diff options
Diffstat (limited to '23487-8.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 23487-8.txt | 9230 |
1 files changed, 9230 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/23487-8.txt b/23487-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b84fee6 --- /dev/null +++ b/23487-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9230 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Tonio, Son of the Sierras, by Charles King + +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: Tonio, Son of the Sierras + A Story of the Apache War + +Author: Charles King + +Illustrator: Charles J. Post + +Release Date: November 15, 2007 [EBook #23487] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TONIO, SON OF THE SIERRAS *** + + + + +Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Archive/American +Libraries.) + + + + + + +Transcriber's Note: Minor typographical errors have been corrected +without note. Dialect spellings, contractions and discrepancies have +been retained. + + +[Illustration: Tonio, Son of the Sierras, erect and slender. + _Frontispiece_] + + + + +TONIO + +SON OF THE SIERRAS + +_A Story of the Apache War_ + + + +By + +GENERAL CHARLES KING + + +AUTHOR OF + +"NORMAN HOLT," "THE IRON BRIGADE," +"THE COLONEL'S DAUGHTER," +"A DAUGHTER OF THE SIOUX," ETC. + + +Illustrations by + +CHARLES J. POST + + +G. W. DILLINGHAM COMPANY +PUBLISHERS NEW YORK + +Copyright, 1906, by + +G. W. DILLINGHAM COMPANY + +_Entered at Stationers' Hall, London_ +_All rights reserved_ + +Issued June, 1906. + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + + PAGE + +Tonio, Son of the Sierras, erect and slender _Frontispiece_ 8 + +Scrambling down the adjacent slope every man for himself 81 + +"Keep watch now all around, especially east and southeast" 175 + +"They've opened on Case and Clancy" 188 + + + + +TONIO + +SON OF THE SIERRAS + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +"Does it never rain here?" asked the Latest Arrival, with sudden shift +of the matter under discussion. + +"How is that, Bentley?" said the officer addressed to the senior +present, the surgeon. "You've been here longest." + +"Don't know, I'm sure," was the languid answer. "I've only been here +three years. Try 'Tonio there. He was born hereabouts." + +So the eyes of the six men turned to the indicated authority, an Apache +of uncertain age. He looked to be forty and might be nearer sixty. He +stood five feet ten in his tiptoed moccasins, and weighed less than +little Harris, who could not touch the beam at five feet five. Harris +was the light weight of the --th Cavalry, in physique, at least, and +by no means proud of the distinction. To offset the handicap of lack of +stature and weight, and of almost cat-like elasticity of frame and +movement, he saw fit to cultivate a deliberation and dignity of manner +that in his cadet days had started the sobriquet of "Heavy," later +altered to "Hefty"; and Hefty Harris he was to the very hour this story +opens--a junior first lieutenant with four years' record of stirring +service in the far West, in days when the telegraph had not yet strung +the Arizona deserts, and the railway was undreamed of. He had only just +returned to the post from a ten days' scout, 'Tonio, the Apache, being +his chief trailer and chosen companion on this as on many a previous +trip. The two made an odd combination, having little in common beyond +that imperturbable self-poise and dignity. The two elsewhere had met +with marked success in "locating" _rancherias_ of the hostile bands, +and in following and finding marauding parties. The two were looked +upon in southern Arizona as "the best in the business," and now, +because other leaders had tried much and accomplished little, it had +pleased the general commanding the Division of the Pacific to say to +his subordinate, the general commanding the Department of Arizona, that +as the "Tonto" Apaches and their fellows of the Sierra Blanca seemed +too wily for his scouting parties sent out from Whipple Barracks, and +the valley garrisons of McDowell and Verde, it might be well to detach +Lieutenant Harris from his troop at old Camp Bowie and send him, with +'Tonio, to report to the commanding officer at Camp Almy. + +Now the commanding general of Arizona had thought of that project +himself, and rejected it for two reasons: first, that the officers and +men on duty at Almy would possibly take it as a reflection; second, +that 'Tonio would probably take it as an affront to himself. 'Tonio, be +it understood, was of the Apache Mohave tribe, whose hunting grounds +had long been the upper Verde and adjacent mountains. 'Tonio had no +scruples as to scouting and shooting Chiricahuas and Sierra Blancas or +the roving bands of Yaquis that sometimes ventured across the "Gadsden +Purchase" from Mexico. 'Tonio had done vengeful work among these +fellows. But now he was brought face to face with a far different +proposition. The renegades of northern Arizona in the earliest of the +seventies were mainly Tontos, but many a young brave of the Apache +Mohave tribe had cast his lot with them. Many had taken their women and +children, and 'Tonio would be hunting, possibly, his own flesh and +blood. The junior general had ventured to remonstrate by letter, even +when issuing the order indicated, but the senior stood to his +prerogative with a tenacity that set the junior's teeth on edge, and +started territorial and unbecoming comparisons between the division +commander's firmness on the fighting line a decade earlier, and far +behind it now. San Francisco was perhaps five hundred miles from the +scene of hostilities, and those farthest away seldom fail to see +clearer than those on the spot, and to think they know better, so +Harris and his dusky henchman came up to Almy with little by way of +welcome, and back from their first scout with nothing by way of result. +Therefore, the sextette of officers that had been but lukewarm at the +start became lavish in cordiality at the close. The failure of Harris, +the favorite of the chieftain of the big Division, meant that no +further criticism could attach to them. If Harris could accomplish +nothing worth mention, what could be expected of others? + +Therefore, while awaiting the return of the courier sent up to +Prescott, with report of what Harris had not accomplished, and asking +instructions as to what the gentleman would have next, the commanding +officer of the old post, built by California volunteers during the +Civil War and garrisoned later by reluctant regulars, set a good +example to his subordinates by doing his best to console the "casuals," +as visitors were officially rated, and his subordinates loyally +followed suit. + +But Harris seemed unresponsive. Harris seemed almost sulky. Harris had +added silence to dignity, and spent long hours of a sunny day sprawled +in a hammock, smoking his pipe and studying 'Tonio, who squatted in the +shade at the end of the narrow porch of the old officers' mess +building, still more silent and absorbed than his young commander. + +And this was the condition of things when the Latest Arrival appeared +on the scene, fresh from head-quarters, some ninety miles northwest and +two thousand feet higher. He had come late the previous afternoon. He +had skated down the flinty scarp of Misery Hill, with the wheels of his +buckboard locked, and hauled up at the adjutant's in a cloud of dust +and misapprehension, with barely time for a bath and a shave before +dinner. He was a new aide-de-camp of the department commander. He had +served him well and won his notice on Indian campaigns afar to the +north in the Columbia valley, where gum boots and slickers were as +indispensable as here they were superfluous. He had never been, he +said, so dry in his life as when he scrambled from his mud-colored +chariot to the steps of the official residence. The temporal wants had +been spiritually removed, but not the impression. Now, some eighteen +hours later, he wished to know if it never rained at Almy, and there +was no white man could tell him. So, one and all, they looked to +'Tonio, whose earliest recollections were of the immediate +neighborhood. + +And 'Tonio proved a reluctant witness. Urged by Stannard, the senior +captain referred to, Harris put the question in "Pidgin" Apache, and +'Tonio, squatting still, gazed dreamily away toward the huge bulwark of +Squadron Peak, and waited for respectful cessation of all talk before +he would answer. + +At last he rose to his full height and, with a sweeping gesture the +length of his arm, pointed to the domelike summit, dazzling in the +slant of the evening sunshine, that seemingly overhung the dun-colored +adobe corrals on the flats to the south, yet stood full five miles +away. 'Tonio so seldom opened his lips to speak that the six men +listened with attention they seldom gave to one another. Yet what +'Tonio said was translatable only by Harris: + +"When the picacho hides his head in the clouds, then look for rain." + +"Lord," said the doctor, "I doubt if ever I've seen a cloud above +it--much less on it! If it weren't for the creek yonder the whole post +would shrivel up and blow away. Even the hygrometer's dead of +disuse--or dry rot. But, talk of drying up, did you ever see the beat +of him?" and the doctor was studying anatomy as displayed in this +particular Apache. + +Five feet ten 'Tonio stood before them, not counting the thatch of his +matted black hair, bound with white cotton turban. Five feet ten in +height, but so gaunt and wiry that the ribs and bones seemed breaking +through the tawny skin, that in flank and waist and the long sweep of +his sinewy, fleshless legs, he rivalled the greyhound sprawled at his +feet. "'Tonio has not half an ounce of fat in his hide," said Harris, +in explaining his tireless work on the trail. "'Tonio can go sixty +miles without a gulp of water and come out fresh as a daisy at the +end." 'Tonio's eminently fit condition had been something Harris ever +held in envy and emulation, yet on this recent scout even 'Tonio had +failed him. 'Tonio had complained. To look at him as he stood there +now, erect, slender, with deep chest and long, lank arms and legs, +trammelled only by the white cotton breechclout that looped over the +waist belt and trailed, fore and aft, below the bony knee, his back and +shoulders covered by white _camisa_ unfastened at the throat and +chest, his feet cased in deerskin moccasins, the long leggings of which +hung in folds at the ankles, one could liken him only to the +coyote--the half-famished wolf of the sage plain and barren, for even +the greyhound knew thirst and fatigue,--knew how to stretch at full +length and luxury in the shade, whereas 'Tonio, by day at least, stood +or squatted. Never in all their long prowlings, by day or night, among +the arid deserts or desolate ranges along the border, had Harris known +his chief trailer and scout to hint at such a thing as weariness. Yet, +within the week gone by, thrice had he declared himself unable to go +farther. Did it mean that at last 'Tonio would purposely fail him, now +that there were some of his own people among the renegades? + +'Tonio had stoutly denied such a weakness. The few young men with the +hostiles, said he, were more Tonto than Mohave--fools who had offended +their brothers and dishonored their tribe. Chiefs, medicine men, even +the women, he said, disowned them. The braves would kill, and the women +spurn, them on sight. 'Tonio pointed to the "hound" scouts with the +Verde company--Hualpais, some of them--splendid specimens from the +mountains; Apache Yumas, some of them, not quite the peer of the +Hualpais; but many of them--most of them, in fact--Apache Mohaves, +fiercest, surest trailers of the wild Red Rock country, familiar with +every cañon and crag in all the rude range from Snow Lake to the Sierra +Blanca. "All brothers," protested 'Tonio. "All soldiers. All braves, +unafraid of a thousand Tontos, eager only to meet and punish their +traitor fellows who had taken the White Chief's pay and bread, pledged +their best services and then gone renegading to the fastnesses of the +Mogollon," adding with scorn unspeakable, "taking _other_ women with +them." + +And still Harris was not content. Harris had sent a runner back when +the scout was but half finished, with a note to be relayed to Prescott, +to tell the general of his ill success and his evil suspicions, and the +chief being himself out a-hunting, what did his chief of staff do but +order the Newly Arrived down to Almy to meet the home-coming party and +see for himself--and his general! + +And of all men chosen to meddle in matters concerning "Hefty" Harris, +perhaps the latest suitable, in some ways, was his classmate and +comrade lieutenant, though in different arms of the service--Hal +Willett of "The Lost and Strayed," so called from the fact that they +had been sent to desert wilds in '65, scattered over three territories, +and despite some hard fighting and many hard knocks, had never, said +their detractors, been heard from since. + +Rivals they had been in cadet days and more than one pursuit. Rivals +they still were in the field of arms, for the name Harris had won for +himself in Arizona Willett had matched in the Columbia, and now, fresh +from the ill-starred campaign of the Lava Beds, was one of the few men +to get something better than hard knocks, censure and criticism. Until +the previous evening, not since the day they parted at West Point had +they set eyes one on the other, and, knowing nothing of what had gone +before and never dreaming of what would come to pass, a benighted +bureau officer had sent the one down to find out what was the matter +with the other. + +And thereby hangs this tale. + +For, as luck would have it, there was even then stationed in that +far-away land a luckless lieutenant-colonel of infantry who had started +with good prospects in the Civil War, had early been given command of a +brigade of volunteers and within the month had had his raw concourse of +undrilled, undisciplined levies swept from under him in the first +fierce onset at Shiloh. What else could have been expected of men to +whom arms had been issued but ten days before, and who had not yet +learned which end to bite from the cartridge? Hurled from his terrified +horse, the general had been picked up senseless, to see no more of +fighting until Stone's River, eight months later, where with a more +seasoned command the same thing happened. And still he persisted, when +well of an ugly wound, and, while juniors in years and length of +service were now heading corps and divisions, with double stars on +their shoulders, and he had to begin again with a brigade, he got into +line for Chickamauga with his usual luck just within range of the fatal +gap left by a senior in command--the gap through which poured the +impetuous gray torrent of the Southland--and for the third time +everything crumbled away in spite of him, while he was left for dead +upon the field. He had done his best, as had other men, and had fared +only the worst. It was a case of three times and out. The impatient +North had no more use for names linked only with disaster. When, +finally exchanged, he limped back to duty, they put him on courts, +boards and other back-door business until the war was over, then sent +him to the Pacific Slope, with the blanket brevet of March, 1865, and +here he was, eight long years thereafter, "The General" by way of +title, without the command; silver leaves where once gleamed the stars +on his shoulders; silver streaks where once rippled chestnut and gold; +wrinkled of visage and withered in shank; kindly, patient, yet +pathetic; "functioning" a four-company post in a far-away desert, with +grim mountain chains on east and west, and waters on every side of +him, four long weeks and four thousand miles by mail route from home, +and much longer by sea; with nothing to do but send out scouts, sign +papers, sing an old song or two when the spirit moved him; with not a +thing in his soldier past to be ashamed of, nothing much in his soldier +present to rejoice in, nothing whatever in his soldier future to hope +for, finding his companionship in the comrades about him, and his +sweetest comfort in the unswerving love of a devoted wife, and their +one unstinted pride and delight, Lilian, their only daughter--their +only surviving child. + +Many of these eight years of what then was exile, while he, at first as +a major of foot, was campaigning in regions long since reclaimed from +savagery, and rusticating at frontier forts long since forgotten, +Lilian and her mother had dwelt in lodgings at "The Bay" that the child +might have the advantage of San Francisco's schools. Only once each +year, until of late, had he been able to visit them, usually at +Christmas-tide, but by every runner, courier, stage or post there came +to them his cheery letters, bearing such old-time, outlandish +post-marks or headings as "Lapwai," "Three Forks, Owyhee," and later +"Hualpai," or "Hassayampa," until finally it became mild, civilized, +pacific, even "Almy." + +The uniform of a general, that the law had let him wear just as long in +peace as had been the war in years, was finally packed in camphorated +hope of resurrection, and the garb of actual rank resumed in 1870. He +could bear the title _ad infinitum_, but not the sign. + +The silver leaf, as said, had come to replace the worn and tarnished +gold by '73, then mountain fever had seized and laid him by the heels, +and then all the Indians in Arizona, or the army women out of it, could +not dissuade Mrs. Archer from her duty. She and Lilian were the +heroines of a buckboard ride from Drum Barracks to the Colorado, from +the Colorado to Prescott, from Prescott down through wild and tortuous +cañons to and beyond the valley of the Verde--to the wondering eyes of +the waiting garrison and the welcoming arms of the fond husband and +father at Almy. + +And this was but the week gone by, just before the "Newly Arrived" had +reached Prescott--just before "Hefty" Harris had returned from scout. +Not until this very morning--the first since their reunion of that +warm, yet winter's evening of the previous day--had the two classmates +set eyes on Miss Archer (it was as she rode away by her father's side +for a canter up the valley), and not until this late afternoon, as the +sun was dipping behind the black range of the Mazatzal, did they have +opportunity to speak with her. + +Even as 'Tonio stood, silent and statuesque, while the doctor went on +record as to the rainfall of the Verde watershed, there came suddenly +into view, jogging quietly up the winding road from the lower ford, +three riders, followed by half a pack of lagging, yapping hounds--"The +Old Man," the maiden and the orderly--and all men on the wooden porch +of the unpainted mess building, rose to their feet in deference to the +united "powers above," rank and age, youth and beauty, and presently +the commander was saying for the benefit of the two new-comers: "My +daughter, gentlemen. Lilian, Mr. Harris, Mr. Willett." + +Inadvertently he had named them in the inverse order of rank--a small +matter, though Willett had been promoted to his bar a year ahead of +Harris. Otherwise, it was with a fair field and no favor the old-time +rivals of cadet days stood for the first time in the presence of the +only army girl at that moment to be found in the far-flung shadow of +the Mazatzal--stood side by side, facing both the starter and the prize +in what was destined to be the last great contest of their lives. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +"Come and dine with us this evening, you two," the "Old Man" was +saying, a few minutes later. He had been home long enough to consult +the "Commanding General," as he frequently referred to that smiling +better half, and to compare notes as to the condition of the larder and +cellar. He had flung conventionality to the winds, as most of us had to +in early Arizona days. "You others," he said, "have suffered so often +from my steaks and stories, you're glad not to be included. To-day I'm +bidding only these two youngsters. You know our dining table holds only +six. No, never mind about the call!" he interposed, with uplifted +hands, one to receive the toddy Briggs was stirring for him, the other +in kindly protest, for both the youngsters were on their feet +confusedly striving to make it understood that they had only been +waiting for the cool of the evening to come to pay their respects. "And +never mind about spike tail and shirt fronts either--come just as you +are!" + +"Indeed, I'll _have_ to, sir," said Willett, whose undress uniform +fitted him like a glove and was cut and made by the then expert +military artist of the far East. They had not taken it too kindly, +these others in white cotton sack coats, hewed and stitched by the +company tailor, or even in canvas shooting rig, as was Harris, that the +young aide-de-camp, after brief siesta in the mid-day lazy hour, should +have appeared among them all, fresh-shaved and tubbed, and in +faultless, bran-new, spick-and-span cap and blouse and trousers, with +black silk socks and low-cut patent leather "Oxford ties." Harris, +hammock slung, and moodily studying 'Tonio, looked approvingly, but +made no remark whatever. Stannard, ever blunt and short of speech, had +shoved his hairy hands deep in his trousers' pockets, a thing no sub +would twice venture in his presence, looked Willett over from head to +foot, then, with a sniff, had turned away, but Bentley and Turner had +indulged in whimsical protest, "Gad, man, but you put us all to shame," +said the surgeon. "I've seen no rig to match that since I came to this +post. It's rarer than rain." + +"What _do_ you wear when you call on the commanding officer?" queried +the Latest Arrival, with jovial good-nature. "Thank you, Briggs. That +_was_ a good toddy." + +"Never had a family here until this week," said Bentley, "and such +calling as I've done has been in what I happened to have on, and even +then I've wished we dressed like 'Tonio there. Why, Mr. Willett, only +once since I came to this post has there been an officer's daughter +with us. Only twice has there been an officer's wife. Even Mrs. Archer +wouldn't have tried it if the general hadn't been sick." + +Willett laughed again, good-naturedly as before. "Well," said he, "in +the field 'The Lost and Strayed' didn't dandy much, but here I had not +even unpacked my trunk; had a whole buckboard to myself after we left +Captain Wickham at the Big Bug, so I just fetched 'em along. This is +light, you see--nothing but serge," and he held forth his arm. "Up +there, of course, we had no use for white. Gunboats and 'plebeskins' +was full dress half the year round----" And just then it had occurred +to him to put that question: "Does it never rain here?" and in so doing +he had appealed rather to Stannard and his fellows of the line, quite +as though he thought Bentley doing too much of the talk, especially +since Bentley's bent was criticising. But Stannard, as we have seen, +had referred back the question, whereat the doctor, defrauded of his +game, yawned languidly and turned over the matter to 'Tonio, thus +dragging Harris, all unwilling, into the tide of talk, and presently +out of his hammock. Next thing noticed of him he had disappeared. + +To no man as yet, save the lieutenant-colonel commanding, had Willett +told the purpose of his coming. Late the previous evening Archer had +come to his office to receive the aide-de-camp, and there listened to +his message. "The Old Man" looked up suddenly as he sat in the +lamplight at the rude wooden table that served for his official desk, +surprise and concern mingling in his kindly face. + +"The _general_ said that?" he asked. + +"No, sir: the adjutant-general who was left in charge. The general is +away hunting." + +"I might have known that," said Archer to his inner self. To the +aide-de-camp he merely bowed--bowed most courteously. He liked boys, +and the Lord had seen fit to take back to himself the one lad poor +Archer had liked most, and loved unspeakably. + +"I think I shall say--nothing of it," said he, presently, after some +reflection, "and--you can find out, through Harris, all there is to be +told." + +And not a word had he said, even to the post adjutant, from the moment +of Willett's reporting to him at nine the night before, yet every man +of the officers' mess knew well that something had sent the young staff +officer to Almy--that something was to be looked into--and every man, +including Harris, felt it in his bones that that something was the +recent and unprofitable scout. That being the case, it placed them all +on the defensive, and Willett, unhappily, upon his mettle. + +A silence fell upon the party when it was found Harris was gone. 'Tonio +himself had risen again, had stood gazing awhile along the eastward +mountains, tumbling up toward a brazen sky, then had slowly vanished +from sight round the corner of the adobe wall. + +"Sticks closer'n a brother," said Stannard, epigrammatically, with a +look at Turner, his comrade captain, whereat the latter shot a warning +glance, first at Stannard, then toward the unconscious N.A., now +hobnobbing with Briggs at the mess-room door. + +"Harris doesn't like the young swell! What's the matter, d'ye s'pose?" +asked Bucketts, the post quartermaster, a man of much weight, but not +too much discrimination. + +"Bosh! They're classmates and old chums," was Stannard's quick reply. +"Harris is hipped because his scout was a fizzle, and he simply doesn't +feel like talking." + +"All the same, he doesn't like Willett, classmate or no classmate. You +mark my words," persisted the man of mops and brooms, and Stannard, who +had seen the youngster's face as he turned away, knew well the +quartermaster was right. Therefore was it his duty, for the sake of the +regiment, said he, to stand by Harris as hailing from the cavalry. He +scoffed at the quartermaster and began to pace the veranda. 'Twas high +time for evening stables, and the brief and perfunctory grooming the +short-coupled, stocky little mountain climbers daily received. The +herds had been driven in, watering in the shallows as they forded the +stream full fifteen minutes before. There were only the surgeon, the +adjutant, the quartermaster, and Lieutenant Willett seated on the +veranda when Harris presently came back, silent as before, but clad in +undress uniform, as neat and trim as that of the Latest Arrival, if not +so new. Then came General Archer, his daughter, and the meeting. Then, +a few minutes later, the bid to dinner, and then, barely an hour from +that time, the dinner itself--a function the classmates marched to +almost arm in arm when either would rather have been without the other. + +The members of what there was of the mess, six officers in all, sat +waiting the summons to their own board, and gazing idly after. Stannard, +the only married captain whose wife had had the nerve to go to that +desolate and distant station, was sitting under his own figurative vine +and fig-tree represented by a pine veranda, about which neither vine +nor fig nor other tree had ever been induced to grow, but that was not +without other extravagances, since it represented to Uncle Sam an +aggregate sum that could be best computed at a shilling a shingle. +Stannard, hearing footsteps on the sandy soil, glanced up from the +columns of an _Alta California_, ten days old, and growled through the +adjacent blinds "They're coming now," whereat there was sound of +rustling skirt within, and between the slats there came a glimpse of +shining, big blue eyes, alive with womanly interest, and parted lips +disclosing two opposing rows of almost perfect teeth, all the whiter by +contrast with the sunburned, "sonsy" face that framed them. Together, +yet separated, this Darby and Joan of the far frontier sat and watched +the coming pair. "Isn't it good to see the real uniform again?" said +she. "Isn't it absurd to think of trying a dinner here?" said he. Then +both subsided as the two young officers stepped upon the resounding +boards of the next veranda to the south, knocked at the commander's +open door and were promptly welcomed. + +"Now, Luce, they're going to have a very _nice_ dinner," protested +Mrs. Stannard. "I was in there helping over an hour, and Mrs. Archer's +a wonder! Even if the dinner didn't amount to much, there would be +Lilian." + +"They can't eat _her_," persisted, grimly, the man. + +"She looks sweet enough to eat," responded the woman. "You ought to see +her. After a six hours' ride she looks fresh as a daisy, all creamy +white with--but you wouldn't understand----" + +"What on earth kept them out so long?" + +"Didn't I tell you? Why, they went away to Bennett's ranch. Couldn't +find a vestige of vegetables nearer. Mrs. Bennett has a little patch +where she raises lettuce and radishes. The orderly carried a basket +full of truck, and leaves and flowers, poppies and cactus, you know, +and you've no idea how pretty they've made the table look." + +Stannard sniffed. "Take their Sauterne hot or lukewarm?" he asked. +"Fancy a dinner without ice, fruit or cream!" + +"Of course they haven't white wine here, Luce! But there's claret--famous +claret, too, and the water in the big _olla's_ even cooler than the +spring. They'll have French dressing for the salad. They have tomato +soup even _you_ couldn't growl at, and roast chicken, with real potatoes, +and _petits pois_, and corn, and olives; then salad cool as the spring; +then there's to be such an _omelette soufflée_--and coffee!--but it's +the way the table _looks_, Luce!" + +"Men don't care how a thing looks, so long as it tastes right. How +_does_ it look?" + +"So white and fresh, and sprinkled with green and purple and crimson, +the leaves and the poppies, you know. She----" But Mrs. Stannard broke +off suddenly. "What is it, Wettstein?" she asked, for their own +particular _chef_, a German trooper, with elementary culinary gifts, +appeared in the hallway. + +"It's Suey, mattam, says would Mrs. Stannard come over a minute. He's +stuck, mattam." + +"Stuck! Heavens! how?" cried Mrs. Stannard, up at once in alarm, and +vanishing through the dim light of the blanketed window. The presumably +punctured Chinaman was even then in full flight for his own kitchen +door, some fifty feet away, and Mrs. Stannard followed. No Roman in +Rome's quarrel was ever more self-sacrificing than were our army women +of the old days in their helpfulness. Had the hounds ravished the roast +again, as once already had happened? If so, the Stannard dinner stood +ready to replace it, even though she and her captain had to fall back +on what could be borrowed from the troop kitchen. No, the oven door was +open, the precious chickens, brown, basted and done to a turn, were +waiting Suey's deft hands to shift them to the platter. (No need to +heat it even on a December day.) Mrs. Stannard's quick and +comprehensive glance took in every detail. The "stick" was obviously +figurative--mere vernacular--yet something serious, for Suey's +olive-brown skin was jaundiced with worry, and the face of Doyle, the +soldier striker, as he came hurrying back from the banquet board, was +beading with the sweat of mental torment. Soup, it seems, was already +served, and Doyle burst forth, hoarse whispering, before ever he caught +sight of the visiting angel. + +"Sure I _can't_, Suey! _The General's sittin' on it!_" + +And Suey's long-nailed Mongolian talons went up in despair as he turned +appealingly to their rescuer. + +"Sitting on what, Doyle? Quick!" said Mrs. Stannard. + +"The sherry, ma'am! The doctor sent it over wid his comps to s'prise +him, an' my orders was to fill the little glasses when I'd took in the +soup, an' I put it under the barrel chair----" + +But Mrs. Stannard had heard enough. Even though convulsed with +merriment, she seized a pencil and scribbled a little line on a card. +"Give this to Mrs. Archer," she said, and a moment later, in the midst +of his first story, the veteran was checked by these placid words from +the head of the table: + +"Pardon me, dear, but you are on the lid of the wine cooler. Let Doyle +get at it a moment." + +The general was not the nimblest-witted man in the service, but long +experience had taught him the wisdom of prompt observance of any +suggestion that came from his wife. Dropping his napkin, and the thread +of his tale, he rose to his feet. Blushing furiously, Doyle bent, and +with vigorous effort pried off a circular, perforated top, revealing a +dark, cylindrical space beneath, from the depths of which he lifted a +dripping bucket of galvanized iron, and sped, thus laden, away to the +kitchen, to the music of Mrs. Archer's merry laughter and a guffaw of +joy from the general's lips. + +"How came you to put it there, sir?" demanded he, a moment later, as +Doyle circumnavigated the table, filling, as ordered, the five little +glasses with fragrant Amontillado. "I must tell you, gentlemen, this is +one of the pleasant surprises that most admirable woman yonder is +forever putting up on me. Life would be a desert without such." + +"Indeed it wasn't mine!" expostulated madam, "though I'm deeply +indebted to somebody. Who was it, Doyle?" + +"Docther Bentley, ma'am. He said I was to keep it dark, ma'am--'an' in +the coolest place I could find----" + +But here the peals of laughter silenced the words and rang the glad +tidings to listening, waiting ears in the kitchen that all was well. +Mrs. Stannard scurried away to explain to her Luce, and the dinner went +blithely on. + +"You did right, Doyle! you did right!" shouted the general, "and we'll +drink the doctor's health. Keep it dark, indeed! Haw, haw, haw!" And +then nothing would do but he must tell the story of this precious and +particular chair. Furniture, even such as he bought at San Francisco, +and would live to a green old age along the Pacific, came speedily to +pieces in the hot, dry atmosphere of Arizona. Little enough there was +of cabinet ware, to be sure, because of the cost of transportation; but +such as there was, unless riveted in every seam and joint, fell apart +at most inopportune moments. Bureaus and washstands, tables, sofas and +chairs, were forever shedding some more or less important section, and +the only reliable table was that built by the post carpenter, the +quartermaster. + +And so these pioneers of our civilization, the men and women of the +army, had had no little experience in cabinetmaking and upholstering. +While the emigrants and settlers, secure under its wing, could turn +swords into ploughshares and spears into pruning-hooks, as saith the +Scriptures, their soldier folk turned clothing boxes into couches, soap +boxes into cradles, and pork barrels into _fauteuils_. Chintz and +calico, like charity, covered a multitude of sins, as declared in +unsightly cracks and knotholes. The finest reclining chair in all Camp +Almy belonged to the doctor, a composite of condemned stretchers and +shelter tent. The best dining-room set was sawed out from sugar +barrels, and, being stuffed with old newspapers and gayly covered with +cheese cloth and calico, rivaled in comfort, if not in airy elegance, +the twisted woodwork of Vienna. When it was known that Mrs. and Miss +Archer had descended upon the camp, and their beloved commander had +next to nothing by way of furniture with which to deck their army home, +every officer hastened to place his household goods--such "C. and G.E." +as did not belong to the hospital--at the general's disposal. The +Stannards sent three riveted, cane-bottomed, dining-room chairs and +their spare room outfit complete. Captain Turner, whose fair-complected +partner had not yet ventured to these destructive suns, sent bedstead +and bureau, the latter without knobs, but you could pry the drawers +open with the point of a sabre. The post trader drove up from the store +with a lot of odds and ends. Even the bachelors were keen to do +something. All of which Mrs. Archer most gratefully and smilingly +accepted and made mental note of for future return in kind. But, in +spite of the Stannards' contribution, the general stood firmly to his +prerogative and sat close on his throne--"The finest dining chair in +all Arizona, sir," as he often declared. "Sawed out from a standard oak +whiskey barrel at Old Port Buford in '58, according to my own ideas and +lines, and sound as a dollar to-day, sir, and it's only been covered +three times in all. Look at it!" And here, with a flourish, he would +whip off the seat. "Combination chair and butler's pantry, sir. Used to +keep my whiskey and tobacco there when the redskins had the run of the +post and thought nothing of searching our quarters. And now Doyle's +used it as the doctor prescribed, and then gone and forgotten it! Haw, +haw, haw! By Jove, but that's capital sherry! Cool almost as if it had +been iced! Harris, my boy, you don't drink!" + +There was a moment's silence. Then the young officer answered, simply, +yet almost apologetically: + +"Why--I never have, sir." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +It happened at a moment when Willett, seated at the right of "the lady +of the house," with Lilian at his dexter side, had caught the eye of +his hostess, and, after the manner of the day, had raised his brimming +sherry glass and, bowing low, was drinking to her health, a feat the +general had thrice performed already. "If I'd only known of this, +gentlemen," said their host, but a moment earlier, with resultant +access of cordiality, "and could have found a drop of Angostura about +the post, we'd have had a 'pick-me-up' before dinner, but d'you know +I--I seldom have bitters about me. I've no use for cocktails. I never +touch a drop of stingo before twelve at noon or after twelve at night. +I agree with old Bluegrass. Bluegrass was post surgeon at the Presidio +when the Second Artillery came out in '65, right on the heels of the +war, and he did his best to welcome them--especially Breck, their +adjutant, also a Kentuckian. Then he was ordered East, and he left +Breck his blessing, his liquor case, and this admonition--Breck told it +himself. 'Young man,' said he, 'I observe you drink cocktails. Now, +take my advice and don't do it. You drink the bitters and they go to +your nose and make it red. You drink the sugar and it goes to your +brain and makes it wopsy, and so--you lose all the good effects of the +whiskey'! Haw, haw, haw!" It was a story the genial old soldier much +rejoiced in, one that Stannard had bet he would tell before dinner was +half over, and it came with Doyle and the chickens. The kindly, +wrinkled, beaming face, red with the fire of Arizona's suns, redder by +contrast with the white mustache and imperial, was growing scarlet with +the flame of Bentley's cherished wine, when in sudden surprise he noted +that the junior officer present, seated alone at his right (there was +no other girl in all Camp Almy to bid to the little feast, and Mrs. +Stannard, in mourning for a brother, could not accept), had turned down +the little sherry glass. Thirty years ago such a thing was as uncommon +in the army as fifty years ago it was unheard of in civil life. For one +instant after the young officer's embarrassed answer the veteran sat +almost as though he had heard a rebuke. It was Mrs. Archer who came to +the relief of an awkward situation. "Mr. Harris believes in keeping in +training," she ventured lightly. "He could not excel in mountain +scouting without it. The general's scouting days are over and we +indulge him." Indeed, it wasn't long before it began to look as though +the general were indulging himself. Claret presently succeeded the +sherry, but not until Bentley's health had been drunk again and the +orderly summoned from the front porch to go, with the general's +compliments, and tell him so. "This claret," he then declared, "is some +I saved from the dozen Barry & Patton put aboard the Montana when I +came round to Yuma last year. It's older than Lilian," this with a fond +and playful pinch at the rosy cheek beside him, "and almost as good. No +diluting this, Mr. Willett," for he saw that young officer glancing +from the empurpled glass to the single carafe that adorned the table, +its mate having met dissolution when the general's chest was prematurely +unloaded in Dead Man's Cañon _en route_ to the post. "Dilute your +California crudities all you like, but not the red juice from the sunny +vines of France. No, sir! Moreover, this and old Burgundy are the wines +you must drink at blood heat. No Sauturnes or Hocks or champagnes for +us fire worshippers in Arizona! Lilian here and my blessed wife yonder +don't like these red wines for that reason. They want something to cool +their dainty palates, but men, sir, and soldiers---- What's this, +Bella, Bellisima? Salad--French dressing--and cool, too! Bravissima, my +dear! How did you manage it? The olla? Why, of course! Cool anything. +Cool my old head, if need be. Hey, Willett?" + +And all this time, when not chatting with the debonair officer at her +side or saying a word to his bronzed, sun-dried, silently observant +comrade opposite, Lilian's fond eyes forever sought her father's +rubicund face, love and admiration in every glance. All this time, even +while in cordial talk with her guests, Mrs. Archer never seemed to lose +a look or word from her soldier liege; never once did her winsome smile +or joyous laugh fail to reward his sallies; never once came there shade +of anxiety upon her beaming face. "The General" was the head of that +house, and they were his loyal subjects. They even sipped at the +outermost ripple of the thimbleful of claret each had permitted Doyle +to pour. Even when a loud "cloop" in the dark passageway to the kitchen +told that another bottle was being opened as the omelet came in, borne +aloft by white-robed Suey, crowned with red poppies and blue blazes, +and set triumphantly before the mistress of the feast, Harris could +detect no flutter of disapprobation. Even when, later still, the +general's eager hand, stretching forth for the dusky flagon (it was +sacrilege to sweep away those insignia of age and respectability), +managed to capsize the candelabrum and sent the fluid "adamantine" +spattering a treasured table-cloth (how quick the dash of the young +trooper's hand upon the flame--and its extinction!), a gentle smile was +the sole rebuke, followed by a "Thank you, Mr. Harris. I hope you +didn't burn your hand! That's all my fault." The general declared it +foolish to put candles on the table when we could have sconces by the +dozen on the walls. + +Indeed, there must have been a dozen candles, not to mention the big +lamps of forbidden kerosene upon shelf and sideboard, each backed by +its reflector of glistening tin. "We were vain, you see," continued +Mrs. Archer, "of our two old-fashioned heirlooms. Those quaint +three-socket sticks were brought by the general's grandfather from +England in Colonial days." It was so with everything they had, though +they had so little. The massive silver forks, the worn old spoons, the +squat little sugar bowl and creamer that came in later, all bore a +crest and a single word. All had been "The General's" before ever that +well-descended veteran had bent the knee in wooing. All had been stored +in San Francisco until their coming to cheer his exile, but now were +duly paraded in honor of their first guests at Almy, the young scout +leader from the southern border, and his classmate, the new +aide-de-camp of the commanding general; both, as was understood, to +leave them on the morrow. + +And all this time, too, though the windows, Arizona fashion, were +blanketed to exclude all heatful light throughout the day (those of the +dining-room being hidden behind Navajo fabrics in black and white, and +blue and crimson), the hallways were wide open that no breath of air +might be lost. The hounds clustered whimpering and wondering at the +doorways, front and rear, resentful of the vigilance with which the +orderlies on duty withstood their dashes, they who long weeks and +months had had the run of the house. Darkness had settled down upon the +sandy parade. The lights gleamed along the opposite front, the long +barracks of the soldiery, and the stars were glinting bright above the +beetling pine crests beyond the murmuring stream. Over at the mess the +surgeon, the adjutant, quartermaster, Captain Bonner of the infantry, +with his subaltern, and solemn Captain Turner, sat on the veranda, +smoked their pipes, and even while keeping up a semblance of talk, had +an eye and an ear on the bungalow--the "Old Man's" quarters not three +hundred feet away. The boom of his jovial laughter still rang out upon +the air, and presently the tinkle of guitar, the swish of feminine +garments, the rasp of chairs and the merry mingling of voices told that +the little dinner party, the first the camp had ever known--for what is +a dinner party without women--had quit the table and gathered on the +porch. By this time, too, an unclouded moon had sailed aloft from +behind the screen of eastward heights, and its beams were pouring +slantwise upon the group, that portion of it, at least, that now was +seated near the southern end. They who watched were not slow to see +that Lilian had taken a chair within a few feet of the edge, with +Willett still in close attendance. The red heart of the general's cigar +was visible midway between the window and the central doorway, but the +jovial host was wrapped in shade. The light from the doorway fell upon +the white gown of Mrs. Archer and the trim, slender, undersized figure +of Lieutenant Harris, standing before her. They heard the general's +voice, cordial and resonant, uplifted presently in protest: "No, don't +go yet, boy. Let 'Tonio take care of himself to-night. I want you both +to hear Lilian sing. Here, orderly, you go find 'Tonio and give him my +compliments--No! you just tell 'Tonio _I_ want to see him." + +The orderly with Archer, as with many another post commander, was the +final resort, the cure-all, the infallible means of settlement of all +matters in dispute. The orderly went and stood not on the order of his +going. He knew not 'Tonio, nor where to find him, but he knew better +than to say so--to say anything. He went straightway to the sergeant of +the guard, than whom no man is supposed to know more what is going on +about the post. That Harris might have the pleasure of hearing the +promised song (he surely could not think of going now) the mess +devoutly hoped, and were in nowise too content when the sound of +moving, of people getting to their feet, and of Archer's jocund +welcome, told that callers had come to join the recent revellers, and +that meant, of course, the Stannards, for there was really no one else. +And then it was remembered that Stannard had said that Mrs. Archer had +asked that they should come over after dinner, since they could not +well attend it. Lilian's singing was something all save these two young +soldiers had already heard, enjoyed and longed to hear again, and the +mess could not but wish that old Stannard had not been so exact in his +interpretation, and punctual in his acceptance of that invitation. +There followed a few minutes of general talk and laughter, and then +Archer's voice was again dominant. Nothing would do but that the +Stannards both come in and taste that famous claret (which neither +desired _after_ dinner, however much it might then have been enjoyed). +Then all went trooping in-doors again, all save Lilian and Lieutenant +Harris, for presently these two came sauntering into the moonlight at +the southward end of the veranda. The girl resumed her seat and guitar; +the young officer the chair lately occupied by Willett, and here full +ten minutes were they in conversation when the orderly came stalking +back from the guard-house; the quintette came flocking forth from the +hallway, and Willett, coming to resume his seat and chat, found his +classmate in possession. It was the first opportunity that had fallen +to Harris, and if Willett hoped or expected that he would rise and +surrender in his favor he was doomed to disappointment. Harris never so +much as turned his head. + +They were an odd contrast, these two young graduates of the nation's +soldier school, as they looked to Captain Stannard that November night. +He spoke of it to his wife and thought of it long after, for he, too, +had come toward the little group a bit impatient, it must be owned, of +the general's mellow monologue, and wearying of a conversation in which +_he_ had no part. But here again Stannard found scant opportunity. +Miss Archer, bending slightly forward, was, with much animation +describing to Mr. Harris the brilliant ball given by the artillery at +the Presidio just before they were hurried off to that fatal Modoc war. +Harris, caring little for the affair, and possibly hearing little of +what she was saying, sat as though drinking in every word, and gazing +enthralled upon the beauty of her sweet young face. He, too, was +bending forward, his lithe, slender, supple frame clad in the trim +undress uniform of the day, his clear-cut face, with its thin, almost +hollow cheeks, tanned brown by the blazing suns of the southern desert, +his hair cropped close to his shapely head, his gray-blue eyes, large, +full and steady, fixed unswerving upon her. Leaning on his elbow, one +lean brown hand was toying with the sun-bleached ends of his mustache, +the other, with the class ring gleaming in the moonlight, lay idly on +his knee. Lacking stature, size or weight, the physical attributes that +make a man impressive, he looked the picture of the young athlete, firm +and fit and trained for speed and staying power, yet cold in his +steel-like strength and quality. + +Overtopping him, standing where he, too, could hear and gaze, elegant +in form, graceful in pose, and precise in dress, the picture of +chivalric officer and gentleman, Hal Willett had the advantage of +nearly six more inches in height, a presence that was at once +commanding and assured, and a face as strikingly handsome as that of +Harris was severely plain. Willett's eyes and hair were of a deep, +lustrous brown, his eyebrows thick and heavily arched, his mouth soft, +sensitive, with lips that were beautifully curved and teeth that were +white and well-nigh perfect. His mustache, though long and curling, was +carefully trained away so as to hide none of the charms that lurked +beneath. He looked at once the knight of the ballroom and the +battlefield, a man to make his mark in either contest, love or war, and +make it he had. Life had been full of gifts to Harold Willett. He came +from old border stock. His name was first of the presidential ten the +year he entered the Point, first on the list of cadet corporals in the +yearling June and first among the first sergeants the following year. +An uncontradicted rumor had it that he could have been sergeant-major, +but that he told the commandant his ambition lay in the senior +captaincy, and first captain he had been named his first class summer, +only to lose it late in August, the penalty of a rash and forbidden +exploit for the sake of a smile, and possibly a caress, and lose it to +the man who, starting at the foot of the list of his chevroned fellows +two years before, had risen only to "late sergeant" of a centre company +when they came from furlough, but, standing foremost in "Tactics," well +up in every subject but French and drawing, and impeccable in conduct, +won a captaincy in spite of his lack of inches. Graduating a dozen +files ahead of his brilliant comrade, Harris had sought and won +commission in the cavalry, was sent to duty in New Mexico and then in +Arizona, ever roughing it in the deserts or the mountains until in +physique he was hard as hickory, and in spirit wellnigh as elastic. +Never until this recent experience in the Apache Mohave country had he +shown symptom of discouragement. Now it was the more noticeable because +coupled, it would seem, with distrust--distrust of him who had been for +two years past an inseparable guide and even comrade, 'Tonio, "_gran +capitan_" of Indian scouts. + +And even as he sat there absorbed in the sweet vision in the moonlight +before him, studying the play of her sensitive lips, forgetful for the +moment of all else about him, there fell across the glistening boarding +at her feet the shadow of a turbaned head, at sight of which she +started, with faint, half-suppressed cry of fright; then, as though +ashamed, broke into a nervous little laugh. Harris was in an instant on +his feet, and whirling, confronted 'Tonio, tall, gaunt, silent, +impassive. + +"_Que quiere?_" he demanded, in the blunt vernacular of the service. It +annoyed him that subordinate of his should thus appear unseen, unheard, +unsummoned, and to her affright. He forgot the noiseless sand, the +soft-soled moccasins, the native stealth; forgot at the moment the +general's mandate and the orderly's mission. It flashed upon him at +'Tonio's quiet answer, grave, unresentful, and in the Apache tongue. + +"My chief called me." + +"Pardon me just one moment, Miss Archer. I'll come back at once," said +Harris, bending over the still trembling girl. Then, turning sharply +and bidding 'Tonio follow, his eyes met those of Willett, smiling +affably. + +"I'll keep it while you're gone, Hefty," said he, with laughing ease of +manner, sliding promptly into the vacated seat. "Now, Miss Archer, if +you'll be so good as to go right on where you left off, I'll be all +gratitude and attention." + +Without answer, Harris stepped lightly over to where the general and +Stannard were now deep in one-sided argument over the merits of a +war-time leader, known well to men of the Union Army east or west; the +general declaiming, the junior listening, unconvinced. It was one point +on which they differed widely, one on which the general was apt to +dilate when warmed by wine. He had had only moderate aid from Willett +in disposing of two bottles of sound old claret, and one was enough to +set the garrulous tongue to wagging. He would not cease at sight of +Harris, standing silent and respectful before him. Stannard had to +interpose and say, "You sent for 'Tonio, sir, as I happened to hear," +as indeed they all did, far and near, whereat the veteran turned. + +"Bless my soul, boy, so I did! What for, I wonder?" + +"To save my going over with night orders for the scouts, I think, sir," +said Harris promptly, "and, unless you wish to see him personally, I'll +tell him now." + +"_Must_ you make so early a start, Harris? It's only thirty miles to +the cañon." + +"I know, sir, but I need to be at Bennett's before sunrise. Their +scouts would see us if we started later. We go on to the cañon after I +have examined that neighborhood." + +"All right, then. Buckets will issue rations at once. Start when you +think best. But now, Stannard, see here; if he was such a stayer and so +energetic in Virginia, how do you account for----" + +But Harris had saluted and turned away, 'Tonio at his heels. As they +passed the end of the veranda, where sat Lilian and her listener, +Harris noted that the latter had drawn his chair much closer than he +had dared, and was bending forward until the handsome dark head was +almost over the fair hand toying with the guitar that lay idly in her +lap. The modern vernacular for the successful squire of dames was then +unknown. The girl, who had been leaning forward, all chat and animation +when Harris sat there, now lay dreamily back in the rude but easy +chair, her eyelids drooping, her long lashes sweeping the soft cheek, +listening, drinking in the murmurous flow of Willett's almost inaudible +words, and the stern young face of his classmate hardened in the +moonlight, for Harris had seen and heard before. Briefly he gave his +instructions to the silent Apache and closed with the sign, "I have +spoken. That is all." + +But 'Tonio did not stir. Something, possibly, in Willett's devotional +attitude vaguely troubled the girl, and, edging back in her chair, she +had lifted a little slippered foot from the floor. The general at the +moment was talking loud enough to drown other sounds about him. The +aide-de-camp, his dark eyes glowing and riveted on those of the fair +face so near him, seemed deaf to everything but his own eloquence. But +the Indian had placed one hand on his young officer's wrist, and with +the other stood pointing at some object coiled underneath Lilian's +chair, not half an arm's length from the little foot that dangled in +its silken stocking but a hand's-breadth from the floor. At that moment +Willett bent impressively, still nearer, and instinctively Lilian moved +a hand as though about to edge farther away. It was at this very +instant that Harris spoke, his voice, absolutely calm, even to the +semblance of a drawl, but every word told clear, distinct, and, in +spite of its courtesy, commanding, compelling. + +"Miss Archer and--ah--Willett, be good enough to sit perfectly still a +moment. Don't--move--a muscle!" + +Even the general, for a wonder, had ceased--for breath, perhaps--and +sat speechless and startled, for noiseless and stealthy as a cat, with +long strides, 'Tonio had skirted the edge of the veranda, and with +agile spring was at the back of Lilian's chair. There he swooped +instantly. There was sound of strident, rasping sk-r-r-r-rr: then a +lightning snap, as of a whip. Something black and writhing went flying +into the sand, and then squirming blindly away, and 'Tonio straightened +to his full height, and without a word strode from the veranda. + +"In God's name, what was that?" cried the general, springing from his +chair and hastening to his daughter's side. + +"Nothing but a snake, sir," said Harris quietly, strolling toward them. +"_That_ one's done for, anyhow!" + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +An hour later the lights were out among the barracks, and the silence +of the summerlike winter's night had settled on the garrison. Over at +the Mess and office buildings all was darkness. Along the log and adobe +façade of the officers' quarters, from occasional open doorways the +gleam of lantern was thrown across the wooden verandas. The moonbeams +flooded the sandy parade and the rough-hewn roofs and walls with +tender, silvery radiance that put to shame the twinkling lights, down +at the store on the lower flats, and the bleary eye of the big, +triangular, glass-faced, iron-bound cresset at the log guard-house, +perched at the edge of the mesa. Afar off, through dim vistas of the +valley, the silver ribbon of the stream wound and twisted among the +willows, but the heights, as a rule, were wrapped in the shadows of +their own pines. A game of goodly proportion was going on down at the +card room, a brace of ranchmen and prospectors, a venturesome "sub" and +the "contract doctor" making up the party, but the general, his +household and near neighbors had retired or were retiring for the +night. Only the guard and the "owls" were "on deck." Army folk in those +days and regions had a way of turning out at dawn for the cool of the +morning, turning in at taps for the needed six hours' beauty sleep, +lunching lightly at noon, snoozing drowsily an hour or two, then after +tub and fresh linen, venturing forth, those who had to, for the +afternoon duties. All social enjoyment, as a rule, began when the sun +could not see, but had dropped back of the screen of the mountains. + +But there was still faint stir at the camp of the scouts, out beyond +the corrals. Rations had been drawn at tattoo, and a limited portion +issued to the lithe, swarthy fellows, squatted in semicircle in front +of their chief, patiently awaiting their share, no man of their number +opening so much as the end of a package, either of cartridge or +cracker, until the last had his dole and all were served. It was known +that before dawn they were again to set forth, whither, not even 'Tonio +had been told, and 'Tonio had noted and felt it. Hitherto there had +been counsel between his young commander and himself. This night there +had been none. Instead, only half an hour after the exciting episode at +the commanding officer's and the despatching of the intruding rattler, +'Tonio had been summoned to the adjutant's office and then questioned +by Lieutenant Willett, with _cargador_ Muñoz, not Lieutenant Harris, +serving as interpreter. Hitherto 'Tonio had conducted his conference +with the Great Father's captains with Lieutenant Harris translating. It +was significant both to that officer and to 'Tonio that this time a +pack train employé had been selected, his name having been suggested at +head-quarters at Prescott, and an orderly sent for him early by way of +caution, for Muñoz loved monte and mescal. Another significant thing +was that Harris had declined an invitation to be present at 'Tonio's +examination. "If Mr. Willett has any question to ask me," he said, +"he'll find me at Dr. Bentley's," whither, indeed, he had repaired, as +it were, awaiting summons. + +Moreover, it was patent to Stannard and Turner and Dr. Bentley, too, +that Harris took it much amiss that Willett should at last disclose the +fact that he was there to "investigate." He had said nothing of it the +night before. He had put up at the adjutant's, after quite a long +session at the Mess, an affair attended by Harris only an hour or so, +and even then only as an absorbed listener, with other fellow-soldiers, +to Willett's brilliant description of the recent campaign in the lava +beds, culminating as it had in the brutal massacre by the Modocs of +their would-be best friends, the peace commissioners, and General +Canby. After taps, however, despite his long and dusty buckboard ride, +Willett saw fit to "sit in" to the game almost always in progress down +at the trader's store. Whereupon Stannard, Turner and Harris, +non-participants ever, took themselves off to bed. It was not much of a +game, said Strong, who was there, only Willett, Craney, Watson, Briggs +and himself, and was remarkable for only one fact, that Case, the +bookkeeper, who never before had seemed to care to play, had happened +in late, looked curiously on a moment, and then, without having been +presented to Willett, seemed desirous of taking a hand. Craney wondered +if Case had been drinking again, but Willett took no notice. Willett +was feeling very jolly, said Strong, and it was quite late when they +finally quit. + +Harris was up with the sun looking over his pack train and observing +'Tonio and his fellows. Willett did not turn out until office hours, +when he had a conference with General Archer, ending in his expressing +a wish to "look about" him for the day. He had asked no questions of +Harris; had met him heartily, as classmates should, but with just a +suspicion of superiority of manner that Harris could not like, and +without a word of appreciation of the capital soldier work Harris had +been doing. + +There was another reason why Harris resented Willett's investigating +his scout that second evening. A total abstainer himself from boyhood, +reared by a careful mother and aware for many a year that his father's +occasional lapses were her perennial dread, Harris had set his canon +against the practice from the day he doffed the gray at West Point, and +never swerved from his creed after donning the blue. Not so with +Willett. Not so with nine-tenths of his associates. Harris had seen, +without remark, that Willett enjoyed the occasional beverages mixed for +him at the Mess in the late afternoon, and again had noted that his +comrade did quite his share this second evening toward finishing the +doctor's sherry, though it was the "Old Man," after all, who "got away +with" most of the Bordeaux. Twice after dinner Archer had ushered his +guests within doors, once to try what was left of the claret, and +later, after the snake episode, when some nerves might be in need of +bracing, to sample some phenomenal Monongahela. Then when Harris was +through, after saying good-night, he was presently followed by Willett, +flushed in face and abrupt in manner. Miss Archer had been spirited off +by her mother, and presumably gone to bed. She'd get used to snakes if +she stayed long in Arizona, said Willett. What was the sense in scaring +her, anyway? Why hadn't Harris quietly given him the tip? _He_ could +have snapped Mr. Rattler's head off without anybody being the wiser, +and Harris saw that the night-caps, taken on top of all that preceded, +had tangled Willett's ideas, despite which fact Willett now announced +that he had summoned the interpreter and desired Harris to send 'Tonio +to the office for investigation at once. + +And Willett represented the commanding general, who knew nothing of +what was going on, and Harris could only obey. + +It was a dramatic scene as it opened. Willett had not failed to hand a +copy of his instructions to the post commander and had left entirely to +his judgment the question as to whether the officers should be present. +Archer had decided against it. 'Tonio might be alarmed. It were better, +he said, that no one except the post adjutant, the interpreter, and +Lieutenants Willett and Harris appear, and then Harris, whose letter +from the field announcing the ill success of the scout was the original +cause of the investigation, said he preferred to be excused. Harris did +not wish to appear to 'Tonio in the light of an accuser, and Willett +was secretly better content that his classmate should stay away. + +Down in the bottom of his heart Willett felt that four years of such +experiences as Harris had encountered made him a far better judge of +Apache methods and motives than he, Willett, could expect to be. +Moreover, he knew well that, were he in Harris's place, he should +resent it that an officer no higher in grade, and inferior in Arizona +craft, should be sent to inquire into the conduct of his scout. It was +just one of those things a tactless chief of staff would sometimes do; +but, even though Willett appreciated, none the less did he welcome the +order. It put him at once in position of ascendency over a classmate of +whose record and success he was both jealous and afraid. If he had felt +this earlier in the day the feeling was intensified now, for though he +had seemed to some of the officers, to Archer and his family, especially +to Lilian, far the more accomplished and attractive of the two, the +entrance of that disturbing rattler on the scene had destroyed the +equilibrium of affairs. Willett had had no experience with the venomous +little reptile, Harris had had much, and Harris's utter _sang froid_, +and cool, commanding words had averted what might have been a tragedy. +One start, one sudden move of the girl at that critical moment might +well have been fatal. The snake, alarmed and angered by previous stir +and by Willett's approaches, was actually coiled for the spring. The +tiny fangs would have fastened in a flash on that slender, unprotected +ankle, and the rest could only be conjectured. + +And so, it was in no judicial mood that Willett began his questioning. +Accustomed as he was to the hang-dog, dissolute specimens of degenerate +red men he had seen in the Columbia country and the lava beds, he +hardly knew what to make of 'Tonio, this ascetic of the mountains, +clear eyed, trained to a fineness almost unhuman, all wire and sinew, +an Indian withal who looked him straight and fearless in the eye, and +held himself as proudly as ever did chieftain of the Aztecs or the +Sioux. Summoned from the camp fire to this unsought council, finding +himself confronted by strangers, missing his own friend and commander, +and instinctively scenting accusation, 'Tonio stood and faced his +judges without so much as a tremor. + +For a moment Willett sat and studied him. "Siwashes" of Puget's Sound, +Klickatats of the Columbia, and scowling, beetle-browed Modocs of upper +Nevada he had often met, and their shifting eyes dropped before the +keen gaze of the dominant soldier, but this son of the Sierras never so +much as suffered the twitch of a muscle, the droop of an eyelash. In +the language of the "greaser" cargador, whose border vernacular had +suffered through long contact with that of the gringo, "'Tonio didn't +scare worth a damn, even when the lieutenant tried bulldozing," but +that may merely have been the expression of civilian jealousy of +military methods. Being in the pay and under the protection of the +United States, 'Tonio could be called on for explanation at any time, +only--there were two ways of calling. + +"Tell him," said Willett, "the chief-of-chiefs believes the Apache +Mohaves are hiding in the Mogollon,--many of them--bucks, squaws and +children, and he was sent to find them and to bring them to the +reservation. Why did he fail?" + +Muñoz, as nearly as he could, put the question, but none too +confidently. + +"Because my people were driven beyond sound of 'Tonio's voice," was the +calm reply, the eyes for the officer, the words for the man, and Muñoz +again translated. + +"How so? Was not word sent them by Arahawa?" + +"Arahawa said the white brother would come with food and presents to +lead them home. What they saw was guns and scouts and soldiers. +Therefore, they were afraid and fled. Soldiers with guns catch no +Mohaves who fear. Therefore was it useless, and I tired." + +"Could _you_ have caught them and persuaded them had you gone alone?" +And Willett asked as he had been instructed at headquarters. + +"Caught? Yes! Persuaded? No! They say white soldiers killed Comes +Flying, brother to Chief Lone Pine." + +"How does he know Comes Flying was killed? We heard it only the night I +reached Prescott. No one has told it--here." And now the officer's eyes +were glittering. The adjutant shifted uneasily in his chair. This was +news to him. Comes Flying stood second only to Lone Pine in the tribe, +yet Camp Almy had not heard it. 'Tonio had told it not even to Harris. + +"The mountain eagle is 'Tonio's friend; the bear, the lynx, the birds +are his brothers." + +"Then you _knew_ the Apache Mohaves were in the Verde Valley--and in +Dead Man's Cañon as late as last week--that they had raided Stoner's +Ranch?" + +"They were not there, nor did they raid Stoner's Ranch! My people +stayed not even on the East Fork. They fled deep in the Mogollon." + +Willett gave vent to impatient "Pish!" The Indians he had known all +lied, of course, but looked it. This man looked him full in the face, +even as he lied, and looked the truth. + +"I'll show you why we know you lie," said he impulsively, but the +adjutant held up a warning hand, saying, "Listen!" + +Through the open doorway, barred against unauthorized intruder by the +single soldier, standing beyond earshot upon the level of the parade, +there came the prolonged cry of a sentry at the upper end of the +garrison. Number Three had repeated, but Number Four was impatient, +imperative, and the yell came again: "Corporal of the Guard, Number +Four!" + +"That _means_ something," said the adjutant, springing to his feet. +"I'll be back in a minute if it doesn't," and away he went, +swift-speeding under the flagstaff, and Muñoz followed straight to the +base of the staff, where the trumpeter of the guard and three or four +men from the barracks were already gathered, their own surreptitious, +blanket-shrouded game for the moment forgotten. They were staring +through the moonlight straight away to the northeastward chain of +heights, rocky and precipitous, that spanned the valley in that +direction, and suddenly two of them gave tongue: + +"There it is again! Didn't I tell you?" + +Far away among the pines at the crest a tiny blaze shot into the skies, +brilliant even in the moonshine. "Signal fire, sure!" said three voices +at once. "Signal fire, sure!" echoed other voices, as more men came +running forth from the barracks to join the watchers on the parade. +"Signal fire, sure, and right up over the Bennett Ranch--where the +general was to-day!" + +"My God, I wonder have they jumped it! Yonder comes the +corporal--back--running!" + +Back, indeed, and running and straight for the doctor's, where he could +be heard banging at the open door. So away went the trumpeter, full +tilt for tidings, and others, impatient, followed. Instead of coming +back the trumpeter kept on, running still harder toward the brow of the +hill and the post of Number Four. It was the corporal who called to his +halting and anxious fellows: + +"It's Bennett's Ranch! His dago's in with the news--mos' dead down +there on Number Four; says they've killed the whole family--'Patchie +Mohaves!" + +There was awed silence one moment. Then a deep voice broke it, and all +eyes turned on the speaker. 'Tonio. + +"Apache Mohave? No! _No!!_" + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +Bennett's "dago," when halted by Number Four, was as limp a specimen of +humanity as that drowsy young trooper had seen in all his soldier days. +Bennett's dago was no stranger to the post, having occasionally come +thither on errands for his employer, and semi-occasionally appeared +without such semblance of authority, but, whether his mission was for +master or man, it had never hitherto failed to lead to the store and +monte. Small as was the garrison, and few as were the neighboring +ranches, there was generally business enough to support two card rooms, +one for officers and the "_gente fino_"--the trader, his partner, the +chief packer, forage master, and an occasional rancher or prospector; +the other, a big one, and often a riotous, for the soldiery, scouts, +packers and riffraff of the frontier, and for this establishment +Bennett's dago had an indescribable fascination. Here he had met and +differed with Muñoz, the two coming to a knife duel, promptly +suppressed by the gun butts of the guard. None the less was Muñoz +called into requisition as interpreter, for between peril, exhaustion +and defective English the "dago" could only splutter an unintelligible +jargon that might have been Sicilian, Maltese, or Calabrian, but could +not be Spanish. Bennett, it seems, had picked him up for dead on the +Verde road, early in the spring of the year, and Mrs. Bennett had +nursed the poor devil back to life. Then it turned out that he knew how +to cook. Later it transpired that he had been with a Mexican "outfit," +prospecting for gold; had taken mountain fever, become a burden to +them, and was left to look out for himself at a tank in Dead Man's +Cañon. He paid for his keep in cooking and chores, said Bennett, and +picked up enough English to enable him to get along about the ranch. He +presently showed desire to care for the horses and mules and to ride +them, and one day he disappeared with Bennett's best saddle mule and +was gone forty-eight hours, and on his return gravely tendered Bennett +a five-dollar gold piece in payment for his time and mule while away. +He said he won it at monte, and it was proved that he had found his way +to the card room, as a mule does to water, and, without knowledge of +English, displayed consummate skill in the game; had played only two +hours, had won twenty dollars and departed at dusk. But his winnings +were in greenbacks and silver. Whence had come the gold? The trader's +people said he stabled his mule; introduced himself as "Bennett's +_mozo_--me," and "sat into" the game then in progress as though long +accustomed; showing silver, mainly Mexican, the only credentials the +players required. At sunset he quit, easy winner, and went without +taking so much as a "snifter." Once having found the way, and the +means, the dago came again and yet again, neither giving nor having +trouble until he ran foul of Muñoz, the Mexican, whom he seemed to hate +at sight. Whatever his lingo, or that employed by the polyglot Mexican, +they understood each other, and the misunderstanding that followed was +purely personal. + +Now, in spite of his craze for gambling the dago had points that +appealed to Bennett. He found him valuable in many a way. He was almost +doglike in his devotion to Bennett's wife and children. He was a +"bang-up" cook, barring a heavy hand at first with _chile_ and onions. +He patched up an old guitar of Mrs. Bennett's and strummed delightfully +all manner of strange Mexican and Mediterranean melodies, and, +encouraged by her, had even been betrayed into song. He was kind to the +stock, and the mules took to him from the very start, which the two +horses did not do. The dogs tolerated at first and then "tied" to him. +So, too, the cat adored him. He got along smoothly with the one negro +and two Maricopa Indian boys Bennett had brought with him from the +Gila. He did not drink even when at the post, and in the course of six +months had come to be a feature, almost a fixture of the ranch, yet +"Dago" was the only name by which he was known, even among his +benefactors. Bennett said he believed he had forgotten he ever had +another. + +That very morning, showing all his white teeth, he had whipped off a +battered old hat of Mexican straw at sight of the general and his fair +daughter, had taken the basket while the orderly led the horses to the +corral, had followed them about the little garden patch while Mrs. +Bennett delightedly showed her lettuce and spinach and the gorgeous bed +of poppies. Then he had brewed delicious chocolate, though condensed +milk was poor substitute for whipped cream, and had prepared such an +appetizing little luncheon, and had made himself so useful, that the +general was moved to say to Bennett that any time the dago tired of his +job he could find one at the fort. "I wonder he stays," said Bennett. +"I only give him five dollars a month, even now, and he could get +twenty, and unlimited monte, at the store; besides, he is mortal 'fraid +of these 'Patchie Mohaves; hell knows why, and hides when he sees 'em +coming." + +"Do they never bother you stealing or--some way?" asked the general, +with an anxious glance at the two sturdy little ranchers, five and +three-year-old Bennetts, rolling and wrestling in the sand, showing off +for the benefit of the visitors. + +"'Patchie Mohaves?" asked Bennett, looking up in surprise. "Never have! +You know I drove mule team to the agency two years ago, and sort of +grew to them. Why, Minnie, now, thinks as much of them, or most, as she +does of the boys at the post. They're a sort of police, sir. The Tontos +don't dare come down so long as the Mohaves are about here." + +"I know," said the general reflectively. "Yet some few bucks drifted +off to the Tontos, and the agent's been raising a row because so many +of them roost down here instead of staying on the reservation, bringing +in game. Did you know that two bands were out--women and all--without +permits, and that was one thing that brought Lieutenant Harris and his +scouts up here?" + +"Well, that accounts for our having seen none of them for over two +weeks. They must have gone clean out to the Mesa. General," he +continued anxiously, "they don't like their agent, or that agency. +They're herded in there with Apache Yumas and sick Tontos and Sierra +Blancas--fellows that get better treatment because they're bigger +devils and raise merry hell. _I_ know 'em and the agent don't. I'd move +in to the post if _they_ were out, but we're safe with the 'Patchie +Mohaves." + +That was what poor Bennett was saying not twelve hours earlier, and now +the homelike ranch had gone up in flames, and Bennett, wailed the dago, +lay butchered among the ruins. So, too, the negro. The Maricopa boys +had fled only, probably, to be run down and killed, but what had become +of the poor, helpless little wife and mother, with her bonny, blue-eyed +boys, God alone knew. + +By this time half the enlisted strength of the post was up and out and +flocking to hear the tidings. Bentley, the surgeon, had shuffled over +in his slippered feet and was giving Dago first aid to the demoralized +in the shape of _aguardiente Americano_, that made him sputter and +sneeze, but speedily braced him. The adjutant hurried over to call the +commanding officer, passing Harris on the way, and Harris, already in +campaign dress, was hastening to the camp of his scouts. Turner, silent +and sombre, as was his wont, had elbowed his way through the throng and +stood glowering at Dago and the beetled-browed Muñoz, as though +weighing them in mental balance, and finding both wanting. Mrs. +Stannard, through the blinds, had hailed the adjutant as he went +bounding by to say the captain would be out in a moment. Already +Wettstein had told them the fearful news. The adjutant stepped inside +the open hallway at the general's and banged on the swinging door of +the little front room, answered almost instantly by the subdued and +gentle voice of Mrs. Archer from the head of the stairs. The general +was sound asleep. Was it necessary to wake him? + +Strong expected as much. Not once a month did that genial veteran +permit himself an over-indulgence, but, when he did, the quicker he +slept it off the better. He had taken his night-cap and turned in +betimes, so as to be up at reveille. But Strong knew what the "Old Man" +would say to him later if he failed to rouse him now. "It's immediate, +Mrs. Archer," said he. "We have bad news from Bennett's Ranch." + +A pale, frightened, white little face had come peering over the +motherly shoulder at the moment, even whiter in the flickering light of +Mrs. Archer's candle, and at sound of the name there went up a low cry +of distress. + +"Oh, Mr. Strong, is it Mrs. Bennett--or the boys?" + +"We don't--know--yet, Miss Archer. The dago's here, scared to death; +galloped all the way with a story of an Indian raid. I'm hoping it +isn't as bad as he thinks. God forgive me the lie," he added under his +breath. + +"But they haven't hurt _her?_ They surely would not hurt _her_!" came +the piteous wail, as the girl clung to the rude balustrade, while her +mother hastened to rouse the sleeping warrior. "Heaven pity her," +thought Strong, "unless they have killed her outright and _not_ carried +her away." + +Then came a step in the hall behind him, and Willett was there, alert +and resourceful. "Pray don't be troubled _yet_, Miss Archer," he called +reassuringly, and barely noticing Strong. "The messenger's been +stampeded before this, the men tell me. He's too badly scared to know +the truth. It may be there's been a fire. I think there has, for the +light could be seen, and so he imagined Indians and never stopped to +see. I'm going right up there and will send back word. _Please_ don't +worry yet!" + +How thoughtful he was for her, and for dear mamma! How kind! Strong +knew full well that the light they had seen was the glare of no burning +ranch, but a beacon far up in the hills--a signal fire, of course. The +ranch lay in a deep valley ten miles to the north-east, with high +ridges intervening. In the brilliant moonlight a glare that might +otherwise have been seen on the sky would pass unnoted. Strong knew, +deep down in his heart, that whatever the fate of the family, the ranch +was a thing of the past, but Willett's words were soothing. It was +better to let them go unquestioned. + +Then out came the general on the landing above, his towzled gray poll +poking over the rail. "What is it, Strong? I'll be down quick as I can +half dress." Indeed, he was losing no instant of time, though it cost +him some items of toilet. With his feet in "flip-flaps," his legs in +loose linen trousers, and buttoning a sack coat over his nightgown, the +veteran was already shuffling downstairs. "Run back to your room, +dear," he said, as he passed his little girl. "You shall know +everything presently," and then in a moment was out in the free air of +heaven, the two young officers with him. + +Briefly, cautiously, the adjutant murmured the dago's story, adding his +fear as to its truth. Blankly Archer looked at them an instant, aghast, +appalled, as well he might be, and for the moment unable or unwilling +to trust himself to speak. There had been no time, he said, to souse +his head in the big basin of cool water his wife would have given him. +He was still heated, flushed, suddenly roused from heavy slumber, and +by no means at his best. Strong knew just how to act in the premises +and would have given him time to recover, but there was Willett, alert +and insistent,--Willett who represented the commanding general, and +whose words carried weight--Willett who was quick to seize the +opportunity and to say: + +"This is just in line with what we thought at headquarters, sir, and +the quicker I can get to the spot the better. With your consent, +general, I'll push out at once with the scouts, and we'll get back word +to you before daylight." + +And even Strong, loyal soul, had to admit later that the general's +answer was practically "Yes, yes, by all means, Willett, and I'll send +a troop in support," whereupon Willett darted away to the adjutant's +quarters to doff his natty uniform and don something older and more +suitable. Twenty minutes thereafter he had swung a leg over one of +Stannard's troop horses and spurred away down to the north-eastward +slope, toward the upper ford of the stream, where dimly in the distance +another horseman could be seen, with a dozen shadowy, ghost-like forms +gliding along in tireless jog trot in line with him--Harris and his +mountain hounds, the Apache scouts, already _en route_ for the scene of +disaster. Bentley, Stannard and Turner, standing at the edge of the +bluff, with fourscore soldiers clustered about them, while others had +gone with Dago to hear again his tale, gazed thoughtfully after the +disappearing shadows and then at each other. + +"Humph!" said Stannard, in words meant for his fellows, but in tones +that went farther. "There'll be conflict of authority now or _I'm_ a +duffer!" + +Ten minutes they stood and watched; then came the orderly with the +general's compliments, and he'd be glad to see Captain Stannard at +once. + +"That means you're going, Stan," said the surgeon. "I suppose he'll +send my assistant with you." + +They found the commanding officer on the porch of his quarters, very +grave and quiet now, perfectly calm and self-possessed. The dago had +squatted at the edge of the steps, his face bowed in his hands, +shivering as though from cold. Muñoz slouched near by, eying him in +aggressive contempt. Several sergeants, with many of the men, were +grouped at respectful distance, eager and waiting the word. Strong was +with the ladies, for Mrs. Stannard had dressed hurriedly and come over, +and between them the two elders were gently striving to console or +encourage Lilian, who had been quite overcome by the particulars as +translated by Muñoz. The dago claimed that from his pallet, under the +"linter" of the corral, he had been roused by the sudden yell at the +ranch, followed by swift shooting, screams and cries of Mrs. Bennett +and the children, the outburst of flame, and then he saw them, the +Indians, coming for him, and he sprang on the best horse and lashed him +all the way to the post. + +Stannard came at the moment, solid, stocky, and reliable--a man it was +a comfort to look at in moments of peril or excitement, and such +moments were frequent in the old days of the frontier. Silently he +saluted, stood before the commander and received his brief +orders--mount the troop, follow the scouts, and if it should appear +that Mrs. Bennett and the children had been carried off by the Indians, +to pursue and do his best to recapture. Rations would follow by mule +train. + +Stannard had just one question to ask. + +"Shall I call on Mr. Harris or Mr. Willett for scouts, sir?" And even +then it was noted that he named Harris first. + +"Why--on Mr. Harris. He is in command." + +"Very good, sir," said Stannard, and turned on his heel. Mrs. Stannard, +hastily kissing Lilian's pale and tear-wet cheek, started to follow, +but through the little knots of soldiery a strange figure came forcing +a way, a lithe Apache on resentful mule--'Tonio, already back from the +front, a little folded paper in his hand. Lashing the obstinate brute +he bestrode, 'Tonio dove straight at the general, and all men waited to +learn the tidings. Hastily Archer opened the paper, glanced it over in +the moonlight, looked up, and nodded to Stannard. + +"Willett says from round the point they can see two more signal fires +toward the north-east, just the way to the Apache Mohaves!" + +Then came a dramatic incident. Sitting his saddle mule like a chief of +the Sioux, 'Tonio straightened to his full height, his strong face +gleaming in the brilliant, silvery sheen, his bare right arm, with +clinching fist uplifted, and in a voice that rang out like a clarion on +the hushed and breathless night, shouted his response for his people: + +"Apache Mohave! No! _No!_ No!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +Barely a mile away to the north-east of the site of old Camp Almy a +ridge of rock and shale stretches down from the foothills of the Black +Mesa and shuts off all view of the rugged, and ofttimes jagged, +landscape beyond--all save the peaks and precipitous cliffs of the +Mogollon, and some of the pine-crested heights that hem the East Fork. +Time was, toward the fag end of the Civil War, when the volunteers from +the "Coast" kept a lookout on the point, a practice that yielded more +scalps to the Indians than security to the inmates. The system, +therefore, fell into disuse, and the post became unpopular because of +the mutilated condition in which the pickets were twice found by the +relief, and the amount of reliable information received from the point +never quite paid for the cost. With the disappearance of the Tontos, +who were not such fools as their Spanish name implied, the practice of +stationing outlying sentries was dropped. The Tontos seemed to have +abandoned the valley to their distant cousins, the Apache-Mohaves, +whose presence there, in small, itinerant parties, was objected to less +by the few scattered settlers than by the one badgered agent at the +distant reservation. + +This, at least, was the case at first. Bennett and Sowerby, from above +Camp Almy, and two others from below, found them friendly and +peaceable. But presently complaints were heard from settlers over at +McDowell, in the Verde Valley to the west, and other settlers away up +the Verde toward Camp Sandy. Then Sowerby swore his stock was run off, +and Bennett presently remained the only ranchman to stand up for them. +The agent declared them contumacious and tricky. Other whites--Arizona +white was then a reddish-brown--added their evil word to the +official's. It was the old adage over again: "Give a dog a bad name," +etc., and the department commander had sent for scouts to coax them in, +before despatching troops to enforce their coming, and Harris had found +nobody--nothing but abandoned _rancherias_ and unsavory relics. + +And then had come the tidings of a clash--the killing of Comes Flying, +son of a chief, and brother to a tribal leader, and then in reprisal, +probably, the burning of Bennett's home and the butchery of Bennett. +Then Harris had stayed not a moment, but, acting on the understanding +of the previous evening, had gone forth at once. + +It is well to be prompt, yet oftentimes wise to be prompted. Post +commanders like to be able to say in their reports, "I ordered" this, +or "By my direction" that, and Harris had gone at the word of alarm +without other word with the general. + +That Harris was to choose his own time was the understanding between +them when they parted, almost affectingly, at night, for between the +snake episode and the successive toddies the good old gentleman was +quite effusive. There would have been, probably, no change in the +instructions had Harris started at reveille or even at dawn. But to +"pull out" at midnight, with the situation changed and without another +word with the commander, was something open to criticism. Moreover, +Harris knew it. + +But he had two reasons, neither of which might count with a court of +his peers, but were of mighty account to him. 'Tonio had come to him +actually ablaze with indignation. 'Tonio had said his people were +accused when his people were innocent. 'Tonio had begged that they +start at once, and he would show it was not Apache-Mohaves at fault. He +would show who were the real raiders, and might even rescue the +prisoners. So Harris never hesitated. Leaving a brief note in the hands +of Dr. Bentley, he had ridden away with 'Tonio and a dozen of his best, +only to be overtaken a mile or so out by the man of all others he least +desired to see. Hal Willett was the second reason Harris had for +wishing to get well away. If ever there came opportunity for a man to +step in, and upon, another man's plans and purposes, Harold Willett +could be relied upon to take it. Harris knew him of old, knew +instinctively that, if a possible thing, his classmate, ever selfish +and self-seeking, would rob him of the fruits of his long service with +the scouts, and would not scruple in such an emergency to take over the +command. + +Harris was right. Just as the leaders rounded the huge shoulder of +hillside jutting so boldly to the bank of the stream, and were eagerly +pointing to the two distant flames far up in the foothills, Willett +came galloping to his side. "Signal fires, of course!" said he. "It's +just as I said, and this fellow of yours denied. They're making for the +Mesa. I'll send back word at once." With that he set to scribbling a +note on a page of his scouting book, then again galloped forward, +catching Harris and 'Tonio riding side by side. + +"Tell 'Tonio to take this straight to General Archer," said he. + +Then Harris turned on him: + +"I don't recognize your right to order my scouts about, Willett. I need +'Tonio here." + +"You'll have him again in twenty minutes," was the conciliatory answer. +"This is by Archer's own order, Harris. I've come straight from his +side. Otherwise I'll interfere with you as little as possible." + +And Harris, with one look of distrust in his comrade's flushing face, +turned quietly to 'Tonio, said barely ten words to his second, not one +to his senior, then bitterly spurred ahead. + +He was not the first man in the profession of arms to realize what it +is to faithfully and persistently labor to develop, instruct and +discipline a body of men until he and they are working in absolute +accord, all the intricate parts of the human machine nicely adjusted +and moving without the faintest friction, and then to find himself at +the eleventh hour set to one side, a stranger to his men and a rival to +himself set in his stead, and be bidden to move on as a sort of martial +second fiddle, while the credit and reward go to the new first violin. +Nor was Harris the last by any manner of means. As General Archer had +himself been heard to say, "One essential of military preferment is a +knowledge of the game of euchre--your neighbor." Couple this with utter +indifference to the rights of fellow-soldiers, and a catlike capacity +to work by stealth in the dark, and there is no starry altitude to +which one may not aspire. Harris made the same mistake older soldiers +had sometimes made in higher commands, that of sticking to their own +men, and duties, without keeping an eye on, and a friend at, +headquarters. Anomalous as it may sound, the absent are ever wrong, +even when "present for duty," where they should be. If Harris that +night had only gone to headquarters instead of his camp; had stopped to +see the general instead of starting promptly to the rescue, there would +have been less to tell by way of a story. + +Possibly a realization of this had already come over him, as angering +yet unswerving, he once again overtook the eager leaders among his +scouts,--lean, wiry fellows, ever gliding swiftly on in that tireless +Apache running walk. Once there again, he kept his broncho at the trot +to hold his own, and a broncho trot, after a mile or two of warming up, +becomes something besides monotonous. Away to the far front, the +north-east, flickered the tiny blazes; guiding lights, as Willett would +have it; bale fires, as Harris began to believe--fires set by +confederates to blind the eye of the pursuit, or lure pursuers to a +trap. Away to the far front, seven miles now, and deep in a nook of the +foothills, lay the site of Bennett's ruined ranch, and thither, at top +speed of his scouts, was the young leader pressing. Not even a dull +glow in the heavens above, or a spark on the earth beneath, could the +sharp-eyed scouts discover to tell of its lonely fate. Only the dago's +horrified words, only the confirmative symptoms of these farther fires, +had these fly-by-night rescuers to warrant their mission. The story had +its probable side. Peaceable as had been the Apache-Mohaves, the fact +that a clash had occurred between them and some of the agent's +forces,--a clash in which Comes Flying had been killed,--might readily +turn the scale and send them on the war-path. If so, the first and +nearest whites were apt to be the victims. If so, Bennett and his +beloved wife and boys might well have been murdered in their beds--or +spared for a harsher fate. In any event, the first duty--the obvious +one--for Harris and his scouts was to reach the spot with all speed; +ascertain, if possible, the fate of the ranch folk, then act as their +discoveries might direct. All this Harris was turning over in mind as +he hurried ahead. The road, though little worn, was distinct, and now +that they were out of the bottom and skirting the stony bed of a little +mountain stream, quite firm and dry. Six miles an hour, easily, his +swarthy, half-naked fellows were making without ever "turning a hair." +His own lean broncho, long trained to such work, scrambled along in +that odd, short-legged trot, and Harris himself, trained to perfection, +hard and dry, all sinewy strength, rode easily along--he could have +done almost as well afoot--at the head of his men, keeping them to +their pace, yet never overdriving. + +But with Willett the case was different. For him there had been no hard +and dry scouting. It had been wet work in the Columbia country. It had +been "hunt-your-hole business" in the lava beds, where the hat that +showed above the rocks was sure to get punctured. Then the month of +feasting in that most lavish of cities, "'Frisco, the Golden," and the +fortnight's voyage by sea, with further symposiums, and finally some +hours of frontier hospitality at Prescott and at Almy, all had combined +to spoil his condition, and before he had ridden forty minutes Hal +Willett found himself blown and shaken. He lagged behind to regain +breath, then galloped forward to lose it. He knew that Harris had left +him in anger and indignation not unjustifiable. He knew he had not full +warrant for his authority. He knew Harris was entitled to unhampered +command, and that he had hampered. Yet, now, believing that Harris was +pushing swiftly ahead as much to "shake" him as to reach the scene, he +again dug spurs to his laboring troop horse, and came sputtering over +the loose stones to the young leader's side. + +"Harris," he puffed, "this is no way to work your men. They'll be blown +when you get there, and of no earthly use." + +"You don't know them," answered Harris, with exasperating calm, and +without so much as a symptom of slowing up. + +"But--I know how it affects--me,--and I'm no novice at scouting." + +"You are to--this sort of thing, anyhow," was the uncompromising +answer, and then with a cool, comprehensive glance that seemed to take +in the entire man, he added, "You're out of training, Willett--the one +thing a man has to watch out for in Apache work. Better let me leave a +couple of men with you, and come on easily. You won't be very far +behind us." + +And then, as bad luck would have it, 'Tonio came cantering up from the +rear, his big, lop-eared mule protesting to the last, and 'Tonio bore a +little folded paper. + +He was not versed in cavalry etiquette, this chieftain of the frontier, +nor had he learned to read writing as he did men. The two officers at +the moment were side by side, Willett on the right, his charger +plunging and sweating with back set ears and distended nostrils; Harris +on the left, his broncho jogging steadily, sturdily on, showing no +symptom of weariness. "To Gran Capitan--Willett" were the general's +words, it seems, when he sent 'Tonio on his way with the note, but in +'Tonio's eyes Harris was "Gran Capitan," even though hailed at times as +"_Capitan Chiquito_," and to Harris's left 'Tonio urged his mount and +silently held forth the missive. + +There was never any question thereafter that it was meant for the +other. Archer had his reasons. Willett was there as the aid, the +representative, of the department commander, charged with an important +duty. Willett had come to him, volunteered to go with the scouts, and +he had bidden him God speed. Willett was the senior in rank as first +lieutenant, promotions in the "Lost and Strayed" having been livelier +than in the "Light Dragoons." Moreover, Willett had shown proper +deference to him, the post commander, whereas, Harris, said he, in his +first impulsive, self-excusing mood, even though warranted in going, +had gone without a word. Sensitive and proud, the veteran of many +fights and many sorrows, ruefully bethinking himself of Harris's +abstinence and his own conviviality, saw fit to imagine Harris guilty +of an intentional slight. + +Like noble old Newcombe, the gentlest and humblest-minded of men, "he +was furious if anybody took a liberty with him," and in his sudden +rousing and wrath this was what he thought Harris had done. It was to +humble him rather than to exalt Willett that he ignored the one and +hailed the other. "To Gran Capitan Willett," he said, and 'Tonio handed +the missive to the one "gran capitan" he knew and served and loved. + +And Harris, never noting the pencil scrawl upon the back, proceeded to +tear it open, when Willett stretched forth his hand: + +"I think you will find that is for me, Harris--an answer to what I +wrote," and his words had the distinct ring of authority. Harris +flushed, even in the moonlight; turned it over, read the unsteady +characters, "Lieutenant Willett, A.D.C.," surrendered it without a +word, and a second time drove ahead, while Willett reined up to read. + +It was ten minutes before Willett again overtook the pale-faced young +officer at the front. Harris's mouth looked like a rigid gash, and his +battered felt was pulled down over a deep-lined forehead, as with stern +eyes he turned his head, but never his shoulder, in answer to his +classmate's imperative call. + +"Rein in now, and listen to this, Harris. If you must have it, it's--by +order." + +And Harris slowly checked his horse; silently inclined an ear. + + "Lieutenant Willett, it says," began the senior, with the sweat + rolling into his eyes, "Your despatch received. The fires you + mention indicate further hostile parties, 'Tonio insists not + Mohaves. If not, must be Tontos. Therefore, move with caution. + Stannard just saddling. Use your discretion as to waiting for him. + + "ARCHER, Commanding Post." + +Then Willett turned. He had begun to refold, but ceased, and held it +forth. "Read it yourself, if you like." Harris's gauntlet came up in +protest. He bit his lip hard, but said no word. The scouts were but +white specks in the distance now. There was sudden cry, low, like that +of the night-bird, and 'Tonio dug his moccasined heels in his lop-eared +charger's ribs and drove out to the front, then turned in saddle, +looked back at his chief and pointed. Both officers instantly followed. + +The trail led over a low spur, and the scouts had halted and were +squatting at the crest. Straightway before them, possibly four miles, a +dull red glow lay in the midst of the moonlight, with occasional +tongues of lurid flame lazily lapping at some smouldering upright. The +fire had spent its force; gorged itself on its prey and was sinking to +sleep. + +"Come on then!" said Harris, speaking for the first time impetuously. +"If you can't stand the pace let us shove ahead!" + +"And run slap into ambush? No. My orders are to move with caution. +We've got to _feel_ our way now. Hold your hand, Harris--and your men." + +Barely fifty minutes had they been in coming these six miles from Almy. +Barely fifty minutes thereafter, and with less than three miles more to +their credit, halted for cautious reconnaissance, with the ruined ranch +still a long mile away, there came sound of feeble hail from a patch of +willows down by the brookside, and presently, in fearful plight, they +dragged forth Bennett's colored man-of-all-work, unharmed, but half +dead with terror. Yes, Indians had suddenly come in the early evening. +First warning was from the Maricopa boy who came running from the +spring, saying they had killed his brother. Bennett grabbed his gun and +ran out to see, telling him, Rusty, to take a rifle and hurry with Mrs. +Bennett and the children and hide in the willows down the creek. They +heard firing and yelling, and 'twas all Rusty could do, he said, to +keep Mrs. Bennett from running back to her husband, and the children +from screaming aloud, but he made them go with him still farther down +the valley, down to that patch yonder, and there they lay in hiding +while the Indians burned the ranch, and seemed hunting everywhere for +them, and at last things quieted down, but Mrs. Bennett was wild and +crazy and crying to go back and find her husband, dead or alive, and he +had to hold her. Just a few minutes ago, not fifteen minutes before, +she broke away, and he found it was no use trying. She started to run +back, telling him to save her boys. She kissed them both and went, and +it wasn't five minutes after that before he heard her scream awfully, +and the boys began to cry again, and then--then he saw two Indians +coming running, and he knew they'd got her and were coming for the +children, so what could he do but run and save himself? + +"Lead on where you left them!" ordered Harris instantly, never waiting +for Willett to speak. Ten minutes brought them to the farther shelter, +a dense little willow copse, empty and deserted. "Come on to the +ranch," was the next order, but there Willett interposed. + +"Carefully now. Let your scouts open out and feel the way," he ordered, +and Harris would not hear. Harris had thrown himself from his horse to +lead the search. He never stopped to remount. He ran like a deer up the +stony creek bed until he regained the road, his scouts following +pell-mell, and in ten minutes more they found him bending over the +lifeless body of brave, sturdy Jack Bennett, weltering in his blood at +the side of the spring house, and with no sign of the hapless, helpless +wife and mother anywhere. + +"By God, Hal Willett!" cried Harris, as he sprang to his feet, all +dignity and deliberation thrown to the winds. "You may 'proceed with +caution' all you damned please. 'Tonio and I go after that poor woman +and her children. We'd have saved them _here_ if it hadn't been for +you!" + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +The dawn was breaking in sickly pallor over the jagged scarp of the +Mesa, bounding the chaotic labyrinth of bowlders, crag and cañon +beneath. Far up the rugged valley, jutting from the faded fringe of +pine, juniper and scrub oak that bearded the Mogollon, a solitary butte +stood like sentry against the cloudless sky, its lofty crown of rock +just faintly signalling the still distant coming of the heralds of the +god of day. Here in the gloomy depths of the basin, and at the banks of +the murmuring stream, all was still silence and despond. The +smouldering ruins of Bennett's cosey home lay a mass of dull red coal, +with smoke wreaths sailing idly aloft from charred beam or roof-tree. +The mangled body of the stout frontiersman had been gathered into a +trooper's blanket and lay there near the pathetic ruin of the house he +had so hopefully builded, so bravely defended, for the wife and little +ones. Half a dozen Indian scouts, silent and dejected, were squatting +inert about the little garden, irrigated from the main _acequia_, +where the heavy-headed poppies, many of them, were still nodding on +their stalks, while others lay crushed and trampled. A little distance +away down the stream a little troop of cavalry, in most business-like +uniform, had dismounted and was watering some fifty thirsty horses, +while its stocky commander, his hands thrust deep in the pockets of his +riding breeches, his slouch hat pulled down to his brows, his booted +foot kicking viciously at a clump of cactus, was listening impatiently +to the words of the young aide-de-camp, who seemed far less at ease +than when he trod the boards of the general's quarters some six hours +earlier in the night. + +"Do I understand you then," and Stannard spoke with a certain asperity, +"that Mr. Harris, with just two or three scouts, has gone out hunting +on his own hook?--that even 'Tonio isn't with him?" + +"He claimed the right to go, and I told him to take half a dozen--half +a score of the scouts, if need be, and leave the other half with me, +only I drew the line at 'Tonio. I needed him here. He is the only +Indian in the lot who understands enough English to catch my meaning +and to translate. I could let Harris go, or 'Tonio, separately, but not +both together. That left me powerless. Oh, yes, he objected. He said +'Tonio had always been his right bower--always had worked with him and +for him. But 'Tonio, not Harris, is the chief of scouts, the man they +look to and obey. Now he and most of his followers are here to do your +bidding. If Harris had been allowed his way, I'd have been probably +alone." + +Stannard sniffed. "Which way'd he go?" he bluntly asked. + +"I'm not sure. We were going to trail the moment it was light enough to +see. One thing is certain, they did not start in the direction of the +signals, though they may have veered off that way. 'Tonio is the only +one who claims to know anything. 'Tonio says 'Apache Tonto' was the +murderer, not Apache-Mohave, and 'Tonio's in the sulks. Look at him!" + +Stannard glanced an instant toward the gaunt figure of the Apache, +standing dejectedly apart from all others and gazing fixedly toward the +dawn. The light was stronger now. The red was in the orient sky. The +distant butte was all aglow with the radiance of the rising yet +invisible sun. Stannard seemed more concerned in the whereabouts of Mr. +Harris than in the worries of Mr. Willett. Again he returned to his +questions. + +"Well, did Harris give any inkling of his purpose--whether he meant to +follow the trail till he found captives and captors, or only till he +found where it probably led to? I've got to act, and lose no time. +Sergeant, tell the men to hurry with their coffee," he called, to the +brown-eyed, dark-featured soldier who was coming forward at the moment. +A salute was the only answer, as the sergeant turned about in his +tracks and signalled to the boy trumpeter, holding his own and the +captain's horse. Another moment and Stannard was in saddle. + +"Harris didn't say," was the guarded answer. "You know, I suppose, that +he left the post without consulting the general, and he took it much +amiss that, in compliance with the general's orders, I exercised +certain authority after reaching him. Now you are here to take entire +charge, I turn over the whole business to you. There's what's left of +the scouts; there's what's left of the ranch; and there," with a glance +at the blanket-shrouded form, "is what's left of the Bennetts. I'll jog +back to the post by and by." + +"Oh, then you're not going on with us?" said Stannard, relieved in +mind, he hardly knew why. + +"No, sir, I only rode out here to investigate and report. We, of +course, hoped to save _some_thing." + +"Pity you hadn't spared yourself and not spoiled the pie," thought +Stannard as he looked about him over the scene of desolation. The men +were snapping their tin mugs and the refilled canteens to the saddle +rings. The captain rode over to 'Tonio, a kindly light in his blue-gray +eyes. He whipped off the right gauntlet and held forth his hand. + +"No Apache-Mohave!" said he stoutly. "Apache Tonto. Si! Now catch 'em +Teniente Harris." Poor lingo that "pidgin" Indian of the desert and the +long ago, but it served its purpose. 'Tonio grasped the proffered hand, +a grateful gleam in his black eyes; warned with the other hand the +captain's charger from certain tracks he had been jealously guarding; +then pointed eagerly, here, there, in half a dozen places, where +footprints were still unmarred in the powdery dust. "Si--si--Apache +Tonto!" and the long, skinny finger darted, close to the ground, from +one print to the other. "No Apache-Mohave! No!" + +"Then come! Mount!" called Stannard. "Leave a corporal and four men +here as guard until the ambulance gets out from the post," he added, to +the first sergeant. "Mount the troop, soon's you're ready. I'm going +ahead with 'Tonio and the scouts. _Ugashi_, 'Tonio! Good-by, Mr. +Willett. Take one of the men, if you need an orderly," he shouted back, +over a flannel-shirted shoulder, innocent of badge or strap of any +kind. In point of dress or equipment there was absolutely no difference +between the captain of cavalry and his fifty men. + +A moment later, spreading out over the low ground like so many hounds +throwing off for a scent, 'Tonio and his scouts were trotting away +toward a dip in the rugged heights to the north-east, for thither, the +moment it was light enough even faintly to see, the keen eyes of the +Apaches had trailed the fugitives, and now with bounding feet they +followed the sign, Tonio foremost, his mount discarded. Afoot, like his +fellows, and bending low, pointing every now and then to half turned +pebble, to broken twig or bruised weed, he drove ever eagerly forward, +the stolid bearing of the Indian giving way with each successive minute +to unusual, though repressed excitement. Thrice he signalled to +Stannard and pointed to the crushed and beaten sand--to toe or heel or +sole marks to which the Caucasian would have attached but faint +importance had not the aborigine proclaimed rejoicefully +"Apache-Mohave!" whereat Stannard shook his head and set his teeth and +felt his choler rising. + +"Thought you swore Apache _Tonto_ awhile ago," said Stannard wrathfully. +"Now you're saying Apache _Mohave_!" + +"Si! Si! Apache Tonto--kill--shoot. Apache-Mohave good Indian. Look, +see, _carry_," and with hands and arms in eager gesture he strove to +illustrate. + +Could he mean that they who killed Bennett were hostile Tontos, and +that these who bore the poor widowed creature were of the Mohave blood? +If so, why should 'Tonio seem really to rejoice? Had he not strenuously +denied that his people took any part in the outrage? Was he not now +insisting that they were active in bearing her away--probably to +captivity and a fate too horrible? Stannard, riding close at his heels, +his men still following in loose skirmish order until they should reach +the ravine, studied him with varying emotion. Harris had certainly +betrayed a fear that 'Tonio was but half-hearted in the matter of +scouting after Apache-Mohaves. Now the suspected scout was trailing for +all he was worth, with the pertinacity of the bloodhound. + +Broad daylight again, and the sun peering down from the crest of the +great Mesa, and the morning growing hot, and some new hands already +pulling eagerly at the canteens, despite their older comrades' warning. +And still the advance went relentlessly on. They were climbing a +rugged, stony ravine now, with bare shoulders of bluff overhanging in +places, and presently, from a projecting ledge, Stannard was able to +look back over the rude landscape of the lowlands. There to the west, +stretching north and south, was the long, pine-crested bulwark of the +Mazatzal, the deep, ragged rift of Dead Man's Cañon toward the upper +end. Winding away southward, in the midst of the broad valley, the +stream shone like burnished silver in the shallow reaches, or sparkled +over rocky beds. Far to the south-west, the dull, dun-colored roofs and +walls of the post could barely be discerned, even with the powerful +binocular, against the brown barren of the low "bench" whereon it lay. +Only the white lance of the flagstaff, and the glint of tin about the +chimneys, betrayed its position. From north to far south-east ran the +palisade-like crest of the Black Mesa, while the Sierra Ancha bound the +basin firmly at the southward side. Deep in the ravines of the +foothills, where little torrents frothed and tumbled in the spring +tide, scant, thread-like rivulets came trickling now to join the gentle +flood of the lower Tonto and the East Fork of the Verde, and, at one or +two points along the Mesa, signal smokes were still puffing into the +breathless air. Below them, possibly six miles away, yet looking almost +within long rifle-shot, the square outline of the abandoned corral, the +blackened ruin of the ranch, with the adjacent patches, irrigated, +tilled, carefully tended--all Bennett's hard and hopeful toil gone for +nothing--told their incontrovertible tale of savage hate and treachery. +It was a sorry ending this, a wretched reward for the years of saving, +self-denial and steadfast labor of him who had lived so long at amity +among these children of the mountain and desert, giving them often of +his food and raiment, asking only the right to build up a little lodge +in this waste land of the world, where he need owe no man anything, yet +have home and comfort and competence for those he loved, and a welcome +for the wayfarer who should seek shelter at his door. It was the old, +old story of many a pioneer and settler, worn so threadbare at the +campfires of the cavalry that rough troopers wondered why it was that +white men dared so much to win so little. Yet, through just such +hardships, loneliness and peril our West was won, and they who own it +now have little thought for those who gave it them. + +Stannard sighed as he closed his signal glass and turned again to the +duty in hand. "What's the trouble?" he bluntly asked his faithful +sergeant; lieutenants at the moment he had none. + +"Check, sir. All rock and half a dozen gullies. Scouts are trying three +of them. Don't seem to know which way they went from here. Even a mule +shoe makes no print." + +The troop, following its leader's example, without sound or signal had +dismounted, and stood in long column of files adown the ravine. 'Tonio +and his fellow-scouts had disappeared somewhere in the stony labyrinth +ahead. Up this way, before the dawn, the dusky band must have led or +driven their captives, two of Bennett's mules having been pressed into +service. Up this way, not an hour behind them, must have followed +Harris and his handful of allies, four Indians in all. Up this way, +swift and unerring thus far, 'Tonio, backed by half a dozen half-naked +young braves, had guided the cavalry, and never before, so said old +Farrier Haney, who had 'listed in the troop at Prescott, and had served +here with the previous regiment in '69--never before had he known +'Tonio so excited, so vehement. Beyond all question, 'Tonio's heart was +in the chase to-day. + +[Illustration: Scrambling down the adjacent slope every man for +himself. Page 81] + +But this delay was most vexatious. Every moment lost to the pursuit was +more than a minute gained by the pursued. Lighter by far and trained to +mountain climbing, the Apache covers ground with agility almost +goatlike. It was long after seven, said Stannard's watch, and not a +glimpse had they caught of Indian other than their own. It was just +half past the hour, and Stannard with an impatient snap of the +watch-case was about thrusting it back in his pocket, when, far to the +front, reëchoing, resounding among the rocks, two shots sounded in +quick succession, followed in sudden sputter by half a dozen more. +"Turn your horses over to Number Four, men!" shouted Stannard. +"Sergeant Schreiber, remain in charge. The rest of you come on." + +Scrambling up a rocky hillside, he led on to the divide before him--the +crest between two steep ravines--his men coming pell-mell and panting +after, every now and then dislodging a stone and sending it clattering +to the depths below. Two hundred yards ahead, at a sharp, angular +point, one of the Yuma scouts stood frantically waving his hand, and +thither Stannard turned his ponderous way. No lightweight he, and the +pace and climb began to tell. Eager young soldiers were at his heels, +but grim old Stauffer, the first sergeant, growled his orders not to +crowd; hearing which their captain half turned with something like a +grin: "Tumble ahead if you want to," was all he said, and tumble they +did, for the firing was sharp and fierce and close at hand, augmented +on a sudden as 'Tonio's little party reached the scene and swelled the +clamor with their Springfields. Another moment and, springing from rock +to rock, spreading out to the right and left as they came in view of a +little fastness along the face of a cliff, the troopers went scrambling +down the adjacent slope and, every man for himself, opened on what +could be seen of the foe. Some men, possibly, never knew what they were +firing at, but the big-barrelled Sharp's carbine made a glorious chorus +to the sputtering fire of the scouts. Five hundred yards away, bending +double, dodging from bowlder to bowlder, several swarthy Indians could +be seen in full flight, apparently. Then old 'Tonio threw up a hand +from across the stony chasm, signalled to his friends to cease, sprang +over a low barrier of rock, disappeared one moment from view, then a +few yards farther signalled "Come on." And on they went and came +presently upon an excited, jabbering group at a little cleft in the +hillside. A mule lay kicking in death agony down the slope. Another lay +dead among the bowlders. An Apache warrior, face downward in a pool of +blood, was sprawled in front of the cleft, and presently, from the +cavelike entrance, came Lieutenant Harris and 'Tonio, bearing between +them the form of an unconscious woman, and Stannard, as he came panting +to the spot, ordering everybody to fall back and give her air, and +somebody to bring a canteen, slapped Harris a hearty whack on the +shoulder, whereat that silent young officer suddenly wilted and dropped +like a log, and not until then was it seen he was shot--that his sleeve +and shirt were dripping with blood. + +And just about that hour, less than thirty miles away, based on +Lieutenant Willett's verbal report, the commanding officer of Camp Almy +was writing a despatch to go by swift courier to department +head-quarters--a report which closed with these words: + + "The presence at this juncture of Lieutenant Willett, aide-de-camp + to the department commander, was of great value and importance, and + I trust that his decision to remain may meet approval. On the other + hand, it is with regret that I am constrained to express my + disapproval of the action of Lieutenant Harris, commanding scouts, + who left the post with his men immediately after the alarm and + without conference with me; was only overtaken by Lieutenant + Willett after going several miles, and, when informed of my + instructions, practically refused to be guided by them. Persuading + a few of the scouts to follow him, he left the detachment, in spite + of Lieutenant Willett's remonstrance, and started in pursuit of the + marauders. As these must largely outnumber him, it is not only + impossible that he should rescue the captives, but more than + probable he has paid for his rashness with his life." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +"The Gray Fox" had but just received his promotion to the star, jumping +every colonel in the army. He had been doing mighty work among the +recalcitrant Apaches at a time when other commanders were having hard +luck in their respective fields--one, indeed, forfeiting his own +honored and valued life through heeding the sophistries of the Peace +Commissioners rather than the appeals of officers and men who long had +known the Modocs. For long years the warriors of the Arizona deserts +and mountains had bidden defiance to the methods of department +commanders who fought them from their desks at Drum Barracks, or the +Occidental, but George Crook came from years of successful campaigning +after other tribes, and in person led his troopers to the scene of +action. One after another the heads of noted chiefs were bowed, or +laid, at his feet. The pioneers, the settlers, the ranchmen and miners +took heart and hope again, and the marauders to the mountains. Then +came "our friends the enemy," from the far East, with petition and +prayer. Suspension of hostilities, on part of the troops at least, was +ordered, while most excellently pious emissaries arrived inviting the +warriors to come in, to be reasoned with, taught the error of their +ways and persuaded to promise to be good. The astute Apache had no +objection to such proceedings. He was certainly willing to have the +soldier quit fighting, just as willing to come and hear exhortation and +prayer, when coupled with presents and plenty to eat; most Indians +would be. So the new general stepped aside, as ordered, and left the +elders a fair field. "The Gray Fox" went hunting bear and deer, and +while the Apache chieftains went down to the Gila to reap what they +could from the lavish hands of the good and the gentle, their young men +swooped on the stage roads and scattered ranches, and made hay after +their own fashion while shone the sun of peace and promise. So happened +it along the Verde and Salado that the Apache came down like the wolf +on the fold, and so Harris had come up from the Southern Sierra, and +'Tonio had sworn that, all signs to the contrary notwithstanding, his +people were not, as the agent declared, the pillagers and pirates. +"Apache-Mohave? _No!_ No!!" + +"The Gray Fox" had ventured to give his views to the War Department, +which in turn had ventured to express itself to the Secretary of the +Interior. But let us lose no time in following further. The Eastern +press, and such of the Eastern public as had any leisure to devote to +the subject, persisted in looking upon Indian affairs from the +viewpoint and remoteness of Boston, where once upon a time Miles +Standish and our Puritan forbears handled such matters in a manner +anything but Puritanical. Nothing was left to the military arm of the +Government but temporary submission, so, as has been said, "the Gray +Fox" went off on a hunt for bear, mountain lions, and such big game as +was reported to be awaiting him toward the Grand Cañon to the north. An +adjutant-general of the old school was left in charge of the desk and +the department, and all on a sudden found that while Peace and its +commissioners held their sway far to the south, grim-visaged War had +burst upon the northward valleys, and chaos had come again. + +The couriers bearing Archer's report to Prescott found others, +similarly burdened, from the upper reservation, from Camp Sandy, and +even from points to the west and south of department head-quarters, all +telling of death and depredation. So, while the chief of staff ruefully +digested these tidings at the office, the couriers proceeded to have a +time in town, to the end that, when replies and instructions were in +readiness to be sent out, only two of the six were in shape to take +them, and Archer's runner--one of the frontier scouts, half Mexican, +half Apache--was one of the two. + +Now, the chief of staff had been nearly three years in Arizona, had +served in similar capacity to predecessors of "the Gray Fox," and +naturally thought he understood the Apache, and the situation, far +better than did his new commander, and the fact that he had allowed +this conviction to be known had led to a degree of official friction +between himself and the one aide-de-camp left that was fast verging on +the personal. Bright, almost invariably the companion of the general in +his journeyings, was even now with him, lost in the mountains ninety +miles in one direction; Willett, the newly appointed aide-de-camp, was +with the commander of Camp Almy, ninety miles away in another, while +black-bearded Wickham stood alone at Prescott. Wickham had not been +consulted when Willett was sent with confidential instructions to Almy. +Wickham would have disapproved, and the chief of staff knew it. Wickham +_had_ to be shown Archer's despatch, though the adjutant-general +would gladly have concealed it, and now, in chagrin at the outcome of +affairs at Almy, and in consternation at the ebullition all around him, +the adjutant-general was quite at a loss what to do. Wickham, if +asked, would have said at once, "Send for General Crook," but that +would be confession that he, the experienced, did not know how to +handle the situation. So again he took no counsel with Wickham, but +issued instructions in the name of the department commander and ordered +them carried out forthwith. + +Then it transpired that only two couriers were fit to go. Thereupon, +the commanding officer of the one cavalry troop at the post was ordered +to detail three non-commissioned officers, with a brace of troopers +apiece, as bearers of despatches to Date Creek, Wickenberg, Sandy and +the reservation, while Sanchez, the Mexican-Apache Mercury, was ordered +to hasten back to Almy by way of the Mazatzal. It was then but ten +A.M., and to the annoyance of the adjutant-general, Sanchez shook his +black mane and said something that sounded like _hasta la noche_--he +wouldn't start till night. Asked why, the interpreter said he feared +Apache Tontos, and being assured by the adjutant-general that no Tonto +could be west of the Verde, intimated his conviction of the officer's +misinformation by the only sign he knew as bearing on the matter--that +of the forked tongue, which called for no interpreter, as it concisely +said, You lie. Sanchez meant neither insult nor insolence, but the +adjutant-general regarded it as both, ordered another sergeant and two +men got ready at once to ride to Almy, and bade the interpreter take +Sanchez to the post guard-house and turn him over for discipline to the +officer of the day. The sergeant started forty minutes later, with his +two men at his back, and just thirty-five minutes behind Sanchez, who +left the station on the spur of the moment, and the interpreter with a +cleft weasand. It is a mistake for one man to attempt the incarceration +of an armed half-blood of the Indian race. Sanchez started in the lead, +afoot, and, in spite of his fear of Tontos, kept it all the way to the +Mazatzal, where, as was later learned, he abandoned the paths of +rectitude and the trail to Almy, and joining a party of twenty young +renegades, complacently watched the coming of that sergeant and +detachment from behind the sheltering bowlders of Dead Man's Cañon, and +thus it happened that the orders Archer had been expecting three long +days and nights were destined never to get to him. + +It was this situation he had been puzzling over when at ten P.M. the +officer of the day came in to say that new signal fires in the east +were now being answered by others in the west, away over in the +Mazatzal, and the general went forth to the northern edge of the +"bench" to have a good look at them, wishing very much he had Stannard +or Turner or "Capitan Chiquito"--little Harris--to help him guess their +meaning. + +But Stannard, with his sturdy troop, was still far afield, scouting the +fastnesses of the Mogollon in hopes still of overtaking the marauding +band that had ruined Bennett's ranch, murdered its owner, and borne +away into the wilds two helpless little settlers for whom a +half-crazed, heart-broken woman at Almy was wailing night and day. +Turner, following another route and clew, was exploring the Sierra +Ancha south of Tonto Creek, and Lieutenant Harris, in fever and +torment, was occupying an airy room in the post surgeon's quarters, the +object of Bentley's ceaseless care, and of deep solicitude on part of +the entire garrison. + +Borne in the arms of Stannard's men, poor young Mrs. Bennett, raving, +had been carried back to the ruins, and thence by ambulance to the +post. There now she lay with her reason almost gone, nursed by the +hospital steward's wife, and visited frequently by three gentle women, +whose hearts were wrung at sight of her grief. Mrs. Stannard sometimes +spent hours in the effort to soothe and comfort her. Mrs. Archer was +hardly less assiduous, but was beginning now to have anxieties of her +own. Lilian, her beloved daughter, fancy free, as the mother had reason +to know, up to the time of their coming to this far-away, +out-of-the-way station, seemed dangerously near the point of losing her +heart to that very attractive and presentable fellow, Willett, the +aide-de-camp, and Mrs. Archer did not half like it. + +When the news was brought in to Almy that Mrs. Bennett had been +recaptured, and that Lieutenant Harris was wounded in the fight which +scattered her abductors, Willett was the first to mount and away to +meet them. It was his orderly who came galloping back for the ambulance, +and Willett who, before the arrival of the surgeon, had caused to be +rigged up a capital litter on which, later, by easy stages his +suffering classmate was borne to the post. Harris was indeed sorely +hurt, so sorely that the faintest jar was agony. Harris was weak and +pallid from suffering when lifted to his couch in the doctor's +quarters, bearing it all with closed eyes and clinching teeth, +suppressing every sound. The general was there to bear a hand and speak +a word of cheer, all the time wishing it were possible to overtake the +courier, by that time nearly twenty-four hours on his way to Prescott, +that he might amend the wording of that report. He was for sending a +"supplementary" that very evening, but who was there to send? Sanchez +was the only available post courier. The scouts were away with the +cavalry. Both troops were now afield. Barely a dozen horses were left +at the post, and every able-bodied, ambitious cavalryman was with his +comrades on the trail. They who remained were the extra duty men, or +the weaklings. Moreover, when Archer spoke of it to Willett, the latter +very diplomatically argued against it. Wait a day and something _worth_ +sending would surely turn up. Two such captains as Stannard and Turner +could not fail to accomplish something. They could be counted on to +find the hostiles and punish them wherever found. Moreover, as yet, +there were only evil tidings to send, for so the wounding of Harris +would be regarded, and the recapture of poor Mrs. Bennett without her +children would hardly compensate. There was still another thing to be +considered, but even Willett balked at saying this. He had said enough +to induce Archer to hold his hand another day at least, so why use more +ammunition until he had to? + +Two days, therefore, had gone by without news from the field column or +further message to Prescott. Then it was easy to persuade Archer that +it was best to wait the return of Sanchez, and, for Willett, those two +days, especially the long, exquisite evenings, had been full of sweet +and thrilling interest. "I should be more with Harris, I suppose you +are thinking," he had said to Lilian Archer, "and there I would be, +but--I cannot rid myself of the feeling that he would rather be alone. +He always was peculiar, and I seem to worry rather than to help him." + +"But you were classmates," said she, "and I thought----" + +"Classmates, yes," he answered, "but never much together. Even +classmates, you know, are not always intimates." + +"Still I should think that now--here----" she began again, her hand +straying listlessly over the strings of her guitar, her slender fingers +trying inaudible chords. + +He glanced over his shoulder to where Mrs. Archer and Mrs. Stannard, +fast becoming warm friends, were in chat near the open doorway. Then +his handsome head was lowered, and with it the deep, melodious voice. + +"Can you not think that here, and now, I might have greater need of +every moment? Any hour may bring my marching orders." + +She drew back, just a little. This was only the evening after his +return with the wounded. "You always welcome field orders," she +ventured. + +"I always have--hitherto." + +The voice of Mrs. Archer was uplifted at this juncture, just a bit. +"Lilian, dear, you and Mr. Willett would be wise to pull your chairs +this way. I've never liked that corner since 'Tonio's discovery. Where +_is_ 'Tonio, Mr. Willett?" + +"I wish I knew, Mrs. Archer," said Willett, rising and holding forth a +hand to aid Miss Archer to her feet--something she did not need, yet +took. "He was with Stannard when I left. He was with him when they +rescued Mrs. Bennett. He was said to be all distress when he saw that +Harris was hit--and then he disappeared. Stannard's last despatch said +he had not rejoined." + +It was another beautiful, moonlit evening, and the post was very still. +The men of Archer's two infantry companies were clustered about their +log barracks or wandering away by twos and threes to the trader's store +on the flats. The general was pacing the parade in earnest and murmured +talk with the post adjutant. Bentley, the surgeon, was busy with his +charges, having left Harris in a fitful, feverish doze. Not since the +night of the calamity at Bennett's had the sentries reported sign of +signal fire in the hills, but this night, before the last filament of +gold had died at the top of the peak, Number Four had caught a glimpse +of a tiny blaze afar over to the east, and instantly passed the word. +Only half an hour it was observed, and then, away toward the +south-east, an answering gleam burned for a moment against the black +background of the Sierras. Then both went out as suddenly as they +started. + +The general was dining at the moment, and, believing that the fires +would not so soon be extinguished, the officer of the day had not at +once reported them. He was at Archer's door as the veteran came forth, +haranguing Willett, again his guest at dinner, but with anxious eyes +turned at once to hear the report. "No matter what time it happens," he +said, "hereafter, when signals are seen, let the guard notify me at +once." And the officer retired musing over this bit of evidence that +the commanding officer was growing a trifle irritable. + +It was soon after guard mount next day that two runners from Sandy had +come in, weary and hungry. "'Patchie sign--_todas partes_," said the +leader, after delivering his despatch. But he, too, was half Apache and +had squirmed through without mishap. For two hours after reading Archer +kept the contents to himself. The adjutant-general wished to consult +him at Prescott. Ninety miles north-west by buckboard, through a +country infested by hostile Indians! It was a trip he little cared to +take and leave his wife and daughter here! At noon he had had to tell +them, and tell Willett, who was teaching Lilian a fandango he had heard +on the Colorado. Mother and daughter looked anxiously at each other and +said nothing. It was decided he should wait until night before +arranging when to start. Surely this night should bring news of some +kind. + +And surely enough, at ten came the summons that took him, field-glass +in hand, to the northward edge of the little mesa again. Somewhere in +the direction of Diamond Butte, almost due east, one fire was brightly +blazing. Over in the Mazatzal to the westward there were two, and even +as they stood and studied them, Archer dropped his glasses at an +exclamation of surprise from one of his officers, and there, gaunt and +weary, yet erect and fearless, stood 'Tonio. Like a wraith he seemed to +have blown in among them, and now patiently awaited the attention of +the commander; yet, when accosted, all he would say in answer to +question, for they knew not his native tongue, was "_Capitan Chiquito_!" + +So they led him to the doctor's quarters, and Bentley tiptoed in to see +what Harris was doing. He was awake, in pain and fever, but clear-headed. +"Of course I'm able to see 'Tonio," said he. "I _need_ to see him." +Whereupon shufflings were heard in the hallway without, and presently +in the dim lamplight 'Tonio knelt by the young chief's side, took the +clutching white hand and laid it one instant on his head. To no other +of their number had 'Tonio ever tendered such homage. Rising to his +feet, he looked about him, his glittering eyes fixed one moment in mute +appeal; another moment, and gloomily, they studied Willett's handsome +face. Then he spoke, Harris half haltingly explaining. It began +languidly on the latter's part. It quickly changed to excitement, then +to vehement life. 'Tonio was telling of some sharp encounter wherein +women and children had been slain, whereby the mountain tribes were all +aroused, and then he had gone on to declare what Indian vengeance would +demand. Impassioned, 'Tonio threw himself at the first pause on his +knees by the side of the cot whereon lay his beloved _Capitan_, and it +was to him he spoke. It was he who translated: + +"No one," said 'Tonio, "should venture beyond sentry post either day or +night. Even now the rocks and woods about the station were full of +foemen. Get ready to fight them and to take care of the women and +children. They mean revenge! They mean attack! Renegade Apaches!" said +he, "all renegade! Apache-Mohave, no!" + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +The night was still young. The conference at the surgeon's house was +brief, for Bentley, fearing for his patient, hustled all but 'Tonio out +into the open air just as soon as the Indian signalled "I have spoken," +which meant he would tell no more. Brief as it was, the interview had +sent the wounded officer's pulse uphill by twenty beats, and Bentley +knew what that meant. Still it had to be. 'Tonio brought tidings of +ominous import, and the public safety demanded that his warning should +be made known, and who was there to translate but Harris? "If it were +only Chinook, now," said Willett, "I could have tackled it, but, except +a few signs, Apache is beyond me." + +So while the doctor was giving sedatives to his patient, and the +doctor's servant giving food to 'Tonio, Archer gathered his few +remaining officers about him in the moonlight and discussed the +situation. From 'Tonio's description, the affray that had aroused the +Apaches far and wide had occurred three days earlier, just at dawn, +among the rocky fastnesses of the Mogollon, perhaps "two sleeps" to the +north-east, the very direction in which Stannard was scouting. But it +wasn't Stannard's command. 'Tonio said the soldiers were from up the +Verde, and the scouts were Hualpais, and then Archer understood. +Between the Hualpais, finest and northernmost of the Arizona tribesmen, +and the Tonto Apache there had long been feud. It was evident from +'Tonio's description that a _rancheria_ of the latter had been +surprised--"jumped" in the vernacular--just about dawn; that the +Hualpais, rushing in, rejoicing in abundant breechloaders and +cartridges, had shot right and left, scattering the fugitives and +slaying the stay-behinds, who, crippled by wounds or cumbered by squaws +and pappooses, could not get away. The soldiers, though only a hundred +yards or so behind, were slow climbers as compared with the scouts, and +though the few officers and men did what they could to stop the +wretched killing, a few women and children were found among the dead, +and the word was going the length of the Sierra, far to the south-east, +and would never stop till it reached Sonora and Chihuahua, that the +white chief had ordered his soldiers to kill, so they might as well die +fighting. + +"If they were to concentrate now, first on Stannard, and then on +Turner," said Archer--"ambuscade them in a cañon, say--I'm afraid we'd +see few of their fellows again." + +"Or if they only knew their strength," spoke up the only captain left +at the post, "and were to concentrate, say, five hundred fighting men +upon us here, it's little the rest of the world would ever see of +_us_." + +Archer turned half-angrily upon the speaker. "You never yet, Captain +Bonner, have heard of Apaches attacking a garrisoned post, even though +the garrison was smaller than ours, and I believe you never will. The +question _I_ have to settle is how to send warning to our two field +columns." + +For a moment there was none to offer suggestion. There were present +only seven officers, all told, Bentley being still with his young +patient. Anxious eyes were watching the little group, their white coats +gleaming in the moonlight. Over at the barracks a score of soldiers, +slipping from their bunks, clustered at the wide-open doors and +windows. Over at the hospital two or three convalescents, with the +steward and the nurse, sat gazing from the shaded piazza. Over at the +commander's quarters Mrs. Archer, Mrs. Stannard and Lilian, sitting +closer for comfort, murmured occasional words, but their eyes seldom +quit their anxious scrutiny. To Mrs. Stannard it was no novel +experience. To Mrs. Archer and her daughter, despite their longer years +in the army, it was thrillingly new. In the utter silence on the line +and throughout the garrison the rhythmic tramp of feet, muffled by +distance, could not fail to catch their straining ears, and far over +across the parade, behind the barracks, betrayed by the glint of the +moonlight on sloping steel, a shadowy little detachment went striding +away toward the nearest sentry post. + +"They are doubling the guard," said Mrs. Stannard. Then the group at +the flagstaff broke up. Three officers went with the commander toward +the office, others toward the company quarters. One came swiftly, +purposely, toward the waiting trio. Lilian knew it was Willett even +before they could recognize his walk and carriage. Mrs. Archer rose to +meet him. All they yet knew was that 'Tonio was in with tidings of some +kind--Doyle had told them that. + +"Tell us what you can," was all she said. + +"The time-honored tale of Indian uprising," said Willett airily. +"Something I've heard every six weeks, I should say, since they gave me +a sword." + +"But they've doubled the guard." + +"Only changed it, I fancy. The general wants some few cavalrymen for a +scout in the Mazatzal." + +Mrs. Stannard knew better, but held her peace. The object at least was +laudable, if not the lie. All three had risen now and were standing at +the edge of the veranda, Mrs. Archer's gentle, anxious eyes following +the soldierly form just vanishing within the shadows at the office, +Lilian's gaze fixed upon the handsome features of the young soldier +before her. + +"'Tonio brought news, did he not?" asked Mrs. Stannard. + +"'Tonio had to tell _some_thing, you know, to cover his mysterious +movements. 'Tonio's story may be cock and bull for all we know. It is +just such a yarn as I have heard told many a time and oft in the +Columbia basin. Most Indians are born liars, and 'Tonio has everything +to gain and nothing to lose in telling a believable whopper now. 'Tonio +says his people are persecuted saints, and all others perjured sinners." + +And just then, through the silence of the night, there rose upon the +air, distant yet distinct, the prolonged, anguished, heart-broken wail +of a woman in dire distress--a Rachel mourning for her children, and +refusing to be comforted. There was instant scraping of chairs on the +hospital porch, and one or two shadows vanished within the dimly +lighted doorway. "Oh, poor Mrs. Bennett!" cried Mrs. Archer. "I'm going +over a little while. Come, Lilian." + +"Let me go with you," said Mrs. Stannard, ever sympathetic with young +hearts and hopes. But Lilian had been well trained and--went, the two +wives and mothers walking arm in arm in front, the other two, the girl +of eighteen, the youth of twenty-five, gradually dropping behind. The +elders entered the building, following the wife of the hospital +steward; the juniors paced slowly onward to the edge of the low bluff +overlooking the moonlit valley, with the shining stream murmuring over +its shallows in the middle distance. Lilian's white hand still rested +on the strong arm that drew it so closely to the soldier's side, and +both were for the moment silent. He seemed strangely quiet and +thoughtful, and she stood beside him now with downcast eyes and +fluttering heart, for, as she would have followed her mother, he had +bent his head and, almost in whisper, said: + +"Come--one minute. It may be my last chance." + +And the girl in her had yielded, as what girl would not? + +Presently he began to speak, and now his head was bowing low; his eyes, +though she saw them not, were drinking in the lily-like beauty of the +sweet, downcast face. One quick look she flashed at him as he began, +then the long lashes swept her cheek. + +"I could not tell your mother the whole truth, just then," he began. +"I've got to tell you something of it now. Until to-night I never knew +what it was to--to shrink from news of action. Now--I know." + +She wanted to hear "why," even when her own heart was telling her. She +wanted him to say, yet coquetted with her own desire. "Is--it serious +news?" she faltered. + +"So serious that Stannard, or Turner, or both, may be in grave danger, +and there's no one to go and warn them but--me!" + +"You?" and up came the troubled, beautiful eyes. + +"Yes. Ask yourself who else there is. The scouts are gone. Sanchez has +not returned. There's but a baker's dozen of troopers and troop horses +left at the post. The general needs to send a little party to explore +the Mazatzal. 'Tonio can't be trusted. Harris has--practically--put +himself out of it. Don't you know me well enough to know--I've got to +go?" + +She was only just eighteen. She had lived her innocent life at that +fond mother's side. She had read of knightly deeds in many an hour, and +her heroes were such as Ivanhoe and William Wallace, Bayard and Philip +Sidney, the Black Prince and Henry of the snow-white plume. Four days +agone her heart had first stood still, then thrilled with girlish +admiration when they told her how Harris had met his serious wound, +and, for just that day, that soldierly young trooper was the centre of +her stage. Then Willett returned, with a different version, and other +things to murmur to her listening ears. Then Willett had been at +leisure two--three--long days, and, save that mournful tragedy at the +ranch, casting its spell over the entire post, sufficient in itself to +strike terror to a girlish soul, to inspire it to seek strength and +protection of the stronger arm, what else was there to occupy the heart +of a young maid here at sun-baked, mud-colored, monotonous old Almy? +The one thing that would transform a desert into paradise had blossomed +in her fair, innocent, girlish bosom, and he who had marked the +symptoms many a time knew that the pretty bird was fluttering to his +hand. The one precaution needful was--no sudden shock--no word or deed +to bring rude awakening. + +But even now she stood, trembling a bit, trying _not_ to believe that +he must leave the post--must leave her, and on so dangerous a mission. +She was silent because she knew not what to say, yet knew that what he +had said almost turned her cold with dread. He saw the hesitancy, and +struck again: + +"Must go--to-night." + +"Oh, Mr. Willett!" And now the little face, uplifted suddenly, was +piteous as he could wish. It fell again for shame at her self-betrayal, +for sheer helplessness and dismay, for the sudden realization of what +the long days now would be without him, for what life might be if he +never came back. With all her pride and strength and maidenly reserve +she was struggling hard to fight back the sob that was rising to her +throat, the tears that came welling to her eyes, but he _would_ have +the tribute of both, and murmured again: + +"Lilian, little girl, don't you _know_ why I cannot bear to go--just +yet?" + +And then, shaking from head to foot, she bowed her face upon her hands, +and Willett's arms were around her in the instant, and after one little +struggle, she nestled in a moment, sobbing, on his heart. She did not +even see the sentry coming slowly up the path, and when girl or woman +is blind to all about her but just one man, her love is overwhelming. + +It was he who whispered word of warning, as his lips pressed their +kisses on her soft and wavy hair. It was he who calmly hailed the +guardian of the night, asking if further sign had been seen, adding, +"Runners may well be coming in to-night, just as did 'Tonio." It was he +who promptly, cordially answered Mrs. Archer, calling Lilian from the +angle of the hospital, kneeling instantly as though to fasten a +loosened bootlace. And then, as he presently led his silent captive +back toward the parade, talked laughingly of the sentry's broken +English, imitating so well the accent of the Rhineland. + +"No word of this just yet," he murmured, ere they reached the general's +door, and saw that veteran hospitably awaiting them. "It is so sudden, +so sweet a surprise. Come what may now, I shall not go until I have +seen _you_ again. What, general? Sangaree? I'd like it above all +things!" + +Two horsemen came trotting across the parade, threw themselves from +saddle, and one stepped swiftly to the group, his hand at the hat brim +in salute. + +"Well, sergeant, you _have_ been prompt!" the general was saying. "You +have your letter for Captain Turner?--and Woodrow is to follow Captain +Stannard? Good again! Do most of your trailing by night. The Apaches +are cowards in the dark, and you can't miss the trail. God be with you, +my men! Your names go to General Crook in my first report!" + +Another moment and they were away, and two more had taken their +place--two who waited while Mrs. Stannard pencilled a few hurried words +to her "Luce," while Lilian, with a world of rapture, thanksgiving and +rejoicing in her heart, was striving to regain self-control, and avoid +her mother's eye, a thing she never before had done, nor would she now +be doing but for that splendid, knightly, heroic, self-poised, +soldierly fellow, standing so commandingly, gracefully there, +conferring one minute with her soldier father, and the next--helping +Mrs. Archer to more small talk and sangaree. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +The night had gone by without alarm. No further signals were seen. No +runners came in. Poor Mrs. Bennett, under the influence of some +soothing medicine, had fallen asleep. The doctor, coming in late from a +visit to the hospital, found Harris still wakeful, but not so feverish, +and 'Tonio, worn and wearied, stretched on a Navajo blanket, seemed +sleeping soundly on the side piazza, just without the door. The general +and Willett had sat and smoked, with an occasional toddy, until after +the midnight call of the sentries, the former still expectant of the +return of Sanchez; the latter pondering in mind certain theories of +Wickham as to the Apache situation, to which at first he had paid +little heed. If Wickham were right, then Sanchez might never have +reached Prescott. If so, the general need never have to amend that +report. + +And that the matter troubled Archer more than a little Willett was not +too pleased to see. Moreover, it was evident that not only Bentley, the +surgeon, but Strong, the young adjutant, Bucketts, the veteran cavalry +subaltern doing duty as post quartermaster, and the three company +officers of Archer's regiment stationed at Almy--all were determined to +consider Harris decidedly in the light of the hero of the recent +episode. It was a matter Willett would not discuss with them, nor, when +they somewhat pointedly referred to Harris and his part in the affair, +was it Willett's policy to say aught in deprecation. As "the +representative of the commanding general" temporarily at the post, and +observing the condition of affairs, it was his proper function to give +all men his ear and none his tongue, to hear everything and say +nothing. But the adjutant knew, and had not been able to keep entirely +to himself, the fact that Sanchez was the bearer of a report adverse to +Lieutenant Harris--that no modification thereof had been prepared--even +after Harris was brought in dangerously wounded, the result of his +daring effort to rescue an unfortunate woman from a fearful fate. The +adjutant had gone so far as to hint to that much-loved lieutenant-colonel +of infantry, Brevet Brigadier-General Archer, that he should be glad to +write at his dictation a report setting Harris right, as surely as the +other had set him wrong, and for the first time Strong found his +commanding officer petulant and testy. It was exactly what Archer +himself thought it his duty to do, yet he was annoyed that any one else +should think so. Moreover, he had taken counsel with Willett, and +Willett had said that he would be the last man to deny a classmate and +comrade any honor justly his due, nor would he stand in the way of +General Archer's writing anything he saw fit, _but_, as the officer +present on the spot and cognizant of all the circumstances connected +with Harris's going, _he_ had yet a report to make to the department +commander. + +"Frankly, general," said he, "I do not wish to say what I know unless I +have to--and your changing your report might make it necessary." + +This had occurred the night before 'Tonio's coming, and now, in the +silence of midnight, as the two sat smoking on the veranda, while +Lilian lay in her little white room listening in wordless rapture, in +sweet unrest, to the murmurous sound of the deep voice that had +enthralled her senses, while Mrs. Archer, wife and mother, slept the +sleep of the just and the wearied, the old general turned again to that +subject that weighed so heavily on his heart and soul. + +"By heaven, Willett," he said, "here it is midnight and no Sanchez. If +he isn't in by mail-time to-morrow I'll have to send a party--or else a +courier--to Prescott." + +"Does the mail usually reach you Sunday, sir?" + +"Hasn't failed once since my coming! They send it by way of McDowell, +over on the Verde. If Sanchez isn't here, or the mail either, I'll know +that 'Tonio was right, that we're hemmed in, and that they have killed +our messengers. And they are expecting to hear from me at +head-quarters, and probably wondering at my silence. Another thing to +be explained." + +"Another?" said Willett. + +"Another. Of course I must straighten out that matter about Harris. I +own I sent it under wrong im--impressions. I thought at first he had +ignored my authority, but that was unjust. The more I think of it, the +more I blame myself." + +"Then--how you must blame _me_!" + +"Well--no! You doubtless feel that he did ignore you and your authority, +though I own it wasn't my intention that you should assume _command_ +over him. You are both young and you perhaps judge more sharply than I, +but I've learned to know the fallibility of human judgment. I've +suffered too much from it myself, and the fact stares me in the face +that Harris knew just what ought to be done, and went and did it. He +rescued that poor creature at the risk of his life, and he--deserves +the credit of it." + +Willett was silent a moment. He seemed reluctant to speak. Finally and +slowly he said: + +"General Archer, it is an ungracious thing to pull down another man's +reputation, especially when, as in this case, Harris and I are +classmates and I, at least, am _his_ friend. And, therefore, I still +prefer to say nothing. I was in hopes that Captain Stannard and his +fellows might be back by this time, with the Bennett boys for one +thing, and with--the truth for another." + +"What truth?" demanded Archer. + +"The real truth--as I look upon it--the real credit of that rescue, you +will find, sir, belongs to Stannard and his troop, with such little aid +as they may have received from those who advised and guided them--the +scouts. _But_ for Stannard the hostiles would have gotten away, not +only with Mrs. Bennett, but with Harris. Harris made a hare-brained +attempt to rescue her single-handed. He only succeeded in running his +own neck into a noose. Your wisdom, and God's mercy, sent Stannard just +in the nick of time, and there's the whole situation in a nut shell." + +For a moment Archer was silent. Who does not like to hear praise of his +wisdom, especially when self-inclined to doubt it? + +"But the doctor tells me Harris had the Indians on the run before ever +Stannard was sighted--that he and his handful of scouts alone attacked, +defeated and drove them, that his scouts were chasing them and were +mistaken themselves for hostiles, and were fired at by Stannard's men +at long range." + +"Yes," said Willett, with calm deliberation. "That is just the story I +should expect Harris to tell." + +And sore at heart, and far from satisfied, the general suggested a +nightcap, and Willett presently left him, though not, as it +subsequently transpired, for the adjutant's quarters and for bed. It +was late the following day before his next appearance near the Archers. + +Sunday morning had come, as peaceful and serene as any that ever broke +on New England village, and Sunday noon, hot and still, and many an +hour since early sun up anxious eyes had scanned the old McDowell +trail, visible in places many a mile before it disappeared among the +foothills of the Mazatzal, but not a whiff of dust rewarded the eager +watchers. + +Archer's binocular hung at the south-west pillar of the porch, and +another swung at the northward veranda of the old log hospital. The +road to Dead Man's Cañon wound along the west bank of the stream, +sometimes fording it for a short cut, and that road, the one by which +Sanchez should have come, was watched wellnigh as closely as the other. +Nothing up to luncheon time had been seen or heard of human being +moving without the limits of the post; nothing by Lilian Archer of her +gallant of the night before. + +In times of such anxiety men gather and compare notes. The guard had +been strengthened during the night, and its members sat long in the +moonlight, chatting in low tone. The officer of the day, making the +rounds toward two o'clock, noted that the lights were still burning at +the store, and, sauntering thither, found a game going on in the common +room--Dago seeking solace from his sorrows in limited monte with three +or four employés and packers, while in the officers' room was still +another, with only one officer present and participating. To Captain +Bonner's surprise Lieutenant Willett, aide-de-camp, was "sitting in" +with Bill Craney, the trader, Craney's brother-in-law and partner, Mr. +Watts, Craney's bookkeeper, Mr. Case, a man of fair education and +infirm character who had never, it was said, succeeded in holding any +other position as long as six months. Here, as Craney admitted, he +hadn't enough to occupy him three weeks out of the four, and, so long +as he could tend to that much, he was welcome to "tank up" when he +pleased. That clerk had been a gentleman, he said, and behaved himself +like one now, even when he was drunk. The officers treated him with +much consideration, but to no liquor. Willett, knowing nothing of his +past, had been doing the opposite, and Mr. Case's monthly spree was +apparently starting four days ahead of time. Moreover, Mr. Case seemed +inspired by some further agent, for though unobtrusive, almost, as +ever, he was possessed with a strange, feverish impulse to pit himself +against Willett, and almost to ignore all others in the game. A fifth +player was a stranded prospector whom Craney knew, and presumably +vouched for. Luck must have been going Willett's way in violation of +the adage, at the time of Bonner's entrance, for the table in front of +him was stacked high with chips, and four men of the five were +apparently getting excited. + +Bonner seldom played anything stronger than casino and cribbage, nor +did he often waste an hour, night or day, in the card room. This night, +however, he was wakeful, and had seen that which even made him a trifle +nervous. He had visited every sentry post, finding his men alert and +vigilant. 'Tonio's words had already been communicated to the guard, +and self-preservation alone prompted every man to keep a sharp lookout. +Bonner had noted as he stepped out on the side porch of his quarters, +where hung the big earthen olla in its swathing bands, that 'Tonio lay, +apparently sound asleep, at the side door of the doctor's quarters, and +Bonner found himself pondering over the undoubted devotion of this +silent, lonely son of the desert to the young soldier lying wounded +within. Bonner left him as he found him. 'Tonio had not stirred. Barely +twenty minutes thereafter, as he finished examination of the two +sentries on the north front, and came down along the bank at the rear +of the officers' quarters, he found Number Five, a Civil War veteran +and, therefore, not easily excited, kneeling at the edge, with his +rifle at "ready," gazing steadily toward a clump of willows at the +stream bed, some five hundred feet away, listening so intently that the +officer halted, rather than mortify him by coming on his post +unchallenged. The brilliant moonlight made surrounding objects almost +as light as day, and Bonner could see nothing unusual or unfamiliar +along the sandy flat to the east. So, finally, he struck his scabbard +against a rock by way of attracting Number Five's attention, and +instantly the challenge came. + +"What was the matter, Five?" asked Bonner, after being advanced and +recognized, and the answer threw little light upon the subject. + +"I wish I knew, sir, but there was some one--crying--down there in the +bush--not five minutes ago." + +"Crying! You're crazy, Kerrigan!" + +"That's what _I_ said, sir, when first I heard it, but--whist now!" + +Both men bent their ears--the veteran sentry, the veteran company +commander. Both had spent years in service, in the South in the war +days, in the West ever since, and neither was easily alarmed. + +As sure as they stood there somebody was sobbing--a low, +heart-breaking, half-stifled sound, down there somewhere among the +willows, that for two hundred yards, at least, lined the stream. "Come +with me," said the captain instantly, and together the two went +plunging down the sandy slope and out over the flats beneath, and into +the shadows at the brink, and up and down the low bank between the +fords, and not a living being could they find. + +"What first caught your ear?" asked Bonner, as together, finally, they +came plodding back. + +"Sure, I heard the captain come out on his side porch for a drink at +the olla, sir, and saw him step over and look at the doctor's place +before starting for the guard-house, and I knew he'd be around this way +and was thinking to meet him up yonder where Number Four is, when I +heard Six down here whistling to me, and when I went Six said as how +the dogs way over at the store was barking a lot, and he said had I +seen or heard anything in the willows--he's that young fellow that +'listed back at Wickenburg after the stage holdup--and while we was +talkin' he grabbed me and said, 'Listen! There's Indians out on the +bluff! I heard 'em singing.' I told him he was scared, but when I came +back along the bank I could have sworn I saw something go flashing into +the willows from this side, an' then came the cryin', and then you, +sir." + +Bonner turned straightway to his own quarters, to the side porch at the +doctor's--and 'Tonio was gone. Peering within the open doorway, he saw +the attendant nodding in his chair by the little table where dimly +burned the nightlamp, close to the cot where Harris lay in feverish +slumber. Next, the captain started for the post of Number Six, near the +south-east corner of the rectangle, and there was the corporal and the +relief, just marching away with "the young feller that 'listed in +Wickenburg." A new sentry, another old soldier, had taken his place. +There was nothing to do but tell him to keep a sharp lookout and report +anything strange he saw or heard, particularly to be on lookout for +'Tonio. Then he pushed on after the relief, and then, catching sight of +the lights at the trader's, strode briskly over there and stopped a few +minutes, asking himself should he tell Willett what had been heard, and +incidentally to watch the game. Willett, however, was engrossed. His +eyes were dilated and his cheeks were flushed, albeit his demeanor was +almost affectedly cool and nonchalant, and Bonner had not been there +five minutes before a queer thing happened. Willett, playing in +remarkable luck, had raised heavily before the draw. Case, with +unsteady hand, had shoved forward an equal stack. The prospector and +Craney shook their heads and dropped out. Only three were playing when +Willett, dealing, helped the cards according to their demands, and for +himself "stood pat." It was too much for the brother-in-law, but the +bookkeeper, who had been playing mainly against Willett, and apparently +foolishly, now just as foolishly bet his little stack, for without a +second's hesitation Willett raised him seventy-five dollars. It was a +play calculated to drive out a small-salaried clerk. It was neither a +generous nor a gentleman's play. It was, moreover, the highest play yet +seen at Almy, where men were of only moderate means. Even Craney looked +troubled, and Watts and the prospector exchanged murmured remonstrance. +Then all were amazed when Case drew forth a flat wallet from an inner +pocket, tossed it on the table, and simply said, "See--and raise +_you_." + +Now there was audible word of warning. Watts looked as though he wished +to interpose, but was checked instantly by Case himself. "Been saving +that for--funer'l expenses," said he doggedly, "but I'm backin' this +hand for _double_ what's in that." + +Craney lifted the wallet, shook it, and three fifty-dollar bills +fluttered out upon the table. Willett looked steadily at Case one +moment before he spoke: + +"Isn't this a trifle high for a gentleman's game?" said he. + +"That's what they said at Vancouver, two years ago, when you bluffed +out that young banker's son." + +Willett half rose from his chair. "I _thought_ I'd seen your face +before," said he. + +"What I want to know," said the bookkeeper instantly, all deference to +rank or station vanished from tone and manner, "is, do you see my raise +now?" + +There was a moment's silence, during which no man present seemed to +breathe. Then slowly Willett spoke: + +"No, a straight isn't worth it." Whereupon there was a moment of +embarrassed silence as the stakes were swept across the blanket-covered +table, then a guffaw of rejoiceful mirth from the prospector. Case, as +though carelessly, threw down his cards, face upwards, and there was +not so much as a single pair. + +"The drinks are on me, oh, yes," said he, "but the joke's on the +lieutenant." + +Yet when Bonner left, five minutes later and the game again was going +on, there was no mirth in it. Nor was there mirth when the sun came +peeping over the eastward range this cloudless Sabbath morning, shaming +the bleary night lights at the store--the bleary eyes at the table. +Bonner found them at it still an hour after reveille, and ventured to +lay a hand on Willett's shoulder. "Can I speak with you a moment?" he +said. + +Willett rose unsteadily, but with dignity unshaken by change of +fortune. He had lost as heavily, by this time, as earlier he had won. + +"May I be pardoned for suggesting that you would be wise to get out of +this and--a few hours' sleep? The general is up and worried. 'Tonio is +gone!" + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +The fact that the post was cut off from the rest of the world, that +neither runner from the field columns, courier from Prescott, nor mail +rider from McDowell had succeeded in getting in, while 'Tonio, head +trailer, had easily succeeded in getting out, was a combination +calculated to promote serious reflection on part of the garrison this +ideal Sunday morning. Perhaps it did, but so far as talk was concerned +a very different fact ruled as first favorite. It was known all over +the barracks by breakfast time that Case, the bookkeeper, had bluffed +out the young swell from the Columbia who had come down to teach them +how to play poker and fight Apaches. "Willett stock" among the rank and +file had not been too high at the start, had been sinking fast since +the affair at Bennett's Ranch, and was a drug in the market when the +command, as was then the custom of the little army, turned out for +inspection under arms, while Willett was turning in for a needed nap. +Strong, his official host, knew instinctively where Willett must be, +when he tumbled up to receive the reports at morning roll call and +found the spare bed untouched. He said nothing, of course, even at +guard mounting, when, together, he and Captain Bonner walked over to +the office, where sat the post commander anxiously awaiting them. It +seems that even after Bonner's friendly hint the game had not ceased at +once. Willett had played on another hour in hopes that luck would +change, but by seven Craney called a halt, said that he and Watts must +quit, and intimated that Willett ought to. Case, though well along in +liquor, still kept his head and lead, and would have played, but by +this time Willett was writing I.O.U.'s. The prospector's cash was gone. +The hitherto modest, retiring, silent man of the desk and ledgers had +won heavily from the officer, yet only a trifle from his employers, and +Craney suggested a recess until night. "Then we'll meet again--and +settle," said Willett, half extending his hand. + +"You bet we'll settle," said Case, the bookkeeper, wholly ignoring it, +and even then the fact was noted and thereafter remembered. + +"I think I won't go up to the post just now," said Willett to Craney. +"Perhaps you have----" + +"Certainly, Mr. Willett. Come right in here," said the trader +hospitably, leading the way into a darkened room. "Take a good nap; +sleep as long as you want to. I'll send you in a tub if you like." The +tub was gratefully accepted, and then they left him. At noon when the +general asked Strong if Willett "wasn't feeling well," Strong said +Willett had been up late and was probably still asleep. Bonner, it was +known, had not turned in again after two o'clock, and the discovery +that 'Tonio was missing. He was dozing on the porch in his easy-chair +when first call sounded for reveille, and Lilian, like gentle-hearted +Amelia, lay dreaming of her wearied knight as having kept vigil with +the sentries to the break of day that she and those she loved might +sleep in security, and now, of course, he must indeed be wearied. + +Therefore there came a surprise to her, and to the fond and watchful +mother, when toward four o'clock in the afternoon Mrs. Stannard dropped +in to chat with them awhile, and to tell about Harris, by whose bedside +she had been sitting and reading for nearly two hours. Mrs. Archer +welcomed the news. The doctor had promised to let her know as soon as +he considered it wise for her to go, and the general was so anxious and +disturbed on Mr. Harris's account. It so happened that the general, +with a small escort, had ridden over to search the valley with glasses +from the peak, and then the first thing Mrs. Stannard said was, "I +thought that Mr. Willett might have been glad to go with the general." + +"And did he not?" asked Mrs. Archer, after one quick glance at Lilian's +averted eyes. + +"Why, no," and now Mrs. Stannard hesitated; "I saw, at least I think I +saw, him coming up from the river a little while ago. He may have been +following 'Tonio's trail, you know. It was easy enough in the sand, +they said, but once it reached the rocks along the stream-bed they lost +it." Then wisely Mrs. Stannard changed the subject. + +But if she and they knew not where and how Willett had spent the night +and hours of the day, they and Harris, by this time, were the only ones +at Almy in such ignorance. Moreover, Almy was having a lot of fun out +of it. No one had ever heard of Case's playing before in all the time +he had silently, unobtrusively, gone about his daily doings at the +post. Three weeks out of four he sat over the books and accounts, or +some writing of his own, saying nothing to anybody unless addressed, +then answering civilly, but in few words. The other week, just as +quietly and unobtrusively, he was apt to be busy with his bottle, +sometimes in the solitude of his little room, sometimes wandering by +night down along the stream, sometimes stealing out to the herds, +petting and crooning to the horses, sometimes slyly tendering the herd +guard a drink, and always accompanied by a pack of the hounds, for by +them he was held in reverence and esteem. He never accosted anybody, +never even complained when a godless brace of soldier roughs robbed him +of his bottle as he lay half-dozing to the lullaby of the babbling +stream. He simply meandered a mile and got another. + +From this plane of inoffensive obscurity Case had sprung in one night +to fame and, almost, to fortune. A single field had turned the chance +of war, and the placid Sunday found him the most talked of man at the +post. Rumor had it that he had quit five hundred dollars ahead of the +game, and the most conservative estimate could not reduce it more than +half. For the first time Camp Almy awoke to the conclusion that an +experienced gambler was in their midst--one who had spared the soldier +and his scanty pay that he might feed fat, eventually, on the officer. +Rumor had it that Case's trunk contained a roulette wheel and faro +"layout." In fine, long before orderly call at noon, in the whimsical +humor of the garrison, he was no longer Case, the bookkeeper, but +"Book, the Case Keeper," and every frontiersman, civil or military, in +those days knew what that meant. + +And even as they exalted Case, who toward afternoon had disappeared +from public gaze, refusing to be lionized, so would they have abased +Willett, who likewise had concealed himself, on the plea of needed +sleep, yet had done but little sleeping. Willett was haunted by a +memory, and not pleasantly. The fact that he had lost over a month's +pay troubled him less by far than that he had lost repute. He had +suffered much in pocket, but more in prestige. He had been a successful +player in the Columbia country, too much so for the good of scores of +comrades, but especially himself. He could have found it in his heart +to throttle that guffawing clown, whose rude bellow of rejoicing over +Case's brilliant bluff and his own defeat, had brought even the dago +and his fellows in staring wonderment to the open door. He would have +pledged another month's pay could he have throttled the story he knew +now would be going the rounds. He was even more humiliated--far +more--than they knew. They all would have shouted had they seen the +hand he laid down, but he had striven to carry it off jocosely, to say +_he_ had only been bluffing, and was very properly caught at his own +game. Oh, he had shown a game, sportsman-like front, and had striven to +pass it all off as a matter that worried him not in the least, but +Craney, clear-headed, believed otherwise, and Case, muddle-headed as he +was by noon, knew better, and had his reasons for knowing--reasons as +potent as were those that moved him wholly to ignore Willett's +half-proffered hand. + +Case had nothing in particular to do all day, and could sleep if so +minded. Willett, not knowing what moment he might be called upon to +take active part in stirring service, should sleep, and so prepare +himself, yet could not. Case's personality, and Case's one reference to +Vancouver, two years previous, haunted and vexed him sorely. Where and +under what circumstances had he seen the man? Only for three weeks had +he been at the fine old post referred to, while a big court-martial was +there in session, and he, with other subalterns, had come as witnesses. +There had been dinners and dancing and fun and flirtation, both at the +post and in Portland. There had been card-playing in which he was easy +winner, and not a little of his winnings had gone for wine. There had +been foolish things said in pink little ears, and even written in silly +missives that now he would have been glad to recall, but--but no harm +to him as yet had come from them. There had even been a girl whom he +had never seen before nor since that visit, nor wanted to see again, +nor hear from, yet from her he _had_ heard, and more than once--piteous, +imploring little letters they were. But, heavens! he was busy hunting +Indians when they began to come, and then they had ceased to find him, +rather to his relief, but none of these episodes or epistles in any way +included Case, yet somewhere he had seen him, somewhere he had heard +his voice, and somewhere Case had marked his method of play. Case said +Vancouver, but though two or three steep games had there or thereabouts +occurred--games in which his soldier comrades had withdrawn as too big +for them--he, with his luck and brilliancy, had dared to pursue to the +end and came out envied as a winner. And still this did not seem to +point to Case. + +Not two hours' sleep did Willett get that Sunday morning. He was awake, +hot, feverish, and athirst at noon, craving ice, which could be seen in +the mountains only a day's march away, but had never yet been made to +last through the homeward journey. Craney brought him a cool and +dripping canteen and some acetic acid, the best he could do, and had +proffered bottled beer, cooled in the big olla and retailed at fifty +cents, but Willett sought information rather than sleep, and indirectly +inquired as to Case's antecedents. Inferentially, he wished Craney to +understand that he believed Case to be a professional, and Craney +blamable for permitting him to play. Craney saw the move and checkmated +at once. "Case has had dozens of chances to play--dozens of 'em--since +I brought him here from Prescott, and never before has he sat into +anything bigger'n a dollar limit. He never _would_ play in the other +room. He came out as quartermaster's clerk, nearly two years ago. With +whom? Why, Major Ballard brought him out and had to turn him loose for +drinking. No, Ballard was never at Vancouver. Then my bookkeeper got +shot in a pay-day row and left the books in a muddle. I _had_ to +hire Case to come and balance them--best accountant and bookkeeper I +ever had--square to the marrow, though he wants one week off a month, +and is absolutely stalwart t'other three, but he will not talk of his +past. Ballard told me he came with tiptop letters from officers of rank +in San Francisco, who said he was incorruptible, even when he drank, +whereas my clerk, who had been a model of sobriety, robbed right and +left. Case has gone off now, somewhere down among the willows, I +reckon. He'll be drunk for three days, sobering three days, and +straight the seventh. If you hadn't started him last night he'd be +sober now. And if you hadn't come into it that family game would have +stopped at one, with nobody the worse nor wiser. You said you had no +use for a dollar limit game." + +There was no comfort, therefore, in Craney's visit. Willett took +another cool bath, dressed about two, and being shown the path Case +generally followed, sauntered away, quite as though he had nothing on +his mind, and was presently lost beyond that same willowy screen. He at +that time, at least, was not thinking of 'Tonio and the lost trail. + +At five the general, with Strong and Bonner, could be made out four +miles away, riding back from the peak. "I'll go a moment and inquire +for Mr. Harris," said Mrs. Archer, "and ask the doctor when _we_ may +visit him." So, leaving Lilian with Mrs. Stannard, and intending to be +gone but a few minutes, the gentle, anxious-hearted woman, sunshade in +hand, went forth from the shelter of the low veranda into the slanting, +unclouded rays, and presently tapped lightly at the doctor's open door. +There was no answer, yet from somewhere within came sound of masculine +voices. Entering the dark hall, she tapped again at the entrance to the +doctor's sitting-room, or den. A Navajo blanket hung like a _portière_ +across the open space, for door there was none, and, as no one came in +answer to her modest signal, she ventured to push the curtain a bit to +one side and peer within. The room was but dimly lighted, all windows +but one on the north side being heavily draped. The doctor's reclining +chair and reading table, the latter littered with books, pamphlets and +pipes, were visible through a reminiscent haze of not too fragrant +tobacco smoke, for the old predominated over the new. A rude sideboard +stood over against her, between the northward windows, and thereon was +stationed a demi-john of goodly proportions, with outlying pickets in +the way of glasses. Bentley himself, though one of the old school, was +an abstemious man, and therefore enabled to have at all times a supply +of reliable stimulant for such of his callers as were of opposite +faith. That some of that ilk had recently favored him was presumptively +evident, no more by the sideboard display than by the sound of voices +from an inner room, where two or three were uplifted in discussion, and +neither was the doctor's. + +Now, Mrs. Archer much wished to see young Harris, to assure him of +their deep interest in his welfare, of their desire to be of service to +him, and their reason for not earlier intruding. Gentle and unselfish +though she was, there was distinct sense of chagrin that Mrs. Stannard, +or any woman, should have anticipated her coming. The doctor had +promised to say just how soon he could approve her seeing his patient, +and it was the doctor's fault she had come no sooner. Not until days +thereafter did she know that Harris had asked for Mrs. Stannard. Not +for even a Christmas home-going would Mrs. Stannard have let her know +it--but Mrs. Stannard was a rare, rare woman. + +But if the doctor thought it unwise that his patient should receive the +visits of ministering angels such as she and they, what, said Mrs. +Archer to her stupefied self, could Dr. Bentley mean by permitting the +visits of such disturbers as these whose angering words came distinctly +to her ears? She stood, half-dazed, unable for a moment to determine +what to do--whether to enter at once--enter, and in the name of her +husband, the commanding officer, enter emphatic protest against such +exciting language at such a time, in such a presence--or whether to +retire at once and hear no more of it. One voice, at the moment low and +guarded, was that of a stranger--she had never heard it before. The +other, however, she knew instantly as that of Harold Willett. No wonder +she stood amazed, never doubting they were addressed to Harris, at the +first words--Willett's words--to reach her ears! + +"You are in no condition now to talk to a gentleman, and I refuse to +listen. You came here to lie about me--to undermine me, and I know it, +and the quicker you go----" + +"I came here to speak God's truth and _you_ know it!" came the instant +answer, and in instant relief she knew it was not the voice of Harris. +"As to undermining--by God, it's to block _your_ undermining another +and a better man I've come! If that isn't enough for you--to block your +doing here--what you did to that poor girl at Portland----" + +But a rush and a scuffle, the sound of a blow, broke in upon the words, +just as the attendant, affrighted, came running out, just as Dr. +Bentley, astounded and indignant, came hurrying in. Mrs. Archer, in +bewilderment, fell back into the sunshine, only presently to see +Willett, flushed and furious, hasten forth from the rear door and turn +straightway to the adjutant's quarters adjoining--only to be overtaken +in a moment by the attendant, panting: "The doctor said would Mrs. +Archer please come back one minute, he'd like to speak with her." And +Mrs. Archer turned again and went. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +Ten minutes later, when the general and his little escort came dustily +into the garrison, his first question on dismounting was for Willett, +and it was Lilian who had to answer that she believed he was at Mr. +Strong's. So thither, with but brief, though kindly, word with Mrs. +Stannard, and as brief an expression of his satisfaction that Mrs. +Archer had gone to see Harris, the veteran took his way. The horses +were led to stables. The other officers, hastening homeward, bowing in +hurried, perfunctory fashion to the ladies, turned again at sound of +his voice, and all three together entered the adjutant's house, an +orderly remaining at the door. Lilian looked anxiously after them and +Mrs. Stannard inquiringly. "They have seen something, I know," said the +girl, "and something father is puzzled about. He would not have come +and gone without a kiss." Already Mrs. Stannard had noted his fond +custom, had marked its omission now when, ever since luncheon, he had +been away, and she, too, divined that he was preoccupied, even +perplexed. But once already she had too quickly spoken her thoughts, +and there must be no more of that. In three minutes the little party +came forth again, Willett with them now, and, field-glasses in hand, +away they strode to the northward edge of the plateau and went speedily +along toward a point at the back of the hospital where there stood a +little platform, railed about with untrimmed pine, a rustic lookout +much affected by the men in the long evenings, but seldom visited when +the sun was up. It took no time at all for half the remaining garrison +to turn out and, at respectful distance, stand curiously watching them, +and little more for the other half to come flocking out of doors. "Seen +somethin' from way up on the Picacho," explained the orderly, as he +jogged by with the heated horses, "an' came back akiting!" + +Two minutes more and the adjutant, Strong, came running from the +platform. "Don't unsaddle," he shouted. "Bring those horses back and +get some more! Send the escort up here at once!" + +The officers at the lookout had not even unslung their pistol belts, +and Willett now was seen to set down his binocular and start away. The +general called to him and he half turned and hurriedly answered: "Back +just as quick as I can get my Colt, sir." He was unfastening his blouse +at the throat as he went, and even at the distance men could see how +hot and flushed he looked, while the others seemed so hard, "tried out" +and fit for anything. Presently the half dozen horsemen, who had been +with their chief to the Picacho, came trotting forth from the corral, +followed by two or three led horses. Strong mounted the first to reach +him and sent another to his quarters for Lieutenant Willett. Then +Captain Bonner came strolling back as though quite unconcerned. "May as +well get the men under arms," said he to his alert first sergeant, and +away went every man of Company "C" on a run for the barracks. + +"Needn't wait for Willett," the general was heard calling to Strong, +who, with a little party, sat in saddle eagerly awaiting orders. So +down the slope they went, just as the doctor and Mrs. Archer, apprised +in some way of the excitement, came forth and saw the dust cloud in +their wake, and the snorting troop horse pawing the sand in front of +Strong's. Old Bucketts, the quartermaster, came limping up the line, +his florid features a deeper red, and all he could tell in answer to +question was, "They see something beyond the Point. Who's that horse +for, orderly?" + +"Loot'nt Willett, sir--said he'd be out in a minute." + +But the minutes proved long, and Bucketts went in to help, if need be, +and to get information, if possible. Willett had kicked off his fine +uniform trousers and ununiform Oxfords, and was cursing the striker who +had hidden his scouting rig. "Why the devil didn't you go as you were?" +asked Bucketts unsympathetically. "They're raising the dust far as the +ford already. What's up, anyhow?" + +"Can't tell! Don't know! Nobody knows! They send scouts out--couriers +out--messengers out, and spend hours wishing somebody'd come with news, +and then when somebody's seen coming get rattled and send half the +garrison out to meet----" + +But suddenly catching sight of the disapprobation on his caller's face, +Willett broke off short. No wonder Buckett's looked astonished at such +language from a staff officer. Nor was that veteran questioner long in +sizing up the cause. It added nothing to his respect for Willett, and +not a little to his concern. He knew by this time, as did almost every +man except the post commander, how and where Willett spent the night +and morning--knew that he had left the store only an hour or so +previous, as though to follow and find the bookkeeper--knew that Case +had been drinking, and saw now that Willett had been following suit. +Without a word on that head, or another question as to the causes of +the excitement, he stumped about the premises, busying himself in +hunting for the missing items, and presently found them hanging under a +calico curtain that Willett had already nearly torn down in +unsuccessful, unseeing search. "Here you are," he said, tossing the +garments on the bed. "Here's your pistol, Colt's 44; every chamber +loaded and ready for business. You'll use a different belt when you've +been a month in Arizona--and you'll shed top boots for 'Patchie +moccasins. Let me help you, Willett. You're a bit blown. Here, douse +your head in that----" and as he spoke Bucketts half filled a bowl and +went limping out to the olla for more and cooler water, leaving Willett +fussing at his riding breeches and damning Strong's striker for being +away among the gaping, staring, empty-headed gang at the bluff at the +moment he was most needed. + +As Bucketts was lifting the vessel from the cool depths of the hanging +reservoir, he heard his name faintly called, and there, at the side +door of the doctor's quarters, pale and suffering, barefooted and +mantled with a sheet, his arm and shoulder bandaged, stood Harris. + +"Tell Willett to come out," he said. "I must see him before he goes." + +"You go back to bed. I'll tell him," but Harris stood his ground +despite the fact that the attendant had laid a hand upon his unbound +shoulder, and was begging him to return. Bucketts set the pitcher +inside the door. "Here's cooler water, Willett," he said, "and here's +Harris at the door--says he must see you before you start." + +Then, without waiting for answer, the quartermaster hurried along the +path to the front in search of the doctor; saw him far over back of the +hospital, heading for the platform; saw Mrs. Archer, on her own veranda +by this time, in eager talk with Mrs. Stannard, and Lilian drooping at +the corner pillar; hurried back to get his stick and to further rebuke +Harris, when, afar down to the south-east came the sound of a shot, +half-muffled by distance, and, gazing from the rear end of the little +gallery, he saw, a mile or more away across the stream and skirting the +willows, two horsemen coming at top speed; saw, emerging from the +willows at the near side of the ford, a man who walked heavily through +the yielding sand, holding his hand to his face. He, too, had heard the +shot and was making, 'cross lots, for home. It was Case, the +bookkeeper, disturbed, perhaps, said Bucketts, in his siesta among the +willows and doing his best to gain shelter. Before Case could get a +fourth of the way across the barren flat, tacking perceptibly among the +cactus and grease wood, the riders burst in sight again and went +lashing away to the store--two ranchmen or prospectors, said Bucketts, +and they've been having the time of their life getting in. 'Tonio said +the Tontos were all about them, and here was additional proof. The last +Bucketts saw of Case he was lurching on toward the store, but, just +then, buttoning his riding jacket and girding on his revolver belt, out +came Willett. + +"Well, what is it?" was his brief, almost sullen question. And then +came his classmate's answer--one that Bucketts long remembered. + +"You are going up the valley, I take it, and there is an alarm of some +kind. Now, Willett, remember this: no matter what you have seen or +suspect, the Apache-Mohaves had no part in the devil's work at +Bennett's. I have 'Tonio's word for it, and will bring proofs." + +"Damn 'Tonio's word! He's a renegade and a deserter himself! He's +playing a deep, double game, and you yourself suspected it three days +ago. Now he's proved it. I've no time to talk." And impatiently he +turned away and sprang for his horse. A moment more and he was in +saddle, had set spurs to his excited mount, and then, full gallop, went +tearing to the edge of the mesa, lifted his hat in salutation to the +general, and dove down the slope, across the lower bench, away through +an upper ford of the sluggish winter stream, and out upon the sandy +flats beyond. + +"Rides well," said the general, looking after him. + +"_Rides_ very well," said the surgeon, looking after Strong. "Can you +see anything yet, sir?" + +"Could see two horses ten minutes ago, with some running figures far up +the valley. Can't make 'em out at all. Strong'll fetch 'em--Strong and +Willett. Good stock there, doctor!" + +"Tiptop, where Strong is concerned," said the doctor grimly. The events +of the earlier afternoon had tended to add to his disapprobation of the +other. "There's something up at the store, sir, I think," he added, +with a swift change of subject. "I saw men running that way just now. +Here comes Bucketts!" + +And Bucketts came, hobbling sturdily. "It's two ranchmen, I think, and +there was a shot down toward the south-east ten minutes ago." + +The general looked back. Down in front of the log barracks Bonner's +company, in fatigue dress, had formed ranks, and the sergeants were +distributing ammunition. Across the parade, the verandas of the Mess +and office buildings were deserted, but one or two men stood staring +toward the invisible plant of the trader. Close at hand, near the +hospital and again lining the edge of the mesa, a score of yards +farther to the left, a number of soldiers of the other company were +eagerly watching developments. Even with the naked eye, two miles or +more up the valley, Strong's little detachment, black dots of +skirmishers, could occasionally be sighted pushing on northward, while, +at heavy gallop, heading for the front, Willett was still in plain +view; but, at the moment, nothing could be seen of the objects that +were the original cause of the excitement. + +From the Picacho, it seems, both Strong and Bonner had made out through +their glasses two tiny black dots in the direction of Bennett's ruined +ranch, coming slowly toward the post, but still five or six miles away. +From the platform, forty minutes later, two horsemen had distinctly +been seen moving swiftly about, close to the willows that lined, in +places, the rocky stream bed. More than this, the general was sure he +had caught sight of three or four figures afoot, skipping actively +about when moving at all. What he and his advisers believed was that +Sergeant Woodrow and his comrades were, for some reason, trying to make +their way back to Almy and had found Apaches barring the way. Therefore +had Strong and his little party been sent forth to meet, to aid, to +bring them in. Therefore had Willett, of his own motion this time, and +without the delegated authority he bore when following Harris, set +forth at speed to overtake them, forgetful, in the eagerness of the +moment and the possible over-excitement of his faculties, that he had +promised Archer to be back just as soon as he'd got his Colt--that +calibre 44 Colt now belted at his hip, with every chamber loaded. + +And now as the eager watchers at the platform trained their glasses on +the distant field, Bucketts, taking up the handsome binocular left by +the aide-de-camp, had time to notice its fine silver mounting and the +engraved "H. Willett, U.S.A.," in exactly the same script as that +which adorned the revolver. Then, as he adjusted it to his eyes, it +occurred to him to tell the doctor of Harris's coming to the side door, +and of his most earnest language and manner, whereat the general turned +sharply: + +"What's that? Harris said no Apache-Mohaves?" + +"No Apache-Mohaves in the affair at Bennett's Ranch, sir, on 'Tonio's +authority, and Willett scoffed at both statement and 'Tonio." + +"By heaven," said Archer, "'Tonio was right in saying we were cut off, +isolated here, and if he hadn't slipped away in that mysterious fashion +I'd rather take his word than--than Willett's impressions. Where has +Willett been--all morning--anyhow? He never came near me!" + +Everybody within earshot knew, and nobody answered. Archer looked +queerly about him. Bonner and Briggs gazed fixedly through their +glasses. Bucketts was absorbed in the adjustment of his. The doctor +said he must go over and give Harris a rebuke for getting up, and +started forthwith, and Archer, without further question, turned again +to his survey. He was of the old army--and knew the signs. + +For a moment every living object up the valley seemed to be shut from +view. Bonner, by way of changing the subject, had so far "white-lied" +as to exclaim "There they are again!--er--no," but the ruse was +unnecessary; Archer understood. Almost at the moment, however, came a +sound from the open windows of the matron's room, adjoining the +hospital, against which all present would willingly have closed their +ears--the prolonged, heart-breaking, moaning cry of a woman robbed of +all she held dearest--poor Mrs. Bennett waking once more to her direful +sorrows, and filling the air with her hopeless wail. For a moment it +dominated all other sound. "For heaven's sake, doctor," cried Archer to +the assistant, "can't you and Bentley devise something to still that +poor creature? Has she lost her mind, too?" + +"Sounds like it, sir. There's only one thing that will bring it +back--that's those babies." + +"If anybody can get 'em it will be Stannard," answered the general +prayerfully. "This, whatever it is, up the valley may be news from him +and of them! God grant it!" + +"Look!" cried Bonner at the instant. "I see Willett! See him?--galloping +up that---- Why, hell and blazes--I beg your pardon, general--he's 'way +out beyond Strong's people! See 'em--down there by the willows? Where +in---- Gad! d'ye see that? Why, his horse jumped and shied as if he'd---- +Look! He's running away! He's gone!" + +Gone he had. Not once again, before the going down of the sun, now just +tangent to the western heights, did they catch sight of Willett or +Willett's horse. One after another the watchers again found Strong +within the field of vision and followed him down to and across the +stream, and others of the mounted party were seen, some wearily +following their officer, others moving about a point among the willows +where last had been seen the two strangers whose odd movements led to +the going forth of the searching party. But it was half an hour later, +and light was growing dim in the valley, while the eastward crests of +the Mogollon were all ablaze, when a single rider was made out coming +homeward at speed. It was dusk at Almy when his panting horse struggled +painfully up the slope and, dismounting, a weary rider saluted the post +commander and handed him a note. By this time Mrs. Archer, Mrs. +Stannard and Lilian, too, were on the platform, and the mother's arm +stole instinctively about the daughter's slender waist, while every eye +was on the general as he quickly opened, then slowly read aloud the +pencilled words: + + "We have the couriers safe. They are from up the Verde, badly + scared and worn out. Say they have been chased by Indians ever + since three o'clock, were almost out of ammunition. Lieutenant + Willett, venturing too far on the east side, while we were to the + west of the stream, must have encountered some of them. We heard + firing, and followed. Found his horse dead among the rocks and + Willett lying near, stunned, but certainly not shot. Could see + nothing of his assailants. Ambulance needed. Respectfully, + + "STRONG." + +Mrs. Archer's arm wound still closer about her daughter's trembling +form. Lilian said no word, but her face was white, her soft lips were +quivering. Mrs. Stannard sympathetically closed in on the other side, +as the general gave brief directions, and presently, between the two, +the girl walked slowly away, only the general following with his eyes. +Bentley went back once again to quietly tell the news to Harris, but +was ready when the ambulance stopped at his door. Lilian had been +persuaded to go and lie down, said Mrs. Archer, when her grave-faced +husband came home at dark. "That is best," was all he said, but he +turned and took his fond wife's face between his hands and kissed it +thrice, then went forth again to meet the coming couriers. It seems +their orders were to deliver their despatch in person to the commander +of Camp Almy, and, sending them on for refreshments, he read by the +light of a lantern the message from the commander of the District of +the Verde. Young warriors by the hundred were out, said the agent at +the reservation, even the Apache-Mohaves. Mail messengers, ranch people +and others had been murdered close to Camp Sandy. Friendly Indians +report soldiers killed in Dead Man's Cañon in revenge for death of +Comes Flying, accidentally shot. Captain Tanner and Lieutenant Ray are +out from Camps Sandy and Cameron, with strong commands, and will try to +communicate with Almy. "Nothing has been heard of Lieutenant Harris and +his scouts," said the despatch, "but rumors are rife as to Indian +depredations near you. It is feared that in your advanced position you +may be surrounded, and communication cut off, but no fears are +entertained as to your ability to take care of yourself. If you still +have cavalry scouting in the Tonto basin, warn them of conditions and +report when possible." + +"So much for so much," said the general. "Now for Willett," and a mile +farther out he met the ambulance coming in, Willett and the doctor +aboard, the former with a broken collar-bone and a bad headache. +Moreover, Willett was in vicious mood. + +"General Archer," said he, "the shot that killed my horse was meant for +me, and the Indian who fired the shot was Harris's paragon, 'Tonio." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +That was a stirring night at Almy. The general, contrary to habit, was +very grave and quiet, saying little, drinking nothing, even the +customary toddy being declined. The doctor, also contrary to habit, was +drinking a little and thinking a lot, but saying nothing. An abstemious +man, as a rule, and a temperate man at all times, he seemed inclined to +sample his Monongahela more than once before midnight, when, having +gotten his patients to sleep, he tried to do likewise. "They are on an +even keel again," said Bonner, referring to the two casuals, "and I am +not sorry to see it." Evidently there had been comparison of notes +between Strong and Bonner, and an agreement of some kind, for both held +that Willett had exceeded his authority, as well as his discretion, in +conducting a single-handed charge on an outnumbering enemy, secretly +hidden behind rocks and ridges. Strong's men said that Lieutenant +Willett, spurring hard, had called across the stream for them to follow +him, and three of those nearest the bank plunged through the shallows +and were barely three hundred yards behind him when, from their right +front among the rocks at the foot of a bluff, the shot was fired that +wounded the lieutenant's horse, which veered at once and ran away down +among the willows. No, they hadn't charged. They turned, too. For all +they knew, there might have been a thousand Apaches in hiding there, +and when the lieutenant turned they turned. It was not until Lieutenant +Strong and the rest of the men came up with them that they pushed ahead +and found the officer and his horse lying among the rocks by the +stream. Willett had been hurled out of saddle when the frenzied beast +went suddenly down, and there he lay, stunned and bleeding, while the +poor brute was quivering in the agonies of death. + +"Did you see anything of 'Tonio?" Strong was asked, as a matter of +course. + +"Not so much as a shred of his breechclout," said Strong, "nor of any +other Indian nearer than a mile away, and they were running for the +rocks. It was too dark to do any trailing." But for the shot that +killed Willett's horse, and the tremendous tales of the courier scouts, +Strong would have been inclined to say there were not a dozen Indians +in the north valley. "If there were more," said he, "and if they were +really hostile, even though afoot as they were, was it likely that two +couriers on worn-out horses could have escaped them? No," said Strong. +"There is something about it we don't understand, neither does Willett, +for all he's so positive." + +But Strong admitted that two things puzzled him. The horse was +certainly shot, and Willett's Colt, the handsome revolver that he set +such store by, was certainly gone. Willett, when he came to, had asked +for it. He swore that he had drawn it from the holster, and was riding +at "raise pistol" when the shot was fired--that he clutched it as his +maddened horse tore blindly down the slope, and then, among the rocks, +stumbled, staggered and fell. Now revolver, holster, "thimble belt" of +cartridges--all were gone. + +The couriers were made to tell their tale while the doctor and his +assistants were getting Willett to bed, and Willett, from several +conditions, was not easy to soothe and quiet. He had not been sparing +of the _spiritus frumenti_ that went with other medical supplies +in the ambulance. Archer and the surgeon saw it, and said nothing. That +was natural, possibly, under the circumstances, and could be controlled +later. Archer cross-questioned the couriers at some length. They had +not followed the Verde Valley southward. They had "lit out" along the +Mesa road, toward Baker's Butte, until they found the trail by way of +Hardscrabble and Granite Creek. They had succeeded in evading Apaches +until the third day out, and after leaving the East Fork they saw +smokes that made them wary, and once down in the Wild Rye Valley, and +in sight of the old Picacho, they came upon recent Indian signs in the +sand--moccasin tracks going down stream bed toward the post. Then they +"chassayed," as they said, out into the open, midway to the foothills, +so as to keep out of rifle range of both, and then Indians came +a-running at them from the foothills, trying to head them off and take +them alive, they supposed, and they had dismounted and fought and +driven them back, and, oh, they must have killed three or four of 'em! +and in fact had had to fight for their lives most of the afternoon. +Archer listened, incredulous, puzzled. Frontiersmen's and fishermen's +tales have much in common. These were men who had been employed three +years, they said, by the agent at the upper reservation and had been +detailed for courier duty with Colonel Pelham, commanding the district +of the Verde. One was American, the other Mexican. Their story might be +straight, but, with all the valor to which they laid claim, it seemed +strange to Archer and his officers that two men could break their way +through an encircling horde of hostiles such as they described, and +hold a hundred fierce Apaches four long hours at bay. + +Harris was awake, and in highly nervous condition, and begging that he +might be allowed to see and question these couriers, but both doctors, +regular and contract, said no, not this night. And so, toward midnight, +the couriers were permitted to go to bed. The doubled sentries were +cautioned to observe the utmost vigilance. The lights were extinguished +at the store, by way of telling everybody that neither game nor glass +was to be had before the morrow. The general was urged by his devoted +adherents, Bonner, Bucketts and Strong, to get such sleep as was +possible, and the post was committed to the charge of Lieutenant +Briggs, officer of the day. The lights were still burning low at the +hospital and in the doctor's quarters and Strong's, as, with a look +about the moonlit valley and a word to his sergeant, Bonner rejoined +his comrades at the quartermaster's veranda. + +"Odd," said he, with a tilt of his head toward the quarters next +beyond, "of all our little fighting force, so far the only casualties +are with our two casuals." + +That was at one o'clock in the morning. At three, by which time all but +the guard were presumably in bed, Mrs. Archer, lying anxious and +wakeful, listening for the sound of sigh or sob from Lilian's little +room and praying that sorrow might be averted from that beloved child, +felt sure at last that she heard a footstep, and, stealing softly +across the narrow hallway, found Lilian kneeling at the curtained +window and gazing out upon the brilliant night. There was no reproach +in the mother's murmured words. Well she knew what it portended that +her daughter should be at this hour sleepless and striving, perhaps, to +see the light from the window where her young hero lay prostrate and +suffering. Not one word had they yet exchanged about him, but many a +woman, even with mother love brimming over in her heart, would have +upbraided, and many another would have "nagged." What other word have +we for that feminine method, the resort of so very many, the remedy of +so very few? But Mrs. Archer simply circled a loving arm about the +slender form. "We're all on guard to-night, aren't we, daughter?" she +murmured, fondly kissing the tear-wet cheek. "It was so long before +your father dropped to sleep. Have you--heard anything?" + +Burying her face in the dear refuge of years, with her arms thrown +instantly about her mother's neck, Lilian's sole answer was a shake of +the bonny head. It was as much as saying, "You know that isn't the +matter; yet, thank you for trying to think so--thank you for not asking +me what is." + +"Well, _I_ did," murmured Mrs. Archer, slowly rising to her feet, and +drawing Lilian with her. "I'm sure I heard low voices down there on the +flat toward the ford. The sentries are more than usually watchful and +taking note of everything. You know it was right out there Number Five +heard the crying in the willows only last night." And all the time she +was quietly leading her child back to the little white bed. + +Then suddenly Lilian stopped and lifted her head. "I hear now," said +she. "It's coming!" Across the hall stealthily they sped, and together +were presently peering from the southward window in Mrs. Archer's room. +Two dim figures could be seen crossing the flat from the direction of +the ford, coming straight for the low point of the mesa whereon stood +the quarters of the commanding officer. Then they began breasting the +slope, but exchanging no word. As they reached the top Mrs. Archer +caught Lilian's hand. "It's an Indian--a runner, I believe. See, that's +the corporal of the guard with him! It's a despatch of some kind!" + +And so it proved. Five minutes later, Briggs, officer of the day, was +heard coming down the line; his sword clicked at the steps; his foot +was on the veranda, but before he could knock, Mrs. Archer met him at +the door. + +"We saw them coming," said she. "Is it a despatch--for the general?" + +"From Captain Turner," said he gravely. "I read it, hoping not to have +to disturb the general, but--there's been a fight and some are wounded. +Turner needs instructions." + +The army-bred woman needed no further word. She knew at once what had +to be done. "Wake father, Lilian, dear," she gently called from the +foot of the stairs. "Will you come in, Mr. Briggs? I can light up in a +moment." + +"There's light in abundance out here, thank you, Mrs. Archer. Besides, +I have our runner." And, turning back, he pointed to the steps where, +still watched by Corporal Hicks, the dusky messenger squatted wearily. +All Apaches looked alike to Hicks. His attitude was plainly indicative +of a conviction that treachery of some kind was afoot, and this +particular envoy had designs on his commander or that commander's wife. +They could hear the veteran bustling about upstairs, hurriedly donning +his uniform. Then came Strong, with his quick, bounding step, for +Briggs had called him before disturbing the "Old Man." A moment later, +by the clear light of the unclouded moon, Archer was hurriedly reading +Turner's brief despatch. + + BIVOUAC ON TORONTO CREEK, NOVEMBER 24TH, 187--. + + POST ADJUTANT, + CAMP ALMY. + + We have had two more brushes with Tonto Apaches, resulting in the + breaking up of two rancherias and the scattering of the band, + leaving several dead in each affair, also a few wounded bucks and + squaws that I had to leave, as we had no means of sending them to + the post or caring for them in any way. Sergeant Payne, Corporal + Smith, G, and Troopers Schreiter and Wenzel, wounded, are doing as + well as can be expected, but must remain at this point under a + small guard while we follow the renegades. The scouts report many + signs toward the Black Mesa, and we shall strike wherever we find + the hostiles, but I shall have but twenty-five men with me now, and + barely forty rounds per man. Instructions sent by bearer may reach + me among the foothills toward Diamond Butte. Otherwise, we shall + return by the way we came. Trooper Hanson, died of wounds in the + affair previously reported, was buried here. + + Respectfully, + + TURNER, Commanding. + +"Then the other runner failed to get in," said Archer gravely. "There +was a fight before this. Turner's found a raft of Indians. This +despatch is two days old now. Have we nobody who can talk with this +Indian?" + +"Nobody, I fear, sir," answered Strong, bending over the scout and +examining the brass identification tag worn by each of those regularly +employed and mustered. "He's a Hualpai. No. 21. Even Harris doesn't +know that tongue, sir." + +"If anybody here does, it's one of those two that got in from Verde +last evening," said Archer reflectively. "Turner evidently had no idea +the hostiles were all about us, and he thinks the previous despatch +must have reached us. Corporal, go find the couriers and fetch them +here. Be seated, gentlemen," he continued, in his courtly way, then +turning from everybody, stepped out on the sandy level between his +quarters and the office building, and began pacing slowly up and down. + +What was to be done? No word had come from Stannard. Stirring, yet +disquieting news they now had from Turner, whose wounded lay in need of +medical attention a long day's march through stony wilds, with jealous +and savage eyes watching every trail. Here at Almy he had two companies +of sturdy foot, capable of covering ground almost as fast as the +cavalry, but wearing out shoe leather much faster. Twenty of these +fellows could fight their way through to the Tonto, but might have just +as many more wounded to care for, and be unable to transport them. +Moreover, with so many hostiles on every side, was he justified in +stripping the post of its defenders? It was no pleasant situation. It +was more than perplexing. Presently he turned and, using such signs as +he thought might be comprehensible, asked the impassive runner if he +knew where the first fight took place, and the Hualpai, as would almost +any Indian partially gathering the drift of a question, began a +rambling reply, pointing as he spoke, with shifting finger, all over +the range to the south-east. + +"Bella, dear, have we anything that this incomprehensible creature +could eat?" asked Archer. "It may help matters." And presently the lady +of the house appeared at the hall door again, with a tray in her hands. +Briggs ceremoniously took it, and set huge slices of bread and jam +before the gaunt mountaineer, who found his feet in an instant; +received a slice on the palm of his outspread hand; lifted it +cautiously, his yellow teeth showing hungrily; smelled it suspiciously, +thrust forth his tongue, and slowly tasted the strange mixture on the +surface; then, with confidence established, finished it in four gulps, +and, like a greyhound, looked eagerly for more. Briggs laughed and +pointed to the tray on the steps, but the Hualpai shook his head and +drew back shyly. + +"You'll have to give it piece by piece, Briggs," said Strong. "His +squaw would scoop the whole trayload into her skirt or blanket, but not +a Hualpai brave." + +Approached in accordance with Hualpai views of table etiquette, the +Indian ate greedily, and was still eating when the corporal came and, +with him, the sleepy and dishevelled courier, the American. And now in +the radiant moonlight the strange war council was resumed. + +"Ask him, if you can, where the first fight came off, and who was sent +with the despatch," demanded the general of the new-comer, upon whom +the Hualpai looked in recognition, but with neither light nor welcome +in his piercing eyes. Question and answer in halting, uncanny speech +progressed fitfully a moment. Then came the report: + +"He says there was a fight the first day out; another when they struck +Tonto Creek, and two soldiers were killed." + +"And as to the first runner?" + +"He says 'Patchie Mohave brought it all way safe. This buck met him +going back. He said he gave it to 'scout capitan' out by Picacho." + +"'Out by Picacho!''Scout capitan!' Who on earth does he mean?" asked +Archer, with a sudden fear at heart. + +Once again, stumbling question, much gesticulation, many words in +strange gutturals--and a name. Then the final report: + +"He means Apache-Mohave--'Tonio!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +Three anxious, watchful days went by, with anxious, watchful nights +intervening, with no further tidings of 'Tonio or Stannard or Turner, +of friend or foe from the outside world, and with only one attempt on +part of the invisibly, yet perceptibly, surrounded garrison to +communicate with the field columns. "Hualpai 21," the only designation +he would own to (the real name, in the absence of some tribesman to +speak for him, one could rarely learn from an Indian), was given his +fill of food and rest, then, with a despatch to Turner, was sent forth +Monday night south-eastward, the way he came, and bidden if he reached +the rugged height known as El Caporal, some twelve miles to the +south-east, and deemed it safe to do so, to send at sunrise three quick +mirror flashes toward the flagstaff, repeating twice or thrice to be +sure of its attracting attention. Hualpai 21 took with him one of those +cheap little disks of looking-glass, cased in pewter, at that time +found at every frontier store. He took also the injunction to give his +despatch to Captain Turner or one of his men, but to no Indian +whomsoever--'Tonio in particular. It was the last attempt of the week. + +For, from dawn until the sun was an hour high, the watchers watched in +vain. Three signal glasses, telescope and binocular, were trained upon +the heights and no one of them caught the faintest spark of reflected +light. The nearest approach to a signal was seen by a corporal of the +guard and sentry Number Six an hour after midnight, when, in quick +succession, two faint, firefly flashes, unrepeated, were visible afar +out due east of the Picacho, and they could have been caused in only +two ways--somebody experimenting with a mirror and the moonbeams, the +moon being then about three hours high and three-quarters full, or +else, as they were ruddier than moonshine, somebody taking two quick +shots, probably at somebody else. The corporal counted seconds up to +twenty and more, and even in that breathless silence, heard not a sound +to warrant the belief. + +Yet a few hours later that sun-blistered morning, the bookkeeper Case +"blew in for a bottle," as he expressed it; remarked with engaging +frankness that he believed he had still a day or so in which to taper, +and would be home and on deck if the Apaches didn't get him meantime; +and, being delicately invited to state where he had spent the night, +replied as frankly as before, "Down at José Sanchez's," meaning thereby +the down-stream resort two miles distant, where prospectors, packers +and occasionally men from the post, in peace times, at least, went for +unlimited mescal and monte. Since the death of Comes Flying, the +disappearance of 'Patchie Sanchez (the runner, half-brother to Sanchez, +the gambler), and the general outbreak among the Indians, it had been +shunned as utterly unsafe, and reported abandoned. When cautioned by +Watts against returning thither, Mr. Case replied that now that the +Indians spurned it, for not even 'Tonio would set foot anywhere about +the ranch, the ghost of the brother was seen there every night. He had +seen it and it was an honest ghost, and a convivial spirit, which was +why last night's bottle had lasted no longer. Moreover, Case said that +when he was drinking he was only at home in half-bred society and +couldn't live up to the high tone of the post. When told of Mr. +Willett's further mishap, Case sobered for a moment in manner, and said +Mr. Willett was unwise taking so many chances, and Mr. Willett would be +in big luck if he got away from Almy without further puncture. Somebody +else had been shot at last night. He and the ghost had heard it. + +This at the moment was regarded as semi-maudlin talk, but at morning +office hour Watts was sent for, was told what the guard had seen, and +asked what Case had really said, rumor being, as a rule, inaccurate. +Then Archer rebuked Watts for letting Case go in his intoxicated +condition, and it was decided to send a little party in search, in +hopes of fetching him in and finding out more about the alleged +shooting. The party found Case without any trouble. He sat singing to +himself and swinging his legs from the table in the abandoned rookery, +the half-emptied bottle on one side and a "monkey" of spring water on +the other, scornful alike of danger or demands, but indomitably +courteous. The party took a drink with him as promptly invited, but +found him implacably bent on holding the position. Not until argument +and whiskey both were exhausted would he listen to reason and the +suggestion to return to the post. That being the only means to more +whiskey, he started affably enough, but before going half a mile +declared he had left or lent his revolver. "There's only one revolver +at Camp Almy just like it," said he, with drunken dignity, and then, +with sudden gravity, "an' that one--_isn't_ at Camp Almy." + +The infantry sergeant in command of the little party tried to wheedle +Case out of his whim, but it was useless. Back he would go, and they, +half supporting, had to go with him. From the drawer of the battered +old table he drew the missing weapon to light, and it stood +revealed--one of the famous Colt's 44, made soon after the Civil War to +replace the percussion-capped "Navy" carried by most officers of the +army until late in the '60's. In the hands of the cavalry at the +moment, and for experimental purposes, were nickel-plated Smith and +Wesson's of the same calibre, and nearly the same length of barrel, +also one or two other patterns of the remodelled Colt. But, as Case +said, this was a special make and model, differing slightly from any +that Sergeant Joyce had ever yet seen; but not until later did the +sergeant or his comrades attach any significance to Case's statement, +"there's only one at Almy just like it." + +His weapon recovered, his mental balance slightly restored, and with +the further inspiration of replenished flask ahead, Case made the +difficult essay to tramp the two sandy miles back to the store and the +still more difficult task of there accounting for himself and +explaining his enigmatical sayings. Strong, as directed, strove to keep +him to the point, but the one more drink Case declared indispensable on +his final arrival at dusk sent flitting the last filaments of reason, +and the poor fellow maundered off to sleep on his little cot in the +darkened room, where he was bolted in and left for the night. + +"Only one pistol like it at the post, and that--isn't at the post," +Strong found himself repeating again and again that night, as, after +Mrs. Archer and Mrs. Stannard had read their patient into a doze and +taken their departure, the adjutant stood for a moment by Willet's +bedside. "And now Willett has lost his, and presumably the Tontos, or +perhaps the Apache-Mohaves, have got it!" + +They had wandered away in the darkness together, those two brave and +tender-hearted army women, each with a keen anxiety of her own, each +striving to be helpful to the other. Three invalids were there now at +Almy to whom they were giving many hours of care and nursing. Poor Mrs. +Bennett gained little in mental or bodily health. The fearful scenes of +that long night of horror and rapine still seemed vividly before her in +her few hours of fitful slumber, and were this state of things to +continue long, said the doctor, insanity would be a merciful refuge. An +hour or so each day these ministering angels gave to the young +officers. Harris, severely shot, was mending fast, his perfect physical +condition lending itself admirably to his restoration. Willett, but +slightly injured, should be sitting up, with his shoulder in a frame +and his arm in a sling, but he was mending only slowly, and had not a +little fever. Harris, accustomed to self-denial, seemed to require no +physical comforts. Willett, something of a Sybarite, craved iced drinks +and cooling applications that gave more trouble, said Strong, than +twenty Harrises. Willett had even gone so far as to suggest that the +ladies must be tired of reading aloud, possibly Miss Lilian might +relieve one or other, and possibly, hope whispered, both. Harris, who +would have welcomed that presence and possibility as he would no other, +had ventured nothing beyond the expression of a hope that Miss Archer +was quite well. + +As for Miss Archer herself, what man can say just what thoughts, +emotions, hopes and fears were rioting in that gentle and innocent, yet +troubled heart. A very unheroic little heroine is this of ours. It was +a time when she might well be thinking of the perils by which they and +their defenders were encompassed round about, of the bereaved and +broken-hearted woman crying to heaven for her murdered husband and her +stolen children, of the scouts and couriers shot down from ambush in +their efforts to reach them in their isolation or to creep through with +messages to the columns afield, of the wounded lying with but scant +attention and puny guard, weary marches away, of the comrades killed or +died of wounds in fierce grapple with the warriors of the desert and +the mountains--even of this young soldier within their gates, sore +stricken in daring rescue of a helpless woman, he to whose coolness and +command of self--and others--had saved her from the rattler's fang. +Very possibly she did think of it--and often--and tried to think of +them still oftener, but all the time, it must be owned, in her heart of +hearts she was hearing again the soft, caressing tone of that deep, +rich voice--"the words of love then spoken;" she saw again the lustrous +eyes that shone and burned into hers despite their drooping lids, the +graceful, gallant form of that picture of the knight and gentleman +whose swift wooing had made such wondrous way. Lilian Archer was but a +child in spite of years and schooling. She spent her earliest years +within the shadow of the flag and the sound of the drum. She had seen +nothing of garrison life from that morning in '61, when she had just +passed her sixth birthday, when they were bundled aboard a wheezing +river stern wheeler and floated for many a day and many and many a long +mile down a muddy, twisting stream--her father so grave and anxious, +and some of the officers with him so urgent and appealing. She could +not understand why her mother should so often sit with tear-brimming +eyes and clasp her to her bosom with the boy brother she so loved--and +teased. Father's home was in a proud old border state, and they went +there for a week or two, after that sorrowful day in St. Louis when +three of father's old friends and comrades came for one last conference +and then--a last good-by--two of them refusing his hand. They had +resigned and followed their state. They had striven to take him with +them to swell the ranks of the proud young army of the South. They had +loved him well and he them, but there was something floating overhead, +from the white staff at the stern, he held still dearer. One officer, +who was most urgent in his pleadings, was her bonny "Uncle Barney," +mother's own brother, and when he left, without kiss for her or +handclasp for the sad-faced soldier in the worn uniform of blue, +mother's heart seemed almost breaking. Father took them to _his_ +father's old home, and left them there while he went to drilling +militiamen north of the Ohio, and was presently made a colonel of +volunteers. But the people who lived about them were all for the South, +and they could not forgive mother for his taking sides against them; +so, throughout the long bitter struggle, while he was at the front or +suffering in Southern prison, as happened once, and from Northern +suspicion, as happened much more than once, they lived in lodgings in a +quiet little country town, where brother and she went hand in hand to +school and saw little of the outer world and nothing of the war. Then +at last came peace, and in '66 the reorganization of the army, and +father--in a general's uniform on a major's pay. Then in '69 General +Grant appointed brother a cadet, and all were so proud and hopeful when +he left them for the Point. He was the image of Uncle Barney, who was +killed leading his splendid brigade in one of the earliest battles in +Virginia, and, like Uncle Barney, brother was high-spirited and +impatient. Mathematics and demerit set him back in '70 and dropped him +out entirely in '71, when father was weeks away across the deserts of +Arizona, and they were in lodgings at San Francisco, and poor mother +was nearly distraught with grief and anxiety. Brother never came back +to them. He went straight, it seems, to the Brooklyn Navy-Yard; +enlisted in the Marines, and, within five months thereafter, jumped +from the deck of the "Yantic" in a swift tideway at Amoy, striving to +aid a drowning shipmate, and was never seen again. That was the saddest +Christmas they ever knew. Father had to return to his post, and all +that year of '72 they wore deep mourning and went nowhere. During the +spring of '73 mother was rallying a little, and loving army friends +from the Presidio and Angel Islands, who used to come to see them so +often, now sought to have Lilian visit them; but wisely Mrs. Archer +kept her at her studies and her music and away from possible +fascination of the garrison, and except, therefore, for two dances +given by the artillery, and one charming, rose-bowered afternoon +reception at Angel Island, Lilian had seen nothing of army life and +next to nothing of army beaux, until in all the ardor and innocence of +sweet, winsome, wholesome girlhood--buoyant, beautiful and in exuberant +health and spirits, she was suddenly landed here at this out of the way +station in uttermost Arizona, and brought face to face with love and +destiny. + +For two days she had been hoping that mother would suggest that she, +too, might come when they went for the afternoon visits to their +wounded. But, though mother had twice taken her to sit a few minutes by +the side of poor, frenzied Mrs. Bennett, there came no intimation that +she might follow to the bedside of Lieutenant Willett, whose voice the +child was longing to hear again, whose face she craved to see. No woman +of heroic mould, perhaps, was Mrs. Archer. Hers was one of those fond, +clinging natures, capable of any sacrifice for the husband or child she +loved. She had turned her back on the home and the people so dear to +her when unhesitatingly she followed the soldier husband she +rapturously loved, and now, though she yearned to take her daughter to +her heart and kiss away the wistful, pathetic, pleading look in the +fond eyes that never before had appealed to her in vain, something told +her it were best to let her fight it out, even to suffer, alone, than +admit, even to her, the possibility of a growing love for this +brilliant and dangerous young gallant, as to whom she had unwittingly +heard such damning accusation. It had not taken Mrs. Archer long to +learn that Case, nerved by drink, had appeared at Harris's bedside that +Sunday afternoon, asking to speak with him alone, only to be speedily +followed by Willett, and by the altercation she had overheard. Under +the circumstances, as known to her, Mrs. Archer was thankful that, +since he could not leave the post, Lieutenant Willett could not even +leave his room. Not with her knowledge and consent should her gentle +Lilian be again brought within the sphere of his influence. + +But Love that laughs at locksmiths was yet to find his way, and that +right soon. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +Harris was up and fuming for action. With his wound unhealed and his +arm utterly useless, he was insistent that he should be permitted to +mount and ride. "What could you do?" asked Bentley. "The post is +surrounded. Every trail and both roads are watched day and night. Your +horse is all that's left you. 'Tonio is gone. 'Tonio has turned +traitor!" + +"That," said Harris, "I will not believe for an instant." + +They brought General Archer to see him, and the grave-faced old soldier +bent kindly over the impatient and incredulous junior. "It is even as +Bentley tells you, lad," said he. "Only one messenger has been able to +come or go through their lines since the demoralized pair that got in +from Verde, and they can't be hired to try again. We are hemmed in and +helpless until our cavalry return. Willett will tell you he saw 'Tonio +fire the shot that killed his horse and was meant to kill him. 'Tonio +has intercepted messengers between Turner and me, and killed, I +believe, at least one messenger. You must be patient or you will throw +yourself into a fever and set you back a month. We've simply got to act +on the defensive, guard the post and the women until relief comes. By +this time, of course, General Crook himself is somewhere in the field, +and any moment may bring him; then our Apache friends, hereabouts, will +have to hunt their holes." + +"General Archer," said Harris, commanding himself with evident effort +and striving to speak with his accustomed deliberation, "I have not +seen Willett, but, if I had, I should refuse to believe that 'Tonio +fired at him. The Apache-Mohaves may be with the hostiles at last, but +not 'Tonio. There is some reason for his absence that we cannot fathom. +They may have killed him for his loyalty to us, but loyal he is at +heart, no matter how much appearances are against him." + +"We'll hope so," said Archer, "but for the present, do as Bentley bids +you and stay quiet," and the commander rose to go. + +But Harris, too, was on his feet, steadying himself with one hand on +the back of his chair. "You will pardon me, will you not, sir, if I ask +a question? You say you have been unable to communicate with Stannard +or Turner. Stannard is, probably, too far away, but if Turner's wounded +are over on Tonto Creek, he can be reached. Have you tried signalling?" + +"Signalling? We've got some flags and torches somewhere, but I believe +that----" + +"I don't mean that, sir. No one with Turner would understand if we had. +I mean smoke signals--Indian." + +"No," said Archer slowly. "No one but Indians could say what they +meant, even if any one here knew their confounded code. Do you?" + +"I know enough at least to call 'Tonio; and unless he is dead or +spirited away, he'll answer. Then we can get word to Turner." + +Archer turned back. He was almost at the door. "Do you mean he _would_ +answer--that he would come in here?" + +"If I may give my word that no one shall touch or harm him, he'll +come--if alive and able." + +For a moment the general was silent. It was a grave question. In his +eyes and those of his officers, 'Tonio stood attainted practically with +treason. He had deserted in face of the enemy, joined forces with the +enemy, shot as an enemy, conspired and acted as an enemy. He deserved +to be hunted and shot down without trial, without mercy. Yet here was +this young soldier, who had known him best and longest, full of +boundless faith in him, demanding safe conduct for him on the honor of +an officer and gentleman. If Archer gave his word it would be flying in +the face of his entire command--what there was left of it, at +least--and Archer's word was a thing not to be lightly given. "I must +think of this awhile," said he. "It is a big proposition. You think +_you_ can reach him?" + +"By night or day, sir, either; but it would have to be from the top of +Squadron Peak." + +It was then late on Friday afternoon, the fifth day of what might he +called the siege. Not a signal had come from without, not a sign from +either command, not a symptom of surrounding Indian; yet a little party +sent to search the rookery down stream, where Case declared he'd been +entertaining the ghost of 'Patchie Sanchez, came back reporting that +fresh moccasin and mule tracks were plainly visible about the premises +and at the neighboring ford, also that the mule tracks led away back of +the Picacho, as everybody persisted in calling the peak--in spite of +the fact that from the north it presented no sharp point to the skies, +but rather a bold and rounded poll. Squadron Peak was more "sonorous +and appropriate," said the trooper who so named it, but now that +troopers were scarce at Almy, there were none to do it that reverence. + +Old Sanchez--José--the former proprietor, had disappeared entirely, he +and his brace of henchmen, after somewhere digging a treasure pit in +the sand and therein "caching" their store of mescal, aguardiente, and +certain other illicit valuables. It was conjectured that he had fled to +the Verde Valley and taken refuge at McDowell until the storm blew +over. But Craney was more than curious as to Case's guest, the ghost, +and by Friday Case was sober and solemn and sick enough to be +cross-questioned without show of resentment. Craney went so far as to +ask Case wouldn't he like a little whiskey to steady his nerves--a +cocktail to aid his appetite and stir his stomach? "Like it," said +Case, "you bet I would--which is why I won't take it. Three days' +liquor, two days' taper, one day suffer, then the water wagon for a +spell. Thank you all the same, Mr. Craney. What can I do for you +without the drink?" + +But when Craney mentioned Sanchez, the ghost and the drinking bout by +night at the rookery, Case said he must have been nigher to jimjams +than he'd got in a year. "I never saw any ghost," said he, and Craney +had to give it up, and report his failure to the commanding officer. + +"Ever try threatening him with discharge?" asked Bucketts, by way of +being helpful. + +"Ever try? I don't _have_ to try! The one time I started in on that lay +he never let me finish; said all right, he'd go just as soon as he'd +balanced the books. Then, by gad, it was all I could do to get him to +stay. He is the most independent damn man I ever met. Says he knows +he's a drunkard and nuisance one week out of four, and don't wonder I +want to discharge him. Discharge him? I couldn't get along without him! +Any time he wants a better job and plenty of society all he's got to do +is go to Prescott. Discharge him! All I'm afraid of is he'll discharge +himself!" + +So Bucketts dropped the subject and he and Strong went to report +non-success to Archer just as the sun was going down and the peak, in +lone grandeur, loomed up dazzling above the black drapery about its +base, and Bonner, pacing up and down with his much-honored chief, saw +the gloom deepen in his deep-set eyes. Only Lilian seemed able to win a +smile from him, as she came and took him by the arm and led him away to +dinner. + +Darkness settled down apace. The moon rose late and the stars were +holding high carnival in consequence, for the skies were gorgeous in +their deck of gold. Mrs. Stannard was dining with the Archers _en +famille_, as she did now almost every evening, for the Archers would +so have it, and Archer had been talking of Harris's proposition, and +his determined stand for 'Tonio. Mrs. Archer shook her pretty head in +negation. She could not see how any one who distrusted her general +could himself be loyal. She had said the same of Secretary Stanton +during the war, for one of that iron master's most masterly convictions +was that every soldier, Southern born--even such as Thomas--must of +necessity be a Southern sympathizer. 'Tonio must needs be a traitor +since he avoided sight of, or speech with, her soldier who could do no +wrong. And if Mrs. Archer believed in 'Tonio, on her husband's account, +what must have been Lilian's conviction? she who had both father and +lover--father and the husband soon to be, for of that Mrs. Archer had +now no earthly doubt--the two men beyond all others combined who were +dearest to Lilian on earth, both of them inimical to 'Tonio, one of +them wellnigh his victim. It was Mrs. Stannard who listened in silence. +She had longer known the Apache-Mohave, and as between 'Tonio and +Willett it might well be a story with two sides. + +They had finished their coffee and were just coming forth upon the +veranda into the exquisite evening air, and, as bidden by her father, +Lilian had just begun to tune her guitar, when across the parade among +the men seated along the low front of the barracks there was sudden +start, sudden rush, and, from up the line of officers' quarters not +many doors away, came agonized cry for help. Archer sprang to his feet +and started, but Mrs. Archer, in a paroxysm of fear, thinking only of +Indians and treachery, seized him by the arm, clung to and held him. +Mrs. Stannard sprang within the hall and back with Archer's revolver +which, without a word, she thrust into his hand. Then all three +together started, for while fifty men came tearing headlong across the +sandy level, making straight for the adjutant's quarters, Lilian, their +little Lilian--the silent, sad-eyed, anxious child of the days and days +gone by--heading everybody, was flying like a white-winged bird, +straight along the line, and when the father reached her she had thrown +herself upon a heap of burning, smouldering bedding, thrashing it with +a wet blanket snatched from the olla, and then, with her own fair, +white hands, was beating out the few sparks that remained about the +sleeve and shoulder of a soaked and dishevelled gown, and brushing +others from the hair and face of an unheroic, swathed and dripping +figure--Harold Willett in the midst of the wreck of his cot, while +Blitz, the striker, aided by Wettstein and the doctor's man, were +stamping and swearing and tearing things to bits in the effort to down +other incipient blazes. Between them they had dragged Willett from the +midst of the flames and drenched him with a cataract from the olla. The +rush of the men from the barracks made short work of the fire, but when +Mrs. Archer and Mrs. Stannard, with throbbing hearts, bent over the +scorched and smoking ruin on the south porch, a tousled brown head, +with ghastly face, was clasped in Lilian's arms, pillowed on Lilian's +fair, white bosom. Willett had fainted from fright, pain and reaction, +and the unheroic, untried, unfearing girl had blistered her own fair +hands, her own soft, rounded, clasping arms, yet saw and felt nothing +but dread for his suffering and joy for his safety. Even the mother for +a moment could not take her rescued darling from that fond, fearless, +impassioned embrace. All in that desperate instant the veil of virgin +shame had burned away. In the fierce heat and shock and peril the +latent love force had burst its bonds, the budding lily had blossomed +into womanhood. + +And upon that picture, pallid, weak and suffering, another neighbor, +another pain-stricken young soldier gazed in silence, then turned +unobtrusively away. There was no one to help him back to the reclining +chair from which he had been startled at the almost frenzied shriek of +alarm. There was no further talk--no thought of signals that night; +Archer had had enough of fire. They bore the reviving officer, +presently, to a vacant room in Stannard's quarters, and Lilian was led +to her own. There were bandages about both hands and arms when next +morning she appeared upon the gallery. They hid the red ravages on the +fair, white skin, but what was there to veil the radiant light that +shone in her eyes, the burning blushes that mantled her soft and +rounded cheeks? Archer took her to his heart and kissed her and turned +to his duty with a sigh. Mrs. Archer clung to and hovered about her, +silent, for what was there to say? Mrs. Stannard came over, all smiles +and sunshine, to announce that "He" had passed a comfortable night, and +"His" first waking thoughts and words were for her, as indeed they +should have been, and, so far as audible words were concerned, they +possibly were. What else could Mrs. Stannard have said when she saw +that winsome, yet appealing little face? + +And in such wise was our Lilian wooed; in such wise was she won. +Contrary to Bentley's wishes, Willett had essayed to smoke, and so set +his bed afire. Contrary to all convention, the love of the maiden had +been the first to manifest itself to public eye, but Willett manfully +rose to the occasion. In the midst of anxiety, uncertainty and danger +there beamed one ray, at least, of radiant, unshadowed, buoyant hope +and bliss and shy delight. Lilian Archer envied no girl on the face of +the globe, no white-robed seraph in heaven; and for her sake others, +too, strove hard to hope, to help, to shower good wishes and +congratulation. + +"But to think of my little girl in love," said Archer, with brimming +eyes. "Why, you--you won't be nineteen!" + +"And mother was but seventeen when she married you," softly laughed +Lilian, snuggling to his side. + +"And Mr. Willett so far from his captaincy," sighed her mother. + +"Much nearer than father was to even a first lieutenancy when you +married him," was the joyous answer. "_He_ was only a second +lieutenant by brevet." + +"Well," said Mrs. Archer, "it seems different--somehow." + +And so it seemed to us. "All too brief a wooing," said poor Archer. +"God send her longer wedded bliss!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +Moreover, as some one said in speaking of the sudden engagement, "It +came about on a Friday evening, didn't it?" And then, too, when people +were talking it over a few weeks later, as Mrs. Archer said, "it seemed +different." Soldier folk sometimes have superstitions as surely as the +sailor man is never without his, and a start on a voyage of love life, +clearing port of a Friday evening, had its inauspicious side. But for +the mishap that suddenly enveloped the happy man in flames at a moment +when he was sprawled on his back with his whole right side, as it were, +in a sling, Mr. Harold Willett might indeed have returned to duty and +department headquarters with no other encumbrance than a mortgaged pay +account, and it was not fair to Lilian to speak of her engagement as +"announced" that Friday evening; but in her wondrous happiness she +could find no fault with anything about it. It was all just perfect, +just heavenly (where they neither give nor are given in marriage, which +possibly accounts, as said our cynic, for so much that is heavenly +about it). As an engagement, in fact, it did not exist until four days +later, after other and equally important things had occurred, and we +have merely taken Lilian's point of view, and left them out of that +chapter and all consideration, as she did, so far as we are concerned, +in order to have it all over and done with. But of course there had to +be time for Willett to recover from the effects of the shock, to be +clothed in his right mind and something less fragmentary than the +relics of a _robe de nuit_, and a day in which to realize what had +taken place. (I shrewdly suspect that our good friend Mrs. Stannard saw +to it that Mr. Willett was informed of what Lilian had done and +suffered on his account, if she did not dilate on what Lilian had +betrayed.) And then came his very properly worded plea to be allowed to +see her and thank her; and when there was equally proper demur on Mrs. +Archer's part, Willett made his avowal in what even the mother held to +be manly and convincing fashion, for, now that she knew that her +darling's heart was gone--that it was too late to avert the +inevitable--mother-like, she strove to see with her darling's eyes all +that was good in him, and there was so _very_ much that was +good-looking. She never even hinted to her husband, much less to +Lilian, that she had heard the paragon most vehemently accused of most +unmanly and unbecoming conduct (for what was Mr. Case, after all, but +an irresponsible inebriate?), and she saw that her daughter's happiness +was wrapped up in this brilliant and most presentable young soldier. +Willett certainly gave many a promise of eminence in his career and +profession, so she set herself at once to work to talk the general into +complaisance, and he, who loved her with all his heart, and believed +her the best, the bravest, fondest, truest wife in all the army (as +indeed she might have been without being the wisest), and who could +deny Lilian nothing from the time she turned his best silken sash into +a swing for herself and Wauwataycha Two Bears, her tiny Sioux playmate, +till now that she had set her heart on one Harold Willett for a +husband, broke down and surrendered as ordered. But there was that in +the old soldier's face as he took Willett's hand that made the junior +wince more than did the grip, which was mild enough. "She will be just +such another wife as is her blessed mother," said Archer. "Be good and +true to her, Willett." + +"I will, so help me God!" said Willett solemnly, and then, at least, he +meant it. + +There had been an awkward little conference, an impromptu affair, at +the mess the morning after the alarm of fire. Willett stock had been +running down before that episode, and went "plumb out of sight" for +several hours. It was held by Bonner, Bucketts, Briggs and Strong a +most womanish thing on his part to have raised such a row and then +"wilted." It was Bentley, the most disgusted man at the post, who now +came to the rescue. "He was dumped on the porch like a sack of +potatoes," said he, "and probably suffered exquisite pain, let alone +the burns and the shock." Then, bunglingly, as bachelors will, and +bachelors two of them were, they began to talk of the revelation that +met their eyes and what it portended. No one, as yet, had told "the Old +Man" of Willett's night at the store, and now no man would do it. +Bygones were bygones. Willett would be up in a week or so, the better, +perhaps, for enforced rest and abstinence, and now, of course, there +could and would be no more of--of that sort of thing, and all his +better traits would shine by contrast with his probably temporary lapse +into frivolity. Even then, however, they wondered what Harris would +think, and speculated as to what he would say. Bucketts had not guessed +amiss when he said there was no love lost between the classmates. +Bucketts, and all, had seen how much both the young men had been +attracted by Lilian's grace and beauty, and the sweet, girlish +freshness that proved such a charm. Bucketts, and all, had been in, as +usual, to see Harris, and found him, as he said, a trifle set back by +the excitement, and therefore rather more grave and quiet even than +usual, but they said no word of Lilian and--possibilities. He knew. +Strong had seen him when he came, and looked, and stood inert one +moment there, unable to be of use, and had turned slowly back to his +room under Bentley's roof. Everybody knew it could not be more than a +day or two before the affair would be announced as an engagement, and +while every man felt that Willett had won a prize far beyond his +deserts, there was not one that felt like tendering congratulation. + +But, as we said, there were other and important matters to claim the +attention of the garrison, and just an hour before sunset that evening +came the first. Case's week was up, and, sharp on time at noon on +Saturday, Case came forth from his room, tubbed, trimmed and shaved, +went silently to his desk and then turned to Mr. Craney to ask what had +become of the mail. + +"Nary mail," said Craney. "Not a cuss got in or out for over a week." + +"Didn't Sanchez bring--anything from Prescott?" + +"Nothing but his ghost has even been heard of. You told of that." + +"I? Do you mean he hasn't been here--hasn't told you what's happened?" +And Case's eyes were looking wild again. + +"What _has_ happened, Case? By gad, if you know, out with it, for +no mother's son of us here has heard a thing for a week, and Sanchez +has never set foot on the post." + +"Then send for Mr. Strong, quick," said Case, sinking into a chair, the +sweat of weakness and distress of mind showing instantly on his brow, +rare symptom in Arizona. And then, while somebody ran up to the post to +summon the adjutant, Case, pressing his hands to his head, began +striding up and down the low-ceilinged, half-darkened room. "Wait," he +said, as Craney and Watts, excited and anxious, would have pressed him +to begin. "Wait. Give me just three fingers," and the whiskey was +handed forthwith. He downed it in two gulps, and presently the color +began to come back to his cheeks, and then Strong came hurrying in. "Is +Mr. Harris still here?--and that other specimen--Mr. Willett?" Case +demanded on the instant. "That's well, anyhow! And the cavalry still +out? That's bad. We want 'em here, _here_, I tell you, and quick, too! +Gentlemen, this is no cock-and-bull story. There's enough Apaches back +of us here in the Mazatzal to head off everybody from Prescott or +McDowell. They've killed three parties--a dozen soldiers, perhaps--already, +and they've cut off Prescott and Date Creek and Sandy, and murdered +every courier that tried to get through. They headed off and killed the +runners sent to find General Crook and give him the news, but worse +than all, they've been down here begging the Sierra Blancas, and the +bands of Deltchay and Eskiminzin--nearly eight hundred they'd make--to +come up here and get between Turner and the post, eat him up in the +cañons--he's had a lot killed and wounded already--and then turn on us. +How do I _know_ it?" he demanded, in the midst of his excited harangue. +"Sanchez told me--'Patchie Sanchez, the runner, last night. No--night +before, or _some_ night. Right here, I thought; right here where you +all heard! He said they'd ordered him ironed in Prescott for telling +the truth, and he said the sergeant had orders to flog him with a +bull-whip, and he killed the man that tried to flog him. You mean you +didn't hear this? You didn't know it? You didn't see him?--that I've +been dreaming as well as drunk? By God, drunk or dreaming, it's so! and +that's why José Sanchez and the others lit out for McDowell! They were +afraid to stay. 'Patchie says Deltchay and Skim are coming, sure, +whether the Sierra Blancas join or not. All the cavalry are up on the +Black Mesa 'cept Turner's troop, and now's their turn. Call me drunk, +crazy, mad, _anything_ you like, but tell the general what I say! Tell +him to get ready to fight like hell!" + +[Illustration: "Keep watch now all around, especially east and +southeast." Page 175] + +And so it would seem Case, the bookkeeper, had "inside information," +and so it happened that, within an hour after sunset, once again the +gray-haired commander and the wounded subaltern were in conference, and +Case's strange story was told in full. "There's more than enough in it +to demand our warning Turner," said Harris. "Can you get me up to +Squadron Peak--to-night?" + +Just at tattoo the old-fashioned, yellow ambulance, drawn by a brace of +mules, backed up at Bentley's quarters, and Harris was carefully lifted +aboard. The general, with Strong and Bonner, stood at hand to say +godspeed. "Promise him safe conduct," said the commander, as they drove +away, and Harris touched his hat in acknowledgment. Briggs, with twenty +stout foot soldiers, awaited them at the abandoned ranch. The doctor +and two attendants accompanied him. The road for nearly four miles lay +along the sandy flats, then went boring westward into the foothills, +while a little worn branch turned off to the peak. Two-thirds of the +way to the top the mules were able to pull the jolting vehicle, and +from thence half a dozen brawny arms bore the young soldier on a +stretcher to the summit. It was then after eleven, and the moon still +behind the Mogollon, lowering black against the silvering skies full +forty miles to the eastward. Already there was sufficient light to +guide them, and a sergeant led on to a point where, surrounded by +knee-high rocks, was a little blackened space where in bygone days many +a signal fire had blazed, and here the men tossed the tinder, the pine +cones and dead branches they had gathered on the climb. A match was +applied. All crouched or stooped among the rocks, as the flames +presently leaped on high, and gave ear to the quiet orders of the young +soldier, practically in command. "Keep watch now, all round, especially +east and south-east. It may be ten minutes before you get an answer, +and there _may_ come a dozen. More fuel may be needed," whereat half a +dozen dark forms silently backed away down the slope, and all men +waited and watched. Harris, with one arm and shoulder still bandaged, +and obviously weak, sat grasping at the corner a folded blanket and +busily coaching Briggs, who listened, absorbed. Ten, twelve, fourteen +the minutes rolled by. The silvery sheen spread higher over the +eastward sky. The crest of the distant Mesa was just fringing with +dazzling white, when two voices at once exclaimed: "There you are, +sir!" And afar over to the south-east, the direction of Tonto Creek, a +little ruddy spark appeared through the gloom, and a moment later still +another was made out, farther to the left. In twenty minutes three were +in sight. "Anywhere from fifteen to twenty miles away," said Harris, as +he studied them with the signal glass, "and," he continued, "I looked +for one much nearer." + +"There you have it, sir!" And almost opposite them, it seemed, and +lower, straight away to the east, so near they could almost mark the +waving of the flame, a fourth blaze burst into view. + +"That's more like it!" said Harris. "Now the blanket. Give me a boost, +corporal," and with that, supported by the strong arm of one of the +soldiers, he stepped upon the nearest rock, the blanket in his left +hand. Briggs grabbed the opposite corner with his right, and the next +moment a woollen curtain swung flat between the fires. + +"Now, Briggs, up!" and the hidden red eye was suddenly unmasked and +glared out over the east. "Down!" and all toward the opposite fire was +darkness again. Twice more was it raised and lowered. Then a five +seconds' pause. Then twice again. "Thirty-two," said Harris. "'Tonio's +old signal. Now watch for the answers!" From those at a distance there +came no sign. The flare at each was steady. From the nearmost, almost +instantly, came the desired response. It suddenly disappeared, and +Harris, at second intervals, counted low, "One, two, three." Then came +the red glow again, just a moment. Then darkness only for two seconds. +Then light again. "It is 'Tonio," said he, "and that's his call to me. +Now, Briggs, again! Slowly this time!" + +And very slowly was the blanket raised and lowered twice. Then came two +or three quicker movements. Then the blaze spoke untrammelled, and all +eyes were on 'Tonio's torch, and they who had heard ill of him--had +doubted him--found themselves oddly drawn to him across the intervening +miles of darkness. Twice, thrice slowly his light, too, was curtained. +Then for a moment it burned clearer; then seemed suddenly to sputter +out. Within a few seconds, far more swiftly than it rose, the signal +fire vanished from sight, and Harris stepped quietly down. "That's +all," said he, yet the doctor, at least, could read the suppressed +exultation in his tone. Then, seeing inquiry and disappointment, both, +in the eager eyes about him, the young officer added, "He understands. +He's coming, or sending, in." + +"Did you promise him safe conduct?" asked Bentley. + +"He did not ask it," was the answer. + +Two hours later, once more safe at the post, the doctor had stowed his +weary patient in bed, renewed the dressing and bandages, and was +bidding him try to sleep, but Harris smiled. "You'll need me to +translate," said he. "The general's message to Turner is being written +now. Let us finish this while we're about it." + +Sure enough. Toward half-past one the sentries on Numbers Six and Seven +set up a shout for the corporal of the guard, and an Indian girl, +trembling a bit, was led to the office, and half the garrison knew that +word was in from 'Tonio. The general took his messenger kindly by the +hand. Food and chocolate were in readiness at the Mess, but she shook +her head. "Capitan Chiquito," she insisted, and then was conducted up +the line, and, shrinking not a little, was led into the doctor's +quarters. There, at sight of Harris, she instantly stepped to his +bedside, knelt, and taking his weary hand, placed it on her head. He +whom 'Tonio held in reverence, his followers could but blindly obey. + +To his question in her own tongue, "Where is 'Tonio?" she answered, +"Toward the moon, now two hands high. When it is straight above Pancha +can reach him again." "Is 'Tonio well?" "'Tonio is well, but--others +brought Pancha. They say they are afraid that soldiers shoot. They +await Pancha's returning." + +Evidently, despite the kindness in every face, the girl still feared +the white man and wished to be gone. "He has sent her, general," said +Harris. "Whatever you wish to send now to Turner will go through, if +'Tonio is not killed in the attempt." + +And so, with unexpected burden of food and gifts and with a brief +despatch to Turner, bidding him hasten with his entire force, the +dusky, fleet-footed daughter of the mountain was led back to the +stream, went bounding lightly across from stone to stone, and +disappeared among the shadows toward the east. + +"And now," said Harris, "Deltchay and Skiminzin may come as soon as +they like. Turner will get here in time, and then--you may judge as to +'Tonio." + +And this was Saturday night or rather Sunday morning, not yet one full +week since Willett was brought in swearing he saw 'Tonio take +deliberate aim at him, although only the horse was shot, and as matters +stood in the gross and scope of garrison understanding, the weight of +presumptive evidence was against the Apache, and there was more to +come. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +As was to be expected, Lieutenant Harris was somewhat worse when time +came for inspection Sunday morning, but Bentley said complete rest +would soon restore him. The other interesting invalid, Lieutenant +Willett, was correspondingly better, and was to sit up awhile later in +the day. Inspection was held under arms and in fighting kit instead of +full dress--the two companies looking like a pair of scanty platoons, +so heavy was the drain for guard duty. From earliest dawn lookouts had +been stationed on top of the adjutant's office at the south, and the +hospital at the north edge of the parade, Bucketts having built for +them a little wooden platform, with bench, shelf and sunshade, and +there, with signal-service glasses, they scoured the barren wilds in +every direction for sign of coming friend or foe. + +It was eleven o'clock when Bentley came forth with Mrs. Stannard from +his morning visit to Willett. "Oh, he's doing as well as an overfed, +under-trained animal has any right to," said he, in response to the +inquiry in her soft blue eyes. "I still think some men have too much +luck in this world of ours. Here's Willett, who doesn't begin to +deserve it, getting everything that is good, and Harris, who deserves +all the good that the army affords, gets all the hard knocks and +setbacks. Here's Willett swearing that 'Tonio's a renegade, hostile, +spy and a traitor, and Harris convinced that he is stanch and +loyal--that Willett must be mistaken in saying he shot at him, and +though everything I know of the Apaches or ever heard, and every bit of +evidence is overwhelmingly in favor of Willett's statement, just from +what I've seen of these two men I'm deciding with Harris." + +"You don't--feel confidence in Mr. Willett's--judgment?" she asked. + +For a moment he hesitated, then turned and squarely faced her. "I don't +feel confidence in Mr. Willett. There, Mrs. Stannard! There are not ten +women in the army to whom I'd trust myself to speak of this--or five +women out of it--but I am not happy over the way things are going." + +"Don't you think he'll--learn to appreciate her?" + +"He shouldn't _have_ to learn! He should see it all at a glance, and +thank God for the unmerited blessing." + +"Perhaps he does," said she, ever gentle, helpful, hopeful. "It is +lovely the way he speaks to her--and I'm quite eager to see them this +afternoon." + +What woman would not be? What man would not have been at his best at +such a time, under such circumstances? The realization that he had won +the fervent love of that fresh, pure, exquisite young heart was enough +to thrill even a nature so utterly selfish as Willett's. It is the +shallowest soul that most readily thrills, and what could be sweeter +than the shy, yet rapturous love in the downcast eyes of Lilian Archer, +when, as he had implored her mother, she was led that afternoon to the +darkened room in which he sat, and, like knight of old, he took and +bent over and kissed her trembling little hand. "I would kneel, too," +he murmured, even as her mother stood beside her, with swimming eyes, +and as he looked up into the blushing face his own eyes were filled +with unfeigned homage, admiration, even love, his deep voice with +emotion that was sweet to woman's ear. "Heaven never made a lovelier +lover than Hal Willett," once said a famous belle and beauty. "That's +why so many of us like to listen." + +But these earnest, honest, inexperienced two--the whole-hearted army +wife who had lived well-nigh quarter of a century in the undivided +sunshine of an honest soldier's love, and this sweet, simple-hearted +army girl who had never dreamed of or thought to know any love to +compare with this--listened, spellbound, to Willett's almost eloquent +avowal, and the last doubt or fear that Mrs. Archer entertained +vanished like the morning mists before the sunshine. + +"I declare," she said to Mrs. Stannard, "I'm almost as much in love as +Lilian," and indeed it seemed so, and might well be so, for never was +queen's courtier so exquisite in deference, homage, tact, as, in that +blissful week of honeymooning, was Hal Willett to the mother of his +dainty love. As for Lilian, the arid, breezeless day was soft with +scented zephyrs; the unpeopled air was athrill with the melody of +countless song birds; the unsightly desert flowered with exquisite +millions of buds and blossoms that craved the caress of her dainty +hand, the pressure of her pretty foot. The sunburned square of the +lonely little garrison, environed with swarthy foemen, cut off from the +world, was alive with heroic knights in glittering armor and ladies in +lace and loveliness, and all were her loyal, devoted subjects, +revelling in her happiness, rejoicing in her smiles, serving her in +homage and on bended knee, their thrice-blessed, beautiful, beloved +queen. God never made a more radiantly happy girl than was our fairy +Lilian that wonderful week. God be thanked it was so utterly blissful, +since it had to be so brief! + +All day long the watchmen clung to their glaring stations, and Sunday +went by without either alarm or excursion. All Sunday--Monday night, +they scanned the dark depths of eastward basin, the lone reaches of the +valley, the tumbling heights to the west. It was nine in the morning of +the second day since the signalling from Squadron Peak when the cry +went up from the roof of the office, "Signal smoke south-east!" and +every glass at Almy was brought to bear within the minute, and half the +garrison lined the lower edge of the mesa, and all men were listening +for further tidings, when from the hospital came the stirring shout: +"Smoke answer, west!" And there, plainly visible, and not five miles +away among the pine-bearded foothills, in little puffs, singly and +distinct, thick wreaths of gray-white smoke were sailing straight +aloft. The waiting Apache of the Mazatzal was signalling the coming +brother from the dark clefts of the Sierra Ancha. One hour later, just +as ten was striking on the spiral of the office clock, two sudden shots +were heard on the flats to the north-west, and the little herd of +horses and mules, not two dozen in all, grazing under cover of the +rifles of Sentries 3 and 4, came limping, lumbering in, fast as hoppled +feet would permit and without sign of a herdsman. Number Three, a +veteran of the war days, let drive with his fifty calibre Springfield, +the gun of the day, and sent up a yell for "The Guard!" + +"Join your companies, men," said the general, in his placid way, +whereat most of them went with a rush. "The north side first, Bonner," +he added, as the captain came hurrying to his chief. "They've sneaked +up on the herd guard, I fancy. Send the picked shots out to the pits." + +Out on the flats to the west of the Verde road, full five hundred yards +away from rock, tree or shelter, other than mere clump of cactus, +pumpkin size, or bunch of dirty weed, there was lying a little heap of +dingy white and brown, with a cow pony kicking at empty air in a +shallow ditch--what was left of the half-breed herd guard and his +mount. With most of the cavalry gone, the quartermaster had supplied +their place with such mounted men as he could make available, and in +broad daylight, within long rifle-shot of the sentry lines, the Apaches +had squirmed out, snake-like, on their bellies, unseen, unsuspected; +had picked off one of two watchers and stampeded the other. The +skirmish line stumbled over the survivor, quaking among the willows in +the stream bed, and kicked him out into the open to help bear home his +murdered brother; then pushed out as far as the first ridge in hopes of +a shot, and were rewarded with nothing better than a glimpse of +vanishing breech-clouts. Falling slowly back, toward noon, Bonner +posted two men in each of a dozen rifle-pits, some fifty yards outside +the sentry lines, as a rule, and wherever view of the approaches could +be had. Two of these were on little knolls to the south of the store, +and here were Craney & Co. in full force, every man armed with a Henry +rifle and a war-model Colt, "Mr. Case-Keeper Book," as Sergeant Clancy +jovially hailed him, quite as formidable as his fellows, and every whit +as cool. Craney held that he and his men had a right to be counted in +among those told off to hold the fort, and Bonner smilingly assented. + +"You two seem to hit it off pretty well together," said he to Case and +Clancy. "I reckon we'll Cossack you over yonder," and he pointed to a +scooped-out little hummock nearest the stream, commanding much of the +southward road and the trail along the willows, now facetiously termed +the "Ghost Walk." It was an unusual assignment, or distribution, but it +seemed to strike the fancy of both. In times of peril and at the +fore-posts men think less of rank and more of repute. Clancy was known +far and wide as a fearless Apache fighter, with a Gaines's +Mill-Gettysburg record behind him. Case had never before been heard of +afield, but his one exploit in the card room stamped him unerringly, +said these frontier experts, as "a man of nerve." Clancy held out his +big red hand. "Are ye with me?" said he. "Yours truly," said Case. +"Then come on, Pitkeeper," said Clancy, "and we'll leave Book and Case +behind." + +The general came jogging down at the moment, bestriding one of +Bucketts's general utility beasts, watching the posting of the post +defenders, and he screwed his eyelids down to a slit as he glared from +under the brim of his then unorthodox slouch hat, and squinted after +the combination of soldier and civilian stalking away to the assigned +station. "What have you there, Bonner?" he asked, as he reined in. + +"'Erin go unum, E pluribus bragh,' sir, as Derby would have it." "The +Celt and the Casekeeper," he added to himself. "Clancy and Case going +gunning together as amicably as if they had never squabbled over a +sutler's bill." + +"Queer lot--that man Case!" said the commanding officer reflectively. +"His face bothers me sometimes, as though I must have seen or known him +before, yet he tells me that he did not come to Vancouver until after I +had left that department. Is he all straight again?" + +"Straight as the new toadsticker, general, and"--with a rueful look at +that slender appendage--"a damned sight more useful. His ghost-herding +spree was no end important. I've an idea Case can handle a gun as well +as"--another _sotto voce_ now--"he can play a worthless hand." + +"Well," said Archer, as he glanced about him, "I don't believe, as a +rule, in putting any but soldiers on post, but," as he considered the +slender rank of infantry standing patiently at ease, barely a dozen all +told, and then smiled at Craney and his belligerent force, only four in +number, but each man a walking arsenal with two weapons and five shots +to the soldiers' one, "there are no non-combatants in Indian warfare. +Every man, woman and child may have to fight." + +Yet Archer felt no measure whatever of apprehension. One hundred good +men and true, at least, were left to guard the post, and many of them +battle-tried veterans. Not since the war days had the Apaches mustered +in sufficient force and daring to attack a garrison. Still, Archer knew +that if they only realized their strength in point of numbers, their +skill in creeping close to their prey, their swiftness of foot, and the +ease with which they could escape, all they needed was dash, +determination and a leader, to enable them to creep upon the post in +the darkness, and in one terrific moment swoop upon the officers' +quarters, massacre every soul, and be off across the stream before the +men in the barracks could rush to the rescue. They had talked it over +at officers' mess--the general and Bonner and Bucketts and all, and +figured out just how fifty white desperadoes could plan and accomplish +the feat. It would be no trick at all to come up the valley in the +screen of the willows, creep to the west bank, divide into six +different squads, one for each set of quarters, crawl to the post of +the drowsy sentry, shoot him full of arrows before he could cry out or +load, then, all together, charge up the slope and into the flimsy +houses, pistols in hand and knives in their teeth, and simply butcher +the occupants as they lay in their beds. Doors, even if closed or +bolted, which rarely happened, could be smashed in an instant--matches +would light their way. It would be all over in much less time than it +takes to tell it, and it might well happen but for two things--the +Apache's dread of the dark and his fear of a possible hand-to-hand +fight. + +Yet if Deltchay and Eskiminzin, with all their warriors were to +reëforce these about them, with five hundred braves to the garrison's +one hundred, even that dread might be overcome. + +And by Monday's sundown it was known that numbers of Apaches had +crossed the valley ten miles away to the south--the telescope had told +that--and not a word or sign had been vouchsafed by Turner, and Tuesday +brought no better news. Then 'Tonio, said many a man, had played them +false. + +Just at four o'clock Archer had arranged the dispositions for the +night. Mrs. Stannard, with Mrs. Archer and Lilian, were to occupy the +ground floor, north-west, room of his quarters--the one least exposed +to flying bullets in case of attack. Mrs. Bennett and the matron were +moved into a little room in the hospital. The soldiers' wives and +children were to assemble in the barracks in case of alarm. The men in +the outlying posts and pits were to be doubled at dusk--Bonner's +company attending to that, while Briggs and his fellows were to sleep +on their arms within the post. It now lacked but a few minutes of +sunset. No further demonstration had occurred. Not an Indian had been +seen within a radius of six miles, when, all on a sudden, there came a +shot--then two, almost together, then a quick crackle and sputter of +small-arms afar down the stream. "By Jove!" cried Bonner, from a perch +by the lookout at the office. "They've opened on Case and Clancy!" + +[Illustration: "They've opened on Case and Clancy." Page 188] + +And that was but the opening, for within a minute, from on every side, +from far out among the rocks to the west, from the sandhills across the +stream, from little heaps of brush and weed and cactus in the flats, +from the distant screen of the willows in the stream bed, little puffs +of white sulphur smoke jutted into the slanting sunshine, and the +pulseless air of declining day was suddenly set to stir and throb by +the crackle of encircling musketry. And then was seen the wisdom of the +veteran's defence. Few of the hostiles, as yet, had other than +old-fashioned muzzle-loading rifles, and few that they owned were +effective over six hundred yards. By stationing his better shots in +rifle pits well forward from the buildings on every side, Archer easily +held the foe at a distance so long as they dare not "rush" his +outposts. Only on the east side were there pits less than three hundred +yards from the mesa, but here there was a dismal flat beyond the creek, +affording a minimum of cover, and hardly a bullet whistled in from any +direction so as to reach the quarters. Once in a while a little puff of +dust flew up from the sandy slope without, but even that was enough to +demand that the women folk should keep under shelter, and at the moment +the firing began Lilian and her mother were seated by Willett's +reclining chair, and then Mrs. Stannard joined them, and, the windows +being shaded, they never saw, among the first to reach the general at +the mesa edge, Harris, the wounded officer, revolver in his unfettered +hand. + +The first volleying over, only in single and scattered shots, as they +reloaded, came the Indian fire. If the hope had been to strike dismay +with a volume of sound such as native ears had not heard, the Apache +was doomed to disappointment. Men who had heard the crash of +Spottsylvania and Cold Harbor laughed at the puny crackle of two +hundred muskets. Then presently the Springfields began deliberate +reply, only an occasional shot, for only very rarely did so much as the +tip of a turban appear, and then the sun had dropped below the Mazatzal +and the valley was in shadow, and old Archer stood with grim, whimsical +smile on his weather-beaten face, as, field-glass to his eyes, he +scanned his outposts at the south where the firing seemed heaviest. It +was a moment or two before he noticed Harris at all. When he did it was +to utter a mild rebuke. "You should not be here, lad. You need rest. +This is only fun." + +Yet not all fun. Strong came presently thumping back from beyond the +store. He had borrowed Craney's Pinto pony and had been visiting the +southward posts, and Pinto had been clipped by a bullet and was half +frantic with the smart and scare combined. Moreover, Strong's fighting +face was red and mad, as he thrashed the lagging pony up the slope. + +"It's Deltchay, sir, easy enough," said he, with sweeping salute, "and +that isn't all"--this with almost challenging glance at Harris, who had +dropped his pistol and was gazing intently through his binocular at an +open, slanting space far out to the south-east, still blazing in the +rays of the setting sun. "The man of all others that oughtn't to be +there stood at that point of rocks not ten minutes ago--the man we sent +for Turner, general--'Tonio himself!" + +Then both men, the gray-mustached commander, the angering adjutant, +turned on the silent little subaltern, who stood there without having +so much as changed his attitude or lowered his glass. + +"You hear that, Harris?" demanded Archer. And with calm respect, yet +almost exasperating drawl, came the unlooked-for answer: + +"I was about to mention it--myself, sir. 'Tonio was certainly +there--and Turner close behind him. Look for yourself, sir!" + +Look, indeed! Riding steadily down into the valley, still a long four +miles away, came the extended line of half a cavalry troop in skirmish +order, with the supports and reserves dotting the slope to their rear. +"Turner, as sure as shooting," said the general--"and 'Tonio as his +guide!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +The attack had ended almost as suddenly as it began. Darkness descended +upon the valley and every vestige of the Apache was gone with the +twilight. Long before time for tattoo the eager watchers in the +down-stream posts could hear muffled hoofbeats and low-toned words of +command along the still cautious skirmish line, and Turner came but +slowly, first because he could see that there was no occasion for +hurry; second, because, with his wounded to protect, there was every +objection to haste. Between that steadily advancing array and these +fire-spitting heaps of sand toward the post the Indians slid soundless +away into the gloom of the foothills, and presently shouts of greeting +and welcome re-echoed among the rocks, and Turner's men rode sturdily +up to the fords. By ten the last litter had been shouldered through the +swift waters and borne to the ready hospital, where Bentley and his +assistants went busily to work. Six of the men and two Hualpai scouts +had been more or less severely wounded, four of them being borne from +Tonto Creek on improvised stretchers made from saplings and blankets. +Shelter tents, or tentage of any kind, our men had no use for, save as +sunshades, in Arizona. + +And with Turner came the first tidings to reach the beleaguered post +since the couriers were brought in, with their belated tales, from up +the Verde. Turner looked a trifle surprised at the warmth of his +greeting. Turner had had little idea of their being so closely +invested. Turner had sent two runners in with reports, and they both +returned safely, saying, "Almy all right, but plenty Tonto everywhere!" +One of them said he gave his despatch to 'Tonio, as he dare go no +farther. One of them brought his back with him, and the third--Hualpai +21, he supposed--had finally reached the post, as only two nights since +an Apache-Mohave boy found his way to the Tonto Creek camp with the +despatch recalling the cavalry. They started at dawn, wounded and all; +had a long range fight with Tontos toward evening, and another next +morning, but forged slowly and steadily ahead with only slight loss, +and came in sight of the flag and the fracas late the second afternoon. +Turner was glad to get back, he said, since it seems he was needed, but +was no sooner back than he was eager to launch out again. Hadn't they +heard? Why, there had been great doings up on the Mogollon. Old Gray +Fox himself had taken the field and was out with all the horsemen from +Whipple and Sandy, and Stannard had joined them, and they were ripping +up the Tonto country in a way that bade fair to wind up the war. How +had he heard? Why, _runners_--Apache-Mohaves--'Tonio's people. +Kwonahelka and some of his ilk had managed to keep going between them, +slipping through or skipping round the Tontos like so many "ghost +goats." It was only here, round about Almy, the hostiles were too many +for them!" + +"D'you mean you didn't _know_ the Apache-Mohaves were just as hostile +as the rest?" asked Archer. + +"Apache-Mohaves!" exclaimed Turner, looking up in amaze from the hot +supper set for him in the mess room. "Why, general, I couldn't have got +along without 'em!" + +"This beats me!" said the chief, looking at the faces about him for +support, and finding it in every one, for Harris had been remanded to +bed. "Up here they have chased our couriers, blocked the runners, and +'Tonio himself shot at Willett and killed his horse!" + +For a moment Turner was too much surprised to speak. Suddenly he called +to the orderly at the doorway to send his sergeant, who was then at the +adjutant's office adjoining. "I beg your pardon, general," he said, +"but this seems incredible in view of our experiences. Why, some of +them joined us and stayed with us day and night." Then as a bearded, +sun-blistered face appeared at the doorway, and a sturdy form in +hunting shirt of deerskin and long Apache leggings stood attention +before them: "Sergeant, send 'Tonio here, and you come with him. You +and he seem to understand each other." + +"'Tonio didn't come in, sir, nor the few that were with him. They hung +back and quit at the Point." + +"Quit! Do you know what's the trouble?" + +"No, sir." But the soldier was obviously embarrassed. "I gather, +though, from what I could understand, that 'Tonio thinks he's +mistrusted. He says he will not come in till Big Chief comes himself. +He means General Crook, sir." + +There was silence a moment. It was for the post commander to speak if +anybody, and Archer sat studying the veteran trooper before him. +Officers of experience knew the value of expert opinion to be had for +the asking among sergeants with war records behind them, and Turner's +right bower, into whose sanctum at barracks only his intimates +ventured, save with cap in hand and "sir" on their lips, was a man of +mark in the regiment. + +"Sergeant Malloy," said Archer, "did 'Tonio tell you why he was +mistrusted?" + +"I think he was trying to, sir, but I am new at his language and none +too good at signs." + +Again did it seem as though Malloy had understood more readily than he +cared to admit, or would presume to say. It was very late. The day had +been long and trying. With all its matter-of-fact, nonchalant ease of +manner during the few hours under fire, the personnel of Camp Almy, +officer and man, had been subjected to something of a strain night and +day for nearly a week, and now was ready to turn in and sleep, but +Archer and those with him were convinced that in Sergeant Malloy there +lived a witness who, better even than Lieutenant Harris, could throw +light on 'Tonio's singular and inexplicable behavior. There was not one +of their number who did not believe, and in the absence of Harris would +hesitate to say, that Willett had seen 'Tonio taking deliberate aim +when the shot was fired that downed both his horse and himself. This +was enough to warrant their doubt of 'Tonio's loyalty. All that was +lacking was something to establish a motive--an explanation--for a +murderous and treasonable deed. An unwilling witness was Sergeant +Malloy, therefore the more persistent should be the examination, and +after a moment's reflection Archer spoke again: + +"Sergeant, you have formed an impression, I think, and I should be glad +to have the benefit of it. Did--he mean that--Lieutenant Harris +distrusted him?" + +"No, sir." On this point the sergeant was confident. + +"Did he mention any one--in particular?" + +"I gathered that he thought that all the officers of the post, from the +general down, with perhaps two exceptions, distrusted him." + +"And these two--were?" + +"Captain Stannard, sir, and Captain Turner." + +"I see," said Archer gravely. "Now, had anything happened--had anything +been said or done to account for his--sensitiveness, we will call it?" + +Malloy hesitated. "The general understands, I hope, that I am answering +only as to impressions. I might be mistaken as to his meaning, and he +might have been mistaken as to the meaning of the officer in the case." + +"Then there has been a case? When and where?" + +There was impressive silence in the dimly lighted mess room as the +impromptu council sat about the table, Turner, with the relics of his +hearty supper, at the other end of it. Every man present seemed to feel +that here at last the clew to 'Tonio's double dealing was to be found. +The answer came readily enough: + +"At Bennett's Ranch, sir, the night it was burnt." + +"Why--what happened there?" And Archer was evidently surprised. + +"'Tonio said he was insulted before his own people--called a +liar--struck with a gauntlet." + +"Struck? 'Tonio? A chief, and a son of a chief--of a line of chiefs, in +fact! Why, what man could have been--mad enough to do that?" + +There was just a suspicion of satire, of humor, of possible malice in +the answer, yet every one familiar with the traditions and the +vocabulary--the nomenclature--of the old army of the old days, knew +well the sergeant was well within his rights. Respect and regret +intermingled were in tone and word as in his answer, all unwittingly, +Malloy furnished the missing motive for 'Tonio's crime: + +"It wasn't one of the men, sir. It was Lieutenant--Lieutenant Willett." + +Then for a moment there was another silence. Bonner, Briggs and Strong +exchanged quick glances. Archer's fine, clear-cut face took on a deeper +shade, then he turned his chair to squarely face the sergeant. + +"Did he explain--how it came about?" + +"'Tonio said that he wished to go, and ought to go, with Lieutenant +Harris--the lieutenant was his chief. Lieutenant Willett forbade, as I +understand, and ordered him to stay, and he had to get Lieutenant +Harris himself to explain the order before 'Tonio would obey. Then +'Tonio says the lieutenant ordered him to do something, I could not +tell what. 'Tonio answered by telling Lieutenant Willett not to step on +some moccasin tracks, and the lieutenant surely couldn't have +understood him, for he grew very angry and--but, indeed, general, it's +more than I know that I've been telling----" + +But Archer had one more question to ask, and asked it, and when it was +answered the council broke up with no man dissenting from the general +belief in 'Tonio's attempted, yet baffled, revenge. + +"Did 'Tonio tell you of what happened later--of his attempt to shoot at +Lieutenant Willett?" + +"Not a word or sign of that, sir!" + +And yet it was 'Tonio's people who kept the faith as to bearing +messages and giving safe conduct to Archer's people in the field. It +was all past Archer's comprehension and that of the officers present. +There was no Gray Fox there who knew Indians as they knew themselves. +There was no genial, straightforward "Big Chief Jake," the fearless +soldier leader from the lower reservation, from Camp Apache and the San +Carlos, the man on whom the Gray Fox leaned, the man whom the hostiles +dreaded, the "friendlies" trusted, and all frontiersmen, soldier or +civilian, swore by. They could have fathomed it. Even blunt old +Stannard, had he been there, could have thrown some needed light on the +vexed and gloomy question. But in all Camp Almy that night there was +only one officer who, knowing few of these facts, nevertheless knew +'Tonio so well, and so repented him of his own brief suspicion, that he +would have called a halt to the order given Captain Turner within the +hour--to send Sergeant Malloy, with a dozen men, as soon as the coast +was clear of the hostile Apaches, to run down 'Tonio wherever he might +be, to secure and bring him in, a prisoner bound, and if he sought to +escape, to shoot him dead. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + +An atmosphere of peace ineffable surrounded old Camp Almy. The Indians +lately infesting the neighborhood seemed to have gone away into the +mountain fastnesses. Turner had pushed little scouting parties +cautiously into the foothills to the west and the rugged country +eastward across the stream. Others had ventured down to the Peak and +scaled it in search of signal smokes or fires. Others still had +explored the valley toward Dead Man's Cañon, and back by way of +Bennett's, without finding so much as a moccasin print. Even the +Apache-Mohaves seemed to have gone from the neighborhood. Malloy with +his chosen ten was still out, and a rumor was prevalent that their +orders might keep them away some days, so no apprehension was felt at +their continued absence. + +Another week was nearing an end. A runner, Hualpai, had come in from +the far north-east, with despatches from Stannard. He was with General +Crook and their comrades from the northward camps and stations. They +had abundant supplies, had scattered and driven the Tontos, had made +some prisoners of squaws and pappooses, who, even to the general, +declared they knew not where the Bennett children had been hidden. The +general was expecting to work southward along the Black Mesa to meet +the column out from the Upper San Carlos under Major Randall ("Big +Chief Jake," the aforementioned) and between them they meant to leave +no stone unturned in the effort to find the boys. Stannard enclosed a +letter for his bonny wife, and closed with a word by way of postscript +over which Archer and the three B's found themselves pondering not a +little. + +"Wish we had Harris and 'Tonio with us. Hope they are doing well. The +general is anxious to meet and know them both." + +Harris was not well. His convalescence had been interrupted and +impaired, as we have seen, and no man thrives bodily when heart and +soul are sore within him; and, heart and soul, Harris was sore. He was +sitting up, to be sure, but it was plain to be seen he was suffering. +Mrs. Stannard, wise woman that she was, believed she knew something of +the cause and held her peace. Dr. Bentley, believing also that he knew +something of the cause, was not so thoroughly wise. Between Mrs. +Bennett, his patients at the hospital, mostly convalescent, and this +young knight, the doctor was having a busy time of it. Mrs. Bennett +improved not at all, but had at least become less violent in her +anguish. At times she seemed almost in a stupor, and Mrs. Stannard was +beginning to wonder whether the matron, worn out with her lamentations, +had been administering surreptitious opiates. Mrs. Archer's visits had +become less frequent, because for long hours she had had to go and sit +with Lilian and her crippled hero. But now that hero was up and out on +the veranda, basking in the sunshine of love unutterable, though +enjoined as yet to avoid the fervor of that of Arizona. Willett had +never appeared to better advantage in his life than now, in modestly +accepting congratulations, manfully asserting his unworthiness of the +blessing that had come to him, and his determination, please God, to +live a life of devotion to his new-found delight, this sweet floweret +of the desert that so suddenly, so wonderfully, so dominantly had come +to gladden, to bless, to inspire his career. Love is a marvellous +beautifier, mental, moral and physical. In such pure and exquisite +companionship, in the radiance of her presence, in the ecstasy of her +sweet, shy, still half-timid caress, in the undoubted honesty of his +resolution to be all her fondest wishes would have him, and in no +easily shaken conviction that, even as he stood, he was a remarkably +fine fellow, well calculated to make any girl happy, it was not +difficult for Willett to rise superior to his past--to forget it, in +fact, and to fancy himself for all times the high-minded, love-guided +gentleman he stood to-day. Why should he not to the full rejoice in her +delicious homage?--indulge her sweet rhapsodies?--encourage her fond +day dreams? It was so easy now to be all deference and tenderness to +the gentle mother he was soon to rob of her one darling, to be all +respect and attention to the gallant old soldier father, to be +everything that was exquisitely tender, fond, impassioned to this +innocent and lovely girl, who trembled with delight at his kiss and +clung in speechless rapture to his side. Life for him, even here at +desolate Almy, had suddenly become a veritable heaven. Small wonder +then that he quite forgot the purpose of his coming, the sordid events +that preceded that most fortunate catastrophe, the fire,--forgot or +thrust aside all consideration of the episode at the store, the +encounter at Harris's bedside, the events of the evening when he was +hurled headlong among the rocks, the victim of 'Tonio's vengeful aim. +He had even ceased to remember that he had ever been capable of +considering "Hefty" Harris a rival, that he had ever been capable of +undermining or intriguing or inspiring an official report that +reflected sorely on Harris as an officer and leader. In his present +mood, in fine, forgetful of all his past, his heart was overflowing +with the milk of human kindness, even to Harris, and, having +successfully tricked him out of everything worth having at the post, +was quite ready to forgive him and once more be the friend, comrade and +classmate of his own imaginings. + +Harris alone had not come to congratulate him, but then, as Willett +well knew, Harris could not. Mrs. Stannard and Dr. Bentley both +reported him still too weak to walk about. He had had much fever and +pain and loss of sleep, said they. But now, when in the soft light of +this Friday evening, Willett essayed a stroll up the line, with Lilian +almost dancing by his side, and with fond eyes following the graceful +pair, he took it quite amiss that Harris did not come forth to envy, +and to add his felicitations. Come to think of it, that very truthful +woman, Mrs. Stannard (who never told even a society lie unless there +was no way out of it), had brought no word from Harris, nor had Bentley +mentioned such a thing, and this fact impressed itself upon the happy +man as twice, thrice they slowly promenaded past the open door of the +doctor's quarters without a glimpse of Harris, and, finally, on the +fourth, the return trip, Willett in his exuberant bliss, would not be +denied. + +"Harris! O--o--o--Hefty!" he shouted. "Come out and see a fellow!" + +For a moment, silence. Then, not so resonant but still clearly audible, +for both men had voices that "carried" and were used to command: + +"Come in, if you will. Can't come out!" + +"I can't without leaving my convoy," was the return shout, but as +Willett glanced down into the lovely face so near his shoulder, he +found it paling just a bit, and troubled, not rejoiceful. "What is it, +sweet? Don't you--care to see him?" + +"I think--I don't know--but--_he_ might not." + +It was too late. She would have led her lover away, for, young as she +was, Lilian Archer had a woman's intuition, if not many a woman's wit. +All on a sudden, unheard because of moccasined feet and the doctor's +Indian matting, Harris stood in the doorway. He did not seem to look at +Willett. His eyes at once sought her, and seemed closing to a slit as +they encountered even the tempered light of declining day--the curious +habit common to so many who have long scouted in the glare of desert +suns. He hesitated not a moment. At sight of her he came quietly to the +edge of the veranda and down the shallow steps, his face pale, as was +to be expected, a grave smile upon his lips and even playing about the +corners of those keen, blue-gray, unflinching eyes. He waited for no +announcement or salutation from his brother officer--Mrs. Stannard and +the doctor had told him the news two days before, and there had been +ample time in which to digest it. Down in the depths of his heart he +believed that Willett had planned this "_coup_" for his especial +mortification, and down to the tip of his toes he longed to kick him +for it, whereas in Willett's exuberant self-gratulation, the one +thought at the moment was really a "Rejoice with me." That other men +should envy was, of course, to be expected. What worth were any triumph +without the joy of being envied! + +All his life he had been used to it. All his life, in childish sports, +in boyish contest, on campus, rostrum, field or floor, among the lads +at school, his fellows at the Point, his comrades in the service, +wherever physical beauty, grace, skill and strength could prevail he +had ever been easily winner, and when it came to women, what maid or +matron had withstood his charm of manner? What man had ever yet +prevailed against it? That others should long and strive for that which +had come to him, unsought, unwooed, was something he could neither +obviate nor deny. That was Nature's gift to him at birth. It was even +magnanimous that, knowing this power, he should so often spare. Maids +indeed might sigh at his indifference, but their solace lay in the +eager offerings of other and less gifted men. Suffice it for him that +at his beck the best of them would quit the shelter of other arms and +come fluttering to his own. But now, of course, all this power of +fascination must be sternly tempered, even suppressed. Henceforth he +must be guarded. The winning of this pure young heart, the possession +of this sweet and winsome nature, the lavish homage of this fresh and +fervent love should steel his hitherto vagrant fancy against all +would-be-willing victims. The time had come when other women must be +bidden, if need be, to droop and die. Henceforth he had naught to offer +them but the contemplation of his content and her unquestioned +queendom. + +And so he could forgive it in Harris that he should come forth with no +welcoming look for him, the conqueror, and only a yearning gaze for +her. He could have felt quick resentment had Harris manifested nothing +but rejoicing, even in expressing it. He had hated Harris when, deposed +from his high rank as first captain of the Corps of Cadets, he had seen +that far less showy soldier, his classmate, step easily into command +and hold it with better discipline and ever-increasing respect from the +entire battalion. The day of their departure from the Point had been to +Willett an unforgotten, unforgiven lesson. It was the custom of the +times--an unwritten, if unmilitary law--that on graduation day the +class should appear at the mess hall at the dinner hour, and either +singly or in little groups of two or three leave the building while the +corps still sat at meat. It was even permitted that some should utter a +word or two of farewell. Man after man Willett's fellows had taken +their departure, and been accorded by the gray battalion a godspeed +more or less thunderous as the individual was honored, popular, or +merely a negative quantity. Willett had planned to be the last to +leave, expectant of ovation that should out-thunder all others, but the +officer in charge apparently would not see that regulations were being +ignored, that cadets were on their feet about the head of certain +tables, actually clinging to would-be going fellows, in unbecoming and +unaccustomed "cits," while he was forcibly restrained by none. So, +finally, waving his natty straw to table after table, he passed on to +the broad-arched entrance, the clamor of voice and the battering of the +old time iron stool beginning in kindly and cordial fashion--they would +not send a dog away, those big-hearted fellows, without some show of +friendliness--yet in all that array he numbered not one real friend, +for self-seeking had ever been his creed and there was no man of their +sturdy brotherhood that did not know it. Beneath the arch he turned and +gazed once more over the familiar scene, his eyes dry and glittering, +his throat dry and husky. Yearlings and some upper classmen were making +lively play with stamp and stool, but the din was more perfunctory than +powerful--nowhere near what had happened the moment before when two +well-beloved fellows, with bowed heads and moistened eyes, had fairly +rushed from the hall lest men should see that at last there had come +realization that this was the parting of the ways, that the daily habit +of four long years was shed forever, that to most of their number the +greeting of the gray battalion would be given never again. But he had +his wits about him, even then. He saw that now at last, with but four +minutes left before the companies must rise and quit the hall, Harris +was coming--the new-made first captain, adjutant and quartermaster +escorting--the commandants of table all over the hall springing to +their feet, and the wild rumble of hollow iron beginning the crescendo +of swift-coming, stupendous thunder, and Willett stood and swung his +hat, and classmates half-way down the slope turned back to see, and +understood without seeing, that there was something back of it besides +Willett. And then a tornado burst forth, as Harris, pale to the lips, +halted at the door. His escort sprang aside, and to a man the battalion +leaped to its feet and let go with voice and foot and hand, and the din +was deafening. One moment he stood there, trembling with emotion, +incapable of response, then whirled and darted down the steps, leaving +Willett to acknowledge the tremendous ovation that speedily died +away--almost to silence--ere he, too, turned and followed. "Good-by, +fellows! God bless you!" shouted Willett, as though in final triumph. +He had had the last word; had "taken the call," and the dramatic +success of the day was his, or might have been, but for a most +unprecedented incident. + +"Hush! hush! Shut up!" were the stern, sudden words with which the +elders repressed the juniors who, impulsively, would have broken forth +again. "Wait! Wait, you fellows!" was the cry, for on a sudden half a +dozen stalwart gray coats had sprung from the door, regardless of the +corporal on duty, disdainful of demerit, had hurled themselves on +wet-eyed Harris, had heaved him up on their shoulders, with pinioned, +arm-locked, helpless legs, and frantic, impotently battling fists, and +borne him struggling up the steps and once more within the massive +portals, and then pandemonium broke loose, for this was no divided +honor--there was none to share it now. They bore him, vainly +protesting, into the midst of the now risen battalion. They bore him +forth into the June sunshine without. They surged about him under the +trees and along the roadway, his halted classmates gazing back from the +brow of the bluff, a swarm of spectators looking on, a stupefied group +surging out from the officers' mess, conceiving that fire alone could +account for the tumult. Then, over the uproar, could be heard the +orders of the new captain. "Form your companies!" the shouts of the +sergeants: "Fall in, men, fall in!" And then the demand: "March us +back, Hefty! Take command once more!" "Start 'em back, Harris, for +God's sake! I can never straighten 'em out," cried his half-laughing, +half-sobbing successor, his first sergeant of the year gone by. He +stood there prisoner, held by the staff and special duty men. He could +not get away. Even the saturnine officer in charge stood a smiling +observer, and, catching the young graduate's eye, waved approval and +encouragement, and so there was no help for it. With a voice +half-broken through emotion, he gave the old familiar commands that, +three times a day for nearly ten long months previous, had sent them +striding back through the gap between the old "Academic" and the gray +gables of the Mess, and so on to the broad area of barracks beyond. +Then, breaking away, he sprang over the eastward edge of the road, +joined the waiting group of classmates at the crest of the hill, and +with one long look at the disappearing gray and white column, turned +his face to the winding road and the landing below, where the whistling +ferryboat lay impatient of their coming--whither Willett had already +gone. + +Was Willett thinking of that bygone scene this breathless evening in +the heart of the desert valley, and the shadow of the westward +mountain, as his once successful soldier rival came silently forward to +grace his triumph in the field of love? Harris at least was not. His +bearing was quite undramatic, simple, dignified. His greeting was +almost too simple. "I can't give you my right hand, Miss Archer," said +he, smiling gravely, "and I won't give a left-handed felicitation. It's +my first opportunity," he continued, as he stood quietly before her, +looking straight into her blushing face, "and I'm sorry it has to be in +such shabby fashion." Then just as quietly and squarely he spoke to +Willett, the gray-blue eyes looking keenly into the brown. "You are +mightily to be congratulated, Willett," said he, "and we'll shake hands +on it as soon as I have a hand to shake with." + +"I knew you would, old fellow!" said Willett, putting forth the +unoccupied hand and laying it upon the other's shoulder, a +well-remembered way of his when he wished to be effusive. "I'm coming +round presently to have a talk--but couldn't help coaxing you out now." + +"How--_is_ your shoulder, Mr. Harris?" began our Lilian, all observant +of physical ills. On these, at least, she could pour the balm of her +sympathy. + +"Doing finely, thank you; and, pardon me, but the general is +signalling. You're both wanted, I judge," and then, like the Union +force at Second Bull Run, fell back in the best of order, in spite of +the worst of blows. + +"I'll be with you again before a great while, Hefty, old boy," again +called Willett over his shoulder, as though insistent on an invitation; +but an assenting nod was all that came. The general had signalled to +his children because of the concern in Bentley's face at sight of +Harris confronting all that happiness, but Bentley need not have feared +for him. He would not have feared could he have seen the little thing +that happened. She had put forth a slender hand, half timidly, as +Harris stepped backward. She was thinking even in the overmastering +presence of this hero whom she worshipped, and to whose side she clung, +of that moonlit evening on the veranda, of the hiss and skirr of the +deadly rattler, of the peril that had menaced and the quick wit and +nerve of him who had saved her, this very plain, sun-bleached, seasoned +young knight, who seemed quite ready to risk life or limb in her +defence, and who, said Willett, had lost most of his heart. It was +foolish in him, with her Harold there; still it was something to be +rewarded, somehow, and, womanlike, she tendered the contemplation of +her inaccessibility in his rival's bliss. "You'll come to see us soon, +Mr. Harris? I've so much to thank you for." + +"Just as soon as the doctor will let me, Miss Archer," was his entirely +proper answer, and quite as properly our Lilian breathed a little sigh +of relief, as, nestling closer still, she sped lightly homeward, +clinging to her lover's side. It was so sweet to think of him as all +her own. + +It is the mistake other and older girls so often make. Even as she +prattled in her bliss, looking radiantly into the fond, soft brown eyes +that melted into hers, the summons of a rival claimant came swiftly +down the vale, and the sentry at the northward post and the loungers at +the lookouts were already screwing their eyelids into focus on the +little dust cloud popping up along the stream fringe of willow. Two +couriers came presently jogging into view, and before the general sat +in the famous butler's pantry chair at the family table, he had told +the contents of two despatches from the Gray Fox in the field, and +decided for the moment to say nothing of the third. With the first and +second, reporting progress and enclosing despatches to be forwarded to +Prescott, we have nothing to do. With the last we may feel less concern +than did they. Mrs. Archer, scanning the clear-cut face of her soldier +lord, as he came within range of the hallway lamp, knew perfectly well +he had something to conceal, and with never an instant's doubt or +hesitation set herself to aid him. Without her tact and skill that +little dinner of four, the last they were to know in many a day, would +have been a sorrowful feast, for Archer was sore troubled in spirit. +Not until an hour later could she get him to herself, leaving Lilian +and her handsome Harold to bill and coo unsupervised, and then she only +smiled bravely up into his face and said, "Now tell me, dear." + +"It's that--that fool despatch I wrote about Harris coming like a +curse, and chickens, home to roost." His hands were tremulous, his lips +were twitching as he took from its envelope and unfolded a letter in +the well-known hand of the field commander's favorite aide-de-camp. +"Read it aloud," he said; "perhaps it won't sound quite so--reproachful +from you." And obediently she read: + + PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL. + + CAMP NEAR HEAD OF CHEVLON'S CREEK, + + December 2, 187--. + + DEAR GENERAL ARCHER: + + Referring to the final paragraph of your despatch to Department + Head-quarters, dated November --th, General Crook directs me to say + that he was unaware of the instructions given Lieutenant Willett, + aide-de-camp, to proceed to Camp Almy, and practically authorizing + him to make certain investigations. It was far from his desire that + anything should be done to even inferentially reflect upon the + conduct of scouting parties from the post under your control. From + reliable sources General Crook has full information as to the cause + of the apparent ill success of Lieutenant Harris. Neither was he, + nor were his scouts, to blame. It is the general's intention to see + you before returning to Prescott and give you the facts in his + possession; but meantime Lieutenant Harris has his entire + confidence, and so have the few Apache-Mohave scouts, especially + 'Tonio, all of whom, it is feared, have in some way incurred your + disfavor. + + Captain Stannard is away at this moment, but will assure you as to + the value and gallantry of Harris's effort in behalf of poor Mrs. + Bennett, and also that 'Tonio is almost equally entitled to credit. + It was far from General Crook's intention that Lieutenant Harris + should be impeded or hampered in the least. Lieutenant Willett has + rendered distinguished service in the Columbia country, but is a + stranger to the situation and the Indians we have to deal with, and + should not be permitted in any way to interfere with Lieutenant + Harris. + + Orders were sent Willett some ten days ago to join us in the field, + but the couriers, returned to-day, report that he was not at + Prescott. If he should be still in your neighborhood, kindly inform + him of the general's desire, and give him sufficient escort. We + move toward Camp Apache to-morrow, and Stannard is already ahead in + hopes of rescuing the Bennett boys. + + With the general's warmest regards, + + Yours as ever, + + BRIGHT. + +"It's a very kind letter, dear," said she, kissing his wrinkled cheek. +"General Crook wouldn't wound you for the world." + +"It isn't--that, Bella," he answered sadly. "I've wounded myself, and +now I've got to send--him--with word of my orders as to 'Tonio." + +"Send him--word?" she faltered. "Do you mean----" + +"Certainly, dear. Who should go--but Willett?" + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +It was then lacking nearly an hour of tattoo. Already the arriving +couriers, their mission executed, their wearied horses turned over to +willing hands at stables, their hunger appeased at the troop kitchen, +and the pent-up hankering for beer still unassuaged, were "filling up" +at the expense of their fellows at the store, and wistfully looking on +at the game. + +Muñoz, the ever-ready; Dago, the still demoralized, and one or two of +their burro-bred community, were settled at monte, Dago and Muñoz eying +each other like gladiators, and already a table had started at stud +poker, that might readily develop into "draw." The barkeeper was a busy +man, and had been given the tip to keep sober or lose the last hold he +had on his job. The bookkeeper had for a few days past moved in silence +about the premises, avoiding the common room as he would a lazaretto, +avoiding even his kind. For most of the week he had been utterly unlike +himself--strange, nervous, restless, starting at sudden sounds, abrupt +in speech and manner, occasionally springing to the door and stepping +forth into the sunlight, wandering about with hanging head and hands in +pocket, coming back and slamming into his seat as though at odds with +all creation, striving desperately to concentrate his thoughts on the +columns of figures, and failing wretchedly. "Case is all broke up," +said Craney, "and damned if I know why. Last week he was the most +popular man in Yavapai, or all Arizona for that matter." What Craney +and his partner mortally feared was that Case would take to drinking +again, with pay-day close at hand--the time of all others Case had +never yet failed them, the time of all others when breach of faith +could mean nothing short of breach of all business relations. But up to +nine P.M. this night of prospective relaxation Case had been a stalwart. +The test was yet to come. + +It was still half an hour of tattoo when old Bucketts came into +Bentley's quarters and found that skilled practitioner replacing the +bandages and sling on his patient's shoulder. The tidings brought by +the couriers and given out by Archer had long since been digested. +Bucketts had something new. "Doc," said he, "if you have anything to +say or send to Stannard, now's your chance." + +"Don't call me 'Doc'!" snapped Bentley. "If there's anything I hate +it's this curtailing of titles as though they were too good for the man +that bears them. One of these days you'll get your double bars, if you +don't die of over-eating, and then how will you like it to be called +'cap'? How'd you like me to call you 'Buck' now? Who's going to +Stannard?" + +"Pass the 'buck,'" said the quartermaster sententiously. "I apologize. +But Willett starts at day-break--takes a sergeant, six men and a pack +outfit--thought you'd like to know. Leaves us with mighty few cavalry, +now that Malloy and his people are still out." + +"What keeps them?" asked Harris, looking up from Bentley's busy hands. +"I never heard what they were after." + +"You never will," said Bucketts, "unless they stumble on it by +accident," then colored under the look of surprise, almost of reproof, +in the younger officer's face. It was not good that a post commander's +instructions to his men at arms should be slightingly spoken of by one +of his staff, and Bentley knew it; but Bucketts was already mentally +kicking against those very instructions. Now he stood abashed and +awkward. That Willett should be going seemed to Harris of small +matter--a matter of course. He wished himself again in Willett's place. + +"How soon can you let _me_ be going?" he asked Bentley. + +"We could have had you out by this time if you'd only quit fretting," +was the gruff reply. "Well, I suppose Willett's glad of a chance to +join his chief?" he said interrogatively, though never looking up. + +"Not unless looks belie him," was the answer. + +Bentley bent lower over his work. "No--physical hindrance that I know +of," said he suggestively. + +"It's financial, I take it," said Bucketts sturdily. "Our investigator +finds it--expensive--here at Almy." + +So the sore was rankling still, and that luckless order had hurt no one +so much as him who bore it, and so those who might have been his +friends were taking a certain malicious comfort in his discomfiture. It +was not Willett's fault that he had come thus handicapped, but one +thing added to another had made him the disliked of men. Was it in +compensation for this that he stood so beloved of women? Then Bucketts, +having thus relieved himself, ventured again a glance at Harris, and +the younger soldier's eyes were on his, searching, questioning. It was +for Bucketts to explain, and he did it thus: + +"Excuse me, Mr. Harris; I am not over-partial to this distinguished +classmate of yours, and, to put it flatly, I'm no more his friend that +he is yours. I'll say good-night." Whereupon this blunt official turned +and quit the room, colliding at the door with an entering form, that of +Strong, whose impact added to the quartermaster's distemper, for Strong +was in a hurry, and half-savage mood. + +"Doctor," said he, bolting in, with scant apology to his staggered +fellow staff officer, "Craney wants to know if you're coming down +to-night. He's worried a bit about Case." + +"What's the matter with Case?" asked Bentley, barely looking up from +the final tie of the sling, while Harris settled back in his chair. + +"That's what he wants to ask _you_. I don't know, except he says Case +hasn't slept for six nights, and he'll be wild as a hawk when the +paymaster gets here; wants you to give him something to make him sleep, +I believe. I told him I'd tell you, and now the general's shooting off +his quill at the office. Hope you're better, Harris. Good-night." + +"Reckon I'll have to go down awhile, anyhow. Harris, what Bucketts said +was true, though he oughtn't to have said it. Willett has been playing +late these last two nights, with Watts, principally, but Craney says he +seemed oddly anxious to get Case into the game, and Case wouldn't +play--wouldn't stay about the place while Willett was there--wouldn't +have anything to do with him. Willett has lost quite a lot, I'm told, +and now he's ordered off." + +Harris was still silent. He had no love for Willett, at best. He had +had in their cadet days more reasons than one for his dislike. He had +far more reason now, yet never dreamed of still another--that report to +department head-quarters. But Willett was his classmate, and, +outwardly, they were friends. Bentley and, in fact, all the officers at +Almy were new-found acquaintances, well as some few were known to him +by reputation. Still, it came to him something of a shock that Hal +Willett should no sooner seem well enough to be about than he should +turn directly from her good-night words--her kiss, perhaps--to the +gambling table and its probable accompaniments. It boded ill for the +happiness of that sweet girl's future, and as Harris sat brooding, +Bentley, unheard, unnoted, slipped away, and presently, with brisk step +and buoyant mien, Hal Willett himself came bounding in. Barely ten +minutes ago Bucketts had given the impression that he seemed dejected, +dispirited, yet Willett now was confidence and energy personified. + +"Hefty, old boy, how much cash have you got in hand? I want three +hundred dollars." + +There was no answer for a moment. Well as Harris thought he knew +Willett, this was a surprise. + +"What for?" were the exact words of the response, and neither in tone +nor manner were there encouragement. + +"I've got to pull out at dawn, I suppose you've heard, and I shouldn't +like to leave I.O.U.'s--here!" And now the cheery confidence seemed +evaporating. Willett's face was shading. + +"Won't you sit down?" asked Harris reflectively. "I'd like to know +something about--this." + +"There isn't time, Harris. I'm in a hole, so to speak. I hate to bother +you, but I'd rather come to a classmate and old friend, who is in +position, as I know, to help out, than give these fellows a chance to +talk. Probably they've been talking already, and you've heard," and +now, with something like a resumption of the old familiar manner of +their boy days at the Point, Willett settled on the broad, flat arm of +the reclining chair and threw his own arm, long and muscular, over the +back. There had come to be a saying in the gray battalion, when Willett +was seen strolling with a comrade, his arm caressingly encircling him, +"Well, Willett's doing the bunco act again." Possibly it was the +instinctive shrinking of the wounded shoulder; certain it was that +Harris drew perceptibly away, and Willett noticed it. "I didn't hurt +you, did I?" said he. + +"It's rather touchy yet," was the answer. + +"Well, say, Hefty, here's the situation. You don't play, so you won't +appreciate, maybe, and I only play once in a good while, but they rung +in a brace game on me. That fellow Case is no better'n a professional, +and you saw for yourself here what a cad he could be. He got my money +that Saturday night and Sunday, and since then, like the cad he is, has +refused to play it out--give me a chance to get it back----" + +"Do you play with cads?" interrupted Harris. + +"Not when I know it--to start with," answered Willett, flushing and +beginning to draw away. Obviously the affectionate and confidential +method was a failure. "But when a man's got your money, cad or no cad, +you want it back." + +"And Case has your three hundred dollars?" + +"Just about. Then I owe Craney and Watts quite a lot. I lost a hundred +in cash in the first place. I never saw such luck in all my life! And +now, instead of going back to Prescott, I've got to skip for the +war-path. Watts says the money he gave me in chips he owes to others +who were in the game at one time or other, and he needs currency, not +I.O.U.'s. Looks like a regular _com_bine, doesn't it?" + +"You couldn't expect to win--everything there was in sight," said +Harris quietly. + +Willett flushed again. He had slipped from the broad arm to the narrow +camp chair recently occupied by the doctor. Harris was displaying +unexpected resistance. Willett had been accustomed to speedier +surrender to his advances. + +"It's more on that account than any other I hate to leave here with +these things hanging over me," he answered moodily. Then, by way of +expediting matters, "Time's mighty short--short as _I_ am--and +Watts says you have a stack of greenbacks in the safe." + +Again silence a moment. Then Harris turned fully upon his visitor and +spoke deliberately. + +"You ask me to do what I declared three years ago I never would do, and +that I have refused to do ever since--loan a man money with which to +gamble or pay gambling debts. I need this money, Willett, to send home. +I've been saving and sending home ever since I joined, but that's not +why I won't play--and don't drink." + +"Oh, we know how virtuous you are!" began Willett, with something like +a sneer, but was checked with sudden, startling force. Harris almost +sprang from his chair. + +"None of that, Willett!" he cried, his voice harsh with anger. "Your +ways and mine are wide apart, but I'll stand no sneering. You come to +me for help and you're going to get it, not because you scoff at my +views, but in spite of it; not for your sake, but that of the old +Academy. You and I are the only West Pointers at this post, bar the +dear old general. You and I are classmates, and I know you, and +_don't_ believe in you, but the money's yours for the asking. You +say you come to me as an old friend, and I have never had faith in your +friendship. I know how other men's and some women's names have suffered +at your hands, and I don't know what you may have done to mine, +but----" and now Harris was on his feet, standing over Willett--sitting +there gripping the frail arms of a canvas-covered straddle-box, and +looking up into the elder soldier's--the junior officer's--face in +amaze. Never before had Willett been so braved by man or woman--"But +your name shall be protected for just two reasons--and protected just +so long as you can show you're worth it. But--Willett, I'm not +preaching on drink or gambling now. There's another thing you've got to +stop--or I'm done with you." And then Harris himself stopped short. + +"I don't know what you mean," began Willett, shifting uneasily. + +"You _do_ know what I mean! You've only to go back to your graduating +June, when you were spooning day and night over a society flirt there +at the hotel--a married woman at that--and your mantel-shelf was +stacked high with unopened, unanswered letters from the poor girl you +were engaged to. You were, Willett, in sight of God and man, so don't +deny it! And she was telegraphing to me in pity to say was Harold +sick--or what. She broke with you, of course, after you broke her +heart. And you've been at that sort of thing ever since, unless the +Division of the Pacific is a nest of liars--oh, bosh! I don't count +Case, though it's like enough he told the truth. But now, Willett, +you're _here_! and--what have we to expect at Almy?" + +"Damn my past all you like, Harris. No man's more ashamed of it than I, +but don't damn my future!" And now Willett was on _his_ feet, his eyes +snapping, his face aflame. "I was never so earnest in my life. [Small +comfort that! thought Harris.] I never knew before what it was to be +utterly in earnest. Stop it! Why, man, where have I--or you--ever known +a girl like _her_? Stop it! Oh, here, Hefty, I can't talk as I feel. +You _must_ see how different this is--how much this means to me! The +man doesn't deserve to live that--that could be untrue to a girl like +that?" + +"That's--sound enough," said poor Hefty. "But how long will you hold to +it?" + +"So long as I live, Harris," was the solemn, the surprising answer. +"God knows I mean it," and Willett held forth his hand. + +And Willett believed he meant it--firmly, solemnly believed he meant +it, and his handsome face was never handsomer, never more eloquent of +love, repentance, determination to do a man's manful part in +furtherance of his devotion than at this moment when, in the dimly +lighted, scantily furnished, low-ceilinged little room, these two men +of different mould, these classmates of the nation's soldier school, +stood and looked into each other's eyes, and slowly Harris began to +stretch forth his left hand, then, stopping suddenly, slipped the right +forearm from its broad white sling, steadied the elbow with his left, +and slowly turned the thin, feeble fingers to meet the warm clasp of +that before him. + +"It's one of 'Tonio's tricks," said he. "_Mano recto, mano cierto._ +Stick to that, Willett, and, by God, I'll stand by you in spite of +everything I've ever thought or heard. Steady!" + +Somebody was at the door. Harris saw and checked the effusive thanks on +Willett's lips. + +"What's that about 'Tonio?" said a ringing voice, as a "blouse" and +buttons followed the blue sleeve into the field of vision, and the +adjutant came slowly in. "Queer! D'you know I was thinking of him that +very minute. Signal fire out south-east! Some Indians want to talk and +afraid to come in. Turner's gone out with a squad to sample 'em. +Willett, how soon are you coming over? The general's got the despatches +ready." + +"Right away, if you like! What's it now?" + +"Ten twenty," said Strong, with a squint at his watch. "There's no +hurry. He's writing personals now, and Bentley's just up from the +store. There's news in of some kind from McDowell way, and Muñoz and +Sanchez have jumped the game and quit. You'll probably have 'Patchie +guides after all, Willett. Going down to the store after awhile?" + +"For a moment, perhaps, after I've said good-night at the general's," +answered Willett, anxious now to end the business and be away. But in +came Bentley. + +"Get back to the office, Strong," said he; "the general wants you; +Turner's in and says there's no one near the fire, no one to answer. +All they found was this. The general thought you might understand it, +Harris. It lay on a rock by the fire." + +He held forth a single feather, gray and white, tied with a bit of pink +tape to a scrap of cardboard, torn from some cartridge case and folded +over. Within, roughly traced in paint, were two figures--a 3 and a 2. + +"It means, 'Tonio," said Harris simply, "and he wants to talk. What has +happened that he should be afraid to come in--here?" + +Willett heard and knew and would have stayed, but the doctor for once +looked embarrassed, and Strong signalled Willet to come with him. "I'll +be back presently, Hefty," said Willett significantly, and vanished. + +Even then Bentley faltered. "I'll let the general answer that," said +he. "How can 'Tonio be summoned in?" + +"Only as I did, at the Peak, and on honor that he may go," was the +answer. "Unless--I can go out to him." + +"You can't--to-night, anyhow! Is there no one else he'll meet who can +understand him?" + +"Only one American--Case." + +"Humph!" was the answer, with a shrug and a keen, inquiring look in the +doctor's eyes. "I've shown it to Case, and he says 'Tonio has only one +object in life now, in or out of the post, and that is to square +accounts with Willett, who was ass enough to strike him. This from +Case, mind you, who, I believe, hates Willett himself. I've just got +him stowed away for the night. Had to take him out of earshot of the +store and put him in limbo at Craney's shack, where he can't hear +what's going on. I gave him a dose that would flatten out St. Vitus +himself. There'll be no budging Case this night unless--but that isn't +likely." + +"Then I need to go and see the general," said Harris. + +"Then the general will come to see you--here. My word for it," said +Bentley, and went his way. + +It was then nearly eleven. Five minutes later Willett, with relieved +heart and elastic step, was hastening back to the general's quarters +where sweet, yet tearful, welcome awaited him. An hour later he stepped +forth into the starlight, turning to kiss his hand and wave silent +good-night to a slender, shadowy form at the doorway, under the shelter +of the gallery. Something in its pathetic droop and distress called him +once again to her side, and with fond, clasping arms he drew the +sobbing girl to his heart and pressed kiss after kiss upon the +upturned, tear-wet little face. "Try to sleep, my darling!" he +murmured. "Mother will wake you at four, and we'll have a moment before +I go!" + +"Mother won't _have_ to wake me!" she cried, clinging to him the while. +"Oh, Harold, if you only had not--to meet 'Tonio again!" + +"No fear of 'Tonio, sweetheart," he answered. "Now, go I _must_!" And +so, with her kiss upon his lips, he left her to be led by loving mother +hands to her little white room, and to her humble prayers, and the +love-guarded pillow, where, lying wide-awake, still an hour later, she +heard the shot and stifled scream that called a garrison to arms. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + +The early game at Craney's had languished that evening. It was too near +pay-day--the wrong way--for money to be burning in soldier's pockets, +and when the soldier has none the garrison hanger-on has no one to look +to. The couriers from the field column, being comfortably filled and +fairly well tired, meandered off with their martial chums at tattoo. +The few ranchers and packers hovered about the monte table awhile, +hopeful, perhaps, of a clash between Dago and Muñoz, but even this hope +was crushed when, just about taps, two belated Mexicans, innocent or +reckless of the proximity of signalling Indians across the stream, came +mule-bestriding into the glare of the common room sconces and "olà'd," +for Sanchez, who hurried out to meet them, heard their excited tale, +cashed in his few chips, and took himself and fellows off. "Barkeep" +stuck his head through the port-hole to the adjoining sanctum where sat +Craney, Watts, and that semi-military official known as the "contract +doctor," expectant, possibly, of others coming, and told them of the +"greasers'" doings, whereat Case, nervously, irritably pacing the +floor, looked up in sudden interest and speedily plunged out into the +darkness. Then Bentley had come, just at the time when the few packers +and ranch folk were making a noise, and Case had reappeared, looking +wilder, if anything, and declaring the greasers must have gone down to +the old Sanchez place, Indian or no Indian. Then Bentley had felt his +pulse and asked a lot of questions, and led him off into a corner for a +little talk, and finally had prevailed on him to try to sleep in the +vacant room at the "Shack," as Craney's own log-built cabin was called, +and had led him away thither. He had never fairly gotten over the +recent spree, said Craney. He would never explain what had induced him +that Sunday afternoon to quit his old resort in the willows and go up +to the officers' quarters, but go he had, for "Sudstown" had seen him, +and had seen him later slinking back the longest way round to the +store, keeping far from everybody, and looking badly shaken up. It was +known, somehow, that he had been to the doctor's quarters, and, being +half drunk, had got into Lieutenant Harris's room and there had made +some noise and been ordered out. Rumor had it that there had been a +scene between him and Lieutenant Willett, of which neither would speak, +and the doctor had laid his commands on the attendant to know +absolutely nothing about it--indeed, there was little he did know, save +that there had been a disturbance. It was supposed at the store, and +generally in the garrison, that Case had been drinking just enough to +make him irresponsible, and in this condition he had ventured up to the +post and made an ass of himself just when he was being trumpeted as a +lion. Then, instead of having his spree out he had tried to taper, +hence the highly nervous condition that had followed, which, instead of +getting better, seemed getting worse. + +"I've fixed him," said Bentley, "provided he keeps his word," and then, +bidding Craney good-night, had gone to garrison, and found the general +perturbed over Turner's report and the story about Muñoz. Together they +had gone to the store again, the general and his medicine-man, to have +some half-breed interpret the message of the feather, but by this time +none was left. Together they had looked in on Case and found him drowsy +and indifferent, but both the commander and his faithful ally +distinctly heard his half-mumbled words as to 'Tonio's one object in +life ere they came away, satisfied that Case would be of no further use +for another night and day. Then Bentley had hurried to his other +patient with the result we have already noted, and a little later the +general went with him for still another visit, to soothe and reassure +Harris, for the invalid officer was mad to be up and doing. There was +something in the air. + +Later still a stupid three-handed cribbage game was going on when, +after eleven o'clock, Willett came briskly in. Strong had about given +him up and was going home in spite of an unsettled account in his +favor, which Willett had proposed to play off. They were all tired and +ready for bed, and were only up because Willett was to leave and +_should_ "square things" before leaving the post. The cribbage game +stopped at sight of him. Craney went with him to the private desk in +the inner office, whence in five minutes out he came, buoyant as +before, declined to sit in again, laughingly said he'd take his revenge +on the back trip later, called for a night-cap all round, bade +everybody in the room a cordial good-night and good-by, and left with +Strong at his heels. + +"By gad!" said Craney, "he may not play like a sport, but he pays like +one, and a game one," and he locked a roll of treasury notes in his +safe. Then he and Watts and the disappointed deputy doctor went off to +bed, leaving "barkeep" to close up when the few loungers quit paying +for drinks, and only in the common room was there further stir about +the store. Arrived at the shack, as Craney declared in the morning, he +had taken a candle and gone softly to the back room where he found Case +in bed and either dozing or drowsy or drugged--at all events he cared +not to speak. His hat, coat and trousers hung on a chair; his shoes +were at the foot of the bed, his watch on the table by his side, his +money was locked in the trader's safe. Some medicine and a spoon stood +by the watch. There was no light in the room save that which Craney +carried; the one window was blanketed; sufficient air came through the +loopholes, and the window sash was down against the hound pups that +would otherwise have had free entrance. Then Craney went to bed and +almost immediately to sleep, and heard nothing until after one o'clock, +when, with shocking news, men came banging at his double-locked and +bolted door. + +Strong was one of the first to stir him, and Strong's face was white, +as well it might be. As the sentries began calling midnight he had left +Willett at the office, saying he must turn in for a few hours' rest. +Willett, seemingly in excellent spirits, had been writing a few pages +and addressing envelopes. + +"I'll follow in twenty minutes or so," said he, "for I, too, need a +snooze. I'll be up as soon as I've finished a little business." Strong +had gone almost immediately to his pillow and to sleep, and was roused +by the corporal of the guard who had run in to call him with the news +that Lieutenant Willett had been shot dead. + +At the moment of the shooting, so later said the guard, the waning +moon, only a dull crescent, was up far enough above the eastward +heights to throw a faint gleam over the valley. One of Turner's own men +was on post at the south-east corner, and his yell for the corporal, +instantly following the distant shot, was so excited and vehement that +the infantry non-commissioned officer, who went at a run, was minded to +rebuke him for raising such a row over a mere shooting scrape among the +Mexican packers. "Packers, your granny!" said Number Six. "It's +Lieutenant Willett that's shot, and I know it! He came down out of the +office not twenty minutes ago and went straight out south for Craney's +shack, and I'm betting he's done for." + +And so indeed it looked when they found him but few minutes later--the +whole guard, save the relief on post, coming swift at the run to the +corporal's cry, and the garrison turning out, thinking sure it was +fire. Three hundred yards or so south and east of the shack they found +him lying flat on his face, which seemed forced into the soil, +senseless, and for the moment apparently dead. Even when they turned +him over and dashed water into his face, and brushed away the sand, +there was no sign of life, nor sign of shot wound. Not until the doctor +came on the run, urged by breathless messenger, was the tiny +bullet-hole found under the left armpit, and such blood as had escaped +seemed absorbed by the underwear. Internal hemorrhage was feared as +they unfastened his uniform and sought for further wound and found +none. Craney bade them carry him to his own room, where there would be +better light, and while some of them laid him on Craney's bed and +others carefully scouted the surrounding willows for trace of the +assassin, and others still went in and stirred up Case, sleeping +heavily, stupidly, "like a hog," said an indignant few until told of +the doctor's "dope." Then Bentley came and drove all but an attendant +or two, and Strong and Craney, from the room, until the general +arrived, his own face ashen, to ask what hope was left, got but a +dubious headshake in reply, and then sat him down, buried his sorrowing +white head in his hands, and began to upbraid himself: + +"It's all my fault--my doing," said he. "I see it all. I said the words +that sent him!" + +And then to Bentley and Craney the veteran soldier told his story. He +had had difficulty, as Bentley knew, in persuading Harris not to get +up--not to attempt to find 'Tonio that night; to wait until day, when +the Indian more easily might be reached. It was late when he left +Harris, and was surprised to see lights at the office. There, all +alone, was Willett, writing, and to Willett Archer told the message of +the feather, and of Harris's eagerness to find 'Tonio at once. + +"Harris still holds that 'Tonio is utterly wronged, or at least utterly +misunderstood," said he, "and that, Indian as he is, 'Tonio would not +revenge himself on you as we supposed. 'Tonio knows he is suspected of +the attempt to kill you, and yet wishes to come in and be tried. All he +asks is fair play and trial before Crook himself. Then," continued +Archer, "I asked Willett in so many words if it were true that he had +struck 'Tonio with a gauntlet that night at Bennett's, and he said, +reluctantly, it was--that 'Tonio had been insolent, insubordinate, that +that was the way he had always dealt with such cases. Perhaps with men +like 'Tonio it was all wrong, but he had never met Indians like 'Tonio +before. I told him gravely that he had made a serious error, and that +he should lose no time in getting word to 'Tonio that he realized this +and desired to make amend. Willett said he would do it the very first +time they met--that he knew how to bring 'Tonio in and would talk to +him, man to man. I told him that it would be well to do this before +quitting the valley, on his way out in the morning, perhaps. But, my +God!" continued poor Archer, as he glanced at the senseless form over +which physician and attendants were still working, "I never dreamed of +his going out to-night. He said he should signal for a talk at the +moment of starting with his escort, and so, probably, meet 'Tonio near +the Peak." + +A solemn little gathering was this at the shack, while up at the +quarters two sorrow-stricken women, Mrs. Archer and Mrs. Stannard, were +striving to soothe and still poor Lilian, to whom the truth had had to +be told. All the officers were up and astir, some of them conferring +with their gray-faced commandant at the doorway, others heading the +search over among the willows and down the stream. A strange fact had +developed. Only one shot had been heard, only one shot hole had been +discovered (and the probe indicated that the bullet, having struck a +rib, had been deflected downward, where it was not yet located), but +while this had produced shock and, possibly, temporary unconsciousness, +it was another blow, one with a blunt instrument, probably more than +one, upon the back of the head, that resulted in this prolonged stupor. +Not once had Willett regained consciousness, nor, said Bentley, was it +likely that he would. Bentley feared concussion of the brain. + +Turner, a capital trailer, with some of the best of his men, was +working down stream, and all who knew Turner felt that no trace would +be bunglingly trampled out. The few pathways along the west bank, +through the willows, showed recent tracks on only one, where the +Mexicans and half-breeds had scurried away toward the old Sanchez +place. Already a strong party had been sent thither in search, but +meantime Turner was looking, as he frankly said, "for 'Tonio's tracks +about the ford," for within forty paces of the lower ford poor Willett +was found, and in the minds of every man and woman who could hold a +listener that night no other explanation was either sought or expected. +The fact that both shores of the stream were stony above and below the +spot--that it would be easy for an Indian to conceal them, would +account for it if their footprints were lacking, but lacking they were +not. In a dozen places about the ford and down the east bank, in a +dozen places around the spot where lay the stricken officer, the +earliest comers had seen and marked and protected against obliteration +print after print of the moccasins of the Apache-Mohaves--'Tonio's own +band. This in itself was wellnigh proof positive, but more was to come. + +Willett's trail was easily found and followed. Straight and swift he +had gone across the flats from the post of Number Six, until within a +hundred yards of the store, when, attracted possibly by the bleary +lights still remaining in the barroom, he had veered that way until his +footprints were merged with dozens of others in the path. Presently +they were found again, passing between the store and the shack, around +in rear of the low log building, where at that time, presumably, +Craney, Watts and Case were asleep in their respective rooms. It seemed +as though he had paused and moved about a little in rear of the shack +as though in search of some one, and then had gone straight out beyond, +heading for the nearest clump of willows south of the ford, and there +it was found that the moccasin print overlaid that of the San Francisco +boot and followed it up stream to where the torn and trampled sands, +close to the brink, told of furious struggle. Moreover, this one +moccasin print was wet and came over the stones and up the bank just +about where Willett had reached it, and paused a moment or two before +turning away. At this point the stream babbled over rocky shallows, and +it was possible to cross by springing from rock to rock without wetting +a sole, but whoever had crossed here had been hurried and incautious. +One foot had missed, slipped or trailed, and its covering was soaking +wet as it followed on up the bank. It was still wet enough to leave, as +the lantern determined, a perceptible trace on the broad +stepping-stones just below the placid pool at the ford, where the +shores were low and sandy again--so wet, in fact, that the stain toward +the opposite bank and on the farthermost stone became a splash so dark +that the foremost sergeant, swinging his lantern aloft, sung out to his +follower, "Watch out! It's blood!" and blood it proved to be--there and +thereafter, down the opposite bank. + +Yet not a drop was seen on the sands where Willett fell. Then his +assailants had not escaped unscathed. Unarmed as he was, the officer +had made a desperate fight for life. + +"Now's the time to nab him!" said Turner, as he carried the report to +Archer. "'Tonio has managed to elude Malloy's party, probably by +leading them off on a false scent, but now we have blood to follow. Let +me send out a platoon, mounted, and we may nail the gang before +sunrise." + +It was then short of two o'clock, and while busy trailers followed on +with their lanterns down the eastward bank, and were presently seen +flitting like fireflies far south among the willows, Turner himself, +with a score of his men, hastened back to quarters. There was saddling +in hot haste, yet with the precision of long practice. By half past two +all sight or sound of the trailers and the pursuing horsemen was lost +in the distance, and a corporal, trotting back from the Sanchez place, +reported that Muñoz and some of his fellows had joined in the search, +and already with important result. Captain Turner sent him back with +his compliments to the commanding officer. + +In the presence of Bonner, Bucketts and Strong, the general took the +package, something heavy, bundled in the red silk handkerchief Turner +had torn from his own brawny throat. A scrap of paper went fluttering +to the ground, which the adjutant quickly recovered and handed to his +chief, who read aloud in the dim candle light the words: "It might be +well to keep this from Harris, at least to-night." + +Looking a trifle dazed, Archer unrolled the silken folds, and laid on +the office table the handsome, silver-mounted Colt revolver of the old +calibre 44 model Willett had lost that Sunday night of his perilous +adventure up the valley. There it was, inscription and all, every +visible chamber still loaded, its murderous leaden bullet showing in +the candle light. Archer slowly drew back the hammer. The cylinder +slowly revolved. The barrel-chamber swung as slowly into view, black, +powder-stained, and--empty. One shot, then, had been fired and very +recently. Who could have had it all this time but 'Tonio? Who else +could have fired it? + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + +Turner and his men were gone all night, all the next day, and much of +the night that followed. Then they began drifting back in squads of +three or four. By noon the second day the captain himself, with the +main body, returned, dispirited, mystified. They had lost the trail +near the Picacho, found it again, lost it, found it, scoured the +foothills and scouted the east face of the Mazatzal, and came back +empty-handed. Willett's pistol was the only thing recovered, even with +such aid as could be rendered by some of the Sanchez party, Muñoz and +José being most energetic in their aid--"'Patchie" Sanchez being, of +course, nowhere visible. 'Patchie had affairs of his own to answer for +and explain against the homeward coming of the Big Chief Crook, and was +shy of Saxon society in consequence. + +And Turner was plainly nettled and chagrined. He and his troop were +about as expert trailers as could be found in our cavalry, which, in +the old Arizona days, meant not a little. Turned believed that 'Tonio +had dared to venture close to the sentry line, had lured his enemy to +the fords, and there, aided by one or two of his band, had done him +near to death, then fled for the fastnesses of the mountains. Turner +believed that 'Tonio, or one of his people, was wounded and could be +overtaken. The trail was easy as much as a mile down stream, and then +became difficult. Turner had accepted the proffered aid of Muñoz and +certain of their set. They were all up, it seems, by the time he +reached the ranch, having been routed out earlier by the first +explorers from the post, Sergeant Connelly and party, who stated that +they found the "hull outfit asleep," this in spite of the fact that a +game seemed to have been going on earlier in the night, for the +paraphernalia were in evidence, also a moderate supply of liquid +mescal. + +Now mescal in those days was not distilled north of the Gila--was +brought by devious route, when brought at all, from Mexico, and +"Greaser" packers, who were models of temperance when only Gringo +whiskey or German beer could be had, would sometimes stampede at the +mere whisper of mescal. Yet here was mescal, and here were some, at +least, of the Sanchez "outfit," sober and fit for business. Then it +must be that the three who lay stupefied had had money to invest at +monte, and had been plied with mescal until both cash and consciousness +had left them, and all this would account for the sudden hegira from +the store the evening preceding the shooting. + +But in spite of their vehement assertions that 'Tonio had been +signalling that very day--that they could point to the tracks of +himself and his fellows in several places along the stream--these +energetic and swarthy sons of the Incas could by no means find 'Tonio, +or one of his tribe, when given the chance to lead and the backing of +armed troopers. 'Tonio, well or wounded, was far too wary for them and, +after hours of brag and bluster, not a vestige of him did they discover +beyond a few scattered footprints and that one revolver, concerning +which, it seems, Muñoz told sensational tales. He declared he had found +it glinting in the moonlight just at the foot and to the right of the +trail leading from the low ground to the summit of Squadron Peak. His +story, indeed, was so positive and plausible that valuable time had +been lost while some of Turner's most active troopers scaled the height +in search of the fugitives whom Muñoz thought more than likely must be +there, and José had agreed with him. Once well up among the rocks of +the Mazatzal, after sunrise, these valued allies became bewildered and +gave out, were handed a canteen and ration of crackers apiece and left +to limp back to the shack, while Turner pushed on. They were at the +store, recuperating, when his people reappeared at Almy, and each had +derisive and uncomplimentary things to say of the other. Moreover, +there was internal dissension among the Mexicans themselves. Dago's +disgust with Muñoz seemed rekindled, while the sore-headed trio, done +out of their money by aid of mescal, were slinking about the shack, +looking unutterable things. When rogues fall out honest men profit, if +they are wise and wakeful, and now, at a time when something of +advantage might be learned, the interest of the garrison seemed centred +about the general's quarters, whither Harold Willett had been borne, +still senseless and in desperate case. Bentley could not say that he +would live, yet had been heard to say he believed the bullet not yet +cast that could kill him. + +There had been a difference between Archer and his surgeon. The shack +was no place for a patient in such a plight. It was on low ground, hot +and stuffy in spite of high ceilings. Bentley wished him borne on +elastic litter to hospital. Archer said bear him to his quarters, Mrs. +Archer _would_ have it, and it was so ordered and done. Bentley wished +to find that bullet, the blunt, old-fashioned, soft lead plug, and find +it he had, lying fortunately close under the skin, after traversing +several inches of Willett's anatomy without piercing a vital organ. It +was cut out with little time or trouble, and set aside, sealed for +future reference. Fever, of course, set in, and where, asked Archer, +could more devoted nurse or nurses be found, and, in the absence of the +patient's own mother, what woman had better right? + +It wasn't so much _that_, said poor Bentley, as that they might overdo +it--wear themselves out, and the patient, too. Willett was babbling in +feverish delirium when his litter was borne into the general's dark +hallway, and the patient thence to the white cot prepared for him, +where Mrs. Archer and Mrs. Stannard at first were installed as nurses. +Bentley shook his head over the arrangement, and later he spoke of it +to Harris who sat thoughtful, troubled and ill at ease. + +Bentley had told him of the discovery of the revolver and the universal +connection of 'Tonio with the attempted murder, and Harris bowed his +head wearily upon his hands: "I will not believe it," was all he said. + +A sergeant and six men had gone with despatches and orders to find the +field column along the Black Mesa. A runner had been sent to McDowell +with the news, and another to Camp Sandy, where was Colonel Pelham, the +district commander, giving details of the attempted assassination of +the young staff officer, and warning all to arrest 'Tonio on sight. The +affair was the one topic of talk in every barrack room, mess, and +gathering at the post, and the subject of incessant comment and +speculation at the store. That 'Tonio was the culprit no man was heard +to express the faintest doubt. There were some who went so far as to +say that _any_ man, officer, soldier or civilian, who dared to strike +an Indian of 'Tonio's lineage had nothing less to expect. The one +question was, how had 'Tonio succeeded in luring his victim, unarmed, +to the spot, and why had he left his vengeance unfinished? The one man +along officers' row to express dissent from public opinion was +Lieutenant Harris; the one man at the store to sit in unresponsive +silence was Mr. Case--the bookkeeper. + +Busy with his books, making up for the lost time, he said, sitting long +hours at his desk, within earshot of almost everything, and hearing +every theory expressed, he never so much as opened his lips upon the +subject further than to say that, from all accounts, the lieutenant +brought it on himself, and should never have ventured out alone, much +less unarmed. + +"You didn't like him any too well yourself," bluntly hazarded Bonner, +two days after the tragedy, and, somehow, a rumor of a row between them +at the doctor's quarters was again in circulation. + +"I didn't," said Case, imperturbably. "But that score is settled." + +In the course of the prompt investigation made by Archer during the +daylight hours that followed the affray, Bentley had deemed it a duty +to tell the commander of the disturbance between Willett and Case, +ascribing it to Case's vinous excitement after some transaction at +cards, and though Archer believed the bookkeeper totally innocent of +any part in the distressing affair that followed, both he and Bentley +believed it due to everybody that Case's possible connection with it be +looked into. With Craney they visited Case's own sanctum in the store +building not two hours after the sound of the shot. There in its +accustomed place was Case's revolver, every chamber loaded and a thin +coating of dust on the grip. Case's pistol then had not been used. +Bentley went in and examined the medicine glass--this was toward four +o'clock--and apparently Case must have taken, said Bentley, at least +four doses. That much at any rate was gone, and Case was sleeping so +heavily he could hardly be roused--could hardly be kept awake, begged +thickly, sluggishly, to be allowed to "sleep it off," as though he +thought he must have been drinking again. Bentley brought out one of +Case's boots, and the track it fitted could be found all over the +flats, about the store, shack and stream, and proved nothing at all, +for everybody knew he had been wandering aimlessly about for days and +nights past. The window shade or blanket had been disarranged and the +window had been raised a few inches, probably for air. Everything else +was as Craney remembered seeing it before he turned in, and the +inference was clear to every mind that Case had never left the room and +probably, after the second dose, never left his bed. + +And now, from Turner down, all troopers lately afield in search of +'Tonio were again at Almy, discomfited, disheartened. "Hunting for a +needle in a haystack without a magnet," said Turner, "is no more +fruitless than scouting for Apaches in these mountains without Apache +scouts. There is only one way," said he, "to capture 'Tonio. 'Set a +thief to catch a thief; set an Indian to catch an Indian.'" But the few +Indian scouts assigned to Almy had all been drafted away with Stannard +and the field columns in the Mogollon. "Even had they been available," +said Archer, who listened with gloomy brow, "Harris says no +Apache-Mohave would betray 'Tonio, and no Apache-Yuma dare do it," and +now, as never before, Archer had taken to long talks with Harris--who +would gladly have had him keep away. + +"Youngster," said Bentley, looking his patient keenly over the second +day after what had come to be called "the shooting," "I'm blessed if +I'm not getting discouraged on your account. Here I have had you within +reaching distance of 'fit for duty' twice, and both times you've gone +back on me. It's my belief you'd be better anywhere else than here. +Almy's too high strung for your temperament." + +"Get me once in saddle and I won't come back--or go back on you," said +Harris. "How's Willett?" + +"High fever, tossing and talking--talking too damned much! You're +sitting up much of the time day and night now. You need air and change, +yet cannot stand jarring, or I'd take you driving." + +"Let me ride a mule." + +"I would, if I were sure of the brute behaving, but you never can tell +what a mule will do, and now--there's no telling what Willett may say." + +"What do you mean?" asked Harris, though he had some reason to know. + +"Just this. He's muttering about matters none of us now want to hear, +and want none of the Archers to hear. I've got Mrs. Archer out for a +time, and going to get Mrs. Stannard in for a time, but there's that +poor child upstairs going all to pieces for fear that beautiful boy may +die, when--it's--it's--_damn_ it, it's my profound conviction it would +be the best thing that could happen!" and with that Bentley turned +about and strode heavily out of the house. + +Just at sunset that winter's evening, when all the eastward heights +were a blaze of gold, and the far away fringe of the Mogollon was +tipped with fire, and the rounded poll of Squadron Peak shone dazzling +against the southward sky, the lookout on the scaffolding above the +office set up a shout that brought half the garrison to its feet. + +"Horsemen coming! McDowell road!" + +It so happened that, just at the moment, Mrs. Stannard was walking +slowly and thoughtfully from the direction of the hospital to her +lonely roof. She had been to see Mrs. Bennett, whose general condition +appeared a little more favorable, but who lay long hours moaning for +those she had lost. Turner, coming in from the corrals, had joined Mrs. +Stannard for a moment, but at sound of the alarm raised his cap and +hurried straightway to the southward bluff. It might even mean a mail. +The days were long to Mrs. Stannard and the nights were weary, for one +anxiety followed another, and now, when she had so hoped that all might +be gladness and sunshine for the sweet, unspoiled army girl, to whom +her heart had so fondly opened, here at the very outset of her dream of +love and delight, the grim Destroyer threatened, and even if Fate +should spare the life of Harold Willett was it at all certain that that +life would be what Lilian Archer deserved? + +All in three minutes that afternoon, while bending over the unconscious +sufferer, replacing with cool, fresh linen the heated bandages on his +brow, she had heard words that she fain would have stifled--that caused +her to look up, startled, into Bentley's sombre face. She was thinking +of the sorrows that encompassed her as she came slowly home, and then, +as the cry sounded from the lookout station, and people came hurrying +to their galleries, and Harris slowly felt his way to the open door, +she noted how pallid and sad and worn was the keen young face, and, +forgetful of her troubles, turned to say a word of cheer to him. + +"It used to mean the mail," said she, smiling brightly for his benefit, +"but now no man can tell what a day may bring forth," she quoted. "The +letters _I_ most want would be coming from the east. What would you +have coming from the west?" + +"Anything to bring me word of 'Tonio," he answered, adding, though not +for her ear, "and take me out of this." She stepped to the gallery and +frankly took his hand, looking kindly, gravely at him with her sweet +blue eyes. + +"You are not doing well, Mr. Harris. You are fretting too much, I fear. +Tell me. You believe in 'Tonio thoroughly, don't you? So did Captain +Stannard, and so should I. Do you believe he would have tried to +kill--Mr. Willett?" + +"Mrs. Stannard, I _know_ he would not!" + +"Then I wish to ask you--something--something else. Was there--_is_ +there--any one who could--who would--_well_, who--had any reason?" + +For a moment he stood gazing at her, paler even than before, his stern +young face full of strange emotion. + +"You have some reason for asking that, Mrs. Stannard," he said, almost +below his breath. "You have heard--tell me; has he--has Willett told +you anything?" + +"Nothing that connects any one with this crime, and yet, while I cannot +tell you, and the doctor may not, I'll promise you this, Mr. Harris. If +ever 'Tonio is accused and in danger, Mr. Willett has something to +explain, and if he doesn't, then Dr. Bentley and I may have to." + +With that, almost abruptly, as though dreading further question, Mrs. +Stannard turned away. + +Thirty minutes later, dusty and weary, five troopers rode slowly +through the southward willows, across the sandy flats and up the slope +to the adjutant's office, while the garrison, neglecting its evening +meal, swarmed out to greet them. Six saddle-bags were crowded with +letters and papers--the first in a fortnight--and the sergeant-major +and his clerks went busily to work sorting out the mail, while Archer +and his officers eagerly questioned the sergeant in charge. They were +men of Captain Freeman's troop, all out scouting from McDowell. They +camped last night at Silver Springs, fifty miles south-west, and came +on from there while the captain and the troop turned back to the Verde +Valley. No, they had neither seen nor heard of hostile Indians. All +such seemed to have cleared out, for the time being at least. Had they +met the Almy couriers on their way? Not one. They had come the lower +trail by way of Standard Peak, where they had a signal station and +guard now, where they left mail and rations for them, and then pushed +on over into the valley. The Almy couriers took the short cut. No, they +had seen nobody but some Mexicans, and hadn't much to say to them, +'cause Sanchez--'Patchie Sanchez--had been caught and was in the +guard-house at McDowell, charged with being mixed up in the shooting of +Sergeant Graves. That, at least, was welcome news. Had anything been +heard of General Crook? Yes, something. Apache-Mohave runners came in +to the bivouac at Silver Springs, with despatches, before they left, +and that was one reason the captain turned back. One of them was +wounded. They'd had a scrimmage with Tontos, they said, but got through +safely, barring just this one--'Tonio they called him--said he was a +chief of the old tribe. + +"'Tonio there, and wounded!" cried Archer, while Strong and Bonner +almost sprang to their feet, in surprise. + +"'Tonio, sir, certainly," said the sergeant. "The doctor had him +dressing his wound when we came away. It was only slight." + +"Then," said the general, "by this time they've got my despatches, and +'Tonio's a doomed Indian!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + + +The week was closing, the third of a mournful little series of +seven-day happenings, the like of which Almy had never before +experienced, and it was hoped might never know again. "The Moon of Many +Woes," as later it transpired the Indians had named the night goddess +of November, was a thing of the past. A new queen had come, hovering +like silvery filament over the black barrier of the Mazatzal in a sky +cloudless and glinting with myriad points of fire. The nights were cold +and still, the days soft yet brilliant in the blaze of an unshrouded +sun. An almost Sabbath-like calm hovered over the valley, for even +signal smokes had ceased to blur the horizon. Not a hostile Indian had +been heard of since the coming of Freeman's couriers. The brawling gang +of "greaser" gamblers had stolen away from the "ghost ranch." Even the +ghost himself seemed to walk no more. Something had happened to call +the firm of Muñoz y Sanchez elsewhere, and Dago, darkly glowering and +scowling about the store, where day and night the bookkeeper sat +absorbed in accounts and letters, muttered many a _carramba_, and had +even been goaded into explosive _carrajo_, because a defrauded +soldiery, thirsting for revenge or restitution, persisted in connecting +him with these skilled but quite unprincipled experts of the alluring +game of monte, whereas Dago hated the sight of Muñoz, of whom he stood +in dread. + +But while all men knew the "greasers" had gone, and many wondered why, +and none at Almy could tell, there was abundant reason to believe they +would soon reappear. Much news had been coming in--news from Crook's +column along the Mogollon and the eastward foothills--good news, too, +for far and wide the Indians were heeding his Gospel of Peace, which, +tersely translated, read: "Come in and be fed. Stay out and be fought," +and by scores the mountain warriors, with their queerly assorted +families, were flocking to the San Carlos and Apache reservations, and +at last there seemed promise of a general burial of the hatchet. At +last there was hope, wrote Stannard, that the Bennett boys would be +restored. Good news, too, and stacks of mail, had come from Prescott +and from far distant homes, but the bit of news that appealed to all +but a chosen few at Camp Almy, as by all means the most important and +welcome, was "The paymaster's coming!" The paymaster, indeed, after +weeks of detention, was scheduled to be at the post by nightfall of the +coming Tuesday or Wednesday, and Wednesday would usher in the old-time +saturnalia of the south-western frontier, the joy of the laundress, +soldier and sutler, the dread of every post and company commander from +Her Majesty's dominion to the Mexican line--Pay Day. + +And stacks of letters and some few papers and magazines--by no manner +of means all that were hopefully started--had come to the Archers and +Mrs. Stannard and the exiles of official Almy, and stacks of letters +were there for the slowly bettering young soldier lying helpless under +the commander's roof, faithfully tended and devotedly nursed, the +object of the fondest hope and love and prayer--Lieutenant Harold +Willett, on detached service from "the Lost and Strayed," as +aide-de-camp to the commanding general, Department of Arizona, who +never yet since the day he left Vancouver Barracks had set eyes on him. +Most of these letters, tied in tape, stood piled like bricks upon the +mantel-shelf in the darkened quarters. Some few of them, in feminine +superscription and bearing the Portland postmark, Dr. Bentley had seen +fit to segregate and set aside. They had been placed for safe keeping +in the hands of Mrs. Stannard, of whom, said Bentley, "there are not +ten women of her sense in the whole service," which, said Lieutenant +Blake, of Camp McDowell, when told of the fact, "is a most egregious +exaggeration," and no woman there knew just what he meant. Blake at the +moment was riding boot to boot with his captain, Freeman, for between +the two there dwelt an attachment and understanding rarely seen between +captain and subaltern, but Freeman guffawed at his junior's whimsical +remark, and told it, just to try the effect on three of the four +heroines then quartered at the camp. No one of their number was there +who did not envy Mrs. Stannard her place in public estimation, but no +one of them, could they have known, would have envied her the plight in +which she found herself--joint custodian, with Bentley, of Hal +Willett's unconscious confidences--compelled to see a young girl's +rapturous love lavished upon a man so saturated with the incense of +feminine idolatry as to be more than apt to underrate the priceless +boon of a pure woman's heart-whole devotion. + +They had clipped short, and shaved, much of the hair from the back and +left side of Harold's handsome head, where fell the blows that had +stunned him, but as those severe contusions healed, and it transpired +that the skull was sound, the doctor's main anxiety was transferred to +the gunshot wound, which might well be serious in view of the amount of +anatomy traversed, yet even that was healing, healthfully, steadily. "A +beautiful constitution has this damned young Lovelace," said Bentley to +Bucketts, in whom he had long since found a kindred spirit. "Just look +at that!" and with a nod over his pipe stem, he indicated the bunch of +letters forwarded from the Columbia. "Why don't you"--began Bucketts, +but dropped it--he knew it was impossible. He knew, moreover, that when +both mother and daughter have set their hearts on a single man, +paterfamilias is powerless. "The whole family's infatuated," said +Bentley, "and in his whole handsome carcase there isn't half the man in +Willett that there is in that dried up little chap yonder." + +"The dried up little chap yonder," dismounting slowly and carefully +from one of Turner's staidest troop horses, was the unappreciated +Harris, returning from one of the first tentatives in saddle. Days +before this, had he been permitted, Harris would have been up and away, +he cared little whither. He wished to shake the dust of Almy from his +deerskins, get back to the mountains and the war-path, get over the +Mazatzal to McDowell and 'Tonio--'Tonio, his faithful friend and +fellow-scout, now languishing presumably behind prison bars, awaiting +the orders of the Chief of Chieftains in his case, for all pleadings +were vain. The last barrier to belief in his guilt had gone with the +recovery of the revolver and the exposure of the cock-and-bull story, +said Archer, by which he had humbugged Freeman and Blake into believing +he had really been slashed in hand-to-hand fight with Tonto Apaches. +The first name spoken by Willett, after the fever had left him, and +speedily he began to recover sense, was that of 'Tonio--'Tonio who had +shot him. + +It had affected Harris to the point, almost, of relapse. He still +fought vehemently against the story, declaring 'Tonio too high-minded, +in spite of Indian blood and tradition, for a dirty bit of +assassination. The brutal and bungling way in which the thing was done, +said he, was enough to prove that 'Tonio had no hand in it. Thus could +he talk to Bentley, at least, and even to Bucketts, who would listen, +though he would not lie, and say he thought Harris right. + +None the less there had been amaze at McDowell when Archer's demand was +received. 'Tonio had been taken to hospital on his arrival, kindly, +skilfully cared for by the young post surgeon, while the couriers had +been sent on to Prescott. 'Tonio's wound was a knife slash in the left +arm, and another in the side. He had lost much blood and had little +left to build up with. He was too weak to attempt escape, wrote Major +Brown, the post commander, even if he knew he was under arrest, which +he did not. "If I have to confine him it shall not be with such cattle +as that half cad, half coyote, Sanchez," and Harris, being very +improperly told of this missive, could almost have walked the weary +miles to McDowell to fall upon the major's neck and bless him. "The +very fact that 'Tonio was cut and slashed conflicts with every theory +in the case," said he. "Who would have cut and slashed him but Willett, +if 'Tonio attacked him, and Willett had no knife." + +And still Camp Almy clung to the belief that 'Tonio was Harold +Willett's assailant and would-be murderer. Even Bonner, a conservative, +had this to say: "Willett admits he struck 'Tonio. What Indian ever +forgave that affront? He hates Willett as he loves Harris, and such an +Indian love is almost as strong as his hate. We have some reason to +think Willett no friend of Harris. 'Tonio went further and thought him +an enemy. Couple that with his own grievance and there's more than +sufficient motive for his crime." + +The topic was too one-sided to be mildly interesting. Moreover, the +paymaster was coming, which overshadowed all minor considerations, and +Turner was to take twenty men and meet him midway over to McDowell, and +could have taken fifty had volunteers been called for, and the garrison +to a man would have offered to sally forth, "with mattock and with +spade" to patch up the crazy road that twisted through Picacho +Pass--anything to get the man and his money to Camp Almy, for "devil a +cent of four months' pay had the garrison, and more than double that," +said Sergeant Malloy, "is owin' me in I.O.U.'s that they wouldn't take +for a treat at the store." + +The night before Turner's fellows were to start, Mr. Harris coming with +the doctor slowly homeward from the mess room and listening again, +disgustedly, to arguments against his attempting to ride back with the +paymaster to see 'Tonio at McDowell, the two came suddenly upon Archer, +just stepping forth into the pallid moonlight. The general pulled up +short at sight of them, and Harris silently raised his cap, the +old-time salutation to the post commander. + +"I was just about sending for you, Bentley," began the chief, as +courteously he returned the salutation. "Bella thinks Willett's a bit +flighty again, just now. Could you go in a moment? Come and take a +chair, Harris," he added, as the doctor disappeared from the hallway. +"We haven't seen you in a coon's age. What's this I hear about your +wanting to go up to McDowell? Bentley says you're not yet strong +enough." + +"It's to see 'Tonio, sir. I'm about the only friend he has left," and +Harris would have ignored the proffered chair, but the general again +indicated his wish, which meant compliance. + +"He'll need all he can get, I am afraid, my boy," and the answer was +kind, even conciliatory. How was he ever going to admit to this +uncompromising young campaigner that he had done him mighty wrong in +his official despatch? Some time the boy must know it. Better know it +through him, when it could be explained, perhaps condoned. They had +exhausted the 'Tonio subject, so far as was possible between commander +and subaltern. They had never yet talked it as man to man. When they +did it would be on Archer's initiation, not that of Harris. The more +the old soldier studied the young man the better he liked him. The less +they discussed 'Tonio, the better Harris liked Archer. It was useless +saying more. Harris silently took the chair at his senior's side and +Archer continued: + +"If it would contribute to your strength as much as your peace of mind, +I'd send you over in the forbidden ambulance, my boy"--how the voice +trembled at the word that so often, so constantly in bygone days, was +on his lips!--"but Bentley says 'not yet'--not even for a week, so what +can an old fellow do?" + +"You are all that is kind--to me, general," was the grave answer, "and +I hope to persuade Bentley before the paymaster goes back. If I do----" + +"If you do--that settles it---- What is it, dear?" he asked, half +rising from his chair. Harris was already on his feet. Lilian, all in +white, save the belt at her slim waist, stood at the doorway and had +spoken. + +"Dr. Bentley asks that you come to him a moment, father. He is +with--Mr. Willett." She saw who stood there by his side, and it was not +so easy to say "Harold." Harris, bowing, would have backed from the +veranda, but Archer interposed. "No, stay here awhile, lad; I--I want +to talk with you. I'll be back in a moment." + +Very possibly he thought he could be. But the moment lengthened. Lilian +had come slowly forth. Something had told her she was neither needed +nor desired in the room just then. Even her mother, silently, had left +the bedside and was hovering about the doorway. And now here was +Harris. Lilian had matured a little, and paled not a little, in these +few days of vigil and anxiety, but she was inexpressibly lovely as she +stood and looked wistfully into his face. "You know he isn't quite so +well to-day?" she said. "There's fever again. He craves ice so. What +wouldn't I--we--give for some? What do you think he called me"--she +gave a queer little nervous laugh--"just a moment ago as I was fanning +him?" + +Harris did not answer. He would have hazarded "Sanctissima," possibly, +as he stood there looking intently into her clear, soft eyes, with all +their depth of tenderness and trust. Good God! Why should any man have +to have a past, when love such as this was possible? "He called me +Stella. Mother said he was dreaming of the pet dog he left at +Vancouver, but his eyes were wide open--looking right up at me." + +Harris knew well who Stella was. The name was appended to many a letter +and "wire" that came to him during First Class camp, and later, begging +him to tell her of Mr. Willett, and now here was this fair girl +virtually bidding him say he had known a Stella. He ground his teeth as +he turned aside to set a chair for her. There had been others since +Stella, unless all indications lied. What might she not say if she knew +them all? + +"_I_ called my mother Topsy and Aunt Ophelia, both, when I was getting +over typhoid and Uncle Tom's Cabin," said he. + +"Then Stella was only----" and the blue eyes were searching his. + +"Only a--you know I was nearly 'found' in French. What would you call +the parallel to a _nom de plume_? _Nom de chien?_ _Nom de_--something +visionary, at all events. He'll be sitting up day after to-morrow and +telling you--all about it." + +She stood before him, with those pretty, slender, white hands loosely +clasped, the clear, truthful, beautiful eyes looking straight into his +sun-tanned, yet pallid face. No man in his time at the Point had ever +known Harris to flinch at the truth or dodge an issue. "He is square as +they make 'em," was the verdict of his classmates, and square he had +been through his subaltern days, and now to be square meant the dealing +to this sweet and trusting girl a blow that, while it might down his +rival, would wreck her happiness. He now had dodged an issue at last, +and then came the further trial: + +"Mr. Harris, dogs don't write. Harold's talking about Stella's +_letters_, and says _you_ get them." + +He had dodged. He might as well flinch. The truth he would not tell +her. A lie he could not tell her. He did, perhaps, the best he could +for himself and the worst, perhaps, for her. He acted. + +"Don't believe a word of it, Miss Lilian. He's mooning yet." + +"Then--there wasn't any girl?--any letters?" + +"There's only one girl in creation he cares for." + +"But--Stella?" she persisted. + +"Never saw his Stella in all my life. What he needs is ice, and I'm +going to see he gets it." + +With that he was gone, deaf to the words of relief the poor child would +have spoken--trying to be deaf to the fierce upbraiding of conscience, +and failing as he deserved, miserably. + +An hour later that evening, with a pack mule, blankets, old newspapers +and a brace of cracker boxes, two half-tamed Mohaves were heading for +the heights to the north-east, where water would freeze in the canteens +these December nights, and the rock tanks were nearly solid ice. Two +hours later while Harris, nervous, irritable, and filled with nameless +self-reproach, was pacing the narrow veranda at the doctor's quarters, +there was a stir at the southward end of the post, a sound of hoofbeats +and footfalls, a running to and fro and lighting up at the office. An +orderly came on the jump and banged at the adjutant's door, and Strong +shuffled forth in the moonlight and joined other dark forms over at +head-quarters. The sentries were calling the midnight hour without, and +the doctor was snoring placidly within. It was barely ten minutes +before Strong came back, in one of his hurries, and Harris hailed for +the tidings. + +"Oh, _you'll_ be glad, I'm betting!" was the answer, half-rueful, +half-relieved, for somehow Strong had "taken to" the doctor's +guest--and to doubting his own. "Those galoots at McDowell let up on +their watch, and 'Tonio's walked off--'gone where the woodbine +twineth'--'Patchie Sanchez with him!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + + +That meant new trouble--trouble for Major Brown commanding the little +two-company station--the "tuppenny post," his subaltern, Blake, +derisively termed it--trouble for Blake, who was officer of the day, +and was held on tenterhooks for many a day thereafter--trouble for +Sergeant Collins, who was directly in command of the guard--"Collins +_né_ Oolahan," as Freeman wrote him down, it having been discovered +that this versatile Celt had served a previous enlistment in the "Lost +and Strayed," when four of its companies were pioneering shortly after +the war, where even the paymaster couldn't find them. Such of them as +could be found in course of years were gathered up and sent to San +Francisco for further exploration in other desert lands, but Oolahan +and four of his fellows of Company "A," not having returned from wagon +escort duty, were finally dropped as dead or deserted (those were days +wherein nobody much cared which), whereas they were merely drunk at +Cerbat. Under other names, as orthodox as the originals, they were now +doing valorous and valuable service in other commands, Collins in +particular proving a capital fighter and trooper, to the end that the +best interests of the service were subserved by keeping a keen eye on +his present and a "Nelson blind" on his past. Of the three soldiers +thus involved at McDowell, Collins was the one who took it most to +heart, for Collins had come to think ill of 'Tonio, whom at first he +had championed. Collins despised 'Patchie Sanchez, whom he had known +five years, and described as a "durrty cross betune a skunk and a +spitbox," a greaser Indian who would knife his best friend. As for +'Tonio, whom he had known ever since he came to Arizona in '65, and +once held to be "the wan good Indian in it," 'Tonio had made him +believe he too held Sanchez in contempt. Yet, to all appearance, the +two, who up to this night had been confined entirely apart, had gone +together. One of the counts in the unwritten indictments against +McDowell was that its officers and men had lionized the dangerous +Indian they were bidden to hold under careful guard, had held him +without bond or shackle in a vacant room of the hospital, until that +very day, when, stung by an inspector's comment, Brown ordered him at +last into confinement with Sanchez, who was shackled to a post in the +prison room. Yet all that was left of either was the "greaser's" +chains. _Could_ there have been collusion? + +It meant more trouble for 'Tonio. Instead of facing investigation, as +Harris declared he would, he had fled. It even meant more trouble for +Harris, who, having stood his friend through thick and thin, proclaimed +his innocence in spite of accumulation of evidence, now found himself +utterly alone in his views and all Almy beginning to veer over to +Willett. Willett, now able at last to recognize those about him, was +sitting up a little to be nursed and petted and read to, a recovery in +which the ice, for which Harris had sent his Indian followers forty +miles, had played no unimportant part. Willett was now the object of +devoted care and unspeakable interest, for all Almy hoped to hear the +story of the assault with intent to kill. But Almy was doomed to +disappointment. Beyond the expression of an unalterable conviction that +he had been shot down from ambush by 'Tonio, hammered senseless, and +left for dead, Willett declared he knew no more about it than they did. +He seemed, in fact, to know as little of them as he knew of Stella, +when at last the doctor gave him, without a word, the little packet +held in trust by Mrs. Stannard. "He is muddle-headed yet," said +Bentley, in explanation. "He'll know more after awhile, which is more +than we may," was the mental addition, as he looked into Mrs. +Stannard's doubtful eyes. + +But meanwhile further tidings had come from the San Carlos and beyond. +"Big Chief Jake" had been doing some famous rounding up among the late +recalcitrants. The General-in-Chief had given a feast to the incoming +Indians, had shaken hands with their leaders, ordered rations for the +families until the agency could again take them under its wing, had +detailed escorts to conduct them by easy stages to the reservation set +apart for them, but, as punctilious to the keeping of one part of a +promise as to another, he sent forth his scouting parties to look up +those Indians who had not come in, with strict orders to stick to it +until the fate of the Bennett boys was definitely settled, and the +scattered renegades were captured or destroyed. And this was why Mrs. +Stannard was destined to wait still awhile longer for the home-coming +of her beloved captain. This was why, within the week that followed +their mission in quest of ice, three Indian scouts that were still +"casuals" at Almy, set forth eastward, full panoplied for the field, +with little Harris at their head. + +"Wouldn't you like to see Harold before you go?" Mrs. Archer had asked +him when he called to say good-by. Her heart had warmed to him, as had +Lilian's, in grateful appreciation of that gift of ice ("though of +course Mr. Harris should know that now, under the circumstances, he +really--well, it wasn't at all a matter to be spoken about, but dear +Mrs. Stannard could see for herself that--it were quite as well that +Mr. Harris got back to his duties"). Both mother and daughter, knowing +well what it must have cost in time and labor, had thanked Harris very +prettily, and fully meant all they said, which kept them from saying +too much. It was but natural that his classmates should do anything for +Harold. + +"Would he care to see me?" asked Harris, very quietly. + +"Well, he is sleeping just now, and he needs that so much. Lilian +soothes him to sleep when no medicine can. He can't bear to have her +out of his sight." + +"Then I think I should not disturb them," said Harris. "He'll be +himself again before we are a week away, and you can say good-by for +me, also to Miss Lilian, will you not?" + +It was thus he would have gone, but, as he turned away, compassion +seized the mother's gentle heart, still bleeding--bleeding for her own +beloved boy. After all, how could any young fellow help loving her +Lilian? How could Harris help it? Why should she wish to seek to hold +him aloof? "Come back one minute," she cried, half choking, then +disappeared within. + +And so he turned again. He could not well refuse, and presently She +came and smiled upon him and put her long, slim hand, cool from contact +with iced towelling, into his hot, dry palm, and slipped the fingers +slowly forth again, and spoke almost in whisper, lest the sleeper might +hear her voice and know she had ventured forth and was conversing with +some other man--all in that exaggerated precaution of word and manner +that, whenever so much in love with one man, a girl so often observes +toward others even ever so little in love with her. + +"You have been so good to--us, Mr. Harris, and I know how--he will +thank you when he is able. Till then you must let me. _Good_-by!" Poor +comfort at best, yet what one of us would not have sought it rather +than nothing? And then she was gone lest he should awake and +remember--or Harris should awake and--and forget. She was but a child, +after all, and her fond and beloved mother little less so. + +And of such was Harris's leave taking, cool as his contribution to that +happy rival's comfort, he thought, as he rode drearily away to the +ford, with but a wave of the hand in response to the shout of Craney +and Watts at the shack, while "Barkeep" and a few hangers-on stood +gazing from under the canvas shade at the store, and Case, the silent +bookkeeper, bent over his desk by the east window--the desk wherein +still reposed that big calibre 44, with every chamber loaded and the +handle more coated with dust. + +Half-way to the ford Harris's broncho stumbled and kicked up a muddy +splash in the shallow pool. His rider reined him up sharply and spurred +on; the three pack mules, following in file a scrawny Mexican on the +bell horse, shied clear of the water cloud and emerged with dripping +bellies from a deeper pool just to the left. The Indians, skipping +dry-shod over the bowlders, a dozen yards below, turned their heads at +sound of the stumble, and their keen eyes exchanged glances. Presently +one of them shed his moccasins and waded in toward the mud cloud on the +face of the rippling waters, and, while his companions stood at the +bank, began searching in the knee-deep puddle. Presently again he +swooped, thrust down a bare, brown arm almost to the shoulder, and drew +forth a dripping object a foot long, covered with rust and mud. "Huh!" +was all he said, as he splashed back to shore, exhibiting his prize to +his fellows. Then together the three went a jog trot after Harris and +held it up for his inspection. He took it curiously--an old-fashioned, +war-time, percussion-capped Navy Colt--the pistol officers carried +through the four years of battling in preference to the so-called Army +Colt issued to the cavalry. "Some relic of the old volunteer days at +Almy," said Harris to himself, and bade the Indian keep it. Nor did he +think again of that pistol until many days later. + +That night they bivouacked among the tanks under Diamond Butte. Next +day, toward sunset, as the smoke from the little cook fire went sailing +aloft from the bank of a mountain stream that came tumbling from the +Black Mesa, another little column of smoke answered from among the +pines far up the heights. An Indian touched the young soldier's sleeve +and pointed. Another moment and he was up, blanket in hand and +signalling. That night the escaped prisoner, whom all commanders of +posts or detachments were ordered to arrest wherever found, stood erect +in the firelight, clasping hands with his young leader--'Tonio, the +Apache-Mohave, and 'Tonio had a stirring tale to tell. + +Barely five days later still, Archer and his wife sat hand in hand in +the cool veranda, taking the air. The sun was just down and the flag +had just fluttered to its rest. From the open casement came the murmur +of happy voices, one so very happy it thrilled their hearts. Across the +barren parade the men were just breaking ranks after retreat +inspection, and the officers were coming homeward, unbelting sword or +sabre as they neared their doors, in the impatient fashion of the day. +Strong, the adjutant, still precise and buckled, stalked up to his +commander's steps, halted, saluted, and said: "All present, sir, and +couriers coming up the valley." + +Archer rose to his feet and reached for his binocular. Forgetful of +supper, many men began to gather at the edge of the bluff over by the +office. A brace of sergeants had clambered to the lookout, and Mrs. +Stannard, eager ever for news from her husband, came hurrying to join +her friends. Twilight faded with almost tropical suddenness, but not +before the coming riders could be recognized as troopers, and Mrs. +Stannard's heart was praying they might be her Luce's men. + +"If you had your wish," said Archer, as he lowered the glass and turned +to where the two friends stood, their arms entwining, "what would you +ask for, Mrs. Stannard?" + +"My husband, I suppose," was the answer, "and yet--I've been sitting +hours by poor Mrs. Bennett this day," and the blue eyes began to fill. + +"Heaven send us news of those little fellows soon," said Archer +piously. "If not, I'm afraid her heart will break. Bentley says the +faint hope is all that holds her. Listen to that!" he suddenly cried. +"Listen!" + +Far down beyond the store somebody had set up a shout. Then, as they +stood with beating hearts and straining ears, from the store itself +went up another--three, four voices in unison--a shout that set every +man along the edge of the mesa to swinging his hat. But a veteran +sergeant, Bonner's level-headed right bower, sprang among them, with +uplifted hand and voice. "Quiet, men! Don't yell! Wait!" Then he came +hurrying across the parade, straight to his post commander. "What is +it, sergeant?" was the anxious query, and at the very moment the riders +came wearily jogging over the brow of the hill. + +"Couriers from General Crook, sir. They say the boys are found--safe." + +Bentley was there almost as the foremost horseman sprang from saddle. +"Not a word of it to her--yet!" said he. "Wait until we know exactly. +Go you, sergeant, and tell the steward on no account to let any one +disturb her." And by this time Archer had torn open the letter handed +him, and Doyle had come running out with a lamp. The expressions that +chased each other over the general's features as he hurriedly read +would have baffled an actor: first rejoicing, then amaze, then +perplexity, if not trouble. "Can you tell us, dear?" was the gentle +query that recalled him. + +"Read it--aloud," he said, and though her voice was tremulous, the tone +was clear and the hush breathless. Even Lilian and her lover could hear +every word. + +CAMP ON TONTO CREEK, December --, 5:30 A.M. + +DEAR GENERAL: + +Almy scores again. General Crook sends his best congratulations. The +little Bennetts should be safely with you to-night. We see them as far +as El Caporal. The general takes short cut for McDowell and thence +home. Old Stannard never slept from the moment he got the word until he +got the boys. Harris and 'Tonio located the rancheria and led +unerringly. We are all happy. + +Yours in haste, + +BRIGHT. + +Even in her womanly joy over the rescue, there was wifely sympathy and +instant understanding of her husband's swift-changing mood. The +children were safe--that meant rejoicing for all. Stannard and his +troop were the rescuers--that meant credit and triumph for Archer's +post, and the general awarded it. But Harris and 'Tonio were the +discoverers and leaders. 'Tonio, probably, was the man without whose +aid nothing could have been accomplished. 'Tonio was the hero, +therefore, in the eyes of the commanding general--'Tonio, the man whom +Archer would have condemned and shot. This meant perplexity, if not +worry, as she quickly saw, and went and nestled to his side. Did ever +soldier have such contrary luck as did hers? + +But all were crowding about the couriers for particulars. "Yes," said +the sturdy corporal, who was spokesman for the two, "the little fellows +had been brought in a mule litter from way over toward Chevlon's Fork, +straight to Crook's camp." Captain Stannard with most of his people +would scout the country far as the Chiquito before returning. +Lieutenant Harris and 'Tonio stayed with him, and the general's escort +from "G" troop brought in the boys. + +And by ten o'clock another rider came loping in. The party with the +litter were just behind, the tiny occupants worn out and sound asleep. +"Take them straight to the hospital," said Dr. Bentley. "Mrs. Archer, +Mrs. Stannard, will you come with me?" + +All Almy sat up late that night. Probably not a soldier eye was closed +until long after eleven, and half the garrison clustered about the +hospital, treading on tiptoe and speaking in whispers, as the little +fellows were tenderly lifted from the litter, the weary mules were led +away, and, in the arms of Mrs. Archer and Mrs. Stannard, the sleeping +boys were borne, without word or sound, to the darkened room where, in +the broad white bed that had been the hospital matron's, lay in the +slumber of exhaustion their unconscious mother. Bentley closed the door +behind them, noiselessly as possible. The steward and his wife, both +with tear-brimming eyes, stood by to aid. Deft hands disrobed the +sleeping little forms (Mrs. Archer nearly sobbing aloud at sight of +their thinned and wasted limbs), and invested them in borrowed +"nighties" from buxom Mrs. Kelly's store. Then, cautiously, +noiselessly, the light coverlet was partly raised, the weary little +curly heads were pillowed close beside the mother's, and then, leaving +the night light turned low, stealthily they drew away and waited. "She +never sleeps more'n an hour or two at a time," whispered the steward. +"She'll be sure to wake before long," and so they lingered near the +doorway, and Camp Almy, much of it, clustered in the moonlight without. +Ten, fifteen minutes passed, and still there was no sound from the +darkened room, and then, over at the guardhouse, the sentry on Number +One started the call of eleven o'clock. Number Two, at the storehouse, +took it up in his turn and trolled off his "All's well," and then it +was Number Three's turn, out just under the edge of the bench, and +Three muffled his voice and strove to turn it into a lullaby as he +began, and, as the first words of the soldier watch cry came +floating in through the partly open window, Mrs. Archer's hand +stole forth and clasped that of Mrs. Stannard's, for the mother +had begun to stir. Then, finger on lips, in tremulous excitement, +those loving-hearted friends bent forward, and the watchers, five, +listened and gazed, the women quivering with sympathy and emotion, +for Mrs. Bennett's dark head was slowly lifting from the pillow, +and then, all on a sudden went up a piercing cry--in a very agony of +joy--incredulous, intolerable--"_Danny!_ DANNY! Oh, my God! Don't say +I'm dreaming! And JIMMY!" + +And then, with lusty yowl, the younger of the startled cherubs entered +his protest against this summary awakening, and the words of ecstatic +thanksgiving were for the moment drowned in the chorus of infant +lamentation. Even the rapture of restoration to mother arms was dimmed +by consideration of present discomfort. + +But within were glad-hearted friends, weeping joyfully with her. +Without were sturdy soldiers, shaking hands and slapping backs and +shoulders in clumsy delight, and somebody was moved to say he'd bet the +Old Man wouldn't care if it _was_ after taps, "and--Craney's was still +open." + +And so by dozens they went trooping down, for, though cash was scant +and the paymaster overdue, the rules were suspended and Craney bade +"Barkeep" credit all comers who drank to Harris; and Case, the +bookkeeper, with white and twitching face, waylaid such men as came +from the escort with odd, insistent questioning. If 'Tonio was really +leader in the rescue, had nothing been seen of 'Patchie Sanchez? Was +Sanchez heard of--nowhere?--until, with his fifth free drink to the +health of everybody concerned, Corporal Dooley turned on Case with +"What the hell's it to you, anyhow, whether 'Tonio led or Sanchez's +dead?" and Craney, listening and watching, turned to Watts and asked +had Case begun again? If so, they couldn't too speedily check him. +"Come up here, if you're a man," insisted Dooley, "and have wan on me +to big little Harris and 'Tonio--'Tonio, bedad, even if he _did_ do up +Loot'nent Willett!" + +Whereat, even in the noisy barroom there was sudden silence, save for +responsive murmurs of 'Tonio's name, for strange sympathy had come +sifting in from the columns afield. But Craney had heard in the +adjoining room and was up in an instant, Watts following suit. This +would never do. This was disloyalty to the best and gentlest and most +courteous of post commanders, and no soldier should, no employé of his +_could_, drink such a toast within Craney's doors. But he need not have +feared. Promptly a big sergeant had interposed, and caught the corporal +by the wrist, with thunderous "None of that, Dooley!" Prompt came +Case's answer, though low-toned and guarded: "I'm drinking nothing, +man, till after pay-day. _Then_ come at me and I'll settle it with you +drink for drink." + +But Dooley's Irish blood was up, five fingers of tanglefoot tingling in +each fist and bubbling in his brain. Struggling in the sergeant's +grasp, he shouted his reply: "Settle be damned! How'd _you_ settle wid +Willett for the girl he did you out? Bluffed him on a queen high, and +called it square! You're nothin' but a bluffer, Case, an' all Vancouver +knowed it!" In the instant of awkward, amazed silence that followed no +man moved. Then, his face still whiter, his lips livid, Case turned to +Sergeant Woodrow. "That man has no right to be heard here--much less to +be wearing chevrons," said he. "His name's Quigley, a deserter from the +Lost and Strayed!" + +It was then just midnight, and the sergeant of the guard, coming to +close the festivities, went back with an unlooked-for prisoner, who, +every inch of the way, cursed and foamed and fought, and swore hideous +vengeance on Case for a cur and a coward, so that the fury of his +denunciation reached even the general's quarters, where peace and +congratulation were having sway, and lovers were still whispering ere +parting for the night--reached even the ears of Willett himself, +reclining blissfully at the open window, with Lilian's hand in his, her +fair head pillowed on his shoulder. There in the open hearth lay the +ashes of the letters, unread, unopened, that had come to accuse him, +but even the fires of hell could not burn out the memory of the wrong +that, after all, had tracked him here unerringly, for in the few +half-drunken, all-damning words that reached him, Harold Willett heard +the trumpeting of his own disgrace. His sin had found him out. + +And, barely an hour before, he had sworn to her that the Stella of whom +he had babbled in his dreams was indeed but a favorite hound he had +lost in the Columbia; that no Stella had penned a line to him in years, +and, taking her sweet, upturned face between his palms, with the soft, +tender brown eyes looking fondly down into the trustful, beautiful +blue, he had said: "My darling, like other men, I have had fancies in +boyish days, and even a flame or two, but never a love, _real_ love, +until you came into my life. In a week now I must be with my general at +Prescott, but every day, every moment of my absence, you will be the +only girl in all the world to me. I shall shrink from the mere touch of +another hand. I shall count the hours until you become my wife." + +And she believed him, utterly, poor soul. He even believed himself. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + + +The Gray Fox had returned to his own. The general commanding the +department was spending a month at head-quarters--for him, who loved +the mountains and the field, a most unusual thing. The wild tribes of +Arizona, with the exception of one specially exempted band of +Chiricahuas and a few hopeless desperadoes with a price on their heads, +were gathered to their reservations--a most unheard-of thing in all +previous annals of the territory--and a season of unprecedented gayety +had dawned on the post of Fort Whipple and the adjacent martial +settlement, the homes of the staff and their families. The general and +his good wife, childless, and boundless in their hospitality, had +opened their doors to army wayfarers. New officers were there from +'Frisco and the States. Matrons and young women, new to Arizona, had +come to enliven the once isolated posts of the desert and mountain. +Major Dennis, of one supply department, was accompanied by a young and +lovely and lively wife, who danced, if Dennis did not. Major Prime, of +another, had recently been joined by his wife and two daughters, +bright, vivacious girls, just out of school and into society, and, +perhaps most important of all, Colonel and Mrs. Darrah, of the +Infantry, had come, accompanied by their daughter Evelyn, as beautiful +and dashing a belle as had ever bewildered the bachelors about the +Golden Gate, and from every camp or post within a hundred miles or more +junior officers had been called in to Prescott, on "Board," +court-martial duty or leave, until nearly a dozen were gathered, and +while boards and courts dragged their slow length, and maps, reports +and records of the recent campaign were being laboriously yawned over +at odd intervals during the sunshiny days, far more thought and time +and attention were being given to riding, driving, tramping and picnic +parties--even croquet coming in for honorable mention--while every +night had its "hop" and some nights their ball that lasted well toward +morning, and for the first time in its history "head-quarters" was +actually gay. Time had been in the recent past when a Fort Whipple hop +consisted, as said a cynical chief commissary, in "putting on full +uniform and watching Thompson dance a waltz," there being then but one +officer at the station equipped with the requisite accomplishment. Now +there were more dancers than girl partners. The latter were in their +glory, and the married women in clover. "_Let_ them have a good time," +said the chief, when his pragmatical adjutant would have suggested +sending some of them back to their posts to finish maps and reports +they were only neglecting here. "But they'll be getting impatient at +division head-quarters," said the man of tape and rule. It was a whip +which often told on department commanders, but not on Crook. "_Let_ +them have a good time. Every one of those youngsters has been scouting +and fighting and living on bacon and beans for the last six months, and +I like to see them dance." The office-bred officer sighed, and wondered +what the papers, or Congress, would say if they knew it. The +service-tried soldier said he'd take all the raps and responsibility, +and that ended it. So here were the young gallants of the cavalry and +infantry, active, slender, sinewy, clear-eyed, bronze-cheeked fellows, +as a rule, capital dancers and riders, all-round partners, too, though +few had a penny laid by for a rainy day, and several had mortgaged pay +accounts. There was Billy Ray, from Camp Cameron, who could outride a +_vaquero_, and "Legs" Blake from McDowell, who could outclimb an +Apache, and Stryker, of the scouts, who had won fame in a year, and +"Lord" Mitchell, his classmate, whom the troopers laughed at for a fop +the first few months, and then worshipped for his daring after the +pitched battle at the Caves. There were three or four young benedicts +with better halves in the far East, who had forgotten little of their +dancing days, and not too much of their wooing, and there were lesser +lights among the subs, and two or three captains still uncaught, and +even one or two men of whom others spoke not too highly, like Craven, +and "that man Gleason," to whom Blake would not speak at all. Then +there were Steele and Kelly from Wickenberg and Date Creek, and Strong +was to come up from Almy, bringing with him in chains the desperado, +'Patchie Sanchez, secreted by his own people when charged with the +killing of the interpreter, but tamely sold when a price was set on his +head. And the commander sent still another missive to Archer, whom the +luckier general held in especial affection, enclosing one from the good +wife to Mrs. Archer, begging that she and Lilian should be their guests +for a week, "and as long thereafter as practicable," that the +engagement might be ratified and celebrated, "for we all think Mr. +Willett the most fortunate of men." + +And then, of course, there were Wickham and Bright, the general's other +aides, who were famous entertainers, and then, above all, +perhaps--pitted for the first time against all the soldier beaux of +Arizona--there was the general's latest acquisition, handsome, +graceful, charming Hal Willett, who had, with characteristic modesty, +made no mention of the fact that he was an engaged man until Mrs. +Stannard's letter to Mrs. Crook told all about it, and we, who knew and +loved Mrs. Stannard, knew just why she wrote, and never blamed her, as +did Willett. + +The very night of the very day it came he was dancing gloriously with, +and had been saying things to, Evelyn Darrah that she one day earlier +had listened to with bated breath. Now his mustache swept her pretty +ear as he lowered his head in the midst of the loveliest "glide," and +murmured something more, whereat she had suddenly swung herself out of +the circle of his arm, swept him a stately courtesy and fairly +startled--_stunned_ him by the question: "Isn't that just a little +high--for a gentleman's game, Mr. Willett?" + +The very words were enough to amaze him! "What on earth do you mean?" +he demanded, as soon as he recovered self-control. + +"I mean," said she, straightening to her full height again, and looking +him fairly in the eyes, "that for an engaged man you have exceeded, or, +as you would say, 'raised the limit.'" + +There were dozens dancing, chatting, laughing about them, and some few +watching, for his attentions, first to pretty Mrs. Dennis, and then the +devotions by means of which he had swept aside all other suitors of +Evelyn Darrah, had set all tongues to wagging. "The old Willett over +again," said Bright, who had known him at the Point. Only that day had +the mail come up from Almy and McDowell, and he ought to have known +what it would betray. There must have been other letters--men's +letters--for at mess there had been sly allusions to the fluctuations +of fortune, the comparative values of "straights" and "pats," and this +girl had turned and taunted him with the very words of that infernal, +and he had hoped, forgotten game. Moreover, she, a brilliant, +beautiful, practised woman of society, by no means the delicate and +sensitive little desert flower whose worship he had won so readily, had +dared to fence with him, had interested, piqued, fascinated, and now +wellnigh bewitched him. He was not yet well of his wounds by any manner +of means. He was still weak--far too weak to ride or climb or do much +in the way of walking, but he could look, and be most interesting +lolling in an invalid chair. Women had come and ministered to him in +his convalescence, and pretty Mrs. Dennis had made quite a fool of +herself, said certain elders, but when it came to cutting in for Evelyn +Darrah, Willett had had to be up and doing, even finally, for her and +her alone, as he murmured, daring to dance. There was nothing else he +did so supremely well, and men and women watched them enviously, +perhaps, yet delightedly, and men and women were watching now as he +followed her to her seat, dropped to the one beside her, and bent +absorbedly over her again, pale, agitated, and they saw her speaking, +saw him vehemently pleading, saw him prevailing, for his pallor and +emotion lent force to his impassioned words. Practised belle, coquette, +flirt she might have been, but the woman is rare indeed who can utterly +disbelieve, in face of such a combination, that she at least is loved. +Stella's impassioned letters once lay in unbroken packages upon his +mantel. Another star had risen and set, and sent its missives only to +the ashes of his grate, and now this very night, hidden in his desk, +lay long, close-written, criss-crossed, exquisite pages, the +outpourings of a young and guileless and glorious nature, and they, +too, lay, as did that early Stella's, unread, unheeded, almost +undesired, for the man was inflamed by this dauntless woman's defiance +of him, and the devil in him was urging: woo her, win her, conquer her, +_crush_ her, come what may! + +That night was but one of several in quick succession. On every hand he +had to smile, and say conventional words of thanks for the pointed and +repeated congratulations showered upon him. Men and women went out of +their way at every turn to remind him, as it were, that he was a +mortgaged man; and yet, so strangely was he constituted, life for him +at the moment seemed to have but one object worth attaining--Evelyn +Darrah. Day and night he sought her, pursued her, and men began to shun +him, and he never heeded. Women began to shrink from her, and she saw, +yet, for to some there is the gambler's madness in the game, she _let_ +them shrink. What were their slights in comparison with the thrilling +joy of this conquest? This man was at her feet, abject, pleading, +praying. It was hers to spurn or sway him as she would. Never doubting +her own power to turn him any instant adrift, she found delight in the +passion of so virile, graceful, glorious a lover, the man of whom she +had heard other women speak for three long years, and now he was +hers--hers to do with as she dared--to break or make as was her +caprice. What--what if men looked stern and women shrank? This was a +game well worth the candle, let them sneer who would. + +What had promised to be a fortnight of jollification had become charged +with matters of grave moment. Strong had arrived, bringing the shackled +Sanchez, and, when hospitably bidden to stay a week and have some fun, +he said he reckoned he ought to get back as quick as possible--"the Old +Man had much to bother him," this in confidence to Bright. "The Old +Man's coming up here," said Bright, "quick as the general can coax him, +and he's just going to have a welcome that will warm the cockles of his +heart," and then, like the loyal aide he was, Bright essayed to make +Archer's adjutant see that while the general commanding had been +constrained to differ with the commander at Camp, Almy, he personally +held him in affection and esteem. "I'm afraid," said he, "General +Archer thinks he is misunderstood about this 'Tonio business, +and--and--Harris. Here's Willett, now, perfectly willing to drop the +whole case against 'Tonio and say no more about it." + +"What?" said Strong, in amaze. "Why, at Almy he damned him time and +again--swore he had twice tried to kill him. If he acquits 'Tonio, whom +in God's name does he suspect?" asked Strong, a queer thought occurring +to him as he recalled the furious words of the deserter Dooley, _alias_ +Quigley, another prisoner to be tried. + +Bright dodged. "The queer thing about it," said he, "is that Brown +there, at McDowell, is demanding investigation, and says he believes +there was collusion in camp--men who insist that 'Tonio's a trump. And +now we have news from Harris, and he demands investigation, in 'Tonio's +name--says there's a side to the story only 'Tonio can tell, and will +tell only to the Big Chief." + +Strong pondered a moment. "There's more than one queer thing we can't +fathom at Almy," said he. "Harris and 'Tonio never had anything to do +with that Sanchez crowd. 'Tother Sanchez, and Muñoz, helped the chase +of 'Tonio--did their best to catch him, and yet over at McDowell +they're thick as thieves." + +"Not a bit of it! They never saw each other until--well, somebody made +Brown believe the general would censure his showing favors to 'Tonio, +so what does he do but order him in with Sanchez. That night both get +away. Then 'Patchie's own people brought him back for cash. There isn't +money or blood enough in all Arizona to tempt them to lay hands on +'Tonio. Sanchez wants to talk with the general, says he can tell things +the chief would like to know. Can he?" + +"How should I know?" asked Strong. "There's more of a mix in this +business than I can straighten out. It looks to me as though more than +one man had his grudge against this fine feathered bird that came down +to show us how to tackle Apaches," and Bright changed the subject, as +was his way when men or women ventured to question the methods of the +Powers. All the same, he told his general of Strong's suspicions, and +that night the general summoned both Sanchez and Strong, and there was +a scene in the moonlight, down by the old log guard-house. + +Sanchez, heavily shackled and scared almost out of his wits in the +belief that he would speedily be hanged, or shot to death, fell on his +knees at sight of the tall, bearded commander, and strove to seize his +hand. In the indescribable jargon of the Indo-Mexican frontier, he +implored the general's mercy; he wailed that he was a poor and wronged +and innocent man. He had no thought of killing--only inducing the +interpreter to leave him, and the interpreter tried to shoot him. It +was to save his own life he slashed at his guardian and ran, never +knowing he had hurt him. He was frightened at McDowell; thought +soldiers planned to lynch him. He dared not stay. He had filed his +shackles and the window bars, and was watching opportunity to tear them +loose and run, when 'Tonio was put in his cell. That night he saw his +chance, climbed out and slid away to the mountains, just before the +third relief was inspected, but he did not wake or tell 'Tonio. 'Tonio +was a wicked Indian, who twice tried to kill Lieutenant Willett. 'Tonio +should be hanged. 'Tonio's people hated Sanchez, because he "always +friend to the Big Chief Crook and the Americanos." 'Tonio knew where to +find him, it seems, and set Lieutenant Harris to catch him. Now, said +Sanchez, if Big Chief only would let him go he would bring in two, +three 'Patchie-Mohaves, 'Tonio's own people, who saw 'Tonio shoot and +try to kill Teniente Willett--saw him shoot and club, shoot twice. +Sanchez called on the Blessed Virgin and all the saints to witness his +innocence, his entire truth, and the chief, with just one gesture of +disbelief and disgust, turned quietly away. + +"You may as well tell him, Wickham," said he, and, with Bright at his +side, strode back to head-quarters hill, leaving Strong and his senior +aide to settle the matter. + +"You damned fool!" said Blackbeard contemptuously. "It wasn't 'Tonio; +it was your own people gave you up. It wasn't 'Tonio; it was your own +brother shot Teniente Willett. His own revolver was found at the spot. +Your own people say he did it!" + +"Lie! Lie!" shrieked Sanchez, livid from fright and amaze. "José no +have pistol that night. José lose him to Case--monte--two days before! +_Case_ shoot him! _Case_ shoot him! Muñoz see him. 'Patchie-Mohave see +him! Look, Señor Capitan, I bring them all--all say so." + +"I thought we'd be getting at bottom facts before we finished with our +greaser gang," said Wickham, with no symptom of either surprise or +emotion. "Very good, Sanchez. We'll give you the chance to swear to it +and bring your witnesses. Take him in, sergeant, and keep this to +yourself. Now bring out Dooley." + +Half an hour later, just as the midnight call of the sentries was going +the rounds, Hal Willett, after whispered words of good-night to a tall +and slender shadow at Darrah's door, came swiftly up the steps of his +new quarters, and was surprised to find a little group at the adjoining +veranda. Two civilians were there, one of whom he knew to be the +sheriff. Strong was there and Wickham was giving some instructions in +low tone to the three. + +"You start at dawn," were the words that caught Willett's ear, "and you +should have him at Prescott within the week. Sure you need no further +escort?" + +"Sure," was the sententious answer of the tall civilian, as he +sauntered to the steps. + +"What is it?" asked Willett, at a venture. + +"Just a flyer, Willett," said Blackbeard, in the most off-hand manner +imaginable. "Sanchez swears it was Case who shot you, and we're having +him up to explain." + +For an instant four men stood watching Willett's face. Pale at almost +any time of late, it seemed to have turned ashen in the pallid light +about them. He swayed, too, a trifle, as though from sudden shock, and +it was a second or two before he found his voice. Then: + +"What infernal rot! Didn't they find my own pistol, that 'Tonio had +stolen, where his fellows or he had dropped it in their flight?" + +"O, Lord, yes," was the airy answer, "five miles away. But Harris found +the real one, right there at the spot. Case won it from Sanchez just +two days before. So he'll be here with 'Tonio the end of the week." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + + +That week was a bad one for Harold Willett. The general, taking Bright +with him as usual, had whirled away in his stout spring wagon to +supervise the re-establishment of the Indians lately in rebellion. The +agent at the Verde reservation had developed symptoms of stampede that +were later diagnosed and treated as insanity. It must be owned that he +had lived through troublous times and had had experiences to try the +nerve of a man of iron, which he was not. The general, after settling +matters to his satisfaction at the reservation, purposed a descent on +Colonel Pelham and Camp Sandy, for consultation with him and a +conference with the troop and company commanders returned to their +soldier honors, after their strenuous scout through the mountains. He +left Wickham to represent him at headquarters and continue his +investigation, and he left Willett to--recuperate, for already he had +repented him of the impulse that led to the brilliant officer's +appointment on his personal staff. Willett had been a valuable and +distinguished soldier in that northern field, and only by these things +had the general known him. That Willett was a many-sided man, that he +could be an eager and ambitious officer when once afield, and a mere +butterfly about the garrison, had not occurred to this simple-minded +chief. The combination of terrier and lapdog is rare in the army. +However, Willett was not yet fit for field service, and the Gray Fox +meant that he should have fair play and a chance to redeem himself. + +"We couldn't send him away just now even if he were fit to ride," said +Wickham confidentially to his brother aide-de-camp. "Dooley's trial +begins presently, and he wants Willett as to character. But Archer and +his household should be here by Friday. Then he'll have to behave." + +Willett, of course, knew that Archer had been sent for, was coming up +and would probably bring Mrs. Archer and Lilian. According to his +estimate, too, the family should be here some time Friday. Meantime he +had a fortress to reduce whose garrison had already flung out signals +of distress. "Evelyn Darrah may have been a flirt at 'Frisco," said +Mrs. Crook, "and she's had more experience than most girls of her +years, but she's not heartless, and that good-looking scamp knows it." + +"Have you talked with Mrs. Darrah?" asked a fair friend at a venture. + +"Talked with Kate Darrah! Of course I've talked with her! and told her +just what people are saying and thinking, but Kate Darrah was just such +a flirt when she was a girl. Kate Darrah many a time pulled the wool +over her mother's eyes, and now hers is being pulled the same way. Evvy +leads her mother by the nose." + +"Colonel Darrah, then," was the suggestion. + +"Dicky Darrah!" laughed Mrs. Crook, in merry disdain. "Dicky Darrah +never dares oppose Evvy--let alone his wife. Kate Darrah says it just +serves Hal Willett right. It's no fault of hers that he's daft about +Evvy, who's simply bent on giving him a lesson he richly deserves. When +the Archers come she'll drop it--and him." + +But the Archers came sooner than any one about Prescott deemed likely +at all. Somebody said, and more than one somebody thought, that Mrs. +Archer had had more than a hint as to what was going on. But never did +Mrs. Archer look or admit it. The mail riders had resumed their trips. +The paymaster had made his visit to McDowell and had safely traversed +the Mazatzal and distributed his shekels at Almy. Almost every day +there had been comings and goings, and though no letters bearing +Willett's superscription went to Almy except by regular mail, even +these, it seems, the pressure of his duties made brief and unlike what +Lilian had looked for, so that the radiance had gone from her sweet +face almost as quickly as it came. Even the girl who bravely insists +that the beloved one is beyond doubt, and above suspicion, and all that +is perfect, as Lilian strove to insist--even she will feel in her heart +of hearts that there has been neglect, and neglect crushes. + +Archer saw and said nothing but "Get ready as quick as we can." They +were looked for Friday noon. They were ushered into the general's +hospitable quarters late Thursday evening, relayed on from the Agua +Fria, after a good noonday rest in camp, and even in bidding them +welcome, welcome over again, Mrs. Crook pointed to the brightly lighted +assembly room down the winding roadway. "They're having a holiday dance +to-night," said she to Lilian. "We'll toddle down after tea and take +them all by surprise." + +For three days Willett had hardly been seen at the office, where indeed +there was little for him to do, except perhaps read the letters that +had begun to come again from various quarters. He had merely slept at +home; he had simply lived at the Darrahs. He was hardly seen by any +associates except dancing attendance upon this tall, imperious beauty, +who, for her part, seemed now to accept his devotions as a matter of +course, and to be regardless of public opinion. Begun in pique, or +vanity, or devilment, whatever it may have been at the start, her +indifference at first, her coquetry, her wiles, her defiance of his +powers had spurred, fascinated and finally maddened him. Then, when she +would have drawn back, his apparent, his acted or his actual +desperation terrified her, and, all too late, her own battered heart +cried out for relief. In spite of herself she found her resolution +gone, her indifference rebuked, her strength wasted, sapped. She was +yielding to him when she meant to scorn. She was clinging to him when +she meant to spurn. And now the last night, the last of +their--flirtation had come, and as she fluttered away on his arm to +take their place in the dance, the cynosure of all eyes, Evelyn Darrah +_knew_ that she was facing her fate, that before the midnight hour she +must answer. He would so have it. Recklessly enough she had begun. What +meant such affairs to her but a laugh? Yet, only the night before, as +they stood murmuring in the shade at her father's doorway, and he was +begging for some little word, touch, token--something to bid him hope +in the hell of his despair, imploring her to see his engagement as he +saw it--a something entered into in his enfeebled condition because he +saw, everybody saw, that fair young girl's self-betrayal, and he had +mistaken gratitude, pity, tenderness for love, until he, Harold +Willett, had met _her_, Evelyn Darrah, and at last learned what it was +to love, passionately, overwhelmingly--to love, to worship, to need, to +crave, and then on a sudden she had felt herself seized in his clasp, +and before she could, if she would, tear herself adrift, his lips, +burning with eagerness, had sought and found hers--upraised. Then she +had broken from his embrace, but not till then. _This_ morning she had +pleaded headache and kept to her room. _This_ afternoon she had had to +meet him, and could not repel, reproach, rebuke as she had at last +meant to do. Others were ever about them then. There must be no scene, +and he was quite capable of making one. And now this night he had come +for her, yes, and for her answer. He was ready, he said, to resign from +the staff at once, return to his regiment, break with the Archers, +explaining that it was all--all a mistake, and then with her promise to +be his wife, what spur would there not be to his ambition? He--but it +all made her feverish--frantic! There was but one refuge--to dance, +dance until her whirling brain and throbbing heart were exhausted in +the wild exhilaration, to dance incessantly, with man after man who +sought her, though few had opportunity owing to his persistence. And +she had been dancing incessantly, as we danced in those days--galop, +deux temps, redowa, waltz, the long, undulating, luxurious, sensuous +sweep of the "glide," and men and women stood and watched them, time +and again, when Willett claimed her--and he hardly had look or word for +others--so wondrous was that harmony of motion, that grace and beauty +of feature and of form. Then at last came exhaustion. + +There were some little clumps of cedars on the slope just south of the +assembly hall, as it stood there on the low ground midway between the +head-quarters houses on the ridge to the south, and the even less +commodious cottages of the puny garrison. There was a boardwalk of +creaking pine, leading across the shallow ravine, for it sometimes +rained up here in the mountains, though it never seemed to in the deep, +arid valleys to the east. Then there was a gravel path stretching away +toward the garrison houses north and north-east, and one, still +narrower and crookeder, winding up among the pines and cedars and +disappearing over the top of the knoll, where the broad veranda of the +general's mansion overlooked the entire scene. Sometimes when the +evenings were warm and the dancers flushed, and sometimes even when +there was no such excuse, young couples were wont to saunter out in the +starlight for air and sentiment and "spooning." Already Willett knew +the labyrinth, and welcomed the excuse to lead her forth, his arm +almost supporting her. It was about eleven. The elders were absorbing +mild refreshments at the moment. The musicians were glad of a rest, a +sandwich and a cup of coffee, and a puff at a pipe before again +resuming their melodious, if monotonous, labor. The windows of the +assembly room were so near the ground that it was easy for these who +did not attend the dances to supervise from without, and it often +happened that a fringe of respectfully admiring spectators would +surround the building until the late roll-call summoned the soldier +circle away. + +And yet this Thursday night there were two or three little parties +peering in at the southward windows, some of whom came down from the +general's quarters very late. To Mrs. Crook's laughing suggestion that +they should "toddle down after tea" Mrs. Archer had entered gentle +protest. It was too late. They were not dressed. She feared Lilian was +too tired. What mother would not oppose her precious daughter's making +her appearance at a dance in travelling garb, after a day of driving? +To her mother's protest Lilian had at first made no rejoinder. The +flush of the first few minutes of welcomed arrival soon left her +winsome face, and the resultant pallor emphasized her mother's +edict--that she was too tired. But it was not long before they noted, +all of them--father, mother and hostess--that her thoughts were only +there at the dance, that her ears were attentive only to the strains of +music that, once in a while, came wafting upward from the hall, and +when a little later, refreshed by tea and a bountiful supper, they +again returned to the parlor and the sound of the dance, Mrs. Crook +caught the longing in Lilian's eyes. + +"Oh, come," she said, "let's just run down a few minutes and peep in; +Lilian wants to see, and I'll send word in, sidewise, that will bring +somebody out with a jump." + +They seized their wraps and started, Archer gallantly tendering his arm +to the commander's wife, but she would none of it. "Nonsense! I've got +to pilot _you_! That walk is steep and crooked and pitch dark when you +get among the cedars. I want to chat with Mrs. Archer," and the old +soldier thanked her in his heart. More than ever before he wished to +have that arm about his own little girl this night. Was it possible she +too felt the premonition that had come to him? Had her mother, after +all, told her of the little hints they had received? Something had +come. He could swear it. Something to make her strangely silent, but +eager, fluttering, nervous--something that prompted her as they neared +the building, and the little hand clinging to her father's arm shook +with strange excitement, to bend forward close to their friend and +hostess, and just as the latter was about to hail some young officer on +the steps, Lilian interposed. "Oh--please," was all she said, but her +fingers had caught the fluttering fold of the mantle, and Mrs. Crook +turned at once. "You'd rather not?" she asked, with quick, sympathetic +understanding. "I won't then. Plenty of time. Let's watch the dance +first." + +And so saying she had marshalled them close to the southward windows, +Lilian and her father at the near-most, she and Mrs. Archer going on to +the next. + +It was Keler Beler's "Am Schoenen Rhein" they were playing at the +moment, with its sweet, weird, luring, mournful, warning Lorelei +_motif_ dominating in the waltz measure, and, with parted lips and +clinging to her father's side, Lilian stood close to the window and +looked and listened, saying not one word. There were but three couples +dancing at the moment. There might as well have been but one for, +within the hall and without, the eyes of all seemed fastened on that. +Some strange caprice had prompted Evelyn Darrah to wear black that +night--a grenadine, with cobweb lace and glinting spangles and sweeping +train, the bodice cut low and displaying her shapely arms and neck and +shoulders, enhancing the grace of her tall and slender form. Her dark +hair was coiled in masses, yet here and there a curl or tendril fell +upon the soft, polished skin, or floated about cheek and temple. Her +eyelids, heavily lashed, veiled her downcast eyes. Her coral lips were +slightly parted. Her almost queenly head was bowed as though to incline +that little ear to catch the words he was eagerly pouring into it. Not +a vestige of a smile was on either face, each was dark, sombre, +beautiful, absorbed. His handsome head was bowed until the curling +mustache swept her rounded, flushing cheek. In exquisite rhythm and +harmony the two tall, graceful forms swayed in unison with the +exquisite love music, every step, every motion perfectly attuned. It +seemed as though no guiding were necessary. Slowly gliding, turning, +reversing, he in his faultless uniform, she in her sweeping, diaphanous +sable, seemed, without effort or the faintest exertion, fairly floating +upon air. No wonder they sat or stood and gazed--these elders along the +bordering benches--these others among the dancers--these few, wordless, +at the windows. Then, with the Lorelei melody lingering to the last, +the sweet, sad music died away and the waltz was ended. People began to +move toward the doorway. "They're going for their bite and sup," said +Mrs. Crook. "See, there go the bandsmen. Shall--_we_?" + +"I think not, if you don't mind," said Mrs. Archer with anxious glance +at the other window, where Lilian still stood, looking straight at the +doorway through which that couple had led and so many now were +following. She had neither spoken nor moved, nor had he, her father. +His back was toward them, but from the very pose of his head the wife +well knew his eyes were fixed upon the face of his beloved child, with +who can say what depth of sorrow, sympathy, yearning for her--with what +passion of wrath and resentment for him. "Come," said Mrs. Crook +briefly, for she, too, saw. Then Archer gently laid his hand upon the +slender fingers that seemed clinching his arm, and with sudden little +gasp or sob, and shiver, Lilian whirled upon him, her eyes big and dry +and glittering. "Oh! wasn't it--didn't they dance--beautifully?" she +cried, as he ground his teeth and turned to lead her away. + +And just at that instant--just as such things _will_ happen, who should +come chirruping round the corner but the chaplain and his wife, with +Mrs. Chief Quartermaster and a guest from Camp Sandy, just in time to +stumble upon Mrs. Crook and Mrs. Archer vainly striving to dodge and +get home. It was too late. They were captured, surrounded, pounced +upon. "Oh, _when_ did you come?" "Oh, _how_ did you get here?" "Oh, +_where_ is Lilian?" etc., etc., and Archer, never hesitating, quick was +he in action ever, instantly turned about. "This way, sweetheart," he +murmured, in the fond father love that welled from his great heart. A +few strides carried them back into the darkness, around by the westward +end, where the clamor of voices and clatter of cups and plates at the +supper room drowned other sounds, and then in the darkness he led his +darling, voiceless still, across the little wooden bridge and up the +gentle slope among the cedars, hoping by a wide detour to dodge these +importunates and lead his child to her own room, and there mount guard +over her until the mother came. There is a sorrow that passeth +understanding, and is known not of all men--the mute, helpless, +impotent sorrow of the father who feels the heartache, and sees the +suffering of a beloved child, and cannot even trust himself to speak of +it. + +And Fate was still against them. The God that meant to cure was +merciful and merciless as is the knife. Sinless as was this gentle +flower, even she must suffer and endure, for here were obstacles again, +even here across their path! They were upon them almost before they +knew it, yet upon them unseen, unheard, for, absorbed in each other, +this opposing couple knew nothing but their own affair, and well they +might, for a sob was the first sound to catch the soldier's ear, a +stifled cry, and then a deep, manly voice imploring, protesting, a +torrent of murmured words, fond, assuring, caressing, passionate, a +deluge of thrilling endearments, a mingling of sobs and kisses, for the +woman's overcharged nature had broken under the strain, and in the +refuge of his clasping arms was sobbing her heart out on this new +lover's breast. Archer, raging, would have brushed them by, but Lilian +held him. "Not that way; oh, not that way!" she whispered hoarsely. And +then he understood, and together they fled back the way they came. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + + +It was a merciful Providence, as many of the exiles later said, that +brought the commanding general himself late that starlit evening back +to Prescott. His stout mountain wagon, and special six-mule team had +whirled him up from the Verde after the briefest of conferences with +the cavalry colonel there in command. An Indian runner from Almy had +reached them early that Thursday morning, announcing the return of +Stannard and his troop, accompanied by Lieutenant Harris, 'Tonio and +certain of the Apache-Mohaves, the arrest by civil authorities and +attempted suicide of Case, and the further gathering under the wing of +the law of José Sanchez, of Muñoz, and even of Dago, all of whom, it +was said, were wanted at Prescott. Stannard found the Archers gone, +found himself, as senior captain, temporarily in command of the post, +and called upon to furnish military escort for the civil _posse +comitatus_. Stannard was a soldier pure and simple. He would have shown +as a mammoth bull in a china shop had he and his troop been at the +moment in the Southern states, instead of the south-western territory. +He stood ready to do any amount of arresting the government might +order. He was entirely willing to send a subaltern and a score of +troopers to convoy the entire party--sheriff and deputies, posse and +prisoners--to the territorial capital, but, like the old war-horse he +was, he balked, stiff-necked and stiff-legged, at the sheriff's demand +that the escort should report to _him_--should be, in point of fact, +under his orders. + +Not to put too fine a point upon it, Stannard had said he'd see him +damned first, whereupon the sheriff refused to make the trip, and +appealed to the territorial authorities, while Stannard sent a runner +up to district head-quarters for instructions. Each messenger had +nearly ninety miles to go, so the race was about even, despite the fact +that the sheriff's couriers were mounted and Stannard's runner went +afoot. The uninitiated would have backed the riders to win, but +Stannard backed the runner. The former were deputies and white; the +latter was Apache-Mohave and brown. The former had a road and a +roadside ranch or two, whereat they might and did obtain rest and +refreshment. The redskin had only a trail, and no temptations. The +Apache won out in a walk, literally a jog-trot. Luck as well as pluck +favored the latter, for he found the department, as well as the +district, commander at Sandy, and Stannard's instructions were started +back that very morning. "Come up yourself to Prescott," they said. +"Bring Harris and 'Tonio and such of 'Tonio's people as are necessary. +Come prepared to stay a week at least, and be sure that Mrs. Stannard +comes with you. Use your own judgment as to route and escort. Offer the +sheriff the protection, but by no manner of means the command, of your +party." + +Having thus settled that question, the Gray Fox bethought him that it +might be just as well to scoot for home, lest other councils should +prevail about the capital. Such councils had prevailed, and in the +recent past. He had still in mind the embarrassing episode of Willett's +"instructed" descent upon Almy. In view of all the resultant +complications he could not well forget it, and so, having finished his +chat with Pelham, the tireless brigadier went bowling away by mountain +road, the faithful Bright beside him, and was landed at his own door +soon after eleven P.M. in abundant time to meet the situation on the +morrow. Even in those days, when the stars went to the fighting force +instead of the staff corps, it sometimes happened that a bureau officer +had political wires to work. + +And there were other reasons why he had come not a moment too soon. +People had so little to talk about in those far Western wilds that they +who had, as related, unexpectedly met our hostess and her guest in the +darkness, and learned from them that they and Archer and Lilian had +been "looking on for ever so long," must needs hurry back to the +ballroom and tell it over and again. "Why didn't you bring them in?" +"Why didn't you make them come in?" were the questions impulsively +asked and not easily answered. They couldn't make them come in! Mrs. +Crook said they were far too tired! They had only just come down to see +how gay and pretty it all looked, and hear the music a minute, before +going to bed! Now they were going to bed! + +Then the people began looking for Willett and Evelyn Darrah. There were +not a few who would have been glad to be able to tell _them_ this piece +of news, but the bliss was denied. There was nothing unusual in dancers +going out in the starlight, as had Willett and Evelyn. There was +something odd about their not returning, however, and Mrs. Darrah +presently whisked the colonel home to see about it. Then they did not +return. They found the two on the dark piazza, just home, as said the +daughter. She had a headache and could dance no more, and now would say +good-night, which she said, and that left the colonel alone with +Willett. The mother followed the daughter in-doors to see _if_ she knew +of the arrival, and then to see _that_ she did. The father felt his way +for a moment for some means of getting rid, without rudeness, of this +disturbing young man, and found that he could not. Willett had +something on his mind and, as soon as he saw it, Darrah was scared. In +evident mental excitement Willett had followed, closed the door after +her, then, pulling nervously at his mustache, had turned on the +putative head of the house. "Colonel Darrah," he began in a moment, "I +have something I feel I must say to you----" + +"Then _don't_, my boy, for God's sake!" said Darrah. "Say it to Mrs. +Darrah, will you? She--er--settles all--this sort of thing for me. She +understands--er--Evvy--if anybody does--I'm blessed if I can, +and--er--if you don't mind, I--I--I think I'll say good-night. Have a +smoke or a drink before you go?" he asked, in enforced and miserable +recognition of the demands of hospitality. "No? Well, of course, you'd +rather be back, I suppose," and so saying, he hoped to get Willett to +go without being the one to either hear what Willett had to say or even +to tell Willett what he knew--that at this very moment Lilian Archer, +the girl to whom this young gallant's love and loyalty were +pledged--was harbored there beneath their general's roof, where the +lights were burning on the brow of the hill. + +So not for half an hour did Willett get the news. He would not return +to the hop room. He did not go directly home. He dimly saw the mule +team, at spanking trot, go rattling up the road; saw and heard it draw +up at the general's, and then whisking back to the valley to deposit +Bright. He divined at once that the chief must have returned and +congratulated himself that he would not be expected to pay his duty +until the morning, especially if he at once saw Bright. So upon his +fellow staff officer he projected himself with proper welcome, and the +first question Bright asked was: "How are the Archers?" It had not +occurred to him that no mail had come up for nearly a week--that +Willett did not know that they had started from Almy three days before. +Then Wickham came in and briefly said: "Certainly. They're up at the +general's. They were down at the dance awhile, looking on through the +windows," whereat Harold Willett's handsome face went white. + +Late as it was he knew he should go over at once, and he did, and it +was God's mercy, as Wickham said afterwards, that sent the bearded +general, not the gray-haired, raging father to meet him at the door. +There had been a minute of tearful, almost breathless, conference +between the devoted couple before Archer released his wife from his +arms, sent her in to Lilian, and then came down as calmly as he could +to face his host and hostess. There had been a moment or two, in the +sanctity of their chamber, in which this other devoted but childless +couple--the Darby and Joan of the old army--conferred swiftly over the +situation, the wife briefly telling the soldier spouse of what she had +seen, heard and believed, and a glance at Archer had done the rest. +Crook saw the anguish in the face of his old friend, and had only +measurably succeeded in calming him when Willett's step was heard upon +the veranda. The chief sprang to his feet. Archer would have followed, +but with a silent, most significant gesture, the commander warned his +comrade back. Then, closing the parlor door behind him, confronted the +young officer in the silence and darkness of the veranda. + +What transpired in that brief interview was never told. Two or three +couples, wearying of the dance, and wending their homeward way, saw the +two tall, shadowy forms in the dim light, saw that one of them was +standing strictly at attention, and knew thereby that the other must be +the general, saw that the interview was very brief, for in a moment the +caller raised a hand in salute, faced about, and went somewhat heavily +down the steps and, avoiding both the main road and the pathway, +disappeared in the direction of the bachelors' quarters under the hill. + +At ten the following morning a buckboard called at Willett's door, and +that young officer drove away in travelling rig, with a valise by way +of luggage, and when people inquired, as many did, and many more would +have done had they followed their inclination, what took Willett away +in such a hurry and--er--at such a time, all that black-bearded Wickham +would say was, he heard it was a wagon. As for Bright, one might as +well seek information of the Sphinx. There never was a man who, knowing +all about a matter, could look, as more than one fair critic had been +heard to say, so exasperatingly, idiotically ignorant. At noon, +however, it was known that Willett's wagon stopped but a few moments on +the plaza in the little mining town and capital, then shot away +southward on the Hassayampa road. + +Three days later the array of "Casually at Post" on the morning report +of Fort Whipple showed an increase of something like a score. +Lieutenant Briggs with a sergeant and a dozen troopers rode in the +previous evening, after turning over a quartette of dusky civilians at +the calaboose, and leaving a guard at the hospital in charge of a +pallid, nervous, suffering man, whom a big-hearted post surgeon +received with compassionate care. The doctor had known him in better +days. It was what was left of the recent lion of Camp Almy--Case the +bookkeeper. + +Among the arrivals extraordinary at head-quarters on the hill were +Captain and Mrs. Stannard of Camp Almy, Captain Bonner, Lieutenant +Strong, post adjutant thereat, and then, as Bright's special guest, was +Lieutenant "Hefty" Harris, of old Camp Bowie, and as Bright's special +charge were 'Tonio, sometime chief of the Red Rock band of +Apache-Mohaves, Kwonahelka, his associate and friend, with two young +braves of the tribe, Kwonahelka's shy, silent wife and her ward, a +motherless young Apache girl, sister to Comes Flying, he whose untimely +taking off had so seriously complicated the Indian question in the +district of the Verde. Bright had his Apache visitors comfortably +stowed, and abundantly provided for, close to his own roof, and 'Tonio, +charged with serious crimes against the peace and dignity of the people +of the U.S. in general, and Arizona in particular, received with native +dignity at the entrance to his canvas lodge callers and even +congratulations--for great was the desire to see him--and, unbailed, +unhampered, untrammelled by fetter, guard or shackle, calmly awaited +his examination before the Great Chief with the coming of the morrow. +Soldiers like Crook and the staff of his training knew 'Tonio and his +lineage, and unlike Willett, valued his word. + +And early on that morrow Willett reappeared, delivered certain +despatches at the office long before office hours, betook himself to +his quarters for bath, shave and breakfast, and behind closed doors and +shrouded windows, awaited the summons if needed to appear before the +department commander. His narrative long since had been reduced to +writing. Between him and black-bearded Wickham there had been one +significant interview, never till long afterwards given even to +intimates on the general's staff. As for 'Tonio, to no one less would +he plead his cause than the department commander himself, the Great +White Chief. + +Never in the chronicles of that sun-blistered land, home of the +scorpion and rattlesnake, the Apache and tarantula, had that sun shone +on scene so dramatic as that the Exiles long referred to as "'Tonio's +Trial," and never, perhaps, was trial held with less of the panoply and +observance of the law and more assurance of entire justice. + +It was a great chief trying a great chief. The powerful commander of +the department sitting in judgment on the once powerful head of a +warlike band, long since scattered, absorbed, merged in neighboring +tribes, worn down in ceaseless battling against surrounding forces and +implacable Fate. Crook knew the Indian as it was given few men to know +him, and in his own simple, straightforward way generally dealt with +the Indian direct. But here was a case, as he well understood, where he +who had once moved the monarch of these silent, encircling mountains, +stood accused of treachery to the hand that had fed, sheltered and +uplifted him, to the Great Father whose service he had sought, to the +white chiefs, old and young, whom he had sworn to obey. If guilty he +deserved the extent of the law, if innocent, the fullest vindication of +the highest power he and his people knew and recognized. To no mere +captain or even post commander would 'Tonio plead. To no agency +official would he trust himself or his cause. There was one soldier +chief whom every Indian of the Pacific Slope knew well by reputation +and by name--the chief who spoke ever with the straight tongue and told +them only the truth--the chief who never broke his word or let others +ignore it. "Gray Fox" they named him later among other tribes, but +these of the Sierras spoke of him only as "Crook." + +On the greensward, close to the assembly hall in the low ground, the +council lodge was pitched--two huge hospital tent flies having been +stretched from tree to tree, braced on uprights; and there, in a little +semi-circle, sat the general with his principal officers about +him--gray-haired, pale-faced Archer, looking strangely sad and old, at +his right--black-haired Wickham at his left, and high officials of the +staff departments on either flank, the judge advocate of the department +having a little table and chair at one side that all legal notes might +be made. Half a dozen officers of the garrison, with Colonel Darrah at +their head, grouped in rear of the council. Three or four orderlies +stood about, but, by order, not a rifle or revolver could be found in +the entire array. Seated to the right and left were officers prominent +in the recent campaign--Stannard, Turner, Bonner, Strong and Harris +among them, while at a distance, among the cedars and looking curiously +on, were gathered the wives and families of the officers, with their +guests and attendants--at a distance that the dignity of the occasion +in the eyes of the Indian race might not be put in jeopardy by the +presence of a woman. + +Further still, on the other side across the trickling brook, to the +number of near two hundred, men, women and children, soldiers, citizens +and strangers, all in silence awaited the first act of the drama--the +coming of 'Tonio with his retinue, marshalled by that expert master of +aboriginal ceremonies, Lieutenant Bright. + +And presently he came. No picturesque war bonnet distinguished him. No +robe or mantle hung in stately folds about his form. 'Tonio sought not, +as does his red brother of the plains, the theatrical aid of impressive +costume. Tall, spare and erect, his sinewy legs and arms bare almost +their entire length, his moccasins worn and faded, but his fillet, +camisa and trailing breech-clout almost snowy white; destitute of +plume, feather, necklace, armlet, ornament of any kind, unarmed, yet +unafraid, with slow and measured stop the chief approached the council +tent, three of his warriors in his train, and, escorted by Bright, +turned squarely as he came before the outspread canvas, entered beneath +its shade, and stopping midway across the greensward, his head upheld, +his black eyes fixed in calm, reposeful trust upon the general's face, +halted and stood simply before him, saying not a word. + +"'Tonio, will you be seated?" asked the general, and an orderly stepped +forward with a camp chair. Even before the interpreter could translate, +'Tonio understood, motioned the orderly aside, turned and signalled to +his followers, who quickly settled to the ground and seated themselves, +cross-legged, in half circle beneath him, but the chieftain, accused, +would stand. On the dead silence that followed, all men listening with +attentive ear, even the women and children across the little ravine, +hushing their nervous giggle and chatter, 'Tonio's voice was presently +uplifted, neither harsh nor guttural, but deep and almost musical. In +the tongue of his people he spoke seven words, and there seemed no need +of the interpreter's translation: + +"My father has sent for me. I am here." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + + +A strange tribunal was this--"a method of procedure," as the acting +judge advocate of this distant department took frequent occasion to +tell us when the general wasn't around, "that would seem to have no +warrant in law." Something to this effect being suggested to the +general by the chief of the department staff, who went on to say that +he supposed it was a case of "_Inter arma silent leges_," the general's +beard, which hid his mouth, was observed to twitch, and the wrinkles at +the corner of his steely-blue eyes followed suit. It was a way of his +when trying _not_ to smile. Then Bright was heard to say that where the +laws were silent, wise lawyers should he likewise, an epigram which +long-legged Lieutenant Blake, of Camp McDowell, was delightedly and +explosively repeating for the benefit of certain of the ladies looking +on from among the cedars, even as 'Tonio appeared. Then no crier was +needed to proclaim silence and declare this honorable court now open. +Blake had come to Prescott ruefully expectant of official displeasure, +and found it, so far as the chief of staff was concerned. But the +general's greeting had been so cordial and kind that "Legs" took heart +instanter. There was evidently something behind it. + +Mrs. Crook had marshalled her forces early that brilliant morning. Camp +chairs and rugs had been sent down to the cedars, and with two of her +favorites, Blake and Ray, in attendance, she and her guests from Camp +Almy were seated where they could watch the proceedings and almost hear +what was said. Many a curious glance was levelled in their direction, +for by Mrs. Stannard's side sat Lilian Archer, pale almost as a calla, +and rarely smiling or speaking, but, as all Fort Whipple could see, she +was _there_, whereas Evelyn Darrah had not been out since the night of +the dance. The colonel had explained, as he was probably bidden, that +Evvy had contracted a severe cold, and her mother could not leave her. +At least, said certain eager spectators, Willett must now be here, "for +he is back from McDowell, or wherever he went." But even in this there +was disappointment. The general had looked to that. Willett's +accusation against the chieftain had been reduced to writing. It had +all been carefully translated to 'Tonio, as had the reports of the post +commanders of Camps Almy and McDowell. No further allegations had been, +or were to be, made. With his witnesses in readiness, 'Tonio stood +before the Great White Chief, the only man, save one, perhaps, to whom +he would deign full explanation. + +And now, with the agency interpreter at his left and the agent himself +seated among the officials, an eager and nervous listener, 'Tonio +strode forward a pace or two, halted, looked calmly round upon the +circle of expectant faces, then, the observed of every eye, the object +of absorbed attention, with occasional use of a Spanish phrase, but, as +a rule, speaking only in the dialect of the Apache, the tall chieftain +began. With every few words he would pause, that the interpreter might +repeat. It would be difficult, indeed, to translate his exact words or +to portray their effect. To imitate the simple dignity of the aging +warrior would be in itself a triumph of dramatic art. + +"My father has told me of the lies against my people--and me. My people +are not many now, and we are poor, often hungry and homeless, and our +hearts are sore. We believed the promise of our father and we strove to +obey him, but while he was gone, and we knew not where to find him, +others came, unlike him. Our enemies, the Tontos, were many and strong. +Their agent gave them much meat and bread, but my people were denied. +The Tontos jeered at them; their young braves taunted ours, and our +young women were afraid. The Tontos killed our white brothers and +burned their homes, and said it was we. Then the soldiers came to +arrest Comes Flying, and Comes Flying was killed, and my people fled +far in among the Red Rocks. They had done no wrong, but they were +afraid. Then the Tontos killed our white brother, Bennett, always our +friend, and burned his house and carried away his wife and children. +Our young men were few, but they followed and fought the Tontos and got +the woman and her little ones and tried to hide them away among the +rocks until white soldiers could come, but there came more Tontos. They +were too many, and they kept between the soldiers and Comes Flying's +band. They killed two of our young men and got the woman once more, and +then my young chief, Capitan Chiquito, followed, with only the braves +you count on one hand, but he caught the Tontos and rescued the woman, +and was shot. Gran Capitan Stannard brings me, and all his soldiers, +and follows after the Tontos, but it was Capitan Chiquito who first +reached her, and who would have saved her and her babies in their +hiding-place, only he was held back--held back----" and with his head +high and his black eyes sweeping the circle, 'Tonio stood and glared +about him in search of an absent accuser. Then, with appeal in his +gaze, he turned once more to the general. + +"It is as 'Tonio says," answered Crook, with grave inclination of the +head. "His brother chief, Captain Stannard, sustains him. Is it not so, +Stannard?" + +"Every word of it, sir!" was the blunt reply, as Stannard rose from his +seat. "We found two Apache-Mohaves killed. We chased the Tontos into +the mountains. Lieutenant Harris and 'Tonio, with Apache-Mohave scouts, +rescued Mrs. Bennett, and led us." Whereat Archer's sad, white face was +bowed upon his hands. Oh, that luckless despatch! + +"We are listening, 'Tonio," said the general, as Stannard slowly +resumed his seat, looking almost disappointed that there had been none +to contradict or doubt his view. + +"My father asks me why I left the camp after we had brought home our +Capitan Chiquito. It was because my people came to the willows and +called me. The sister of Comes Flying was weeping for her brother. +Ramon and Alvarez were angered and talking battle and revenge, and +Pancha came to warn me and to beg me come or there would be much +trouble. My young men were doubly angered. They said the white brother +had broken his promise, had feasted the Tontos and had starved them, +had killed Comes Flying and driven our women and children to the +mountains. They had seen more. They had seen their chief struck in the +face with the glove of the young soldier chief--who is not here." And +again the black eyes sought everywhere throughout the circle. "Ramon, +Alvarez and others had vowed that he should die because of Comes Flying +and of me. It was for this they played all so many hours with the +riders from the Verde. They would head them off and hold them. The +soldiers would come to rescue, and maybe the young chief. If so, they +would lure him out beyond the others, and they did. I could not break +their will. I saw their plan only just in time. They were in hiding +among the rocks beyond the ridge, with only one or two in sight before +them. He was galloping straight into their trap. There was just one way +to save him and be true to our pledge to the Great Father. I shot to +kill his horse, not him. My rifle would have carried just as true had +it been aimed at his heart. He who struck me at the ranch--and +denounced me here--owes his life to 'Tonio." + +In the dramatic pause that followed a murmur of sympathy and +admiration, irrepressible, flew from lip to lip. He noted it, but gave +no sign. + +"The young white chief says again I shot or sought to kill him that +night at the ford. Again I could have done so, and again I sought to +save. He was my enemy. He was"--and here, with affection all could see, +the glittering eyes seemed to soften as they turned on Harris, sitting +pale, silent and observant--"the enemy of this my brother and my +friend. I would no longer go within the soldier lines. In spite of what +I had done the white-haired chief ordered his soldiers to kill or take +me prisoner. They could not find me, but I tried to warn my brother +there was trouble--they would kill _his_ brother chief, then there +would be fearful war, but my brother was wounded still and could not +come. + +"Then the young stranger chief was lured out again by Sanchez--his +people and mine. They swear to me they did not kill him--that the white +man, Case, did that. He, too, hated him. But Sanchez lied to me. He +promised to take back the pistol my people found the night I shot his +horse, and he never did, nor messages I sent. So I know not who fired +the shot, who clubbed him, _but_ Sanchez had that pistol--Sanchez lied +to me! I was not that night so near as the Picacho, and when the +soldiers came to find me I went farther, with two of my people. We met +the Great Chief's couriers. We met more Tontos. We fought them back and +I was wounded. They took me to McDowell, and no man was unkind until +the night they put me in the iron cell with Sanchez, and he told me I +should never see the Great Chief, my father; that I should hang for +shooting the white chief, Willett. When I slept he was there. When I +awakened he was gone, and the iron bars were gone. I went out into the +night--into the mountains--until I found my young chief. Then the truth +was told me. Then we followed, and found Sanchez. Then my people heard +the story and helped me find the way to the cave where the boys were +hidden. The Great Spirit of my fathers knows I have never broken my +promise. That is all that 'Tonio can say. I have spoken." + +And then as he finished and the last word had been translated, all in +language far less vivid than his native tongue, all men seemed to +breathe a sigh of relief and seek instinctively to rise and gather +about him. The general slowly found his feet, rose to his full height, +stepped straightway forward to where the Indian stood, placed his left +hand on the gaunt and bony shoulder, and with his ungloved right seized +and grasped and held that of the elder chieftain, his own eyes +twinkling, moistening, as he spoke. + +"'Tonio--Brother--the Great Father shall know, and if I live, all his +people shall know, how deeply you have suffered, how truly you have +stood our friend." + +And then, still clasping the warrior's hand, Crook turned to his +officers, for by this time every man was on his feet, every eye was +again upon them, every face lighted with interest, and many with +emotion. Silently the general glanced about him, and at his signal +Archer came forward, his handsome old head bared, his fine eyes +filling. At his approach the commander drew back a step, releasing +'Tonio's hand. Then the soldier who but a fortnight back had sought to +prison, possibly to kill, this soldier of the desert and the mountain, +following his superior's lead, held forth his hand, a thinned and +trembling one, yet the clasp in which it took that sinewy brown one was +one an Indian could never doubt. Looking straight into 'Tonio's +fearless eyes, the veteran spoke: "'Tonio--Brother--I did you wrong. I +beg your pardon and I ask your friendship." + +For a moment, silence, then for answer came but the single word: + +"_Hermano._" + +When presently hands unclasped and others began to gather about him, it +was seen as Stannard came forward he had linked his arm in that of +Harris, and would not be denied. The general caught sight of them, and +a smile like sunshine lighted up his beaming face. "That's right, +Stannard. This way, Capitan Chiquito! We all want you." And then, +though by dozens now--officers, agent, interpreter and territorial +officials--they were swarming about the impassive central figure, they +gave way right and left that the two friends might meet, and 'Tonio, +turning from Archer's handclasp, saw his young champion and leader, and +the stern, dark features melted, the bold, fearless, challenging eyes +softened on the instant. He would have sprung forward to some act of +Indian homage, but Harris was too quick and checked him. Their eyes +met. Then both hands--all four hands--went out at once. + +It was at this juncture, as certain of the department staff began to +bethink themselves of important duties awaiting them at their offices, +that one of the old-time characters of the old army, a field officer of +distinction in the war days, was heard to express himself somewhat as +follows: "Well, whereaway is Willett now?"--a question that had +occurred to every member present, and to many a man and woman without +the council, but this was its first audible expression. + +"Willett," said the general calmly, yet in tone that all beneath the +canopy could hear, "made known to me days ago that he desired to +withdraw his accusation, but I had my reason for insisting. As to the +question, where is Willett?--he is here to testify, if need be, before +a civil court. We have still to settle with Sanchez." + +Moreover, as the Indians finally moved away, Bright and Harris both +escorting 'Tonio, there were emissaries of the agency at their heels, +for in 'Tonio's train walked both Ramon and Alvarez, on whom it might +be well to keep an eye. + +But 'Tonio's trial--"'Tonio's triumph," as Blake declared it--was not +yet over for the day. The watchspring saws and tiny file found on +Sanchez, when finally taken, had explained the method of that McDowell +escape. With these and with bacon-rind to grease them, only a little +time and labor had been needed, nor was there ever found proof against +Corporal Collins, or the sentry, that either had connived at the +subsequent escape of 'Tonio. He had awakened and found his undesired +cellmate missing, and the window was clear. So that way he could have +gone, though there were many who believed the door itself had been +opened to him. In any event, he saw freedom without, and suspected +wrong and treachery within. Why should he not go? Who was to blame him? +Crook's cordiality to the accountable officer of the day, Lieutenant +Blake, went far to show that he was far from resentful of the result. +It really looked as though the Gray Fox would rather 'Tonio had never +been confined. + +And later that winter's day, along toward sunset, another scene, far +less dramatic and impressive, was enacted at the office of the sheriff, +a mile away in town. + +An adobe wall, some seven feet high, surrounded the corral, and beneath +the canvas awning on the southern side certain offenders against the +peace and dignity of Yavapai County had been assembled under the eye of +tobacco-chewing deputies. There were the Sanchez half-brothers, +'Patchie and José, both shackled. There was Muñoz, similarly decked. +There slouched Dago, unfettered, but carefully watched. There were two +more of the riffraff of the redoubtable ghost ranch, and two of the +victims of the more skilful play, and potent doping, of the +proprietors. All were under surveillance, several under charges, but +where was Case? + +It was Blackbeard who answered that question at five o'clock, when, +from the post ambulance, he and Bright sprang forth, and presently +aided to alight a very solemn-looking civilian, shaved, dressed and +groomed with extreme care, but for pallor and nervousness, a +reputable-looking criminal--Case. Accused with assault with attempt to +kill, the bookkeeper, none the less, had been taken in charge by +officers of the army, with the entire consent of the officers of the +law, and Sanchez the elder, José, that is, weakened at the sight of +him. He was sober and clothed in his right mind, as Wickham meant he +should be. Moreover, he looked no longer afraid. Case had met his +master at the game of bluff, and now, with nothing left to hope, had +nothing left to dread. + +Short work the sheriff made of the matter in hand. There had been a +killing down on the Agua Fria, and the killer was still at large. Here +was only a bungling attempt to kill, and everybody concerned was at +hand. + +"Case," said he shortly, "when you were brought here you swore it was +'Tonio who shot Lieutenant Willett." + +"I didn't swear," said Case. "I stated; but either would have been +wrong. I said it when myself accused and when I had been drinking. I am +ready to tell everything I know." + +"Then wait a moment," answered the official, turning to a deputy, who +pulled at an inner door, and said, "This way, gentlemen," whereat +everybody filed out into the corral where there was far more room, and +where presently they were joined by the agent and his interpreter, by a +little group of officers, Stannard, Strong and Willett--the latter very +pale and weary-looking. A moment later the gateway swung open and in +walked Harris, with 'Tonio by his side and two tribesmen following. The +gate was quickly closed in the face of an eager knot of townspeople, +but at sight of the assembled party the Sanchez brothers cowered still +farther back beneath the shelter, and the sheriff ordered José out into +the light. He came, yellow-white, and cringing. + +"You said, first, that 'Tonio shot that man," and the sheriff pointed +to Willett. "Did you lie?" + +"_Si_," gulped the Mexican. + +"Then who did it?" + +José shrank. His eyes furtively, quickly swept the group, then fell +again. + +"You said Case--this man," said the sheriff, with a hand on Case's +shoulder. "Did you lie again?" + +"He--he shoot, an' run away." + +"You lie, three times! Only one shot was fired and that from your own +pistol. Here it is! Case never had it, for all you swore to it." + +"Muñoz saw him--shoot!" + +"That so, Muñoz? Come out here!" and a deputy collared and thrust him +forth. + +"_Si_; Case," answered Muñoz miserably. + +And then at last the dago broke bounds. All the pent-up hatred of the +months boiled over in his heart. All the fear vanished in presence of +these supporters and at sight of these now abject bullies. Out he +sprang, all vehement denunciation: + +"Lie!" said he--"damn lie! Muñoz hit!--Sanchez shoot! All try kill. +Then run--run, for soldiers come!" + +It was then that Lieutenant Willett stepped forward and interposed. + +"Mr. Sheriff," said he, "whatever my earlier opinion on the subject, I +know more now. I know it was not 'Tonio. I believe it was not +this--this gentleman--Mr. Case. If you will favor me a moment I can +make it clear to you, but"--and here the heavily lashed, mournful brown +eyes sought the group of Mexicans--"I should hold--those fellows." + +And so, once more within the little office, Willett briefly told his +tale. There were present Wickham, Bright and Harris, the sheriff and +one deputy. "I should be glad to have you call in Mr. Case," said he. +So Case was summoned and came and took a chair by the chimney and bowed +his head upon his hands. + +"There had been a card transaction," said Willett. "I owed Mr. Case +three hundred dollars, and he or his friends thought I was going to +leave without settling. He sent me a note saying he wished to see me. +It was midnight before I could go down. He had left the office, but +hailed me from the window of Craney's shack. We met near the ford, had +words, and I struck him--struck him twice, knocking him down, and then +his friends, or followers, as I supposed, pitched upon me. I surely saw +one Indian, and, knowing 'Tonio's--grievance, and being warned against +him, that was the last idea I had, as I was knocked senseless. Mr. +Sheriff, I refuse to enter any complaint against Mr. Case. He +is--entirely blameless." + +"That seems to let _you_ out, Case," said the sheriff sententiously, +but the bookkeeper never raised his head. + +"Is there anything else I can say--or do?" asked Willett, holding his +natty forage-cap at the side of his head. "It should be done now, +for--I am to leave here--to-night." + +It was then Case's turn. In an instant he was on his feet. + +"Going?" he demanded, a strange, hungry look in his eyes. "I'm not yet +free, and I've got to speak with you." + +"There is no need," said Willett gravely. "I _know_." + +"You mean?--you heard----?" + +"My letters have told me--everything," was the quiet answer. + +"And you are going?" + +"Back to Portland--and to----" + +With that he would have turned, but Case sprang forward. There was +perceptible start among the lookers-on. It might mean another attempt. +The sheriff seized him, but Case, with feverish strength, shook himself +loose, and Willett turned back, faced him, and waited for him to speak. +It was a moment before Case could find breath, then came the words: + +"My God, man! Will you give me your word--your hand--on that?" + +For all answer Willett drew off the dainty glove of white lisle thread, +took the outstretched hand of Case, wrung it, and turned in silence +from the room. + +There were men who mounted and rode with him a mile or more that night, +and came back silent and sorrowing, yet thinking better of Hal Willett +than any of their number had ever thought before. + +"He has gone to do the one square thing that's left him," said Old +Stannard, as the buckboard whirled away, "and his resignation goes with +him." + + +L'ENVOI. + +That was many a long year ago, and for many a month thereafter men and +women at Whipple and Sandy, McDowell and Almy would talk for hours +about Willett, his strange character, his broken career. It was not +long before the truth, the whole truth, was known. Case for a time +would not return to Almy. He found some work to keep him busy at +Prescott, and would have had to do no work at all, said the agent of +the Wells-Fargo, "if he'd kept his money, but he sent every damned cent +of four hundred dollars to somebody up at Portland." He was forever on +the lookout for the coming of the buckboard with the mail--we had no +telegraph until '74--and his excitement over the receipt of certain +letters and newspapers, along in mid-February, was something not soon +to be forgotten. He had been sober and solemn as an anchorite for over +six long weeks, and this night, to the joy of the gamblers in the +Alcazar, insisted on "setting 'em up" for all hands, soldier and +civilian; then, to their amaze, insisted further on their drinking to +the health of Mr. and Mrs. Hal Willett, by gad! "for he's a square man +at last." + +And the news lacked no confirmation at the barracks. There came a +missive to Wickham; there was a message to the general; there was a +very earnest message to 'Tonio; there was even a letter in Willett's +hand to Evelyn Darrah. No one ever saw its contents save the girl to +whom it was addressed, but there came nothing to be forwarded to the +Archers at Camp Almy. From that night among the cedars Lilian never +again saw Harold Willett. It was a pitifully insignificant little +packet of letters the young officer found on his desk the morning of +his return from the Hassayampa road. It contained only the pages he had +penned to his Lily of the Desert. The earlier ones were fond, +endearing, sweet as girl could ask, and had been rapturously welcomed, +read and reread, kissed and fondled and treasured. The later ones were +hurried, perfunctory, full of excuses, full, alas! of lies that he knew +and that he hated himself for writing. There was not so much as a line +from her, nor was one needed. Between the few words spoken by his +general in the darkness of the veranda and that one conference with +Wickham, Willett knew exactly what he had to face. Just as it had +dawned upon him that breathless night at Almy, when the ravings of the +Irish deserter told him that his sin had followed and had found him +out, he realized here at Whipple that all was known and, for him, all +was over. He had burned in vain the burning and accusing letters that +poor girl in Portland had written him. Her mother at last, learning +everything, had written to Crook, and, through Wickham, who had +investigated both Case and the deserter Dooley, Willett received his +_congé_. There should be no public break. It was to be announced that +at his own request Lieutenant Willett stood relieved from duty as +aide-de-camp to the department commander, and would proceed to rejoin +his regiment in the Department of the Columbia; but even Wickham +started with surprise and incredulity when, accompanying this +application, at the close of 'Tonio's dramatic trial, Willett gravely +handed him another paper--his resignation as an officer of the army. + +"I do not understand this as--demanded," said Blackbeard, looking +quickly into Willett's pallid face. + +"You will, when you remember that my wife--and child--would hardly be +acceptable in army circles," was the quiet reply. + +"You mean--you are going at once to marry her?" + +"What else should I do?" said Willett. + +And this it was that explained his unlooked-for escort beyond the +borders of the little reservation, Stannard's words of commendation, +and Case's ebullition at the Alcazar. + +Case had not many more. Craney coaxed him back to Almy after awhile, +where every one from Archer down to the drum boys showed him many a +kindness, and where from time to time he received letters that seemed +to bring him comfort, in spite of the fact that Bonner, Bucketts and +even gruff old Stannard, when they spoke of it at all, were given to +saying that there was little happiness in store for the poor girl at +Portland, for Willett was not made of the stuff that kept man faithful +long to any one woman. It was rumored for awhile that the little +family, having moved northward to one of the new and booming +settlements on the Sound, were living in poverty and seclusion, +Willett's wealthy kindred in the East scorning him, as was to be +expected, for the _mésalliance_ and for his abandonment of the +profession he was expected to adorn. But the embryo "Smart Set" and the +tried old Service had little in common, at best. It was in the employ +of the Engineer Corps that Willett found means to keep the wolf from +the door, and the girl was happier longer than most people would have +believed possible, for it was full three years before Willett's father +died, and, relenting, willed him prosperity. Some time after that there +came a tale of Evelyn Darrah, but, as the best authority would say, +"that's another story." + +With Case, however, life seemed to have lost its inspiration. He +wandered more and more from the paths of rectitude to those which +meandered through the willows and the old ghost walk. The firm of +Sanchez y Muñoz had gone to seed, the ranch to ashes, and the +individual members to jail. Dago had accompanied Mrs. Bennett and the +growing babies to her brother's ranch on the Agua Fria. The Indians had +been gathered to their reservations, and 'Tonio, with Lieutenant +Harris, has been assigned to service under the eye of the Great Chief +himself. A new post, a big post, was projected nearer the reservation. +It was rumored that Almy would then be abandoned and Case would not +have even the ghost walk for his solitary moonings when the whiskey +spell was on him, and the spells, though no more frequent, as the +Scotchman would have it, were of longer duration. He had taken +strongly, not strangely, to Stannard and his gentle wife, and it was to +them he told at last the story of his troubles, and through them, long +years after, it became known. + +He was doing well in Portland, had fallen deeply in love with, and was +engaged to, as pretty a girl as ever was seen, good and gentle, too; +but she was young, the belle of her set, a beautiful dancer, and Case +could not dance. She loved gayety, pleasure, music, and in those days +they picnicked over to Vancouver, and danced in a big barrack to the +stirring strains of the band of the Lost and Strayed, and why shouldn't +the Portland girls love to dance with the young officers? Why shouldn't +Estelle enjoy dancing with such finished performers and partners? There +was one at that time who outclassed them all, and in an evil day they +met. It wasn't long before her fascination became infatuation, and +either there or in Portland, or somewhere, they were forever meeting. +It was not long before Case saw his world swept from before his eyes. +He did his best with her, with her mother and friends, but she told him +flatly that she loved Lieutenant Willett and would be no man's wife but +his. That clinched Case's downfall--and hers, but not until after Case +saw Willett at Camp Almy, and her mother's letters, and hers, began +again to come, did he learn the worst. Then came Willett's devotions to +Archer's gentle little daughter, and the rage within his soul +overmastered him. He would not--he could not--bear to tell of Estelle's +shame. He dare not, he owned it, oppose himself man to man, physically, +to Willett, but he burned with desire for revenge. Sanchez and his kind +were willing tools. Ramon and Alvarez, they told him, were thirsting +for Willett's blood. It would be easy enough to shoulder it all on +'Tonio, if the worst came to the worst. Sanchez had Case deep in his +debt, for monte had fascinated him when in liquor. They did not know +Willett had left with Craney payment in full for their financial +differences. They insisted on his seeing Willett and making him pay +before he left the post. Dago had the run of the garrison, and Dago +took the few lines that told Willett if he was a man to come down to +the ghost walk and settle, dollar for dollar, man to man, or the story +of his Portland days should be told the Archers. Sanchez, Muñoz, and +the two Apache-Mohaves were lurking there across the stream. Case +watched for him from the rear window, saw him, and in spite of the +doctor's precaution, counteracted by the whiskey he had hidden in an +inner pocket, he slipped out in his stocking feet, took the path to the +ford, and there met Willett face to face. It was all so easy. Sanchez +knew 'Tonio was near, grieving that no answer came from Harris, +signalling for a talk, ignorant of the fact that Sanchez had delivered +neither the revolver nor the message. Case had with him only his knife, +for he knew his confederates would be at hand. He vowed he did not know +that they were bringing Ramon and Alvarez. Raging with jealousy, hate, +desire for vengeance, and nerved by liquor, he had demanded his money. +Willett contemptuously bade him seek it of his employer, and asked him +how he dare doubt a gentleman, whereat, in a fury, Case told him, or +started to tell him, why, and was knocked flat in a second. He sprang +up, knife in hand, and rushed upon him a second time, only to be +floored again, and the knife sent spinning. Willett seized it, and was +standing over him, panting a bit, when felled by a crashing blow with a +pistol-butt at the base of the skull. Then in terror Case fled the way +he came, for he saw both Indians and Mexicans were on him, realized +that murder was meant, and knew he would be involved unless he could +instantly get back to his bed. Willett made a desperate fight, wounded +Ramon, and might have killed him but for the timely shot from the +pistol of José. Case heard it, and the cry for help as he ran. So quick +was the response of the sentry and the guard that the assailants, too, +fled in fear, leaving their work unfinished. They had no fear of their +drugged countrymen at the ranch. They were ready to help the soldiers +hunt the Indians, and did, but José had dropped the old Navy Colt at +the ford. They bought Dago's silence for awhile, for he, too, hated +Willett, and it was so easy to charge the crime to 'Tonio. But, when +they fell out among themselves, and the pistol was found, and then Case +was accused, Dago let loose on Muñoz, and the secret of the attempted +murder was out. + +For a time thereafter Case felt dazed, benumbed; but, as Willett +recovered, he took courage again, and more drink, and tried to shoot +his worthless head off, he said, when they came to arrest him. But when +he heard of Willett's doings at Prescott, and had been openly taunted +by Dooley, he determined to lose his life another way, if need be, in +bringing Willett to justice. He told it all to Wickham, and was amazed, +yes, amazed at the result. He never dreamed that Willett at the +eleventh hour would go to Estelle and make the only amend in his power. + +For that matter, neither did any one else cognizant of the fact, +especially Harris, who, having been the unwilling recipient of all poor +Eastern Stella's confidences in the past, believed Willett still +haunted by memories of her, and knew not this new and innocent and +confiding Star of the West. He had his own sorrows to bear, and his +heart was bitter within him at sight of the woe in the sweet blue eyes +of the girl who speedily went back to Almy, without ever having opened +her heart to a soul except that devoted mother. + +While Evelyn Darrah kept her room as much as a week after Willett's +going, it was a wonderful fact that, during a visit of four days, +Lilian Archer appeared in public with her father, rode, drove, played +croquet, though she managed to avoid two dinners and a dance. She was +very quiet, it is true. "She never _did_ shine in society," said the +Prime girls. But, under all this silence and fortitude, and the access +of tenderness with which she clung to her father, Mrs. Stannard and +others saw how near the little heart was to breaking, and there grew up +among the exiles a feeling of love and admiration for this +uncomplaining child, so suddenly grown old, that outlived the lives of +most of them, for it has come down to those who, in the fulness of +time, stepped into their places. They are gone now, nearly all--our +bearded general and his beloved Mary, gruff old Stannard and his wise +and winsome wife. Bright, Bonner, Bucketts, grim-visaged Turner, +white-haired, noble Archer and his fond and cherished Bella, even +Willett, but not, thank God, until better and brighter days had dawned +on most of them, and of one of these days, and of 'Tonio, there is yet +this to tell. + +There had been a year in which the Archers took their little girl +abroad. The old regiment had been ordered to an eastern station, and +the change was welcome, for with all her bravery, and despite their +fondest care, she drooped in Arizona, and there came a longed-for +opportunity they could not neglect. They were many moons away; they +were for a time at regimental head-quarters on their return, and then, +in days when nothing was so rare as advancement, came Archer's +promotion to the colonelcy of the very regiment that had taken the +stations of their former friends in Arizona. In a little less than two +years from that eventful night among the cedars, the Archers, three, +were once more welcomed to the general's roof, escorted the last ten +miles of the dusty stage ride from the desert by Harris, whose letters +to the general or to Mrs. Archer had been regular as the fortnightly +mail. With the morrow he and 'Tonio were on hand to hail them, looking +fit and spare and sinewy as ever they had of old, for these were +strenuous days and stirring times in the Apache-haunted mountains--the +Tontos had broken faith and were again afield. + +Camp Sandy on the Verde was the centre of the storm. Pelham and his +cavalry had just been sent to other climes, marching overland to "the +Plains." Archer was needed at once in command of the district, and was +speedily there established, and thither too went Crook, with Bright to +write his orders and despatches, with Harris and 'Tonio to head the +scouts. Thither presently went Lilian and her mother. The post was +large, the garrison ample. There was active service that their own +white-haired general welcomed eagerly, for Crook meant to the full that +his loyal old friend and supporter should have all the credit that the +campaign might bring him. But campaigns conducted under daily +telegraphic promptings from distant superiors were not the brisk and +independent matters of a few years back. There were too many advisers +within easy, if expensive, reaching distance--too many "Friends of the +Indian," and far too few of the soldier, close in touch at court. Crook +himself was looking vexed and worried. It is so hard to serve God and +Mammon, to grapple with the foemen at the front, the Press and the +Pulpit at the rear. At the very moment when he had the "hostiles" +hemmed between converging columns and sure of capture, his hand was +held by orders from the East. At the very moment when the warriors at +the reservation should have been watched and guarded against exhorters +from without, the latter got within, and a powerful band stampeded up +the Red Rock country and were gone. The news reached Archer toward +eleven, one winter's night, and at dawn he, in person, with Harris and +'Tonio and twenty scouts and barely thirty mounted men, was climbing +the rugged trail from the head of the Beaver in pursuit, leaving Bella +and Lilian, brave, silent, yet tearful, at the post. + +It was nothing new, this going forth of veteran division and brigade +commanders of the war days, with a handful of soldiery, to cope with a +band of savages on their chosen ground. Barely two years before the +Modocs had asked for a talk with the general commanding and killed him. +Only the year previous the Cheyennes lured out a lieutenant-colonel, +with but a lieutenant's command, and picked him off. And so, two nights +later, there was weeping at old Sandy, for a runner was in long hours +after sundown with the tidings that there had been a sharp and sudden +skirmish among the rocks, that brave old Archer had been the first to +fall, and that 'Tonio had been desperately wounded in the effort to +save the veteran's life. + +They started them homeward within the week, Archer calm, conscious, +suffering much, but as, the skilled surgeons told the wife and daughter +who had rested not until they reached him, with good hope of recovery. +It was 'Tonio for whom they felt the keenest apprehension. 'Tonio had +received a bullet meant for the soldier who had once decreed his death, +and Archer's anguish was more for him. With them, on the slow homeward +way around by the old Wingate road, was Harris, sleepless from anxiety +and distress, watching night and day by the side of his two heroes, +filling all with wonderment at his endurance; and with Harris, much of +the time, by the side of both father and father's self-devoted savior, +was Lilian. + +They brought them back to Sandy. They nursed the general back to life +and partial strength. But age and wounds and sorrows all had told on +the Mohave chieftain, and slowly he sank, despite their every effort +and the doctor's skill. They had pitched a little tent fly for him--he +would not be borne within doors--and shaded it with brush and willow, +yet left the southward view open so that he could look out upon the +broad valley and see the shadows of the mountains steal across it as +the sun went westering. He seemed to love to watch the morning flame on +the bald summit of the huge peak so close at hand; it made him think of +the Picacho about whose base he had sported as a boy. He seemed to love +to see Ramon and Pancha hovering ever about him. He would look at them, +take their hands, then place their hands together and hold them between +his own. But most of all he loved to see Harris bending over him, +moving about him, and when Lilian came and gave him drink and touched +his fevered head, his glittering eyes would soften and follow her with +such a world of wistfulness as though they would speak the longing of +his heart. Then he would look from her to Harris, and from Harris back +to her, in a way that sent the blushes surging to her forehead, and the +sight of those blushes set that young soldier's heart to bounding. + +One beautiful afternoon, when the sun was slanting low and the great +dome of the peak was all agleam with crimson and with gold, they were +gathered about his shelter, for the spirit had been wandering and his +strength was almost gone. Without the canvas, their women weeping with +Pancha, their young men silent and sad, a group of the old band hovered +along the slope of the low mesa. It was thought he could hardly survive +the night, and with the sinking of the sun his mind seemed clouding +more, and he called, over and over, for "Chiquito," who knelt there +clinging to his hand. Even Archer had come, leaning heavily upon his +crutches, and Bella, his wife, and Lilian--Lilian upon whom the dying +eyes rested again and again. 'Tonio was now too weak to lift a hand; he +could not signal; but something in his gaze seemed to call her to him +irresistibly. He was breathing with such difficulty that the surgeon, +bending over him on the other side of the pallet, slipped an arm +beneath his shoulders, Harris from his side aiding, and together they +slowly raised him almost to a sitting posture, his weary head resting +on "Chiquito's" shoulder. But the eyes still sought Lilian, and Archer, +watching, murmured to her, "Go." + +To take his other hand, feebly plucking at the light coverlet, she had +to kneel so close to Harris that he could feel the swift throbbing of +her heart against his arm, and 'Tonio, looking now into the two young +faces so near together, so close to his own, began with all his +remaining strength slowly drawing her little white hand toward the lean +and sinewy fingers that clasped his right, whereat her bonny head +drooped lower, her bosom heaved; she seemed at once to read his +purpose, and, with the instinct of the maiden, to gently resist. But +the almost instant reproach and pleading in the fading eyes melted and +unnerved her. Harris, too, had seen, and noted, and understood, and his +own heart, through all its sorrowing, was beating vehemently; his own +right hand, without releasing 'Tonio's, crept forth in search of hers, +and presently, trembling, but resisting no longer, the lily-white, +slender fingers lay softly within the young soldier's clasp, and a big, +hot tear fell upon the back of the brown and withered hand that, almost +pulseless, drooped upon them both as though in benediction. + +Overcome with emotion, Mrs. Archer, watching, breathless, dropped her +head upon her husband's shoulder and sobbed convulsively. The last +brilliant, dazzling beams of the dying day had lifted from the crest of +the huge dome that shut the valley, and left it dark and sombre; and +'Tonio's eyes, turning upon it for the last time, seemed to note the +change; and the flitting spirit, wandering back to the old, old boyish +days, and the legends of his people, spoke once more. The gathering +darkness, the plash upon his hand, the resemblance to the mountain that +guarded his babyhood and youth, all probably had worked their spell, +for the pallid lips began to move, and in the silence of the lowering +night a few words in his native tongue were faintly heard, and hot +tears gushed from the eyes of his young chief, friend and brother, as, +in answer to the doctor's quick, questioning glance, Harris brokenly +murmured the translation: + +"When the Picacho hides his head in the clouds, then will there be +rain." + +And the clouds had lowered, and the day was done, and there was rain of +tears from even soldier eyes for 'Tonio--Son of the Sierras. + + +THE END. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Tonio, Son of the Sierras, by Charles King + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TONIO, SON OF THE SIERRAS *** + +***** This file should be named 23487-8.txt or 23487-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/3/4/8/23487/ + +Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Archive/American +Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |