determined to keep what he made and to come home to live upon it. I +sha'n't chuck it away if I make it, but shall send every penny home that +I can spare." + +"But uncle will not expect you, Tom, mother refused so positively to let +you go. Perhaps he has gone away from the part of the country he wrote +from, and you may not be able to find him." + +"I shall be able to find him," Tom said confidently. "When that letter +went, I sent one of my own to him, and said that though mother would not +hear of my going now, I might come out to him when I got older if I +could get nothing to do here, and asked him to send me a few words +directed to the post-office telling me how I might find him. He wrote +back saying that if I called at the Empire Saloon at a small town called +Denver, in Colorado, I should be likely to hear whereabouts he was, and +that he would sometimes send a line there with instructions if he should +be long away." + +"I see you have set your mind on going, Tom," Carry said sadly. + +"No, I have not set my mind on it, Carry. I am perfectly ready to stop +here if you can see any way for me to earn money, but I cannot stop here +idle, eating and drinking, while you girls are working for us all." + +"If you were but three or four years older, Tom, I should not so much +mind, and though it would be a terrible blow to part with you, I do not +see that you could do anything better; but you are only sixteen." + +"Yes, but I am strong and big for my age; I am quite as strong as a good +many men. Of course I don't mean the boatmen and the dockyard maties, +but men who don't do hard work. Anyhow, there are lots of men who go out +to America who are no stronger than I am, and of course I shall get +stronger every month. I can walk thirty miles a day easy, and I have +never had a day's illness." + +"It is not your strength, Tom; I shall have no fears about your breaking +down; on the contrary, I should say that a life such as uncle wrote +about, must be wonderfully healthy. But you seem so young to make such a +long journey, and you may have to travel about in such rough places and +among such rough men before you can find Uncle Harry." + +"I expect that I shall get on a great deal easier than a man would," Tom +said confidently. "Fellows might play tricks with a grown-up fellow who +they see is a stranger and not up to things, and might get into quarrels +with him, but no one is likely to interfere with a boy. No, I don't +think that there is anything in that, Carry,--the only real difficulty +is in going away so far from you, and perhaps being away for a long +time." + +"Well, Tom," the girl said after another pause, "it seems very terrible, +but I own that I can see nothing better for you. There is no way that +you can earn money here, and I am sure we would rather think of you as +mining and hunting with uncle, than as sitting as a sort of boy-clerk in +some dark little office in London or Portsmouth. It is no worse than +going to sea anyhow, and after all you may, as uncle says, hit on a rich +mine and come back with a fortune. Let us be going home. I can hardly +bear to think of it now, but I will tell Janet, and will talk about it +again this evening after the little ones have gone to bed." + +Tom had the good sense to avoid any expression of satisfaction. He gave +Carry's hand a silent squeeze, and as they walked across the common +talked over their plans for setting to work to get pupils, and said no +word that would give her a hint of the excitement he felt at the thought +of the life of adventure in a wild country that lay before him. He had +in his blood a large share of the restless spirit of enterprise that has +been the main factor in making the Anglo-Saxons the dominant race of the +world. His father and his grandfather had both been officers in the +royal navy, and a great-uncle had commanded a merchantman that traded in +the Eastern seas, and had never come back from one of its voyages; there +had been little doubt that all on board had been massacred and the ship +burned by Malay pirates. His Uncle Harry had gone away when little more +than a boy to seek a fortune in America, and had, a few years after his +landing there, crossed the plains with one of the first parties that +started out at news of the discovery of gold in California. + +Tom himself had longed above all things to be a sailor. His father had +not sufficient interest to get him into the royal navy, but had intended +to obtain for him a berth as apprentice in the merchant service; but his +sudden death had cut that project short, and his mother, who had always +been opposed to it, would not hear of his going to sea. But the life +that now seemed open to him was in the boy's eyes even preferable to +that he had longed for. The excitement of voyages to India or China and +back was as nothing to that of a gold-seeker and hunter in the West, +where there were bears and Indians and all sorts of adventures to be +encountered. He soon calmed down, however, on reaching home. The empty +chair, the black dresses and pale faces of the girls, brought back in +its full force the sense of loss. + +In a short time he went up to his room, and sat there thinking it all +over again, and asking himself whether it was fair of him to leave his +sisters, and whether he was not acting selfishly in thus choosing his +own life. He had gone over this ground again and again in the last few +days, and he now came to the same conclusion, namely, that he could do +no better for the girls by stopping at home, and that he had not decided +upon accepting his uncle's invitation because the life was just what he +would have chosen, but because he could see nothing that offered equal +chances of his being able permanently to aid them at home. + +When he came downstairs again Carry said: + +"The others have gone out, Tom; you had better go round and see some of +your school-fellows. You look fagged and worn out. You cannot help me +here, and I shall go about my work more cheerfully if I know that you +are out and about." + +Tom nodded, put on his cap and went out; but he felt far too restless to +follow her advice and call on some of his friends, so he walked across +the common and lay down on the beach and went all over it again, until +at last he went off to sleep, and did not wake up until, glancing at his +watch, he found that it was time to return to tea. He felt fresher and +better for his rest, for indeed he had slept but little for the past +fortnight, and Carry nodded approvingly as she saw that his eyes were +brighter, and the lines of fatigue and sleeplessness less strongly +marked on his face. + +Two hours later, when the younger girls had gone to bed, Carry said: +"Now we will have a family council. I have told Janet about our talk, +Tom, and she is altogether on your side, and only regrets that she is +not a boy and able to go out with you. We need not go over the ground +again, we are quite agreed with you that there seems no prospect here of +your obtaining work such as we should like to see you at, or that would +lead to anything. There are only two things open to you, the one is to +go to sea, the other to go out to Uncle Harry. You are old to go as an +apprentice, but not too old, and that plan could be carried out; still, +we both think that the other is better. You would be almost as much +separated from us if you went to sea as you would be if you went out to +America. But before you quite decide I will read uncle's letter, which I +have found this afternoon among some other papers." + +She took out the letter and opened it. + +"'My dear Jack,--I am afraid it is a very long time since I wrote last; +I don't like to think how long. I have been intending to do so a score +of times, but you know I always hated writing, and I have been waiting +to tell you that I had hit upon something good at last. Even now I can +only tell you that I have been knocking about and getting older, but so +far I cannot say I have been getting richer. As I told you when I wrote +last I have several times made good hauls and struck it rich, but +somehow the money has always slipped through my fingers. Sometimes I +have put it into things that looked well enough but turned out +worthless; sometimes I have chucked it away in the fool's manner men do +here. I have just come back from a prospecting tour in the country of +the Utes, where I found two or three things that seemed good; one of +them first-rate, the best thing, I think, I have seen since I came out +here. + +"'Unfortunately I cannot do anything with them at present, for the Utes +are getting troublesome, and it would be as much as one's life is worth +to go back there with a small party; so that matter must rest for a bit, +and I must look out in another quarter until the Utes settle down again. +I am going to join a hunting party that starts for the mountains next +week. I have done pretty nearly as much hunting as mining since I came +out, and though there is no big pile to be made at it, it is a pretty +certain living. How are you all getting on? I hope some day to drop in +on your quiet quarters at Southsea with some big bags of gold-dust, and +to end my days in a nook by your fireside; which I know you will give +me, old fellow, with or without the gold bags. '" + +[Illustration: CARRY READS UNCLE HARRY'S LETTER.] + +"'I suppose your boy is thirteen or fourteen years old by this time. +That is too young for him to come out here, but if in two or three years +you don't see any opening for him at home, send him out to me, and I +will make a man of him; and even if he does not make a fortune in +gold-seeking, there are plenty of things a young fellow can turn his +hand to in this country with a good certainty of making his way, if he +is but steady. You may think that my example is not likely to be of much +benefit to him, but I should do for an object lesson, and seriously, +would do my very best to set him in a straight path. Anyhow, three or +four years' knocking about with me would enable him to cut his +eye-teeth, and hold his own in the world. At the end of that time he +could look round and see what line he would take up, and I need not say +that I would help him to the utmost of my power, and though I have not +done any good for myself I might do good for him. + +"'In the first place, I know pretty well every one in Colorado, Montana, +and Idaho; in the next place, in my wanderings I have come across a +score of bits of land in out-of-the-way places where a young fellow +could set up a ranche and breed cattle and horses and make a good thing +of it; or if he has a turn for mechanics, I could show him places where +he could set up saw-mills for lumber, with water-power all the year +round, and with markets not far away. Of course, he is too young yet, +but unless he is going to walk in your steps and turn sailor he might do +worse than come out to me in three or four years' time. Rough as the +life is, it is a man's life, and a week of it is worth more than a +year's quill-driving in an office. It is a pity your family have run to +girls, for if one boy had made up his mind for the sea you might have +spared me another.' + +"That is all. You know mother sent an answer saying that dear father had +gone, and that she should never be able to let you go so far away and +take up such a rough and dangerous life. However, Tom, as you wrote to +uncle, her refusal would not matter, and by his sending you instructions +how to find him, it is evident that he will not be surprised at your +turning up. In the first place, are you sure that you would prefer this +to the sea?" + +"Quite sure, Carry; I should like it much better. But the principal +thing is that I may soon be able to help you from there, while it would +be years before I should get pay enough at sea to enable me to do so." + +"Then that is settled, Tom. And now, I suppose," and her voice quivered +a little, "you will want to be off as soon as you can?" + +"I think so," Tom replied. "If I am to go, it seems to me the sooner I +go the better; there is nothing that I can do here, and we shall all be +restless and unsettled until I am off." + +Carry nodded. "I think you are right, Tom; we shall never be able to +settle to our work here when we are thinking of your going away. The +first thing to do will be to draw some money from the bank. There will +be your outfit to get and your passage to pay to America, and a supply +of money to take you out West, and keep you until you join uncle." + +"That is what I hate," Tom said gloomily. "It seems beastly that when I +want to help you I must begin by taking some of your money." + +"That can't be helped," Carry said cheerfully. "One must not grudge a +sprat to catch a whale, and besides it would cost ever so much more if +we had to apprentice you to the sea, and get your outfit. You will not +want many clothes now. You have enough for the voyage and journey, and I +should think it would be much better for you to get what you want out +there, when you will have uncle to advise what is necessary. I should +really think some flannel shirts and a rough suit for the voyage will be +the principal things." + +"I should think so, certainly," Tom agreed. "The less baggage one +travels with the better, for when I leave the railway I shall only want +what I can carry with me or pack on horses. Anything else would only be +a nuisance. As to a rough suit for the voyage, the clothes I had before +I put these on" (and he glanced at his black suit) "will do capitally. +Of course I shall go steerage. I can get out for four or five pounds +that way, and I shall be quite as well off as I should be as an +apprentice. I know I must have some money, but I won't take more than is +absolutely necessary. I am all right as far as I can see for everything, +except three or four flannel shirts. I don't see that another thing will +be required except a small trunk to hold them and the clothes I have on, +which I don't suppose I shall ever wear again, and a few other things. +You know I would only allow you to have this one black suit made. I was +thinking of this, and it would have been throwing away money to have got +more. Of course, I don't know what I shall want out there. I know it is +a long way to travel by rail, and I may have to keep myself for a month +before I find uncle. I should think five-and-twenty pounds when I land +would be enough for everything." + +"I shall draw fifty pounds," Carry said positively. "As you say, your +outfit will really cost nothing; ten pounds will pay for your journey to +Liverpool and your passage; that will leave you forty pounds in your +pocket when you land. That is the very least you could do with, for you +may find you will have to buy a horse, and though I believe they are +very cheap out there, I suppose you could not get one under ten pounds; +and then there would be the saddle and bridle and food for the journey, +and all sorts of things. I don't think forty pounds will be enough." + +"I won't have a penny more, anyhow," Tom said. "If I find a horse too +expensive I can tramp on foot." + +"And you must be sure not to get robbed," Janet said, breaking in for +the first time. "Just fancy your finding yourself without money in such +a place as that. I will make you a belt to wear under your things, with +pockets for the money." + +"I hope I should not be such a fool as that, Janet, but anyhow I will be +as careful as I can. I shall be very glad of the belt. One does not know +what the fellows might be up to, and I would certainly rather not have +my money loose in my pocket; but even if I were robbed I don't think it +would be as desperate as you think. I expect a boy could always find +something to do to earn his living, and I should try and work my way +along somehow, but as that would not be pleasant at all I shall take +good care of my money, you may be sure." + +For an hour they sat talking, and before the council broke up it was +agreed that they should look in the newspaper in the morning for a list +of vessels sailing for America, and should at once write and take a +passage. + +There was no time lost. Carry felt that it would be best for them all +that the parting should be got over as soon as possible. Letters were +written the next morning to two steamship companies and to the owners of +two sailing vessels asking the prices of steerage passages, agreeing +that if there was not much difference it would be better to save perhaps +a fortnight by taking the passage in a steamship. + +The replies showed that the difference was indeed trifling, and a week +after their receipt Tom Wade started from Portsmouth to Liverpool. Even +at the last moment he was half-inclined to change his plans, it seemed +so hard to leave his sisters alone; but Carry and Janet had both +convinced themselves that his scheme was the best, and would not hear of +his wavering now. They kept up a show of good spirits until the last, +talked confidently of the success of their own plans, and how they +should set about carrying them out as soon as they were free to act. The +younger girls, although implored by the elders not to give way to their +grief at the departure of their brother, were in a state of constant +tearfulness, and were in consequence frequently got rid of by being sent +on errands. Tom, too, took them out for hours every day, and by telling +them stories of the wild animals he should hunt, and the Indians he +should see, and of the stores of gold he should find hidden, generally +brought them home in a more cheerful state of mind. + +At last the parting was over, and after making heroic efforts to be +cheerful to the end, Tom waved a last adieu with his handkerchief to the +five weeping figures on the platform, and then threw himself back in his +seat and gave free vent to his own feelings. Two girls sitting beside +him sniggered at the sight of the strong-built young fellow giving way +to tears, but a motherly-looking woman opposite presently put her hand +on his knee. + +"Don't be ashamed of crying, my lad," she said. "I have got a son years +older than you, and we always have a good cry together every time he +starts on a long voyage. Are you going far? I suppose those are your +sisters? I see you are all in black. Lost someone dear to you, no doubt? +It comes to us all, my boy, sooner or later." + +"I am going to America," Tom replied, "and may not be back for years. +Yes, those are my sisters, and what upsets me most is that I have to +leave them all alone, for we have lost both our parents." + +"Dear, dear, that is sad indeed! No wonder you are all upset. Well, +well, America is not so very far away--only a ten days' voyage by +steamer, they tell me, and my boy is away in a sailing ship. He is in +China, I reckon, now; he sailed five months ago, and did not expect to +be home under a year. I worry about him sometimes, but I know it is of +no use doing that. The last thing he said when I bade good-bye to him +was, 'Keep up your spirits, mother'; and I try to do so." + +The old lady went on talking about her son, and Tom, listening to her +kindly attempts to draw him out of his own troubles, grew interested, +and by the time they reached Winchester, where she left the train, he +had shaken off his first depression. It was a long journey with several +changes, and he did not arrive in Liverpool until six o'clock in the +evening, having been nearly twelve hours on the road. Carry's last +injunction had been, "Take a cab when you get to Liverpool, Tom, and +drive straight down to the docks. Liverpool is a large place, and you +might get directed wrong. I shall be more comfortable if I know that, at +any rate, you will go straight on board." + +Tom had thought it an unnecessary expense, but as he saw that Carry +would be more comfortable about him if he followed her advice, he +promised to do so, and was not sorry for it as he drove through the +streets; for, in spite of cutting down everything that seemed +unnecessary for the voyage and subsequent journey, the portmanteau was +too heavy to carry far with comfort, and although prepared to rough it +to any extent when he had once left England, he felt that he should not +like to make his way along the crowded streets with his trunk on his +shoulder. + +The cabman had no difficulty in finding the _Parthia_, which was still +in the basin. Tom was, however, only just in time to get on board, for +the men were already throwing off the warps, and ten minutes later she +passed out through the dock-gates, and soon anchored in the middle of +the river. Tom had been on board too many ships at Portsmouth to feel +any of that bewilderment common to emigrants starting on their first +voyage. He saw that at present everyone was too busy to attend to him, +and so he put his portmanteau down by the bulwark forward, and leaning +on the rail watched the process of warping the ship out of the docks. +There were a good many steerage passengers forward, but at present the +after-part of the ship was entirely deserted, as the cabin passengers +would not come on board until either late at night or early next +morning. When the anchor had been let drop he took up his trunk and +asked a sailor where he ought to go to. + +"Show me your ticket. Ah! single man's quarters, right forward." + +There he met a steward, who, after looking at his ticket, said: "You +will see the bunks down there, and can take any one that is unoccupied. +I should advise you to put your trunk into it, and keep the lid shut. +People come and go in the morning, and you might find that your things +had gone too. It would be just as well for you to keep it locked through +the voyage. I see that you have got a cord round it. Keep it corded; the +more things there are to unfasten to get at the contents the less chance +there is of anyone attempting it." + +The place was crowded with berths, mere shallow trays, each containing a +straw mattress and pillow and two coloured blankets. They were in three +tiers, one above the other, and were arranged in lines three deep, with +a narrow passage between. He saw by the number into which bags and +packets had been thrown that the upper berths were the favourites, but +he concluded that the lower tiers were preferable. "It will be +frightfully hot and stuffy here," he said to himself, "and I should say +the lower berths will be cooler than the upper." He therefore placed his +trunk in one of those next to the central passage and near the door, and +then went up on deck. + +The _Parthia_ was a Cunarder, and although not equal in size to the +great ships of the present day, was a very fine vessel. The fare had +been somewhat higher than that for which he could have had a passage in +a sailing ship, but in addition to his saving time, there was the +advantage that on board the steamers, passengers were not obliged to +provide their own bedding, as they had to do in sailing vessels, and +also the food was cooked for them in the ship's galleys. + +The first meal was served soon after the anchor dropped, and consisted +of a bowl of cocoa and a large piece of bread. Half an hour later a +tender came alongside with the last batch of steerage passengers, and +Tom was interested in watching the various groups as they came on +board--men, women, and children. + +"Well," he said to himself, "I do think I am better fitted to make my +way out there than most of these people are, for they look as helpless +and confused as a flock of sheep. I pity those women with children. It +will be pretty crowded in our quarters, but there is a chance of getting +a fair night's sleep, while in a place crowded with babies and children +it would be awful." + +Being a kind-hearted lad he at once set to work to help as far as he +could, volunteering to carry children down below, and to help with boxes +and bundles. + +In many cases his assistance was thankfully accepted, but in some it was +sharply refused, the people's manner clearly showing their suspicions of +his motive. He was not surprised at this after all the warnings Carry +had given him against putting any confidence in strangers, but was +satisfied, after an hour's hard work, that he had rendered things +somewhat easier for many a worried and anxious woman. It was getting +dusk even on deck by the time he had finished. + +"Thank you, lad," a man, who went up the companion ladder with him, said +as they stepped on to the deck. "You have done my missis a good turn by +taking care of those three young ones while we straightened up a bit, +and I saw you helping others too. You are the right sort, I can see. +There ain't many young chaps as puts themselves out of the way to do a +bit of kindness like that. My name is Bill Brown; what is yours?" + +"Tom Wade. I had nothing to do, and was glad to be of a little help. +People who have never been on board ship before naturally feel confused +in such a crowd." + +"Have you been to sea?" + +"Not on a voyage, but I have lived at Portsmouth and have often been on +board troopships and men-of-war, so it does not seem so strange to me." + +"Are you by yourself, or have you friends with you?" + +"I am alone," Tom replied. "I am going out to join an uncle in the +States." + +"I have been across before," the man said. "I am a carpenter, and have +worked out there six months, and came home six weeks back to fetch the +others over. I have got a place, where I was working before, to go to as +soon as I land. It makes a lot of difference to a man." + +"It does indeed," Tom agreed. "I know if I were going out without any +fixed object beyond taking the first work that came to hand, I should +not feel so easy and comfortable about it as I do now." + +"I have got two or three of my mates on board who are going out on my +report of the place, and three families from my wife's village. She and +the youngsters have been staying with her old folk while I was away. So +we are a biggish party, and if you want anything done on the voyage you +have only got to say the word to me." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +FINDING FRIENDS + + +The weather was fine, and Tom Wade found the voyage more pleasant than +he had expected. The port-holes were kept open all the way, and the +crowded quarters were less uncomfortable than would have been the case +had they encountered rough weather. There were some very rough spirits +among the party forward, but the great majority were quiet men, and +after the first night all talking and larking were sternly repressed +after the lights were out. The food was abundant, and although some +grumbled at the meat there was no real cause of complaint. A rope across +the deck divided the steerage passengers from those aft, and as there +were not much more than one-half the emigrants aboard that the _Parthia_ +could carry, there was plenty of room on deck. + +But few of the passengers suffered from sea-sickness, and the women sat +and chatted and sewed in little groups while the children played about, +and the men walked up and down or gathered forward and smoked, while a +few who had provided themselves with newspapers or books sat in quiet +corners and read. Tom was one of these, for he had picked up a few books +on the United States at second-hand bookstalls at Portsmouth, and this +prevented him from finding the voyage monotonous. When indisposed to +read he chatted with Brown the carpenter and his mates, and sometimes +getting a party of children round him and telling them stories gathered +from the books now standing on the shelves in his room at Southsea. He +was glad, however, when the voyage was over; not because he was tired of +it, but because he was longing to be on his way west. Before leaving the +ship he took a very hearty farewell of his companions on the voyage, and +on landing was detained but a few minutes at the custom-house, and then +entering an omnibus that was in waiting at the gate, was driven straight +to the station of one of the western lines of railway. + +From the information he had got up before sailing he had learnt that +there were several of these, but that there was very little difference +either in their speed or rates of fare, and that their through-rates to +Denver were practically the same. He had therefore fixed on the Chicago +and Little Rock line, not because its advantages were greater, but in +order to be able to go straight from the steamer to the station without +having to make up his mind between the competing lines. He found on +arrival that the emigrant trains ran to Omaha, where all the lines met, +and that beyond that he must proceed by the regular trains. An emigrant +train was to leave that evening at six o'clock. + +"The train will be made up about four," a good-natured official said to +him, "and you had best be here by that time so as to get a corner seat, +for I can tell you that makes all the difference on a journey like this. +If you like to take your ticket at once you can register that trunk of +yours straight on to Denver, and then you won't have any more trouble +about it." + +"Of course we stop to take our meals on the way?" + +"Yes; but if you take my advice you will do as most of them do, get a +big basket and lay in a stock of bread and cooked meat, cheese, and +anything you fancy, then you will only have to go out and get a cup of +tea at the stopping-places. It comes a good bit cheaper, and you get +done before those who take their meals, and can slip back into the cars +again quick and keep your corner seat. There ain't much ceremony in +emigrant trains, and it is first come first served." + +"How long shall we be in getting to Denver?" + +"It will be fully a week, but there ain't any saying to a day. The +emigrant trains just jog along as they can between the freight trains +and the fast ones, and get shunted off a bit to let the expresses pass +them." + +Thanking the official for his advice, Tom took his ticket, registered +his trunk, and then went out and strolled about the streets of New York +until three o'clock. He took the advice as to provisions, and getting a +small hamper laid in a stock of food sufficient for three or four days. +The platform from which the train was to start was already occupied by a +considerable number of emigrants, but when the train came up he was able +to secure a corner seat. The cars were all packed with their full +complement of passengers. They were open from end to end, with a passage +down the middle. Other cars were added as the train filled up, but not +until all the places were already occupied. The majority of the +passengers were men, but there were a considerable number of women, and +still more children; and Tom congratulated himself on learning from the +conversation of those around him that a good many were not going beyond +Chicago, and that almost all would leave the train at stations between +that place and Omaha. + +The journey to Chicago was the most unpleasant experience Tom had ever +gone through. The heat, the dust, and the close confinement seemed to +tell on the tempers of everyone. The children fidgeted perpetually, the +little ones and the babies cried, the women scolded, and the men +grumbled and occasionally quarrelled. It was even worse at night than +during the day; the children indeed were quieter, for they lay on the +floor of the passage and slept in comparative comfort, but for the men +and women there was no change of position, no possibility of rest. The +backs of the seats were low, and except for the fortunate ones by the +windows there was no rest for the head; but all took uneasy naps with +their chins leaning forward on their chest, or sometimes with their +heads resting on their neighbour's shoulder. Tom did not retain his +corner seat, but resigned it a few hours after starting to a weary woman +with a baby in her arms who sat next to him. He himself, strong as he +was, felt utterly worn out by the fatigue and sleeplessness. + +Beyond Chicago there was somewhat more room, and it was possible to make +a change of position. Beyond Omaha it was much better; the train was +considerably faster and the number of passengers comparatively few. He +now generally got a seat to himself and could put his feet up. The +people were also, for the most part, acquainted with the country, and he +was able to learn a good deal from their conversation. There were but +few women or children among them, for except near the stations of the +railway, settlements were very rare; and the men were for the most part +either miners, ranchemen, or mechanics, going to the rising town of +Denver, or bound on the long journey across the plains to Utah or +California. It was on the eighth day after starting that Denver was +reached. + +Before leaving the ship Tom had put on his working clothes and a flannel +shirt, and had disposed of his black suit, for a small sum, to a +fellow-passenger who intended to remain at New York. This had somewhat +lightened his portmanteau, but he was glad when he found that there were +vehicles at the station to convey passengers up the hill to Denver, +which was some three miles away, and many hundred feet above it. He was +too tired to set about finding the Empire Saloon, but put up at the +hotel at which the omnibus stopped, took a bath and a hearty meal, and +then went straight to bed. + +After breakfast the next morning he at once set out. He had no +difficulty in finding the whereabouts of the Empire Saloon, which he +learned from the clerk of the hotel was a small place frequented almost +entirely by miners. Its appearance was not prepossessing. It had been +built in the earliest days of Denver, and was a rough erection. The +saloon was low, its bare rafters were darkly coloured by smoke, a number +of small tables stood on the sanded floor, and across the farther end of +the room ran a bar. On shelves behind this stood a number of black +bottles, and a man in his shirt sleeves was engaged in washing up +glasses. Two or three rough-looking men in coloured flannel shirts, with +the bottoms of their trousers tucked into high boots, were seated at the +tables smoking and drinking. + +"I am expecting a letter for me here," Tom said to the man behind the +bar. "My name is Wade." + +"The boss is out now," the man said. "He will be here in an hour or so. +If there is anything for you he will know about it." + +"Thank you. I will come again in an hour," Tom replied. The man nodded +shortly, and went on with his work. When Tom returned, the bar-tender +said to a man who was sitting at one of the tables talking to the +miners, "This is the chap I told you of as was here about the letter." + +"Sit right down," the man said to Tom, "I will talk with you presently;" +and he continued his conversation in a low tone with the miners. It was +nearly half an hour before he concluded it. Then he rose, walked across +the room to Tom, and held out his hand. + +"Shake, young fellow," he said; "that is, if you are the chap Straight +Harry told me might turn up here some day." + +"I expect I am the fellow," Tom said with a smile. "My uncle's name is +Harry Wade." + +"Yes, that is his name; although he is always called Straight Harry. +Yes, I have got a letter for you. Come along with me." He led the way +into a small room behind the saloon, that served at once as his bed-room +and office, and motioned to Tom to sit down on the only chair; then +going to a cupboard he took out a tin canister, and opening it shook out +half a dozen letters on to the table. + +"That is yourn," he said, picking one out. + +It was directed to Tom, and contained but a few lines. "_If you come I +have gone west. Pete Hoskings will tell you all he knows about me and +put you on the line. Your affectionate uncle._" + +"Are you Mr. Hoskings?" he asked the landlord. + +"I am Pete Hoskings," the man said. "There ain't been no Mister to my +name as ever I can remember." + +"My uncle tells me that you will be able to direct me to him, and will +put me on the line." + +"It would take a darn sight cuter fellow than I am to direct you to him +at present," the man said with a laugh. "Straight Harry went away from +here three months ago, and he might be just anywhere now. He may be +grubbing away in a mine, he may be hunting and trapping, or he may have +been wiped out by the Indians. I know where he intended to go, at least +in a general sort of way. He did tell me he meant to stay about there, +and it may be he has done so. He said if he moved away and got a chance +he would send me word; but as there ain't nairy a post-office within +about five hundred miles of where he is, his only chance of sending a +letter would be by a hunter who chanced to be going down to the +settlements, and who, like enough, would put it into his hunting-shirt +and never give it another thought. So whether he has stayed there or not +is more nor I can say." + +"And where is _there?_" Tom asked. "It is among the hills to the west +of the Colorado River, which ain't much, seeing as the Colorado is about +two thousand miles long. However, I can put you closer than that, for he +showed me on a map the bit of country he intended to work. He said he +would be back here in six months from the time he started; and that if +you turned up here I was either to tell you the best way of getting +there, or to keep you here until he came back. Well, I may say at once +that there ain't no best way; there is only one way, and that is to get +on a pony and ride there, and a mighty bad way it is. The only thing for +you to do is to keep on west along the caravan tract. You have to cross +the Green River,--that is the name of the Colorado on its upper course. +Fort Bridger is the place for you to start from, but you have got to +wait there until you sight some one or other bound south; for as to +going by yourself, it would be a sight better to save yourself all +trouble by putting that Colt hanging there to your head, and pulling the +trigger. It is a bad country, and it is full of bad Indians, and there +ain't many, even of the oldest hands, who care to risk their lives by +going where Straight Harry has gone. + +"I did all I could to keep him from it; but he is just as obstinate as a +mule when he has made up his mind to a thing. I know him well, for we +worked as mates for over a year down on the Yuba in California. We made +a good pile, and as I had got a wife and wanted to settle I came back +east. This place had a couple of dozen houses then; but I saw it was +likely to boom, so I settled down and set up this saloon and sent for my +wife to come west to me. If she had lived I should have been in a sight +bigger place by this time; but she died six months after she got here, +and then I did not care a continental one way or the other; and I like +better to stop here, where I meet my old mates and can do as I like, +than to run a big hotel. It ain't much to look at, but it suits me, and +I am content to know that I could buy up the biggest place here if I had +a fancy to. I don't take much money now, but I did when the place was +young; and I bought a few lots of land, and you may bet they have turned +out worth having. Well, don't you act rashly in this business. Another +three months your uncle will turn up, if he is alive; and if he don't +turn up at all I dare say I can put you into a soft thing. If you go on +it is about ten to one you get scalped before you find him. Where are +you staying?" + +"At the Grand. The omnibus stopped there last night." + +"Well, you stay there for a week and think it over. You have got to +learn about the country west of the Colorado. You had best come here to +do that. You might stay a month at the Grand and not find a soul who +could tell you anything worth knowing, but there ain't a day when you +couldn't meet men here who have either been there themselves or have +heard tell of it from men who have." + +"Are the natives friendly now?" Tom asked. "In a letter he wrote two +years ago to us, my uncle said that he should put off going to a part of +the country he wanted to prospect until the Indians were quiet." + +"The darned critters are never either friendly or quiet. A red-skin is +pizen, take him when you will. The only difference is, that sometimes +they go on the war-path and sometimes they don't; but you may bet that +they are always ready to take a white man's scalp if they get a chance." + +"Well, I am very much obliged to you for your advice, which I will +certainly take; that is, I will not decide for a few days, and will come +in here and talk to the miners and learn what I can about it." + +"You can hear at once," the landlord said. He stepped back into the +saloon, and said to the two men with whom he had been talking: "Boys, +this young chap is a Britisher, and he has come out all the way to join +Straight Harry, who is an uncle of his. Straight Harry is with Ben +Gulston and Sam Hicks, and they are prospecting somewhere west of the +Colorado. He wants to join them. Now, what do you reckon his chances +would be of finding them out and dropping in on their campfire?" + +The men looked at Tom with open eyes. + +"Waal," one of them drawled, "I should reckon you would have just about +the same chance of getting to the North Pole if you started off on foot, +as you would of getting to Straight Harry with your hair on." + +Tom laughed. "That is not cheering," he said. + +"It ain't. I don't say as an old hand on the plains might not manage it. +He would know the sort of place Harry and his mates would be likely to +be prospecting, he would know the ways of the red-skins and how to +travel among them without ever leaving a trail or making a smoke, but +even for him it would be risky work, and not many fellows would care to +take the chances even if they knew the country well. But for a +tenderfoot to start out on such a job would be downright foolishness. +There are about six points wanted in a man for such a journey. He has +got to be as hard and tough as leather, to be able to go for days +without food or drink, to know the country well, to sleep when he does +sleep with his ears open, to be up to every red skin trick, to be able +to shoot straight enough to hit a man plumb centre at three hundred +yards at least, and to hit a dollar at twenty yards sartin with his +six-shooter. If you feel as you have got all them qualifications you can +start off as soon as you like, and the chances aren't more'n twenty to +one agin your finding him." + +"I haven't anyone of them," Tom said. + +"Waal, it is something if you know that, young chap. It is not every +tenderfoot who would own up as much. You stick to it that you don't know +anything, and at the same time do your best to learn something, and you +will do in time. You look a clean-built young chap, and you could not +have a better teacher than Straight Harry. What he don't know, whether +it is about prospecting for gold or hunting for beasts, ain't worth +knowing, you bet. What is your name, mate?" + +"Tom Wade." + +"Waal, let us drink. It ain't like you, Pete, to keep a stranger dry as +long as you have been doing." + +"He ain't up to our customs yet," the landlord said, as he moved off +towards the bar. + +"It is a custom everywhere," the miner said reprovingly, "for folks to +stand drink to a stranger; and good Bourbon hurts no man." + +The landlord placed a bottle and four glasses on the counter. Each of +the miners filled his glass for himself, and the bottle was then handed +to Tom, who followed their example, as did Hoskings. + +"Here is luck to you," the miner said, as he lifted his glass. Three +glasses were set down empty, but Tom had to stop half-way with his to +cough violently. + +"It is strong stuff," he said apologetically, "and I never drank spirits +without water before. I had a glass of grog-and-water on board a ship +sometimes, but it has always been at least two parts of water to one of +spirits." + +"We mostly drink our liquor straight out here," the miner said. "But I +am not saying it is the best way, especially for one who ain't used to +it, but you have got to learn to do it if you are going to live long in +this country." + +"Standing drinks round is a custom here," Pete Hoskings explained, +seeing that Tom looked a little puzzled, "and there ain't no worse +insult than to refuse to drink with a man. There have been scores of men +shot, ay, and hundreds, for doing so. I don't say that you may not put +water in, but if you refuse to drink you had best do it with your hand +on the butt of your gun, for you will want to get it out quick, I can +tell you." + +"There is one advantage in such a custom anyhow," Tom said, "it will +keep anyone who does not want to drink from entering a saloon at all." + +"That is so, lad," Pete Hoskings said heartily. "I keep a saloon, and +have made money by it, but for all that I say to every young fellow who +hopes to make his way some time, keep out of them altogether. In country +places you must go to a saloon to get a square meal, but everyone drinks +tea or coffee with their food, and there is no call to stay in the place +a minute after you have finished. Calling for drinks round has been the +ruin of many a good man; one calls first, then another calls, and no one +likes to stand out of it, and though you may only have gone in for one +glass, you may find you will have to drink a dozen before you get out." + +"Why, you are a downright temperance preacher, Pete," one of the miners +laughed. + +"I don't preach to a seasoned old hoss like you, Jerry. I keep my +preaching for those who may benefit by it, such as the youngster here; +but I say to him and to those like him, you keep out of saloons. If you +don't do that, you will find yourself no forwarder when you are fifty +than you are now, while there are plenty of openings all over the +country for any bright young fellow who will keep away from liquor." + +"Thank you," Tom said warmly; "I will follow your advice, which will be +easy enough. Beyond a glass of beer with my dinner and a tot of grog, +perhaps once in three months when I have gone on board a ship, and did +not like to say no, I have never touched it, and have no wish to do so." + +"Stick to that, lad; stick to that. You will find many temptations, but +you set your face hard against them, and except when you come upon a +hard man bent on kicking up a muss, you will find folks will think none +the worse of you when you say to them straight, 'I am much obliged to +you all the same, but I never touch liquor.'" + +Tom remained four days at the hotel, spending a good deal of his time at +the saloon, where he met many miners, all of whom endorsed what the +first he had spoken to had said respecting the country, and the +impossibility of anyone but an old hand among the mountains making his +way there. + +On the fourth evening he said to Pete Hoskings: "I see that your advice +was good, and that it would be madness for me to attempt to go by +myself, but I don't see why I should not ride to Fort Bridger; not of +course by myself, but with one of the caravans going west. It would be a +great deal better for me to do that and to learn something of the plains +and camping than to stay here for perhaps three months. At Fort Bridger +I shall be able to learn more about the country, and might join some +hunting party and gain experience that way. I might find other +prospectors going up among the hills, and even if it were not near where +my uncle is to be found, I should gain by learning something, and should +not be quite a greenhorn when I join him." + +"Well, that is sensible enough," Pete Hoskings said, "and I don't know +as I can say anything against it. You certainly would not be doing any +good for yourself here, and I don't say that either an hotel or a saloon +is the best place for you. I will think it over, and will let you know +when you come round in the morning; maybe I can put you a little in the +way of carrying it out." + +The next morning when Tom went to the saloon, Jerry Curtis, one of the +miners he had first met there, was sitting chatting with Pete Hoskings. + +"I had Jerry in my thoughts when I spoke to you last night, Tom," the +latter said. "I knew he was just starting west again, and thought I +would put the matter to him. He says he has no objection to your +travelling with him as far as Fort Bridger, where maybe he will make a +stay himself. There ain't no one as knows the plains much better than he +does, and he can put you up to more in the course of a month than you +would learn in a year just travelling with a caravan with farmers bound +west" + +"I should be very much obliged indeed," Tom said delightedly. "It would +be awfully good of you, Jerry, and I won't be more trouble than I can +help." + +"I don't reckon you will be any trouble at all" the miner said. "I was +never set much on travelling alone as some men are. I ain't much of a +talker, but I ain't fond of going two or three months without opening my +mouth except to put food and drink into it. So if you think you will +like it I shall be glad enough to take you. I know Straight Harry well, +and I can see you are teachable, and not set upon your own opinions as +many young fellows I have met out here are, but ready to allow that +there are some things as men who have been at them all their lives may +know a little more about than they do. So you may take it that it is a +bargain. Now, what have you got in the way of outfit?" + +"I have not got anything beyond flannel shirts, and rough clothes like +these." + +"They are good enough as far as they go. Two flannel shirts, one on and +one off, is enough for any man. Two or three pairs of thick stockings. +Them as is very particular can carry an extra pair of breeches in case +of getting caught in a storm, though for myself I think it is just as +well to let your things dry on you. You want a pair of high boots, a +buffalo robe, and a couple of blankets, one with a hole cut in the +middle to put your head through; that does as a cloak, and is like what +the Mexicans call a poncho. You don't want a coat or waistcoat; there +ain't no good in them. All you want to carry you can put in your +saddle-bag. Get a pair of the best blankets you can find. I will go with +you and choose them for you. You want a thing that will keep you warm +when you sleep, and shoot off the rain in bad weather. Common blankets +are no better than a sponge. + +"Then, of course, you must have a six-shooter and a rifle. No man in his +senses would start across the plains without them. It is true there +ain't much fear of red-skins between here and Bridger, but there is +never any saying when the varmint may be about. Can you shoot?" + +"No; I never fired off a rifle or a pistol in my life." + +"Well, you had better take a good stock of powder and ball, and you can +practise a bit as you go along. A man ain't any use out on these plains +if he cannot shoot. I have got a pony; but you must buy one, and a +saddle, and fixings. We will buy another between us to carry our swag. +But you need not trouble about the things, I will get all that fixed." + +"Thank you very much. How much do you suppose it will all come to?" + +"Never you mind what it comes to," Pete Hoskings said roughly. "I told +your uncle that if you turned up I would see you through. What you have +got to get I shall pay for, and when Straight Harry turns up we shall +square it. If he don't turn up at all, there is no harm done. This is my +business, and you have got nothing to do with it." + +Tom saw that he should offend Hoskings if he made any demur, and the +kind offer was really a relief to him. He had thirty pounds still in his +belt, but he had made a mental calculation of the cost of the things +Jerry had considered essential, and found that the cost of a horse and +saddle, of half another horse, of the rifle, six-shooter ammunition, +blankets, boots, and provisions for the journey, must certainly amount +up to more than that sum, and would leave him without any funds to live +on till he met his uncle. + +He was so anxious to proceed that he would have made no excuse, although +he saw that he might find himself in a very difficult position. Pete's +insistence, therefore, on taking all expenses upon himself, was a +considerable relief to him; for although determined to go, he had had an +uneasy consciousness that it was a foolish step. He therefore expressed +his warm thanks. + +"There, that is enough said about it," the latter growled out. "The +money is nothing to me one way or the other, and it would be hard if I +couldn't do this little thing for my old mate's nephew. When are you +thinking of making a start, Jerry?" + +"The sooner the better. I have been four months here already and have +not struck a vein, that is, not one really worth working, and the sooner +I make a fresh start the better. To-day is Wednesday. There will be +plenty of time to get all the things to-day and to-morrow, and we will +start at daylight on Friday. You may as well come with me, Tom, and +learn something about the prices of things. There are some Indians +camped three miles away. We will walk over there first and pick up a +couple of ponies. I know they have got a troop of them, that is what +they come here to sell. They only arrived yesterday, so we shall have +the pick of them." + +Before starting there was a short conversation between Jerry and the +landlord, and then the former put on his broad-brimmed hat. + +"Have you seen any red-skins yet?" + +"I saw a few at some of the stations the train stopped at between this +and Omaha." + +"Those fellows are mostly Indians who have been turned out of their +tribes for theft or drunkenness, and they hang about the stations to +sell moccasins and other things their squaws make, to fresh arrivals. + +"The fellows you are going to see are Navahoes, though not good +specimens of the tribe, or they would not be down here to sell ponies. +Still, they are a very different sort from those you have seen." + +An hour's walking took them to a valley, in which the Indians were +encamped. There were eight wigwams. Some women paused in their work and +looked round at the newcomers. Their dogs ran up barking furiously, but +were driven back by a volley of stones thrown by three or four boys, +with so good an aim that they went off with sharp yelps. Jerry strolled +along without paying any attention to the dogs or boys towards a party +of men seated round a fire. One of them rose as they approached. + +"My white brothers are welcome," he said courteously. "There is room by +the fire for them," and he motioned to them to sit down by his side. A +pipe, composed of a long flat wooden stem studded with brass nails, with +a bowl cut out of red pipe-stone, was now handed round, each taking a +short puff. + +"Does my brother speak the language of the Navahoes?" the chief asked in +that tongue. + +"I can get along with it," Jerry said, "as I can with most of your +Indian dialects." + +"It is good," the chief said. "My brother is wise; he must have wandered +much." + +"I have been a goodish bit among your hills, chief. Have you come from +far?" + +"The moon was full when we left our village." + +"Ah, then you have been a fortnight on the road. Well, chief, I have +come here to trade. I want to buy a couple of ponies." + +The chief said a word or two to a boy standing near, and he with four or +five others at once started up the valley, and in a few minutes returned +with a drove of Indian ponies. + +"They are not a bad lot," Jerry said to Tom. + +"They don't look much, Jerry." + +"Indian ponies never look much, but one of those ponies would gallop an +eastern-bred horse to a stand-still." + +Jerry got up and inspected some of the horses closely, and presently +picked out two of them; at a word from the chief two of the lads jumped +on their backs and rode off on them at full speed, and then wheeling +round returned to the spot from where they started. + +"My white brother is a judge of horses," the chief said; "he has picked +out the best of the lot." + +"There are three or four others quite as good," Jerry said carelessly. +"Now, chief, how many blankets, how much powder and lead, and what else +do you want for those two horses?" + +The chief stated his demands, to which Jerry replied: "You said just +now, chief, that I was a wise man; but it seems that you must regard me +as a fool." + +For half an hour an animated argument went on. Two or three times Jerry +got up, and they started as if to quit the village, but each time the +chief called them back. So animated were their gestures and talk that +Tom had serious fears that they were coming to blows, but their voices +soon fell and the talk became amicable again. At last Jerry turned to +Tom. + +"The bargain is struck," he said; "but he has got the best of me, and +has charged an outrageous sum for them," Then, in his own language, he +said to the chief: + +"At noon to-morrow you will send the ponies down to the town. I will +meet them at the big rock, half a mile this side of it, with the trade +goods." + +"They shall be there," the chief said, "though I am almost giving them +to you." + +As they walked away, Tom said: + +"So you have paid more than you expected, Jerry?" + +"No, I have got them a bargain; only it would never have done to let the +chief know I thought so, or the horses would not have turned up +to-morrow. I expect they have all been stolen from some other tribe. The +two I have got are first-rate animals, and the goods will come to about +fourteen pounds. I shall ride one of them myself, and put our swag on my +own pony. That has been a very good stroke of business; they would never +have sold them at that price if they had been honestly come by." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +ON THE PLAINS + + +The purchase of a buffalo robe, blankets, boots, and a Colt's revolver +occupied but a short time, but the rifle was a much more difficult +matter. + +"You can always rely upon a Colt," the miner said, "but rifles are +different things; and as your life may often depend upon your +shooting-iron carrying straight, you have got to be mighty careful about +it. A gun that has got the name of being a good weapon will fetch four +times as much as a new one." + +Denver was but a small place; there was no regular gunsmith's shop, but +rifles and pistols were sold at almost every store in the town. In this +quest Jerry was assisted by Pete Hoskings, who knew of several men who +would be ready to dispose of their rifles. Some of these weapons were +taken out into the country and tried at marks by the two men. They made +what seemed to Tom wonderful shooting, but did not satisfy Hoskings. + +"I should like the youngster to have a first-rate piece," he said, "and +I mean to get him one if I can. There are two of these would do if we +can't get a better, but if there is a first-rate one to be had in this +township I will have it." Suddenly he exclaimed, "I must have gone off +my head, and be going downright foolish! Why, I know the very weapon. +You remember Billy the scout?" + +"In course I do, everyone knew him. I heard he had gone down just before +I got back here." + +"That is so, Jerry. You know he had a bit of a place up in the hills, +four or five miles from here, where he lived with that Indian wife of +his when he was not away. I went out to see him a day or two afore he +died. I asked him if there was anything I could do for him. He said no, +his squaw would get on well enough there. She had been alone most of her +time, and would wrestle on just as well when he had gone under. He had a +big garden-patch which she cultivated, and brought the things down into +the town here. They always fetch a good price. Why more people don't +grow them I can't make out; it would pay better than gold-seeking, you +bet. He had a few hundred dollars laid by, and he said they might come +in handy to her if she fell sick, or if things went hard in winter. +Well, you remember his gun?" + +"In course--his gun was nigh as well known as Billy himself. He used to +call it Plumb-centre. You don't mean to say she hasn't sold it?" + +"She hasn't; at least I should have been sure to hear if she had. I know +several of the boys who went to the funeral wanted to buy it, and +offered her long prices for it too; but she wouldn't trade. I will ride +over there this evening and see what I can do about it. She will sell to +me if she sells to anyone, for she knows I was a great chum of Billy's, +and I have done her a few good turns. She broke her leg some years back +when he was away, and luckily enough I chanced to ride over there the +next day. Being alone and without anyone to help, she would have got on +badly. I sent a surgeon up to her, and got a redskin woman to go up to +nurse her. I don't wonder she did not like to sell Billy's piece, seeing +he was so famous with it, and I feel sure money would not do it; but +perhaps I can talk her into it." + +The next morning the articles agreed upon as the price of the horses +were packed on Jerry's pony, and they went out to the meeting-place. + +"It is twenty minutes early," Jerry said, as Tom consulted his watch, +"and the red-skins won't be here till it is just twelve o'clock. A +red-skin is never five minutes before or five minutes after the time he +has named for a meeting. It may have been set six months before, and at +a place a thousand miles away, but just at the hour, neither before nor +after, he will be there. A white man will keep the appointment; but like +enough he will be there the night before, will make his camp, sleep, and +cook a meal or two, but he does not look for the red-skin till exactly +the hour named, whether it is sunrise or sunset or noon. Red-skins ain't +got many virtues,--least there ain't many of them has, though I have +known some you could trust all round as ready as any white man,--but +for keeping an appintment they licks creation." + +A few minutes before twelve o'clock three Indians were seen coming down +the valley on horseback. They were riding at a leisurely pace, and it +was exactly the hour when they drew rein in front of Tom and his +companion. Jerry had already unloaded his pony and had laid out the +contents of the pack. First he proceeded to examine the two ponies, to +make sure that they were the same he had chosen. + +"That is all right," he said; "they would hardly have tried to cheat us +over that--they would know that it would not pay with me. There, chief, +is your exchange. You will see that the blankets are of good quality. +There is the keg of powder, the bar of lead, ten plugs of tobacco, the +cloth for the squaws, and all the other things agreed on." + +The chief examined them carefully, and nodded his satisfaction. "If all +the pale-faces dealt as fairly with the red man as you have done there +would not be so much trouble between them," he said. + +"That is right enough, chief; it can't be gainsaid that a great many, +ay, I might say the most part, of the traders are rogues. But they would +cheat us just the same as they would you, and often do take us in. I +have had worthless goods passed off on me many a time; and I don't blame +you a bit if you put a bullet into the skull of a rogue who has cheated +you, for I should be mightily inclined to do the same myself." + +No more words were wasted; the lads who had ridden the ponies down made +up the goods in great bundles and went up the valley with their chief, +while Jerry and Tom took the plaited leather lariats which were round +the ponies' necks and returned to Denver. A saddle of Mexican pattern, +with high peak and cantle, massive wooden framework, huge straps and +heavy stirrups, was next bought. Jerry folded a horse-rug and tried it +in different positions on the horse's back until the saddle fitted well +upon it. + +"That is the thing that you have got to be most particular about, Tom. +If the saddle does not sit right the horse gets galled, and when a horse +once gets galled he ain't of much use till he is well again, though the +Indians ride them when they are in a terrible state; but then they have +got so many horses that, unless they are specially good, they don't hold +them of any account. You see the saddle is so high that there is good +space between it and the backbone, and the pressure comes fair on the +ribs, so the ponies don't get galled if the blankets are folded +properly. The Indians do not use saddles, but ride either on a pad or +just a folded blanket, and their ponies are always getting galled." + +"The saddle is tremendously heavy." + +"It is heavy, but a few pounds don't make much difference to the horse +one way or the other, so that he is carrying it comfortably. The saddles +would be no good if they were not made strong, for a horse may put his +foot in a hole and come down head over heels, or may tumble down a +precipice, and the saddle would be smashed up if it were not pretty near +as strong as cast-iron. Out on the plains a man thinks as much of his +saddle as he does of his horse, and more. If his horse dies he will put +the saddle on his head and carry it for days rather than part with it, +for he knows he won't be long before he gets a horse again. He can buy +one for a few charges of powder and ball from the first friendly Indians +he comes across, or he may get one given to him if he has nothing to +exchange for it, or if he comes across a herd of wild horses he can +crease one." + +"What is creasing a horse?" Tom asked. + +"Well, it is a thing that wants a steady hand, for you have got to hit +him just on the right spot--an inch higher, you will miss him; half an +inch lower, you will kill him. You have got to put a bullet through his +neck two or three inches behind the ears and just above the spine. Of +course if you hit the spine you kill him, and he is no good except to +give you a meal or two if you are hard-up for food; but if the ball goes +through the muscles of the neck, just above the spine, the shock knocks +him over as surely as if you had hit him in the heart. It stuns him, and +you have only got to run up and put your lariat round his neck, and be +ready to mount him as soon as he rises, which he will do in two or three +minutes, and he will be none the worse for the shock; in fact you will +be able to break him in more easily than if you had caught him by the +rope." + +Jerry then adjusted his own saddle to the other Indian horse. + +"Can you ride?" he asked. + +"No, I have never had any chance of learning at home." + +"Well, you had better have a lesson at once. This is a good way for a +beginner;" and he took a blanket, and having rolled it up tightly, +strapped it over the peak of the saddle and down the flaps. + +"There," he said. "You get your knees against that, and what with the +high peak and the high cantle you can hardly be chucked out anyhow, that +is, if the horse does not buck; but I will try him as to that before you +mount. We will lead them out beyond the town, we don't want to make a +circus of ourselves in the streets; besides, if you get chucked, you +will fall softer there than you would on the road. But first of all we +will give them a feed of corn. You see they are skeary of us at present. +Indian horses are always afraid of white men at first, just as white +men's horses are afraid of Indians. A feed of corn will go a long way +towards making us good friends, for you may be sure they have never had +a feed in their lives beyond what they could pick up for themselves." + +The horses snuffed the corn with some apprehension when it was held out +towards them, backing away from the sieves with their ears laid back; +but seeing that no harm came to them they presently investigated the +food more closely, and at last took a mouthful, after which they +proceeded to eat greedily, their new masters patting their necks and +talking to them while they did so. Then their saddles and bridles were +put on, and they were led out of the stable and along the streets. At +first they were very fidgety and wild at the unaccustomed sights and +sounds, but their fear gradually subsided, and by the time they were +well in the country they went along quietly enough. + +"Now you hold my horse, Tom, and I will try yours." + +Jerry mounted and galloped away; in ten minutes he returned. + +"He will do," he said as he dismounted. "He is fresh yet and wants +training. I don't suppose he has been ridden half a dozen times, but +with patience and training he will turn out a first-rate beast. I could +see they were both fast when those boys rode them. I don't wonder the +chief asked what, for an Indian pony, was a mighty long price, though it +was cheap enough for such good animals. He must have two or three +uncommon good ones at home or he would never have parted with them, for +when an Indian gets hold of an extra good pony no price will tempt him +to sell it, for a man's life on the plains often depends on the speed +and stay of his horse. Now, I will take a gallop on my own, and when I +come back you can mount and we will ride on quietly together. + +"There is not much difference between them," he said on his return. +"Yours is a bit faster. Pete told me to get you the best horse I could +find, and I fixed upon yours, directly my eye fell upon him, as being +the pick of the drove. But this is a good one too, and will suit me as +well as yours, for he is rather heavier, and will carry me better than +yours would do on a long journey. Now climb up into your saddle." + +Jerry laughed at the difficulty Tom had in lifting his leg over the high +cantle. "You will have to practise presently putting your hands on the +saddle and vaulting into it. Half a minute in mounting may make all the +difference between getting away and being rubbed out. When you see the +red-skins coming yelling down on you fifty yards away, and your horse is +jumping about as scared as you are, it is not an easy matter to get on +to its back if you have got to put your foot in the stirrup first. You +have got to learn to chuck yourself straight into your seat whether you +are standing still or both on the run. There, how do you feel now?" + +"I feel regularly wedged into the saddle." + +"That is right. I will take up the stirrups a hole, then you will get +your knees firmer against the blanket. It is better to learn to ride +without it, even if you do get chucked off a few times, but as we start +to-morrow you have no time for that. In a few days, when you get at home +in the saddle, we will take off the blanket, and you have got to learn +to hold on by your knees and by the balance of your body. Now we will be +moving on." + +As soon as the reins were slackened the horses started together at an +easy canter. + +"That is their pace," Jerry said. "Except on a very long journey, when +he has got squaws and baggage with him, a red-skin never goes at a walk, +and the horses will keep on at this lope for hours. That is right. Don't +sit so stiffly; you want your legs to be stiff and keeping a steady +grip, but from your hips you want to be as slack as possible, just +giving to the horse's action, the same way you give on board ship when +vessels are rolling. That is better. Ah! here comes Pete. I took this +way because I knew it was the line he would come back by--and, by gosh, +he has got the rifle, sure enough!" + +Pete had seen them, and was waving the gun over his head. + +"I've got it," he said as he reined up his horse when he met them. "It +was a stiff job, for she did not like to part with it. I had to talk to +her a long time. I put it to her that when she died the gun would have +to go to someone, and I wanted it for a nephew of Straight Harry, whom +she knew well enough; that it was for a young fellow who was safe to +turn out a great hunter and Indian fighter like her husband, and that he +would be sure to do credit to Plumb-centre, and make the gun as famous +in his hands as it had been in her husband's. That fetched her. She said +I had been kind to her, and though she could not have parted with the +gun for money, she would do it, partly to please me, and partly because +she knew that Straight Harry had been a friend of her husband's, and had +fought by his side, and that the young brave I spoke of, would be likely +to do credit to Plumb-centre. Her husband, she said, would be glad to +know that it was in such good hands. So she handed it over to me. She +would not hear of taking money for it; indeed, I did not press it, +knowing that she would feel that it was almost a part of her husband; +but I will make it up to her in other ways. There, Tom; there is as good +a shooting-iron as there is in all the territories." + +"Thank you very much indeed, Pete. I shall value it immensely, and I +only hope that some day I shall be able to do credit to it, as the poor +woman said." + +There was nothing particular in the appearance of the rifle. It was a +plainly-finished piece, with a small bore and heavy metal. + +"It don't look much," Jerry said, "but it is a daisy, you bet." + +"We will try a shot with it, Jerry. She gave me the bag of bullets and a +box of patches and his powder-horn with it. We will see what it will do +in our hands, we are both pretty good shots." + +He loaded the rifle carefully. + +"You see that bit of black rock cropping out of the hill-side. I guess +it is about two hundred and fifty yards away, and is about the size a +red-skin's head would be if he were crawling through the grass towards +us. Will you shoot first or shall I?" + +"Fire away, Pete." + +Hoskings took a steady aim and fired. + +"You have hit it," Jerry exclaimed. "Just grazed it at the top." + +They walked across to the rock; there was a chip just on the top. + +"It was a good shot, Pete; especially considering how you are out of +practice. If it had been a red-skin it would have stunned him sure, for +I doubt whether it is not too high by a quarter of an inch or so, to +have finished him altogether." + +[Illustration: JERRY GIVES TOM A LESSON IN SHOOTING.] + +"It would have cut his top-knot off, Jerry, and that is all. I doubt +whether it would have even touched his skin." + +They returned to the spot where Pete had fired, and Jerry threw himself +down on the grass and levelled his rifle. + +"That is not fair, Jerry," Pete protested. + +"It would not be fair if I was shooting against you, but we are only +trying the rifle, and if that rock were a red-skin you may be sure that +I should be lying down." + +He fired: and on going to the stone again they found that the bullet had +struck it fair, within an inch of its central point. + +"That is something like a rifle," Jerry said delighted. "Now, Tom, you +shall have a shot." + +As they walked to the shooting-point, Jerry showed the lad how to hold +the rifle, instructed him as to the backsight, and showed him how to get +the foresight exactly on the nick of the backsight. "You must just see +the bead as if it were resting in the nick, and the object you aim at +must just show above the top point of the bead." He showed him how to +load, and then told him to lie down, as he had done, on his chest, and +to steady the rifle with the left arm, the elbow being on the ground. +"You must be quite comfortable," he said; "it is of no use trying to +shoot if you are in a cramped position. Now, take a steady aim, and the +moment you have got the two sights in a line on the rock, press the +trigger steadily. Press pretty hard; it is only a pull of about two +pounds, but it is wonderful how stiff a trigger feels the first time you +pull at it. You need not be at all afraid of the kick. If you press the +butt tightly against your shoulder you will hardly feel it, for there is +plenty of weight in the barr'l, and it carries but a small charge of +powder. You won't want to shoot at anything much beyond this range, but +sometimes you may have to try at four or five hundred yards when you are +in want of a dinner. In that case you can put in a charge and a half of +powder. Now, are you comfortable? You need not grip so hard with your +left hand, the gun only wants to rest between your thumb and fingers. +That is better. Now take a steady aim, and the moment you have got it +press the trigger. Well done! that is a good shot for a first. You hit +the dust an inch or two to the right of the stone. If it had been a +red-skin you would have hit him in the shoulder. You will do, lad, and +by the time we get to Fort Bridger I guess you will bring down a stag as +clean as nine out of ten hunters." + +"Don't get into the way of waiting too long before you fire, Tom," Pete +Hoskings said. "Better to try to shoot too quick to begin with than to +be too long about it. When you have made up your mind that you are going +to shoot, get your bead on your mark and fire at once. You may want to +hit a red-skin's head as he looks out from behind a tree, and to do that +you must fire the instant you see him or he will be in again. One of the +best shots I ever saw never used to raise his gun to his shoulder at +all. He just dropped his piece into the hollow of his left hand, and +would fire as he touched it. He did not seem to take any aim at all, but +his bullet was sartin to hit the thing he wanted to, even if it were no +bigger than an orange. He could not tell himself how he did it. 'I seen +the thing and I fired, Pete,' he would say; 'the gun seems to point +right of its own accord, I have not anything to say to it.' You see, +shooting is a matter of eye. Some men may shoot all their lives, and +they will never be more than just respectable, while others shoot well +the first time that a gun is put in their hands. Want of nerve is what +spoils half men's shooting; that and taking too long an aim. Well, it is +time for us to be mounting and getting back. I have got to see that the +dinner is all ready. I never can trust that black scoundrel, Sam, to do +things right while I am away." + +The preparations for the journey were completed by the evening. + +"Now mind, Tom," Pete Hoskings said the last thing before going to bed, +"if you don't find your uncle, or if you hear that he has got wiped out, +be sure you come right back here. Whether you are cut out for a hunter +or not, it will do you a world of good to stick to the life until you +get four or five years older and settle as to how you like to fix +yourself, for there ain't no better training than a few years out on the +plains, no matter what you do afterwards. I will find a good chum for +you, and see you through it, both for the sake of my old mate, Straight +Harry, and because I have taken a liking to you myself." + +"Why do you call my uncle Straight Harry?" Tom asked, after thanking +Pete for his promise. "Is he so very upright?" + +"No, lad, no; it ain't nothing to do with that. There are plenty more +erect men than him about. He is about the size of Jerry, though, maybe a +bit taller. No; he got to be called Straight Harry because he was a +square man, a chap everyone could trust. If he said he would do a thing +he would do it; there weren't no occasion for any papers to bind him. +When he said a thing you could bet on it. You could buy a mine on his +word: if he said it was good you need not bother to take a journey to +look at it, you knew it was right there, and weren't a put-up job. Once +when we were working down on the Yuba we got to a place where there were +a fault in the rock, and the lode had slipped right away from us. +Everyone in camp knew that we had been doing well, and we had only got +to pile up a few pieces of rock at the bottom, and no one who would have +seen it would have known that the lode was gone. That is what most chaps +would have done, and a third chap who was working with us was all for +doing it. Anyone would have given us five hundred ounces for it. Well, I +didn't say nothing, it was what pretty nigh anyone on the mines would +have done if he had the chance, but Harry turned on our partner like a +mountain lion. 'You are a mean skunk, New Jersey' says he. 'Do you think +that I would be one to rob a man only because he would be fool enough to +take a place without looking at it? We've worked to the edge of the +claim both ways, and I don't reckon there is a dollar's worth of gold +left in it, now that it has pettered out at the bottom, and if there was +I would not work another day with a man who proposed to get up a +swindle.' So as soon as he got up to the surface he told everyone that +the lode had gone out and that the claim weren't worth a red cent. He +and New Jersey had a big fight with fists that evening. The other was +bigger than Harry, and stronger, but he were no hand with his pistol, +and Harry is a dead shot; so he told New Jersey he would fight him +English fashion, and Harry gave him the biggest licking I ever saw a man +have. I felt pretty mean myself, you bet, for having thought of planting +the thing off; but as I hadn't spoken, Harry knew nothing about it. If +he had, I doubt if he would ever have given me his hand again. Yes, sir, +he is a straight man all round, and there is no man better liked than +Harry. Why, there are a score of men in this town who know him as I do, +and, if he came to them and said, 'I have struck it rich, I will go +halves with you if you will plank down twenty thousand dollars to open +her up,' they would pay down the cash without another word; and, I tell +you, there ain't ten men west of the Missouri of whom as much could be +said." + +The next morning at daybreak Jerry and Tom started. They rode due north, +skirting the foot of the hills, till they reached the emigrant route, +for the railway had not been carried farther than Wabash, from which +point it ran south to Denver. It was a journey of some five hundred +miles to Fort Bridger, and they took a month to accomplish it, sometimes +following the ordinary line of travel, sometimes branching off more to +the north, where game was still abundant. + +"That is Fort Bridger, Tom. It ain't much of a place to look at; but is, +like all these forts, just a strong palisading, with a clump of wooden +huts for the men in the middle. Well, the first stage of your journey is +over, and you know a little more now than when you left Denver; but +though I have taught you a good bit, you will want another year's +practice with that shooting-iron afore you're a downright good shot; but +you have come on well, and the way you brought down that stag on a run +yesterday was uncommon good. You have made the most of your +opportunities, and have got a steady hand and a good eye. You are all +right on your horse now, and can be trusted to keep your seat if you +have a pack of red-skins at your heels. You have learnt to make a camp, +and to sleep comfortable on the ground; you can frizzle a bit of +deer-flesh over the fire, and can bake bread as well as a good many. Six +months of it and you will be a good plain's-man. I wish we had had a +shot at buffalo. They are getting scarcer than they were, and do not +like crossing the trail. We ain't likely to see many of them west of the +Colorado; the ground gets too hilly for them, and there are too many bad +lands." + +"What are bad lands, Jerry?" + +"They are just lands where Nature, when she made them, had got plenty of +rock left, but mighty little soil or grass seed. There are bad lands all +over the country, but nowhere so bad as the tract on both sides of the +Green and Colorado rivers. You may ride fifty miles any way over bare +rock without seeing a blade of grass unless you get down into some of +the valleys, and you may die of thirst with water under your feet." + +"How do you mean, Jerry?" + +"The rivers there don't act like the rivers in other parts. Instead of +working round the foot of the hills they just go through them. You ride +along on what seems to be a plain, and you come suddenly to a crack that +ain't perhaps twenty or thirty feet across, and you look down, if you +have got head enough to do it, and there, two thousand feet or more +below you, you see a river foaming among rocks. It ain't one river or it +ain't another river as does it; every little stream from the hills cuts +itself its caņon and makes its way along till it meets two or three +others, then they go on together, cutting deeper and deeper until they +run into one of the arms of the Green River or the Colorado or the +Grand. + +"The Green and the Colorado are all the same river, only the upper part +is called the Green. For about a thousand miles it runs through great +caņons. No one has ever gone down them, and I don't suppose anyone ever +will; and people don't know what is the course of the river from the +time it begins this game till it comes out a big river on the southern +plains. You see, the lands are so bad there is no travelling across +them, and the rapids are so terrible that there is no going down them. +Even the Indians never go near the caņons if they can help it. I believe +they think the whole thing is the work of an evil spirit." + +"But you said some of the valleys had grass?" + +"Yes; I have gone down one or two myself from the mountains of Utah, +where the stream, instead of cutting a caņon for itself, has behaved for +a bit in the ordinary way and made a valley. Wonderfully good places +they were--plenty of grass, plenty of water, and no end of game. I have +spent some months among them, and got a wonderful lot of skins, beavers +principally of course, but half a dozen mountain lions and two +grizzlies. I did not bring home their skins, you bet. They were too +heavy, and I should not have troubled them if they had not troubled me. +There was good fish, too, in the streams, and I never had a better time. +The red-skins happened to be friendly, and I was with a hunter who had a +red-skin wife and a dozen ponies. If it hadn't been for that I should +soon have had to quit, for it ain't no good hunting if you can't carry +away the skins. As it was I made a good job of it, for I got nigh a +thousand dollars for my skins at Utah. + +"Well, here we are at the fort. I guess we may as well make our camp +outside. If you go in you have got to picket your horse here and put +your baggage there and come in at gun-fire, and all sorts of things that +troubles a man who is accustomed to act as he likes." + +The horses were soon picketed. "I will go in first and see who is here, +Tom. There are usually a lot of loafing Indians about these forts, and +though it is safe enough to leave our traps, out on the plain, it will +not do here. We must stay with them, or at any rate keep them in sight; +besides, these two horses would be a temptation to any redskin who +happened to want an animal." + +"I will wait willingly, Jerry; I should know nobody inside the fort if I +went in. I will see to making a fire and boiling the kettle, and I will +have supper ready at seven o'clock." + +"I shall be sure to be back by that time; like enough I sha'n't be a +quarter of an hour away." + +It was but half an hour, indeed, before Tom saw him returning, +accompanied by a tall red-skin. + +"This is a friend of mine, Tom. He was a chief of the Senecas, but his +tribe are nearly wiped out, and he has been all his life a hunter, and +there are few of us who have been much out on the plains who don't know +him. Chief, this is Straight Harry's nephew I was telling you of, who +has come out here to join his uncle. Sit down, we have got some +deer-flesh. Tom here knocked one over on the run at two hundred and +fifty yards by as good a shot as you want to see; while it is cooking we +can smoke a pipe and have a chat." + +The chief gravely seated himself by the fire. + +"What have you been doing since I last saw you up near the Yellowstone?" + +"Leaping Horse has been hunting," the Indian said quietly, with a wave +of his hand, denoting that he had been over a wide expanse of country. + +"I guessed so," Jerry put in. + +"And fighting with 'Rappahoes and Navahoes." + +"Then you've been north and south?" + +The Indian nodded. "Much trouble with both; they wanted our scalps. But +four of the 'Rappahoe lodges are without a master, and there are five +Navahoe widows." + +"Then you were not alone?" + +"Garrison was with me among the 'Rappahoes; and the Shoshone hunter, +Wind-that-blows, was with me when the Navahoes came on our trail." + +"They had better have left you alone, chief. Do you know the Ute +country?" + +"The Leaping Horse has been there. The Utes are dogs." + +"They are troublesome varmint, like most of the others," Jerry agreed. +"I was telling you Straight Harry is up in their country somewhere. Tom +here is anxious to join him, but of course that can't be. You have not +heard anything of him, I suppose?" + +"The Leaping Horse was with him a week ago." + +"You were, chief! Why did you not tell me so when I was saying we did +not know where he was?" + +"My white brother did not ask," the chief said quietly. + +"That is true enough, chief, but you might have told me without asking." + +The Indian made no reply, but continued to smoke his hatchet pipe +tranquilly, as if the remark betrayed such ignorance of Indian manners +that it was not worth replying to. + +Tom took up the conversation now. + +"Was it far from here that you saw him?" + +"Five days' journey, if travel quick." + +"Was he hunting?" Jerry asked. + +"Hunting, and looking for gold." + +"Who had he with him?" + +"Two white men. One was Ben Gulston. Leaping Horse had met him in Idaho. +The other was called Sam, a big man with a red beard." + +"Yes, Sam Hicks; he only came back from California a few months back, so +you would not be likely to have met him before. Were they going to +remain where you left them?" + +The Indian shook his head. "They were going farther north." + +"Farther north!" Jerry repeated. "Don't you mean farther south?" + +"Leaping Horse is not mistaken, he knows his right hand from his left." + +"Of course, of course, chief," the miner said apologetically; "I only +thought that it was a slip of the tongue. Then if they were going +farther north they must have come back in this direction." + +"They were on the banks of the Big Wind River when Leaping Horse met +them." + +"Jerusalem!" the miner exclaimed. "What on airth are they doing there? +Why, we thought they had gone down to the west of the Colorado. I told +you so, chief, when I talked to you about it; and instead of that, here +they are up in the country of the 'Rappahoes and Shoshones." + +"They went south," the Indian said quietly, "and had trouble with the +Utes and had to come back again, then they went north." + +"Ah, that accounts for it. I wonder Harry didn't send word to Pete +Hoskings that he had gone up to the Big Wind River. I ain't heard of +there being any gold in that region, though some think that coming down +through the big hills from Yellowstone Valley on the northwest, metal +might be struck." + +"Going to look for gold a little," the chief said, "hunt much; not stay +there very long, mean to go down south again after a bit. Leaping Horse +go with them." + +"Oh, I see. The Utes had come upon them, and they knew that if they +stopped there they would lose their scalps sooner or later, so they came +up here and made north for a bit to hunt and fossick about in the hills, +and then go back when the Utes had quieted down." + +The chief nodded. + +"Well, well, that alters the affair altogether. Whereabouts did you +leave them?" + +"Near the Buffalo Lake." + +"Don't know it. Where does it lie?" + +"On a stream that runs into the river from the west, from a valley +running up near Frémont's Buttes. They were going up so as to follow the +Rivičre de Noir, and then either strike up across the hills to the Upper +Yellowstone, or go out west and come down over the Grosventre range on +to the Wyoming range, and then down through Thompson's Pass, or else +skirt the foot-hills on to the Green River." + +"Waal, chief, I reckon that among all those hills and mountains, one +would have just about the same chance of lighting on them as you would +have of finding a chipmunk in a big pine-forest." + +"Couldn't find," the chief said, "but might follow. If they go fast +never catch them; if wait about, hunt beaver, look for gold and silver, +then might come up to them easy enough, if 'Rappahoes not catch and +kill. Very bad place. Leaping Horse told them so. White brother said he +think so too; but other men think they find gold somewhere, so they go +on. They have got horses, of course. Three horses to ride, three horses +to carry beaver-traps and food. Leaping Horse came back here to sell his +skins. He had promised to meet a friend here, or he would not have left +Straight Harry, who is a good man and a friend of Leaping Horse. Three +men not enough in bad country." + +"Do you think there would be any chance of my finding them?" Tom asked +eagerly. + +A slight gleam of amusement passed over the Indian's face. + +"My brother is very young," he said. "He will be a brave warrior and a +great hunter some day, but his eyes are not opened yet. Were he to try +he would leave his scalp to dry in the 'Rappahoes' lodges." + +"That is just what I told him, chief. It would be sheer madness." + +The Indian made no reply, and Jerry turned the conversation. + +"You don't drink spirits, chief, or I would go and get a bottle from the +fort." + +"Leaping Horse is not a madman," the Indian said scornfully, "that he +should poison his brain with fire-water." + +"Yes; I remembered, chief, that you had fallen into our ways and drink +tea." + +"Tea is good," the Indian said. "It is the best thing the white man has +brought out on to the plains." + +"That is so, chief, except tobacco. We did not bring that; but I reckon +you got it from the Spaniards long ago, though maybe you knew of it +before they came up from the south." + +The meat was now cooked, and Tom took it off the fire and handed the +pieces on the ramrod, that had served as a spit, to the others, together +with some bread, poured out the tea from the kettle, and placed a bag of +sugar before them. There was little talk until after the meal was over. +Then the Indian and Jerry smoked steadily, while Tom took a single pipe, +having only commenced the use of tobacco since he had left Denver. +Presently the Indian arose. + +"In the morning I will see my white friends again," he said, and without +further adieu turned and walked gravely back to the fort. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +LEAPING HORSE + + +"He is a fine fellow," Jerry said, after the Indian had left him. "You +must have a talk with him one of these days over his adventures among +the 'Rappahoes and Navahoes, who are both as troublesome rascals as are +to be found on the plains. An Indian seldom talks of his adventures, but +sometimes when you can get him in the right humour you may hear about +them." "He talks very fair English," Tom said. + +"Yes; he has been ten years among us. He was employed for two or three +years supplying the railway men with meat; but no Indian cares to hunt +long in one place, and he often goes away with parties of either hunters +or gold-seekers. He knows the country well, and is a first-rate shot; +and men are always glad to have him with them. There is no more trusty +red-skin on the plains, and he will go through fire and water for those +whom he regards as his special friends. I should say he is about the one +man alive who could take you to your uncle." + +"Do you think he would?" Tom asked eagerly. + +"Ah, that is another matter; I don't know what his plans are. If he is +engaged to go with another party he will go, for he would not fail +anyone to whom he had made a promise. If he isn't engaged he might +perhaps do it. Not for pay, for he has little use for money. His hunting +supplies him with all he wants. It gives him food, and occasionally he +will go with a bundle of pelts to the nearest town, and the money he +gets for them will supply him with tea and tobacco and ammunition, and +such clothes as he requires, which is little enough. Buckskin is +everlasting wear, and he gets his worked up for him by the women of any +Indian tribe among whom he may be hunting. If he were one of these fort +Indians it would be only a question of money; but it would never do to +offer it to him. He does not forget that he is a chief, though he has +been away so many years from what there is left of his old tribe. If he +did it at all it would be for the sake of your uncle. I know they have +hunted together, and fought the Apachés together. I won't say but that +if we get at him the right way, and he don't happen to have no other +plans in his mind, that he might not be willing to start with you." + +"I should be glad if he would, Jerry. I have been quite dreading to get +to Fort Bridger. I have had such a splendid time of it with you that I +should feel awfully lonely after you had gone on." + +"Yes, I dare say you would feel lonesome. I should have felt lonesome +myself if I did not light upon some mate going the same way. We got on +very well together, Tom. When Pete Hoskings first put it to me whether I +would be willing to take you with me as far as this, I thought that +though I liked you well enough, it would not be in my way to be playing +a sort of schoolmaster business to a young tenderfoot; but I had got to +like the notion before we left Denver, and now it seems to me that we +have had a rare good time of it together." + +"We have indeed, Jerry; at least I have had. Even if the Indian would +agree to take me I should miss you awfully." + +Jerry made no reply, but sat smoking his pipe and looking into the fire. +As he was sometimes inclined to be taciturn, Tom made no attempt to +continue the conversation; and after moving out and shifting the +picket-pegs so as to give the horses a fresh range of grass to munch +during the night, he returned to the fire, wrapped himself in his +blankets and lay down, his "Good-night, Jerry," meeting with no +response, his companion being evidently absorbed in his own thoughts. + +"You are not going on to-day, Jerry, are you?" Tom said, as he threw off +his blankets and sat up in the morning. The sun was not yet up, but +Jerry had already stirred up the embers, put some meat over them to +cook, and put the kettle among them. + +"No, I shall stop here for a day or two, lad. I am in no special hurry, +and have no call to push on. I have not made up my mind about things +yet." + +They had scarcely finished breakfast when Leaping Horse came down from +the fort. + +"Tom here has been asking me, chief, whether there was any chance of +getting you to guide him to his uncle. I said, of course, that I did not +know what your plans were; but that if you had nothing special before +you, possibly you might be willing to do so, as I know that you and +Straight Harry have done some tall hunting and fighting together." + +The Indian's face was impassive. + +"Can my young brother ride day after day and night after night, can he +go long without food and water, is he ready to run the risk of his scalp +being taken by the 'Rappahoes? Can he crawl and hide, can he leave his +horse and travel on foot, can he hear the war-cry of the red-skins +without fear?" + +"I don't say that I can do all these things, chief," Tom said; "but I +can do my best. And, anyhow, I think I can promise that if we should be +attacked you shall see no signs of my being afraid, whatever I may feel. +I am only a boy yet, but I hope I am not a coward." + +"You have come a long way across the sea to find my brother, Straight +Harry. You would not have come so far alone if your heart had been weak. +Leaping Horse is going back to join his white brother again, and will +take you to him." + +Tom felt that any outburst of delight would be viewed with distaste by +this grave Indian, and he replied simply: "I thank you with all my +heart, chief, and I am sure that my uncle will be grateful to you." + +The chief nodded his head gravely, and then, as if the matter were +settled and no more need be said about it, he turned to Jerry: + +"Which way is my white friend going?" + +"I'm dog-goned if I know. I had reckoned to go down past Utah, and to go +out prospecting among the hills, say a hundred miles farther west; then +while I journeyed along with Tom I got mixed in my mind. I should like +to have handed him over safe to Harry; but if Harry had gone down to the +Ute hills with an idea of trying a spot I have heard him speak of, where +he thought he had struck it rich, he might not have cared to have had me +come there, and so I concluded last night it was best the lad should +wait here till Harry got back. Now the thing is altered; they are just +hunting and prospecting, and might be glad to have me with them, and I +might as well be there as anywhere else; so as you are going back there, +I reckon I shall be one of the party." + +"That will be capital, Jerry," Tom said. "With you as well as the chief +we shall be sure to get through; and it will be awfully jolly having you +with us." + +"Don't you make any mistake," the miner said, "I should not be of much +more use in finding them than you would. I ain't been up among the +mountains all these years without learning something, but I ain't no +more than a child by the side of the chief. And don't you think this +affair is going to be a circus. I tell you it is going to be a hard job. +There ain't a dozen white men as have been over that country, and we +shall want to be pretty spry if we are to bring back our scalps. It is a +powerful rough country. There are peaks there, lots of them, ten +thousand feet high, and some of them two or three thousand above that. +There are rivers, torrents, and defiles. I don't say there will be much +chance of running short of food, if it wasn't that half the time one +will be afraid to fire for fear the 'tarnal Indians should hear us. We +ain't got above a month afore the first snows fall. Altogether it is a +risky business, look at it which way you will." + +"Well, Jerry, if it is as bad as that, I don't think it will be right +for you and the chief to risk your lives merely that I should find my +uncle. If he is alive he is sure to come back here sooner or later; or +if he goes some other way back to Denver he will hear from Pete that I +am here, and will either write or come for me." + +"It ain't entirely on your account, lad, as I am thinking of going; and +I am pretty sure the chief would tell you that it is the same with him. +You see, he tried to persuade your uncle to turn back. My opinion is, +that though he had to come here to keep the appointment, he had it in +his mind to go back again to join your uncle. Haven't I about struck +your thoughts, chief?" + +The chief nodded. "My white brother Harry is in danger," he said. +"Leaping Horse had to leave him; but would have started back to-day to +take his place by his side. The Hunting Dog will go with him." + +"I thought so, chief; I am dog-goned if I did not think so. It was +Hunting Dog you came back here to meet, I suppose." + +"Hunting Dog is of my tribe," he said; "he is my sister's son. He came +across the plains to join me. He has hunted in his own country; this is +the first time he has come out to take his place as a man. Leaping Horse +will teach him to be a warrior." + +"That is good; the more the better, so that there ain't too many. Well, +what is your advice, chief? Shall we take our pack pony with the +outfit?" + +The chief shook his head decidedly. "Must travel quick and be able to +gallop fast. My white brothers must take nothing but what they can carry +with them." + +"All right, chief; we will not overload ourselves. We will just take our +robes and blankets, our shooting-irons, some tea and sugar, and a few +pounds of flour. At what time shall we start?" + +"In an hour we will ride out from the fort." + +"We shall be ready. Ten minutes would fix us, except that I must go into +the fort and sell my critter and what flour and outfit we sha'n't want, +to a trader there. + +"I ain't done badly by that deal," Jerry said when he returned. "I have +sold the pony for more than I gave for him; for the red-skins have been +keeping away from the fort of late, and the folks going by are always +wanting horses in place of those that have died on the way. The other +things all sold for a good bit more than we gave for them at Denver. +Carriage comes mighty high on these plains; besides, the trader took his +chances and reckoned them in." + +"How do you mean, Jerry?" + +"Waal, I told him we was going up to the Shoshone Sierra, and intended +to hunt about and to come back, maybe by the Yellowstone and then by the +Bear rivers, and that we would take the price of the goods out in trade +when we got back. That made it a sort of lottery for him, for if we +never came back at all he would never have to pay, so he could afford to +take his risks and offer me a good price. I reckon he thinks he has got +them at a gift. He has given two pieces of paper, one for you and one +for me, saying that he owes the two of us the money; so if I should go +under and you should get back, you will draw it all right." + +They at once proceeded to pack their ponies. Divided between the +saddle-bags of the two animals were four pounds of tea, eight of sugar, +and thirty-six of flour. Each took a good store of ammunition, an extra +pair of breeches, a flannel shirt, and a pair of stockings. The rest of +their clothes had been packed, and taken up by Jerry to the traders to +lie there until their return. + +"That is light enough for anything," Jerry said, when the things were +stowed into the saddle-bags. "Four-and-twenty pounds of grub and five +pounds of ammunition brings it up to nine-and-twenty pounds each, little +enough for a trip that may last three months for aught we know." + +In addition to the ammunition in the saddle-bags, each carried a +powder-horn and a bag of bullets over his shoulder. The revolvers were +in their belts, and the rifles slung behind them. While Jerry was away +at the fort Tom had made and baked three loaves, which were cut up and +put in the holsters. + +"Now we are ready, Tom; the Indians will be out in a minute or two. The +sun is just at its highest." + +Two minutes later the chief and his companion rode out from the gate of +the fort. Jerry and Tom mounted their horses and cantered over to meet +them. As they came up, Tom looked with interest at the young Indian. He +judged him to be about nineteen, and he had a bright and intelligent +face. He was, like his uncle, attired in buckskin; but the shirt was +fringed and embroidered, as was the band that carried his powder-horn, a +gift, doubtless, from some Indian maiden at his departure from his +village. No greetings were exchanged; but the chief and Jerry rode at +once side by side towards the northeast, and Tom took his place by the +side of the young Indian. + +"How are you?" he said, holding out his hand. The young Indian took it +and responded to the shake, but he shook his head. + +"Ah, you don't speak English yet?" Hunting Dog again shook his head. +"That is a pity," Tom went on; "it would have been jolly if we could +have talked together." + +The chief said something to Jerry, who turned around in his saddle. "His +uncle says he can talk some. He has taught him a little when he has paid +visits to the village, but he has had no practice in speaking it. He +will get on after a time." + +All were well mounted, and they travelled fast. Just before sunset they +crossed the Green River at a ford used by the emigrants, and some fifty +miles northeast of Fort Bridger. They had seen a herd of deer by the +way, and the two Indians had dismounted and stalked them. The others +lost sight of them, but when two rifle-shots were heard Jerry said, "We +will take the horses along to them, you may be sure they have got meat; +the chief is a dead shot, and he says that his nephew has also gifts +that way." As they expected, they found the Indians standing beside two +dead deer. Hunting Dog laid open the stomachs with a slash of his knife, +and removed the entrails, then tying the hind legs together swung the +carcasses on to his horse behind the saddle, and the journey was at once +renewed. + +"You will make for Frémont's Buttes, I suppose, chief?" Jerry said, as +after riding up the river for three or four miles so as to be able to +obtain wood for their fire--as for a considerable distance on either +side of the emigrant trail not a shrub was to be seen--they dismounted, +turned the horses loose, lit a fire, and prepared a meal. + +"Yes. We will go over the pass and camp at one of the little lakes at +the head of the north fork, thence we will ride across the plain and +ford Little Wind River, and then follow up the Sage Creek and make our +camp at night on Buffalo Lake. From there we must follow their trail." + +"And where shall we have to begin to look out for the 'Rappahoes?" + +"They may be over the next rise; no one can say. The 'Rappahoes are like +the dead leaves drifting before the wind. They come as far south as the +emigrant trail, and have attacked caravans many times. After to-night we +must look out for them always, and must put out our fires before dark." + +Tom had noticed how carefully the young Indian had selected the wood for +the fire; searching carefully along by the edge of the river for +drift-wood, and rejecting all that contained any sap. He himself had +offered to cut down some wood with the axe he carried strapped to his +saddle, but Hunting Dog had shaken his head. + +"No good, no good," he said. "Make heap smoke; smoke very bad." + +Tom thought that the shrub he was about to cut would give out obnoxious +smoke that would perhaps flavour the meat hanging over it, but when the +Indian added, "Heap smoke, red-skins see a long way," he understood that +Hunting Dog had been so careful in choosing the wood in order to avoid +making any smoke whatever that might attract the attention of Indians at +a distance from them. It was his first lesson in the necessity for +caution; and as darkness set in he looked round several times, half +expecting to see some crouching red-skins. The careless demeanour of his +companions, however, reassured him, for he felt certain that if there +was any fear of a surprise, they would be watchful. + +After supper the Indian talked over with Jerry the route they would most +probably have to pursue. The miner had never been in this part of the +country before; indeed, very few white men, with the exception of +trappers who had married Indian women and had been admitted into their +tribes, had ever penetrated into this, the wildest portion of the Rocky +Mountains. Vague rumours existed of the abundance of game there, and of +the existence of gold, but only one attempt had been made to prospect on +a large scale. This had taken place three years before, when a party of +twenty Californian miners penetrated into the mountains. None of them +returned, but reports brought down by Indians to the settlements were to +the effect that, while working a gold reef they had discovered, they +were attacked and killed to a man by a war party of Sioux. + +"I was mighty nigh being one of that crowd," Jerry said when he told the +story to Tom, as they sat over the camp-fire that night. "I heard of +their start when I got back to Salt Lake City, after being away for some +time among the hills. I legged it arter them as fast as I could, but I +found when I got to the last settlement that they had gone on ten days +before, and as I did not know what line they had followed, and did not +care to cross the pass alone, I gave it up. Mighty lucky thing it was, +though I did not think so at the time." + +"But why should my uncle's party have gone into such a dangerous country +when they knew that the natives were so hostile?" + +"It is a mighty big place, it is pretty nigh as big as all the eastern +states chucked into one, and the red-skins are not thick. No one knows +how many there are, but it is agreed they are not a big tribe. Then it +ain't like the plains, where a party travelling can be seen by an Indian +scout miles and miles away. It is all broken ground, canons and valleys +and rocks. Then again, when we get on the other side of the Wind River +they tell me there are big forests. That is so, chief, isn't it?" + +The chief nodded. "Heap forests," he said, "higher up rocks and bad +lands; all bad. In winter snow everywhere on hills. Red-skins not like +cold; too much cold, wigwam no good." + +"That's it, you see, Tom. We are here a long way above the sea-level, +and so in the hills you soon get above the timber-line. It's barren land +there, just rock, without grass enough for horses, and in winter it is +so all-fired cold that the Indians can't live there in their wigwams. I +reckon their villages are down in the sheltered valleys, and if we don't +have the bad luck to run plump into one of these we may wander about a +mighty long time before we meet with a red-skin. That is what you mean, +isn't it, chief?" + +Leaping Horse grunted an assent. + +"What game is there in the country?" + +"There are wapitis, which are big stag with thundering great horns, and +there are big-horns. Them are mountain sheep; they are mostly up above +the timber-line. Wapitis and big-horns are good for food, but their +skins ain't worth taking off. There is beaver, heaps of them; though I +reckon there ain't as many as there were by a long way, for since the +whites came out here and opened trade, and the red-skins found they +could get good prices for beaver, they have brought them down by +thousands every year. Still, there is no doubt there is plenty left, and +that trappers would do first-rate there if the red-skins were friendly. +In course, there is plenty of b'ars, but unless you happen to have a +thundering good chance it is just as well to leave the b'ars alone, for +what with the chances of getting badly mauled, and what with the weight +of the skin, it don't pay even when you come right side up out of a +tussle." + +"Are there any maps of the region?" + +"None of any account. They are all just guess-work. You may take it that +this is just a heap of mountains chucked down anyhow. Such maps as there +are have been made from tales trappers who came in with pelts have told. +Well, firstly they only knew about just where the tribe they had joined +lived, and in the second place you may bet they warn't such fools as to +tell anything as would help other fellows to get there; so you may put +down that they told very little, and what they did tell was all lies. +Some day or other I suppose there will be an expedition fitted out to go +right through, and to punish these dog-goned red-skins and open the +country; but it will be a long time arter that afore it will be safe +travelling, for I reckon that soldiers might march and march for years +through them mountains without ever catching a sight of a red-skin if +they chose to keep out of their way. And now I reckon we had best get in +atween our blankets." + +The two Indians had already lain down by the fire. Tom was some time +before he could get to sleep. The thought of the wild and unknown +country he was about to enter, with its great game, its hidden gold +treasures, its Indians and its dangers, so excited his imagination that, +tired as he was with the long ride, two or three hours passed before he +fell off to sleep. He was awoke by being shaken somewhat roughly by +Jerry. + +"Why, you are sleeping as sound as a b'ar in a hollow tree," the miner +said. "You are generally pretty spry in the morning." A dip in the cold +water of the river awoke Tom thoroughly, and by the time he had rejoined +his comrades breakfast was ready. The ground rose rapidly as they rode +forward. They were now following an Indian trail, a slightly-marked path +made by the Indians as they travelled down with their ponies laden with +beaver skins, to exchange for ammunition, blankets, and tobacco at the +trading station. The country was barren in the extreme, being covered +only with patches of sage brush. As they proceeded it became more and +more hilly, and distant ridges and peaks could be seen as they crossed +over the crests. + +"These are the bad lands, I suppose?" + +"You bet they are, Tom, but nothing like as bad as you will see afore +you are done. Sage brush will grow pretty nigh everywhere, but there are +thousands of square miles of rock where even sage brush cannot live." + +The hills presently became broken up into fantastic shapes, while +isolated rocks and pinnacles rose high above the general level. + +"How curiously they are coloured," Tom remarked, "just regular bands of +white and red and green and orange; and you see the same markings on all +these crags, at the same level." + +"Just so, Tom. We reckon that this country, and it is just the same down +south, was once level, and the rains and the rivers and torrents cut +their way through it and wore it down, and just these buttes and crags +and spires were left standing, as if to show what the nature of the +ground was everywhere. Though why the different kinds of rocks has such +different colours is more than I can tell. I went out once with an old +party as they called a scientific explorer. I have heard him say this +was all under water once, and sometimes one kind of stuff settled down +like mud to the bottom, sometimes another, though where all the water +came from is more nor I can tell. He said something about the ground +being raised afterwards, and I suppose the water run off then. I did not +pay much attention to his talk, for he was so choke-full of larning, and +had got such a lot of hard names on the tip of his tongue, that there +were no making head or tail of what he was saying." + +Tom had learnt something of the elements of geology, and could form an +idea of the processes by which the strange country at which he was +looking had been formed. + +"That's Frémont's Buttes," the Indian said presently, pointing to a +flat-topped hill that towered above the others ahead. + +"Why, I thought you said it was a fifty-mile ride to-day, Jerry, and we +can't have gone more than half that." + +"How far do you suppose that hill is off?" + +"Three or four miles, I should think." + +"It is over twenty, lad. Up here in the mountains the air is so clear +you can see things plain as you couldn't make out the outlines of down +below." + +"But it seems to me so close that I could make out people walking about +on the top," Tom said a little incredulously. + +"I dare say, lad. But you will see when you have ridden another hour it +won't seem much closer than it does now." + +Tom found out that the miner was not joking with him, as he at first had +thought was the case. Mile after mile was ridden, and the landmark +seemed little nearer than before. Presently Hunting Dog said something +to the chief, pointing away to the right. Leaping Horse at once reined +in, and motioned to his white companions to do the same. + +"What is it, chief?" Jerry asked. + +"Wapiti," he replied. + +"That is good news," the miner said. "It will be lucky if we can lay in +a supply of deer flesh here. The less we shoot after we get through the +pass the better. Shall we go with you, chief?" + +"My white brothers had better ride on slowly," Leaping Horse said. +"Might scare deer. No good lose time." + +Tom felt rather disappointed, but as he went on slowly with Jerry, the +miner said: "You will have plenty of chances later on, lad, and there is +no time to lose in fooling about. The red-skins will do the business." + +Looking back, Tom saw the two Indians gallop away till they neared the +crest of a low swell. Then they leapt from their horses, and stooping +low went forward. In a short time they lay prone on the ground, and +wriggled along until just on the crest. + +"I reckon the stag is just over there somewhere," Jerry said. "The young +red-skin must have caught sight of an antler." + +They stopped their ponies altogether now, and sat watching the Indians. +These were half a mile away, but every movement was as clearly visible +as if they were but a hundred yards distant. The chief raised himself on +his arms and then on to his knees. A moment later he lay down again, and +they then crawled along parallel with the crest for a couple of hundred +yards. Then they paused, and with their rifles advanced they crept +forward again. + +"Now they see them," Jerry exclaimed. + +The Indians lay for half a minute motionless. Then two tiny puffs of +smoke darted out. The Indians rose to their feet and dashed forward as +the sound of their shots reached the ears of their companions. + +"Come on," Jerry said, "you may be sure they have brought down one stag +anyhow. The herd could not have been far from that crest or the boy +would not have seen the antler over it, and the chief is not likely to +miss a wapiti at a hundred yards." + +Looking back presently Tom saw that the Indian ponies had disappeared. + +"Ay, Hunting Dog has come back for them. You may be sure they won't be +long before they are up with us again." + +In a quarter of an hour the two Indians rode up, each having the +hind-quarters of a deer fastened across his horse behind the saddle, +while the tongues hung from the peaks. + +"Kill them both at first shot, chief?" Jerry asked; "I did not hear +another report." + +"Close by," the chief said; "no could miss." + +"It seems a pity to lose such a quantity of meat," Tom remarked. + +"The Indians seldom carry off more than the hindquarters of a deer, +never if they think there is a chance of getting more soon. There is a +lot more flesh on the hindquarters than there is on the rest of the +stag. But that they are wasteful, the red-skins are, can't be denied. +Even when they have got plenty of meat they will shoot a buffalo any day +just for the sake of his tongue." + +It was still early in the afternoon when they passed under the shadow of +the buttes, and, two miles farther, came upon a small lake, the water +from which ran north. Here they unsaddled the horses and prepared to +camp. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +IN DANGER + + +There were no bushes that would serve their purpose near the lake; they +therefore formed their camp on the leeward side of a large boulder. The +greatest care was observed in gathering the fuel, and it burned with a +clear flame without giving out the slightest smoke. + +"Dead wood dries like tinder in this here air," the miner said. "In +course, if there wur any red-skins within two or three miles on these +hills they would make out the camp, still that ain't likely; but any +loafing Indian who chanced to be hunting ten or even fifteen miles away +would see smoke if there was any, and when a red-skin sees smoke, if he +can't account for it, he is darned sartin to set about finding out who +made it." + +The horses fared badly, for there was nothing for them to pick up save a +mouthful of stunted grass here and there. + +"Plenty of grass to-morrow," the chief said in answer to a remark of Tom +as to the scantiness of their feed. "Grass down by Buffalo Lake good." + +Early the next morning they mounted and rode down the hills into Big +Wind River valley. They did not go down to the river itself, but skirted +the foot of the hills until they reached Buffalo Lake. + +"There," the chief said, pointing to a pile of ashes, "the fire of my +white brother." Alighting, he and Hunting Dog searched the ground +carefully round the fire. Presently the younger Indian lightly touched +the chief and pointed to the ground. They talked together, still +carefully examining the ground, and moved off in a straight line some +fifty yards. Then they returned. + +"Indian here," Leaping Horse said, "one, two days ago. Found fire, went +off on trail of white men." + +"That is bad news, chief." + +"Heap bad," the Indian said gravely. + +"Perhaps he won't follow far," Tom suggested. + +The Indian made no answer. He evidently considered the remark to be +foolish. + +"You don't know much of Indian nature yet, Tom," the miner said. "When a +red-skin comes upon the trail of whites in what he considers his +country, he will follow them if it takes him weeks to do it, till he +finds out all about them, and if he passes near one of his own villages +he will tell the news, and a score of the varmint will take up the trail +with him. It's them ashes as has done it. If the chief here had stopped +with them till they started this would not have happened, for he would +have seen that they swept every sign of their fire into the lake. I +wonder they did not think of it themselves. It was a dog-goned foolish +trick to leave such a mark as this. I expect they will be more keerful +arterwards, but they reckoned that they had scarce got into the Indian +country." + +"Do you think it was yesterday the red-skin was here, or the day before, +chief?" + +"Leaping Horse can't say," the Indian replied. "Ground very hard, mark +very small. No rain, trail keep fresh a long time. Only find mark +twice." He led them to a spot where, on the light dust among the rocks, +was the slight impression of a footmark. + +"That is the mark of a moccasin, sure enough," Jerry said; "but maybe +one of the whites, if not all of them, have put on moccasins for the +journey. They reckoned on climbing about some, and moccasins beat boots +anyhow for work among the hills." + +"Red-skin foot," the Indian said quietly. + +"Well, if you say it is, of course it is. I should know it myself if I +saw three or four of them in a line, but as there is only one mark it +beats me." + +"How would you know, Jerry?" + +"A white man always turns out his toes, lad, an Indian walks +straight-footed. There are other differences that a red-skin would see +at once, but which are beyond me, for I have never done any tracking +work." + +The Indian without speaking led them to another point some twenty yards +away, and pointed to another impression. This was so slight that it was +with difficulty that Tom could make out the outline. + +"Yes, that settles it," Jerry said. "You see, lad, when there was only +one mark I could not tell whether it was turned out or not, for that +would depend on the direction the man was walking in. This one is just +in a line with the other, and so the foot must have been set down +straight. Had it been turned out a bit, the line, carried straight +through the first footprint, would have gone five or six yards away to +the right." + +It took Tom two or three minutes to reason this out to himself, but at +last he understood the drift of what his companion said. As the line +through one toe and heel passed along the centre of the other, the foot +must each time have been put down in a straight line, while if the +footprints had been made by a person who turned out his toes they would +never point straight towards those farther on. + +"Well, what is your advice, chief?" Jerry asked. + +"Must camp and eat," the Indian replied, "horses gone far enough. No +fear here, red-skin gone on trail." + +"Do you think there have been more than one, chief?" + +"Not know," Leaping Horse said; "find out by and by." + +Tom now noticed that Hunting Dog had disappeared. + +"Where shall we make the fire?" + +The chief pointed to the ashes. + +"That's it," Jerry said. "If any red-skin came along you see, Tom, there +would be nothing to tell them that more than one party had been here." + +The chief this time undertook the collection of fuel himself, and a +bright fire was presently burning. Two hours later Hunting Dog came +back. He talked for some time earnestly with the chief, and taking out +two leaves from his wampum bag opened them and showed him two tiny heaps +of black dust. Jerry asked no questions until the conversation was done, +and then while Hunting Dog cut off a large chunk of deer's flesh, and +placing it in the hot ashes sat himself quietly down to wait until it +was cooked, he said: + +"Well, chief, what is the news?" + +"The Indian had a horse, Hunting Dog came upon the spot where he had +left it a hundred yards away. When he saw ashes, he came to look at +them. Afterwards he followed the trail quite plain on the soft ground at +head of lake. Over there," and he pointed to the foot of the hills, +"Indian stopped and fired twice." + +"How on earth did he know that, chief?" + +The chief pointed to the two leaves. The scout examined the powder. +"Wads," he said. "They are leather wads, Tom, shrivelled and burnt. What +did he fire at, chief?" + +"Signal. Half a mile farther three other mounted redskins joined him. +They stopped and had heap talk. Then one rode away into hills, the +others went on at gallop on trail." + +"That is all bad, chief. The fellow who went up the hills no doubt made +for a village?" + +The chief nodded. + +"The only comfort is that Harry has got a good start of them. It was a +week from the time you left them before we met you, that is three days +ago, so that if the red-skins took up the trail yesterday, Harry has ten +days' start of them." + +Leaping Horse shook his head. "Long start if travel fast, little start +if travel slow." + +"I see what you mean. If they pushed steadily on up the valley, they +have gone a good distance, but if they stopped to catch beaver or +prospect for gold they may not have got far away. Hadn't we better be +pushing on, chief?" + +"No good, horses make three days' journey; rest well to-day, travel +right on to-morrow. If go farther to-night, little good to-morrow. Good +camp here, all rest." + +"Well, no doubt you are right, chief, but it worries one to think that +while we are sitting here those 'tarnal red-skins may be attacking our +friends. My only hope is that Harry, who has done a lot of Indian +fighting, will hide his trail as much as possible as he goes on, and +that they will have a lot of trouble in finding it." + +The chief nodded. "My white brother, Harry, knows Indian ways. He did +not think he had come to Indian country here or he would not have left +his ashes. But beyond this he will be sure to hide his trail, and the +'Rappahoes will have to follow slow." + +"You think they are 'Rappahoes, chief?" + +"Yes, this 'Rappahoe country. The Shoshones are further north, and are +friendly; the Bannacks and Nez Percés are in northwest, near Snake +River; and the Sioux more on the north and east, on other side of great +mountains. 'Rappahoes here." + +"Waal," Jerry said wrathfully, "onless they catch Harry asleep, some of +the darned skunks will be rubbed out afore they get his scalp. It is a +good country for hiding trail. There are many streams coming down from +the hills into the Big Wind, and they can turn up or down any of them as +they please, and land on rocky ground too, so it would be no easy matter +to track them. By the lay of the country there does not seem much chance +of gold anywheres about here, and, as I reckon, they will be thinking +more of that than of beaver skins, so I think they would push straight +on." + +"Harry said he should get out of Big Wind River valley quick," Leaping +Horse said. "Too many Indians there. Get into mountains other side. Go +up Rivičre de Noir, then over big mountains into Sierra Shoshone, and +then down Buffalo through Jackson's Hole, and then strike Snake River. I +told him heap bad Indians in Jackson's Hole, Bannacks, and Nez Percés. +He said not go down into valley, keep on foot-hills. I told him, too bad +journey, but he and other pale-faces thought could do it, and might find +much gold. No good Leaping Horse talk." + +"This is a dog-goned bad business I have brought you into, Tom. I +reckoned we should not get out without troubles, but I did not +calkerlate on our getting into them so soon." + +"You did not bring me here, Jerry, so you need not blame yourself for +that. It was I brought you into it, for you did not make up your mind to +come till I had settled to go with Leaping Horse." + +"I reckon I should have come anyhow," Jerry grumbled. "Directly the +chief said where Harry and the others had gone my mind was set on +joining them. It was a new country, and there wur no saying what they +might strike, and though I ain't a regular Indian-fighter, leaving them +alone when they leave me alone, I can't say as I am averse to a +scrimmage with them if the odds are anyways equal." + +"It is a wonderful country," Tom said, looking at the almost +perpendicular cliffs across the valley, with their regular coloured +markings, their deep fissures, crags, and pinnacles, "and worth coming a +long way to see." + +"I don't say as it ain't curous, but I have seen the like down on the +Colorado, and I don't care if I never see no more of it if we carry our +scalps safe out of this. I don't say as I object to hills if they are +covered with forest, for there is safe to be plenty of game there, and +the wood comes in handy for timbering, but this kind of country that +looks as if some chaps with paint-pots had been making lines all over +it, ain't to my taste noway. Here, lad; I never travel without hooks and +lines; you can get a breakfast and dinner many a day when a gun would +bring down on you a score of red varmints. I expect you will find fish +in the lake. Many of these mountain lakes just swarm with them. You had +better look about and catch a few bugs, there ain't no better bait. +Those jumping bugs are as good as any," and he pointed to a grasshopper, +somewhat to Tom's relief, for the lad had just been wondering where he +should look for bugs, not having seen one since he landed in the States. + +There were two lines and hooks in the miner's outfit, and Tom and +Hunting Dog, after catching some grasshoppers, went down to the lake, +while Jerry and the chief had a long and earnest conversation together. +The baited hooks were scarcely thrown into the water when they were +seized, and in a quarter of an hour ten fine lake trout were lying on +the bank. Tom was much delighted. He had fished from boats, but had +never met with much success, and his pleasure at landing five fish +averaging four or five pounds apiece was great. As it was evidently +useless to catch more, they wound up their lines, and Hunting Dog split +the fish open and laid them down on the rock, which was so hot that Tom +could scarce bear his hand on it. + +Seeing the elder men engaged in talk Tom did not return to them, but +endeavoured to keep up a conversation with the young Indian, whom he +found to be willing enough to talk now they were alone, and who knew +much more English than he had given him credit for. As soon as the sun +set the fire was extinguished, and they lay down to sleep shortly +afterwards. An hour before daylight they were in the saddle. Hunting Dog +rode ahead on the line he had followed the day before. As soon as it +became light Tom kept his eyes fixed upon the ground, but it was only +now and then, when the Indian pointed to the print of a horse's hoof in +the sand between the rocks, that he could make them out. The two Indians +followed the track, however, without the slightest difficulty, the +horses going at a hand gallop. + +"They don't look to me like horses' footprints," Tom said to Jerry when +they had passed a spot where the marks were unusually clear. + +"I reckon you have never seen the track of an unshod horse before, Tom. +With a shod horse you see nothing but the mark of the shoe, here you get +the print of the whole hoof. Harry has been careful enough here, and has +taken the shoes off his ponies, for among all the marks, we have not +seen any made by a shod horse. The Indians never shoe theirs, and the +mark of an iron is enough to tell the first red-skin who passes that a +white man has gone along there. The chief and I took off the shoes of +the four horses yesterday afternoon when you were fishing. We put them +and the nails by to use when we get out of this dog-goned country." + +After riding for two hours they came to the bank of a stream. The chief +held up his hand for them to stop, while he dismounted and examined the +foot-marks. Then he mounted again and rode across the stream, which was +some ten yards wide and from two to three feet deep. He went on a short +distance beyond it, leapt from his saddle, threw the reins on the +horse's neck, and returned to the bank on foot. He went a short distance +up the stream and then as much down, stooping low and examining every +inch of the ground. Then he stood up and told the others to cross. + +[Illustration: "Leaping Horse Mounted, And Rode Across The Stream"] + +"Leave your horses by mine," he said as they joined him. "Trail very +bad, all rock." He spoke to the young Indian, who, on dismounting, at +once went forward, quartering the ground like a spaniel in search of +game, while the chief as carefully searched along the bank. + +"Best leave them to themselves, Tom; they know what they are doing." + +"They are hunting for the trail, Jerry, I suppose?" + +"Ay, lad. Harry struck on a good place when he crossed where he did, for +you see the rock here is as smooth as the top of a table, and the wind +has swept it as clean of dust as if it had been done by an eastern +woman's broom. If the horses had been shod there would have been +scratches on the rock that would have been enough for the dullest Indian +to follow, but an unshod horse leaves no mark on ground like this. I +expect the red-skins who followed them were just as much puzzled as the +chief is. There ain't no saying whether they crossed and went straight +on, or whether they never crossed at all or kept in the stream either up +or down." + +It was half an hour before the two Indians had concluded their +examination of the ground. + +"Well, chief, what do you make of it?" Jerry asked when they had spoken +a few words together. + +"Hunting Dog has good eyes," the chief said. "The white men went +forward, the red men could not find the trail, and thought that they had +kept in the river, so they went up to search for them. Come, let us go +forward." + +The miner and Tom mounted their horses, but the Indians led theirs +forward some three hundred yards. Then Hunting Dog pointed down, and the +chief stooped low and examined the spot. + +"What is it, chief?" Jerry asked; and he and Tom both got off and knelt +down. They could see nothing whatever. + +"That is it," Leaping Horse said, and pointed to a piece of rock +projecting half an inch above the flat. + +"I am darned if I can see anything." + +"There is a tiny hair there," Tom said, putting his face within a few +inches of the ground. "It might be a cat's hair; it is about the length, +but much thicker. It is brown." + +"Good!" the chief said, putting his hand on Tom's shoulder. "Now let us +ride." He leapt into his saddle, the others following his example, and +they went on at the same pace as before. + +"Well, chief," the miner said, "what does that hair tell you about it, +for I can't make neither head nor tail of it?" + +"The white men killed a deer on their way up here, and they cut up the +hide and made shoes for horses, so that they should leave no tracks. One +of the horses trod on a little rock and a hair came out of the hide." + +"That may be it, chief," the miner said, after thinking the matter over, +"though it ain't much of a thing to go by." + +"Good enough," Leaping Horse said. "We know now the line they were +taking. When we get to soft ground see trail plainer." + +"What will the others do when they cannot find the trail anywhere along +the bank?" + +"Ride straight on," the chief said. "Search banks of next river, look at +mouths of valleys to make sure white men have not gone up there, meet +more of tribe, search everywhere closely, find trail at last." + +"Well, that ought to give Harry a good start, anyhow." + +"Not know how long gone on," the chief said gravely. "No rainfall. Six, +eight--perhaps only two days' start." + +"But if they always hide their trail as well as they did here I don't +see how the Indians can find them at all--especially as they don't know +where they are making for, as we do." + +"Find camp. Men on foot may hide traces, but with horses sure to find." + +"That is so," Jerry agreed, shaking his head. "An Indian can see with +half an eye where the grass has been cropped or the leaves stripped off +the bushes. Yes, I am afraid that is so. There ain't no hiding a camp +from Indian eyes where horses have been about. It is sure to be near a +stream. Shall you look for them, chief?" + +The Indian shook his head. "Lose time," he said. "We go straight to +Rivičre de Noir." + +"You don't think, then, they are likely to turn off before that?" + +"Leaping Horse thinks not. They know Indian about here. Perhaps found +Indian trail near first camp. Know, anyhow, many Indians. Think push +straight on." + +"That is the likeliest. Anyhow, by keeping on we must get nearer to +them. The worst danger seems to me that we may overtake the red-skins +who are hunting them." + +The chief nodded. + +"It is an all-fired fix, Tom," Jerry went on. "If we go slow we may not +be in time to help Harry and the others to save their scalps; if we go +fast we may come on these 'tarnal red-skins, and have mighty hard work +in keeping our own ha'r on." + +"I feel sure that the chief will find traces of them in time to prevent +our running into them, Jerry. Look how good their eyes are. Why, I might +have searched all my life without noticing a single hair on a rock." + +After riding some fifteen miles beyond the stream, and crossing two +similar though smaller rivulets, the chief, after a few words with +Jerry, turned off to the left and followed the foot of the hills. At the +mouth of a narrow valley he stopped, examined the ground carefully, and +then led the way up it, carrying his rifle in readiness across the peak +of the saddle. The valley opened when they had passed its mouth, and a +thick grove of trees grew along the bottom. As soon as they were beneath +their shelter they dismounted. + +The horses at once began to crop the grass. Hunting Dog went forward +through the trees, rifle in hand. + +"Shall I take the bits out of the horses' mouths, Jerry?" Tom asked. + +"Not till the young Indian returns. It is not likely there is a red-skin +village up there, for we should have seen a trail down below if there +had been. Still there may be a hut or two, and we can do nothing till he +comes back." + +It was half an hour before Hunting Dog came through the trees again. He +shook his head, and without a word loosened the girths of his horse and +took off the bridle. + +"He has seen no signs of them, so we can light a fire and get something +to eat. I am beginning to feel I want something badly." + +Thus reminded, Tom felt at once that he was desperately hungry. They had +before starting taken a few mouthfuls of meat that had been cooked the +day before and purposely left over, but it was now three o'clock in the +afternoon, and he felt ravenous. The Indians quickly collected dried +wood, and four of the fish were soon frizzling on hot ashes, while the +kettle, hung in the flame, was beginning to sing. + +"We have done nigh forty miles, Tom, and the horses must have a couple +of hours' rest. We will push on as fast as we can before dark, and then +wait until the moon rises; it will be up by ten. This ain't a country to +ride over in the dark. We will hide up before morning, and not go on +again till next night. Of course we shall not go so fast as by day, but +we sha'n't have any risk of being ambushed. The chief reckons from what +he has heard that the Indian villages are thick along that part of the +valley, and that it will never do to travel by day." + +"Then you have given up all hopes of finding Harry's tracks?" + +"It would be just wasting our time to look for them. We will push on +sharp till we are sure we are ahead of them. We may light upon them by +chance, but there can be no searching for them with these red varmint +round us. It would be just chucking away our lives without a chance of +doing any good. I expect Harry and his party are travelling at night +too; but they won't travel as fast as we do, not by a sight. They have +got pack-ponies with them, and they are likely to lay off a day or two +if they come upon a good place for hiding." + +They travelled but a few miles after their halt, for the Indians +declared they could make out smoke rising in two or three places ahead; +and although neither Jerry nor Tom could distinguish it, they knew that +the Indians' sight was much keener than their own in a matter of this +kind. They therefore halted again behind a mass of rocks that had fallen +down the mountain-side. Hunting Dog lay down among the highest of the +boulders to keep watch, and the horses were hobbled to prevent their +straying. The miner and the chief lit their pipes, and Tom lay down on +his back for a sleep. A short time before it became dusk the call of a +deer was heard. + +"There are wapiti, chief. We can't take a shot at them; but it don't +matter, we have meat enough for a week." + +The chief had already risen to his feet, rifle in hand. + +"It is a signal from Hunting Dog," he said, "he has seen something in +the valley. My white brother had better get the horses together," and he +made his way up the rocks. In a minute or two he called out that the +horses might be left to feed, and presently came leisurely down to them. +"Seen Indians--ten 'Rappahoes." + +"Which way were they going?" + +"Riding from Big Wind River across valley. Been away hunting among hills +over there. Have got meat packed on horses, ride slow. Not have heard +about white men's trail. Going to village, where we saw smoke." + +Tom was fast asleep when Jerry roused him, and told him that the moon +was rising, and that it was time to be off. + +They started at a walk, the chief leading; Jerry followed him, while Tom +rode between him and Hunting Dog, who brought up the rear. Tom had been +warned that on no account was he to speak aloud. "If you have anything +you want to say, and feel that you must say it or bust," Jerry remarked, +"just come up alongside of me and whisper it. Keep your eyes open and +your rifle handy, we might come upon a party any minute. They might be +going back to their village after following Harry's trail as long as +they could track it, or it might be a messenger coming back to fetch up +food, or those fellows Hunting Dog made out going on to join those in +front. Anyhow we have got to travel as quiet as if there was ears all +round us." + +As they passed the clumps of trees where the Indian villages stood they +could see the reflection of the fires on the foliage, and heard the +frequent barking of dogs and an occasional shout. A quarter of a mile +farther the chief halted and spoke to Hunting Dog, who at once +dismounted and glided away towards the village. + +"Gone to see how many men there," the chief said in explanation to +Jerry. "Too much laugh, no good." + +"He means the men must have gone off again, Tom. If there were men in +the camp the boys would not be making a noise." + +They were but a few hundred yards from the trees, and in a very short +time the Indian returned. + +"Men are gone," he said; "only squaws and boys there." + +"How many lodges are there?" the chief asked. Hunting Dog held up both +hands with extended fingers, and then one finger only. + +"Eleven of them," Jerry said. "I expect they are all small villages, and +they move their lodges across into the forests when winter comes on." + +As soon as they had mounted, the chief put his horse into a canter, and +at this pace they went forward for some hours, breaking into a walk +occasionally for a few minutes. + +"I thought you said we should not go beyond a walk to-night, Jerry," Tom +remarked on the first of these occasions. + +"That is what we kinder agreed, lad; but you may be sure the chief has +some good reason for going on faster. I dunno what it is, and I ain't +going to ask. Red-skins hate being questioned. If he wants to tell us he +will tell us without being asked." + +A faint light was stealing over the sky when the chief halted his horse +and sat listening. No sound, however, broke the stillness of the night. + +"Did you think you heard anything, chief?" + +"Leaping Horse heard nothing, but he stopped to listen. What does my +white brother think of the 'Rappahoes having gone on directly they +returned from the chase?" + +"I thought that when they got the news that some white men had gone +through, they might have started to join those following up the trail. +Isn't that what you think, chief?" + +"Only three white men, plenty Indians on trail; no hurry to follow; +might have had feast after hunt and gone on in morning." + +"So they might. You think the whites have been tracked, and are to be +attacked this morning?" + +"Perhaps attacked yesterday. Perhaps have got strong place, 'Rappahoes +want more help to take it. White rifle shoot straight, perhaps want more +men to starve them out." + +They again went forward, at a gallop now. Jerry did not think much of +the chief's idea. It seemed to him natural that the Indians should want +to join in the hunt for scalps, and to get a share of the white men's +goods, though he admitted that it was strange they should have gone on +without taking a meal. Presently the chief reined in his horse again, +and sat with head bent forward. Tom heard an angry grunt from between +Hunting Dog's teeth. Listening intently also, he was conscious of a +faint, far-away sound. + +"You hear?" the chief said to Jerry. + +"I heard something; but it might be anything. A waterfall in the hills +miles away, that is what it sounds like." + +"Guns," the chief said laconically. + +"Do you think so?" Jerry said doubtfully. "There don't seem to me +anything of guns in it. It is just a sort of murmur that keeps on and +on." + +"It is the mountains speaking back again," the chief said, waving his +hand. "Hills everywhere. They say to each other, the red men who live in +our bosoms are attacking the pale-face strangers." + +"What do you think, Hunting Dog?" Tom whispered to the Indian. + +"Gun-shot," he replied, in a tone of absolute conviction. + +"Waal, chief, I will not gainsay your opinion," Jerry said. "How far do +you think it is off?" + +"The horses will take us there in two hours," the chief replied. + +"Then we can put it at twenty miles at least. Let us be going; whatever +the sound is, we shall know more about it before we have gone much +farther." + +"Not too fast," Leaping Horse said as the miner was urging his horse +forward. "Maybe have to fight, maybe have to run. No good tire horse too +much." + +It was more than an hour before Tom could hear any distinct change in +the character of the sound, but at last he was able to notice that, +though seemingly continuous, the sound really pulsated; sometimes it +almost died away, then suddenly swelled out again, and there were +several vibrations close together. Jerry, more accustomed to the sound +of firearms in the mountains, had before this come round to the chief's +opinion. + +"It is guns, sure enough, Tom; the chief has made no mistake about it. +Waal, there is one comfort, they ain't been surprised. They are making a +good fight of it, and we may be there in time to take a hand in the +game." + +"Shall we ride straight on and join them?" + +"I reckon not, lad. We must wait until we see what sort of place Harry +is in, and how we can best help him, before we fix on any scheme." + +The sound became louder and clearer. The echo was still continuous, but +the sound of the shots could be distinctly heard. + +"It is over there, to the right," Jerry said. "They must have crossed +the Big Wind River." + +"And gone up the De Noir valley," the chief said. "We ought to be close +to it now." + +"Yes, I reckon it can't be far off, by what you told me about the +distance." + +"Better cross Big Wind at once. They no see us now." + +"I agree with you, chief; it would not do for them to get sight of us. +If they did our case would be worse than Harry's. I expect he has got +strongly posted, or he would have been wiped out long ago; that is what +would happen to us if they were to make us out and spy our numbers afore +we get to some place where we and Harry's outfit can help each other." + +They rode rapidly down to the river. With the exception of a few yards +in the middle, where the horses had to swim, the depth was not great, +and they were soon on the other side. They rode to the foot of the +hills, and then kept along it. The sound of firing became louder and +louder, and Tom felt his heart beat quickly at the thought that he might +soon be engaged in a desperate fight with the Indians, and that with the +odds greatly against his party. + +Presently the hills fell sharply away, and they were at the entrance of +the valley of the Rivičre de Noir, which is the principal arm of the Big +Wind River at this point. The firing had very much died out during the +last few minutes, and only an occasional shot was heard. + +"They have beat off the attack so far," Jerry said to him encouragingly. +"Now we have got to lie low a bit, while the chief sees how things +stand." + +Leaping Horse dismounted at the mouth of a narrow canon running up into +the cliff beside them. A little stream trickled down its centre. + +"Could not have been better," Jerry said. "Here is a place we four could +hold against a crowd of red-skins for hours. There is water anyway, and +where there is water there is mostly a little feed for horses. I will +take your horse, chief, and Tom will take Hunting Dog's, if so be you +mean him to go with you. + +"Don't you worry yourself, lad," he went on, seeing how anxious Tom +looked, as they started with the horses up the caņon. "If Harry and his +friends have beaten off the first attack, you may bet your boots they +are safe for some time. It is clear the red-skins have drawn off, and +are holding a pow-wow as to how they are to try next. They attacked, you +see, just as the day was breaking; that is their favourite hour, and I +reckon Harry must have been expecting them, and that he and his mates +were prepared." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +UNITED + + +The caņon showed no sign of widening until they had proceeded a quarter +of a mile from the entrance, then it broadened suddenly for a distance +of a hundred yards. + +"There has been a big slip here both sides," the miner said, looking +round. "It must have taken place a great many years ago, for the winter +floods have swept away all signs of it, and there are grass and trees on +the slopes. The horses can find enough to keep them alive here for a day +or two, and that is all we shall want, I hope." + +"It would be a nasty place to get out of, Jerry, for the cliffs are +perpendicular from half-way up." + +"It ain't likely as there is any place we could get out without +following it to the upper end, which may be some fifty miles away. I +don't know the country it runs through, but the red-skins are pretty +certain to know all about it. If they were to track us here they would +never try to fight their way in, but would just set a guard at the mouth +and at the upper end and starve us out. It is a good place to hide in, +but a dog-goned bad one to be caught in. However, I hope it ain't coming +to that. It is we who are going to attack them, and not them us, and +that makes all the difference. The red-skins can't have a notion that +there are any other white men in this neighbourhood, and when we open +fire on them it will raise such a scare for a bit that it will give us a +chance of joining the others if we choose. That of course must depend on +their position." + +They walked back to the mouth of the caņon, and had not to wait long for +the return of the Indians. + +"Come," Leaping Horse said briefly, at once turning and going off at a +swift pace. + +Jerry asked no questions, but with Tom followed close on the Indians' +heels. There were bushes growing among the fallen rocks and débris from +the face of the cliff, and they were, therefore, able to go forward as +quickly as they could leap from boulder to boulder, without fear of +being seen. A quarter of an hour's run, and the chief climbed up to a +ledge on the face of the cliff where a stratum harder than those above +it had resisted the effects of the weather and formed a shelf some +twelve feet wide. He went down on his hands and knees, and keeping close +to the wall crawled along to a spot where some stunted bushes had made +good their hold. The others followed him, and lying down behind the +bushes peered through them. + +The valley was four or five hundred yards wide, and down its centre ran +the stream. Close to the water's edge rose abruptly a steep rock. It was +some fifty feet in height and but four or five yards across at the top. +On the north and west the rocks were too perpendicular to be climbed, +but the other sides had crumbled down, the stones being covered with +brushwood. From the point where they were looking they could see the six +horses lying among the bushes. They were evidently tightly roped, and +had probably been led up there when the attack began and thrown at the +highest point to which they could be taken, a spot being chosen where +the bushes concealed their exact position from those below. The rock was +about two hundred and fifty yards from the spot where the party was +lying, and their position was about level with its top. Some twenty +Indians were gathered a few hundred yards higher up the valley, and +about as many some distance down it. + +"Why didn't the varmint take their places here?" Jerry whispered to the +chief. + +"They came here. See," and he pointed to a patch of blood a few feet +beyond him. "Indian guns not shoot far," he said, "powder weak; white +man's rifles carry here, red-skin not able to shoot so far. When they +found that, went away again." + +"What are they going to do now, do you think?" + +"Soon attack again." + + +Half an hour passed, and then a loud yell gave the signal and the two +troops galloped towards the rock. They had evidently had experience of +the accuracy of the white men's fire; not an Indian showed himself, each +dropping over one side of his pony, with an arm resting in a rope round +the animals' necks and one leg thrown over the back. So they dashed +forward until close to the foot of the rocks. Another instant and they +would have thrown themselves from their horses and taken to the bushes, +but although hidden from the sight of the defenders of the position, +they were exposed to the full view of the party on the ledge, from whom +they were distant not more than two hundred yards. The chief fired +first, and almost together the other three rifles flashed out. Three of +the Indians fell from their horses, another almost slipped off, but with +an effort recovered his hold with his leg. A yell of astonishment and +fear broke from the Indians. As the two bands mingled together, some of +the riders were exposed to those on the top of the rock, and three shots +were fired. Two more of the 'Rappahoes fell, and the whole band in +obedience to a shout from one of their chiefs galloped at full speed +down the valley. The three men sprang to their feet, waving their hats, +while the party on the ledge also leapt up with a shout. + +"It's you, chief, I see!" one of those on the rocks shouted. "I have +been hoping ever since morning to hear the crack of your rifle, and I +never heard a more welcome sound. We should have been rubbed out sure. +Who have you got with you?" + +"It's Jerry Curtis, Harry. I come up along with Leaping Horse, though I +did not expect to find you in such a bad fix. This young Indian is +Hunting Dog, and this young chap next to me is your nephew, Tom Wade. +You did not expect to meet him like this, I reckon?" + +While he had been speaking, all had reloaded their rifles. + +"You had best go across and talk it over with Harry, chief, and consart +measures with him for getting out of this fix. Those red-skins have got +a bad scare, but you may bet they ain't gone far; and they have lost six +of their bucks now beside what the others shot before, and it ain't in +Indian natur for them to put up with such a loss as that." He had been +looking at the rock as he spoke, and turning round uttered an +exclamation of surprise, for the chief was no longer there. Looking down +they saw that he had managed to make his way down the face of the cliff, +and in another two minutes was ascending the rock. There he stood for +some time in earnest conversation with the whites, and then returned to +the ledge. + +"Trouble over horses," he said. + +"Ay, ay, I reckoned that was what you was talking over. There ain't no +going back for them now." + +The chief shook his head. "'Rappahoes keep watch," he said, "cannot go +till night to fetch horses. All lie here to-day, go across to rock when +darkness comes, then white men go up valley till get to trees an hour's +march away; can see them from rock. Get in among trees and work up into +hills. Leaping Horse and Hunting Dog cross river, go down other side +past 'Rappahoes, then cross back and get into caņon, drive horses up. +White men meet them up in mountains." + +"That seems a good plan enough, chief. That is, if you can get out at +the other end of the caņon." + +"Caņon little up high," the chief replied. "Find some place to climb." + +"But they may find the horses to-day." + +The Indian nodded. "May find, perhaps not." + +"Why should we not go across to the rock at once, chief?" + +"Indian count on fingers how many. They do not know we only four; much +troubled in their mind where men come from, who can be. Red-skins not +like white men. Have many fancies. Fire come out of bush where 'Rappahoe +had been killed; think that bad medicine, keep together and talk. Think +if men here, why not go across to rock." + +"I should not be surprised if you are right, chief. They are more likely +to fancy we have come down from above than from below, for they must +have reckoned for sure there were no other white men in the Big Wind +valley, and our not showing ourselves will give them an all-fired +scare." + +"What does the chief mean by bad medicine, Jerry?" Tom asked. + +"A red-skin is full of all sorts of ideas. Anything he can't make head +nor tail of, is bad medicine; they think there is some magic in it, and +that old Nick has had his finger in the pie. When they get an idea like +that in their minds, even the bravest of them loses his pluck, and is +like a child who thinks he has seen a ghost. It is a mighty good notion +for us to lie low all day. The red-skins will reason it all out, and +will say, if these are white men who killed our brothers why the 'tarnal +don't they go and join the others, there ain't nothing to prevent them. +If they ain't white men, who are they? Maybe they can move without our +being able to see them and will shoot from some other place. No, I +reckon it is likely they will keep pretty close together and won't +venture to scatter to look for tracks, and in that case the chief's plan +will work out all right. In course, a good deal depends on their chief; +one of them is among those we shot, you can make out his feathers from +here. If he is the boss chief, it may be that they will give it up +altogether; the next chief will throw the blame on to him, and may like +enough persuade them to draw off altogether. If it ain't the boss chief, +then they are bound to try again. He would not like to take them back to +their villages with the news that a grist of them had been killed and +narry a scalp taken. I expect you will see this afternoon some of them +come down to palaver with Harry." + +The morning passed quietly and not unpleasantly, for they were lying in +the shade, but before noon the sun had climbed up over the cliff behind +them and shone down with great force, and they had to lie with their +heads well under the bushes to screen them from its rays. Presently, +Leaping Horse said: + +"Indian chief come, no lift heads." + +All shifted their position so as to look down the valley. An Indian +chief, holding up his hands to show that he was unarmed, was advancing +on foot, accompanied by another Indian also without arms. + +"There is Harry going down to meet them," Jerry said. + +Tom looked eagerly at the figure that came down from the rock and +advanced to meet the Indians. It seemed strange to him that after having +come so far to join his uncle they should remain for hours in sight of +each other without meeting. It was too far to distinguish his features, +but he saw by the light walk and easy swing of the figure that his uncle +was a much more active man than he had expected to see. He had known +indeed that he was but forty years old, but he had somehow expected that +the life of hardship he had led would have aged him, and he was +surprised to see that his walk and figure were those of a young man. + +"Is it not rather dangerous, his coming down alone to meet two of them? +They may have arms hidden." + +"They have got arms, you maybe sure," Jerry replied. "They have knives +for certain, and most likely tomahawks, but I expect Harry has got his +six-shooter. But it don't matter whether he has or not, there are his +two mates up on that rock with their rifles, and we are across here. The +'Rappahoes would know well enough their lives wouldn't be worth a red +cent if they were to try any of their games. They don't mean business; +they will make out they have come to persuade Harry and his mates to +give up, which they know quite well they ain't fools enough to do. But +what is really in their minds is to try and find out who we are, and +where we have come from." + +The conversation lasted a few minutes. Tom could see that questions were +being asked about the concealed party, for the chief pointed to the +ledge two or three times. When the talk was over the Indians went down +the valley again at a slow pace, never once looking back, and the +Englishman returned to the rocks. + +"I don't suppose they have got much from Harry." + +"I suppose uncle talks their language?" + +"No, I don't reckon he knows the 'Rappahoe dialect. But the tribes on +the western side of the plains can mostly understand each other's talk; +and as I know he can get on well with the Utes, he is sure to be able to +understand the 'Rappahoes' talk." + +"Leaping Horse will go along the ledge," the chief said a few minutes +later, after a short conversation with Hunting Dog. "The 'Rappahoes will +try to find out who are here; not like to attack the rock till find +out." + +The two Indians lay down flat on the ledge, and crawled along without +raising themselves in the slightest until they reached a point where the +cliffs projected somewhat. From here they could see down the valley, and +they lay immovable, with their rifles in front of them. + +"They are not more than fifty yards or so from those bushes where we got +up on to the ledge. That is where the red-skins are likely to try +crawling up, for there they would be out of sight of the rock." + +"Surely they would never venture to come along the ledge in daylight, +Jerry. They would have to pass along under the fire of uncle and his +mates, and would have our rifles to meet in front." + +"No, it would only be one, or at most, two scouts. They would reckon +that from that point where the chief is lying they would get a view +right along the ledge to here, and be able to make out what we are. It +is the strangeness of the thing that has kept them quiet all these +hours, and I expect their chief will want to prove that there are only a +few of us, and that we are men for certain. I reckon they have sent off +to the villages already, and there will be more of the varmint here +to-night. The Indians are never fond of attacking in the dark; still, if +they were sure about us, they might try it. They would know they could +get up to the foot of that rock before being seen, and once among the +bushes they would reckon they could make easy work of it." + +A quarter of an hour later there was the crack of a rifle, followed +instantly by an Indian yell. + +"That is the chief's piece, Tom, and I reckon the lead has gone +straight." + +The silence remained unbroken for the next two hours, and then Leaping +Horse crawled back as quietly as he had gone. + +"What was it, chief?" + +"It was a 'Rappahoe, who will scout no more," the chief said quietly. +"He came up the bushes, but before he could step on to the ledge Leaping +Horse fired, and he will take no tales back to his tribe." + +"They won't try again, chief?" + +Leaping Horse shook his head. "First take rock," he said, "then when +they have the scalps of the white men they will watch us here. Will know +we cannot stay here long without water." + +"You are right there, chief, and no m'stake; my tongue is like a piece +of leather now, and as soon as it gets dark I shall make a bee-line down +to the river. I want to have a talk with Harry, but just at present I +want a drink a blamed sight worse. If I had thought we were going to be +stuck up here all day I would have brought my water-bottle with me." + +The time passed very slowly, although the air became cooler as soon as +the sun had gone down behind the opposite range. As soon as the light +faded a little, the Indian crawled farther along the ledge, and returned +in a short time saying that he had found a spot where the whites could +descend. Two or three times Jerry urged that it was dark enough, before +the chief consented to move. At last, however, he stood up and gave the +cry of an owl, and they were in a minute or two joined by Hunting Dog, +who had until now remained at his post. The chief at once led the way +along the ledge until he reached the spot where the rock had crumbled +away somewhat. + +"We had better go down one at a time," Jerry said. "For if there was a +slip or a tumble it might let down a gun-hammer, and we want our lead +for the 'Rappahoes, and not for each other." + +When it came to Tom's turn, he found it a very difficult place to get +down in the semi-darkness, and two or three times he almost lost his +footing. As soon as all were down they fell into Indian file, and +crossed the valley to the rock, the chief giving the hoot of an owl +twice as he approached it. Three men at once stepped out from the bushes +at its foot. + +"I began to wonder when you were coming, and was just going to get the +ponies down before it was too dark to do it without running the risk of +breaking their legs. Well, I am right glad to see you, Jerry; and you +too, Tom, though it is too dark to see much of you. The chief has been +telling me how he brought you along. There is no time to talk now, but I +am right glad to see you, lad" and he shook Tom heartily by the hand. +"Now, mates, let us get the horses down." + +"I must make tracks for the water first, Harry, the young un and I are +pretty near choking; and I expect the Indians are as bad, though it +ain't their natur to talk about it." + +"Get down horses first," the chief said. "Too dark soon." + +"Waal, I suppose five minutes won't make much difference," Jerry +grumbled, "so here goes." + +"I have tied some hide over their hoofs," Harry said, "so as to make as +little noise as possible about it." + +"Must make no noise," the chief said urgently. "Redskin scouts soon be +crawling up." + +One by one the horses were brought down, Harry leading them, and the +others pushing aside the bushes as noiselessly as possible. Then their +loads were carried down and packed upon them. + +"You get on my horse, Jerry," Harry Wade whispered, "I will walk with +Tom. I have had no time to say a word to him yet, or to ask about the +people at home. Where is the chief?" + +Leaping Horse and his companion had stolen away as soon as the loads had +been adjusted. The others led the horses to the river, and allowed them +to drink, while Jerry and Tom lay down and took a long draught of the +water. The miners' bottles were filled, and they then started. + +"It is lucky the river makes such a roar among these rocks here," Harry +said, "it will drown the sound of the horses' hoofs." + +For half an hour they proceeded at a fast walk, then the skins were +taken off the horses' feet and they went on at a trot, the two Wades +taking hold of Jerry's stirrup-leathers and running alongside. In half +an hour they entered the belt of trees, and dismounting, at once began +to ascend the hill. They were some distance up when they heard a distant +yell. + +"You may yell as much as you like," Jerry panted, "you won't catch us +now. They have been a mighty long time finding out we were gone." + +"They could not make out about you," Harry said. "I could see by the +chief's manner, and the glances the Indian with him kept giving to the +place where you were lying, that they were puzzled and alarmed. They +offered if we would surrender that they would allow us to return down +the valley without hurt. I said, of course, that I preferred staying +where I was; we had come up the valley and intended going farther; we +didn't want to interfere with them, and if they had left us alone we +should have left them alone; and they had only themselves to thank for +the loss of some of their braves. 'We have,' I said, 'many friends, who +will protect us, and much harm will fall on the Indians who venture to +meddle with us.' + +"'Are your friends white men?' the chief asked. 'Have they wings that +they have flown down here from the hills?' + +"'They have come, that is enough,' I said. 'You see, when they were +wanted they were here, and if they are wanted again you will hear of +them, and your braves will die, and you will gain nothing. You had best +go back to your lodges and leave us to go away in peace. Whoever they +are, they can shoot, as you have found out to your cost. They have no +ill-will to the red-skins, providing the redskins let us alone. They +only fired four shots; if they had wished to, they could have killed +many more.' When the chief saw that he could get nothing further from me +he went away. As usual he spoke boastfully at last, and said that he had +offered peace to us, and if war came, it would be our faults. I laughed, +and said that we could take care of ourselves, and preferred doing so to +trusting ourselves in the hands of the 'Rappahoes, when we had made some +of their squaws widows." + +"Would they have kept their word, uncle, do you think?" Tom asked. + +"Not they. There are a few of the Indian tribes whose word can be taken, +but as a rule words mean nothing with them, and if we had put ourselves +in their power they would have tomahawked us instantly, or else taken us +down and tortured us at their villages, which would have been a deal +worse. I have no doubt they had a long talk after the chief returned to +them, and that it was some time after it became dark before they could +pluck up courage enough to climb the rock, though I expect they must +have got close to it very soon after we left. I reckon they have been +crawling up inch by inch. Of course, directly they got to where the +horses had been tied they knew we had gone, and I expect that yell was a +signal for a rush forward to the top. But we need not bother any more +about them. They may ride as far as the foot of the forest, but when +they find we have gained that safely they will give it up until morning; +they will know well enough it is no good starting to search the woods in +the dark. We may as well rest where we are until the moon is up, for we +make so much noise crashing through this undergrowth that they could +hear us down there." + +"Now tell me, lad, about your mother and sisters, and how you came out +after all." + +Tom told his uncle of his mother's death, and the reason why he had left +his sisters to come out to join him. + +"It is a very bad business, lad, and I take a lot of blame to myself. +When I got your mother's letter, telling me of poor John's death, and +that she would not hear of your coming out, I said some very hard things +to myself. Here had I been knocking about for twenty years, and having +had a fair share of luck, and yet I could not put my hand on five +hundred dollars, and there was my brother's widow and children, and I, +their nearest relative, could not help them. It made me feel a pretty +mean man, I can tell you. Your mother did not say much about her +circumstances, but it did not need that. I knew that John had retired +from the navy with little besides his half-pay, and that her pension as +his widow must be a mighty slim one. Altogether I had a pretty bad time +of it. However, I took a tall oath that the next rich strike I made the +dollars should not be thrown away. I reckoned that you would be out +before long; for it was certain that if you were a lad of spirit you +would not be staying there doing nothing. Your mother said that the +girls all intended to take up teaching, and it was not likely that you +would let them work for the family while you were loafing about at home. +I know in my time it was hard enough to get anything to do there, and +young fellows who have come out here to ranche tell me that it is harder +than ever now. I thought you would fancy this life, and that in time you +would talk your mother over into letting you come." + +"I should never have got her to agree to it, uncle. I wanted to go to +sea, but after father's death she would not hear of it. She said I was +her only boy and that she could not spare me, and I had to promise to +give up the thought. She was still more against your plan, but when I +wrote to you I thought that possibly in time she might agree to it. But +it was not long afterwards that her health began to fail, and I saw then +that I must give up all thought of leaving her, and must, when I left +school, take anything that offered; and it was only after her death that +I talked it over with the girls, and they agreed that to come here was +the best thing for me." + +"And you left before my last letter arrived?" + +"Yes; we had no letter after the one you wrote asking me to come out." + +"No, I suppose you could not have had it. I wrote before I started out +three months ago from Salt Lake City. I had struck a ledge of pretty +good stuff, I and another. We sold out for a thousand dollars, and I +sent my share off to your mother, telling her that I had been having bad +luck since I got her letter, but that I hoped to do better in future, +and I thought, anyhow, I could promise to send her as much once a year, +and if I had a real stroke of luck she and her girls would have the +benefit of it." + +"That was good of you, uncle." + +"Not good at all," Harry Wade grumbled. "I have behaved like a fool all +along; it is true that when I did get letters from your father, which +was not very often, he always wrote cheerfully, and said very little +about how he was situated as to money. But I ought to have known--I did +know, if I thought of it--that with a wife and six children it must be +mighty hard to make ends meet on a lieutenant's half-pay, and there was +I, often throwing away twice as much as his year's pension on a week's +spree. When I heard he was gone you may pretty well guess how I felt. +However, lad, if things turn out well I will make it up as far as I can. +Now, let us join the others." + +The others, however, were all sound asleep, having wrapped themselves in +their blankets, and lain down as soon as the halt was decided upon. +Jerry, having had no sleep the previous night, and but little for four +or five days, had not even thought of asking the others for food, which +they doubtless had on their saddles, although he had tasted nothing for +twenty-four hours. Tom, however, less accustomed to enforced fasts, felt +ravenous. + +"We have had nothing to eat to-day, uncle, except a crust left over from +yesterday's baking, and I don't think I could get to sleep if I did not +eat something." + +"Bless me, I never thought of that, Tom. If I had I would have sent food +across by the chief this morning. There is no bread, but there is plenty +of cold meat. We cooked a lot yesterday evening, for we thought we might +not get a chance of cooking to-day." + +"Then you knew, uncle, the Indians were near?" Tom went on, when he had +appeased his appetite and taken a drink of water, with a little whisky +in it from his uncle's flask. + +"Ay, lad; we guessed somehow we had been followed all along. We had done +everything we could to throw them off the trail--travelling as much as +we could in the course of streams, muffling the feet of our ponies, and +picking out the hardest ground to travel on; but every morning before +daybreak one of us went up the hillside, and twice we made out mounted +Indians moving about down the valley. Yesterday morning ten of them came +galloping up within easy shot. I don't think they thought that we were +so near. They drew up their horses suddenly, had a talk, and then came +riding after us. It didn't need their yells to tell us what their +intention was. We knocked three of them out of their saddles, then threw +our horses down and lay behind them. + +"They galloped round and round us shooting, but we picked two more off, +and then they rode away. We knew enough of them to be sure that they +were not going to give it up, but would follow us till joined by enough +of their tribe to attack us again. We made a long march, hoping to get +to the timber before they could come up, but just as the sun was setting +we saw them coming along, about fifteen of them; and we had just time to +get up to that rock. As they rode past we opened a smart fire and +dropped four of them; the others rode up the valley, so as to cut us off +from going farther. We filled our water-skins and got the horses +half-way up as you saw, and then lighted a fire and cooked. We kept +watch all night, two down below and one at the top; but everything was +quiet, and we guessed they were waiting for others to come up. + +"About an hour before daylight we heard another gang arrive below us. +They halted there, and it was not long before they began crawling up +from above and below, and for a bit we shot pretty brisk. The odds were +too much against them, with us on the height, and they drew off. Then +for an hour they were pretty quiet while they were holding council, +except that we did some shooting with a party who had climbed up to that +ledge opposite; then we saw both bands mount, and reckoned they were +going to make a dash for us. We knew if they did it in earnest we must +go down, for once among the rocks and bushes there would be no keeping +them from mounting up. We made up our minds that the end was not far +off, though I fancy we should have accounted for a good many of them +before they rubbed us out. When your four rifles spoke from the ledge we +thought it was a party who had gone back there, for we felt sure that we +had driven them all away, but it wasn't more than a moment before we saw +it wasn't that. There was no mistaking the yell of astonishment from the +Indians, and as the horses swerved round we saw that three of them had +fallen. You may guess we didn't stop to argue who it was, but set to +work to do our share; but it seemed to us something like a miracle when +the red-skins rode off. + +"We had been talking of Leaping Horse during the night, for he had +promised to come back to join us, and I knew him well enough to be able +to bet all creation that he would come. He had only left us to keep an +appointment with his nephew, who was to join him at Fort Bridger. If +there had only been two guns fired we should have put it down to him, +but being four I don't think either of us thought of him till he stood +up and shouted. Now, lad, you had better take a sleep. We shall be +moving on as soon as the moon is fairly up, and it won't be over that +hill behind us till two or three. I will watch till then, but I don't +think there is the least chance of their following us to-night; they +have been pretty roughly handled, and I don't think they will follow +until they have solved the mystery of that ledge. They searched it, no +doubt, as soon as they found the rock was empty, and at daybreak they +will set about tracing the trail up. That will be easy enough for them +when they have once got rid of the idea that there was something uncanny +about it, and then we shall have them on our heels again and on the +chief's too. The first thing for us to do will be to make along the hill +till we get to the edge of the caņon, where Leaping Horse has gone for +your ponies, and to follow it to its upper end." + +"I will watch, uncle, if you will wake me in an hour. I shall be all +right after a nap, but I can scarcely keep my eyes open now." + +It seemed, however, to Tom that he had not been asleep five minutes when +his uncle shook him. The others were already on their feet. The moon was +shining down through the trees, and with cautious steps, and taking the +utmost trouble to avoid the branches, they started on their upward +climb. Not a word was spoken, for all knew how far sound travels on a +still night. There was, however, a slight breeze moving among the tree +tops when they started, and in an hour this had so far increased that +the boughs were swaying and the leaves rustling. + +"I reckon there ain't no occasion to keep our mouths shut no longer," +one of the men said. "Now that the trees are on the move they would not +hear us if they were only a hundred yards away." + +All were glad when daylight began to appear, Tom because the climbing +would be much easier when the ground could be seen, the others because +they were all longing for a pipe, but had hitherto not dared to light +one, for the flash of a match could be seen far away. They had been +bearing steadily to the right as they mounted, and shortly after +daybreak they suddenly found themselves on the edge of a caņon. + +"Do you think this is the one, Jerry?" one of the men asked. + +"That is more than I can tell, Ben. I did not see an opening in the +valley as we came up it, but we might very well have missed one in the +dark. I should think from the distance we have gone towards the right it +must be the one where we left our horses. Anyhow, whether it is or not, +we must follow it up to the top and wait there for a bit to see if the +chief comes." + +"I reckon he will be there before us," Harry said; "that is if he got +round the red-skins all right and found the horses. There would be no +reason for him to wait, and I expect he would go straight on, and is +like enough to be waiting for us by this time." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +CHASED + + +The party pressed forward as rapidly as they could. The ground was rough +and at times very steep, and those on foot were able to keep up with the +horses without much difficulty. + +"You think the Indians will follow, uncle?" Tom asked. + +"They will follow, you may bet your boots, Tom; by this time they have +got to the bottom of the mystery. The first thing this morning some of +them will go up on to the ledge where you were, follow your tracks down +to the caņon where you left the horses, and find that you came up the +valley and not down it. They will have made out that there were two +whites and two red-skins, and that the two red-skins have gone up the +caņon with the horses. Directly the matter is all cleared up, they will +be hotter than ever for our scalps, for there is nothing a red-skin +hates worse than being fooled. Of course, they will know that it is a +good deal harder to wipe out seven men than three, and I don't think +they will attack us openly; they know well enough that in a fair fight +two red-skins, if not three, are likely to go down for each white they +rub out. But they will bide their time: red-skins are a wonderful hand +at that; time is nothing to them, and they would not mind hanging about +us for weeks and weeks if they can but get us at last. However, we will +talk it all over when the Indians join us. I don't think there is any +chance of fighting to-day, but whether we shall get out of these +mountains without having another scrimmage is doubtful." + +Tom noticed that in his talk with him his uncle dropped most of the +western expressions which when speaking with the others he used as +freely as they did. He was now able to have a fair look at him, and +found that he agreed pretty closely with the ideas he had formed of him. +There was a strong likeness between him and his brother. They were about +the same height, but Harry was broader and more strongly built. His face +was deeply bronzed by long exposure to the wind and sun. He had a large +tawny beard, while Tom's father had been clean shaved. The sailor was +five years the senior, but the miner looked far younger than Tom could +ever remember his father looking, for the latter had never thoroughly +recovered his, health after having had a long bout of fever on the +Zanzibar station; and the long stride and free carriage of his uncle was +in striking contrast to the walk of his father. Both had keen gray eyes, +the same outline of face, the same pleasant smile. + +"Now that I can see you fairly, Tom," the miner said, when they halted +once for the horses to come up to them, "I can make out that you are a +good deal like your father as I can first remember him." + +"I was thinking you were very like him, uncle." + +"We used to be alike in the old days, but I reckon the different lives +we led must have changed us both a great deal. He sent me once a +photograph four or five years ago, and at first I should not have known +it was he. I could see the likeness after a bit, but he was very much +changed. No doubt I have changed still more; all this hair on my face +makes a lot of difference. You see, it is a very long time since we met. +I was but twenty when I left England, and I had not seen him for two or +three years before that, for he was on the Mediterranean station at the +time. Well, here are the horses again, and as the ground looks flatter +ahead we shall have to push on to keep up with them." They were +presently altogether beyond the forest, and a broad plateau of bare rock +stretched away in front of them for miles. + +"There they are," Jerry Curtis shouted. "I was beginning to feel scared +that the 'Rappahoes had got them." + +It was a minute or two before Tom could make out the distant figures, +for his eyes were less accustomed to search for moving objects than were +those of his companions. + +"They are riding fast," Harry Wade said. "I reckon they have made out +some Indians on their trail." + +The little dark mass Tom had first seen soon resolved itself into two +horsemen and two riderless animals. They were still three or four miles +away, but in twenty minutes they reached the party advancing to meet +them. The whites waved their hats and gave them a cheer as they rode up. + +"So you have managed to get through them all right, chief?" + +"The 'Rappahoes are dogs. They are frightened at shadows; their eyes +were closed. Leaping Horse stood near their fires and saw them go +forward, and knew that his white brothers must have gained the forest +before the 'Rappahoes got to the rock. He found the horses safe, but the +caņon was very dark and in some places very narrow, with many rocks in +the road, so that he had to stop till the moon was high. It was not +until morning came that he reached the head of the caņon, an hour's ride +from here. Half an hour back Leaping Horse went to the edge and looked +down. There were ten 'Rappahoes riding fast up the trail. Has my brother +heard anything of the others?" + +"Nothing whatever," Harry said. "I reckon they did not begin to move +until daylight, and as we went on when the moon rose they must be a good +two hours behind us. Which way do you think we had better go, chief?" + +"Where does my brother wish to go?" + +"It matters mighty little. I should say for a bit we had better travel +along this plateau, keeping about the same distance from the +timber-line. I don't think the 'Rappahoes will venture to attack us in +the open. If we keep on here we can cross the divide and get into the +Shoshones' country, and either go down the Buffalo and then up the Snake +and so work down south, or go east and strike some of the streams +running that way into the Big Horn." + +The chief shook his head. + +"Too far, too many bad Indians; will talk over fire tonight." + +"That is it, chief. It is a matter that wants a good deal of talking +over. Anyhow, we had better be moving on at once." + +Tom was glad to find himself in the saddle again, and the party rode on +at a steady pace for some hours, then they halted, lit a fire, and +cooked a meal. Tom noticed that the Indians no longer took pains to +gather dry sticks, but took the first that came to hand. He remarked +this to Jerry. + +"They know it is no use trying to hide our trail here; the two bands of +Indians will follow, one up and one down, until they meet at the spot +where the chief joined us. From there they can track us easy enough. +Nothing would suit us better than for them to come up to us here, for we +should give them fits, sartin. This is a good place. This little stream +comes down from that snow peak you see over there, and we have got +everything we want, for this patch of bushes will keep us in firing for +a bit. You see, there are some more big hills in front of us, and we are +better here than we should be among them. I expect we shall camp here +for the night." + +"Then you don't think the Indians will come up close?" + +"Not they. They will send a spy or two to crawl up, you may be sure, but +they will know better than to come within reach of our rifles." + +"I am mighty glad to have my teeth into some deer-flesh again," Ben +Gulston said. "We had two or three chances as we came along, but we dare +not fire, and we have just been living on bread and bacon. Where did you +kill these wapiti?" + +"At our first halt, near Fremont's Pass. We got two." + +"Well, you haven't eaten much, Jerry," Sam Hicks said. "I reckon four +men ought pretty well to have finished off two quarters by this time." + +"I reckon we should have finished one of the bucks, Sam; but we caught a +grist of fish the same day, dried them in the sun, and I think we mostly +ate them. They would not keep as well as the flesh. That is as good as +the day we shot it, for up here in the dry air meat keeps a sight better +than down in the plains. Give me some more tea, Sam." + +"What do you think, mates, of camping here?" Harry Wade said. "The chief +thinks we are better here than we should be if we moved on. He feels +certain the red-skins won't dare attack us." + +There was a cordial agreement in favour of a halt, for after the work +they had gone through during the last week they were glad of a rest. No +one would have thought half an hour afterwards that the little party +engaged in washing their shirts at the stream or mending their clothes, +were in the heart of a country unknown to most of them, and menaced by a +savage foe. The horses cropped the scanty tufts of grass or munched the +young tops of the bushes, the rifles stood stacked by the fire, near +which the two Indians sat smoking and talking earnestly together, +Hunting Dog occasionally getting up and taking a long careful look over +the plain. As the men finished their various jobs they came back to the +fire. + +"Now, chief," Harry said, "let us hear your ideas as to what we had best +do. We are all pretty old hands at mountaineering, but we reckon you +know a great deal more about it than we do. You don't like the plans I +proposed." + +"No can do it," the chief said positively. "In a moon the snow will +fall, and there will be no crossing mountains." + +"That is true enough," Jerry said. "An old trapper who had lived among +the Shoshones told me that nine months in the year they were shut up in +the valleys by the snow on the passes." + +"Then how can live?" the chief went on. "As long as we stay in this +country the 'Rappahoes will watch us. They will tell the Bannacks and +the Nez Percés, and they too would be on our trail. As long as we keep +together and watch they will not come, they fear the white man's rifle; +but we cannot live without hunting, and then they kill one, two, till +all killed. At night must always watch, at day cannot hunt. How we live? +What good to stay? If we stop all killed sure." + +There was silence round the circle. Every one of them felt the truth of +the Indian's words, and yet they hated the thought of abandoning their +search for gold, or, failing that, of a return home with their horses +laden with beaver skins. + +Harry was the first to speak. "I am afraid these varmint have interfered +with our plans, mates. If we had had the luck to drop into one of the +upper valleys without being noticed we could have hunted and trapped +there and looked for gold for months without much chance of being +discovered, but this has upset it all. I am afraid that what the chief +says is true. If we keep together we starve, if we break up and hunt we +shall be ambushed and killed. I hate giving up anything I have set my +mind on, but this time I don't see a way out of it. We ain't the first +party that has come up here and had to go back again with empty hands, +and we know what happened to that party of twenty old-time miners from +California two years ago, though none of them ever got back to tell the +tale. We knew when we started, it wur just a chance, and the cards have +gone against us." + +"That is so," Ben agreed; "if it had turned out well we might have made +a good strike. It ain't turned out well, and as every day we stay here +there will be more of those varmint swarming round us, I say the sooner +we get out of this dog-goned country the better." + +"You can count me in with you, Ben," Sam Hicks said. "We have gone in +for the game and we don't hold hands, and it ain't no use bluffing +against them red-skins. We sha'n't have lost much time arter all, and I +reckon we have all learned something. Some day when the railroad goes +right across, Uncle Sam will have to send a grist of troops to reckon up +with the red-skins in these hills, and arter that it may be a good +country for mining and trapping, but for the present we are a darned +sight more likely to lose our scalps than to get skins." + +"Well, Leaping Horse, which way would you advise us to take, then?" + +"Go straight back to caņon, ride down there, cross river, go up +mountains other side, pass them north of Union Peak, come down on upper +water Big Wind River. From there little way on to Green River. Leaping +Horse never been there, but has heard. One long day's ride from here, go +to upper waters of Green River." + +"That sounds good," Jerry Curtis said. "If we could once strike the +Green we should be out of the 'Rappahoe country altogether. I have known +two or three men who have been up the Green nearly to its head, and +there is good hunting and a good many beaver in the side streams. I +should not have thought it would have come anywhere like as near as +this, but I don't doubt the chief is right." + +"Union Peak," the chief said, pointing to a crag rising among a tumble +of hills to the south. + +"Are you sure, chief?" + +The Indian nodded. "Forty, fifty miles away," he said. "Leaping Horse +has been to upper waters of Green River, seen the peak from other side." + +"That settles it, then," Harry said. "That is our course, there cannot +be a doubt. I should never have proposed the other if I had had an idea +that we were within sixty or seventy miles of the Green River. And you +think we had better take the caņon you came up by, chief?" + +The Indian nodded. "If go down through forest may be ambushed. Open +ground from here back to caņon. 'Rappahoes most in front. Think we go +that way, not think we go back. Get good start. Once across river follow +up little stream among hills other side, that the way to pass. If +'Rappahoes follow us we fight them." + +"Yes, we shall have them at an advantage there, for they would have to +come up under our fire, and there are sure to be places where half a +dozen men could keep fifty at bay. Very well, chief, that is settled. +When do you think we had better start?" + +"When gets dark," the chief replied. "No lose time, more Indian come +every hour. Keep fire burning well, 'Rappahoes think we camp here. Take +horses a little way off and mount beyond light of fire." + +"You think they will be watching us?" + +"Sure to watch. First ride north half an hour, then turn and ride to +caņon. If spies see us go off take word to friends we gone north. Too +dark to follow trail. They think they catch us easy to-morrow, and take +up trail in morning; but too late then, we cross river before that." + +There was a general murmur of assent. The thought of being constantly +watched, and suddenly attacked when least expecting it, made them feel +restless, and the thought of early action was pleasant to them. + +"You don't think that there are any spies watching us now, uncle, do +you?" + +"Not close, Tom; they would know better than that. They could see us +miles away if we were to mount and ride off, and it is only when it gets +dark that they would venture to crawl up, for if one were sighted in the +daytime he would not have a ghost of a chance of getting away, for we +could ride him down sartin." + +"Well, I reckon we may as well take a sleep," Sam Hicks said. "You lie +down for one, anyhow, Harry, for you watched last evening. We will toss +up which of us keeps awake." + +"Leaping Horse will keep watch," the chief said quietly. "No fear of +Indians, but better to watch." + +Knowing the power of the red-skins to keep awake for an almost unlimited +time, none of the others thought of refusing the offer, and in a few +minutes all were sound asleep. Towards sunset they were on their feet +again. Another meal was cooked and eaten, then as it became dusk the +horses were gathered fifty yards away, and Hunting Dog and Tom took +their places beside them. + +"Keep your eyes open and your rifle handy, Tom," his uncle said. "It is +like enough that some young brave, anxious to distinguish himself, may +crawl up with the intention of stampeding the ponies, though I don't +think he would attempt it till he thought most of us were asleep. Still, +there is no saying." + +The watch was undisturbed, and soon it became so dark that objects could +no longer be seen fifty yards away. Tom began to feel nervous. Every +tuft of ground, every little bush seemed to him to take the form of a +crawling Indian, and he felt a great sense of relief when he saw the +figures round the fire rise and walk towards him. + +"I am glad you have come, uncle," he said frankly; "I began to feel very +uncomfortable several times. It seemed to me that some of the bushes +moved." + +"That is just what I thought you would be feeling, Tom. But it was just +as well that your first watch should be a short one, without much chance +of an ambush being on foot; and I knew that if your eyes deceived you, +Hunting Dog was there. Next time you won't feel so nervous; that sort of +thing soon passes off." + +A fresh armful of brushwood had been thrown on to the fire before the +men left it, and long after they had ridden away they could see the +flames mounting high. After riding north for a quarter of an hour they +changed their route and passed round, leaving the fire half a mile on +their right. The light of the stars was quite sufficient for them to +travel by, and after four hours' journey the chief, who was riding +ahead, halted. + +"Not far from caņon now. Listen." + +A very faint murmur came to their ears, so faint that had not his +attention been drawn to it Tom would not have noticed it at all. + +"What is that noise?" he asked. + +"That is the stream down in the caņon," his uncle replied. "How far are +we from the head, chief?" + +"Not far, must ride slow." + +They proceeded at a walk, changing their course a little towards the +east. Hunting Dog went on ahead, and in a quarter of an hour they heard +his signal, the cry of an owl. It arose from a point still further east, +and quickening their pace, in a few minutes they came up to the young +Indian, who was standing by his horse at the edge of a steep descent, at +the bottom of which Tom could see a stream of water. + +"It looks very steep," Jerry said. + +"Steep, but smooth," the Indian replied. "Came up here with horses this +morning." + +All dismounted, and Tom went up to his horse's head. "That won't do, +Tom. Never go before a horse down a steep place where you can't see your +way, always drive it before you." + +There was some trouble in getting the horses to commence the descent, +but after a short time the chief's pony set the example; and tucking its +hind legs under it until it sat down on its haunches, began to slide +down, while the other animals, after staring into the darkness with ears +laid back and snorting with fear, were half-persuaded, half-forced to +follow its example, and the men went down after them. The descent was +not so steep as in the darkness it looked, and the depth was not over +fifty feet. As soon as they reached the bottom they mounted again, and +the chief leading the way, they rode down the caņon. At first they were +able to proceed at a fair pace, but as the sides grew higher and more +precipitous the darkness became more dense, and they were obliged to +pick their way with great caution among the boulders that strewed the +bottom of the ravine. Several times they had to dismount in order to get +the horses over heavy falls, and it was four hours from the time they +entered the caņon before they approached its mouth. When they entered +the little wood where they had first left the horses, the chief said, +"Make fire, cook food here. Leaping Horse and Hunting Dog go on and +scout, maybe 'Rappahoes left watch in valley." + +"Very well, chief. It is seven hours since we started; I think the +horses will be all the better for an hour's rest, and I am sure we shall +be the better of a feed. Besides, when we are once out of this hole we +may have to travel fast." + +"You don't think it likely that the 'Rappahoes are on the look-out for +us at the entrance?" Tom asked, as the Indians moved away. + +"Not likely at all, Tom. Still, as they might reckon that if we gave +their searching party the slip we must come down again by the river or +through this caņon, they may have left a party or sent down word to some +of their villages to keep a watch in the valley." + +It was more than an hour before the Indians returned. + +"No 'Rappahoes in valley," the chief said, as he seated himself by the +fire and began without loss of time to eat the meat they had cooked in +readiness. "Better be going soon, must cross river and get on before +light come; have seen fires, Indian villages up on hillsides. When light +comes and 'Rappahoes find trail they come back quick." + +"You may bet your boots they will, chief," Sam Hicks said. "They will be +a pretty mad crowd when they make out that we have come down again by +the caņon. As soon as they see which way we have headed some of them +will make a bee-line down here in hopes of cutting us off at the mouth, +but by the time they are here we shall be half-way up the hill." + +The Indian made no reply, but he and Hunting Dog ate their meal +steadily, and as soon as they had finished rose to their feet, and +saying "Time to go" went out to fetch in their horses. + +"I don't think the chief is as confident we shall get off without a +fight as Sam seemed to be," Tom said to his uncle. + +"There is never any saying what an Indian thinks, Tom, even when he has +fallen into white man's ways, as Leaping Horse has done. It may be that +the sight of the fires he made out on the opposite hills has troubled +him. It will be light before we are far up on the side, and we may be +made out by some of the varmint there. They are always restless. Go into +an Indian village when you will, you will find some of them smoking by +the fire. Their ears are so 'tarnal sharp, they can hear sounds that +would never catch our ears, not at half the distance. The clink of a +couple of pans together, or a stone set rolling by a horse's tread, were +it ever so faint, would bring them on their feet directly, especially +now they know that a war-party is out." + +The march was again resumed. Passing through the narrowest part of the +caņon they issued out into the valley and made for the river. Some time +was lost here, for Sam Hicks, who was leading one of the pack-ponies, +was carried down several hundred yards by the stream, and with +difficulty effected his landing. The horse's load shifted and had to be +repacked. As soon as this was done they followed the river down for two +miles till they came upon a stream running into it from the southwest. + +"You think this is the stream we have to follow, chief?" + +"Must be him, no other came in on this side for a long way; right line +for peak." + +They turned up by the stream, and after riding a mile found themselves +entering a mountain gorge. It was not a caņon but a steep, narrow +valley. They picked their way with the greatest caution for some time, +then the two Indians stopped simultaneously. + +"What is the matter, chief?" Harry, who was riding next to them, +whispered. + +"Smell smoke." + +Harry sniffed the air. + +"I can't say I smell it, chief, but if you say you do that settles it. +Where do you think it comes from?" + +"Up valley; wind light, but comes that way. Indian village up here." + +"Well, so much the worse for the Indian village if it interferes with +us," Harry said grimly; "there is one thing certain, we have got to go +through. Probably most of the braves are away up in the hills." + +They now went on with redoubled caution. The chief gave his bridle to +Hunting Dog and went forward on foot. A hundred yards farther the valley +made a sharp turn and then widened out considerably, and the glow of a +fire was visible among some trees standing on the hillside some fifty +feet above the level of the stream. The chief looked at the sky; a faint +light was breaking, and without pausing he continued to lead the way. +They passed under the Indian encampment, and had got a few yards higher +when the pony Sam Hicks was leading gave a sharp neigh. + +"Darn its old ears!" Tom heard Jerry growl. Harry at the same moment put +his horse to a trot, and the others following clattered up the valley, +knowing that concealment was no longer of any use; indeed, an answering +neigh from above and hurried shouts were heard, followed a moment +afterwards by a loud yell as an Indian running through the trees caught +sight of them in the moonlight. + +"We are in for it now, Tom; that is, if there are men enough in the +village to attack us." + +The horses broke into a gallop. They had gone but fifty yards when a +rifle-shot was heard from behind, and Tom felt a shock as the ball +struck his saddle. Almost immediately another shot was fired abreast of +him, and an Indian yell rose loudly behind them. A moment later Leaping +Horse with a shout of triumph bounded down the rocks and leapt on to his +horse. Four or five more shots were fired from behind, but none of them +were hit. A hundred yards farther they were in shelter of a belt of +trees that extended down to the stream. As they entered it Harry looked +back. He could now see the hills beyond the main valley. + +"Look, chief!" he exclaimed. "The varmint up there are signalling far +off above the timber-line." + +Bright tongues of fire could be seen, two close together and one a short +distance to the left. + +"What does that mean, uncle?" Tom asked, as the chief gave a short +exclamation of surprise and anger. + +"It means, lad, that the red-skins have been sharper than we gave them +credit for. When their spies brought them news that we had started they +must have come down to the fire and followed our trail at once with +torches, before we had got above an hour or two away. No doubt it was +slow work, but they must have found where we changed our course, and +made out that we were making for the head of the caņon. I expect most of +them lost no time in following the trail farther, but rode straight for +the head of the caņon, and like enough they weren't half an hour behind +us when we came out. The others rode to the edge of the plateau and set +those fires alight." + +"But what do they mean, uncle?" + +"They are a warning to all the villages that we have headed back, you +may be sure of that, though I can't say what the message is, for every +tribe has its own signals, but it will have set them on the watch up and +down the valley; and like enough the signal has been repeated somewhere +at a point where it can be seen straight down the Big Wind Valley. The +shooting will tell them all which way we are making, and if the +'Rappahoes have come out of the caņon, as I reckon they have, they need +lose no more time in looking for our trail. I reckon in half an hour we +shall have a hundred or so of the varmint after us. I only hope there are +no more villages upon this line. I don't so much care about the fellows +who are following us, we are sure to find some place where we can make a +stand, but it would be awkward if we find our way barred." + +"But if there is no one in front, uncle, I should think we might be able +to keep ahead. Our horses are as good as they are likely to have." + +"You and Jerry might be able to, Tom, for you have got hold of two +first-rate ponies; but the Indians' are nothing out of the way, and our +ponies ain't in it with you; besides, they and the pack-horses have all +been doing hard work for the last week with none too much food, and many +of the 'Rappahoes will be on fresh horses. I expect we have got some +very tall climbing to do before we get up to the pass, and we have got +to do our fighting before we get there." + +The ground rose steeply, and was encumbered by fallen stones and +boulders, and it was not long before the pack-horses began to show signs +of distress, while those ridden by Harry and his two comrades were +drawing their breath in short gasps. After emerging from the trees the +ravine had run in almost a straight line for more than half a mile, and +just as they reached the end of this stretch a yell was heard down the +valley. Looking back they saw eight or ten mounted Indians emerging from +the wood at the lower end. + +"That is a signal," Harry exclaimed, as four rifles were fired in quick +succession. "Well, we have got a bit of a start of them, and they won't +venture to attack us until some more come up. We had better take it a +bit quietly, chief, or our horses will give out. I expect we sha'n't be +long before we come upon a place where we can make a stand." + +The Seneca looked round at the horses. "You, Sam, Ben and pack-horses go +on till you get to place where can fight. We four wait here; got good +horses, and can ride on. We stop them here for a bit." + +"That would be best. I don't like being out of it, but we will do our +share presently." + +No more words were necessary. Harry and his two mates rode on at a +slower pace than before, while the two Indians, Jerry, and Tom +dismounted, left their horses beyond the turn, and then coming back took +up their positions behind four large boulders. The Indians had noticed +their returning figures, for they suddenly drew up their horses and +gathered together in consultation. + +"Draw your bullet, Tom," Jerry said, "and drop in half a charge more +powder; I reckon that piece of yours will send a bullet among them with +the help of a good charge. Allow a bit above that top notch for extra, +elevation. It's a good big mark, and you ought to be able to plump a +bullet among them." + +Tom followed the instructions, and then resting the barrel on the top of +the boulder took a steady aim and fired. There was a sudden stir among +the group of Indians. A horse reared high in the air, almost unseating +its rider, and then they all rode off at the top of their speed, and +halted two or three hundred yards lower down the valley. The Senecas +uttered a grunt of approval. + +"That was a good shot, Tom, though I wish you had hit one of the +red-skins instead of his critter. Still, it will give them a good +lesson, and make them mighty keerful. They won't care about showing +their ugly heads within range of a piece that will carry five hundred +yards." + +A quarter of an hour passed without any movement on the part of the +Indians. Then a large party of horsemen appeared from the trees below, +and were greeted by them with a yell of satisfaction. + +"There must be well-nigh fifty of them," Jerry said. "I reckon it's the +party that came down the hill. They must have picked up a good many +others by the way. Now the fun is going to begin." + +After five minutes' consultation some twenty of the Indians dismounted, +and dividing into two parties ascended the slopes of the valley and +began to move forward, taking advantage of every stone and bush, so that +it was but occasionally that a glimpse of one of their bodies was +obtained. + +"They are going to skirmish up to us," Jerry said, "till they are near +enough to make it hot for us if we show a head above the rocks to fire. +As soon as they can do that, the others will charge. I think they are +not more than four hundred yards off now, Tom. That is within your +range, so you may as well begin to show them that we are awake. If you +can bring one down it will check their pace." + +Tom had just noticed three Indians run behind a clump of bushes, and he +now levelled his rifle so that it bore on a spot a foot on one side of +it. Half a minute later an Indian appeared at the bush and began to run +forward. Tom pressed the trigger. The Indian ran a few steps, and then +fell forward on his face. + +"Bravo, Plumb-centre!" Jerry shouted. "We said that you would do the +rifle credit, Tom, and Billy the Scout could not have done better +himself." + +"Young white man make great hunter," the chief remarked approvingly. +"Got good eye and steady hand." + +The lesson had its effect. The Indian advance was no longer rapid, but +was conducted with the greatest caution, and it was only occasionally +that a glimpse could be caught of a dusky figure passing from rock to +rock. When they came within three hundred yards the two Indians and +Jerry also opened fire. One fell to a shot from the chief, but neither +of the others hit their marks. Tom indeed did not fire again, the +movements of the Indians being so rapid that they were gone before he +could bring his sight to bear upon any of them. + +"Go now," the chief said. "'Rappahoes fire soon; run quick." + +It was but a few yards to shelter. As they dashed across the intervening +space two or three Indian rifles rang out, but the rest of the +assailants had been too much occupied in sheltering themselves and +looking for the next spot to make for, to keep an eye upon the +defenders, and the hastily-fired shots all missed. A moment later the +party mounted their horses and rode up the ravine, the yells of the +Indians ringing in their ears. + +[Illustration: "A Moment Later The Indian Fell Forward On His Face."] + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +IN SAFETY + + +"We have gained half an hour anyhow," Jerry said, as they galloped up +the ravine, "and I reckon by the time we overtake them we shall find +them stowed away in some place where it will puzzle the red-skins to +dislodge us. The varmint will fight hard if they are cornered, but they +ain't good at advancing when there are a few rifle-tubes, in the hands +of white men, pointing at them, and they have had a lesson now that we +can shoot." + +The ravine continued to narrow. The stream had become a mere rivulet, +and they were high up on the hillside. + +"I begin to be afeared there ain't no place for making a stand." Here he +was interrupted by an angry growl, as a great bear suddenly rose to his +feet behind a rock. + +"You may thank your stars that we are too busy to attend to you," Jerry +said, as they rode past within a few yards of it. "That is a grizzly, +Tom; and an awkward beast you would have found him if you had come upon +him by yourself without your shooting-iron. He is a big one too, and his +skin would have been worth money down in the settlements. Ah, there they +are." + +The ravine made an abrupt turn to the west, and high up on its side they +saw their three companions with the five horses climbing up the +precipitous rocks. + +"How ever did they get up there?" Jerry exclaimed. + +"Found Indian trail," the chief said. "Let my brothers keep their eyes +open." + +They rode on slowly now, examining every foot of the steep hillside. +Presently Hunting Dog, who was ahead, uttered an exclamation. Between +two great boulders there was a track, evidently a good deal used. + +"Let Hunting Dog go first," the chief said. "Leaping Horse will follow +the white men." + +"I reckon that this is the great Indian trail over the pass," Jerry said +to Tom, who preceded him. "I have heard there ain't no way over the +mountains atween that pass by Fremont's Buttes and the pass by this +peak, which they calls Union Peak, and the red-skins must travel by this +when they go down to hunt buffalo on the Green River. It is a wonder +Harry struck on it." + +"Leaping Horse told him to keep his eyes open," the chief said from the +rear. "He knew that Indian trail led up this valley." + +"Jee-rusalem! but it's a steep road," Jerry said presently. "I am +dog-goned if I can guess how the red-skins ever discovered it. I expect +they must have tracked some game up it, and followed to see where it +went to." + +The trail wound about in a wonderful way. Sometimes it went horizontally +along narrow ledges, then there was a bit of steep climbing, where they +had to lead their horses; then it wound back again, and sometimes even +descended for a distance to avoid a projecting crag. + +"Ah! would ye, yer varmint?" Jerry exclaimed, as a shot rang out from +the valley below and a bullet flattened itself against a rock within a +foot or two of his head. The shot was followed by a loud yell from +below, as a crowd of mounted Indians rode at full gallop round the angle +of the ravine. + +"Hurry on, Hunting Dog, and get round the next corner, for we are +regular targets here." + +A few yards farther a turn of the path took them out of sight of the +Indians, but not before a score of bullets came whistling up from below. + +"The varmint have been riding too fast to shoot straight, I reckon. It +will be our turn directly." + +Just as he spoke the chief called upon them to dismount. They threw +their bridles on their horses' necks, and descending to the ledge they +had just left, lay down on it. + +"Get your revolver out, Tom, before you shoot," Jerry said. "They will +be off before you have time to load your rifle again." + +The Indians were some four hundred feet below them, and were talking +excitedly, evidently hesitating whether to follow up the trail. The four +rifles cracked almost together. Two Indians fell, and the plunging of +two horses showed that they were hit. In an instant the whole mass were +on their way down the valley, followed by bullet after bullet from the +revolvers which Leaping Horse as well as the whites carried. Anything +like accurate aim was impossible, and no Indian was seen to fall, but it +was probable that some of the bullets had taken effect among the crowded +horsemen. + +"Go on quiet now," Leaping Horse said, rising to his feet. "'Rappahoes +not follow any farther. One man with this"--and he touched his +revolver--"keep back whole tribe here." + +Half an hour later they joined the party who had halted at the top of +the track. + +"It air too bad our being out of it," Ben said. "I hope you have given +some of the varmint grist." + +"Only five or six of them," Jerry replied regretfully, "counting in the +one Leaping Horse shot at the village. Tom here did a big shot, and +brought one down in his tracks at a good four hundred yards--as neat a +shot as ever I saw fired. The chief he accounted for another; then +atween us we wiped out two down below; and I reckon some of the others +are carrying some of our lead away. Waal, I think we have shook them off +at last any how. I suppose there ain't, no other road they can come up +here by, chief?" + +"Leaping Horse only heard of one trail." + +"You may bet your life there ain't another," Harry remarked. "They would +never have used such a dog-goned road as this if there had been any +other way of going up." + +"Camp here," the chief said. "Long journey over pass, too much cold. +Keep watch here at head of trail." + +"That is a very good plan. I have heard that the pass is over nine +thousand feet above the sea, and it would never do to have to camp up +there. Besides, I have been looking at the sky, and I don't much like +its appearance. Look over there to the north." + +There were, indeed, evident signs of an approaching change in the +weather. On the previous day every peak and jagged crest stood out hard +and distinct in the clear air. Now all the higher summits were hidden by +a bank of white cloud. + +"Snow" the Indian said gravely; "winter coming." + +"That is just what I thought, chief. At any rate we know where we are +here, and there is brushwood to be gathered not far down the trail; and +even if we are shut up here we can manage well enough for a day or two. +These early snows don't lie long, but to be caught in a snow-storm +higher up would be a sight worse than fighting with red-skins." + +From the spot where they were now standing at the edge of the ravine the +ground sloped very steeply up for some hundreds of feet, and then steep +crags rose in an unbroken wall; but from the view they had had of the +country from the other side they knew that behind this wall rose a range +of lofty summits. The Indian trail ran along close to the edge of the +ravine. The chief looked round earnestly. + +"No good place to camp," he said. "Wind blow down hills, horses not able +to stand against it. Heap snow tumble down from there," and he pointed +upwards. "Carry everything down below." + +"Well, if you think we had better push on, let us do so, chief." + +The Indian shook his head and pointed to the clouds again. "See," he +said; "storm come very soon." + +Even in the last two or three minutes a change was perceptible. The +upper edge of the clouds seemed to be suddenly broken up. Long streamers +spread out like signal flags of danger. Masses of clouds seemed to be +wrenched off and to fly with great rapidity for a short distance; some +of them sinking a little, floated back until they again formed a part of +the mountain cap, while others sped onwards towards the south. + +"No time," the chief repeated earnestly; "must look for camp quick." He +spoke in the Indian tongue to Hunting Dog, and the two stood on a point +where the ground jutted out, and closely examined the ravine up whose +side they had climbed. The chief pointed farther along, and Hunting Dog +started at a run along the Indian trail. A few hundred yards farther he +paused and looked down, moved a few steps farther, and then disappeared +from sight. In three or four minutes he returned and held up his arms. + +"Come," the chief said, and taking his horse's rein led it along the +path. The others followed his example, glad, indeed, to be in motion. +Five minutes before they had been bathed in perspiration from their +climb up the cliff; now they were conscious of the extraordinary change +of temperature that had suddenly set in, and each had snatched a blanket +from behind his saddle and wrapped it round him. They soon reached the +spot where Hunting Dog was standing, and looked down. Some thirty feet +below there was a sort of split in the face of the cliff, a wall of rock +rising to within four or five feet of the level of the edge of the +ravine. At one end it touched the face of the rock, at the other it was +ten or twelve feet from it, the space between being in the form of a +long wedge, which was completely filled up with trees and brushwood. A +ledge ran down from the point where Hunting Dog was standing to the +mouth of the fissure. + +"Jee-rusalem, chief!" Ben exclaimed. "That air just made for us--we +could not have found a better, not if we had sarched for a year. But I +reckon we shall have to clear the place a bit before we take the +critters down." + +Two axes were taken from one of the pack-horses. + +"Don't cut away the bigger stuff, Ben," Harry said as his two mates +proceeded down the ledge, "their heads will shelter us from the snow a +bit; and only clear away the bushes enough to give room for the horses +and us, and leave those standing across the entrance to make a screen. +While you are doing it we will fetch in as much more wood and grass as +we can get hold of before the snow begins to fall." + +The horses were left standing while the men scattered along the top of +the ravine, and by the time Ben shouted that they were ready, a +considerable pile of brushwood and a heap of coarse grass had been +collected. The horses were then led down one by one, unsaddled, and +packed together in two lines, having beyond them a great pile of the +bushes that had been cut away. + +"I am dog-goned if this ain't the best shelter I ever struck upon," +Jerry said. "We could not have fixed upon a better if we had had it +built special," the others cordially agreed. + +The place they occupied was of some twelve feet square. On either side +was a perpendicular wall of rock; beyond were the horses; while at the +entrance the bush, from three to four feet high, had been left standing; +above them stretched a canopy of foliage. Enough dry wood had been +collected to start a fire. + +"Don't make it too big. Jerry, we don't want to scorch up our roof," +Harry Wade said. "Well, I reckon we have got enough fuel here for a +week, for there is what you cut down and what we brought, and all that +is left standing beyond the horses; and with the leaves and the grass +the ponies should be able to hold out as long as the fuel lasts. We are +short of meat, but we have plenty of flour; and as for water, we can +melt snow." + +Buffalo rugs were laid down on each side by the rock walls, and on these +they took their seats and lighted their pipes. + +"I have been wanting a smoke pretty bad," Jerry said; "I ain't had one +since we halted in that there caņon. Hello, here it comes!" + +As he spoke a fierce gust of wind swayed the foliage overhead and sent +the smoke, that had before risen quietly upwards, whirling round the +recess; then for a moment all was quiet again; then came another and a +stronger gust, rising and gathering in power and laden with fine +particles of snow. A thick darkness fell, and Harry threw some more wood +on the fire to make a blaze. But loud as was the gale outside, the air +in the shelter was hardly moved, and there was but a slight rustling of +the leaves overhead. Thicker and thicker flew the snow flakes in the air +outside, and yet none seemed to fall through the leaves. + +"I am dog-goned if I can make this out," Sam Hicks said. "We are as +quiet here as if we were in a stone house, and one would think there was +a copper-plated roof overhead. It don't seem nat'ral." + +The others were also looking up with an air of puzzled surprise, not +unmingled with uneasiness. Harry went to the entrance and looked out +over the breastwork of bushes. "Look here, Sam," he said. + +"Why, Harry, it looks to me as if it were snowing up instead of down," +the miner said as he joined him. + +"That is just it. You see, we are in the elbow of the valley and are +looking straight down it, into the eye of the wind. It comes rushing up +the valley and meets this steep wall on its way, and pushed on by the +wind behind has to go somewhere, and so it is driven almost straight up +here and over the hilltops behind us. So you see the snow is carried up +instead of falling, and this rock outside us shoots it clear up over the +path we were following above. As long as the wind keeps north, I reckon +we sha'n't be troubled by the snow in here." + +The explanation seemed satisfactory, and there was a general feeling of +relief. + +"I remember reading," Tom said, as the others took their seats again, +"that people can stand on the edge of a cliff, facing a gale, without +feeling any wind. For the wind that strikes the cliff rushes up with +such force that it forms a sort of wall. Of course, it soon beats down +again, and not many yards back you can feel the gale as strongly as +anywhere else. But just at the edge the air is perfectly still." + +The miners looked at Tom as if they thought that he was making a joke at +their expense. But his uncle said: + +"Yes, I can quite believe that. You see, it is something like a +waterfall; you can stand right under that, for the force shoots it +outwards, and I reckon it is the same sort of thing here." The chief +nodded gravely. He too had been surprised at the lull in their shelter +when the storm was raging so furiously outside, but Harry's illustration +of the action of rushing water enlightened him more than his first +explanation had done. + +"But water ain't wind, Harry," Ben said. + + +"It is like water in many ways, Ben. You don't see it, but you can feel +it just the same. If you stand behind a tree or round a corner it rushes +past you, and you are in a sort of eddy, just as you would be if it was +a river that was moving alongside of you. Wind acts just the same way as +water. If it had been a big river coming along the valley at the same +rate as the wind it would rush up the rocks some distance and then sweep +round and race up the valley; but wind being light instead of being +heavy is able to rush straight up the hill till it gets right over the +crest." + +"Waal, if you say it is all right I suppose it is. Anyhow, it's a good +thing for us, and I don't care how long it goes on in the same way. I +reckoned that before morning we should have those branches breaking down +on us with the weight of snow; now I see we are like to have a quiet +night." + +"I won't answer for that, Ben; it is early in the day yet, and there is +no saying how the wind may be blowing before to-morrow morning. Anyhow, +now we have time we may as well get some of those bundles of bushes that +we brought down, and pile them so as to thicken the shelter of these +bushes and lighten it a bit. If we do that, and hang a couple of +blankets inside of them, it will give us a good shelter even if the wind +works round, and will help to keep us warm. For though we haven't got +wind or snow in here, we have got cold." + +"You bet," Jerry agreed; "it is a regular blizzard. And although I don't +say as it is too cold sitting here by the fire, it won't cost us +anything to make the place a bit warmer." + +Accordingly the bundles of wood they had gathered were brought out, and +with these the screen of bush was thickened, and raised to a height of +five feet; and when this was hung inside with a couple of blankets, it +was agreed that they could get through the storm comfortably even if it +lasted for a month. + +They cooked their last chunk of deer's flesh, after having first +prepared some bread and put it in the baking pot among the embers, and +made some tea from the water in the skins. When they had eaten their +meal they covered themselves up in buffalo robes and blankets, and +lighted their pipes. There was, however, but little talk, for the noise +of the tempest was so great, that it was necessary to raise the voice +almost to a shout to be heard, and it was not long before they were all +asleep. + +For hours there was no stir in the shelter, save when a horse pawed the +ground impatiently, or when Hunting Dog rose two or three times to put +fresh sticks on the fire. It seemed to Tom when he woke that it ought to +be nearly morning. He took out his watch, and by the light of the fire +made out to his surprise that it was but ten o'clock. The turmoil of the +wind seemed to him to be as loud as before, and he pulled the blankets +over his shoulder again and was soon sound asleep. When he next woke, it +was with the sensation of coldness in the face, and sitting up he saw +that the blankets and the ground were covered with a thick coating of +fine snow. There was a faint light in addition to that given by the +embers of the fire, and he knew that morning was breaking. His movement +disturbed his uncle, who was lying next him. He sat up and at once +aroused the others. + +"Wake up, mates," he said; "we have had somewhere about eighteen hours' +sleep, and day is breaking." + +In a minute all were astir. The snow was first shaken off the blankets, +and then Harry, taking a shovel, cleared the floor. Jerry took the +largest cooking-pot, and saying to Tom, "You bring that horse-bucket +along," pushed his way out through a small gap that had been left in the +screen of bushes. The wind had gone down a good deal, though it was +still blowing strongly. The snow had drifted against the entrance, and +formed a steep bank there; from this they filled the pot and bucket, +pressing the snow down. Tom was glad to get back again within the +shelter, for the cold outside was intense. The fire was already burning +brightly, and the pot and a frying-pan were placed over it, and kept +replenished with snow as fast as their contents melted. "We must keep on +at this," Harry said, "there is not a drop left in the skins, and the +horses must have water." + +As soon as enough had melted it was poured into the kettle. There was +some bacon among the trappers' stores, as they had calculated that they +would not be able to hunt until out of Big Wind Valley and far up among +the forests beyond. The frying-pan was now utilized for its proper work, +while the pail was placed close enough to the fire to thaw its contents, +without risking injury to it. Within an hour of breakfast being finished +enough snow had been thawed to give the horses half a bucket of water +each. In each pail a couple of pounds of flour had been stirred to help +out what nourishment could be obtained from the leaves, and from the +small modicum of grass given to each animal. + +"It will be a big journey over the pass, anyhow," Harry had said. "Now +that we are making tracks for the settlements we need not be sparing of +the flour; indeed, the lighter we are the better." + +The day did not pass so pleasantly as that preceding it, for the air was +filled with fine snow that blew in at the entrance and found its way +between the leaves overhead; while from time to time the snow +accumulating there came down with a crash, calling forth much strong +language from the man on whom it happened to fall, and shouts of +laughter from his comrades. The party was indeed a merry one. They had +failed altogether in the objects of their expedition, but they had +escaped without a scratch from the Indians, and had inflicted some +damage upon them; and their luck in finding so snug a shelter in such a +storm far more than counterbalanced their disappointment at their +failure. + +"Have you often been caught in the snow, uncle?" + +"You bet, Tom; me and the chief here were mighty nigh rubbed out three +years ago. I was prospecting among the Ute hills, while Leaping Horse +was doing the hunting for us both. It was in the middle of winter; the +snow was deep on the ground in the valleys and on the tops of the hills, +but there was plenty of bare rock on the hillside, so I was able to go +on with my work. While as for hunting, the cold drove the big-horns down +from the heights where they feed in summer, and the chief often got a +shot at them; and they are good eating, I can tell you. + +"We hadn't much fear of red-skins, for they ain't fond of cold and in +winter move their lodges down to the most sheltered valleys and live +mostly on dried meat. When they want a change they can always get a bear +or maybe a deer in the woods. We were camped in a grove of pines in a +valley and were snug enough. One day I had struck what I thought was the +richest vein I had ever come on. I got my pockets full of bits of quartz +with the gold sticking thick in it, and you may bet I went down to the +camp in high glee. A quarter of a mile before I got there I saw Leaping +Horse coming to meet me at a lope. It didn't want telling that there was +something wrong. As soon as he came up he said 'Utes.' 'Many of them, +chief?' I asked. He held up his open hands twice. + +"'Twenty of them,' I said; 'that is pretty bad. How far are they away?' +He said he had seen them coming over a crest on the other side of the +valley. 'Then we have got to git,' I said, 'there ain't no doubt about +that. What the 'tarnal do the varmint do here?' 'War-party,' the chief +said. 'Indian hunter must have come across our trail and taken word back +to the lodges.' The place where he had met me was among a lot of rocks +that had rolled down. There had been no snow for a fortnight, and of +course the red-skins would see our tracks everywhere, going and coming +from the camp. We were on foot that time, though we had a pack-horse to +carry our outfit. Of course they would get that and everything at the +camp. I did not think much of the loss, the point was how were we to +save our scalps? We had sat down behind a rock as soon as he had joined +me. Just then a yell came from the direction of our camp, and we knew +that the red-skins had found it. 'They won't be able to follow your +trail here, chief, will they?' He shook his head. 'Trail everywhere, not +know which was the last.' We could see the grove where the camp was, and +of course they could see the rocks, and it was sartin that if we had +made off up the hill they would have been after us in a squirrel's jump; +so there was nothing to do but to lie quiet until it was dark. We got in +among the boulders, and lay down where we could watch the grove through +a chink. + +"'I don't see a sign of them,' I said. 'You would have thought they +would have been out in search of us.' + +"'No search,' the chief said. 'No good look for us, not know where we +have gone to. Hide up in grove. Think we come back, and then catch us.' + +"So it turned out. Not a sign of them was to be seen, and after that +first yell everything was as quiet as death. In a couple of hours it got +dark, and as soon as it did we were off. We talked matters over, you may +be sure. There weren't no denying we were cornered. There we were +without an ounce of flour or a bite of meat. The chief had caught up a +couple of buffalo rugs as soon as he sighted the red-skins. That gave us +just a chance, but it wasn't more. In the morning the red-skins would +know we had either sighted them or come on their trail, and would be +scattering all over the country in search of us. We agreed that we must +travel a good way apart, though keeping each other in sight. They would +have noticed that the trails were all single, and if they came upon two +together going straight away from the camp, would know for sure it was +us making off. + +"You may think that with so many tracks as we had made in the fortnight +we had been there, they would not have an idea which was made the first +day and which was made the last, but that ain't so. In the first place, +the snow was packed hard, and the footprints were very slight. Then, +even when it is always freezing there is an evaporation of the snow, and +the footprints would gradually disappear; besides that, the wind on most +days had been blowing a little, and though the drift does not count for +much on packed snow, a fine dust is blown along, and if the prints don't +get altogether covered there is enough drift in them to show which are +old ones and which are fresh. We both knew that they could not make much +mistake about it, and that they would be pretty sure to hit on the trail +I had made in the morning when I went out, and on that of the chief to +the rocks, and following mine back to the same place would guess that we +had cached there till it was dark. + +"I could have done that myself; one can read such a trail as that like a +printed book. The worst of it was, there were no getting out of the +valley without leaving sign. On the bare hillsides and among the rocks +we could travel safe enough, but above them was everywhere snow, and do +what we would there would be no hiding our trail. We agreed that the +only thing was to cross the snow as quick as possible, to keep on the +bare rock whenever we got a chance, and wherever we struck wood, and to +double sometimes one way sometimes another, so as to give the red-skins +plenty of work to do to follow our trail. We walked all that night, and +right on the next day till early in the afternoon. Then we lay down and +slept till sunset, and then walked again all night. We did not see any +game. If we had we should have shot, for we knew the red-skins must be a +long way behind. When we stopped in the morning we were not so very far +from the camp we had started from, for if we had pushed straight back to +the settlements we should have been caught sure, for the Utes would have +been certain to have sent off a party that way to watch the valleys we +should have had to pass through. We lay down among some trees and slept +for a few hours and then set out to hunt, for we had been two days +without food, and I was beginning to feel that I must have a meal. + +"We had not gone far when we came across the track of a black bear. We +both felt certain that the trail was not many hours old. We followed it +for two miles, and found it went up to a slide of rocks; they had come +down from a cliff some years before, for there were bushes growing among +them. As a rule a black bear will always leave you alone if you leave +him, and hasn't much fight in him at the best; so up we went, thinking +we were sure of our bear-steak without much trouble in getting it. I was +ahead, and had just climbed up on to a big rock, when, from a bush in +front, the bear came out at me with a growl. I expect it had cubs +somewhere, I had just time to take a shot from the hip and then he was +on me, and gave me a blow on the shoulder that ripped the flesh down to +the elbow. + +"But that was not the worst, for the blow sent me over the edge, and I +fell seven or eight feet down among the sharp rocks. I heard the chief's +rifle go off, and it was some time after that before I saw or heard +anything more. When I came to I found he had carried me down to the foot +of the slide and laid me there. He was cutting up some sticks when I +opened my eyes. 'Have you got the bear, Leaping Horse?' + +"'The bear is dead,' he said. 'My brother is badly hurt.' + +"'Oh, never mind the hurt,' I said, 'so that we have got him. What are +you doing, chief? You are not going to make a fire here, are you?' + +"'My brother's leg is broken,' he said. 'I am cutting some sticks to +keep it straight.' + +"That brought me round to my senses, as you may guess. To break one's +leg up in the mountains is bad at any time, but when it is in the middle +of winter, and you have got a tribe of red-skins at your heels, it means +you have got to go under. I sat up and looked at my leg. Sure enough, +the left one was snapt like a pipe-stem, about half-way between the knee +and the ankle. 'Why, chief,' I said, 'it would have been a sight better +if you had put a bullet through my head as I lay up there. I should have +known nothing about it.' + +"'The Utes have not got my white brother yet.' + +"'No,' said I, 'but it won't be long before they have me; maybe it will +be this afternoon, and maybe to-morrow morning.' The chief said nothing, +but went on with his work. When he had got five or six sticks about +three feet long and as many about a foot, and had cut them so that they +each had one flat side, he took off his buckskin shirt, and working +round the bottom of it cut a thong about an inch wide and five or six +yards long. Then he knelt down and got the bone in the right position, +and then with what help I could give him put on the splints and bandaged +them tightly, a long one and a short one alternately. The long ones he +bandaged above the knee as well as below, so that the whole leg was +stiff. I felt pretty faint by the time it was done, and Leaping Horse +said, 'Want food; my white brother will lie quiet, Leaping Horse will +soon get him some.' + +"He set to work and soon had a fire going, and then went up to the rocks +and came down again with the bear's hams and about half his hide. It was +not long before he had some slices cooked, and I can tell you I felt +better by the time we had finished. We had not said much to each other, +but I had been thinking all the time, and when we had done I said, 'Now, +chief, I know that you will be wanting to stay with me, but I ain't +going to have it. You know as well as I do that the Utes will be here +to-morrow at latest, and there ain't more chance of my getting away from +them than there is of my flying. It would be just throwing away your +scalp if you were to stop here, and it would not do me a bit of good, +and would fret me considerable. Now before you start I will get you to +put me somewhere up among those stones where I can make a good fight of +it. You shall light a fire by the side of me, and put a store of wood +within reach and a few pounds of bear's flesh. I will keep them off as +long as I can with the rifle, then there will be five shots with my +Colt. I will keep the last barrel for myself; I ain't going to let the +Utes amuse themselves by torturing me for a few hours before they finish +me. Then you make straight away for the settlements; they won't be so +hot after you when they have once got me. The next time you go near +Denver you can go and tell Pete Hoskings how it all came about.' + +"'My white brother is weak with the pain,' the chief said quietly; 'he +is talking foolishly. He knows that Leaping Horse will stay with his +friend. He will go and look for a place.' Without listening to what I +had to say he took up his rifle and went up the valley, which was a +steep one. He was away better than half an hour and then came back. +'Leaping Horse found a place,' he said, 'where he and his brother can +make a good fight. Straight Harry get on his friend's back.' It was +clear that there weren't no use talking to him. He lifted me up on to my +feet, then he got me well up on to his back, as if I had been a sack of +coal, and went off with me, striding along pretty near as quick as if I +had not been there. It might have been half a mile, when he turned up a +narrow ravine that was little more than a cleft in the rock that rose +almost straight up from the valley. It did not go in very far, for there +had been a slide, and it was blocked up by a pile of rocks and earth, +forty or fifty feet high. It was a big job even for the chief to get me +up to the top of them. The snow had drifted down thick into the ravine, +and it was a nasty place to climb even for a man who had got nothing but +his rifle on his shoulder. However, he got me up safely, and laid me +down just over the crest. He had put my buffalo robe over my shoulders +before starting, and he rolled me up in this and said, 'Leaping Horse +will go and fetch rifles and bear-meat,' and he set straight off and +left me there by myself." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +A BAD TIME + + +"Even to me," Harry went on, after refilling and lighting his pipe, "it +did not seem long before the chief was back. He brought a heavy load, +for besides the rifles and bear's flesh he carried on his back a big +faggot of brushwood. After laying that down he searched among the rocks, +and presently set to work to dig out the snow and earth between two big +blocks, and was not long before he scooped out with his tomahawk a hole +big enough for the two of us to lie in comfortably. He laid the +bear's-skin down in this, then he carried me to it and helped me in and +then put the robes over me; and a snugger place you would not want to +lie in. + +"It was about ten feet below the level of the crest of the heap of +rocks, and of course on the upper side, so that directly the red-skins +made their appearance he could help me up to the top. That the two of us +could keep the Utes back I did not doubt; we had our rifles, and the +chief carried a revolver as well as I did. After they had once caught a +glimpse of the sort of place we were on, I did not think they would +venture into the ravine, for they would have lost a dozen men before +they got to the mound. I had looked round while the chief was away, and +I saw that a hundred yards or so higher up, the ravine came to an end, +the sides closing in, so there was no fear of our being attacked from +there. What I was afraid of was that the Indians might be able to get up +above and shoot down on us, though whether they could or not depended on +the nature of the ground above, and of course I could not see beyond the +edge of the rocks. + +"But even if they could not get up in the daylight, they could crawl up +at night and finish us, or they could camp down at the mouth of the +ravine and starve us out, for there was no chance of our climbing the +sides, even if my leg had been all right. I was mighty sorry for the +chief. He had just thrown his life away, and it must come to the same in +the end, as far as I was concerned. Even now he could get away if he +chose, but I knew well enough it weren't any good talking to him. So I +lay there, just listening for the crack of his rifle above. He would +bring down the first man that came in, sartin, and there would be plenty +of time after that to get me up beside him, for they would be sure to +have a long talk before they made any move. I did not expect them until +late in the afternoon, and hoped it might be getting dark before they +got down into the valley. There had been a big wind sweeping down it +since the snow had fallen, and though it had drifted deep along the +sides, the bottom was for the most part bare. I noticed that the chief +had picked his way carefully, and guessed that, as they would have no +reason for thinking we were near, they might not take up the trail till +morning. Of course they would find our fire and the dead bear, or all +that there was left of him, and they would fancy we had only stopped to +take a meal and had gone on again. They would see by the fire that we +had left pretty early in the day. I heard nothing of the chief until it +began to get dark; then he came down to me. + +"'Leaping Horse will go out and scout,' he said. 'If Utes not come soon, +will come back here; if they come, will watch down at mouth of valley +till he sees Utes go to sleep.' 'Well, chief,' I said; 'at any rate you +may as well take this robe; one is enough to sleep with in this hole, +and I shall be as snug as a beaver wrapped up in mine. Half your hunting +shirt is gone, and you will find it mighty cold standing out there.' + +"In an hour he came back again. 'Utes come,' he said. 'Have just lighted +fire and going to cook. No come tonight. Leaping Horse has good news for +his brother. There are no stars.' + +"That is good news indeed,' I said. 'If it does but come on to snow +to-night we may carry our scalps back to the settlement yet.' + +"'Leaping Horse can feel snow in the air,' he said. 'If it snows before +morning, good; if not, the Utes will tell their children how many lives +the scalps of the Englishman and the Seneca cost.' + +"The chief lay down beside me. I did not get much sleep, for my leg was +hurting me mightily. From time to time he crawled out, and each time he +returned saying, 'No snow.' I had begun to fear that when it came it +would be too late. It could not have been long before daybreak when he +said, as he crawled in: 'The Great Manitou has sent snow. My brother can +sleep in peace.' An hour later I raised myself up a bit and looked out. +It was light now. The air was full of fine snow, and the earth the chief +had scraped out was already covered thickly. I could see as much as +that, though the chief had, when he came in for the last time, drawn the +faggot in after him. I wondered at the time why he did it, but I saw +now. As soon as the snow had fallen a little more it would hide up +altogether the entrance to our hole. Hour after hour passed, and it +became impossible to get even a peep out, for the snow had fallen so +thickly on the leafy end of the brushwood, which was outward, that it +had entirely shut us in. All day the snow kept on, as we could tell from +the lessening light, and by two o'clock only a faint twilight made its +way in. + +"'How long do you think we shall be imprisoned here, chief?' I asked. + +"'Must not hurry,' he replied. 'There are trees up the valley, and the +Utes may make their camp there and stay till the storm is over. No use +to go out till my brother can walk. Wait till snow is over; then stay +two or three days to give time for Utes to go away. Got bear's flesh to +eat; warm in here, melt snow.' This was true enough, for I was feeling +it downright hot. Just before night came on the chief pushed the end of +his ramrod through the snow and looked out along the hole. + +"'Snow very strong,' he said. 'When it is dark can go out if wish.' + +"There is not much to tell about the next five days. The snow kept +falling steadily, and each evening after dark the chief went outside for +a short time to smoke his pipe, while I sat at the entrance and smoked +mine, and was glad enough to get a little fresh air. As soon as he came +in again the faggot was drawn back to its place, and we were imprisoned +for another twenty-four hours. One gets pretty tired after a time of +eating raw bear's flesh and drinking snow-water, and you bet I was +pretty glad when the chief, after looking out through a peephole, said +that the snow had stopped falling and the sun was shining. About the +middle of that day he said suddenly: 'I hear voices.' + +"It was some time before I heard anything, but I presently made them +out, though the snow muffled them a good deal. They did not seem far +off, and a minute or two later they ceased. We lay there two days +longer, and then even the chief was of opinion that they would have +moved off. My own idea was that they had started the first afternoon +after the snow had stopped falling. + +"'Leaping Horse will go out to scout as soon as it is dark,' he said. +'Go to mouth of ravine. If Utes are in wood he will see their fires and +come back again. Not likely come up here again and find his traces.' + +"That is what I had been saying for the last two days, for after some of +them had been up, and had satisfied themselves that there was no one in +the gully, they would not be likely to come through the snow again. When +the chief returned after an hour's absence, he told me that the Utes had +all gone. 'Fire cold,' he said; 'gone many hours. Leaping Horse has +brought some dry wood up from their hearth. Can light fire now.' You may +guess it was not long before we had a fire blazing in front of our den, +and I never knew how good bear-steak really was till that evening. + +"The next morning the chief took off the splints and rebandaged my leg, +this time putting on a long strip of the bear's skin, which he had +worked until it was perfectly soft while we had been waiting there. Over +this he put on the splints again, and for the first time since that bear +had knocked me off the rock I felt at ease. We stayed there another +fortnight, by the end of which time the bones seemed to have knit pretty +fairly. However, I had made myself a good strong crutch from a straight +branch with a fork at the end, that the chief had cut for me, and I had +lashed a wad of bear's skin in the fork to make it easy. Then we +started, making short journeys at first, but getting longer every day as +I became accustomed to the crutch, and at the end of a week I was able +to throw it aside. + +"We never saw a sign of an Indian trail all the way down to the +settlements, and by the time we got there I was ready to start on a +journey again. The chief found plenty of game on the way down, and I +have never had as much as a twinge in my leg since. So you see this +affair ain't a circumstance in comparison. Since then the chief and I +have always hunted together, and the word brother ain't only a mode of +speaking with us;" and he held out his hand to the Seneca, who gravely +placed his own in it. + +"That war a tight corner, Harry, and no blamed mistake. Did you ever +find out whether they could have got on the top to shoot down on you?" + +"Yes, the chief went up the day after the Utes had left. It was level up +there, and they could have sat on the edge and fired down upon us, and +wiped us out without our having a show." + +"And you have never since been to that place you struck the day the Utes +came down, Harry?" Jerry asked. "I have heard you talk of a place you +knew of, just at the edge of the bad lands, off the Utah hills. Were +that it?" + +Harry nodded. "I have never been there since. I went with a party into +Nevada the next spring, and last year the Utes were all the time upon +the war-path. I had meant to go down this fall, but the Utes were too +lively, so I struck up here instead; but I mean to go next spring +whether they are quiet or not, and to take my chances, and find out +whether it is only good on the surface and peters out to nothing when +you get in, or whether it is a real strong lode. Ben and Sam, and of +course the chief, will go with me, and Tom here, now he has come out, +and if you like to come we shall be all glad." + +"You may count me in," Jerry said, "and I thank you for the offer. I +have had dog-goned bad luck for some time, and I reckon it is about time +it was over. How are you going to share?" + +"We have settled that. The chief and I take two shares each as +discoverers. You four will take one share each." + +"That is fair enough, Harry. Those are mining terms, and after your +nearly getting rubbed out in finding it, if you and the chief had each +taken three shares there would have been nothing for us to grunt at. +They are a 'tarnal bad lot are the Utes. I reckon they are bad by +nature, but the Mormons have made them worse. There ain't no doubt it's +they who set them on to attack the caravans. They could see from the +first that if this was going to be the main route west there would be so +many coming along, and a lot perhaps settle there, that the Gentiles, as +they call the rest of us, would get too strong for them. What they have +been most afeard of is, that a lot of gold or silver should be found up +in the hills, and that would soon put a stop to the Mormon business. +They have been wise enough to tell the red-skins that if men came in and +found gold there would be such a lot come that the hunting would be all +spoilt. There is no doubt that in some of the attacks made on the +caravans there have been sham Indians mixed up with the real ones. +Red-skins are bad enough, but they are good men by the side of +scoundrels who are false to their colour, and who use Indians to kill +whites. That is one reason I want to see this railway go on till it +jines that on the other side. It will be bad for game, and I reckon in a +few years the last buffalo will be wiped out, but I will forgive it +that, so that it does but break up the Saints as they call themselves, +though I reckon there is about as little of the saint among them as you +will find if you search all creation." + +"Right you are, Jerry," Sam Hicks said. "They pretty nigh wiped me out +once, and if Uncle Sam ever takes to fighting them you may bet that I am +in it, and won't ask for no pay." + +"How did it come about, Sam?" Jerry asked. "I dunno as I have ever heard +you tell that story." + +"Waal, I had been a good bit farther east, and had been doing some +scouting with the troops, who had been giving a lesson to the red-skins +there, that it was best for them to let up on plundering the caravans +going west. We had done the job, and I jined a caravan coming this way. +It was the usual crowd, eastern farmers going to settle west, miners, +and such like. Among them was two waggons, which kept mostly as far +apart from the others as they could. They was in charge of two fellows +who dressed in store clothes, and had a sanctimonious look about them. +There was an old man and a couple of old women, and two or three boys +and some gals. They did not talk much with the rest, but it got about +that they were not going farther than Salt Lake City, and we had not +much difficulty in reckoning them up as Mormons. There ain't no law +perviding for the shooting of Mormons without some sort of excuse, and +as the people kept to themselves and did not interfere with no one, +nothing much was said agin them. On a v'yage like that across the +plains, folks has themselves to attend to, and plenty to do both on the +march and in camp, so no one troubles about any one else's business. + +"I hadn't no call to either, but I happened to go out near their waggons +one evening, and saw two or three bright-looking maids among them, and +it riled me to think that they was going to be handed over to some rich +old elder with perhaps a dozen other wives, and I used to feel as it +would be a satisfaction to pump some lead into them sleek-looking +scoundrels who had them in charge. I did not expect that the gals had +any idea what was in store for them. I know them Mormons when they goes +out to get what they call converts, preaches a lot about the prophet, +and a good deal about the comforts they would have in Utah. So much land +for nothing, and so much help to set them up, and all that kind of +thing, but mighty little about polygamy and the chance of their being +handed over to some man old enough to be their father, and without their +having any say in the matter. Howsoever, I did not see as I could +interfere, and if I wanted to interfere I could not have done it; +because all those women believed what they had been taught, and if I a +stranger, and an ill-looking one at that, was to tell them the contrary, +they wouldn't believe a word what I had said. So we went on till we got +within four or five days' journey of Salt Lake City, then one morning, +just as the teams were being hitched up, two fellows rode into camp. + +"As we were in Utah now, there weren't nothing curious about that, but I +reckoned them up as two as hard-looking cusses as I had come across for +a long time. After asking a question or two they rode to the Mormon +waggons, and instead of starting with the rest, the cattle was taken out +and they stopped behind. Waal, I thought I would wait for a bit and see +what they were arter. It weren't no consarn of mine noways, but I knew I +could catch up the waggons if I started in the afternoon, and I +concluded that I would just wait; so I sat by the fire and smoked. When +the caravan had gone on the Mormons hitched up their cattle again. They +were not very far away from where I was sitting, and I could see one of +the men in black pointing to me as he talked with the two chaps who had +just jined them. With that the fellow walked across to where I was +sitting. + +"'Going to camp here?' says he. + +"'Waal,' I says, 'I dunno, as I haven't made up my mind about it. Maybe +I shall, maybe I sha'n't.' + +"'I allow it would be better for you to move on.' + +"'And I allow,' says I, 'it would be better for you to attend to your +own affairs.' + +"'Look here,' says he, 'I hear as you have been a-spying about them +waggons.' + +"'Then,' says I, 'whosoever told you that, is an all-fired liar, and you +tell him so from me.' + +"I had got my hand on the butt of my Colt, and the fellow weakened. + +"'Waal,' he said, 'I have given you warning, that is all.' + +"'All right,' says I, 'I don't care none for your warnings; and I would +rather anyhow be shot down by white skunks dressed up as red-skins, than +I would have a hand in helping to fool a lot of innercent women.' + +"He swore pretty bad at this, but I could see as he wasn't real grit, +and he went off to the waggons. There was considerable talk when he got +there, but as the Mormons must have known as I had been a scout, and had +brought a lot of meat into the camp on the way, and as the chap that +came across must have seen my rifle lying handy beside me, I guess they +allowed that I had better be left alone. So a bit later the waggons +started, and as I expected they would, went up a side valley instead of +going on by the caravan route. The fellow had riz my dander, and after +sitting for a bit I made up my mind I would go after 'em. I had no +particular motive, it wur just out of cussedness. I was not going to be +bluffed from going whar I chose. This air a free country, and I had as +much right to go up that valley as they had." + +"I should have thought yer had had more common sense, Sam Hicks," Jerry +said reproachfully, "than to go a-mixing yourself up in a business in +which you had no sort of consarn. Ef one of them women had asked you to +help her, or if you had thought she was being taken away agin her will, +you or any other man would have had a right to take a hand in the game; +but as it was, you war just fooling with your life to interfere with +them Mormons in their own country." + +"That is so, Jerry, and I ain't a word to say agin it. It war just a +piece of cussedness, and I have asked myself forty-eleven times since, +what on arth made me make such a blame fool of myself. Afore that fellow +came over to bluff me I hadn't no thought of following the waggons, but +arter that I felt somehow as if he dared me to do it. I reckoned I was +more nor a match for the two fellows who just jined them, and as for the +greasy-faced chaps in black, I did not count them in, one way or the +other. I had no thought of getting the gals away, nor of getting into +any muss with them if they left me alone. It was just that I had got a +right to go up that valley or any other, and I was not going to be +bluffed out of it. So I took up my shooting-iron, strapped my blanket +over my shoulder, and started. They war maybe a mile away when I turned +into the valley. I wasn't hungry for a fight, so I didn't keep up the +middle, but just skirted along at the foot of the hill where it did not +seem likely as they would see me. I did not get any closer to them, and +only caught sight of them now and then. + +"As far as I could make out there was only one horseman with them, and I +reckoned the other was gone on ahead; looking for a camping-ground +maybe, or going on to one of the Mormon farms to tell them to get things +ready there. What I reckoned on doing, so far as I reckoned at all, was +to scout up to them as soon as it got dark and listen to their talk, and +try to find out for certain whether the women war goin' willing. Then I +thought as I would walk straight up to their fires and just bluff those +four men as they tried to bluff me. Waal, they went on until late in the +afternoon, unhitched the cattle, and camped. I waited for a bit, and now +that I war cooled down and could look at the thing reasonable, I allowed +to myself that I had showed up as a blamed fool, and I had pretty well +made up my mind to take back tracks and go down the valley, when I heard +the sound of some horses coming down fast from the camp. + +"Then the thought that I was a 'tarnal fool came to me pretty strong, +you bet. One of those fellows had ridden on and brought down some of the +Regulators, as we used to call them in the mining camps, but I believe +the Mormons call them Destroying Angels, though there is mighty little +of angels about them. I hoped now that they had not caught sight of me +during the day, and that the band were going right down to the waggon +camp; but as I had not taken any particular pains to hide myself, I +reckoned they must have made me out. It war pretty nigh dark, and as I +took cover behind a bush I could scarce see them as they rode along. +They went down about two hundred yards and then stopped, and I could +hear some of them dismount. + +"'You are sure we are far enough?' one said. + +"'Yes; I can swear he was higher up than this when we saw him just +before we camped.' + +"'If you two fellows hadn't been the worst kind of curs,' a man said +angrily, 'you would have hidden up as soon as you made out he was +following you and shot him as he came along.' + +"'I told you,' another voice said, 'that the man is an Indian fighter, +and a dead shot. Suppose we had missed him.' + +"'You could not have missed him if you had waited till he was close to +you before you fired; then you might have chucked him in among the +bushes and there would have been an end of it, and we should have been +saved a twenty-mile ride. Now then, look sharp for him and search every +bush. Between us and Johnson's party above we are sure to catch him.' + +"I didn't see that, though I did wish the rocks behind had not been so +'tarnal steep. I could have made my way up in the daylight, though even +then it would have been a tough job, but without light enough to see the +lay of the ledges and the best places for getting from one to another, +it was a business I didn't care about. I was just thinking of making +across to the other side of the valley when some horsemen came galloping +back. + +"'You stop here, brother Ephraim, and keep your ears well open, as well +as your eyes. You stop fifty yards higher up, Hiram, and the others at +the same distance apart. When the men among the rocks come abreast of +you, Ephraim, ride on and take your place at the other end of the line. +You do the same, Hiram, and so all in turn; I will ride up and down.' + +"It was clear they meant business, and I was doubting whether I would +take my chance of hiding or make for the cliff, when I saw a light +coming dancing down from the camp, and knew it was a chap on horseback +with a torch. As he came up the man who had spoken before said: 'How +many torches have you got, brother Williams?' + +"'A dozen of them.' + +"'Give me six, and take the other six down to the men below. That is +right, I will light one from yours.' + +"You may guess that settled me. I had got to git at once, so I began to +crawl off towards the foot of the cliffs. By the time I had got there, +there war six torches burning a hundred yards below, and the men who +carried them were searching every bush and prying under every rock. +Along the middle of the valley six other torches were burning fifty +yards apart. There was one advantage, the torches were pitch-pine and +gave a fairish light, but not so much as tarred rope would have done; +but it was enough for me to be able to make out the face of the cliff, +and I saw a break by which I could get up for a good bit anyhow. It was +where a torrent came down when the snows were melting, and as soon as I +had got to the bottom I made straight up. There were rocks piled at its +foot, and I got to the top of these without being seen. + +"I hadn't got a dozen feet higher when my foot set a boulder rolling, +and down it went with a crash. There were shouts below, but I did not +stop to listen to what they said, but put up the bed of the torrent at a +two-forty gait. A shot rang out, and another and another, but I was +getting now above the light of their torches. A hundred feet higher I +came to a stand-still, for the rock rose right up in front of me, and +the water had here come down from above in a fall. This made it a tight +place, you bet. There war no ledge as I could see that I could get +along, and I should have to go down a good bit afore I got to one. They +kept on firing from below, but I felt pretty sure that they could not +see me, for I could hear the bullets striking high against the face of +the rock that had stopped me. + +"You may bet I was careful how I went down again, and I took my time, +for I could see that the men with the torches had halted at the foot of +the heap of rocks below, not caring much, I expect, to begin to mount, +while the horsemen kept on firing, hoping to hear my body come rolling +down; besides, they must have known that with their torches they made a +pretty sure mark for me. At last I got down to the ledge. It war a +narrow one, and for a few yards I had to walk with my face to the rock +and my arms spread out, and that, when I knew that at any moment they +might make me out, and their bullets come singing up, warn't by no means +pleasant. In a few yards the ledge got wider and there was room enough +on it for me to lie down. I crawled along for a good bit, and then sat +down with my back against the rock and reckoned the matter up. All the +torches war gathered round where I had gone up. Four more men had come +down from the camp on horseback, and five or six on foot with torches +were running down the valley. They had been searching for me among the +bushes higher up, and when they heard the firing had started down to +jine the others. The leader was shouting to the men to climb up after +me, but the men didn't seem to see it. + +"'What's the use?' I heard one fellow say; 'he must be chock-full of +bullets long ago. We will go up and find his carcass in the morning.' + +"'But suppose he is not dead, you fool.' + +"'Well, if he ain't dead he would just pick us off one after another as +we went up with torches.' + +"'Well, put your torches out, then. Here, I will go first if you are +afraid,' and he jumped from his horse. + +"You can bet your boots that my fingers itched to put a bullet into him. +But it warn't to be done; I did not know how far the ledge went or +whether there might be any way of getting off it, and now I had once got +out of their sight it would have been chucking away my life to let them +know whar I lay. So I got up again and walked on a bit farther. I came +on a place where the rock had crumbled enough for me to be able to get +up on to the next ledge, and after a lot of climbing up and down I got +to the top in about two hours, and then struck across the hills and came +down at eight o'clock next morning on to the caravan track. I hid up +till evening in case they should come down after me, and next morning I +came up to the caravan just as they were hitching the teams up for a +start." + +"You got out of that better than you deserved," Harry said. "I wouldn't +have believed that any man would have played such a fool's trick as to +go meddling with the Mormons in their own country without any kind of +reason. It war worse than childishness." + +The other two miners assented vigorously, and Sam said: "Waal, you can't +think more meanly of me over that business than I do of myself. I have +never been able to make out why I did it, and you may bet it ain't often +I tells the story. It war a dog-goned piece of foolishness, and, as +Harry says, I didn't desarve to get out of it as I did. Still, it ain't +made me feel any kind of love for Mormons. When about two hundred shots +have been fired at a man it makes him feel kinder like as if he war +going to pay some of them back when he gets the chance, and you may bet +I mean to." + +"Jee-rusalem!" + +The exclamation was elicited by the fall of a heavy mass of snow on to +the fire, over which the kettle had just begun to boil. The tripod from +which it hung was knocked over. A cloud of steam filled the place, and +the party all sprung to their feet to avoid being scalded. + +"It might have waited a few minutes longer," Jerry grumbled, "then we +should have had our tea comfortable. Now the fire is out and the water +is spilt, and we have got to fetch in some more snow; that is the last +lot there was melted." + +"It is all in the day's work, Jerry," Harry said cheerfully, "and it is +just as well we should have something to do. I will fetch the snow in if +the rest of you will clear the hearth again. It is a nuisance about the +snow, but we agreed that there is no help for it, and we may thank our +stars it is no worse." + +It was not long before the fire was blazing again, but it took some time +before water was boiling and tea made, still longer before the bread +which had been soddened by the water from the kettle was fit to eat. By +this time it was dark. When the meal was over they all turned in for the +night. Tom was just going off to sleep, when he was roused by Leaping +Dog suddenly throwing off his buffalo robe and springing to his feet +with his rifle in his hand. + +"Hist!" he said in a low tone. "Something comes!" + +The men all seized their rifles and listened intently. Presently they +heard a soft step on the snow outside, then there was a snuffing sound. + +"B'ar!" the Indian said. + +A moment later a great head reared itself over the bushes at the +entrance. Five rifles rang out, the two Indians reserving their fire; +the report was followed by the dull sound of a heavy fall outside. + +"Wait a moment," Harry said sharply, as the others were preparing to +rush out, "let us make sure he is dead." + +"He is dead enough," Jerry said. "I reckon even a grizzly cannot walk +off with five bullets in his head." + +Harry looked over the screen. "Yes, he is dead enough; anyhow he looks +so. Waal, this is a piece of luck." They all stepped out on to the +platform. + +"Is it a grizzly, uncle?" Tom asked excitedly. + +"He is a grizzly, sure enough. You don't want to see his colour to know +that. Look at his size." + +"Why, he is as big as a cow." + +"Ay, lad, and a big cow too. You go in and make up the fire while we cut +off enough meat for supper." + +The fact that they had eaten a meal but half an hour before, went for +nothing; slices of bear-meat were soon frizzling, and as hearty a meal +was eaten as if no food had been tasted since the previous day. The men +were in the highest spirits; the fact that they were out of meat had +been the greatest drawback to the prospect of being shut up for perhaps +a week, for badly-baked bread is but a poor diet to men accustomed to +live almost exclusively upon meat. + +"What brought the bear down here?" Tom asked. + +"Curiosity at first perhaps, and then hunger," his uncle replied. "I +expect he was going along on the path above when he saw the light among +the leaves, and then no doubt he smelt the bread, and perhaps us and the +horses, and came down to see what he could get. + +"Curiosity is a bad fault, Tom. You have had two lessons in that this +evening. Bear in mind that in this part of the world the safest plan is +always to attend strictly to your own business." + +All thought of sleep was for the present dissipated; their pipes were +again lighted, and it was midnight before they lay down. In the morning +the bear was with some difficulty skinned and cut up, the joints being +left outside to freeze through. The snow still fell steadily, but the +wind had almost died down. Sallying out they cut five or six long poles, +and with some difficulty fixed these from above across from the cliff to +the outstanding rock, pushed the bear's-skin across them, and lashed it +there, its bulk being sufficient to cover the space above the fire and a +considerable portion of their dwelling room. + +After breakfast snow was again melted for the horses, and the work for +the day thus done they seated themselves contentedly round the fire. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +AN AVALANCHE + + +"You don't think, chief," Harry asked, "that there is any chance of the +'Rappahoes taking it into their heads to come up to have a look round?" + +"Indians keep in lodges, no like cold; they think we have gone on over +pass. If weather gets fine perhaps they come to look for our guns and +packs. They think sure we die in snow-storm when we up in pass. When +snow stops falling, we make no more fire; but path from valley all shut +up by snow now." + +"Yes, I don't think anyone would try to climb it till the sun has +cleared the track; it was a pretty bad place when we came up," Harry +said. "I don't say that men on foot could not make their way up; but as +you say, the red-skins are not likely to try it until the weather has +cleared a bit, though I don't say that they wouldn't if they knew we +were camped here close to the top." + +"What noise is that?" Tom asked. "I have heard it several times before, +but not so loud as that." + +"Snow-slide," Leaping Horse said. "Snow come down from mountains; break +off trees, roll rocks down. Bad place all along here." + +"Yes. I saw that you looked up at the hills behind there before you +looked over the edge here, chief," Ben Gulston said, "and I reckoned +that you had snow-slides in your mind. I thought myself that it was like +enough the snow might come tumbling over the edge of that high wall and +then come scooting down over where we war, and there would have been no +sort of show for us if we had been camped whar the trail goes along." + +"Leaping Horse has heard from his red brothers with whom he has spoken +that trail from top of valley very bad when snow falls. Many Indians +stopping too long at fort, to trade goods, have been swept away by +snow-slides when caught in storm here." + +"I thought it looked a bad place," Harry remarked. "There ain't no +fooling with a snow-slide anyway. I have come across bones once or twice +lying scattered about in snug-looking valleys--bones of horses and men, +and it was easy to see they had been killed by a snow-slide coming down +on them. Rocks were heaped about among them, some of the bones were +smashed. They had been hunting or trapping, and sheltered up in a valley +when the storm came on and the slide had fallen on them, and there they +had laid till the sun melted the snow in summer, when the coyotes and +the vultures would soon clean the bones." He broke off suddenly; there +was a dull sound, and at the same moment a distinct vibration of the +ground, then a rustling murmur mingled with a rumbling as of a waggon +passing over a rocky ground. + +"There is another one," Jerry exclaimed, "and it is somewhere just above +us. Keep your backs to the wall, boys." + +[Illustration: "There Is Another Avalanche, Keep Your Backs To The Wall, +Boys"] + +Louder and louder grew the sound; the tremor of the earth increased, the +horses neighed with fright, the men stood with their backs against the +rock next to the hill. Suddenly the light was darkened as a vast mass of +snow mingled with rocks of all sizes leapt like a torrent over the edge +of the cliff, the impetus carrying it over the outer wall of their +shelter and down into the ravine. There was a mighty sound of the +crashing of trees, mingled with a thumping and rolling of the rocks as +they clashed against the side of the ravine and went leaping down into +the valley. The ground shook with a continuous tremor, and then the +light returned as suddenly as it had been cut off, and a few seconds +later a dead stillness succeeded the deafening roar from below. The +passage of the avalanche overhead had lasted but a minute, though to the +men standing below it the time had seemed vastly longer. Instinctively +they had pressed themselves against the rock, almost holding their +breath, and expecting momentarily that one of the boulders in its +passage would strike the top of the outside wall and fall in fragments +among them. The silence that followed was unbroken for some seconds, and +then Sam Hicks stepped a pace forward. + +"Jee-rusalem!" he said, "that was a close call. I don't know how you +felt, boys, but it seemed as if all the sand had gone out of me, and I +weakened so that my knees have not done shaking yet." + +The men, accustomed as they were to danger, were all equally affected. +Tom felt relieved to see that the others all looked pale and shaken, for +he was conscious that he had been in a terrible fright, and that his +legs would scarcely support his weight. + +"I am glad to hear you say so, Sam, for I was in an awful funk; but I +should not have said so if you hadn't spoken." + +"You needn't be ashamed of that, Tom," his uncle put in. "You showed +plenty of pluck when we were in trouble with the red-skins, but I am +sure there was not one of us that did not weaken when that snow-slide +shot over us; and none of us need be ashamed to say so. A man with good +grit will brace up, keep his head cool and his fingers steady on the +trigger to the last, though he knows that he has come to the end of his +journey and has got to go down; but it is when there is nothing to do, +no fight to be made, when you are as helpless as a child and have no +sort of show, that the grit runs out of your boots. I have fought +red-skins and Mexicans a score of times; I have been in a dozen shooting +scrapes in saloons at the diggings; but I don't know that I ever felt so +scared as I did just now. Ben, there is a jar of whisky in our outfit; +we agreed we would not touch it unless one of us got hurt or ill, but I +think a drop of medicine all round now wouldn't be out of place." + +There was a general assent. "But before we take it," he went on, "we +will take off our hats and say 'Thank God' for having taken us safe +through this thing. If He had put this shelter here for us express, He +could not have planted it better for us, and the least we can do is to +thank Him for having pulled us through it safe." + +The men all took off their hats, and stood silent for a minute or two +with bent heads. When they had replaced their hats Ben Gulston went to +the corner where the pack-saddles and packs were piled, took out a small +keg, and poured out some whisky for each of the white men. The others +drank it straight; Tom mixed some water with his, and felt a good deal +better after drinking it. Ben did not offer it to the Indians, neither +of whom would touch spirits on any occasion. + +"It is a good friend and a bad enemy," Harry said as he tossed off his +portion. "As a rule there ain't no doubt that one is better without it; +but there is no better medicine to carry about with you. I have seen +many a life saved by a bottle of whisky. Taken after the bite of a +rattlesnake, it is as good a thing as there is. In case of fever, and +when a man is just tired out after a twenty-four hours' tramp, a drop of +it will put new life into him for a bit. But I don't say as it hasn't +killed a sight more than it has cured. It is at the bottom of pretty +nigh every shooting scrape in the camps, and has been the ruin of +hundreds of good men who would have done well if they could but have +kept from it." + +"But you ain't a temperance man yourself, Harry?" + +"No, Sam; but then, thank God, I am master of the liquor, and not the +liquor of me. I can take a glass, or perhaps two, without wanting more. +Though I have made a fool of myself in many ways since I have come out +here, no man can say he ever saw me drunk; if liquor were to get the +better of me once, I would swear off for the rest of my life. Don't you +ever take to it, Tom; that is, not to get so as to like to go on +drinking it. In our life we often have to go for months without it, and +a man has got to be very careful when he goes down to the settlements, +else it would be sure to get over him." + +"I don't care for it at all, uncle." + +"See you don't get to care for it, Tom. There are plenty start as you +do, and before they have been out here long they do get to like it, and +from that day they are never any good. It is a big temptation. A man has +been hunting or trapping, or fossicking for gold in the hills for +months, and he comes down to a fort or town and he meets a lot of mates. +One says 'Have a drink?' and another asks you, and it is mighty hard to +be always saying 'no'; and there ain't much to do in these places but to +drink or to gamble. A man here ain't so much to be blamed as folks who +live in comfortable houses, and have got wives and families and decent +places of amusement, and books and all that sort of thing, if they take +to drink or gambling. I have not any right to preach, for if I don't +drink I do gamble; that is, I have done; though I swore off that when I +got the letter telling me that your father had gone. Then I thought what +a fool I had made of myself for years. Why, if I had kept all the gold I +had dug I could go home now and live comfortably for the rest of my +life, and have a home for my nieces, as I ought to have. However, I have +done with it now. And I am mighty glad it was the cards and not drink +that took my dust, for it is a great deal easier to give up cards than +it is to give up liquor when you have once taken to it. Now let us talk +of something else; I vote we take a turn up on to the trail, and see +what the snow-slide has done." + +Throwing the buffalo robes round their shoulders the party went outside. +The air was too thick with snow to enable them to perceive from the +platform the destruction it had wrought in the valley below, but upon +ascending the path to the level above, the track of the avalanche was +plainly marked indeed. For the width of a hundred yards, the white +mantle of snow, that covered the slope up to the point where the wall of +cliff rose abruptly, had been cleared away as if with a mighty broom. +Every rock and boulder lying upon it had been swept off, and the surface +of the bare rock lay flat, and unbroken by even a tuft of grass. They +walked along the edge until they looked down upon their shelter. The +bear's hide was still in its place, sloping like a pent-house roof, from +its upper side two or three inches below the edge of the rock, to the +other wall three feet lower. It was, however, stripped of its hair, as +cleanly as if it had been shorn off with a razor, by the friction of the +snow that had shot down along it. + +"That is the blamedest odd thing I ever saw," Sam Hicks said. "I wonder +the weight of the snow didn't break it in." + +"I expect it just shot over it, Sam," Harry said. "It must have been +travelling so mighty fast that the whole mass jumped across, only just +rubbing the skin. Of course the boulders and stones must have gone clean +over. That shows what a narrow escape we have had; for if that outer +rock had been a foot or so higher, the skin would have caved in, and our +place would have been filled chock up with snow in a moment. Waal, we +may as well turn in again, for I feel cold to the bones already." + +On the evening of the fifth day the snow ceased falling, and next +morning the sky was clear and bright. Preparations were at once made for +a start. A batch of bread had been baked on the previous evening. Some +buckets of hot gruel were given to the horses, a meal was hastily eaten, +the horses saddled and the packs arranged, and before the sun had been +up half an hour they were on their way. The usual stillness of the +mountains was broken by a variety of sounds. From the valley at their +feet came up sharp reports, as a limb of a tree, or sometimes the tree +itself, broke beneath the weight of the snow. A dull rumbling sound, +echoing from hill to hill, told of the falls of avalanches. Scarcely had +the echoes of one ceased, than they began again in a fresh quarter. The +journey was toilsome in the extreme, for the horses' hoofs sank deep in +the freshly-fallen snow, rendering their progress exceedingly slow. + +"If we had been sure that this weather would hold, chief, it would have +been better to have waited a few days before making our start, for by +that time the snow would have been hard enough to travel on." + +The chief shook his head. "Winter coming for good," he said, waving his +hand towards the range of snowy summits to the north. "Clouds there +still; if stop, not able to cross pass till next summer." + +"That is so; we agreed as to that yesterday, and that if we don't get +over now the chances are we shall never get over at all. Yet, it is a +pity we can't wait a few days for a crust to form on the snow." + +Twice in the course of the next hour avalanches came down from the hills +above them; the first sweeping down into the valley a quarter of a mile +behind them, the next but two or three hundred yards ahead of them. +Scarcely a word was spoken from end to end of the line. They travelled +in Indian file, and each horse stepped in the footprints of its +predecessor. Every few hundred yards they changed places, for the labour +of the first horse was very much heavier than of those following. At the +end of an hour the men drew together for a consultation. There was a +wide break in the line of cliffs, and a valley ran nearly due south. + +"What do you think, chief? This confounded snow has covered up all signs +of the trail, and we have got to find our own way. There is no doubt +this valley below is running a deal too much to the west, and that the +trail must strike off somewhere south. It looks to me as if that were a +likely valley through the cliff. There is no hiding the fact that if we +take the wrong turn we are all gone coons." + +"Leaping Horse knows no more than his brother," the chief said gravely. +"He knows the pass is on the western side of the great peak. The great +peak lies there," and he pointed a little to the west of the break in +the hills up which they were looking. + +"It may be that we must cross the hills into another valley, or perhaps +this will turn west presently." + +"I tell you what, Harry," Sam Hicks said, "my opinion is, that our best +plan by a long chalk will be to go back to our last place and to stop +there for a bit. We have got b'ar's flesh enough for another fortnight, +and we may kill some more game afore that is done. Ef this is but a +spell of snow it may melt enough in another ten days for us to make out +the trail and follow it. Ef, as the chief thinks, we have got winter +right down on us, we must wait till the snow crust hardens ef it is a +month or double. Anything is better than going on like this. What with +this soft snow and these 'tarnal snow-slides, there ain't no more chance +of our getting over that pass in one day's journey, than there air in +our flying right down to Salt Lake City. Ef the worst comes to the +worst, I tell yer I would rather go back and take our chance of +following the Big Wind River down, and fighting the red-skins, than I +would of crossing over these dog-goned hills." + +The other three men were of the same opinion. + +"Well, what do you say, chief?" Harry asked the Indian. + +"Leaping Horse thinks that the trail will not be found until next +summer," the chief replied quietly. "Heap of hills in front and heap of +snow. If snow-storm catch us in the hills no find way anywhere. Leaping +Horse is ready to do whatever his white brother thinks." + +"Well, I am with the others," Harry said. "I don't like the look of +those clouds. They are quiet enough now, but they may begin to shift any +time, and, as you say, if we are caught in a snow-storm on the hills +there is an end of us. I think Sam is right. Even if we have to rustle +all through the winter in that hut there, I would rather face it than +keep on." + +That settled it. The horses' heads were turned, and they retraced their +steps until they reached the shelter. The bear's-skin had been left +where it was, the fire was soon set going, and there was a general +feeling of satisfaction as they laid out the robes and blankets again. + +"Look here, boys," Harry said, "this is not going to be a holiday time, +you bet. We have got to make this place a sight snugger than it is now, +for, I tell you, when the winter sets in in earnest, it will be cold +enough here to freeze a buffalo solid in an hour. We have got to set to +work to make a roof all over this place, and we have got to hunt to lay +in a big stock of meat. We have got to get a big store of food for the +horses, for we must be mighty careful with our flour now. We can wait a +fortnight to see how things go, but if it is clear then that we have got +to fight it out here through the winter, we must shoot the pack-ponies +at once, and I reckon the others will all have to go later. However, we +will give them a chance as long as we can." + +"Take them down into the valley," the chief said. "All Indian horses." + +"Ah, I didn't think of that, chief. Yes, they are accustomed to rustle +for their living, and they may make a shift to hold on down there. I +don't think there is much fear of Indians coming up." + +"No Indians," Leaping Horse said. "Indians go away when winter set in. +Some go to forest, some go to lodges right down valley. No stop up here +in mountains. When winter comes plenty game--big-horn, wapiti." + +"Ah, that is a more cheerful look-out, chief. If we can get plenty of +meat we can manage without flour, and can go down and give the ponies a +pail of hot gruel once a week, which will help them to keep life +together. The first thing, I take it, is to cut some poles for the roof. +I am afraid we shall have to go down to the bottom for them." + +"Waal, we needn't begin that till to-morrow," Sam Hicks said. "If we had +them, we have got no skins to cover them." + +"Cut brushwood," Indian said. "First put plenty of brushwood on poles, +then put skins over." + +"Yes, that is the plan, chief. Well, if we get down there we shall have +to take our shovels and clear the snow off some of the narrow ledges. If +we do that we can lead one of the horses down to pack the poles up +here." + +The chief went out on to the platform. "No use clear snow now. Clouds +moving. In two hours snow fall again." + +The others joined him outside. "I reckon you are right, chief," Jerry +said. "It is mighty lucky we didn't go on. It can't be much worse here +than it was before." + +At three in the afternoon it began to snow heavily again. There was less +wind than there had been on the previous occasion, and the snow drifted +through the entrance less than before. Just as they were turning in for +the night an ominous crack was heard above. All leapt from their +blankets, and looking up they could see by the light of the fire that +the poles supporting the skin were all bent in a curve downwards. + +"Jee-rusalem!" Sam Hicks exclaimed, "the whole outfit will be coming +down on us." + +"That it will, Sam. You see, there is no wind as there was before, and +one of our jobs will be keeping the roof clear of snow. Turn out, boys; +we must get rid of it somehow." + +They at once set to work to lash two poles, some eight feet long, to the +handles of the shovels, and as soon as this was done they all turned +out. On reaching the edge of the ravine above the roof, they first +cleared away the snow down to the rock so as to have firm standing, and +then proceeded to shovel the snow off the surface of the skin. It was +easier work than they expected, for as soon as it was touched it slid +down the incline, and in a very few minutes the whole was cleared off. + +"I think that is good until morning now," Harry said. "As long as the +snow lasts we shall have to do it every few hours. Directly we get a +spell of fine weather we must put some more poles under it to strengthen +it." + +For six days the snow continued to fall without intermission. At +daybreak, at mid-day, and the last thing before they turned in at night +the snow was cleared off the hide. With this exception they did not stir +out of the shelter. They had also each day to clear out the inner +portion of the fissure, as the snow now frequently broke through the +trees in masses, startling the horses, and keeping them in a state of +restlessness. The sixth day it stopped snowing, and the next morning the +sky was bright and clear. The whole party at once started out, two of +them taking shovels, and the rest brooms that they had made during the +long hours of their confinement. By the middle of the day they had +cleared the path down into the valley, and on their way back to dinner +each carried up a large bundle of faggots. + +The meal was cooked and eaten hastily, and the whole of the horses were +then led down into the valley. Here a couple of dozen stout poles for +the roof were cut by the whites, the two Indians at once going up the +valley in search of game. In half an hour two rifle-shots were heard, +and presently Hunting Dog ran in with the news that they had killed two +wapiti. Jerry and Sam Hicks at once went off with him, leading two +horses, and presently returned with the dead deer fastened across their +backs. + +"They are very like pictures I have seen of moose," Tom said to his +uncle as he examined the great stags. + +"New-comers often call them moose, Tom; but there is a difference +between them, though what the difference is I cannot tell you, for I +have never hunted moose. I believe the wapiti are peculiar to the West. +They often go in great herds of three or four hundreds together." + +"The chief says there are a great many of them up the valley," Jerry put +in. "They made off when he fired, but I could see their foot-tracks +myself all about. He says they have been driven down here by the storm +for shelter. He has gone round with the lad to head them back." + +"That is good news, Jerry. The meat we have got already will last some +time, but it is as well to lay in a good stock, and we want the skins +badly to make our roof. You had better lead these horses to the foot of +the path, and then we will all take our post behind trees across the +valley." + +An hour later they heard the reports of two rifles a long way up the +valley, and all stood in readiness. A few minutes later there was a dull +trampling sound, and almost directly afterwards a herd of wapiti came +along at a heavy trot, ploughing their way but slowly through the snow. + +"Don't use your revolvers, boys," Harry had said, "except to finish off +a stag you have wounded with your rifle. The chance is all against your +bringing them down, and the poor brutes would only get away to die." + +One after another the rifles rang out. Tom and his uncle both had the +satisfaction of seeing the stags they had aimed at, plunge forward +before they had gone many yards farther, and roll over dead. The other +three had each hit the animal they aimed at, but as these kept on their +course they dashed out in pursuit, firing their Colts, which in their +hands were as deadly weapons as a rifle, and the three stags all fell, +although one got nearly half a mile down the valley before he succumbed. +A carcass was hoisted on to each of the horses' backs, and the loaded +animals were then led up the track. + +"Shall I wait until the Indians come back, uncle, and tell them why you +have gone up?" + +"There is no occasion for that, Tom; they would hear the shots, and will +have guessed what has happened." + +The poles were divided among the men and carried up to the top of the +path, and laid down just above the shelter. Harry and Sam Hicks at once +proceeded to cut them up into proper lengths, while the others skinned +and cut up the deer. A number of thongs were cut from one of the hides +for lashing cross-poles across those that were to act as ridge-poles. +The bear's-skin was removed and additional poles placed at that spot, +and all working together the framework of the roof was completed by +nightfall. The Indians had returned soon after the party began their +work, and taking their horses down fetched up the deer they had killed. + +In the morning the roof was completed, hides being stretched over the +framework and securely lashed to it with thongs. The whole of the trees +and brushwood were then chopped down close to the ground so as to leave +a level floor. The foliage was given to the horses, and the wood cut up +and piled for fuel. The chief reported that at the upper end of the +valley there was a thick pine-wood, which would give good shelter to the +horses. Near it were plenty of bushes, and a level tract which had been +a beaver meadow, and was thickly covered with grass, as he could see +where the wapiti had scratched away the snow to get at it. This was +excellent news, for the question of how the horses could be fed through +the winter had troubled them much more than that of their own +maintenance. The joints of venison were hung up on a pole outside what +they now called their hut, one or two hams being suspended from the +rafters over the fire, to be smoked. + +"We shall have to rig up a b'ar-trap outside," Ben said, "or we shall be +having them here after the meat; and a b'ar's ham now and then will make +a change. Wapiti flesh ain't bad, but we should get dog-goned tired of +it arter a bit." + +"You may bet we shall, Ben," Jerry agreed; "but I reckon that we shall +be able to get a lot of game through the winter. That valley down there +is just the place for them to shelter in, and I hope we shall get a +big-horn now and then. It will be a difficult thing to make a b'ar-trap +outside. A grizzly wants a pretty strong pen to keep him in, and though +the horses might drag up some big beams from below, there ain't no +fastening them in this rock." + +"No; I don't think we can make that sort of trap," Harry said. "We must +contrive something else. We need not do all our work at once; we have +got plenty of time before us. We want three or four more skins to finish +our hut." + +"You mean to fill up the entrance?" + +"Yes; we will sew them together, and make a curtain to hang from the +edge of the roof to the ground. I tell you it is going to be mighty cold +here, and besides, it will keep the snow from drifting in." + +"I wish to goodness we could make a chimney," Tom said. "The smoke went +up through the leaves all right, but my eyes are watering now, and if +you fill up the end with skins it will be something awful." + +"You will get accustomed to it, Tom; but, of course, we must make a hole +at the top when we fill up the entrance. What do you think is the next +thing to be done, chief?" + +"Get wood," the chief said emphatically. "Must fill all the end of hut +with wood." + +"That will be a big job, chief, but there is no doubt we must lay in a +great store of it. Well, there is plenty of timber down in the valley, +and with ten horses we can bring up a tidy lot every day." + +"Let us cut quick before snow comes again." + +"We will begin to-morrow morning, chief. I agree with you, the sooner +the better." + +Accordingly the next morning they went down to the valley. They had but +two axes, and Jerry and Sam Hicks, who had both done a good deal of +wood-cutting, undertook this portion of the work. The others took the +horses up to the beaver meadow, where they at once began scraping at the +snow, and were soon munching away at the rich grass. + +"Why do you call it a beaver meadow, uncle? I don't see any beavers." + +"They have gone long ago, perhaps a hundred years. As we know, this +valley is occupied by the Indians in summer, and they would soon clear +out the beavers. But it is called a beaver meadow because it was made by +them. They set to work and dammed up the stream, and gradually all this +flat became a lake. Well, in time, you know, leaves from the woods +above, and soil and dead wood and other things brought down by the +stream, gradually filled up the bottom. Then the beavers were killed, +and their dams went to ruin and the water drained off, and in a short +time grass began to grow. There are hundreds, ay, and thousands of +beaver meadows among the hills, and on the little streams that run into +the big rivers, and nowhere is the grass so rich. You will often see an +Indian village by one of these meadows. They grow their roots and plant +their corn there. The horses will do first-rate here through the winter +if the snow don't get too deep for them, and, anyhow, we can help them +out with a bucket of gruel occasionally." + +"It will be awfully cold for them, though." + +"It will be coldish, no doubt, but Indian ponies are accustomed to it." + +"I should think, uncle, it would not take much trouble to make them a +sort of shed up among the trees there." + +Sam laughed, and even the chief smiled. + +"It would not be a bad plan, Tom," his uncle said; "not so much for the +sake of the warmth, though there is no doubt that the warmer they are +the less they can do with to eat, but if they have a place to go to they +are less likely to wander away, and we shall not have the trouble of +hunting for them. Well, we will think it over." + +Following the valley up, they found that it extended some ten miles +farther, for the last two of which it was but a narrow caņon a few yards +wide. They shot a black bear and four small deer, and returned carrying +the skins, the hind-quarters of the deer, and the bear's hams. + +"We seem to have got meat enough for anything," Tom remonstrated when +they shot the deer. + +"Seven men will get through a lot of meat, Tom, when they have nothing +else to go with it; and we may be weeks before we can put our heads out +of our hut. Besides, the skins will be useful. We shall want deer-skin +shirts, trousers, and socks and caps; and the skin of these deer is +softer and more pliable than that of the wapiti. I don't want to kill +more than I can help, lad, for I hate taking life without there is a +necessity for it, but we can do with a lot more skins before we are +stocked." + +When, driving the horses before them, they returned to the woodcutters, +they found they had cut down and chopped into logs a number of trees; +and Tom was quite astonished at the great pile of firewood that had been +got ready by them in the course of a day's work. The logs were made up +into bundles, each weighing about eighty pounds. These were tied +together with the horses' lariats, and then secured, one on each side of +the saddle, two of the horses carrying the meat. Harry took the bridle +of his horse and started up the path, the others following at once. + +"That is a good day's work," Harry said as the logs were piled at the +inner end of the hut. "That is about half a ton of wood. If we have but +a week of open weather we shall have a good store in our cellar." + +The work continued steadily for a week. The horses were each day taken +to feed at the meadow, the two wood-choppers continued their work, while +the rest of the party hunted. The Indians had on the second day gone +down the valley, and returned with the report that the Indian lodges had +all disappeared and that the valley was entirely deserted. Eight more +wapiti were killed during the week, and fourteen smaller deer. Of an +evening they occupied themselves in sewing the skins together with +thongs of leather, the holes being made with their knives; and a curtain +at the mouth of the hut was completed and hung. Four wide slabs of wood +had been cut. These had been bound together with thongs so as to form a +sort of chimney four feet high, and with a good deal of difficulty this +was secured by props in its position over a hole cut through the skins, +above the fire. + +"The first avalanche will carry it away, Tom." + +"Yes, uncle; but we have had one avalanche here, and it seems to me the +chances are strongly against our having another in exactly the same +place." + +The skins of the smaller deer were carefully scraped with knives on the +inner side, smeared with bears' fat, and then rubbed and kneaded until +they were perfectly soft. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +WINTER + + +The erection of Tom's shed for the horses did not take long. The whole +party, with the exception of the two Indians,--who, as usual, went +hunting,--proceeded to the pine-wood above the beaver meadow. After a +little search six trees were found conveniently situated with regard to +each other. The axemen cut down three young firs. One was lashed by the +others between the two central trees, to form a ridge-pole eight feet +from the ground; the others against the other trees, at a height of +three feet, to support the lower ends of the roof. They were but ten +feet apart, so that the roof might have a considerable pitch. Numbers of +other young trees were felled and fixed, six inches apart, from the +ridge down to the eaves. On these the branches of the young fir-trees +were thickly laid, and light poles were lashed lengthways over them to +keep them in their places. + +As the poles of the roof had been cut long enough to extend down to the +ground, no side walls were necessary. The ends were formed of poles +lashed across to the side trees, but extending down only to within four +feet six of the ground, so as to allow the horses to pass under, and +were, like the roof, thickly covered with boughs. The lower ends were +left open for a width of four feet in the middle, uprights being driven +into the ground and the sides completed as before. + +"What do you want a doorway at both ends for?" Tom asked. "It would have +been easier and quicker to have shut one end up altogether, and it would +be a good deal warmer." + +"So it would, Tom; but if a grizzly were to appear at the door, what +would the horses do? They would be caught in a trap." + +"Do you think they are likely to come, uncle?" + +"The likeliest thing in the world, Tom. Horses can smell bear a good +distance off, and if they heard one either coming down or going up the +valley, they would bolt through the opposite door. They will do +first-rate here; they will stand pretty close together, and the warmth +of their bodies will heat the place up. They won't know themselves, they +will be so comfortable. It has only taken us a day's work to make the +shed; and though we laughed at your idea at first, I think now that the +day has been well spent in getting them up such a good shelter. Jerry +has got the big pail boiling over his fire, and we will put in a few +handfuls of the flour we brought down. Bring the horses in from the +meadow, and we will give them each a drink of gruel in the shed. They +will soon learn that it is to be their home." + +For two more days the open weather continued, and the horses took up +three loads of wood each afternoon, as they had done the previous week. +Then, as there were signs of change, they were given a good feed at +their shed; the saddles were taken off and hung up on some cross-poles +over their heads. + +The party had scarcely returned to the hut when the snow began to fall. +They were, however, weather-proof, and felt the immense additional +comfort of the changes they had made. Their stock of firewood was now a +very large one. At each journey the horses had brought up about fifteen +hundredweight; and as the work had gone on for nine days, they had, they +calculated, something like fourteen tons of firewood neatly stacked. +They had also a stock of poles in case the roof should require +strengthening. A certain amount of light found its way in at the edges +of the curtain across the entrance, but they depended principally upon +the fire-light. The smoke, however, was a serious grievance, and even +the men were forced occasionally to go outside into the open air to +allay the smarting of their eyes. + +"Don't you think, uncle, we might do something to dry the wood?" + +"I can't see that we can do more than we are doing, Tom. We always keep +a dozen logs lying round the fire to dry a bit before they are put on." + +"I should think we might make a sort of stage about four feet above the +fire and keep some logs up there. We might pile them so that the hot air +and smoke could go up through them. They would dry a great deal faster +there than merely lying down on the ground." + +"I think the idea is a very good one, Tom; but we shall have to make the +frame pretty strong, for if it happened to come down it might break some +of our legs." + +The men all agreed that the idea was a capital one, and after some +consultation they set to to carry it out. Two strong poles were first +chosen. These were cut carefully to the right length, and were jambed +between the rocks at a height of seven feet above the floor and five +feet apart. They were driven in and wedged so tightly that they could +each bear the weight of two men swinging upon them without moving. Then +four upright poles were lashed to them, five feet apart, and these were +connected with cross-poles. + +"That is strong enough for anything," Jerry said when the structure had +been so far completed. "If a horse were to run against one of the poles +he would hardly bring the thing down." + +Four other short poles were now lashed to the uprights three feet below +the upper framework, and were crossed by others so as to form a +gridiron. On this, the logs were laid in tiers crossing each other, +sufficient space being left between them to allow for the passage of the +hot air. + +"That is a splendid contrivance," Harry said when they took their seats +on the buffalo robes round the fire and looked up admiringly at their +work. "The logs will get as dry as chips, and in future we sha'n't be +bothered with the smoke. Besides, it will do to stand the pail and pots +full of snow there, and keep a supply of water, without putting them +down into the fire and running the risk of an upset." + +They had occupation now in manufacturing a suit of clothes a-piece from +the deer-skins. As the work required to be neater than that which +sufficed for the making of the curtain, pointed sticks hardened in the +fire were used for making the holes, and the thongs that served as +thread were cut as finely as possible; this being done by the Indians, +who turned them out no thicker than pack-thread. + +There was no occasion for hurry, and there was much laughing and joking +over the work. Their hunting-shirts and breeches served as patterns from +which to cut out the skins; and as each strove to outvie the others, the +garments when completed were very fair specimens of work. The +hunting-shirts were made with hoods that, when pulled over the head, +covered the whole face except the eyes, nose, and mouth. As they had +plenty of skin, the hoods and shirts were made double, so that there was +hair both inside and out. They were made to come down half-way to the +knee, being kept close at the waists by their belts. The leggings were +made of single thickness only, as they would be worn over their +breeches; they were long and reached down below the ankle. The Indians +made fresh moccasins for the whole party; they were made higher than +usual, so as to come up over the bottom of the leggings. In addition +each was provided with long strips of hide, which were to be wound round +and round the leggings, from the knee to below the ankle, covering +tightly the tops of the moccasins, and so preventing the snow from +finding its way in there. Gloves were then manufactured, the fingers +being in one and the thumb only being free. + +The work occupied them a fortnight, broken only by one day's spell of +fine weather, which they utilized by going down into the valley, taking +with them their kettles and pail, together with a few pounds of flour. +They found the horses out in the meadow, and these, as soon as they saw +them, came trotting to meet them with loud whinnies of pleasure. A fire +was lit near the shed, the snow melted, and an allowance of warm gruel +given to each horse. At Tom's suggestion a few fir-boughs were hung from +the bar over each entrance. These would swing aside as the horses +entered, and would keep out a good deal of wind. When at the end of a +fortnight the sky cleared, the chief said that he thought that there +would be but little more snow. + +"If storm come, sure to bring snow, but not last long. Winter now set +in; soon snow harden. Now make snowshoes." + +The hunters had all been accustomed to use these in winter. They had +found the last expedition through the deep snow a very toilsome one, and +they embraced the idea eagerly. Some of the poles were split into eight +feet lengths. These were wetted and hung over the fire, the process +being repeated until the wood was sufficiently softened to be bent into +the required shape. This was done by the chief. Two cross-pieces were +added, to stiffen them and keep them in the right shape when they dried; +and the wood was then trimmed up and scraped by the men. When it had +dried and hardened, the work of filling up the frame with a +closely-stretched network of leather was undertaken. This part of the +work occupied three or four days. The straps were attached to go across +the toe and round the heel, and they were then ready to set off. + +The weather was now intensely cold, but as there was but little wind it +was not greatly felt; at the same time they were glad of their furs when +they ventured outside the hut. On the first day after their snow-shoes +were finished, the rest of the party started off to visit the horses, +Hunting Dog remaining behind to give Tom instructions in the use of the +snow-shoes, and to help him when he fell down. + +Tom found it difficult work at first, the toe of the shoe frequently +catching in the snow, and pitching him head foremost into it, and he +would have had great difficulty in extricating himself, had not the +young Indian been at hand. Before the day was over, however, he could +get on fairly well; and after two or three more days' practice had made +such progress that he was considered capable of accompanying the rest. + +The wood-drying apparatus had succeeded excellently. The wood was now +dried so thoroughly before being put on to the fire that there was no +annoyance from the smoke inside the hut, and scarce any could be +perceived coming from the chimney. Upon Harry's remarking upon this with +satisfaction the first time they went out after using the dry wood, Tom +said: + +"What does it matter? There are no Indians in the valley." + +"That is so, Tom; but as soon as the weather sets in clear, the +red-skins will be hunting again. Winter is their best time for laying in +their stock of pelts for trading. At other times the game is all high up +in the mountains, and it is very difficult to get within range of it. In +the winter the animals come down to the shelter of the forests and +valleys, and they can be shot in numbers; especially as the Indians in +their snow-shoes can get along almost as quickly as the wapiti can +plough through the snow. At present the red-skins think that we must +have been overtaken by that first storm and have all gone under; but as +soon as they begin to venture out of their lodges to hunt, a column of +smoke here would be sure to catch their eyes, and then we should be +having them up the valley to a certainty. The first thing they would do +would be to find our horses and drive them off, and the next thing would +be to set themselves to work to catch us." + +"But we could hold the path against them, uncle." + +"Yes; but we should have to keep watch every day, which would be a +serious trouble. Besides, there must be other places they could get up. +No doubt their regular trail comes up here, because it is the +straightest way to the pass, and possibly there may be no other point at +which loaded animals could mount anywhere about here. But there must be +plenty of places where Indians could climb, and even if it took them a +detour of fifty miles they would manage it. As long as there is no smoke +we may hope they will not discover us here, though any hunting party +might come upon the horses. That is what has bothered me all along; but +the chief and I have talked it over a dozen times, and can see no way of +avoiding the risk. + +"We can't keep the horses up here because we can't feed them; and even +if we were to bring ourselves to leave this comfortable place and to +build a hut down in the valley, we might be surprised and rubbed out by +the red-skins. Of course we might bring them up here every night and +take them down again in the morning, but it would be a troublesome +business. We have agreed that we won't do much more shooting down in the +valley, and that in coming and going to the horses we will keep along +close to the foot of the cliffs this side, so that if two or three +Indians do come up they won't see any tracks on the snow, unless they +happen to come close up to the cliff. Of course if they go up as far as +the beaver flat they will light upon the horses. There is no help for +that; but the chief and I agreed last night that in future two of us +shall always stay up here, and shall take it by turns to keep watch. It +won't be necessary to stand outside. If the curtain is pulled aside +three or four inches one can see right down the valley, and any Indians +coming up could be made out. If the party is a strong one a gun would be +fired as a signal to those away hunting, and some damp wood thrown on +the fire. They might possibly push on up the valley to have a look at +the place, but the two up here with their rifles would soon stop them. +After that, of course, the horses would have to be brought up here at +night, and a watch kept by night as well as by day." + +Two or three mornings later they found on going out that two joints of +venison had been carried off, and footprints in the snow showed that it +had been done by a grizzly bear. This turned their attention again to +the construction of a trap, which had not been thought of since the day +it was first mentioned. A young tree of four or five inches in diameter +was cut below and brought up. The butt was cut in the shape of a wedge, +and this was driven strongly into a fissure in the rock. A rope with a +running noose had been fastened to the tree, and this was bent down by +the united strength of four men, and fixed to a catch fastened in the +ground, the noose being kept open by two sticks placed across it. + +A foot beyond the noose a joint of venison was hung, the rope passing +over a pole and then down to the catch, so that upon the joint being +pulled the catch would be loosened, when the tree would fly up and the +noose catch anything that might be through it. + +A week later they were disturbed by an outburst of violent growling. +Seizing their rifles they rushed out. A huge bear was caught by one of +his paws. The animal's weight was too great for it to be lifted from the +ground, but it was standing upright with its paw above its head, making +furious efforts to free itself. A volley of bullets at once put an end +to its life. The tree was bent down again and the noose loosed, and they +at once returned to their rugs, leaving the bear where it fell. Four +times during the winter did they thus capture intruders, providing +themselves with an ample supply of bear's flesh, while the skins would +sell well down at the settlements. + +Otherwise sport was not very good. No more wapiti came up, but black and +white tail deer were occasionally shot, and five or six big-horn sheep +also fell to their rifles. One day on approaching the beaver meadow the +chief pointed to some deep footprints. No explanation was needed. All +knew that they were made by a big grizzly, and that the animal was going +up the valley. No horses were in view on the flat, and grasping their +rifles they hurried towards the wood. Just as they reached it the horses +came galloping to meet them, whinnying and snorting. + +"They have been scared by the critter," Jerry said. "Do you see their +coats are staring. Gosh, look at this pack-pony--the bear has had his +paw on him!" + +The animal's hind-quarters were indeed badly torn. + +"I wonder how it got away," Harry said. "When a grizzly once gets hold, +it don't often leave go." + +"There is something in front of the hut," Tom exclaimed. + +"It's the grizzly, sure enough," Harry said. "It is a rum place for it +to go to sleep." + +They advanced, holding their rifles in readiness to fire, when Leaping +Horse said: + +"Bear dead." + +"What can have killed him?" Harry asked doubtfully. + +"Horses kill him," the chief replied. They hurried up to the spot. The +bear was indeed dead, and there were signs of a desperate struggle. +There was blood on the snow from a point near the door of the hut to +where the animal was lying ten yards away. Round it the snow was all +trampled deeply. The bear's head was battered out of all shape; its jaw +was broken, and one of its eyes driven out. The Indians examined the +ground closely. + +"Well, what do you make of it, chief?" Harry asked. + +"Bear walk round hut, come in other end. Horses not able to get out in +time. Pack-horse last, bear catch him by hind-quarters. Horse drag him a +little way and then fall. Then other horses come back, form ring round +bear and kick him. Look at prints of fore-feet deep in snow. That is +where they kick; they break bear's jaw, break his ribs, keep on kick +till he dead." + +"I suppose that is how it came about, chief. I should not have thought +they would have done it." + +The Seneca nodded. "When wild horses with young foals attacked by bear +or mountain-lion, they form circle with colts in the middle, stand heads +in and kick. Bears and mountain-lion afraid to attack them." + +"Waal, I should hardly have believed if I had not seen it," Sam Hicks +said, "that horses would come back to attack a grizzly." + +"Not come back," the chief said, "if not for friend. Friend cry out +loud, then horses come back, fight bear and kill him." + +"Well, it was mighty plucky of them," Harry said. "I am afraid this pony +won't get over it; he is terribly torn." + +The chief examined the horse's wounds again. "Get over it," he said. +"Cold stop wounds bleeding, get some fat and put in." + +"I reckon you will find plenty inside the grizzly," Jerry said. The +chief shook his head. + +"Bear's fat bad; other horses smell him, perhaps keep away from him, +perhaps kick him. Leaping Horse will bring fat from the big-horn he shot +yesterday." + +The animal lay where it had fallen, a mile up the valley. They went up +and tied the great sheep's feet together, and putting a pole through +them brought it down to the hut. Partly skinning it, they obtained some +fat and melted this in a kettle over the fire. Sam Hicks had remained +behind at the fire, the horses all standing near him, excited at the +prospect of their usual meal. As soon as the fat was melted it was +poured into the horse's wounds. The mess of gruel was then prepared and +given to the animals. The bear was skinned and the hams cut off, then by +a united effort it was dragged some distance from the hut, and the +carcass of the big-horn, the bear's flesh and hide, were afterwards +carried up to the hut. + +Early in February the cold reached its extreme point, and in spite of +keeping up a good fire they had long before this been compelled to build +up the entrance with a wall of firewood, the interstices being stuffed +with moss; the hut was lighted by lamps of bear and deer fat melted down +and poured into tin drinking-cups, the wicks being composed of strips of +birch bark. A watch was regularly kept all day, two always remaining in +the hut, one keeping watch through a small slip cut in the curtain +before the narrow orifice in the log wall, that served as a door, the +other looking after the fire, keeping up a good supply of melted snow, +and preparing dinner ready for the return of the hunters at sunset. Of +an evening they told stories, and their stock of yarns of their own +adventures and of those they had heard from others, seemed to Tom +inexhaustible. + +Hunting Dog had made rapid advances with his English, and he and Tom had +become great friends, always hunting together, or when their turn came, +remaining together on guard. The cold was now so intense that the +hunting party was seldom out for more than two or three hours. Regularly +twice a week the horses were given their ration of hot gruel, and +although they had fallen away greatly in flesh they maintained their +health, and were capable of work if called upon to do it. It was one day +in the middle of February, that Hunting Dog, who was standing at the +peep-hole, exclaimed: + +"'Rappahoes!" + +Tom sprang up from the side of the fire, and running to the entrance +pulled aside the curtain and looked out. Six Indians on snow-shoes were +coming up the valley. He ran out on to the platform and fired his ride. +As the sound of the report reached the Indians' ears they stopped +suddenly. + +"Shall I throw some green wood on the fire, Hunting Dog?" + +"No need," the Indian replied. "The others only gone an hour, not +farther than horses' hut; hear gun plain enough. Perhaps 'Rappahoes go +back." + +The Indians remained for some time in consultation. + +"Not know where gun fired," Hunting Dog said. "Soon see hut, then know." + +After a time the red-skins continued their way up the valley, but +instead of coming on carelessly in the centre they separated, and going +to the other side crept along among the fallen boulders there, where +they would have escaped observation had it not been for their figures +showing against the white snow. + +"Must fire now," the young Indian said, "then Leaping Horse know +'Rappahoes coming up." + +They went out on to the platform and opened fire. They knew that their +chance of hitting one of the Indians was small indeed; the other side of +the valley was a quarter of a mile away, and the height at which they +were standing rendered it difficult to judge the elevation necessary for +their rifles. However, they fired as fast as they could load. + +The Indians made no reply, for their guns would not carry anything like +the distance. They occasionally gathered when they came upon a boulder +of rock sufficiently large to give shelter to them all, and then moved +on again one at a time. When opposite the lower end of the pathway they +again held a consultation. + +"No go further," Hunting Dog said. "Afraid we come down path and stop +them. See, Leaping Horse among rocks." + +It was some time before Tom could detect the Indian, so stealthily did +he move from rock to rock. + +"Where are the others?" + +"No see, somewhere in bushes. Leaping Horse go on to scout; not know how +many 'Rappahoes." + +Presently they saw the chief raise his head behind a rock within a +hundred yards of that behind which the 'Rappahoes were sheltering. + +"He see them now," Hunting Dog said. "See, he going to fire." There was +a puff of smoke and a sharp report, and almost simultaneously rose an +Indian yell, and the war-cry of the Seneca. Then five Indians leapt out +from behind the rock and made down the valley at full speed, while from +a clump of trees two hundred yards above the spot from which the chief +had fired the four white men hurried out rifle in hand. The chief waited +until they joined him, for the bend in the valley prevented him from +seeing that the 'Rappahoes were making straight down it, and it would +have been imprudent to have ventured out until his white allies came up. + +"They have gone right down," Tom shouted at the top of his voice. Harry +waved his arm to show that he heard the words, and then the five men ran +to the corner. The Indians were already a quarter of a mile away, and +were just entering the wood below. The whites were about to fire, when +the chief stopped them. "No use fire," he said. "Stand back behind +rocks; no good let 'Rappahoes count our rifles." + +"That is true enough, chief," Harry said, as they all sprang among the +rocks. "All they know at present is, that there are two up on the top +there and one down here. If we were sure that we could wipe them all out +it would be worth following and making a running fight of it, but there +would be no chance of that, and it is better to let them go without +learning more about us. Well, I should say the first thing is to get up +the horses." + +The chief nodded. + +"Get up," he said, "but no fear 'Rappahoes come back to-night. Many +hours' journey down to villages, then great council. Next night scouts +come up valley, look all about for sign, and then go back and tell +friends." + +"I dare say you are right, chief. Anyhow, I shall feel a great deal more +comfortable when we have got the critters up." + +It was late in the afternoon before they reached the hut. Some hours +were spent in collecting tufts of grass in places sheltered from the +snow, and in cutting off great bundles of young fir-branches and the +heads of evergreen bushes, and the horses arrived almost hidden under +the load of grass and foliage they carried. Little was said until some +hot tea had been drunk and the bear steaks in readiness were disposed +of, for although they had worked hard and kept themselves comparatively +warm down in the valley, they had as they moved slowly up the path with +the horses become chilled to the bone. + +"Now then, chief," Harry said, when they had lighted their pipes with +the mixture of tobacco and willow bark that they had taken to, as soon +as they found that they were likely to be imprisoned all the winter, "we +must hold a council. We have been longer than I expected without +disturbance by these varmint, but it has come now, and the question is +what are we to do? We have agreed all along that there is no getting +over the pass till the spring comes." + +"Too cold," the chief said, "deep drift snow. Indians all say no can +pass over hills in winter." + +"That air a fact," Jerry said. "Down in the valley there it is all +right, but up here the cold pretty near takes one's breath away. We +ain't sure about the way. We couldn't get over the pass in one day's +tramp, and we should be all stiff before morning. There would be no +taking the horses, and there is a hundred miles to be done over the snow +before we reach the fort. It ain't to be thought of. I would a sight +rather go down the valley and fight the hull tribe." + +"I agree with you, Jerry. We might, with luck, get down the valley, but +I don't think there is a possibility of our crossing the pass till the +winter breaks." + +"No can go down valley," Leaping Horse said; "they find trail on snow, +sure." + +"That is so, chief, and in that case it is evident that we have got to +fight it out here." + +"Good place to stop," the Seneca said; "no good place to fight." + +This was self-evident. An enemy on the rock above would be able to fire +down through the roof, without their having a chance of making an +effectual reply. + +"The only way I can see," Harry said after a long pause, "is to build a +sort of fort up above. If we put it just at the top of this pathway, we +should have them whether they came up by the trail from below or climbed +up anywhere else and came along above. It need not be a very big place, +only just big enough for us all to fire over. We might make a sort of +shelter in it with a fire, and keep guard there by turns." The chief +nodded, and there was a general exclamation of assent from the others. + +"The worst of it is," Jerry said, "the ground is so 'tarnal hard that +there will be no driving posts into it. We have cut down all the trees +near the bottom of the pass, and it would be a risky thing to go up +higher, when we might have the red-skins come whooping up the valley at +any time." + +"Why not make a snow fort?" Tom suggested. "There is four feet of snow +up there, and with the shovels we could make a wall ten feet high in a +very short time." + +"So we might, Tom; that is a capital idea. The difficulty is, the snow +does not bind in this bitter cold as it does in England." + +"If it was hammered down it would, I should think, uncle. You know the +Esquimaux make snow houses, and it is as cold there as it is here. The +snow at the top is light enough, but I should think as it gets down it +would be hard enough to cut out in blocks. We have plenty of water, and +if we pour it over each layer of blocks it would freeze into solid ice +directly. When we finish it we might pour more water down over the +outside, and it would make a regular wall of ice that no one could climb +up." + +"Hooray! Bully for you, Tom!" Jerry shouted, while similar exclamations +of approval broke from all the others, while the chief said gravely, "My +young brother has the head of a man; he is able to teach warriors." + +"You shall be engineer-in-chief, Tom," Harry said. "It is certain we may +sleep quietly to-night; at daybreak to-morrow we will begin the job." + +The first thing in the morning a semicircular line was traced out at the +top of their pathway. It was thirty feet across, for, as Tom said, the +walls ought to be at least four feet thick; and six feet would be +better, as they would want a parapet at least two feet thick to fire +over. It was agreed that the whites should use the two shovels by turns. +The Indians were unaccustomed to the work, and were to undertake that of +scouting along the hillside, and of watching by turns at night. The +frying-pan was brought into requisition, a wooden handle being made for +it. The hard upper crust was removed with the shovels, and the layer +beneath this was sufficiently soft for the instrument to be used as a +shovel. Below that it hardened, and could be cut out in great blocks. +The loose snow was thrown inside of the line traced out. + +As fast as the blocks were cut out they were carried and piled regularly +to form the face. Tom's share of the work was to keep on melting snow, +and to bring it up and pour between and over the blocks. As fast as a +line of these were made the loose snow was thrown in behind it and +trampled down hard. Except for meals there was no rest. The chief said +that as there was little chance of the 'Rappahoes coming up so soon, +Hunting Dog had better stay behind and help, and he lent his aid in +carrying the blocks of snow on a rough stretcher they made for the +purpose. By the time it became dark the wall had risen to a height of +three feet above the general level of the snow, and was already +sufficient to form an excellent breastwork. + +At the end farthest from the side from which the Indians were likely to +come, a gap was left between it and the edge of the ravine three feet +wide, in order that if necessary the horses could pass out. When it +became dark the chief returned. He had gone many miles along towards the +main valley, but had seen no sign of any Indians. After supper was over +he took one of the wapiti skins and his buffalo robe, went up to the +"fort," as they had already called it, and laid the deer-skin down on +the slope of snow behind the wall, wrapped the buffalo robe round him, +and lay down upon it. Hunting Dog then threw another robe over him, +projecting a foot beyond his head, so that he could from time to time +raise it and look out over the snow. The night was a dark one, but any +object moving across the unbroken white surface could be seen at a +considerable distance. + +"I feel sure I should go to sleep," Tom said, "if I were to lie down +like that." + +"I have no doubt you would, Tom, but there is no fear with the chief. An +Indian never sleeps on the watch, or if he does sleep, it is like a dog: +he seems to hear as well as if he were awake, and every minute or two +his eyes open and he takes a look round. I would rather have an Indian +sentry than half a dozen white ones, unless it is in the open, where +there is no tree to lean against, and a man must keep moving." + +Hunting Dog threw himself down as soon as he returned to the hut, and +was almost instantly asleep. Three hours later he rose and went out, and +Leaping Horse a minute or two later returned. + +"All quiet," he said; and then after smoking for a short time also lay +down. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE SNOW FORT + + +The hut was quiet at an unusually early hour, for the men had done a +very hard day's work, and felt the strain after the long weeks of +inactivity. At daybreak they were up and about, but could remain out but +a few minutes, for the cold was so intense that they felt unable to face +it until they had taken some hot tea and eaten something. Half an hour +sufficed for this early breakfast. Hunting Dog was again left behind by +the chief when he started. + +"Two eyes enough," the latter said. "Hunting Dog more use here." + +The wall of blocks was raised three more feet during the day, as it was +agreed to devote all their efforts to this, and to defer the work of +thickening it until the next day, for the snow had now been cleared so +far from its foot that it could no longer be thrown inside. Though but +six feet above the snow level, it was at least three feet more above the +level of the rock, and its face was a solid sheet of ice, Tom having, +during the two days, made innumerable journeys backwards and forwards +with snow-water. + +"Another couple of feet and it will be high enough for anything," Harry +said. "I don't believe that the Indians will venture to attack us, but +it is just as well to have it so high that they can't help each other up +to the top. If they knew how strong it is, I am sure they would not +attack, and would leave us alone altogether, but if a hundred of them +creep up in the dark and make a rush, they will do their best to try to +climb it. Anyhow we sha'n't need to make the bank behind very high. If +it goes to within four feet and a half of the top, so that we can stand +and fire over the wall, that is all that is wanted." + +Leaping Horse returned at dusk as before. He uttered a warm approval of +the work when he had examined it. + +"Good fort," he said, "better than palisades. Indian no climb over it. +No opening to fire through, good as wall of town house." + +"I think they will be puzzled when they get here, chief." + +"Must watch well to-night," the chief said. "Indian scout sure to come. +Two men keep on watch; two better than one." + +"That is so, chief; we will change every hour. But it will be mighty +cold. I don't see why we shouldn't rig up a shelter against the wall, +and have a bit of a fire there. Then the two on watch can take it by +turns every few minutes to come in and get a warm." + +With poles and skins a lean-to was speedily constructed against the +wall. The snow was hammered down, and a hearth made of half a dozen logs +packed closely together. Some brands were brought up from the fire in +the hut, and the skins across the end of the lean-to dropped, so that +the air within could get warm while they were at supper. + +"Hunting Dog and Tom shall take the first watch," Harry said; "Sam and I +will take the next, Jerry and Ben the third, then you, chief, can take +the next." + +"Leaping Horse watch by himself," the Seneca said; "his eyes will be +open." + +"Very well, chief. I know you are as good as any two of us, so that will +give us each one hour out and three hours in bed." + +Wrapping buffalo robes round them, Tom and the young Indian went up to +the fort. Tom drew aside one of the skins and looked into the shelter. +The hearth was in a glow, and two logs lying on it were burning well. +The night was very still, except for the occasional rumble of some +distant snow-slide. For a few minutes they stood looking over the wall, +but keeping far back, so that only their heads were above its level. + +"Tom go in by the fire," the Indian said. "All white, no need for four +eyes." + +"Very well, I will go in first; but mind, you have got to go in +afterwards. I sha'n't go in if you don't." + +After waiting for a few minutes in the shelter Tom went out again, and +Hunting Dog took his place. It was his first war-path, and nothing would +have persuaded him to retire from the watch had he not felt sure that +even white men's eyes could not fail to detect any dark object moving on +the surface of the snow. But although all white the surface was not +level; here and there were sudden elevations marking rises in the rock +beneath. Still it seemed impossible to Tom that anyone could approach +unseen. + +In spite of the protection of the buffalo robe it was intensely cold +outside, and he was glad each time when his turn came for a warm by the +fire. The changes, too, made the time pass quickly, and he was quite +surprised when his uncle and Sam came out to relieve them. The other two +men and the chief were still smoking by the fire. There was tea in the +kettle, and they evidently did not mean to lie down until after their +first watch. Every few minutes the chief got up and went out to the +platform, and stood listening there intently for a short time. Just +before it was time to change the guard again he said when he returned: + +"Indian down in valley." + +"Have you heard them, chief?" + +"Leaping Horse heard a dead stick crack." + +"That might have been a deer," Ben suggested. + +The chief shook his head. "'Rappahoe; heard gun strike tree." + +"Then I reckon they will be up in our watch," Ben said. "Well, we shall +be ready for them." + +"Perhaps come, perhaps not come; perhaps scout up valley first see if +some of us there, and look for horses. Perhaps some come up path; but +crawl up slow, not know whether look-out there." + +"Well, I don't envy them if they have got much crawling to do to-night; +it is cold enough to freeze one's breath." + +"'Rappahoe not like cold," the chief said, "but wants scalp bad; that +makes his blood warm." + +"I will let some of it out," Jerry said wrathfully, "if I get a chance +to lay a bead on one of them. Don't you be afeard, chief; we will look +out sharp enough, you bet. Waal, I reckon it is about our time to turn +out, Ben." + +"Jerry tells me that you have heard noises below, chief," Harry said +when he came in. "We heard nothing, but it ain't easy to hear well with +these hoods over one's head." + +"Hoods bad for hear," the chief assented. "Leaping Horse heard plain, +Indians down below." + +"Well, it is only what we expected, chief. Anyhow, we are ready for them +when they come." + +Tom lay down now, and knew nothing more till Hunting Dog touched him. + +"Time to go and watch," he said. + +"Has everything been quiet?" + +The Indian nodded. "No come yet." + +Leaping Horse remained at his post after they came out to relieve him. +Tom made no comment. Harry had impressed upon him the necessity for +absolute silence. + +"If they hear voices they will never come near us," he had said, "and we +would rather they came than stopped away. The sooner we get this job +over the better." + +The chief stood with his head slightly bent forward and the hood of his +hunting-shirt thrown back, listening attentively. Then he touched +Hunting Dog, and stooping low down whispered something in his ear, and +then both stood again listening. Tom, too, threw back his hood, but he +could hear nothing whatever, and was soon glad to pull it forward over +his ears again. He strained his eyes in the direction towards which they +were listening, which was apparently towards the edge of the ravine +where the Indian trail came up from below. All seemed to him to be white +and bare. + +Presently the chief's rifle went up to his shoulder; there was a sharp +crack, a dark figure leapt up from the snow fifty yards away and then +fell headlong down again. It seemed to Tom almost magical. His eyes had +been fixed in that direction for the last five minutes, and he could +have sworn that the surface of the snow was unbroken. A minute later the +other four men came running up. + +"What is it, chief?" Harry whispered. + +Leaping Horse pointed to the dark figure stretched out on the snow. + +"So you have got the varmint. Good! Do you think there are any more of +them about?" + +"More there sure," the chief said, pointing to the path up from below. +"Perhaps more there," and he pointed to a broad black line from the foot +of the cliffs to the edge of the ravine, where, three days before, an +avalanche from the hills above had swept the rock clear of snow. + +"They must have made sure that we were all asleep, or that fellow would +never have shown himself on the snow," Harry said. + +"He did not show himself, uncle. How he got there I don't know; but I +was looking at the spot when the chief fired, and I saw no signs of him +whatever. How he hid himself I don't know. If it had been anywhere else +I should have said he must have had a white sheet over him." + +"It certainly was not that whatever it was, Tom. However, we shall see +in the morning. Well, we may as well turn in again. Will they try again, +do you think, chief?" + +"Not try to-night, too cold; if any there, will hide up till daybreak. +Now they know we are awake, will not venture on snow." + +Half an hour later a great fire was lighted out of gunshot range lower +down the valley, and three or four figures could be seen round it. + +"Too cold," Hunting Dog said to Tom. "All gone down to get warm." + +The watches were relieved regularly through the night, but there was no +further alarm until just after daylight had broken, when Sam Hicks +suddenly discharged his rifle. The others all turned out at once. He had +fired at a bush just at the point where the trail came up from below, +and he declared that he had seen a slight movement there, and that some +pieces of the snow had dropped from the leaves. + +"We will make sure that there is no one there," Harry said, "and then we +will turn out and have a look. It is like enough that one of the +red-skins from below came up the path to have a look at us this +morning." + +He took a steady aim and fired. + +"Fetch up an axe, Tom; we will cut that bush away at once. It is lucky +that Sam caught sight of the red-skin. If he had not done so he might +have got a bullet in his own head, for when the red-skin had finished +taking a view of the fort he would certainly have picked off Sam or +myself before he went down. It is a weak point, that from here one can't +command the path. If they come in force we shall have to keep watch on +the platform too. From there you can get a sight of two or three of its +turnings." + +[Illustration: "They Went Out To Look At The Indian The Chief Had +Shot."] + +They went out together, and as they passed, stopped to look at the body +of the Indian the chief had shot. He was a young brave of two-or +three-and-twenty, and the manner of his advance so far unperceived was +now evident. Favoured by a slight fall in the ground, he had crawled +forward, scooping a trench wide enough for his body a foot in depth, +pushing the snow always forward, so that it formed a sort of bank in +front of him and screened him from the sight of those on watch. The +chief's keen eye had perceived a slight movement of the snow, and after +watching a moment had fired at the point where he judged anyone +concealed by it must be. He had calculated accurately. The ball had +struck on the shoulder close to the neck, and had passed down through +the body. The Indian had brought no rifle with him, but had knife and +tomahawk in his belt. + +"Poor young fellow," Harry said. "He wanted to win a name for himself by +a deed of desperate bravery. It has cost him his life, but as he would +have taken ours if he had had a chance it is of no use regretting it." + +They now went on to the bush. + +"You were right, Sam," he went on, as they saw the impression on the +snow made by a figure lying down behind it. "There was an Indian here +sure enough, and here is the mark of the stock of his rifle, and no +doubt he would have picked off one of us if you had not scared him. I +don't expect you hit him; there are no signs of blood." + +"Fire too high," the chief said, pointing to a twig that had been +freshly cut off two feet from the ground. "Always shoot low at man +behind bush. Man cannot float in air." + +There was a general laugh at Sam, who replied: "I did not suppose he +could, chief. I just fired where I saw the snow fall, without thinking +about it one way or the other. I was an all-fired fool, but I shall know +better next time." + +The bush was cut down, and also two or three others that grew along by +the edge of the ravine. On their way back to the hut Harry stopped by +the dead Indian. + +"Fetch me a shovel, Tom," he said, "I will dig a hole in the snow; it +ain't a pleasant object to be looking at anyway." + +Tom fetched the shovel, Harry dug down in the snow till he reached the +rock, then he and Jerry laid the body in it and filled in the snow +again. The chief looked on. + +"Bears get him," he said when they had finished. + +"That is like enough, chief, but we have done the best we can for him. +There is no digging into the rock." + +"I thought the Indians always scalped enemies they shot?" Tom afterwards +said to his uncle. + +"So they do, Tom; but you see the chief is a sort of civilized Indian. +He has consorted for years with whites, and he knows that we don't like +it. I don't say he wouldn't do it if he were on the war-path by himself, +but with us he doesn't, at any rate not openly. I have no doubt it went +against his grain to see the red-skin buried with his hair on, for the +scalp would have been a creditable one, as it would not have been got +without a clear eye and good judgment in shooting. I have no doubt he +has got some scalps about him now, though he don't show them; but they +will be hung up some day if he ever settles down in a wigwam of his own. + +"Well, chief, and what do you think," he asked Leaping Horse, as, after +returning to the hut, they sat down to breakfast, "will they come or +won't they?" + +"I think they no come," the chief said. "Scout behind bush will tell +them fort too strong to take; must cross snow, and many fall before they +get to it. Very hard to climb. No like cold, Leaping Horse thinks they +will stop in wigwams." + +"No fools either," Jerry agreed; "a man would be worse than a natural if +he were to go fooling about in this weather, and run a pretty good big +risk of getting shot and nothing much to gain by it. They know we have +left their country now, and ain't likely to come back again either to +hunt there or to dig gold, and that all we want is to get away as soon +as we can. I allow that the chief is right, and that we sha'n't hear no +more of them, anyhow not for some time." + +The chief nodded. "If come again, not come now. Wait a moon, then think +perhaps we sleep sound and try again; but more likely not try." + +"Much more likely," Harry assented. "Unless they can do it by a +surprise. Indians are not fond of attacking; they know we shoot +straighter than they do and have better rifles. You remember that time +when you and I and Jersey Dick kept off a party of Navahoes from sunrise +till sunset down near the Emigrant trail? It was lucky for us that a +post-rider who was passing along heard the firing, and took the news to +a fort, and that the officer there brought out fifty troopers just as +the sun went down, or we should have been rubbed out that night sure." + +The Seneca nodded. + +"How was it, Harry?" Sam Hicks asked. + +"It was just the usual thing, Sam. We had left the trail two days +before, and were hunting on our own account when the Navahoes came down. +We had just time to throw the three horses and lie down behind them. +They were within two hundred yards when I began and fetched the chief, +who was leading them, out of his saddle. Leaping Horse brought down +another one and Jersey Dick held his fire, and instead of keeping +straight on they began to straggle round. And they kept at that all day. +Sometimes they would get in pretty close, but each time they did the +chief brought down a horse, and when his rider, who was of course +hanging on the other side of him, got up to run, I fetched him down. +Dick wasn't much of a shot, so we would not let him fire. It discourages +red-skins mightily when they see that there is never a shot thrown +away, and that it is sure death whenever one draws a trigger. So at last +they got careful and held off, knowing as they would get us at night, +when they could have crawled up on foot and made a rush when they got +close to us. + +"The worst of it was we hadn't struck water the evening before, and it +was just one of the hottest days on the plains, and we were pretty nigh +mad with thirst before evening. I believe when the soldiers rode up I +was about as glad to get a drink from one of their bottles as I was that +the Navahoes bolted when they saw them coming. No, the red-skins ain't +any good for an open attack; they would have lost fewer men by riding +straight at us than they did by fooling round, but they could not bring +themselves to do it, and I reckon that is what it will be here. They +may, as the chief says, try, say six weeks on, when the frost begins to +break, in hopes that we may have given up keeping watch: but if they +find us awake they will never try an open attack, for they could not +reckon on taking the place without losing a score of men in doing so. If +the snow was off the ground it would be different. Then of a dark night +they could crawl up close and make a rush." + +After breakfast the chief and Hunting Dog went out scouting. When they +returned they brought news that three Indians had come over the snow +along the side of the hills, that three others had come up the valley, +and that in a wood half a mile below where they had seen the fire, there +had been a large party encamped. + +"I reckoned that would be about it, chief. Three fellows came along over +the hill, in case we should be keeping guard at the top of the path, and +they had a big force somewhere down below, so that if the scouts +reported that there was nothing to prevent them falling on us they would +come up before morning and wipe us out. I suppose they have all ridden +off?" + +"All gone. Leaping Horse and Hunting Dog followed right down valley. No +stop anywhere, gone back to lodges." + +"Then in that case, Harry, we had best get the critters down to their +shed again. They have eaten all that stuff they brought up three days +ago, I gave them the last of it this morning. The Indians know that we +keep a pretty sharp look-out during the day and there ain't no fear of +their coming up here when it is light." + +As the chief was also of opinion that there was no danger, the horses +were taken down the path into the valley, where on having their bridles +unbuckled they at once trotted off of their own accord towards the +beaver meadow. + +For the next six weeks a watch was kept regularly, but by only one man +at a time. The horses were driven down to the valley every morning and +brought up again before sunset. There was little hunting now, for they +had as many skins as they could carry comfortably, and a supply of +frozen meat sufficient to last well into the spring. In March the +weather became perceptibly warmer, and the snow in the valley began to +melt where the full power of the sun at mid-day fell upon it. Day by +day the crashes of distant avalanches became more frequent, and they +began to look forward to the time when they should be able to proceed on +their journey. + +One night towards the end of the month Tom was on watch, when he heard a +rustling sound far up beyond the wall of cliff in front of him. It grew +louder and rose to a roar, and then a white mass came pouring down over +the cliff. Leaping from the wall he dashed down the path to the hut. It +needed no word to call the men to their feet, for a deep rumbling filled +the air and the rock seemed to quiver. The horses struggled to break +their head-ropes and snorted with fright. + +"Your backs to the wall!" Harry shouted, and as all leapt across at his +order there was a crash overhead. The roof above them fell in and a mass +of snow followed; a, minute later a deep silence followed the deafening +roar. + +"Anyone hurt?" Harry shouted, and the replies came in muffled tones. Tom +was jambed against the rock by the snow; he was nearest to the entrance, +his uncle was next to him. + +"I am all right at present, uncle, but I feel half smothered." + +"All right, lad; I am pretty free, and I will soon clear you a bit." + +The snow was pushed away from before Tom's face, his left arm was +cleared, and then his uncle with a vigorous pull brought him back close +to him. Here he was comparatively free, for a part of the roof had +fallen close to the wall and had partially kept off the snow. Then Harry +turned, and with some difficulty managed to get Jerry, who was next to +him, freed from the snow. + +"Now, Jerry, you work along that way and get at the others. Tom and I +will try to burrow a way out." + +It was a difficult task. Once through the passage in the log wall they +pushed to the left towards the edge of the platform, taking it by turns +to go first until the snow became lighter; then by a vigorous effort +Harry rose to his feet, sending a mass of snow tumbling over the edge of +the platform. As soon as Tom had joined him they set to work with hands +and knives, and soon cleared a passage back to the entrance. Just as +they did so Jerry crawled out from within. + +"Are they all right, Jerry?" + +"Yes, the others are coming; only about twelve feet of the roof caved +in, and the two Indians and Sam soon got in among the horses. I had a +lot of trouble with Ben; he had been knocked down, and I thought that he +was gone when I got him out; but he is all right now, though he can't +walk yet. The Indians and Sam have got the shovels, and are working away +to clear a passage along by the wall; there is no getting Ben out +through that rabbit-hole you have made." + +"Thank God we are all right," Harry said; "it does not matter a bit, now +that we know no one is badly hurt. We will begin at this end, but we +sha'n't be able to do much until we get the shovels, the snow will fall +in as fast as we get it out." + +They soon found that they could do nothing in this way. + +"We will try to tunnel again," Harry said, "it is not more than ten feet +along. If we get in and hump ourselves, we shall soon get it big enough +to drag Ben out, then the others can follow, and we can set to work with +the spades to clear the place." + +After a good deal of effort they succeeded in enlarging the hole, and +then got Ben through it, one crawling backwards and pulling him while +the other shoved at his legs. + +"How do you feel, Ben?" Harry asked him when they laid him down outside. + +"I dunno, Harry; I am afraid my back is badly hurt. I don't seem to feel +my legs at all. I expect they are numbed from the weight of snow on +them." + +"I will crawl into our store and fetch out the keg." + +"I reckon a drop of whisky will do me good if anything will," Ben said. +"I was crushed pretty near flat, and if my head hadn't been against the +wall I should have been smothered. Are you all right, young Tom?" + +"Yes, I am not hurt at all. The snow squeezed me against the rock, and I +could not move an inch, but uncle managed to get me a little free and +then pulled me out of it." + +Harry soon came back with the whisky, and was followed by the Indians +and Sam, who found that they could do nothing with the snow, which fell +in as fast as they cleared it. Their first step was to dig out a buffalo +robe to wrap Ben in. His voice was stronger after he had drank some +spirit, and he said that he felt better already. The others at once set +to work with the shovels. They first cleared the platform along by the +wall to the entrance, and then attacked the snow which filled the space +between the two rock walls to the top. + +Two of them worked with poles, loosening the snow above, and bringing it +down in masses, while those with shovels cast it out on to the platform, +going out occasionally to throw it over into the ravine. Hunting Dog +made his way up over the snow to the top of the path, and called down to +say that the fort was entirely swept away, and the chief told him to +take up his post at once at the top of the path leading from below. + +"He need not have told us that the fort was gone," Jerry grumbled. "If +it had been made of cast-iron it would not have stood. The sooner we get +our rifles out the better." + +This could not be done for a time, for the loosening of the snow above +had caused that below to slip, and the passage along by the wall had +fallen in. The Indians, however, who had slept beyond the part filled by +snow, had brought their pieces out with them, and could have defended +the path alone. Several times those at work were buried by falls of +snow, and had to be dragged out by the others. By daylight a +considerable gap had been made in the snow, and they were able to get +into the space beyond the fall. A number of logs, and a joint of meat +that had been taken in the day before to thaw, were brought out, and a +fire was soon blazing on the platform. + +"I wonder why the snow did not shoot over as it did before?" Ben, who +was now able to sit up, remarked. + +"I reckon it is the fort did it," Harry said. "Of course it went, but it +may have checked the rush of the snow for a moment, and those thick +walls couldn't have got the same way on as the rest of the snow had." + +"But the fort wasn't over the roof, uncle," Tom remarked. + +"No, but it may have blocked the slide a little, and thrown some of it +sideways; you see it is only this end that gave, while it shot right +over the rest of the roof just as before." + +"It is mighty lucky it did not break in all along," Sam Hicks said, "for +it would have left us without horses if it had; and it would have been +mighty rough on us to have lost them, just as we are going to want them, +after our taking such pains with them all through the winter." + +The chief took Hunting Dog's place as soon as he had finished his meal, +and remained on watch all day. The men worked without ceasing, but it +was not until sunset that the snow was completely cleared away. + +"I reckon that we shall have to be starting before long," Jerry said as +they sat round the fire in what they before called their store-room, +having driven the horses as far in as possible to make room. "We could +have held out before as long as we liked, but it is different now. The +rock's cleared now for a hundred yards on each side of us, our fort's +gone, and there is nothing to prevent the redskins from crawling close +up the first dark night and making a rush. They are like enough to be +sending scouts up the valley occasionally, and it won't be long before +they hear that our fort has gone and the ground cleared of snow." + +Leaping Horse nodded. "Two men must watch at top of path," he said. + +"That is right enough, chief; but we know three of them came along the +hills before, and it is like enough they will all come that way next +time. They are safe to reckon that we shall hold the path." + +"It is very unfortunate," Harry said; "in another month, we should have +been able to travel. Anyhow, it seems to me that we have got to try now; +it would never do to be caught in here by the red-skins. If we are to +go, the sooner the better. All our meat has been carried over the edge. +This is about the time we expected the Indians back, and it would be +dangerous to scatter hunting. It is a big risk, too, taking the horses +down to the meadow. No, I think we can manage to get over the pass. The +snow gets softer every day when the sun is on it; but it freezes at +night. We have the moon, too, so we shall be able to travel then; and +even if we take three or four days getting over the divide we can sleep +in the daytime." + +"We must get a little more meat anyhow before we start," Jerry said. +"This joint ain't more than enough for another square meal for us, and +though I reckon the bighorns will be coming up to the hills again now, +it won't do to risk that." + +"We have the pack-horses, Jerry." + +"Yes, I did not think of them. Horseflesh ain't so bad on a pinch; but I +don't want to lose our skins." + +"Better our skins than our hair," Sam laughed. + +"That is right enough, Sam, but I would like to save both." + +"Perhaps there is some of the meat under the snow," Tom suggested. "It +hung near the wall, and the snow must have come straight down on it from +above, as it did in here." + +"That is so, Tom; we will have a look the first thing in the morning. I +am so tired now I would not dig for it if it were gold." + +As soon as it was light the next morning they began to clear the snow +from the rest of the platform, and found to their great satisfaction +four bear hams. The rest of the meat had been swept over the edge. The +two Indians had not shared in the work, having started away early +without saying where they were going. They returned to breakfast, each +carrying a hind-quarter of venison, which they had found in the snow +below. + +It was agreed that a start should be made that evening. By sunset the +horses were loaded, and half an hour later they moved away. Ben Gulston +had to be assisted on to his horse, for although in other respects +recovered, it was found that he had so severely strained his back across +the loins that he was scarcely able to walk a foot. The moon was shining +brightly, and as soon as they were on the snow they could see as plainly +as if it were day. All were in high spirits that they had left the spot +where for six months they had been prisoners. They had difficulty in +restraining themselves from shouting and singing, but the chief before +starting had warned them of the necessity for travelling silently. +"Snow-slides very bad now; shouting might set them going." + +The others looked rather incredulous, but Harry said: + +"I know he is right, boys; for I have heard that in the Alps the guides +always forbid talking when they are crossing places exposed to +avalanches. At any rate we may as well give the snow as little chance as +may be of going for us." + +They travelled in Indian file from habit rather than necessity, for the +snow was firm and hard, and the horses made their way over it without +difficulty. There had been some debate as to the way they should go; but +they determined at last to take the valley through the cliff wall, and +to strike to the right whenever they came upon a likely spot for +crossing. Two such attempts were made in vain, the upper slopes of snow +being found too steep for the horses to climb; but at the third, which +was made just after morning broke, they succeeded in getting up the hill +to their right, and, after great difficulty, descended into another +valley. This they had little doubt was the one that led to the pass, for +from the hill they could see the great peak along whose foot the trail +ran. + +It was ten o'clock before they got down into the valley. The snow was +beginning to be soft on the surface, and the horses were tired out. They +therefore halted, made a fire with two or three of the logs they had +brought with them for the purpose, boiled water and had breakfast, and +gave half a bucket of gruel to each of the animals. Then wrapping +themselves in their buffalo robes they lay down and slept till late in +the afternoon. The journey was resumed at sunset, and before morning +they had crossed the divide; and when the sun rose obtained a view over +the country far to the south. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A FRESH START + + +In the evening they camped on the banks of the Green River, here a +stream of but small size, except when the melting snow swelled its +waters into a torrent. At the spot where they halted a rivulet ran into +the stream from a thickly-wooded little valley. It was frozen, but +breaking the ice with their axes they found that water was flowing +underneath. They had observed that there was a marked difference in +temperature on this side of the mountains, upon which the strength of +the southern sun had already in many places cleared away the snow. + +"It is a comfort to be able to sit by a fire without the thought that +red-skins maybe crawling up towards you," Sam Hicks said heartily, "and +to sleep without being turned out to stand watch in the cold. + +"You say the country ahead is bad, chief?" + +"Bad lands both sides of Green River. Deep canons and bare rock." + +"Well, we need not follow it; it don't make any difference to us whether +we get down to the fort in a fortnight or six weeks." + +"None at all," Harry said. "We have agreed that when summer fairly sets +in we will try that place I hit on just as the Utes came down on us. It +is the richest place I have ever seen, and if the Indians will but let +us alone for a month we ought to bring back a big lot of dust; and if we +do, we can sell our share in it for a big sum, and take down enough men +to thrash the Utes out of their boots if they interfere with us. By our +reckoning it is the end of March now, though we don't at all agree as to +the day; but at any rate, it is there or thereabouts. That gives us a +good six weeks, and if we start in the middle of May it will be time +enough. So I propose that we strike more to the west, or to the east, +whichever you think is the best, chief, and try and pick up a few more +pelts so as to lay in a fresh stock of goods for our next trip." + +"Bad hills everywhere," the chief said; "better go west, plenty of game +there." + +"No fear of Indians?" + +"Indians there peaceable; make good trade with whites. Ten years ago +fight, but lose many men and not get much plunder. Trappers here good +friends with them. Traders bring up powder and cloth and beads. Indians +no give trouble." + +For the next six weeks, therefore, they travelled slowly, camping +sometimes for two or three days on a stream, and then making a long +march until they again came to water. The beaver traps had been left +behind, but they were fortunate enough to come upon several beaver +villages, and by exercising patience they were able to shoot a good +many, getting in all some fifty skins. Tom used to go out in the evening +and lie down to watch the beavers at work, but he would not take a gun. + +"I could not shoot them down in cold blood, uncle. It is almost like +looking at a village of human beings at work. One can shoot a man who is +wanting to shoot you, without feeling much about it, but to fire at a +man labouring in the fields is murder. Of course, if we wanted the flesh +for food it would be different." + +"I did not see you refuse that beaver-tail soup we had last night, Tom." + +"No, and it was very good, uncle; but I would very much rather have gone +without it than shoot the beaver the tail belonged to." + +"Well, Tom, as we have all got guns, and as none of us have any scruples +that way, there is no occasion whatever for you to draw a trigger on +them. They take some shooting, for if you hit them in the water they +sink directly, and you have got to kill them dead when they are on land, +otherwise they make for the water at once and dive into their houses and +die there." + +They killed a good many other animals besides the beaver, including +several wolverines, and by the time they got down to the fort in the +middle of May they had had to give up riding and pack all the animals +with the skins they had obtained. None of these were of any great value, +but the whole brought enough to buy them a fresh outfit of clothes, a +fresh stock of provisions and powder, and to give them a hundred dollars +each. + +The evening after the sale was effected Tom wrote home to his sisters, +giving them a brief account of what had taken place since the letter he +had posted to them before starting for the mountains, but saying very +little of their adventures with Indians. "I am afraid you have been in a +great fright about me," he said, "but you must never fidget when you +don't get letters. We may often be for a long time away from any place +where we can post them, or, as they call it here, mail them, though I +certainly do not expect to be snowed up again for a whole winter. Owing +to the Indians being hostile we did not do nearly so well as we +expected, for we could not go down to hunt in the valleys. So after +getting a fresh outfit for our next journey our share is only a hundred +dollars each. I did not want to take a share, for of course I was not of +much use to them, though I have learnt a lot in the last six months, and +can shoot now as well as any of them, except the two Indians. + +"However, they all insisted on my having the same share as the rest. +Uncle wanted me to take his hundred dollars and send them home to you +with mine, but I told him that I would not do so, for I know you have +money enough to go on with, even if your school has turned out a +failure. So I think it would be as well for us to keep our money in hand +for the present. There is never any saying what may happen; we may lose +our horses and kit, and it would be very awkward if we hadn't the money +to replace them. As soon as we get more we will send it off, as you know +I always intended to do. I have still some left of what I brought out +with me, but that and the two hundred dollars would not be more than +enough to buy an entirely new outfit for us both. + +"I hope you got the five hundred dollars uncle sent you. He told me he +sent it off from Denver, and it ought to have got home a few weeks after +I left. It is horrid to think that there may be letters from you lying +at Denver, but it serves me right for being so stupid as not to put in +the short note I wrote you from here before I started, that you had +better direct to me at Fort Bridger, as I shall almost be sure to come +back to it before I go to Denver. I like uncle awfully; it seems to me +that he is just what I expected he would be. I suppose they all put in +equal shares, but the other men quite look upon him as their leader. +Sometimes when he is talking to me he speaks just as people do at home. +When he talks to the men he uses the same queer words they do. He is +taller than father was, and more strongly built. What I like in him is, +he is always the same. Sometimes the others used to get grumbly when we +were shut up so long, but it never seemed to make any difference in him. + +"I told you when I wrote from Denver that he was called 'Straight +Harry,' because he always acted straightforwardly, and now I know him I +can quite understand their calling him so. One feels somehow that one +could rely upon his always being the same, whatever happened. Leaping +Horse is a first-rate fellow, and so is Hunting Dog, though of course he +does not know nearly as much as the chief does, but he knows a lot. The +other three are all nice fellows, too, so we were a very jolly party. +They know a tremendous lot of stories about hunting and red-skins and +that sort of thing. Some of them would make all you girls' hairs stand +on end. We are going to start off in two or three days to hunt up a gold +mine uncle found three years ago. The Indians are going, too; they will +hunt while the rest of us work. It will be quite a different journey to +the last, and I expect it will be just as hot this time as it was cold +last. We may be away for four months, and perhaps we may not come back +till the snow sets in, so don't expect a letter till you see it." + +This was by far the longest letter Tom had ever written, and it took him +several hours to get through. He had the room to himself, for the others +were talking over their adventures with old friends they had met at the +fort. His uncle returned about ten o'clock. + +"Where are the others?" Tom asked. + +"In the saloon; but they are not drinking, that is, not drinking much. I +told them that if they were to get drunk one of them would be sure to +blab as to where we were going, or at any rate to say enough to excite +suspicion among some of the old miners, that we knew of a good thing, +and in that case we should get a lot of men following us, and it would +interfere with our plans altogether. A party as small as ours may live +for months without a red-skin happening to light on us, but if there +were many more they would be certain to find us. There would be too much +noise going on, too much shooting and driving backward and forward with +food and necessaries. We want it kept dark till we thoroughly prove the +place. So I made them all take an oath this morning that they would keep +their heads cool, and I told them that if one of them got drunk, or said +a word about our going after gold, I would not take him with us. I have +given out that we are going on another hunting party, and of course our +having brought in such a lot of skins will make them think that we have +hit on a place where game is abundant and are going back there for the +summer." + +Two more pack-ponies had been added to the outfit. They might be away +for five or six months, and were determined to take a good supply of +flour this time, for all were tired of the diet of meat only, on which +they had existed for the last six months, having devoted by far the +greater part of the flour to the horses. + +When they started next day they turned their faces north, as if they +intended to hunt in the mountains where they had wintered. They made but +a short march, camped on a stream, and long before daybreak started +again, travelling for some hours to the west and then striking directly +south. For two days they travelled rapidly, Tom going out every morning +with the Indians hunting, while the others kept with the pack-horses. +Ben had now quite recovered from the strain which had crippled him for +the first three weeks of their march down to Fort Bridger. They were now +fairly among the Ute hills, and at their third camping-place Harry said: + +"We must do no more shooting now till we get to our valley. We have got +a supply of deer-flesh for a week at least, and we must be careful in +future. We heard at the fort that several miners have been cut off and +killed by the Utes during the winter, and that they are more set than +ever against white men entering their country. Everyone says those +rascally Saints are at the bottom of it. We must hide our trail as much +as we can. We are just at the edge of the bad lands, and will travel on +them for the next two days. The red-skins don't go out that way much, +there being nothing either to hunt or to plunder, so there is little +fear of their coming on our trail on the bare rocks, especially as none +of the horses are shod. On the third day we shall strike right up into +their mountains." + +"Are you sure that you will know the place again, Harry?" + +"I reckon I could find it, but I should not feel quite certain about it +if I had not the chief with me. There is no fear of his going wrong. +When a red-skin has once been to a place he can find his way straight +back to it again, even if he were a thousand miles off." + +"You said when we were talking of it among the hills, uncle," Tom said, +as he rode beside him the next morning, "that Leaping Horse and you each +took two shares. I wonder what he will do with his if it turns out +well." + +"He won't do anything with it, Tom. The chief and I are like brothers. +He does not want gold, he has no use for it; and, besides, as a rule, +Indians never have anything to do with mining. He and Hunting Dog really +come as hunters, and he has an understanding with me that when the +expedition is over I shall pay them the same as they would earn from any +English sportsman who might engage them as guides and hunters, and that +I shall take their shares in whatever we may make. I need not say that +if it turns out as well as we expect, the Indians will get as many +blankets and as much ammunition as will last them their lives. You can't +get a red-skin to dig. Even the chief, who has been with us for years, +would consider it degrading to do work of that kind; and if you see an +Indian at mining work, you may be sure that he is one of the fellows who +has left his tribe and settled down to loaf and drink in the +settlements, and is just doing a spell to get himself enough fire-water +to make himself drunk on. + +"The Seneca would be just as willing to come and hunt for us for +nothing. He would get his food and the skins, which would pay for his +tobacco and ammunition, and, occasionally, a new suit of leggings and +hunting-shirt, made by an Indian woman, and with this he would be happy +and contented. He doesn't mind taking money in return for skins, and he +and Hunting Dog had their full share in the division at the fort. When I +last talked to him about this business, he said, 'Leaping Horse doesn't +want money. Of what use is it to him? He has got a bagful hidden at +home, which he has been paid when he was scouting with the army, and for +the skins of beasts he has shot. It is enough to buy many horses and +blankets, and all that a chief can want. He is going with his friend to +hunt, and to fight by his side if the Utes come; he wants none of the +gold.' I explained the matter to him, and he said carelessly: 'Leaping +Horse will take the two shares, but it will be for his brother, and that +he may send it to the girls, the sisters of his friend Tom, of whom he +spoke one night by the fire.' + +"Hunting Dog is like Leaping Horse, he will take no gold. I have told +the three men how matters stand. Of course, it makes no difference to +them whether the Indians keep their share or hand it over to me, but at +the same time I thought they ought to know how we stood. They said it +was no business of theirs; that as I was the discoverer I had a right to +sell the whole thing if I chose, and that they thought I had done the +friendly thing by them in letting them in as partners. So you see it is +all right and square. It is like enough, too, that we shall find some +other lodes, and of course there they will come in on even terms with +us. So they are pleased with the look-out, and know well enough it is +likely to be the best strike they ever made in their lives." + +They kept near the edge of the bad lands, as had they gone farther out +they would have been obliged to make long detours to get round the head +of the caņons made by rivers running down into the Colorado. They had +filled their water-skins at the last stream where they had camped, and +had taken with them enough dried wood for their fires. These they lit +each night in a hollow, as from the upper slopes of the Ute hills a view +could be obtained for a great distance over the flat rocky plateau. Tom +was heartily glad when the two days' journey was over. Not a living +creature had met their eyes; there was no grass on which beasts could +exist, no earth in which prairie-dogs could burrow; even birds shunned +the bare waste of rock. + +"It is a desolate country," he said, as they sat round the fire; "it +would be enough to give one the horrors if one were alone. It is hot +now, and in the height of summer the heat and glare from the rock must +be awful." + +"It is, Tom; many and many a man has died of thirst in the bad lands. +And what makes it more terrible is, that they can perhaps see water a +thousand feet below them and yet die from the want of it." + +"When we were camped on the Green River, uncle, you said that no one had +ever followed it down." + +"That is so, lad. One knows whereabouts it goes, as men driven by thirst +have followed caņons down to it; and in some places it runs for many +miles across low land before it plunges into another caņon. Then it cuts +its way for two or three hundred miles, perhaps, through the hills, with +walls two or three thousand feet high. No one, so far as I know, has +gone down these big caņons, but it is certain there are rapids and +whirlpools and rocks in them. Two or three parties have gone down +through some of the shorter caņons to escape Indians, and most of them +have never been heard of again, but one or two have got down some +distance and managed to escape. + +"No one has followed the course by land. They could not do so unless +they carried all their provisions, and drink and food for their animals, +and even then the expedition would take months, perhaps years to do; for +every spring from the hills runs down a caņon to the river, sometimes +fifty miles, sometimes a hundred long, and each time the party came upon +one of these they would have to work up to the mountains to get round +it. It is over a thousand miles in a straight line from the place where +the Green River first enters a caņon to where the Colorado issues out on +to the plains, and it may be quite twice that distance if one could +follow all its windings. Some day when the country fills up attempts +will no doubt be made to find out something about it; but it will be a +big job whenever it is tried, and may cost a lot of lives before the +caņons are all explored." + +In the morning they started westward for the hills. The greatest care +was observed on the march. They took advantage of every depression, and +when obliged to pass over level ground moved at a distance apart, as a +clump or string of moving animals would be made out at a distance from +which a solitary one would be unnoticed. By noon they had left the bare +rock, and were travelling up a valley clothed with grass and dotted with +clumps of trees. In the first of these they halted. + +"We will stay here until it begins to get dusk," Harry said, "and then +move on as fast as we can go. If we don't lose our way we shall be there +before morning." + +There was no moon, but the stars shone brilliantly, and the mountains, +with their summits still covered with snow, could be seen ahead. The +chief went on in front. Sometimes they proceeded up valleys, sometimes +crossed shoulders and spurs running down from the hills. They moved in +Indian file, and at times proceeded at a brisk pace, at other times more +slowly; but there was no halt or sign of hesitation on the part of their +leader. At last, just as morning was breaking, the chief led them into a +clump of trees. He moved a little distance in, and then reined in his +horse and dismounted. + +"Does my brother remember that?" he said to Harry, pointing to something +on the ground. + +"Jee-hoshaphat!" Harry exclaimed; "if that ain't my old pack-saddle! +This is the very spot where we camped, boys. Well, chief, you are +certainly a wonder. I doubt whether I could have found my way here in +the daytime. Half a dozen times to-night it seemed to me that you were +going in the wrong direction altogether, and yet you bring us as +straight to the spot as if all the time you had been following a main +road." + +"Bully for the chief!" Jerry said warmly. "I am blamed if that ain't a +fust-rate piece of tracking. Waal, here we are at our journey's end. +Can we make a fire?" + +"Make small fire, but must put screen round." + +"Very well; we will leave the fire to you, and we will unpack the +critters. There is a bundle of dry wood left, so we sha'n't have the +bother of looking for it now." + +Before lighting the fire the two Indians stretched some blankets some +six feet above it, to prevent the light falling upon the foliage; then +by their directions Sam cut a dozen short poles, and fixed them in a +circle round the fire. Half a dozen more blankets were fastened to the +poles, forming a wall round the fire, which the chief then lighted. The +nights were, at that height above the sea-level, cool enough to make the +heat pleasant, and there was just room for the, seven men to sit between +the blanket wall and the fire. + +"Do you mean this to be our permanent camp, Harry?" + +"What do you think, Leaping Horse?" + +"Wait till me go up gold valley," the Seneca said. "If can't find a good +place there better stay here; if go backwards and forwards every day +make trail Indian squaw would notice." + +"That is so, chief; but by what Harry says it is a mere gully, and the +horses will have to range." + +"Horses must feed," the chief said. "If we find a place up there, make +hut, take saddles and outfit there. Tie up horses here, and let them +loose to feed at night. No regular track then. But talk after sleep." + +"It will be broad daylight by the time that we have finished our meal," +Jerry said, "and I reckon none of us will be wanting to sleep till we +have got a sight of Harry's bonanza." + +As soon as they had finished their meal, the mining implements, which +had been carefully hidden among the rest of their goods when they +started from the fort, were brought out. Among these were a dozen light +pick-heads and half a dozen handles, as many shovels, a flat iron plate +for crushing ore upon, and a short hammer, with a face six inches in +diameter, as a pounder; also a supply of long nails, to be used in +fastening together troughs, cradles, or any other woodwork that might be +required; three or four deep tin dishes, a bottle of mercury, a saw, and +a few other tools. Three of the pick-heads were now fastened to their +handles, and taking these, a couple of shovels, two of the tin basins, a +sledge hammer, and some steel wedges, and the peculiar wooden platter, +in shape somewhat resembling a small shield with an indentation in the +middle, called a vanner, and universally used by prospectors, the five +whites and Leaping Horse started from their camp for the spot where +Harry had found the lode. It lay about a mile up a narrow valley, +running into the larger one. A rivulet trickled down its centre. + +"I reckoned on that," Harry said. "Of course it was frozen when we were +here, but I could see that there was water in summer. You see this +hollow runs right up into that wood, and there is sure to be water in it +for the next three months anyhow." + +They had gone but a short distance up when they stopped at a spot where +the streamlet widened out into a pool. + +"Let us try here," Jerry said, "and see if there is any sign." + +Half a shovelful of sand was placed in the vanner with a small quantity +of water, and while Harry and Sam proceeded to wash some gravel roughly +in the pans, Tom stood watching Jerry's operations. He gave a gentle +motion to the vanner that caused its contents to revolve, the coarser +particles being thrown towards the edges while the finer remained in the +centre. The water was poured away and the rougher particles of gravel +and sand swept off by the hand; fresh water was then added, and the +process repeated again and again, until at last no more than a spoonful +of fine sand remained in the centre. A sideway action of the vanner +caused this to slope gradually down towards the edge. At the very bottom +three tiny bits of yellow metal were seen. They were no bigger than +pins' heads. It seemed to Tom that this was a miserably small return for +five minutes' labour, but the others seemed well satisfied, and were +still more pleased when, on the two pans being cleaned out, several +little pieces of gold were found, one of which was nearly as large as a +small pea. + +"That is good enough," Ben said; "it will run a lot richer when we get +down on to the rock." + +At two other places on their way up they tried the experiments, with +increasingly good results. + +"There is some tall work to be done here with washing," Harry said. "Now +come on to the vein. I only saw one of them, but there must be a lot +more or you would not find so much metal in the sand. However, the one I +saw is good enough for anything." They went on again to a point where +the rock cropped boldly out on both sides of the valley; Harry led them +a few paces up the side, and pointed to some white patches in the rock. +"That is where I chipped it off, lads, three years ago." + +The face of the lode, discoloured by age and weather, differed but +little from the rock surrounding it; but where it had been broken off it +was a whitish yellow, thickly studded with little bits of dull yellow +metal sticking out of it. Tom was not greatly impressed; but he saw from +the faces of his companions that they were at once surprised and +delighted. + +"By gosh, Harry, you have done it this time!" Sam Hicks exclaimed. "You +have struck it rich, and no mistake. I thought from the way you talked +of it it must be something out of the way, but I am blamed if I thought +it was like this." + +"Stand back, you chaps," Jerry said, lifting the heavy sledge hammer; +"let me get a drive at it. Here is a crack. Put one of them wedges in, +Ben." + +The wedge was placed in the fissure, and Ben held it while Jerry gave a +few light blows to get it firmly fixed. + +"That will do, Ben; take away your hand and let me drive at it." +Swinging the hammer round his head Jerry brought it down with tremendous +force on the head of the wedge. Again and again the heavy hammer rose +and fell, with the accuracy of a machine, upon the right spot, until the +wedge, which was nine inches long, was buried in the crevice. + +"Now another one, Ben. Give me a longer one this time." + +This time Ben held the wedge until it was half buried, having perfect +confidence in Jerry's skill. It was not until the fourth wedge had been +driven in that a fragment of rock weighing four or five hundredweight +suddenly broke out from the face. All bent eagerly over it, and the +miners gave a shout of joy. The inner surface, which was white, but +slightly stained with yellow, with blurs of slate colour here and there, +was thickly studded with gold. It stuck out above the surface in thin, +leafy plates with ragged edges, with here and there larger spongy +masses. + +"I reckon that is good enough," Jerry said, wiping the sweat from his +forehead. "Ef there is but enough of it, it is the biggest thing that +ever was struck. There ain't no saying how rich it is, but I will bet my +boots it's over five hundred ounces to the ton. It ain't in nature that +it is going to run far like that, but it is good enough for anything. +Well, what is the next thing, Harry?" + +"We will break it up," Harry said, "and carry it down with us to the +camp. If the Utes came down on us tomorrow, and we could get off with +it, that would be plenty to show if we want to make a sale." + +It took them a long time to break up the rock, for the quartz was hard, +and was so bound together by the leafy gold running through it that each +of the four men had several spells with the hammer before it was broken +up into fragments weighing some twenty pounds apiece. As soon as this +was done the men collected earth, filled up the hole in the face of the +rock, and planted several large tufts of grass in it, and poured four or +five tins of water over them; then they smeared with mud the patches +where Harry had before broken pieces off. + +"What is all that for, Jerry?" Tom asked. + +"It is to hide up the traces, lad. We may have to bolt away from here +to-morrow morning for anything we know, and before we come back again +someone else may come along, and though we shall locate our claims at +the mining register, there would be a lot of trouble if anyone else had +taken possession, and was working the vein when we got back." + +"It is not likely that anyone else would come along here, Jerry." + +"Waal, I reckon that is so, but one ain't going to trust to chance when +one has struck on such a place as this." + +The Seneca had been the only unmoved person in the party. + +"What do you think of that, chief?" Harry asked him. + +"If my white brother is pleased Leaping Horse is glad," he replied. "But +the Indian does not care for gold. What can he do with it? He has a good +gun, he does not want twenty. He does not want many hunting suits. If he +were to buy as many horses as would fill the valley he could not ride +them all, and he would soon tire of sitting in his lodge and being +waited upon by many wives. He has enough for his needs now. When he is +old it will be time to rest." + +"Well, that is philosophy, chief, and I don't say you are wrong from +your way of looking at it. But that gold means a lot to us. It means +going home to our people. It means living in comfort for the rest of our +lives. It means making our friends happy." + +"Leaping Horse is glad," the chief said gravely. "But he cannot forget +that to him it means that the white brother, with whom he has so long +hunted and camped and fought bad Indians, will go away across the great +salt water, and Leaping Horse will see him no more." + +"That is so, chief," Harry said, grasping the Indian's hand warmly, "and +I was a selfish brute not to think of it before. There is one thing I +will promise you. Every year or so I will come out here and do a couple +of months' hunting with you. The journey is long, but it is quickly made +now, and I know that after knocking about for twenty years I shall never +be content if I don't take a run out on the plains for a bit every +summer. I will give you my word, Leaping Horse, that as long as I have +health and strength I will come out regularly, and that you shall see +your white brother's friendship is as strong as your own." + +The Seneca's grave face lit up with pleasure. "My white brother is very +good," he said. "He has taken away the thorn out of the heart of Leaping +Horse. His Indian brother is all glad now." + +The quartz was placed in sacks they had brought with them to carry down +samples, and they at once returned to the camp, where, after smoking a +pipe, they lay down to sleep; but it was some time before all went off, +so excited were they at the thought of the fortune that seemed before +them. + +In the afternoon they took one of the pieces of stone, weighing, by a +spring balance, twenty pounds, and with the flat plate and the +crushing-hammer went to the stream. The rock was first broken with the +sledge into pieces the size of a walnut. These were pulverized on the +iron plate and the result carefully washed, and when the work was +finished the gold was weighed in the miner's scales, and turned the +four-ounce weight. + +"That is nearly five hundred ounces to the ton," Harry said, "but of +course it is not going to run like that. I reckon it is a rich pocket; +there may be a ton of the stuff, and there may be fifty. Now let's go up +and have a quiet look for the lode, and see if we can trace it. We ought +to see it on the rock the other side." + +A careful search showed them the quartz vein on the face of the rock +some fifty feet higher up the valley, and this showed them the direction +of the run of the lode. It was here, however, only six inches wide +instead of being two feet, as at the spot where it was first found. Some +pieces were broken off: there was gold embedded in it, but it was +evident that it was nothing like so rich as on the other side. A piece +of ten pounds was pounded up, it returned only a little over a +pennyweight of gold. + +"About twelve ounces to the ton," Harry said. "Not bad, but a mighty +falling off from the other. To-morrow morning we will follow the lode on +the other side and see if we can strike an outcrop." + +The next day they found the lode cropping up through the rock some +thirty yards from their great find. It was about nine inches wide. They +dug it out with their picks to a depth of two feet so as to get a fair +sample. This when crushed gave a return at the rate of twenty ounces. + +"That is rich enough again, and would pay splendidly if worked by +machinery. Of course the question is, how far it holds on as rich as we +found it at the face, and how it keeps on in depth? But that is just +what we can't find. We want drills and powder, as picks are no sort of +good on this hard quartz. Supposing it goes off gradually from the face +to this point, there would be millions of dollars in it, even supposing +it pinched in below, which there is no reason in the world to suppose. +We may as well take a few of these chunks of rock, they will show that +the gold holds fairly a good way back anyhow." + +A few pieces were put aside and the rest thrown into the hole again, +which was stamped down and filled up with dust. The party then went back +to dinner, and a consultation was held as to what was next to be done. + +"Of course we must stake out our claims at once," Harry said. "In the +first place there are our own eight claims--two for each of the +discoverers and one each for the others. Hunting Dog will not have a +share, but will be paid the regular rate as a hunter. Then we will take +twenty claims in the names of men we know. They wouldn't hold water if +it were a well-known place, and everyone scrambling to get a claim on +the lode; but as there is no one to cut in, and no one will know the +place till we have sold it and a company sends up to take possession and +work it, it ain't likely to be disputed. The question is, What shall we +do now? Shall we make back to the settlements, or try washing a bit?" + +"Try washing, I should say," Jerry said. "You may be some time before +you can sell the place. Anyone buying will know that they will have to +send up a force big enough to fight the Utes, and besides they will want +someone to come up here to examine it before they close the bargain. I +vote we stick here and work the gravel for a bit so as to take enough +away to keep us till next spring. I reckon we shall find plenty of stuff +in it as we go down, and if that is so we can't do better than stick to +it as long as there is water in the creek." + +"I agree with you there, Jerry; but it will never do to risk losing +those first samples. I am ready to stay here through the summer, but I +vote we sew them up in deer-hide, and put two or three thicknesses of +skin on them so as to prevent accidents. Two of us had best go with them +to the fort and ask the Major to let us stow them away in his magazine, +then, if we have to bolt, we sha'n't be weighted down with them. +Besides, we might not have time for packing them on the horses, and +altogether it would be best to get them away at once, then come what +might we should have proofs of the value of the mine." + +This proposal was cordially agreed to, and it was settled that on the +following morning Harry himself should, with Hunting Dog and two +pack-horses, start for the fort, following the same route they came, +while the rest should set to work to construct a cradle, and troughs for +leading the water to it. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +AN INDIAN ATTACK + + +A couple of trees were felled in the middle of the clump in which they +were still encamped. They were first roughly squared and then sawn into +planks, the three men taking it by turns to use the saw. The question of +shifting the camp up to the spot where they intended to work was +discussed the night before Harry started, but it was agreed at last that +it would be better to remain where they were. + +"If Utes come, sure to find traces," the chief said. "Many horses in +valley make tracks as plain as noonday. Gold valley bad place for +fight." + +"That is so," Jerry agreed. "We should not have a show there. Even if we +made a log-house, and it would be a dog-goned trouble to carry up the +logs,--we might be shut up in it, and the red-skins would only have to +lie round and shoot us down if we came out. I reckon we had best stay +here after all, Harry. We could keep them outside the range of our +rifles anyhow by day." + +"I don't see that that would be much good to us, Jerry; for if they came +by day they would not find us here. Still I don't know that it ain't +best for us to stay here; it would give us a lot of trouble to build a +place. I reckon two of us had better stay here all the day with the +horses. If the red-skins come, they can fire a couple of shots, and we +shall hear them up at the washing-place. The red-skins would be safe to +draw off for a bit to talk it over before they attacked, as they would +not know how many there were among the trees. That would give the rest +time to come down." + +It took three days' hard work to saw the planks and make the cradle, and +troughs sufficiently long to lead the water down into it from the stream +higher up. These were roughly but strongly made, the joints being +smeared with clay to prevent the water from running through. A dam was +then made to keep back the water above the spot where they intended to +begin, which was about fifty yards below the quartz vein, and from this +dam the trough was taken along on strong trestles to the cradle. + +The horses were brought into the camp at daybreak every morning and tied +up to the trees, and were let out again at nightfall. Tom remained in +camp, the chief being with him. The latter, however, was, during the +time Harry was away, twice absent for a day on hunting excursions lower +down the valley, which was there thickly wooded. The first time, he +returned with the hams and a considerable portion of the rest of the +flesh of a bear. The second time, he brought up the carcass of a deer. + +"How far does the valley run?" Tom asked. + +"Valley last ten miles. Sides get steep and high, then caņon begin." + +"That will run right down to the Colorado?" + +The chief nodded. "Leaping Horse go no farther. Caņon must go down to +the river." + +"How far is it before the sides of the valley get too steep to climb?" + +"Two miles from here. Men could climb another mile or two, horses not." + +"Is there much game down there, chief?" + +The Seneca nodded. + +"That is a comfort, we sha'n't be likely to run out of fresh meat." + +The chief was very careful in choosing the wood for the fire, so that in +the daytime no smoke should be seen rising from the trees. When the dead +wood in the clump of trees was exhausted he rode down the valley each +day, and returned in an hour with a large faggot fastened behind him on +the horse. He always started before daybreak, so as to reduce the risk +of being seen from the hills. On the sixth day the men began their work +at the gravel. The bottle of mercury was emptied into the cradle, the +bottom of which had been made with the greatest care, so as to prevent +any loss from leakage. Two of the men brought up the gravel in buckets +and pans, until the cradle was half full. Then water was let in, and the +third man rocked the machine and kept on removing the coarse stuff that +worked up to the top, while the others continued bringing up fresh +gravel. + +"Well, what luck?" Tom asked, when they returned in the evening. + +"We have not cleaned up yet; we shall let it run for three or four days +before we do. We are only on the surface yet, and the stuff wouldn't pay +for the trouble of washing out." + +On the eighth day after their departure Harry and Hunting Dog returned. + +"Well, boys, it is all stowed away safely," he said. "I know the Major +well, and he let me have a big chest, which he locked up, after I had +put the bags in, and had it stowed away in the magazine; so there is no +fear of its being touched. Any signs of the red-skins?" + +"Nary a sign. We have none of us been up the valley beyond this, so that +unless they come right down here, they would find no trail. The horses +are always driven down the valley at night." + +"How is the work going on, Jerry?" + +"We began washing two days ago; to-morrow night we shall clean up. We +all think it is going to turn out pretty good, for we have seen gold in +the sand several times as we have carried it up in the pails." + +The next day Tom went up with the others, the Indians remaining in camp. +Two men now worked at the cradle, while the other three brought up the +sand and gravel. Towards evening they began the work of cleaning up. No +more stuff was brought up to the machine, but the water was still run +into it. As fast as the shaking brought the rough gravel to the top it +was removed, until only a foot of sand remained at the bottom. The water +was now stopped and the sand dug out, and carefully washed in the pans +by hand. At the bottom of each pan there remained after all the sand had +been removed a certain amount of gold-dust, the quantity increasing as +the bottom was approached. The last two panfuls contained a considerable +amount. + +"It does not look much," Tom said when the whole was collected together. + +"It is heavy stuff, lad," Harry replied. "What do you think there is, +Jerry? About twelve ounces, I should fancy." + +"All that, Harry; nigher fourteen, I should think." + +The pan was now put at the bottom of the cradle, a plug pulled out, and +the quicksilver run into it. A portion of this was poured on +wash-leather, the ends of which were held up by the men so as to form a +bag. Harry took the leather, and holding it over another pan twisted it +round and round. As the pressure on the quicksilver increased it ran +through the pores of the leather in tiny streams, until at last a lump +of pasty metal remained. This was squeezed again and again, until not a +single globule of quicksilver passed through the leather. The ball, +which was of the consistency of half-dried mortar was then taken out, +and the process repeated again and again until the whole of the +quicksilver had been passed through the leather. Six lumps of amalgam +about the size of small hens' eggs remained. + +"Is that good, uncle?" Tom asked. + +"Very fair, lad; wonderfully good indeed, considering we have not got +down far yet. I should say we shall get a pound and a half of gold out +of it." + +"But how does the gold get into it, uncle?" + +"There is what is called an affinity between quicksilver and gold. The +moment gold touches quicksilver it is absorbed by it, just as a drop of +water is taken up by a lump of salt. It thickens the quicksilver, and as +it is squeezed through the leather the quicksilver is as it were +strained out, and what remains behind becomes thicker and thicker, +until, as you see, it is almost solid. It is no good to use more +pressure, for if you do a certain amount of the gold would be squeezed +through the leather. You see, as the stuff in the cradle is shaken, the +gold being heavier than the sand finds its way down to the bottom, and +every particle that comes in contact with the quicksilver is swallowed +up by it." + +"And how do you get the quicksilver out of those lumps?" + +"We put them in one of those clay crucibles you saw, with a pinch of +borax, cover them up, and put them in a heap of glowing embers. That +evaporates the quicksilver, and leaves the gold behind in the shape of a +button." This was done that evening, and when the buttons were placed in +the scales they just turned the two-pound weight. + +"Well, boys, that is good enough for anything," Harry said. "That, with +the dust, makes a pound a day, which is as good as the very best stuff +in the early days of California." + +They worked steadily for the next seven weeks. Contrary to their +expectations the gravel was but little richer lower down than they had +found it at the end of the first wash-up, but continued about equally +good, and the result averaged about a pound weight of gold a day. This +was put into little bags of deer-skin, each containing five pounds' +weight, and these bags were distributed among the saddle-bags, so that +in case of sudden disturbance there would be no risk of their being left +behind. The Indians took it by turns to hunt; at other times they +remained on guard in camp, Tom only staying when one of them was away. +One day when the mining party stopped work, and sat down to eat some +bread and cold meat,--which they had from the first brought up, so as to +save them the loss of time entailed by going to the camp and back,--the +report of a gun came upon their ears. All started to their feet and +seized their rifles, and then stood listening intently. A minute later +two more shots were heard at close intervals. + +"Red-skins for sure!" Jerry exclaimed. "I thought as how our luck were +too good to last." They started at a run down the little valley, and +only paused when they reached its mouth. Harry then advanced cautiously +until he could obtain a view of the main valley. He paused for a minute +and then rejoined his companions. + +"There are fifty of them," he said, "if there is one. They are Utes in +their war-paint. They are a bit up the valley. I think if we make a rush +we can get to the trees before they can cut us off." + +"We must try anyhow," Sam Hicks said, "else they will get the two +Indians and our horses and saddles and all. Just let us get breath for a +moment, and then we will start." + +"Keep close together as you run," Harry said, "and then if they do come +up we can get back to back and make a fight of it." After a short pause +they started. They had not gone twenty yards when a loud yell proclaimed +that the Indians had seen them. They had, however, but three hundred +yards to run, while the Utes were double that distance from the clump. + +When the miners were within fifty yards of the trees two rifle-shots +rang out, and two of the Utes, who were somewhat ahead of the rest; fell +from their horses, while the rest swerved off, seeing that there was no +hope of cutting the party off. A few more yards and the miners were +among the trees. + +"So the Utes have found us out, chief," Harry said as he joined Leaping +Horse, who had just reloaded his ride. + +"Must have tracked us. They are a war-party," the Seneca replied. +"Hunter must have found tracks and taken news back to the villages." + +"Well, we have got to fight for it, that is clear enough," Harry said. +"Anyhow, now they see there are seven of us they are not likely to +attack until it gets dark, so we have time to think over what had best +be done. We had just begun our meal when we heard your shot, and the +best thing we can do is to have a good feed at once. We may be too busy +later on." + +The chief said a word to the young Indian, and, leaving him on the +watch, accompanied the others to the fire. They had scarcely sat down +when Hunting Dog came up. + +"More Utes," he said briefly, pointing across the valley. + +They at once went to the outer line of trees. On the brow of the rise +opposite were a party of horsemen between twenty and thirty strong. + +"That shows they have learnt all about our position," Harry said. "Those +fellows have been lying in wait somewhere over the hill to cut us off if +we took to our horses on seeing the main body. Let us have a look the +other side." + +Crossing the clump of trees, they saw on the brow there another party of +Utes. + +"I reckon they must have crossed that valley we were working in just +after we got through," Jerry said. "It is mighty lucky they did not come +down on us while we were washing, for they could have wiped us all out +before we had time to get hold of our guns. Well, Harry, we are in a +pretty tight fix, with fifty of them up the valley and five-and-twenty +or so on each side of us. We shall have to be dog-goned smart if we are +to get out of this scrape." + +"Hand me your rifle, Tom," his uncle said, "it carries farther than +mine, and I will give those fellows a hint that they had best move off a +bit." + +Steadying his piece against a tree, he took a careful aim and fired. One +of the Indians swerved in his saddle, and then fell forward on the neck +of his horse, which turned and galloped off with the rest. + +"Now we will have our meal and take council, chief," Harry said as he +turned away. "If we have got to fight there is no occasion to fight +hungry." + +The fire was made up; there was no need to be careful now. Strips of +deer's flesh were hung over it, and the meal was soon ready. But little +was said while it was being eaten, then they all lighted their pipes and +each put a pannikin of hot tea beside him. + +"Now, chief," Harry said, "have you arrived at any way out of this? It +is worse than it was the last time we got caught in this valley." + +The chief shook his head. "No good fight here," he said; "when night +come they creep up all round." + +"Yes, I see that we have got to bolt, but the question is, how? If we +were to ride they would ride us down, that is certain. Jerry and Tom +might possibly get away, though that ain't likely. Their critters are +good, but nothing downright extraordinary, and the chances are that some +of the Utes have got faster horses than theirs. As for the rest of us, +they would have us before we had ridden an hour." + +"That ain't to be thought of," Jerry said. "It seems to me our best +chance would be to leave the critters behind, and to crawl out the +moment it gets dark, and try and get beyond them." + +"They will close in as soon as it gets dark, Jerry. They will know well +enough that that is the time we shall be moving. I reckon we should not +have a chance worth a cent of getting through. What do you say, chief?" + +Leaping Horse nodded in assent. + +"Well, then," Sam Hicks said, "I vote we mount our horses and go right +at them. I would rather do that and get rubbed out in a fair fight than +lie here until they crawl up and finish us." + +No one answered, and for some minutes they smoked on without a word +being spoken, then Harry said: + +"There is only one chance for us that I can see, and that is to mount +now and to ride right down the valley. The chief says that in some +places it is not more than fifty yards wide, with steep cliffs on each +side, and we could make a much better fight there, for they could only +attack us in front. There would be nothing for them then but to dismount +and close in upon us from tree to tree, and we could make a running +fight of it until we come to the mouth of the caņon. There must be +places there, that we ought to be able to hold with our seven rifles +against the lot of them." + +"Bully for you, Harry! I reckon that would give us a chance anyhow. That +is, if we ain't cut off before we get to the wood." + +"Let us have a look round and see what they are doing," Harry said. "Ah! +here comes Hunting Dog. He will tell us all about it." + +"Utes on hills all gone up and joined the others," the young Indian said +as he came up. + +"It could not be better news!" Harry exclaimed. "I reckon they have +moved away to tempt us to make a start for the fort, for they know if we +go that way they will have us all, sure. They have not reckoned on our +riding down the valley, for they will be sure we must have found out +long ago that there ain't any way out of it. Well, we had best lose no +time. There is some meat ready, Hunting Dog, and you had best fill up +while we get ready for a start." + +The blankets and buffalo rugs were wrapped up and strapped behind the +saddles, as soon as these were placed behind the horses. They had only a +small quantity of meat left, as the chief was going out hunting the next +morning, but they fastened this, and eighty pounds of flour that still +remained, on to one of the pack-horses. They filled their powder-horns +from the keg, and each put three or four dozen bullets into his +holsters, together with all the cartridges for their pistols; the rest +of the ammunition was packed on another horse. When all was completed +they mounted. + +"We may get a couple of hundred yards more start before we are seen," +Harry said. "Anyhow, we have got five hundred yards, and may reckon on +making the two miles to where the valley narrows before they catch us." + +The instant, however, they emerged from the wood, two loud yells were +heard from Indians who had been left lying down on watch at the top of +the slopes on either side. Sam, who was the worst shot of the party, had +volunteered to lead the string of pack-horses, while Ben was ready to +urge them on behind. + +"You may want to stop some of the leading varmint, and I should not be +much good at that game, so I will keep straight on without paying any +attention to them." + +A loud answering yell rose from the Indians up the valley. + +"We shall gain fifty yards or so before they are fairly in the saddle," +Harry said as they went off at the top of their speed, the horses +seeming to know that the loud war-cry boded danger. They had gone half a +mile before they looked round. The Indians were riding in a confused +mass, and were some distance past the grove the miners had left, but +they still appeared as far behind as they had been when they started. +Another mile and the mass had broken up; the best-mounted Indians had +left the rest some distance behind, and considerably decreased the gap +between them and the fugitives. Another five minutes and the latter +reached the wood, that began just where the valley narrowed and the +cliffs rose almost perpendicularly on each side. As soon as they did so +they leapt from their horses, and each posting himself behind a tree +opened fire at their pursuers, the nearest of whom were but two hundred +yards away. Four fell to the first seven shots; the others turned and +galloped back to the main body, who halted at once. + +"They won't try a charge," Harry said; "it isn't in Indian nature to +come across the open with the muzzles of seven rifles pointed at them. +They will palaver now; they know they have got us in a trap, and they +will wait till night. Now, chief, I reckon that you and I and Hunting +Dog had best stay here, so that if they try, as they are pretty sure to +do, to find out whether we are here still, we can give them a hint to +keep off. The other four had better ride straight down the caņon, and go +on for a bit, to find out the best place for making a stand, and as soon +as it is dark we will go forward and join them. There will be no +occasion for us to hurry. I reckon the skunks will crawl up here soon +after it is dark; but they won't go much farther, for we might hide up +somewhere and they might miss us. In the morning they will come down on +foot, sheltering behind the trees as much as they can, till at last they +locate us." + +The chief nodded his approval of the plan, and Tom and the three miners +at once started, taking the pack-horses with them. On the way down they +came upon a bear. Ben was about to fire, but Jerry said: "Best leave him +alone, Ben; we are only three miles down, and these cliffs would echo +the sound and the red-skins would hear it and know that some of us had +gone down the valley, and might make a rush at once." In an hour and a +half they came down to a spot where the valley, after widening out a +good bit, suddenly terminated, and the stream entered a deep caņon in +the face of the wall of rock that closed it in. + +"I reckon all this part of the valley was a lake once," Jerry said. +"When it got pretty well full it began to run over where this caņon is +and gradually cut its way out down to the Colorado. I wonder how far it +is to the river." + +They had gone but a hundred yards down the caņon when they came to a +place where a recent fall of rocks blocked it up. Through these the +stream, which was but a small one, made its way. + +"There is a grist of water comes down here when the snow melts in the +spring," Ben remarked. "You can see that the rocks are worn fifty feet +up. Waal, I reckon this place is good enough for us, Jerry." + +"I reckon so, too," the latter agreed. "It will be a job to get our +horses over; but we have got to do it anyhow, if we have to carry them." +The animals, however, managed to scramble up the rocks that filled the +caņon to the height of some thirty feet. The distance between the rock +walls was not more than this in width. + +"We could hold this place for a year," Ben said, "if they didn't take to +chucking rocks down from above." + +"Yes, that is the only danger," Jerry agreed; "but the betting is they +could not get nigh enough to the edge to look down. Still, they might do +it if the ground is level above; anyhow, we should not show much at this +depth, for it is pretty dark down here, and the rocks must be seven or +eight hundred feet high." + +It was, indeed, but a narrow strip of sky that they saw as they looked +up, and although still broad daylight in the valley they had left, it +was almost dark at the bottom of the deep gorge, and became pitch dark +as soon as the light above faded. + +"The first job in the morning," Jerry said, "will be to explore this +place down below. I expect there are places where it widens out. If it +does, and there are trees and anything like grass, the horses can get a +bite of food; if not, they will mighty soon go under, that is if we +don't come upon any game, for if we don't we sha'n't be able to spare +them flour." + +"It is almost a pity we did not leave them in the valley to take their +chance," Tom said. + +"Don't you make any mistake," Jerry said. "In the first place they may +come in useful to us yet, and even if we never get astride of them again +they may come in mighty handy for food. I don't say as we mayn't get a +bear if there are openings in the caņon, or terraces where they can come +down, but if there ain't it is just horse-meat we have got to depend on. +Look here, boys, it is 'tarnal dark here; I can't see my own hand. I +vote we get a light. There is a lot of drift-wood jammed in among the +stones where we climbed up, that will do to start a fire, and I saw a +lot more just at the mouth of this gap. We know the red-skins ain't near +yet, so I vote we grope our way up and bring some down. It will be a +first-rate thing, too, to make a bit of fire half-way between here and +the mouth; that would put a stop to their crawling up, as they are like +enough to try to do, to make out whereabouts we are. Of course we shall +have to damp our own fire down if they come, else we should show up agin +the light if we went up on the rock." + +The others agreed at once, for it was dull work sitting there in the +black darkness. All had matches, and a piece of dry fir was soon found. +This was lighted, and served as a torch with which to climb over the +rocks. Jammed in between these on the upper side was a large quantity of +drift-wood. This was pulled out, made into bundles, and carried over the +rock barrier, and a fire was soon blazing there. Then taking a brand and +two axes they went up to the mouth of the gorge, cut up the arms of some +trees that had been brought down by the last floods and left there as +the water sank. The greater part of these were taken down to their +camping-place; the rest, with plenty of small wood to light them, were +piled halfway between the barrier and the mouth of the caņon, and were +soon blazing brightly. + +They were returning to their camping-place, when Ben exclaimed that he +heard the sound of horses' hoofs. All stopped to listen. + +"There are not more than three of them," Ben said, "and they are coming +along at a canter. I don't expect we shall hear anything of the +red-skins until tomorrow morning." + +They heard the horses enter the caņon, then Jerry shouted: "Are you all +right, Harry?" + +"Yes; the red-skins were all quiet when we came away. Why, where are +you?" he shouted again when he came up to the fire. + +"A hundred yards farther on I will show you a light." + +Two or three blazing brands were brought up. Harry and the Indians had +dismounted at the first fire, and now led their horses up to the stone +barrier. + +"What on arth have you lit that other fire for, Jerry?" Harry asked as +he stopped at the foot of the barrier. + +"Because we shall sleep a dog-goned sight better with it there. As like +as not they may send on two or three young warriors to scout. It is as +black as a wolf's mouth, and we might have sat listening all night, and +then should not have heard them. But with that fire there they dare not +come on, for they would know they could not pass it without getting a +bullet in them." + +"Well, it is a very good idea, Jerry; I could not think what was up when +I got there and did not see anybody. I see you have another fire over +the other side. I could make it out clear enough as we came on." + +"It will burn down a bit presently," Jerry said. "I should not try to +get those horses up here now, Harry. It was a bad place to come up in +daylight, and like enough they would break their legs if they tried it +now. They will do just as well there as they would on this side, and you +can get them over as soon as the day breaks." + +"I would rather get them over, Jerry; but I see it is a pretty rough +place." + +Leaving the horses, Harry and the Indians climbed over the barrier, and +were soon seated with the others round their fire, over which the meat +was already frizzling. + +"So the Indians kept quiet all the afternoon, Harry?" + +"As quiet as is their nature. Two or three times some of them rode down, +and galloped backwards and forwards in front of us to make out if we +were there. Each time we let them fool about for a good long spell, and +then when they got a bit careless sent them a ball or two to let them +know we were still there. Hunting Dog went with the three horses half a +mile down the valley soon after you had gone, so that they might not +hear us ride off. + +"As soon as it began to get dusk we started. We had to come pretty slow, +for it got so dark under the trees we could not make out the trunks, and +had to let the horses pick their own way. But we knew there was no +hurry, for they would not follow till morning, though of course their +scouts would creep up as soon as it was dark, and wouldn't be long +before they found out that we had left." + +"I reckon they will all come and camp in the wood and wait for daylight +before they move, though I don't say two or three scouts may not crawl +down to try and find out where we are. They will move pretty slow, for +they will have to pick their way, and will know well enough that if a +twig cracks it will bring bullets among them. I reckon they won't get +here under four or five hours. It is sartin they won't try to pass that +fire above. As soon as they see us they will take word back to the +others, and we shall have the whole lot down here by morning." + +"We shall have to get the horses over, the first thing. Two of us had +best go down, as soon as it is light enough to ride without risking our +necks, to see what the caņon is like below." + +"Yes, that is most important, Jerry; there may be some break where the +red-skins could get down, and so catch us between two fires." + +"I don't care a red cent for the Utes," Jerry said. "We can lick them +out of their boots in this caņon. What we have been thinking of, is +whether there is some place where the horses can get enough to keep them +alive while we are shut up here. If there is game, so much the better; +if there ain't, we have got to take to horseflesh." + +"How long do you suppose that the Indians are likely to wait when they +find that they can't get at us?" Tom asked. + +"There ain't no sort of saying," his uncle replied. "I reckon no one +ever found out yet how long a red-skin's patience will last. Time ain't +nothing to them. They will follow up this caņon both sides till they are +sartin that there ain't no place where a man can climb up. If there +ain't, they will just squat in that valley. Like enough they will send +for their lodges and squaws and fix themselves there till winter comes, +and even then they might not go. They have got wood and water. Some of +them will hunt and bring in meat, which they will dry for the winter; +and they are just as likely to stay here as to go up to their villages." + +A vigilant watch was kept up all night, two of them being always on +guard at the top of the barrier. As soon as morning broke, the three +horses were got over, and half an hour later Harry and Sam Hicks rode +off down the caņon, while the others took their places on guard, keeping +themselves well behind the rocks, between which they looked out. They +had not long to wait, for an Indian was seen to dart rapidly across the +mouth of the caņon. Two rifles cracked out, but the Indian's appearance +and disappearance was so sudden and quick that they had no reason to +believe that they had hit him. + +"They will know now that we are here, and are pretty wide awake," Ben +said. "You may be sure that he caught sight of these rocks." + +A minute or two later several rifles flashed from among the fallen +stones at the mouth of the gorge. + +"Keep your eyes open," Jerry said, "and when you see the slightest +movement, fire. But don't do it unless you feel certain that you make +out a head or a limb. We've got to show the Utes that it is sartin death +to try and crawl up here." + +Almost immediately afterwards a head appeared above the stones, the +chief's rifle cracked, and at the same instant the head disappeared. + +"Do you think you got him, chief?" + +"Think so, not sure. Leaping Horse does not often miss his mark at two +hundred yards." + +Almost directly afterwards Tom fired. An Indian sprang to his feet and +bounded away. + +"What did you fire at, Tom?" + +"I think it was his arm and shoulder," Tom replied. "I was not sure +about it, but I certainly saw something move." + +"I fancy you must have hit him, or he would not have got up. Waal, now I +reckon we are going to have quiet for a bit. They must have had a good +look at the place while they were lying there, and must have seen that +it air too strong for them. I don't say they mayn't come on again +tonight--that they may do, but I think it air more likely they won't try +it. They would know that we should be on the watch, and with seven +rifles and Colts we should account for a grist of them afore they got +over. What do you say, chief?" + +"Not come now," the Indian said positively. "Send men first along top +see if can get down. Not like come at night; the caņons of the Colorado +very bad medicine, red-skins no like come into them. If no way where we +can get up, then Utes sit down to starve us." + +"That will be a longish job, chief. A horse a week will keep us for +three months." + +"If no food for horse, horse die one week." + +"So they will, chief. We must wait till Harry comes back, then we shall +know what our chances are." + +It was six hours before Harry and Sam returned. There was a shout of +satisfaction from the men when they saw that they had on their saddles +the hind-quarters of a bear. + +"Waal, what is the news, Harry?" + +"It ain't altogether good, Ben. It goes down like this for about twelve +miles, then it widens out sudden. It gets into a crumbly rock which has +got worn away, and there is a place maybe about fifty yards wide and +half a mile long, with sloping sides going up a long way, and then cliff +all round. The bottom is all stones; there are a few tufts of coarse +grass growing between them. On the slopes there are some bushes, and on +a ledge high up we made out a bear. We had two or three shots at him, +and at last brought him down. There may be more among the bushes; there +was plenty of cover for them." + +"There was no place where there was a chance of getting up, Harry?" + +"Nary a place. I don't say as there may not be, but we couldn't see +one." "But the bear must have got down." + +"No. He would come down here in the dry season looking for water-holes, +and finding the place to his liking he must have concluded to settle +there. It is just the place a bear would choose, for he might reckon +pretty confident that there weren't no chance of his being disturbed. +Well, we went on beyond that, and two miles lower the caņon opened +again, and five minutes took us down on to the bank of the Colorado. +There was no great room between the river and the cliff, but there were +some good-sized trees there, and plenty of bush growing up some +distance. We caught sight of another bear, but as we did not want him we +left him alone." + +"Waal, let us have some b'ar-meat first of all," Jerry said. "We +finished our meat last night, and bread don't make much of a meal, I +reckon. Anyhow we can all do with another, and after we have done we +will have a talk. We know what to expect now, and can figure it up +better than we could before." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE COLORADO + + +"Well, boys," Harry Wade began after they had smoked for some time in +silence, "we have got to look at this matter squarely. So far we have +got out of a mighty tight place better than we expected. Yesterday it +seemed to us that there weren't much chance of our carrying our hair +away, but now we are out of that scrape. But we are in another pretty +nigh as bad, though there ain't much chance of the red-skins getting at +us." + +"That air so, Harry. We are in a pretty tight hole, you bet. They ain't +likely to get our scalps for some time, but there ain't no denying that +our chance of carrying them off is dog-goned small." + +"You bet there ain't, Jerry," Sam Hicks said. "Them pizon varmint will +camp outside here; for they know they have got us in a trap. They mayn't +attack us at present, but we have got to watch night and day. Any dark +night they may take it into their heads to come up, and there won't be +nothing to prevent them, for the rustling of the stream among the rocks +would cover any little noise they might make. The first we should know +of it would be the yell of the varmint at the foot of this barrier, and +afore we could get to the top the two on guard would be tomahawked, and +they would be down on us like a pack of wolves. I would a'most as soon +put down my rifle and walk straight out now and let them shoot me, if I +knew they would do it without any of their devilish tortures, as go on +night after night, expecting to be woke up with their war-yell in my +ears. + +"Of course they will be always keeping a watch there at the mouth of the +caņon,--a couple of boys are enough for that,--for they will know that +if we ride out on our horses we must go right up the valley, and it is a +nasty place to gallop through in the dark; besides, some of them will no +doubt be placed higher up to cut us off, and if we got through, which +ain't likely, they could ride us down in a few hours. If we crept out on +foot and got fairly among the trees we should be no better off, for they +would take up our trail in the morning and hunt us down. I tell you +fairly, boys, I don't see any way out of it. I reckon it will come to +our having to ride out together, and to wipe out as many of the Utes as +possible afore we go down. What do you say, chief?" "Leaping Horse +agrees with his white brother, Straight Harry, whose mind he knows." + +"Waal, go on then, Harry," Sam said. "I thought that you had made an end +of it or I wouldn't have opened out. I don't see no way out of it at +present, but if you do I am ready to fall in with it whatever it is." + +"I see but one way out of it, boys. It is a mighty risky thing, but it +can't be more risky than stopping here, and there is just a chance. I +spoke to the chief last night, and he owned that it didn't seem to him +there was a chance in that or any other way. However, he said that if I +went he would go with me. My proposal is this, that we take to the river +and try and get through the caņons." + +There was a deep silence among the men. The proposal took them by +surprise. No man had ever accomplished the journey. Though two parties +similarly attacked by Indians had attempted to raft down some of the +caņons higher up; one party perished to a man, one survivor of the other +party escaped to tell the tale; but as to the caņons below, through +which they would have to pass, no man had ever explored them. The +Indians regarded the river with deep awe, and believed the caņons to be +peopled with demons. The enterprise was so stupendous and the dangers to +be met with so terrible, that ready as the western hunters were to +encounter dangers, no one had ever attempted to investigate the windings +and turnings of the river that for two thousand miles made its way +through terrific precipices, and ran its course some three thousand feet +below the surrounding country, until it emerged on to the plains of +Mexico. + +"That was why I was so anxious to reach the river," Harry went on after +a pause. "I wanted to see whether there were some trees, by which we +could construct a raft, near its bank. Had there not been, I should have +proposed to follow it up or down, as far as we could make our way, in +hopes of lighting on some trees. However, as it is they are just handy +for us. I don't say as we shall get through, boys, but there is just a +chance of it. I don't see any other plan that would give us a show." + +Jerry was the first to speak. + +"Waal, Harry, you can count me in. One might as well be drowned in a +rapid or carried over a fall as killed, or, wuss, taken and tortured by +the red-skins." + +"That is so, Jerry," Sam Hicks agreed. While Ben said: "Waal, if we git +through it will be something to talk about all our lives. In course +there ain't no taking the horses?" + +"That is out of the question, Ben. We shall not have much time to spare, +for the Utes may take it into their heads to attack us any night; and, +besides, we have no means of making a big raft. We might tie two or +three trunks together with the lariats and spike a few cross-pieces on +them, we might even make two such rafts; that is the outside. They will +carry us and our stores, but as for the horses, we must either leave +them down in the hollow for the Indians to find, or put a bullet through +their heads. I expect the latter will be the best thing for them, poor +beasts." + +"No want trees," the chief said. "Got horses' skins; make canoes." + +"You are right, chief," Harry exclaimed; "I never thought of that. That +would be the very thing. Canoes will go down the rapids where the +strongest rafts would be dashed to pieces, and if we come to a bad fall +we can make a shift to carry them round." + +The others were no less pleased with the suggestion, and the doubtful +expression of their faces as they assented to the scheme now changed to +one of hopefulness, and they discussed the plan eagerly. It was agreed +that not a moment should be lost in setting to work to carry it out, and +that they should forthwith retreat to the mouth of the lower caņon; for +all entertained a secret misgiving that the Utes might make their attack +that night, and felt that if that attack were made in earnest it would +succeed. It was certain they would be able to find some point at which +the lower gorge could be held; and at any rate a day would be gained, +for at whatever hour of the night the Indians came up they would not +venture farther until daybreak, and there would probably be a long +palaver before they would enter the lower caņon. + +Tom had not spoken. He recognized the justice of Harry's reasoning, but +had difficulty in keeping his tears back at the thought of his horse +being killed. For well-nigh a year it had carried him well; he had +tended and cared for it; it would come to his call and rub its muzzle +against his cheek. He thought that had he been alone he would have +risked anything rather than part with it. + +"Don't you like the plan, Tom?" Harry said to him, as, having packed and +saddled the horses, they rode together down the caņon. "I don't suppose +the passage is so terrible after all." + +"I am not thinking of the passage at all, uncle," Tom said almost +indignantly; "it will be a grand piece of adventure; but I don't like--I +hate--the thought of my horse being killed. It is like killing a dear +friend to save one's self." + +"It is a wrench, lad," Harry said kindly; "I can quite understand your +feelings, and don't like the thought myself. But I see that it has got +to be done, and after all it will be better to kill the poor brutes than +to let them fall into the hands of the Indians, who don't know what +mercy to their beasts means, and will ride them till they drop dead +without the least compunction." + +"I know it is better, uncle, ever so much better--but it is horrible all +the same. Anyhow, don't ask me to do it, for I could not." + +"I will see to that, Tom. You shall be one of the guards of the caņon. +You would not be of much use in making the canoes, and you won't have to +know anything about it till you go down and get on board." + +Tom nodded his thanks; his heart was too full for him to speak, and he +felt that if he said a word he should break down altogether. They rode +rapidly along, passed through the little valley where the bear had been +killed, without stopping, and went down the lower caņon, carefully +examining it to fix upon the most suitable point for defence. There had +been no recent fall, and though at some points great boulders lay +thickly, there was no one place that offered special facilities for +defence. + +"Look here, boys," Harry said, reining up his horse at a point within +two hundred yards of the lower end, "we can't do better than fix +ourselves here. An hour's work will get up a wall that will puzzle the +red-skins to get over, and there is the advantage that a shot fired here +by the guard will bring our whole force up in a couple of minutes. I +vote we ride the horses down to the river and let them pick up what they +can, and then come back here and build the wall. It will be getting dark +in an hour's time, and we may as well finish that job at once. Ben and +Sam, you may as well pick out a couple of young fir-trees and bring +them down at once, then there will be no time lost. Five of us will be +enough for the wall. Keep your eyes open. Likely enough there is a bear +or two about, and it would be a great thing for us to lay in a stock of +meat before we start." + +As soon as they issued from the gorge the horses were unsaddled and the +stores taken off the pack-animals. As they were doing this Harry said a +few words in a low tone to Sam. He then carefully examined the trees, +and picked out two young firs. Sam and Ben took their axes, and the +other five went up the gorge again, and were soon hard at work +collecting boulders and piling them in a wall. + +"There is a gun, uncle," Tom exclaimed presently. + +"Well, I hope they have got sight of a bear, we shall want a stock of +meat badly." + +A dozen shots were fired, but Tom thought no more of it as he proceeded +with his work. The bottom of the caņon was but fifteen feet wide, and by +the time it was dark they had a solid wall across it nearly six feet +high, with places for them to stand on to fire over. + +"Now then, Tom, you may as well take post here at once. I will send Sam +or Ben up to watch with you. I don't think there is a shadow of chance +of their coming to-night, but there is never any answering for +red-skins. I would leave Hunting Dog with you, but we shall want him to +help make the framework for the canoes; the Indians are a deal handier +than we are in making lashings. I will send your supper up here, lad, +and your buffalo robes. Then you can take it by turns to watch and +sleep. I reckon we shall be at work all night; we have got to get the +job finished as quick as we can." + +A quarter of an hour later Sam Hicks came up. + +"Have you got the trees down, Sam?" + +"Lor' bless you, it didn't take a minute to do that. We got them down +and split them up, then lit a fire and got the meat over it and the +kettle, and mixed the dough." + +"Did you kill another bear? We heard you firing." + +"No; the critter was too high up, and I ain't much good at shooting. +Perhaps they will get sight of him tomorrow, and Harry and the chief +will bring him down if he is within range of their shooting-irons. It is +'tarnal dark up here." + +In twenty minutes two lights were seen approaching, and Harry and +Hunting Dog came up carrying pine-wood torches. Each had a great faggot +of wood fastened on his back, and Harry also carried the frying-pan, on +which were a pile of meat and two great hunks of bread, while Hunting +Dog brought two tin pannikins of hot tea. + +"That will make it more cheerful for you," Harry said, as he unfastened +the rope that tied the faggot to his shoulders. "Now, Hunting Dog, get a +good fire as soon as you can, and then come down again to us." + +The fire was soon blazing merrily, and Tom and Sam sat down to enjoy +their meal. + +"Don't you think one of us ought to keep watch, Sam?" + +"Not a bit of it," Sam said. "The red-skins will never dare to enter +that caņon until after dark, and if they started now and made their way +straight on, they would not be here for another three or four hours. I +would bet my boots they don't come at all tonight; even if they were not +scared at us, they would be scared at coming near the river in the dark. +No, we will just take our meal comfortable and smoke a pipe, and then I +will take first watch and you shall take a sleep. We ain't closed an eye +since the night before last." + +Tom, indeed, was nearly asleep before he had finished his pipe, and felt +that he really must get a nap. So saying to Sam, "Be sure and wake me in +two hours," he rolled himself in his robe and instantly fell asleep. + +It seemed to him that he had only just gone off when Sam roused him. He +leapt to his feet, however, rifle in hand. "Anything the matter, Sam?" + +"Everything quiet," the miner replied. + +"What did you wake me for then? I have not been asleep five minutes." + +"According to my reckoning, mate, you have been asleep better'n five +hours. It was about half-past eight when you went off, and I reckon it +is two now, and will begin to get light in another hour. I would not +have waked you till daybreak, but I found myself dropping off." + +"I am awfully sorry," Tom began. + +"Don't you trouble, young un. By the time you have been as long in the +West as I have you won't think anything of two nights' watch. Now you +keep a sharp lookout. I don't think there is much chance of their +coming, but I don't want to be woke up with a red-skin coming right down +on the top of me." + +"I see you have let the fire out, Sam," Tom said, with a little shiver. + +"I put it out hours ago," Sam said, as he prepared to lie down. "It +would never have done to keep it all night, for a red-skin would see my +head over the top of the wall, while I should not get a sight of him +till he was within arm's-length." + +Tom took up his post, and gazed earnestly into the darkness beyond the +wall. He felt that his sense of vision would be of no use whatever, and +therefore threw all his faculties into that of listening. Slight as was +the chance of the Indians coming, he yet felt somewhat nervous, and it +was a satisfaction to him to see beyond the mouth of the caņon the glow +of the fire, by which, as he knew, the others were hard at work. + +In an hour the morning began to break, and as soon as he could see well +up the caņon he relighted the fire, jumping up to take a look over the +wall every minute or so. It was not long before he saw his uncle +approaching with a kettle. + +"I saw your smoke, Tom, and guessed that you would be glad of a mug of +hot tea. You have seen no signs of Indians, I suppose?" + +"We have heard nothing, uncle. As to seeing, up to half an hour ago +there was no possibility of making out anything. But I have not even +been listening; Sam went on guard directly we had finished supper, and I +asked him to call me in two hours, but he did not wake me until two +o'clock." + +"He is a good fellow," Harry said. "Well, don't wake him now. I can't +leave you the kettle, for we have to keep boiling water going, but you +can put his tin into the ashes and warm it up when he wakes. Here are a +couple of pieces of bread." + +"Why do you have to keep the kettle boiling, uncle?" + +"To bend the wood with. The piece we are working on is kept damp with +boiling water. We hold it for a time over the fire, pouring a little +water on as fast as it evaporates; that softens the wood, and we can +bend it much more evenly than we could if we did it by force. Besides, +when it is fastened into its position it remains, when it is dry, in +that shape, and throws no strain on to anything." + +"Are you getting on well?" + +"Capitally. We should have done both the frames by now, but we were +obliged to make them very strong so as to resist the bumps they are sure +to get against rocks. When they are finished you might almost let them +drop off the top of a house, they will be so strong and elastic. If the +Indians will but give us time we shall make a first-rate job of them." + +Three hours later Harry came up again with the kettle and some cooked +meat. Sam had just woke up, and was quite angry with Tom for not rousing +him before. "The others have been working all night," he said, "and here +have I been asleep for five hours; a nice sort of mate they will think +me." + +"Well, but you were watching five hours, Sam; and I would a deal rather +work all night than stand here for two hours in the dark, wondering all +the time whether the Indians are crawling up, and expecting at any +moment to hear a rush against the wall." + +"I am going to take your place, Sam, when you have finished your +breakfast," Harry said, as he came up. "If the Utes found out last night +that we had gone, their scouts may be coming down before long. My rifle +shoots a bit straighter than yours does." + +"It ain't the rifle, Harry," Sam said good-temperedly; "it is the eye +that is wrong, not the shooting-iron. I never had much practice with +these long guns, but when it comes to a six-shooter, I reckon I can do +my share as well as most. But they won't give me a chance with it." + +"I hope they won't, Sam. I am sure they won't as long as there is light, +and I hope that before it gets dark they will conclude to leave us +alone." + +A vigilant watch was kept now. + +"I think I saw a head look out from that corner," Tom exclaimed +suddenly, two hours after Sam had left them. + +"I am quite sure I did, Tom. We must wait until he shows himself a bit +more. I reckon it is a good three hundred yards off, and a man's head is +a precious small mark at that distance. Stand a bit higher and lay your +rifle on the wall. Don't fire if he only puts his head out. They know we +can shoot, so there is not any occasion to give them another lesson. I +don't hold to killing, unless you have got to do it. Let him have a good +look at us. + +"When he goes back and tells the tribe that there is a three hundred +yards' straight passage without shelter, and a strong wall across the +end of it, and two white men with rifles ready to shoot, I reckon they +will know a good deal better than to try to come up it, as long as there +is light. Besides, they won't think there is any occasion to hurry, for +they won't count on our taking to the river, and will know that we shall +be keeping watch at night. So it may very well be that they will reckon +on wearing us out, and that we may not hear of them for a week. There is +the fellow's head again!" + +The head remained visible round the corner of the rock for two or three +minutes. + +"He knows all about it now, Tom. You won't see any more of him to-day. I +will go down and lend them a hand below." + +Tom asked no questions about the horses; he had thought of them a score +of times as he stood on guard, and the thought had occurred to him that +it was possible the shots he had heard while they were building the wall +on the previous afternoon, had been the death shots of the horses. It +did not occur to him when Sam was telling the story about the bear, that +this was a got-up tale, but when he came to think it over, he thought it +probable that it was so. Sam himself was not much of a shot, but Ben, +although inferior to Harry or either of the two Indians, shot as well as +Jerry, and would hardly have missed a bear three or four times running. +Each time the thought of the horses occurred to him he resolutely put it +aside, and concentrated his mind upon the probable perils of the passage +down the caņons and the wonderful gorges they would traverse, and the +adventures and excitement they were sure to pass through. He thought how +fortunate it was they had taken the precaution of sending their +specimens of quartz back to the fort; for were they in the canoes, the +fruits of the journey would be irrevocably lost were these to upset; for +now the Indians had twice discovered the presence of whites in the +valley they would be sure to watch it closely, and it would not be +possible to go up to the mine again unless in strong force. + +The day passed quietly. Harry brought up Tom's meals, and late in the +afternoon all hands came up, and the wall of stones was raised four +feet, making it almost impregnable against a sudden attack. The two +Indians took post there with Tom, and watched alternately all night. The +Utes, however, remained perfectly quiet. They probably felt sure that +the fugitives must sooner or later be forced to surrender, and were +disinclined to face the loss that must occur before so strong a +position, defended by seven men armed with rifles and revolvers, could +be carried. + +At three o'clock on the following afternoon Hunting Dog came up. "Tom go +down and get dinner," he said, "Hunting Dog will watch." + +Tom took his rifle and started down the caņon. + +"Come on, lad," his uncle shouted. "We are pretty near ready for a +start, and have all had our dinner; so be quick about it. We want to get +well away from here before night." + +Tom went to the fire and ate his meal. As he sat down he saw that the +stores, blankets, and robes had all been carried away. When he finished, +his uncle led him down to the river. Two canoes were floating in the +water, and the other men were standing beside them. + +"There, Tom, what do you think of them?" + +"They are splendid, uncle; it seems impossible that you can have built +them in two days." + +"Five hands can do a lot of canoe-building in forty-eight hours' work, +Tom." + +The canoes were indeed models of strength if not of beauty. They were +each about twenty feet long and five feet wide. Two strong pieces of +pine two inches square ran along the top of each side, and one of the +same width but an inch deeper formed the keel. The ribs, an inch wide +and three-quarters of an inch thick, were placed at intervals of +eighteen inches apart. The canoes were almost flat-bottomed. The ribs +lay across the keel, which was cut away to allow them to lie flush in +it, a strong nail being driven in at the point of junction--these being +the only nails used in the boat's construction. The ribs ran straight +out to almost the full width of the canoe, and were then turned sharp +up, the ends being lashed with thongs of hide to the upper stringers. + +Outside the ribs were lashed longitudinal wattles of tough wood about an +inch wide. They were placed an inch apart, extending over the bottom and +halfway up the side. Over all was stretched the skin, five horses' hides +having been used for each boat. They were very strongly sewed together +by a double row of thongs, the overlaps having, before being sewed, been +smeared with melted fat. Cross-pieces of wood at the top kept the upper +framework in its place. The hair of the skin was outward, the inner +glistened with the fat that had been rubbed into it. + +"They are strong indeed," Tom said. "They ought to stand anything, +uncle." + +"Yes, I think they would stand a blow against any rock if it hadn't a +cutting edge. They would just bound off as a basket would. Of course +they are very heavy for canoes; but as they won't have to carry more +than the weight of four men each, they will draw little over a couple of +inches or so of water. + +"That is why we made them so wide. We could not get strength without +weight; and as there is no saying what shallows there may be, and how +close in some places rocks may come up to the surface, we were obliged +to build them wide to get light draught. You see we have made ten +paddles, so as to have a spare one or two in case of breakage. We have +two spare hides, so that we shall have the means of repairing damages." + +Tom said nothing about the horses. Manufactured into a boat, as the +skins were, there was not much to remind him of them; but he pressed his +uncle's hand and said, "Thank you very much, uncle; I don't mind so much +now, but I should not like to have seen them before." + +"That is all right, Tom; it was a case of necessity. Sam and Ben shot +them directly we got here." + +The stores were all laid by the boats, being divided between them so +that the cargoes were in all respects duplicates of each other. Before +Tom came down some had already been placed in each boat, with a blanket +thrown over them. + +"You have got the gold, I suppose, uncle?" + +"You may bet that we did not leave that behind. There is half in each +boat, and the bags are lashed to the timbers, so that if there is an +upset they cannot get lost." + +"How are we going?" + +"We have settled that you and I and the two Indians shall go together, +and the rest in the other boat. The Indians know nothing of canoeing, +and won't be of very much use. I know you were accustomed to boats, and +I did some rowing when I was a young man. I wish we had a couple of +Canadian Indians with us, or of half-breeds; they are up to this sort of +work, and with one in the stern of each canoe it would be a much less +risky business going down the rapids. However, no doubt we shall get +handy with the paddles before long." + +When everything was ready Harry fired his rifle, and in a couple of +minutes Hunting Dog came running down. The others had already taken +their seats. He stepped into Harry's boat, and they at once pushed off. + +The river was running smoothly here, and Harry said, "Directly we get +down a little way we will turn the boat's head up stream and practise +for a bit. It would never do to get down into rough water before we can +use the paddles fairly." + +Tom sat in the bow of his boat, Hunting Dog was next to him, then came +the chief, and Harry sat in the stern. A paddle is a much easier +implement to manage for a beginner than is an oar, and it was not long +before they found that they could propel the boats at a fair rate. In a +short time they had passed the end of the shelf at the mouth of the +caņon, and the cliffs on that side rose as abruptly as they did on the +other. The river was some eighty yards wide. + +"We will turn here," Harry said, "and paddle up. We sha'n't do more than +keep abreast of these rocks now, for the stream runs fast though it is +so smooth." + +They found, indeed, that they had to work hard to hold their position. + +"Now, Tom," Harry sang out, "it is you and I do the steering, you know. +When you want the head to go to the right you must work your paddle out +from the boat, when you want to go to the left you must dip it in the +water rather farther out and draw it towards the boat. Of course when +you have got the paddle the other side you must do just the contrary. +You must sing out right or left according as you see rocks ahead, and I +shall steer with my paddle behind. I have a good deal more power over +the boat than you have, and you must depend upon me for the steering, +unless there is occasion for a smart swerve." + +At first the two boats shot backwards and forwards across the stream in +a very erratic way, but after an hour's practice the steersmen found the +amount of force required. An hour later Harry thought that they were +competent to make a start, and turning they shot rapidly past the +cliffs. In a couple of miles there was a break in the rocks to the left. + +"We will land there," Harry said. "There are trees near the water and +bushes farther up. We will make a camp there. There is no saying how far +we may have to go before we get another opportunity. We have done with +the Utes for good, and can get a sound night's sleep. If you, chief, +will start with Hunting Dog as soon as we land, we will get the things +ashore and light the fire. Maybe you will be able to get a bear for us." + +They did not trouble to haul up the canoes, but fastened them by the +head-ropes, which were made from lariats, to trees on the shore. +Daylight was beginning to fade as they lighted the fire. No time was +lost before mixing the dough, and it was in readiness by the time that +there were sufficient glowing embers to stand the pot in. The kettle was +filled and hung on a tripod over the fire. In a short time the Indians +returned empty-handed. + +"No find bear," the chief said, "getting too dark to hunt. To-morrow +morning try." + +Harry got up and went to the boats, and returned directly with a joint +of meat. Tom looked up in surprise. + +"It is not from yours, Tom," Jerry said as he saw him looking at it. "We +took the hind-quarters of the four pack-ponies, but left the others +alone. It was no use bringing more, for it would not keep." + +"So it is horseflesh!" Tom rather shrank from the idea of eating it, and +nothing would have induced him to touch it had he thought that it came +from his own favourite. Some steaks were cut and placed in the +frying-pan, while strips were hung over the fire for those who preferred +the meat in that way. Tom felt strongly inclined to refuse altogether, +but when he saw that the others took their meat as a matter of course, +and proceeded to eat with a good appetite, he did not like to do so. He +hesitated, however, before tasting it; but Harry said with a laugh, +"Fire away, Tom. You can hardly tell it from beef, and they say that in +Paris lots of horseflesh is sold as beef." + +Thus encouraged, Tom took a mouthful, and found it by no means bad, for +from their long stay in the valley the animals were all in excellent +condition, and he acknowledged to himself that he would not have known +the flesh from beef. + +"I call it mighty good for a change." Terry said. "Out on the plains, +where one can get buffalo, one would not take horse for choice, but as +we have been eating deer and bear meat for about a year, horse-meat +ain't bad by no means. What! You won't take another bit, Tom?" + +"Not to-night, Jerry; next time I shall be all right. But it is my first +trial, you know, and though I can't say it is not good, it gives me a +queer feeling, so I will stick to the bread." + +"Well, boys," Harry said presently, "we have made a first-rate start, +and have got out of a big scrape, easier than I ever looked for. We +could not have got two better canoes for our work if we had had them +brought special from Canada, and it seems to me that they ought to go +down pretty near anywhere without much damage. We shall get real handy +with our paddles in two or three days, and I hope we sha'n't meet with +any big rapids until we have got into the way of managing them well." + +"You bet, Harry, we have got out well," said Jerry. "I tell you it +looked downright ugly, and I wouldn't have given a continental for our +chances. As for the rapids, I guess we shall generally find rocks one +side or the other where we can make our way along, and we can let down +the canoes by the ropes. Anyhow, we need not get skeery over them. After +getting out of that valley with our hair on, the thought of them does +not trouble me a cent." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +AFLOAT IN CANOES + + +The two Indians were off long before daylight, and just as the others +were having a wash at the edge of the river they heard the crack of a +rifle some distance up the cliff. + +"Bear!" Jerry exclaimed; "and I reckon they have got it, else we should +have heard another shot directly afterwards. That will set us up in food +for some time. Get the fire made up, Tom, you won't have to eat horse +steak for breakfast unless you like." + +The Indians returned half an hour later laden with as much bear-flesh as +they could carry. + +"I vote we stop here for two days," Harry said. "We have got a lot of +meat now, but it won't keep for twenty-four hours in this heat, so I +vote we cut it up and dry it as the Indians do buffalo-meat; it will +keep any time. Besides, we deserve a couple of days' rest, and we can +practise paddling while the meat dries. We got on very well yesterday, +but I do want us to get quite at home in the boats before we get to a +bad bit." + +The proposal was agreed to, and as soon as breakfast was over the whole +of the meat was cut up into thin slices and hung up on cords fastened +from tree to tree. + +"It ought to take three days to do it properly, and four is better," +Harry said. "Still, as we have cut it very thin, I should think two days +in this hot sun ought to be enough." + +"Are there any fish in the river, uncle?" + +"I have no doubt there are, Tom, grists of them, but we have got no +hooks." + +"Jerry has got some, he told me he never travelled without them, and we +caught a lot of fish with them up in the mountains just after we started +before. I don't know about line, but one might unravel one of the +ropes." + +"I think you might do better than that, Tom. The next small animal we +shoot we might make some lines from the gut. They needn't be above five +or six feet long. Beyond that we could cut a strip of thirty or forty +feet long from one of the hides. However, we can do nothing at present +in that way. Now let us get into the canoes and have a couple of hours' +paddling. After dinner we will have another good spell at the work." + +By evening there was a marked improvement in the paddling over that of +the previous day, and after having had another day's practice all felt +confident that they should get on very well. By nightfall on the second +day, the meat was found to be thoroughly dried, and was taken down and +packed in bundles, and the next morning they started as soon as it was +light. It was agreed that the boats should follow each other at a +distance of a hundred yards, so that the leader could signal to the one +behind if serious difficulties were made out ahead, and so enable it to +row to the bank in time. Were both drawn together into the suck of a +dangerous rapid they might find themselves without either boats or +stores, whereas if only one of the boats was broken up, there would be +the other to fall back upon. Harry's boat was to take the lead on the +first day, and Tom, as he knelt in the bows, felt his heart beat with +excitement at the thought of the unknown that lay before them, and that +they were about to make their way down passes probably unpenetrated by +man. Passing between what had seemed to them the entrance to a narrow +caņon, they were surprised to rind the river widen out. On their right a +great sweep of hills bent round like a vast amphitheatre, the +resemblance being heightened by the ledges running in regular lines +along it, the cliff being far from perpendicular. + +"I should think one could climb up there," Tom said, half-turning round +to his uncle. + +"It looks like it, Tom, but there is no saying; some of those steps may +be a good deal steeper than they look. However, I have no doubt one +could find places where it would be possible to climb if there were any +use in doing so, but as we should only find ourselves up on bad lands we +should gain nothing by it." + +"I don't mean we should want to climb up now, uncle; but it seemed a +sort of satisfaction to know that there are places where one could climb +in case we got the boats smashed up." + +"If we had to make our way up, lad, it would be much better to go by one +of the lateral canons like the one we came down by. I can see at least +half a dozen of them going up there. We should certainly find water, and +we might find game, but up on the plateau we should find neither one nor +the other." + +On the left-hand bank of the river the cliffs fell still farther back in +wide terraces, that rose one behind the other up to a perpendicular +cliff half a mile back from the river. There was a shade of green here +and there, and the chief pointed far up the hill and exclaimed "Deer!" + +"That is good," Harry said. "There are sure to be more of these places, +and I should think we are not likely to starve anyhow. We can't spare +time to stop now; we want to have a long day's paddle to see what it is +going to be like, and we have got meat enough for the present. If we +happen to see a deer within rifle-shot, so that we can get at him +without much loss of time, we will stop, for after all fresh meat is +better eating than dry." + +"I should think it would be, uncle," Tom said. "From the look of the +stuff I should think it would be quite as tough as shoe leather and as +tasteless." + +"It needs a set of sharp teeth, Tom, but if you are hard set I have no +doubt you will be able to get through it, and at any rate it constitutes +the chief food of the Indians between the Missouri and the Rockies." + +For the next three hours they paddled along on the quiet surface of the +river. The other canoe had drawn up, since it was evident that here at +least there was no reason why they should keep apart. + +"I didn't expect we should find it as quiet as this, Harry," Jerry +Curtis said. "It is a regular water-party, and I should not mind how +long I was at it if it were all like this." + +"We shall have rough water enough presently, Jerry, and I expect we +shall look back on this as the pleasantest part of the trip. It seems to +me that the hills close in more towards the end of this sweep. It has +made a regular horseshoe." + +"I reckon it depends upon the nature of the rock," Ben put in. + +"That is it, you may be sure, Ben. Wherever it is soft rock, in time it +crumbles away like this; where it is hard the weather don't affect it +much, and we get straight cliffs. I expect it is there we shall find the +rapids worst. Well, we shall soon make a trial of them, I fancy. It +looks like a wall ahead, but the road must go through somewhere." + +A quarter of an hour later Harry said: "You had better drop back now, +Jerry, there is the gap right ahead. If you see me hold up my paddle you +row ashore. When we come to a bad rapid we had better all get out, and +make our way down on the rocks as far as we can, to see what it is like. +It will never do to go at it blind. Of course we may find places where +the water comes to the wall faces on both sides, and then there is +nothing to do but to take our chance, but I don't propose to run any +risks that I can avoid." + +There was a perceptible increase in the rate of the current as they +neared the gorge, and when they came within a short distance of it Harry +gave the signal to the boat behind, and both canoes made for the shore. +As they stepped out on to the rocks the chief pointed to a ledge far +above them. "There will be time for Hunting Dog to shoot a deer," he +said, "while we go down to see caņon." + +Tom in vain endeavoured to make out the object at which the Indian was +pointing. Hunting Dog had evidently noticed it before landing, and upon +Harry giving a nod of assent, started off with his rifle. The others +waited until Jerry and his companions joined them, and then started +along the rocks that had fallen at the foot of the cliffs. They were +soon able to obtain a far better view of the gorge than they had done +from the canoe. The river ran for a bit in a smooth glassy flood, but a +short distance down, it began to form into waves, and beyond that they +could see a mass of white foam and breakers. They made their way along +the rocks for nearly two miles. It seemed well-nigh impossible to Tom +that the boats could go down without being swamped, for the waves were +eight or ten feet high, with steep sides capped with white. At last the +gorge widened again, and although the cliff to the right rose +perpendicularly, on the other side it became less steep, and seemed +lower down to assume the same character as that above the gorge. + +"It looks pretty bad," Harry said, speaking for almost the first time +since they had started, for the roar of the water against the rocks, +echoed and re-echoed by the cliffs, rendered conversation an +impossibility. "It looks bad, but as far as I can see there are no rocks +that come up near the surface, and the canoes ought to go through the +broken water safely enough." + +"It is an all-fired nasty-looking place," Jerry said; "but I have heard +men who had been in the north talk about rapids they had gone through, +and from what they said about them they must have been worse than this. +We have got to keep as near the side as we can; the waves ain't as high +there as they are in the middle, and we have got to keep the boat's head +straight, and to paddle all we know. If we do that, I reckon the canoes +will go through." + +They retraced their steps up the gorge. Hunting Dog was standing by the +boat with the dead deer at his feet. Jerry picked it up. "I had better +take this, I reckon, Harry. You have got one man more than we have;" and +he and his two companions went on to their boat. + +"Now, what do you think, Tom?" his uncle said. "Can you trust your head +to keep cool? It will need a lot of nerve, I can tell you, and if her +head swerves in the slightest she will swing round, and over she will +go, and it would want some tall swimming to get out of that race. You +paddle as well as the chief,--better, I think,--but the chief's nerves +are like iron. He has not been practising steering as you have, but as +there seem to be no rocks about, that won't matter so much. I ought to +be able to keep her straight, if you three paddle hard. It may need a +turn of the paddle now and then in the bow, but that we can't tell. So +it shall be just as you like, lad. If you think your nerves can stand it +you take your usual place, but if you have doubts about it, it were best +to let the chief go there." + +"I think I could stand it, uncle, for I have been out in wherries in +some precious rough seas at Spithead; but I think it would be best for +the chief to take my place this time, and then I shall see how I feel." + +Harry said a few words to the chief in his own language, and Leaping +Horse without a word stepped into the bow, while Tom took the seat +behind him. + +"We sha'n't be long going down," Harry said, "I reckon the stream is +running ten miles an hour, and as we shall be paddling, it will take us +through in ten minutes. We had all better sit farther aft, so as to take +her bow right out of water. She will go through it ever so much easier +so." + +They shifted their seats until daylight could be seen under the keel a +foot from the bow. + +"I think that is about the right trim," Harry said. "Now paddle all." + +The boat shot off from the shore. A minute later it darted into the +gorge, the Indian setting a long sweeping stroke. There were two or +three long heaves, and then they dashed into the race. Tom held his +breath at the first wall of water, but, buoyant and lightly laden as the +canoe was, with fully a foot of free board, she rose like a feather over +it, and darted down into the hollow beyond. Tom kept his eyes fixed on +the back of the chief's head, clinched his teeth tightly, and paddled +away with all his strength. He felt that were he to look round he should +turn giddy at the turmoil of water. Once or twice he was vaguely +conscious of Harry's shouts, "Keep her head inshore!" or "A little +farther out!" but like a man rowing a race he heeded the words but +little. His faculties were concentrated on his work, but he could see a +slight swerve of the Indian's body when he was obeying an order. + +He was not conscious of any change of motion, either in the boat or in +the water round, when Harry shouted, "Easy all!" and even then it was +the chief's ceasing to paddle rather than Harry's shout which caused him +to stop. Then he looked round and saw that the race was passed, and that +the canoe was floating in comparatively quiet water. + +"She is a daisy!" Harry shouted; "we could not do better if we had been +all Canadian half-breeds, chief. Now, we had better set to and bale her +out as quickly as we can." + +Tom now for the first time perceived that he was kneeling in water, and +that the boat was nearly half-full. + +Their tea pannikins had been laid by their sides in readiness, and +Hunting Dog touched him and passed forward his tin and the chief's, both +of which had been swept aft. The Seneca at once began to throw out the +water, but Tom for a minute or two was unable to follow his example. He +felt as weak as a child. A nervous quivering ran through his body, and +his hand trembled so that he could not grasp the handle of the tin. + +"Feel bad, Tom?" his uncle asked cheerily from behind. "Brace up, lad; +it was a pretty warm ten minutes, and I am not surprised you feel it. +Now it is over I am a little shaky myself." + +"I shall be all right presently, uncle." A look at the chief's back did +more to steady Tom's nerves than his own efforts. While he himself was +panting heavily, and was bathed in perspiration, the chief's breath came +so quietly that he could scarce see his shoulders rise and fall, as he +baled out the water with perfect unconcern. With an effort the boy took +hold of his dipper, and by the time the boat was empty his nerves were +gaining their steadiness, though his breath still came quickly. As he +laid down his tin he looked round. + +"Heap water," Hunting Dog said with a smile; "run like herd of buffalo." + +The other boat lay twenty yards behind them, and was also engaged in +baling. + +"All right now, Tom?" + +"All right, uncle; but it is lucky you put the chief in the bows. I +should have made a mess of it; for from the time we got into the waves +it seemed nothing but confusion, and though I heard your voice I did not +seem to understand what you said." + +"It was a trial to the nerves, Tom, but we shall all get accustomed to +it before we get through. Well, thank God, we have made our first run +safely. Now paddle on, we will stop at the first likely place and have a +meal." + +A mile farther they saw a pile of drift-wood on the left bank, and Harry +at once headed the canoe to it, and drawing the boat carefully alongside +they got out. A minute later the other canoe joined them. + +"Jee-hoshaphat, Harry!" Jerry exclaimed as he stepped out; "that was +worse nor a cyclone. I would rather sit on the back of the worst kind of +bucker than jump over those waves again. If we are going to have much of +this I should say let us find our way back and ask the Utes to finish us +off." + +"It was a rough bit, Jerry; but it might have been a deal worse if there +had been rocks in the stream. All we had to do was to keep her straight +and paddle." + +"And a pretty big all, too," Jerry grumbled. "I felt skeered pretty nigh +out of my wits, and the other two allow they were just as bad. If it +hadn't been for your boat ahead I reckon we should never have gone +through it, but as long as you kept on straight, there didn't seem any +reason why we shouldn't. I tell you I feel so shaky that if there were a +grizzly twenty yards off I am blamed if I could keep the muzzle of my +rifle on it." + +Tom had been feeling a good deal ashamed of his nervousness, and was +much relieved at hearing that these seasoned men had felt somewhat the +same as he had done. + +"What do you say, boys," Harry asked when breakfast had been cooked and +eaten, "if we stop here for to-day? Likely enough we may get some game, +and if not it won't matter, for the deer will last us a couple of days." + +"You bet," Ben Gulston said; "I think we have had enough of the water +for to-day. I don't feel quite sure now I ain't going round and round, +and I don't think any of us will feel right till we have had a night's +sleep. Besides, all the rugs and blankets are wet and want spreading out +in the sun for a bit, and the flour will want overhauling." + +"That settles it, Ben; let us get all the outfit out of the boats at +once." + +After the things had been laid out to dry the two Indians went off in +search of game; but none of the others felt any inclination to move, and +they spent the rest of the day lying about smoking and dozing. The +Indians brought back a big-horn, and the next morning the canoes dropped +down the stream again. For some miles the river flowed quietly along a +wide valley. At the end of that time it made an abrupt turn and entered +the heart of the mountains. As before, Harry's canoe went in advance. +The caņon was here a deep gloomy chasm, with almost perpendicular sides, +and for some distance the river ran swiftly and smoothly, then white +water was seen ahead, so the two boats rowed in to the rocks at the foot +of the precipice, and the occupants proceeded to explore the pass ahead. +It was of a different character to the last. Black rocks rose everywhere +above the surface, and among these the river flowed with extraordinary +force and rapidity, foaming and roaring. + +All agreed that it was madness to think of descending here, and that a +portage was necessary. The contents of the boats were lifted out, and +then one of them was carried down over the rocks by the united strength +of the party. They had gone half a mile when they came to a spot where +they could go no farther, as the water rushed along against the rock +wall itself. Some fifty yards further down they could see that the ledge +again began. + +"We must go and fetch the other boat," Harry shouted above the din of +the water, "and let them down one by one. There is no other way to do +it." + +The second boat was brought down, and another journey was made to bring +down the stores. The lariats were then tied together. + +"Let us sit down and smoke a pipe before we do anything more," Jerry +said. "Three times up and down them rocks is worse nor thirty miles on a +level." + +All were glad to adopt this suggestion, and for half an hour they sat +watching the rushing waters. As they did so they discussed how they had +better divide their forces, and agreed that Harry's boat should, as +before, go down first. Three men would be required to let the boat down, +and it would need at least four to check the second boat when it came +abreast of them. Although all felt certain that a single line of the +plaited hide would be sufficient, they determined to use two lines to +ensure themselves against risk. + +"I should let them run out fast at first, Jerry, only keeping enough +strain on them to keep her head well up stream. Begin to check her +gradually, and let her down only inch by inch. When you see we are close +to the rocks, hold her there while we get her alongside, and don't leave +go till we lift her from the water. Directly we are out, fasten the +ropes to the bow of your canoe, then launch her carefully; and whatever +you do, don't let go of the rope. Launch her stern first close to the +wall, then two get in and get well towards the stern, while the other +holds the rope until the last moment. Then those two in the boat must +begin to paddle as hard as they can, while the last man jumps in and +snatches up his paddle. Keep her head close to the wall, for if the +current catches it and takes her round she would capsize in a moment +against those rocks. Paddle all you know; we shall haul in the rope as +fast as you come down. When you come abreast two of us will check her, +and the others will be on the rocks to catch hold of her side as she +swings in." + +The first canoe was launched stern foremost, the four men took their +seats in her and began to paddle against, the stream with all their +strength, while Jerry and his companions let the lines run through their +fingers. The boat glanced along by the side of the wall. The men above +put on more and more strain, giving a turn of the ropes round a smooth +water-worn rock they had before picked out as suitable for the purpose. +The water surged against the bow of the canoe, lifting it higher and +higher as the full strain of the rope came upon it. The chief was +kneeling in the stern facing the rocks below, and as the canoe came +abreast of them he brought her in alongside. Harry held up his paddle, +the men above gave another turn of the ropes round the rock, and the +canoe remained stationary. Hunting Dog sprang out on to the rocks, and +taking hold of the blade of the chief's paddle, brought the canoe in so +close that the others were able to step ashore without difficulty. The +baggage was taken out, and the canoe lifted from the water, turned +upside down, and laid on the rocks. + +Harry held up his hand to show that they were ready, having before he +did so chosen a stone round which to wind the lariats. The other boat +was then launched. Sam and Ben took their places astern and began to +paddle against the stream. As they were in the back-water below the +ledge of rock they were able to keep her stationary while Jerry took his +place and got out his paddle. When all were ready, they paddled her out +from the back-water. As soon as the current caught her she flew past the +cliff like an arrow, although the three men were now paddling at the top +of their speed. Harry and the chief pulled in the rope hand over hand, +while Hunting Dog and Tom went a short way down the rocks. + +"Don't check her too suddenly, chief," Harry shouted. "Let the rope run +out easy at first and bring the strain on gradually." + +"The ropes will hold," the chief said. "One stop buffalo in gallop, two +stop boat." + +"Yes, but you would pull the head out of the canoe; chief, if you +stopped her too suddenly." + +The chief nodded. He had not thought of that. In spite of the efforts of +the oarsmen the canoe's head was swerving across the stream just as she +came abreast of them. A moment later she felt the check of the rope. + +"Easy, chief, easy!" Harry shouted, as the water shot up high over the +bow of the canoe. "Wait till she gets a bit lower or we shall capsize +her." + +The check of the bow had caused the stern to swerve out, and when they +again checked her she was several lengths below them with her head +inclined to shore. More and more strain was put on the ropes, until they +were as taut as iron bars. A moment later Tom and Hunting Dog seized two +paddles held out to them, and the boat came gently in alongside. + +"Gosh!" Ben exclaimed, as he stepped ashore, "it has taken as much out +of me as working a windlass for a day. I am blamed if I did not think +the hull boat was coming to pieces. I thought it was all over with us +for sure, Harry; when she first felt the rope, the water came in right +over the side." + +"It was touch and go, Ben; but there was a rock just outside you, and if +we had not checked her a bit her head would have gone across it, and if +it had, I would not have given a red cent for your lives." + +All day they toiled on foot, and by nightfall had made but four miles. +Then they camped for the night among the rocks. The next four days were +passed in similar labour. Two or three times they had to cross the +torrent in order to get on to fallen rocks on the other side to that +which they were following. These passages demanded the greatest caution. +In each case there were rocks showing above water in the middle of the +channel. One of these was chosen as most suited to their purpose, and by +means of the ropes a canoe was sheered out to it. Its occupants then +took their places on the rock, and in turn dropped the other boat down +to the next suitable point, the process being repeated, step by step, +until the opposite bank was reached. + +At the end of the fourth day the geological formation changed. The rock +was softer, and the stream had worn a more even path for itself, and +they decided to take to the boats again. There was no occasion for +paddling now, it was only when a swell on the surface marked some hidden +danger below that a stroke or two of the paddle was needed to sweep them +clear of it. For four hours they were carried along at the rate of fully +twelve miles an hour, and at the end of that time they shot out from +between the overhanging walls into a comparatively broad valley. With a +shout of delight they headed the boats for shore, and leapt out on to a +flat rock a few inches above the water. + +"If we could go on at that pace right down we should not be long before +we were out of the mountains," Tom said. + +"We could do with a bit slower, Tom; that is too fast to be pleasant. +Just about half that would do--six miles an hour. Twelve hours a day +would take us out of the caņons in a fortnight or so. We might do that +safely, but we could not calculate on having such good luck as we have +had to-day, when going along at twelve miles an hour. The pace for the +last four days has been just as much too slow as this is too fast. Four +miles a day working from morning till night is heart-breaking. In spite +of our run to-day, we cannot have made much over a hundred miles since +we started. Well, there is one comfort, we are in no great hurry. We +have got just the boats for the work, and so far as we can see, we are +likely to find plenty of food. A job like this isn't to be reckoned +child's play. So far I consider we have had good luck; I shall be well +content if it averages as well all the way down. The fear is we may get +to falls where we can neither carry nor let the boats down. In that case +we should have to get out of the canon somewhere, pack as much flour as +we could carry, and make our way across country, though how far we might +have to travel there is no knowing. I hope it mayn't come to that; but +at any rate I would rather go through even worse places than that caņon +above than have to quit the boats." + +"Right you are, Harry," Jerry agreed. "I would rather tote the canoe on +my back all the way down to Mexico, than have to try and make my way +over the bad lands to the hills. Besides, when we get a bit farther we +shall be in the Navahoe country, and the Utes ain't a sarcumstance to +them. The Ute ain't much of a fighter anyway. He will kill white men he +finds up in his hills, 'cause he don't want white men there, but he has +to be five or six to one before he will attack him. The Navahoe kills +the white man 'cause he is a white man, and 'cause he likes killing. He +is a fighter, and don't you forget it. If it had been Navahoes instead +of Utes that had caught us up in the hills, you may bet your bottom +dollar our scalps would be drying in their lodges now." + +"That is so, Jerry," Ben put in. "Besides, the Navahoes and the Apaches +have got no fear of white men. They have been raiding Mexico for +hundreds of years, and man to man they can whip Mexikins out of their +boots. I don't say as they haven't a considerable respect for western +hunters; they have had a good many lessons that these can out-shoot them +and out-fight them; still they ain't scared of them as plain Indians +are. They are a bad lot, look at them which way you will, and I don't +want to have to tramp across their country noways. It was pretty hard +work carrying that boat along them rocks, but I would rather have to do +so, right down to the plains, then get into a muss with the Navahoes." + +"How far does the Navahoe country come this way?" + +"There ain't no fence, Tom, I expect. They reckon as it's their country +just as far as they like to come. They don't come up as far north as +this, but where they ends and where the Utes begin no one knows but +themselves; and I reckon it shifts according as the Navahoes are busy +with the Mexicans in the south, or have got a quiet spell, and take it +into their heads to hunt this way." + +For many days they continued their journey, sometimes floating quietly +along a comparatively wide valley, sometimes carrying their boats past +dangerous rapids, sometimes rushing along at great speed on the black, +deep water, occasionally meeting with falls where everything had to be +taken out of the canoes, and the boats themselves allowed to shoot over +the falls with long ropes attached, by which they were drawn to shore +lower down. It was seldom that they were without meat, as several +big-horns and two bears were shot by the Indians. They had no doubt that +they could have caught fish, but as a rule they were too tired when they +arrived at their halting-place to do more than cook and eat their +suppers before they lay down to rest. + +"I reckon it won't be very long before we come upon a Mexican village," +Harry said one day, after they had been six weeks on their downward +course. "I have heard there is one above the Grand Caņon." + +The scenery had varied greatly. In some of the valleys groves of trees +bordered the river; sometimes not even a tuft of grass was to be seen. +Occasionally the cliffs ran in an even line for many miles, showing that +the country beyond was a level plateau, at other times rugged peaks and +pinnacles resembling ruined castles, lighthouses, and churches could be +seen. Frequently the cliffs rose three or four thousand feet in an +almost unbroken line, but more often there were rounded terraces, where +it would have been easy to ascend to the upper level. Everywhere the +various strata were of different colours: soft grays and browns, orange, +vermilion, purple, green, and yellow. They soon learned that when they +passed through soft strata, the river ran quietly; where the rocks were +hard there were falls and rapids; where the strata lay horizontal the +stream ran smoothly, though often with great rapidity; where they dipped +up stream there were dangerous rapids and falls. + +Since the start the river had been largely swollen by the junctions of +other streams, and was much wider and deeper than it had been where they +embarked; and even where the rapids were fiercest they generally found +comparatively quiet water close to the bank on one side or the other. +Twice they had had upsets, both the boats having been capsized by +striking upon rocks but an inch or two below the surface of the water. +Little harm was done, for the guns and all other valuable articles were +lashed to the sides of the boats, while strips of hide, zigzagged across +the ends of the canoes at short distances apart, prevented the blankets +and rugs and other bulky articles from dropping out when the boat +capsized. + +Since the river had become wider and the dangers less frequent, the +boats always kept near each other. Upsets were therefore only the +occasion for a hearty laugh; for it took but a few minutes to right the +canoe, bale it out, and proceed on their way. Occasionally they had +unpleasant visitors at their camp, and altogether they killed ten or +twelve rattle-snakes. In some of the valleys they found the remains of +the dwellings of a people far anterior to the present Indian races. Some +of these ruins appeared to have been communal houses. At other points +they saw cliff-dwellings in the face of the rock, with rough sculptures +and hieroglyphics. The canons varied in length from ten to a hundred and +fifty miles, the comparatively flat country between them varying equally +in point of appearance and in the nature of the rocks. As they got lower +they once or twice saw roughly-made rafts, composed of three or four +logs of wood, showing where Indians had crossed the river. The journey +so far had been much more pleasant than they had expected, for as the +river grew wider the dangers were fewer and farther apart, and more +easily avoided; and they looked forward to the descent of the Grand +Caņon, from which they knew they could not be far distant, without much +fear that it would prove impracticable. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE GRAND CAŅON + + +Passing from a short caņon, the boats emerged into a valley with flat +shores for some distance from the river. On the right was a wide side +caņon, which might afford a passage up into the hills. Half a mile lower +down there were trees and signs of cultivation; and a light smoke rose +among them. At this, the first sign of human life they had seen since +they took to the boats, all hands paddled rapidly. They were approaching +the shore, when Leaping Horse said to Harry: "No go close. Stop in river +and see, perhaps bad Indians. Leaping Horse not like smoke." + +Harry called to the other canoe, and they bore out into the stream +again. The chief stood up in the boat, and after gazing at the shore +silently for a moment said: + +"Village burnt. Burnt little time ago, post still burning." As he +resumed his seat Harry stood up in turn. + +"That is so, chief. There have only been five or six huts; whether +Indian or white, one can't tell now." + +Just at this moment an Indian appeared on the bank. As his eye fell on +the boats he started. A moment later he raised a war-yell. + +"Navahoe," the chief said. "Navahoe war-party come down, kill people and +burn village. Must row hard." + +The yell had been answered from the wood, and in two or three minutes as +many score of Indians appeared on the banks. They shouted to the boats +to come to shore, and as no attention was paid, some of them at once +opened fire. The river was about a quarter of a mile wide, and although +the shots splashed round them the boats were not long in reaching the +farther bank, but not unharmed, for Ben had dropped his paddle and +fallen back in the boat. + +"Is he badly hurt?" Harry asked anxiously, as the canoes drew alongside +each other near the bank, and Sam turned round to look at his comrade. + +"He has finished his journey," Sam said in a hoarse voice. "He has gone +down, and a better mate and a truer heart I never met. The ball has hit +him in the middle of the forehead. It were to be, I guess, for it could +only have been a chance shot at that distance." + +Exclamations of sorrow and fury broke from the others, and for a few +minutes there was no thought of the Indians, whose bullets were still +falling in the water, for the most part short of the boats. A sharp tap +on the side of Harry's canoe, followed by a jet of water, roused them. + +"We mustn't stop here," Harry said, as Hunting Dog plugged the hole with +a piece of dried meat, "or poor Ben won't be the only one." + +"Let us have a shot first," Jerry said. "Young Tom, do you take a shot +with Plumb-centre. It is about four hundred and fifty yards as near as I +can reckon, and she will carry pretty true that distance." + +"We will give them a shot all round," Harry said, as he took up his +rifle. + +Six shots were discharged almost at the same moment. One of the Indians +was seen to fall, the rest bounded away to a short distance from the +bank. Then Hunting Dog at a word from the chief stepped into the other +canoe. Keeping close under the bank they paddled down. The Indians had +ceased firing, and had disappeared at a run. + +"What are they up to now, chief?" + +"Going down to mouth of caņon, river sure to be narrow; get there before +us." + +"Wait, Jerry," Harry shouted to the other boat, which was some twenty +yards ahead. "The chief thinks they have gone to cut us off at the head +of the caņon, which is likely enough. I don't suppose it is fifty yards +wide there, and they will riddle us if we try to get through in +daylight. We had better stop and have a meal and talk it over." + +The boats were rowed ashore, and the men landed and proceeded to light a +fire as unconcernedly as if no danger threatened them. Ben's death had +cast a heavy gloom over them, and but few words were spoken, until the +meal was cooked and eaten. + +"It is a dog-goned bad business," Jerry said. "I don't say at night as +we mayn't get past them without being hit, but to go rushing into one of +those caņons in the dark would be as bad as standing their fire, if not +wuss. The question is--could we leave the boats and strike across?" + +"We could not strike across this side anyhow," Harry said. "There are no +settlements west of the Colorado. We know nothing of the country, and it +is a hundred to one we should all die of thirst even if we could carry +enough grub to last us. If we land at all it must be on the other side, +and then we could not reckon on striking a settlement short of two +hundred miles, and two hundred miles across a country like this would be +almost certain death." + +"As the Navahoes must have ridden down, Harry, there must be water. I +reckon they came down that caņon opposite." + +"Navahoe on track in morning," the chief said quietly. "When they see we +not go down river look for boat, find where we land and take up trail. +Caņon very plain road. Some go up there straight, take all our scalps." + +No one spoke for a moment or two. What the Seneca said was so evident to +them that it was useless to argue. "Well, chief, what do you advise +yourself?" Harry asked at length. + +"Not possible go on foot, Harry. Country all rocks and caņons; cannot +get through, cannot get water. Trouble with Navahoes too. Only chance +get down in boat to-night. Keep close under this bank; perhaps Indians +not see us, night dark." + +"Do you think they can cross over to this side?" + +"Yes, got canoe. Two canoes in village, Leaping Horse saw them on bank. +When it gets dark, cross over." + +"We will get a start of them," Harry said. "Directly it is dark we can +be off too. The shore is everywhere higher than our heads as we sit in +the canoes, and we can paddle in the shadow without being seen by them +on the other side, while they won't venture to cross till it is pitch +dark. As the stream runs something like three miles an hour, I reckon +that they are hardly likely to catch us. As for the rapids, they don't +often begin until you are some little distance in. At any rate we shall +not have to go far, for the red-skins will not dare to enter the caņon, +so we can tie up till morning as soon as we are a short distance in. We +have got to run the gauntlet of their fire, but after all that is better +than taking our chances by leaving the boats. If we lie down when we get +near them they may not see us at all; but if they do, a very few strokes +will send us past them. At any rate there seems less risk in that plan +than in any other." + +The others agreed. + +"Now, boys, let us dig a grave," he went on, as soon as the point was +settled. "It is a sort of clay here and we can manage it, and it is not +likely we shall find any place, when we are once in the caņon, where we +can do it." They had neither picks nor shovels with them, for their +mining tools had been left at the spot where they were at work, but with +their axes and knives they dug a shallow grave, laid Ben's body in it, +covered it up, and then rolled a number of boulders over it. + +Ben's death affected Tom greatly. They had lived together and gone +through many perils and risks for nearly a year, and none had shown more +unflagging good-humour throughout than the man who had been killed. That +the boats might upset and all might perish together, was a thought that +had often occurred to him as they made their way down the river, but +that one should be cut off like this had never once been contemplated by +him. Their lives from the hour they met on the Big Wind River had seemed +bound up together, and this sudden loss of one of the party affected him +greatly. The others went about their work silently and sadly, but they +had been so accustomed to see life lost in sudden frays, and in one or +other of the many dangers that miners and hunters are exposed to, that +it did not affect them to the same extent as it did Tom. + +Except two or three men who remained on watch on the opposite bank, +though carefully keeping out of rifle-range, they saw no signs of the +Navahoes during the day. As soon as it became so dark that they were +sure their movements could not be seen from the other side, they +silently took their places in the boats, and pushed off into the +current. For a quarter of an hour they lay in the canoes, then at a +signal from Harry knelt up, took their paddles and began to row very +quietly and cautiously, the necessity for dropping their paddles +noiselessly into the water and for avoiding any splashing having been +impressed on all before starting. + +"There is no occasion for haste," Harry said. "Long and gentle strokes +of the paddle will take us down as fast as we need go. If those fellows +do cross over, as I expect they will, they will find it difficult to +travel over the rocks in the dark as fast as we are going now, and there +is no fear whatever of their catching us if we go on steadily." + +After an hour's rowing they could make out a dark mass rising like a +wall in front of them, and Harry passed the word back to the other +canoe, which was just behind them, that they should now cease paddling, +only giving a stroke occasionally to keep the head of the canoe +straight, and to prevent the boat from drifting out from under the +shelter of the bank, in the stillness of the night they could hear a low +roaring, and knew that it was caused by a rapid in the canon ahead. +Higher and higher rose the wall of rock, blotting out the stars in front +of them till the darkness seemed to spread half-way over the sky. + +They could see that the boat was passing the shore more rapidly, as the +river accelerated its course before rushing into the gorge. Suddenly +there was a shout on the right, so close that Tom was startled, then +there was a rifle-shot, and a moment later a wild outburst of yells and +a dozen other shots. At the first shout the paddles dipped into the +water, and at racing speed the boats shot along. Eight or ten more +rifle-shots were fired, each farther behind them. + +"Anyone hurt?" Harry asked. + +There was a general negative. + +"I don't believe they really saw us," Harry said. "The first fellow may +have caught sight of us, but I expect the others fired merely at random. +Now let us row in and fasten up, for judging from that roaring there +must be a big rapid close ahead." + +The boats were soon fastened up against the rocks, and the chief stepped +ashore, saying: + +"Leaping Horse and Hunting Dog will watch. Navahoes may come down here. +Don't think they will be brave enough to enter caņon, too dark to see. +Still, better watch." + +"Just as you like, chief," Harry said, "but I have no belief that they +will come down here in the dark; it would be as much as they would dare +do in broad daylight. Besides, these rocks are steepish climbing anyway, +and I should not like myself to try to get over them, when it is so dark +that I can't see my own hand, except by putting it up between my eyes +and the stars." + +"If it was not for that," Jerry said, "I would crawl along to the mouth +and see if I couldn't get a shot at them varmint on the other side." + +"You would not find them there, Jerry. You may be sure that when they +saw us go through they would know it was of no use waiting there any +longer. They would flatter themselves that they had hit some of us, and +even if they hadn't, it would not seem to matter a cent to them, as the +evil spirit of the canon would surely swallow us up." + +"Well, they have been wrong in their first supposition, uncle," Tom +said, "and I hope they will be equally wrong in the second." + +"I hope so, Tom. Now we may as well go to sleep. As soon as there is any +light we must explore as far as we can go, for by the noise ahead it +must be either a fall or a desperately bad rapid." + +When daylight broke, the whites found Hunting Dog sitting with his rifle +across his knees on a rock above them. + +"Where is the chief?" Harry asked him. + +"Leaping Horse went up the rocks to see if Navahoes have gone." + +"Very well. Tell him when he comes back we have gone down to have a look +at the rapid. Tom, you may as well stay here. There is plenty of +drift-wood among those rocks, and we will breakfast before we start +down. I reckon we shall not have much time for anything of that sort +after we are once off." + +Tom was by no means sorry to be saved a heavy climb. He collected some +wood and broke it up into suitable pieces, but at the suggestion of +Hunting Dog waited for the chief's return before lighting it. The chief +came down in a few minutes. "Navahoes all gone," he said briefly. + +"Then I can light a fire, chief?" + +Leaping Horse nodded, and Tom took out the tightly-fitting tin box in +which he kept his matches. Each of the party carried a box, and to +secure against the possibility of the matches being injured by the water +in case of a capsize, the boxes were kept in deer's bladders tightly +tied at the mouth. The fire was just alight when the others returned. + +"It is better ahead than we expected," Harry said; "the noise was caused +by the echo from the smooth faces of the rocks. It is lucky we hauled in +here last night, for these rocks end fifty yards on, and as far as we +can see down, the water washes the foot of the wall on both sides. We +were able to climb up from them on to a narrow ledge, parallel with the +water, and went on to the next turn, but there was no change in the +character of the river. So we shall make a fair start anyway." + +More wood was put on the fire, and in a quarter of an hour the kettle +was boiling and slices of meat cooked. Half an hour later they took +their places in the canoes and started. The caņon was similar to the one +they had last passed; the walls were steep and high, but with irregular +shelves running along them. Above these were steep slopes, running up to +the foot of smooth perpendicular cliffs of limestone. The stream was +very rapid, and they calculated that in the first half-hour they must +have run six miles. Here the walls receded to a distance, and ledges of +rock and hills of considerable heights intervened between the river and +the cliffs. They checked the pace of their canoes just as they reached +this opening, for a deep roar told of danger ahead. Fortunately there +were rocks where they were able to disembark, and a short way below they +found that a natural dam extended across the river. + +"There has been an eruption of trap here," Harry said, looking at the +black rock on either side. "There has been a fissure, I suppose, and the +lava was squeezed up through it. You see the river has cut a path for +itself some hundreds of feet deep. It must have taken countless ages, +Tom, to have done the work." + +Over this dam the water flowed swiftly and smoothly, and then shot down +in a fall six feet high. Below for a distance of two or three hundred +yards was a furious rapid, the water running among black rocks. With +considerable difficulty they made a portage of the boats and stores to +the lower end of the rapid. This transit occupied several hours, and +they then proceeded on their way. Five more miles were passed; several +times the boats were brought to the bank in order that falls ahead might +be examined. These proved to be not too high to shoot, and the boats +paddled over them. When they had first taken to the river they would +never have dreamt of shooting such falls, but they had now become so +expert in the management of the boats, and so confident in their +buoyancy, that the dangers which would then have appalled them were now +faced without uneasiness. + +They now came to a long rapid, presenting so many dangers that they +deemed it advisable to let down the boats by lines. Again embarking they +found that the wall of rocks closed in and they entered a narrow gorge, +through which the river ran with great swiftness, touching the walls on +each side. Great care was needed to prevent the boats being dashed +against the rock, but they succeeded in keeping them fairly in the +middle of the stream. After travelling four miles through this gorge it +opened somewhat, and on one side was a strip of sand. + +"We will land there," Harry said. "It looks to me like granite ahead, +and if it is we are in for bad times, sure." + +The boats were soon pulled up, and they proceeded to examine the cliffs +below. Hitherto the danger had been in almost exact proportion to the +hardness of the rock, and as they were entering a far harder rock than +they had before encountered, greater difficulties than those they had +surmounted were to be expected. + +They could not see a long distance down, but what they saw was enough to +justify their worst anticipations. The caņon was narrower than any they +had traversed, and the current extremely swift. There seemed but few +broken rocks in the channel, but on either side the walls jutted out in +sharp angles far into the river, with crags and pinnacles. + +"Waal, it is of no use looking at it," Jerry said after a pause. "It is +certain we can't get along the sides, so there is nothing to do but to +go straight at it; and the sooner it is over the better." + +Accordingly they returned to the boats, and soon darted at the speed of +an arrow into the race. Bad as it was at starting it speedily became +worse: ledges, pinnacles, and towers of rock rose above the surface of +the stream breaking it into falls and whirlpools. Every moment it seemed +to Tom that the boat must inevitably be dashed to pieces against one of +these obstructions, for the light boats were whirled about like a +feather on the torrent, and the paddlers could do but little to guide +their course. The very strength of the torrent, however, saved them from +destruction, the whirl from the rocks sweeping the boat's head aside +when within a few feet of them, and driving it past the danger before +they had time to realize that they had escaped wreck. Half an hour of +this, and a side caņon came in. Down this a vast quantity of boulders +had been swept, forming a dam across the river, but they managed to +paddle into an eddy at the side, and to make a portage of the boats to +the water below the dam, over which there was a fall of from thirty to +forty feet high. Three more similar dams were met with. Over one the +canoes were carried, but on the others there was a break in the boulder +wall, and they were able to shoot the falls. + +After three days of incessant labour, they heard, soon after starting +from their last halting-place, a roar even louder and more menacing than +they had yet experienced. Cautiously they got as close as possible to +the side, and paddling against the stream were able to effect a landing +just above the rapid. On examining it they found that it was nearly half +a mile long, and in this distance the water made a fall of some eighty +feet, the stream being broken everywhere with ledges and jagged rocks, +among which the waves lashed themselves into a white foam. It seemed +madness to attempt such a descent, and they agreed that at any rate they +would halt for the day. The rocks through which the caņon ran were fully +a thousand feet high, but they decided that, great as the labour might +be, it would be better to make a portage, if possible, rather than +descend the cataract. + +"There is a gulch here running up on to the hill," Tom said. "Hunting +Dog and I will start at once and see if it is possible to get up it, and +if so how far it is to a place where we can get down again." + +Harry assented; Leaping Horse without a word joined the explorers, and +they set off up the gulch. It was found that the ravine was steep, but +not too steep to climb. When they were nearly at the top Hunting Dog +pointed to the hillside above them, and they saw a big-horn standing at +the edge of the rock. The three fired their rifles simultaneously, and +the wild sheep made a spring into the air and then came tumbling down +the side of the ravine. As fresh meat was beginning to run short this +was a stroke of good fortune, and after reloading their guns they +proceeded up the ravine until they reached the crest of the hill. The +soil was disintegrated granite, and tufts of short grass grew here and +there. After walking about a mile, parallel to the course of the river, +they found that the ground descended again, and without much difficulty +made their way down until they reached the foot of a little valley; +following this they were soon standing by the side of the river. Above, +its surface was as closely studded with rocks as was the upper cataract; +below, there was another fall that looked impracticable, except that it +seemed possible to pass along on the rocks by the side. It was getting +dark by the time they rejoined their comrades. + +"Your report is not a very cheerful one," Harry said, "but at any rate +there seems nothing else to be done than to make the portage. The meat +you have got for us will re-stock our larder, and as it is up there we +sha'n't have the trouble of carrying it over." + +The next day was a laborious one. One by one the canoes were carried +over, but the operation took them from daybreak till dark. The next +morning another journey was made to bring over the rugs and stores, and +they were able in addition to these to carry down the carcass of the +sheep, after first skinning it and cutting off the head with its great +horns. Nothing was done for the rest of the day beyond trying whether +another portage could be made. This was found to be impracticable, and +there was nothing for them but to attempt the descent. They breakfasted +as soon as day broke, carried the boats down over the boulder dam with +which the rapids commenced, and put them into the water. For some little +distance they were able to let them down by ropes, then the rocks at the +foot of the cliffs came to an end. Fortunately the seven lariats +furnished them with a considerable length of line, and in addition to +these the two Indians had on their way down plaited a considerable +length of rope, with thongs cut from the skins of the animals they had +killed. + +The total available amount of rope was now divided into two lengths, the +ends being fastened to each canoe. One of the boats with its crew on +board was lowered to a point where the men were able to get a foothold +on a ledge. As soon as they had done so the other boat dropped down to +them, and the ropes were played out until they were in turn enabled to +get a footing on a similar ledge or jutting rock, sometimes so narrow +that but one man was able to stand. So alternately the boats were let +down. Sometimes when no foothold could be obtained on the rock wall, the +pinnacles and ledges in the stream were utilized. All the work had to be +done by gesture, for the thunder of the waters was so tremendous that +the loudest shout could not be heard a few yards away. Hour passed after +hour. Their progress was extremely slow, as each step had to be closely +considered and carried out with the greatest care. + +At last a terrible accident happened. Harry, Leaping Horse, and Tom were +on a ledge. Below them was a fall of three feet, and in the foaming +stream below it, rose several jagged rocks. Jerry's canoe was got safely +down the fall, but in spite of the efforts of the rowers was carried +against the outer side of one of these rocks. They made a great effort +to turn the boat's head into the eddy behind it, but as the line touched +the rock its sharp edge severed the rope like a knife, and the boat shot +away down the rapid. Those on the ledge watched it with breathless +anxiety. Two or three dangers were safely passed, then to their horror +they saw the head of the canoe rise suddenly as it ran up a sunken ledge +just under the water. An instant later the stern swept round, bringing +her broadside on to the stream, and she at once capsized. + +"Quick!" Harry exclaimed, "we must go to their rescue. Keep close to the +wall, chief, till we see signs of them. It is safest close in." + +In an instant they were in their places, and as they released the canoe +she shot in a moment over the fall. For a short distance they kept her +close to the side, but a projecting ledge threw the current sharply +outwards, and the canoe shot out into the full force of the rapid. The +chief knelt up in the bow paddle in hand, keeping a vigilant eye for +rocks and ledges ahead, and often with a sharp stroke of the paddle, +seconded by the effort of Harry in the stern, sweeping her aside just +when Tom thought her destruction inevitable. Now she went headlong down +a fall, then was caught by an eddy, and was whirled round and round +three or four times before the efforts of the paddlers could take her +beyond its influence. Suddenly a cry came to their ears. Just as they +approached a rocky ledge some thirty feet long, and showing a saw-like +edge a foot above the water, the chief gave a shout and struck his +paddle into the water. + +"Behind the rock, Tom, behind the rock!" Harry exclaimed as he swept the +stern round. Tom paddled with all his might, and the canoe headed up +stream. Quickly as the movement was done, the boat was some twelve yards +below the rock as she came round with her nose just in the lower edge of +the eddy behind it, while from either side the current closed in on her. +Straining every nerve the three paddlers worked as for life. At first +Tom thought that the glancing waters would sweep her down, but inch by +inch they gained, and drove the boat forward from the grasp of the +current into the back eddy, until suddenly, as if released from a vice, +she sprang forward. Never in his life had Tom exerted himself so +greatly. His eyes were fixed on the rock in front of him, where Hunting +Dog was clinging with one hand, while with the other he supported +Jerry's head above water. He gave a shout of joy as the chief swept the +head of the canoe round, just as it touched the rock, and laid her +broadside to it. + +"Stick your paddle between two points of the rock, Tom," Harry shouted, +"while the chief and I get them in. Sit well over on the other side of +the boat." + +With considerable difficulty Jerry, who was insensible, was lifted into +the boat. As soon as he was laid down Hunting Dog made his way hand over +hand on the gunwale until close to the stern, where he swung himself +into the boat without difficulty. + +"Have you seen Sam?" Harry asked. + +The young Indian shook his head. "Sam one side of the boat," he said, +"Jerry and Hunting Dog the other. Boat went down that chute between +those rocks above. Only just room for it. Jerry was knocked off by rock. +Hunting Dog was near the stern, there was room for him. He caught +Jerry's hunting-shirt, but could not hold on to boat. When came down +here made jump at corner of rock. Could not hold on, but current swept +him into eddy. Then swam here and held on, and kept calling. Knew his +brothers would come down soon." + +"Here is a spare paddle," Harry said, as he pulled one out from below +the network, "there is not a moment to lose. Keep your eyes open, +chief." Again the boat moved down the stream. With four paddles going +the steersman had somewhat more control over her, but as she flew down +the seething water, glanced past rocks and sprang over falls, Tom +expected her to capsize every moment. At last he saw below them a +stretch of quiet water, and two or three minutes later they were +floating upon it, and as if by a common impulse all ceased rowing. + +"Thanks be to God for having preserved us," Harry said reverently. "We +are half-full of water; another five minutes of that work and it would +have been all over with us. Do you see any signs of the canoe, chief?" + +The chief pointed to a ledge of rock extending out into the stream. +"Canoe there," he said. They paddled across to it. After what the young +Indian had said they had no hopes of finding Sam with it, but Harry gave +a deep sigh as he stepped out on to the ledge. + +"Another gone," he said. "How many of us will get through this place +alive? Let us carry Jerry ashore." + +There was a patch of sand swept up by the eddy below the rock, and here +Jerry was taken out and laid down. He moaned as they lifted him. + +"Easy with him," Harry said. "Steady with that arm. I think he has a +shoulder broken, as well as this knock on the head that has stunned +him." + +As soon as he was laid down Harry cut open his shirt on the shoulder. +"Broken," he said shortly. "Now, chief, I know that you are a good hand +at this sort of thing. How had this better be bandaged?" + +"Want something soft first." + +Tom ran to the canoe, brought out the little canvas sack in which he +carried his spare flannel shirt, and brought it to the chief. The latter +tore off a piece of stuff and rolled it into a wad. "Want two pieces of +wood," he said, holding his hands about a foot apart to show the length +he required. Harry fetched a spare paddle, and split a strip off each +side of the blade. The chief nodded as he took them. "Good," he said. He +tore off two more strips of flannel and wrapped them round the splints, +then with Harry's aid he placed the shoulder in its natural position, +laid the wad of flannel on the top of it, and over this put the two +splints. The whole was kept in its place by flannel bandages, and the +arm was fastened firmly across the body, so that it could not be moved. +Then the little keg of brandy was brought out of the canoe, a spoonful +poured into the pannikin, with half as much water, and allowed to +trickle between Jerry's lips, while a wad of wet flannel was placed on +his head. + +"There is nothing more we can do for him at present," Harry said. "Now +we will right the other boat, and get all the things out to dry." + +Three or four pounds of flour were found to be completely soaked with +water, but the main store was safe, as the bag was sewn up in bear-skin. +This was only opened occasionally to take out two or three days' supply, +and then carefully closed again. On landing, Hunting Dog had at once +started in search of drift-wood, and by this time a fire was blazing. A +piece of bear's fat was placed in the frying-pan, and the wetted flour +was at once fried into thin cakes, which were tough and tasteless; but +the supply was too precious to allow of an ounce being wasted. Some +slices of the flesh of the big-horn were cooked. + +"What is my white brother going to do?" the chief asked Harry. + +"There is nothing to do that I can see, chief, but to keep on pegging +away. We agreed that it would be almost impossible to find our way over +these barren mountains. That is not to be thought of, now that one of +our number cannot walk. There is no choice left, we have got to go on." + +"Leaping Horse understand that," the chief said. "He meant would you +take both canoes? One is big enough to take five." + +"Quite big enough, chief, but it would be deeper in the water, and the +heavier it is the harder it will bump against any rock it meets; the +lighter they are the better. You see, this other canoe, which I dare say +struck a dozen times on its way down, shows no sign of damage except the +two rents in the skin, that we can mend in a few minutes. Another thing +is, two boats are absolutely necessary for this work of letting down by +ropes, of which we may expect plenty more. If we had only one, we should +be obliged to run every rapid. The only extra trouble that it will give +us is at the portages. I think we had better stay here for two or three +days, so as to give Jerry a chance of coming round. No doubt we could +carry him over the portages just as we can carry the boats, but after +such a knock on the head as he has had, it is best that he should be +kept quiet for a bit. If his skull is not cracked he won't be long in +getting round. He is as hard as nails, and will pull round in the tenth +of the time it would take a man in the towns to get over such a knock. +It is a pity the halt is not in a better place. There is not a shadow of +a chance of finding game among these crags and bare rocks." + +From time to time fresh water was applied to the wad of flannel round +Jerry's head. + +"Is there any chance, do you think, of finding poor Sam's body?" + +The chief shook his head. "No shores where it could be washed up, rocks +tear it to pieces; or if it get in an eddy, might be there for weeks. No +see Sam any more." + +The fire was kept blazing all night, and they took it by turns to sit +beside Jerry and to pour occasionally a little brandy and water between +his lips. As the men were moving about preparing breakfast the next +morning Jerry suddenly opened his eyes. He looked at Tom, who was +sitting beside him. + +"Time to get up?" he asked. "Why did you not wake me?" And he made an +effort to move. Tom put his hand on him. + +"Lie still, Jerry. You have had a knock on the head, but you are all +right now." + +The miner lay quiet. His eyes wandered confusedly over the figures of +the others, who had, when they heard his voice, gathered round him. + +"What in thunder is the matter with me?" he asked. "What is this thing +on my head? What is the matter with my arm, I don't seem able to move +it?" + +"It is the knock you have had, Jerry," Harry said cheerfully. "You have +got a bump upon your head half as big as a cocoa-nut, and you have +damaged your shoulder. You have got a wet flannel on your head, and the +chief has bandaged your arm. I expect your head will be all right in a +day or two, but I reckon you won't be able to use your arm for a bit." + +Jerry lay quiet without speaking for a few minutes, then he said: "Oh, I +remember now; we were capsized. I had hold of the canoe, and I remember +seeing a rock just ahead. I suppose I knocked against it." + +"That was it, mate. Hunting Dog let go his hold and caught you, and +managed to get into an eddy and cling to the rocks till we came down and +took you on board." + +Jerry held out his hand to the Indian. "Thankee," he said. "I owe you +one, Hunting Dog. If I ever get the chance you can reckon on me sure, +whatever it is. But where is Sam? Why ain't he here?" + +"Sam has gone under, mate," Harry replied. "That chute you went down was +only just wide enough for the boat to go through, and no doubt he was +knocked off it at the same time as you were; but as the Indian was on +your side, he saw nothing of Sam. I reckon he sank at once, just as you +would have done if Hunting Dog hadn't been behind you." + +Jerry made no reply, but as he lay still, with his eyes closed, some big +tears made their way through the lids and rolled down his bronzed face. +The others thought it best to leave him by himself, and continued their +preparations for breakfast. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +BACK TO DENVER + + +"When are you going to make a start again?" Jerry asked, after drinking +a, pannikin of tea. + +"We are not going on to-day; perhaps not to-morrow. It will depend on +how you get on." + +"I shall be a nuisance to you anyway," the miner said, "and it would be +a dog-goned sight the best way to leave me here; but I know you won't +do that, so it ain't no use my asking you. I expect I shall be all right +to-morrow except for this shoulder, but just now my head is buzzing as +if there was a swarm of wild bees inside." + +"You will be all the better when you have had a good sleep; I reckon we +could all do a bit that way. Young Tom and Hunting Dog are going to try +a bit of fishing with those hooks of yours. We talked about it when we +started, you know, but we have not done anything until now. We want a +change of food badly. We may be a month going down this caņon for +anything I know, and if it keeps on like this there ain't a chance of +seeing a head of game. It ought to be a good place for fish at the foot +of the rapids--that is, if there are any fish here, and I reckon there +should be any amount of them. If they do catch some, we will wait here +till we can dry a good stock. We have nothing now but the dried flesh +and some of the big-horn. There ain't above twenty pounds of flour left, +and we could clear up all there is in the boat in a week. So you need +not worry that you are keeping us." + +Half an hour later Hunting Dog and Tom put out in one of the canoes, and +paddling to the foot of the rapids let the lines drop overboard, the +hooks being baited with meat. It was not many minutes before the Indian +felt a sharp pull. There was no occasion to play the fish, for the line +was strong enough to hold a shark, and a trout of six pounds weight was +soon laid in the bottom of the boat. + +"My turn now," Tom said; and the Indian with a smile took the paddle +from his hand, and kept the boat up stream while Tom attended to the +lines. Fish after fish was brought up in rapid succession, and when +about mid-day a call from below told them that it was time for dinner, +they had some thirty fish averaging five pounds' weight at the bottom of +the boat. + +There was a shout of satisfaction from Harry as he looked down into the +canoe, and even the chief gave vent to a grunt that testified his +pleasure. + +"Hand me up four of them, Tom; I did not know how much I wanted a change +of food till my eyes lit on those beauties. We saw you pulling them out, +but I did not expect it was going to be as good as this." + +The fish were speedily split open, and laid on ramrods over the fire. + +"I reckon you will want another one for me," Jerry, who had been asleep +since they started, remarked. "I don't know that I am good for one as +big as those, but I reckon I can pick a bit anyhow." + +A small fish was put on with the others, and as soon as they were +grilled, all set to at what seemed to Tom the best meal he had ever +eaten in his life. He thought when he handed them to Harry that two +would have been amply sufficient for them all, but he found no +difficulty whatever in disposing of a whole one single-handed. + +"Now, Tom, the chief and I will take our turn while you and Hunting Dog +prepare your catch. He will show you how to do it, it is simple enough. +Cut off the heads, split and clean them, run a skewer through to keep +them flat, and then lay them on that rock in the sun to dry. Or wait, I +will rig up a line between two of the rocks for you to hang them on. +There is not much wind, but what there is will dry them better than if +they were laid flat." + +Jerry went off to sleep again as soon as the meal was finished, and the +bandages round his head re-wetted. The paddle from which the strips had +been cut furnished wood for the skewers, and in the course of half an +hour the fish were all hanging on a line. Twenty two more were brought +in at sunset. Some of these, after being treated like the others, were +hung in the smoke of the fire, while the rest were suspended like the +first batch. + +The next morning Jerry was able to move about, and the fishing went on +all day, and by night a quantity, considered sufficient, had been +brought ashore. + +"There are over four hundred pounds altogether," Harry said, "though by +the time they are dried they won't be more than half that weight. Two +pounds of dried fish a man is enough to keep him going, and they will +last us twenty days at that rate, and it will be hard luck if we don't +find something to help it out as we go down." + +They stopped another day to allow the drying to be completed. The fish +were taken down and packed on board that evening, and at daylight they +were afloat again. For the next ten days their labours were continuous. +They passed several rapids as bad as the one that had cost them so dear; +but as they gained experience they became more skilful in letting down +the boats. Some days only two or three miles were gained, on others they +made as much as twelve. At last they got out of the granite; beyond this +the task was much easier, and on the fifteenth day after leaving their +fishing-ground, they emerged from the caņon. + +By this time Jerry had perfectly recovered, and was with great +difficulty persuaded to keep his arm bandaged. He had chafed terribly at +first at his helplessness, and at being unable to take any share in the +heavy labours of the others; but after the rapids were passed he was +more contented, and sat quietly at the bottom of the boat smoking, while +Harry and Tom paddled, the two Indians forming the crew of the other +canoe. The diet of fish had been varied by bear's flesh, Leaping Horse +having shot a large brown bear soon after they got through the rapids. A +shout of joy was raised by the three whites as they issued from the +gorge into a quiet valley, through which the river ran, a broad tranquil +stream. Even the Indians were stirred to wave their paddles above their +heads and to give a ringing whoop as their companions cheered. The boats +were headed for the shore, and the camp was formed near a large clump of +bushes. + +Their joy at their deliverance from the dangers of the caņon was dashed +only by the thought of the loss of their two comrades. The next day +three short caņons were passed through, but these presented no +difficulties, and in the afternoon they reached the mouth of the Rio +Virgen, and continuing their journey arrived five days later at Fort +Mojarve. This was a rising settlement, for it was here that the traders' +route between Los Angeles and Santa Fé crossed the Colorado. Their +appearance passed almost unnoticed, for a large caravan had arrived that +afternoon and was starting east the next morning. + +"We had best hold our tongues about it altogether," Harry said, as soon +as he heard that the caravan was going on the next morning. "In the +first place they won't believe us, and that would be likely to lead to +trouble; and in the next place we should be worried out of our lives +with questions. Besides, we have got to get a fresh outfit, for we are +pretty near in rags, and to buy horses, food, and kit. We can leave the +boats on the shore, no one is likely to come near them." + +"I will stop and look after them," Tom said. "There are the saddles, +buffalo-robes, blankets, and ammunition. This shirt is in rags, and the +last moccasins Hunting Dog made me are pretty nearly cut to pieces by +the rocks. I would rather stay here and look after the boats than go +into the village; besides, it will save you the trouble of carrying all +these bags of gold about with you." + +Harry nodded, cut two of the little bags free from their lashings and +dropped them into his pocket, and then went up to the Fort with Jerry +and the Indians. Tom cut the other bags loose and put them on the ground +beside him, threw a buffalo-robe over them, and then sat for some hours +watching the quiet river and thinking over all they had gone through. It +was almost dark when the others returned. + +"It has taken us some time, Tom," his uncle said as they threw some +bundles down beside him; "the stores and clothes were easy enough, but +we had a lot of trouble to find horses. However, we did not mind much +what we paid for them, and the traders were ready to sell a few at the +prices we offered. So we have got five riding horses and two +pack-ponies, which will be enough for us. That bundle is your lot, +riding breeches and boots, three pairs of stockings, two flannel shirts, +a Mexican hat, and a silk neck handkerchief. We may as well change at +once and go up to the village." + +The change was soon effected. Harry and Jerry Curtis had clothes similar +to those they had bought for Tom, while the Indians wore over their +shirts new deer-skin embroidered hunting-shirts, and had fringed Mexican +leggings instead of breeches and boots. They, too, had procured Mexican +sombreros. Taking their rifles and pistols, and hiding their stock of +ammunition, the gold, and their buffalo-robes and blankets, they went up +to the village. It was by this time quite dark: the houses were all lit +up, and the drinking-shops crowded with the teamsters, who seemed bent +on making a night of it, this being the last village through which they +would pass until their arrival at Santa Fé. + +They slept as usual, wrapped up in their buffalo-robes by the side of +the boats, as all agreed that this was preferable to a close room in a +Mexican house. + +They were all a-foot as soon as daylight broke, and went up and +breakfasted at a fonda, Tom enjoying the Mexican cookery after the +simple diet he had been accustomed to. Then they went to the stable +where the horses, which were strong serviceable-looking animals, had +been placed, and put on their saddles and bridles. + +The pack-horses were then laden with flour, tea, sugar, bacon, and other +necessaries. By the time all was ready the caravan was just starting. +Harry had spoken the afternoon before to two of its leaders, and said +that he and four companions would be glad to ride with them to Santa Fé. +Permission was readily granted, the traders being pleased at the +accession of five well-armed men; for although Indian raids were +comparatively rare along this trail, there was still a certain amount of +danger involved in the journey. Some hours were occupied in crossing the +river in two heavy ferry-boats, and the process would have been still +longer had not half the waggons been sent across on the previous +afternoon. + +The long journey was made without incident, and no Indians were met +with. A few deer were shot, but as it was now late in the autumn the +scanty herbage on the plains was all withered up, and the game had for +the most part moved away into deep valleys where they could obtain food. + +The tale of their passage of the caņons was told more than once, but +although it was listened to with interest, Harry perceived that it was +not really believed. That they had been hunting, had been attacked by +Indians, had made canoes and passed through some of the caņons was +credible enough, but that they should have traversed the whole of the +lower course of the Colorado, seemed to the traders, who were all men +experienced in the country, simply incredible. The party stopped at +Santa Fé a few days, and then started north, travelling through the +Mexican villages, and finally striking across to Denver. At Santa Fé +they had converted the contents of their bags into money, which had been +equally shared among them. The Indians were not willing to accept more +than the recognized monthly pay, but Harry would not hear of it. + +"This has been no ordinary business, Leaping Horse," he said warmly; "we +have all been as brothers together, and for weeks have looked death in +the face every hour, and we must share all round alike in the gold we +have brought back. Gold is just as useful to an Indian as it is to a +white man, and when you add this to the hoard you spoke of, you will +have enough to buy as many horses and blankets as you can use all your +lifetime, and to settle down in your wigwam and take a wife to yourself +whenever you choose. I fancy from what you said, Hunting Dog has his eye +on one of the maidens of your tribe. Well, he can buy her father's +favour now. The time is coming, chief, when the Indians of the plains +will have to take to white men's ways. The buffaloes are fast dying out, +and in a few years it will be impossible to live by hunting, and the +Indians will have to keep cattle and build houses and live as we do. +With his money Hunting Dog could buy a tidy ranche with a few hundred +head of cattle. Of course, he can hunt as much as he likes so long as +there is any game left, but he will find that as his cattle increase, he +will have plenty to look after at home." + +"We will take the gold if my brother wishes it," the chief replied +gravely. "He is wise, and though now it seems to Leaping Horse that +red-skins have no need of gold, it may be that some day he and Hunting +Dog may be glad that they have done as their brother wished." + +"Thank you, Leaping Horse. It will make my heart glad when I may be far +away from you across the great salt water to know that there will always +be comfort in my brother's wigwam." + +On arriving at Denver they went straight to the Empire. As they entered +the saloon Pete Hoskings looked hard at them. + +"Straight Harry, by thunder!" he shouted; "and Jerry Curtis, and young +Tom; though I would not have known him if he hadn't been with the +others. Well, this air a good sight for the eyes, and to-morrow +Christmas-day. I had begun to be afeard that something had gone wrong +with you, I looked for news from you nigh three months ago. I got the +message you sent me in the spring, and I have asked every old hand who +came along east since the end of August, if there had been any news of +you, and I began to fear that you had been rubbed out by the Utes." + +"We have had a near escape of it, Pete; but it is a long story. Can you +put us all up? You know Leaping Horse, don't you? The other is his +nephew." + +"I should think I do know Leaping Horse," Pete said warmly, and went +across and shook the Indian's hand heartily. + +"I was looking at you three, and did not notice who you had with you. In +that letter the chap brought me, you said that the chief was going with +you, and Sam Hicks and Ben Gulston. I did not know them so well; that +is, I never worked with them, though they have stopped here many a +time." + +"They have gone under, Pete. Sam was drowned in the Colorado, Ben shot +by the Navahoes. We have all had some close calls, I can tell you. Well +now, can you put us up?" + +"You need not ask such a question as that, Harry," Pete said in an +aggrieved tone, "when you know very well that if the place was +chock-full, I would clear the crowd out to make room for you. There are +three beds in the room over this that will do for you three; and there +is a room beside it as Leaping Horse and his nephew can have, though I +reckon they won't care to sleep on the beds." + +"No more shall we, Pete. We have been fifteen months and more sleeping +in the open, and we would rather have our buffalo-robes and blankets +than the softest bed in the world." + +"You must have had a cold time of it the last three months up in those +Ute hills, where you said you were going." + +"We left there five months ago, Pete. We have been down as low as Fort +Mojarve, and then crossed with a caravan of traders to Santa Fé" + +Pete began pouring out the liquor. + +"Oh, you won't take one, chief, nor the young brave. Yes; I remember you +do not touch the fire-water, and you may be sure I won't press you. +Well, luck to you all, and right glad I am to see you again. Ah! here is +my bartender. Now we will get a good fire lit in another room and hurry +up supper, and then we will talk it all over. You have put your horses +up, I suppose?" + +"Yes; we knew you had no accommodation that way, Pete." + +The room into which Pete now led them was not his own sanctum, but one +used occasionally when a party of miners coming in from the hills wanted +to have a feast by themselves, or when customers wished to talk over +private business. There was a table capable of seating some twelve +people, a great stove, and some benches. A negro soon lighted a large +fire; then, aided by a boy, laid the table, and it was not long before +they sat down to a good meal. When it was over, Pete said: + +"Lend me a hand, Jerry, to push this table aside, then we will bring the +benches round the stove and hear all about it. I told the bar-tender +that I am not to be disturbed, and that if anyone wants to see me he is +to say that he has got to wait till to-morrow, for that I am engaged on +important business. Here are brandy and whisky, and tobacco and cigars, +and coffee for the chief and his nephew." + +"I think you may say for all of us, Pete," Harry said. "After being a +year without spirits, Jerry, Tom, and I have agreed to keep without +them. We wouldn't say no to you when you asked us to take a drink, and +we have not sworn off, but Jerry and I have agreed that we have both +been all the better without them, and mean to keep to it; and as for +Tom, he prefers coffee." + +"Do as you please," Pete said; "I am always glad to hear men say no. I +have made a lot of money out of it, but I have seen so many fellows +ruined by it that I am always pleased to see a man give up drink." + +"There is one thing, Pete," Tom said, "before we begin. We left our +bundles of robes and blankets in the next room, if you don't mind I +would a deal rather spread them out here--and I am sure the chief and +Hunting Dog would--and squat down on them, instead of sitting on these +benches. It is a long story uncle will have to tell you." + +"We will fetch ours too," Harry agreed. "Benches are all well enough for +sitting at the table to eat one's dinner, but why a man should sit on +them when he can sit on the ground is more than I can make out." + +Pete nodded. "I will have my rocking-chair in," he said, "and then we +shall be fixed up for the evening." + +The arrangements were soon made; pipes were lighted; the landlord sat in +his chair at some little distance back from the front of the stove; Tom +and the two Indians sat on their rugs on one side; Harry and Jerry +Curtis completed the semicircle on the other. + +"Well, in the first place, Pete," Harry began, "you will be glad to hear +that we have struck it rich--the biggest thing I have ever seen. It is +up in the Ute country. We have staked out a claim for you next our own. +There are about five hundred pounds of samples lying at Fort Bridger, and +a bit of the rock we crushed, panned out five hundred ounces to the ton." + +"You don't say!" Pete exclaimed. "If there is much of that stuff, Harry, +you have got a bonanza." + +"There is a good bit of it anyhow, Pete. It is a true vein, and though +it is not all like that, it keeps good enough. Fifty feet back we found +it run twenty ounces. That is on the surface, we can't say how it goes +down in depth. Where we struck it on the face it was about fourteen feet +high, and the lode kept its width for that depth anyhow." + +"That air good enough," the landlord said. "Now, what do you reckon on +doing?" + +"The place is among the hills, Pete, and the Utes are hostile, and went +very nigh rubbing us all out. We reckon it ought to be worked by a party +of thirty men at least. They ought to be well armed, and must build a +sort of fort. I don't think the Utes would venture to attack them if +they were of that strength. There is a little stream runs close to the +vein, and if it were dammed up it would drive a couple of stamps, which, +with a concentrator and tables and blankets, would be quite enough for +such stuff as that. I reckon fifteen men will be quite enough to work, +and to hold the fort. The other fifteen men would include three or four +hunters, and the rest would go backwards and forwards to Bridger for +supplies, and to take the gold down. They would be seven or eight days +away at a time; and if there should be trouble with the red-skins they +would always be back before those at the fort were really pressed. But +we should not be alone long, the news that a rich thing had been struck +would bring scores of miners up in no time. + +"We have taken up our own ten claims, which will include, of course, the +rich part. Then we have taken up the next eight or ten claims for our +friends. As I said, we put yours next to ours. We have not registered +them yet, but that will be the first job; and of course you and the +others will each have to put a man on your claims to hold them. The lode +shows on the other side of the creek, though not so rich; still plenty +good enough to work. But as we shall practically get all the water, the +lode cannot be worked by anyone but ourselves. Still the gravel is rich +all down the creek, as rich as anything I have seen in California, and +will be sure to be taken up by miners as soon as we are at work. So +there will be no real danger of trouble from the Indians then. What we +propose is this. We don't what to sell out, we think it is good enough +to hold, but we want to get a company to find the money for getting up +the machinery, building a strong block-house with a palisade, laying in +stores, and working the place. Jerry, Tom, and I would of course be in +command, at any rate for the first year or so, when the rich stuff was +being worked." + +"How much money do you think it will want, and what share do you think +of giving, Harry?" + +"Well, I should say fifty thousand dollars, though I believe half that +would be enough. Not a penny would be required after the first ton of +rock goes through the stamps. But we should have to take the stamps and +ironwork from the railway terminus to Bridger, and then down. We might +calculate on a month or six weeks in getting up the fort, making the +leat and water-wheel, putting up the machinery, and laying down the +flumes. Say two months from the time we leave Bridger to the time we +begin to work. There would be the pay of the men all that time, the cost +of transporting stores, and all that sort of thing; so it would be +better to say fifty thousand dollars. What share ought we to offer for +that?" + +"Well, if you could bring that five hundredweight of stuff here and get +it crushed up, and it turns out as good as you say, I could get you the +money in twenty-four hours. I would not mind going half of it myself, +and I should say that a quarter share would be more than good enough." + +"Well, we thought of a third, Pete." + +"Well, if you say a third you may consider that part of the business is +done. You won't be able to apply for claims in the names of Sam and Ben, +and if you did it would be no good, because they could not assign them +over to the company. There are eight claims without them, and the one +you have put down in my name is nine. Well, I can get say eleven men in +this place, who will give you an assignment of their claims for five +dollars apiece. That is done every day. I just say to them, I am +registering a share in your name in the Tom Cat Mine, write an +assignment to me of it and I am good for five dollars' worth of liquor, +take it out as you like. The thing is as easy as falling off a log. +Well, what are you thinking of doing next?" + +"We shall buy a light waggon and team to-morrow or next day and drive +straight over to Bridger, then we shall go to Salt Lake City and +register our claims at the mining-office there. We need not give the +locality very precisely. Indeed, we could not describe it ourselves so +that anyone could find it, and nobody would go looking for it before +spring comes and the snow clears. Besides, there are scores of wild-cat +claims registered every year. Until they turn out good no one thinks +anything of them. When we have got that done we will go back to Bridger, +and fetch the rock over here. We will write to-morrow to Pittsburg for +the mining outfit, for all the ironwork of the stamps, the concentrator, +and everything required, with axes, picks, and shovels, blasting tools +and powder, to be sent as far as they have got the railway." + +"But they will want the money with the order, Harry," Pete said in a +tone of surprise. + +"They will have the money. We washed the gravel for a couple of months +before the Utes lit on us, and after buying horses and a fresh outfit +for us all at Fort Mojarve, we have between us got something like five +thousand dollars in gold and greenbacks." + +"Jee-hoshaphat!" Pete exclaimed; "that was good indeed for two months' +work. Well, look here, there is no hurry for a few days about your +starting back to Bridger. Here we are now, nearly at the end of +December. It will take you a month to get there, say another fortnight +to go on to Salt Lake City and register your claim and get back to +Bridger, then it would be a month getting back here again; that would +take you to the middle of March. Well, you see it would be pretty nigh +the end of April before you were back at Bridger, then you would have to +get your waggons and your men, and that would be too late altogether. + +"You have got to pick your miners carefully, I can tell you; and it is +not a job to be done in a hurry. When they see what gold there is in the +rock they will soon set to work washing the gravel, and the day they do +they will chuck up your work altogether. I will tell you what I would +rather do, and that is, pick up green hands from the east. There are +scores of them here now; men who have come as far as this, and can't +start west till the snows melt. You need not think anything more about +the money. You tell me what you crushed is a fair sample of that five +hundred pounds, and that is quite good enough for me, and the gravel +being so rich is another proof of what the lode was when the stream cut +through it. I can put the twenty-five thousand dollars down, and there +are plenty of men here who will take my word for the affair and plank +their money down too. If there weren't I would put a mortgage on my +houses, so that matter is done. To-morrow I will get the men whose names +you are to give in for a claim each; it will be time in another two +months to begin to look about for some steady chaps from the east, +farmers' sons and such like. That is, if you think that plan is a good +one. I mean to see this thing through, and I shall go with you myself, +and we three can do the blasting." + +"We shall be wanted to look after the stamps and pans," Harry said. "We +had best get three or four old hands for the rock." + +"Yes, that is best," Pete said. "Between us it is hard if we can't lay +our hands upon men we can trust, and who will give us their word to stay +with us if we offer them six dollars a day." + +"We might offer them ten dollars," Harry said, "without hurting +ourselves; but we can say six dollars to begin with, and put some more +on afterwards." + +"There is old Mat Morgan," Jerry put in. "I don't know whether he is +about here now. I would trust him. He is getting old for prospecting +among the hills now, but he is as good a miner as ever swung a +sledge-hammer, and as straight as they make them." + +"Yes, he is a good man," Pete agreed. And after some talk they settled +upon three others, all of whom, Pete said, were either in the town or +would be coming in shortly. + +"Now, you stop here for a week or two, or a month if you like, Harry, +then you can go to Salt Lake City as you propose, and then go back to +Bridger. If as you pass through you send me five-and-twenty pounds of +that rock by express, it will make it easier for me to arrange the money +affair. When you get back you might crush the rest up and send me word +what it has panned out, then later on you can go down again to Salt Lake +City and buy the waggons and flour and bacon, and take them back to +Bridger. When March comes in, I will start from here with some waggons. +We want them to take the machinery, and powder and tools, and the tea +and coffee and things like that, of which we will make a list, on to +Bridger, with the four men we pick out, if I can get them all; if not, +some others in their place, and a score of young emigrants. I shall have +no difficulty in picking out sober, steady chaps, for in a place like +this I can find out about their habits before I engage them. However, +there will be plenty of time to settle all those points. Now, let us +hear all about your adventures. I have not heard about you since Tom +left, except that he wrote me a short letter from Bridger saying that +you had passed the winter up among the mountains by the Big Wind River. +That you had had troubles with the Indians, and hadn't been able to do +much trapping or looking for gold." + +"Well, we will tell it between us," Harry said, "for it is a long yarn." + +It was, indeed, past midnight before the story was all told. Long before +it was finished the two Indians had taken up their rugs and gone up to +their room, and although the other three had taken by turns to tell the +tale of their adventures, they were all hoarse with speaking by the time +they got through. Pete had often stopped them to ask question at various +points where the narrators had been inclined to cut the story short. + +"That beats all," he said, when they brought it to an end. "Only to +think that you have gone down the Grand Caņon. I would not have minded +being with you when you were fighting the 'Rappahoes or the Utes, but I +would not try going down the caņons for all the gold in California. +Well, look here, boys, I know that what you tell me is gospel truth, and +all the men who know you well, will believe every word you say, but I +would not tell the tale to strangers, for they would look on you as the +all-firedest liars in creation." + +"We have learnt that already, Pete," Harry laughed, "and we mean to keep +it to ourselves, at any rate till we have got the mine at work. People +may not believe the story of a man in a red shirt, and, mind you, I have +heard a good many powerful lies told round a miner's fire, but when it +is known we have got a wonderfully rich gold mine, I fancy it will be +different. The men would say, if fellows are sharp enough to find a +bonanza, it stands to reason they may be sharp enough to find their way +down a caņon. Now, let us be off to bed, for the heat of the stove has +made me so sleepy that for the last hour I have hardly been able to keep +my eyes open, and have scarcely heard a word of what Jerry and Tom have +been saying." + +They only remained a few days at Denver. After the life they had been +leading they were very speedily tired of that of the town, and at the +end of a week they started on horseback, with a light waggon drawn by a +good team, to carry their stores for the journey and to serve as a +sleeping-place. There had been no question about the Indians +accompanying them, this was regarded as a matter of course. It was by no +means a pleasant journey. They had frequent snow-storms and biting +wind, and had sometimes to work for hours to get the waggon out of deep +snow, which had filled up gullies and converted them into traps. After a +stay of three days at Fort Bridger to rest the animals, they went on to +Utah, having forwarded the sample of quartz to Pete Hoskings. + +A fortnight was spent at Salt Lake City. Waggons, bullocks, and stores +were purchased, and Harry arranged with some teamsters to bring the +waggons out to Fort Bridger as soon as the snow cleared from the ground. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +A FORTUNE + + +On their return to Fort Bridger Harry and his companions pounded up the +quartz that had been left there, and found that its average equalled +that of the piece they had tried at the mine. The gold was packed in a +box and sent to Pete Hoskings. A letter came back in return from him, +saying that five of his friends had put in five thousand dollars each, +and that he should start with the stores and machinery as soon as the +track was clear of snow. The season was an early one, and in the middle +of April he arrived with four large waggons and twenty active-looking +young emigrants, and four miners, all of whom were known to Harry. There +was a good deal of talk at Bridger about the expedition, and many +offered to take service in it. But when Harry said that the lode they +were going to prospect was in the heart of the Ute country, and that he +himself had been twice attacked by the red-skins, the eagerness to +accompany him abated considerably. + +The fact, too, that it was a vein that would have to be worked by +machinery, was in itself sufficient to deter solitary miners from trying +to follow it up. Scarce a miner but had located a score of claims in +different parts of the country, and these being absolutely useless to +them, without capital to work them with, they would gladly have disposed +of them for a few dollars. It was not, therefore, worth while to risk a +perilous journey merely on the chance of being able to find another vein +in the neighbourhood of that worked by Harry and the men who had gone +into it with him. There was, however, some surprise among the old hands +when Pete Hoskings arrived with the waggons. + +"What! Have you cut the saloon, Pete, and are you going in for mining +again?" one of them said as he alighted from his horse. + +Pete gave a portentous wink. + +"I guess I know what I am doing, Joe Radley. I am looking after the +interests of a few speculators at Denver, who have an idea that they are +going to get rich all of a sudden. I was sick of the city, and it just +suited me to take a run and to get out of the place for a few months." + +"Do you think it is rich, Pete?" + +"One never can say," Hoskings replied with a grin. "We are not +greenhorns any of us, and we know there is no saying how things are +going to turn out. Straight Harry has had a run of bad luck for the last +two years, and I am glad to give him a shoulder up, you know. I reckon +he won't come badly off any way it turns out." + +It was not much, but it was quite enough to send a rumour round the fort +that Pete Hoskings had been puffing up a wild-cat mine in Denver for the +sake of getting Straight Harry appointed boss of the expedition to test +it. + +Everything was ready at Bridger, and they delayed but twenty-four hours +there. The teams had arrived from Salt Lake City with the stores a week +before, and the eight waggons set off together. Pete, the three +partners, the two Indians, and the four miners were all mounted. There +were eight other horses ridden by as many of the young fellows Pete had +brought with him, the rest walked on foot. They marched directly for the +mine, as with such a force it was not necessary to make a detour over +the bad lands. At the first halting-place some long cases Pete had +brought with him were opened, and a musket handed to each of the +emigrants, together with a packet of ammunition. + +"Now," Pete said, "if the Utes meddle with us we will give them fits. +But I reckon they will know better than to interfere with us." + +The rate of progress with the heavy waggons was necessarily very much +slower than that at which the party had travelled on their previous +journey, and it was not until the afternoon of the eighth day after +starting, that they came down into the valley. A halt was made at the +former camping-place in the grove of trees, and the next morning Pete +and the miners went up with Harry and his friends to choose a spot for +the fort, and to examine the lode. As soon as the earth was scraped away +from the spot from which the rock had been taken, exclamations of +astonishment broke from the miners. They had been told by Pete that +Harry had struck it rich, but all were astonished at the numerous +particles and flakes of gold that protruded from the rock. Pete had +forwarded early in the spring to Harry the list of the claimants to the +mine, and the latter and Tom had ridden over to Salt Lake City a few +days before the waggons came up from there to register the claims at the +mining-office, and the first step was to stake out these claims upon the +lode. + +"It doesn't run like this far," Harry said to the miners, "and I reckon +that beyond our ground it doesn't run above two ounces to the ton, so I +don't think it is worth while your taking up claims beyond. Of course, +you can do so if you like, and we will allow you an hour off every few +days during the season to work your claims enough to keep possession, +and of an evening you can do a bit of washing down below. You will find +it good-pay dirt everywhere. At least we did as far as we tried it." + +They now fixed on the site for the fort. It was upon the top of the +bank, some twenty yards above the lode, and it was settled there should +be a strong double palisade running down from it to the stream, so that +in case of siege they could fetch water without being exposed to the +bullets of an enemy taking post higher up the creek. Among the men from +Denver were two or three experienced carpenters, and a blacksmith, for +whose use a portable forge had been brought in the waggons. + +The party returned to breakfast, and as soon as this was over the teams +were put in and the waggons were brought up and unloaded, the stores +being protected from wet by the canvas that formed the tilts. Some of +the men accustomed to the use of the axe had been left in the valley to +fell trees, and as soon as the waggons were unloaded they were sent down +to bring up timber. All worked hard, and at the end of the week a +log-hut fifty feet long and twenty-five feet wide had been erected. The +walls were five feet high, and the roof was formed of the trunks of +young trees squared, and laid side by side. + +As rain fell seldom in that region it was not considered necessary to +place shingles over them, as this could, in case of need, be done later +on. The door opened out into the passage between the palisades down to +the water, and the windows were all placed on the same side, loopholes +being cut at short intervals round the other three sides. Another +fortnight completed the preparations for work. The stamps were erected, +with the water-wheel to work them; the stream dammed a hundred yards up, +and a leat constructed to bring the water down to the wheel. + +The waggons were formed up in a square. In this the horses were shut +every night, four of the men by turns keeping guard there. During the +last few days the miners had been at work blasting the quartz, and as +soon as the stamps and machinery were in position they were ready to +begin. The men were all told off to various duties, some to carry the +rock down to the stamps, others to break it up into convenient sizes; +two men fed the stamps, others attended to the concentrator and +blankets, supervised by Harry. It was the duty of some to take the +horses down to the valley and guard them while they were feeding, and +bring them back at night. Two men were to bake and cook, Pete Hoskings +taking this special department under his care. Jerry worked with the +miners, and Tom was his uncle's assistant. + +The stamps were to be kept going night and day, and each could crush a +ton in twenty-four hours. To their great satisfaction each of the men +was allowed one day a week to himself, during which he could prospect +for other lodes or wash gravel as he pleased. The old cradle was found +where it had been left, and as five of the men were off duty each day, +they formed themselves into gangs and worked the cradle by turns, adding +very considerably to the liberal pay they received. The two Indians +hunted, and seldom returned without game of some sort or other. As the +quicksilver in the concentrator was squeezed by Harry or Tom, and the +blankets washed by them, none but themselves knew what the returns were. +They and their partners were, however, more than satisfied with the +result, for although the lode was found to pinch in as they got lower, +it maintained for the first six weeks the extraordinary average of that +they had first crushed. + +At the end of that time the Indians reported that they had seen traces +of the Utes having visited the valley. The number of men who went down +with the horses was at once doubled, one or other of the Indians staying +down with them, preceding them in the morning by half an hour to see +that the valley was clear. A week later the horses were seen coming back +again a quarter of an hour after they had started. The men caught up +their guns, which were always placed handy for them while at work, and +ran out to meet the returning party. + +"What is it, Hunting Dog?" + +"A large war-party," the Indian replied. "Three hundred or more." + +The horses were driven into the inclosure, half the men took their +places among the waggons, and the others, clustered round the hut, +prepared to enter it as soon as the Indians made their appearance. + +The partners had already arranged what course to take if the Indians +should come down on them, and were for all reasons most anxious that +hostilities should if possible be avoided. + +Presently the Indians were seen approaching at a gallop. As soon as they +caught sight of the log-house and the inclosure of waggons they reined +in their horses. The men had been ordered to show themselves, and the +sight of some forty white men all armed with rifles brought the Indians +to a dead stand-still. + +Pete Hoskings went forward a little and waved a white cloth, and then +Harry and the chief, leaving their rifles behind them stepped up to his +side and held their arms aloft. There was a short consultation among the +Indians, and then two chiefs dismounted, handed their rifles and spears +to their men, and in turn advanced. Harry and Leaping Horse went forward +until they met the chiefs halfway between the two parties. Harry began +the conversation. + +"Why do my red brothers wish to fight?" he asked. "We are doing them no +harm. We are digging in the hills. Why should we not be friends?" + +"The white men killed many of the Utes when they were here last year," +one of the chiefs replied. "Why do they come upon the Utes' land?" + +"It was the fault of the Utes," Harry said. "The white men wished only +to work in peace. The Utes tried to take their scalps, and the white men +were forced against their will to fight. No one can be blamed for +defending his life. We wish for peace, but, as the Utes can see, we are +quite ready to defend ourselves. There are forty rifles loaded and +ready, and, as you may see, a strong house. We have no fear. Last time +we were but few, but the Utes found that it was not easy to kill us. Now +we are many, and how many of the Utes would die before they took our +scalps? Nevertheless we wish for peace. The land is the land of the +Utes, and although we are strong and could hold it if we chose, we do +not wish to take it by force from our red brothers. We are ready to pay +for the right to live and work quietly. Let the chiefs go back to their +friends and talk together, and say how many blankets and how many guns +and what weight of ammunition and tobacco they will be content with. +Then if they do not ask too much, the white men will, so long as they +remain here, pay that amount each year in order that they may live in +peace with the Utes." + +The two Indians glanced at each other. "My white brother is wise," one +said. "Why did he not tell the Utes so last year?" + +"Because you never gave us time, chief. If you had done so we would have +said the same to you then, and your young men would be with you now; but +you came as enemies upon us, and when the rifle is speaking the voice is +silent." + +"I will speak with my braves," the chief said gravely. And turning round +they walked back to their party, while Harry and the chief returned to +the huts. + +"What do you think, chief? Will it be peace?" + +Leaping Horse nodded. "Too many rifles," he said. "The Utes will know +they could never take block-house." + +It was nearly two hours before the two Utes advanced as before, and +Harry and the Seneca went out to meet them. + +"My white brother's words are good," the chief said. "The Utes are great +warriors, but they do not wish to fight against the white men who come +as friends. The chiefs have talked with their braves, and the hatchets +will be buried. This is what the Utes ask that the white men who have +taken their land shall pay them." + +Harry had arranged that the chief, who spoke the Ute language more +perfectly than he did, should take charge of the bargaining. On the list +being given Leaping Horse assumed an expression of stolid indifference. + +"The land must be very dear in the Ute country," he said. "Do my +brothers suppose that the white men are mad that they ask such terms? +Peace would be too dear if bought at such a price. They are willing to +deal liberally with the Utes, but not to give as much as would buy +twenty hills. They will give this." And he enumerated a list of +articles, amounting to about one quarter of the Indians' demands. + +The bargaining now went on in earnest, and finally it was settled that a +quantity of goods, amounting to about half the Indians' first demand, +should be accepted, and both parties returned to their friends well +satisfied. + +A certain amount of goods had been brought out with a view to such a +contingency, and half the amount claimed was handed over to the Utes. +They had, indeed, more than enough to satisfy the demands, but Leaping +Horse had suggested to Harry that only a portion should be given, as +otherwise the Indians might suppose that their wealth was boundless. It +would be better to promise to deliver the rest in three months' time. A +dozen of the principal men of the Utes came over. The goods were +examined and accepted, the calumet of peace was smoked and a solemn +covenant of friendship entered into, and by the next morning the Indians +had disappeared. + +One end of the hut had been partitioned off for the use of the leaders +of the party, and the gold obtained each day was carried by them there +and deposited in a strong iron box, of which several had been brought by +Pete Hoskings from Denver. + +The day after the Indians left, a waggon, was sent off under the escort +of eight mounted labourers to Bridger, and this continued to make the +journey backward and forward regularly with the boxes of gold, Jerry and +Pete Hoskings taking it by turns to command the escort. Harry and Pete +had had a talk with the officer in command at Bridger on the evening +before they had started on the expedition. + +"You think you are going to send in a large quantity of gold?" the +officer asked. + +"If the mines are such as we think, Major, we may be sending down two or +three hundredweight a month." + +"Of course, the gold will be perfectly safe as long as it is in the +fort, but if it gets known how much there is, you will want a strong +convoy to take it across to the railway, and it would not be safe even +then. Of course, the bulk is nothing. I should say at any rate you had +better get it in here with as little fuss as possible." + +"If you will keep it here for awhile," Pete said, "we will think over +afterwards how it is to be taken further." + +The officer nodded. "It mayn't turn out as difficult a business as you +think," he said with a smile. "You are both old hands enough to know +that mines very seldom turn out as rich as they are expected to do." + +"We both know that," Pete Hoskings agreed. "I dunno as I ever did hear +of a mine that turned out anything nigh as good as it ought to have done +from samples, but I reckon that this is going to be an exception." + +When within a few miles of the fort the escort always placed their +rifles in the waggon and rode on some distance ahead of it, only one or +two with their leader remaining by it. The boxes, which were of no great +size, were covered by a sack or two thrown down in the corner of the +waggon, and on its arrival in the fort it was taken first to the store, +where a considerable quantity of provisions, flour, molasses, bacon, tea +and sugar, currants and raisins, and other articles were purchased and +placed in it. This was the ostensible purpose of the journey to the +fort. Late in the evening Jerry or Pete, whichever happened to be the +leader, and one of the men, carried the boxes across to the Major's +quarters and stored them in a cellar beneath it. + +There was a real need of provisions at the mine, for the population of +the valley rapidly increased as the season went on. The upper part of +the bed of the stream had been staked out into claims, the miners and +other men each taking up one, but below them the ground was of course +open to all, and although not nearly so rich as the upper gravel it was +good enough to pay fairly for working. A stout palisading now surrounded +the ground taken up by the machinery and the mine itself, and no one +except those engaged by the company were allowed to enter here. +Considerable surprise was felt in the camp when the first two or three +miners came up and staked out claims on the stream. + +"I wonder how they could have heard of it," Tom said to his uncle. + +"The fact that we are remaining out here is enough to show that we are +doing something, anyhow. The men who go in are always strictly ordered +to say no word about what our luck is, but the mere fact that they hold +their tongues--and you may be sure they are questioned sharply--is +enough to excite curiosity, and these men have come to find out and see +what the country is like, and to prospect the hills round where we are +working. You will see a lot of them here before long." + +As more came up it was determined to open a store. In the first place it +furnished an explanation for the waggon going down so often, and in the +second the fact that they were ready to sell provisions at cost prices +would deter others from coming and setting up stores. There was no +liquor kept on the mine, and Pete and Harry were very anxious that no +places for its sale should be opened in the valley. + +During the winter and spring Tom had received several letters from his +sisters. They expressed themselves as very grateful for the money that +he and their uncle had sent on their return to Denver, but begged them +to send no more, as the school was flourishing and they were perfectly +able to meet all their expenses. "It is very good of you, Tom," Carry +said. "Of course, we are all very pleased to know that you have been +able to send the money, because it relieves our anxiety about you; but +we really don't want it, and it makes us afraid that you are stinting +yourself. Besides, even if you are not, it would be much better for you +to keep the money, as you may find some opportunity of using it to your +advantage, while here it would only lie in the bank and do no good. It +would be different if we had nothing to fall back upon in case of +anything happening, such as some of us getting ill, or our having a case +of fever in the school, or anything of that sort, but as we have only +used fifty pounds of mother's money we have plenty to go on with for a +very long time; so that really we would very much rather you did not +send us any over. Now that we know your address and can write to you at +Fort Bridger, it seems to bring you close to us. But we have had two +very anxious times; especially the first, when we did not hear of you +for six months. The second time was not so bad, as you had told us that +it might be a long time before we should hear, and we were prepared for +it, but I do hope it will never be so long again." + +There had been some discussion as to whether the mine should be shut +down in winter, but it was soon decided that work should go on +regularly. Six more stamps were ordered to be sent from the east, with a +steam-engine powerful enough to work the whole battery, and in September +this and other machinery had reached the mine. Fresh buildings had been +erected--a storehouse, a house for the officers, and a shed covering the +whole of the machinery and yard. By the time this was all ready and in +place the valley below was deserted, the gravel having been washed out +to the bed-rock. No other lodes of sufficient richness to work had been +discovered by the prospectors, and with winter at hand there was no +inducement for them to stay longer there. + +Only two or three of the men at the mine wished to leave when their +engagement for the season terminated. All had been well paid, and had in +addition made money at gold-washing. Their food had been excellent, and +their comforts attended to in all ways. Accordingly, with these +exceptions all were ready to renew their engagements. + +An arrangement was made with the Major at Fort Bridger for an escort +under a subaltern officer to proceed with two waggons with the treasure +to Denver. Pete Hoskings and Jerry were to remain as managers of the +mine throughout the winter. Harry and Tom had made up their minds to go +to England and to return in the spring. The ore was now very much poorer +than it had been at first. The lode had pinched out below and they had +worked some distance along it. The falling off, however, was only +relative; the mine was still an extraordinarily rich one, although it +contained little more than a tenth of the gold that had been extracted +from the first hundred and fifty tons crushed. + +None but Harry, Pete Hoskings, Jerry, and Tom had any idea of the amount +of gold extracted in less than six months, although the miners were well +aware that the amount must be very large. It was so indeed, for after +repaying the amount expended in preliminary expenses, together with the +new machinery, the wages of the men, provisions, and all outgoings, they +calculated the treasure sent down to be worth one hundred and +twenty-eight thousand pounds, while the mine if sold would fetch at +least double that sum. After a hearty farewell to Pete and Jerry, Harry +and Tom with the two Indians rode with the last waggon down to Bridger. +The iron boxes had all been sewn up in deer-skins when they were sent +down, and at night they were placed in the waggons by Harry and his +companions. Over them were placed the provisions for the journey, as it +was just as well that even the soldiers should not suspect the amount of +treasure they were escorting. + +They encountered some severe snow-storms by the way, but reached Denver +without incident. The place had wonderfully changed since Tom had +arrived there more than two years before. It had trebled in size; broad +streets and handsome houses had been erected, and the town had spread in +all directions. They drove straight to the bank, to which Pete Hoskings +had sent down a letter a fortnight before they had started, and the +boxes were taken out of the waggon and carried down into the vaults of +the bank. A handsome present was made to each of the soldiers of the +escort, a brace of revolvers was given by Harry to the subaltern, and +the handsomest watch and chain that could be purchased in Denver was +sent by him to the Major, with an inscription expressing the thanks of +the company to him for his kindness. + +"Well, Tom, I am thankful that that is off my mind," Harry said. "I have +had a good many troubles in the course of my life, but this is the first +time that money has ever been a care to me. Well, we are rich men, Tom, +and we shall be richer, for the mine will run another two or three years +before it finishes up the lode as far as we have traced it, and as we +have now filed claims for a quarter of a mile farther back, it may be +good for aught I know for another ten years. Not so good as it has been +this year, but good enough to give handsome profits. Have you calculated +what our share is?" + +"No, uncle. I know it must be a lot, but I have never thought about what +each share will be." + +"Well, to begin with, a third of it goes to Pete Hoskings and his +friends, that leaves eighty-five thousand. The remainder is divided into +seven shares; I was to have two, the Indians three between them, you +one, and Jerry one. His share is then about twelve thousand, which +leaves seventy-three thousand between you and me. Of course, we shall +divide equally." + +"No, indeed, uncle; that would be ridiculous. I have been of very little +use through it all, and I certainly ought not to have as much as Jerry. +You and the chief discovered it, and it was entirely owing to you that +any of the rest of us have a share of the profits, and of course your +arrangement with the two Indians is only because the chief is so fond of +you." + +"Partly that, Tom; but chiefly because it is in accordance with red-skin +customs. They are hunters, fighters, and guides, but they are not +miners, and they never go in for shares in an enterprise of this sort. +It went very much against the grain for Leaping Horse to take that three +or four hundred pounds that came to him at the end of the last +expedition, and he would be seriously offended if I were to press upon +him more than his ordinary payment now; he would say that he has been +simply hunting this year, that he has run no risks, and has had nothing +to do with the mine. To-morrow morning we will go out to see what there +is in the way of horse-flesh in Denver, and will buy him and Hunting Dog +the two best horses in the town, whatever they may cost, with saddles, +bridles, new blankets, and so on. If I can get anything special in the +way of rifles I shall get a couple of them, and if not I shall get them +in New York, and send them to him at Bridger. These are presents he +would value infinitely more than all the gold we have stowed away in the +bank to-day. He is going back to his tribe for the winter, and he and +Hunting Dog will be at the mine before us next spring." + +In the morning Harry was two hours at the bank, where he saw the gold +weighed out, and received a receipt for the value, which came to within +a hundred pounds of what they had calculated, as the dust had been very +carefully weighed each time it was sent off. In accordance with the +arrangement he had made with Pete Hoskings and Jerry the amount of their +respective shares was placed to their credit at the bank. Drawing a +thousand pounds in cash, he received a draft for the rest upon a firm at +New York, where he would be able to exchange it for one on London. He +then inquired at the hotel as to who was considered to possess the best +horses in the town, and as money was no object to him, he succeeded in +persuading the owners to sell two splendid animals; these with the +saddles were sent to the hotel. He then bought two finely finished +Sharpe's rifles of long range, and two brace of silver-mounted +revolvers. + +"Now, Tom," he said, "I shall give one of these outfits to the chief and +you give the other to Hunting Dog; he has been your special chum since +we started, and the presents will come better from you than from me. I +expect them here in half an hour; I told them I should be busy all the +morning." + +The two Indians were delighted with their presents, even the chief being +moved out of his usual impassive demeanour. "My white brothers are too +good. Leaping Horse knows that Straight Harry is his friend; he does not +want presents to show him that; but he will value them because he loves +his white brothers, even more than for themselves." As for Hunting Dog, +he was for a long time incredulous that the splendid horse, the rifle +and pistols could really be for him, and he was so exuberant in his +delight that it was not until Leaping Horse frowned at him severely that +he subsided into silent admiration of the gifts. + +"Here are papers, chief, that you and Hunting Dog had better keep: they +are the receipts for the two horses, and two forms that I have had +witnessed by a lawyer, saying that we have given you the horses in token +of our gratitude for the services that you have rendered; possibly you +may find them useful. You may fall in with rough fellows who may make a +pretence that the horses have been stolen. Oh, yes! I know that you can +hold your own; still, it may avoid trouble." + +They had now no further use for their horses, so these were sold for a +few pounds. They purchased a stock of clothes sufficient only for their +journey to England. + +"You may as well put your revolver in your pocket, Tom," Harry said as +they prepared to start the next day. "I have sewn up the draft in the +lining of my coat, but sometimes a train gets held up and robbed, and as +we have six hundred pounds in gold and notes in our wallets, I certainly +should not give it up without a fight." + +The Indians accompanied them to the station. "Now, chief, you take my +advice and look out for a nice wife before next spring. You are forty +now, and it is high time you thought of settling down." + +"Leaping Horse will think over it," the Seneca said gravely. "It may be +that in the spring he will have a wigwam in the valley." + +A few minutes later the train started east, and five days later they +reached New York. A steamer left the next day for England, and in this +they secured two first-class berths; and although Tom had managed very +well on his way out, he thoroughly enjoyed the vastly superior comfort +of the homeward trip. They went straight through to Southampton, for, as +Harry said, they could run up to London and get their clothes any day; +and he saw that Tom was in a fever of excitement to get home. Harriet +came to the door of the little house at Southsea when they knocked. She +looked surprised at seeing two gentlemen standing there. In the two +years and a half that had passed since Tom had left he had altered +greatly. He had gone through much toil and hardship, and the bronze of +the previous summer's sun was not yet off his cheeks; he had grown four +or five inches, and the man's work that he had been doing had made +almost a man of him. + +"Don't you know me, Harriet?" Tom said. + +The girl at once recognized the voice, and with a loud cry of delight +threw her arms round his neck. The cry brought Carry out from the +parlour. "Why, Harriet," she exclaimed, "have you gone mad?" + +"Don't you see it's Tom?" Harriet said, turning round, laughing and +crying together. + +"It is Tom, sure enough, Carry; you need not look so incredulous; and +this is Uncle Harry." + +There were a few minutes of wild joy, then they calmed down and +assembled in the sitting-room. + +"It is lucky the girls have all gone home to dinner," Carry said, "or +they would certainly have carried the news to their friends that we were +all mad. It is a half-holiday too, nothing could be more fortunate. Now +we want to hear everything. Tom's letters were so short and +unsatisfactory, uncle, that he told us next to nothing, except that you +had found a mine, and that you were both working there, and that it was +satisfactory." + +"Well, my dears, that is the pith of the thing," Harry said. "The first +thing for you to do is to send round notes to the mothers of these +children saying that from unforeseen circumstances you have retired from +the profession, and that the school has finally closed from this +afternoon." + +There was a general exclamation from the girls: + +"What do you mean, uncle?" + +"I mean what I say, girls. Tom and I have made our fortunes, and there +is no occasion for you to go on teaching any longer. We have not yet +made any plans for the future, but at any rate the first step is, that +there is to be no more teaching." + +"But are you quite, quite sure, uncle?" Carry said doubtfully. "We are +getting on very nicely now, and it would be a pity to lose the +connection." + +Harry and Tom both laughed. + +"Well, my girl," the former said, "that is of course a point to be +thought of. But as Tom and I have over thirty-five thousand pounds +apiece, and the mine will bring us in a good round sum for some years to +come, I think we can afford to run the risk of the connection going." + +After that it was a long while before they settled down to talk quietly +again. + +A week later they all went up to London for a month, while what Harry +called "outfits" were purchased for the girls, as well as for him and +Tom, and all the sights of London visited. Before their story came to an +end, the grand consultation as to future plans had been held, and a +handsome house purchased at Blackheath. + +Tom did not return to Utah in the spring; his uncle strongly advised him +not to do so. + +"I shall go back myself, Tom; partly because I should feel like a fish +out of water with nothing to do here, partly because I promised the +chief to go back for a bit every year. I am beginning to feel dull +already, and am looking forward to the trip across the water, but it +will certainly be better for you to stay at home. You left school early, +you see, and it would be a good thing for you to get a man to come and +read with you for two or three hours a day for the next year or two. We +have settled that the three younger girls are to go to school; and I +don't see why you, Carry, and Janet, should not go, in the first place, +for two or three months on to the Continent. They have had a dull life +since you have been away, and the trip will be a treat for them, and +perhaps do you some good also. It will be time enough to settle down to +reading when you come back." + +The mine returned large profits that year, the increased amount stamped +making up to some extent for the falling off in the value of the ore, +and the shares of the various proprietors were more than half what they +had been at the end of the first season's work. The third year it fell +off considerably. There was a further decrease the year after, and the +fifth year it barely paid its expenses, and it was decided to abandon +it. Harry Wade went over every season for many years, but spent only the +first at the mine. After that he went hunting expeditions with Leaping +Horse, who, to his amusement, had met him at his first return to the +mine with a pretty squaw, and Hunting Dog had also brought a wife with +him. Two wigwams were erected that year near the mine, but after that +they returned to their tribe, of which Leaping Horse became the leading +chief. + +Tom's sisters all in due time married, each being presented on her +wedding-day with a cheque for ten thousand pounds, as a joint present +from her uncle and brother. + +Tom himself did not remain a bachelor, but six years after his return to +England took a wife to himself, and the house at Blackheath was none too +large for his family. Harry Wade's home is with Tom, and he is still +hale and hearty. Up to the last few years he paid occasional visits to +America, and stayed for a while with his red brother Leaping Horse, when +they lamented together over the disappearance of game and the extinction +of the buffalo. Hunting Dog had, at Harry's urgent advice, settled down +in the ways of civilization, taking up a ranche and breeding cattle, of +which he now owns a large herd. Jerry Curtis and Pete Hoskings made a +journey together to Europe after the closing of the mine. They stayed +for a month at Blackheath, and ten years later Tom received a lawyer's +letter from Denver saying that Peter Hoskings was dead, and that he had +left his large house and other property in Denver to Mr. Thomas Wade's +children. Jerry still lives at the age of seventy-five in that city. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, IN THE HEART OF THE ROCKIES *** + +This file should be named 8htrk10.txt or 8htrk10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 8htrk11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 8htrk10a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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