initial commit of ebook 30428HEADmain

19 files changed, 38675 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6833f05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+* text=auto
+*.txt text
+*.md text
diff --git a/30428-0.txt b/30428-0.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..074da30
--- /dev/null
+++ b/30428-0.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,7436 @@
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30428 ***
+
+                      ELAM STORM, THE WOLFER
+
+                                OR
+
+                         THE LOST NUGGET
+
+                       BY HARRY CASTLEMON
+
+      AUTHOR OF "GUNBOAT SERIES," "FOREST AND STREAM SERIES,"
+                    "WAR SERIES," ETC., ETC.
+
+
+PHILADELPHIA
+HENRY T. COATES & CO.
+
+Copyright, 1895,
+BY PORTER & COATES.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE RED GHOST.]
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+I. SOMETHING ABOUT THE NUGGET
+
+II. TOM MASON AGAIN
+
+III. TOM BEGINS HIS WANDERINGS
+
+IV. THE WRONG BOAT
+
+V. TOM'S LUCK
+
+VI. TOM ADMIRES THE COWBOYS
+
+VII. A TEMPERANCE LECTURE
+
+VIII. A HOME RANCH
+
+IX. LOST IN THE MOUNTAINS
+
+X. THE CAMP OF ELAM, THE WOLFER
+
+XI. UNWELCOME VISITORS
+
+XII. TOM FINDS SOMETHING
+
+XIII. ELAM INTERVIEWS THE MAJOR
+
+XIV. ELAM UNDER FIRE
+
+XV. UNCLE EZRA PUTS HIS FOOT DOWN
+
+XVI. A NEW EXPEDITION
+
+XVII. THE NUGGET IS FOUND
+
+XVIII. CONCLUSION
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+THE RED GHOST.
+
+TOM'S NEW ACQUAINTANCE.
+
+TOM IN HIDING.
+
+ELAM'S FIGHT WITH THE CHEYENNES.
+
+
+
+
+ELAM STORM, THE WOLFER;
+
+OR,
+
+THE LOST NUGGET.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+SOMETHING ABOUT THE NUGGET.
+
+
+"Yes, sir; it's just like I tell you. Every coyote on this here ranch,
+mean and sneaking as he is, is worth forty dollars to the man who can
+catch him."
+
+"Then what is the reason Carlos and I can't make some money this
+winter?"
+
+"You mout, and then again you moutn't. It aint everybody who can coax
+one of them smart prowlers to stick his foot in a trap. If that was the
+case, my neighbors would have had more sheep, and Elam Storm would be
+worth a bushel of dollars."
+
+"And you are going to grub-stake him again this winter, are you, Uncle
+Ezra?"
+
+"Sure. I always do."
+
+"What is the reason you won't let us go with him to the mountains?"
+
+"'Cause I know that your folks aint so tired of you that they are ready
+to lose you yet awhile; that's why."
+
+"Only just a few days. We'll come back at the end of the week if you say
+so, won't we, Carlos?"
+
+"'Taint no use of talking, Ben; not a bit. Man alive! what would I say
+to the major if anything should happen to you? And going off with Elam
+Storm! That would be the worst yet."
+
+"But Elam is honest and reliable. You have said so more than once, Uncle
+Ezra."
+
+"Oh, he's honest enough, as far as that goes, but shiftless--mighty
+shiftless. And I never said he was reliable except in one way. He's
+reliable enough to go to the mountains every fall and come back every
+spring with a hoss-back load of peltries, and that's all he is reliable
+for. I did make out to hold him down to the business of sheep-herding
+for a couple of years, but then the roaming fever took him again and
+nobody couldn't do nothing with him. He just had to go, and so he asked
+for a grub-stake and lit out."
+
+"You think that while he is in the mountains he looks for something
+besides wolf-skins, don't you?"
+
+"I know he does. He's got a fool notion that will some day be the death
+of him, just as it has been the death of a dozen other men who tried to
+follow out the same notion."
+
+"You promised to tell me all about it some day, and about Elam, too; and
+what better time can we have than the present? We are here by ourselves,
+and there is no one to break in on your story."
+
+"Well, then, I'll tell you if it will ease your minds any. It won't be
+long, so you needn't go to settling yourself as though you had an
+all-night's job before you to listen. And perhaps when I am done you
+will know why I don't want you to go piking about the country with such
+a fellow as Elam Storm."
+
+It was just the night for story-telling and pipes. The blizzard, which
+had been brewing for a week or more, had burst forth in all its fury,
+and the elements were in frightful commotion. The wind howled mournfully
+through the branches of the evergreens that covered the bluff behind the
+cabin; the rain and sleet, freezing as they fell, rattled harshly upon
+the bark roof over our heads; and the whole aspect of nature, as I
+caught a momentary glimpse of it when I went out to gather our evening's
+supply of fire-wood, was cheerless and desolate in the extreme. Our
+party consisted of three (or I should say four, for the Elam Storm whose
+name has so often been mentioned was to have shown up two days
+before)--Uncle Ezra Norton, who was a sheep-herder in a small way during
+the summer, and an untiring hunter and trapper in winter; Ben Hastings,
+whose father, an officer of rank in the regular army, was stationed at
+the fort fifty miles away; and myself, Carlos Burton, a ne'er-do-well,
+who--but I will say no more on that point, as perhaps you will find out
+what sort of a fellow I am as my story progresses. We were comfortably
+sheltered in our valley home, but we heard all the noise of the tempest
+and felt a good deal of its force; and accustomed as I had become to
+such things during my wild life in the far West, I did not forget to
+breathe a silent but heart-felt prayer for any unfortunate who might be
+overtaken by the storm before he had time to reach the shelter of his
+cabin.
+
+Under our humble roof there were warmth, comfort, and supreme
+contentment. The single room of which the cabin could boast was
+brilliantly lighted by the fire on the hearth, which roared back a
+defiance to the storm outside; its rough walls of unhewn logs were
+heavily draped with the skins of the elk, blacktail, and mountain sheep
+that had fallen to our rifles during the hunt, completely shutting out
+all the cold and damp and darkness; and Ben and I, with our moccasoned
+feet thrust toward the cheerful blaze, reclined luxuriously upon a pile
+of genuine Navajo blankets, while our guide, friend, and mentor, Uncle
+Ezra Norton, sat upon his couch of balsam sending up from his pipe
+clouds of tobacco incense that broke in fleecy folds against the low
+roof over our heads. Our minds were in the dreamy, tranquil state that
+comes after a good dinner and a brief season of repose following a
+period of toil and hard tramping that had been rewarded beyond our
+hopes.
+
+Uncle Ezra was a typical borderman, strong as one of his own mules, and
+grizzly as any of the numerous specimens of _Ursus ferox_ that had
+fallen before his big-bored Henry. Although he took no little pride in
+recounting Ben's exploits to the officers of the garrison, he was very
+strict with the boy when the latter was under his care, and never
+permitted him to wander far out of his sight if he could help it.
+
+Uncle Ezra was my particular friend, and had won my undying gratitude by
+his kindness to me. I was in trouble and he helped me out of the deepest
+hole I ever was in. When I struck his ranch one dreary day, two years
+before this story begins, afoot and alone, almost ready to drop with
+fatigue, and told him that every hoof and horn I had in the world had
+been rounded up by a gang of cattle thieves who had driven them into the
+Bad Lands to be slaughtered for their hides--when I told him this he not
+only expressed the profoundest sympathy for my forlorn condition, but
+grub-staked me and sent me into the foot-hills to find a gold mine.
+
+Judging from what I know now there was about as much chance of finding
+gold in the region to which he sent me as there was of being struck by
+lightning, and, more than that, I couldn't have distinguished the
+precious metal from iron pyrites; but I had to do something to pay for
+my outfit, and so I went, glad to get away by myself and brood over my
+great loss. For I had been pretty well off for a boy of fifteen, I want
+you to remember, and every dollar I had made was made by the hardest
+kind of knocks.
+
+When I first came out West, I began working on a ranch, taking my pay in
+stock at twelve dollars a month. My wages soon grew as my services
+increased in value, and as I took to riding like an old timer, I learned
+rapidly, because I liked the business; and it was not long before I was
+the proud possessor of a herd of cattle worth six thousand dollars. But
+it was precarious property in those days,--as uncertain as the weather.
+You might be fairly well off when you rolled yourself up in your blanket
+at night, and as poor as Job's turkey when you awoke in the morning; and
+that's the way it was with me. I was moving my herd to another section
+of the country in search of better pasturage, and was passing through a
+narrow canyon within two days' journey of the new range that one of my
+cowboys had selected for me, when all on a sudden there was a yell of
+charging men, whom I at first thought to be Indians, a rifle shot which
+killed my horse and injured my leg so badly that I could scarcely crawl
+into the nearest thicket out of sight, a hurried stampede of frightened
+cattle, and I was a beggar or the next thing to it. My three cowboys
+disappeared when the cattle did, and that was all the evidence I wanted
+to satisfy me that they were in league with the robbers. Ever since that
+time I had lived in hopes that it might be my good fortune to meet them
+again under different circumstances. When I learned that two of their
+number had been hanged somewhere in Arizona for horse-stealing, I was
+sorry to hear it, and hoped the other would mend his ways and so escape
+lynching, for I wanted to settle with him myself.
+
+At the time my story begins, however, I was on my feet again, as anyone
+can be in that Western country who is suffering from reverses. I had a
+home ranch and perhaps ten thousand dollars' worth of cattle ranging
+near the Bad Lands, into which my small herd had been driven to be
+killed for their hides; but I was poor enough and miserable enough when
+Uncle Ezra sent me off to hunt up a gold mine. I didn't find it, of
+course, but I took back to old Norton's ranch some specimens of quartz
+that made him open his eyes. They looked like chunks of granite, with
+little pieces of different-colored glass scattered through them. I had
+no idea of the value of my find, but so certain was Uncle Ezra that I
+had struck it rich that he took the specimens to Denver himself, and
+some expert there assured him that he was a millionnaire. But he wasn't,
+by a long shot, and neither was I. Uncle Ezra knew no more about
+business outside of sheep-herding and trapping than an Apache knows
+about astronomy, and the fifteen-year-old boy who was his only
+counsellor knew less, and the usual results followed. We were euchred
+out of our find, which meant the loss of bushels of dollars to us.
+During my prospecting tour I camped on the banks of a little stream,
+following through a secluded valley a hundred miles deep in the
+mountains, and stumbled upon a rich deposit of rubies and sapphires.
+Although there were no true red rubies nor true blue sapphires among
+them, they were beautiful gems and worth money. The Denver expert told
+Uncle Ezra that there was a sprinkling of fire opals among them, but
+this I am inclined to doubt, for I never heard of those stones being
+found together. Anyhow, that deposit, whose wealth was first presented
+to my inexperienced eyes, covered sixteen acres of ground, and is being
+worked by a syndicate with a cash capital of two million dollars. Uncle
+Ezra and I saved a small stake for old age; but you bet I will know a
+good thing the next time I see it.
+
+Ben Hastings, as I have said, was the son of an army officer who was
+stationed at the fort a few miles away, and this was the first time he
+had ever been west of the Mississippi. He had the good sense to
+acknowledge that he was a tender-foot, and perhaps that made me take to
+him from the start. He could ride and shoot a little, and had camped in
+small patches of timber like to Adirondacks and up about Moosehead Lake;
+but he did not pretend to know it all, as the majority of Eastern men do
+when they come out here, and so he had plenty of friends among men who
+were willing to assist him. He fairly overflowed with delight when I
+took him an invitation from Uncle Ezra to spend a month on his
+sheep-ranch. His father was glad to let him accept, for old Ezra was a
+particular friend of his, and often acted as guide when the major went
+scouting. This hunt to Wind River Mountains had been undertaken for
+Ben's especial benefit, and as we pushed him to the front as often as
+the opportunity was presented, he shot more elk and blacktail than we
+did.
+
+I have spoken of Elam Storm, a particular friend of all of us. He was
+somewhere in the mountains now and ought to have joined us two days ago,
+but, seeing that it was Elam, we did not pay any attention to it. He was
+a professional wolfer whom Uncle Ezra had befriended. Old Ezra said he
+was shiftless; but he certainly was not lazy, for he would work harder
+at doing nothing than any fellow I ever saw. He was game, too. He had
+some sort of a notion in his head that governed all his actions, and
+although I was as intimate with him as anybody in the country, I never
+could find out what it was. But I did not push my enquiries, I want you
+to understand, for Elam had a sharp tongue, which he did not hesitate to
+use when he thought occasion demanded it, and, besides, he was handy
+with his gun. I had often asked Uncle Ezra to tell me what he knew of
+Elam's history, but could never get him started on the subject; so I was
+glad to hear him say in response to Ben's importunities that he would
+tell the story.
+
+"How long ago was it since Elam came to you?" enquired Ben Hastings,
+with a view of hurrying Uncle Ezra, who was refilling his pipe, gazing
+with great deliberation the while into the fire, as if he there saw the
+incidents he was about to describe.
+
+"He never came to me at all," replied the old man. "I fetched him to my
+ranch, and he's been there off and on ever since. He's a different boy
+from Carlos, here,"--with a nod in my direction,--"the most
+improvidentest fellow you ever saw, and always dead broke, so that I
+have to grub-stake him every fall. I have offered more than once to take
+him right along and give him his pay in stock, so that he could get a
+start with some sheep of his own, but he won't hear to it. That's what
+makes me mad at Elam. It's all along of that fool notion that will some
+day be the death of him like I told you."
+
+"But what is that fool notion?" asked Ben, as Uncle Ezra paused to light
+his pipe with a brand from the fire.
+
+"Wait till I tell you. You see, Elam's history, so far as I know
+anything about it, begins with that treasure train that was lost up the
+country years ago. An army paymaster started for Grayson with three
+government wagons, a guard of twelve soldiers, and thirty thousand
+dollars that was to be paid to the garrison at that place. Report says
+and always did say that there was one private wagon with the train, and
+Elam Storm he sticks to it that that there wagon was his father's. I
+don't dispute that part of his history, but I do dispute all the rest,
+for it won't hold water. He allows that there was a nugget into that
+there wagon, and that it was worth eight thousand dollars; and that's
+right where the history of Elam begins.
+
+"Well, sir, none of them men that went out with them wagons was ever
+seen or heard of after they left Martin's. When the time came for them
+to show up at Grayson and they didn't do it, scouting parties were sent
+out to look for them, and I was with the party that found the wreck of
+one of the wagons. And there's where I found Elam; but not a live man or
+critter or a cent of money did we discover."
+
+"What do you suppose became of them?" enquired Ben.
+
+"Carried off by the robbers that jumped down on the train," replied
+Uncle Ezra. "But whether they was Injuns or white men aint known for
+certain to this day. There wasn't nothing except hoof-prints and a few
+dried spots of blood to show where the attack was made on the train; but
+there was a dim trail leading from it, and by following that trail
+through the chaparral and down a rocky canyon that was hemmed in on all
+sides by mountains we found the wrecked wagon I spoke of. When one of
+the axles broke and let the wagon down so that it could not be hauled
+any further, the robbers took every blessed thing out of it and went on,
+and we never did catch up with them--everything, I say, except Elam. He
+was no doubt left in the wagon for dead, for when we came up he was just
+alive and that was all. He hadn't been hurt at all. He was scared and
+starved almost to the bounds of endurance, but with such care as we
+rough men could give him, and being naturally tough and strong, he
+managed to worry through. After he got so that he could talk he had
+sense enough to remember that his name was the same as his father's,
+Elam Storm, and that was everything he did know. He couldn't tell the
+first thing about the soldiers who composed the escort, or whether the
+men who made the attack were whites or Injuns, or what went with the
+money; and the worst of it was when he grew older none of these things
+didn't come into his mind, like we hoped and believed they would.
+
+"Seeing that the little waif was friendless and alone, and none of us
+didn't know whether he had kith or kin in the world, I offered to take
+him and bring him up as if he were my own son, and the rest of the boys
+they agreed to it. Although he has always been known around these
+diggin's as 'Ezra Norton's kid,' he aint no more relation to me than you
+be, and no more use neither, I might say, so far as helping on the ranch
+is concerned. He always was a shiftless sort of chap, and liked best to
+get away by himself and 'mope,' as I called it, though I believe now
+that he was doing a power of thinking, and trying to remember who he
+was, where he had once lived, and what happened to him before the train
+was lost. I wasn't much surprised when he took to wolfing as a means of
+getting his grub and clothes, for that solitary business just suited his
+solitary disposition; but I was teetotally dumfoundered and mad, too,
+when he told me that his father was alive, and that he would some day
+find him and his big nugget together. Mind you, he didn't say this as
+though he hoped and believed it might be true, but as positive as though
+he knew it was true."
+
+"Where do you suppose they--I mean his father and the nugget--are now?"
+asked Ben.
+
+"Pshaw! His father is dead long ago," replied Uncle Ezra, in a very
+decided tone. "Leastwise the men who went with the wagons are dead, and
+so old Elam must be dead, too. Don't stand to reason that only one man
+out of the whole outfit should turn up alive, does it? These things
+happened thirteen year ago, and Elam is nigh about twenty now, I should
+say. As for his nugget--well, I don't know what to think about that.
+When I first come to this country, there was a nugget of that
+description in existence, which had been dug up somewhere in those very
+mountains, and the finding of it created a rush that reminded old timers
+of California and Deadwood. I jined in with the rest, but never dug out
+more than enough to pay my expenses; and that's what set me to raising
+sheep."
+
+When Uncle Ezra said this, he tipped me a wink, and settled back on his
+couch of fragrant boughs, nursing his left leg for company.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+TOM MASON AGAIN.
+
+
+"Well," said Ben interrogatively, "the nugget that Elam had to do with
+wasn't any relation to this one, was it?"
+
+"Wait till I tell you. I don't reckon there is any one thing in the
+world that has been the cause of so much misery and mischief of all
+kinds as that there nugget," continued Uncle Ezra reflectively. "The man
+who found it, whose name was Morgan, and who was working with two
+pardners, share and share alike, was about as honest as a man ever gets
+to be, but the sight of the small fortune which he unearthed one day by
+a single stroke of his pick, while working a little apart from the
+others, was too much for him. He was as poor as a man ever gets to be,
+and, worse than all, he had a sweetheart off in the States who was
+waiting for him to raise a stake and come home and marry her. He didn't
+like the idea of dividing with his two pardners, who would drop their
+roll at the faro table as soon as they got the chance, and so he took
+and buried his find and worked on as if nothing had happened. That is to
+say, he tried to; but with a big chunk of gold within easy reach of his
+hand it don't stand to reason that he could act just as he did before.
+He was uneasy all the time, and his pardners noticed it and suspected
+something. He took to visiting his nugget's hiding-place every night, to
+make sure that no one had dug it up, and his pardners found it out on
+him; and when at last he grew desperate and tried to carry it away
+secretly, there was some shooting done, and Morgan and one of his
+pardners were killed."
+
+"That left the survivor a rich man!" exclaimed Ben, who was deeply
+interested.
+
+"Now, just wait till I tell you. That left the survivor a tolerable rich
+man, but his sudden accession of wealth scared him so badly that he
+buried the nugget in a new place and put for 'Frisco, where he took sick
+and died. When the medical sharps warned him that he had not long to
+live, he told one of the nurses about the nugget, and gave him a map of
+the locality in which it was hidden. A month or so afterward the nurse
+organized a small expedition and went to the mountains to hunt for the
+treasure; but he hired for a guide a treacherous Greaser, who went
+ahead, dug up the nugget, and brought it to Brazos City, a small mining
+town in which I was located at the time.
+
+"Pierto--that was the Greaser's name--hadn't any more than got his
+nugget into the Gold Dollar saloon, which was kept by a countryman of
+hisn, and put it into a glass case and set it up on the table so that
+everybody could see and admire it, before he was offered eight thousand
+dollars for his find; but Pierto wouldn't sell. He thought he could make
+more money by putting it up at a raffle, and when the raffle was over,
+he would go back to the mountains and try for another nugget, taking
+some of us along if we wanted to go. Three thousand shares at ten
+dollars a share was what he thought would be about right, and I put my
+name down for ten shares then and there.
+
+"The Gold Dollar did a custom-house business after that. Crowds of
+miners from every camp for miles around came there to look at Pierto's
+find, take shares in the raffle, and drink forty-rod whiskey. Pierto and
+the eight countrymen of hisn whom he employed to guard the nugget night
+and day were armed with pepper-boxes and machetes, and were as sassy and
+stuck up as so many bantam chickens, and the lordly way in which they
+ordered us Gringos to stand back and not crowd the nugget too close was
+laughable to see. They were a surly gang and looked able to whip their
+weight in wild-cats; but in reality they were the most harmless lot of
+cowards that Pierto could have got together.
+
+"Like all mining towns, Brazos City could boast of some tough citizens,
+and among them was Red Jimmy Murphy, a noted desperado, and as smart a
+rough as ever pulled a gun. He and two of his pals were in the Gold
+Dollar every day and night, and after looking the ground over they
+concluded that the plant could be raised. No sooner had this been
+settled to their satisfaction than they set to work to get things ready.
+
+"The night before the raffle was to come off the Gold Dollar was packed
+as full as it could hold,--so full that there was scarcely room for the
+fiddlers to work their elbows,--and Pierto's guard had to use some
+little muscular strength to keep the crowd from pushing over the table
+on which lay the nugget in its glass case. Red Jimmy's gang was there,
+ready to grab the chunk at the critical moment, and finally Jimmy
+himself rode into the saloon on a kicking, plunging bronco. The closely
+packed men cursed and threatened and ordered him out, but gave way all
+the same, and when the bronco heard the squawking of the fiddles and
+felt the jab of his rider's spurs, he slewed around and backed toward
+the table. Pierto saw the danger, and made a desperate rush to save his
+nugget, but was just a second too late. Jimmy raised a yell to put his
+pals on the watch, and spurred up the bronco, which at once sent his
+heels into the air as high as the ceiling. Down went the table, and the
+glass flew into a thousand pieces. The nugget went sailing over the
+heads of the crowd and into the hands of one of the gang, who, in spite
+of every effort that was made to stop him, succeeded in tossing it to
+Jimmy; and Jimmy he headed for the door, riding over everybody that got
+in his way. Then there was fun, I tell you. I never saw lead fly so
+thickly before nor since. Everybody had a gun out, and Red Jimmy ought
+by rights to have been riddled like a sieve."
+
+"Uncle Ezra, did you shoot?" asked Ben.
+
+"I presume to say that I made as much noise as the rest," answered the
+old man, with a chuckle. "You know, I held some chances in that chunk,
+and didn't want to lose them. Of course Pierto had to shell out the
+money we paid him for the tickets, for the raffle could not now be
+brought off; we kept him right there under our guns till he gave back
+the last dollar, but he never set eyes on his nugget, and neither did
+we. Red Jimmy, desperately wounded as he was, got away to the mountains
+with his prize, and although a strong posse headed by the sheriff
+followed on his trail and finished him the next day, they did not find
+the nugget. One of his gang made off with it."
+
+"And you lost it all?"
+
+"Cer'n'y," said the old man.
+
+"And never got a chance to raffle for any of it?" asked Ben. "It has
+probably been fixed up into ornaments of some description by this time.
+An article worth eight thousand dollars isn't going to be left around
+loose."
+
+"It wasn't so two years ago."
+
+"Two years?"
+
+"Wait till I tell you. That nugget has travelled as much as five hundred
+miles from here, but somehow it always manages to come back. Here it was
+born, and right here it is going to stay until it has its rights. Mind
+you, that is Elam's way of looking at it, but it aint mine, by a long
+shot. We didn't none of us hear of the nugget again for nearly a year,
+and then one of the boys happened to strike a pardner who had got
+dissatisfied with the money he was making and went off to Pike's Peak,
+and there he learned that two of the gang who had stolen it were seen
+and killed for the part they had taken in the enterprise; for you will
+remember that several miners in the country had knocked off work and
+come in to catch a glimpse of Pierto's find, and of course they didn't
+feel very friendly toward the robbers.
+
+"Well, everybody for miles around kept open eyes for that nugget for
+years, until at last I forgot all about it until I heard that a couple
+of worthless Greasers had somehow got hold of it, and had been found
+done to death with that nugget by their side. Then I gave up all hopes,
+for if the nugget had fallen into the hands of honest men, that was the
+last of it; but it seems it hadn't, and that gave me another show," said
+Ezra, tipping me another wink, which was as near to a laugh as he ever
+got. "The two Greasers were about as tough specimens as you see, and
+they finally got into a fight to see which was the better man. When they
+were found, the victor had the nugget hugged closely to his breast, as
+if he did not want to part with it even in death. Not only that, but
+these two had scarcely found the nugget till they got into a row over
+who should carry it, and one of them got so badly whipped that he
+dropped and fainted right there. The other had strength enough to travel
+ten miles nearer the fort, and there he hid the nugget; but where he hid
+it he don't know. He raved about it while he was sick, and somebody told
+Elam of it (you see, everybody around here knows the history of that
+nugget), and every fall and winter he asks for a grub-stake and lights
+out, and I don't see any more of him till I drive my sheep down on the
+prairie. That happened two years ago, and every fall you'll see three or
+four fellows in the edge of Death Valley, saying nothing to each other,
+but ostensibly hunting coyotes, and all the while looking for that
+nugget, which is the thing they most want to find."
+
+"Then the nugget is really here?" exclaimed Ben.
+
+"It's here or hereabouts. It may be within ten miles of this place or it
+may be a hundred; for nobody knows where that fellow hid it. Mind you, I
+shouldn't like to be the fellow that finds it."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Because Elam will go for him. It's his nugget, and he knows it and he's
+bound to have it. Mind you, Elam doesn't say nothing about it, and he
+can't imagine what it is that sends the fellows prowling around Death
+Valley. But, laws! they may as well give it up. There have been a good
+many landslides in the canyon here the last fall, and if the nugget is
+under them, we may as well bid it good-by. I don't know that this nugget
+is any relation to Elam's, but it looks to me that way; don't it to you?
+And it seems so strange that it should come back here when it gets off a
+certain distance. The poor fellow is out there now hunting for it, and
+he may not show up this trip."
+
+"That won't be anything new for Elam, will it?"
+
+Uncle Ezra thought it would not. He might be a longer or shorter
+distance from there, and if he didn't put in an appearance, it was no
+matter; and, having got through with his talk, Uncle Ezra knocked the
+ashes from his pipe and settled himself in an attitude of rest, while
+Ben and I listened to the noise of the storm and thought of Elam's
+strange history. The nugget belonged to him, and we hoped from the
+bottom of our hearts that he would get it, although we made up our minds
+that he would have a strange time in getting back to the fort with it
+while there were so many desperate men waiting for him to recover it.
+Suddenly Ben thought of something.
+
+"Uncle Ezra, you didn't tell us how Elam's father came into possession
+of that nugget in the first place," said he.
+
+"Ask me something hard," replied the old frontiersman.
+
+"Don't you know?"
+
+"Nobody knows. We don't know whether it was hisn or he was just carrying
+it for somebody. We only know it was there--at least Elam says so. We
+only know that the robbers had it for years. There is a hiatus in the
+history of the nugget, and nobody don't seem to know what became of it
+in that time. We only know that them two Greasers had it and fought over
+it, and that brings it up to two years ago. It's my opinion that there
+will be another hiatus lasting for all time. At any rate it is worth
+eight thousand dollars, and I believe it is the same one I took ten
+chances on."
+
+Uncle Ezra rolled over as if he intended to go to sleep, and once more
+silence reigned in the cabin. Presently a deep snore coming from Ben's
+way told me that he was fast losing consciousness, and I was left to
+keep watch of the fire and listen to the howling of the storm outside.
+While I was thinking how foolish Elam was to go on searching for that
+nugget, when he might just as well have turned an honest sheep-herder,
+and laid out a little of his strength in taking care of his woolly
+companions instead of spending it all in wolfing, I, too, passed into
+the land of dreams.
+
+The next morning's sun (for the storm ceased shortly after midnight)
+found us still upon our blankets, for Uncle Ezra did not intend to go
+hunting that day, and it was nine o'clock when we got breakfast off our
+hands and the dishes washed and put away. We were just settling
+ourselves for another long story--a good one we knew it was going to be,
+for Uncle Ezra had promised to tell us about the first bear he ever
+killed--when a far-away and lonely howl came to our ears. It was so
+lonely that it seemed as if a single wolf was left, and that he was
+mourning over those who had fallen before the hunter's traps and rifle;
+but we knew it was not that. We listened, and when the sound was
+repeated, I threw open the door, and stepped out and set up an answering
+howl.
+
+"That's Elam," said Ezra, in response to Ben's enquiring look. "It is
+his way of announcing his whereabouts. I expect he will come along with
+a hoss-back load of peltries, so that I won't have to grub-stake him
+again this winter. Elam is pretty sharp, if I did raise him."
+
+The blizzard had swept the mountain free of snow, and it was only in the
+valley, where the fury of the storm had spent itself; consequently the
+new-comer had little difficulty in making his appearance. In the course
+of twenty minutes he came up, and then we knew he was not alone. We
+could hear him carrying on a conversation in a loud tone with someone
+near him, but could not catch the stranger's reply. Presently he came
+out of the scrub oaks leading his horse, followed immediately by a boy
+on foot; but where was the horseback load of peltries that Uncle Ezra so
+confidently expected?
+
+"Howdy, boys?" said Elam.
+
+"How do you do?" responded Ben. "Where's the rest of your furs?"
+
+"Gone--all gone!" replied Elam cheerfully. "One hundred dollars' worth
+of wolf-skins and fifty dollars' worth of other furs all gone up in
+smoke."
+
+"Were they burned?"
+
+"Burned? no. Some travelling trappers came to camp while I was absent,
+and Tom, here, wasn't man enough to stop 'em. They took everything I had
+down to the fort, and although I went there and did some of the best
+talking I knew how to do, I came pretty near getting myself in trouble
+by it. I want to see Uncle Ezra, though I suppose it is too late to do
+anything. This fellow is Tom Mason, and I want you to know him and treat
+him right. He got into a little trouble down in Mississippi, where he
+used to live, and came out here to get clear of it. Know him, boys."
+
+We shook hands heartily with Tom Mason, and although we were
+considerably surprised at Elam's statement that his outfit had been
+broken up by thieves, we were a good deal more surprised to learn that
+the youth at his side had got into "trouble" in Mississippi. After
+hitching their horse where he could graze we went into the cabin with
+them, and gathered about them with the idea of hearing an exciting
+story; for although I had been in the far West nearly all my life, I had
+not got over my fondness for a story yet.
+
+"Howdy, Elam?" said Uncle Ezra, removing his pipe from his mouth with
+one hand and extending the other. "You got into trouble, I hear, all on
+account of your furs. How did it happen? And you, too, Tommy." You will
+remember that the door of the cabin was open, and that Uncle Ezra heard
+every word of our conversation. "You didn't steer clear of all trouble
+by coming out here, did you? Well, never mind. Troubles will come to
+everybody, no matter what they do. Sit down and tell me all about it.
+Haven't had any breakfast, have you?"
+
+Elam declared that they had had enough left for breakfast, and produced
+his pipe and got ready for a smoke, while Tom sat by with his gaze
+fastened on the fire. I will tell both stories together, for Elam did
+not touch upon Tom's tale of sorrow at all. But, in the first place, you
+remember something about Tom Mason, don't you? You recall that he got
+Jerry Lamar into serious trouble by stealing a grip-sack that belonged
+to his uncle, General Mason, which contained five thousand dollars, that
+Jerry was arrested and put into prison on account of it, and that the
+only thing that turned Tom Mason in favor of the boys who were working
+to help him was the fact that Luke Redman was going to take the money
+across the river into Texas. Mark Coleman came near getting the money,
+when his skiff was stranded at Dead Man's Elbow, but had to go away
+without it; and from that time the history of the five thousand begins.
+Tom Mason fell in with Joe Coleman, who was Mark's twin brother, and he
+told him everything he had done; and when the last moment arrived, when
+the horns of the settlers announced that they were fast closing in upon
+the robbers, he told Joe to take charge of the money and dived into a
+canebrake and disappeared. No one would have thought of prosecuting Tom
+Mason if he had stayed there, but that was not the thing. He had been
+guilty, he had never done such a thing before, and he couldn't bear to
+stand up in that community and have people point at him and whisper:
+
+"There goes Tom Mason, the boy that robbed his uncle of five thousand
+dollars!"
+
+He would go West, to Texas, and when he had lived over a good portion of
+his life, he would write to his uncle and ask him if he might return.
+
+Now, bear in mind that this is what I heard from Tom's lips, after I
+became so well acquainted with him that he thought it advisable to tell
+me his story. I don't say that I advised him to stay out there in that
+lawless country among those lawless folks, for I didn't. I advised him
+to go home and "live it down"; but Tom was plucky and wouldn't budge an
+inch. Perhaps you will wonder, too, how it came about that a cowboy who
+never heard of Mark Coleman, Duke Hampton, and the rest should come upon
+Tom Mason in time to write the continuation of his story--a sequel that
+the boys in Mississippi knew nothing about until long after it occurred.
+All I can say is it just happened so.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+TOM BEGINS HIS WANDERINGS.
+
+
+"Joe, I will give this valise and gun into your care, and will thank you
+to see that they are restored to their owners. I know you will do this
+much for me, for it is the last favor I shall ask of you."
+
+"I took the articles in question as Tom handed them to me, and when I
+raised my eyes to look at him, he was gone. He had jumped past me,
+dashed out of the passage, and disappeared into the bushes before I
+could say a word to him."
+
+And that was the last that Joe Coleman ever saw of Tom Mason for long
+years to come. He was friendless and alone--how very much alone he never
+knew until by skilful dodging he managed to get on the outskirts of the
+body of settlers that were closing up around Luke Redman and his gang,
+and found himself beyond the reach of capture. His face was very pale,
+but he went about his business as though he knew what he was doing. It
+was very strange that a boy who had servants to wait on him at every
+turn--one to saddle his horse, another to black his boots, and still
+another to serve up his lunch when he got hungry--should have been
+willing to set off on an expedition by himself, but it showed that he
+knew nothing of the world before him.
+
+Having satisfied himself by the sound of the horns and the baying of the
+dogs that he was out of danger, Tom paused long enough to transfer his
+roll of money from his trousers pocket to his boot-leg. He had about
+fifty dollars that was all his own, and as he did not wish to lose it,
+he put it where he thought it would be safe, then straightened up,
+listened for a moment to a faint, far-off note that came to his ears,
+drew his hands swiftly across his eyes, and made the best of his way
+toward the Mississippi River.
+
+"That is my hound, and I'll bet it will be a long time before I shall
+hear him give tongue in that fashion again," soliloquized Tom, as he
+emerged from the cane and took a survey of the prospect before him. "I
+may never hear him, but I shall always remember him."
+
+As Tom came out of the cane he found himself on the verge of that swamp
+over which, one short week previous, the water had stood to the depth of
+fifteen feet; but Our Fellows had already ridden over it, with Sandy
+Todd for a leader,--the boy who admitted that he "might be slow
+a-walkin' an' a-talkin', but was not slow a-ridin',"--in their wild
+chase after the Indians and after Luke Redman, the man who had stolen
+Black Bess, and had managed in some way, they could not tell how, to
+secure possession of the valise which contained General Mason's five
+thousand dollars. The ridges were high and dry, and by following them
+one could enjoy a pleasant ride, avoiding the water altogether; but the
+trouble in Tom's case was the ridges ended either in the swamp at Dead
+Man's Elbow, the place where they afterward captured Luke Redman, or
+veered around until they ended in the very spot Tom did not want to go,
+the town of Burton, which was the only place in the county that could
+boast of a jail. It was dangerous to attempt to pass from one ridge to
+another, for the bottom was covered with a bed of mud in which a
+horseman would sink out of sight. Tom speculated upon this as he walked
+along, and although he was positive that no very desperate attempt would
+be made to capture him when it was found out that he was the guilty one,
+he would have felt safer if he had left all sights and sounds of his
+first wrong-doing far behind. How his uncle would scorn him when first
+he found it out! And the negroes! Why, it wouldn't be long till it would
+be all over the State.
+
+"This is what comes of a rash attempt to have revenge on a boy who never
+did me a thought of harm. Because I couldn't be the leader among Our
+Fellows I had to go to work and get myself into worse trouble by it. Why
+couldn't I have rested easy when I had nothing to worry about? But I
+mustn't allow my thoughts to get the start of me right at the beginning,
+for if I do, I shall come out at the little end of the horn. I wish I
+had an axe, for I would soon get across. I shall never find my way to
+the Mississippi as long as I stay on this side the bayou."
+
+While Tom was talking to himself in this way, he stood upon the bluffs,
+which, by drawing near to one another, had gradually left the low lands
+behind and brought the two banks of the stream within twenty feet--a
+bad-looking place, for it went far to remind Tom of Dead Man's Elbow. It
+was his only chance to cross the stream. While he stood there, looking
+at the dark, muddy water that flowed between him and liberty, that is,
+between him and the Mississippi, and trying hard to determine what his
+chances were of passing the night in his wet clothes with no means of
+starting a fire, his attention was attracted by the very sound he wanted
+to hear. He listened, and when the blows began to fall in regular order,
+as if the woodman was warming at his work, he left the bluffs behind him
+and turned and went into the woods.
+
+"That's an axe," thought Tom, "and as nobody but negroes can be chopping
+out here, I'll go up and get a bite to eat; for, now that I think of it,
+I'm hungry. I must be ten miles from my uncle's now, and of course no
+one down here has heard of that grip-sack business. To-morrow morning I
+will make him cut a tree across the bayou."
+
+Guided by the sound of the woodman's axe, Tom felt his way through the
+cane (for by this time it was so dark in there that feeling was the only
+sense he could go by), and presently came within sight of the chopper.
+He was a jolly, good-natured negro, who seemed a little startled on
+discovering Tom's approach, but speedily recovered himself when the boy
+addressed him by saying:
+
+"Hallo, Snowball! What are you doing so far out of the world?"
+
+"Sarvent, sar. Well, sar, you see all dis timber here? My moster is
+needin' some rail timber mighty bad, so he sends me out here every
+Monday and I stays here until Saturday. Say, boss, what you doin' out
+here? Ise you los'?"
+
+"You haven't seen a gray horse, with saddle and bridle on, going by
+here, have you?" asked Tom in reply.
+
+"No, sar, I aint. Did he threw you?"
+
+"Nor any hounds giving tongue?"
+
+"No, sar, I aint. Ise dey de ones you is lookin' for, boss?"
+
+"They're gone, and the best thing I can do is to follow after them on
+foot," said Tom, looking around for a handy log to sit down on; for, now
+that his tramp for the day was ended and he had somebody to talk to, he
+began to realize that he was tired. "I believe I'll camp with you
+to-night."
+
+"Sarvent, sar. Cert'n'y, sar. Whar might you uns come from?"
+
+"I came from the country about General Mason's place. Have you got
+anything to eat?"
+
+"Oh, yes, sar. Plenty of it, sar," said the negro, sticking his axe into
+the log he was chopping and leading the way off through the bushes. "Dis
+way, sar. I's often heared of folks up your way. Somebody up that a-way
+been a-stealin' five thousand dollars."
+
+Tom was thunderstruck. "Who brought that news here?" he asked.
+
+"De niggers, dey brung it. You can't keep anything away from de
+darkies."
+
+"How far is General Mason's place from here?"
+
+"Fifteen miles, or sich a matter."
+
+"And did the darkies say who stole it?"
+
+"Oh, yes, sar. Dey say that a youngster named Tom Mason--he's just about
+your size, but you aint no thief, be ye?"
+
+"Do I look like a thief?" enquired Tom.
+
+"I aint a-sayin' you did, sar. I only say he was just about your size.
+Then this Luke Redman,--you've heared of him, aint ye?--he got hold of
+the money and tried to run away to Texas."
+
+"Well, the old gentleman has got it now," said Tom, who plainly saw that
+it wouldn't do to talk too freely with the darky on this subject,
+because he knew too much. "They organized a big expedition and hunted
+the man down and captured him."
+
+"I am mighty glad to hear it, and I hope dey will throw dem as 'as got
+it in jail so tight that dey won't never have time to think of five
+thousand dollars. Now, sit down on that block of wood and I'll soon get
+you something to eat. You see, there is two bunks here? One belongs to
+my pardner, who is home now, sick with the rheumatiz. Moster is mighty
+keerful of his niggers, and he don't like to have Pomp come down here
+dat a-way, so he told him he must stay about the house and do light
+chores until next week, when he will come down here to help me split
+rails. Dere's a slice of bacon and some johnny cake for you. If you can
+wait till I fix up the fire I will give you a cup of coffee."
+
+"Does your master give you coffee?" asked Tom in surprise, for he could
+not remember that his uncle ever so far forgot himself.
+
+"'Course he does, sar, when we are splittin' rails; and sometimes"--here
+the darky leaned over and whispered the words to Tom, as if he feared
+that somebody would overhear them--"we take a handful now and then to do
+the old woman. Hy-ya!"
+
+Tom laughed as heartily as the negro did,--his laugh was catching,--but
+said he would wait until the darky had his supper.
+
+"Very well, den. You eat your lunch and I will go back to my
+rail-splittin'. When you get through, just lay down in Pomp's bunk and
+go to sleep. I'll have you up at seven o'clock."
+
+The darky went out, and Tom, being left to himself, proceeded to look
+about him. The cabin, which was built of rails, was barely large enough
+to seat two men at the table; but it was tight, and as the most the
+darkies had to do was to eat and sleep under it, it had plenty of room
+in it. Besides, there was a bench beside the door, and when the darkies
+were tired of working, that was the place for them to "loaf." By the
+time he had made these observations his bacon and johnny cake were gone,
+and he got up and crept into Pomp's bunk.
+
+By the time he awoke it was pitch dark, save where the faint light from
+the dying fire which the negro had kindled to cook his supper shone
+through the open doorway. The terrific snores which came from the bunk
+at his feet told him that the darky had long ago retired to rest, but he
+was hungry, and he crept out of bed to see if anything had been left for
+him. He found a pot of coffee and a huge chunk of bacon and johnny cake
+waiting for him on the coals, and as the fire had not had time to burn
+itself out, they were as warm as when they first were cooked. But by
+certain signs which he discovered while disposing of the good things the
+darky had provided for him, he found that he had been asleep longer than
+he had thought, and that daylight was not far off, and finally the negro
+started up from an apparently sound sleep, threw aside the blankets with
+a frantic sweep of his arm, and sat up and looked about him.
+
+"Hi! dere you is," said he. "I fix up dat fire fo' times during de
+night, but you was sleepin' so soundly that I couldn't b'ar to waken you
+up. Has you got plenty?"
+
+"Plenty, thank you. It's about four o'clock, isn't it?"
+
+The negro pulled himself entirely out of bed, put on his shoes, and went
+out and looked about him. After looking in vain for several stars which
+he ought to have found, but could not, he announced that his guest had
+struck the hour pretty closely.
+
+"Well, then, while you are cooking your own breakfast, couldn't you put
+on a little mess for me? You see, I am not bound for my uncle's house
+just now. I have to go down to the landing to meet the steamer _John
+Clark_ there, and get a trifling sum of money that one of the passengers
+will have ready for me."
+
+"Why, boss, how is you going to get across de bayou?" asked the darky,
+in surprise.
+
+"If my horse had not thrown me, I could have ridden him across," replied
+Tom. "But he had to start off on his own hook, and I shall have to do
+the best I can on foot. For that money I must have."
+
+"Dat's all right, sar. But I don't see how you are going to get across
+de bayou."
+
+"Don't you? Well, you just go ahead and cook me some breakfast and then
+I'll show you. If you had lived in these woods as long as I have, you
+would know that it is an easy matter to cut a tree across some parts of
+the bayou."
+
+Tom washed his hands and face in some muddy water he dipped up from the
+stream that ran a short distance from the camp, dried them on his
+handkerchief, and watched the negro as he went about his work. Now and
+then, when he thought Tom was not looking at him, he would roll up his
+eyes, taking in at one swift glance all the clothing he wore, from his
+hat down to his boots. Tom was well enough acquainted with the negro
+character to know that he had excited his suspicions in some way.
+
+"If I keep on in this way, I shall excite the mistrust of everyone I
+chance to meet," thought Tom, who wondered what he could have said that
+had caused this sudden change in the darky's behavior. "I have shut him
+up like an oyster, and not another thing can I get out of him. I shall
+be with him over half an hour longer, and then he can do what he pleases
+with his suspicions."
+
+"Dat's a mighty slick rascal, dat feller," muttered the darky, as he
+fished the bacon out of the frying-pan and placed it on to a clean chip.
+"Dere's your breakfast, sar. I'll eat mine out here by this stump."
+
+"Give me a cup of coffee," said Tom. "It is all I want."
+
+The steaming beverage was placed before him. Tom thought of the great
+world into which he was so soon to enter, and wondered if everybody in
+it was going to treat him as this obscure darky had done. Texas was a
+pretty good-sized empire, he had heard them say, and he believed it was
+made up mostly of men who had gone there to get clear of the law, and
+who had enough to think of to keep themselves out of trouble;
+consequently they wouldn't bother their heads about a boy who had been
+suspected of stealing five thousand dollars. When Tom had reached this
+point in his meditations, the darky, who had evidently swallowed his
+breakfast whole and rolled up in a piece of old gunny sack the supply he
+intended Tom should take with him, handed the bundle to him with one
+hand, and reached out for the axe with the other.
+
+"Ise ready now if you is, sar."
+
+This was all that passed between them. Tom got up, pointed out the path
+he wished the negro to follow in order to reach the narrowest part of
+the stream, which he had examined the day before, and fell in behind
+him; and it is a noticeable fact that he kept the black in front of him
+all the way to the stream. It is true that the man had no weapon but his
+axe, but with such an article, if he could only get the start with it,
+he could easily march him before his master, and that was the very place
+he didn't want to go. Such things had been done, and Tom did not see why
+they could not be done again. In a few minutes they reached the bank of
+the bayou, and when the negro saw it, he leaned on his axe and shook his
+head.
+
+"You knows what you want to do, don't you, sar?" he asked.
+
+"Yes, I know just what I want to do," replied Tom. "Cut down this tree
+first."
+
+The negro glanced at the top of the tree in order to see which way it
+would fall, cut a few bushes out of his way, and went to work. A few
+blows with the axe brought the tree down and it lodged on the opposite
+bank. Two more trees were cut down and the bridge was completed.
+
+"Good-by, Snowball," said Tom, extending his closed hand toward the
+negro. "I don't want you to do this for nothing. Here's a dollar to pay
+you for your trouble."
+
+"I--I don't want it, sar," replied the darky, drawing back. "I hope dat
+money won't sink you afore you get across de river, but I'm mighty jubus
+about it."
+
+"What money?"
+
+"General Mason's five thousand dollars, sar."
+
+"Do you suppose I have got that amount of money stowed away about me?
+Why, man, it's a valiseful. This money is all honest."
+
+"I can't help dat, sar. I can't shake hands with you, either. I would be
+afraid it would take all the strength out of my arms so't I couldn't
+split more rails."
+
+"All right, then. You stand here on the bank and see me work my way
+across. I bet you that all the money I have about my clothes will not
+sink me if I do fall overboard."
+
+As Tom spoke he stepped recklessly upon the bridge. We say "recklessly,"
+because had he taken more pains to examine the fastenings on the
+opposite bank he would have been more careful. He had nearly crossed the
+bayou when the log on which he was walking tipped a little, and although
+Tom made frantic efforts to save himself by seizing all the branches
+within his reach, it set the whole structure in motion. There was a
+"swish" of tree-tops, and in a moment more the bridge and Tom went into
+the water together. The negro looked, but did not see him come up.
+
+"Dar, now!" said he. "The money he had about his clothes was too heavy
+for him to walk the bridge with."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE WRONG BOAT.
+
+
+The negro, almost overwhelmed with surprise, watched the surface of the
+water to see Tom reappear, but it was only for a moment, and then with a
+rush one of the trees, which had broken loose from its moorings, swept
+over the very place where the head was seen, and the negro fairly danced
+with consternation when he saw one of the limbs catch Tom and carry him
+under water with it.
+
+"Dar, now!" he exclaimed. "If I go home and tell moster about this thief
+being drowned here, he will think I did it. What's dat?"
+
+When Tom arose to the surface, it was only just long enough to clear the
+water from his face, settle his hat firmly on his head, and take a fresh
+hold of the bundle containing his lunch, and then he saw the tree
+sweeping down upon him. To take in one long breath and go down again
+before it got to him was barely the work of a moment, so that when the
+tree passed Tom came up a second time, and this time he was much nearer
+to the bank he wanted to reach than he was before. A few lusty strokes
+brought him to it, and by the aid of trailing roots and vines he made
+his way to the top with the agility of a sailor, so that by the time the
+darky had got over wondering at his narrow escape, he was high upon the
+bank opposite to him, and pulling off his boot to see if his money was
+safe.
+
+"Is dat you, sar?" said he, scarcely raising his voice above a whisper.
+
+"Of course it is I," replied Tom, who did not know whether to get angry
+over the effects of his unfortunate plunge or to laugh outright at the
+darky's exhibition of astonishment. "You thought you had seen the last
+of me, didn't you? It takes a bigger stream than this to drown me. There
+is all the money I have got," he went on, taking his roll from his boot
+and holding it out to the view of the negro. "It don't amount to five
+thousand dollars, by a long shot."
+
+The darky did not know what else to say. He watched Tom as he pulled off
+his coat and vest and wrung the water from them, examined his bundle to
+see that his lunch was safe, said he thought the steamboat landing was
+about ten miles distant and there wasn't any more creeks to cross before
+he got there, and then saw him disappear in the woods. He stood for some
+moments gazing at the place where he had last been seen, and then
+shouldered his axe and turned away.
+
+"Dat's a mighty slick little rascal," said he, as he wended his course
+back to his camp--"a mighty slick little rascal. I don't reckon I'd best
+say anything to moster about it; and as for Pomp--I won't say anything
+to him, either. He'll leave me to cut rails alone if I do dat."
+
+"My first adventure," muttered Tom, as he hastened along the narrow
+ridge that led him toward the Mississippi. "That old darky believes, as
+much as he believes anything, that the little money I had in my boot was
+the cause of my being spilled into the drink; but it is all honest
+money, every bit of it."
+
+The sun grew hot as he went along, and by changing his coat and vest
+from one arm to the other, and by turning his money over in his hands to
+keep the wet bills on the outside, he gradually removed the effects of
+his cold plunge, so that long before he arrived at the point where the
+negroes were chopping he could tell them that he had started for the
+landing on horseback, but that his nag had thrown him and he was obliged
+to continue his journey on foot. He also tried to eat a little of the
+lunch with which the darky had provided him, but the johnny cake and
+bacon were wet, and after a few mouthfuls he dropped the remainder
+behind the log on which he was sitting.
+
+The negroes who were cutting wood for the supply of steamers that were
+plying up and down the river belonged to the man who owned the yard. As
+there were probably a dozen of them in all engaged in chopping wood all
+the time, their employer could afford a white man to oversee their work
+and the teams, but he seemed to have nothing to do but to sit on a log
+and whittle a stick. He listened good-naturedly to Tom's story, and told
+him where he could go to find the camp. The largest house in it was his,
+and he would probably find books and papers enough to amuse him until he
+came in from his work. The _Jennie June_ would probably be the next
+steamer that would stop at the landing for wood, and she would be along
+some time during the night.
+
+"I think that books and papers occupy the most of your time," said Tom
+to himself, as he started away in obedience to these instructions. "If I
+were a negro, I don't know any better job than having you for an
+overseer. Did you see how those negroes clustered around him to hear my
+story? If I had been their overseer, I should have started them back to
+their work in a hurry."
+
+Tom found the camp deserted by all save an old darky who was sitting on
+a bench outside one of the doors sunning himself. He was the cook, he
+said. He pointed out the overseer's house and told Tom to go in there
+and make himself at home, and Tom went; but he did not make himself very
+much at home after he got there. He found several books scattered about,
+but they were all old; and it was hard to tell where the overseer hung
+his clothes, for the back of the solitary chair of which the cabin could
+boast was liberally supplied with them. His trunk was open and the
+contents were littered about, and on the bare table, on which the
+overseer had left some signs of his breakfast which were still
+untouched, were articles that ought long ago to have been in the wash. A
+glance about the cabin showed Tom that there was at least one article of
+which the overseer was choice--his rifle. That, together with the
+powder-horn, bullet-pouch, and hunting-knife, was hung upon pegs over
+the door. Whatever accident might befall his other traps, his hunting
+outfit would always be safe.
+
+Tom took a seat on the bench outside the door, looked up at the sun to
+see how near twelve o'clock it was, and then looked at the negro. The
+latter made no signs of getting dinner, and Tom finally made up his mind
+that the men had taken their dinner to the woods with them; but his own
+stomach clamored loudly for something nourishing, and Tom finally
+accosted the negro.
+
+"I say, uncle, are you not going to get some dinner?"
+
+"Not before fo' o'clock, sar," replied the darky. "I blow de horn den
+and all hands come in."
+
+Tom was uneasy after that, and wished now when it was too late that he
+had reserved a portion of the johnny cake and bacon that had been
+furnished him. Wet as it was, it was much better than nothing. He found
+a book and made out to interest himself in a story for five mortal
+hours, when suddenly the long shrill notes of a horn rang in his ears.
+He would soon have something to eat, at all events. Presently a thought
+occurred to him.
+
+"Say, uncle, how do you tell the time? You haven't got any clock, have
+you?"
+
+"Oh, no, sar," said the negro. "Ise got something better than a clock.
+You see that ar peak of dat building hyar? Well, every time it's fo'
+o'clock the p'int of that peak is right hyar."
+
+"Summer and winter?" asked Tom.
+
+"Summer and winter dat peak is right hyar. Den I knows it is fo' o'clock
+and den I blows de horn."
+
+Tom wanted to ask him whether or not the sun was always in the same
+place summer and winter, but gave it up when he heard the sound of the
+negroes' voices raised in a rude sort of a plantation melody coming from
+the woods, for he knew that supper was close at hand. Nearer came the
+strains, and in the short space of half an hour the cavalcade streamed
+into view. What a lively set they were then! One would have thought that
+cutting wood was the happiest part of a darky's life. Keeping up their
+song, they slipped off the wagon, leaving the teamsters to take care of
+the mules. The overseer came into the cabin, and after exchanging a
+merry salutation with Tom, remarking that he and the darkies had
+performed a task that day that would have done credit to a bigger force
+than his, he cleared the table in readiness for supper. The articles
+that adorned the back of the chair were cast upon the trunk, the
+unwashed apparel on the table was swept off and thrown on the top of
+them, and then the overseer was ready for a smoke.
+
+"Yes, sir, me and the niggers have done a heap of work," said the man,
+seating himself on the threshold by Tom's side. "They were taking it
+easy when you came along, just as I mean that all black ones shall who
+work under me, but perked up a bit and went to work right smart. Aint
+they happy now? Every one singing at the top of his voice."
+
+Supper being over, which consisted of corn bread, bacon, and tea, Tom
+spent two hours in conversation with the overseer, until, as he was
+relating a story of his personal experience, an audible snore came from
+his direction, and, facing about, he found that his auditor had gone
+fast asleep, stretched out on the floor, and using the back of his chair
+for a pillow. It wasn't dark yet, by a long ways, and the sounds that
+came from the camp of the negroes told him that there was a heap of fun
+going on there; but as it seemed to be the rule to go to slumber
+whenever he was ready, Tom went to the overseer's bed and climbed into
+it.
+
+It seemed to him that he had scarcely closed his eyes when someone laid
+a hand upon his shoulder and shouted in his ear that the _Jennie June_
+was at the landing and taking on a load of wood. That was enough for
+Tom, who wanted to get into a bed where he could take his clothes off.
+When he got his eyes fairly open, there was no one in sight, but he
+heard the sound of a steamer's bell, followed by the hoarse commands of
+the mate, and when he reached the door, he found the whole yard lighted
+up by a torch which the steamer had placed in her bow. The boat was made
+fast to the levee when he got there, and her crew were making ready to
+carry on her load of wood, but Tom paid no attention to them. More than
+half asleep, he made his way on deck and into the saloon, which he found
+deserted by all save a party of men who were engaged in playing cards.
+They never looked up as Tom entered, being deeply interested in the
+piles of money before them, and he passed on to the desk and made
+application for a room to a man with a pen behind his ear. Without
+saying a word he took down a key from a board by the side of his desk
+and led Tom along the cabin and unlocked a door and showed him two
+bunks. The lower one had evidently been occupied during the afternoon.
+
+"Take the upper bunk," said the clerk. "The lower one belongs to a man
+who is playing cards, but I guess he won't care. Good-night."
+
+Tom was much too sleepy to know or care who owned the lower bunk; he
+pulled off his clothes and with a mingled sigh of satisfaction and
+comfort climbed into the upper one, and composed himself to sleep. He
+awoke once during the night, only to find that the steamer had finished
+taking on her load of wood, and was now ploughing her way along the
+river; and, having satisfied himself on this point, Tom rolled over and
+went to sleep again.
+
+The next time he awoke it was broad daylight, and the boat was rocking
+as boats always do when they have nothing to do but to make their way to
+their destination as soon as possible. The stool (there were no chairs
+in the state-room) which he had left unoccupied had been drawn close to
+the door, and a man's coat and vest lay over it; but it was not that
+that attracted Tom's attention, and caused his eyes to open to their
+widest extent. It was a revolver, a murderous-looking thing, and
+carrying a ball as big as an army musket. Tom thought it would be a good
+plan to get out of the way of that thing, and, holding in his breath, he
+slipped out of his bunk; but cautious as he was in his movements, the
+man heard him. He opened his eyes and gazed fixedly at Tom, then caught
+up his revolver and thrust it under his pillow, seized his coat and vest
+and threw them between the bulkhead and himself, and then rolled over
+and prepared to go to sleep again.
+
+"Morning," said he.
+
+"Good-morning, sir," said Tom.
+
+He thought it a wise thing to be civil, although the man's face did not
+look like one belonging to one who would use a revolver on slight
+provocation. The long silken whiskers which fell down upon his breast
+might cover up the expression of the lower part of his countenance, but
+they could not conceal the merry twinkle of the mild blue eyes which had
+looked at Tom for a moment. Considerably relieved, Tom slipped into his
+clothes and went out, closing the door behind him, and made the best of
+his way toward the barber shop; for be it known that up to this time Tom
+had not touched his hair at all. There was just one barber there, and he
+was as anxious to make money as anyone he ever saw.
+
+"Shave, sir?" said the negro, as Tom came in and pulled off his hat. "I
+declare if dat aint the worst-looking head I ever set my peepers on. A
+shampoo will just about set you right."
+
+"Don't want it," said Tom shortly.
+
+"I reckon dat you was playing cards last night," said the barber, as he
+deftly tucked the towel around Tom's chin and began brushing up his
+hair.
+
+"No, I wasn't," said Tom.
+
+"Den you missed the purtiest sight you ever see. Dere was one man
+dere,--he was a cattle-raiser,--and he raked in thirty thousand dollars
+from the two sharpers who were trying to gouge him out of his money! I
+wouldn't like to be in his boots, I tell you. Dey mean to kill him afore
+dey get done with this trip! I declare, I believe he bunks with
+you--room No. 19."
+
+"By gracious!" exclaimed Tom, starting up. And to himself he added: "I
+don't wonder that he had his revolver handy. He had his pants on and
+that was the reason I didn't see them."
+
+"Did you say something, sir?" asked the darky.
+
+"No, I didn't," replied Tom.
+
+"Yes, sar, dat was the purtiest sight I ever saw. De man dealt himself
+fo' aces, and one of the sharpers, the one that was hottest after his
+money, fo' kings. De best of it was he drew fo' cards, so he knew right
+where de cards were stocked. The sharper thought there had been a
+mistake somewhere, and went down in his jeans and pulled out his money,
+fifteen thousand dollars' wuth. De man saw him,--he had more bills where
+dem came from,--and de sharper showed fo' kings; but when he went to
+take de money--I declare, your head is awful dirty. I think a shampoo
+will set you just about right."
+
+"I don't want it. Go on. When he went to take the money--then what?"
+
+"Well, he put down de fo' aces with one hand and drew his revolver with
+the other. De sharper concluded he would let the money stay; and dat
+broke up de game. You ought to have seen dat sharper's face. He's a
+mighty slick rogue, and I bet you he'll put a ball into dat sheep-herder
+before we gets up to Fort Gibson."
+
+"Why don't you tell him of it?"
+
+"Shucks! What do I want to go and get myself into trouble for? He goes
+up and down dis road every year and he knows it already. It aint none of
+my business."
+
+The reader will remember that we are describing things that happened a
+good many years ago. At that time the cotton-planters, and the
+cattle-and sheep-herders who lived far back in the country, made use of
+the steamboats, which were the only means of communication they had.
+Gambling was much in vogue, and if the sharpers who met them at New
+Orleans couldn't find any means of inducing them to play there, they
+would take passage in these boats and try them again when every other
+influence except reading was at a discount. It was a dangerous thing to
+pick up a stranger on these trips, especially if one had money with him,
+or anything that could be changed into money. For instance, there was a
+contractor who started from New Orleans to do some government business
+at Little Rock. He had half a dozen teams and everything he wanted to
+make his enterprise successful, with the exception of the men. Those he
+was going to hire of the planters, and of course he had to have some
+money to do it with. On the way up he fell in with a very modest
+stranger who didn't know anything about playing cards, and the
+consequence was before he reached his destination he was penniless. And
+the beauty of it was the modest stranger was dead broke, too! Every cent
+of his little hundred dollars had been won by the two strangers whom the
+contractor had invited to join in their game, as well as the last mule
+which the latter had to pull his wagons. The contractor made out a bill
+of sale of everything he had, and the next morning he was missing. He
+had jumped overboard, and everybody thought he was drowned accidentally.
+The modest stranger and his two confederates took the mules ashore and
+sold them at a big figure, and went back to New Orleans well satisfied
+with their trip. It seems that in the case of this stranger the sharpers
+had picked up the wrong man. He had "stocked" the cards on them, and won
+everything they had, and the darky knew, from certain little signs he
+had seen, that his life was not safe so long as he remained on board
+that steamer. Tom had a horror of everything that related to gambling,
+and he wanted to talk about something else.
+
+"This boat is making pretty good time, isn't she?" he said, during a
+pause in which the darky went back to his bench after his comb and
+brush.
+
+"Yes, sar. We don't touch anywhere till we get to Memphis, and we shall
+reach there about----"
+
+"What?" exclaimed Tom.
+
+"Eh? Did you speak, sar?"
+
+"Why, I want to go down the river," gasped Tom, who couldn't believe
+that his ears were not deceiving him. "Memphis! That's up the river."
+
+"Course it is, sar. And you are going dere as fast as you kin."
+
+"Memphis!" exclaimed Tom.
+
+He couldn't wait for the barber to get through with him, but, jumping
+out from his hands, with the apron floating all about him, he ran to the
+nearest window and looked out. He saw the trees dancing swiftly by, but
+it was not to them that he devoted the most of his attention. The
+current of the river was what drew his gaze. He took one look at it, at
+the trees and stumps that covered the surface of the water which the
+river managed to pick up in the low lands when it was high, and then
+returned disconsolately to his chair. He didn't want to go to Memphis.
+It was two thousand miles out of his way, and, besides, there were any
+number of business men that knew him on the levee.
+
+"You wanted to go to New Orleans, I take it," said the barber.
+
+But Tom was done talking. He wanted to have his hair brushed as quickly
+as possible, so that he might go to the office and settle with the
+clerk; so the darky speedily put the finishing touches to it, received
+twenty cents for his trouble, and Tom hurried out and in a few seconds
+more was standing in front of the desk. He did not see much room when he
+got there, for there was a big broad-shouldered man standing in front of
+the desk, with his arms spread out over it, talking with the clerk; but
+he stepped back to make space for Tom, and smiled so good-naturedly at
+him over his bushy whiskers that the boy was satisfied that he had one
+friend on the boat, if he didn't have another.
+
+"Morning," said he. "Did the sight of that revolver scare you?"
+
+"No, sir. But I got up just in time to find that I am bound up the
+river. I didn't say which way I wanted to go, and the overseer at the
+landing called me for the wrong boat."
+
+"Well, you've got to go now that you are started," said the clerk,
+pulling a book toward him that contained a list of the passengers, "and
+it will take just five dollars to pay your fare to Memphis."
+
+Very reluctantly Tom pulled out his roll of bills and counted out the
+five dollars. Then he turned and went out on the guard and seated
+himself, almost ready to cry with vexation. Presently his room-mate
+appeared, and without saying so much as "By your leave" he drew a chair
+close to Tom's side and sat down.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+TOM'S LUCK.
+
+
+"I say, my young friend, what have you been doing that is contrary to
+Scribner?"
+
+"I don't understand you, sir," said Tom, starting involuntarily.
+
+"I mean," said the stranger, bending over and whispering the words to
+Tom, "what have you been doing that is contrary to law?"
+
+This was a question that Tom never expected to have asked him by
+strangers. Did he carry the marks of the cruel wrong he had done his
+uncle and Jerry Lamar upon his face so that anybody could read them? The
+next time he passed a mirror he would look into it and see.
+
+"What is your name?" asked the stranger suddenly.
+
+"Tom Mason."
+
+"Mine is Bolton--Jasper Bolton; and, Tom, I am glad to see you. Put it
+there. What have you been doing?"
+
+"Not a thing, sir. My uncle has got the money back all right before this
+time."
+
+"Ah! Money, was it? How much?"
+
+"Five thousand dollars."
+
+"_Five_ thousand dollars! W-h-e-w! You didn't try to kill anybody in
+order to get away with it?"
+
+"No, sir. I shot a couple of nigger dogs that were on my trail, but if
+you knew the circumstances, you would say I did right," said Tom, who
+had suddenly made up his mind to make a confidant of Mr. Bolton. "It was
+just this way."
+
+And then Tom straightened around on his seat and faced his new friend
+and told him his story, being interrupted occasionally with such
+expressions as "Ah! yes," and "I see," which led him to believe that he
+was making out a better case against his uncle than he was against
+himself.
+
+"I don't want you to think that my uncle is in any way to blame for all
+this," said Tom, in conclusion. "I wanted money, I wanted to be revenged
+on Jerry Lamar, and so I took it."
+
+"Of course. You ought to have had better sense, seeing that the money
+would all be your own some day. Do you know what I think you had better
+do?"
+
+Tom replied that he did not.
+
+"I think you had better go home, tell your uncle just what you have told
+me, and abide the consequences."
+
+"You don't know my uncle, or you would not advise any such step as
+that," said Tom, with a sigh which showed that he knew him, and that he
+was bound to stick to his course. "I am the only relative he has got in
+the world, but that won't hinder him from saying every time he gets mad
+at me: 'So you are the lad that tried to reduce me to poverty by
+stealing five thousand dollars from me!' He will get all over that when
+he finds that I am not coming home, and then I will go back to him."
+
+"How long do you think it will take him?"
+
+"About a year, maybe two."
+
+"Do you think you can stand it among all these lawless men for that
+length of time?"
+
+"I've got to. I don't see any other way out of it."
+
+"And you were going to Texas to get another start? Texas is a country in
+which all men bring up who have made a failure, and you were bound that
+way."
+
+"Yes, sir. I think I could make another start there."
+
+"Have you any relatives or friends living there?"
+
+"Not a soul," replied Tom, straightening about on his chair and looking
+down at the river. "By the way," he added, "I want to give you a piece
+of advice. Those men of whom you won the money last night have
+threatened to have it all back if they have to kill you."
+
+"Who told you that story?" said Mr. Bolton, with a smile.
+
+"The barber."
+
+"Well, they will have plenty of time to try their hands at it between
+here and Cincinnati. I told them a funny story about being a
+cattle-grower somewhere out West. If they try anything with me, they
+will have their hands full. There are three of them, and I know them
+all. The clerk has got the money now under lock and key. There goes the
+breakfast-bell. I will talk to you again after we go in."
+
+Tom was disappointed in more respects than one when he found that his
+new friend was to leave him at Memphis. With a view of gaining a little
+time he did not follow him into the dining-hall, but went into the
+barber shop and proceeded to wash his hands. When they had been dried to
+his satisfaction, he went out and drew up before the desk.
+
+"Who is that man who talked to me a little while ago?" he asked.
+
+"He's a gambler," was the reply, "and a mighty good one, too. He got
+into those fellows last night, didn't he?"
+
+That was just what Tom was afraid of. He went out and took his seat at
+the table, saw Bolton exchange courtesies with the three sharpers who
+had tried to fleece him the night before, watched him all through the
+meal, and told himself that if that was the style that men of his class
+were made of he had a great deal to learn before he could become a
+gambler. There wasn't a thing about him that could have been found fault
+with in any circle of gentlemen. In spite of his calling he had given
+Tom what he regarded as good advice, and he did not know what else he
+had to say to him.
+
+"There's one thing about it," thought Tom. "He has been around the world
+a good deal, is sometimes flush to-day and strapped to-morrow, but I'll
+bet if he was in my fix he would not go back to my uncle. If I am there
+to take all his abuse, my uncle never will get over flinging his gibes
+at me; but if I am away where I can't hear them, it won't take him so
+long to get over it. He can advise me all he's a mind to, but I won't go
+home."
+
+Breakfast being over, Tom pushed back his chair and went out and seated
+himself on the guard. The gambler did not put in an appearance for
+fifteen minutes, for he was not the one to allow his good fortune to
+take away his appetite. He came at length and bore in his hand a couple
+of cigars, one of which he offered to Tom. But the latter did not smoke.
+
+"You'll need an overcoat, Tom," said Mr. Bolton, after he had lighted
+his cigar and placed his heels upon the railing. "The country you have
+just come from is a summer's day compared to the one where you are
+going. It's only the latter part of December, and you'll find blizzards
+out there, I bet you."
+
+"But I can't afford an overcoat, Mr. Bolton. I have only fifty dollars,
+and it is all my own, too."
+
+"I'll get it for you. I haven't forgotten that I have been in trouble--I
+may be that way next week; and when I do get that way, I'd feel mighty
+glad for the simple gift of an overcoat. I'll get you one in Memphis,
+and at the same time I will tell the clerk to hand you two hundred
+dollars for your own."
+
+"I can't take it, Mr. Bolton," said Tom, astonished at the proposition.
+
+"Oh, yes, you can. You never may be able to return it to me, but if you
+ever find one who is suffering, and you have enough and to spare, I want
+you to hand it to him. That's all the pay I ask. I've owed this for a
+year, and this is the first chance I have had to square up with the
+fellow who gave it to me."
+
+"Where is the fellow now?"
+
+"I don't know whether he is living or dead. He was a good fellow, and
+when I told him what my circumstances were, how I had got in with a
+party of roughs and been cleaned out of my pile, he put his hand into
+his pocket and pulled out two hundred dollars. I told him I never could
+pay him back, and he said if I ever found some other fellow in need just
+to give him a lift. I've done it, and it squares me. But it's a mean
+business anyway."
+
+"Why don't you go on with me instead of going up the Ohio River to
+Cincinnati?"
+
+"To Fort Gibson?" exclaimed Bolton in astonishment.
+
+"I suppose that's where I am going, aint it?"
+
+"Well, you see, Bub, they've got a little document against me up there,"
+said the gambler, with a laugh. "It is a document which the sheriff
+doesn't hold against me, but which the people do."
+
+"Are they going to lynch you?"
+
+"Anyway, that is what they call it."
+
+"Well, by gracious!" said Tom, settling back in his chair and watching
+the clouds of smoke that ascended from the gambler's lips. "What sort of
+men have I become associated with? This man lynched! I would as soon
+think of my uncle's being lynched."
+
+"So now, you see, I naturally keep away from there," continued Bolton.
+"But I'll tell you what I'll do. If you will go on to Fort Hamilton,
+which is as far as navigation is open now, I will give you something
+that will introduce you to Black Dan. He's a gambler, you know."
+
+"Oh, I can't do anything to assist him in gambling," said Tom. "I don't
+know one card from another."
+
+"Why, bless you, I don't want you to do anything to assist him in his
+work. I want you to keep just as far away from cards as you know how,"
+said Mr. Bolton, fumbling with his neck-handkerchief. "Do you see that?
+It's a kinder pretty pin, isn't it?"
+
+Tom took the ornament and looked it over. It was rather large for a pin,
+the body of it being formed of some metal which Tom did not recognize,
+but the diamonds in the middle of it, six of them in all, were what made
+it so valuable.
+
+"That pin is worth five hundred dollars," said Mr. Bolton. "Put it on; I
+want to see how it looks on you."
+
+"But what do you want me to do with it?" enquired Tom.
+
+"I want you to take it up and give it to Black Dan when you see him. You
+are bound to meet him if you go to Fort Hamilton."
+
+"I can't take it. You have already done more for me than I had any right
+to expect."
+
+"Never mind that," said the gambler, taking the pin from Tom's hand and
+fixing it in his neck-handkerchief. "You see, he got into a little
+rucuss a few nights before I came away, and the fellow grabbed him in
+there and tore three of the diamonds out, and he gave it to me with the
+request that I would take it to New Orleans and have it repaired for
+him. There, now, you look like a sport."
+
+"I wish you would take it out," said Tom. "I don't like to have it in
+there. Somebody might see it and rob me."
+
+"You haven't got any baggage, have you?"
+
+Tom replied that all the clothes he had with him were those he stood in
+at that moment.
+
+"It won't take long to fix that. Just tell Dan, when you see him, that
+that thing has been in pawn more times than I can remember, but somehow
+I always managed to work around and get the money. By the way, he owes
+me ten dollars. He didn't give me money enough. What those diamonds are
+set in I don't know. Dan won the mine in which the stuff was found and
+had the pin made from some of the quartz; but the diamonds didn't suit
+him, and so he sent them by me to New Orleans. But, bless you, in two
+months from that time he was as poor as Job's turkey."
+
+"Did he lose the mine?"
+
+"Yes, and all the money he had besides. Perhaps that pin will hit him
+again. Dan is a good fellow. He never went back on a man who was down on
+his luck."
+
+"I don't see why you don't go back to him," ventured Tom.
+
+"Well, you see, there's that document that the people hold against me,"
+said the gambler, with a laugh. "I think I had better stay here until
+that has had time to wear off. Yes, you go on to Fort Hamilton, and
+there you will make a strike. I don't know anybody in Fort Gibson."
+
+"What do you suppose they will set me to doing?"
+
+"Oh, perhaps they will grub-stake you and send you into the mountains to
+hunt up a gold mine. Many a nice fellow has got a start in that way, and
+is now numbered among the millionnaires. You'll get a start if you
+strike Black Dan."
+
+"I hope you will take this pin and wear it while you are on the boat,"
+said Tom; for he had already made up his mind to go on to Fort Hamilton
+and seek an interview with Black Dan if he were still alive. "I wish I
+had some baggage in which I could hide it away."
+
+Without saying a word Mr. Bolton took the pin, adjusted it into his
+shirt-front, and once more placed his heels on the railing. The longer
+Tom talked with him the more he admired him, and the more he detested
+his avocation. The idea that such a man as that should deliberately prey
+upon the cupidity of his neighbors! But, then, if he was a gambler, he
+was the only man in the whole lot of passengers who had taken to him.
+There were a number of finely dressed planters who sat at the table with
+him, but not one had had a word to say to him, and would have allowed
+him to go on his way to ruin if it had not been for this solitary man.
+And how he had trusted him! Was there a planter on the boat who would
+have given him so large an amount of money on so short an acquaintance?
+
+"There's one thing about it," said Tom, as he thrust his hands deep into
+his pockets. "If I make a success of this thing, I shall not have any
+planters, who have already made their mark in the world, to thank for my
+salvation."
+
+The sight of the revolver that was placed upon the stool at the head of
+his bed did not startle Tom as it had done on a former occasion.
+Answering the cheerful "Morning" of the sleepy gambler he made a trip to
+the barber shop to get a "shake up," for Tom had not yet had opportunity
+to buy a brush and comb, and then went out and seated himself on the
+guards. He felt more lonely now than he had at any time since leaving
+home. Memphis was only forty miles away,--he had heard one of the
+customers in the barber shop make that remark,--and he knew that when he
+got there the last friend he had on earth was to take leave of him.
+
+"How will I ever get along without him?" was the question he kept
+constantly asking himself. "Two hundred dollars and a good overcoat
+besides. I think I shall need the overcoat, for if the weather is as
+cold as it is this morning, I should prefer to hug the fire."
+
+While he was thinking about it, Mr. Bolton came out and beckoned to him.
+Tom followed him into the office, and when the blinds had all been
+closed, the clerk unlocked his safe and took out three official
+envelopes; for the thirty thousand made so large a roll of money that he
+could not get the bills all into one. Selecting one of the envelopes, he
+tore it open, counted out two hundred dollars from it, placed it in a
+second envelope, sealed it with a blow of his fist upon the counter, and
+placed Tom's name upon it.
+
+"That's yours, Tom," said he. "I need hardly tell you to be careful of
+it. When you leave the boat at Fort Gibson, the clerk will give it to
+you."
+
+"Must I change boats again?" asked Tom.
+
+"Yes, for this boat draws so much water that she can't run any farther,"
+said the clerk. "I'll keep an eye on you and see that you get through
+all right."
+
+Mr. Bolton then proceeded to count out fifty dollars, which he pushed
+over toward the clerk, after which he put the envelopes in the inside
+pocket of his vest and buttoned his coat over them.
+
+"What's this for?" enquired the clerk.
+
+"That's to pay you for your trouble," said the gambler. "Now, the less I
+hear about this money the better I shall like it. Let us out."
+
+"What have you been doing to him?" enquired the clerk, after he had let
+Mr. Bolton out of the side door on to the guards, locked Tom's money in
+the safe, and raised the blind which gave entrance into the cabin. "Are
+you any relative of his?"
+
+"No. I never saw him until I came on board this boat. I told him my
+story and that led him to give me some money. The barber says he has
+travelled over this road a good many times."
+
+"Oh, I know him. This isn't the first fifty dollars I have made out of
+him. He has a different name every time. This time it is Jasper Bolton.
+Why, two years ago he came aboard of us, clean shaved as any farmer and
+dressed like one, and had charge of twenty-five barrels of dried apples
+which he was taking to Memphis. Of course he got on to a game before he
+had been here a great while, and cleaned everyone out."
+
+"I wish he wouldn't gamble," said Tom. "He has the manners of a
+gentleman."
+
+"Oh, everyone has to make his living at something," said the clerk, with
+a laugh. "And if he can't make his any easier than at gambling, why, I
+say let him keep at it. But you ought to have seen him with those dried
+apples! He talked them up so big among the passengers that he sold them
+for double the sum that I could have bought the same apples for. Oh,
+he's a good one!"
+
+"I shouldn't think he would want to carry that money in his vest
+pocket," said Tom. "How easy it would be for somebody to knock him down
+and take it away from him."
+
+"He's got a big revolver in his pocket," said the clerk.
+
+During the rest of the trip to Memphis Tom stuck as close to Mr.
+Bolton's side as if he had grown there, and listened to some good
+advice, which, had he seen fit to follow it, would have made his
+progress through life a comparatively smooth one; but Tom could not get
+over the "gibes" which he knew his uncle would throw at him as often as
+he got angry. He said that was all that kept him from going back, and
+the gambler finally gave it up in despair.
+
+On arriving at Memphis Mr. Bolton picked up his valise, bade good-by to
+some of the officers whose acquaintance he had made on the way up, and
+stepped ashore with Tom at his heels. The latter kept a close watch over
+the sharpers, and was not a little annoyed to find that they were going
+ashore, too. He called Mr. Bolton's attention to it, but all he got was
+a smile in return; and now, when Tom got a good view of it, he told
+himself that there was more self-confidence in that smile than he had
+given him credit for. Indeed, Mr. Bolton, with his overcoat on and a
+valise in his hand, and the free, swinging stride with which he stepped
+off, looked more like a prosperous business man than he did like
+anything else.
+
+Mr. Bolton was evidently acquainted in Memphis, for he passed three or
+four clothing-houses, and finally turned into an extra fine one, where
+he said he wanted to see the longest and thickest overcoat they had. His
+boy was going away into a country where blizzards were plenty, and he
+desired to see him well protected before he went. The first garment that
+was handed down was a fit, and Tom stood by with it on, and saw Mr.
+Bolton buy another valise, an extra suit of sheep's-gray clothing, a
+couple of blue flannel shirts, and a number of other little things which
+Tom would not have thought of. When the articles had been paid for, Mr.
+Bolton took off his pin, wrapped it in a little piece of paper, and
+thrust it into one corner of the valise, then locked it and handed the
+key to Tom. Then he turned and walked out.
+
+"Mr. Bolton," said Tom, hurrying after him, "I never can repay----"
+
+"Oh, yes, you can. Whenever you meet a fellow that is hard up, and you
+can afford it, just hand him a dollar or two, and that will make it all
+right. Now, be careful of yourself on the way up. You'll find some
+lawless men there who won't hesitate to take the last cent you've got.
+Remember me to Black Dan, and don't forget what I have told you. Put it
+there. So long."
+
+Tom wanted to say something else, but before he could form the words his
+hand had been squeezed for a moment and he was alone. He watched the man
+and then saw him disappear among the crowd.
+
+"I wonder if anybody ever had such luck as this," said Tom, as he turned
+his face slowly toward the levee. "I almost dread to think of it, for
+fear that there is worse luck in store for me."
+
+He was alone now, at all events.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+TOM ADMIRES THE COWBOYS.
+
+
+Tom Mason slowly made his way back to Wolf River, the place where the
+_Jennie June_ was discharging her cargo, locked his baggage in his state
+room, and seated himself on the guard to watch the deck-hands and think
+of Mr. Bolton, if that was his name. Several passengers got off at
+Memphis, and several more got on to take their places, but from the time
+the boat rounded to go up the Arkansas River there was no one who had
+anything to say to him, if we except the clerk and the barber.
+
+Tom thought he had never seen so lonely and desolate a country as that
+through which the Arkansas flowed. Woods were to be seen in every
+direction, and here and there a small clearing with a negro or two
+scattered about to show that somebody lived there. The boat stopped a
+few times to let off a passenger where there was not the sign of a fence
+anywhere around, but she never got out a line for them. She awoke the
+echoes far and near with her hoarse whistle, shoved out a gang-plank, a
+couple of deck-hands ran ashore with the passenger's baggage, and then
+she went on her way up the river. The town of Little Rock was situated
+in the woods, and above that it was all wilderness until Fort Gibson was
+reached. The _Jennie June_ did not tie up alongside the levee, but ran
+on till she came to a little boat with steam up, the only boat there was
+at the landing, and made fast alongside of her, keeping her wheels
+moving all the while, so as not to pull her away from her moorings.
+
+"Have I got to change to that thing?" said Tom.
+
+"Yes, sir," replied the clerk, who hurried past him with a book in his
+hands and a pencil behind his ear. "She's the only one who can go above
+here at all. Plenty of room on her. I'll be ready to go with you in ten
+minutes."
+
+With his baggage between his feet Tom sat down to await the return of
+the clerk, and to make a mental estimate of the vessel that was to take
+him 150 miles further on his journey. He saw that she had no Texas on
+board of her, her pilot-house being seated on the roof of the cabin. Her
+engines were small, being no doubt reduced in weight to make her
+carrying capacity equal to passing over the shoal places she would find
+before her, her spars were ready for use, and she had no roof over her
+main-deck. She could get along very well in dry weather, but what would
+she do when a rain-storm came up? Tom noticed that a good portion of
+baggage was laid out on the boiler deck, and no doubt some of the
+passengers slept there; and consequently it would be a dangerous piece
+of business for any of the wakeful parties to attempt to promenade the
+main-deck with a cigar, as he had often seen done on the _Jennie June_.
+
+"I hope we shall have pleasant weather all the way to Fort Hamilton,"
+thought Tom, as he rested his elbows on the railing and proceeded to
+size up the passengers. "I don't see how they can get all those men into
+the cabin."
+
+Almost the first thing Tom saw, curled up before some luggage they were
+watching, were a couple of Indians, taking good care to keep out of the
+way of the swiftly moving deck-hands. But Indians he could see any day
+by simply riding into his uncle's woods; but who were those long-legged,
+lank fellows who took just as much care of their rifles and knapsacks as
+the Indians did? They were hunters, and Tom could not resist the
+temptation to turn his eyes away from the fore-castle back to the
+main-deck to take a second survey of the motley group of men he had seen
+there. They were cowboys all of them, and their clothing, especially
+their hats and boots, were as nearly perfect as money could buy. They
+were all young fellows, from twenty to twenty-five years of age, and
+wore their six-shooters strapped around them with as much ease as though
+they had been born with them on. The hunters were a lazy set, and were
+willing to work for the furs they captured, while the cowboys were
+willing to work for a salary, and they earned every dollar of it, too.
+
+"That's what I am going to be," thought Tom. "I'll have a horse and
+lariat, and I'll soon learn to ride with the best of them. I don't see
+what Mr. Bolton could have been thinking of when he bought me this
+sheep's-gray suit. None of the cowboys has them on."
+
+While Tom was busy in watching the cowboys and telling himself that
+almost any one of them looked ready for a fight, the clerk came up, and,
+following a motion of his hand, Tom stepped after him into the office.
+He unlocked the safe and, taking out Tom's roll of money, handed it to
+him, saying:
+
+"I have spoken to the clerk about you, and he promises that he will give
+you a nice room with a lower bunk. Good luck to you."
+
+Tom immediately tore open the end of the envelope and began running his
+fingers over the bills. He wanted to see if they were all there.
+
+"I don't want anything," said the clerk. "I wouldn't take anything if
+you were to offer it to me. Come on and let's go and see the clerk. I'm
+awful busy when we are making a landing."
+
+Tom at once picked up his valise and fell in behind the clerk, who led
+the way on board the _Ivanhoe_. By dodging in the rear of some of the
+deck-hands he managed to get on board without being knocked overboard,
+and soon found himself standing beside a man who was shouting out some
+orders to which nobody paid the least attention. He changed his pencil
+from his hand into his mouth long enough to shake Tom by the hand.
+
+"Go up on the boiler deck and set down there till I come," said he.
+"I'll attend to your case in just no time at all."
+
+Seeing that no one else paid any attention to him, Tom ascended the
+stairs and entered the cabin. He wanted to see what sort of a looking
+place it was, but almost recoiled when he opened the door, for it was
+filled so full of stale tobacco smoke that he did not see how anybody
+could live in it. But he knew that he would have to become accustomed to
+that smell before he was on the prairie very long, so he kept on and
+finally found a chair at the further end of the cabin. There was no one
+near him except a man whose arms were outstretched on the table and his
+face buried in his hands; and when Tom approached, he raised his head
+and exhibited a countenance that was literally burning up with fever. He
+was dressed like a cowboy, but there didn't seem to be anyone to attend
+to his wants.
+
+"I say," said he, in a faint voice, "I wish you would be good enough to
+bring me a glass of water."
+
+"Certainly I will," replied Tom, rising and placing his valise in the
+chair.
+
+He did not know where to go to get it, but as he turned into a little
+gangway which he thought ought to lead to the galley he encountered a
+darky, and to him he made known his wants--not for a glass, but for a
+whole pitcher of ice-water. With these in his hand he went back to the
+sick man, who, waving away the glass of water which Tom poured out for
+him, seized the pitcher and drained it nearly dry. Then he set it down,
+and with a sigh of relief settled back in his chair.
+
+"I have been waiting for an hour for someone to hand me a drink of
+water, but I didn't have strength enough to go after it," said he, with
+a smile. "I knew where it was--well, it stayed there."
+
+"Fever and ague?" said Tom.
+
+"Buck ague," responded the man. "I always get it whenever I come to this
+country."
+
+"I should think you would keep away from it, then."
+
+"Well, I had to come with a herd of cattle my employer was getting up
+for the government, and that's the way I got it. Ah! here comes one of
+those lazy kids that ought to have been here and tended to me," added
+the man, as one of those handsome cowboys that Tom had noticed on the
+main-deck rapidly approached the table. When he saw the pitcher of
+ice-water, he stopped and gazed in consternation.
+
+"Somebody's been fixing you!" said he. "He's been taking calomel," he
+explained to Tom.
+
+"He never said a word to me about it," faltered Tom, who thought he was
+in a fair prospect of getting himself into trouble.
+
+"You know the doctor said you must be careful not to drink any water
+after taking that powder," continued the cowboy, looking at Tom as if he
+had a mind to throw the pitcher at his head.
+
+"The kid is all right," said the sick man, "and I'll stay by him. Now,
+if you will go away and let me alone, I'll go to sleep."
+
+He stretched himself out on the table once more, and the cowboy went off
+to consult with his chum. In a few minutes he came back with him, and
+all they could do was to try to arouse the man to ask him what he
+thought they had better do for him; but to such interruptions he always
+replied: "No, no, boys! I'm going to sleep now."
+
+"You ought not to have given that man so much water," said one of the
+cowboys. "But after all it's our own fault, Hank. One of us ought to
+have stayed here with him."
+
+Tom Mason did not know what to say, and neither was he able to account
+for so much forbearance on the part of the cowboys. He looked to see
+them pull their revolvers; but instead of doing that they drew chairs up
+beside their sick comrade and waited to see what was going to happen to
+him, and Tom, filled with remorse, went out on the boiler-deck. Just
+then the _Jennie June's_ bell rang, the lines and gang-planks were
+hauled in, and she backed down the river to her moorings. Then the
+_Ivanhoe's_ bell was struck, and instantly a great hubbub arose among
+the passengers. Hands were shaken, farewells were said, and in ten
+minutes more the little boat was ploughing her way up the river. Tom had
+an opportunity to sit down after that. He pulled a chair up to the
+railing and sat there for ten minutes awaiting the arrival of the clerk,
+and wondering how calomel would operate on that man after he had drank
+ice-water on top of it; and consequently he did not feel very safe when
+he saw the two cowboys approaching him. He had left them to watch over
+the sick man, and he did not like to have them follow him up.
+
+"Look here, pard," said the foremost. "You've got the only lower bunk
+there is in the cabin, and we want to see if you won't give it up to
+that sick boss of ours. The man now occupying the upper bunk has offered
+to give it up, but we don't want it."
+
+"You can have it and welcome," said Tom. "I assure you that my giving
+him a drink was all a mistake. I offered him a glass of water, but he
+wouldn't take it."
+
+Having given up his bed, Tom considered that he had done all that a boy
+could do to make amends for what he had done. He gave the clerk his
+money to lock in the safe, and when night came found a pallet made up
+for him in a remote corner of the cabin. All the report he could get
+regarding the sick man was that he was sleeping soundly, and had fought
+his attendants so hard that it was all they could do to take his clothes
+off.
+
+"I really believe he is coming around all right," said one of the
+cowboys. "When he gets mad and reaches for his revolver, it's a mighty
+good sign."
+
+"Did he draw it on either of you?" asked Tom, in alarm.
+
+"Oh, no; for we took good pains to keep it out of his way."
+
+When Tom got up the next morning (there was no barber shop on this boat,
+and so he had to comb his hair in the wash-room), and went out on the
+boiler-deck to get his breath of fresh air, he found three men out there
+sitting in their chairs, and paying no heed to the cold wind that was
+blowing. The men who slept there had gone into a warmer climate, down in
+the neighborhood of the boilers, but their baggage was scattered around
+just as they had left it. Tom took just one look around, and, seeing how
+desolate things were, was about to retreat to the cabin, when one of the
+men happened to spy him.
+
+"My gracious, there's my doctor!" said he cheerfully. "Come here, old
+man, and give us your flipper."
+
+"Why, I didn't expect to find you out here to-day," said Tom, walking up
+and taking the outstretched hand of his sick man. "My medicine did you
+some good, didn't it? But you ought not to sit out here without
+something around you. You will take cold."
+
+The sick man laughed heartily.
+
+"Why, doctor, I am as sound as a dollar. That water you gave me hit the
+spot, for it set me to perspiring like a trip-hammer. I knew I was all
+right as soon as I could sleep. Draw a chair up and sit down. You won't
+take cold while you have that overcoat on."
+
+Tom drew a chair up alongside the sick man, one of the cowboys moving
+aside to make room for him, and deposited his feet on the railing. The
+wind cut severely, and he would have felt a good deal more cheerful
+beside the cabin fire.
+
+"Where be you a-travelling to, doctor?" said the sick man; for Tom
+didn't know what else to call him. "If you are going out our way, we may
+be able to be of some use to you."
+
+"I am going to Fort Hamilton," said Tom. "How much farther I don't know
+until I have seen Black Dan."
+
+It was curious what a sensation that name occasioned in that little
+company. They simply looked at each other and smiled, and then settled
+down and sought new places for their feet on the railing. It was evident
+that they took Black Dan for a relative of his.
+
+"Have you got much to do with him?" asked one of the cowboys.
+
+"I never saw him," Tom hastened to say. "I got his name from a Mr.
+Bolton, who gave me a very valuable pin to return to him. He got into a
+fight once and had some diamonds torn out of it."
+
+"Yes, Dan has been in a good many fights," said the sick man. "He aint
+the fellow he used to be."
+
+"I--I hope he didn't get the worst of any of them."
+
+"Well--yes. He rather got the worst of the last fight he was in. He got
+into a row with three fellows,--cowboys, I knew them well,--and although
+he managed to get away with all of them, one shot him through the arm
+above the elbow, and it had to be taken off."
+
+"Amputated?" said Tom.
+
+"Yes, I suppose that's what you call it. Then Dan took to drink and lost
+everything he had."
+
+"Why should the loss of his arm send him to drink?"
+
+"He couldn't shuffle the cards any more. He doesn't do anything now but
+get drunk in the morning and then crawl into some hole and sleep it off;
+and he has seen the time when he was worth a million."
+
+Tom Mason was sorry to hear all this. He did not know what he was going
+to do now that Black Dan was in no condition to help him. Who was he
+going to get to grub-stake him and send him into the mountains to find a
+gold mine? He knew that things were pretty high in Fort Hamilton, and
+his two hundred dollars would not last him a great while.
+
+"For a fellow who has never seen Black Dan you appear to take his
+downfall very much to heart," said the sick man.
+
+"Yes, I do. I was depending on him to see me through. I have a very nice
+pin which is his own private property, and which I have been
+commissioned to give into his keeping."
+
+"Have you got it with you?"
+
+Tom replied that the pin was in his baggage, and arose and went after
+it. In a few minutes he returned with it in his hand, and was not a
+little surprised at the exclamations of astonishment that arose from his
+three friends when they handled the ornament, and passed it from one to
+the other and speculated upon its merits.
+
+"Five hundred dollars!" said "Boss" Kelley, who by virtue of his
+position took it upon himself to act as judge when matters came before
+them that were somewhat hard to be decided. Tom had noticed one thing:
+that his word was law to the two cowboys, and that when he spoke the
+other two remained silent. "That's a heap of money to go into Dan's
+hands. How long do you suppose it will last him?"
+
+"Until he can get to Cale's bar," said Hank Monroe.
+
+"And no longer," chimed in Frank Stanley.
+
+"It's his and he ought to have it, if we can find him when he is sober,"
+said Kelley. "Now, doctor, how came you by it in the first place?"
+
+"I am plain Tom Mason, and I don't like to answer to any other name,"
+said the latter; and with the words he settled back in his chair and
+told the history of his meeting with Mr. Bolton. He kept back nothing.
+He knew he could tell it just as it happened, for these men had more or
+less to do with gamblers, and knew the motives which influenced them.
+When he got through, he found that he had them very much interested.
+
+"Why, you haven't done anything," said Stanley. "Go home and tell your
+uncle just what you have told us, and take the racket."
+
+"Boys, I know my uncle," said Tom, shaking his head.
+
+"Perhaps he had better go on," said Kelley. "His uncle will throw things
+at him whenever he gets mad, and it's better to go away and let him get
+over that. Now, Tom, if you are willing to take help from us----"
+
+"I am willing to take help from anybody," said Tom. "I am a stranger in
+a strange place, and don't know what move to make first."
+
+"Very good," said Kelley, extending his hand to be shaken by Tom, a
+proceeding in which he was imitated by both his friends. "That is a
+cowboy's grip, and whenever you get it out here, you may know that you
+are among friends. Tom is one of our party now."
+
+Tom Mason told himself that never had a runaway been blessed with such
+luck. No sooner did one man on whom he was depending for assistance turn
+out to be unreliable than another one came to take his place. For once
+he had forgotten himself and told the truth, and the truth was mighty
+and would prevail. After that he had nothing to do during the rest of
+his trip but sit alongside one of his companions and talk of
+cattle-herding and speculate concerning the future of Black Dan. All he
+could learn regarding the latter was that he was going to the bad as
+rapidly as he could.
+
+"All gamblers come to that sooner or later," said Kelley. "All the money
+I have got was made honestly. I don't know one card from another."
+
+All this was very encouraging. If a man of Kelley's stamp--Tom knew he
+was well off, for he had heard him talk of the thousand head of cattle
+which he was holding fast to until the government came up to his
+price--could live all these years on the prairie and never learn one
+card from another, it was certain that another might do so.
+
+At last, after innumerable discouragements, during which her spars had
+been used until they were all mud, and it seemed impossible for her to
+proceed a foot farther, the _Ivanhoe_ whistled for Fort Hamilton. Then
+Tom saw what had given it that name. A short distance above the little
+circle of houses that always spring up around a fortification, crowning
+a hill, was a stockade from which floated the Stars and Stripes, and
+among the crowd of loungers who assembled to see the boat come in were
+several men dressed in the uniform of the army.
+
+As soon as the landing was made Tom went to the clerk to get the money
+he had locked in the safe, and made his way down the stairs to find
+Kelley and Stanley waiting for him. They all had horses, with their
+extra wardrobe tied up in ponchos behind their saddles, but they had
+given them over to one of their number with orders to take them to the
+Eldorado, the hotel which all the best men in that country patronized.
+
+"Now, we want to find out what's left of Black Dan," said Kelley. "I
+think we will get on his trail somewhere up here."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+A TEMPERANCE LECTURE.
+
+
+It was a muddy, miry place in which Tom Mason now found himself, for it
+had been raining some there and Fort Hamilton was not blessed with a
+system of drainage. There were no sidewalks except in front of the
+various saloons and stores they passed, and half the way they walked
+through mud that was more than ankle deep. It was astonishing to him to
+notice how many people there were on the streets who recognized his
+companions. It was "Howdy, Mr. Kelley?" and "Hello, Stanley!" or "Hello,
+Arrow-foot!" until Tom might be pardoned for thinking that his two
+friends were raised right in town instead of coming from a country a
+hundred miles away.
+
+"Arrow-foot?" said he. "That's one thing I do not understand."
+
+"Well, you see that when my employer first came to this country and
+wanted a name for his cattle, he picked up on his piece of land, close
+by the spot where his dugout is now located, a small piece of clay
+plainly marked with an arrow-foot. There was the stem of the arrow all
+complete, and so he named his cattle 'Arrow-foot.' Almost everybody out
+here is known by the brand his cattle wears."
+
+"But how do they come to call you 'Mr.' Kelley?"
+
+"I don't know, unless it is because I don't drink or gamble with them,
+and have a happy faculty for settling all the rows."
+
+Presently Mr. Kelley made his way into a spacious saloon that occupied
+one end of the block. It had evidently been built by someone who had an
+idea of refinement about him, for its verandas were spacious, the
+windows came down to the floor, and there was a gilded sign over the
+door. Inside the room was large and airy, with a bar on one side and a
+number of tables extending away to the other end. It was quiet enough
+now in the daytime, but when Tom heard the noise that came from it after
+the lamps were lighted, he thought pandemonium had broken loose.
+
+"Howdy, Mr. Kelley? Denominate your poison," said the man behind the
+counter, extending a bottle toward him with one hand and reaching out
+the other to be shaken. "Got back safe and sound, didn't you?"
+
+"I don't take any of that stuff, and you ought to know better than to
+ask me. I got back all right with the exception of the dumb ague, which
+took me just as I got ready to leave Fort Gibson. Have you seen Black
+Dan lately?"
+
+"You're right, I have," said the man, frowning fiercely. "Do you see
+that?" he added, taking out from under his counter a revolver which was
+cocked and ready to be used when it was drawn. "I am going to keep that
+just as it is and show it to him when he wakes up. Because he used to
+own this house is no reason why he should pull a pistol on me!"
+
+"Did he draw it on you?" asked Tom, forgetting where he was in the
+excitement of the moment.
+
+"I should say he did, kid, and Mose, there, was just in time to stop
+him. I hope you have come to take him East, for I don't want him around
+here any longer. It is all I can do to keep him from getting into a
+fight with somebody, and the first thing you know he will pick up the
+wrong man. You took him out, Mose. Do you know where he is?"
+
+"Yes; he's out there," said Mose, motioning one way with his thumb and
+another way with his head. "I can find him."
+
+Mose made an effort to get on his feet, but reeled considerably, and
+would have fallen back in his chair if Mr. Kelley had not caught him and
+placed him steadily on his feet. When he was fairly up, he was all
+right, and made his way out of the house and around the corner, closely
+followed by Mr. Kelley and Tom. Presently he stopped, and curled up
+behind a water-butt, the mud spattered thick on his torn clothing, his
+empty holster and the stump of his crippled arm thrown out recklessly by
+his side, lay all that was left of Black Dan. Tom saw in a minute where
+he had got his cognomen. His complexion was swarthy and his hair and
+whiskers were as black as midnight, but for all that he had been a very
+handsome man. He was dead drunk, and Mr. Kelley saw that all attempts to
+arouse him would be useless.
+
+"Why didn't you put him in a bed?" asked Tom, in accents of disgust.
+
+"He wouldn't stay there," replied Mose. "That is the only place he will
+stay, and there is where we take him as soon as he shows any desire to
+go to sleep."
+
+"Let's go away," said Tom. "I'll never drink a drop of whiskey as long
+as I live."
+
+"It would be useless to try to awake him," said Mr. Kelley. "Mose, you
+tell him that as soon as he wakes up we want to see him down to the
+Eldorado, where we are stopping. We want to see him particularly. You
+can remember that much, can't you?"
+
+"I can, sir," replied Mose, hastily pocketing the dollar which Kelley
+thrust out to him. "I'll send him down as soon as he comes to himself."
+
+"It always comes hard for one to see a man done up in that style," said
+Mr. Kelley, as he and Tom bent their steps toward the Eldorado. "It
+makes me hate whiskey worse than I did before."
+
+Tom had seen so much of the little town of Fort Hamilton that he had
+some doubts about going to the Eldorado. Their little interview with
+Black Dan, if such it could be called, had taken all the conversation
+out of them; but when they entered the living-room of the hotel, and saw
+no semblance of a bar, and the men who were playing cards were doing it
+for fun, and not for money, and there was no sign of a drunken man
+around, his spirits rose wonderfully, and he walked up and placed his
+valise on the counter.
+
+"Ah! here you are," exclaimed Stanley, coming up at that moment. "I
+wasn't able to get a room with four beds in it, but I have engaged one
+end of the dining-room, so that we can all be together to-night."
+
+"Full up to the top notch," said the clerk. "Put it there, Mr. Kelley.
+How are you, Arrow-foot? This young man I don't remember to have seen
+before, but all the same I am glad to meet him."
+
+"Yes, he's a tender-foot, and we are taking him out to have the boss
+grub-stake him."
+
+"Ah! that's your business, is it? Fine business that. You may make a
+strike some day and come back and buy us all out. You're going right in
+the country for one, for there's a nugget worth eight thousand dollars
+for you to pitch on to."
+
+"Yes, Elam Storm's nugget," said Stanley. "I hope to goodness you'll get
+it, for then we shall quit hearing so much about it."
+
+"Oh, it's there, for one with such a reputation as that--why, man alive,
+it extends through twenty years! And the Red Ghost, too; you want to
+steer clear of him."
+
+Tom laughed and said he would do his best to follow the clerk's advice.
+He had heard of Elam Storm's nugget, had even found himself thinking of
+it when awake, and dreaming about it when asleep. He knew that his
+chances for digging it up were rather slim, for he did not suppose that
+the man who had hid it had any idea that it would be unearthed by anyone
+save himself; but if he should happen to strike it with one blow of his
+pick! Wouldn't he be in town? He could then write back to his uncle that
+he had made more than the sum he had temporarily lost, made it by the
+sweat of his brow, and he was sure that the next letter he received from
+his uncle would be one telling him to come back home, and all would be
+forgiven. But the Red Ghost! Tom did not know what to think about him.
+He had been seen, never in broad daylight, and he was a terrible thing
+to look at. He roamed about after nightfall, tearing the mules and
+trampling the teamsters to death, and the worst of it was he was always
+to be found somewhere near the place where the nugget was supposed to be
+hid. Stanley once had a partner that had been done to death, and even
+Mr. Kelley's face grew solemn whenever he spoke of him. That was the
+only thing that made Tom doubtful about taking a grub-stake.
+
+The dinner-bell rang while they were talking, and when the meal was
+ended Tom went out with the two cowboys to look at a horse that Stanley
+had found for him in the morning. They were gone about two hours, and
+when they came back, Tom told himself that he was a cowboy at last; a
+horse, saddle, and bridle were waiting for him at the stable, and the
+poncho which he carried slung over his arm was roomy enough for his
+extra baggage. The first thing that attracted Stanley's notice was a
+strange man talking to Mr. Kelley. The stump of his arm proclaimed who
+he was.
+
+"It's Black Dan," said he. "Now, Tom, let's see how much your temperance
+principles will amount to."
+
+Tom was startled, as well he might be, to know that he had it in his
+power to help a man who, in his palmy days, held an influence in Fort
+Hamilton second only to the commander of the station. He gazed steadily
+at him a moment, then threw his poncho on the table, asked the clerk for
+his valise, and took from it the pin Mr. Bolton had given him, and with
+this in his hand he approached Black Dan, while with a delicacy of
+feeling that some people who occupy prouder stations might have envied
+the cowboys turned toward the window. Hearing from the barkeeper that
+the man who wanted to see him was a "top-notch fellow," Dan had washed
+his face and brushed his hair, and made other efforts to improve
+himself. His holster was filled this time, so it showed that he was in a
+situation to defend himself. Mr. Kelley introduced Tom, and then moved
+away.
+
+"How do you do, sir?" said Dan, gazing hard at Tom's face and trying to
+recollect where he had seen him before. "You have got the advantage of
+me."
+
+"I never saw you before, and I am sorry to find you this way," said Tom,
+trying to keep up his courage. "I want you to look at this pin and tell
+me if you ever saw it before."
+
+Tom unwrapped the pin and placed it in Dan's hands. The latter took it
+in surprise, and finally the wondering scowl his face had assumed gave
+way to an entirely different expression, and he sat for five minutes,
+turning the pin over in his hand, and doubtless harassed by gloomy
+reflections. When he gave that pin to the one from whom Tom had received
+it, he was worth half a million dollars.
+
+"What was Bradshaw doing when he gave you the pin?" said he.
+
+"He told me his name was Bolton," said Tom. "He had been doing some
+gambling, and, finding out from me that I was coming up here, he gave me
+the pin with a request that I should give it to you."
+
+"You haven't come out here with any intention of going into this
+business, have you?"
+
+"What, gambling? Not much I haven't. I think I have seen enough to keep
+me away from gambling forever. I'm going to get a grub-stake and go into
+the mountains. I think I can do better there."
+
+"You are an honest boy, and I wish I could give you something for it.
+One short year ago I could have sent you to the mountains with some
+prospects of success; but now----" Dan held up his crippled arm.
+
+"I should think that would drive you from gambling forever," said Tom
+earnestly. "You have taken to drink, and that is just as bad."
+
+"Well, seeing that you are going to preach, I guess I'll go. Shake. So
+long."
+
+Before Tom could think of another word to say Dan had squeezed his hand
+and was on his way to the door, walking along with his hat pulled over
+his eyes, as if he didn't want to see anybody. When he reached the
+street, he simply touched his forehead to some people he met, and kept
+on his way to the saloon. Tom stepped to the window and saw him go in at
+the door.
+
+"Well, what success did you meet with?" said Stanley.
+
+"I didn't meet with any success at all," said Tom, gazing helplessly out
+at the muddy street. "He said if I was going to preach he'd go. He
+seemed to think I had come out here to go into his business, but I told
+him I had seen enough to keep me away from cards forever."
+
+"Well, I declare!" said Mr. Kelley. "It is the greatest wonder in the
+world he didn't knock you down. He never lets anybody say anything
+against cards in his hearing. You have had a narrow escape."
+
+As Tom sat there with his three friends and talked over the incidents of
+Dan's past life he grew more frightened than ever, and thanked his lucky
+stars that he didn't know more about it before he held his interview
+with the gambler. Tom had told him that he had taken to drink, which was
+as bad as gambling, and Dan had been known to floor a man who had said
+as much to him. That night, while Tom was lying on his bed and trying to
+go to sleep, he heard something more of the pin. High and loud above all
+the hubbub that arose on the streets came the chorus of a song in which
+one voice far outled the others. It was Dan's voice, and proved that the
+pin had been pawned for something besides water. He looked over toward
+Monroe, and saw that the latter was wide awake and looking at him.
+
+"They're going it, aint they?" Tom whispered.
+
+"You're right, they are. Poor Dan! You have done what you could for
+him." And with the words he rolled over and prepared to go to sleep.
+
+The next morning everything was quiet enough. The drunkards had been put
+into the calaboose by the soldiers, and the others had gone to bed to
+sleep it off. Tom wanted to know what had become of Dan, but nobody said
+anything about him, and from that time his name was dropped. They ate
+their breakfast in haste, paid their bills, and in ten minutes more Tom
+was on his way in search of a grub-stake.
+
+"Oh, certainly you'll get it," said Monroe, who rode beside him. "That
+is the way the bosses always treat a tender-foot when they haven't
+anything in particular for him to do. Some of our best known men have
+got their start that way."
+
+"I should think that some of the men you trust that way would run off
+when they find something good," said Tom.
+
+"Why, bless you, they can't take their find with them. They've got to
+stay and work it. I did hear of a fellow who found a lot of iron
+pyrites, and filled his pockets with them. He ran away, making the best
+course he could for Denver, and when he was found, his pockets might
+just as well have been filled with clay."
+
+"Dead?" said Tom.
+
+"Yes; and he was two hundred miles from where he belonged."
+
+"And his find didn't amount to anything?"
+
+"No. It is a brassy substance and looks very much like the precious
+metal, but you need a mine to work it."
+
+"What do you suppose killed him?"
+
+"Don't know. Some people suppose that his mule got away from him, and
+ran away with his outfit. At any rate, there was nothing near him, and
+the fellow got desperate and died from exhaustion. Oh, it's one of the
+things that will happen out here."
+
+"That's a queer way to do," said Tom musingly. "By the way, I haven't
+got any revolver."
+
+"Oh, the old man will give you a pop. You will get everything you need
+to last you two or three months. While that lasts, you are expected to
+do some hunting; when it begins to give out, you want to come home."
+
+"But how will I know the way?"
+
+"The mule will bring you. He will stay there about two months,--that is,
+if he doesn't get frightened,--and when he gets tired of staying, he
+will come home, and you had better come, too."
+
+It was by such talks as this that Tom learned a great deal about the
+business upon which he was soon to embark. It never occurred to him that
+he was to engage in any other business. Cowboys--or, as they were called
+in those days, "vaqueros"--were not as plenty as they became a few years
+later, and if a ranchman could be found who thought him able to make his
+living by riding for a stake, well and good. He certainly would not run
+away with his pockets filled with pyrites. He expected to make a good
+many blunders, but Tom told himself he was used to that. What he thought
+of more than anything else was that nugget worth eight thousand dollars.
+
+They camped that night with a party of emigrants, and for the first time
+Tom had the luxury of sleeping out of doors; but the appetite he brought
+to the breakfast-table with him amply made amends for that. In all the
+hunting excursions he had enjoyed for a week or more on his uncle's
+plantation he always had a darky along to build a shelter for him, cook
+his breakfast for him, and do any other work that happened to be
+necessary, and all he had to do was to ride to and from his
+hunting-grounds and shoot the turkeys after he got there. The next night
+they drew up before a dugout, the first one he had ever seen. The only
+thing that pointed out its place of location were a couple of hay-racks,
+which had been torn to pieces by mules. There was not a human being in
+sight, not even standing in the door to bid them welcome.
+
+"Boys, I am glad my trip is done," said Mr. Kelley, as he threw himself
+from his horse, relieving him of his bridle as he did so. "Tom, what do
+you think of your new home?"
+
+"Why, there is nobody around here," said Tom, gazing on all sides of
+him.
+
+"Oh, they are around here somewhere. It isn't dark yet, and we'll get in
+and light a fire for them. They are out somewhere, looking for some lost
+cattle. We left two hundred head here when we went to the mountains."
+
+"To the mountains?" repeated Tom.
+
+"Yes. I tell you we want to get away from here when the blizzards fly,
+for there isn't a thing to shelter us. I don't expect we shall find more
+than fifty head of those cattle, if we do that."
+
+"What do you suppose will become of them?"
+
+"They will be dead, of course. You see, when cattle are loose on the
+prairie and a storm comes up, and they can't stand it any longer, they
+start and travel in the same way the storm is going; and as the storm
+lasts from three to four days, you can readily imagine that they must
+get exhausted before they stop. When the hailstones come down as large
+as hens' eggs, you can----"
+
+"Haw, haw!" laughed Monroe.
+
+"Well, as large as pigeons' eggs," said Kelley, "and I won't come down
+another grain in weight. Why, an army officer went by here two years ago
+hunting for his thirty-five mules that had been stampeded by a storm,
+and when he found them, there were only four that were able to stand
+alone. Oh, you get out, Monroe! You haven't seen any blizzard yet. Now,
+let's go in and get some supper."
+
+"But what makes the mules run so? Why don't they go under shelter?"
+added Tom, as he picked up his poncho and saddle and followed the man
+inside the house.
+
+"There was just where they were going--for shelter. There aint a piece
+of timber within twenty-five miles of this place to shelter a rabbit."
+
+"Then what do you use for fuel?"
+
+"Buffalo chips. There, Tom, put your plunder in there and set down and
+look around you. You wouldn't think the man who owns this place was
+worth two hundred thousand, but it is a fact."
+
+"Why doesn't he buy a better piece of ground, then? I wouldn't be so far
+from shelter if I were in his place."
+
+"Buy it? He doesn't own this property. Every acre of ground that he
+occupies is Congress land."
+
+"But I'll bet you he wouldn't give it up," said Stanley. "I'd like to
+see somebody come here and say this is his."
+
+"Then you will never see it. Mr. Parsons says that all this property
+will be thrown open to settlement some day, and then he and the rest of
+the squatters will have to go farther West. But, laws! he's got money
+enough, and he began life, Tom, just as you are going to--by taking a
+grub-stake and starting for the mountains. But come on, boys, and let's
+get supper. Stanley, just roll out the rest of that bacon and hard-tack,
+and, Monroe, you go outside and throw in some buffalo chips."
+
+Tom, weary with his long ride, made up his bunk, then threw himself upon
+it and looked about him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+A HOME RANCH.
+
+
+Tom was surprised at the interior of the dugout. From the outside it
+didn't look large enough to accommodate more than three or four men, but
+there were bunks for eight, and there was ample room for the cooking
+stove, a dilapidated affair which looked as though it might have come
+from somebody's scrap-pile and left one of its legs behind it. But there
+was plenty of "draw" to it, as Monroe came in with his arms full of
+buffalo chips, filled the stove full, and touched a match to them. On
+each side of the stove was a blanket, which on being raised proved to
+conceal little cupboards devoted to various odds and ends. One contained
+books and magazines, a whip or two, and several pairs of spurs, and in
+the other were to be found the dishes from which the inmates had eaten
+breakfast, all neatly washed and put away. Tom was surprised at the air
+of neatness that everywhere prevailed.
+
+"Oh, you won't find all dugouts like this one," said Monroe. "Some of
+them are so dirty that you can't find a place to spread your blanket.
+Mr. Parsons' cook did this work, and all the ole man does is to sit
+outside and smoke."
+
+"Here comes the ole man now," said Stanley, who had ascended to the top
+of the stairs and was looking out over the prairie. "He has got a small
+drove of cattle with him, so we shall have some corral duty to do
+to-night."
+
+"And I believe he has more than twenty-five head with him," said Mr.
+Kelley, who dropped everything and came to Stanley's side. "He's got
+fifty if he's got one. Boys, I guess you had better go out there. They
+are tired most to death, and we might let them come in and get some
+supper."
+
+Although the two cowboys had ridden all of fifty miles that day, there
+was no objection raised to this arrangement. Without saying a word they
+buckled on their belts containing their revolvers, shouldered their
+saddles and bridles, and went out behind the hay racks. When they came
+within sight a few minutes later, they were going at full speed to meet
+their employer and his cattle.
+
+"Now, maybe you are able to see something off there, but I can't," said
+Tom, after he had run his eyes in vain over the horizon. "I can't see a
+single thing."
+
+"Can't you see that long line that looks like a pencil-mark off there?"
+said Mr. Kelley, trying in vain to make Tom see the object at which he
+was looking. "Well, it's there plain enough. When you have been on the
+plains as long as I have, you'll notice all little objects like that
+one, and, furthermore, you will want to know what makes them. It will be
+two hours before they come up, and you sit down here on the bench and
+watch it. I will go down and get some supper."
+
+Tom seated himself on the bench beside the door and tried hard to make
+out the approaching line of cattle, but could not do it. Finally he was
+called to supper, and went down saying that he would give his eyes a
+little rest and then maybe he could see them; but he couldn't do it now.
+
+"Supposing you were in a line of march and had a scout out there where
+those men are, and he should begin riding in a circle, what would you
+say?" asked Mr. Kelley.
+
+"I wouldn't say anything," exclaimed Tom. "I wouldn't know what he
+meant."
+
+"He would mean that there was danger close at hand, and you had better
+be gathering your cattle up," said Mr. Kelley. "And if they were
+scattered as far apart as those cattle are, you would want a small
+battalion of men to answer your orders."
+
+"What would be the danger?"
+
+"From Cheyennes, of course."
+
+"Good gracious! Do they ever come out and threaten a whole ranchful of
+cattle?"
+
+"Certainly they do. But they are all right now. They haven't had any
+grievance for a long time, and they are as trustworthy as Indians ever
+get to be. I wouldn't put any faith in them, however. I'd have been
+worth half a million dollars if it hadn't been for those pesky
+redskins."
+
+"Did they steal from you?" asked Tom.
+
+"Yes, they stole me flat, but I got away with my life, and that is
+something to be thankful for. Now, go out and see if you can find those
+cattle."
+
+Tom obediently went, and whether it was from the long rest his eyes had
+had or from some other reason, he distinctly made out a long "pencil
+line" on the horizon. By watching it closely he finally made out that in
+certain places the line was interrupted, and finally decided that that
+was the place where some of the cattle had strayed more than they ought
+to; and he was confirmed in this idea when he saw a solitary figure move
+up and turn them in toward the centre. As Mr. Kelley, having finished
+his dishes, came out and sat down on the bench to enjoy his smoke, he
+finally made out the two horsemen who rode around the outskirts of the
+herd and gradually disappeared.
+
+"It won't be long now before the old man will be along," said he. "You
+will see that he won't ride through the drove, but will come around it.
+If he should try riding through it, he would have a stampede on his
+hands that would do your heart good to see."
+
+"Are they as wild as that?" asked Tom, who told himself that he was
+learning something about the cowboy's business the longer he talked with
+Mr. Kelley.
+
+"You just bet they are. If you should go among them on foot, you would
+either stampede them or else they would charge upon you and gore you to
+death. That's the reason we always use horses in tending cattle."
+
+In about half an hour two horsemen were seen riding around the outskirts
+of the herd. They took a wide circle, so as not to frighten the cattle,
+and finally drew a bee-line for the dugout. Mr. Kelley remarked that
+they were the ones he was expecting, dived down the stairs, and in a few
+minutes the rattling of dishes was heard as he proceeded with his
+preparations for a second supper. The horsemen were hungry, or else
+their animals were, for they occupied much less time in coming in than
+the cowboys who relieved them, and in short order they were near enough
+for Tom to distinguish their faces. Tom took a long look at the man who
+was going to befriend him. He knew who he was, for there was the cut of
+a leader about him; and when the man rode up and swung himself from his
+horse with a "How are you, Tom?" it proved to him that Stanley and
+Monroe had told him something about him.
+
+"Howdy?" shouted a voice from the dugout; and Mr. Kelley stuck his head
+up through the door. "We're still on hand, like a bad dollar bill. How
+many cattle have you got out there?"
+
+"Sixty-five; and pretty good luck, too, seeing that they have been
+stampeded more than forty miles. Where did you pick up this youngster?"
+added Mr. Parsons, giving Tom's hand a hearty squeeze. "I certainly do
+not remember seeing him before."
+
+"No, he's a tender-foot. As he didn't know what else to do, he came out
+here for somebody to grub-stake him."
+
+"Ah!"
+
+"Everyone who knows him has gone back on him," continued Mr. Kelley,
+"and so he has come out here to see if you won't stake him for a gold
+mine."
+
+"M-m-m!"
+
+"And as he cured me of the dumb ague by giving me a pitcher of
+ice-water, I thought I would bring him along."
+
+"Aha!" said the ranchman, who had kept a firm hold of Tom while his
+right-hand man was speaking. "You claim to be a doctor, do you? Well, we
+must do something for you. I was a little older than you are when I went
+into the mountains to seek for a gold mine, and, unfortunately for me, I
+found it. I smell bacon. Is supper ready yet?"
+
+Mr. Kelley made some sort of incoherent reply which Mr. Parsons and his
+man understood, for they dived down the doorway, leaving Tom standing
+alone.
+
+"Unfortunately he got it," Tom kept repeating to himself. "I don't see
+what there was unfortunate about it, unless he was cheated out of it. If
+I had as many cattle as he has got out there, and as many men to obey my
+orders, I should look upon myself as remarkably fortunate."
+
+Tom did not have any opportunity to talk further with Mr. Parsons that
+night, for as soon as he had eaten supper he went to bed and was soon
+sleeping soundly. Tom felt the need of slumber, and when he thought he
+could do so without disturbing anybody, he slipped quietly down the
+stairs. There sat Mr. Kelley fast asleep on his dry-goods box, holding
+in his hand the copy of a newspaper about a fortnight old, and which he
+had been trying to read by the aid of the smoky candle that gave out
+just light enough to show how dark it was; and as everybody else felt
+the need of slumber, and gave over to the influence of it wherever they
+happened to be, Tom threw off his boots and tumbled into his bunk. Once
+during the night he was aroused by somebody coming in and informing Mr.
+Kelley that it was twelve o'clock; then there was a stir of changing
+watches and the camp became silent again. Or no; it wasn't silent. Just
+after the watches had been changed (for men had to keep track of the
+cattle during the night and see that nothing happened to stampede them)
+Tom was treated to a wolf serenade. It began faint and far off, and then
+all on a sudden broke out so fiercely that it seemed as if the pack had
+surrounded the cabin and were about to make an assault upon it.
+
+"What was that?" asked Tom, starting up in alarm.
+
+"It's the pesky coyotes," said Monroe, who was taking off his boots.
+"We're always glad to hear them, for then we know that there is nothing
+else about."
+
+"What else do you think might be about?" said Tom, wondering how any
+lone hunter could find any consolation in such a dismal serenade.
+
+"Indians," said the cowboy shortly. "Good-night."
+
+After that Tom did not sleep very soundly, for at times it seemed to him
+that some of the fierce animals had come to the door, which stood wide
+open all this while, and were about to come in. Once he was sure he
+heard them on top of the cabin, but the others slept on and paid no
+attention to it, and finally Tom became somewhat accustomed to it. He
+did not think he had closed his eyes at all in slumber, but when he
+awoke to a full sense of what was going on, he found that there were
+only two men left in the cabin, Mr. Parsons and his cook. The former sat
+on the edge of his bunk pulling on his boots, and the cook was busy with
+his frying-pan.
+
+"Hallo, youngster!" said Mr. Parsons cheerfully. "You'll have to get up
+earlier than this if you're going to strike a gold mine. Why, it must be
+close on to six o'clock."
+
+"I was awfully tired last night, and the wolves kept me awake," said
+Tom. "I don't see how anybody can sleep with such a din in his ears."
+
+"The time may come when you will be glad to hear them. If there are any
+Indians around, you won't hear them; just the minute the Indians break
+loose the wolves all seem to go into their holes; but when the Indians
+are whipped, they are out in full force."
+
+Tom noticed that the men seemed to be in a hurry, and he lost no time in
+packing his outfit. He ate breakfast when Mr. Parsons did, sitting down
+to it without any invitation from anybody, swallowed his coffee and
+pancakes scalding hot, saddled his horse, and rode away, leaving the
+cook to straighten affairs in the dugout; and all the while it seemed to
+him that he hadn't had any breakfast at all. He couldn't see anything of
+the cattle; but Mr. Parsons put his horse into a lope and proceeded to
+fill his pipe as he went.
+
+"I suppose you know your cattle have gone this way, don't you?" said
+Tom.
+
+"Of course I do," answered Mr. Parsons, taking a long pull at his pipe
+to make sure it was well lighted. "They are ten miles on the way nearer
+home than we are, and we have got to make that up."
+
+"Do you always drive your cattle into the mountains in winter?"
+
+"Yes, sir. We have had some blizzards here that would make your eyes
+bung out if you could have seen them, and I would be penniless to-day if
+my cattle had been caught in them. Some of the cattle ahead of us have
+been driven forty miles by a blizzard that struck us last fall, and I
+have just succeeded in finding them. If my neighbor hadn't been as
+honest as they make them, I wouldn't have got them at all. It would be
+very easy for him to round them up and brand them over again, and then
+tell me that if I could find an arrow brand in his herd I could have
+them."
+
+"How far does your nearest neighbor live from you?"
+
+"Just a jump--fifteen or twenty miles, maybe."
+
+Fifteen or twenty miles! None nearer than that! Tom had found out by
+experience that distances didn't count for anything on the prairie.
+
+"You said last night, in speaking of your gold find, that, unfortunately
+for you, you got it," Tom reminded him. "I would like to know what you
+meant by that. Were you cheated out of it?"
+
+Mr. Parsons replied, with a laugh, that he was not cheated out of it,
+but, on the whole, it didn't much matter. He took a party of experts up
+there, and, after working over the mine for a week or more, they gave
+him twenty thousand dollars for it, of which five thousand went to him
+and the balance to his employer. That made him lazy--too lazy to go to
+work. He spent three thousand dollars in grub-staking men to look up
+claims for him until the end of the year, when he found out that he
+wasn't making anything by it, so he took the balance of his money and
+went into the cattle business.
+
+"That gave me my start," said Mr. Parsons in conclusion. "In four years
+I had made up the money I had spent, and vowed I never would go into it
+again; but here I am talking of sending you to the mountains."
+
+"Do you think you are not going to make anything by it?"
+
+"Well, yes," said Mr. Parsons, with another laugh. "But I have got to do
+something to help you. You ride pretty well, and I should think you
+ought to go into the cattle business."
+
+"Who will take me? Will you?"
+
+"Well, no; I can't. I have had to discharge some parties, not having
+work for them to attend to, and I don't know how I could use you. I will
+tell you this much: when you come back in the spring, I will give you a
+show."
+
+"Thank you," replied Tom. "That's the first encouragement I have had.
+But you say it took you four years to make up the money you had spent.
+I'm not going to stay here four years."
+
+"You aint? What are you going to do?"
+
+"I am going to look for that nugget that Elam Storm has lost."
+
+"Oh, ah!" said Mr. Parsons, the expression on his face giving way to one
+of intense disgust. "Well, you'll never find it."
+
+"Why not? The edge of Death Valley is just crowded with men who haven't
+given up all hopes of finding it."
+
+"Crowded! Young man, I wonder if you know how big Death Valley is?
+Crowded! Now and then you'll find a man who still has that nugget on the
+brain, but if the man who hid it himself, not more than two years ago,
+can't find it, I think it is useless for others to try. There have been
+landslides in all the canyons that run through there till you can't
+rest. I'll tell you what I'll do: if you will find that nugget, I will
+give you ten thousand dollars for it. That's a better offer than I made
+you a while ago. And you may keep the nugget besides. If you are around
+when anybody else digs it up, I will give you five thousand dollars."
+
+There was something in this offer that completely shut off all
+discussion of the finding of Elam Storm's nugget. Mr. Parsons did not
+refer to the matter again, and neither did Tom; but the latter still
+clung to the hope of finding the gold. The nugget was there, or why
+should so large a number of men be on the lookout for it? And if he
+_should_ happen to strike it, he would be a rich man. During all his
+rides he kept that one thought in his mind, and nothing could shake it
+out. There was one thing that ought to have opened Tom's eyes, and that
+was that no nugget of gold had been struck in that country for miles
+around. The nearest place at which any had been found was at Pike's
+Peak, and that was over two hundred miles away. But Tom didn't know
+that, and the only thing that kept the cowboys from telling him of it
+was the fact that when he was in the mountains he would think he was
+doing something, but if he knew there was no gold to reward his search,
+he would give up in despair.
+
+It took our party five days to make the journey between the dugout and
+headquarters, for the cattle were slow of movement, and, besides, they
+were allowed to graze on the way. About ten o'clock a fierce winter
+wind, which made Tom bundle his overcoat closer about him and pull his
+collar up about his ears, sprung up from over the prairie, and the
+cattle ceased feeding and struck out for a canyon about a mile wide
+which opened close in front of them. Along this they held their way for
+five miles and better, until it finally emerged into a broad natural
+prairie, large enough, Tom thought, to pasture all the cattle in the
+country, and went to feeding with one of the herds. The air was soft and
+balmy, and Tom's overcoat was resting across the horn of his saddle. Mr.
+Parsons pulled up his horse and gazed around him with a smile of
+satisfaction.
+
+"These cattle are all mine, Tom," said he. "Every horn and hoof you see
+here has been paid for, and if you want to get in the same way, I will
+give you a chance when you come back to me in the spring. Monroe, you
+and Stanley might as well go out and see if you can find anything of
+that bronco. Tom wants to go away, and we must fit him out early in the
+morning."
+
+This was bringing the matter squarely home to Tom. He was to go away in
+the morning! He looked up at the mountains, and they seemed so large and
+he so small by comparison that he shuddered while he thought of getting
+bewildered in some of those canyons, and lying down and dying there and
+nobody would know what had become of him. But Mr. Parsons didn't
+discourage him. He was made of sterner stuff. He looked up and said with
+an air of determination:
+
+"Yes, I want to get off. The sooner I get to work the sooner I shall be
+doing something to earn my living."
+
+"That's the idea," said Mr. Parsons. "Stick to that and you will come
+out all right. Now, let's go home."
+
+Tom waved his hand to the two cowboys, who galloped away in one
+direction, while he and Mr. Parsons held down the valley, making a wide
+circuit to get out of reach of the grazing cattle. After going in a lope
+Mr. Parsons drew up his horse and began to talk seriously to Tom. He
+told him plainly of the dangers and sufferings which would fall to his
+lot if he endeavored to carry out his plan, but he did not try to turn
+him from his purpose. On the contrary, he tried to warn him so that when
+the dangers came he would be prepared to meet them half-way. He kept
+this up until the home ranch appeared in view, and then he stopped, for
+he didn't want the cowboys to hear what he was saying.
+
+This home ranch was not a dugout. There was a neat cabin to take the
+place of it, and Tom thought some of the cowboys had used an axe pretty
+well by the way they fashioned the logs and put them together. There
+were half a dozen hay-racks out behind the house, protected from
+wandering cattle by rail fences, and there wasn't a thing on the porch,
+no saddles, bridles, and riding whips, all such things having been put
+into a cubby-hole in the rear of the house. But it so happened that the
+cook, who had got there first, had peeled off his coat, and was engaged
+in straightening things out.
+
+"I never did see such a mess as these fellows leave when I go away for
+five minutes," said he. "I can't find a thing where it ought to be,
+though I have hunted high and low for that carving-knife."
+
+Tom took his seat at Mr. Parsons' side while he filled up preparatory to
+a smoke. There were one or two little things that he wanted to speak to
+him about.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+LOST IN THE MOUNTAINS.
+
+
+When Mr. Parsons had fairly settled himself, filled his pipe, lighted
+it, and fell to nursing his leg as a man might who felt at peace with
+himself and all the world, Tom said:
+
+"You didn't say anything about my horse in telling me what I should have
+to get through with. Did you mean that I should leave him at home, and
+go on foot?"
+
+"I did, certainly," said Mr. Parsons. "You will find that the bronco
+will go through some places that you will not care to ride, and,
+besides, you will have one horse less to take care of, and one less to
+watch."
+
+"Have I got to watch him all the time?"
+
+"Well, yes. You must keep the halter on him all the time, and tie him
+fast to a tree when you go into camp. If you don't, he will run away and
+leave you. He'll turn around and take the back track as soon as your
+pack grows light, and you had better come, too."
+
+"That's what one of the cowboys told me," said Tom. "Now, I have got
+some money here. I don't suppose it will be of the least use to me in
+the mountains, and I should like to leave it with somebody."
+
+"All right. Leave your horse and your money with me, and I will take
+care of them."
+
+"If I don't come back, they are yours," continued Tom. "Now, I should
+like to have a gun of some sort."
+
+Without saying a word Mr. Parsons went into the house and brought out a
+rifle and a revolver. Tom took them and examined them, and the way he
+drew the rifle to his face rather astonished Mr. Parsons. He remarked
+that he had handled guns before in his day, and Tom told him that he
+could not remember the time when he did not have a horse and shotgun for
+his own. His uncle furnished him with all these things.
+
+"Then right there is where you ought to have stayed," said Mr. Parsons,
+throwing more energy into his tones than he usually did. "I hope you're
+not going to be sick of your bargain, but I'm afraid you are. Here comes
+the bronco. Do you think you can manage that fellow?"
+
+The bronco which came up at that moment, with Stanley's lariat fastened
+about his neck, was like any other horse, only he seemed to be tired.
+When they stopped him, he lowered his head and drew up one of his hind
+feet, and closed his eyes as if he were fast asleep. But Tom knew better
+than to fool with him. He had read enough to know that the word came
+from the Spanish and meant "wild," and he had got his name from his
+persistent efforts to keep wild cowboys off his back. He couldn't be
+ridden, that was the matter with him; but he would carry a pack-saddle
+all day, and never had been known to leave a man he had accompanied to
+the mountains. Tom said he thought he could manage him, and patted him
+all over; but the horse never opened his eyes to look at him.
+
+Preparations were made for getting Tom off as soon as it was light, and
+by the time darkness fell all was ready. A pack-saddle was brought out
+which looked as though it had been through two or three wars, and the
+cook, following the instructions of his master, began to fill it full of
+provisions, giving no heed to Tom to ask him whether the supplies he
+furnished suited him or not. He had provided so many men with provender
+that he thought anything that would do for one would do for another.
+With darkness came three more cowboys, who listened to what Mr. Parsons
+had to say, and then greeted Tom very cordially, and wished him
+unbounded success in his efforts to find Elam Storm's nugget. One man,
+especially, was particularly interested in Tom's fortunes. He advised
+him to dig wherever he saw a landslide, and if he happened to hit upon
+the right place he would strike it sure. The spot where the man hid it
+was obliterated, but that wouldn't hinder the proper person from
+unearthing the nugget if he only chanced to dig where it was.
+
+"I have looked for that nugget a good many times, and that is the only
+thing that has kept me from finding it; I didn't dig where it was," said
+the man, with something like a sigh of regret. "I know it is somewhere
+in the mountains, else why should so many persons be looking for it?"
+
+Morning came at last, and after Tom had eaten a hasty breakfast he saw
+the pack strapped on his bronco; and the whole thing was done so easily,
+with two experienced cowboys at work, that he regarded it as the least
+difficult part of his undertaking. He had been told repeatedly to get
+the pack on right, and not to unhitch his horse until he did it, or the
+bronco would knock him and his burden into the middle of next week and
+come home, leaving him to follow after as best he could. But Tom was
+sure he had it "down fine," and with a cheerful good-by to the cowboys
+who had assembled to see him off, and a hasty slap on the bronco's flank
+to help him along, he started gayly for the mountains. When he saw that
+camp again, he hoped to have the eight thousand dollar nugget stowed
+away in his pack-saddle.
+
+The first day's work Tom could not complain of. The bronco kept up a
+lively walk, swinging his head from side to side and turning first into
+one canyon and then into another, and did not think it necessary to stop
+for anything to eat until he made his way to a little grove of trees,
+drew a long breath as he stopped under the shade, and looked around at
+Tom as if asking him why he didn't take his pack off. Tom leaned his
+rifle against a log and took his pack off very easily, and the horse
+immediately began taking his supper. Then Tom picked up his rifle and
+looked about him.
+
+"I declare! I believe the whole canyon is full of landslides," said he,
+as he gazed at one pile of rubbish after another filled with logs,
+rocks, and brush which nature had thrown into the valley, some new and
+of recent origin, and others bearing the marks of age upon them. "Hold
+on. Isn't that the mark of a spade over there?"
+
+Tom walked over and looked at it. It was the mark of a spade, sure
+enough, where a man had commenced digging where the landslide ended, and
+had thrown out just earth enough to prove that he had been there, and
+that was all. There were other openings of like character, until Tom
+counted ten in number. Then he looked up at the huge mass above him, and
+made an estimate that it would take an army of men, each armed with a
+spade and pick, to work it all away. These were probably the marks of
+the elderly man among the cowboys, who told him that the reason he
+didn't find the nugget was because he didn't dig in the right place. Tom
+shouldered his rifle, walked back to his log, and sat down.
+
+"I really believe I have been duped," said he disconsolately. "If the
+landslides are all like that, I am certainly not going to work to throw
+them all away just to make eight thousand dollars. Besides, what use
+will it be to me to work where he has been? I'll go on a little
+further."
+
+If Tom had any idea of a landslide, it was a little piece of ground
+which could be thrown away in half a day's time; but the sight of a
+_real_ landslide was what took his breath away. He didn't eat a very
+hearty supper after that, for the thought that was uppermost in his mind
+was that the men who had stood by him, and of whom he had a right to
+expect something better, had completely fooled him in regard to Elam
+Storm's nugget. Instead of telling him that there wasn't any show at all
+of his success, they had fitted him out and sent him away to put in a
+month of his time. There was one thing about it: he would not go back
+until every mouthful in the pack-saddle had been eaten. That much he was
+determined on.
+
+"I had an idea that cowboys were above suspicion, but now I know they
+are not," said Tom spitefully. "I can waste a month of their grub as
+well as anybody, and I won't put a spade in the ground until I see some
+prospects of success."
+
+At the end of a week Tom was still of the same determination, although
+he saw much to discourage him. It was landslides everywhere, and the
+mark of a man's spade was on every one; so it showed that the bronco had
+been over that same ground before. The way was getting lonely, they were
+getting deeper and deeper into the mountains, and somehow Tom felt very
+disconsolate. A deep silence brooded over everything--a silence so
+utterly mysterious that he was not accustomed to it. How gladly he would
+have welcomed Jerry Lamar and listened to news from home and from the
+uncle he had deserted. Another week and Tom found himself hopelessly in
+a pocket. Turn which way he would, there was no chance for him to get
+out. The man had been there before him--indeed, he seemed to have gone
+into all the places and thrown out just earth enough to prove that he
+had been there, but not enough to accomplish anything. It was just
+enough to let Tom see how useless it was to dig there.
+
+Tom's two weeks of tramping in the mountains had given him a ravenous
+appetite; his bronco was hitched so that he could not take to his heels
+and leave his master to find his own way home; and as he sat there on
+his blanket, dividing his attention between his cup of coffee,
+hard-tack, and bacon, he thought seriously of going back to
+headquarters. This was undoubtedly the remotest point reached by the
+man, and if one of his experience should be frightened out by a few
+shovelfuls of earth, or scared at finding himself in a pocket, Tom
+thought himself entitled to follow his lead. It had taken him two weeks
+to reach the pocket (he had managed to keep close run of the days); it
+would probably take him fully as long to return, and so he would fill
+Mr. Parsons' contract anyway. And so it was settled that he was to go
+home; but there's many a slip between determining upon a thing and doing
+it. He finished his coffee and bacon, led the horse down to the spring,
+from which he had scraped the leaves, to give him a drink, and rolled
+himself up in his blanket to go to sleep with his ready rifle safe
+beside him.
+
+How long he slept he did not know, but he was awakened about midnight by
+a sound he had never heard before. It came from his horse, but it wasn't
+a neigh: it was the sound of fear, and made the cold chills creep all
+over him. He started up with his rifle in his hand, but did not have
+time to get off the blanket. Another shriek, which sounded like somebody
+in fearful bodily agony, came from the bushes, and the next minute the
+horse was on the ground and struggling in the grasp of some animal or
+thing which Tom could not remember to have seen or heard of before. It
+had a long neck, long legs, and a wonderfully high body which was
+increased materially by a hump on its back. The horse was as nothing in
+its grasp, and the struggle took place not over ten feet from the
+blanket on which Tom was sitting.
+
+"Great Moses!" was Tom's mental ejaculation.
+
+He sat for an instant as if spellbound, and then his rifle arose to his
+face. He was sure he had a good shot at it and expected to see it drop;
+but instead of that it gave another shriek, tossed the horse away from
+it, breaking like thread the lariat with which he was confined, and with
+a single jump disappeared in the bushes. Tom listened, but could hear no
+sound coming from it to tell what sort of a beast it was. Then he got
+upon his feet and turned his attention to the wounded horse. He was past
+the doctor's aid, for he was dead.
+
+"Well, that beats me," said he, going back to the fire and starting it
+up, so that he could see what sort of wounds the beast had made. "I
+never heard of an animal like that before."
+
+A good many boys would have been startled pretty near to death by the
+sudden appearance of an apparition like that. It must be possessed of
+tremendous power to toss the broncho about as it did, and break the
+lariat with which he was fastened. No ghost could do that, and neither
+could a ghost have made that wide and fearful rent that Tom found when
+he had punched up the fire. Tom thought it best to build up a bright
+blaze, for he did not know how long it would be before the animal would
+come back to finish its work. He loaded the rifle carefully and placed
+the revolver where he could get his hands upon it at a moment's warning.
+He thought of grizzly bears, but had never heard of them taking to the
+bushes on account of a single bullet.
+
+"It couldn't have been a panther or a bear, unless my eyes were
+deceiving me, for it was at least four times as big as the horse," said
+Tom, picking up a brand from the fire and once more approaching the
+specimen of the apparition's handiwork. He hadn't been in sight more
+than a minute, and yet the horse was as dead as a door-nail. "He must
+have been a flesh-eater, for nothing else that I know of could have made
+such wounds. I am beat. Now, how am I going to find my way home?"
+
+If Tom had been frightened at first, he was doubly so now. He was so
+confused he couldn't think. From that hour he sat there on his blanket,
+and by the time that daylight fell so that he could distinguish objects
+near him he had made up his mind what he was going to do. He would take
+everything out of the pack-saddle that he could carry on his back, and
+make his way out of the pocket the same way he came in. He had
+remembered enough of his skill in woodcraft to turn and take a survey of
+his back track, so that it would not appear odd to him when he came to
+go that way again, and he had no doubt that he would be able to find it.
+More than that, the bronco had left the prints of his hoofs and had
+continually browsed on the way, and, taking all these things together,
+Tom was certain that he could strike the trail.
+
+"It is going to be a tight squawk," he soliloquized, "but I am not lost
+yet. I only wish I knew what that animal was. It would take a big load
+off my shoulders if I did."
+
+Tom did not waste any time in forming his bundle, for there were some
+things about the pocket that he did not care to see. He wanted to get
+out of sight of every thing that reminded him of his terrible fright. He
+put all his bacon, hard-tack, and coffee into his blanket, strapped his
+pot to his belt behind, set his pick, spade, and pack-saddle up where
+they could be easily found, shouldered his rifle, and, with a farewell
+glance at the bronco, which had carried his pack so faithfully for him
+so many miles, he plunged into the bushes and left the pocket behind.
+
+For that one single day everything went well. He found the bronco's hoof
+prints in the sand, and easily discovered the places where he had been
+browsing on the way, and as long as these signs remained he couldn't get
+lost. He even found, too, the place where they had stopped the night
+before, but going into camp without the presence of the horse was
+lonesome to him. He saw the place where he had scraped away the leaves
+from the side of the stream to give him a spot to drink, and found the
+sapling to which he had hitched him, and the place where he had spread
+his blanket--but there was little sleep for him that night.
+
+"I wish I knew what that animal was," thought Tom, as he sat on his
+blanket with his rifle in readiness on his knees. "The more I think of
+him the more frightened I become. I wish I was safe at headquarters."
+
+Remember that the signs Tom had been following were only one day old,
+and on the morning of the second day he could not find the place where
+he had entered the camp. Turn which way he would he could not discover
+any footprints. He finally concluded that the middle canyon looked more
+familiar to him than the rest, and, with his heart in his mouth, he
+struck into it. At the spot where the canyon branched into another he
+found a little stream which ran in the direction he thought he ought to
+go, and close beside the stream was a footprint which he took to be his
+own. He was all right now, and with every mile he travelled the faster
+he went, in the hope of finding something else that was encouraging, but
+that solitary footprint was the only thing he saw. There was one thing
+about it that kept up his spirits, and that was he was following a
+stream that ran toward the prairie, and he would continue to follow it
+until the stream or his provisions gave out, and then----Well, that
+hadn't happened yet, and wouldn't happen till he was where he could get
+more provisions. He must reach the house or he would lose his horse and
+$150 in money. He went into camp at a solitary place that night, and,
+for a wonder, slept soundly.
+
+The next morning he was up bright and early, but he did not seem to have
+much appetite for breakfast. And it was so every day until a week had
+passed, and still no change for the better. He was so impatient that he
+could scarcely go into camp. He was impatient to be journeying along
+that little stream that seemed to lead him toward the prairie, but every
+time he looked up and tried to wonder where he was, there were the same
+gloomy mountains stretched away before him that he had at first seen in
+the pocket where he had lost his horse. Tom took no note of the fact
+that his wearing apparel was getting the worse for wear, or that he had
+left his blanket back at his last camping-place, but he did take notice
+that his mind was filled with gloomy forebodings. Why could he not climb
+that mountain on his left and see what was ahead of him? The thought no
+sooner came into his mind than he banished it, took a drink of fresh
+water, and started out at a more moderate pace.
+
+"I'm lost," said he, with a sinking at his heart to which he was an
+entire stranger; "and if I give way to those thoughts, I shall be lost
+utterly. Why did I not think of my gun?"
+
+Tom dropped his pack by his side and fired and loaded three times as
+fast as he could make his fingers move. Then he waited again and fired
+three more; and scarcely had the echoes of the last report died away
+among the mountains when he heard a faint reply, though it came from so
+many directions that he couldn't tell from which way it sounded. But he
+took it to come from down the stream, and, leaving his bundle behind, he
+started in that direction, raising a shout which, to save his life, he
+could not utter above a whisper. He ran until he thought he ought to be
+about where the sound came from, then stopped and fired his gun again,
+and this time met with an immediate response. It was down the stream,
+and there was no doubt about it.
+
+"Who-whoop! Where are you?" shouted Tom, so impatient he could scarcely
+stand still. "I am lost!"
+
+"Follow the stream and you'll strike me," said a voice, and Tom noticed
+that for a backwoods fellow he talked remarkably plain.
+
+It was three weeks since Tom had seen anybody or heard anyone speak, and
+his eagerness to see where the voice came from was desperate. Throwing
+his gun upon the rocks, he broke into another run, and there, just as he
+turned around an abrupt bend in the canyon, he saw the person to whom it
+belonged. The speaker stood with his hat and coat off; his pick lay
+against a stone near by, and the shovel which he had been in the act of
+using when Tom's rifle shots fell upon his ears was standing upright in
+the ground; but he had taken precautions for any emergency, for he held
+his rifle in the hollow of his arm. Beyond a doubt somebody had been
+grub-staking him for gold, or for something else which he was equally
+anxious to find. Tom had just wind enough to take note of these things,
+and then he staggered to a rock near by and seated himself upon it.
+
+"You won't find any gold here," said Tom, resting his elbows on his
+knees and looking down at the ground.
+
+[Illustration: TOM'S NEW ACQUAINTANCE.]
+
+The stranger uncocked his gun, and, bringing the piece to an order arms,
+leaned upon it. He looked hard at Tom, but had nothing to say.
+
+"I have been all over this country, but not a cent's worth of gold could
+I find in it," continued Tom, taking off his hat and drawing his hand
+across his forehead. "Somebody has duped you just the same as they duped
+me."
+
+"Where's your gun?" asked the stranger.
+
+"I left it in the bend up there," said Tom, anxious to hear the sound of
+the voice again. "I was so impatient to get to you that I left it up
+there. I haven't heard a stranger speak for three weeks."
+
+"Where did you come from?"
+
+"Wait till I get my breath and I will answer all your questions. I came
+from a pocket back here in the mountains, where I lost my horse. I wish
+you could have seen that animal, for I don't know what it was: long
+neck, long head, and a body that looked twice as big as my horse. And
+then how strong it was! It broke my lariat----"
+
+"What color was it?" said the stranger, beginning to take a deep
+interest in what his guest had to say.
+
+"I didn't see that it was any other color when compared with my horse.
+It looked just the same--a dark brown. It had a hump on its back----"
+
+"The Red Ghost, by George!"
+
+Tom started and looked at him in amazement.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE CAMP OF ELAM, THE WOLFER.
+
+
+"I aint got any business to be digging around here," said the stranger,
+laying down his rifle and picking up his coat. "We'll go back and get
+your gun, Tender-foot. How far is that pocket from here?"
+
+"Why, it is a two-weeks' journey," said Tom, who suddenly became aware
+that he would have to go over that long tramp again. "I never could find
+my way back there in the world."
+
+"Who sent you into the mountains to dig for my nugget?"
+
+"Your nugget?"
+
+"Them's my very words, stranger."
+
+"Why, who are you?"
+
+"I am Elam Storm, the man who lost the nugget twenty years ago, and who
+intends to have it back if he has to kill every man this side of the
+country you came from; and where's that?"
+
+Tom, who had arisen from his rock at the same time the stranger began to
+put on his coat, stared fixedly at the speaker, and then sat down again.
+So this was Elam Storm, the man who had a better right to the nugget
+than anybody else in the world! He was a boy, not more than nineteen or
+twenty years of age, but he had a face on him which expressed the utmost
+resolution. And he had the physical power, too, to carry out his
+determination, for, as he moved around his camp, putting away his tools
+where he could readily find them, he showed muscles which said that it
+would not be a safe piece of business for anyone to interfere with that
+nugget.
+
+"Where did you come from, I asked you?"
+
+"I came from down in Mississippi, where my uncle owns a plantation and a
+heap of niggers," answered Tom, who did not like the way the boy eyed
+him when he spoke.
+
+"And right there is where you ought to have stayed," said Elam. "Did you
+hear anything about the nugget down there?"
+
+"Of course not," replied Tom, surprised at the proposition. "I started
+to go to Texas, but got on the wrong boat and was brought up here. I
+couldn't do anything else, and so Mr. Parsons grub-staked me and sent me
+into the mountains. He lives out that way a short distance."
+
+"How far do you call a short distance?"
+
+"Fifteen or twenty miles, maybe."
+
+"Haw-ha! Man, you're just about a hundred miles from where he lives."
+
+Tom caught his breath, but could say nothing in reply.
+
+"You have been going further and further away from him ever since you
+lost your horse," continued Elam. "Come on; let's go and get your
+rifle."
+
+"You say that nugget of yours was lost twenty years ago," said Tom, as
+he fell in behind Elam, being afraid to do anything else. "You are not
+that old, are you?"
+
+"Well, not so long as that!" laughed Elam. "It is a long story and will
+take you a good portion of the evening to listen to it. I will tell it
+to you to-night. Now, then, which canyon did you come down?"
+
+Tom looked up and found himself confronted by three gullies, which came
+down and met at that one point. He said he didn't know, but Elam, after
+looking around a little, started up one with as much confidence as
+though he had seen Tom when he came out. After some questioning from Tom
+he showed him a little twig, not larger than a needle, which he had
+brushed off in his hurried flight after he had thrown down his gun; and
+a short distance farther on he found the weapon, which Tom, in his
+excitement, had tossed clear across the creek. Tom was surprised when
+Elam stepped across the stream and picked up the weapon, and relieved
+when it was handed over to him with the assurance that it had suffered
+no injury in its collision with the rocks.
+
+"Now, we will let the bundle go," said he. "There is nothing in it that
+will pay us to go back after it, and I am too tired to go a step
+farther. I hope your camp isn't a great ways from here."
+
+Elam replied that for him it was "just a jump," but he would walk slowly
+so as not to tire the pilgrim. He stopped at his camp where he had been
+digging, and gave Tom a small supply of the corn bread and bacon which
+he had left over from his dinner, and while Tom was eating it he sat by
+on a rock with his elbows resting on his knees. Tom ate as though he
+hadn't had anything for a month, and when his repast was ended, Elam
+took his spade and pick under one arm, shouldered his rifle with the
+other, and set off in a way that was calculated to tire any man, no
+matter how well equipped he might be for travelling. But Tom did not
+care for that. He wanted to get home,--any place was better than the
+bare canyon,--where he could lie down and sleep with nothing to bother
+him. Once in a while Elam turned around and said to him:
+
+"To think that I have been wasting my time for the last month in digging
+in such places as this! I ought to have been fifty miles from here, for
+I know about where that canyon of yours is."
+
+"Do you think that that Red Ghost, or whatever you call it----"
+
+Tom happened to look up and saw that Elam was facing him, and was
+astonished at the expression that came upon his countenance. He would
+not have believed that one who was so sensible on every other point
+should be willing to admit that the apparition that had visited him in
+the pocket and robbed him of his horse was not due to superhuman agency.
+
+"I know how you, Tender-foot, feel about this, but wait until you have a
+chance to shoot it plumb through the head, and it gets away with it all,
+and then tell me what you would think," said Elam sullenly. "You
+probably don't have such things in the settlements, but that's no sign
+that they aint found out here."
+
+"I had as fair a shot at it as anybody could have," said Tom, "and it
+wasn't over ten feet from me. I saw the blood spurt out from a hole in
+its neck, and it flung the horse away from it, broke the lariat, and
+went into the bushes. But do you think it is guarding that treasure?"
+
+"I know it, and nobody can't make me believe differently. I have seen it
+often enough, and it has got the mark of three of my bullets on it."
+
+Elam faced about and went on his way at a faster gait than before, and
+Tom let him go. As eager as he was to learn something about the Red
+Ghost, he was still more eager to reach a permanent camp where he could
+lie down and rest. He found that he was pretty nearly barefooted. His
+sheep's-gray pants hung in tatters about his worn shoes, and Elam had a
+way of jumping from one stone to another and coming down on top of a log
+in a manner that he did not like. At length, when the sun began to go
+down, and Tom experienced some difficulty in finding a place for his
+feet, Elam stopped on the edge of a natural prairie, and pointed out
+something a short distance off.
+
+"There's my horse," said he. "And yonder, where that little grove of
+trees comes down into the prairie, is where my shanty is located. Can
+you stand it till we get there?"
+
+Oh, yes, Tom could stand it that far. He fell in behind Elam, paying no
+attention to the horse, which came up and followed along in their rear,
+pushed his way along the evergreens, and was finally brought to a stand
+by a door in a substantial log house. It was fastened by a bolt on the
+inside, but as the string was out, Elam easily opened it.
+
+"You are welcome to the cabin of Elam, the wolfer," said he, leading the
+way in and pointing to a pile of skins which served him for a bed.
+"Tumble in there, and don't get up till you get ready."
+
+"Thank you," said Tom, handing his rifle to Elam and throwing himself at
+length on the couch. "I never was so tired in my life."
+
+Elam had hardly time to set the rifle up in a corner and shut the door
+before Tom was fast asleep. How long he slept he did not know, but
+during the whole of it he felt that he was under the care of somebody
+who could protect him. If there were any ghosts to visit that camp, they
+would have to strike Elam first.
+
+The first thing he became aware of when he got his eyes fairly opened
+was that he was so full of aches and pains that he could scarcely move,
+and the next, that he did not recognize a thing about the establishment.
+Gradually he raised himself on his elbow, and then Elam Storm came into
+his mind. He could not remember much of what he had said to Elam during
+their first meeting,--he must have been about half crazy, he thought,
+when he talked to him,--but he had said enough to bring him a good bed
+and a sound sleep besides. He found that his feet had been interfered
+with--that they felt easier than they did before; and on removing the
+blanket that had been thrown over them he discovered that his tattered
+shoes and stockings had been removed; that they had been wiped dry and
+moved closer to the fire, which had evidently been going at a great rate
+before it died down to its present bed of ashes. There was plenty of
+wood right there, and with much extra exertion Tom managed to crawl to
+it, and by the persistent blowing of a coal into flame he succeeded in
+starting a fair blaze. Then he contrived to get up. There was a big hunk
+of johnny cake on the table, a slice of bacon with a knife handy to cut
+it, and a bag which proved to contain coffee. A further examination
+showed him that Elam had not gone about his business without leaving a
+letter behind him to tell where he was. The first was a chunk of bark on
+which was rudely traced a picture of a man gathering traps. He knew that
+he was taking the game in, for there was a representation of game in the
+trap. A second piece of bark lay under the first, and Tom could not for
+a long time make sense of what it contained. It was blurred, and was
+intended to represent a man going into camp. In other words, if Elam did
+not get home by daylight, Tom need not worry about it. The pictures were
+rudely traced in charcoal, but the drawing was perfect.
+
+"If I had not been tolerably well posted in backwoods lore, I could not
+have made head or tail out of these pictures," said Tom; and as he spoke
+he thought over all the lessons he had learned from the Indians and
+darkies in the swamp. "Elam is going out to gather his traps, and if he
+does not come home before to-morrow, I need not bother my head about it.
+What is he going to gather up his traps for? I shall have to wait till
+he comes home to have that explained, and now I'll go to work and get
+some breakfast."
+
+Tom had used up nearly all the wood to replenish the fire, and he began
+casting his eyes about the shanty to see if Elam had another pair of
+shoes in waiting to be put on when his own boots became wet, and found
+some moccasons with a pair of stockings neatly folded and hung beside
+them. Elam had worn them once, but that did not matter. He put them on,
+and, seeing Elam's axe resting in one corner, caught it up and went out
+to renew his supply of fire-wood. Hearing the blows of the axe, the
+horse came up and snorted at him, but could not be induced to come near.
+This made it plain that the man who attempted to rob Elam would have to
+leave his horse behind.
+
+Tom chopped until his appetite began to get the better of him, and then
+went in and busied himself about his breakfast. He left the door open
+(for all the light that was admitted to the cabin came through a space
+in the roof over the fireplace through which the smoke escaped), and
+told himself that for one who had never seen the comforts of civilized
+life Elam was able to copy pretty close to them. There was a table whose
+top was made of boards hewed out of a log and smoothed with an axe, and
+one or two three-legged stools without any backs, which proved that Elam
+sometimes had company. The clothing he had worn was neatly hung up at
+one corner of the cabin, and underneath was something which Tom had not
+noticed before: two bundles of skins, nicely tied up and waiting to be
+shipped. They were wolf-skins, and close by them lay half a dozen skins
+of the beaver and otter, not enough to be tied up.
+
+"I know what he meant when he said that I was welcome to the cabin of
+Elam, the wolfer," said Tom. "Somebody has either grub-staked him and
+sent him out here to catch wolves or else he is working for himself.
+Now, where's the spring? I must have some water for my coffee."
+
+Tom easily found the pail of which he was in search, and, going out
+behind the cabin, he followed the path he had noticed while cutting
+wood. It ran through a quiet grove of evergreens, and finally ended in a
+little pool in which Elam found his water. Coming back to the cabin, he
+could not find any coffee-pot, but he found a pan which seemed to have
+been used for nothing but coffee, filled it with water, placed it on
+coals he had raked off to one side, and covered it with one of Elam's
+pictures. With his breakfast fairly going, with his coffee and bacon on
+the coals, and his johnny cake and clean dishes on the table by his
+elbow, he settled back on his stool as complacently as though he had
+never known anything better.
+
+"I don't know what sort of a conscience Elam's got, but if he's got a
+tolerably fair one, it seems to me that he ought to be well contented
+with this life," said Tom. "He was born to this thing, and,
+consequently, don't know anything better; but as for me, there isn't
+money enough in it. But, then, he thinks he is going to find that
+nugget. Well, I'd like to find it myself, but I am not going to bother
+with it with such a fellow as Elam in the way. I don't want to test
+those muscles."
+
+Tom had come to that country to make money; he wasn't going to test
+anybody's muscle in order to make it, but he was going to make it. In
+spite of all the obstacles that were thrown in his way--and he met with
+no greater loss than any tender-foot is likely to meet--he carried back
+to his uncle half as much money as he stole from him, and his uncle was
+glad to see him, too. This was all in the future, and Tom knew nothing
+of it. He ate his breakfast with great satisfaction, getting up from the
+table once in a while to examine something new in Elam's outfit, and
+when it was done, he washed the dishes and put everything back just as
+he had found it. Then there was nothing left for him to do but to cut
+wood until Elam came. The latter would be cold and wet from handling
+those muddy traps, and there would be nothing wanting but a fire for him
+to get up to. Every once in a while he dropped his axe and went out to
+the edge of the evergreens to see if he could discover Elam returning,
+but always came away disappointed. One thing he continually marvelled
+at, and that was the scarcity of game. If anyone had told him that he
+could leave his gun and wander away by himself, he would have thought
+him foolish; and here he had been alone in the mountains nearly a month
+and had not seen anything--not even a jack-rabbit--to shoot at. Had it
+not been for that Red Ghost, or whatever it was, that visited him the
+night he stayed in the pocket, his gun would have been as clean when he
+took it back as when he came out with it. At last, when everything began
+to grow indistinct, and Tom had put away his axe and piled up the wood,
+he looked for Elam again, resolved if he could not see him to go into
+the cabin, haul in the string, and get his supper; but there was Elam
+half-way across the prairie, and, furthermore, he was struggling under a
+weight about as heavy as he could well carry.
+
+"They are wolf-skins," said he, as Tom hurried up to him and took his
+rifle from his grasp. "I've got eighteen, and two otters. How are you,
+Tender-foot? Got over your sleep yet?"
+
+Tom replied that he had got all the slumber he wanted, and then went on
+to tell Elam that he knew where he had gone, and if he did not return
+that night, he would not have been at all worried about it, and that he
+had got the knowledge from the pictures he had left on the table, and
+Elam seemed very much pleased.
+
+"You can't read or write, can you?" asked Tom. "I thought not, but you
+drew those pictures as though you had taken lessons in drawing. I have
+got a good warm fire for you."
+
+Although there were many things that he was anxious to question Elam
+about, Tom did not trouble him until he had had his supper and had
+shaken up the skins preparatory to enjoying his after-supper smoke. Tom
+followed his example and stretched himself out beside him, pulling off
+his moccasons so that he could have the full benefit of the fire.
+
+"Now, Tender-foot, what brought you out to this country?" said Elam,
+pulling up a bundle of wolf-skins so that he could rest his head upon
+it. "Tell me the truth and don't stick at nothing."
+
+Tom replied that there wasn't very much to tell, and went on and
+revealed to Elam as much of his story as he was willing that a stranger
+should know; but he didn't tell him a word about his fuss with Our
+Fellows, or of his stealing five thousand dollars, or of his association
+with gamblers. In short, he gave him to understand that he was hard up,
+that he wanted to go to Texas and had got on to the wrong boat and been
+brought up there. He told him the truth about his meeting with Mr.
+Kelley and his two cowboys, for he did not know but that Elam might see
+them some day.
+
+"I didn't know a thing about this country," said Tom, in conclusion,
+"and Mr. Parsons grub-staked me and sent me out to find a gold mine."
+
+"Haw-ha! You had about as much chance of finding gold here as you would
+in New Orleans," said Elam, as soon as his merriment would allow him to
+speak. "The only gold here is my nugget, and that was buried two years
+ago. Didn't he tell you about that?"
+
+"Yes, he told me about the nugget, but he also told me that by digging
+after it I might strike another gold mine, as some others had done
+before me. But if I ever go again, I don't want to follow such a man as
+went before me."
+
+"Who was it? Was it somebody who was working on Parsons' place?"
+
+"Yes. He was an elderly man, who seemed to take more interest in me than
+anybody else. He told me that the only reason he didn't strike the
+nugget was because he didn't dig in the right place."
+
+"Haw-ha!" laughed Elam.
+
+"And the only reason he didn't dig in the right place was because the
+nugget couldn't be thrown out with two or three spadefuls of earth,"
+continued Tom. "I followed along after him for two weeks, and in every
+camping-place there were two shovelfuls of dirt flung out. If a hen had
+been scratching for that nugget, she would have made better headway."
+
+"He was on the right track, anyhow," said Elam. "If he had kept on till
+he came to that pocket, he would have found it. That would have given me
+a job, for I would a heap sooner find it in the dirt than take it out of
+a man's pack."
+
+"If a man was to find that nugget----"
+
+"Yes, sir, I would," said Elam savagely. "It is mine, and I'm a-going to
+have it, I don't care who unearths it. Do you suppose you could find
+your way back to that pocket?"
+
+"No, sir; I couldn't," said Tom, drawing a long breath of dismay. "In
+the first place, there's the Red Ghost. If you had seen it----"
+
+"Haven't I seen it?" demanded Elam. "It has got the marks of some of my
+bullets."
+
+"It must bear the marks of a good many bullets, and I don't see why some
+of them did not hit it in the proper place. What do you suppose it is,
+anyway?"
+
+"Why, it's a ghost, I tell you. If it wasn't, some of those bullets
+would have struck it in the proper spot, I bet you."
+
+"If it's a ghost, you can't kill it."
+
+"Can't, hey? I'll bet you that I can."
+
+"It looked to me just like a camel," said Tom, who did not like the way
+Elam glared at him every time he struck on this subject.
+
+"A camel! What's them?"
+
+"An animal they make use of in foreign countries to carry heavy burdens
+for them. But, Elam, how came it to appear to you? It don't show itself
+to anybody else who hunts in these mountains, does it?"
+
+"Certainly it does. The history of this nugget is known all over the
+country, and if any man has it on his mind, he may be a hundred miles
+from here, but that makes no difference; it appears to that fellow and
+scares him off. Now, wait till I tell you."
+
+This brought Elam to his story, and he entered upon it a good deal as
+Uncle Ezra did, beginning with the massacre of the soldiers who were
+sent out to pay the garrison at Grayson, and ending with the fight
+between the two miners in the mountains. He seemed to know right where
+the nugget had been ever since it was unearthed. At any rate, he told a
+pretty straight story, and when it was ended filled up his pipe and
+looked at Tom to see what he thought about it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+UNWELCOME VISITORS.
+
+
+"I did think for a time that I should find my father and the nugget
+together, and even gave it out among the sheep-and cattle-growers who
+would listen to me," continued Elam, taking a few long pulls at his
+pipe. "But I have since given that idea up. I didn't say anything to the
+men hereabouts, for it kinder ran in my head after a while that they
+thought I was luny on the subject; so I just kept my ideas to myself.
+You see, the thing couldn't have gone through so many hands without my
+hearing something of my father, but, search high or low, I never heared
+a word about him. The old man is dead. He was killed when the robbers
+made their assault on the train, and the nugget has been doing all this
+of itself."
+
+"All what of itself?" asked Tom.
+
+"Why, it has been bobbing up and bobbing down," replied Elam. "One day
+you know where it is, and by the time you get on the track of it it has
+gone up, nobody knows where."
+
+For a long time Tom did not say anything. The story seemed so real--as
+real as that he was sitting on his couch of furs, with his feet tucked
+under him, gazing hard into the fire. It did not seem possible that the
+story could get abroad, and so many men believe it, and here this one
+was known two hundred miles away. There must be something in it.
+
+"Well," said Elam, "do you think I am crazy?"
+
+"I don't know what to think," said Tom. "Such a story never got wind in
+the settlements."
+
+"Of course it didn't. There's a heap more things that happen out here
+than you think for. There isn't one man in ten who would believe about
+that ghost."
+
+"No, sir," said Tom emphatically. "And I don't know what to believe
+about it, either, and I have seen it. Are you going up there to that
+pocket?"
+
+"I am going to start day after to-morrow if you will show me the way.
+When I strike the nugget, I will give you half."
+
+The proposition almost took Tom's breath away. All that amount of money
+for facing the Red Ghost! Now that he had got safely out of reach of it
+and had heard so much about its going everywhere it pleased, here to-day
+and a hundred miles away to-morrow, Tom was obliged to confess that
+there was more of a ghost about it than he was at first willing to
+suppose. But there was his horse with the broken lariat! No ghost could
+do a thing like that.
+
+"You see, I shall spend to-morrow in gathering in my traps," said Elam.
+"I may not come back, you know, and I don't want to leave them out where
+everybody can steal them, and when they are all in, I shall be ready to
+start."
+
+When Elam said this, Tom picked up a burned chunk, threw it on the fire,
+and laid down again. If Elam thought he wasn't going to come back, what
+was the use of his visiting the pocket? Tom had about concluded that he
+would not go.
+
+"No, I may not come back," said Elam, anxious that Tom should learn just
+how desperate the undertaking was, "and while I don't want to have my
+traps stolen, I want to leave them where someone can use them. Then I
+will pack my spelter on my horse and go to the nighest post--it is just
+a jump from here--and trade it off for provisions. We can easy get them
+as far as here."
+
+"Yes; but what will you do from here on? You won't have any bronco to
+carry them for you."
+
+"We will pack it on our backs. It's a poor hunter who can't go into the
+woods and carry provisions enough for two weeks."
+
+"And what if the Red Ghost appears? The first thing it will pitch into
+will be ourselves. I don't think I will go. I have got all over
+prospecting for gold, and wish that summer might come so that I can go
+to work herding cattle."
+
+"Well, I know what will happen to you then," said Elam.
+
+"Well, what will happen to me then?" said Tom, after waiting for his
+companion to finish what he had on his mind.
+
+"You'll go plumb crazy; that's what will happen to you. You will be set
+to riding the line----"
+
+"What's that?" interrupted Tom.
+
+"Why, riding up and down a fence, or rather where the fence ought to be,
+to see that none of your cattle break away. It will take you two days to
+make a trip, and you will get so tired of it that you will finally skip
+out and leave the line to take care of itself. But all right. You go to
+bed and sleep on it, and if it doesn't look better in the morning, I'll
+say no more about it. I will go by myself."
+
+With something like a sigh of regret Elam turned over and prepared to go
+to sleep. There was no undressing, no handling of blankets, but just as
+he was he was all ready to go to slumber. Tom felt sorry for him, and,
+besides, he knew how Mr. Parsons and the cowboys would look upon such a
+proceeding if it should once get to their ears. And he didn't see any
+way to prevent it. If Elam's story was able to travel for two hundred
+miles, the idea that he was afraid to face the Red Ghost would travel,
+too, and then what would be his prospect of getting employment with Mr.
+Parsons? And, besides, there was a chance for him to go "plumb crazy"
+while riding the line and seeing that the cattle did not break through.
+That was another thing that was against Tom.
+
+"I am afraid I am unlucky, after all," thought he, once more arranging
+his bunch of furs. "I am sent out into the mountains to prospect for
+gold, when there isn't any gold in sight except what belongs to Elam,
+here, and have the promise that when summer comes I shall be given a
+chance." Then aloud: "Say, Elam, does a fellow have to ride this line at
+first, and before he can call himself a full-fledged cowboy?"
+
+"Sure," said Elam; "he must get used to everything that is done on the
+ranch. He must begin at the lowest round of the ladder and work his way
+up."
+
+"Well," said Tom to himself, "I just aint a-going to do it. I'll just go
+to sleep on it now, and if the thing looks better to me to-morrow than
+it does to-night, I'll stick to your heels."
+
+While Tom was thinking about it, he fell asleep. When he awoke the next
+morning, it was broad daylight, but he was alone. Elam must have moved
+with stealthy footsteps while he was getting breakfast; but there was
+everything on the table just as he found it on the previous morning, and
+the pictures which Elam had drawn, and which Tom had placed on the wall
+so that they could be easily seen, had been taken down and put where he
+had seen them the day before.
+
+"I hope to goodness that I will get through with my sleep after a
+while," thought Tom, as he proceeded to put on his moccasons. "He has
+gone out to gather the rest of his traps, and I am left to decide
+whether or not I will go with him. Well, I will go. If that fellow is
+not afraid of the ghost, I'm not, either. I know it isn't a ghost, but
+he thinks it is, and we'll see who will show the most pluck."
+
+Tom went about his business with alacrity, and in an hour the breakfast
+was eaten and the dishes put away. Then he had nothing to do but to cut
+a supply of wood for Elam, though he didn't know how it was going to be
+of any use to him, seeing that he was going to the mountains; but it was
+better than sitting idle all day, and so Tom went at it, throwing the
+wood as fast as he cut it in under the eaves of the cabin, where it
+would be protected from the weather. At last the wood that was down was
+all cut, and Tom, leaning on his axe with one hand, and scratching his
+head with the other, was looking around to determine what tree ought to
+come down next, when he happened to glance toward the path where it
+emerged from the evergreens and ran up to the door of the house, and
+discovered two men standing there with their arms at a ready. If they
+had tried to come up under cover of his chopping they had succeeded
+admirably. They might have approached close to him, and even laid hold
+upon him, and Tom never would have known it until he found himself in
+their grasp.
+
+Of all the sorry-looking specimens that Tom had ever seen since he came
+West these were the beat. Elam would have been ashamed to be seen in
+their company. His clothes were whole and clean, while these men had
+scarcely an article between them that was not in need of repairs. Their
+hats, coats, and trousers ought long ago to have gone to the ragman; and
+as for their boots--they had none, wearing moccasons instead. Tom felt
+that something was going to happen. He knew he was growing pale, but
+leaned with both hands upon his axe and tried not to show it.
+
+"Howdy, pard?" said one of the men, looking all around.
+
+"How are you?" said Tom.
+
+He would have been glad to step into the cabin and get his rifle, but he
+noticed that the men stood between him and the doorway.
+
+"Whar's your pardner?" asked the man.
+
+"He is around here somewhere," said Tom, shouldering his axe and
+starting for the door. "What do you want?"
+
+"I want to know if you have anything to eat? We have been out looking
+for some steers that have broke away, and we've got kinder out of our
+reckonin'."
+
+"Who are you working for?"
+
+"For ole man Parsons. Our horses got away from us, too, and didn't leave
+us so much as a hunk of bacon."
+
+"I don't believe a word of your story," said Tom, who knew from the
+start that the man was lying. "But come in. I reckon Elam would give you
+something if he was here, though, to tell you the truth, we haven't got
+much."
+
+"So Elam is your pardner, is he?"
+
+"You seem to know him pretty well."
+
+"Oh, yes. Elam and I have been hunting many a time."
+
+"He's liable to come back at any minute," returned Tom, who wished there
+was some truth in what he was saying. "He has just stepped out to look
+at some traps. I don't see what keeps him so long, for of course you
+will be glad to see him."
+
+Tom had by this time got inside the cabin, closely followed by the two
+men, who, he noticed, did not go very far from the door. One of them
+hauled a stool up beside it and sat down where he could keep a close
+watch on everything that went on outside, and the other kept so close to
+Tom that the latter could not have used his axe if he had tried it. Tom
+wanted to get his hands on his rifle, but one of the men had placed
+himself directly in front of it so that his broad shoulders were between
+him and the weapon. The men pushed back their hats and took a survey of
+the interior of the cabin while Tom was getting down the side of bacon,
+and finally one of them discovered the pile of wolf-skins which Elam had
+tied up and left in the corner. With a smile and a muttered ejaculation
+he walked over and examined it.
+
+"Elam's at his ole tricks, aint he?" said he, after he had tested the
+skins and tried to determine by the weight of them how many there were
+in the package. "How many do you reckon he's got here? So many skins at
+forty-five dollars apiece would be--how much would it be, Tender-foot?"
+
+Tom was rather taken aback by this style of address. He had tried to
+play himself off on the men as one to the manor born, but his language,
+his dress, or something had given him away entirely. The man spoke to
+him as if he was as well acquainted with his history as Elam was.
+
+"I don't reckon we want anything to eat do we, Aleck?" continued the
+man, lifting the bundle and carrying it back to the door with him. "If
+you see anybody else coming along here that's hard up for grub----"
+
+"Here--you!" exclaimed Tom, throwing down his axe and making an effort
+to take the bundle from the man. "Put that down, if you know when you
+are well off."
+
+"If you know when you are well off, you will keep your hands to yourself
+and sit down thar," said the man, and at the same time the one who had
+been addressed as Aleck arose to his feet, cocking his rifle as he did
+so. "Oh, you needn't call for Elam, 'cause we know where he is as well
+as you do," he continued, as Tom thrust both men aside and started post
+haste for the door. "Now, Tender-foot, just go and behave yourself. We
+know that Elam has gone out to attend to his traps and won't be back
+before night, and so we've got all the time we want. Sit down."
+
+Tom saw it all now. The men had evidently watched Elam from the time he
+started out, until they saw him pick up one trap and set out for
+another, and had then made up their minds to rob him. They little
+expected to find a tender-foot behind to watch his cabin, and had
+consequently made up their story on the spur of the moment.
+
+"Aleck, you will find your bundle over thar," said the man, "and there
+are some otter-skins you can take, too. This rifle I will just take with
+me and leave it agin some rocks out here whar you can easy find it. Mind
+you, we haint done you no harm so far, but don't come nigh this rifle
+under an hour. You hear me?"
+
+Tom said nothing in reply. He watched Aleck as he picked up the other
+bundle and otter-skins (he left the eighteen Elam had brought in the
+night before, because they were not cured), flung them over his
+shoulder, and joined his companion at the door, where the latter had
+already taken charge of the rifle.
+
+"You haint disremembered what I've told you?" he said, in savage tones.
+"You come out in one hour and you can find the rifle; but you come out
+before that time expires and ten to one but you will get a ball through
+your head."
+
+Tom still made no reply, and the robbers went out as noiselessly as they
+had come in. He listened, but did not hear the snapping of a twig or the
+swishing of bushes to prove that they had worked their way through the
+thicket of evergreens to the natural prairie along which Elam was to
+come.
+
+"Well, now, I am beat," drawing a long breath of relief, thrusting his
+feet out in front of him, and putting his hands into his pockets. "So it
+seems that Elam isn't so very happy, after all, and that, no matter
+where one gets, he's going to have trouble. Here he's been working like
+a nailer for--I don't know how long he's been out here--until it seems
+to me----What's that?" he added, as his feet came in contact with a
+small buckskin bag which one of the robbers had dropped.
+
+Tom bent over and saw that one side of the string was broken. The bag
+had been tied around the man's neck, and had worked its way down until
+it found an opening at the bottom of his trousers above his moccasons.
+The man had never noticed it, and this was the first Tom had seen of it.
+It was small, but it was well filled, and Tom began to look about for a
+place to hide it.
+
+"Let him take the skins if he wants to, and I'll take this," said he,
+getting up and looking first into one place and then into another, and
+making up his mind each time that that was a poor spot to hide things.
+"He may miss it before he has gone a great ways, and I don't want him to
+know that he has left that much behind. Just as soon as he goes away
+I'll take it out and examine it."
+
+Tom, who was not so badly frightened as some boys would have been, made
+his way toward the door and finally went out, but could hear no signs of
+the robbers. He removed some sticks from the pile of wood he had cut and
+there placed the bag, covering it over as if nothing had been disturbed,
+and then struck up a lively whistle and started down the path. The
+robbers were not in sight, but there was Elam's horse just quenching his
+thirst at the brook, and that proved that his companion had not been
+stolen afoot, anyway.
+
+"I'll be perfectly safe if I try to find the rifle now," said Tom, as he
+began beating around through the bushes. "By George! I hope they haven't
+carried the gun off with them. They couldn't, for their packs were too
+heavy."
+
+Here was a new apprehension, and it started Tom to work with increased
+speed; and it was only after an hour's steady search that he found the
+gun hidden where nobody would have thought of looking for it. It was
+uninjured, and this made it plain that the only object the robbers had
+in view was to rob Elam.
+
+"They've got just sixteen skins or I'm mistaken," said Tom, shouldering
+his recovered rifle and retracing his steps to camp. "Sixteen skins at
+forty-five dollars would be worth seven hundred dollars and better.
+That's quite a nice little sum to rake out before dinner. Now, my next
+care is to examine that bag."
+
+Arriving at the wood-pile, the bag was taken out and carried into the
+cabin. Tom caught it by the bottom and emptied its contents on the
+table, first taking care, however, to place his rifle across his knees,
+where it could be seized in case of emergency. He was surprised at the
+contents of the little bag. In the first place there was some money
+tightly wrapped up in folds of buckskin, and when Tom unfolded it to see
+how much there was, two yellow-boys rolled out.
+
+"Hurrah! Here's something to pay for the stolen skins," said Tom, and,
+hastily putting the money into his pocket, he caught up his rifle and
+hastened out of doors to listen for some sounds of the returning
+robbers. Everything was silent. The men were gone, and Tom had nothing
+to do but to examine the bag in peace.
+
+"I am glad they didn't do anything more," thought he, as he went in and
+seated himself at the table. "If they had wanted to do mischief, they
+might have pulled a chunk from the fire and set the whole thing to
+going, but instead of doing that they just contented themselves with
+robbing us. Forty dollars. Where did they get it? Two gold eagles and
+bills enough to make up the balance. Here's tobacco enough to last both
+of them a week; needles and thread, so it don't seem to me that they
+ought to have been satisfied to go around with their jackets full of
+holes, as I saw them, and----What's this? It's something pretty
+precious, I guess, because it is wrapped up tightly."
+
+It was a small parcel tied up in buckskin that caught Tom's eye just
+then. It was so neatly wrapped up in numerous folds that by the time Tom
+got them unfolded he fully expected to find some quartz or some more
+gold pieces; but when he brought it to light, there was nothing but a
+little piece of paper, with ordinary lines drawn upon it. Did he throw
+it away? He spread it out upon the table as smoothly as he could, and
+set to work to study out the problem presented to him. One thing was
+plain to him: the line which ran up the middle, paying no attention to
+other lines which came into it at intervals, was a gully. Right ahead it
+went until it branched off in two places, and there it stopped. What did
+it mean?
+
+"It means something, as sure as I am a foot high," said Tom, settling
+back in his chair and holding the paper up before him. "There is
+something buried there, and how did these people come by it? I guess
+that Elam had better see that."
+
+Filled with excitement, Tom bundled the things back into the bag, and
+put the bag into his pocket, wondering what sort of history those two
+men had passed through. Did they know anything about the nugget? The
+idea was ridiculous, simply because there were some marks on a paper
+which he did not understand.
+
+"There was only one of them who escaped with the nugget, and he buried
+it within ten miles of the fort," said Tom. "And Elam says, further,
+that he was so sick and tired when he was relieved that he could not
+draw a map to lead anyone to it. No matter; there's something there, and
+I am in hopes it will----By George! they are coming back."
+
+There was no doubt about it, and he might have heard them before if he
+had not been so busy with his reflections. He listened and could hear
+them tramping through the bushes, and all on a sudden one raised his
+voice and called out to the other, who was evidently behind him:
+
+"I tell you he's got it. If I don't get it back, I am ruined!"
+
+"That means me," thought Tom.
+
+For an instant Tom stood irresolute, and then the idea came upon him
+that he wasn't going to be imposed upon in this way any longer. He moved
+across the floor with long strides, took down his revolver and put it
+into his pocket and moved out of the door, pulling it to after him. The
+men were close upon him. He heard them coming along the path as he
+slipped around the corner of the cabin and into the bushes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+TOM FINDS SOMETHING.
+
+
+"Oh, Aleck, he is gone!" shouted the man who was the first to come
+within sight of the cabin. "The lock-string is out, and he's cut stick
+and gone, with that bag safe upon him; dog-gone the luck!"
+
+"Push open the door," said Aleck. "Mebbe he is there."
+
+The man placed the muzzle of his rifle against the door and thrust it so
+far open that his companion, who stood with cocked piece close at his
+side, would have had no difficulty in getting a shot at Tom if he had
+been on the inside. It was plain that they were afraid of the
+consequences, for as the door swung open they both drew back out of
+sight. If he knew anything of the prairie at all, it wasn't so certain
+that he was going to give up that bag after what he had seen of it.
+
+"Hey, there!" shouted Aleck. "We know you have got it; you might as well
+come out and give up that thing I dropped in here a while ago. By gum,
+he haint in there!"
+
+A little more peeping and looking (you will remember that the inside of
+the cabin was as dark as a pocket) resulted in the astounding discovery
+that there was nobody there. In fact, Tom lay about ten feet from
+them,--the bushes were so thick that he did not think it safe to retreat
+any farther,--and from his hiding-place he could distinctly hear
+everything that passed. He would have been glad to retreat farther, but
+the bushes made such a noise that he was afraid to try it.
+
+[Illustration: TOM IN HIDING.]
+
+"He's gone," said Aleck, hauling a stool out from the cabin and throwing
+himself upon it. "Now, what am I to do?"
+
+"Perhaps you didn't drop it in there," said his companion. "You
+travelled a good ways----"
+
+"Yes, I did," said Aleck, whose rage was fearful to behold. "I felt of
+it when I was coming through the bushes, and I am as certain as I want
+to be that I felt the bag, and nothing else."
+
+"And do you suppose he found it and went to examine it?" said the other
+man, who hadn't done much of the talking. "If I thought that was the
+case--you have got us in a pretty box!"
+
+"I don't suppose nothing else. And just think, it is in Elam's hands.
+Dog-gone the luck! I'd like to shoot myself."
+
+"Aha!" thought Tom. "Now, go on and tell us what it is that's in Elam's
+hands. It's the nugget, and I'll bet my life on it."
+
+"I never did have much faith in it, anyhow," said Aleck's companion,
+who, holding his rifle in the hollow of his arm, kicked a few chips out
+of his way; "but you seemed so eager for it that you had to go and shoot
+a man in order to get it. It's nothing more than I expected."
+
+"I believe I can work my way up there alone," said Aleck.
+
+"With all them gullies coming down? You're crazy. But you don't want to
+sit here a great while. Elam will have it; that feller's gone to find
+him----"
+
+"If I thought Elam would have it, I'd lay around on purpose to shoot
+him," said Aleck, rising from his stool and kicking it out of his way.
+"He aint no more than anybody else, Elam aint."
+
+"Well, if you are going to stay here, you can stay alone. I'll go back
+and take my bundle of skins to the fort, and raise some money on them.
+Then I'll light out, and you won't catch me around where Elam is again."
+
+"By gum! I'll go, too," said Aleck. "But I'll bet you that Elam will
+sleep cold to-night."
+
+"By George! he is going to burn the house," said Tom, drawing a long
+breath. "Well, I have done what I could, and as soon as they go away
+I'll go in and save what I can from the wreck."
+
+The very first words that Aleck uttered after he had set fire to the
+cabin seemed to put a stop to this resolution. He made a great show of
+setting the shanty a-going, entering into it and kicking the burning
+brands about and piling stools and other things upon them, and when he
+came out and closed the door behind him, he was well satisfied with his
+work.
+
+"There, dog-gone you!" sputtered Aleck, shouldering his rifle. "If you
+don't burn, I'll give up. Now, we'll just wait and see if some of 'em
+don't come back here to save things. You'll wait that long, won't you?"
+
+"I won't, if you are going to raise a hand against Elam. I tell you it
+aint safe for anybody to touch him. You have had more pulls at him than
+anybody I know, and you have always said the same."
+
+"And right here in these mountains, too," said Aleck. "I guess she will
+burn well enough without us, so we had better go on."
+
+It may have been the fire that operated on Aleck's superstition in this
+way, for Tom listened and could hear them going headlong along the path.
+He did not think it quite safe to venture near the burning cabin until
+he had seen what had become of the robbers, so he left his rifle where
+it had fallen and, with his revolver for company, pursued the men toward
+the natural prairie. He did not feel the least fear of meeting the
+robbers in the evergreens, for his ears had informed him of their
+passage through them; so when he stopped behind one of the trees and
+took a survey of the ground before him, he was delighted to discover
+them far away, and going along as if all the demons in the woods were
+behind them. His next business was to go back and save what he could.
+The fire was already burning brightly, but, knowing where everything
+was, he succeeded in saving Elam's saddle and bridle, all the
+provisions, his clothing, and a few of the skins which served him for a
+bed. Then he sat down, drew his hands across his heated face, and waited
+as patiently as he could for the rest to burn up. As Elam had occupied
+the cabin for three or four winters, it burned like so much tinder. The
+principal thing that occupied his attention now was what he had heard
+the men say regarding Elam.
+
+"Elam has been shot at three or four times right here in these
+mountains," soliloquized Tom. "He didn't say a word to me about that,
+and I reckon it was something he did not want to speak of. Now, I will
+leave the things right here and go and find Elam."
+
+This would have been a task beyond him had he not seen the way Elam went
+the day before. He went up the prairie to gather in his traps, and of
+course all he had out must have been up that way, too. He didn't know
+anything about the theory of setting traps for wolves, but Elam
+understood it, and he was sure he was going the right way to find him.
+At any rate, he wouldn't go far out of sight of the smoke of the burning
+cabin, and with that resolution he cast his eye over the wreck to see if
+there was anything else that he could save, and struck into the path.
+
+"I'll leave my revolver there where it is," said Tom. "There can't be
+more than one set of thieves around here at once. And I've got what has
+ruined that fellow. If I haven't got the secret of Elam's nugget here in
+my pocket, I'll give up. I'll go with you now, Elam. I'll face a dozen
+Red Ghosts for the sake of getting my hands on this pile of gold. It
+isn't a ghost, anyway. It is a camel, and I don't see how in the name of
+sense any of his tribe managed to get stranded out here. I'll shoot at
+it as quick as I did before."
+
+Filled with such thoughts as these Tom reached the edge of the
+evergreens, but there was no sign of the robbers in sight. Elam's horse
+was there, and he seemed to think there was something wrong by sight and
+smell of the smoke, for he tossed his head and snorted, and when he saw
+Tom approaching took to his heels. Tom was glad of that, for Elam
+thought a good deal of that horse; he would come up at night, and Elam
+would go out to give him a piece of bread and speak friendly words to
+him. He had hardly left the horse behind before he saw Elam approaching.
+He had a few skins thrown over his shoulder, but he was going at a rapid
+rate, as if he knew there was something amiss. Discovering Tom, he threw
+off his skins, laid down his rifle, and seated himself on a rock to
+rest.
+
+"Burned out?" said he cheerfully, when Tom came within speaking
+distance.
+
+"Yes," said Tom. "How did you know it?"
+
+"Oh, I saw it back there in the mountains. How did it catch?"
+
+Tom had by this time come up. He seated himself beside Elam and drew the
+little bag from his pocket. He was in hopes that Elam would recognize
+the bag, but all he did was to look at it and wait for Tom to go on.
+
+"I've had visitors since you left this morning," said Tom. "Two men with
+ragged and torn clothing came there and got into the cabin before I knew
+it, and when they got in, they made a haul of your two bundles of skins
+you had tied up."
+
+"Hallo!" exclaimed Elam. "Seven hundred dollars gone to the bugs. Tell
+me how it happened."
+
+To Tom's astonishment Elam did not seem at all surprised at the robbery,
+but when it came to the discovery of the bag and the description of the
+man who had lost it, Elam sprang to his feet with a wild war-whoop. Tom
+began to see that there was a good deal in Elam, but it wanted danger to
+bring it out.
+
+"I know that fellow," said he, reseating himself after his paroxysm of
+rage had subsided.
+
+"You ought to," responded Tom. "He has had three or four shots at you
+right here in the mountains."
+
+"I know it, and that's my bag you have got there," replied Elam. "Go on
+and tell me the rest."
+
+Tom was more astonished than Elam was to find that the bag belonged to
+him, and it was some little time before he could get his wits to work
+again; but when he did, he gave a full description of the burning of the
+cabin, and told of the direction the men had gone when they got through.
+Elam said they had gone to the fort, and the only way to head them off
+was to get there in advance of them. They intended to raise some money
+on those skins, and after that go to the mountains; but he was certain
+if he could see the commandant or the sutler he would knock their
+expedition into a cocked hat. He dropped these remarks as Tom went
+along, so that by the time he got through he knew pretty nearly what
+Elam was going to do. He was more surprised when he got through than
+Elam was.
+
+"You seem to look upon this robbery as something that ought to have
+happened," said Tom. "I tell you that if I had worked as long as you
+have, and had seven hundred dollars' worth, I would be mad."
+
+"Young man, if you had been out here as long as I have, and been in my
+circumstances, you would have learned to look upon these things as a
+matter of course," answered Elam. "This is the fourth time I have been
+robbed, and I never go to the mountains without expecting it."
+
+"But you never told me about that man shooting at you so many times,"
+answered Tom.
+
+"Well, he did; and once he came so close to me that he laid me on the
+ground," said Elam, baring his brawny chest and showing Tom the ragged
+mark of a bullet there.
+
+"By George!" exclaimed Tom.
+
+"That was the time he stole that bag you have there," continued Elam.
+"He looked at me and thought me to be dead, and so made no bones about
+taking it. But he got fooled for once in his life. He thought I had a
+map there telling him where to look for the nugget."
+
+"Did you have a map of any kind with you?"
+
+"Nary a map," said Elam, with a laugh.
+
+"Well, there's one here now, and I should like to have you look at it.
+The loss of that map made Aleck think he was ruined."
+
+Elam became all attention now, and watched Tom as he took out the piece
+of buckskin and carefully unfolded it. Finally he took out the paper and
+handed it to Elam, taking pains to smooth it out as he did so.
+
+"He said he had to shoot a man in order to get it," said Tom.
+
+"What man was it?"
+
+"I don't know. He didn't describe him."
+
+Elam had been fooled so many times in regard to that nugget that he took
+the paper with a smile, but he had scarcely glanced at it before a look
+of intense earnestness took the place of the smile. He laid down his
+rifle, rested his hands upon his knees, and studied the paper long and
+earnestly.
+
+"Do you make anything out of it?" asked Tom.
+
+"It's the very thing I want," declared Elam. "I have waited and looked
+for a thing like this, and have never found it. The nugget is
+mine--mine, and, Tom, I will give you half if you will stand by me till
+I handle it."
+
+"It's a bargain," replied Tom, and to show how very much in earnest he
+was he offered to shake hands with Elam; but he resolved that he would
+never do it again. All the years of waiting Elam had infused into that
+grip; Tom didn't say anything, but it was all he could do to stand it.
+
+"There is only one thing I can't see into," said he, when he had
+recovered his power of speech, "and that is where that line begins. You
+don't know where in the world it is."
+
+"Do you see all these little dots here at the beginning of the line?
+Well, those are springs. There's a dozen springs break out inside of
+half an acre, and there's only one place in the country where you can
+find them."
+
+"How far is it from here?"
+
+"It is forty miles in a straight line."
+
+"Then what were those men doing here?"
+
+"I give it up."
+
+"And here's some money, too, with the thing," said Tom, undoing the
+piece of buckskin that contained it. "There's forty dollars here."
+
+"I am sure I don't know what brought them in here, unless they came
+after somebody that had the map. I'd like mighty well to find him, but I
+can't stop now to hunt him up. I must have the nugget in the first
+place."
+
+"Well, you had better keep this map," said Tom, as Elam got up and threw
+the skins over his shoulder and picked up his rifle.
+
+"No, you keep it until I come back. I've got to face a couple of rough
+men, and there's no knowing what may happen to me. If I shouldn't come
+back, find Uncle Ezra Norton and give it to him. He will go with you and
+help you hunt it up."
+
+"What have you got to face those rough men for?" said Tom anxiously.
+"Those men who were here were afraid of their lives."
+
+"Yes; but you take them out in the mountains and see if they are afraid
+of their lives. They would shoot you as quickly as they would look at
+you. One of them has more to answer for than he will care to. Uncle Ezra
+Norton. Don't forget him. Now, I am going to leave you here while I go
+on to the fort. I shall be gone three days. You can stand it that long,
+can't you?"
+
+"I can stand it for a week if you will keep those fellows from trading
+off those wolf-skins for provisions," said Tom. "I hope you'll catch
+them right there among our soldiers, and make them give up the skins.
+They've got a heap of cheek to take those skins to the fort."
+
+"The people out here have cheek enough for anything," said Elam, with a
+frown. "This Aleck you speak of took some money off that dead man, and
+yet I'll bet you he would go right to the fort and spend it."
+
+Elam became all activity, and it was all Tom could do to keep pace with
+him as he walked along carrying the skins to the site of the cabin. It
+was a "site," sure enough, for the fire had made rapid headway, and now
+there was nothing but the smouldering remains to be seen. Elam looked at
+the smoking ruins and then at the numerous articles Tom had saved, and
+then said:
+
+"If I had known as much on the day I built this cabin as I do now, I
+could have enjoyed myself better here than the ones who burned it. You
+have saved your boots, haven't you? Well, the things that went up are
+comparatively of little value. Now, if you will punch together some of
+the coals and get me a big dinner, I'll be off. There's a blizzard
+coming up, and as they generally come from the south-west, I would
+advise you to put up a lean-to with its back that way," said Elam,
+motioning with his hand.
+
+"I would really enjoy a blizzard, but not if you are going to be out in
+it," replied Tom, who, for some reason or other, could not bear that
+anything should happen to Elam. "I have never seen one in my life."
+
+For an hour or two the boys were busy, Elam in catching and saddling his
+horse and doing up his blankets to be carried with him, and Tom employed
+with his cooking, and all the while the former was going on with some
+instructions which were destined to make things easier for Tom. He
+didn't want to neglect that lean-to, he said, for in less than three
+days there would be a blizzard that would make him open his eyes. If he
+didn't come back in three days, all Tom would have to do would be to
+take that map to Uncle Ezra Norton (anybody at the fort would show him
+where he lived), and he would know what to do under the circumstances.
+Having said this much, Elam wrapped what was left of his dinner in his
+blankets, so as to carry it with him, shook Tom warmly by the hand (he
+did not put as much vim into it as he did before), mounted his horse,
+and rode down the path out of sight. When he thought a sufficient length
+of time had passed, Tom wandered down to the edge of the evergreens and
+looked out. There was Elam on his horse, skurrying along; not going
+fast, for he had nearly a hundred miles to ride, but taking it easy, as
+though he could stand it. Elam didn't know it, but he was to travel
+twenty miles at as fast a gait as he had ever ridden it before.
+
+"There goes my luck again," said Tom, as he turned about and returned
+through the evergreens. "If anything should happen to him, I don't know
+what I should do. I feel drawn toward the fellow. I will pay attention
+to what he told me, and in order to put it out of the power of those men
+to carry off this map and money I will just chuck the bag in here, where
+I know it is safe."
+
+The place where Tom hid the bag was in a hollow tree. He pushed it in,
+put some leaves and brush over it, and turned away, satisfied, to begin
+work on his lean-to. He could not see any signs of the approaching
+blizzard, but Elam could, and he worked hard. That day he had the frame
+up, and the next day it was all done and the things carried under it.
+
+"There," said Tom, with a smile of satisfaction. "We are all ready for
+what comes. Now, if Elam was only here, I'd be content. One more day, or
+at least I will give him two, and then he will have to show up."
+
+The third day passed without bringing any signs of the missing boy, but
+Tom paid little attention to it. On the fourth he began making trips to
+the edge of the evergreens, and then he saw that the sun was hazy and
+that it began to look stormy. It grew worse on the fifth day, and Tom
+really began to be alarmed. Toward evening a horseman suddenly made his
+appearance on the edge of the prairie, walking slowly along, as if his
+nag was tired almost to death. But it was Elam, for after he had made
+many steps he discovered Tom, and pulled off his hat and waved it to
+him.
+
+"Something has gone wrong," muttered Tom, vigorously returning the
+salute. "Why don't he whip up? If I was as close to home as he is, I
+would go faster than that."
+
+Tom waited in the margin of the woods for him to come up, and when he
+drew nearer saw that his face was pale, and that he carried his arm in a
+sling, as if he had been wounded. When Tom saw that, he began to grow
+pale, too.
+
+"Oh, it's all over," said Elam. "Look there."
+
+"What! Is your horse wounded, too?"
+
+"Yes, and was hardly able to move when I rode him into the fort. Say,
+you told me that soldiers always wanted to see the fair thing done,
+didn't you? They're a mean set. But I got the start of them. Do you know
+what became of those two men who were here? Well, the Cheyennes have got
+them."
+
+"The Cheyennes!" exclaimed Tom.
+
+Elam looked at him and nodded, and got off his horse with difficulty.
+Tom looked at the long ragged streak in his neck, and did not wonder
+that he was glad to be rid of his rider.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+ELAM INTERVIEWS THE MAJOR.
+
+
+When Elam mounted his horse and set out for the fort that morning, it
+was with the secret determination to confront Aleck and his companion,
+or, failing in that, he would push on ahead, and by seeing the colonel
+or the sutler he would render their attempts at disposing of the furs of
+no account. He had already borne enough from one of these men to put him
+pretty well out of patience. Although Elam said nothing about it, Aleck
+had been at the bottom of three desperate attempts upon his life, as
+well as of four efforts that had been made to rob him, and Elam thought
+he couldn't stand it any longer. He rode along just outside of the
+willows that skirted the foot-hills, so that he could not be picked off
+by a stray rifle shot, and keeping a close watch of the prairie on all
+sides of him, and when night came he hadn't seen anything of the
+robbers. When darkness fell, he allowed his horse to browse around him
+while he ate some of the lunch that was wrapped up in his blanket, and
+then put out again. He was satisfied that by this time he had got beyond
+the men, and now he wanted to get to the fort and put the people there
+on their guard. Was Elam flustered while he was doing all this? Not a
+bit of it. He went about his work as he would have tried to compass the
+death of some wild animal that had escaped him. When the first gray
+streaks of dawn were seen in the east, he camped in a sheep-herder's
+dugout, but it was empty. Beyond a doubt the men had gone into the
+mountains to escape the blizzards. There was a small stack of hay behind
+the cabin, and to this Elam staked out his horse, and went in and
+tumbled into an empty bunk. He was within twenty miles of the fort.
+
+Elam slept the sleep of the weary, and when he was aroused to
+consciousness, it was by a note of warning from his horse. Elam was wide
+awake in an instant. He caught up his rifle and hurried to the door of
+the cabin, and the summit of the hills over which he had come the night
+before was crowded with horsemen. They were so far off that he could not
+distinguish anything, but he knew by certain signs they exhibited that
+they were not the men he wanted to see. They were too much scattered.
+
+"I believe those are the Cheyennes," said he, lost in wonder. "I never
+heard of their breaking loose before."
+
+As if in corroboration of his words, a single long-drawn yell arose on
+the air, followed by a chorus that must have been deafening to those
+that were close at hand. That was enough for Elam. With muttered
+ejaculations addressed to the men who were supposed to be near enough to
+the Indians to keep watch of their movements, he rushed to his horse,
+severed the lariat with which he was confined, mounted without saddle or
+bridle, and was off like the wind.
+
+"I tell you now I am whipped," said Elam, gazing back at his line of
+foes, and trying to estimate how many warriors there were in the lot.
+"It's the Cheyennes, and they belong two hundred miles from here. Some
+ruffian has stolen their back pay, and they are going to have revenge
+for it. Keep close, there, or I'll down some of you."
+
+Then followed a chase such as we don't read of in these days. It was
+long and untiring, and all the way Elam looked in vain for assistance.
+His first care was to make out that there were no Cheyennes in advance
+of him, and he concluded that their discovery of him was as much of a
+surprise to them as it was to him; otherwise they would have sent some
+warriors out to surround him. That was all that saved him. He was
+mounted on a mustang, and such an one could not be tired out in a
+twenty-mile race. He seemed to hate the Indians as bad as his master
+did, and put in his best licks from the time he started, but that
+wouldn't do at all. Some of the cool heads behind him were holding in
+their horses, calculating that when the race was nearly finished they
+would come up and settle the matter. Other warriors, carried away by
+their military ardor, or perhaps having some private wrongs to avenge,
+easily outstripped the others, and finally Elam had his attention drawn
+to two who seemed bent on coming up with him. He couldn't hold his horse
+well in hand with nothing but a noose around his neck, but by talking to
+him he finally got him settled down to good solid work.
+
+[Illustration: ELAM'S FIGHT WITH THE CHEYENNES.]
+
+For one hour the chase continued, and then the whitewashed stockade of
+the fort came into view. He could see that there was a commotion in it,
+for the soldiers were running about in obedience to some orders, but
+nearer than all came the two warriors, who seemed determined to run him
+down and take his scalp within reach of the fort. At last they thought
+they were near enough to fire. One of them drew up his rifle, and Elam
+threw himself flat upon his horse's neck. The rifle cracked, and in an
+instant afterward his horse bounded into the air and came to his knees.
+But he didn't carry Elam with him. The moment he felt his horse going he
+bounded to his feet, struck the ground on the opposite side, and when
+the animal staggered to his feet, as he did a second later, he stood
+perfectly still and Elam's deadly rifle was covering the savage's head.
+He dropped, but he was too late. The ball from the rifle which never
+missed sped on its way, and the warrior threw up his hands and measured
+his length on the ground. An instant afterward Elam was mounted on his
+horse again and going toward the fort as fast as ever. At this feat loud
+yells came from the Indians. The death of the warrior and Elam's fair
+chance for escape filled them with rage. The nearest savage fired, and
+this time the bullet found a mark in Elam's body. It struck him near the
+wrist and came out of his hand, but Elam never winced. He changed his
+rifle into his other hand and broke out into a loud yell, for he saw a
+squadron of cavalry come pouring from the fort. The chase was over after
+that. Elam galloped into the fort, swinging his rifle as he went, and
+got off just as his horse came to his knees again.
+
+Of course all was excitement in there. The balance of the soldiers,
+which consisted of a small regiment of infantry, were drawn up outside
+the fort ready to help the cavalry in case the Indians dodged them, the
+teamsters climbing upon the stockade ready to use their rifles, and Elam
+was left to take his horse out of the way and examine his injuries and
+his own. For himself he decided that it was no matter. He could open and
+shut his hand, although it bled profusely, and that proved that the
+bullet had not touched a cord; but his horse--that was a different
+matter. The ball had not gone in, but had cut its way around the neck,
+leaving a mark as broad as his finger. He must have a bucket of water at
+once. While he was looking around for it, he ran against an officer who
+had been busy stationing the men in their proper places.
+
+"Hallo! You're wounded, aint you?" said he, taking Elam's hand. "Come
+with me."
+
+"I've got a horse here that's worse off than I am," said Elam. "I'd like
+to see him fixed in the first place, and then I'll go with you."
+
+"A horse! Well, he belongs to the veterinary surgeon. You come with me."
+
+But Elam insisted that he could not go with the officer until his horse
+had been taken care of, and asked for a bucket of water; and the
+officer, seeing that he was determined, hastened out to find the surgeon
+who had charge of the stock. He presently discovered him, standing on
+the stockade and yelling until he was red in the face over a charge that
+the cavalry had made, but he ceased his demonstrations and jumped down
+when he was told that an officer wanted him.
+
+"Give me one cavalryman against ten Indians," said he, saluting the
+officer. "The savages are gone, sir."
+
+"Did they stand?" asked the officer.
+
+"No, sir. It was every man for himself, sir. A horse, sir? Yes, sir. I
+saw this fellow come down on his knees when those Indians fired at him.
+A pretty bad cut, sir."
+
+Elam, having seen his horse provided for, resigned himself to the
+officer's care, and went with him to the office of the surgeon. The
+latter had got out all his tools and seemed to be waiting for any
+wounded that might be brought in, but Elam was the first to claim his
+attention. The surgeon jumped up briskly, examined Elam's hand, made
+some remark about the bullet not having touched a bone, said that all
+the patient would have to do would be to take good care of it for a few
+days, and by the time he got through talking he had it done up. The
+officer had left by this time, and Elam began to feel quite at his ease
+in the surgeon's presence. In answer to his enquiries he went on to
+explain how he had been surprised in a sheep-herder's cabin, when he
+didn't know that there was a Cheyenne within a hundred miles of him, and
+had depended entirely on the speed of his horse to save him, and asked,
+with some show of hesitation, which he had not exhibited before:
+
+"Do you reckon I could have a word with the major this fine morning? I
+suppose he is pretty busy now."
+
+To tell the truth, Elam stood more in fear of a stranger than he did of
+a grizzly bear, and he felt awed and abashed when he found himself in
+the soldier's presence. The regular, with his snow-white belts, bright
+buttons, and neatly fitting clothes, presented a great contrast to the
+visitor in his well-worn suit of buckskin, and, backwoodsman as he was,
+Elam noticed the difference and felt it keenly. Now, when the excitement
+was all over, he felt sadly out of place there, and he wished that he
+had let the wolf-skins go and stayed at home with Tom. But the surgeon's
+first words reassured him.
+
+"Of course the major will see you," said he cheerfully. "He will want to
+see you the minute he comes back. He has gone out after the hostiles
+now. You can sit here till he comes back."
+
+"I have got a horse out here that is badly hurt, and if you don't
+object, I'll go out and look at him," said Elam.
+
+"Eh? Objections? Certainly not," said the surgeon, in surprise. "I hope
+you will get along as nicely as he will. Only be careful of that hand of
+yours."
+
+Elam had never been to the fort before, and he felt like a cat in a
+strange garret while he loitered about looking at things. He first went
+to see his horse, and found that, under the skilful hands of the
+veterinary surgeon, he had fared as well as he did, for his neck was
+bound up, and he was engaged in munching some hay that had been provided
+for him. Then he went out of the stockade to see how the hostiles were
+getting on, but found that they and the cavalrymen had long ago
+disappeared. An occasional report of a carabine, followed by an
+answering yell, came faintly to his ears, thus proving beyond a doubt
+that the savages had "scattered," thus making it a matter of
+impossibility to hunt them. After that Elam came back and loafed around
+the stockade to see what he could find that was worth looking at. The
+doors of the officers' apartments were wide open, and, although they
+were very plainly furnished, Elam looked upon it as a scene of
+enchantment. He had never seen anything like it before. He had heard of
+carpets, sofas, and pictures, but he had never dreamed that they were
+such beautiful things as he now saw before him.
+
+"I tell you, I wish I was a soldier," whispered Elam, going from one
+room to the other, and stopping every time he saw anything to attract
+his attention. "This is a heap better than I've got at home. Uncle Ezra
+Norton is rich, but he hasn't got anything to compare with this. Wait
+until I get my nugget, and I will have something to go by. I do wish the
+major would hurry up."
+
+But Elam had a long time to wait before he could see the major, for the
+latter did not return until nearly nightfall. When they came, they
+looked more like whipped soldiers than victorious ones. They had two
+dead men with them, three that had been wounded, and half a dozen
+Indians that they had taken prisoners. Elam looked for an execution at
+once, but what was his surprise to see the Indians thrust into the
+guard-house.
+
+"When are they going to shoot those fellows?" whispered Elam to a
+soldier who happened to be near him.
+
+"Shoot whom?" asked the soldier.
+
+"Why, those Indians. They aint a-going to let them shoot white folks and
+have nothing done to them?"
+
+"Oh, yes, they will," said the soldier, with a laugh. "They can shoot
+all they please, and we'll take 'em prisoners and let 'em go. Did you
+think they was going to kill 'em right at once?"
+
+Elam confessed that he did.
+
+"Well, no doubt that would be the proper way to deal with them. Dog-gone
+'em! if I had any dealings with 'em, I'd 'a' left 'em out there."
+
+Elam did not remain long before he saw the major, for an orderly
+approached in full uniform, and saluted him as he would a
+lieutenant-general, and told him that the commandant was at leisure now,
+and would see him. Elam's heart was in his mouth. He did not know what
+to say to the major about his furs, and so he concluded he would let the
+matter go until morning.
+
+"Say," said Elam, "he must be tired now, and you just tell him I'll wait
+until he has had a chance to sleep on it."
+
+"Why, you must see him," said the orderly, who was rather surprised at
+this civilian's way of putting off the major. "What good can he do by
+sleeping on it? Come on."
+
+Elam reluctantly fell in behind the orderly, and allowed himself to be
+conducted into the presence of the major. The table was all set, the
+officers were seated at it, and seemed ready to begin work upon it. He
+was surprised at the actions of the major, a tall, soldierly looking
+man, with gray hair and whiskers, who sat at the head of the table, and
+who arose and advanced with outstretched palm to meet him.
+
+"I am overjoyed to see you," said he, holding fast to the boy's hand
+after shaking it cordially. "You got hurt, didn't you? But I see you
+have been well taken care of. Is the news you bring me good or bad?"
+
+Elam was too bewildered to speak. He looked closely at the major, trying
+hard to remember when and under what circumstances he had seen him
+before, for that this was not their first meeting was evident. If they
+had been strangers, the major would not have greeted him in so cordial
+and friendly a manner. This was what Elam told himself, but he had shot
+wide of the mark.
+
+In order to explain the major's conduct it will be necessary to say that
+these discontented Cheyennes had not broken away from the neighborhood
+of this fort, but had come from a point at least a hundred miles away.
+It was the source of great uneasiness and anxiety to the veteran major,
+who was afraid that his superiors might charge him with being remiss in
+his duty. He had sent three detachments of cavalry in pursuit, but only
+one of them had been heard from, and the news concerning it, which had
+been brought in by a friendly Indian, was most discouraging. The savages
+had eluded his pursuing columns in a way that was perfectly bewildering,
+and the fear that they might surprise and annihilate his men troubled
+the major to such a degree that he could neither eat nor sleep. He was
+glad to see anybody who could give him any information regarding the
+soldiers or the runaways, and he took it for granted that, as Elam had
+come in since the Indians broke away, and had had a running fight with
+them, he must know all about them.
+
+"Where do you reckon you saw me before?" asked Elam.
+
+"I never met you before in my life," answered the major, who saw that
+his visitor did not understand the feelings which prompted him to extend
+so hearty a greeting. "You can tell me about the Cheyennes, and that is
+why I am so glad to welcome you."
+
+"Oh!" said Elam, quite disappointed.
+
+"Talk fast, for I am all impatience," exclaimed the major. "When did you
+see the hostiles last, and where were they? I know that you brought them
+up here to the fort, but where did you meet them in the first place?"
+
+"I found them back here about twenty miles in a sheep-herder's cabin
+where I stopped for the night," said Elam. "The first thing I heard of
+them was a note of warning from my horse, and when I got up, there they
+were."
+
+"Well?" said the major.
+
+"Well, I got on to my horse and lit out. That's the way I brought them
+up here."
+
+"And that's all you know about them?"
+
+"Yes, everything. I didn't know the Cheyennes had broken out before."
+
+The major released the boy's hand and walked back to his seat at the
+table. The expression on his face showed that he was disappointed.
+
+"That aint all I have to tell, major," said Elam quickly. "When I got
+back to my shanty after taking in my traps, I found that two men had
+been there stealing my spelter that I have worked hard for."
+
+The major, who probably knew what was coming next, turned away his head
+and waved his hand up and down in the air to indicate that he did not
+care to hear any more of the story; but Elam, having an object to
+accomplish, went on with dogged perseverance:
+
+"Now, major, those two fellows are coming to this fort, calculating to
+sell them furs,--my furs, mind you,--and I came here to ask you not to
+let them do it."
+
+"I can't interfere in any private quarrels," said the officer. "I have
+something else to think of."
+
+"But, major, it is mine and not theirs," persisted Elam.
+
+"I don't care whose it is," was the impatient reply. "I shan't have
+anything to do with it."
+
+"Won't you keep them from selling it?"
+
+"No, I won't. I shan't bother my head about it. I have enough on my mind
+already, and I can't neglect important government matters for the sake
+of attending to private affairs. Did you say those men were afoot when
+they came to your shanty? Probably the Cheyennes have got them before
+this time. Orderly!"
+
+The door opened, and when the soldier who had shown Elam into the room
+made his appearance, the major commanded him to show the visitor out.
+
+"Now, just one word, major----" began Elam.
+
+"Show him out!" repeated the commandant.
+
+The orderly laid hold of the young hunter's arm and tried to pull him
+toward the door, but couldn't budge him an inch. Elam stood as firmly as
+one of the pickets that composed the stockade.
+
+"Just one word, major, and then I'll leave off and quit a-pestering
+you," he exclaimed. "If you won't make them two fellows give back the
+plunder they have stolen from me, you won't raise any row if I go to
+work and get it back in my own way, will you?"
+
+"No, I don't care how you get it, or whether you get it at all or not,"
+the major almost shouted.
+
+"Oh, I'll get it, you can bet your bottom dollar on it. And if you hear
+of somebody getting hurt while I am getting of it, you mustn't blame
+me."
+
+"Put him out!" roared the major.
+
+The orderly laid hold of Elam's arm with both hands and finally
+succeeded in forcing him into the hall and closing the door after him,
+but the closing of the door did not shut out the sound of his voice.
+Elam had set out to relieve his mind, and he did it; and as there was no
+one else to talk to, he addressed his remarks to the orderly.
+
+"The major needn't blame me if some of them fellows gets hurt," said he.
+"I tried to set the law to going and couldn't do it. I'll never ask a
+soldier to do anything for me again. I can take care of myself. I don't
+see what you fellows come out here for anyway, except it is to wear out
+good clothes and keep grub from spoiling. That's all the use you be."
+
+"Well, go on now, and don't bother any more," said the orderly
+good-naturedly. "The old man said he didn't care how you got the things
+back, and what more do you want?"
+
+"I wanted him to set the law a-going, but he won't do it," said Elam.
+"I'll just set it to going myself."
+
+The young hunter walked off and directed his course toward the sutler's
+store. He knew it was the sutler's store, for when he was loitering
+about the fort he had seen the sutler come in from the stockade with a
+rifle in his hands, and sell a plug of tobacco to one of the teamsters.
+He found the store empty and the sutler leaning against the counter with
+his arms folded. The latter recognized Elam at once, for he had seen him
+come in on that wounded horse.
+
+"Halloa," he exclaimed. "You have got your wound fixed all right. Did
+you have a long race with them?"
+
+Elam in a few words described his adventures, running his eye over the
+goods the sutler had to sell, and wound up by telling of the furs he had
+lost.
+
+"I have got a good many skins," said he, "and I see some things here
+that I should like to have, but I aint got them now."
+
+"How is that? I don't understand you."
+
+"Well, you see, I have done right smart of trapping and shooting since I
+have been out, but while I was gathering up my traps some fellows came
+to my shanty and stole everything I had," said Elam.
+
+"That's bad," said the sutler; and he really thought it was, for no
+doubt he had lost an opportunity to make some good bargains.
+
+"Yes, and they are coming to this post now, those two fellows are, to
+sell those furs," continued Elam earnestly.
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed the sutler, in a very different tone of voice.
+
+If that was the case, perhaps he could make something out of the boy's
+work after all.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+ELAM UNDER FIRE.
+
+
+"Yes, that's bad business," the sutler continued. "They steal furs and
+pass them off as their own. I couldn't do that."
+
+"But this is the fourth time they have robbed me," Elam went on. "You
+have handled skins that they took from me last winter. They'll try to
+sell them at this store, most likely. There aint no traders here, are
+they? I aint seen any of them hanging around."
+
+"No; they have been scarce of late," answered the sutler, who would have
+been glad to know that none of the fraternity would ever show their
+faces in that country again. He wanted to do all the trading that was
+done at that post himself.
+
+"Then they will be sure to sell them to you, if they sell them to
+anybody; but I don't want you to buy them," said Elam. "They belong to
+me, and I've worked hard for them."
+
+The sutler leaned his elbows on the counter, placed his chin on his
+hands, and looked out at the door, whistling softly to himself. Elam
+waited for him to say something, but as he did not, the boy continued:
+
+"I don't want you to buy them skins. You heard what I said to you, I
+reckon?"
+
+"Oh, yes, I heard you," said the sutler, straightening up and jingling a
+bunch of keys in his pocket; "but I don't see how I can help you. When
+hunters come here with furs to sell, I never ask where they got them,
+for it is none of my business. Besides, I don't know these men who you
+say robbed you."
+
+"I will be here to point them out to you," said Elam quickly. "I would
+know them anywhere."
+
+"But I couldn't take your unsupported word against the word of two men,"
+continued the sutler. "If they told me that the property belonged to
+them, I should have to believe them."
+
+"But I will be here," said Elam indignantly.
+
+"Well, you must get somebody to prove that the skins are yours."
+
+Elam looked down at the counter, turning these words over in his mind,
+and when he had grasped their full import, it became clear to him that
+he had no one to depend on but himself. It became evident to him that
+the arm of the law was not extensive enough to reach from the States
+away out there to the fort, and, as the sutler would not lend him
+assistance, he must either take the matter into his own hands or stand
+idly by and see the proceeds of his work go into the pockets of rascals.
+That he resolved he would never do. The very thought enraged him.
+
+"Look a-here, Mr.--Mr. Bluenose," said Elam--Elam did not know the
+sutler's name, and this cognomen was suggested to him by the most
+prominent feature on the man's face, which was a dark purple, telling of
+frequent visits to a private demijohn he kept in the back room--"you
+shan't never make a cent out of that plunder of mine, because it will
+not come into this fort!"
+
+"Don't get excited," said the sutler.
+
+"I aint. I'm only just a-telling of you."
+
+"What are you going to do?"
+
+"Well, the major wouldn't make them two fellows give back my furs, and
+so I asked him if he would raise a furse in case I got them back in my
+own way, and he said he wouldn't," said Elam. "That's all I've got to
+say."
+
+"I'll tell you what's the matter," said the sutler, a bright idea
+striking him; "the Cheyennes have got them. Were they afoot?"
+
+"Yes, they were. I don't know whether they tried to steal my horse or
+not, but anyway they didn't get him."
+
+"Then the Cheyennes have got them beyond a doubt. They could never
+travel through the country you came through."
+
+"Then what's become of my furs? Do you reckon the savages have got them,
+too?"
+
+"I certainly do. I'll tell you what I could do: If the Cheyennes came
+here to sell their furs, I could easily tell your furs from their own,
+and I could throw them out. But, you see, the Indians don't come here.
+They take all their furs to Fort Mitchell."
+
+"Maybe you would throw them out and maybe you wouldn't," said Elam
+emphatically. "I guess I had better take the matter into my own hands.
+When I get my grip on to them furs, you'll know it."
+
+The sutler merely nodded and gazed after Elam, who marched out as if he
+intended to do something.
+
+"That boy is going to be killed," said he to himself. "He thinks more of
+those furs than he does of so much gold. If I was commander of this
+fort, I wouldn't let him go out."
+
+Elam directed his course toward the barn in which he had left his horse
+and rifle when he went in to visit the surgeon. He found them there yet,
+and it was but the work of a moment to shoulder the one and unhitch the
+other, who greeted him with a whinny of recognition, and lead him out to
+the gate. As he expected, there was a sentry there, and he stepped in
+front of him with his musket at "arms port."
+
+"You can't go out," said he.
+
+"Why, what's the matter?" asked Elam innocently.
+
+"Too many Indians," was the reply.
+
+"Oh, well, I just want to let my horse have some grass. He don't think
+much of the hay you have here."
+
+"You don't want your rifle if you're just going out to get grass," said
+the soldier, with a smile.
+
+"No, but I like to have it handy when the pinch comes. If I hadn't had
+it and been able to use it, you wouldn't have seen me here now."
+
+"That's so," said the sentry. "I don't suppose you care enough about
+them as to go among them again. But we'll have to see the corporal about
+that." Then, raising his voice, he called out:
+
+"Corporal of the guard No. 1!"
+
+In process of time the officer of the guard came up, and the sentry made
+known Elam's request in a few words. He looked at Elam and said:
+
+"Oh, let him go. It aint likely that he will go far away with the
+Indians all around him. You don't want to get too far away," he added,
+turning to the young hunter, "because the men on post have orders to
+fire on people that are going out of range."
+
+"Do you see this rifle?" said Elam. "Well, when they come, I will let
+you know. You will never see me inside that fort again," said Elam to
+himself, as the sentry brought his musket to his shoulder and stepped
+out of the way, leaving the road clear for him. "I am going to get my
+furs the first thing, and then I am going down to trade them off to
+Uncle Ezra for a grub-stake for three months. That's what I'll do, and I
+bet you that those two fellows will get hurt."
+
+Elam passed through the gate, and the horse began to crop the grass as
+he went out, thus doing what he could to prove that it was grass he
+wanted, and not the hay that was served up to him in the stable. Being
+continually urged by his master, he kept getting further and further
+away from the stockade. The sentries on guard looked at him, but
+supposing that, as he had got by post No. 1, he was all right, although
+one sentinel did shake his head and warn him that he was going further
+off than the law allowed; so Elam turned and went back.
+
+"I don't like the looks of that fellow, for he handles his gun as though
+he might shoot tolerable straight," said Elam. "We will go more in this
+direction, for here's where the stock was when the Indians came up.
+We'll be a little cautious at first, but we are bound to get away in the
+end."
+
+By keeping his horse on the opposite side from him, and paying no
+attention to the warning gestures of the sentries, he succeeded in
+reaching a point beyond which he was certain that the guards could not
+hit him, and, with a word and a jump, he landed fairly on his nag's
+back.
+
+"Now, old fellow, show them what you can do," he whispered, digging his
+heels into his horse's sides.
+
+He looked back and saw that the sentry he feared most was already
+levelling his gun, and a moment later the bullet ploughed up the grass a
+little beyond him. Had he remained fairly in his seat, it would have
+taken him out of it; but he did just as he had seen the Cheyennes do--he
+threw himself on the side of his horse opposite the marksman, and so he
+had nothing to shoot at save the swiftly running steed. Another musket
+popped, and still another, but Elam did not hear the whistle of their
+bullets. That was all the guards on that side of the stockade, and Elam
+knew he was safe. Before they could load again he would be far out of
+range. He raised himself to a sitting posture, took off his hat and
+waved it at the guards, and then settled down and kept on his way,
+taking care, however, to watch against all chances of pursuit. The fact
+was that his escape had been reported to the major, who, out of all
+patience, exclaimed: "Let him go!"
+
+Elam was now a free man once more, and he resolved that it would be a
+long time before he would again trust himself in the power of the
+soldiers. His first care must be to go back to the sheep-herder's cabin
+in which he had camped the night before he reached the fort, and get his
+saddle and bridle, for he rightly concluded that the savages had been so
+anxious to capture him that they had not time to go in and see if he had
+left anything behind him. It required considerable nerve to do this, but
+Elam had already shown that he had a good share of it. He had not gone
+many miles on his way until he began to meet some sheep-herders and
+cattle-men who were fleeing from their homes and going to the fort for
+protection. The men were generally riding on ahead, and the women came
+after them in wagons drawn by mules. He waved his hat whenever he came
+within sight, for fear that the men might shoot at him, and he knew by
+experience that they could handle their rifles with greater skill than
+the soldiers could handle their muskets.
+
+"Where you going?" demanded one of the men, as he galloped up to meet
+Elam. "Seen any Indians around here?"
+
+"There were plenty of them here this morning," said Elam. "Did they come
+near you?"
+
+"Well, I should say so. They've jumped down on us when we wasn't looking
+for them, and I've got one brother in the wagon that's been laid out.
+You must have been in a rucus with them, judging by the looks of your
+hand and the horse."
+
+"Yes, I got into a fight with them right along here somewhere, and I
+didn't go to the fort without sending one of them up. There was no need
+of my going there at all, but I went to shut off some trade that wasn't
+exactly square. There are no Indians between here and the fort."
+
+"Well, I wish you would ride by the wagon and tell that to my old woman,
+will you? She is scared half to death. Where are you going?"
+
+Elam replied that he was going to the sheep-herder's ranch to get a
+saddle and bridle that he had left there, and after that he was going
+back to the mountains. He had a partner there, and he didn't know
+whether he was alive or dead. He had had enough of depending on the
+soldiers for help, for they had declined to assist him, and,
+furthermore, had shot at him when he attempted to leave the fort.
+
+"Well, I say!" exclaimed the frontiersman, giving Elam a good looking
+over, "you are a brave lad, and I know you will come out all right."
+
+Elam carried the news to the wagon that there were no Indians between
+them and the fort, and afterward continued on his lonely way to the
+sheep-herder's ranch. He came within sight of it about eleven o'clock
+that night, and, dismounting from his horse and leaving him on the open
+prairie, he proceeded to stalk it as he would an antelope, being careful
+that not a glimpse of him should be seen. It was a bright moonlight
+night, and for that reason he was doubly careful. There was something
+more than the saddle and bridle he wanted, and that was his blankets.
+There was some of the lunch left in there. He had eaten but one meal
+that day, and he had nearly a hundred miles to go before he could get
+any more.
+
+Elam was nearly an hour in coming up to that ranch, and he was sure that
+anyone who might be on the lookout would have been deceived for once in
+his life. He crawled all around the hay-racks without seeing anybody,
+and finally went in at the open door without seeing or hearing anybody.
+He found all the articles of which he was in search--the saddle tucked
+away in one corner of a bunk to serve as a pillow, the blankets spread
+over them, and the bridle and lunch placed on a box near the head of the
+bed, and, quickly shouldering them, he made his way out of the cabin in
+the direction in which he had left his horse.
+
+"Now," said Elam, as he strapped the saddle on the animal's back and
+slipped the bridle into his mouth, "the next thing is something else,
+and it's going to be far more dangerous than this. I am going to have
+those furs. I need them more than they do. I have got the map of the
+hiding-place of that nugget at my shanty, and some of them are going to
+get hurt if I don't get it."
+
+Elam kept out a portion of his lunch (the rest was strapped up in the
+blankets, which were stowed away behind the saddle), eating it as he
+galloped along, and this time he directed his course toward the willows
+that lined the base of the foot-hills. At daylight he discovered
+something--the track of an unshod pony. He looked all around, but there
+was no one in sight. He dismounted and saw that the horse had been going
+at full jump, and as there was dew on the ground, the tracks must have
+been made before it fell. A little further on he found another, and by
+comparing the two he made up his mind that they must have been made the
+day before. They were going the same way that he was, and appeared to be
+holding the direction of a long line of willows a few miles off. Elam's
+hair seemed to rise on end. He could imagine how those painted warriors
+had yelled and plied their whips in the endeavor to hunt down their
+victims; for that they were in plain view of someone Elam could readily
+affirm. He thought he could hear the yells, "Hi yah! yip, yip, yip!"
+which the exultant savages sent up as a forerunner of what was coming.
+
+"They got them in there as sure as the world," muttered Elam. "It's all
+right so far, and I can go on without running the risk of seeing any of
+them. I just know I shall see something after I get up there."
+
+Elam put his horse into a lope and followed along after the trail as
+boldly as though he had a right to be there. He didn't feel any fear,
+for he knew that he was on the trail of the Indians instead of having
+them upon his, and he knew they would not be likely to come back without
+the prospect of some gain. Presently he came to the place where some of
+the savages had dismounted and gone into the willows to fight their
+victims on foot, and then something told him that if he got in there he
+would find the bodies of the men who had robbed him of his furs. How
+that little piece of woods must have rung to the savages' war-whoops!
+But all was silent now. He led his horse a short distance into the
+bushes and dismounted, following the trail of an Indian who had crept up
+on all fours toward the place where the doomed men were concealed, and
+presently came into a valley in which the undergrowth had been trampled
+in every direction. Near the middle of the valley were two men who were
+stretched out on the ground, dead. There was nothing on them to indicate
+who they were, but Elam had no difficulty in recognizing them.
+
+"Well, it is better so," said he sorrowfully. "The Indians have got you,
+and that's all there is of it. Now my furs have gone, and I shall have
+to go to Uncle Ezra's to get a grub-stake."
+
+There were no signs of mutilation about them, as there would have been
+if the men had fallen into the hands of the Indians when alive. The
+Cheyennes had evidently been in a hurry, for all they had done was to
+see that the men were dead, after which they had stripped them of their
+clothes, stolen their guns and ammunition and furs, and gone off to hunt
+new booty. In this case it promised to be Elam, who made a desperate
+fight of it. The young hunter resolved that he would go into camp, and
+he did, too, hitching his horse near the stream that ran through the
+valley, just out of sight of the massacred men. He saw no ghosts, but
+slept as placidly as if the field on which the savages had vented their
+spite was a hundred miles away.
+
+When he awoke, it was dark, and the peaceful moon was shining down upon
+him through the tree-tops. He watered his horse, ate what was left of
+the lunch, and began to work his way out of the valley, when he
+discovered that both his nag and himself were sore from the effects of
+their long run. He had gone a long distance out of his way to see what
+the Cheyennes had done, and he didn't feel like bracing up to face the
+eighty miles before him. His horse didn't feel like it either, for when
+he stopped and allowed him to have his own way, he hung his head down
+and went to sleep. The horse seemed to be rendered uneasy by the bandage
+he wore round his neck, and when it was taken off he was more at his
+ease.
+
+It took Elam two days to make the journey to the camp where he had left
+Tom Mason, for he did all of his travelling during the daytime, and
+stopped over at some convenient place for the night. He was getting
+hungry, but his horse was growing stronger everyday. He dared not shoot
+at any of the numerous specimens of the jack-rabbit which constantly
+dodged across his path, for fear that he would betray himself to some
+marauding band of Indians, and not until he got within sight of Tom
+Mason standing in the edge of the willows did he feel comparatively
+safe. Tom gazed in astonishment while he told his story, and it was a
+long time before he could get dinner enough to satisfy him.
+
+"Thank goodness they have left you all right," said Elam, settling back
+on his blanket with a hunk of corn bread and bacon in his uninjured hand
+and a cup of steaming coffee in front of him. "Do you know that I have
+worried about you more than I have about myself?"
+
+"Well, how did those Indians look when they were following you?" asked
+Tom, who had not yet recovered himself. His hand trembled when he poured
+out the coffee so that one would think that he was the one who had had a
+narrow escape from the savages. "Did they yell?"
+
+"Yell? Of course it came faintly to my ears because they were so far
+away, but if I had been close to them, I tell you I wouldn't have had
+any courage left," said Elam, with a laugh. "I've got my saddle and
+bridle, and that's something I did not expect to get."
+
+"Was there no one in the sheep-herder's ranch to look for you?"
+
+"If there had been, I wouldn't 'a' been here. There was nobody there at
+all. I just went in and got my saddle, and that's all there was to it.
+You see, I was on their trail, and they had passed over that ground once
+and thought they had got everybody."
+
+"Well, I am beaten. I never heard a whisper of an Indian since you went
+away. It is lucky for me that they didn't know I was here. How did those
+men look that were killed?"
+
+"They were dead, of course. There was no mutilation about them, only
+just enough to show who killed them. If the Indians had got hold of them
+before they were dead, then you might have expected something. They
+would have just thrown themselves to show how much agony they could put
+them to. I never want to fall into the hands of the Indians alive. Do
+you know that the soldiers always carry a derringer in their pockets?
+Yes, they do, and that last shot is intended for themselves."
+
+"By George!" said Tom, drawing a long breath. "Let us get out of here."
+
+"Where will we go?"
+
+"Let's go back to the States. I never was made to live out here."
+
+"Hi yah! I couldn't make a living there."
+
+"But you talk well enough to make a living anywhere. You won't find one
+man in ten out here who talks as plainly as you do."
+
+"That's all owing to my way of bring up. Ever since I was a little kid I
+have been under the care of Uncle Ezra, who talks about as plain as most
+men do."
+
+"Well, let's go and see him."
+
+"We'll go just as soon as this blizzard is over. It is coming now, and
+in a few minutes you will see my horse coming in here."
+
+"Is that the blizzard? Why, I thought it was snow."
+
+"You go to sleep and see if you don't find snow on the ground in the
+morning. There is one thing that you can bless your lucky stars for: the
+Indians are safely housed up. They'll not think of going out plundering
+while this blizzard lasts."
+
+"They know when it is coming, I suppose?"
+
+Elam replied that they did, and wrapped himself up in his blanket, while
+Tom went out to throw more wood on the fire and to make an estimate of
+the weather. The sky was clouded over, not making it so very difficult
+to travel by night, the wind was in the south, and the rain was quietly
+descending, as though it threatened a warm spring shower. It beat the
+world how Elam could tell that this storm was three days off, that
+before it got through everything would be "holded up," and that the snow
+would be six inches deep. The horse came in about that time and took up
+a position on the leeward side of the fire, where he settled himself
+preparatory to going to sleep. Then Tom thought he had better go, too,
+but the thrilling story to which he had listened took all the sleep out
+of him. What a dreadful fate it would be for him to be killed out there
+in the mountains, as those men were who stole Elam's furs, and no one
+find his body until long after the thing had been forgotten! He fell
+asleep while he was thinking about it, and when he awoke it was with a
+chill, and a feeling that the storm had come sure enough. The wind was
+in the north, and he could not see anything on account of the snow. He
+didn't have as many blankets now as he did when he first struck the
+mountains, for he had left a good portion of them in the gully. All he
+had was his overcoat, and, wrapping himself up in it, he went to sleep
+and forgot all about the blizzard.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+UNCLE EZRA PUTS HIS FOOT DOWN.
+
+
+Tom slept warm and comfortable that night, and perhaps the simple
+presence of Elam had something to do with it. A boy who could go through
+a twenty-mile race with Cheyennes, and have no more to say about it than
+he did, would be a good fellow to have at his back in case trouble
+arose. A person would not think he had been through such an encounter,
+and had seen the bodies of two murdered men besides, for, when he awoke,
+Elam was sitting up on his blanket and looking at his horse. He lay in
+such a position that the threatening streak on the animal's neck, which
+had come so near ending the race then and there and resulting in Elam's
+capture, could be plainly seen.
+
+"Halloa!" exclaimed Elam. "The Indians didn't get you last night, after
+all. I tell you, if our soldiers could strike them now, they would have
+an easy job of it. Now, there's that horse of mine. He has got a worse
+hurt than I have, but he makes no fuss over it. I am anxious to find
+Uncle Ezra, for he has some medicine that will cure it."
+
+"But you can't go where he is--where is he, anyway?" said Tom.
+
+"He is just about two days' journey over the mountains. I know where he
+is, and I ought to have been there before. But, laws! he's quit looking
+for me. If I don't show up at all, he won't worry."
+
+"This storm is just fearful, isn't it?" said Tom, pulling his coat up
+around his ears. "What do you suppose the soldiers are doing that were
+sent out by the commander of that fort? Why, they will freeze to death."
+
+"Do you think we are getting the full benefit of it here?" said Elam,
+with a look of astonishment. "You just go out to the edge of the
+evergreens and look around a bit. You see, we haven't got much snow
+here, for your lean-to keeps it off; but go out where it has a fair
+chance at you. By the way, where is my map?"
+
+Tom replied that it was in the hollow tree, and speedily fished it out
+for him; and while Elam fastened his eyes upon it, Tom went out to the
+edge of the woods to see what the storm looked like on the plains. He
+had been there scarcely a moment when he was glad to turn around and go
+back. Their little grove of evergreens was just the spot for homeless
+wanderers like themselves. The wind was cutting, and blew so hard that
+Tom could not face it for an instant, and he dared not let go his hold
+upon the branches at his side for fear that he would get lost. When he
+got back to the fire, he was glad to heap more wood upon it, and get as
+close to it as possible.
+
+"I don't see how anybody can live out there," said Tom, with a shudder.
+"I should think it would be their death."
+
+"They don't live," said Elam. "They just camp somewhere and stay until
+it blows over. I have been out in a storm that was worse than this, and
+came through all right. You can just imagine what it must be out there
+on the prairie."
+
+All that day the boys remained idle in their lean-to, not daring to go
+out after traps, and before they went to bed that night Elam decided
+that, early the next morning, they would make an effort to reach Uncle
+Ezra's. Their food was getting scarce, and they had no way to replenish
+their stock. A part of the day was spent in hiding the things which they
+could not take with them, for fear that somebody would come along and
+steal them, and the rest of the time was devoted to Elam's stories. It
+was a wonder to Tom how the boy had managed to get through so many
+things and live. He didn't relate his adventures as though there was
+anything great in them, but told them as a mere matter of fact. Anybody
+could pass through such scenes if he only had the courage, but there was
+the point. For the first time in his life Tom wished himself back in
+Mississippi. Anyone might get into scrapes there, as Our Fellows got
+into with Pete, the half-breed, or with Luke Redman of the Swamp
+Dragoons, but there was always a prospect of their coming out alive.
+
+On the morning of the next day a start was made as early as it was light
+enough to see, Elam leading the horse and Tom following close behind
+him. The most of their way led through the gully, and to Tom's delight
+there was hardly any snow on the way; nor was there any game, although
+they kept a bright lookout for it. They camped for two nights in the
+foot-hills, Elam working his way in and out of the gullies, never once
+stopping and never once getting into a pocket. On the last morning they
+ate every bit of the corn bread and bacon.
+
+"They aint far off now," said Elam. "About noon we'll be among friends.
+You will find two boys there just about your size who will give you more
+insight into this life than I ever could. You see they know what you
+want to talk about."
+
+After proceeding about a mile of their journey Elam stopped, placed his
+hand to his mouth, and gave a perfect imitation of a coyote's yell. If
+Tom had not seen him do it he would have thought there was a wolf close
+upon them. A little further on he gave another, and this time there was
+an answer, faint and far off, but still there was something about it
+that did not sound just like a coyote.
+
+"They're there," said Elam. "I would know that yell among a thousand.
+It's Carlos Burton."
+
+"Who is he? You never mentioned him before."
+
+"Well, he is a sharp one. He came out here long after I did, and had
+sense enough to go to herding cattle, while here I am and haven't got
+anything except the clothes I stand in. It's all on account of that
+nugget, too. If the robbers had stolen it and got well away with it I
+might have been in the same fix. Well, it's all in a lifetime."
+
+"I should think you would give it up," said Tom. "You go working after
+it day after day--why, you must have been after it fourteen years."
+
+"Shall I give it up when I've got the map of it right here?" said Elam,
+tapping his ditty-bag, which was hung across his chest under his shirt.
+"I am nearer to it now than I have been before, and you had better talk
+to those who have made fun of me all these years. 'Oh, Elam's a crank;
+let him alone, and when he gets tired looking for the nugget he'll come
+to his senses and go to herding cattle.' That's what the folks around
+here have had to say about me ever since I can remember; but I'll get
+the start of all of them, you see if I don't."
+
+Elam began to look wild when he began to talk about the nugget, and Tom
+was glad to change the subject of the conversation.
+
+"Who is the other fellow?" said he. "You said there were two of them."
+
+"The other fellow is a tender-foot; he don't claim to be anything else.
+I'll bet you, now that I have got over my excitement, that I have been
+talking about his father. His father commands a post within forty miles
+of the place where he is now visiting, but I don't know one soldier from
+another. They all look alike to me, and I didn't think of the
+relationship they bore to each other. No matter; he treated me mighty
+shabby, and I shall always think hard of soldiers after that."
+
+At the end of half an hour they came out of the scrub oaks and found
+themselves in front of a neat little cabin which reminded Tom of the
+negro quarters he had seen in Mississippi. There were two boys standing
+in front of the cabin, and Tom had no trouble in picking out Carlos
+Burton. There was an independent air about him that somehow did not
+belong to the tender-foot, and when Elam introduced him in his off-hand
+way, this boy was the first to welcome him.
+
+"This fellow is Tom Mason, and I want you to know him and treat him
+right. He got into a little trouble down in Mississippi where he used to
+live, and came out here to get clear of it. Know him, boys."
+
+The boys, surprised as they were, were glad to shake hands with Tom,
+because he was Elam's friend; but they were still more anxious to know
+how Elam had come among them for the fourth time robbed of his furs, and
+what he had to say about it. There were some things about him that
+didn't look exactly right. There was his hand, which was still done up
+the way the doctor left it, and the mark on his horse's neck, both of
+which proclaimed that Elam had been in something of a fight; but they
+didn't push him, for they knew they would hear the whole of his story
+when he got inside of the cabin.
+
+What I have written here is the true history of what happened to Tom
+Mason after he gave Joe Coleman the valise, containing the five thousand
+dollars, and the double-barrel shotgun; and I have told the truth, too,
+in regard to Elam and his last attempt at grub-staking. It took him
+pretty near all day to finish the story, and now I can drop the third
+person and go on with my narrative just as it happened. Of course we
+were all amazed at what Elam had to tell, and especially were we hurt to
+hear him speak so of Ben's father; for he it was who was in command of
+the post. It would have done no good to talk to Elam, for very likely he
+had worse things than that to say about the major. We let him go on and
+tell his story in any way he thought proper, calculating to make it all
+right with Ben afterward.
+
+"Now, Tom [he always addressed everybody by his Christian name], tell us
+something more of your story," said Uncle Ezra, who had the map of the
+hiding-place of the nugget spread out on his knee. "You haven't done
+anything to make you a fugitive from home, and I see that Elam has been
+letting you down kinder easy. What have you done?"
+
+It did not take Tom more than fifteen minutes to narrate as much of his
+history as he was willing that strangers should know, and Elam never let
+on that he knew more; he was the closest-mouthed fellow I ever saw. Tom
+told all about the story of the five thousand dollars, and declared that
+he had sent it back to the uncle of whom he had stolen it, but said he
+could not bear the "jibes" that would be thrown at him every time his
+uncle got mad at him. There were men out there who had done worse than
+that.
+
+"That's very true," said Uncle Ezra, looking down at the map he held on
+his knee. "But you haven't done anything so very bad, and I would advise
+you to go home and live it down."
+
+"No, sir, I shan't do it," said Tom emphatically. "I'll stay here until
+he gets over his pet and then I'll go back. Besides, I can't go. I am
+under promise to stand by Elam until he finds his nugget."
+
+"And do you imagine that this paper will tell you where it is?"
+
+"That's what we are depending on."
+
+"You will go, Carlos?" said Elam, addressing me.
+
+"Yes, sir," I answered. "When you dig up that nugget I shall be right
+within reach of you."
+
+"Now, uncle," began Ben, who was in a high state of commotion, "I just
+know you will let me----"
+
+"Now, now!" interrupted Uncle Ezra, waving his hands up and down in the
+air as the major had done when he refused to interfere with the stolen
+furs. "Now, just wait till I tell you. You shan't go!"
+
+"I just know, if my father was here----" began Ben.
+
+"Now, wait till I tell you. Your father would say, No! Here's Indians
+all around you, and you want to go right into the midst of them. And
+going off with Elam Storm! That's the worst yet. Why, your father has
+sent out a squad of cavalry to drive these fellows back where they came
+from, and what would I say to him if I should let you go philandering
+off there? No, sir, you can't go. I shall send word to him in the
+morning and let him know you are all right. I suppose you will need a
+horse, Tom, seeing that the Red Ghost has spoilt your bronco for you."
+
+"I should like to have one," replied Tom. "What do you think that Red
+Ghost is, anyway?"
+
+"Now, wait till I tell you. I don't know."
+
+As it was almost supper time and we had not had anything to eat since
+Elam and Tom came to the cabin, and Uncle Ezra wanted to change the
+subject of the conversation into another channel, he gave me a nod which
+I understood, and I went about preparing the eatables. It was surprising
+how quickly everybody became acquainted with Tom. He and Elam had passed
+through several scenes which were familiar enough to me, but which
+sounded like romance when recounted for Ben's benefit, and it was no
+wonder that the latter looked upon Tom as a person well worth listening
+to. He carried on a lengthy conversation with him while I was getting
+supper, while Elam smoked and talked with Uncle Ezra. He was trying to
+make Uncle Ezra see that after waiting for so many years chance had
+thrown into his power the very thing for which he was looking, and
+sometimes he got so interesting that I was tempted to let the supper go
+and sit down and listen to him.
+
+"There is something hidden there, and that's all there is about it,"
+said Elam emphatically. "You can't make me believe that a man would
+carry around a map of that kind when there was nothing to it, and he
+would say he was ruined if he didn't get it."
+
+"But where did he get it in the first place?" asked Uncle Ezra.
+
+"If I could see the man he shot I could answer that question."
+
+"But how did he know that the man had it at all?"
+
+"Ask me something hard," said Elam. "The man may have told him that he
+had it and refused to give it up; or he may have gone into partnership,
+just the same as Tom has gone into partnership with me. That is
+something I don't know anything about, but I just know there is
+something hidden there, and I'll dig the whole place over but I shall
+find it. If three months' supply of grub won't do me, I'll come back and
+get another. You will stake me, of course?"
+
+"Sure. I'll stake you if it takes the last thing I've got. But I'll tell
+you one thing, Elam, and that aint two, that you won't make anything by
+it. You had better stay at home and go to herding cattle."
+
+Just as long as they talked the hard-headed old frontiersman always came
+to this advice, and Elam always dismissed it with a laugh. Finally he
+said, with more seriousness than I had ever seen him assume before:
+
+"I will tell you what I'll do, Uncle Ezra: I will follow this thing up,
+and if nothing comes of it, I will take your advice. But I will go to
+Texas. I can't stay around where that nugget is without making an effort
+to find it. If you had had it dinged at you for years, you would feel
+the same way."
+
+And I could swear that that was the truth, for Uncle Ezra had often said
+to me that if he had had the nugget preached at him from the time he was
+old enough to remember anything, he would have been as hot after it as
+Elam was. Nothing would have turned him away from it. Uncle Ezra knew
+that Elam was in earnest when he said this, and reached over and shook
+hands with him; and after that the subject was dropped. In the meantime
+Ben and Tom were getting acquainted, and especially was Ben deeply
+interested whenever the other spoke of the Red Ghost. Tom had seen it,
+had a fair shot at it, and could not imagine what had taken it off in
+such a hurry, if it had been a flesh-eating animal; but it was not, and
+so it uttered a scream and went into the bushes. It must have been a
+camel, because that was the only thing that Tom knew of that had a hump
+on its back.
+
+"But camels don't run wild in this country," said Ben.
+
+"Now, wait till I tell you," put in Uncle Ezra, who had got through
+talking with Elam. "A good many years ago the government brought over
+some camels thinking that they could make them useful in carrying
+supplies across the desert; but, somehow or other, it turned out a
+failure, and, seeing that they couldn't sell them, they turned them
+loose to shift for themselves. And that's the way they come to be wild
+here."
+
+"Well, that bangs me!" exclaimed Ben, who was profoundly astonished.
+"But supposing they did turn them out to become wild, they wouldn't
+pitch into horses, would they?"
+
+"I don't know anything about that," returned Uncle Ezra. "I do know that
+there is a camel around here, that he is red in color, that he has
+frightened the lives out of half a dozen people, and that he has been
+shot at numberless times. He does pitch into every horse and mule that
+he gets a chance at, and I don't know what makes him."
+
+"Well, I never heard of a camel doing that before," said Ben, settling
+back on his blanket. "If you get another show at it, Tom, make a sure
+shot, so that you can tell us what it is."
+
+You may be sure that I was glad to hear the old frontiersman talk in
+this way. He had not seen the camel, but he had seen some scientific men
+who had seen him, and he was glad to accept what they had to say in
+regard to the Red Ghost. I, for one, resolved that I would never let it
+get away, if I once got a shot at it.
+
+The evening was passed in much the same way, with talks on various
+subjects, and it was a late hour when we sought our blankets. We all
+slept soundly, all except Tom, who awoke about midnight, and, to save
+his life, could not go to sleep again. He rolled and tossed on his
+blankets, and then, for fear that he might awaken some of us, concluded
+that he would go out and look at the weather. He pulled on his
+moccasons, opened the door, and went out, but on the threshold he
+stopped, for every drop of blood in him seemed to rush back upon his
+heart, leaving his face as pale as death itself. He was not frightened,
+but there, within less than twenty-five yards of him, stood the Red
+Ghost. He stood with his head forward, as if he were listening to some
+sounds that came to him from the horses' quarters, which, you will
+remember, were in the scrub-oaks behind the cabin. It was no wonder that
+Tom was excited, for there it was as plain as daylight. It looked as big
+as three or four horses.
+
+"By George! I wish it would stay there just a minute longer. If I make
+out to get my rifle----"
+
+With a step that would not have awakened a cricket, Tom stepped back
+into the cabin and laid hold of the first rifle he came to. It was not
+his own; it was Uncle Ezra's Henry--a rifle that would shoot sixteen
+times without being reloaded. With this in his hands he walked quietly
+back, and there stood the object just as he had left it. It did not seem
+to hear Tom at all. Fearful of being seen, Tom raised his gun with a
+very slow and steady aim, and covered the spot just where he thought the
+heart ought to be. One second he stood thus, but it was long enough for
+Tom, who pressed the trigger.
+
+"There!" said Tom, drawing a long breath. "If I didn't make a good shot
+that time I never did. Hold on! It is coming right for me!"
+
+The animal was fatally hurt, and the long bounds it made, and the shrill
+screams it uttered, would have taxed Tom's nerves, if he had had any. To
+throw out the empty shell and insert another one was slowly and
+deliberately done, and the second ball struck it in the breast, when Tom
+thought that another bound would land it squarely on the top of him.
+That settled it. It stayed right there, and all he could see of the Red
+Ghost was the twigs and leaves which it threw up during its struggles.
+In the meantime there was a terrific commotion in the cabin, and his
+three friends came rushing out to see what was the matter.
+
+"Who's got my rifle!" exclaimed Uncle Ezra. "Now, wait till I tell you,"
+he shouted, while lost in astonishment. "He's got the Red Ghost; by gum,
+if he aint!"
+
+They drew as near the struggling animal as they could, while Uncle Ezra
+went in to bring out a brand from the fire to examine it, and Tom stood
+by, not a little elated. It was the first desperate adventure he had
+had, and he had stood up to the mark like a man. When the animal had
+ceased its contortions, and the firebrands were brought out so that we
+could examine it closely, it was curious to see what different views the
+hunters took of their prize. Elam could hardly be made to believe that
+it was not a ghost. He stood at a distance while the others were
+inspecting it, and when he saw they were handling it, he remarked that
+the bullet he had sent into its neck ought to have finished it when he
+got it. Ben examined its legs and Tom felt of its hump. He said that
+when an Arab had a long journey to make he always examined the hump to
+see if his camel was in good condition, while an American always looked
+to his horse's hoofs. He did not think this animal was in a fit
+condition to travel, although it had come seventy-five miles since Tom
+had last seen it, picking up its living on the way.
+
+"Tom, you will do to tie to," said Elam, when he became satisfied that
+the animal was dead. "Shake!"
+
+"Thank you," said Tom, seeing that his hands were safely out of reach.
+"If it's all the same to you I'll not shake hands with you. I did it
+once back there in the mountains, and I haven't got over it."
+
+"Well, Tom, you certainly have done something to be proud of," said
+Ezra. "Let's go in and take a smoke. We'll finish our examination by
+daylight."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+A NEW EXPEDITION.
+
+
+There wasn't much sleeping done in the cabin that night, there was so
+much to talk about. To say that the hunters were very much pleased over
+the success of Tom's lucky shots would be putting it very mildly. Elam
+was much elated to know it was a camel, an animal he had never seen
+before, and not a genuine ghost, who had stood between him and the
+finding of the nugget. He was not satisfied until he had burned up three
+or four brands in going out to see the object to make sure it was there
+yet. To tell the truth, this Red Ghost had often stood between Elam and
+the accomplishment of his hopes; and as much as he desired to possess
+the nugget he did not dare face it alone.
+
+"It is there yet," said Elam, coming in once more and throwing a
+half-burned chunk upon the fire. "Tom, you have made me your everlasting
+debtor. Now I hope the finding of the nugget will go the same way."
+
+"I hope I can have the same effect upon your other work," said Tom
+modestly. "If I do, you will call me a lucky omen."
+
+"What is an 'omen'?" asked Elam, who had never heard the word before.
+
+"Why, it is an occurrence supposed to show the character of some future
+event. That is about as near as I can come to it. If I am with you, you
+will find the nugget without the least trouble: if I am not, you won't."
+
+"Well, I'll see that you don't get very far from me till I find out what
+this map means. There is something hidden there, and I know it."
+
+It was while we were talking in this way that daylight came, and I began
+getting breakfast while Elam and Uncle Ezra smoked, and Ben and Tom were
+packing up the skins which had fallen to Ben's rifle during the hunt. I
+could see that Ben was sadly disappointed in not being permitted to
+accompany Elam on his search for the nugget, but like the soldier he
+was, he gave right up. He knew that his father did not believe in such
+things anyway, and very likely his refusal would have been more pointed
+than Uncle Ezra's. When the breakfast was over all hands turned to and
+washed the dishes and put them away. We calculated to visit the camp
+again during the winter, and, if we did, we wanted to know what we had
+to go on. Then we went out to saddle our horses and take a last look at
+the Red Ghost.
+
+"Are we going to leave this thing here?" asked Ben.
+
+"Sure!" replied Uncle Ezra. "We can't carry it with us."
+
+"I'll bet I don't leave it all here," said Elam, going into the cabin
+and returning with an axe in his hand. "The folks down there won't
+believe that we killed anything, and I am going to have one of the
+feet."
+
+The thing was hideous when we came to look at it by daylight, and
+especially the great hoofs with which it had tramped so far. They were
+lacerated in every direction, and one cut had hardly had time to heal
+before it got another. Elam plied the axe vigorously, and in a few
+moments each boy had a foot which he was to take along to show to the
+people "down there." Finally Uncle Ezra said he would take the head. It
+was scarred and seamed all over, but he thought that anyone who had seen
+a camel would be sure to recognize it. Then we brought up the horses,
+but I tell you it took two men to saddle them. They couldn't bear the
+scent of the camel; I had to take my nag out of sight of it, and it was
+a long time before he quit snorting. With a good deal of merriment we
+got them all saddled at last, and with Tom and Ben riding my horse and
+Elam's, we bid good-by to our camp in the mountains. We had twenty miles
+to go and then we were among friends again.
+
+"Say," said Elam, when he had allowed the others to get so far ahead
+that there was no danger of their overhearing our conversation, "I don't
+think I am crazy; do you?"
+
+"I never thought so," said I, although I knew there had been some talk
+of it in the settlement. "I was sure if that nugget was there you would
+find it. I shouldn't have offered to go with you if I had thought you
+were crazy."
+
+"You have seen the map and know just what there is onto it?" continued
+Elam.
+
+"I certainly have."
+
+"And you know the place where it starts is over there by those springs?"
+
+"I do certainly."
+
+"And do you think that those men would carry around a map of that kind
+unless there was something on it?" said Elam, going over the argument he
+had used the night before with Uncle Ezra.
+
+"No, I don't think they would. And it's your ditty-bag that they took
+from you when you were shot."
+
+"I know it; and many's the time I have thought of it, too, and never
+expected to see it again. Thank goodness, I have two men with me who
+don't think I am crazy! I have told Uncle Ezra that I never would give
+it up again until I have that nugget in my hands. I know that gully up
+there, and it is a pretty big place. Now, that is all I have to say. If
+you want to know anything more, now is the time to ask me."
+
+"Don't you think that there are other parties up there, hunting for it?"
+I asked, knowing that his story had been noised abroad. "Just think; you
+have been looking for it fourteen years."
+
+"Longer than that; and I ought to get it, for they say that perseverance
+conquers all things. As for other parties looking for it, why, they can
+get it if they want it. But where's the map?"
+
+"That's so. I think you have got the only one there is in existence."
+
+"I only hope there are other fellows looking for the nugget," said Elam,
+shifting his rifle from one shoulder to the other, "because we won't
+have to work where they have been. It will make matters so much easier
+for us."
+
+After that Elam kept still about the nugget, and during the whole of the
+twenty miles I never heard him speak of it again. We accomplished the
+journey just about dark, Elam and I walking all the way, and Tom I know
+was glad to get back among civilized people once more. My headquarters
+were right there with Uncle Ezra, for I had only four men to take care
+of my small herd, and didn't think it best to get too far away from him.
+We rode up to the shanty and began to dismount, when the door flew open
+and the foreman of the ranch appeared on the threshold.
+
+"Well, I declare, if there aint Uncle Ezra!" he exclaimed in a
+stentorian voice. "What you got? Enough furs to load one horse with?"
+
+While the foreman was speaking he untied the bundle of skins and laid it
+upon the porch, when he happened to discover Tom Mason. He did not say
+anything, but nodded to Tom, and then turned his attention to his
+employer's horse, whom he had unsaddled while one was thinking about it.
+
+"Are you here all alone?" asked Uncle Ezra.
+
+"All alone!" replied the foreman. "You see, there has been a blizzard
+lately, and we thought we had better look up the sheep. I have just got
+in. What have you got in that bag?"
+
+"Something that will make your eyes bulge out," replied Uncle Ezra.
+"Wait till we get in, and we will show it to you."
+
+The horses, being unsaddled, were turned loose to go where they chose;
+the foreman carried Ben's bundle of skins into the cabin, and Uncle Ezra
+brought up the rear with the bag containing what was left of the prize.
+There was a fire burning brightly at one end of the room, and Tom and
+Ben drew camp-stools up in front of it to get some heat, while Elam and
+I took our overcoats off and waited for Uncle Ezra to turn out the
+contents of the bag. We waited until the old frontiersman had hung up
+his coat and hat where they belonged and seated himself on a camp-stool
+before the fire, and then the head and four feet of the camel were
+tumbled out on the floor.
+
+"What in the name of common sense are those?" cried the foreman in
+astonishment.
+
+"They are part of the Red Ghost," said Uncle Ezra; and then he went on
+to tell the story much as I have told it, although he put in some
+additions of his own. The foreman was profoundly amazed. Not daring to
+use his hands, he used a poker to move the things about, so that he
+could see on all sides of them. The antics he went through were enough
+to make the hunters laugh.
+
+"What do you think now about my being crazy?" demanded Elam. "I've shot
+at that thing, and I don't see why I didn't get him; but I can see now
+why it was. He was so big that a bullet had to be put in the right place
+to get him."
+
+"That's about the case with everything I have shot, Elam," said the
+foreman. "I had to put the ball in the right place, or I didn't get him.
+But you have removed a heap from my mind. Who shot him?"
+
+"Here's the man, right here."
+
+Seeing that the foreman began to take a deeper interest in Tom after
+that, Uncle Ezra introduced him, and he failed to say that Tom had got
+into a "little trouble" down in Mississippi where he used to live, and
+had come out West to get clear of it. Uncle Ezra didn't think that was
+any of his business. He said that Tom wanted to see new sights, and he
+reckoned he had already had his fill of them, having been lost in the
+mountains and shot the Red Ghost besides. Now, he was going into
+partnership with Elam after the nugget, and Uncle Ezra thought he had a
+boy who could be depended upon. The foreman shook hands with Tom, and
+said he was glad to see him. Then he wanted to know whether they had
+eaten supper yet.
+
+"Well, no," replied Uncle Ezra. "You see, we started from our camp up
+there sooner than we expected. Elam has got a map telling him where to
+look to find his nugget."
+
+"Ah, get out!" said the foreman. He had heard so many things about a
+"map" that he did not believe a word of it.
+
+"Well, he has, sure enough. It came from the man who tried to rob him.
+And you haven't heard anything about the Indians, have you?"
+
+"Indians!" exclaimed the foreman. "Have they broken out?"
+
+"Just give your knife to Elam and sit down," said Uncle Ezra. "It
+appears to me that we have heard of a heap of things that you don't know
+anything about."
+
+The man gave Elam his knife, which he had in his hand to begin work with
+upon the ham he had laid upon the table, and sat down.
+
+"I wondered all the time what was the matter with Elam's hand," said he.
+"I hope the Indians didn't shoot him."
+
+"Didn't they, though?" said Elam. "You just wait and hear Uncle Ezra
+tell the story."
+
+It was a long narrative that the old frontiersman had to tell, and I saw
+that Elam was so much interested in it that he forgot all about the
+supper, and I got up and assisted him; and that was all he wanted. He
+left me to do the work, and sat down. The foreman heard Uncle Ezra
+through without interruption, and then turned and gave Elam a good
+looking over. After that he got up and assisted me with the supper.
+
+"So Elam has really got a map of the place where that nugget is hid?"
+were the first words he uttered. He didn't seem to care a straw about
+the Indians, but he did care about the gold. "I wish I knew the man he
+shot to get it."
+
+After that the evening was just what you would expect of one spent in a
+hunter's camp, or one passed in a sheep-herder's ranch, which was the
+same thing. We ate supper; then those who were inclined to the weed
+enjoyed their good-night smoke, and talked of ghosts, Indians, and
+sheep-herder's life until we were all tired out and went to bed. We had
+regular bunks to sleep in, and could thrash around all we had a mind to
+without fear of disturbing anyone else. The foreman got up once to
+replenish the fire and take a look at the weather, and I heard him say,
+when he crawled back into his bunk, that it was a clear, cold
+night--just the one that sheep enjoy.
+
+When I awoke I found the foreman busy in the storeroom in putting up our
+three months' supplies and Uncle Ezra engaged in cooking breakfast. Ben
+was seated at one end of the table, engaged in writing a letter to his
+father, and Elam had gone out after a certain stockman to carry it to
+the fort for him. It was dark, and you couldn't see a thing.
+
+"I think it best to let the boy's father know when he is well off," said
+Uncle Ezra, returning my greeting. "It aint everybody who would go to
+that trouble, I confess--sending a lone man off in a country that has
+been infested with Indians. But I know how it is myself. If I had a
+boy----"
+
+"You have got one," I said. "There's Elam."
+
+"Elam!" said the frontiersman in a tone of contempt. "Elam went to work
+and got himself into a fuss without saying a word to me about it. Elam!
+now he's got a map that he thinks will show him where the gold is
+hidden."
+
+"But don't you think there is something hidden there?" asked Ben.
+
+"Now, wait till I tell you. I don't know; but every scrap he gets hold
+of he thinks it is a map. That's what makes me mad at Elam. And you,
+dog-gone you! You have got better sense than that."
+
+I had heard all I wanted to out of Uncle Ezra. It was plain that he
+didn't think there was anything in that map. Well, as Elam said, it was
+all in a lifetime. My time wasn't worth anything to me, for I had men to
+do the work, and if I made a botch of it, if there wasn't anything to be
+made by digging up that gully, there was one thing out of the way. Elam
+was bound to become a cattle-herder in case this thing failed. He was
+determined to go to Texas, for he couldn't live there and have that
+nugget thrown at him by every man he met, and I would go with him. Uncle
+Ezra had often made offers for my cattle, intending to leave
+sheep-herding on account of the wolves, and invest all his extra money
+in steers, and if this thing turned out a failure he could have them and
+welcome. I would be as deep in the mud as Elam was, and I didn't care to
+have the thing thrown up at me all the time. Texas was the land of
+promise with us fellows, any way. The fellows there had got into the way
+of driving cattle to northern markets and selling them, and in that way
+we could at least see our friends once every year. So I didn't care what
+Uncle Ezra said about it.
+
+In about an hour Elam came back with the stockman of whom he had been in
+search. His name was Sandy; I never heard him called by any other name,
+and if his pluck only equalled his red hair and whiskers he certainly
+had lots of it. Of course we had to go through with the Red Ghost and
+Tom's being lost, the discovery of the map and Elam's escape from the
+Indians, but Sandy never said a word about it. He just sat on his
+camp-stool with his elbows resting on his knees, and looked up at Uncle
+Ezra. When the latter got through with his story he simply said:
+
+"Where's the letter?"
+
+Of course it was arranged that Sandy should go with us as far as the
+canyon that led to the springs, and beyond that he was to take care of
+himself. With his letter tucked away in his pocket, he shook Ben by the
+hand, and told him that his father would receive what he had written by
+noon the next day; and then we all mounted and rode off. Tom had been
+supplied with a pair of boots to take the place of his moccasons, and
+rode a horse that belonged to Uncle Ezra. We had two mules with us, Elam
+leading the one and I the other, which carried our supplies and also our
+digging tools; for we intended to dig as no people had ever dug before
+for that nugget.
+
+"I hope you will get it, boys," said Sandy, as he lifted his hat to us
+when we reached the canyon that branched off from his trail. "But I have
+my doubts."
+
+"Oh, of course we're cranks!" said Elam.
+
+"I never said that of you," said Sandy reproachfully. "I always said
+that if the nugget was there you'd get it."
+
+"And how am I going to find out where the nugget is unless I have a
+map?" demanded Elam. "I've got one now, and if I make a failure of this
+thing, I am going to Texas. When you see me again I'll have the nugget.
+Good-by."
+
+We saw no Indians, although we kept a bright lookout for them, and about
+three o'clock in the afternoon arrived at the springs, for I do not know
+what else to call them. We had had no dinner, intending to leave it
+until we got to our camping place, and while Tom and I unsaddled and
+staked out the horses, Elam strolled away with his rifle on his shoulder
+to look up the springs. He was gone fully an hour, and when he came back
+he set his rifle down and never said a word. I knew that something was
+the matter, but I thought I would wait until he got ready to tell it. He
+ate his dinner; he ate a good hearty one, too, so that the news he had
+brought did not interfere with his appetite, and filled his pipe; and
+then I knew that something was coming.
+
+"Carlos," said he, as he stretched his legs out in front of him, "those
+springs have all been tampered with."
+
+"What do you mean?" I asked.
+
+"They have been tampered with the same as this one has," continued Elam,
+pointing to the spring at which our horses had drank. "All the stuff and
+leaves have been pulled out of them."
+
+"Well, what of it?"
+
+"What of it? It means that somebody has been going in on our trail."
+
+"All right; let it be so. You found all the springs, didn't you? We're
+on their trail, and if we overtake them at the end of a week we will see
+what we can do with them. You said yourself that it would make things
+easier for us."
+
+"Yes, I know I said it, but I don't like to see that people are so hot
+after that nugget."
+
+It did seem to me that everyone had got wind of that nugget, and were
+going after it at the same time. How it came about I did not know. Here
+they had gone on for two years and let Elam dig where he had a mind to,
+and now when he knew where the gold was, other people knew it too and
+were determined to have it. I suggested that it might be those men who
+had robbed him, but Elam laughed at it.
+
+"Those men never came near here," said Elam. "Otherwise, how did they
+strike my camp fifty miles away? It has been done by somebody nearer
+than that, and has been done by somebody within three weeks, too."
+
+From this time out (we were all of two weeks on the trail) Elam was
+moody. He would ride all day and wouldn't say a word to either of us,
+and when we made camp at night he would go off and stay until dark. And
+the worst of it was, we camped every single night right where the men
+had slept. I began to shake in my boots, and did not wonder at Elam's
+contrary mood. In fact we were all that way. It was very seldom that we
+exchanged an opinion with one another. Elam kept his map constantly at
+hand and referred to it at every turn in the road. Sometimes he would be
+gone all day, and we would hear nothing of him until night, when he
+would come in, ask for supper, and roll himself up in his blanket and go
+to sleep. Things went on in this way for two weeks, as I said, and then
+one day, as we were watering our horses at the brook that ran through
+the canyon, we were suddenly surprised by the appearance of two men who
+stood on the opposite bank. They were a hard-looking set, but then that
+was to be expected in a country where all men lived out of doors. To
+show that they were friendly they threw their rifles into the hollow of
+their arms.
+
+"Howdy, pard?" said one.
+
+"Howdy?" replied Elam. As he was the chief man we allowed him to do all
+the talking.
+
+"You're just the men we wanted to see," said the man in a delighted
+tone. "We haven't had anything to eat since yisterday. Will ye give us a
+bite?"
+
+"Sure!" replied Elam. "What are you doing so far away in the mountains?"
+
+"We got lost, and are now trying to find our way out. This stream leads
+to some water on the prairie, I reckon? How far is the fort from here?"
+
+Elam made some reply, I didn't know what it was, while I began to look
+the men over to see if I could discover any signs of their being lost.
+Their moccasons were whole, or as much so as could be expected, and the
+wear and tear of their buckskin shirts was no more than our own. They
+were strangers to me, and I confess that I was not at all pleased to see
+them. The talk about their being lost was one thing that did the
+business for me. The men were hunters or trappers on the face of them;
+they never would be taken for anything else, and the idea of their
+getting bewildered in the mountains that they had probably passed over a
+dozen times was a little too far fetched. I caught a glimpse of Elam's
+face as he was leading his horse up the opposite bank, and there was a
+look on it that boded mischief.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+THE NUGGET IS FOUND.
+
+
+"Where are your horses?" I demanded.
+
+"Horses? We aint got none," replied the man.
+
+"Somebody must have grub-staked you," I continued. "They never sent you
+into the mountains to get lost."
+
+"We grub-staked ourselves," answered the man impatiently. "But I'll tell
+you what's the matter with you. Somebody has grub-staked you, and sent
+you in here to search for gold, and I want to know which one of you is
+Elam Storm. Speak quick!"
+
+The next thing that happened was a little short of bewildering. In less
+time than it takes to tell it, Elam and I were covered with the muzzles
+of two cocked rifles, thus making it plain to me that the men had seen
+us, and hastily made up their plans what to do with us. They couldn't
+have moved so quickly if they hadn't. They paid no attention to Tom, but
+covered Elam and me. All they said was:
+
+"Don't you move, Tender-foot. You may save the life of one, but you will
+be a goner in the end. Now, drop your guns right where you stand."
+
+In an instant Elam and I laid down our rifles, and Tom did the same. It
+was too close a call to do otherwise, for a suspicious move on the part
+of one of us would have sent us to kingdom come in short order. There
+was "shoot" in the men's eyes, and we saw it plain enough.
+
+"Now," said the leader, "go over there and set down, away from your
+guns. Which one of you is Elam Storm?"
+
+"My name is Toby Johnson," replied Elam, speaking before anybody else
+had a chance to open his mouth. "I don't deny that I am sent up here to
+prospect for gold; but I don't see much chance of finding any."
+
+"And what's your name?" demanded the leader, turning to me.
+
+It was a little time before I could speak. Elam's plan for throwing them
+off the scent was a good one, but it came so sudden that it fairly took
+my breath away.
+
+"I am Carlos Burton," I replied.
+
+"Burton! I know you," said the man, who hardly knew whether to be
+delighted or otherwise at the discovery he had made; and then all of a
+sudden it flashed upon me that here was the man who had stolen my
+cattle. How I wished I had my rifle in my hands! There would have been
+one cattle-thief less in the world, I bet you; but, then, what good
+would it have done? I would have been gone up, too, for the other man
+still held his cocked rifle in his hands.
+
+"Ah, yes! Burton," continued the leader, "Do you remember one of the
+fellows who took some cattle away from you once?"
+
+"I didn't see the men, but I have heard what sort of looking fellows
+they were. I should like to see you under different circumstances."
+
+"Well, I don't know but you will, but I doubt it. What sort of appearing
+fellow is that Elam Storm? Seen him, either of you?"
+
+"I don't know him," said Elam. "I never heard of him. I am a stranger in
+these parts."
+
+"Seeing that neither of you is Elam Storm, perhaps you may have
+something about you that tells you where to go to find his nugget. Stand
+up and put your hands above your head. You have got a ditty-bag about
+you?"
+
+"Yes, sir, and there it is," said Elam, rising to his feet and throwing
+his bag outside his shirt, so that the man could examine it.
+
+Well, there! the turning point had been reached at last, and Elam was
+the one who helped it along. Tom was utterly confounded, and I was so
+amazed and provoked that I hid my face from the men by resting my elbows
+on my knees and looking down at the ground. Of course Elam's map was
+found, there was no doubt about that. I saw him have it in his hand not
+half an hour before, and was positive that he put it in the bag out of
+sight. With that gone we were as powerless as the two men were. I
+listened, but could not hear him say anything about the map. He took the
+bag off Elam's neck and up-ended it on the ground. There were a pipe,
+some tobacco, and some matches, and that was all there was in it. He put
+them all back, after helping himself to a generous chew of the weed, and
+turned to Tom and myself; but as we didn't have any bags he let us go.
+
+"You have been duped, fellows," said the leader. "Who sent you here,
+anyway?"
+
+"Uncle Ezra," said Elam.
+
+"Ah, yes! He's a great chap for such things. And you'll meet Elam
+somewhere up there, and you want to look out that he doesn't put a
+bullet into you. He thinks he's got a dead sure thing on that gold."
+
+"Were you sent out here to hunt for it?" asked Elam, and I held my
+breath in suspense, waiting for his answer. I wanted to find out who was
+at the bottom of this matter.
+
+"Well, that's neither here nor there," said the man. "We're here, and
+that's enough for anybody to know. Here's Burton, now. I did steal some
+cattle from him because I was hard up, but I don't want him to go on and
+get fooled in this way. And you'll get fooled as sure as you live. Now,
+we don't want anything to eat. We have got everything we want out here
+in the rocks to last us to the fort; and if you'll say you won't shoot
+at us, we'll give you your guns."
+
+"I won't shoot at you," said Elam. "You have given me a point to go on,
+and I don't know but I had better turn around and go back. Here's a
+tender-foot come out here to see the country----"
+
+"All right. Go on, and let him dig away some of the landslides until he
+gets sick of them. He won't get nothing, I bet you. Now, suppose you
+take your creeters and go on your way. We can have a fair view of you
+for a quarter of a mile, and that's all we want."
+
+Elam at once picked up his gun, mounted his horse and rode away, leading
+one of the mules, leaving Tom and I to follow at our leisure. I noticed
+that the two men eyed me rather sharply. They didn't know how I felt at
+being reduced to poverty, and they were ready to nip in the bud any move
+that I took to be even with them. I didn't feel very good over it, you
+may imagine, and when I got on my horse I couldn't resist an inclination
+to say a word to them.
+
+"I hear that two of the men who engaged with you in that cattle-thieving
+business were hanged for horse-stealing," I said.
+
+"Has that story got around down here?" said one of the men.
+
+"Yes; and I am very sorry that they were dealt with in that way. I
+wanted to get even with them myself. It seems as though those six
+thousand dollars didn't go very far with you."
+
+"Well, go on now, for we don't want to take this matter into our own
+hands. We will wait until you get up to the turn in the canyon, and then
+you had better look out."
+
+I rode on up the gully after Tom and Elam, and when I got up to the turn
+I looked back. The men were not in sight. Elam rode a little way further
+and then dismounted, preparatory to going into camp.
+
+"There were two things that happened to-day that I did not think
+possible," said I, throwing myself out of my saddle in a disgusted
+humor. "One was that Elam would give up when he saw himself cornered."
+
+"I saw at the start that they did not want to hurt anything," said Elam.
+"Suppose we had resisted them; where would we be now?"
+
+"And another thing, I did not think it possible for me to stand near the
+man who stole my cattle without putting a chunk of lead into him. He
+didn't say who he was until after he had charge of my rifle, did he?"
+
+"No, but I tell you you wouldn't have made anything by trying to shoot
+him. If we had made the least attempt to cock a gun, it would have been
+good-by. Those fellows were not fools."
+
+"And what made Elam deny his identity?" said Tom. "You said you were
+Toby Johnson."
+
+"And what became of his map?" I chimed in. "I saw him have it a short
+time before they came up. What did you do with it, Elam?"
+
+"It's there, close to where I was sitting on the rock. When we think we
+have given them time to get away, I'll go back there and get it. I
+didn't want them to find it on me."
+
+"And do you say that you took it out of your bag and threw it on the
+rocks?" said Tom in utter amazement. "I sat close to you all the while,
+and I never saw you do anything like it."
+
+"No; I took it out of my pocket," said Elam. "The name I gave, Toby
+Johnson, saved them from handling me mighty rough."
+
+"Well, now I am beaten!" I exclaimed.
+
+"You see, if I had told them what my name was, they would have said at
+the start that I had some sort of a map with me, and would have hazed
+till I give it up. But they would never have got it," said Elam quietly,
+and there was deep determination in his words. "But I know one thing,
+and that aint two. Those fellows have left their picks and spades up
+here. They got tired of them and didn't mean to take them back."
+
+"Who were they, anyway?" asked Tom. "They were not the men who stole the
+skins."
+
+"Now, wait until I tell you; I don't know."
+
+"One of them might have been the man who got shot," I suggested.
+
+"There are a good many things connected with this nugget that we will
+never find out," said Elam. "And that's one of them. We'll stay here
+until we get dinner, and then I will go back after my map. It is all in
+a lifetime. So long as I get my nugget I don't care."
+
+"I never heard of men turning out so friendly after doing their best to
+rob us," said Tom, pulling the saddle off his horse. "And you met them
+half-way."
+
+"Who? Me? I will always be friendly with a man who never tries to do me
+dirt," said Elam. "If they had had the nugget you would have seen more."
+
+I was very glad indeed that they did not have the nugget. So long as
+they let us off without being hurt I was abundantly satisfied; but if
+they had had gold stowed away in their blankets, we probably should
+never have seen them. They would have slunk away among the rocks and
+tried to hide their booty for fear that we should try to take it away
+from them. Would Elam try to hide his nugget after he got it? Well, he
+had not got it yet by a long ways. We ate dinner where we were, and Elam
+shouldered his rifle, lighted his pipe, and started back after his map.
+He told us that we had better stay where we were, and this gave me an
+idea that Elam was afraid he might be shot. He was gone half an hour,
+and when he came back his face wore his old-time expression again.
+
+"Have you got it?" asked Tom, who always wanted to make sure that he was
+in the right.
+
+"Course I have," said Elam. "Catch up, and we'll go on. There is one
+thing about this map business that I don't exactly like. You see this
+nugget is hid in a pocket."
+
+Of course, I was thunderstruck, but then Elam had been all over that
+country, and of course knew where every pocket went to. He knew which
+canyons ran back into the mountains and which did not.
+
+"You see this man had a fight before he got the nugget, and he was too
+badly hurt to get off his course to find a pocket to bury his find,"
+Elam hastened to explain. "Now, this canyon that we are in goes back
+into the mountains I don't know how far, and it was in this gully that
+the fight took place; consequently the find is buried right here
+alongside of this little stream."
+
+"Who do you suppose that man was, anyway?" Tom remarked. "You have never
+heard of him since, have you?"
+
+"Now, wait until I tell you. I don't know. But let us go ahead, and I
+will tell you what I mean in a day or two."
+
+"What do you look for anyway, when you go off by yourself?" asked Tom.
+"If you would give us a pointer on that subject we might be able to help
+you."
+
+"I don't mind telling you that I am looking for a trail," said Elam.
+"And it is so old that no one but myself would notice it. When I find
+that trail I'm a-going to follow it up. It isn't over ten feet long, for
+a man as badly hurt as that one was, aint a-going to go a great ways to
+hide a nugget."
+
+"Do you mean to tell me that we are on his trail now?" exclaimed Tom in
+amazement.
+
+"Certainly I do. I have found two or three places where he slept."
+
+"Why didn't you speak about it?"
+
+"Do you suppose I have come in here this far without following some
+trail? Of course not. Some of the marks he made are so badly obliterated
+by the wind and the rain, that you can't make head nor tail of them,
+unless you know what had been there in the first place. Why, I have
+found blood on the rocks where he slept."
+
+"You're beaten, aint you, Tom?" I asked, when he gazed at me, lost in
+wonder.
+
+"I should say I was. I wish you had showed me that spot."
+
+"Well, I will the next time I come across one. Good gracious! if I
+didn't know any more about trailing than you do, I would never find that
+nugget."
+
+"How do you suppose your father came by it in the first place? He must
+have got it in some honest way or he wouldn't have had it in his wagon."
+
+"That is one thing that I don't know," answered Elam solemnly. "He got
+it, and how it ever came noised abroad that it belonged to me beats my
+time. I wish the man that started that story had it crammed down his
+throat."
+
+Elam was getting excited again, and we thought it best to leave him
+alone until he got over thinking about the nugget. We didn't raise any
+objections when he spurred up his horse and got out of sight of us in
+the bushes. When we were certain that he had passed out of hearing, Tom
+said:
+
+"Why, it is two years since that man, whoever he was, made that trail
+through here, and to think he can find some traces of it now! It bangs
+me completely."
+
+"There are two things which must be taken into consideration," said I.
+"In the first place that man didn't know what he left of a trail; he
+hoped nobody would ever find it. A twig may have been broken down and he
+left it so, certain it would lead him back to the place where he had
+buried his find. In the next place there is some little sign for which
+Elam is looking that will lead him directly to the place he wants to
+find; some branch of a tree that has been broken down and looks as
+though somebody had been browsing there, and it will tell Elam that he
+is hot on the trail. Do you see?"
+
+"Yes, I see; but I don't see how a man can follow a trail two years old.
+I wish you would show me his next camping ground. If I am a lucky omen,
+I may be able to find the nugget."
+
+I laughed and promised Tom that I would show him the next place I found;
+but it was a long time before I found any. You could not have told that
+a man had passed through there in one year or ten, the weather had so
+completely done away with all his work. But it did not make any
+difference to Elam. Sometimes he would be gone before we were up, but he
+always came back to supper, which we took pains to have good and hot for
+him. We never made any enquiries, for he knew just how impatient we
+were, and he would not keep us waiting a moment longer than was
+necessary. We had been in the canyon six weeks, and, to tell you the
+truth, Tom and I were getting pretty tired of the search. It was the
+same thing over and over every day, and I was glad that nobody had
+connected my name with a lost nugget. Elam would go along on foot,
+leaving his horse to follow or not as he pleased; and if he found a
+little pile of stones on the bank that didn't look as though it had been
+thrown up by nature, he would go into the bushes and perhaps be gone for
+an hour. We had long ago passed the pocket, and were continuing on our
+way slowly and laboriously up the canyon, and one day Elam startled Tom
+by calling out:
+
+"I reckon you will think I am all right now. Here is the place where
+that fellow camped."
+
+In less than two seconds Tom and I were by Elam's side. Cautioning us
+not to go too far so as to disturb things, he plainly pointed out to us
+the marks of a person's figure on the leaves. Some of the bushes had
+been broken down, and the leaves had blown over where he lay, but by
+carefully brushing these aside the impress of a person's form could be
+seen. There was no doubt about it, and I told Elam so in a way that made
+him all right again.
+
+"Where do you suppose that fellow is now?" said Tom.
+
+"I don't know," said Elam. "My impression is that he died."
+
+"But he wouldn't have given this map to a man when he knew it to be
+wrong, would he?"
+
+"I tell you that there's a heap of things connected with this nugget
+that we shall never find out. We are on the right trail yet. I tell you
+I feel encouraged."
+
+We all did for that matter, and every day we searched both sides of the
+stream to find that man's camping place, and when we found it we would
+call the others up; but one day Tom came into camp, and his face was
+full of news.
+
+"I don't want to raise any false hopes," said he, "but if I have not
+found something I will give it up. It's on the left-hand side of the
+creek. In the first place there were four stones laid up the bank, and
+the bush at whose foot they lay had been broken down and leaned away
+from the bank. And further than that, it was held in position by two of
+the branches, which were firmly tied about it."
+
+"Tom, I believe you have found it," said I.
+
+"It is too far away to find it before dark, but I will go there the
+first thing in the morning," continued Tom, who was so excited that he
+could scarcely speak plainly. "We want to take along our picks and
+shovels, too."
+
+We both glanced at Elam, but he didn't say anything. He was lying back
+on his blanket, with his pipe between his teeth and his hands under his
+head. He smiled all over, but said nothing.
+
+"Go on," said he to Tom. "What else did you find?"
+
+"And right there is where the fun comes in," said Tom. "The passage was
+about twenty feet long--he was too badly hurt to go further--and with
+every step of the way he had broken down a piece of the bushes, first on
+one side and then on the other, to enable him to keep a straight course.
+Right under the head of a rock that the passage brings up against, you
+will find something buried. It may not be the nugget, but there is
+something there."
+
+"Why didn't you dig down and see what it was?" said I.
+
+"It was pretty near night when I found it, and besides I wanted Elam to
+see it. I will go with you now, if you say so."
+
+"No," said Elam, filling up his pipe for a fresh smoke. "I'll be happy
+for once in my life for twelve hours, and if at the end of that time I
+find that there is nothing there----"
+
+"But I tell you there is something there," ejaculated Tom.
+
+"I will go back and go to herding cattle," added Elam, paying no
+attention to Tom's interruption. "I will give it up as a bad job."
+
+There wasn't much sleeping done in that camp that night, and although we
+stayed awake till toward morning, we had little to say to each other. We
+all wanted to see what was hidden up there. I had seen Elam become
+wonderfully excited whenever anyone spoke of the nugget and hinted that
+it wasn't there, but I had never seen him come so near finding it
+before. When daylight came Tom declared he couldn't wait any longer, so
+we got up and saddled our horses and followed along after him. We did
+not stop to cook breakfast, for in case we did not find the nugget
+nobody would want any. After going about a quarter of a mile, Tom
+stopped and dismounted from his horse.
+
+"There are the stones," said Elam.
+
+"You go along a little further and you will find everything just as I
+described it to you," said Tom. "Elam is about half wild," he added in a
+low tone to me, "so you and I had better take a pick along. Mind, I
+don't say it is the nugget, but there is something hidden in there."
+
+Talk about Elam's being half wild! Tom and I were in that fix also. We
+saw Elam examine the broken bush, the one that was held in place by two
+limbs that were tied about it, and his face grew as white as a sheet. He
+worked his way into the bushes, making his way all too slowly to suit us
+who were following close at his heels, and finally stopped under the
+hanging rock, where there was a clear space about two feet in diameter.
+The bushes grew as thick here as they did anywhere else, but they had
+been cut with a knife to give the digger a chance to work. Not one of us
+said a word, because we were too highly excited. Elam reached his hand
+behind him, and I, knowing what he wanted, placed a spade within it; but
+you might as well have set a child to scraping it out with a teaspoon.
+His hand trembled so that it was scarcely any use to him.
+
+"Here, Elam, give me that spade," I cried. "You will never get it up in
+the world. Now, stand back beside Tom, out of the way."
+
+I did not think Elam would agree to this, but he did, and in two minutes
+I had the leaves and brush all out of the way, faster than it was put
+in, I'll bet. But what was this I struck against before I had gone down
+three inches? It was not as hard as a rock, because, when I placed my
+shovel against it and tried to pry it up, the instrument slipped from it
+and showed me the color of the pure gold.
+
+"Elam, Elam, there's something here!" I shouted, so nearly beside myself
+that I did not know what I was saying. "Stand out of the way and let me
+handle it myself. When I get it out where the horses are, you can
+examine it till your head is as white as Uncle Ezra's."
+
+I have since learned that the nugget weighed 130 pounds, but it did not
+seem half that weight as I pulled it out of the hole and started through
+the bushes with it. I paid no attention to the others, who followed
+along after me, lost in wonder. I carried it out to where the bushes
+ended, and then laid it down, hunted up a rock, and sat down and
+examined it.
+
+"Elam, there's your nugget!" I said.
+
+"By gum, I believe it is!" said Elam.
+
+One would have thought by the way Elam went about it that he did not
+know whether it was or not. For fifteen minutes we sat there and watched
+him as he passed his hands carefully over it, brushing away a little
+particle of dirt here and pecking with his knife there to see if it was
+really gold, until he was satisfied; then he put up his knife and thrust
+out his hand to Tom.
+
+"Tender-foot, I never would have found this if it hadn't been for you,"
+said he, with something like a tremor in his voice. "Shake!"
+
+"Thank you," said Tom, taking particular pains to keep his hands out of
+the way. "I'll take your word for it."
+
+"I won't squeeze you, honor bright!" said Elam.
+
+That was as good as though Elam had sworn to it, and Tom gave him his
+hand. He didn't squeeze it, but he shook it very warmly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+CONCLUSION.
+
+
+I had often heard Tom Mason speak of his "luck" when telling his
+stories, but I believe he was utterly confounded by the turn his "luck"
+had taken in this particular instance. He was too amazed, so much so
+that he couldn't speak, while Elam, it was plain to be seen, looked upon
+him as a lucky omen. In these days he would have been called a "mascot."
+I was completely thunderstruck, and if Tom had told me that there was a
+nugget hidden under the biggest mountain in the valley, and I could have
+it for the mere fun of digging after it, I believe I should have put
+faith in his story.
+
+"I wish that nugget could speak," said Elam, bringing his examination to
+a stop and sitting down with his arm thrown over his find. "I would like
+to hear it tell of all the places it has been in. After so many years of
+waiting I have at last secured the object of my ambition, thanks to you,
+Tom Mason. Nobody supposed you were going to make yourself rich out
+here, did they?"
+
+"No, and I don't suppose they know it now," replied Tom. "Do you really
+imagine this is the nugget your father had?"
+
+"What is the reason they don't know it now?" demanded Elam.
+
+"Because the find isn't mine."
+
+"Didn't I say that I would give you half of it the moment we dug it up?
+You will find that I am a man of my word, Tom."
+
+"How much do you suppose the thing will pan out?" I said, seizing the
+nugget with both hands and trying to lift it from the ground. "It is
+heavier than it was a while ago."
+
+"That nugget will pan out between five and eight thousand dollars," said
+Elam. "That's the price that Spaniard put upon it."
+
+"Do you think this is the same find your father had?" continued Tom. "A
+good many people have been searching for gold since then, and a great
+many nuggets of the size of this one have been dug up."
+
+"That's the reason I wish it could speak," said Elam. "Until I know
+differently I shall believe it is the same nugget. Anyway it is mine.
+Now, boys, I am going to Texas as soon as I can get there. You will go
+with me, of course."
+
+"What are you going down there for?" asked Tom.
+
+"To buy some cattle. You can get them down there for half what they are
+worth up here, and bringing them home across the plains will leave them
+in good order for next winter."
+
+"I don't know whether I will go or not. There may be some lawless men
+down there, and you will have money on your person."
+
+"Well, what of it? A man that will stand up the way you did against the
+Red Ghost is not going to be afraid of lawless men! You must go, Tom.
+You are a lucky omen."
+
+As for myself, I did some thinking, too. There was my herd, for
+instance; a small one to be sure, but large enough to keep me in that
+country. If Uncle Ezra would sell his sheep and buy the herd, I would be
+a free man and willing to go to Texas, or any other place to see some
+fun. And that there was fun there I could readily believe. All men who
+had got into a "little trouble" in the more settled portions of the
+community came there to get out of reach of the law, and in a new
+country they did pretty near as they had a mind to. It would not be a
+safe thing for Elam to go down there with one or two thousand dollars in
+his pocket, but I for one was not unwilling to back him up.
+
+"Well, boys, go to sleep on it, and tell me how it looks in the
+morning," said Elam, jumping to his feet and making a place for his
+nugget in one of the pack-saddles. "I wish one of you boys would go back
+and get that pick and shovel that we used to dig this thing up, for we
+want to have them all with us. They will say we were so excited over
+finding the gold that we couldn't think of anything else."
+
+In due time a place had been made in the pack-saddle for the nugget, and
+we were on the back track. We travelled a good deal faster in going than
+we did in coming, for we didn't have to stop to examine signs on the
+way, and one day, to Tom's intense surprise, we found the springs close
+before us. Of course we had talked about Elam's new idea of going to
+Texas to buy his cattle, and we were pretty well decided that if he went
+we should go too. We could see that Elam was greatly pleased over our
+decision, but he did not have much to say about it.
+
+"We must stay here long enough to help Uncle Ezra down with his sheep,"
+said Elam, "and then we'll put out. I wish he would lend me a thousand
+or two on this, and take it up to Denver and get it panned out himself.
+I will take just what he says it's worth; wouldn't you, Tom?"
+
+"Why of course I would."
+
+"Well, you have got a say so in it, and I shan't do a thing with it
+unless you say the word," said Elam. "You might as well give up and take
+your half."
+
+"Perhaps Tom would rather take his share and send it home," said I.
+
+"No, I wouldn't," said Tom. "My uncle has not yet had time to get over
+his pet. It will take him a year to do that, and then I will write to
+him."
+
+On the third night after we camped at the springs we drew up before the
+door of Uncle Ezra's sheep ranch. Boy-like, we had already made up our
+minds that we would not acknowledge to anything; if Uncle Ezra wanted to
+look into our pack-saddles and see what sort of luck we had had, he
+could examine them himself. Uncle Ezra was alone. When he was in the
+woods a more devoted follower of the gun could not be found; but he
+always liked the heat of the fire and preferred a comfortable bunk to
+sleep in, when he was within reach of the home ranch. Ben Hastings had
+gone back to the fort. His father always liked to have him around when
+there was danger in the air, and he had sent a sergeant and two men
+after him.
+
+"Halloa, boys!" said Uncle Ezra, "what sort of luck have you met with? I
+think the last time I saw you, you told me that the next time I saw your
+smiling faces you would have the nugget with you. I don't see any
+nugget."
+
+"We haven't had any luck at all," said Elam. "We ate up the grub, and
+now I am going to cattle-herding."
+
+"Elam," said Uncle Ezra severely, "you are not telling me the truth!
+There is something back of this."
+
+"All right. Come out and see for yourself."
+
+Tom and I removed the saddles from our horses, and at the same time
+Uncle Ezra came out and began his examination. With the very first move
+he made he hit the nugget. I never saw a man more completely taken aback
+than he was.
+
+"Hoop-pe!" was the yell he sent up which awoke the echoes far and near.
+"By gum, if you haven't got it. I don't want a cent!"
+
+In less time than it takes to tell it Uncle Ezra had lifted out the
+nugget and carried it into the cabin beside the fire, so that he could
+have a light to see by. When we got in there he had the nugget on the
+floor, and was pawing it over to see if it was that or something else
+which we had tried to palm off on him. When he saw Elam he got up and
+gave his hand a good hearty shake. I looked at Tom and I saw him put his
+hands into his pocket. I will bet you he would not have had that shake
+for his share of the nugget.
+
+"Well, sir, you got it," said Uncle Ezra. "I declare if it don't beat
+the world!"
+
+"Now, while you are shaking me up you don't want to forget Tom," said
+Elam. "If it hadn't been for him I shouldn't have found it at all."
+
+"Do you mean to say that Tom found it?"
+
+"Certainly, for he found the trail that led to it," replied Elam; and
+then he went on to give Uncle Ezra a brief sketch of the manner in which
+Tom had got at the bottom of things. He added that if he hadn't shown
+Tom the place where the man camped, the nugget would have been up there
+now. Uncle Ezra listened in amazement, and when Elam stopped speaking he
+thrust out his hand to Tom.
+
+"Where in the world did you learn to trail?" said he. "Shake."
+
+"Thank you," said Tom, retreating a step or two. "I'll take your word
+for it. I wouldn't have such a shaking up as you gave Elam a minute ago
+for anything."
+
+Uncle Ezra laughed, and pulled a camp-stool near to the fire and sat
+down upon it. He couldn't get the nugget out of his head. He kept saying
+"By gum!" every time he looked at it, and now and then he glanced at
+Elam and pinched himself to see if he was wide awake or dreaming.
+
+"Now, I will give you something to chew on while Carlos is getting
+supper for us," said Elam; and as that was a gentle hint that he was
+hungry, I got up and went to work. "We three boys are going to Texas."
+
+"Going to Texas?" asked Uncle Ezra. "Now, wait till I tell you----"
+
+"And another thing," said Elam, paying no attention to the interruption;
+"we don't want to stay here until this thing is panned out; so can't you
+lend us a thousand dollars on that nugget?"
+
+"I know what you want," replied Uncle Ezra. "You want me to lend you a
+thousand dollars apiece."
+
+"Well, yes. That's about the way the thing stands."
+
+"Now, wait till I tell you. You will go away with all that money in your
+good clothes, and the first thing you know I will never see you again.
+Somebody will say 'Where's them three fellows that used to hang around
+your place?' and I will say 'Why, they went down to Texas to buy cattle,
+and those Texans found out that they had a lot of money about them and
+shot them.' That's what I'll say. Now, wait till I tell you. You can't
+go!"
+
+That was just about what I expected to hear from Uncle Ezra at the
+start, but I knew it would turn out otherwise. I knew if he had the
+money we would get it, and so I kept still. Tom was very much
+disappointed, but I gave him a wink and nod which told him that our
+circumstances were not as bad as they appeared to be, and that
+everything would come out all right in the end. I didn't blame Uncle
+Ezra for not wanting to let us go away with so much money in our
+pockets, but I did not see any other way out of it. If we wanted to get
+our cattle for about half what they would cost us right there, Texas was
+the place for us to go. The Indians were bad, and we would have to go
+right across the country inhabited by the Comanches, and they were about
+the worst cattle-thieves I ever heard of. Those lawless men--those who
+did not think that they were bound by any legal or moral restraint
+unless it was right there to punish them--were found everywhere, and it
+was going to be a matter of some difficulty to evade them. I had been
+there once, and I had seen just enough of it to want to go again. I
+wished now that I had not had quite so much to say in regard to those
+Regulators and Moderators who seemed to turn up when you least expected
+them.
+
+I got supper ready after a while and we all sat down to it--all except
+Uncle Ezra, who sat on his camp-stool with his eyes fastened on the
+nugget. He turned it first on one side and then on the other so that he
+could view it from all sides, said, "By gum!" every time he looked at
+it, and told us many stories connected with it that we had never heard
+before. To Elam's request that he would take charge of it he readily
+assented. He would keep it out until all the sheep-herders had seen it,
+and then he would hide it somewhere so that nobody would ever think of
+looking for it. It was in the hands of the rightful owner at last, and
+no one need think he was going to handle it again.
+
+"But you have a long way to take it to Denver," said I. "What will you
+do if somebody demands it of you!"
+
+"Now, wait until I tell you," said Uncle Ezra, while a look of
+determination came into his face. "Uncle Ezra has been there."
+
+"Now while you are talking about that nugget you are forgetting about
+me," said Tom. "I've got to go back to Mr. Parsons' cabin, and make some
+amends for that bronco. I didn't agree to let him be torn up. I have
+left money enough in his hands to settle for him."
+
+"That horse won't cost you a cent," said I.
+
+"What makes you say that?"
+
+"Because he was kept for the purpose of sending tender-feet into the
+mountains when Parsons didn't have anything else for them to do. The
+next one that comes along he will have to set him to herding cattle.
+Still I will go with you."
+
+"Thank you. What's the reason Elam can't go with you?"
+
+"Why, he's got to stay here and watch the nugget!"
+
+"By George! Have you got to watch it now that you have found it?"
+
+"Yes, sir. There are ten men employed on this ranch and four on mine,
+and you may be sure that all of them are not first-class."
+
+"Well, let them come," said Elam, getting up and stretching himself. He
+stood more than six feet in his stockings, and when he brought his arms
+back to show his biceps he fairly made the cabin tremble.
+
+"Yes, you, dog-gone you," said Uncle Ezra, getting up and shaking a fist
+in Elam's face. "You want to go off and lose a thousand dollars of it
+and your life besides. Now, wait until I tell you. I'll sleep on it.
+I'll see how it looks in the morning."
+
+But in the morning there was not a word said about it. We ate breakfast
+by the firelight, and then Tom's horse and mine were brought to the door
+and saddled, preparatory to our ride to Mr. Parsons' ranch. In a pair of
+saddle-bags which I carried I had cooked provisions enough to last four
+days. As we were ready to start, Uncle Ezra came to the door and took a
+look at the weather.
+
+"How long do you think you will be gone, Carlos?" said he. "Two weeks?
+Then you needn't mind coming back here. We shall probably get the sheep
+out some time before that, and you had better come to our dugout on the
+plains. I'll see to your cattle. Good-by."
+
+In process of time we rode up to Mr. Parsons' cabin, and if I am any
+judge of the exclamations that arose from all sides they found it
+difficult to recognize Tom. It seemed that his two months in the
+mountains had changed him wonderfully. When he spoke of the bronco and
+repeated some words of advice that Mr. Parsons had given him, the latter
+remembered him at once.
+
+"Why, Tom, I am glad to see you," said he. "Alight and hitch. The bronco
+didn't get away from you, I suppose. And you found the nugget, too?"
+
+"Yes, sir; I did," replied Tom quietly.
+
+"Gold sticking out all over it, I suppose. Well, how much do I owe you?"
+
+"I've come here to see how much I owe you," said Tom. "That bronco has
+gone up. The Red Ghost finished him."
+
+Mr. Parsons began to get interested now. He looked at me and I nodded
+assent.
+
+"Do you mean to say that the Red Ghost finished him? And did you find
+the nugget?" he exclaimed, hardly believing he had heard aright.
+
+"It's all true, every bit of it," I said. "He found Elam in a canyon
+where he got lost, and afterward found a map. He used that map, which
+started in at the springs, and afterward found the nugget."
+
+"There now!" exclaimed the elderly man, the one who had been in the
+mountains just ahead of Tom, and whose camp the latter slept in every
+night. "I told you that I did not think there was gold hidden there, and
+you thought me crazy."
+
+"Well--I--I--come in, come in," cried Mr. Parsons. "I must hear that
+story from beginning to end. And are you sure he found the nugget?
+Wasn't it something else that he found?"
+
+There were five men standing around who had been ordered to go away on
+some work or another, but they all quit and came into the cabin to hear
+the story. I took the part of spokesman upon myself, for I did not think
+that Tom would care to dwell too minutely on his meeting with the Red
+Ghost or his getting lost in the mountains, and I do not think I left
+out anything. I never saw a lot of men so confounded as they were. To
+suppose that a lot of gold had been hidden there in the mountains, which
+had come from some place a hundred miles away from there, and that Mr.
+Parsons had sent a dozen tender-feet into the hills to find it, was more
+than they could understand. When I got through they looked upon Tom with
+a trifle more of respect than they did before. They couldn't find words
+with which to express their astonishment.
+
+"Now, perhaps, you are willing to talk to me about that bronco," said
+Tom. "How much do I owe you for him?"
+
+"Not a red cent," said Mr. Parsons. "Not a single, solitary copper. I
+kept him for the sake of such fellows as you are, and now that he has
+got through with his business, I say let him rest. I shall never have
+any more chances to send him into the mountains with tender-feet. But,
+Tom, I owe you more than I can pay you."
+
+"You let up on one debt and I will let up on the other," said Tom, with
+a laugh. "If Elam wasn't such a hot-headed fellow, I should be glad of
+it. He wants me to take half that nugget, and I don't want to do it."
+
+"Take it and say nothing to nobody," said Mr. Parsons. "You will find
+means to make it up. How much will it pan out?"
+
+"Between $5000 and $8000," I answered. "But it is my opinion it will be
+nearer $5000. Elam has got that story in his head about the sum of money
+that Spaniard put upon it, and he kinder leans to that sum."
+
+"That's a larger amount of money than most of us can make. Now, I hope
+that nobody will knock him in the head for it."
+
+That was just what I was afraid of, and I made all haste to get back to
+Elam. I went up to Denver with him and Uncle Ezra, and there we sold the
+nugget for $6500. The money was all placed in the bank, with the
+exception of $2000, $1000 of which he took back to give to Tom. I sold
+my stock for $5000, and also took $1000 with me to purchase cattle. We
+were gone a month, and when we got back there was nothing to hinder us
+from starting for Texas. We had a long and fearful journey before us,
+more trouble than it is in these times, and we were a long while in
+saying good-by to the friends we left behind. We had something, too,
+that we didn't count on, and what it was and how we got around it shall
+be told in "THE MISSING POCKET-BOOK; OR, TOM MASON'S LUCK."
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+FAMOUS STANDARD JUVENILE LIBRARIES.
+
+
+HORATIO ALGER, JR.
+
+The enormous sales of the books of Horatio Alger, Jr., show the
+greatness of his popularity among the boys, and prove that he is one of
+their most favored writers. I am told that more than half a million
+copies altogether have been sold, and that all the large circulating
+libraries in the country have several complete sets, of which only two
+or three volumes are ever on the shelves at one time. If this is true,
+what thousands and thousands of boys have read and are reading Mr.
+Alger's books! His peculiar style of stories, often imitated but never
+equaled, have taken a hold upon the young people, and, despite their
+similarity, are eagerly read as soon as they appear.
+
+Mr. Alger became famous with the publication of that undying book,
+"Ragged Dick, or Street Life in New York." It was his first book for
+young people, and its success was so great that he immediately devoted
+himself to that kind of writing. It was a new and fertile field for a
+writer then, and Mr. Alger's treatment of it at once caught the fancy of
+the boys. "Ragged Dick" first appeared in 1868, and ever since then it
+has been selling steadily, until now it is estimated that about 200,000
+copies of the series have been sold.
+
+_--Pleasant Hours for Boys and Girls._
+
+A writer for boys should have an abundant sympathy with them. He should
+be able to enter into their plans, hopes, and aspirations. He should
+learn to look upon life as they do. Boys object to be written down to. A
+boy's heart opens to the man or writer who understands him.
+
+--From _Writing Stories for Boys_, by Horatio Alger, Jr.
+
+RAGGED DICK SERIES.
+
+    Ragged Dick.
+    Fame and Fortune.
+    Mark the Match Boy.
+    Rough and Ready.
+    Ben the Luggage Boy.
+    Rufus and Rose.
+
+
+TATTERED TOM SERIES--First Series.
+
+    Tattered Tom.
+    Paul the Peddler.
+    Phil the Fiddler.
+    Slow and Sure.
+
+
+TATTERED TOM SERIES--Second Series.
+
+    Julius.
+    The Young Outlaw.
+    Sam's Chance.
+    The Telegraph Boy.
+
+
+CAMPAIGN SERIES.
+
+    Frank's Campaign.
+    Paul Prescott's Charge.
+    Charlie Codman's Cruise.
+
+
+LUCK AND PLUCK SERIES--First Series.
+
+    Luck and Pluck.
+    Sink or Swim.
+    Strong and Steady.
+    Strive and Succeed.
+
+
+LUCK AND PLUCK SERIES--Second Series.
+
+    Try and Trust.
+    Bound to Rise.
+    Risen from the Ranks.
+    Herbert Carter's, Legacy.
+
+
+BRAVE AND BOLD SERIES.
+
+    Brave and Bold.
+    Jack's Ward.
+    Shifting for Himself.
+    Wait and Hope.
+
+
+NEW WORLD SERIES.
+
+    Digging for Gold.
+    Facing the World.
+    In a New World.
+
+
+VICTORY SERIES.
+
+    Only an Irish Boy.
+    Victor Vane, or the Young Secretary.
+    Adrift in the City.
+
+
+FRANK AND FEARLESS SERIES.
+
+    Frank Hunter's Peril.
+    The Young Salesman.
+    Frank and Fearless.
+
+
+GOOD FORTUNE LIBRARY.
+
+    Walter Sherwood's Probation.
+    The Young Bank Messenger.
+    A Boy's Fortune.
+
+
+RUPERT'S AMBITION.
+
+JED, THE POOR-HOUSE BOY.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+HARRY CASTLEMON.
+
+HOW I CAME TO WRITE MY FIRST BOOK.
+
+When I was sixteen years old I belonged to a composition class. It was
+our custom to go on the recitation seat every day with clean slates, and
+we were allowed ten minutes to write seventy words on any subject the
+teacher thought suited to our capacity. One day he gave out "What a Man
+Would See if He Went to Greenland." My heart was in the matter, and
+before the ten minutes were up I had one side of my slate filled. The
+teacher listened to the reading of our compositions, and when they were
+all over he simply said: "Some of you will make your living by writing
+one of these days." That gave me something to ponder upon. I did not say
+so out loud, but I knew that my composition was as good as the best of
+them. By the way, there was another thing that came in my way just then.
+I was reading at that time one of Mayne Reid's works which I had drawn
+from the library, and I pondered upon it as much as I did upon what the
+teacher said to me. In introducing Swartboy to his readers he made use
+of this expression: "No visible change was observable in Swartboy's
+countenance." Now, it occurred to me that if a man of his education
+could make such a blunder as that and still write a book, I ought to be
+able to do it, too. I went home that very day and began a story, "The
+Old Guide's Narrative," which was sent to the _New York Weekly_, and
+came back, respectfully declined. It was written on both sides of the
+sheets but I didn't know that this was against the rules. Nothing
+abashed, I began another, and receiving some instruction, from a friend
+of mine who was a clerk in a book store, I wrote it on only one side of
+the paper. But mind you, he didn't know what I was doing. Nobody knew
+it; but one day, after a hard Saturday's work--the other boys had been
+out skating on the brick-pond--I shyly broached the subject to my
+mother. I felt the need of some sympathy. She listened in amazement, and
+then said: "Why, do you think you could write a book like that?" That
+settled the matter, and from that day no one knew what I was up to until
+I sent the first four volumes of Gunboat Series to my father. Was it
+work? Well, yes; it was hard work, but each week I had the satisfaction
+of seeing the manuscript grow until the "Young Naturalist" was all
+complete.
+
+--_Harry Castlemon in the Writer._
+
+GUNBOAT SERIES.
+
+    Frank the Young Naturalist.
+    Frank on a Gunboat.
+    Frank in the Woods.
+    Frank before Vicksburg.
+    Frank on the Lower Mississippi.
+    Frank on the Prairie.
+
+
+ROCKY MOUNTAIN SERIES.
+
+    Frank Among the Rancheros.
+    Frank at Don Carlos' Rancho.
+    Frank in the Mountains.
+
+
+SPORTSMAN'S CLUB SERIES.
+
+    The Sportsman's Club in the Saddle.
+    The Sportsman's Club Afloat.
+    The Sportsman's Club Among the Trappers.
+
+
+FRANK NELSON SERIES.
+
+    Snowed up.
+    Frank in the Forecastle.
+    The Boy Traders.
+
+
+BOY TRAPPER SERIES.
+
+    The Buried Treasure.
+    The Boy Trapper.
+    The Mail Carrier.
+
+
+ROUGHING IT SERIES.
+
+    George in Camp.
+    George at the Wheel.
+    George at the Fort.
+
+
+ROD AND GUN SERIES.
+
+    Don Gordon's Shooting Box.
+    Rod and Gun Club.
+    The Young Wild Fowlers.
+
+
+GO-AHEAD SERIES.
+
+    Tom Newcombe.
+    Go-Ahead.
+    No Moss.
+
+
+WAR SERIES.
+
+    True to His Colors.
+    Rodney the Partisan.
+    Rodney the Overseer.
+    Marcy the Blockade-Runner.
+    Marcy the Refugee.
+    Sailor Jack the Trader.
+
+
+HOUSEBOAT SERIES.
+
+    The Houseboat Boys.
+    The Young Game Warden.
+    The Mystery of Lost River Cañon.
+
+
+AFLOAT AND ASHORE SERIES.
+
+    Rebellion in Dixie.
+    The Ten-Ton Cutter.
+    A Sailor in Spite of Himself.
+
+
+THE PONY EXPRESS SERIES.
+
+    The Pony Express Rider.
+    Carl, The Trailer.
+    The White Beaver.
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+EDWARD S. ELLIS.
+
+
+Edward S. Ellis, the popular writer of boys' books, is a native of Ohio,
+where he was born somewhat more than a half-century ago. His father was
+a famous hunter and rifle shot, and it was doubtless his exploits and
+those of his associates, with their tales of adventure which gave the
+son his taste for the breezy backwoods and for depicting the stirring
+life of the early settlers on the frontier.
+
+Mr. Ellis began writing at an early age and his work was acceptable from
+the first. His parents removed to New Jersey while he was a boy and he
+was graduated from the State Normal School and became a member of the
+faculty while still in his teens. He was afterward principal of the
+Trenton High School, a trustee and then superintendent of schools. By
+that time his services as a writer had become so pronounced that he gave
+his entire attention to literature. He was an exceptionally successful
+teacher and wrote a number of text-books for schools, all of which met
+with high favor. For these and his historical productions, Princeton
+College conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts.
+
+The high moral character, the clean, manly tendencies and the admirable
+literary style of Mr. Ellis' stories have made him as popular on the
+other side of the Atlantic as in this country. A leading paper remarked
+some time since, that no mother need hesitate to place in the hands of
+her boy any book written by Mr. Ellis. They are found in the leading
+Sunday-school libraries, where, as may well be believed, they are in
+wide demand and do much good by their sound, wholesome lessons which
+render them as acceptable to parents as to their children. All of his
+books published by Henry T. Coates & Co. are re-issued in London, and
+many have been translated into other languages. Mr. Ellis is a writer of
+varied accomplishments, and, in addition to his stories, is the author
+of historical works, of a number of pieces of popular music and has made
+several valuable inventions. Mr. Ellis is in the prime of his mental and
+physical powers, and great as have been the merits of his past
+achievements, there is reason to look for more brilliant productions
+from his pen in the near future.
+
+
+DEERFOOT SERIES.
+
+    Hunters of the Ozark.
+    The Last War Trail.
+    Camp in the Mountains
+
+
+LOG CABIN SERIES.
+
+    Lost Trail.
+    Footprints in the Forest.
+    Camp-Fire and Wigwam.
+
+
+BOY PIONEER SERIES.
+
+    Ned in the Block-House.
+    Ned on the River.
+    Ned in the Woods.
+
+
+THE NORTHWEST SERIES.
+
+    Two Boys in Wyoming.
+    Cowmen and Rustlers.
+    A Strange Craft and its Wonderful Voyage.
+
+
+BOONE AND KENTON SERIES.
+
+    Shod with Silence.
+    In the Days of the Pioneers.
+    Phantom of the River.
+
+
+IRON HEART, WAR CHIEF OF THE IROQUOIS.
+
+THE SECRET OF COFFIN ISLAND.
+
+THE BLAZING ARROW.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+J. T. TROWBRIDGE.
+
+
+Neither as a writer does he stand apart from the great currents of life
+and select some exceptional phase or odd combination of circumstances.
+He stands on the common level and appeals to the universal heart, and
+all that he suggests or achieves is on the plane and in the line of
+march of the great body of humanity.
+
+The Jack Hazard series of stories, published in the late _Our Young
+Folks_, and continued in the first volume of _St. Nicholas_, under the
+title of "Fast Friends," is no doubt destined to hold a high place in
+this class of literature. The delight of the boys in them (and of their
+seniors, too) is well founded. They go to the right spot every time.
+Trowbridge knows the heart of a boy like a book, and the heart of a man,
+too, and he has laid them both open in these books in a most successful
+manner. Apart from the qualities that render the series so attractive to
+all young readers, they have great value on account of their
+portraitures of American country life and character. The drawing is
+wonderfully accurate, and as spirited as it is true. The constable,
+Sellick, is an original character, and as minor figures where will we
+find anything better than Miss Wansey, and Mr. P. Pipkin, Esq. The
+picture of Mr. Dink's school, too, is capital, and where else in fiction
+is there a better nick-name than that the boys gave to poor little
+Stephen Treadwell, "Step Hen," as he himself pronounced his name in an
+unfortunate moment when he saw it in print for the first time in his
+lesson in school.
+
+On the whole, these books are very satisfactory, and afford the critical
+reader the rare pleasure of the works that are just adequate, that
+easily fulfill themselves and accomplish all they set out to
+do.--_Scribner's Monthly_.
+
+
+JACK HAZARD SERIES.
+
+    Jack Hazard and His Fortunes.
+    Doing His Best.
+    The Young Surveyor.
+    A Chance for Himself.
+    Fast Friends.
+    Lawrence's Adventures.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Elam Storm, The Wolfer, by Harry Castlemon
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30428 ***
diff --git a/30428-h/30428-h.htm b/30428-h/30428-h.htm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c949554
--- /dev/null
+++ b/30428-h/30428-h.htm
@@ -0,0 +1,7567 @@
+<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
+    "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
+
+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
+  <head>
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" />
+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Elam Storm, The Wolfer, by Harry Castlemon.
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css">
+<!--
+    p {  margin-top: .75em;
+         text-align: justify;
+         margin-bottom: .75em;
+         }
+    h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 {
+         text-align: center; /* all headings centered */
+         clear: both;
+         }
+    hr { width: 33%;
+	 margin-top: 2em;
+	 margin-bottom: 2em;
+         margin-left: auto;
+         margin-right: auto;
+         clear: both;
+       }
+
+    table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;}
+
+    body{margin-left: 10%;
+         margin-right: 10%;
+        }
+
+    .pagenum  { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */
+            /*  visibility: hidden;  */
+                position: absolute;
+                left: 92%;
+                font-size: smaller;
+                text-align: right;
+              } /* page numbers */
+
+    .linenum  {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */
+    .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;}
+    .sidenote {width: 20%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em;
+               padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em; margin-left: 1em;
+               float: right; clear: right; margin-top: 1em;
+               font-size: smaller; color: black; background: #eeeeee; border: dashed 1px;}
+
+    .bb       {border-bottom: solid 2px;}
+    .bl       {border-left: solid 2px;}
+    .bt       {border-top: solid 2px;}
+    .br       {border-right: solid 2px;}
+    .bbox     {border: solid 2px;}
+
+    .center   {text-align: center;}
+    .smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
+    .u        {text-decoration: underline;}
+
+    .caption  {font-weight: bold;}
+
+    .figcenter   {margin: auto; text-align: center;}
+
+    .figleft     {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top:
+                 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 0; text-align: center;}
+
+    .figright    {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em;
+                 margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;}
+
+    .footnotes        {border: dashed 1px;}
+    .footnote         {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;}
+    .footnote .label  {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;}
+    .fnanchor         {vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;}
+
+    .poem             {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;}
+    .poem br          {display: none;}
+    .poem .stanza     {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;}
+    .poem span.i0     {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;}
+    .poem span.i2     {display: block; margin-left: 2em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;}
+    .poem span.i4     {display: block; margin-left: 4em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;}
+-->
+    </style>
+  </head>
+<body>
+<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30428 ***</div>
+
+<h1>ELAM STORM, THE WOLFER</h1>
+
+<h3>OR</h3>
+
+<h2>THE LOST NUGGET</h2>
+
+<h2>BY HARRY CASTLEMON</h2>
+
+<h4>AUTHOR OF "GUNBOAT SERIES," "FOREST AND STREAM SERIES," "WAR SERIES,"
+ETC., ETC.</h4>
+
+<h4>PHILADELPHIA<br />
+HENRY T. COATES &amp; CO.</h4>
+
+<h4><span class="smcap">Copyright</span>, 1895,<br />
+BY PORTER &amp; COATES.</h4>
+
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a name="illus1" id="illus1"></a>
+<img src="images/illus1.jpg" alt=""/>
+</div>
+
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">The Red Ghost.</span></h3>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CONTENTS.</h2>
+
+<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. -->
+<p>
+<a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I. <span class="smcap">Something about the Nugget</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II. <span class="smcap">Tom Mason Again</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III. <span class="smcap">Tom Begins his Wanderings</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV. <span class="smcap">The Wrong Boat</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V. <span class="smcap">Tom's Luck</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI. <span class="smcap">Tom Admires the Cowboys</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII. <span class="smcap">A Temperance Lecture</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII. <span class="smcap">A Home Ranch</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX. <span class="smcap">Lost in the Mountains</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X. <span class="smcap">The Camp of Elam, the Wolfer</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI. <span class="smcap">Unwelcome Visitors</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII. <span class="smcap">Tom Finds Something</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII. <span class="smcap">Elam Interviews the Major</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV. <span class="smcap">Elam Under Fire</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV. <span class="smcap">Uncle Ezra Puts his Foot Down</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI. <span class="smcap">A New Expedition</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII. <span class="smcap">The Nugget is Found</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII. <span class="smcap">Conclusion</span></a><br /><br />
+<a href="#FAMOUS_STANDARD_JUVENILE_LIBRARIES">FAMOUS STANDARD JUVENILE LIBRARIES.</a><br />
+</p>
+<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. -->
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2>
+
+
+<p><a href="#illus1"><span class="smcap">The Red Ghost.</span></a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#illus2"><span class="smcap">Tom's New Acquaintance.</span></a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#illus3"><span class="smcap">Tom in hiding.</span></a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#illus4"><span class="smcap">Elam's Fight with the Cheyennes.</span></a></p>
+
+
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>ELAM STORM, THE WOLFER;</h2>
+
+<h4>OR,</h4>
+
+<h3>THE LOST NUGGET.</h3>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2>
+
+<h3>SOMETHING ABOUT THE NUGGET.</h3>
+
+
+<p>"Yes, sir; it's just like I tell you. Every coyote on this here ranch,
+mean and sneaking as he is, is worth forty dollars to the man who can
+catch him."</p>
+
+<p>"Then what is the reason Carlos and I can't make some money this
+winter?"</p>
+
+<p>"You mout, and then again you moutn't. It aint everybody who can coax
+one of them smart prowlers to stick his foot in a trap. If that was the
+case, my neighbors would have had more sheep, and Elam Storm would be
+worth a bushel of dollars."</p>
+
+<p>"And you are going to grub-stake him again this winter, are you, Uncle
+Ezra?"</p>
+
+<p>"Sure. I always do."</p>
+
+<p>"What is the reason you won't let us go with him to the mountains?"</p>
+
+<p>"'Cause I know that your folks aint so tired of you that they are ready
+to lose you yet awhile; that's why."</p>
+
+<p>"Only just a few days. We'll come back at the end of the week if you say
+so, won't we, Carlos?"</p>
+
+<p>"'Taint no use of talking, Ben; not a bit. Man alive! what would I say
+to the major if anything should happen to you? And going off with Elam
+Storm! That would be the worst yet."</p>
+
+<p>"But Elam is honest and reliable. You have said so more than once, Uncle
+Ezra."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, he's honest enough, as far as that goes, but shiftless&mdash;mighty
+shiftless. And I never said he was reliable except in one way. He's
+reliable enough to go to the mountains every fall and come back every
+spring with a hoss-back load of peltries, and that's all he is reliable
+for. I did make out to hold him down to the business of sheep-herding
+for a couple of years, but then the roaming fever took him again and
+nobody couldn't do nothing with him. He just had to go, and so he asked
+for a grub-stake and lit out."</p>
+
+<p>"You think that while he is in the mountains he looks for something
+besides wolf-skins, don't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I know he does. He's got a fool notion that will some day be the death
+of him, just as it has been the death of a dozen other men who tried to
+follow out the same notion."</p>
+
+<p>"You promised to tell me all about it some day, and about Elam, too; and
+what better time can we have than the present? We are here by ourselves,
+and there is no one to break in on your story."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, I'll tell you if it will ease your minds any. It won't be
+long, so you needn't go to settling yourself as though you had an
+all-night's job before you to listen. And perhaps when I am done you
+will know why I don't want you to go piking about the country with such
+a fellow as Elam Storm."</p>
+
+<p>It was just the night for story-telling and pipes. The blizzard, which
+had been brewing for a week or more, had burst forth in all its fury,
+and the elements were in frightful commotion. The wind howled mournfully
+through the branches of the evergreens that covered the bluff behind the
+cabin; the rain and sleet, freezing as they fell, rattled harshly upon
+the bark roof over our heads; and the whole aspect of nature, as I
+caught a momentary glimpse of it when I went out to gather our evening's
+supply of fire-wood, was cheerless and desolate in the extreme. Our
+party consisted of three (or I should say four, for the Elam Storm whose
+name has so often been mentioned was to have shown up two days
+before)&mdash;Uncle Ezra Norton, who was a sheep-herder in a small way during
+the summer, and an untiring hunter and trapper in winter; Ben Hastings,
+whose father, an officer of rank in the regular army, was stationed at
+the fort fifty miles away; and myself, Carlos Burton, a ne'er-do-well,
+who&mdash;but I will say no more on that point, as perhaps you will find out
+what sort of a fellow I am as my story progresses. We were comfortably
+sheltered in our valley home, but we heard all the noise of the tempest
+and felt a good deal of its force; and accustomed as I had become to
+such things during my wild life in the far West, I did not forget to
+breathe a silent but heart-felt prayer for any unfortunate who might be
+overtaken by the storm before he had time to reach the shelter of his
+cabin.</p>
+
+<p>Under our humble roof there were warmth, comfort, and supreme
+contentment. The single room of which the cabin could boast was
+brilliantly lighted by the fire on the hearth, which roared back a
+defiance to the storm outside; its rough walls of unhewn logs were
+heavily draped with the skins of the elk, blacktail, and mountain sheep
+that had fallen to our rifles during the hunt, completely shutting out
+all the cold and damp and darkness; and Ben and I, with our moccasoned
+feet thrust toward the cheerful blaze, reclined luxuriously upon a pile
+of genuine Navajo blankets, while our guide, friend, and mentor, Uncle
+Ezra Norton, sat upon his couch of balsam sending up from his pipe
+clouds of tobacco incense that broke in fleecy folds against the low
+roof over our heads. Our minds were in the dreamy, tranquil state that
+comes after a good dinner and a brief season of repose following a
+period of toil and hard tramping that had been rewarded beyond our
+hopes.</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Ezra was a typical borderman, strong as one of his own mules, and
+grizzly as any of the numerous specimens of <i>Ursus ferox</i> that had
+fallen before his big-bored Henry. Although he took no little pride in
+recounting Ben's exploits to the officers of the garrison, he was very
+strict with the boy when the latter was under his care, and never
+permitted him to wander far out of his sight if he could help it.</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Ezra was my particular friend, and had won my undying gratitude by
+his kindness to me. I was in trouble and he helped me out of the deepest
+hole I ever was in. When I struck his ranch one dreary day, two years
+before this story begins, afoot and alone, almost ready to drop with
+fatigue, and told him that every hoof and horn I had in the world had
+been rounded up by a gang of cattle thieves who had driven them into the
+Bad Lands to be slaughtered for their hides&mdash;when I told him this he not
+only expressed the profoundest sympathy for my forlorn condition, but
+grub-staked me and sent me into the foot-hills to find a gold mine.</p>
+
+<p>Judging from what I know now there was about as much chance of finding
+gold in the region to which he sent me as there was of being struck by
+lightning, and, more than that, I couldn't have distinguished the
+precious metal from iron pyrites; but I had to do something to pay for
+my outfit, and so I went, glad to get away by myself and brood over my
+great loss. For I had been pretty well off for a boy of fifteen, I want
+you to remember, and every dollar I had made was made by the hardest
+kind of knocks.</p>
+
+<p>When I first came out West, I began working on a ranch, taking my pay in
+stock at twelve dollars a month. My wages soon grew as my services
+increased in value, and as I took to riding like an old timer, I learned
+rapidly, because I liked the business; and it was not long before I was
+the proud possessor of a herd of cattle worth six thousand dollars. But
+it was precarious property in those days,&mdash;as uncertain as the weather.
+You might be fairly well off when you rolled yourself up in your blanket
+at night, and as poor as Job's turkey when you awoke in the morning; and
+that's the way it was with me. I was moving my herd to another section
+of the country in search of better pasturage, and was passing through a
+narrow canyon within two days' journey of the new range that one of my
+cowboys had selected for me, when all on a sudden there was a yell of
+charging men, whom I at first thought to be Indians, a rifle shot which
+killed my horse and injured my leg so badly that I could scarcely crawl
+into the nearest thicket out of sight, a hurried stampede of frightened
+cattle, and I was a beggar or the next thing to it. My three cowboys
+disappeared when the cattle did, and that was all the evidence I wanted
+to satisfy me that they were in league with the robbers. Ever since that
+time I had lived in hopes that it might be my good fortune to meet them
+again under different circumstances. When I learned that two of their
+number had been hanged somewhere in Arizona for horse-stealing, I was
+sorry to hear it, and hoped the other would mend his ways and so escape
+lynching, for I wanted to settle with him myself.</p>
+
+<p>At the time my story begins, however, I was on my feet again, as anyone
+can be in that Western country who is suffering from reverses. I had a
+home ranch and perhaps ten thousand dollars' worth of cattle ranging
+near the Bad Lands, into which my small herd had been driven to be
+killed for their hides; but I was poor enough and miserable enough when
+Uncle Ezra sent me off to hunt up a gold mine. I didn't find it, of
+course, but I took back to old Norton's ranch some specimens of quartz
+that made him open his eyes. They looked like chunks of granite, with
+little pieces of different-colored glass scattered through them. I had
+no idea of the value of my find, but so certain was Uncle Ezra that I
+had struck it rich that he took the specimens to Denver himself, and
+some expert there assured him that he was a millionnaire. But he wasn't,
+by a long shot, and neither was I. Uncle Ezra knew no more about
+business outside of sheep-herding and trapping than an Apache knows
+about astronomy, and the fifteen-year-old boy who was his only
+counsellor knew less, and the usual results followed. We were euchred
+out of our find, which meant the loss of bushels of dollars to us.
+During my prospecting tour I camped on the banks of a little stream,
+following through a secluded valley a hundred miles deep in the
+mountains, and stumbled upon a rich deposit of rubies and sapphires.
+Although there were no true red rubies nor true blue sapphires among
+them, they were beautiful gems and worth money. The Denver expert told
+Uncle Ezra that there was a sprinkling of fire opals among them, but
+this I am inclined to doubt, for I never heard of those stones being
+found together. Anyhow, that deposit, whose wealth was first presented
+to my inexperienced eyes, covered sixteen acres of ground, and is being
+worked by a syndicate with a cash capital of two million dollars. Uncle
+Ezra and I saved a small stake for old age; but you bet I will know a
+good thing the next time I see it.</p>
+
+<p>Ben Hastings, as I have said, was the son of an army officer who was
+stationed at the fort a few miles away, and this was the first time he
+had ever been west of the Mississippi. He had the good sense to
+acknowledge that he was a tender-foot, and perhaps that made me take to
+him from the start. He could ride and shoot a little, and had camped in
+small patches of timber like to Adirondacks and up about Moosehead Lake;
+but he did not pretend to know it all, as the majority of Eastern men do
+when they come out here, and so he had plenty of friends among men who
+were willing to assist him. He fairly overflowed with delight when I
+took him an invitation from Uncle Ezra to spend a month on his
+sheep-ranch. His father was glad to let him accept, for old Ezra was a
+particular friend of his, and often acted as guide when the major went
+scouting. This hunt to Wind River Mountains had been undertaken for
+Ben's especial benefit, and as we pushed him to the front as often as
+the opportunity was presented, he shot more elk and blacktail than we
+did.</p>
+
+<p>I have spoken of Elam Storm, a particular friend of all of us. He was
+somewhere in the mountains now and ought to have joined us two days ago,
+but, seeing that it was Elam, we did not pay any attention to it. He was
+a professional wolfer whom Uncle Ezra had befriended. Old Ezra said he
+was shiftless; but he certainly was not lazy, for he would work harder
+at doing nothing than any fellow I ever saw. He was game, too. He had
+some sort of a notion in his head that governed all his actions, and
+although I was as intimate with him as anybody in the country, I never
+could find out what it was. But I did not push my enquiries, I want you
+to understand, for Elam had a sharp tongue, which he did not hesitate to
+use when he thought occasion demanded it, and, besides, he was handy
+with his gun. I had often asked Uncle Ezra to tell me what he knew of
+Elam's history, but could never get him started on the subject; so I was
+glad to hear him say in response to Ben's importunities that he would
+tell the story.</p>
+
+<p>"How long ago was it since Elam came to you?" enquired Ben Hastings,
+with a view of hurrying Uncle Ezra, who was refilling his pipe, gazing
+with great deliberation the while into the fire, as if he there saw the
+incidents he was about to describe.</p>
+
+<p>"He never came to me at all," replied the old man. "I fetched him to my
+ranch, and he's been there off and on ever since. He's a different boy
+from Carlos, here,"&mdash;with a nod in my direction,&mdash;"the most
+improvidentest fellow you ever saw, and always dead broke, so that I
+have to grub-stake him every fall. I have offered more than once to take
+him right along and give him his pay in stock, so that he could get a
+start with some sheep of his own, but he won't hear to it. That's what
+makes me mad at Elam. It's all along of that fool notion that will some
+day be the death of him like I told you."</p>
+
+<p>"But what is that fool notion?" asked Ben, as Uncle Ezra paused to light
+his pipe with a brand from the fire.</p>
+
+<p>"Wait till I tell you. You see, Elam's history, so far as I know
+anything about it, begins with that treasure train that was lost up the
+country years ago. An army paymaster started for Grayson with three
+government wagons, a guard of twelve soldiers, and thirty thousand
+dollars that was to be paid to the garrison at that place. Report says
+and always did say that there was one private wagon with the train, and
+Elam Storm he sticks to it that that there wagon was his father's. I
+don't dispute that part of his history, but I do dispute all the rest,
+for it won't hold water. He allows that there was a nugget into that
+there wagon, and that it was worth eight thousand dollars; and that's
+right where the history of Elam begins.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, sir, none of them men that went out with them wagons was ever
+seen or heard of after they left Martin's. When the time came for them
+to show up at Grayson and they didn't do it, scouting parties were sent
+out to look for them, and I was with the party that found the wreck of
+one of the wagons. And there's where I found Elam; but not a live man or
+critter or a cent of money did we discover."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you suppose became of them?" enquired Ben.</p>
+
+<p>"Carried off by the robbers that jumped down on the train," replied
+Uncle Ezra. "But whether they was Injuns or white men aint known for
+certain to this day. There wasn't nothing except hoof-prints and a few
+dried spots of blood to show where the attack was made on the train; but
+there was a dim trail leading from it, and by following that trail
+through the chaparral and down a rocky canyon that was hemmed in on all
+sides by mountains we found the wrecked wagon I spoke of. When one of
+the axles broke and let the wagon down so that it could not be hauled
+any further, the robbers took every blessed thing out of it and went on,
+and we never did catch up with them&mdash;everything, I say, except Elam. He
+was no doubt left in the wagon for dead, for when we came up he was just
+alive and that was all. He hadn't been hurt at all. He was scared and
+starved almost to the bounds of endurance, but with such care as we
+rough men could give him, and being naturally tough and strong, he
+managed to worry through. After he got so that he could talk he had
+sense enough to remember that his name was the same as his father's,
+Elam Storm, and that was everything he did know. He couldn't tell the
+first thing about the soldiers who composed the escort, or whether the
+men who made the attack were whites or Injuns, or what went with the
+money; and the worst of it was when he grew older none of these things
+didn't come into his mind, like we hoped and believed they would.</p>
+
+<p>"Seeing that the little waif was friendless and alone, and none of us
+didn't know whether he had kith or kin in the world, I offered to take
+him and bring him up as if he were my own son, and the rest of the boys
+they agreed to it. Although he has always been known around these
+diggin's as 'Ezra Norton's kid,' he aint no more relation to me than you
+be, and no more use neither, I might say, so far as helping on the ranch
+is concerned. He always was a shiftless sort of chap, and liked best to
+get away by himself and 'mope,' as I called it, though I believe now
+that he was doing a power of thinking, and trying to remember who he
+was, where he had once lived, and what happened to him before the train
+was lost. I wasn't much surprised when he took to wolfing as a means of
+getting his grub and clothes, for that solitary business just suited his
+solitary disposition; but I was teetotally dumfoundered and mad, too,
+when he told me that his father was alive, and that he would some day
+find him and his big nugget together. Mind you, he didn't say this as
+though he hoped and believed it might be true, but as positive as though
+he knew it was true."</p>
+
+<p>"Where do you suppose they&mdash;I mean his father and the nugget&mdash;are now?"
+asked Ben.</p>
+
+<p>"Pshaw! His father is dead long ago," replied Uncle Ezra, in a very
+decided tone. "Leastwise the men who went with the wagons are dead, and
+so old Elam must be dead, too. Don't stand to reason that only one man
+out of the whole outfit should turn up alive, does it? These things
+happened thirteen year ago, and Elam is nigh about twenty now, I should
+say. As for his nugget&mdash;well, I don't know what to think about that.
+When I first come to this country, there was a nugget of that
+description in existence, which had been dug up somewhere in those very
+mountains, and the finding of it created a rush that reminded old timers
+of California and Deadwood. I jined in with the rest, but never dug out
+more than enough to pay my expenses; and that's what set me to raising
+sheep."</p>
+
+<p>When Uncle Ezra said this, he tipped me a wink, and settled back on his
+couch of fragrant boughs, nursing his left leg for company.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2>
+
+<h3>TOM MASON AGAIN.</h3>
+
+
+<p>"Well," said Ben interrogatively, "the nugget that Elam had to do with
+wasn't any relation to this one, was it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Wait till I tell you. I don't reckon there is any one thing in the
+world that has been the cause of so much misery and mischief of all
+kinds as that there nugget," continued Uncle Ezra reflectively. "The man
+who found it, whose name was Morgan, and who was working with two
+pardners, share and share alike, was about as honest as a man ever gets
+to be, but the sight of the small fortune which he unearthed one day by
+a single stroke of his pick, while working a little apart from the
+others, was too much for him. He was as poor as a man ever gets to be,
+and, worse than all, he had a sweetheart off in the States who was
+waiting for him to raise a stake and come home and marry her. He didn't
+like the idea of dividing with his two pardners, who would drop their
+roll at the faro table as soon as they got the chance, and so he took
+and buried his find and worked on as if nothing had happened. That is to
+say, he tried to; but with a big chunk of gold within easy reach of his
+hand it don't stand to reason that he could act just as he did before.
+He was uneasy all the time, and his pardners noticed it and suspected
+something. He took to visiting his nugget's hiding-place every night, to
+make sure that no one had dug it up, and his pardners found it out on
+him; and when at last he grew desperate and tried to carry it away
+secretly, there was some shooting done, and Morgan and one of his
+pardners were killed."</p>
+
+<p>"That left the survivor a rich man!" exclaimed Ben, who was deeply
+interested.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, just wait till I tell you. That left the survivor a tolerable rich
+man, but his sudden accession of wealth scared him so badly that he
+buried the nugget in a new place and put for 'Frisco, where he took sick
+and died. When the medical sharps warned him that he had not long to
+live, he told one of the nurses about the nugget, and gave him a map of
+the locality in which it was hidden. A month or so afterward the nurse
+organized a small expedition and went to the mountains to hunt for the
+treasure; but he hired for a guide a treacherous Greaser, who went
+ahead, dug up the nugget, and brought it to Brazos City, a small mining
+town in which I was located at the time.</p>
+
+<p>"Pierto&mdash;that was the Greaser's name&mdash;hadn't any more than got his
+nugget into the Gold Dollar saloon, which was kept by a countryman of
+hisn, and put it into a glass case and set it up on the table so that
+everybody could see and admire it, before he was offered eight thousand
+dollars for his find; but Pierto wouldn't sell. He thought he could make
+more money by putting it up at a raffle, and when the raffle was over,
+he would go back to the mountains and try for another nugget, taking
+some of us along if we wanted to go. Three thousand shares at ten
+dollars a share was what he thought would be about right, and I put my
+name down for ten shares then and there.</p>
+
+<p>"The Gold Dollar did a custom-house business after that. Crowds of
+miners from every camp for miles around came there to look at Pierto's
+find, take shares in the raffle, and drink forty-rod whiskey. Pierto and
+the eight countrymen of hisn whom he employed to guard the nugget night
+and day were armed with pepper-boxes and machetes, and were as sassy and
+stuck up as so many bantam chickens, and the lordly way in which they
+ordered us Gringos to stand back and not crowd the nugget too close was
+laughable to see. They were a surly gang and looked able to whip their
+weight in wild-cats; but in reality they were the most harmless lot of
+cowards that Pierto could have got together.</p>
+
+<p>"Like all mining towns, Brazos City could boast of some tough citizens,
+and among them was Red Jimmy Murphy, a noted desperado, and as smart a
+rough as ever pulled a gun. He and two of his pals were in the Gold
+Dollar every day and night, and after looking the ground over they
+concluded that the plant could be raised. No sooner had this been
+settled to their satisfaction than they set to work to get things ready.</p>
+
+<p>"The night before the raffle was to come off the Gold Dollar was packed
+as full as it could hold,&mdash;so full that there was scarcely room for the
+fiddlers to work their elbows,&mdash;and Pierto's guard had to use some
+little muscular strength to keep the crowd from pushing over the table
+on which lay the nugget in its glass case. Red Jimmy's gang was there,
+ready to grab the chunk at the critical moment, and finally Jimmy
+himself rode into the saloon on a kicking, plunging bronco. The closely
+packed men cursed and threatened and ordered him out, but gave way all
+the same, and when the bronco heard the squawking of the fiddles and
+felt the jab of his rider's spurs, he slewed around and backed toward
+the table. Pierto saw the danger, and made a desperate rush to save his
+nugget, but was just a second too late. Jimmy raised a yell to put his
+pals on the watch, and spurred up the bronco, which at once sent his
+heels into the air as high as the ceiling. Down went the table, and the
+glass flew into a thousand pieces. The nugget went sailing over the
+heads of the crowd and into the hands of one of the gang, who, in spite
+of every effort that was made to stop him, succeeded in tossing it to
+Jimmy; and Jimmy he headed for the door, riding over everybody that got
+in his way. Then there was fun, I tell you. I never saw lead fly so
+thickly before nor since. Everybody had a gun out, and Red Jimmy ought
+by rights to have been riddled like a sieve."</p>
+
+<p>"Uncle Ezra, did you shoot?" asked Ben.</p>
+
+<p>"I presume to say that I made as much noise as the rest," answered the
+old man, with a chuckle. "You know, I held some chances in that chunk,
+and didn't want to lose them. Of course Pierto had to shell out the
+money we paid him for the tickets, for the raffle could not now be
+brought off; we kept him right there under our guns till he gave back
+the last dollar, but he never set eyes on his nugget, and neither did
+we. Red Jimmy, desperately wounded as he was, got away to the mountains
+with his prize, and although a strong posse headed by the sheriff
+followed on his trail and finished him the next day, they did not find
+the nugget. One of his gang made off with it."</p>
+
+<p>"And you lost it all?"</p>
+
+<p>"Cer'n'y," said the old man.</p>
+
+<p>"And never got a chance to raffle for any of it?" asked Ben. "It has
+probably been fixed up into ornaments of some description by this time.
+An article worth eight thousand dollars isn't going to be left around
+loose."</p>
+
+<p>"It wasn't so two years ago."</p>
+
+<p>"Two years?"</p>
+
+<p>"Wait till I tell you. That nugget has travelled as much as five hundred
+miles from here, but somehow it always manages to come back. Here it was
+born, and right here it is going to stay until it has its rights. Mind
+you, that is Elam's way of looking at it, but it aint mine, by a long
+shot. We didn't none of us hear of the nugget again for nearly a year,
+and then one of the boys happened to strike a pardner who had got
+dissatisfied with the money he was making and went off to Pike's Peak,
+and there he learned that two of the gang who had stolen it were seen
+and killed for the part they had taken in the enterprise; for you will
+remember that several miners in the country had knocked off work and
+come in to catch a glimpse of Pierto's find, and of course they didn't
+feel very friendly toward the robbers.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, everybody for miles around kept open eyes for that nugget for
+years, until at last I forgot all about it until I heard that a couple
+of worthless Greasers had somehow got hold of it, and had been found
+done to death with that nugget by their side. Then I gave up all hopes,
+for if the nugget had fallen into the hands of honest men, that was the
+last of it; but it seems it hadn't, and that gave me another show," said
+Ezra, tipping me another wink, which was as near to a laugh as he ever
+got. "The two Greasers were about as tough specimens as you see, and
+they finally got into a fight to see which was the better man. When they
+were found, the victor had the nugget hugged closely to his breast, as
+if he did not want to part with it even in death. Not only that, but
+these two had scarcely found the nugget till they got into a row over
+who should carry it, and one of them got so badly whipped that he
+dropped and fainted right there. The other had strength enough to travel
+ten miles nearer the fort, and there he hid the nugget; but where he hid
+it he don't know. He raved about it while he was sick, and somebody told
+Elam of it (you see, everybody around here knows the history of that
+nugget), and every fall and winter he asks for a grub-stake and lights
+out, and I don't see any more of him till I drive my sheep down on the
+prairie. That happened two years ago, and every fall you'll see three or
+four fellows in the edge of Death Valley, saying nothing to each other,
+but ostensibly hunting coyotes, and all the while looking for that
+nugget, which is the thing they most want to find."</p>
+
+<p>"Then the nugget is really here?" exclaimed Ben.</p>
+
+<p>"It's here or hereabouts. It may be within ten miles of this place or it
+may be a hundred; for nobody knows where that fellow hid it. Mind you, I
+shouldn't like to be the fellow that finds it."</p>
+
+<p>"Why not?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because Elam will go for him. It's his nugget, and he knows it and he's
+bound to have it. Mind you, Elam doesn't say nothing about it, and he
+can't imagine what it is that sends the fellows prowling around Death
+Valley. But, laws! they may as well give it up. There have been a good
+many landslides in the canyon here the last fall, and if the nugget is
+under them, we may as well bid it good-by. I don't know that this nugget
+is any relation to Elam's, but it looks to me that way; don't it to you?
+And it seems so strange that it should come back here when it gets off a
+certain distance. The poor fellow is out there now hunting for it, and
+he may not show up this trip."</p>
+
+<p>"That won't be anything new for Elam, will it?"</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Ezra thought it would not. He might be a longer or shorter
+distance from there, and if he didn't put in an appearance, it was no
+matter; and, having got through with his talk, Uncle Ezra knocked the
+ashes from his pipe and settled himself in an attitude of rest, while
+Ben and I listened to the noise of the storm and thought of Elam's
+strange history. The nugget belonged to him, and we hoped from the
+bottom of our hearts that he would get it, although we made up our minds
+that he would have a strange time in getting back to the fort with it
+while there were so many desperate men waiting for him to recover it.
+Suddenly Ben thought of something.</p>
+
+<p>"Uncle Ezra, you didn't tell us how Elam's father came into possession
+of that nugget in the first place," said he.</p>
+
+<p>"Ask me something hard," replied the old frontiersman.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you know?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nobody knows. We don't know whether it was hisn or he was just carrying
+it for somebody. We only know it was there&mdash;at least Elam says so. We
+only know that the robbers had it for years. There is a hiatus in the
+history of the nugget, and nobody don't seem to know what became of it
+in that time. We only know that them two Greasers had it and fought over
+it, and that brings it up to two years ago. It's my opinion that there
+will be another hiatus lasting for all time. At any rate it is worth
+eight thousand dollars, and I believe it is the same one I took ten
+chances on."</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Ezra rolled over as if he intended to go to sleep, and once more
+silence reigned in the cabin. Presently a deep snore coming from Ben's
+way told me that he was fast losing consciousness, and I was left to
+keep watch of the fire and listen to the howling of the storm outside.
+While I was thinking how foolish Elam was to go on searching for that
+nugget, when he might just as well have turned an honest sheep-herder,
+and laid out a little of his strength in taking care of his woolly
+companions instead of spending it all in wolfing, I, too, passed into
+the land of dreams.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning's sun (for the storm ceased shortly after midnight)
+found us still upon our blankets, for Uncle Ezra did not intend to go
+hunting that day, and it was nine o'clock when we got breakfast off our
+hands and the dishes washed and put away. We were just settling
+ourselves for another long story&mdash;a good one we knew it was going to be,
+for Uncle Ezra had promised to tell us about the first bear he ever
+killed&mdash;when a far-away and lonely howl came to our ears. It was so
+lonely that it seemed as if a single wolf was left, and that he was
+mourning over those who had fallen before the hunter's traps and rifle;
+but we knew it was not that. We listened, and when the sound was
+repeated, I threw open the door, and stepped out and set up an answering
+howl.</p>
+
+<p>"That's Elam," said Ezra, in response to Ben's enquiring look. "It is
+his way of announcing his whereabouts. I expect he will come along with
+a hoss-back load of peltries, so that I won't have to grub-stake him
+again this winter. Elam is pretty sharp, if I did raise him."</p>
+
+<p>The blizzard had swept the mountain free of snow, and it was only in the
+valley, where the fury of the storm had spent itself; consequently the
+new-comer had little difficulty in making his appearance. In the course
+of twenty minutes he came up, and then we knew he was not alone. We
+could hear him carrying on a conversation in a loud tone with someone
+near him, but could not catch the stranger's reply. Presently he came
+out of the scrub oaks leading his horse, followed immediately by a boy
+on foot; but where was the horseback load of peltries that Uncle Ezra so
+confidently expected?</p>
+
+<p>"Howdy, boys?" said Elam.</p>
+
+<p>"How do you do?" responded Ben. "Where's the rest of your furs?"</p>
+
+<p>"Gone&mdash;all gone!" replied Elam cheerfully. "One hundred dollars' worth
+of wolf-skins and fifty dollars' worth of other furs all gone up in
+smoke."</p>
+
+<p>"Were they burned?"</p>
+
+<p>"Burned? no. Some travelling trappers came to camp while I was absent,
+and Tom, here, wasn't man enough to stop 'em. They took everything I had
+down to the fort, and although I went there and did some of the best
+talking I knew how to do, I came pretty near getting myself in trouble
+by it. I want to see Uncle Ezra, though I suppose it is too late to do
+anything. This fellow is Tom Mason, and I want you to know him and treat
+him right. He got into a little trouble down in Mississippi, where he
+used to live, and came out here to get clear of it. Know him, boys."</p>
+
+<p>We shook hands heartily with Tom Mason, and although we were
+considerably surprised at Elam's statement that his outfit had been
+broken up by thieves, we were a good deal more surprised to learn that
+the youth at his side had got into "trouble" in Mississippi. After
+hitching their horse where he could graze we went into the cabin with
+them, and gathered about them with the idea of hearing an exciting
+story; for although I had been in the far West nearly all my life, I had
+not got over my fondness for a story yet.</p>
+
+<p>"Howdy, Elam?" said Uncle Ezra, removing his pipe from his mouth with
+one hand and extending the other. "You got into trouble, I hear, all on
+account of your furs. How did it happen? And you, too, Tommy." You will
+remember that the door of the cabin was open, and that Uncle Ezra heard
+every word of our conversation. "You didn't steer clear of all trouble
+by coming out here, did you? Well, never mind. Troubles will come to
+everybody, no matter what they do. Sit down and tell me all about it.
+Haven't had any breakfast, have you?"</p>
+
+<p>Elam declared that they had had enough left for breakfast, and produced
+his pipe and got ready for a smoke, while Tom sat by with his gaze
+fastened on the fire. I will tell both stories together, for Elam did
+not touch upon Tom's tale of sorrow at all. But, in the first place, you
+remember something about Tom Mason, don't you? You recall that he got
+Jerry Lamar into serious trouble by stealing a grip-sack that belonged
+to his uncle, General Mason, which contained five thousand dollars, that
+Jerry was arrested and put into prison on account of it, and that the
+only thing that turned Tom Mason in favor of the boys who were working
+to help him was the fact that Luke Redman was going to take the money
+across the river into Texas. Mark Coleman came near getting the money,
+when his skiff was stranded at Dead Man's Elbow, but had to go away
+without it; and from that time the history of the five thousand begins.
+Tom Mason fell in with Joe Coleman, who was Mark's twin brother, and he
+told him everything he had done; and when the last moment arrived, when
+the horns of the settlers announced that they were fast closing in upon
+the robbers, he told Joe to take charge of the money and dived into a
+canebrake and disappeared. No one would have thought of prosecuting Tom
+Mason if he had stayed there, but that was not the thing. He had been
+guilty, he had never done such a thing before, and he couldn't bear to
+stand up in that community and have people point at him and whisper:</p>
+
+<p>"There goes Tom Mason, the boy that robbed his uncle of five thousand
+dollars!"</p>
+
+<p>He would go West, to Texas, and when he had lived over a good portion of
+his life, he would write to his uncle and ask him if he might return.</p>
+
+<p>Now, bear in mind that this is what I heard from Tom's lips, after I
+became so well acquainted with him that he thought it advisable to tell
+me his story. I don't say that I advised him to stay out there in that
+lawless country among those lawless folks, for I didn't. I advised him
+to go home and "live it down"; but Tom was plucky and wouldn't budge an
+inch. Perhaps you will wonder, too, how it came about that a cowboy who
+never heard of Mark Coleman, Duke Hampton, and the rest should come upon
+Tom Mason in time to write the continuation of his story&mdash;a sequel that
+the boys in Mississippi knew nothing about until long after it occurred.
+All I can say is it just happened so.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2>
+
+<h3>TOM BEGINS HIS WANDERINGS.</h3>
+
+
+<p>"Joe, I will give this valise and gun into your care, and will thank you
+to see that they are restored to their owners. I know you will do this
+much for me, for it is the last favor I shall ask of you."</p>
+
+<p>"I took the articles in question as Tom handed them to me, and when I
+raised my eyes to look at him, he was gone. He had jumped past me,
+dashed out of the passage, and disappeared into the bushes before I
+could say a word to him."</p>
+
+<p>And that was the last that Joe Coleman ever saw of Tom Mason for long
+years to come. He was friendless and alone&mdash;how very much alone he never
+knew until by skilful dodging he managed to get on the outskirts of the
+body of settlers that were closing up around Luke Redman and his gang,
+and found himself beyond the reach of capture. His face was very pale,
+but he went about his business as though he knew what he was doing. It
+was very strange that a boy who had servants to wait on him at every
+turn&mdash;one to saddle his horse, another to black his boots, and still
+another to serve up his lunch when he got hungry&mdash;should have been
+willing to set off on an expedition by himself, but it showed that he
+knew nothing of the world before him.</p>
+
+<p>Having satisfied himself by the sound of the horns and the baying of the
+dogs that he was out of danger, Tom paused long enough to transfer his
+roll of money from his trousers pocket to his boot-leg. He had about
+fifty dollars that was all his own, and as he did not wish to lose it,
+he put it where he thought it would be safe, then straightened up,
+listened for a moment to a faint, far-off note that came to his ears,
+drew his hands swiftly across his eyes, and made the best of his way
+toward the Mississippi River.</p>
+
+<p>"That is my hound, and I'll bet it will be a long time before I shall
+hear him give tongue in that fashion again," soliloquized Tom, as he
+emerged from the cane and took a survey of the prospect before him. "I
+may never hear him, but I shall always remember him."</p>
+
+<p>As Tom came out of the cane he found himself on the verge of that swamp
+over which, one short week previous, the water had stood to the depth of
+fifteen feet; but Our Fellows had already ridden over it, with Sandy
+Todd for a leader,&mdash;the boy who admitted that he "might be slow
+a-walkin' an' a-talkin', but was not slow a-ridin',"&mdash;in their wild
+chase after the Indians and after Luke Redman, the man who had stolen
+Black Bess, and had managed in some way, they could not tell how, to
+secure possession of the valise which contained General Mason's five
+thousand dollars. The ridges were high and dry, and by following them
+one could enjoy a pleasant ride, avoiding the water altogether; but the
+trouble in Tom's case was the ridges ended either in the swamp at Dead
+Man's Elbow, the place where they afterward captured Luke Redman, or
+veered around until they ended in the very spot Tom did not want to go,
+the town of Burton, which was the only place in the county that could
+boast of a jail. It was dangerous to attempt to pass from one ridge to
+another, for the bottom was covered with a bed of mud in which a
+horseman would sink out of sight. Tom speculated upon this as he walked
+along, and although he was positive that no very desperate attempt would
+be made to capture him when it was found out that he was the guilty one,
+he would have felt safer if he had left all sights and sounds of his
+first wrong-doing far behind. How his uncle would scorn him when first
+he found it out! And the negroes! Why, it wouldn't be long till it would
+be all over the State.</p>
+
+<p>"This is what comes of a rash attempt to have revenge on a boy who never
+did me a thought of harm. Because I couldn't be the leader among Our
+Fellows I had to go to work and get myself into worse trouble by it. Why
+couldn't I have rested easy when I had nothing to worry about? But I
+mustn't allow my thoughts to get the start of me right at the beginning,
+for if I do, I shall come out at the little end of the horn. I wish I
+had an axe, for I would soon get across. I shall never find my way to
+the Mississippi as long as I stay on this side the bayou."</p>
+
+<p>While Tom was talking to himself in this way, he stood upon the bluffs,
+which, by drawing near to one another, had gradually left the low lands
+behind and brought the two banks of the stream within twenty feet&mdash;a
+bad-looking place, for it went far to remind Tom of Dead Man's Elbow. It
+was his only chance to cross the stream. While he stood there, looking
+at the dark, muddy water that flowed between him and liberty, that is,
+between him and the Mississippi, and trying hard to determine what his
+chances were of passing the night in his wet clothes with no means of
+starting a fire, his attention was attracted by the very sound he wanted
+to hear. He listened, and when the blows began to fall in regular order,
+as if the woodman was warming at his work, he left the bluffs behind him
+and turned and went into the woods.</p>
+
+<p>"That's an axe," thought Tom, "and as nobody but negroes can be chopping
+out here, I'll go up and get a bite to eat; for, now that I think of it,
+I'm hungry. I must be ten miles from my uncle's now, and of course no
+one down here has heard of that grip-sack business. To-morrow morning I
+will make him cut a tree across the bayou."</p>
+
+<p>Guided by the sound of the woodman's axe, Tom felt his way through the
+cane (for by this time it was so dark in there that feeling was the only
+sense he could go by), and presently came within sight of the chopper.
+He was a jolly, good-natured negro, who seemed a little startled on
+discovering Tom's approach, but speedily recovered himself when the boy
+addressed him by saying:</p>
+
+<p>"Hallo, Snowball! What are you doing so far out of the world?"</p>
+
+<p>"Sarvent, sar. Well, sar, you see all dis timber here? My moster is
+needin' some rail timber mighty bad, so he sends me out here every
+Monday and I stays here until Saturday. Say, boss, what you doin' out
+here? Ise you los'?"</p>
+
+<p>"You haven't seen a gray horse, with saddle and bridle on, going by
+here, have you?" asked Tom in reply.</p>
+
+<p>"No, sar, I aint. Did he threw you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nor any hounds giving tongue?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, sar, I aint. Ise dey de ones you is lookin' for, boss?"</p>
+
+<p>"They're gone, and the best thing I can do is to follow after them on
+foot," said Tom, looking around for a handy log to sit down on; for, now
+that his tramp for the day was ended and he had somebody to talk to, he
+began to realize that he was tired. "I believe I'll camp with you
+to-night."</p>
+
+<p>"Sarvent, sar. Cert'n'y, sar. Whar might you uns come from?"</p>
+
+<p>"I came from the country about General Mason's place. Have you got
+anything to eat?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, sar. Plenty of it, sar," said the negro, sticking his axe into
+the log he was chopping and leading the way off through the bushes. "Dis
+way, sar. I's often heared of folks up your way. Somebody up that a-way
+been a-stealin' five thousand dollars."</p>
+
+<p>Tom was thunderstruck. "Who brought that news here?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"De niggers, dey brung it. You can't keep anything away from de
+darkies."</p>
+
+<p>"How far is General Mason's place from here?"</p>
+
+<p>"Fifteen miles, or sich a matter."</p>
+
+<p>"And did the darkies say who stole it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, sar. Dey say that a youngster named Tom Mason&mdash;he's just about
+your size, but you aint no thief, be ye?"</p>
+
+<p>"Do I look like a thief?" enquired Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"I aint a-sayin' you did, sar. I only say he was just about your size.
+Then this Luke Redman,&mdash;you've heared of him, aint ye?&mdash;he got hold of
+the money and tried to run away to Texas."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, the old gentleman has got it now," said Tom, who plainly saw that
+it wouldn't do to talk too freely with the darky on this subject,
+because he knew too much. "They organized a big expedition and hunted
+the man down and captured him."</p>
+
+<p>"I am mighty glad to hear it, and I hope dey will throw dem as 'as got
+it in jail so tight that dey won't never have time to think of five
+thousand dollars. Now, sit down on that block of wood and I'll soon get
+you something to eat. You see, there is two bunks here? One belongs to
+my pardner, who is home now, sick with the rheumatiz. Moster is mighty
+keerful of his niggers, and he don't like to have Pomp come down here
+dat a-way, so he told him he must stay about the house and do light
+chores until next week, when he will come down here to help me split
+rails. Dere's a slice of bacon and some johnny cake for you. If you can
+wait till I fix up the fire I will give you a cup of coffee."</p>
+
+<p>"Does your master give you coffee?" asked Tom in surprise, for he could
+not remember that his uncle ever so far forgot himself.</p>
+
+<p>"'Course he does, sar, when we are splittin' rails; and sometimes"&mdash;here
+the darky leaned over and whispered the words to Tom, as if he feared
+that somebody would overhear them&mdash;"we take a handful now and then to do
+the old woman. Hy-ya!"</p>
+
+<p>Tom laughed as heartily as the negro did,&mdash;his laugh was catching,&mdash;but
+said he would wait until the darky had his supper.</p>
+
+<p>"Very well, den. You eat your lunch and I will go back to my
+rail-splittin'. When you get through, just lay down in Pomp's bunk and
+go to sleep. I'll have you up at seven o'clock."</p>
+
+<p>The darky went out, and Tom, being left to himself, proceeded to look
+about him. The cabin, which was built of rails, was barely large enough
+to seat two men at the table; but it was tight, and as the most the
+darkies had to do was to eat and sleep under it, it had plenty of room
+in it. Besides, there was a bench beside the door, and when the darkies
+were tired of working, that was the place for them to "loaf." By the
+time he had made these observations his bacon and johnny cake were gone,
+and he got up and crept into Pomp's bunk.</p>
+
+<p>By the time he awoke it was pitch dark, save where the faint light from
+the dying fire which the negro had kindled to cook his supper shone
+through the open doorway. The terrific snores which came from the bunk
+at his feet told him that the darky had long ago retired to rest, but he
+was hungry, and he crept out of bed to see if anything had been left for
+him. He found a pot of coffee and a huge chunk of bacon and johnny cake
+waiting for him on the coals, and as the fire had not had time to burn
+itself out, they were as warm as when they first were cooked. But by
+certain signs which he discovered while disposing of the good things the
+darky had provided for him, he found that he had been asleep longer than
+he had thought, and that daylight was not far off, and finally the negro
+started up from an apparently sound sleep, threw aside the blankets with
+a frantic sweep of his arm, and sat up and looked about him.</p>
+
+<p>"Hi! dere you is," said he. "I fix up dat fire fo' times during de
+night, but you was sleepin' so soundly that I couldn't b'ar to waken you
+up. Has you got plenty?"</p>
+
+<p>"Plenty, thank you. It's about four o'clock, isn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>The negro pulled himself entirely out of bed, put on his shoes, and went
+out and looked about him. After looking in vain for several stars which
+he ought to have found, but could not, he announced that his guest had
+struck the hour pretty closely.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, while you are cooking your own breakfast, couldn't you put
+on a little mess for me? You see, I am not bound for my uncle's house
+just now. I have to go down to the landing to meet the steamer <i>John
+Clark</i> there, and get a trifling sum of money that one of the passengers
+will have ready for me."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, boss, how is you going to get across de bayou?" asked the darky,
+in surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"If my horse had not thrown me, I could have ridden him across," replied
+Tom. "But he had to start off on his own hook, and I shall have to do
+the best I can on foot. For that money I must have."</p>
+
+<p>"Dat's all right, sar. But I don't see how you are going to get across
+de bayou."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you? Well, you just go ahead and cook me some breakfast and then
+I'll show you. If you had lived in these woods as long as I have, you
+would know that it is an easy matter to cut a tree across some parts of
+the bayou."</p>
+
+<p>Tom washed his hands and face in some muddy water he dipped up from the
+stream that ran a short distance from the camp, dried them on his
+handkerchief, and watched the negro as he went about his work. Now and
+then, when he thought Tom was not looking at him, he would roll up his
+eyes, taking in at one swift glance all the clothing he wore, from his
+hat down to his boots. Tom was well enough acquainted with the negro
+character to know that he had excited his suspicions in some way.</p>
+
+<p>"If I keep on in this way, I shall excite the mistrust of everyone I
+chance to meet," thought Tom, who wondered what he could have said that
+had caused this sudden change in the darky's behavior. "I have shut him
+up like an oyster, and not another thing can I get out of him. I shall
+be with him over half an hour longer, and then he can do what he pleases
+with his suspicions."</p>
+
+<p>"Dat's a mighty slick rascal, dat feller," muttered the darky, as he
+fished the bacon out of the frying-pan and placed it on to a clean chip.
+"Dere's your breakfast, sar. I'll eat mine out here by this stump."</p>
+
+<p>"Give me a cup of coffee," said Tom. "It is all I want."</p>
+
+<p>The steaming beverage was placed before him. Tom thought of the great
+world into which he was so soon to enter, and wondered if everybody in
+it was going to treat him as this obscure darky had done. Texas was a
+pretty good-sized empire, he had heard them say, and he believed it was
+made up mostly of men who had gone there to get clear of the law, and
+who had enough to think of to keep themselves out of trouble;
+consequently they wouldn't bother their heads about a boy who had been
+suspected of stealing five thousand dollars. When Tom had reached this
+point in his meditations, the darky, who had evidently swallowed his
+breakfast whole and rolled up in a piece of old gunny sack the supply he
+intended Tom should take with him, handed the bundle to him with one
+hand, and reached out for the axe with the other.</p>
+
+<p>"Ise ready now if you is, sar."</p>
+
+<p>This was all that passed between them. Tom got up, pointed out the path
+he wished the negro to follow in order to reach the narrowest part of
+the stream, which he had examined the day before, and fell in behind
+him; and it is a noticeable fact that he kept the black in front of him
+all the way to the stream. It is true that the man had no weapon but his
+axe, but with such an article, if he could only get the start with it,
+he could easily march him before his master, and that was the very place
+he didn't want to go. Such things had been done, and Tom did not see why
+they could not be done again. In a few minutes they reached the bank of
+the bayou, and when the negro saw it, he leaned on his axe and shook his
+head.</p>
+
+<p>"You knows what you want to do, don't you, sar?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I know just what I want to do," replied Tom. "Cut down this tree
+first."</p>
+
+<p>The negro glanced at the top of the tree in order to see which way it
+would fall, cut a few bushes out of his way, and went to work. A few
+blows with the axe brought the tree down and it lodged on the opposite
+bank. Two more trees were cut down and the bridge was completed.</p>
+
+<p>"Good-by, Snowball," said Tom, extending his closed hand toward the
+negro. "I don't want you to do this for nothing. Here's a dollar to pay
+you for your trouble."</p>
+
+<p>"I&mdash;I don't want it, sar," replied the darky, drawing back. "I hope dat
+money won't sink you afore you get across de river, but I'm mighty jubus
+about it."</p>
+
+<p>"What money?"</p>
+
+<p>"General Mason's five thousand dollars, sar."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you suppose I have got that amount of money stowed away about me?
+Why, man, it's a valiseful. This money is all honest."</p>
+
+<p>"I can't help dat, sar. I can't shake hands with you, either. I would be
+afraid it would take all the strength out of my arms so't I couldn't
+split more rails."</p>
+
+<p>"All right, then. You stand here on the bank and see me work my way
+across. I bet you that all the money I have about my clothes will not
+sink me if I do fall overboard."</p>
+
+<p>As Tom spoke he stepped recklessly upon the bridge. We say "recklessly,"
+because had he taken more pains to examine the fastenings on the
+opposite bank he would have been more careful. He had nearly crossed the
+bayou when the log on which he was walking tipped a little, and although
+Tom made frantic efforts to save himself by seizing all the branches
+within his reach, it set the whole structure in motion. There was a
+"swish" of tree-tops, and in a moment more the bridge and Tom went into
+the water together. The negro looked, but did not see him come up.</p>
+
+<p>"Dar, now!" said he. "The money he had about his clothes was too heavy
+for him to walk the bridge with."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE WRONG BOAT.</h3>
+
+
+<p>The negro, almost overwhelmed with surprise, watched the surface of the
+water to see Tom reappear, but it was only for a moment, and then with a
+rush one of the trees, which had broken loose from its moorings, swept
+over the very place where the head was seen, and the negro fairly danced
+with consternation when he saw one of the limbs catch Tom and carry him
+under water with it.</p>
+
+<p>"Dar, now!" he exclaimed. "If I go home and tell moster about this thief
+being drowned here, he will think I did it. What's dat?"</p>
+
+<p>When Tom arose to the surface, it was only just long enough to clear the
+water from his face, settle his hat firmly on his head, and take a fresh
+hold of the bundle containing his lunch, and then he saw the tree
+sweeping down upon him. To take in one long breath and go down again
+before it got to him was barely the work of a moment, so that when the
+tree passed Tom came up a second time, and this time he was much nearer
+to the bank he wanted to reach than he was before. A few lusty strokes
+brought him to it, and by the aid of trailing roots and vines he made
+his way to the top with the agility of a sailor, so that by the time the
+darky had got over wondering at his narrow escape, he was high upon the
+bank opposite to him, and pulling off his boot to see if his money was
+safe.</p>
+
+<p>"Is dat you, sar?" said he, scarcely raising his voice above a whisper.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course it is I," replied Tom, who did not know whether to get angry
+over the effects of his unfortunate plunge or to laugh outright at the
+darky's exhibition of astonishment. "You thought you had seen the last
+of me, didn't you? It takes a bigger stream than this to drown me. There
+is all the money I have got," he went on, taking his roll from his boot
+and holding it out to the view of the negro. "It don't amount to five
+thousand dollars, by a long shot."</p>
+
+<p>The darky did not know what else to say. He watched Tom as he pulled off
+his coat and vest and wrung the water from them, examined his bundle to
+see that his lunch was safe, said he thought the steamboat landing was
+about ten miles distant and there wasn't any more creeks to cross before
+he got there, and then saw him disappear in the woods. He stood for some
+moments gazing at the place where he had last been seen, and then
+shouldered his axe and turned away.</p>
+
+<p>"Dat's a mighty slick little rascal," said he, as he wended his course
+back to his camp&mdash;"a mighty slick little rascal. I don't reckon I'd best
+say anything to moster about it; and as for Pomp&mdash;I won't say anything
+to him, either. He'll leave me to cut rails alone if I do dat."</p>
+
+<p>"My first adventure," muttered Tom, as he hastened along the narrow
+ridge that led him toward the Mississippi. "That old darky believes, as
+much as he believes anything, that the little money I had in my boot was
+the cause of my being spilled into the drink; but it is all honest
+money, every bit of it."</p>
+
+<p>The sun grew hot as he went along, and by changing his coat and vest
+from one arm to the other, and by turning his money over in his hands to
+keep the wet bills on the outside, he gradually removed the effects of
+his cold plunge, so that long before he arrived at the point where the
+negroes were chopping he could tell them that he had started for the
+landing on horseback, but that his nag had thrown him and he was obliged
+to continue his journey on foot. He also tried to eat a little of the
+lunch with which the darky had provided him, but the johnny cake and
+bacon were wet, and after a few mouthfuls he dropped the remainder
+behind the log on which he was sitting.</p>
+
+<p>The negroes who were cutting wood for the supply of steamers that were
+plying up and down the river belonged to the man who owned the yard. As
+there were probably a dozen of them in all engaged in chopping wood all
+the time, their employer could afford a white man to oversee their work
+and the teams, but he seemed to have nothing to do but to sit on a log
+and whittle a stick. He listened good-naturedly to Tom's story, and told
+him where he could go to find the camp. The largest house in it was his,
+and he would probably find books and papers enough to amuse him until he
+came in from his work. The <i>Jennie June</i> would probably be the next
+steamer that would stop at the landing for wood, and she would be along
+some time during the night.</p>
+
+<p>"I think that books and papers occupy the most of your time," said Tom
+to himself, as he started away in obedience to these instructions. "If I
+were a negro, I don't know any better job than having you for an
+overseer. Did you see how those negroes clustered around him to hear my
+story? If I had been their overseer, I should have started them back to
+their work in a hurry."</p>
+
+<p>Tom found the camp deserted by all save an old darky who was sitting on
+a bench outside one of the doors sunning himself. He was the cook, he
+said. He pointed out the overseer's house and told Tom to go in there
+and make himself at home, and Tom went; but he did not make himself very
+much at home after he got there. He found several books scattered about,
+but they were all old; and it was hard to tell where the overseer hung
+his clothes, for the back of the solitary chair of which the cabin could
+boast was liberally supplied with them. His trunk was open and the
+contents were littered about, and on the bare table, on which the
+overseer had left some signs of his breakfast which were still
+untouched, were articles that ought long ago to have been in the wash. A
+glance about the cabin showed Tom that there was at least one article of
+which the overseer was choice&mdash;his rifle. That, together with the
+powder-horn, bullet-pouch, and hunting-knife, was hung upon pegs over
+the door. Whatever accident might befall his other traps, his hunting
+outfit would always be safe.</p>
+
+<p>Tom took a seat on the bench outside the door, looked up at the sun to
+see how near twelve o'clock it was, and then looked at the negro. The
+latter made no signs of getting dinner, and Tom finally made up his mind
+that the men had taken their dinner to the woods with them; but his own
+stomach clamored loudly for something nourishing, and Tom finally
+accosted the negro.</p>
+
+<p>"I say, uncle, are you not going to get some dinner?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not before fo' o'clock, sar," replied the darky. "I blow de horn den
+and all hands come in."</p>
+
+<p>Tom was uneasy after that, and wished now when it was too late that he
+had reserved a portion of the johnny cake and bacon that had been
+furnished him. Wet as it was, it was much better than nothing. He found
+a book and made out to interest himself in a story for five mortal
+hours, when suddenly the long shrill notes of a horn rang in his ears.
+He would soon have something to eat, at all events. Presently a thought
+occurred to him.</p>
+
+<p>"Say, uncle, how do you tell the time? You haven't got any clock, have
+you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no, sar," said the negro. "Ise got something better than a clock.
+You see that ar peak of dat building hyar? Well, every time it's fo'
+o'clock the p'int of that peak is right hyar."</p>
+
+<p>"Summer and winter?" asked Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Summer and winter dat peak is right hyar. Den I knows it is fo' o'clock
+and den I blows de horn."</p>
+
+<p>Tom wanted to ask him whether or not the sun was always in the same
+place summer and winter, but gave it up when he heard the sound of the
+negroes' voices raised in a rude sort of a plantation melody coming from
+the woods, for he knew that supper was close at hand. Nearer came the
+strains, and in the short space of half an hour the cavalcade streamed
+into view. What a lively set they were then! One would have thought that
+cutting wood was the happiest part of a darky's life. Keeping up their
+song, they slipped off the wagon, leaving the teamsters to take care of
+the mules. The overseer came into the cabin, and after exchanging a
+merry salutation with Tom, remarking that he and the darkies had
+performed a task that day that would have done credit to a bigger force
+than his, he cleared the table in readiness for supper. The articles
+that adorned the back of the chair were cast upon the trunk, the
+unwashed apparel on the table was swept off and thrown on the top of
+them, and then the overseer was ready for a smoke.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir, me and the niggers have done a heap of work," said the man,
+seating himself on the threshold by Tom's side. "They were taking it
+easy when you came along, just as I mean that all black ones shall who
+work under me, but perked up a bit and went to work right smart. Aint
+they happy now? Every one singing at the top of his voice."</p>
+
+<p>Supper being over, which consisted of corn bread, bacon, and tea, Tom
+spent two hours in conversation with the overseer, until, as he was
+relating a story of his personal experience, an audible snore came from
+his direction, and, facing about, he found that his auditor had gone
+fast asleep, stretched out on the floor, and using the back of his chair
+for a pillow. It wasn't dark yet, by a long ways, and the sounds that
+came from the camp of the negroes told him that there was a heap of fun
+going on there; but as it seemed to be the rule to go to slumber
+whenever he was ready, Tom went to the overseer's bed and climbed into
+it.</p>
+
+<p>It seemed to him that he had scarcely closed his eyes when someone laid
+a hand upon his shoulder and shouted in his ear that the <i>Jennie June</i>
+was at the landing and taking on a load of wood. That was enough for
+Tom, who wanted to get into a bed where he could take his clothes off.
+When he got his eyes fairly open, there was no one in sight, but he
+heard the sound of a steamer's bell, followed by the hoarse commands of
+the mate, and when he reached the door, he found the whole yard lighted
+up by a torch which the steamer had placed in her bow. The boat was made
+fast to the levee when he got there, and her crew were making ready to
+carry on her load of wood, but Tom paid no attention to them. More than
+half asleep, he made his way on deck and into the saloon, which he found
+deserted by all save a party of men who were engaged in playing cards.
+They never looked up as Tom entered, being deeply interested in the
+piles of money before them, and he passed on to the desk and made
+application for a room to a man with a pen behind his ear. Without
+saying a word he took down a key from a board by the side of his desk
+and led Tom along the cabin and unlocked a door and showed him two
+bunks. The lower one had evidently been occupied during the afternoon.</p>
+
+<p>"Take the upper bunk," said the clerk. "The lower one belongs to a man
+who is playing cards, but I guess he won't care. Good-night."</p>
+
+<p>Tom was much too sleepy to know or care who owned the lower bunk; he
+pulled off his clothes and with a mingled sigh of satisfaction and
+comfort climbed into the upper one, and composed himself to sleep. He
+awoke once during the night, only to find that the steamer had finished
+taking on her load of wood, and was now ploughing her way along the
+river; and, having satisfied himself on this point, Tom rolled over and
+went to sleep again.</p>
+
+<p>The next time he awoke it was broad daylight, and the boat was rocking
+as boats always do when they have nothing to do but to make their way to
+their destination as soon as possible. The stool (there were no chairs
+in the state-room) which he had left unoccupied had been drawn close to
+the door, and a man's coat and vest lay over it; but it was not that
+that attracted Tom's attention, and caused his eyes to open to their
+widest extent. It was a revolver, a murderous-looking thing, and
+carrying a ball as big as an army musket. Tom thought it would be a good
+plan to get out of the way of that thing, and, holding in his breath, he
+slipped out of his bunk; but cautious as he was in his movements, the
+man heard him. He opened his eyes and gazed fixedly at Tom, then caught
+up his revolver and thrust it under his pillow, seized his coat and vest
+and threw them between the bulkhead and himself, and then rolled over
+and prepared to go to sleep again.</p>
+
+<p>"Morning," said he.</p>
+
+<p>"Good-morning, sir," said Tom.</p>
+
+<p>He thought it a wise thing to be civil, although the man's face did not
+look like one belonging to one who would use a revolver on slight
+provocation. The long silken whiskers which fell down upon his breast
+might cover up the expression of the lower part of his countenance, but
+they could not conceal the merry twinkle of the mild blue eyes which had
+looked at Tom for a moment. Considerably relieved, Tom slipped into his
+clothes and went out, closing the door behind him, and made the best of
+his way toward the barber shop; for be it known that up to this time Tom
+had not touched his hair at all. There was just one barber there, and he
+was as anxious to make money as anyone he ever saw.</p>
+
+<p>"Shave, sir?" said the negro, as Tom came in and pulled off his hat. "I
+declare if dat aint the worst-looking head I ever set my peepers on. A
+shampoo will just about set you right."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't want it," said Tom shortly.</p>
+
+<p>"I reckon dat you was playing cards last night," said the barber, as he
+deftly tucked the towel around Tom's chin and began brushing up his
+hair.</p>
+
+<p>"No, I wasn't," said Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Den you missed the purtiest sight you ever see. Dere was one man
+dere,&mdash;he was a cattle-raiser,&mdash;and he raked in thirty thousand dollars
+from the two sharpers who were trying to gouge him out of his money! I
+wouldn't like to be in his boots, I tell you. Dey mean to kill him afore
+dey get done with this trip! I declare, I believe he bunks with
+you&mdash;room No. 19."</p>
+
+<p>"By gracious!" exclaimed Tom, starting up. And to himself he added: "I
+don't wonder that he had his revolver handy. He had his pants on and
+that was the reason I didn't see them."</p>
+
+<p>"Did you say something, sir?" asked the darky.</p>
+
+<p>"No, I didn't," replied Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sar, dat was the purtiest sight I ever saw. De man dealt himself
+fo' aces, and one of the sharpers, the one that was hottest after his
+money, fo' kings. De best of it was he drew fo' cards, so he knew right
+where de cards were stocked. The sharper thought there had been a
+mistake somewhere, and went down in his jeans and pulled out his money,
+fifteen thousand dollars' wuth. De man saw him,&mdash;he had more bills where
+dem came from,&mdash;and de sharper showed fo' kings; but when he went to
+take de money&mdash;I declare, your head is awful dirty. I think a shampoo
+will set you just about right."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't want it. Go on. When he went to take the money&mdash;then what?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, he put down de fo' aces with one hand and drew his revolver with
+the other. De sharper concluded he would let the money stay; and dat
+broke up de game. You ought to have seen dat sharper's face. He's a
+mighty slick rogue, and I bet you he'll put a ball into dat sheep-herder
+before we gets up to Fort Gibson."</p>
+
+<p>"Why don't you tell him of it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Shucks! What do I want to go and get myself into trouble for? He goes
+up and down dis road every year and he knows it already. It aint none of
+my business."</p>
+
+<p>The reader will remember that we are describing things that happened a
+good many years ago. At that time the cotton-planters, and the
+cattle-and sheep-herders who lived far back in the country, made use of
+the steamboats, which were the only means of communication they had.
+Gambling was much in vogue, and if the sharpers who met them at New
+Orleans couldn't find any means of inducing them to play there, they
+would take passage in these boats and try them again when every other
+influence except reading was at a discount. It was a dangerous thing to
+pick up a stranger on these trips, especially if one had money with him,
+or anything that could be changed into money. For instance, there was a
+contractor who started from New Orleans to do some government business
+at Little Rock. He had half a dozen teams and everything he wanted to
+make his enterprise successful, with the exception of the men. Those he
+was going to hire of the planters, and of course he had to have some
+money to do it with. On the way up he fell in with a very modest
+stranger who didn't know anything about playing cards, and the
+consequence was before he reached his destination he was penniless. And
+the beauty of it was the modest stranger was dead broke, too! Every cent
+of his little hundred dollars had been won by the two strangers whom the
+contractor had invited to join in their game, as well as the last mule
+which the latter had to pull his wagons. The contractor made out a bill
+of sale of everything he had, and the next morning he was missing. He
+had jumped overboard, and everybody thought he was drowned accidentally.
+The modest stranger and his two confederates took the mules ashore and
+sold them at a big figure, and went back to New Orleans well satisfied
+with their trip. It seems that in the case of this stranger the sharpers
+had picked up the wrong man. He had "stocked" the cards on them, and won
+everything they had, and the darky knew, from certain little signs he
+had seen, that his life was not safe so long as he remained on board
+that steamer. Tom had a horror of everything that related to gambling,
+and he wanted to talk about something else.</p>
+
+<p>"This boat is making pretty good time, isn't she?" he said, during a
+pause in which the darky went back to his bench after his comb and
+brush.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sar. We don't touch anywhere till we get to Memphis, and we shall
+reach there about&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"What?" exclaimed Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Eh? Did you speak, sar?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, I want to go down the river," gasped Tom, who couldn't believe
+that his ears were not deceiving him. "Memphis! That's up the river."</p>
+
+<p>"Course it is, sar. And you are going dere as fast as you kin."</p>
+
+<p>"Memphis!" exclaimed Tom.</p>
+
+<p>He couldn't wait for the barber to get through with him, but, jumping
+out from his hands, with the apron floating all about him, he ran to the
+nearest window and looked out. He saw the trees dancing swiftly by, but
+it was not to them that he devoted the most of his attention. The
+current of the river was what drew his gaze. He took one look at it, at
+the trees and stumps that covered the surface of the water which the
+river managed to pick up in the low lands when it was high, and then
+returned disconsolately to his chair. He didn't want to go to Memphis.
+It was two thousand miles out of his way, and, besides, there were any
+number of business men that knew him on the levee.</p>
+
+<p>"You wanted to go to New Orleans, I take it," said the barber.</p>
+
+<p>But Tom was done talking. He wanted to have his hair brushed as quickly
+as possible, so that he might go to the office and settle with the
+clerk; so the darky speedily put the finishing touches to it, received
+twenty cents for his trouble, and Tom hurried out and in a few seconds
+more was standing in front of the desk. He did not see much room when he
+got there, for there was a big broad-shouldered man standing in front of
+the desk, with his arms spread out over it, talking with the clerk; but
+he stepped back to make space for Tom, and smiled so good-naturedly at
+him over his bushy whiskers that the boy was satisfied that he had one
+friend on the boat, if he didn't have another.</p>
+
+<p>"Morning," said he. "Did the sight of that revolver scare you?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, sir. But I got up just in time to find that I am bound up the
+river. I didn't say which way I wanted to go, and the overseer at the
+landing called me for the wrong boat."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you've got to go now that you are started," said the clerk,
+pulling a book toward him that contained a list of the passengers, "and
+it will take just five dollars to pay your fare to Memphis."</p>
+
+<p>Very reluctantly Tom pulled out his roll of bills and counted out the
+five dollars. Then he turned and went out on the guard and seated
+himself, almost ready to cry with vexation. Presently his room-mate
+appeared, and without saying so much as "By your leave" he drew a chair
+close to Tom's side and sat down.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2>
+
+<h3>TOM'S LUCK.</h3>
+
+
+<p>"I say, my young friend, what have you been doing that is contrary to
+Scribner?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't understand you, sir," said Tom, starting involuntarily.</p>
+
+<p>"I mean," said the stranger, bending over and whispering the words to
+Tom, "what have you been doing that is contrary to law?"</p>
+
+<p>This was a question that Tom never expected to have asked him by
+strangers. Did he carry the marks of the cruel wrong he had done his
+uncle and Jerry Lamar upon his face so that anybody could read them? The
+next time he passed a mirror he would look into it and see.</p>
+
+<p>"What is your name?" asked the stranger suddenly.</p>
+
+<p>"Tom Mason."</p>
+
+<p>"Mine is Bolton&mdash;Jasper Bolton; and, Tom, I am glad to see you. Put it
+there. What have you been doing?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not a thing, sir. My uncle has got the money back all right before this
+time."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah! Money, was it? How much?"</p>
+
+<p>"Five thousand dollars."</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Five</i> thousand dollars! W-h-e-w! You didn't try to kill anybody in
+order to get away with it?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, sir. I shot a couple of nigger dogs that were on my trail, but if
+you knew the circumstances, you would say I did right," said Tom, who
+had suddenly made up his mind to make a confidant of Mr. Bolton. "It was
+just this way."</p>
+
+<p>And then Tom straightened around on his seat and faced his new friend
+and told him his story, being interrupted occasionally with such
+expressions as "Ah! yes," and "I see," which led him to believe that he
+was making out a better case against his uncle than he was against
+himself.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't want you to think that my uncle is in any way to blame for all
+this," said Tom, in conclusion. "I wanted money, I wanted to be revenged
+on Jerry Lamar, and so I took it."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course. You ought to have had better sense, seeing that the money
+would all be your own some day. Do you know what I think you had better
+do?"</p>
+
+<p>Tom replied that he did not.</p>
+
+<p>"I think you had better go home, tell your uncle just what you have told
+me, and abide the consequences."</p>
+
+<p>"You don't know my uncle, or you would not advise any such step as
+that," said Tom, with a sigh which showed that he knew him, and that he
+was bound to stick to his course. "I am the only relative he has got in
+the world, but that won't hinder him from saying every time he gets mad
+at me: 'So you are the lad that tried to reduce me to poverty by
+stealing five thousand dollars from me!' He will get all over that when
+he finds that I am not coming home, and then I will go back to him."</p>
+
+<p>"How long do you think it will take him?"</p>
+
+<p>"About a year, maybe two."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think you can stand it among all these lawless men for that
+length of time?"</p>
+
+<p>"I've got to. I don't see any other way out of it."</p>
+
+<p>"And you were going to Texas to get another start? Texas is a country in
+which all men bring up who have made a failure, and you were bound that
+way."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir. I think I could make another start there."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you any relatives or friends living there?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not a soul," replied Tom, straightening about on his chair and looking
+down at the river. "By the way," he added, "I want to give you a piece
+of advice. Those men of whom you won the money last night have
+threatened to have it all back if they have to kill you."</p>
+
+<p>"Who told you that story?" said Mr. Bolton, with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>"The barber."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, they will have plenty of time to try their hands at it between
+here and Cincinnati. I told them a funny story about being a
+cattle-grower somewhere out West. If they try anything with me, they
+will have their hands full. There are three of them, and I know them
+all. The clerk has got the money now under lock and key. There goes the
+breakfast-bell. I will talk to you again after we go in."</p>
+
+<p>Tom was disappointed in more respects than one when he found that his
+new friend was to leave him at Memphis. With a view of gaining a little
+time he did not follow him into the dining-hall, but went into the
+barber shop and proceeded to wash his hands. When they had been dried to
+his satisfaction, he went out and drew up before the desk.</p>
+
+<p>"Who is that man who talked to me a little while ago?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"He's a gambler," was the reply, "and a mighty good one, too. He got
+into those fellows last night, didn't he?"</p>
+
+<p>That was just what Tom was afraid of. He went out and took his seat at
+the table, saw Bolton exchange courtesies with the three sharpers who
+had tried to fleece him the night before, watched him all through the
+meal, and told himself that if that was the style that men of his class
+were made of he had a great deal to learn before he could become a
+gambler. There wasn't a thing about him that could have been found fault
+with in any circle of gentlemen. In spite of his calling he had given
+Tom what he regarded as good advice, and he did not know what else he
+had to say to him.</p>
+
+<p>"There's one thing about it," thought Tom. "He has been around the world
+a good deal, is sometimes flush to-day and strapped to-morrow, but I'll
+bet if he was in my fix he would not go back to my uncle. If I am there
+to take all his abuse, my uncle never will get over flinging his gibes
+at me; but if I am away where I can't hear them, it won't take him so
+long to get over it. He can advise me all he's a mind to, but I won't go
+home."</p>
+
+<p>Breakfast being over, Tom pushed back his chair and went out and seated
+himself on the guard. The gambler did not put in an appearance for
+fifteen minutes, for he was not the one to allow his good fortune to
+take away his appetite. He came at length and bore in his hand a couple
+of cigars, one of which he offered to Tom. But the latter did not smoke.</p>
+
+<p>"You'll need an overcoat, Tom," said Mr. Bolton, after he had lighted
+his cigar and placed his heels upon the railing. "The country you have
+just come from is a summer's day compared to the one where you are
+going. It's only the latter part of December, and you'll find blizzards
+out there, I bet you."</p>
+
+<p>"But I can't afford an overcoat, Mr. Bolton. I have only fifty dollars,
+and it is all my own, too."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll get it for you. I haven't forgotten that I have been in trouble&mdash;I
+may be that way next week; and when I do get that way, I'd feel mighty
+glad for the simple gift of an overcoat. I'll get you one in Memphis,
+and at the same time I will tell the clerk to hand you two hundred
+dollars for your own."</p>
+
+<p>"I can't take it, Mr. Bolton," said Tom, astonished at the proposition.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, you can. You never may be able to return it to me, but if you
+ever find one who is suffering, and you have enough and to spare, I want
+you to hand it to him. That's all the pay I ask. I've owed this for a
+year, and this is the first chance I have had to square up with the
+fellow who gave it to me."</p>
+
+<p>"Where is the fellow now?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know whether he is living or dead. He was a good fellow, and
+when I told him what my circumstances were, how I had got in with a
+party of roughs and been cleaned out of my pile, he put his hand into
+his pocket and pulled out two hundred dollars. I told him I never could
+pay him back, and he said if I ever found some other fellow in need just
+to give him a lift. I've done it, and it squares me. But it's a mean
+business anyway."</p>
+
+<p>"Why don't you go on with me instead of going up the Ohio River to
+Cincinnati?"</p>
+
+<p>"To Fort Gibson?" exclaimed Bolton in astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose that's where I am going, aint it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you see, Bub, they've got a little document against me up there,"
+said the gambler, with a laugh. "It is a document which the sheriff
+doesn't hold against me, but which the people do."</p>
+
+<p>"Are they going to lynch you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Anyway, that is what they call it."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, by gracious!" said Tom, settling back in his chair and watching
+the clouds of smoke that ascended from the gambler's lips. "What sort of
+men have I become associated with? This man lynched! I would as soon
+think of my uncle's being lynched."</p>
+
+<p>"So now, you see, I naturally keep away from there," continued Bolton.
+"But I'll tell you what I'll do. If you will go on to Fort Hamilton,
+which is as far as navigation is open now, I will give you something
+that will introduce you to Black Dan. He's a gambler, you know."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I can't do anything to assist him in gambling," said Tom. "I don't
+know one card from another."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, bless you, I don't want you to do anything to assist him in his
+work. I want you to keep just as far away from cards as you know how,"
+said Mr. Bolton, fumbling with his neck-handkerchief. "Do you see that?
+It's a kinder pretty pin, isn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>Tom took the ornament and looked it over. It was rather large for a pin,
+the body of it being formed of some metal which Tom did not recognize,
+but the diamonds in the middle of it, six of them in all, were what made
+it so valuable.</p>
+
+<p>"That pin is worth five hundred dollars," said Mr. Bolton. "Put it on; I
+want to see how it looks on you."</p>
+
+<p>"But what do you want me to do with it?" enquired Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"I want you to take it up and give it to Black Dan when you see him. You
+are bound to meet him if you go to Fort Hamilton."</p>
+
+<p>"I can't take it. You have already done more for me than I had any right
+to expect."</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind that," said the gambler, taking the pin from Tom's hand and
+fixing it in his neck-handkerchief. "You see, he got into a little
+rucuss a few nights before I came away, and the fellow grabbed him in
+there and tore three of the diamonds out, and he gave it to me with the
+request that I would take it to New Orleans and have it repaired for
+him. There, now, you look like a sport."</p>
+
+<p>"I wish you would take it out," said Tom. "I don't like to have it in
+there. Somebody might see it and rob me."</p>
+
+<p>"You haven't got any baggage, have you?"</p>
+
+<p>Tom replied that all the clothes he had with him were those he stood in
+at that moment.</p>
+
+<p>"It won't take long to fix that. Just tell Dan, when you see him, that
+that thing has been in pawn more times than I can remember, but somehow
+I always managed to work around and get the money. By the way, he owes
+me ten dollars. He didn't give me money enough. What those diamonds are
+set in I don't know. Dan won the mine in which the stuff was found and
+had the pin made from some of the quartz; but the diamonds didn't suit
+him, and so he sent them by me to New Orleans. But, bless you, in two
+months from that time he was as poor as Job's turkey."</p>
+
+<p>"Did he lose the mine?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and all the money he had besides. Perhaps that pin will hit him
+again. Dan is a good fellow. He never went back on a man who was down on
+his luck."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't see why you don't go back to him," ventured Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you see, there's that document that the people hold against me,"
+said the gambler, with a laugh. "I think I had better stay here until
+that has had time to wear off. Yes, you go on to Fort Hamilton, and
+there you will make a strike. I don't know anybody in Fort Gibson."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you suppose they will set me to doing?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, perhaps they will grub-stake you and send you into the mountains to
+hunt up a gold mine. Many a nice fellow has got a start in that way, and
+is now numbered among the millionnaires. You'll get a start if you
+strike Black Dan."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope you will take this pin and wear it while you are on the boat,"
+said Tom; for he had already made up his mind to go on to Fort Hamilton
+and seek an interview with Black Dan if he were still alive. "I wish I
+had some baggage in which I could hide it away."</p>
+
+<p>Without saying a word Mr. Bolton took the pin, adjusted it into his
+shirt-front, and once more placed his heels on the railing. The longer
+Tom talked with him the more he admired him, and the more he detested
+his avocation. The idea that such a man as that should deliberately prey
+upon the cupidity of his neighbors! But, then, if he was a gambler, he
+was the only man in the whole lot of passengers who had taken to him.
+There were a number of finely dressed planters who sat at the table with
+him, but not one had had a word to say to him, and would have allowed
+him to go on his way to ruin if it had not been for this solitary man.
+And how he had trusted him! Was there a planter on the boat who would
+have given him so large an amount of money on so short an acquaintance?</p>
+
+<p>"There's one thing about it," said Tom, as he thrust his hands deep into
+his pockets. "If I make a success of this thing, I shall not have any
+planters, who have already made their mark in the world, to thank for my
+salvation."</p>
+
+<p>The sight of the revolver that was placed upon the stool at the head of
+his bed did not startle Tom as it had done on a former occasion.
+Answering the cheerful "Morning" of the sleepy gambler he made a trip to
+the barber shop to get a "shake up," for Tom had not yet had opportunity
+to buy a brush and comb, and then went out and seated himself on the
+guards. He felt more lonely now than he had at any time since leaving
+home. Memphis was only forty miles away,&mdash;he had heard one of the
+customers in the barber shop make that remark,&mdash;and he knew that when he
+got there the last friend he had on earth was to take leave of him.</p>
+
+<p>"How will I ever get along without him?" was the question he kept
+constantly asking himself. "Two hundred dollars and a good overcoat
+besides. I think I shall need the overcoat, for if the weather is as
+cold as it is this morning, I should prefer to hug the fire."</p>
+
+<p>While he was thinking about it, Mr. Bolton came out and beckoned to him.
+Tom followed him into the office, and when the blinds had all been
+closed, the clerk unlocked his safe and took out three official
+envelopes; for the thirty thousand made so large a roll of money that he
+could not get the bills all into one. Selecting one of the envelopes, he
+tore it open, counted out two hundred dollars from it, placed it in a
+second envelope, sealed it with a blow of his fist upon the counter, and
+placed Tom's name upon it.</p>
+
+<p>"That's yours, Tom," said he. "I need hardly tell you to be careful of
+it. When you leave the boat at Fort Gibson, the clerk will give it to
+you."</p>
+
+<p>"Must I change boats again?" asked Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, for this boat draws so much water that she can't run any farther,"
+said the clerk. "I'll keep an eye on you and see that you get through
+all right."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Bolton then proceeded to count out fifty dollars, which he pushed
+over toward the clerk, after which he put the envelopes in the inside
+pocket of his vest and buttoned his coat over them.</p>
+
+<p>"What's this for?" enquired the clerk.</p>
+
+<p>"That's to pay you for your trouble," said the gambler. "Now, the less I
+hear about this money the better I shall like it. Let us out."</p>
+
+<p>"What have you been doing to him?" enquired the clerk, after he had let
+Mr. Bolton out of the side door on to the guards, locked Tom's money in
+the safe, and raised the blind which gave entrance into the cabin. "Are
+you any relative of his?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. I never saw him until I came on board this boat. I told him my
+story and that led him to give me some money. The barber says he has
+travelled over this road a good many times."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I know him. This isn't the first fifty dollars I have made out of
+him. He has a different name every time. This time it is Jasper Bolton.
+Why, two years ago he came aboard of us, clean shaved as any farmer and
+dressed like one, and had charge of twenty-five barrels of dried apples
+which he was taking to Memphis. Of course he got on to a game before he
+had been here a great while, and cleaned everyone out."</p>
+
+<p>"I wish he wouldn't gamble," said Tom. "He has the manners of a
+gentleman."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, everyone has to make his living at something," said the clerk, with
+a laugh. "And if he can't make his any easier than at gambling, why, I
+say let him keep at it. But you ought to have seen him with those dried
+apples! He talked them up so big among the passengers that he sold them
+for double the sum that I could have bought the same apples for. Oh,
+he's a good one!"</p>
+
+<p>"I shouldn't think he would want to carry that money in his vest
+pocket," said Tom. "How easy it would be for somebody to knock him down
+and take it away from him."</p>
+
+<p>"He's got a big revolver in his pocket," said the clerk.</p>
+
+<p>During the rest of the trip to Memphis Tom stuck as close to Mr.
+Bolton's side as if he had grown there, and listened to some good
+advice, which, had he seen fit to follow it, would have made his
+progress through life a comparatively smooth one; but Tom could not get
+over the "gibes" which he knew his uncle would throw at him as often as
+he got angry. He said that was all that kept him from going back, and
+the gambler finally gave it up in despair.</p>
+
+<p>On arriving at Memphis Mr. Bolton picked up his valise, bade good-by to
+some of the officers whose acquaintance he had made on the way up, and
+stepped ashore with Tom at his heels. The latter kept a close watch over
+the sharpers, and was not a little annoyed to find that they were going
+ashore, too. He called Mr. Bolton's attention to it, but all he got was
+a smile in return; and now, when Tom got a good view of it, he told
+himself that there was more self-confidence in that smile than he had
+given him credit for. Indeed, Mr. Bolton, with his overcoat on and a
+valise in his hand, and the free, swinging stride with which he stepped
+off, looked more like a prosperous business man than he did like
+anything else.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Bolton was evidently acquainted in Memphis, for he passed three or
+four clothing-houses, and finally turned into an extra fine one, where
+he said he wanted to see the longest and thickest overcoat they had. His
+boy was going away into a country where blizzards were plenty, and he
+desired to see him well protected before he went. The first garment that
+was handed down was a fit, and Tom stood by with it on, and saw Mr.
+Bolton buy another valise, an extra suit of sheep's-gray clothing, a
+couple of blue flannel shirts, and a number of other little things which
+Tom would not have thought of. When the articles had been paid for, Mr.
+Bolton took off his pin, wrapped it in a little piece of paper, and
+thrust it into one corner of the valise, then locked it and handed the
+key to Tom. Then he turned and walked out.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Bolton," said Tom, hurrying after him, "I never can repay&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, you can. Whenever you meet a fellow that is hard up, and you
+can afford it, just hand him a dollar or two, and that will make it all
+right. Now, be careful of yourself on the way up. You'll find some
+lawless men there who won't hesitate to take the last cent you've got.
+Remember me to Black Dan, and don't forget what I have told you. Put it
+there. So long."</p>
+
+<p>Tom wanted to say something else, but before he could form the words his
+hand had been squeezed for a moment and he was alone. He watched the man
+and then saw him disappear among the crowd.</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder if anybody ever had such luck as this," said Tom, as he turned
+his face slowly toward the levee. "I almost dread to think of it, for
+fear that there is worse luck in store for me."</p>
+
+<p>He was alone now, at all events.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2>
+
+<h3>TOM ADMIRES THE COWBOYS.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Tom Mason slowly made his way back to Wolf River, the place where the
+<i>Jennie June</i> was discharging her cargo, locked his baggage in his state
+room, and seated himself on the guard to watch the deck-hands and think
+of Mr. Bolton, if that was his name. Several passengers got off at
+Memphis, and several more got on to take their places, but from the time
+the boat rounded to go up the Arkansas River there was no one who had
+anything to say to him, if we except the clerk and the barber.</p>
+
+<p>Tom thought he had never seen so lonely and desolate a country as that
+through which the Arkansas flowed. Woods were to be seen in every
+direction, and here and there a small clearing with a negro or two
+scattered about to show that somebody lived there. The boat stopped a
+few times to let off a passenger where there was not the sign of a fence
+anywhere around, but she never got out a line for them. She awoke the
+echoes far and near with her hoarse whistle, shoved out a gang-plank, a
+couple of deck-hands ran ashore with the passenger's baggage, and then
+she went on her way up the river. The town of Little Rock was situated
+in the woods, and above that it was all wilderness until Fort Gibson was
+reached. The <i>Jennie June</i> did not tie up alongside the levee, but ran
+on till she came to a little boat with steam up, the only boat there was
+at the landing, and made fast alongside of her, keeping her wheels
+moving all the while, so as not to pull her away from her moorings.</p>
+
+<p>"Have I got to change to that thing?" said Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir," replied the clerk, who hurried past him with a book in his
+hands and a pencil behind his ear. "She's the only one who can go above
+here at all. Plenty of room on her. I'll be ready to go with you in ten
+minutes."</p>
+
+<p>With his baggage between his feet Tom sat down to await the return of
+the clerk, and to make a mental estimate of the vessel that was to take
+him 150 miles further on his journey. He saw that she had no Texas on
+board of her, her pilot-house being seated on the roof of the cabin. Her
+engines were small, being no doubt reduced in weight to make her
+carrying capacity equal to passing over the shoal places she would find
+before her, her spars were ready for use, and she had no roof over her
+main-deck. She could get along very well in dry weather, but what would
+she do when a rain-storm came up? Tom noticed that a good portion of
+baggage was laid out on the boiler deck, and no doubt some of the
+passengers slept there; and consequently it would be a dangerous piece
+of business for any of the wakeful parties to attempt to promenade the
+main-deck with a cigar, as he had often seen done on the <i>Jennie June</i>.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope we shall have pleasant weather all the way to Fort Hamilton,"
+thought Tom, as he rested his elbows on the railing and proceeded to
+size up the passengers. "I don't see how they can get all those men into
+the cabin."</p>
+
+<p>Almost the first thing Tom saw, curled up before some luggage they were
+watching, were a couple of Indians, taking good care to keep out of the
+way of the swiftly moving deck-hands. But Indians he could see any day
+by simply riding into his uncle's woods; but who were those long-legged,
+lank fellows who took just as much care of their rifles and knapsacks as
+the Indians did? They were hunters, and Tom could not resist the
+temptation to turn his eyes away from the fore-castle back to the
+main-deck to take a second survey of the motley group of men he had seen
+there. They were cowboys all of them, and their clothing, especially
+their hats and boots, were as nearly perfect as money could buy. They
+were all young fellows, from twenty to twenty-five years of age, and
+wore their six-shooters strapped around them with as much ease as though
+they had been born with them on. The hunters were a lazy set, and were
+willing to work for the furs they captured, while the cowboys were
+willing to work for a salary, and they earned every dollar of it, too.</p>
+
+<p>"That's what I am going to be," thought Tom. "I'll have a horse and
+lariat, and I'll soon learn to ride with the best of them. I don't see
+what Mr. Bolton could have been thinking of when he bought me this
+sheep's-gray suit. None of the cowboys has them on."</p>
+
+<p>While Tom was busy in watching the cowboys and telling himself that
+almost any one of them looked ready for a fight, the clerk came up, and,
+following a motion of his hand, Tom stepped after him into the office.
+He unlocked the safe and, taking out Tom's roll of money, handed it to
+him, saying:</p>
+
+<p>"I have spoken to the clerk about you, and he promises that he will give
+you a nice room with a lower bunk. Good luck to you."</p>
+
+<p>Tom immediately tore open the end of the envelope and began running his
+fingers over the bills. He wanted to see if they were all there.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't want anything," said the clerk. "I wouldn't take anything if
+you were to offer it to me. Come on and let's go and see the clerk. I'm
+awful busy when we are making a landing."</p>
+
+<p>Tom at once picked up his valise and fell in behind the clerk, who led
+the way on board the <i>Ivanhoe</i>. By dodging in the rear of some of the
+deck-hands he managed to get on board without being knocked overboard,
+and soon found himself standing beside a man who was shouting out some
+orders to which nobody paid the least attention. He changed his pencil
+from his hand into his mouth long enough to shake Tom by the hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Go up on the boiler deck and set down there till I come," said he.
+"I'll attend to your case in just no time at all."</p>
+
+<p>Seeing that no one else paid any attention to him, Tom ascended the
+stairs and entered the cabin. He wanted to see what sort of a looking
+place it was, but almost recoiled when he opened the door, for it was
+filled so full of stale tobacco smoke that he did not see how anybody
+could live in it. But he knew that he would have to become accustomed to
+that smell before he was on the prairie very long, so he kept on and
+finally found a chair at the further end of the cabin. There was no one
+near him except a man whose arms were outstretched on the table and his
+face buried in his hands; and when Tom approached, he raised his head
+and exhibited a countenance that was literally burning up with fever. He
+was dressed like a cowboy, but there didn't seem to be anyone to attend
+to his wants.</p>
+
+<p>"I say," said he, in a faint voice, "I wish you would be good enough to
+bring me a glass of water."</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly I will," replied Tom, rising and placing his valise in the
+chair.</p>
+
+<p>He did not know where to go to get it, but as he turned into a little
+gangway which he thought ought to lead to the galley he encountered a
+darky, and to him he made known his wants&mdash;not for a glass, but for a
+whole pitcher of ice-water. With these in his hand he went back to the
+sick man, who, waving away the glass of water which Tom poured out for
+him, seized the pitcher and drained it nearly dry. Then he set it down,
+and with a sigh of relief settled back in his chair.</p>
+
+<p>"I have been waiting for an hour for someone to hand me a drink of
+water, but I didn't have strength enough to go after it," said he, with
+a smile. "I knew where it was&mdash;well, it stayed there."</p>
+
+<p>"Fever and ague?" said Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Buck ague," responded the man. "I always get it whenever I come to this
+country."</p>
+
+<p>"I should think you would keep away from it, then."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I had to come with a herd of cattle my employer was getting up
+for the government, and that's the way I got it. Ah! here comes one of
+those lazy kids that ought to have been here and tended to me," added
+the man, as one of those handsome cowboys that Tom had noticed on the
+main-deck rapidly approached the table. When he saw the pitcher of
+ice-water, he stopped and gazed in consternation.</p>
+
+<p>"Somebody's been fixing you!" said he. "He's been taking calomel," he
+explained to Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"He never said a word to me about it," faltered Tom, who thought he was
+in a fair prospect of getting himself into trouble.</p>
+
+<p>"You know the doctor said you must be careful not to drink any water
+after taking that powder," continued the cowboy, looking at Tom as if he
+had a mind to throw the pitcher at his head.</p>
+
+<p>"The kid is all right," said the sick man, "and I'll stay by him. Now,
+if you will go away and let me alone, I'll go to sleep."</p>
+
+<p>He stretched himself out on the table once more, and the cowboy went off
+to consult with his chum. In a few minutes he came back with him, and
+all they could do was to try to arouse the man to ask him what he
+thought they had better do for him; but to such interruptions he always
+replied: "No, no, boys! I'm going to sleep now."</p>
+
+<p>"You ought not to have given that man so much water," said one of the
+cowboys. "But after all it's our own fault, Hank. One of us ought to
+have stayed here with him."</p>
+
+<p>Tom Mason did not know what to say, and neither was he able to account
+for so much forbearance on the part of the cowboys. He looked to see
+them pull their revolvers; but instead of doing that they drew chairs up
+beside their sick comrade and waited to see what was going to happen to
+him, and Tom, filled with remorse, went out on the boiler-deck. Just
+then the <i>Jennie June's</i> bell rang, the lines and gang-planks were
+hauled in, and she backed down the river to her moorings. Then the
+<i>Ivanhoe's</i> bell was struck, and instantly a great hubbub arose among
+the passengers. Hands were shaken, farewells were said, and in ten
+minutes more the little boat was ploughing her way up the river. Tom had
+an opportunity to sit down after that. He pulled a chair up to the
+railing and sat there for ten minutes awaiting the arrival of the clerk,
+and wondering how calomel would operate on that man after he had drank
+ice-water on top of it; and consequently he did not feel very safe when
+he saw the two cowboys approaching him. He had left them to watch over
+the sick man, and he did not like to have them follow him up.</p>
+
+<p>"Look here, pard," said the foremost. "You've got the only lower bunk
+there is in the cabin, and we want to see if you won't give it up to
+that sick boss of ours. The man now occupying the upper bunk has offered
+to give it up, but we don't want it."</p>
+
+<p>"You can have it and welcome," said Tom. "I assure you that my giving
+him a drink was all a mistake. I offered him a glass of water, but he
+wouldn't take it."</p>
+
+<p>Having given up his bed, Tom considered that he had done all that a boy
+could do to make amends for what he had done. He gave the clerk his
+money to lock in the safe, and when night came found a pallet made up
+for him in a remote corner of the cabin. All the report he could get
+regarding the sick man was that he was sleeping soundly, and had fought
+his attendants so hard that it was all they could do to take his clothes
+off.</p>
+
+<p>"I really believe he is coming around all right," said one of the
+cowboys. "When he gets mad and reaches for his revolver, it's a mighty
+good sign."</p>
+
+<p>"Did he draw it on either of you?" asked Tom, in alarm.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no; for we took good pains to keep it out of his way."</p>
+
+<p>When Tom got up the next morning (there was no barber shop on this boat,
+and so he had to comb his hair in the wash-room), and went out on the
+boiler-deck to get his breath of fresh air, he found three men out there
+sitting in their chairs, and paying no heed to the cold wind that was
+blowing. The men who slept there had gone into a warmer climate, down in
+the neighborhood of the boilers, but their baggage was scattered around
+just as they had left it. Tom took just one look around, and, seeing how
+desolate things were, was about to retreat to the cabin, when one of the
+men happened to spy him.</p>
+
+<p>"My gracious, there's my doctor!" said he cheerfully. "Come here, old
+man, and give us your flipper."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, I didn't expect to find you out here to-day," said Tom, walking up
+and taking the outstretched hand of his sick man. "My medicine did you
+some good, didn't it? But you ought not to sit out here without
+something around you. You will take cold."</p>
+
+<p>The sick man laughed heartily.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, doctor, I am as sound as a dollar. That water you gave me hit the
+spot, for it set me to perspiring like a trip-hammer. I knew I was all
+right as soon as I could sleep. Draw a chair up and sit down. You won't
+take cold while you have that overcoat on."</p>
+
+<p>Tom drew a chair up alongside the sick man, one of the cowboys moving
+aside to make room for him, and deposited his feet on the railing. The
+wind cut severely, and he would have felt a good deal more cheerful
+beside the cabin fire.</p>
+
+<p>"Where be you a-travelling to, doctor?" said the sick man; for Tom
+didn't know what else to call him. "If you are going out our way, we may
+be able to be of some use to you."</p>
+
+<p>"I am going to Fort Hamilton," said Tom. "How much farther I don't know
+until I have seen Black Dan."</p>
+
+<p>It was curious what a sensation that name occasioned in that little
+company. They simply looked at each other and smiled, and then settled
+down and sought new places for their feet on the railing. It was evident
+that they took Black Dan for a relative of his.</p>
+
+<p>"Have you got much to do with him?" asked one of the cowboys.</p>
+
+<p>"I never saw him," Tom hastened to say. "I got his name from a Mr.
+Bolton, who gave me a very valuable pin to return to him. He got into a
+fight once and had some diamonds torn out of it."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, Dan has been in a good many fights," said the sick man. "He aint
+the fellow he used to be."</p>
+
+<p>"I&mdash;I hope he didn't get the worst of any of them."</p>
+
+<p>"Well&mdash;yes. He rather got the worst of the last fight he was in. He got
+into a row with three fellows,&mdash;cowboys, I knew them well,&mdash;and although
+he managed to get away with all of them, one shot him through the arm
+above the elbow, and it had to be taken off."</p>
+
+<p>"Amputated?" said Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I suppose that's what you call it. Then Dan took to drink and lost
+everything he had."</p>
+
+<p>"Why should the loss of his arm send him to drink?"</p>
+
+<p>"He couldn't shuffle the cards any more. He doesn't do anything now but
+get drunk in the morning and then crawl into some hole and sleep it off;
+and he has seen the time when he was worth a million."</p>
+
+<p>Tom Mason was sorry to hear all this. He did not know what he was going
+to do now that Black Dan was in no condition to help him. Who was he
+going to get to grub-stake him and send him into the mountains to find a
+gold mine? He knew that things were pretty high in Fort Hamilton, and
+his two hundred dollars would not last him a great while.</p>
+
+<p>"For a fellow who has never seen Black Dan you appear to take his
+downfall very much to heart," said the sick man.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I do. I was depending on him to see me through. I have a very nice
+pin which is his own private property, and which I have been
+commissioned to give into his keeping."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you got it with you?"</p>
+
+<p>Tom replied that the pin was in his baggage, and arose and went after
+it. In a few minutes he returned with it in his hand, and was not a
+little surprised at the exclamations of astonishment that arose from his
+three friends when they handled the ornament, and passed it from one to
+the other and speculated upon its merits.</p>
+
+<p>"Five hundred dollars!" said "Boss" Kelley, who by virtue of his
+position took it upon himself to act as judge when matters came before
+them that were somewhat hard to be decided. Tom had noticed one thing:
+that his word was law to the two cowboys, and that when he spoke the
+other two remained silent. "That's a heap of money to go into Dan's
+hands. How long do you suppose it will last him?"</p>
+
+<p>"Until he can get to Cale's bar," said Hank Monroe.</p>
+
+<p>"And no longer," chimed in Frank Stanley.</p>
+
+<p>"It's his and he ought to have it, if we can find him when he is sober,"
+said Kelley. "Now, doctor, how came you by it in the first place?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am plain Tom Mason, and I don't like to answer to any other name,"
+said the latter; and with the words he settled back in his chair and
+told the history of his meeting with Mr. Bolton. He kept back nothing.
+He knew he could tell it just as it happened, for these men had more or
+less to do with gamblers, and knew the motives which influenced them.
+When he got through, he found that he had them very much interested.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, you haven't done anything," said Stanley. "Go home and tell your
+uncle just what you have told us, and take the racket."</p>
+
+<p>"Boys, I know my uncle," said Tom, shaking his head.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps he had better go on," said Kelley. "His uncle will throw things
+at him whenever he gets mad, and it's better to go away and let him get
+over that. Now, Tom, if you are willing to take help from us&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I am willing to take help from anybody," said Tom. "I am a stranger in
+a strange place, and don't know what move to make first."</p>
+
+<p>"Very good," said Kelley, extending his hand to be shaken by Tom, a
+proceeding in which he was imitated by both his friends. "That is a
+cowboy's grip, and whenever you get it out here, you may know that you
+are among friends. Tom is one of our party now."</p>
+
+<p>Tom Mason told himself that never had a runaway been blessed with such
+luck. No sooner did one man on whom he was depending for assistance turn
+out to be unreliable than another one came to take his place. For once
+he had forgotten himself and told the truth, and the truth was mighty
+and would prevail. After that he had nothing to do during the rest of
+his trip but sit alongside one of his companions and talk of
+cattle-herding and speculate concerning the future of Black Dan. All he
+could learn regarding the latter was that he was going to the bad as
+rapidly as he could.</p>
+
+<p>"All gamblers come to that sooner or later," said Kelley. "All the money
+I have got was made honestly. I don't know one card from another."</p>
+
+<p>All this was very encouraging. If a man of Kelley's stamp&mdash;Tom knew he
+was well off, for he had heard him talk of the thousand head of cattle
+which he was holding fast to until the government came up to his
+price&mdash;could live all these years on the prairie and never learn one
+card from another, it was certain that another might do so.</p>
+
+<p>At last, after innumerable discouragements, during which her spars had
+been used until they were all mud, and it seemed impossible for her to
+proceed a foot farther, the <i>Ivanhoe</i> whistled for Fort Hamilton. Then
+Tom saw what had given it that name. A short distance above the little
+circle of houses that always spring up around a fortification, crowning
+a hill, was a stockade from which floated the Stars and Stripes, and
+among the crowd of loungers who assembled to see the boat come in were
+several men dressed in the uniform of the army.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as the landing was made Tom went to the clerk to get the money
+he had locked in the safe, and made his way down the stairs to find
+Kelley and Stanley waiting for him. They all had horses, with their
+extra wardrobe tied up in ponchos behind their saddles, but they had
+given them over to one of their number with orders to take them to the
+Eldorado, the hotel which all the best men in that country patronized.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, we want to find out what's left of Black Dan," said Kelley. "I
+think we will get on his trail somewhere up here."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2>
+
+<h3>A TEMPERANCE LECTURE.</h3>
+
+
+<p>It was a muddy, miry place in which Tom Mason now found himself, for it
+had been raining some there and Fort Hamilton was not blessed with a
+system of drainage. There were no sidewalks except in front of the
+various saloons and stores they passed, and half the way they walked
+through mud that was more than ankle deep. It was astonishing to him to
+notice how many people there were on the streets who recognized his
+companions. It was "Howdy, Mr. Kelley?" and "Hello, Stanley!" or "Hello,
+Arrow-foot!" until Tom might be pardoned for thinking that his two
+friends were raised right in town instead of coming from a country a
+hundred miles away.</p>
+
+<p>"Arrow-foot?" said he. "That's one thing I do not understand."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you see that when my employer first came to this country and
+wanted a name for his cattle, he picked up on his piece of land, close
+by the spot where his dugout is now located, a small piece of clay
+plainly marked with an arrow-foot. There was the stem of the arrow all
+complete, and so he named his cattle 'Arrow-foot.' Almost everybody out
+here is known by the brand his cattle wears."</p>
+
+<p>"But how do they come to call you 'Mr.' Kelley?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know, unless it is because I don't drink or gamble with them,
+and have a happy faculty for settling all the rows."</p>
+
+<p>Presently Mr. Kelley made his way into a spacious saloon that occupied
+one end of the block. It had evidently been built by someone who had an
+idea of refinement about him, for its verandas were spacious, the
+windows came down to the floor, and there was a gilded sign over the
+door. Inside the room was large and airy, with a bar on one side and a
+number of tables extending away to the other end. It was quiet enough
+now in the daytime, but when Tom heard the noise that came from it after
+the lamps were lighted, he thought pandemonium had broken loose.</p>
+
+<p>"Howdy, Mr. Kelley? Denominate your poison," said the man behind the
+counter, extending a bottle toward him with one hand and reaching out
+the other to be shaken. "Got back safe and sound, didn't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't take any of that stuff, and you ought to know better than to
+ask me. I got back all right with the exception of the dumb ague, which
+took me just as I got ready to leave Fort Gibson. Have you seen Black
+Dan lately?"</p>
+
+<p>"You're right, I have," said the man, frowning fiercely. "Do you see
+that?" he added, taking out from under his counter a revolver which was
+cocked and ready to be used when it was drawn. "I am going to keep that
+just as it is and show it to him when he wakes up. Because he used to
+own this house is no reason why he should pull a pistol on me!"</p>
+
+<p>"Did he draw it on you?" asked Tom, forgetting where he was in the
+excitement of the moment.</p>
+
+<p>"I should say he did, kid, and Mose, there, was just in time to stop
+him. I hope you have come to take him East, for I don't want him around
+here any longer. It is all I can do to keep him from getting into a
+fight with somebody, and the first thing you know he will pick up the
+wrong man. You took him out, Mose. Do you know where he is?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; he's out there," said Mose, motioning one way with his thumb and
+another way with his head. "I can find him."</p>
+
+<p>Mose made an effort to get on his feet, but reeled considerably, and
+would have fallen back in his chair if Mr. Kelley had not caught him and
+placed him steadily on his feet. When he was fairly up, he was all
+right, and made his way out of the house and around the corner, closely
+followed by Mr. Kelley and Tom. Presently he stopped, and curled up
+behind a water-butt, the mud spattered thick on his torn clothing, his
+empty holster and the stump of his crippled arm thrown out recklessly by
+his side, lay all that was left of Black Dan. Tom saw in a minute where
+he had got his cognomen. His complexion was swarthy and his hair and
+whiskers were as black as midnight, but for all that he had been a very
+handsome man. He was dead drunk, and Mr. Kelley saw that all attempts to
+arouse him would be useless.</p>
+
+<p>"Why didn't you put him in a bed?" asked Tom, in accents of disgust.</p>
+
+<p>"He wouldn't stay there," replied Mose. "That is the only place he will
+stay, and there is where we take him as soon as he shows any desire to
+go to sleep."</p>
+
+<p>"Let's go away," said Tom. "I'll never drink a drop of whiskey as long
+as I live."</p>
+
+<p>"It would be useless to try to awake him," said Mr. Kelley. "Mose, you
+tell him that as soon as he wakes up we want to see him down to the
+Eldorado, where we are stopping. We want to see him particularly. You
+can remember that much, can't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I can, sir," replied Mose, hastily pocketing the dollar which Kelley
+thrust out to him. "I'll send him down as soon as he comes to himself."</p>
+
+<p>"It always comes hard for one to see a man done up in that style," said
+Mr. Kelley, as he and Tom bent their steps toward the Eldorado. "It
+makes me hate whiskey worse than I did before."</p>
+
+<p>Tom had seen so much of the little town of Fort Hamilton that he had
+some doubts about going to the Eldorado. Their little interview with
+Black Dan, if such it could be called, had taken all the conversation
+out of them; but when they entered the living-room of the hotel, and saw
+no semblance of a bar, and the men who were playing cards were doing it
+for fun, and not for money, and there was no sign of a drunken man
+around, his spirits rose wonderfully, and he walked up and placed his
+valise on the counter.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah! here you are," exclaimed Stanley, coming up at that moment. "I
+wasn't able to get a room with four beds in it, but I have engaged one
+end of the dining-room, so that we can all be together to-night."</p>
+
+<p>"Full up to the top notch," said the clerk. "Put it there, Mr. Kelley.
+How are you, Arrow-foot? This young man I don't remember to have seen
+before, but all the same I am glad to meet him."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, he's a tender-foot, and we are taking him out to have the boss
+grub-stake him."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah! that's your business, is it? Fine business that. You may make a
+strike some day and come back and buy us all out. You're going right in
+the country for one, for there's a nugget worth eight thousand dollars
+for you to pitch on to."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, Elam Storm's nugget," said Stanley. "I hope to goodness you'll get
+it, for then we shall quit hearing so much about it."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, it's there, for one with such a reputation as that&mdash;why, man alive,
+it extends through twenty years! And the Red Ghost, too; you want to
+steer clear of him."</p>
+
+<p>Tom laughed and said he would do his best to follow the clerk's advice.
+He had heard of Elam Storm's nugget, had even found himself thinking of
+it when awake, and dreaming about it when asleep. He knew that his
+chances for digging it up were rather slim, for he did not suppose that
+the man who had hid it had any idea that it would be unearthed by anyone
+save himself; but if he should happen to strike it with one blow of his
+pick! Wouldn't he be in town? He could then write back to his uncle that
+he had made more than the sum he had temporarily lost, made it by the
+sweat of his brow, and he was sure that the next letter he received from
+his uncle would be one telling him to come back home, and all would be
+forgiven. But the Red Ghost! Tom did not know what to think about him.
+He had been seen, never in broad daylight, and he was a terrible thing
+to look at. He roamed about after nightfall, tearing the mules and
+trampling the teamsters to death, and the worst of it was he was always
+to be found somewhere near the place where the nugget was supposed to be
+hid. Stanley once had a partner that had been done to death, and even
+Mr. Kelley's face grew solemn whenever he spoke of him. That was the
+only thing that made Tom doubtful about taking a grub-stake.</p>
+
+<p>The dinner-bell rang while they were talking, and when the meal was
+ended Tom went out with the two cowboys to look at a horse that Stanley
+had found for him in the morning. They were gone about two hours, and
+when they came back, Tom told himself that he was a cowboy at last; a
+horse, saddle, and bridle were waiting for him at the stable, and the
+poncho which he carried slung over his arm was roomy enough for his
+extra baggage. The first thing that attracted Stanley's notice was a
+strange man talking to Mr. Kelley. The stump of his arm proclaimed who
+he was.</p>
+
+<p>"It's Black Dan," said he. "Now, Tom, let's see how much your temperance
+principles will amount to."</p>
+
+<p>Tom was startled, as well he might be, to know that he had it in his
+power to help a man who, in his palmy days, held an influence in Fort
+Hamilton second only to the commander of the station. He gazed steadily
+at him a moment, then threw his poncho on the table, asked the clerk for
+his valise, and took from it the pin Mr. Bolton had given him, and with
+this in his hand he approached Black Dan, while with a delicacy of
+feeling that some people who occupy prouder stations might have envied
+the cowboys turned toward the window. Hearing from the barkeeper that
+the man who wanted to see him was a "top-notch fellow," Dan had washed
+his face and brushed his hair, and made other efforts to improve
+himself. His holster was filled this time, so it showed that he was in a
+situation to defend himself. Mr. Kelley introduced Tom, and then moved
+away.</p>
+
+<p>"How do you do, sir?" said Dan, gazing hard at Tom's face and trying to
+recollect where he had seen him before. "You have got the advantage of
+me."</p>
+
+<p>"I never saw you before, and I am sorry to find you this way," said Tom,
+trying to keep up his courage. "I want you to look at this pin and tell
+me if you ever saw it before."</p>
+
+<p>Tom unwrapped the pin and placed it in Dan's hands. The latter took it
+in surprise, and finally the wondering scowl his face had assumed gave
+way to an entirely different expression, and he sat for five minutes,
+turning the pin over in his hand, and doubtless harassed by gloomy
+reflections. When he gave that pin to the one from whom Tom had received
+it, he was worth half a million dollars.</p>
+
+<p>"What was Bradshaw doing when he gave you the pin?" said he.</p>
+
+<p>"He told me his name was Bolton," said Tom. "He had been doing some
+gambling, and, finding out from me that I was coming up here, he gave me
+the pin with a request that I should give it to you."</p>
+
+<p>"You haven't come out here with any intention of going into this
+business, have you?"</p>
+
+<p>"What, gambling? Not much I haven't. I think I have seen enough to keep
+me away from gambling forever. I'm going to get a grub-stake and go into
+the mountains. I think I can do better there."</p>
+
+<p>"You are an honest boy, and I wish I could give you something for it.
+One short year ago I could have sent you to the mountains with some
+prospects of success; but now&mdash;&mdash;" Dan held up his crippled arm.</p>
+
+<p>"I should think that would drive you from gambling forever," said Tom
+earnestly. "You have taken to drink, and that is just as bad."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, seeing that you are going to preach, I guess I'll go. Shake. So
+long."</p>
+
+<p>Before Tom could think of another word to say Dan had squeezed his hand
+and was on his way to the door, walking along with his hat pulled over
+his eyes, as if he didn't want to see anybody. When he reached the
+street, he simply touched his forehead to some people he met, and kept
+on his way to the saloon. Tom stepped to the window and saw him go in at
+the door.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, what success did you meet with?" said Stanley.</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't meet with any success at all," said Tom, gazing helplessly out
+at the muddy street. "He said if I was going to preach he'd go. He
+seemed to think I had come out here to go into his business, but I told
+him I had seen enough to keep me away from cards forever."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I declare!" said Mr. Kelley. "It is the greatest wonder in the
+world he didn't knock you down. He never lets anybody say anything
+against cards in his hearing. You have had a narrow escape."</p>
+
+<p>As Tom sat there with his three friends and talked over the incidents of
+Dan's past life he grew more frightened than ever, and thanked his lucky
+stars that he didn't know more about it before he held his interview
+with the gambler. Tom had told him that he had taken to drink, which was
+as bad as gambling, and Dan had been known to floor a man who had said
+as much to him. That night, while Tom was lying on his bed and trying to
+go to sleep, he heard something more of the pin. High and loud above all
+the hubbub that arose on the streets came the chorus of a song in which
+one voice far outled the others. It was Dan's voice, and proved that the
+pin had been pawned for something besides water. He looked over toward
+Monroe, and saw that the latter was wide awake and looking at him.</p>
+
+<p>"They're going it, aint they?" Tom whispered.</p>
+
+<p>"You're right, they are. Poor Dan! You have done what you could for
+him." And with the words he rolled over and prepared to go to sleep.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning everything was quiet enough. The drunkards had been put
+into the calaboose by the soldiers, and the others had gone to bed to
+sleep it off. Tom wanted to know what had become of Dan, but nobody said
+anything about him, and from that time his name was dropped. They ate
+their breakfast in haste, paid their bills, and in ten minutes more Tom
+was on his way in search of a grub-stake.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, certainly you'll get it," said Monroe, who rode beside him. "That
+is the way the bosses always treat a tender-foot when they haven't
+anything in particular for him to do. Some of our best known men have
+got their start that way."</p>
+
+<p>"I should think that some of the men you trust that way would run off
+when they find something good," said Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, bless you, they can't take their find with them. They've got to
+stay and work it. I did hear of a fellow who found a lot of iron
+pyrites, and filled his pockets with them. He ran away, making the best
+course he could for Denver, and when he was found, his pockets might
+just as well have been filled with clay."</p>
+
+<p>"Dead?" said Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; and he was two hundred miles from where he belonged."</p>
+
+<p>"And his find didn't amount to anything?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. It is a brassy substance and looks very much like the precious
+metal, but you need a mine to work it."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you suppose killed him?"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't know. Some people suppose that his mule got away from him, and
+ran away with his outfit. At any rate, there was nothing near him, and
+the fellow got desperate and died from exhaustion. Oh, it's one of the
+things that will happen out here."</p>
+
+<p>"That's a queer way to do," said Tom musingly. "By the way, I haven't
+got any revolver."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, the old man will give you a pop. You will get everything you need
+to last you two or three months. While that lasts, you are expected to
+do some hunting; when it begins to give out, you want to come home."</p>
+
+<p>"But how will I know the way?"</p>
+
+<p>"The mule will bring you. He will stay there about two months,&mdash;that is,
+if he doesn't get frightened,&mdash;and when he gets tired of staying, he
+will come home, and you had better come, too."</p>
+
+<p>It was by such talks as this that Tom learned a great deal about the
+business upon which he was soon to embark. It never occurred to him that
+he was to engage in any other business. Cowboys&mdash;or, as they were called
+in those days, "vaqueros"&mdash;were not as plenty as they became a few years
+later, and if a ranchman could be found who thought him able to make his
+living by riding for a stake, well and good. He certainly would not run
+away with his pockets filled with pyrites. He expected to make a good
+many blunders, but Tom told himself he was used to that. What he thought
+of more than anything else was that nugget worth eight thousand dollars.</p>
+
+<p>They camped that night with a party of emigrants, and for the first time
+Tom had the luxury of sleeping out of doors; but the appetite he brought
+to the breakfast-table with him amply made amends for that. In all the
+hunting excursions he had enjoyed for a week or more on his uncle's
+plantation he always had a darky along to build a shelter for him, cook
+his breakfast for him, and do any other work that happened to be
+necessary, and all he had to do was to ride to and from his
+hunting-grounds and shoot the turkeys after he got there. The next night
+they drew up before a dugout, the first one he had ever seen. The only
+thing that pointed out its place of location were a couple of hay-racks,
+which had been torn to pieces by mules. There was not a human being in
+sight, not even standing in the door to bid them welcome.</p>
+
+<p>"Boys, I am glad my trip is done," said Mr. Kelley, as he threw himself
+from his horse, relieving him of his bridle as he did so. "Tom, what do
+you think of your new home?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, there is nobody around here," said Tom, gazing on all sides of
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, they are around here somewhere. It isn't dark yet, and we'll get in
+and light a fire for them. They are out somewhere, looking for some lost
+cattle. We left two hundred head here when we went to the mountains."</p>
+
+<p>"To the mountains?" repeated Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. I tell you we want to get away from here when the blizzards fly,
+for there isn't a thing to shelter us. I don't expect we shall find more
+than fifty head of those cattle, if we do that."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you suppose will become of them?"</p>
+
+<p>"They will be dead, of course. You see, when cattle are loose on the
+prairie and a storm comes up, and they can't stand it any longer, they
+start and travel in the same way the storm is going; and as the storm
+lasts from three to four days, you can readily imagine that they must
+get exhausted before they stop. When the hailstones come down as large
+as hens' eggs, you can&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Haw, haw!" laughed Monroe.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, as large as pigeons' eggs," said Kelley, "and I won't come down
+another grain in weight. Why, an army officer went by here two years ago
+hunting for his thirty-five mules that had been stampeded by a storm,
+and when he found them, there were only four that were able to stand
+alone. Oh, you get out, Monroe! You haven't seen any blizzard yet. Now,
+let's go in and get some supper."</p>
+
+<p>"But what makes the mules run so? Why don't they go under shelter?"
+added Tom, as he picked up his poncho and saddle and followed the man
+inside the house.</p>
+
+<p>"There was just where they were going&mdash;for shelter. There aint a piece
+of timber within twenty-five miles of this place to shelter a rabbit."</p>
+
+<p>"Then what do you use for fuel?"</p>
+
+<p>"Buffalo chips. There, Tom, put your plunder in there and set down and
+look around you. You wouldn't think the man who owns this place was
+worth two hundred thousand, but it is a fact."</p>
+
+<p>"Why doesn't he buy a better piece of ground, then? I wouldn't be so far
+from shelter if I were in his place."</p>
+
+<p>"Buy it? He doesn't own this property. Every acre of ground that he
+occupies is Congress land."</p>
+
+<p>"But I'll bet you he wouldn't give it up," said Stanley. "I'd like to
+see somebody come here and say this is his."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you will never see it. Mr. Parsons says that all this property
+will be thrown open to settlement some day, and then he and the rest of
+the squatters will have to go farther West. But, laws! he's got money
+enough, and he began life, Tom, just as you are going to&mdash;by taking a
+grub-stake and starting for the mountains. But come on, boys, and let's
+get supper. Stanley, just roll out the rest of that bacon and hard-tack,
+and, Monroe, you go outside and throw in some buffalo chips."</p>
+
+<p>Tom, weary with his long ride, made up his bunk, then threw himself upon
+it and looked about him.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2>
+
+<h3>A HOME RANCH.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Tom was surprised at the interior of the dugout. From the outside it
+didn't look large enough to accommodate more than three or four men, but
+there were bunks for eight, and there was ample room for the cooking
+stove, a dilapidated affair which looked as though it might have come
+from somebody's scrap-pile and left one of its legs behind it. But there
+was plenty of "draw" to it, as Monroe came in with his arms full of
+buffalo chips, filled the stove full, and touched a match to them. On
+each side of the stove was a blanket, which on being raised proved to
+conceal little cupboards devoted to various odds and ends. One contained
+books and magazines, a whip or two, and several pairs of spurs, and in
+the other were to be found the dishes from which the inmates had eaten
+breakfast, all neatly washed and put away. Tom was surprised at the air
+of neatness that everywhere prevailed.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, you won't find all dugouts like this one," said Monroe. "Some of
+them are so dirty that you can't find a place to spread your blanket.
+Mr. Parsons' cook did this work, and all the ole man does is to sit
+outside and smoke."</p>
+
+<p>"Here comes the ole man now," said Stanley, who had ascended to the top
+of the stairs and was looking out over the prairie. "He has got a small
+drove of cattle with him, so we shall have some corral duty to do
+to-night."</p>
+
+<p>"And I believe he has more than twenty-five head with him," said Mr.
+Kelley, who dropped everything and came to Stanley's side. "He's got
+fifty if he's got one. Boys, I guess you had better go out there. They
+are tired most to death, and we might let them come in and get some
+supper."</p>
+
+<p>Although the two cowboys had ridden all of fifty miles that day, there
+was no objection raised to this arrangement. Without saying a word they
+buckled on their belts containing their revolvers, shouldered their
+saddles and bridles, and went out behind the hay racks. When they came
+within sight a few minutes later, they were going at full speed to meet
+their employer and his cattle.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, maybe you are able to see something off there, but I can't," said
+Tom, after he had run his eyes in vain over the horizon. "I can't see a
+single thing."</p>
+
+<p>"Can't you see that long line that looks like a pencil-mark off there?"
+said Mr. Kelley, trying in vain to make Tom see the object at which he
+was looking. "Well, it's there plain enough. When you have been on the
+plains as long as I have, you'll notice all little objects like that
+one, and, furthermore, you will want to know what makes them. It will be
+two hours before they come up, and you sit down here on the bench and
+watch it. I will go down and get some supper."</p>
+
+<p>Tom seated himself on the bench beside the door and tried hard to make
+out the approaching line of cattle, but could not do it. Finally he was
+called to supper, and went down saying that he would give his eyes a
+little rest and then maybe he could see them; but he couldn't do it now.</p>
+
+<p>"Supposing you were in a line of march and had a scout out there where
+those men are, and he should begin riding in a circle, what would you
+say?" asked Mr. Kelley.</p>
+
+<p>"I wouldn't say anything," exclaimed Tom. "I wouldn't know what he
+meant."</p>
+
+<p>"He would mean that there was danger close at hand, and you had better
+be gathering your cattle up," said Mr. Kelley. "And if they were
+scattered as far apart as those cattle are, you would want a small
+battalion of men to answer your orders."</p>
+
+<p>"What would be the danger?"</p>
+
+<p>"From Cheyennes, of course."</p>
+
+<p>"Good gracious! Do they ever come out and threaten a whole ranchful of
+cattle?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly they do. But they are all right now. They haven't had any
+grievance for a long time, and they are as trustworthy as Indians ever
+get to be. I wouldn't put any faith in them, however. I'd have been
+worth half a million dollars if it hadn't been for those pesky
+redskins."</p>
+
+<p>"Did they steal from you?" asked Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, they stole me flat, but I got away with my life, and that is
+something to be thankful for. Now, go out and see if you can find those
+cattle."</p>
+
+<p>Tom obediently went, and whether it was from the long rest his eyes had
+had or from some other reason, he distinctly made out a long "pencil
+line" on the horizon. By watching it closely he finally made out that in
+certain places the line was interrupted, and finally decided that that
+was the place where some of the cattle had strayed more than they ought
+to; and he was confirmed in this idea when he saw a solitary figure move
+up and turn them in toward the centre. As Mr. Kelley, having finished
+his dishes, came out and sat down on the bench to enjoy his smoke, he
+finally made out the two horsemen who rode around the outskirts of the
+herd and gradually disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>"It won't be long now before the old man will be along," said he. "You
+will see that he won't ride through the drove, but will come around it.
+If he should try riding through it, he would have a stampede on his
+hands that would do your heart good to see."</p>
+
+<p>"Are they as wild as that?" asked Tom, who told himself that he was
+learning something about the cowboy's business the longer he talked with
+Mr. Kelley.</p>
+
+<p>"You just bet they are. If you should go among them on foot, you would
+either stampede them or else they would charge upon you and gore you to
+death. That's the reason we always use horses in tending cattle."</p>
+
+<p>In about half an hour two horsemen were seen riding around the outskirts
+of the herd. They took a wide circle, so as not to frighten the cattle,
+and finally drew a bee-line for the dugout. Mr. Kelley remarked that
+they were the ones he was expecting, dived down the stairs, and in a few
+minutes the rattling of dishes was heard as he proceeded with his
+preparations for a second supper. The horsemen were hungry, or else
+their animals were, for they occupied much less time in coming in than
+the cowboys who relieved them, and in short order they were near enough
+for Tom to distinguish their faces. Tom took a long look at the man who
+was going to befriend him. He knew who he was, for there was the cut of
+a leader about him; and when the man rode up and swung himself from his
+horse with a "How are you, Tom?" it proved to him that Stanley and
+Monroe had told him something about him.</p>
+
+<p>"Howdy?" shouted a voice from the dugout; and Mr. Kelley stuck his head
+up through the door. "We're still on hand, like a bad dollar bill. How
+many cattle have you got out there?"</p>
+
+<p>"Sixty-five; and pretty good luck, too, seeing that they have been
+stampeded more than forty miles. Where did you pick up this youngster?"
+added Mr. Parsons, giving Tom's hand a hearty squeeze. "I certainly do
+not remember seeing him before."</p>
+
+<p>"No, he's a tender-foot. As he didn't know what else to do, he came out
+here for somebody to grub-stake him."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah!"</p>
+
+<p>"Everyone who knows him has gone back on him," continued Mr. Kelley,
+"and so he has come out here to see if you won't stake him for a gold
+mine."</p>
+
+<p>"M-m-m!"</p>
+
+<p>"And as he cured me of the dumb ague by giving me a pitcher of
+ice-water, I thought I would bring him along."</p>
+
+<p>"Aha!" said the ranchman, who had kept a firm hold of Tom while his
+right-hand man was speaking. "You claim to be a doctor, do you? Well, we
+must do something for you. I was a little older than you are when I went
+into the mountains to seek for a gold mine, and, unfortunately for me, I
+found it. I smell bacon. Is supper ready yet?"</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Kelley made some sort of incoherent reply which Mr. Parsons and his
+man understood, for they dived down the doorway, leaving Tom standing
+alone.</p>
+
+<p>"Unfortunately he got it," Tom kept repeating to himself. "I don't see
+what there was unfortunate about it, unless he was cheated out of it. If
+I had as many cattle as he has got out there, and as many men to obey my
+orders, I should look upon myself as remarkably fortunate."</p>
+
+<p>Tom did not have any opportunity to talk further with Mr. Parsons that
+night, for as soon as he had eaten supper he went to bed and was soon
+sleeping soundly. Tom felt the need of slumber, and when he thought he
+could do so without disturbing anybody, he slipped quietly down the
+stairs. There sat Mr. Kelley fast asleep on his dry-goods box, holding
+in his hand the copy of a newspaper about a fortnight old, and which he
+had been trying to read by the aid of the smoky candle that gave out
+just light enough to show how dark it was; and as everybody else felt
+the need of slumber, and gave over to the influence of it wherever they
+happened to be, Tom threw off his boots and tumbled into his bunk. Once
+during the night he was aroused by somebody coming in and informing Mr.
+Kelley that it was twelve o'clock; then there was a stir of changing
+watches and the camp became silent again. Or no; it wasn't silent. Just
+after the watches had been changed (for men had to keep track of the
+cattle during the night and see that nothing happened to stampede them)
+Tom was treated to a wolf serenade. It began faint and far off, and then
+all on a sudden broke out so fiercely that it seemed as if the pack had
+surrounded the cabin and were about to make an assault upon it.</p>
+
+<p>"What was that?" asked Tom, starting up in alarm.</p>
+
+<p>"It's the pesky coyotes," said Monroe, who was taking off his boots.
+"We're always glad to hear them, for then we know that there is nothing
+else about."</p>
+
+<p>"What else do you think might be about?" said Tom, wondering how any
+lone hunter could find any consolation in such a dismal serenade.</p>
+
+<p>"Indians," said the cowboy shortly. "Good-night."</p>
+
+<p>After that Tom did not sleep very soundly, for at times it seemed to him
+that some of the fierce animals had come to the door, which stood wide
+open all this while, and were about to come in. Once he was sure he
+heard them on top of the cabin, but the others slept on and paid no
+attention to it, and finally Tom became somewhat accustomed to it. He
+did not think he had closed his eyes at all in slumber, but when he
+awoke to a full sense of what was going on, he found that there were
+only two men left in the cabin, Mr. Parsons and his cook. The former sat
+on the edge of his bunk pulling on his boots, and the cook was busy with
+his frying-pan.</p>
+
+<p>"Hallo, youngster!" said Mr. Parsons cheerfully. "You'll have to get up
+earlier than this if you're going to strike a gold mine. Why, it must be
+close on to six o'clock."</p>
+
+<p>"I was awfully tired last night, and the wolves kept me awake," said
+Tom. "I don't see how anybody can sleep with such a din in his ears."</p>
+
+<p>"The time may come when you will be glad to hear them. If there are any
+Indians around, you won't hear them; just the minute the Indians break
+loose the wolves all seem to go into their holes; but when the Indians
+are whipped, they are out in full force."</p>
+
+<p>Tom noticed that the men seemed to be in a hurry, and he lost no time in
+packing his outfit. He ate breakfast when Mr. Parsons did, sitting down
+to it without any invitation from anybody, swallowed his coffee and
+pancakes scalding hot, saddled his horse, and rode away, leaving the
+cook to straighten affairs in the dugout; and all the while it seemed to
+him that he hadn't had any breakfast at all. He couldn't see anything of
+the cattle; but Mr. Parsons put his horse into a lope and proceeded to
+fill his pipe as he went.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose you know your cattle have gone this way, don't you?" said
+Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course I do," answered Mr. Parsons, taking a long pull at his pipe
+to make sure it was well lighted. "They are ten miles on the way nearer
+home than we are, and we have got to make that up."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you always drive your cattle into the mountains in winter?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir. We have had some blizzards here that would make your eyes
+bung out if you could have seen them, and I would be penniless to-day if
+my cattle had been caught in them. Some of the cattle ahead of us have
+been driven forty miles by a blizzard that struck us last fall, and I
+have just succeeded in finding them. If my neighbor hadn't been as
+honest as they make them, I wouldn't have got them at all. It would be
+very easy for him to round them up and brand them over again, and then
+tell me that if I could find an arrow brand in his herd I could have
+them."</p>
+
+<p>"How far does your nearest neighbor live from you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Just a jump&mdash;fifteen or twenty miles, maybe."</p>
+
+<p>Fifteen or twenty miles! None nearer than that! Tom had found out by
+experience that distances didn't count for anything on the prairie.</p>
+
+<p>"You said last night, in speaking of your gold find, that, unfortunately
+for you, you got it," Tom reminded him. "I would like to know what you
+meant by that. Were you cheated out of it?"</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Parsons replied, with a laugh, that he was not cheated out of it,
+but, on the whole, it didn't much matter. He took a party of experts up
+there, and, after working over the mine for a week or more, they gave
+him twenty thousand dollars for it, of which five thousand went to him
+and the balance to his employer. That made him lazy&mdash;too lazy to go to
+work. He spent three thousand dollars in grub-staking men to look up
+claims for him until the end of the year, when he found out that he
+wasn't making anything by it, so he took the balance of his money and
+went into the cattle business.</p>
+
+<p>"That gave me my start," said Mr. Parsons in conclusion. "In four years
+I had made up the money I had spent, and vowed I never would go into it
+again; but here I am talking of sending you to the mountains."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think you are not going to make anything by it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, yes," said Mr. Parsons, with another laugh. "But I have got to do
+something to help you. You ride pretty well, and I should think you
+ought to go into the cattle business."</p>
+
+<p>"Who will take me? Will you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, no; I can't. I have had to discharge some parties, not having
+work for them to attend to, and I don't know how I could use you. I will
+tell you this much: when you come back in the spring, I will give you a
+show."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you," replied Tom. "That's the first encouragement I have had.
+But you say it took you four years to make up the money you had spent.
+I'm not going to stay here four years."</p>
+
+<p>"You aint? What are you going to do?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am going to look for that nugget that Elam Storm has lost."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, ah!" said Mr. Parsons, the expression on his face giving way to one
+of intense disgust. "Well, you'll never find it."</p>
+
+<p>"Why not? The edge of Death Valley is just crowded with men who haven't
+given up all hopes of finding it."</p>
+
+<p>"Crowded! Young man, I wonder if you know how big Death Valley is?
+Crowded! Now and then you'll find a man who still has that nugget on the
+brain, but if the man who hid it himself, not more than two years ago,
+can't find it, I think it is useless for others to try. There have been
+landslides in all the canyons that run through there till you can't
+rest. I'll tell you what I'll do: if you will find that nugget, I will
+give you ten thousand dollars for it. That's a better offer than I made
+you a while ago. And you may keep the nugget besides. If you are around
+when anybody else digs it up, I will give you five thousand dollars."</p>
+
+<p>There was something in this offer that completely shut off all
+discussion of the finding of Elam Storm's nugget. Mr. Parsons did not
+refer to the matter again, and neither did Tom; but the latter still
+clung to the hope of finding the gold. The nugget was there, or why
+should so large a number of men be on the lookout for it? And if he
+<i>should</i> happen to strike it, he would be a rich man. During all his
+rides he kept that one thought in his mind, and nothing could shake it
+out. There was one thing that ought to have opened Tom's eyes, and that
+was that no nugget of gold had been struck in that country for miles
+around. The nearest place at which any had been found was at Pike's
+Peak, and that was over two hundred miles away. But Tom didn't know
+that, and the only thing that kept the cowboys from telling him of it
+was the fact that when he was in the mountains he would think he was
+doing something, but if he knew there was no gold to reward his search,
+he would give up in despair.</p>
+
+<p>It took our party five days to make the journey between the dugout and
+headquarters, for the cattle were slow of movement, and, besides, they
+were allowed to graze on the way. About ten o'clock a fierce winter
+wind, which made Tom bundle his overcoat closer about him and pull his
+collar up about his ears, sprung up from over the prairie, and the
+cattle ceased feeding and struck out for a canyon about a mile wide
+which opened close in front of them. Along this they held their way for
+five miles and better, until it finally emerged into a broad natural
+prairie, large enough, Tom thought, to pasture all the cattle in the
+country, and went to feeding with one of the herds. The air was soft and
+balmy, and Tom's overcoat was resting across the horn of his saddle. Mr.
+Parsons pulled up his horse and gazed around him with a smile of
+satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>"These cattle are all mine, Tom," said he. "Every horn and hoof you see
+here has been paid for, and if you want to get in the same way, I will
+give you a chance when you come back to me in the spring. Monroe, you
+and Stanley might as well go out and see if you can find anything of
+that bronco. Tom wants to go away, and we must fit him out early in the
+morning."</p>
+
+<p>This was bringing the matter squarely home to Tom. He was to go away in
+the morning! He looked up at the mountains, and they seemed so large and
+he so small by comparison that he shuddered while he thought of getting
+bewildered in some of those canyons, and lying down and dying there and
+nobody would know what had become of him. But Mr. Parsons didn't
+discourage him. He was made of sterner stuff. He looked up and said with
+an air of determination:</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I want to get off. The sooner I get to work the sooner I shall be
+doing something to earn my living."</p>
+
+<p>"That's the idea," said Mr. Parsons. "Stick to that and you will come
+out all right. Now, let's go home."</p>
+
+<p>Tom waved his hand to the two cowboys, who galloped away in one
+direction, while he and Mr. Parsons held down the valley, making a wide
+circuit to get out of reach of the grazing cattle. After going in a lope
+Mr. Parsons drew up his horse and began to talk seriously to Tom. He
+told him plainly of the dangers and sufferings which would fall to his
+lot if he endeavored to carry out his plan, but he did not try to turn
+him from his purpose. On the contrary, he tried to warn him so that when
+the dangers came he would be prepared to meet them half-way. He kept
+this up until the home ranch appeared in view, and then he stopped, for
+he didn't want the cowboys to hear what he was saying.</p>
+
+<p>This home ranch was not a dugout. There was a neat cabin to take the
+place of it, and Tom thought some of the cowboys had used an axe pretty
+well by the way they fashioned the logs and put them together. There
+were half a dozen hay-racks out behind the house, protected from
+wandering cattle by rail fences, and there wasn't a thing on the porch,
+no saddles, bridles, and riding whips, all such things having been put
+into a cubby-hole in the rear of the house. But it so happened that the
+cook, who had got there first, had peeled off his coat, and was engaged
+in straightening things out.</p>
+
+<p>"I never did see such a mess as these fellows leave when I go away for
+five minutes," said he. "I can't find a thing where it ought to be,
+though I have hunted high and low for that carving-knife."</p>
+
+<p>Tom took his seat at Mr. Parsons' side while he filled up preparatory to
+a smoke. There were one or two little things that he wanted to speak to
+him about.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2>
+
+<h3>LOST IN THE MOUNTAINS.</h3>
+
+
+<p>When Mr. Parsons had fairly settled himself, filled his pipe, lighted
+it, and fell to nursing his leg as a man might who felt at peace with
+himself and all the world, Tom said:</p>
+
+<p>"You didn't say anything about my horse in telling me what I should have
+to get through with. Did you mean that I should leave him at home, and
+go on foot?"</p>
+
+<p>"I did, certainly," said Mr. Parsons. "You will find that the bronco
+will go through some places that you will not care to ride, and,
+besides, you will have one horse less to take care of, and one less to
+watch."</p>
+
+<p>"Have I got to watch him all the time?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, yes. You must keep the halter on him all the time, and tie him
+fast to a tree when you go into camp. If you don't, he will run away and
+leave you. He'll turn around and take the back track as soon as your
+pack grows light, and you had better come, too."</p>
+
+<p>"That's what one of the cowboys told me," said Tom. "Now, I have got
+some money here. I don't suppose it will be of the least use to me in
+the mountains, and I should like to leave it with somebody."</p>
+
+<p>"All right. Leave your horse and your money with me, and I will take
+care of them."</p>
+
+<p>"If I don't come back, they are yours," continued Tom. "Now, I should
+like to have a gun of some sort."</p>
+
+<p>Without saying a word Mr. Parsons went into the house and brought out a
+rifle and a revolver. Tom took them and examined them, and the way he
+drew the rifle to his face rather astonished Mr. Parsons. He remarked
+that he had handled guns before in his day, and Tom told him that he
+could not remember the time when he did not have a horse and shotgun for
+his own. His uncle furnished him with all these things.</p>
+
+<p>"Then right there is where you ought to have stayed," said Mr. Parsons,
+throwing more energy into his tones than he usually did. "I hope you're
+not going to be sick of your bargain, but I'm afraid you are. Here comes
+the bronco. Do you think you can manage that fellow?"</p>
+
+<p>The bronco which came up at that moment, with Stanley's lariat fastened
+about his neck, was like any other horse, only he seemed to be tired.
+When they stopped him, he lowered his head and drew up one of his hind
+feet, and closed his eyes as if he were fast asleep. But Tom knew better
+than to fool with him. He had read enough to know that the word came
+from the Spanish and meant "wild," and he had got his name from his
+persistent efforts to keep wild cowboys off his back. He couldn't be
+ridden, that was the matter with him; but he would carry a pack-saddle
+all day, and never had been known to leave a man he had accompanied to
+the mountains. Tom said he thought he could manage him, and patted him
+all over; but the horse never opened his eyes to look at him.</p>
+
+<p>Preparations were made for getting Tom off as soon as it was light, and
+by the time darkness fell all was ready. A pack-saddle was brought out
+which looked as though it had been through two or three wars, and the
+cook, following the instructions of his master, began to fill it full of
+provisions, giving no heed to Tom to ask him whether the supplies he
+furnished suited him or not. He had provided so many men with provender
+that he thought anything that would do for one would do for another.
+With darkness came three more cowboys, who listened to what Mr. Parsons
+had to say, and then greeted Tom very cordially, and wished him
+unbounded success in his efforts to find Elam Storm's nugget. One man,
+especially, was particularly interested in Tom's fortunes. He advised
+him to dig wherever he saw a landslide, and if he happened to hit upon
+the right place he would strike it sure. The spot where the man hid it
+was obliterated, but that wouldn't hinder the proper person from
+unearthing the nugget if he only chanced to dig where it was.</p>
+
+<p>"I have looked for that nugget a good many times, and that is the only
+thing that has kept me from finding it; I didn't dig where it was," said
+the man, with something like a sigh of regret. "I know it is somewhere
+in the mountains, else why should so many persons be looking for it?"</p>
+
+<p>Morning came at last, and after Tom had eaten a hasty breakfast he saw
+the pack strapped on his bronco; and the whole thing was done so easily,
+with two experienced cowboys at work, that he regarded it as the least
+difficult part of his undertaking. He had been told repeatedly to get
+the pack on right, and not to unhitch his horse until he did it, or the
+bronco would knock him and his burden into the middle of next week and
+come home, leaving him to follow after as best he could. But Tom was
+sure he had it "down fine," and with a cheerful good-by to the cowboys
+who had assembled to see him off, and a hasty slap on the bronco's flank
+to help him along, he started gayly for the mountains. When he saw that
+camp again, he hoped to have the eight thousand dollar nugget stowed
+away in his pack-saddle.</p>
+
+<p>The first day's work Tom could not complain of. The bronco kept up a
+lively walk, swinging his head from side to side and turning first into
+one canyon and then into another, and did not think it necessary to stop
+for anything to eat until he made his way to a little grove of trees,
+drew a long breath as he stopped under the shade, and looked around at
+Tom as if asking him why he didn't take his pack off. Tom leaned his
+rifle against a log and took his pack off very easily, and the horse
+immediately began taking his supper. Then Tom picked up his rifle and
+looked about him.</p>
+
+<p>"I declare! I believe the whole canyon is full of landslides," said he,
+as he gazed at one pile of rubbish after another filled with logs,
+rocks, and brush which nature had thrown into the valley, some new and
+of recent origin, and others bearing the marks of age upon them. "Hold
+on. Isn't that the mark of a spade over there?"</p>
+
+<p>Tom walked over and looked at it. It was the mark of a spade, sure
+enough, where a man had commenced digging where the landslide ended, and
+had thrown out just earth enough to prove that he had been there, and
+that was all. There were other openings of like character, until Tom
+counted ten in number. Then he looked up at the huge mass above him, and
+made an estimate that it would take an army of men, each armed with a
+spade and pick, to work it all away. These were probably the marks of
+the elderly man among the cowboys, who told him that the reason he
+didn't find the nugget was because he didn't dig in the right place. Tom
+shouldered his rifle, walked back to his log, and sat down.</p>
+
+<p>"I really believe I have been duped," said he disconsolately. "If the
+landslides are all like that, I am certainly not going to work to throw
+them all away just to make eight thousand dollars. Besides, what use
+will it be to me to work where he has been? I'll go on a little
+further."</p>
+
+<p>If Tom had any idea of a landslide, it was a little piece of ground
+which could be thrown away in half a day's time; but the sight of a
+<i>real</i> landslide was what took his breath away. He didn't eat a very
+hearty supper after that, for the thought that was uppermost in his mind
+was that the men who had stood by him, and of whom he had a right to
+expect something better, had completely fooled him in regard to Elam
+Storm's nugget. Instead of telling him that there wasn't any show at all
+of his success, they had fitted him out and sent him away to put in a
+month of his time. There was one thing about it: he would not go back
+until every mouthful in the pack-saddle had been eaten. That much he was
+determined on.</p>
+
+<p>"I had an idea that cowboys were above suspicion, but now I know they
+are not," said Tom spitefully. "I can waste a month of their grub as
+well as anybody, and I won't put a spade in the ground until I see some
+prospects of success."</p>
+
+<p>At the end of a week Tom was still of the same determination, although
+he saw much to discourage him. It was landslides everywhere, and the
+mark of a man's spade was on every one; so it showed that the bronco had
+been over that same ground before. The way was getting lonely, they were
+getting deeper and deeper into the mountains, and somehow Tom felt very
+disconsolate. A deep silence brooded over everything&mdash;a silence so
+utterly mysterious that he was not accustomed to it. How gladly he would
+have welcomed Jerry Lamar and listened to news from home and from the
+uncle he had deserted. Another week and Tom found himself hopelessly in
+a pocket. Turn which way he would, there was no chance for him to get
+out. The man had been there before him&mdash;indeed, he seemed to have gone
+into all the places and thrown out just earth enough to prove that he
+had been there, but not enough to accomplish anything. It was just
+enough to let Tom see how useless it was to dig there.</p>
+
+<p>Tom's two weeks of tramping in the mountains had given him a ravenous
+appetite; his bronco was hitched so that he could not take to his heels
+and leave his master to find his own way home; and as he sat there on
+his blanket, dividing his attention between his cup of coffee,
+hard-tack, and bacon, he thought seriously of going back to
+headquarters. This was undoubtedly the remotest point reached by the
+man, and if one of his experience should be frightened out by a few
+shovelfuls of earth, or scared at finding himself in a pocket, Tom
+thought himself entitled to follow his lead. It had taken him two weeks
+to reach the pocket (he had managed to keep close run of the days); it
+would probably take him fully as long to return, and so he would fill
+Mr. Parsons' contract anyway. And so it was settled that he was to go
+home; but there's many a slip between determining upon a thing and doing
+it. He finished his coffee and bacon, led the horse down to the spring,
+from which he had scraped the leaves, to give him a drink, and rolled
+himself up in his blanket to go to sleep with his ready rifle safe
+beside him.</p>
+
+<p>How long he slept he did not know, but he was awakened about midnight by
+a sound he had never heard before. It came from his horse, but it wasn't
+a neigh: it was the sound of fear, and made the cold chills creep all
+over him. He started up with his rifle in his hand, but did not have
+time to get off the blanket. Another shriek, which sounded like somebody
+in fearful bodily agony, came from the bushes, and the next minute the
+horse was on the ground and struggling in the grasp of some animal or
+thing which Tom could not remember to have seen or heard of before. It
+had a long neck, long legs, and a wonderfully high body which was
+increased materially by a hump on its back. The horse was as nothing in
+its grasp, and the struggle took place not over ten feet from the
+blanket on which Tom was sitting.</p>
+
+<p>"Great Moses!" was Tom's mental ejaculation.</p>
+
+<p>He sat for an instant as if spellbound, and then his rifle arose to his
+face. He was sure he had a good shot at it and expected to see it drop;
+but instead of that it gave another shriek, tossed the horse away from
+it, breaking like thread the lariat with which he was confined, and with
+a single jump disappeared in the bushes. Tom listened, but could hear no
+sound coming from it to tell what sort of a beast it was. Then he got
+upon his feet and turned his attention to the wounded horse. He was past
+the doctor's aid, for he was dead.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, that beats me," said he, going back to the fire and starting it
+up, so that he could see what sort of wounds the beast had made. "I
+never heard of an animal like that before."</p>
+
+<p>A good many boys would have been startled pretty near to death by the
+sudden appearance of an apparition like that. It must be possessed of
+tremendous power to toss the broncho about as it did, and break the
+lariat with which he was fastened. No ghost could do that, and neither
+could a ghost have made that wide and fearful rent that Tom found when
+he had punched up the fire. Tom thought it best to build up a bright
+blaze, for he did not know how long it would be before the animal would
+come back to finish its work. He loaded the rifle carefully and placed
+the revolver where he could get his hands upon it at a moment's warning.
+He thought of grizzly bears, but had never heard of them taking to the
+bushes on account of a single bullet.</p>
+
+<p>"It couldn't have been a panther or a bear, unless my eyes were
+deceiving me, for it was at least four times as big as the horse," said
+Tom, picking up a brand from the fire and once more approaching the
+specimen of the apparition's handiwork. He hadn't been in sight more
+than a minute, and yet the horse was as dead as a door-nail. "He must
+have been a flesh-eater, for nothing else that I know of could have made
+such wounds. I am beat. Now, how am I going to find my way home?"</p>
+
+<p>If Tom had been frightened at first, he was doubly so now. He was so
+confused he couldn't think. From that hour he sat there on his blanket,
+and by the time that daylight fell so that he could distinguish objects
+near him he had made up his mind what he was going to do. He would take
+everything out of the pack-saddle that he could carry on his back, and
+make his way out of the pocket the same way he came in. He had
+remembered enough of his skill in woodcraft to turn and take a survey of
+his back track, so that it would not appear odd to him when he came to
+go that way again, and he had no doubt that he would be able to find it.
+More than that, the bronco had left the prints of his hoofs and had
+continually browsed on the way, and, taking all these things together,
+Tom was certain that he could strike the trail.</p>
+
+<p>"It is going to be a tight squawk," he soliloquized, "but I am not lost
+yet. I only wish I knew what that animal was. It would take a big load
+off my shoulders if I did."</p>
+
+<p>Tom did not waste any time in forming his bundle, for there were some
+things about the pocket that he did not care to see. He wanted to get
+out of sight of every thing that reminded him of his terrible fright. He
+put all his bacon, hard-tack, and coffee into his blanket, strapped his
+pot to his belt behind, set his pick, spade, and pack-saddle up where
+they could be easily found, shouldered his rifle, and, with a farewell
+glance at the bronco, which had carried his pack so faithfully for him
+so many miles, he plunged into the bushes and left the pocket behind.</p>
+
+<p>For that one single day everything went well. He found the bronco's hoof
+prints in the sand, and easily discovered the places where he had been
+browsing on the way, and as long as these signs remained he couldn't get
+lost. He even found, too, the place where they had stopped the night
+before, but going into camp without the presence of the horse was
+lonesome to him. He saw the place where he had scraped away the leaves
+from the side of the stream to give him a spot to drink, and found the
+sapling to which he had hitched him, and the place where he had spread
+his blanket&mdash;but there was little sleep for him that night.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish I knew what that animal was," thought Tom, as he sat on his
+blanket with his rifle in readiness on his knees. "The more I think of
+him the more frightened I become. I wish I was safe at headquarters."</p>
+
+<p>Remember that the signs Tom had been following were only one day old,
+and on the morning of the second day he could not find the place where
+he had entered the camp. Turn which way he would he could not discover
+any footprints. He finally concluded that the middle canyon looked more
+familiar to him than the rest, and, with his heart in his mouth, he
+struck into it. At the spot where the canyon branched into another he
+found a little stream which ran in the direction he thought he ought to
+go, and close beside the stream was a footprint which he took to be his
+own. He was all right now, and with every mile he travelled the faster
+he went, in the hope of finding something else that was encouraging, but
+that solitary footprint was the only thing he saw. There was one thing
+about it that kept up his spirits, and that was he was following a
+stream that ran toward the prairie, and he would continue to follow it
+until the stream or his provisions gave out, and then&mdash;&mdash;Well, that
+hadn't happened yet, and wouldn't happen till he was where he could get
+more provisions. He must reach the house or he would lose his horse and
+$150 in money. He went into camp at a solitary place that night, and,
+for a wonder, slept soundly.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning he was up bright and early, but he did not seem to have
+much appetite for breakfast. And it was so every day until a week had
+passed, and still no change for the better. He was so impatient that he
+could scarcely go into camp. He was impatient to be journeying along
+that little stream that seemed to lead him toward the prairie, but every
+time he looked up and tried to wonder where he was, there were the same
+gloomy mountains stretched away before him that he had at first seen in
+the pocket where he had lost his horse. Tom took no note of the fact
+that his wearing apparel was getting the worse for wear, or that he had
+left his blanket back at his last camping-place, but he did take notice
+that his mind was filled with gloomy forebodings. Why could he not climb
+that mountain on his left and see what was ahead of him? The thought no
+sooner came into his mind than he banished it, took a drink of fresh
+water, and started out at a more moderate pace.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm lost," said he, with a sinking at his heart to which he was an
+entire stranger; "and if I give way to those thoughts, I shall be lost
+utterly. Why did I not think of my gun?"</p>
+
+<p>Tom dropped his pack by his side and fired and loaded three times as
+fast as he could make his fingers move. Then he waited again and fired
+three more; and scarcely had the echoes of the last report died away
+among the mountains when he heard a faint reply, though it came from so
+many directions that he couldn't tell from which way it sounded. But he
+took it to come from down the stream, and, leaving his bundle behind, he
+started in that direction, raising a shout which, to save his life, he
+could not utter above a whisper. He ran until he thought he ought to be
+about where the sound came from, then stopped and fired his gun again,
+and this time met with an immediate response. It was down the stream,
+and there was no doubt about it.</p>
+
+<p>"Who-whoop! Where are you?" shouted Tom, so impatient he could scarcely
+stand still. "I am lost!"</p>
+
+<p>"Follow the stream and you'll strike me," said a voice, and Tom noticed
+that for a backwoods fellow he talked remarkably plain.</p>
+
+<p>It was three weeks since Tom had seen anybody or heard anyone speak, and
+his eagerness to see where the voice came from was desperate. Throwing
+his gun upon the rocks, he broke into another run, and there, just as he
+turned around an abrupt bend in the canyon, he saw the person to whom it
+belonged. The speaker stood with his hat and coat off; his pick lay
+against a stone near by, and the shovel which he had been in the act of
+using when Tom's rifle shots fell upon his ears was standing upright in
+the ground; but he had taken precautions for any emergency, for he held
+his rifle in the hollow of his arm. Beyond a doubt somebody had been
+grub-staking him for gold, or for something else which he was equally
+anxious to find. Tom had just wind enough to take note of these things,
+and then he staggered to a rock near by and seated himself upon it.</p>
+
+<p>"You won't find any gold here," said Tom, resting his elbows on his
+knees and looking down at the ground.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a name="illus2" id="illus2"></a>
+<img src="images/illus2.jpg" alt=""/>
+</div>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Tom's New Acquaintance.</span></h3>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>The stranger uncocked his gun, and, bringing the piece to an order arms,
+leaned upon it. He looked hard at Tom, but had nothing to say.</p>
+
+<p>"I have been all over this country, but not a cent's worth of gold could
+I find in it," continued Tom, taking off his hat and drawing his hand
+across his forehead. "Somebody has duped you just the same as they duped
+me."</p>
+
+<p>"Where's your gun?" asked the stranger.</p>
+
+<p>"I left it in the bend up there," said Tom, anxious to hear the sound of
+the voice again. "I was so impatient to get to you that I left it up
+there. I haven't heard a stranger speak for three weeks."</p>
+
+<p>"Where did you come from?"</p>
+
+<p>"Wait till I get my breath and I will answer all your questions. I came
+from a pocket back here in the mountains, where I lost my horse. I wish
+you could have seen that animal, for I don't know what it was: long
+neck, long head, and a body that looked twice as big as my horse. And
+then how strong it was! It broke my lariat&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"What color was it?" said the stranger, beginning to take a deep
+interest in what his guest had to say.</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't see that it was any other color when compared with my horse.
+It looked just the same&mdash;a dark brown. It had a hump on its back&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"The Red Ghost, by George!"</p>
+
+<p>Tom started and looked at him in amazement.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE CAMP OF ELAM, THE WOLFER.</h3>
+
+
+<p>"I aint got any business to be digging around here," said the stranger,
+laying down his rifle and picking up his coat. "We'll go back and get
+your gun, Tender-foot. How far is that pocket from here?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, it is a two-weeks' journey," said Tom, who suddenly became aware
+that he would have to go over that long tramp again. "I never could find
+my way back there in the world."</p>
+
+<p>"Who sent you into the mountains to dig for my nugget?"</p>
+
+<p>"Your nugget?"</p>
+
+<p>"Them's my very words, stranger."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, who are you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am Elam Storm, the man who lost the nugget twenty years ago, and who
+intends to have it back if he has to kill every man this side of the
+country you came from; and where's that?"</p>
+
+<p>Tom, who had arisen from his rock at the same time the stranger began to
+put on his coat, stared fixedly at the speaker, and then sat down again.
+So this was Elam Storm, the man who had a better right to the nugget
+than anybody else in the world! He was a boy, not more than nineteen or
+twenty years of age, but he had a face on him which expressed the utmost
+resolution. And he had the physical power, too, to carry out his
+determination, for, as he moved around his camp, putting away his tools
+where he could readily find them, he showed muscles which said that it
+would not be a safe piece of business for anyone to interfere with that
+nugget.</p>
+
+<p>"Where did you come from, I asked you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I came from down in Mississippi, where my uncle owns a plantation and a
+heap of niggers," answered Tom, who did not like the way the boy eyed
+him when he spoke.</p>
+
+<p>"And right there is where you ought to have stayed," said Elam. "Did you
+hear anything about the nugget down there?"</p>
+
+<p>"Of course not," replied Tom, surprised at the proposition. "I started
+to go to Texas, but got on the wrong boat and was brought up here. I
+couldn't do anything else, and so Mr. Parsons grub-staked me and sent me
+into the mountains. He lives out that way a short distance."</p>
+
+<p>"How far do you call a short distance?"</p>
+
+<p>"Fifteen or twenty miles, maybe."</p>
+
+<p>"Haw-ha! Man, you're just about a hundred miles from where he lives."</p>
+
+<p>Tom caught his breath, but could say nothing in reply.</p>
+
+<p>"You have been going further and further away from him ever since you
+lost your horse," continued Elam. "Come on; let's go and get your
+rifle."</p>
+
+<p>"You say that nugget of yours was lost twenty years ago," said Tom, as
+he fell in behind Elam, being afraid to do anything else. "You are not
+that old, are you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, not so long as that!" laughed Elam. "It is a long story and will
+take you a good portion of the evening to listen to it. I will tell it
+to you to-night. Now, then, which canyon did you come down?"</p>
+
+<p>Tom looked up and found himself confronted by three gullies, which came
+down and met at that one point. He said he didn't know, but Elam, after
+looking around a little, started up one with as much confidence as
+though he had seen Tom when he came out. After some questioning from Tom
+he showed him a little twig, not larger than a needle, which he had
+brushed off in his hurried flight after he had thrown down his gun; and
+a short distance farther on he found the weapon, which Tom, in his
+excitement, had tossed clear across the creek. Tom was surprised when
+Elam stepped across the stream and picked up the weapon, and relieved
+when it was handed over to him with the assurance that it had suffered
+no injury in its collision with the rocks.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, we will let the bundle go," said he. "There is nothing in it that
+will pay us to go back after it, and I am too tired to go a step
+farther. I hope your camp isn't a great ways from here."</p>
+
+<p>Elam replied that for him it was "just a jump," but he would walk slowly
+so as not to tire the pilgrim. He stopped at his camp where he had been
+digging, and gave Tom a small supply of the corn bread and bacon which
+he had left over from his dinner, and while Tom was eating it he sat by
+on a rock with his elbows resting on his knees. Tom ate as though he
+hadn't had anything for a month, and when his repast was ended, Elam
+took his spade and pick under one arm, shouldered his rifle with the
+other, and set off in a way that was calculated to tire any man, no
+matter how well equipped he might be for travelling. But Tom did not
+care for that. He wanted to get home,&mdash;any place was better than the
+bare canyon,&mdash;where he could lie down and sleep with nothing to bother
+him. Once in a while Elam turned around and said to him:</p>
+
+<p>"To think that I have been wasting my time for the last month in digging
+in such places as this! I ought to have been fifty miles from here, for
+I know about where that canyon of yours is."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think that that Red Ghost, or whatever you call it&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Tom happened to look up and saw that Elam was facing him, and was
+astonished at the expression that came upon his countenance. He would
+not have believed that one who was so sensible on every other point
+should be willing to admit that the apparition that had visited him in
+the pocket and robbed him of his horse was not due to superhuman agency.</p>
+
+<p>"I know how you, Tender-foot, feel about this, but wait until you have a
+chance to shoot it plumb through the head, and it gets away with it all,
+and then tell me what you would think," said Elam sullenly. "You
+probably don't have such things in the settlements, but that's no sign
+that they aint found out here."</p>
+
+<p>"I had as fair a shot at it as anybody could have," said Tom, "and it
+wasn't over ten feet from me. I saw the blood spurt out from a hole in
+its neck, and it flung the horse away from it, broke the lariat, and
+went into the bushes. But do you think it is guarding that treasure?"</p>
+
+<p>"I know it, and nobody can't make me believe differently. I have seen it
+often enough, and it has got the mark of three of my bullets on it."</p>
+
+<p>Elam faced about and went on his way at a faster gait than before, and
+Tom let him go. As eager as he was to learn something about the Red
+Ghost, he was still more eager to reach a permanent camp where he could
+lie down and rest. He found that he was pretty nearly barefooted. His
+sheep's-gray pants hung in tatters about his worn shoes, and Elam had a
+way of jumping from one stone to another and coming down on top of a log
+in a manner that he did not like. At length, when the sun began to go
+down, and Tom experienced some difficulty in finding a place for his
+feet, Elam stopped on the edge of a natural prairie, and pointed out
+something a short distance off.</p>
+
+<p>"There's my horse," said he. "And yonder, where that little grove of
+trees comes down into the prairie, is where my shanty is located. Can
+you stand it till we get there?"</p>
+
+<p>Oh, yes, Tom could stand it that far. He fell in behind Elam, paying no
+attention to the horse, which came up and followed along in their rear,
+pushed his way along the evergreens, and was finally brought to a stand
+by a door in a substantial log house. It was fastened by a bolt on the
+inside, but as the string was out, Elam easily opened it.</p>
+
+<p>"You are welcome to the cabin of Elam, the wolfer," said he, leading the
+way in and pointing to a pile of skins which served him for a bed.
+"Tumble in there, and don't get up till you get ready."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you," said Tom, handing his rifle to Elam and throwing himself at
+length on the couch. "I never was so tired in my life."</p>
+
+<p>Elam had hardly time to set the rifle up in a corner and shut the door
+before Tom was fast asleep. How long he slept he did not know, but
+during the whole of it he felt that he was under the care of somebody
+who could protect him. If there were any ghosts to visit that camp, they
+would have to strike Elam first.</p>
+
+<p>The first thing he became aware of when he got his eyes fairly opened
+was that he was so full of aches and pains that he could scarcely move,
+and the next, that he did not recognize a thing about the establishment.
+Gradually he raised himself on his elbow, and then Elam Storm came into
+his mind. He could not remember much of what he had said to Elam during
+their first meeting,&mdash;he must have been about half crazy, he thought,
+when he talked to him,&mdash;but he had said enough to bring him a good bed
+and a sound sleep besides. He found that his feet had been interfered
+with&mdash;that they felt easier than they did before; and on removing the
+blanket that had been thrown over them he discovered that his tattered
+shoes and stockings had been removed; that they had been wiped dry and
+moved closer to the fire, which had evidently been going at a great rate
+before it died down to its present bed of ashes. There was plenty of
+wood right there, and with much extra exertion Tom managed to crawl to
+it, and by the persistent blowing of a coal into flame he succeeded in
+starting a fair blaze. Then he contrived to get up. There was a big hunk
+of johnny cake on the table, a slice of bacon with a knife handy to cut
+it, and a bag which proved to contain coffee. A further examination
+showed him that Elam had not gone about his business without leaving a
+letter behind him to tell where he was. The first was a chunk of bark on
+which was rudely traced a picture of a man gathering traps. He knew that
+he was taking the game in, for there was a representation of game in the
+trap. A second piece of bark lay under the first, and Tom could not for
+a long time make sense of what it contained. It was blurred, and was
+intended to represent a man going into camp. In other words, if Elam did
+not get home by daylight, Tom need not worry about it. The pictures were
+rudely traced in charcoal, but the drawing was perfect.</p>
+
+<p>"If I had not been tolerably well posted in backwoods lore, I could not
+have made head or tail out of these pictures," said Tom; and as he spoke
+he thought over all the lessons he had learned from the Indians and
+darkies in the swamp. "Elam is going out to gather his traps, and if he
+does not come home before to-morrow, I need not bother my head about it.
+What is he going to gather up his traps for? I shall have to wait till
+he comes home to have that explained, and now I'll go to work and get
+some breakfast."</p>
+
+<p>Tom had used up nearly all the wood to replenish the fire, and he began
+casting his eyes about the shanty to see if Elam had another pair of
+shoes in waiting to be put on when his own boots became wet, and found
+some moccasons with a pair of stockings neatly folded and hung beside
+them. Elam had worn them once, but that did not matter. He put them on,
+and, seeing Elam's axe resting in one corner, caught it up and went out
+to renew his supply of fire-wood. Hearing the blows of the axe, the
+horse came up and snorted at him, but could not be induced to come near.
+This made it plain that the man who attempted to rob Elam would have to
+leave his horse behind.</p>
+
+<p>Tom chopped until his appetite began to get the better of him, and then
+went in and busied himself about his breakfast. He left the door open
+(for all the light that was admitted to the cabin came through a space
+in the roof over the fireplace through which the smoke escaped), and
+told himself that for one who had never seen the comforts of civilized
+life Elam was able to copy pretty close to them. There was a table whose
+top was made of boards hewed out of a log and smoothed with an axe, and
+one or two three-legged stools without any backs, which proved that Elam
+sometimes had company. The clothing he had worn was neatly hung up at
+one corner of the cabin, and underneath was something which Tom had not
+noticed before: two bundles of skins, nicely tied up and waiting to be
+shipped. They were wolf-skins, and close by them lay half a dozen skins
+of the beaver and otter, not enough to be tied up.</p>
+
+<p>"I know what he meant when he said that I was welcome to the cabin of
+Elam, the wolfer," said Tom. "Somebody has either grub-staked him and
+sent him out here to catch wolves or else he is working for himself.
+Now, where's the spring? I must have some water for my coffee."</p>
+
+<p>Tom easily found the pail of which he was in search, and, going out
+behind the cabin, he followed the path he had noticed while cutting
+wood. It ran through a quiet grove of evergreens, and finally ended in a
+little pool in which Elam found his water. Coming back to the cabin, he
+could not find any coffee-pot, but he found a pan which seemed to have
+been used for nothing but coffee, filled it with water, placed it on
+coals he had raked off to one side, and covered it with one of Elam's
+pictures. With his breakfast fairly going, with his coffee and bacon on
+the coals, and his johnny cake and clean dishes on the table by his
+elbow, he settled back on his stool as complacently as though he had
+never known anything better.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know what sort of a conscience Elam's got, but if he's got a
+tolerably fair one, it seems to me that he ought to be well contented
+with this life," said Tom. "He was born to this thing, and,
+consequently, don't know anything better; but as for me, there isn't
+money enough in it. But, then, he thinks he is going to find that
+nugget. Well, I'd like to find it myself, but I am not going to bother
+with it with such a fellow as Elam in the way. I don't want to test
+those muscles."</p>
+
+<p>Tom had come to that country to make money; he wasn't going to test
+anybody's muscle in order to make it, but he was going to make it. In
+spite of all the obstacles that were thrown in his way&mdash;and he met with
+no greater loss than any tender-foot is likely to meet&mdash;he carried back
+to his uncle half as much money as he stole from him, and his uncle was
+glad to see him, too. This was all in the future, and Tom knew nothing
+of it. He ate his breakfast with great satisfaction, getting up from the
+table once in a while to examine something new in Elam's outfit, and
+when it was done, he washed the dishes and put everything back just as
+he had found it. Then there was nothing left for him to do but to cut
+wood until Elam came. The latter would be cold and wet from handling
+those muddy traps, and there would be nothing wanting but a fire for him
+to get up to. Every once in a while he dropped his axe and went out to
+the edge of the evergreens to see if he could discover Elam returning,
+but always came away disappointed. One thing he continually marvelled
+at, and that was the scarcity of game. If anyone had told him that he
+could leave his gun and wander away by himself, he would have thought
+him foolish; and here he had been alone in the mountains nearly a month
+and had not seen anything&mdash;not even a jack-rabbit&mdash;to shoot at. Had it
+not been for that Red Ghost, or whatever it was, that visited him the
+night he stayed in the pocket, his gun would have been as clean when he
+took it back as when he came out with it. At last, when everything began
+to grow indistinct, and Tom had put away his axe and piled up the wood,
+he looked for Elam again, resolved if he could not see him to go into
+the cabin, haul in the string, and get his supper; but there was Elam
+half-way across the prairie, and, furthermore, he was struggling under a
+weight about as heavy as he could well carry.</p>
+
+<p>"They are wolf-skins," said he, as Tom hurried up to him and took his
+rifle from his grasp. "I've got eighteen, and two otters. How are you,
+Tender-foot? Got over your sleep yet?"</p>
+
+<p>Tom replied that he had got all the slumber he wanted, and then went on
+to tell Elam that he knew where he had gone, and if he did not return
+that night, he would not have been at all worried about it, and that he
+had got the knowledge from the pictures he had left on the table, and
+Elam seemed very much pleased.</p>
+
+<p>"You can't read or write, can you?" asked Tom. "I thought not, but you
+drew those pictures as though you had taken lessons in drawing. I have
+got a good warm fire for you."</p>
+
+<p>Although there were many things that he was anxious to question Elam
+about, Tom did not trouble him until he had had his supper and had
+shaken up the skins preparatory to enjoying his after-supper smoke. Tom
+followed his example and stretched himself out beside him, pulling off
+his moccasons so that he could have the full benefit of the fire.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Tender-foot, what brought you out to this country?" said Elam,
+pulling up a bundle of wolf-skins so that he could rest his head upon
+it. "Tell me the truth and don't stick at nothing."</p>
+
+<p>Tom replied that there wasn't very much to tell, and went on and
+revealed to Elam as much of his story as he was willing that a stranger
+should know; but he didn't tell him a word about his fuss with Our
+Fellows, or of his stealing five thousand dollars, or of his association
+with gamblers. In short, he gave him to understand that he was hard up,
+that he wanted to go to Texas and had got on to the wrong boat and been
+brought up there. He told him the truth about his meeting with Mr.
+Kelley and his two cowboys, for he did not know but that Elam might see
+them some day.</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't know a thing about this country," said Tom, in conclusion,
+"and Mr. Parsons grub-staked me and sent me out to find a gold mine."</p>
+
+<p>"Haw-ha! You had about as much chance of finding gold here as you would
+in New Orleans," said Elam, as soon as his merriment would allow him to
+speak. "The only gold here is my nugget, and that was buried two years
+ago. Didn't he tell you about that?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, he told me about the nugget, but he also told me that by digging
+after it I might strike another gold mine, as some others had done
+before me. But if I ever go again, I don't want to follow such a man as
+went before me."</p>
+
+<p>"Who was it? Was it somebody who was working on Parsons' place?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. He was an elderly man, who seemed to take more interest in me than
+anybody else. He told me that the only reason he didn't strike the
+nugget was because he didn't dig in the right place."</p>
+
+<p>"Haw-ha!" laughed Elam.</p>
+
+<p>"And the only reason he didn't dig in the right place was because the
+nugget couldn't be thrown out with two or three spadefuls of earth,"
+continued Tom. "I followed along after him for two weeks, and in every
+camping-place there were two shovelfuls of dirt flung out. If a hen had
+been scratching for that nugget, she would have made better headway."</p>
+
+<p>"He was on the right track, anyhow," said Elam. "If he had kept on till
+he came to that pocket, he would have found it. That would have given me
+a job, for I would a heap sooner find it in the dirt than take it out of
+a man's pack."</p>
+
+<p>"If a man was to find that nugget&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir, I would," said Elam savagely. "It is mine, and I'm a-going to
+have it, I don't care who unearths it. Do you suppose you could find
+your way back to that pocket?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, sir; I couldn't," said Tom, drawing a long breath of dismay. "In
+the first place, there's the Red Ghost. If you had seen it&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Haven't I seen it?" demanded Elam. "It has got the marks of some of my
+bullets."</p>
+
+<p>"It must bear the marks of a good many bullets, and I don't see why some
+of them did not hit it in the proper place. What do you suppose it is,
+anyway?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, it's a ghost, I tell you. If it wasn't, some of those bullets
+would have struck it in the proper spot, I bet you."</p>
+
+<p>"If it's a ghost, you can't kill it."</p>
+
+<p>"Can't, hey? I'll bet you that I can."</p>
+
+<p>"It looked to me just like a camel," said Tom, who did not like the way
+Elam glared at him every time he struck on this subject.</p>
+
+<p>"A camel! What's them?"</p>
+
+<p>"An animal they make use of in foreign countries to carry heavy burdens
+for them. But, Elam, how came it to appear to you? It don't show itself
+to anybody else who hunts in these mountains, does it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly it does. The history of this nugget is known all over the
+country, and if any man has it on his mind, he may be a hundred miles
+from here, but that makes no difference; it appears to that fellow and
+scares him off. Now, wait till I tell you."</p>
+
+<p>This brought Elam to his story, and he entered upon it a good deal as
+Uncle Ezra did, beginning with the massacre of the soldiers who were
+sent out to pay the garrison at Grayson, and ending with the fight
+between the two miners in the mountains. He seemed to know right where
+the nugget had been ever since it was unearthed. At any rate, he told a
+pretty straight story, and when it was ended filled up his pipe and
+looked at Tom to see what he thought about it.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2>
+
+<h3>UNWELCOME VISITORS.</h3>
+
+
+<p>"I did think for a time that I should find my father and the nugget
+together, and even gave it out among the sheep-and cattle-growers who
+would listen to me," continued Elam, taking a few long pulls at his
+pipe. "But I have since given that idea up. I didn't say anything to the
+men hereabouts, for it kinder ran in my head after a while that they
+thought I was luny on the subject; so I just kept my ideas to myself.
+You see, the thing couldn't have gone through so many hands without my
+hearing something of my father, but, search high or low, I never heared
+a word about him. The old man is dead. He was killed when the robbers
+made their assault on the train, and the nugget has been doing all this
+of itself."</p>
+
+<p>"All what of itself?" asked Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, it has been bobbing up and bobbing down," replied Elam. "One day
+you know where it is, and by the time you get on the track of it it has
+gone up, nobody knows where."</p>
+
+<p>For a long time Tom did not say anything. The story seemed so real&mdash;as
+real as that he was sitting on his couch of furs, with his feet tucked
+under him, gazing hard into the fire. It did not seem possible that the
+story could get abroad, and so many men believe it, and here this one
+was known two hundred miles away. There must be something in it.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said Elam, "do you think I am crazy?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know what to think," said Tom. "Such a story never got wind in
+the settlements."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course it didn't. There's a heap more things that happen out here
+than you think for. There isn't one man in ten who would believe about
+that ghost."</p>
+
+<p>"No, sir," said Tom emphatically. "And I don't know what to believe
+about it, either, and I have seen it. Are you going up there to that
+pocket?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am going to start day after to-morrow if you will show me the way.
+When I strike the nugget, I will give you half."</p>
+
+<p>The proposition almost took Tom's breath away. All that amount of money
+for facing the Red Ghost! Now that he had got safely out of reach of it
+and had heard so much about its going everywhere it pleased, here to-day
+and a hundred miles away to-morrow, Tom was obliged to confess that
+there was more of a ghost about it than he was at first willing to
+suppose. But there was his horse with the broken lariat! No ghost could
+do a thing like that.</p>
+
+<p>"You see, I shall spend to-morrow in gathering in my traps," said Elam.
+"I may not come back, you know, and I don't want to leave them out where
+everybody can steal them, and when they are all in, I shall be ready to
+start."</p>
+
+<p>When Elam said this, Tom picked up a burned chunk, threw it on the fire,
+and laid down again. If Elam thought he wasn't going to come back, what
+was the use of his visiting the pocket? Tom had about concluded that he
+would not go.</p>
+
+<p>"No, I may not come back," said Elam, anxious that Tom should learn just
+how desperate the undertaking was, "and while I don't want to have my
+traps stolen, I want to leave them where someone can use them. Then I
+will pack my spelter on my horse and go to the nighest post&mdash;it is just
+a jump from here&mdash;and trade it off for provisions. We can easy get them
+as far as here."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; but what will you do from here on? You won't have any bronco to
+carry them for you."</p>
+
+<p>"We will pack it on our backs. It's a poor hunter who can't go into the
+woods and carry provisions enough for two weeks."</p>
+
+<p>"And what if the Red Ghost appears? The first thing it will pitch into
+will be ourselves. I don't think I will go. I have got all over
+prospecting for gold, and wish that summer might come so that I can go
+to work herding cattle."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I know what will happen to you then," said Elam.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, what will happen to me then?" said Tom, after waiting for his
+companion to finish what he had on his mind.</p>
+
+<p>"You'll go plumb crazy; that's what will happen to you. You will be set
+to riding the line&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"What's that?" interrupted Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, riding up and down a fence, or rather where the fence ought to be,
+to see that none of your cattle break away. It will take you two days to
+make a trip, and you will get so tired of it that you will finally skip
+out and leave the line to take care of itself. But all right. You go to
+bed and sleep on it, and if it doesn't look better in the morning, I'll
+say no more about it. I will go by myself."</p>
+
+<p>With something like a sigh of regret Elam turned over and prepared to go
+to sleep. There was no undressing, no handling of blankets, but just as
+he was he was all ready to go to slumber. Tom felt sorry for him, and,
+besides, he knew how Mr. Parsons and the cowboys would look upon such a
+proceeding if it should once get to their ears. And he didn't see any
+way to prevent it. If Elam's story was able to travel for two hundred
+miles, the idea that he was afraid to face the Red Ghost would travel,
+too, and then what would be his prospect of getting employment with Mr.
+Parsons? And, besides, there was a chance for him to go "plumb crazy"
+while riding the line and seeing that the cattle did not break through.
+That was another thing that was against Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid I am unlucky, after all," thought he, once more arranging
+his bunch of furs. "I am sent out into the mountains to prospect for
+gold, when there isn't any gold in sight except what belongs to Elam,
+here, and have the promise that when summer comes I shall be given a
+chance." Then aloud: "Say, Elam, does a fellow have to ride this line at
+first, and before he can call himself a full-fledged cowboy?"</p>
+
+<p>"Sure," said Elam; "he must get used to everything that is done on the
+ranch. He must begin at the lowest round of the ladder and work his way
+up."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said Tom to himself, "I just aint a-going to do it. I'll just go
+to sleep on it now, and if the thing looks better to me to-morrow than
+it does to-night, I'll stick to your heels."</p>
+
+<p>While Tom was thinking about it, he fell asleep. When he awoke the next
+morning, it was broad daylight, but he was alone. Elam must have moved
+with stealthy footsteps while he was getting breakfast; but there was
+everything on the table just as he found it on the previous morning, and
+the pictures which Elam had drawn, and which Tom had placed on the wall
+so that they could be easily seen, had been taken down and put where he
+had seen them the day before.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope to goodness that I will get through with my sleep after a
+while," thought Tom, as he proceeded to put on his moccasons. "He has
+gone out to gather the rest of his traps, and I am left to decide
+whether or not I will go with him. Well, I will go. If that fellow is
+not afraid of the ghost, I'm not, either. I know it isn't a ghost, but
+he thinks it is, and we'll see who will show the most pluck."</p>
+
+<p>Tom went about his business with alacrity, and in an hour the breakfast
+was eaten and the dishes put away. Then he had nothing to do but to cut
+a supply of wood for Elam, though he didn't know how it was going to be
+of any use to him, seeing that he was going to the mountains; but it was
+better than sitting idle all day, and so Tom went at it, throwing the
+wood as fast as he cut it in under the eaves of the cabin, where it
+would be protected from the weather. At last the wood that was down was
+all cut, and Tom, leaning on his axe with one hand, and scratching his
+head with the other, was looking around to determine what tree ought to
+come down next, when he happened to glance toward the path where it
+emerged from the evergreens and ran up to the door of the house, and
+discovered two men standing there with their arms at a ready. If they
+had tried to come up under cover of his chopping they had succeeded
+admirably. They might have approached close to him, and even laid hold
+upon him, and Tom never would have known it until he found himself in
+their grasp.</p>
+
+<p>Of all the sorry-looking specimens that Tom had ever seen since he came
+West these were the beat. Elam would have been ashamed to be seen in
+their company. His clothes were whole and clean, while these men had
+scarcely an article between them that was not in need of repairs. Their
+hats, coats, and trousers ought long ago to have gone to the ragman; and
+as for their boots&mdash;they had none, wearing moccasons instead. Tom felt
+that something was going to happen. He knew he was growing pale, but
+leaned with both hands upon his axe and tried not to show it.</p>
+
+<p>"Howdy, pard?" said one of the men, looking all around.</p>
+
+<p>"How are you?" said Tom.</p>
+
+<p>He would have been glad to step into the cabin and get his rifle, but he
+noticed that the men stood between him and the doorway.</p>
+
+<p>"Whar's your pardner?" asked the man.</p>
+
+<p>"He is around here somewhere," said Tom, shouldering his axe and
+starting for the door. "What do you want?"</p>
+
+<p>"I want to know if you have anything to eat? We have been out looking
+for some steers that have broke away, and we've got kinder out of our
+reckonin'."</p>
+
+<p>"Who are you working for?"</p>
+
+<p>"For ole man Parsons. Our horses got away from us, too, and didn't leave
+us so much as a hunk of bacon."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't believe a word of your story," said Tom, who knew from the
+start that the man was lying. "But come in. I reckon Elam would give you
+something if he was here, though, to tell you the truth, we haven't got
+much."</p>
+
+<p>"So Elam is your pardner, is he?"</p>
+
+<p>"You seem to know him pretty well."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes. Elam and I have been hunting many a time."</p>
+
+<p>"He's liable to come back at any minute," returned Tom, who wished there
+was some truth in what he was saying. "He has just stepped out to look
+at some traps. I don't see what keeps him so long, for of course you
+will be glad to see him."</p>
+
+<p>Tom had by this time got inside the cabin, closely followed by the two
+men, who, he noticed, did not go very far from the door. One of them
+hauled a stool up beside it and sat down where he could keep a close
+watch on everything that went on outside, and the other kept so close to
+Tom that the latter could not have used his axe if he had tried it. Tom
+wanted to get his hands on his rifle, but one of the men had placed
+himself directly in front of it so that his broad shoulders were between
+him and the weapon. The men pushed back their hats and took a survey of
+the interior of the cabin while Tom was getting down the side of bacon,
+and finally one of them discovered the pile of wolf-skins which Elam had
+tied up and left in the corner. With a smile and a muttered ejaculation
+he walked over and examined it.</p>
+
+<p>"Elam's at his ole tricks, aint he?" said he, after he had tested the
+skins and tried to determine by the weight of them how many there were
+in the package. "How many do you reckon he's got here? So many skins at
+forty-five dollars apiece would be&mdash;how much would it be, Tender-foot?"</p>
+
+<p>Tom was rather taken aback by this style of address. He had tried to
+play himself off on the men as one to the manor born, but his language,
+his dress, or something had given him away entirely. The man spoke to
+him as if he was as well acquainted with his history as Elam was.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't reckon we want anything to eat do we, Aleck?" continued the
+man, lifting the bundle and carrying it back to the door with him. "If
+you see anybody else coming along here that's hard up for grub&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Here&mdash;you!" exclaimed Tom, throwing down his axe and making an effort
+to take the bundle from the man. "Put that down, if you know when you
+are well off."</p>
+
+<p>"If you know when you are well off, you will keep your hands to yourself
+and sit down thar," said the man, and at the same time the one who had
+been addressed as Aleck arose to his feet, cocking his rifle as he did
+so. "Oh, you needn't call for Elam, 'cause we know where he is as well
+as you do," he continued, as Tom thrust both men aside and started post
+haste for the door. "Now, Tender-foot, just go and behave yourself. We
+know that Elam has gone out to attend to his traps and won't be back
+before night, and so we've got all the time we want. Sit down."</p>
+
+<p>Tom saw it all now. The men had evidently watched Elam from the time he
+started out, until they saw him pick up one trap and set out for
+another, and had then made up their minds to rob him. They little
+expected to find a tender-foot behind to watch his cabin, and had
+consequently made up their story on the spur of the moment.</p>
+
+<p>"Aleck, you will find your bundle over thar," said the man, "and there
+are some otter-skins you can take, too. This rifle I will just take with
+me and leave it agin some rocks out here whar you can easy find it. Mind
+you, we haint done you no harm so far, but don't come nigh this rifle
+under an hour. You hear me?"</p>
+
+<p>Tom said nothing in reply. He watched Aleck as he picked up the other
+bundle and otter-skins (he left the eighteen Elam had brought in the
+night before, because they were not cured), flung them over his
+shoulder, and joined his companion at the door, where the latter had
+already taken charge of the rifle.</p>
+
+<p>"You haint disremembered what I've told you?" he said, in savage tones.
+"You come out in one hour and you can find the rifle; but you come out
+before that time expires and ten to one but you will get a ball through
+your head."</p>
+
+<p>Tom still made no reply, and the robbers went out as noiselessly as they
+had come in. He listened, but did not hear the snapping of a twig or the
+swishing of bushes to prove that they had worked their way through the
+thicket of evergreens to the natural prairie along which Elam was to
+come.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, now, I am beat," drawing a long breath of relief, thrusting his
+feet out in front of him, and putting his hands into his pockets. "So it
+seems that Elam isn't so very happy, after all, and that, no matter
+where one gets, he's going to have trouble. Here he's been working like
+a nailer for&mdash;I don't know how long he's been out here&mdash;until it seems
+to me&mdash;&mdash;What's that?" he added, as his feet came in contact with a
+small buckskin bag which one of the robbers had dropped.</p>
+
+<p>Tom bent over and saw that one side of the string was broken. The bag
+had been tied around the man's neck, and had worked its way down until
+it found an opening at the bottom of his trousers above his moccasons.
+The man had never noticed it, and this was the first Tom had seen of it.
+It was small, but it was well filled, and Tom began to look about for a
+place to hide it.</p>
+
+<p>"Let him take the skins if he wants to, and I'll take this," said he,
+getting up and looking first into one place and then into another, and
+making up his mind each time that that was a poor spot to hide things.
+"He may miss it before he has gone a great ways, and I don't want him to
+know that he has left that much behind. Just as soon as he goes away
+I'll take it out and examine it."</p>
+
+<p>Tom, who was not so badly frightened as some boys would have been, made
+his way toward the door and finally went out, but could hear no signs of
+the robbers. He removed some sticks from the pile of wood he had cut and
+there placed the bag, covering it over as if nothing had been disturbed,
+and then struck up a lively whistle and started down the path. The
+robbers were not in sight, but there was Elam's horse just quenching his
+thirst at the brook, and that proved that his companion had not been
+stolen afoot, anyway.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll be perfectly safe if I try to find the rifle now," said Tom, as he
+began beating around through the bushes. "By George! I hope they haven't
+carried the gun off with them. They couldn't, for their packs were too
+heavy."</p>
+
+<p>Here was a new apprehension, and it started Tom to work with increased
+speed; and it was only after an hour's steady search that he found the
+gun hidden where nobody would have thought of looking for it. It was
+uninjured, and this made it plain that the only object the robbers had
+in view was to rob Elam.</p>
+
+<p>"They've got just sixteen skins or I'm mistaken," said Tom, shouldering
+his recovered rifle and retracing his steps to camp. "Sixteen skins at
+forty-five dollars would be worth seven hundred dollars and better.
+That's quite a nice little sum to rake out before dinner. Now, my next
+care is to examine that bag."</p>
+
+<p>Arriving at the wood-pile, the bag was taken out and carried into the
+cabin. Tom caught it by the bottom and emptied its contents on the
+table, first taking care, however, to place his rifle across his knees,
+where it could be seized in case of emergency. He was surprised at the
+contents of the little bag. In the first place there was some money
+tightly wrapped up in folds of buckskin, and when Tom unfolded it to see
+how much there was, two yellow-boys rolled out.</p>
+
+<p>"Hurrah! Here's something to pay for the stolen skins," said Tom, and,
+hastily putting the money into his pocket, he caught up his rifle and
+hastened out of doors to listen for some sounds of the returning
+robbers. Everything was silent. The men were gone, and Tom had nothing
+to do but to examine the bag in peace.</p>
+
+<p>"I am glad they didn't do anything more," thought he, as he went in and
+seated himself at the table. "If they had wanted to do mischief, they
+might have pulled a chunk from the fire and set the whole thing to
+going, but instead of doing that they just contented themselves with
+robbing us. Forty dollars. Where did they get it? Two gold eagles and
+bills enough to make up the balance. Here's tobacco enough to last both
+of them a week; needles and thread, so it don't seem to me that they
+ought to have been satisfied to go around with their jackets full of
+holes, as I saw them, and&mdash;&mdash;What's this? It's something pretty
+precious, I guess, because it is wrapped up tightly."</p>
+
+<p>It was a small parcel tied up in buckskin that caught Tom's eye just
+then. It was so neatly wrapped up in numerous folds that by the time Tom
+got them unfolded he fully expected to find some quartz or some more
+gold pieces; but when he brought it to light, there was nothing but a
+little piece of paper, with ordinary lines drawn upon it. Did he throw
+it away? He spread it out upon the table as smoothly as he could, and
+set to work to study out the problem presented to him. One thing was
+plain to him: the line which ran up the middle, paying no attention to
+other lines which came into it at intervals, was a gully. Right ahead it
+went until it branched off in two places, and there it stopped. What did
+it mean?</p>
+
+<p>"It means something, as sure as I am a foot high," said Tom, settling
+back in his chair and holding the paper up before him. "There is
+something buried there, and how did these people come by it? I guess
+that Elam had better see that."</p>
+
+<p>Filled with excitement, Tom bundled the things back into the bag, and
+put the bag into his pocket, wondering what sort of history those two
+men had passed through. Did they know anything about the nugget? The
+idea was ridiculous, simply because there were some marks on a paper
+which he did not understand.</p>
+
+<p>"There was only one of them who escaped with the nugget, and he buried
+it within ten miles of the fort," said Tom. "And Elam says, further,
+that he was so sick and tired when he was relieved that he could not
+draw a map to lead anyone to it. No matter; there's something there, and
+I am in hopes it will&mdash;&mdash;By George! they are coming back."</p>
+
+<p>There was no doubt about it, and he might have heard them before if he
+had not been so busy with his reflections. He listened and could hear
+them tramping through the bushes, and all on a sudden one raised his
+voice and called out to the other, who was evidently behind him:</p>
+
+<p>"I tell you he's got it. If I don't get it back, I am ruined!"</p>
+
+<p>"That means me," thought Tom.</p>
+
+<p>For an instant Tom stood irresolute, and then the idea came upon him
+that he wasn't going to be imposed upon in this way any longer. He moved
+across the floor with long strides, took down his revolver and put it
+into his pocket and moved out of the door, pulling it to after him. The
+men were close upon him. He heard them coming along the path as he
+slipped around the corner of the cabin and into the bushes.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2>
+
+<h3>TOM FINDS SOMETHING.</h3>
+
+
+<p>"Oh, Aleck, he is gone!" shouted the man who was the first to come
+within sight of the cabin. "The lock-string is out, and he's cut stick
+and gone, with that bag safe upon him; dog-gone the luck!"</p>
+
+<p>"Push open the door," said Aleck. "Mebbe he is there."</p>
+
+<p>The man placed the muzzle of his rifle against the door and thrust it so
+far open that his companion, who stood with cocked piece close at his
+side, would have had no difficulty in getting a shot at Tom if he had
+been on the inside. It was plain that they were afraid of the
+consequences, for as the door swung open they both drew back out of
+sight. If he knew anything of the prairie at all, it wasn't so certain
+that he was going to give up that bag after what he had seen of it.</p>
+
+<p>"Hey, there!" shouted Aleck. "We know you have got it; you might as well
+come out and give up that thing I dropped in here a while ago. By gum,
+he haint in there!"</p>
+
+<p>A little more peeping and looking (you will remember that the inside of
+the cabin was as dark as a pocket) resulted in the astounding discovery
+that there was nobody there. In fact, Tom lay about ten feet from
+them,&mdash;the bushes were so thick that he did not think it safe to retreat
+any farther,&mdash;and from his hiding-place he could distinctly hear
+everything that passed. He would have been glad to retreat farther, but
+the bushes made such a noise that he was afraid to try it.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a name="illus3" id="illus3"></a>
+<img src="images/illus3.jpg" alt=""/>
+</div>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Tom in hiding.</span></h3>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>"He's gone," said Aleck, hauling a stool out from the cabin and throwing
+himself upon it. "Now, what am I to do?"</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps you didn't drop it in there," said his companion. "You
+travelled a good ways&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I did," said Aleck, whose rage was fearful to behold. "I felt of
+it when I was coming through the bushes, and I am as certain as I want
+to be that I felt the bag, and nothing else."</p>
+
+<p>"And do you suppose he found it and went to examine it?" said the other
+man, who hadn't done much of the talking. "If I thought that was the
+case&mdash;you have got us in a pretty box!"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't suppose nothing else. And just think, it is in Elam's hands.
+Dog-gone the luck! I'd like to shoot myself."</p>
+
+<p>"Aha!" thought Tom. "Now, go on and tell us what it is that's in Elam's
+hands. It's the nugget, and I'll bet my life on it."</p>
+
+<p>"I never did have much faith in it, anyhow," said Aleck's companion,
+who, holding his rifle in the hollow of his arm, kicked a few chips out
+of his way; "but you seemed so eager for it that you had to go and shoot
+a man in order to get it. It's nothing more than I expected."</p>
+
+<p>"I believe I can work my way up there alone," said Aleck.</p>
+
+<p>"With all them gullies coming down? You're crazy. But you don't want to
+sit here a great while. Elam will have it; that feller's gone to find
+him&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"If I thought Elam would have it, I'd lay around on purpose to shoot
+him," said Aleck, rising from his stool and kicking it out of his way.
+"He aint no more than anybody else, Elam aint."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, if you are going to stay here, you can stay alone. I'll go back
+and take my bundle of skins to the fort, and raise some money on them.
+Then I'll light out, and you won't catch me around where Elam is again."</p>
+
+<p>"By gum! I'll go, too," said Aleck. "But I'll bet you that Elam will
+sleep cold to-night."</p>
+
+<p>"By George! he is going to burn the house," said Tom, drawing a long
+breath. "Well, I have done what I could, and as soon as they go away
+I'll go in and save what I can from the wreck."</p>
+
+<p>The very first words that Aleck uttered after he had set fire to the
+cabin seemed to put a stop to this resolution. He made a great show of
+setting the shanty a-going, entering into it and kicking the burning
+brands about and piling stools and other things upon them, and when he
+came out and closed the door behind him, he was well satisfied with his
+work.</p>
+
+<p>"There, dog-gone you!" sputtered Aleck, shouldering his rifle. "If you
+don't burn, I'll give up. Now, we'll just wait and see if some of 'em
+don't come back here to save things. You'll wait that long, won't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I won't, if you are going to raise a hand against Elam. I tell you it
+aint safe for anybody to touch him. You have had more pulls at him than
+anybody I know, and you have always said the same."</p>
+
+<p>"And right here in these mountains, too," said Aleck. "I guess she will
+burn well enough without us, so we had better go on."</p>
+
+<p>It may have been the fire that operated on Aleck's superstition in this
+way, for Tom listened and could hear them going headlong along the path.
+He did not think it quite safe to venture near the burning cabin until
+he had seen what had become of the robbers, so he left his rifle where
+it had fallen and, with his revolver for company, pursued the men toward
+the natural prairie. He did not feel the least fear of meeting the
+robbers in the evergreens, for his ears had informed him of their
+passage through them; so when he stopped behind one of the trees and
+took a survey of the ground before him, he was delighted to discover
+them far away, and going along as if all the demons in the woods were
+behind them. His next business was to go back and save what he could.
+The fire was already burning brightly, but, knowing where everything
+was, he succeeded in saving Elam's saddle and bridle, all the
+provisions, his clothing, and a few of the skins which served him for a
+bed. Then he sat down, drew his hands across his heated face, and waited
+as patiently as he could for the rest to burn up. As Elam had occupied
+the cabin for three or four winters, it burned like so much tinder. The
+principal thing that occupied his attention now was what he had heard
+the men say regarding Elam.</p>
+
+<p>"Elam has been shot at three or four times right here in these
+mountains," soliloquized Tom. "He didn't say a word to me about that,
+and I reckon it was something he did not want to speak of. Now, I will
+leave the things right here and go and find Elam."</p>
+
+<p>This would have been a task beyond him had he not seen the way Elam went
+the day before. He went up the prairie to gather in his traps, and of
+course all he had out must have been up that way, too. He didn't know
+anything about the theory of setting traps for wolves, but Elam
+understood it, and he was sure he was going the right way to find him.
+At any rate, he wouldn't go far out of sight of the smoke of the burning
+cabin, and with that resolution he cast his eye over the wreck to see if
+there was anything else that he could save, and struck into the path.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll leave my revolver there where it is," said Tom. "There can't be
+more than one set of thieves around here at once. And I've got what has
+ruined that fellow. If I haven't got the secret of Elam's nugget here in
+my pocket, I'll give up. I'll go with you now, Elam. I'll face a dozen
+Red Ghosts for the sake of getting my hands on this pile of gold. It
+isn't a ghost, anyway. It is a camel, and I don't see how in the name of
+sense any of his tribe managed to get stranded out here. I'll shoot at
+it as quick as I did before."</p>
+
+<p>Filled with such thoughts as these Tom reached the edge of the
+evergreens, but there was no sign of the robbers in sight. Elam's horse
+was there, and he seemed to think there was something wrong by sight and
+smell of the smoke, for he tossed his head and snorted, and when he saw
+Tom approaching took to his heels. Tom was glad of that, for Elam
+thought a good deal of that horse; he would come up at night, and Elam
+would go out to give him a piece of bread and speak friendly words to
+him. He had hardly left the horse behind before he saw Elam approaching.
+He had a few skins thrown over his shoulder, but he was going at a rapid
+rate, as if he knew there was something amiss. Discovering Tom, he threw
+off his skins, laid down his rifle, and seated himself on a rock to
+rest.</p>
+
+<p>"Burned out?" said he cheerfully, when Tom came within speaking
+distance.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Tom. "How did you know it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I saw it back there in the mountains. How did it catch?"</p>
+
+<p>Tom had by this time come up. He seated himself beside Elam and drew the
+little bag from his pocket. He was in hopes that Elam would recognize
+the bag, but all he did was to look at it and wait for Tom to go on.</p>
+
+<p>"I've had visitors since you left this morning," said Tom. "Two men with
+ragged and torn clothing came there and got into the cabin before I knew
+it, and when they got in, they made a haul of your two bundles of skins
+you had tied up."</p>
+
+<p>"Hallo!" exclaimed Elam. "Seven hundred dollars gone to the bugs. Tell
+me how it happened."</p>
+
+<p>To Tom's astonishment Elam did not seem at all surprised at the robbery,
+but when it came to the discovery of the bag and the description of the
+man who had lost it, Elam sprang to his feet with a wild war-whoop. Tom
+began to see that there was a good deal in Elam, but it wanted danger to
+bring it out.</p>
+
+<p>"I know that fellow," said he, reseating himself after his paroxysm of
+rage had subsided.</p>
+
+<p>"You ought to," responded Tom. "He has had three or four shots at you
+right here in the mountains."</p>
+
+<p>"I know it, and that's my bag you have got there," replied Elam. "Go on
+and tell me the rest."</p>
+
+<p>Tom was more astonished than Elam was to find that the bag belonged to
+him, and it was some little time before he could get his wits to work
+again; but when he did, he gave a full description of the burning of the
+cabin, and told of the direction the men had gone when they got through.
+Elam said they had gone to the fort, and the only way to head them off
+was to get there in advance of them. They intended to raise some money
+on those skins, and after that go to the mountains; but he was certain
+if he could see the commandant or the sutler he would knock their
+expedition into a cocked hat. He dropped these remarks as Tom went
+along, so that by the time he got through he knew pretty nearly what
+Elam was going to do. He was more surprised when he got through than
+Elam was.</p>
+
+<p>"You seem to look upon this robbery as something that ought to have
+happened," said Tom. "I tell you that if I had worked as long as you
+have, and had seven hundred dollars' worth, I would be mad."</p>
+
+<p>"Young man, if you had been out here as long as I have, and been in my
+circumstances, you would have learned to look upon these things as a
+matter of course," answered Elam. "This is the fourth time I have been
+robbed, and I never go to the mountains without expecting it."</p>
+
+<p>"But you never told me about that man shooting at you so many times,"
+answered Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, he did; and once he came so close to me that he laid me on the
+ground," said Elam, baring his brawny chest and showing Tom the ragged
+mark of a bullet there.</p>
+
+<p>"By George!" exclaimed Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"That was the time he stole that bag you have there," continued Elam.
+"He looked at me and thought me to be dead, and so made no bones about
+taking it. But he got fooled for once in his life. He thought I had a
+map there telling him where to look for the nugget."</p>
+
+<p>"Did you have a map of any kind with you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nary a map," said Elam, with a laugh.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, there's one here now, and I should like to have you look at it.
+The loss of that map made Aleck think he was ruined."</p>
+
+<p>Elam became all attention now, and watched Tom as he took out the piece
+of buckskin and carefully unfolded it. Finally he took out the paper and
+handed it to Elam, taking pains to smooth it out as he did so.</p>
+
+<p>"He said he had to shoot a man in order to get it," said Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"What man was it?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know. He didn't describe him."</p>
+
+<p>Elam had been fooled so many times in regard to that nugget that he took
+the paper with a smile, but he had scarcely glanced at it before a look
+of intense earnestness took the place of the smile. He laid down his
+rifle, rested his hands upon his knees, and studied the paper long and
+earnestly.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you make anything out of it?" asked Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"It's the very thing I want," declared Elam. "I have waited and looked
+for a thing like this, and have never found it. The nugget is
+mine&mdash;mine, and, Tom, I will give you half if you will stand by me till
+I handle it."</p>
+
+<p>"It's a bargain," replied Tom, and to show how very much in earnest he
+was he offered to shake hands with Elam; but he resolved that he would
+never do it again. All the years of waiting Elam had infused into that
+grip; Tom didn't say anything, but it was all he could do to stand it.</p>
+
+<p>"There is only one thing I can't see into," said he, when he had
+recovered his power of speech, "and that is where that line begins. You
+don't know where in the world it is."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you see all these little dots here at the beginning of the line?
+Well, those are springs. There's a dozen springs break out inside of
+half an acre, and there's only one place in the country where you can
+find them."</p>
+
+<p>"How far is it from here?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is forty miles in a straight line."</p>
+
+<p>"Then what were those men doing here?"</p>
+
+<p>"I give it up."</p>
+
+<p>"And here's some money, too, with the thing," said Tom, undoing the
+piece of buckskin that contained it. "There's forty dollars here."</p>
+
+<p>"I am sure I don't know what brought them in here, unless they came
+after somebody that had the map. I'd like mighty well to find him, but I
+can't stop now to hunt him up. I must have the nugget in the first
+place."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you had better keep this map," said Tom, as Elam got up and threw
+the skins over his shoulder and picked up his rifle.</p>
+
+<p>"No, you keep it until I come back. I've got to face a couple of rough
+men, and there's no knowing what may happen to me. If I shouldn't come
+back, find Uncle Ezra Norton and give it to him. He will go with you and
+help you hunt it up."</p>
+
+<p>"What have you got to face those rough men for?" said Tom anxiously.
+"Those men who were here were afraid of their lives."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; but you take them out in the mountains and see if they are afraid
+of their lives. They would shoot you as quickly as they would look at
+you. One of them has more to answer for than he will care to. Uncle Ezra
+Norton. Don't forget him. Now, I am going to leave you here while I go
+on to the fort. I shall be gone three days. You can stand it that long,
+can't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I can stand it for a week if you will keep those fellows from trading
+off those wolf-skins for provisions," said Tom. "I hope you'll catch
+them right there among our soldiers, and make them give up the skins.
+They've got a heap of cheek to take those skins to the fort."</p>
+
+<p>"The people out here have cheek enough for anything," said Elam, with a
+frown. "This Aleck you speak of took some money off that dead man, and
+yet I'll bet you he would go right to the fort and spend it."</p>
+
+<p>Elam became all activity, and it was all Tom could do to keep pace with
+him as he walked along carrying the skins to the site of the cabin. It
+was a "site," sure enough, for the fire had made rapid headway, and now
+there was nothing but the smouldering remains to be seen. Elam looked at
+the smoking ruins and then at the numerous articles Tom had saved, and
+then said:</p>
+
+<p>"If I had known as much on the day I built this cabin as I do now, I
+could have enjoyed myself better here than the ones who burned it. You
+have saved your boots, haven't you? Well, the things that went up are
+comparatively of little value. Now, if you will punch together some of
+the coals and get me a big dinner, I'll be off. There's a blizzard
+coming up, and as they generally come from the south-west, I would
+advise you to put up a lean-to with its back that way," said Elam,
+motioning with his hand.</p>
+
+<p>"I would really enjoy a blizzard, but not if you are going to be out in
+it," replied Tom, who, for some reason or other, could not bear that
+anything should happen to Elam. "I have never seen one in my life."</p>
+
+<p>For an hour or two the boys were busy, Elam in catching and saddling his
+horse and doing up his blankets to be carried with him, and Tom employed
+with his cooking, and all the while the former was going on with some
+instructions which were destined to make things easier for Tom. He
+didn't want to neglect that lean-to, he said, for in less than three
+days there would be a blizzard that would make him open his eyes. If he
+didn't come back in three days, all Tom would have to do would be to
+take that map to Uncle Ezra Norton (anybody at the fort would show him
+where he lived), and he would know what to do under the circumstances.
+Having said this much, Elam wrapped what was left of his dinner in his
+blankets, so as to carry it with him, shook Tom warmly by the hand (he
+did not put as much vim into it as he did before), mounted his horse,
+and rode down the path out of sight. When he thought a sufficient length
+of time had passed, Tom wandered down to the edge of the evergreens and
+looked out. There was Elam on his horse, skurrying along; not going
+fast, for he had nearly a hundred miles to ride, but taking it easy, as
+though he could stand it. Elam didn't know it, but he was to travel
+twenty miles at as fast a gait as he had ever ridden it before.</p>
+
+<p>"There goes my luck again," said Tom, as he turned about and returned
+through the evergreens. "If anything should happen to him, I don't know
+what I should do. I feel drawn toward the fellow. I will pay attention
+to what he told me, and in order to put it out of the power of those men
+to carry off this map and money I will just chuck the bag in here, where
+I know it is safe."</p>
+
+<p>The place where Tom hid the bag was in a hollow tree. He pushed it in,
+put some leaves and brush over it, and turned away, satisfied, to begin
+work on his lean-to. He could not see any signs of the approaching
+blizzard, but Elam could, and he worked hard. That day he had the frame
+up, and the next day it was all done and the things carried under it.</p>
+
+<p>"There," said Tom, with a smile of satisfaction. "We are all ready for
+what comes. Now, if Elam was only here, I'd be content. One more day, or
+at least I will give him two, and then he will have to show up."</p>
+
+<p>The third day passed without bringing any signs of the missing boy, but
+Tom paid little attention to it. On the fourth he began making trips to
+the edge of the evergreens, and then he saw that the sun was hazy and
+that it began to look stormy. It grew worse on the fifth day, and Tom
+really began to be alarmed. Toward evening a horseman suddenly made his
+appearance on the edge of the prairie, walking slowly along, as if his
+nag was tired almost to death. But it was Elam, for after he had made
+many steps he discovered Tom, and pulled off his hat and waved it to
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"Something has gone wrong," muttered Tom, vigorously returning the
+salute. "Why don't he whip up? If I was as close to home as he is, I
+would go faster than that."</p>
+
+<p>Tom waited in the margin of the woods for him to come up, and when he
+drew nearer saw that his face was pale, and that he carried his arm in a
+sling, as if he had been wounded. When Tom saw that, he began to grow
+pale, too.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, it's all over," said Elam. "Look there."</p>
+
+<p>"What! Is your horse wounded, too?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and was hardly able to move when I rode him into the fort. Say,
+you told me that soldiers always wanted to see the fair thing done,
+didn't you? They're a mean set. But I got the start of them. Do you know
+what became of those two men who were here? Well, the Cheyennes have got
+them."</p>
+
+<p>"The Cheyennes!" exclaimed Tom.</p>
+
+<p>Elam looked at him and nodded, and got off his horse with difficulty.
+Tom looked at the long ragged streak in his neck, and did not wonder
+that he was glad to be rid of his rider.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.</h2>
+
+<h3>ELAM INTERVIEWS THE MAJOR.</h3>
+
+
+<p>When Elam mounted his horse and set out for the fort that morning, it
+was with the secret determination to confront Aleck and his companion,
+or, failing in that, he would push on ahead, and by seeing the colonel
+or the sutler he would render their attempts at disposing of the furs of
+no account. He had already borne enough from one of these men to put him
+pretty well out of patience. Although Elam said nothing about it, Aleck
+had been at the bottom of three desperate attempts upon his life, as
+well as of four efforts that had been made to rob him, and Elam thought
+he couldn't stand it any longer. He rode along just outside of the
+willows that skirted the foot-hills, so that he could not be picked off
+by a stray rifle shot, and keeping a close watch of the prairie on all
+sides of him, and when night came he hadn't seen anything of the
+robbers. When darkness fell, he allowed his horse to browse around him
+while he ate some of the lunch that was wrapped up in his blanket, and
+then put out again. He was satisfied that by this time he had got beyond
+the men, and now he wanted to get to the fort and put the people there
+on their guard. Was Elam flustered while he was doing all this? Not a
+bit of it. He went about his work as he would have tried to compass the
+death of some wild animal that had escaped him. When the first gray
+streaks of dawn were seen in the east, he camped in a sheep-herder's
+dugout, but it was empty. Beyond a doubt the men had gone into the
+mountains to escape the blizzards. There was a small stack of hay behind
+the cabin, and to this Elam staked out his horse, and went in and
+tumbled into an empty bunk. He was within twenty miles of the fort.</p>
+
+<p>Elam slept the sleep of the weary, and when he was aroused to
+consciousness, it was by a note of warning from his horse. Elam was wide
+awake in an instant. He caught up his rifle and hurried to the door of
+the cabin, and the summit of the hills over which he had come the night
+before was crowded with horsemen. They were so far off that he could not
+distinguish anything, but he knew by certain signs they exhibited that
+they were not the men he wanted to see. They were too much scattered.</p>
+
+<p>"I believe those are the Cheyennes," said he, lost in wonder. "I never
+heard of their breaking loose before."</p>
+
+<p>As if in corroboration of his words, a single long-drawn yell arose on
+the air, followed by a chorus that must have been deafening to those
+that were close at hand. That was enough for Elam. With muttered
+ejaculations addressed to the men who were supposed to be near enough to
+the Indians to keep watch of their movements, he rushed to his horse,
+severed the lariat with which he was confined, mounted without saddle or
+bridle, and was off like the wind.</p>
+
+<p>"I tell you now I am whipped," said Elam, gazing back at his line of
+foes, and trying to estimate how many warriors there were in the lot.
+"It's the Cheyennes, and they belong two hundred miles from here. Some
+ruffian has stolen their back pay, and they are going to have revenge
+for it. Keep close, there, or I'll down some of you."</p>
+
+<p>Then followed a chase such as we don't read of in these days. It was
+long and untiring, and all the way Elam looked in vain for assistance.
+His first care was to make out that there were no Cheyennes in advance
+of him, and he concluded that their discovery of him was as much of a
+surprise to them as it was to him; otherwise they would have sent some
+warriors out to surround him. That was all that saved him. He was
+mounted on a mustang, and such an one could not be tired out in a
+twenty-mile race. He seemed to hate the Indians as bad as his master
+did, and put in his best licks from the time he started, but that
+wouldn't do at all. Some of the cool heads behind him were holding in
+their horses, calculating that when the race was nearly finished they
+would come up and settle the matter. Other warriors, carried away by
+their military ardor, or perhaps having some private wrongs to avenge,
+easily outstripped the others, and finally Elam had his attention drawn
+to two who seemed bent on coming up with him. He couldn't hold his horse
+well in hand with nothing but a noose around his neck, but by talking to
+him he finally got him settled down to good solid work.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a name="illus4" id="illus4"></a>
+<img src="images/illus4.jpg" alt=""/>
+</div>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Elam's Fight with the Cheyennes.</span></h3>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>For one hour the chase continued, and then the whitewashed stockade of
+the fort came into view. He could see that there was a commotion in it,
+for the soldiers were running about in obedience to some orders, but
+nearer than all came the two warriors, who seemed determined to run him
+down and take his scalp within reach of the fort. At last they thought
+they were near enough to fire. One of them drew up his rifle, and Elam
+threw himself flat upon his horse's neck. The rifle cracked, and in an
+instant afterward his horse bounded into the air and came to his knees.
+But he didn't carry Elam with him. The moment he felt his horse going he
+bounded to his feet, struck the ground on the opposite side, and when
+the animal staggered to his feet, as he did a second later, he stood
+perfectly still and Elam's deadly rifle was covering the savage's head.
+He dropped, but he was too late. The ball from the rifle which never
+missed sped on its way, and the warrior threw up his hands and measured
+his length on the ground. An instant afterward Elam was mounted on his
+horse again and going toward the fort as fast as ever. At this feat loud
+yells came from the Indians. The death of the warrior and Elam's fair
+chance for escape filled them with rage. The nearest savage fired, and
+this time the bullet found a mark in Elam's body. It struck him near the
+wrist and came out of his hand, but Elam never winced. He changed his
+rifle into his other hand and broke out into a loud yell, for he saw a
+squadron of cavalry come pouring from the fort. The chase was over after
+that. Elam galloped into the fort, swinging his rifle as he went, and
+got off just as his horse came to his knees again.</p>
+
+<p>Of course all was excitement in there. The balance of the soldiers,
+which consisted of a small regiment of infantry, were drawn up outside
+the fort ready to help the cavalry in case the Indians dodged them, the
+teamsters climbing upon the stockade ready to use their rifles, and Elam
+was left to take his horse out of the way and examine his injuries and
+his own. For himself he decided that it was no matter. He could open and
+shut his hand, although it bled profusely, and that proved that the
+bullet had not touched a cord; but his horse&mdash;that was a different
+matter. The ball had not gone in, but had cut its way around the neck,
+leaving a mark as broad as his finger. He must have a bucket of water at
+once. While he was looking around for it, he ran against an officer who
+had been busy stationing the men in their proper places.</p>
+
+<p>"Hallo! You're wounded, aint you?" said he, taking Elam's hand. "Come
+with me."</p>
+
+<p>"I've got a horse here that's worse off than I am," said Elam. "I'd like
+to see him fixed in the first place, and then I'll go with you."</p>
+
+<p>"A horse! Well, he belongs to the veterinary surgeon. You come with me."</p>
+
+<p>But Elam insisted that he could not go with the officer until his horse
+had been taken care of, and asked for a bucket of water; and the
+officer, seeing that he was determined, hastened out to find the surgeon
+who had charge of the stock. He presently discovered him, standing on
+the stockade and yelling until he was red in the face over a charge that
+the cavalry had made, but he ceased his demonstrations and jumped down
+when he was told that an officer wanted him.</p>
+
+<p>"Give me one cavalryman against ten Indians," said he, saluting the
+officer. "The savages are gone, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"Did they stand?" asked the officer.</p>
+
+<p>"No, sir. It was every man for himself, sir. A horse, sir? Yes, sir. I
+saw this fellow come down on his knees when those Indians fired at him.
+A pretty bad cut, sir."</p>
+
+<p>Elam, having seen his horse provided for, resigned himself to the
+officer's care, and went with him to the office of the surgeon. The
+latter had got out all his tools and seemed to be waiting for any
+wounded that might be brought in, but Elam was the first to claim his
+attention. The surgeon jumped up briskly, examined Elam's hand, made
+some remark about the bullet not having touched a bone, said that all
+the patient would have to do would be to take good care of it for a few
+days, and by the time he got through talking he had it done up. The
+officer had left by this time, and Elam began to feel quite at his ease
+in the surgeon's presence. In answer to his enquiries he went on to
+explain how he had been surprised in a sheep-herder's cabin, when he
+didn't know that there was a Cheyenne within a hundred miles of him, and
+had depended entirely on the speed of his horse to save him, and asked,
+with some show of hesitation, which he had not exhibited before:</p>
+
+<p>"Do you reckon I could have a word with the major this fine morning? I
+suppose he is pretty busy now."</p>
+
+<p>To tell the truth, Elam stood more in fear of a stranger than he did of
+a grizzly bear, and he felt awed and abashed when he found himself in
+the soldier's presence. The regular, with his snow-white belts, bright
+buttons, and neatly fitting clothes, presented a great contrast to the
+visitor in his well-worn suit of buckskin, and, backwoodsman as he was,
+Elam noticed the difference and felt it keenly. Now, when the excitement
+was all over, he felt sadly out of place there, and he wished that he
+had let the wolf-skins go and stayed at home with Tom. But the surgeon's
+first words reassured him.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course the major will see you," said he cheerfully. "He will want to
+see you the minute he comes back. He has gone out after the hostiles
+now. You can sit here till he comes back."</p>
+
+<p>"I have got a horse out here that is badly hurt, and if you don't
+object, I'll go out and look at him," said Elam.</p>
+
+<p>"Eh? Objections? Certainly not," said the surgeon, in surprise. "I hope
+you will get along as nicely as he will. Only be careful of that hand of
+yours."</p>
+
+<p>Elam had never been to the fort before, and he felt like a cat in a
+strange garret while he loitered about looking at things. He first went
+to see his horse, and found that, under the skilful hands of the
+veterinary surgeon, he had fared as well as he did, for his neck was
+bound up, and he was engaged in munching some hay that had been provided
+for him. Then he went out of the stockade to see how the hostiles were
+getting on, but found that they and the cavalrymen had long ago
+disappeared. An occasional report of a carabine, followed by an
+answering yell, came faintly to his ears, thus proving beyond a doubt
+that the savages had "scattered," thus making it a matter of
+impossibility to hunt them. After that Elam came back and loafed around
+the stockade to see what he could find that was worth looking at. The
+doors of the officers' apartments were wide open, and, although they
+were very plainly furnished, Elam looked upon it as a scene of
+enchantment. He had never seen anything like it before. He had heard of
+carpets, sofas, and pictures, but he had never dreamed that they were
+such beautiful things as he now saw before him.</p>
+
+<p>"I tell you, I wish I was a soldier," whispered Elam, going from one
+room to the other, and stopping every time he saw anything to attract
+his attention. "This is a heap better than I've got at home. Uncle Ezra
+Norton is rich, but he hasn't got anything to compare with this. Wait
+until I get my nugget, and I will have something to go by. I do wish the
+major would hurry up."</p>
+
+<p>But Elam had a long time to wait before he could see the major, for the
+latter did not return until nearly nightfall. When they came, they
+looked more like whipped soldiers than victorious ones. They had two
+dead men with them, three that had been wounded, and half a dozen
+Indians that they had taken prisoners. Elam looked for an execution at
+once, but what was his surprise to see the Indians thrust into the
+guard-house.</p>
+
+<p>"When are they going to shoot those fellows?" whispered Elam to a
+soldier who happened to be near him.</p>
+
+<p>"Shoot whom?" asked the soldier.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, those Indians. They aint a-going to let them shoot white folks and
+have nothing done to them?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, they will," said the soldier, with a laugh. "They can shoot
+all they please, and we'll take 'em prisoners and let 'em go. Did you
+think they was going to kill 'em right at once?"</p>
+
+<p>Elam confessed that he did.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, no doubt that would be the proper way to deal with them. Dog-gone
+'em! if I had any dealings with 'em, I'd 'a' left 'em out there."</p>
+
+<p>Elam did not remain long before he saw the major, for an orderly
+approached in full uniform, and saluted him as he would a
+lieutenant-general, and told him that the commandant was at leisure now,
+and would see him. Elam's heart was in his mouth. He did not know what
+to say to the major about his furs, and so he concluded he would let the
+matter go until morning.</p>
+
+<p>"Say," said Elam, "he must be tired now, and you just tell him I'll wait
+until he has had a chance to sleep on it."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, you must see him," said the orderly, who was rather surprised at
+this civilian's way of putting off the major. "What good can he do by
+sleeping on it? Come on."</p>
+
+<p>Elam reluctantly fell in behind the orderly, and allowed himself to be
+conducted into the presence of the major. The table was all set, the
+officers were seated at it, and seemed ready to begin work upon it. He
+was surprised at the actions of the major, a tall, soldierly looking
+man, with gray hair and whiskers, who sat at the head of the table, and
+who arose and advanced with outstretched palm to meet him.</p>
+
+<p>"I am overjoyed to see you," said he, holding fast to the boy's hand
+after shaking it cordially. "You got hurt, didn't you? But I see you
+have been well taken care of. Is the news you bring me good or bad?"</p>
+
+<p>Elam was too bewildered to speak. He looked closely at the major, trying
+hard to remember when and under what circumstances he had seen him
+before, for that this was not their first meeting was evident. If they
+had been strangers, the major would not have greeted him in so cordial
+and friendly a manner. This was what Elam told himself, but he had shot
+wide of the mark.</p>
+
+<p>In order to explain the major's conduct it will be necessary to say that
+these discontented Cheyennes had not broken away from the neighborhood
+of this fort, but had come from a point at least a hundred miles away.
+It was the source of great uneasiness and anxiety to the veteran major,
+who was afraid that his superiors might charge him with being remiss in
+his duty. He had sent three detachments of cavalry in pursuit, but only
+one of them had been heard from, and the news concerning it, which had
+been brought in by a friendly Indian, was most discouraging. The savages
+had eluded his pursuing columns in a way that was perfectly bewildering,
+and the fear that they might surprise and annihilate his men troubled
+the major to such a degree that he could neither eat nor sleep. He was
+glad to see anybody who could give him any information regarding the
+soldiers or the runaways, and he took it for granted that, as Elam had
+come in since the Indians broke away, and had had a running fight with
+them, he must know all about them.</p>
+
+<p>"Where do you reckon you saw me before?" asked Elam.</p>
+
+<p>"I never met you before in my life," answered the major, who saw that
+his visitor did not understand the feelings which prompted him to extend
+so hearty a greeting. "You can tell me about the Cheyennes, and that is
+why I am so glad to welcome you."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh!" said Elam, quite disappointed.</p>
+
+<p>"Talk fast, for I am all impatience," exclaimed the major. "When did you
+see the hostiles last, and where were they? I know that you brought them
+up here to the fort, but where did you meet them in the first place?"</p>
+
+<p>"I found them back here about twenty miles in a sheep-herder's cabin
+where I stopped for the night," said Elam. "The first thing I heard of
+them was a note of warning from my horse, and when I got up, there they
+were."</p>
+
+<p>"Well?" said the major.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I got on to my horse and lit out. That's the way I brought them
+up here."</p>
+
+<p>"And that's all you know about them?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, everything. I didn't know the Cheyennes had broken out before."</p>
+
+<p>The major released the boy's hand and walked back to his seat at the
+table. The expression on his face showed that he was disappointed.</p>
+
+<p>"That aint all I have to tell, major," said Elam quickly. "When I got
+back to my shanty after taking in my traps, I found that two men had
+been there stealing my spelter that I have worked hard for."</p>
+
+<p>The major, who probably knew what was coming next, turned away his head
+and waved his hand up and down in the air to indicate that he did not
+care to hear any more of the story; but Elam, having an object to
+accomplish, went on with dogged perseverance:</p>
+
+<p>"Now, major, those two fellows are coming to this fort, calculating to
+sell them furs,&mdash;my furs, mind you,&mdash;and I came here to ask you not to
+let them do it."</p>
+
+<p>"I can't interfere in any private quarrels," said the officer. "I have
+something else to think of."</p>
+
+<p>"But, major, it is mine and not theirs," persisted Elam.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't care whose it is," was the impatient reply. "I shan't have
+anything to do with it."</p>
+
+<p>"Won't you keep them from selling it?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, I won't. I shan't bother my head about it. I have enough on my mind
+already, and I can't neglect important government matters for the sake
+of attending to private affairs. Did you say those men were afoot when
+they came to your shanty? Probably the Cheyennes have got them before
+this time. Orderly!"</p>
+
+<p>The door opened, and when the soldier who had shown Elam into the room
+made his appearance, the major commanded him to show the visitor out.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, just one word, major&mdash;&mdash;" began Elam.</p>
+
+<p>"Show him out!" repeated the commandant.</p>
+
+<p>The orderly laid hold of the young hunter's arm and tried to pull him
+toward the door, but couldn't budge him an inch. Elam stood as firmly as
+one of the pickets that composed the stockade.</p>
+
+<p>"Just one word, major, and then I'll leave off and quit a-pestering
+you," he exclaimed. "If you won't make them two fellows give back the
+plunder they have stolen from me, you won't raise any row if I go to
+work and get it back in my own way, will you?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, I don't care how you get it, or whether you get it at all or not,"
+the major almost shouted.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I'll get it, you can bet your bottom dollar on it. And if you hear
+of somebody getting hurt while I am getting of it, you mustn't blame
+me."</p>
+
+<p>"Put him out!" roared the major.</p>
+
+<p>The orderly laid hold of Elam's arm with both hands and finally
+succeeded in forcing him into the hall and closing the door after him,
+but the closing of the door did not shut out the sound of his voice.
+Elam had set out to relieve his mind, and he did it; and as there was no
+one else to talk to, he addressed his remarks to the orderly.</p>
+
+<p>"The major needn't blame me if some of them fellows gets hurt," said he.
+"I tried to set the law to going and couldn't do it. I'll never ask a
+soldier to do anything for me again. I can take care of myself. I don't
+see what you fellows come out here for anyway, except it is to wear out
+good clothes and keep grub from spoiling. That's all the use you be."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, go on now, and don't bother any more," said the orderly
+good-naturedly. "The old man said he didn't care how you got the things
+back, and what more do you want?"</p>
+
+<p>"I wanted him to set the law a-going, but he won't do it," said Elam.
+"I'll just set it to going myself."</p>
+
+<p>The young hunter walked off and directed his course toward the sutler's
+store. He knew it was the sutler's store, for when he was loitering
+about the fort he had seen the sutler come in from the stockade with a
+rifle in his hands, and sell a plug of tobacco to one of the teamsters.
+He found the store empty and the sutler leaning against the counter with
+his arms folded. The latter recognized Elam at once, for he had seen him
+come in on that wounded horse.</p>
+
+<p>"Halloa," he exclaimed. "You have got your wound fixed all right. Did
+you have a long race with them?"</p>
+
+<p>Elam in a few words described his adventures, running his eye over the
+goods the sutler had to sell, and wound up by telling of the furs he had
+lost.</p>
+
+<p>"I have got a good many skins," said he, "and I see some things here
+that I should like to have, but I aint got them now."</p>
+
+<p>"How is that? I don't understand you."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you see, I have done right smart of trapping and shooting since I
+have been out, but while I was gathering up my traps some fellows came
+to my shanty and stole everything I had," said Elam.</p>
+
+<p>"That's bad," said the sutler; and he really thought it was, for no
+doubt he had lost an opportunity to make some good bargains.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and they are coming to this post now, those two fellows are, to
+sell those furs," continued Elam earnestly.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah!" exclaimed the sutler, in a very different tone of voice.</p>
+
+<p>If that was the case, perhaps he could make something out of the boy's
+work after all.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h2>
+
+<h3>ELAM UNDER FIRE.</h3>
+
+
+<p>"Yes, that's bad business," the sutler continued. "They steal furs and
+pass them off as their own. I couldn't do that."</p>
+
+<p>"But this is the fourth time they have robbed me," Elam went on. "You
+have handled skins that they took from me last winter. They'll try to
+sell them at this store, most likely. There aint no traders here, are
+they? I aint seen any of them hanging around."</p>
+
+<p>"No; they have been scarce of late," answered the sutler, who would have
+been glad to know that none of the fraternity would ever show their
+faces in that country again. He wanted to do all the trading that was
+done at that post himself.</p>
+
+<p>"Then they will be sure to sell them to you, if they sell them to
+anybody; but I don't want you to buy them," said Elam. "They belong to
+me, and I've worked hard for them."</p>
+
+<p>The sutler leaned his elbows on the counter, placed his chin on his
+hands, and looked out at the door, whistling softly to himself. Elam
+waited for him to say something, but as he did not, the boy continued:</p>
+
+<p>"I don't want you to buy them skins. You heard what I said to you, I
+reckon?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, I heard you," said the sutler, straightening up and jingling a
+bunch of keys in his pocket; "but I don't see how I can help you. When
+hunters come here with furs to sell, I never ask where they got them,
+for it is none of my business. Besides, I don't know these men who you
+say robbed you."</p>
+
+<p>"I will be here to point them out to you," said Elam quickly. "I would
+know them anywhere."</p>
+
+<p>"But I couldn't take your unsupported word against the word of two men,"
+continued the sutler. "If they told me that the property belonged to
+them, I should have to believe them."</p>
+
+<p>"But I will be here," said Elam indignantly.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you must get somebody to prove that the skins are yours."</p>
+
+<p>Elam looked down at the counter, turning these words over in his mind,
+and when he had grasped their full import, it became clear to him that
+he had no one to depend on but himself. It became evident to him that
+the arm of the law was not extensive enough to reach from the States
+away out there to the fort, and, as the sutler would not lend him
+assistance, he must either take the matter into his own hands or stand
+idly by and see the proceeds of his work go into the pockets of rascals.
+That he resolved he would never do. The very thought enraged him.</p>
+
+<p>"Look a-here, Mr.&mdash;Mr. Bluenose," said Elam&mdash;Elam did not know the
+sutler's name, and this cognomen was suggested to him by the most
+prominent feature on the man's face, which was a dark purple, telling of
+frequent visits to a private demijohn he kept in the back room&mdash;"you
+shan't never make a cent out of that plunder of mine, because it will
+not come into this fort!"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't get excited," said the sutler.</p>
+
+<p>"I aint. I'm only just a-telling of you."</p>
+
+<p>"What are you going to do?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, the major wouldn't make them two fellows give back my furs, and
+so I asked him if he would raise a furse in case I got them back in my
+own way, and he said he wouldn't," said Elam. "That's all I've got to
+say."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll tell you what's the matter," said the sutler, a bright idea
+striking him; "the Cheyennes have got them. Were they afoot?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, they were. I don't know whether they tried to steal my horse or
+not, but anyway they didn't get him."</p>
+
+<p>"Then the Cheyennes have got them beyond a doubt. They could never
+travel through the country you came through."</p>
+
+<p>"Then what's become of my furs? Do you reckon the savages have got them,
+too?"</p>
+
+<p>"I certainly do. I'll tell you what I could do: If the Cheyennes came
+here to sell their furs, I could easily tell your furs from their own,
+and I could throw them out. But, you see, the Indians don't come here.
+They take all their furs to Fort Mitchell."</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe you would throw them out and maybe you wouldn't," said Elam
+emphatically. "I guess I had better take the matter into my own hands.
+When I get my grip on to them furs, you'll know it."</p>
+
+<p>The sutler merely nodded and gazed after Elam, who marched out as if he
+intended to do something.</p>
+
+<p>"That boy is going to be killed," said he to himself. "He thinks more of
+those furs than he does of so much gold. If I was commander of this
+fort, I wouldn't let him go out."</p>
+
+<p>Elam directed his course toward the barn in which he had left his horse
+and rifle when he went in to visit the surgeon. He found them there yet,
+and it was but the work of a moment to shoulder the one and unhitch the
+other, who greeted him with a whinny of recognition, and lead him out to
+the gate. As he expected, there was a sentry there, and he stepped in
+front of him with his musket at "arms port."</p>
+
+<p>"You can't go out," said he.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, what's the matter?" asked Elam innocently.</p>
+
+<p>"Too many Indians," was the reply.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, well, I just want to let my horse have some grass. He don't think
+much of the hay you have here."</p>
+
+<p>"You don't want your rifle if you're just going out to get grass," said
+the soldier, with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>"No, but I like to have it handy when the pinch comes. If I hadn't had
+it and been able to use it, you wouldn't have seen me here now."</p>
+
+<p>"That's so," said the sentry. "I don't suppose you care enough about
+them as to go among them again. But we'll have to see the corporal about
+that." Then, raising his voice, he called out:</p>
+
+<p>"Corporal of the guard No. 1!"</p>
+
+<p>In process of time the officer of the guard came up, and the sentry made
+known Elam's request in a few words. He looked at Elam and said:</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, let him go. It aint likely that he will go far away with the
+Indians all around him. You don't want to get too far away," he added,
+turning to the young hunter, "because the men on post have orders to
+fire on people that are going out of range."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you see this rifle?" said Elam. "Well, when they come, I will let
+you know. You will never see me inside that fort again," said Elam to
+himself, as the sentry brought his musket to his shoulder and stepped
+out of the way, leaving the road clear for him. "I am going to get my
+furs the first thing, and then I am going down to trade them off to
+Uncle Ezra for a grub-stake for three months. That's what I'll do, and I
+bet you that those two fellows will get hurt."</p>
+
+<p>Elam passed through the gate, and the horse began to crop the grass as
+he went out, thus doing what he could to prove that it was grass he
+wanted, and not the hay that was served up to him in the stable. Being
+continually urged by his master, he kept getting further and further
+away from the stockade. The sentries on guard looked at him, but
+supposing that, as he had got by post No. 1, he was all right, although
+one sentinel did shake his head and warn him that he was going further
+off than the law allowed; so Elam turned and went back.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't like the looks of that fellow, for he handles his gun as though
+he might shoot tolerable straight," said Elam. "We will go more in this
+direction, for here's where the stock was when the Indians came up.
+We'll be a little cautious at first, but we are bound to get away in the
+end."</p>
+
+<p>By keeping his horse on the opposite side from him, and paying no
+attention to the warning gestures of the sentries, he succeeded in
+reaching a point beyond which he was certain that the guards could not
+hit him, and, with a word and a jump, he landed fairly on his nag's
+back.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, old fellow, show them what you can do," he whispered, digging his
+heels into his horse's sides.</p>
+
+<p>He looked back and saw that the sentry he feared most was already
+levelling his gun, and a moment later the bullet ploughed up the grass a
+little beyond him. Had he remained fairly in his seat, it would have
+taken him out of it; but he did just as he had seen the Cheyennes do&mdash;he
+threw himself on the side of his horse opposite the marksman, and so he
+had nothing to shoot at save the swiftly running steed. Another musket
+popped, and still another, but Elam did not hear the whistle of their
+bullets. That was all the guards on that side of the stockade, and Elam
+knew he was safe. Before they could load again he would be far out of
+range. He raised himself to a sitting posture, took off his hat and
+waved it at the guards, and then settled down and kept on his way,
+taking care, however, to watch against all chances of pursuit. The fact
+was that his escape had been reported to the major, who, out of all
+patience, exclaimed: "Let him go!"</p>
+
+<p>Elam was now a free man once more, and he resolved that it would be a
+long time before he would again trust himself in the power of the
+soldiers. His first care must be to go back to the sheep-herder's cabin
+in which he had camped the night before he reached the fort, and get his
+saddle and bridle, for he rightly concluded that the savages had been so
+anxious to capture him that they had not time to go in and see if he had
+left anything behind him. It required considerable nerve to do this, but
+Elam had already shown that he had a good share of it. He had not gone
+many miles on his way until he began to meet some sheep-herders and
+cattle-men who were fleeing from their homes and going to the fort for
+protection. The men were generally riding on ahead, and the women came
+after them in wagons drawn by mules. He waved his hat whenever he came
+within sight, for fear that the men might shoot at him, and he knew by
+experience that they could handle their rifles with greater skill than
+the soldiers could handle their muskets.</p>
+
+<p>"Where you going?" demanded one of the men, as he galloped up to meet
+Elam. "Seen any Indians around here?"</p>
+
+<p>"There were plenty of them here this morning," said Elam. "Did they come
+near you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I should say so. They've jumped down on us when we wasn't looking
+for them, and I've got one brother in the wagon that's been laid out.
+You must have been in a rucus with them, judging by the looks of your
+hand and the horse."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I got into a fight with them right along here somewhere, and I
+didn't go to the fort without sending one of them up. There was no need
+of my going there at all, but I went to shut off some trade that wasn't
+exactly square. There are no Indians between here and the fort."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I wish you would ride by the wagon and tell that to my old woman,
+will you? She is scared half to death. Where are you going?"</p>
+
+<p>Elam replied that he was going to the sheep-herder's ranch to get a
+saddle and bridle that he had left there, and after that he was going
+back to the mountains. He had a partner there, and he didn't know
+whether he was alive or dead. He had had enough of depending on the
+soldiers for help, for they had declined to assist him, and,
+furthermore, had shot at him when he attempted to leave the fort.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I say!" exclaimed the frontiersman, giving Elam a good looking
+over, "you are a brave lad, and I know you will come out all right."</p>
+
+<p>Elam carried the news to the wagon that there were no Indians between
+them and the fort, and afterward continued on his lonely way to the
+sheep-herder's ranch. He came within sight of it about eleven o'clock
+that night, and, dismounting from his horse and leaving him on the open
+prairie, he proceeded to stalk it as he would an antelope, being careful
+that not a glimpse of him should be seen. It was a bright moonlight
+night, and for that reason he was doubly careful. There was something
+more than the saddle and bridle he wanted, and that was his blankets.
+There was some of the lunch left in there. He had eaten but one meal
+that day, and he had nearly a hundred miles to go before he could get
+any more.</p>
+
+<p>Elam was nearly an hour in coming up to that ranch, and he was sure that
+anyone who might be on the lookout would have been deceived for once in
+his life. He crawled all around the hay-racks without seeing anybody,
+and finally went in at the open door without seeing or hearing anybody.
+He found all the articles of which he was in search&mdash;the saddle tucked
+away in one corner of a bunk to serve as a pillow, the blankets spread
+over them, and the bridle and lunch placed on a box near the head of the
+bed, and, quickly shouldering them, he made his way out of the cabin in
+the direction in which he had left his horse.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," said Elam, as he strapped the saddle on the animal's back and
+slipped the bridle into his mouth, "the next thing is something else,
+and it's going to be far more dangerous than this. I am going to have
+those furs. I need them more than they do. I have got the map of the
+hiding-place of that nugget at my shanty, and some of them are going to
+get hurt if I don't get it."</p>
+
+<p>Elam kept out a portion of his lunch (the rest was strapped up in the
+blankets, which were stowed away behind the saddle), eating it as he
+galloped along, and this time he directed his course toward the willows
+that lined the base of the foot-hills. At daylight he discovered
+something&mdash;the track of an unshod pony. He looked all around, but there
+was no one in sight. He dismounted and saw that the horse had been going
+at full jump, and as there was dew on the ground, the tracks must have
+been made before it fell. A little further on he found another, and by
+comparing the two he made up his mind that they must have been made the
+day before. They were going the same way that he was, and appeared to be
+holding the direction of a long line of willows a few miles off. Elam's
+hair seemed to rise on end. He could imagine how those painted warriors
+had yelled and plied their whips in the endeavor to hunt down their
+victims; for that they were in plain view of someone Elam could readily
+affirm. He thought he could hear the yells, "Hi yah! yip, yip, yip!"
+which the exultant savages sent up as a forerunner of what was coming.</p>
+
+<p>"They got them in there as sure as the world," muttered Elam. "It's all
+right so far, and I can go on without running the risk of seeing any of
+them. I just know I shall see something after I get up there."</p>
+
+<p>Elam put his horse into a lope and followed along after the trail as
+boldly as though he had a right to be there. He didn't feel any fear,
+for he knew that he was on the trail of the Indians instead of having
+them upon his, and he knew they would not be likely to come back without
+the prospect of some gain. Presently he came to the place where some of
+the savages had dismounted and gone into the willows to fight their
+victims on foot, and then something told him that if he got in there he
+would find the bodies of the men who had robbed him of his furs. How
+that little piece of woods must have rung to the savages' war-whoops!
+But all was silent now. He led his horse a short distance into the
+bushes and dismounted, following the trail of an Indian who had crept up
+on all fours toward the place where the doomed men were concealed, and
+presently came into a valley in which the undergrowth had been trampled
+in every direction. Near the middle of the valley were two men who were
+stretched out on the ground, dead. There was nothing on them to indicate
+who they were, but Elam had no difficulty in recognizing them.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, it is better so," said he sorrowfully. "The Indians have got you,
+and that's all there is of it. Now my furs have gone, and I shall have
+to go to Uncle Ezra's to get a grub-stake."</p>
+
+<p>There were no signs of mutilation about them, as there would have been
+if the men had fallen into the hands of the Indians when alive. The
+Cheyennes had evidently been in a hurry, for all they had done was to
+see that the men were dead, after which they had stripped them of their
+clothes, stolen their guns and ammunition and furs, and gone off to hunt
+new booty. In this case it promised to be Elam, who made a desperate
+fight of it. The young hunter resolved that he would go into camp, and
+he did, too, hitching his horse near the stream that ran through the
+valley, just out of sight of the massacred men. He saw no ghosts, but
+slept as placidly as if the field on which the savages had vented their
+spite was a hundred miles away.</p>
+
+<p>When he awoke, it was dark, and the peaceful moon was shining down upon
+him through the tree-tops. He watered his horse, ate what was left of
+the lunch, and began to work his way out of the valley, when he
+discovered that both his nag and himself were sore from the effects of
+their long run. He had gone a long distance out of his way to see what
+the Cheyennes had done, and he didn't feel like bracing up to face the
+eighty miles before him. His horse didn't feel like it either, for when
+he stopped and allowed him to have his own way, he hung his head down
+and went to sleep. The horse seemed to be rendered uneasy by the bandage
+he wore round his neck, and when it was taken off he was more at his
+ease.</p>
+
+<p>It took Elam two days to make the journey to the camp where he had left
+Tom Mason, for he did all of his travelling during the daytime, and
+stopped over at some convenient place for the night. He was getting
+hungry, but his horse was growing stronger everyday. He dared not shoot
+at any of the numerous specimens of the jack-rabbit which constantly
+dodged across his path, for fear that he would betray himself to some
+marauding band of Indians, and not until he got within sight of Tom
+Mason standing in the edge of the willows did he feel comparatively
+safe. Tom gazed in astonishment while he told his story, and it was a
+long time before he could get dinner enough to satisfy him.</p>
+
+<p>"Thank goodness they have left you all right," said Elam, settling back
+on his blanket with a hunk of corn bread and bacon in his uninjured hand
+and a cup of steaming coffee in front of him. "Do you know that I have
+worried about you more than I have about myself?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, how did those Indians look when they were following you?" asked
+Tom, who had not yet recovered himself. His hand trembled when he poured
+out the coffee so that one would think that he was the one who had had a
+narrow escape from the savages. "Did they yell?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yell? Of course it came faintly to my ears because they were so far
+away, but if I had been close to them, I tell you I wouldn't have had
+any courage left," said Elam, with a laugh. "I've got my saddle and
+bridle, and that's something I did not expect to get."</p>
+
+<p>"Was there no one in the sheep-herder's ranch to look for you?"</p>
+
+<p>"If there had been, I wouldn't 'a' been here. There was nobody there at
+all. I just went in and got my saddle, and that's all there was to it.
+You see, I was on their trail, and they had passed over that ground once
+and thought they had got everybody."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I am beaten. I never heard a whisper of an Indian since you went
+away. It is lucky for me that they didn't know I was here. How did those
+men look that were killed?"</p>
+
+<p>"They were dead, of course. There was no mutilation about them, only
+just enough to show who killed them. If the Indians had got hold of them
+before they were dead, then you might have expected something. They
+would have just thrown themselves to show how much agony they could put
+them to. I never want to fall into the hands of the Indians alive. Do
+you know that the soldiers always carry a derringer in their pockets?
+Yes, they do, and that last shot is intended for themselves."</p>
+
+<p>"By George!" said Tom, drawing a long breath. "Let us get out of here."</p>
+
+<p>"Where will we go?"</p>
+
+<p>"Let's go back to the States. I never was made to live out here."</p>
+
+<p>"Hi yah! I couldn't make a living there."</p>
+
+<p>"But you talk well enough to make a living anywhere. You won't find one
+man in ten out here who talks as plainly as you do."</p>
+
+<p>"That's all owing to my way of bring up. Ever since I was a little kid I
+have been under the care of Uncle Ezra, who talks about as plain as most
+men do."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, let's go and see him."</p>
+
+<p>"We'll go just as soon as this blizzard is over. It is coming now, and
+in a few minutes you will see my horse coming in here."</p>
+
+<p>"Is that the blizzard? Why, I thought it was snow."</p>
+
+<p>"You go to sleep and see if you don't find snow on the ground in the
+morning. There is one thing that you can bless your lucky stars for: the
+Indians are safely housed up. They'll not think of going out plundering
+while this blizzard lasts."</p>
+
+<p>"They know when it is coming, I suppose?"</p>
+
+<p>Elam replied that they did, and wrapped himself up in his blanket, while
+Tom went out to throw more wood on the fire and to make an estimate of
+the weather. The sky was clouded over, not making it so very difficult
+to travel by night, the wind was in the south, and the rain was quietly
+descending, as though it threatened a warm spring shower. It beat the
+world how Elam could tell that this storm was three days off, that
+before it got through everything would be "holded up," and that the snow
+would be six inches deep. The horse came in about that time and took up
+a position on the leeward side of the fire, where he settled himself
+preparatory to going to sleep. Then Tom thought he had better go, too,
+but the thrilling story to which he had listened took all the sleep out
+of him. What a dreadful fate it would be for him to be killed out there
+in the mountains, as those men were who stole Elam's furs, and no one
+find his body until long after the thing had been forgotten! He fell
+asleep while he was thinking about it, and when he awoke it was with a
+chill, and a feeling that the storm had come sure enough. The wind was
+in the north, and he could not see anything on account of the snow. He
+didn't have as many blankets now as he did when he first struck the
+mountains, for he had left a good portion of them in the gully. All he
+had was his overcoat, and, wrapping himself up in it, he went to sleep
+and forgot all about the blizzard.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.</h2>
+
+<h3>UNCLE EZRA PUTS HIS FOOT DOWN.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Tom slept warm and comfortable that night, and perhaps the simple
+presence of Elam had something to do with it. A boy who could go through
+a twenty-mile race with Cheyennes, and have no more to say about it than
+he did, would be a good fellow to have at his back in case trouble
+arose. A person would not think he had been through such an encounter,
+and had seen the bodies of two murdered men besides, for, when he awoke,
+Elam was sitting up on his blanket and looking at his horse. He lay in
+such a position that the threatening streak on the animal's neck, which
+had come so near ending the race then and there and resulting in Elam's
+capture, could be plainly seen.</p>
+
+<p>"Halloa!" exclaimed Elam. "The Indians didn't get you last night, after
+all. I tell you, if our soldiers could strike them now, they would have
+an easy job of it. Now, there's that horse of mine. He has got a worse
+hurt than I have, but he makes no fuss over it. I am anxious to find
+Uncle Ezra, for he has some medicine that will cure it."</p>
+
+<p>"But you can't go where he is&mdash;where is he, anyway?" said Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"He is just about two days' journey over the mountains. I know where he
+is, and I ought to have been there before. But, laws! he's quit looking
+for me. If I don't show up at all, he won't worry."</p>
+
+<p>"This storm is just fearful, isn't it?" said Tom, pulling his coat up
+around his ears. "What do you suppose the soldiers are doing that were
+sent out by the commander of that fort? Why, they will freeze to death."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think we are getting the full benefit of it here?" said Elam,
+with a look of astonishment. "You just go out to the edge of the
+evergreens and look around a bit. You see, we haven't got much snow
+here, for your lean-to keeps it off; but go out where it has a fair
+chance at you. By the way, where is my map?"</p>
+
+<p>Tom replied that it was in the hollow tree, and speedily fished it out
+for him; and while Elam fastened his eyes upon it, Tom went out to the
+edge of the woods to see what the storm looked like on the plains. He
+had been there scarcely a moment when he was glad to turn around and go
+back. Their little grove of evergreens was just the spot for homeless
+wanderers like themselves. The wind was cutting, and blew so hard that
+Tom could not face it for an instant, and he dared not let go his hold
+upon the branches at his side for fear that he would get lost. When he
+got back to the fire, he was glad to heap more wood upon it, and get as
+close to it as possible.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't see how anybody can live out there," said Tom, with a shudder.
+"I should think it would be their death."</p>
+
+<p>"They don't live," said Elam. "They just camp somewhere and stay until
+it blows over. I have been out in a storm that was worse than this, and
+came through all right. You can just imagine what it must be out there
+on the prairie."</p>
+
+<p>All that day the boys remained idle in their lean-to, not daring to go
+out after traps, and before they went to bed that night Elam decided
+that, early the next morning, they would make an effort to reach Uncle
+Ezra's. Their food was getting scarce, and they had no way to replenish
+their stock. A part of the day was spent in hiding the things which they
+could not take with them, for fear that somebody would come along and
+steal them, and the rest of the time was devoted to Elam's stories. It
+was a wonder to Tom how the boy had managed to get through so many
+things and live. He didn't relate his adventures as though there was
+anything great in them, but told them as a mere matter of fact. Anybody
+could pass through such scenes if he only had the courage, but there was
+the point. For the first time in his life Tom wished himself back in
+Mississippi. Anyone might get into scrapes there, as Our Fellows got
+into with Pete, the half-breed, or with Luke Redman of the Swamp
+Dragoons, but there was always a prospect of their coming out alive.</p>
+
+<p>On the morning of the next day a start was made as early as it was light
+enough to see, Elam leading the horse and Tom following close behind
+him. The most of their way led through the gully, and to Tom's delight
+there was hardly any snow on the way; nor was there any game, although
+they kept a bright lookout for it. They camped for two nights in the
+foot-hills, Elam working his way in and out of the gullies, never once
+stopping and never once getting into a pocket. On the last morning they
+ate every bit of the corn bread and bacon.</p>
+
+<p>"They aint far off now," said Elam. "About noon we'll be among friends.
+You will find two boys there just about your size who will give you more
+insight into this life than I ever could. You see they know what you
+want to talk about."</p>
+
+<p>After proceeding about a mile of their journey Elam stopped, placed his
+hand to his mouth, and gave a perfect imitation of a coyote's yell. If
+Tom had not seen him do it he would have thought there was a wolf close
+upon them. A little further on he gave another, and this time there was
+an answer, faint and far off, but still there was something about it
+that did not sound just like a coyote.</p>
+
+<p>"They're there," said Elam. "I would know that yell among a thousand.
+It's Carlos Burton."</p>
+
+<p>"Who is he? You never mentioned him before."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, he is a sharp one. He came out here long after I did, and had
+sense enough to go to herding cattle, while here I am and haven't got
+anything except the clothes I stand in. It's all on account of that
+nugget, too. If the robbers had stolen it and got well away with it I
+might have been in the same fix. Well, it's all in a lifetime."</p>
+
+<p>"I should think you would give it up," said Tom. "You go working after
+it day after day&mdash;why, you must have been after it fourteen years."</p>
+
+<p>"Shall I give it up when I've got the map of it right here?" said Elam,
+tapping his ditty-bag, which was hung across his chest under his shirt.
+"I am nearer to it now than I have been before, and you had better talk
+to those who have made fun of me all these years. 'Oh, Elam's a crank;
+let him alone, and when he gets tired looking for the nugget he'll come
+to his senses and go to herding cattle.' That's what the folks around
+here have had to say about me ever since I can remember; but I'll get
+the start of all of them, you see if I don't."</p>
+
+<p>Elam began to look wild when he began to talk about the nugget, and Tom
+was glad to change the subject of the conversation.</p>
+
+<p>"Who is the other fellow?" said he. "You said there were two of them."</p>
+
+<p>"The other fellow is a tender-foot; he don't claim to be anything else.
+I'll bet you, now that I have got over my excitement, that I have been
+talking about his father. His father commands a post within forty miles
+of the place where he is now visiting, but I don't know one soldier from
+another. They all look alike to me, and I didn't think of the
+relationship they bore to each other. No matter; he treated me mighty
+shabby, and I shall always think hard of soldiers after that."</p>
+
+<p>At the end of half an hour they came out of the scrub oaks and found
+themselves in front of a neat little cabin which reminded Tom of the
+negro quarters he had seen in Mississippi. There were two boys standing
+in front of the cabin, and Tom had no trouble in picking out Carlos
+Burton. There was an independent air about him that somehow did not
+belong to the tender-foot, and when Elam introduced him in his off-hand
+way, this boy was the first to welcome him.</p>
+
+<p>"This fellow is Tom Mason, and I want you to know him and treat him
+right. He got into a little trouble down in Mississippi where he used to
+live, and came out here to get clear of it. Know him, boys."</p>
+
+<p>The boys, surprised as they were, were glad to shake hands with Tom,
+because he was Elam's friend; but they were still more anxious to know
+how Elam had come among them for the fourth time robbed of his furs, and
+what he had to say about it. There were some things about him that
+didn't look exactly right. There was his hand, which was still done up
+the way the doctor left it, and the mark on his horse's neck, both of
+which proclaimed that Elam had been in something of a fight; but they
+didn't push him, for they knew they would hear the whole of his story
+when he got inside of the cabin.</p>
+
+<p>What I have written here is the true history of what happened to Tom
+Mason after he gave Joe Coleman the valise, containing the five thousand
+dollars, and the double-barrel shotgun; and I have told the truth, too,
+in regard to Elam and his last attempt at grub-staking. It took him
+pretty near all day to finish the story, and now I can drop the third
+person and go on with my narrative just as it happened. Of course we
+were all amazed at what Elam had to tell, and especially were we hurt to
+hear him speak so of Ben's father; for he it was who was in command of
+the post. It would have done no good to talk to Elam, for very likely he
+had worse things than that to say about the major. We let him go on and
+tell his story in any way he thought proper, calculating to make it all
+right with Ben afterward.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Tom [he always addressed everybody by his Christian name], tell us
+something more of your story," said Uncle Ezra, who had the map of the
+hiding-place of the nugget spread out on his knee. "You haven't done
+anything to make you a fugitive from home, and I see that Elam has been
+letting you down kinder easy. What have you done?"</p>
+
+<p>It did not take Tom more than fifteen minutes to narrate as much of his
+history as he was willing that strangers should know, and Elam never let
+on that he knew more; he was the closest-mouthed fellow I ever saw. Tom
+told all about the story of the five thousand dollars, and declared that
+he had sent it back to the uncle of whom he had stolen it, but said he
+could not bear the "jibes" that would be thrown at him every time his
+uncle got mad at him. There were men out there who had done worse than
+that.</p>
+
+<p>"That's very true," said Uncle Ezra, looking down at the map he held on
+his knee. "But you haven't done anything so very bad, and I would advise
+you to go home and live it down."</p>
+
+<p>"No, sir, I shan't do it," said Tom emphatically. "I'll stay here until
+he gets over his pet and then I'll go back. Besides, I can't go. I am
+under promise to stand by Elam until he finds his nugget."</p>
+
+<p>"And do you imagine that this paper will tell you where it is?"</p>
+
+<p>"That's what we are depending on."</p>
+
+<p>"You will go, Carlos?" said Elam, addressing me.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir," I answered. "When you dig up that nugget I shall be right
+within reach of you."</p>
+
+<p>"Now, uncle," began Ben, who was in a high state of commotion, "I just
+know you will let me&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Now, now!" interrupted Uncle Ezra, waving his hands up and down in the
+air as the major had done when he refused to interfere with the stolen
+furs. "Now, just wait till I tell you. You shan't go!"</p>
+
+<p>"I just know, if my father was here&mdash;&mdash;" began Ben.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, wait till I tell you. Your father would say, No! Here's Indians
+all around you, and you want to go right into the midst of them. And
+going off with Elam Storm! That's the worst yet. Why, your father has
+sent out a squad of cavalry to drive these fellows back where they came
+from, and what would I say to him if I should let you go philandering
+off there? No, sir, you can't go. I shall send word to him in the
+morning and let him know you are all right. I suppose you will need a
+horse, Tom, seeing that the Red Ghost has spoilt your bronco for you."</p>
+
+<p>"I should like to have one," replied Tom. "What do you think that Red
+Ghost is, anyway?"</p>
+
+<p>"Now, wait till I tell you. I don't know."</p>
+
+<p>As it was almost supper time and we had not had anything to eat since
+Elam and Tom came to the cabin, and Uncle Ezra wanted to change the
+subject of the conversation into another channel, he gave me a nod which
+I understood, and I went about preparing the eatables. It was surprising
+how quickly everybody became acquainted with Tom. He and Elam had passed
+through several scenes which were familiar enough to me, but which
+sounded like romance when recounted for Ben's benefit, and it was no
+wonder that the latter looked upon Tom as a person well worth listening
+to. He carried on a lengthy conversation with him while I was getting
+supper, while Elam smoked and talked with Uncle Ezra. He was trying to
+make Uncle Ezra see that after waiting for so many years chance had
+thrown into his power the very thing for which he was looking, and
+sometimes he got so interesting that I was tempted to let the supper go
+and sit down and listen to him.</p>
+
+<p>"There is something hidden there, and that's all there is about it,"
+said Elam emphatically. "You can't make me believe that a man would
+carry around a map of that kind when there was nothing to it, and he
+would say he was ruined if he didn't get it."</p>
+
+<p>"But where did he get it in the first place?" asked Uncle Ezra.</p>
+
+<p>"If I could see the man he shot I could answer that question."</p>
+
+<p>"But how did he know that the man had it at all?"</p>
+
+<p>"Ask me something hard," said Elam. "The man may have told him that he
+had it and refused to give it up; or he may have gone into partnership,
+just the same as Tom has gone into partnership with me. That is
+something I don't know anything about, but I just know there is
+something hidden there, and I'll dig the whole place over but I shall
+find it. If three months' supply of grub won't do me, I'll come back and
+get another. You will stake me, of course?"</p>
+
+<p>"Sure. I'll stake you if it takes the last thing I've got. But I'll tell
+you one thing, Elam, and that aint two, that you won't make anything by
+it. You had better stay at home and go to herding cattle."</p>
+
+<p>Just as long as they talked the hard-headed old frontiersman always came
+to this advice, and Elam always dismissed it with a laugh. Finally he
+said, with more seriousness than I had ever seen him assume before:</p>
+
+<p>"I will tell you what I'll do, Uncle Ezra: I will follow this thing up,
+and if nothing comes of it, I will take your advice. But I will go to
+Texas. I can't stay around where that nugget is without making an effort
+to find it. If you had had it dinged at you for years, you would feel
+the same way."</p>
+
+<p>And I could swear that that was the truth, for Uncle Ezra had often said
+to me that if he had had the nugget preached at him from the time he was
+old enough to remember anything, he would have been as hot after it as
+Elam was. Nothing would have turned him away from it. Uncle Ezra knew
+that Elam was in earnest when he said this, and reached over and shook
+hands with him; and after that the subject was dropped. In the meantime
+Ben and Tom were getting acquainted, and especially was Ben deeply
+interested whenever the other spoke of the Red Ghost. Tom had seen it,
+had a fair shot at it, and could not imagine what had taken it off in
+such a hurry, if it had been a flesh-eating animal; but it was not, and
+so it uttered a scream and went into the bushes. It must have been a
+camel, because that was the only thing that Tom knew of that had a hump
+on its back.</p>
+
+<p>"But camels don't run wild in this country," said Ben.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, wait till I tell you," put in Uncle Ezra, who had got through
+talking with Elam. "A good many years ago the government brought over
+some camels thinking that they could make them useful in carrying
+supplies across the desert; but, somehow or other, it turned out a
+failure, and, seeing that they couldn't sell them, they turned them
+loose to shift for themselves. And that's the way they come to be wild
+here."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, that bangs me!" exclaimed Ben, who was profoundly astonished.
+"But supposing they did turn them out to become wild, they wouldn't
+pitch into horses, would they?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know anything about that," returned Uncle Ezra. "I do know that
+there is a camel around here, that he is red in color, that he has
+frightened the lives out of half a dozen people, and that he has been
+shot at numberless times. He does pitch into every horse and mule that
+he gets a chance at, and I don't know what makes him."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I never heard of a camel doing that before," said Ben, settling
+back on his blanket. "If you get another show at it, Tom, make a sure
+shot, so that you can tell us what it is."</p>
+
+<p>You may be sure that I was glad to hear the old frontiersman talk in
+this way. He had not seen the camel, but he had seen some scientific men
+who had seen him, and he was glad to accept what they had to say in
+regard to the Red Ghost. I, for one, resolved that I would never let it
+get away, if I once got a shot at it.</p>
+
+<p>The evening was passed in much the same way, with talks on various
+subjects, and it was a late hour when we sought our blankets. We all
+slept soundly, all except Tom, who awoke about midnight, and, to save
+his life, could not go to sleep again. He rolled and tossed on his
+blankets, and then, for fear that he might awaken some of us, concluded
+that he would go out and look at the weather. He pulled on his
+moccasons, opened the door, and went out, but on the threshold he
+stopped, for every drop of blood in him seemed to rush back upon his
+heart, leaving his face as pale as death itself. He was not frightened,
+but there, within less than twenty-five yards of him, stood the Red
+Ghost. He stood with his head forward, as if he were listening to some
+sounds that came to him from the horses' quarters, which, you will
+remember, were in the scrub-oaks behind the cabin. It was no wonder that
+Tom was excited, for there it was as plain as daylight. It looked as big
+as three or four horses.</p>
+
+<p>"By George! I wish it would stay there just a minute longer. If I make
+out to get my rifle&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>With a step that would not have awakened a cricket, Tom stepped back
+into the cabin and laid hold of the first rifle he came to. It was not
+his own; it was Uncle Ezra's Henry&mdash;a rifle that would shoot sixteen
+times without being reloaded. With this in his hands he walked quietly
+back, and there stood the object just as he had left it. It did not seem
+to hear Tom at all. Fearful of being seen, Tom raised his gun with a
+very slow and steady aim, and covered the spot just where he thought the
+heart ought to be. One second he stood thus, but it was long enough for
+Tom, who pressed the trigger.</p>
+
+<p>"There!" said Tom, drawing a long breath. "If I didn't make a good shot
+that time I never did. Hold on! It is coming right for me!"</p>
+
+<p>The animal was fatally hurt, and the long bounds it made, and the shrill
+screams it uttered, would have taxed Tom's nerves, if he had had any. To
+throw out the empty shell and insert another one was slowly and
+deliberately done, and the second ball struck it in the breast, when Tom
+thought that another bound would land it squarely on the top of him.
+That settled it. It stayed right there, and all he could see of the Red
+Ghost was the twigs and leaves which it threw up during its struggles.
+In the meantime there was a terrific commotion in the cabin, and his
+three friends came rushing out to see what was the matter.</p>
+
+<p>"Who's got my rifle!" exclaimed Uncle Ezra. "Now, wait till I tell you,"
+he shouted, while lost in astonishment. "He's got the Red Ghost; by gum,
+if he aint!"</p>
+
+<p>They drew as near the struggling animal as they could, while Uncle Ezra
+went in to bring out a brand from the fire to examine it, and Tom stood
+by, not a little elated. It was the first desperate adventure he had
+had, and he had stood up to the mark like a man. When the animal had
+ceased its contortions, and the firebrands were brought out so that we
+could examine it closely, it was curious to see what different views the
+hunters took of their prize. Elam could hardly be made to believe that
+it was not a ghost. He stood at a distance while the others were
+inspecting it, and when he saw they were handling it, he remarked that
+the bullet he had sent into its neck ought to have finished it when he
+got it. Ben examined its legs and Tom felt of its hump. He said that
+when an Arab had a long journey to make he always examined the hump to
+see if his camel was in good condition, while an American always looked
+to his horse's hoofs. He did not think this animal was in a fit
+condition to travel, although it had come seventy-five miles since Tom
+had last seen it, picking up its living on the way.</p>
+
+<p>"Tom, you will do to tie to," said Elam, when he became satisfied that
+the animal was dead. "Shake!"</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you," said Tom, seeing that his hands were safely out of reach.
+"If it's all the same to you I'll not shake hands with you. I did it
+once back there in the mountains, and I haven't got over it."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Tom, you certainly have done something to be proud of," said
+Ezra. "Let's go in and take a smoke. We'll finish our examination by
+daylight."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI.</h2>
+
+<h3>A NEW EXPEDITION.</h3>
+
+
+<p>There wasn't much sleeping done in the cabin that night, there was so
+much to talk about. To say that the hunters were very much pleased over
+the success of Tom's lucky shots would be putting it very mildly. Elam
+was much elated to know it was a camel, an animal he had never seen
+before, and not a genuine ghost, who had stood between him and the
+finding of the nugget. He was not satisfied until he had burned up three
+or four brands in going out to see the object to make sure it was there
+yet. To tell the truth, this Red Ghost had often stood between Elam and
+the accomplishment of his hopes; and as much as he desired to possess
+the nugget he did not dare face it alone.</p>
+
+<p>"It is there yet," said Elam, coming in once more and throwing a
+half-burned chunk upon the fire. "Tom, you have made me your everlasting
+debtor. Now I hope the finding of the nugget will go the same way."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope I can have the same effect upon your other work," said Tom
+modestly. "If I do, you will call me a lucky omen."</p>
+
+<p>"What is an 'omen'?" asked Elam, who had never heard the word before.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, it is an occurrence supposed to show the character of some future
+event. That is about as near as I can come to it. If I am with you, you
+will find the nugget without the least trouble: if I am not, you won't."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I'll see that you don't get very far from me till I find out what
+this map means. There is something hidden there, and I know it."</p>
+
+<p>It was while we were talking in this way that daylight came, and I began
+getting breakfast while Elam and Uncle Ezra smoked, and Ben and Tom were
+packing up the skins which had fallen to Ben's rifle during the hunt. I
+could see that Ben was sadly disappointed in not being permitted to
+accompany Elam on his search for the nugget, but like the soldier he
+was, he gave right up. He knew that his father did not believe in such
+things anyway, and very likely his refusal would have been more pointed
+than Uncle Ezra's. When the breakfast was over all hands turned to and
+washed the dishes and put them away. We calculated to visit the camp
+again during the winter, and, if we did, we wanted to know what we had
+to go on. Then we went out to saddle our horses and take a last look at
+the Red Ghost.</p>
+
+<p>"Are we going to leave this thing here?" asked Ben.</p>
+
+<p>"Sure!" replied Uncle Ezra. "We can't carry it with us."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll bet I don't leave it all here," said Elam, going into the cabin
+and returning with an axe in his hand. "The folks down there won't
+believe that we killed anything, and I am going to have one of the
+feet."</p>
+
+<p>The thing was hideous when we came to look at it by daylight, and
+especially the great hoofs with which it had tramped so far. They were
+lacerated in every direction, and one cut had hardly had time to heal
+before it got another. Elam plied the axe vigorously, and in a few
+moments each boy had a foot which he was to take along to show to the
+people "down there." Finally Uncle Ezra said he would take the head. It
+was scarred and seamed all over, but he thought that anyone who had seen
+a camel would be sure to recognize it. Then we brought up the horses,
+but I tell you it took two men to saddle them. They couldn't bear the
+scent of the camel; I had to take my nag out of sight of it, and it was
+a long time before he quit snorting. With a good deal of merriment we
+got them all saddled at last, and with Tom and Ben riding my horse and
+Elam's, we bid good-by to our camp in the mountains. We had twenty miles
+to go and then we were among friends again.</p>
+
+<p>"Say," said Elam, when he had allowed the others to get so far ahead
+that there was no danger of their overhearing our conversation, "I don't
+think I am crazy; do you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I never thought so," said I, although I knew there had been some talk
+of it in the settlement. "I was sure if that nugget was there you would
+find it. I shouldn't have offered to go with you if I had thought you
+were crazy."</p>
+
+<p>"You have seen the map and know just what there is onto it?" continued
+Elam.</p>
+
+<p>"I certainly have."</p>
+
+<p>"And you know the place where it starts is over there by those springs?"</p>
+
+<p>"I do certainly."</p>
+
+<p>"And do you think that those men would carry around a map of that kind
+unless there was something on it?" said Elam, going over the argument he
+had used the night before with Uncle Ezra.</p>
+
+<p>"No, I don't think they would. And it's your ditty-bag that they took
+from you when you were shot."</p>
+
+<p>"I know it; and many's the time I have thought of it, too, and never
+expected to see it again. Thank goodness, I have two men with me who
+don't think I am crazy! I have told Uncle Ezra that I never would give
+it up again until I have that nugget in my hands. I know that gully up
+there, and it is a pretty big place. Now, that is all I have to say. If
+you want to know anything more, now is the time to ask me."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you think that there are other parties up there, hunting for it?"
+I asked, knowing that his story had been noised abroad. "Just think; you
+have been looking for it fourteen years."</p>
+
+<p>"Longer than that; and I ought to get it, for they say that perseverance
+conquers all things. As for other parties looking for it, why, they can
+get it if they want it. But where's the map?"</p>
+
+<p>"That's so. I think you have got the only one there is in existence."</p>
+
+<p>"I only hope there are other fellows looking for the nugget," said Elam,
+shifting his rifle from one shoulder to the other, "because we won't
+have to work where they have been. It will make matters so much easier
+for us."</p>
+
+<p>After that Elam kept still about the nugget, and during the whole of the
+twenty miles I never heard him speak of it again. We accomplished the
+journey just about dark, Elam and I walking all the way, and Tom I know
+was glad to get back among civilized people once more. My headquarters
+were right there with Uncle Ezra, for I had only four men to take care
+of my small herd, and didn't think it best to get too far away from him.
+We rode up to the shanty and began to dismount, when the door flew open
+and the foreman of the ranch appeared on the threshold.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I declare, if there aint Uncle Ezra!" he exclaimed in a
+stentorian voice. "What you got? Enough furs to load one horse with?"</p>
+
+<p>While the foreman was speaking he untied the bundle of skins and laid it
+upon the porch, when he happened to discover Tom Mason. He did not say
+anything, but nodded to Tom, and then turned his attention to his
+employer's horse, whom he had unsaddled while one was thinking about it.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you here all alone?" asked Uncle Ezra.</p>
+
+<p>"All alone!" replied the foreman. "You see, there has been a blizzard
+lately, and we thought we had better look up the sheep. I have just got
+in. What have you got in that bag?"</p>
+
+<p>"Something that will make your eyes bulge out," replied Uncle Ezra.
+"Wait till we get in, and we will show it to you."</p>
+
+<p>The horses, being unsaddled, were turned loose to go where they chose;
+the foreman carried Ben's bundle of skins into the cabin, and Uncle Ezra
+brought up the rear with the bag containing what was left of the prize.
+There was a fire burning brightly at one end of the room, and Tom and
+Ben drew camp-stools up in front of it to get some heat, while Elam and
+I took our overcoats off and waited for Uncle Ezra to turn out the
+contents of the bag. We waited until the old frontiersman had hung up
+his coat and hat where they belonged and seated himself on a camp-stool
+before the fire, and then the head and four feet of the camel were
+tumbled out on the floor.</p>
+
+<p>"What in the name of common sense are those?" cried the foreman in
+astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>"They are part of the Red Ghost," said Uncle Ezra; and then he went on
+to tell the story much as I have told it, although he put in some
+additions of his own. The foreman was profoundly amazed. Not daring to
+use his hands, he used a poker to move the things about, so that he
+could see on all sides of them. The antics he went through were enough
+to make the hunters laugh.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you think now about my being crazy?" demanded Elam. "I've shot
+at that thing, and I don't see why I didn't get him; but I can see now
+why it was. He was so big that a bullet had to be put in the right place
+to get him."</p>
+
+<p>"That's about the case with everything I have shot, Elam," said the
+foreman. "I had to put the ball in the right place, or I didn't get him.
+But you have removed a heap from my mind. Who shot him?"</p>
+
+<p>"Here's the man, right here."</p>
+
+<p>Seeing that the foreman began to take a deeper interest in Tom after
+that, Uncle Ezra introduced him, and he failed to say that Tom had got
+into a "little trouble" down in Mississippi where he used to live, and
+had come out West to get clear of it. Uncle Ezra didn't think that was
+any of his business. He said that Tom wanted to see new sights, and he
+reckoned he had already had his fill of them, having been lost in the
+mountains and shot the Red Ghost besides. Now, he was going into
+partnership with Elam after the nugget, and Uncle Ezra thought he had a
+boy who could be depended upon. The foreman shook hands with Tom, and
+said he was glad to see him. Then he wanted to know whether they had
+eaten supper yet.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, no," replied Uncle Ezra. "You see, we started from our camp up
+there sooner than we expected. Elam has got a map telling him where to
+look to find his nugget."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, get out!" said the foreman. He had heard so many things about a
+"map" that he did not believe a word of it.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, he has, sure enough. It came from the man who tried to rob him.
+And you haven't heard anything about the Indians, have you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Indians!" exclaimed the foreman. "Have they broken out?"</p>
+
+<p>"Just give your knife to Elam and sit down," said Uncle Ezra. "It
+appears to me that we have heard of a heap of things that you don't know
+anything about."</p>
+
+<p>The man gave Elam his knife, which he had in his hand to begin work with
+upon the ham he had laid upon the table, and sat down.</p>
+
+<p>"I wondered all the time what was the matter with Elam's hand," said he.
+"I hope the Indians didn't shoot him."</p>
+
+<p>"Didn't they, though?" said Elam. "You just wait and hear Uncle Ezra
+tell the story."</p>
+
+<p>It was a long narrative that the old frontiersman had to tell, and I saw
+that Elam was so much interested in it that he forgot all about the
+supper, and I got up and assisted him; and that was all he wanted. He
+left me to do the work, and sat down. The foreman heard Uncle Ezra
+through without interruption, and then turned and gave Elam a good
+looking over. After that he got up and assisted me with the supper.</p>
+
+<p>"So Elam has really got a map of the place where that nugget is hid?"
+were the first words he uttered. He didn't seem to care a straw about
+the Indians, but he did care about the gold. "I wish I knew the man he
+shot to get it."</p>
+
+<p>After that the evening was just what you would expect of one spent in a
+hunter's camp, or one passed in a sheep-herder's ranch, which was the
+same thing. We ate supper; then those who were inclined to the weed
+enjoyed their good-night smoke, and talked of ghosts, Indians, and
+sheep-herder's life until we were all tired out and went to bed. We had
+regular bunks to sleep in, and could thrash around all we had a mind to
+without fear of disturbing anyone else. The foreman got up once to
+replenish the fire and take a look at the weather, and I heard him say,
+when he crawled back into his bunk, that it was a clear, cold
+night&mdash;just the one that sheep enjoy.</p>
+
+<p>When I awoke I found the foreman busy in the storeroom in putting up our
+three months' supplies and Uncle Ezra engaged in cooking breakfast. Ben
+was seated at one end of the table, engaged in writing a letter to his
+father, and Elam had gone out after a certain stockman to carry it to
+the fort for him. It was dark, and you couldn't see a thing.</p>
+
+<p>"I think it best to let the boy's father know when he is well off," said
+Uncle Ezra, returning my greeting. "It aint everybody who would go to
+that trouble, I confess&mdash;sending a lone man off in a country that has
+been infested with Indians. But I know how it is myself. If I had a
+boy&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"You have got one," I said. "There's Elam."</p>
+
+<p>"Elam!" said the frontiersman in a tone of contempt. "Elam went to work
+and got himself into a fuss without saying a word to me about it. Elam!
+now he's got a map that he thinks will show him where the gold is
+hidden."</p>
+
+<p>"But don't you think there is something hidden there?" asked Ben.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, wait till I tell you. I don't know; but every scrap he gets hold
+of he thinks it is a map. That's what makes me mad at Elam. And you,
+dog-gone you! You have got better sense than that."</p>
+
+<p>I had heard all I wanted to out of Uncle Ezra. It was plain that he
+didn't think there was anything in that map. Well, as Elam said, it was
+all in a lifetime. My time wasn't worth anything to me, for I had men to
+do the work, and if I made a botch of it, if there wasn't anything to be
+made by digging up that gully, there was one thing out of the way. Elam
+was bound to become a cattle-herder in case this thing failed. He was
+determined to go to Texas, for he couldn't live there and have that
+nugget thrown at him by every man he met, and I would go with him. Uncle
+Ezra had often made offers for my cattle, intending to leave
+sheep-herding on account of the wolves, and invest all his extra money
+in steers, and if this thing turned out a failure he could have them and
+welcome. I would be as deep in the mud as Elam was, and I didn't care to
+have the thing thrown up at me all the time. Texas was the land of
+promise with us fellows, any way. The fellows there had got into the way
+of driving cattle to northern markets and selling them, and in that way
+we could at least see our friends once every year. So I didn't care what
+Uncle Ezra said about it.</p>
+
+<p>In about an hour Elam came back with the stockman of whom he had been in
+search. His name was Sandy; I never heard him called by any other name,
+and if his pluck only equalled his red hair and whiskers he certainly
+had lots of it. Of course we had to go through with the Red Ghost and
+Tom's being lost, the discovery of the map and Elam's escape from the
+Indians, but Sandy never said a word about it. He just sat on his
+camp-stool with his elbows resting on his knees, and looked up at Uncle
+Ezra. When the latter got through with his story he simply said:</p>
+
+<p>"Where's the letter?"</p>
+
+<p>Of course it was arranged that Sandy should go with us as far as the
+canyon that led to the springs, and beyond that he was to take care of
+himself. With his letter tucked away in his pocket, he shook Ben by the
+hand, and told him that his father would receive what he had written by
+noon the next day; and then we all mounted and rode off. Tom had been
+supplied with a pair of boots to take the place of his moccasons, and
+rode a horse that belonged to Uncle Ezra. We had two mules with us, Elam
+leading the one and I the other, which carried our supplies and also our
+digging tools; for we intended to dig as no people had ever dug before
+for that nugget.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope you will get it, boys," said Sandy, as he lifted his hat to us
+when we reached the canyon that branched off from his trail. "But I have
+my doubts."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, of course we're cranks!" said Elam.</p>
+
+<p>"I never said that of you," said Sandy reproachfully. "I always said
+that if the nugget was there you'd get it."</p>
+
+<p>"And how am I going to find out where the nugget is unless I have a
+map?" demanded Elam. "I've got one now, and if I make a failure of this
+thing, I am going to Texas. When you see me again I'll have the nugget.
+Good-by."</p>
+
+<p>We saw no Indians, although we kept a bright lookout for them, and about
+three o'clock in the afternoon arrived at the springs, for I do not know
+what else to call them. We had had no dinner, intending to leave it
+until we got to our camping place, and while Tom and I unsaddled and
+staked out the horses, Elam strolled away with his rifle on his shoulder
+to look up the springs. He was gone fully an hour, and when he came back
+he set his rifle down and never said a word. I knew that something was
+the matter, but I thought I would wait until he got ready to tell it. He
+ate his dinner; he ate a good hearty one, too, so that the news he had
+brought did not interfere with his appetite, and filled his pipe; and
+then I knew that something was coming.</p>
+
+<p>"Carlos," said he, as he stretched his legs out in front of him, "those
+springs have all been tampered with."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean?" I asked.</p>
+
+<p>"They have been tampered with the same as this one has," continued Elam,
+pointing to the spring at which our horses had drank. "All the stuff and
+leaves have been pulled out of them."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, what of it?"</p>
+
+<p>"What of it? It means that somebody has been going in on our trail."</p>
+
+<p>"All right; let it be so. You found all the springs, didn't you? We're
+on their trail, and if we overtake them at the end of a week we will see
+what we can do with them. You said yourself that it would make things
+easier for us."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I know I said it, but I don't like to see that people are so hot
+after that nugget."</p>
+
+<p>It did seem to me that everyone had got wind of that nugget, and were
+going after it at the same time. How it came about I did not know. Here
+they had gone on for two years and let Elam dig where he had a mind to,
+and now when he knew where the gold was, other people knew it too and
+were determined to have it. I suggested that it might be those men who
+had robbed him, but Elam laughed at it.</p>
+
+<p>"Those men never came near here," said Elam. "Otherwise, how did they
+strike my camp fifty miles away? It has been done by somebody nearer
+than that, and has been done by somebody within three weeks, too."</p>
+
+<p>From this time out (we were all of two weeks on the trail) Elam was
+moody. He would ride all day and wouldn't say a word to either of us,
+and when we made camp at night he would go off and stay until dark. And
+the worst of it was, we camped every single night right where the men
+had slept. I began to shake in my boots, and did not wonder at Elam's
+contrary mood. In fact we were all that way. It was very seldom that we
+exchanged an opinion with one another. Elam kept his map constantly at
+hand and referred to it at every turn in the road. Sometimes he would be
+gone all day, and we would hear nothing of him until night, when he
+would come in, ask for supper, and roll himself up in his blanket and go
+to sleep. Things went on in this way for two weeks, as I said, and then
+one day, as we were watering our horses at the brook that ran through
+the canyon, we were suddenly surprised by the appearance of two men who
+stood on the opposite bank. They were a hard-looking set, but then that
+was to be expected in a country where all men lived out of doors. To
+show that they were friendly they threw their rifles into the hollow of
+their arms.</p>
+
+<p>"Howdy, pard?" said one.</p>
+
+<p>"Howdy?" replied Elam. As he was the chief man we allowed him to do all
+the talking.</p>
+
+<p>"You're just the men we wanted to see," said the man in a delighted
+tone. "We haven't had anything to eat since yisterday. Will ye give us a
+bite?"</p>
+
+<p>"Sure!" replied Elam. "What are you doing so far away in the mountains?"</p>
+
+<p>"We got lost, and are now trying to find our way out. This stream leads
+to some water on the prairie, I reckon? How far is the fort from here?"</p>
+
+<p>Elam made some reply, I didn't know what it was, while I began to look
+the men over to see if I could discover any signs of their being lost.
+Their moccasons were whole, or as much so as could be expected, and the
+wear and tear of their buckskin shirts was no more than our own. They
+were strangers to me, and I confess that I was not at all pleased to see
+them. The talk about their being lost was one thing that did the
+business for me. The men were hunters or trappers on the face of them;
+they never would be taken for anything else, and the idea of their
+getting bewildered in the mountains that they had probably passed over a
+dozen times was a little too far fetched. I caught a glimpse of Elam's
+face as he was leading his horse up the opposite bank, and there was a
+look on it that boded mischief.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE NUGGET IS FOUND.</h3>
+
+
+<p>"Where are your horses?" I demanded.</p>
+
+<p>"Horses? We aint got none," replied the man.</p>
+
+<p>"Somebody must have grub-staked you," I continued. "They never sent you
+into the mountains to get lost."</p>
+
+<p>"We grub-staked ourselves," answered the man impatiently. "But I'll tell
+you what's the matter with you. Somebody has grub-staked you, and sent
+you in here to search for gold, and I want to know which one of you is
+Elam Storm. Speak quick!"</p>
+
+<p>The next thing that happened was a little short of bewildering. In less
+time than it takes to tell it, Elam and I were covered with the muzzles
+of two cocked rifles, thus making it plain to me that the men had seen
+us, and hastily made up their plans what to do with us. They couldn't
+have moved so quickly if they hadn't. They paid no attention to Tom, but
+covered Elam and me. All they said was:</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you move, Tender-foot. You may save the life of one, but you will
+be a goner in the end. Now, drop your guns right where you stand."</p>
+
+<p>In an instant Elam and I laid down our rifles, and Tom did the same. It
+was too close a call to do otherwise, for a suspicious move on the part
+of one of us would have sent us to kingdom come in short order. There
+was "shoot" in the men's eyes, and we saw it plain enough.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," said the leader, "go over there and set down, away from your
+guns. Which one of you is Elam Storm?"</p>
+
+<p>"My name is Toby Johnson," replied Elam, speaking before anybody else
+had a chance to open his mouth. "I don't deny that I am sent up here to
+prospect for gold; but I don't see much chance of finding any."</p>
+
+<p>"And what's your name?" demanded the leader, turning to me.</p>
+
+<p>It was a little time before I could speak. Elam's plan for throwing them
+off the scent was a good one, but it came so sudden that it fairly took
+my breath away.</p>
+
+<p>"I am Carlos Burton," I replied.</p>
+
+<p>"Burton! I know you," said the man, who hardly knew whether to be
+delighted or otherwise at the discovery he had made; and then all of a
+sudden it flashed upon me that here was the man who had stolen my
+cattle. How I wished I had my rifle in my hands! There would have been
+one cattle-thief less in the world, I bet you; but, then, what good
+would it have done? I would have been gone up, too, for the other man
+still held his cocked rifle in his hands.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, yes! Burton," continued the leader, "Do you remember one of the
+fellows who took some cattle away from you once?"</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't see the men, but I have heard what sort of looking fellows
+they were. I should like to see you under different circumstances."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I don't know but you will, but I doubt it. What sort of appearing
+fellow is that Elam Storm? Seen him, either of you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know him," said Elam. "I never heard of him. I am a stranger in
+these parts."</p>
+
+<p>"Seeing that neither of you is Elam Storm, perhaps you may have
+something about you that tells you where to go to find his nugget. Stand
+up and put your hands above your head. You have got a ditty-bag about
+you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir, and there it is," said Elam, rising to his feet and throwing
+his bag outside his shirt, so that the man could examine it.</p>
+
+<p>Well, there! the turning point had been reached at last, and Elam was
+the one who helped it along. Tom was utterly confounded, and I was so
+amazed and provoked that I hid my face from the men by resting my elbows
+on my knees and looking down at the ground. Of course Elam's map was
+found, there was no doubt about that. I saw him have it in his hand not
+half an hour before, and was positive that he put it in the bag out of
+sight. With that gone we were as powerless as the two men were. I
+listened, but could not hear him say anything about the map. He took the
+bag off Elam's neck and up-ended it on the ground. There were a pipe,
+some tobacco, and some matches, and that was all there was in it. He put
+them all back, after helping himself to a generous chew of the weed, and
+turned to Tom and myself; but as we didn't have any bags he let us go.</p>
+
+<p>"You have been duped, fellows," said the leader. "Who sent you here,
+anyway?"</p>
+
+<p>"Uncle Ezra," said Elam.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, yes! He's a great chap for such things. And you'll meet Elam
+somewhere up there, and you want to look out that he doesn't put a
+bullet into you. He thinks he's got a dead sure thing on that gold."</p>
+
+<p>"Were you sent out here to hunt for it?" asked Elam, and I held my
+breath in suspense, waiting for his answer. I wanted to find out who was
+at the bottom of this matter.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, that's neither here nor there," said the man. "We're here, and
+that's enough for anybody to know. Here's Burton, now. I did steal some
+cattle from him because I was hard up, but I don't want him to go on and
+get fooled in this way. And you'll get fooled as sure as you live. Now,
+we don't want anything to eat. We have got everything we want out here
+in the rocks to last us to the fort; and if you'll say you won't shoot
+at us, we'll give you your guns."</p>
+
+<p>"I won't shoot at you," said Elam. "You have given me a point to go on,
+and I don't know but I had better turn around and go back. Here's a
+tender-foot come out here to see the country&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"All right. Go on, and let him dig away some of the landslides until he
+gets sick of them. He won't get nothing, I bet you. Now, suppose you
+take your creeters and go on your way. We can have a fair view of you
+for a quarter of a mile, and that's all we want."</p>
+
+<p>Elam at once picked up his gun, mounted his horse and rode away, leading
+one of the mules, leaving Tom and I to follow at our leisure. I noticed
+that the two men eyed me rather sharply. They didn't know how I felt at
+being reduced to poverty, and they were ready to nip in the bud any move
+that I took to be even with them. I didn't feel very good over it, you
+may imagine, and when I got on my horse I couldn't resist an inclination
+to say a word to them.</p>
+
+<p>"I hear that two of the men who engaged with you in that cattle-thieving
+business were hanged for horse-stealing," I said.</p>
+
+<p>"Has that story got around down here?" said one of the men.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; and I am very sorry that they were dealt with in that way. I
+wanted to get even with them myself. It seems as though those six
+thousand dollars didn't go very far with you."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, go on now, for we don't want to take this matter into our own
+hands. We will wait until you get up to the turn in the canyon, and then
+you had better look out."</p>
+
+<p>I rode on up the gully after Tom and Elam, and when I got up to the turn
+I looked back. The men were not in sight. Elam rode a little way further
+and then dismounted, preparatory to going into camp.</p>
+
+<p>"There were two things that happened to-day that I did not think
+possible," said I, throwing myself out of my saddle in a disgusted
+humor. "One was that Elam would give up when he saw himself cornered."</p>
+
+<p>"I saw at the start that they did not want to hurt anything," said Elam.
+"Suppose we had resisted them; where would we be now?"</p>
+
+<p>"And another thing, I did not think it possible for me to stand near the
+man who stole my cattle without putting a chunk of lead into him. He
+didn't say who he was until after he had charge of my rifle, did he?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, but I tell you you wouldn't have made anything by trying to shoot
+him. If we had made the least attempt to cock a gun, it would have been
+good-by. Those fellows were not fools."</p>
+
+<p>"And what made Elam deny his identity?" said Tom. "You said you were
+Toby Johnson."</p>
+
+<p>"And what became of his map?" I chimed in. "I saw him have it a short
+time before they came up. What did you do with it, Elam?"</p>
+
+<p>"It's there, close to where I was sitting on the rock. When we think we
+have given them time to get away, I'll go back there and get it. I
+didn't want them to find it on me."</p>
+
+<p>"And do you say that you took it out of your bag and threw it on the
+rocks?" said Tom in utter amazement. "I sat close to you all the while,
+and I never saw you do anything like it."</p>
+
+<p>"No; I took it out of my pocket," said Elam. "The name I gave, Toby
+Johnson, saved them from handling me mighty rough."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, now I am beaten!" I exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>"You see, if I had told them what my name was, they would have said at
+the start that I had some sort of a map with me, and would have hazed
+till I give it up. But they would never have got it," said Elam quietly,
+and there was deep determination in his words. "But I know one thing,
+and that aint two. Those fellows have left their picks and spades up
+here. They got tired of them and didn't mean to take them back."</p>
+
+<p>"Who were they, anyway?" asked Tom. "They were not the men who stole the
+skins."</p>
+
+<p>"Now, wait until I tell you; I don't know."</p>
+
+<p>"One of them might have been the man who got shot," I suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"There are a good many things connected with this nugget that we will
+never find out," said Elam. "And that's one of them. We'll stay here
+until we get dinner, and then I will go back after my map. It is all in
+a lifetime. So long as I get my nugget I don't care."</p>
+
+<p>"I never heard of men turning out so friendly after doing their best to
+rob us," said Tom, pulling the saddle off his horse. "And you met them
+half-way."</p>
+
+<p>"Who? Me? I will always be friendly with a man who never tries to do me
+dirt," said Elam. "If they had had the nugget you would have seen more."</p>
+
+<p>I was very glad indeed that they did not have the nugget. So long as
+they let us off without being hurt I was abundantly satisfied; but if
+they had had gold stowed away in their blankets, we probably should
+never have seen them. They would have slunk away among the rocks and
+tried to hide their booty for fear that we should try to take it away
+from them. Would Elam try to hide his nugget after he got it? Well, he
+had not got it yet by a long ways. We ate dinner where we were, and Elam
+shouldered his rifle, lighted his pipe, and started back after his map.
+He told us that we had better stay where we were, and this gave me an
+idea that Elam was afraid he might be shot. He was gone half an hour,
+and when he came back his face wore his old-time expression again.</p>
+
+<p>"Have you got it?" asked Tom, who always wanted to make sure that he was
+in the right.</p>
+
+<p>"Course I have," said Elam. "Catch up, and we'll go on. There is one
+thing about this map business that I don't exactly like. You see this
+nugget is hid in a pocket."</p>
+
+<p>Of course, I was thunderstruck, but then Elam had been all over that
+country, and of course knew where every pocket went to. He knew which
+canyons ran back into the mountains and which did not.</p>
+
+<p>"You see this man had a fight before he got the nugget, and he was too
+badly hurt to get off his course to find a pocket to bury his find,"
+Elam hastened to explain. "Now, this canyon that we are in goes back
+into the mountains I don't know how far, and it was in this gully that
+the fight took place; consequently the find is buried right here
+alongside of this little stream."</p>
+
+<p>"Who do you suppose that man was, anyway?" Tom remarked. "You have never
+heard of him since, have you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Now, wait until I tell you. I don't know. But let us go ahead, and I
+will tell you what I mean in a day or two."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you look for anyway, when you go off by yourself?" asked Tom.
+"If you would give us a pointer on that subject we might be able to help
+you."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't mind telling you that I am looking for a trail," said Elam.
+"And it is so old that no one but myself would notice it. When I find
+that trail I'm a-going to follow it up. It isn't over ten feet long, for
+a man as badly hurt as that one was, aint a-going to go a great ways to
+hide a nugget."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you mean to tell me that we are on his trail now?" exclaimed Tom in
+amazement.</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly I do. I have found two or three places where he slept."</p>
+
+<p>"Why didn't you speak about it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Do you suppose I have come in here this far without following some
+trail? Of course not. Some of the marks he made are so badly obliterated
+by the wind and the rain, that you can't make head nor tail of them,
+unless you know what had been there in the first place. Why, I have
+found blood on the rocks where he slept."</p>
+
+<p>"You're beaten, aint you, Tom?" I asked, when he gazed at me, lost in
+wonder.</p>
+
+<p>"I should say I was. I wish you had showed me that spot."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I will the next time I come across one. Good gracious! if I
+didn't know any more about trailing than you do, I would never find that
+nugget."</p>
+
+<p>"How do you suppose your father came by it in the first place? He must
+have got it in some honest way or he wouldn't have had it in his wagon."</p>
+
+<p>"That is one thing that I don't know," answered Elam solemnly. "He got
+it, and how it ever came noised abroad that it belonged to me beats my
+time. I wish the man that started that story had it crammed down his
+throat."</p>
+
+<p>Elam was getting excited again, and we thought it best to leave him
+alone until he got over thinking about the nugget. We didn't raise any
+objections when he spurred up his horse and got out of sight of us in
+the bushes. When we were certain that he had passed out of hearing, Tom
+said:</p>
+
+<p>"Why, it is two years since that man, whoever he was, made that trail
+through here, and to think he can find some traces of it now! It bangs
+me completely."</p>
+
+<p>"There are two things which must be taken into consideration," said I.
+"In the first place that man didn't know what he left of a trail; he
+hoped nobody would ever find it. A twig may have been broken down and he
+left it so, certain it would lead him back to the place where he had
+buried his find. In the next place there is some little sign for which
+Elam is looking that will lead him directly to the place he wants to
+find; some branch of a tree that has been broken down and looks as
+though somebody had been browsing there, and it will tell Elam that he
+is hot on the trail. Do you see?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I see; but I don't see how a man can follow a trail two years old.
+I wish you would show me his next camping ground. If I am a lucky omen,
+I may be able to find the nugget."</p>
+
+<p>I laughed and promised Tom that I would show him the next place I found;
+but it was a long time before I found any. You could not have told that
+a man had passed through there in one year or ten, the weather had so
+completely done away with all his work. But it did not make any
+difference to Elam. Sometimes he would be gone before we were up, but he
+always came back to supper, which we took pains to have good and hot for
+him. We never made any enquiries, for he knew just how impatient we
+were, and he would not keep us waiting a moment longer than was
+necessary. We had been in the canyon six weeks, and, to tell you the
+truth, Tom and I were getting pretty tired of the search. It was the
+same thing over and over every day, and I was glad that nobody had
+connected my name with a lost nugget. Elam would go along on foot,
+leaving his horse to follow or not as he pleased; and if he found a
+little pile of stones on the bank that didn't look as though it had been
+thrown up by nature, he would go into the bushes and perhaps be gone for
+an hour. We had long ago passed the pocket, and were continuing on our
+way slowly and laboriously up the canyon, and one day Elam startled Tom
+by calling out:</p>
+
+<p>"I reckon you will think I am all right now. Here is the place where
+that fellow camped."</p>
+
+<p>In less than two seconds Tom and I were by Elam's side. Cautioning us
+not to go too far so as to disturb things, he plainly pointed out to us
+the marks of a person's figure on the leaves. Some of the bushes had
+been broken down, and the leaves had blown over where he lay, but by
+carefully brushing these aside the impress of a person's form could be
+seen. There was no doubt about it, and I told Elam so in a way that made
+him all right again.</p>
+
+<p>"Where do you suppose that fellow is now?" said Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know," said Elam. "My impression is that he died."</p>
+
+<p>"But he wouldn't have given this map to a man when he knew it to be
+wrong, would he?"</p>
+
+<p>"I tell you that there's a heap of things connected with this nugget
+that we shall never find out. We are on the right trail yet. I tell you
+I feel encouraged."</p>
+
+<p>We all did for that matter, and every day we searched both sides of the
+stream to find that man's camping place, and when we found it we would
+call the others up; but one day Tom came into camp, and his face was
+full of news.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't want to raise any false hopes," said he, "but if I have not
+found something I will give it up. It's on the left-hand side of the
+creek. In the first place there were four stones laid up the bank, and
+the bush at whose foot they lay had been broken down and leaned away
+from the bank. And further than that, it was held in position by two of
+the branches, which were firmly tied about it."</p>
+
+<p>"Tom, I believe you have found it," said I.</p>
+
+<p>"It is too far away to find it before dark, but I will go there the
+first thing in the morning," continued Tom, who was so excited that he
+could scarcely speak plainly. "We want to take along our picks and
+shovels, too."</p>
+
+<p>We both glanced at Elam, but he didn't say anything. He was lying back
+on his blanket, with his pipe between his teeth and his hands under his
+head. He smiled all over, but said nothing.</p>
+
+<p>"Go on," said he to Tom. "What else did you find?"</p>
+
+<p>"And right there is where the fun comes in," said Tom. "The passage was
+about twenty feet long&mdash;he was too badly hurt to go further&mdash;and with
+every step of the way he had broken down a piece of the bushes, first on
+one side and then on the other, to enable him to keep a straight course.
+Right under the head of a rock that the passage brings up against, you
+will find something buried. It may not be the nugget, but there is
+something there."</p>
+
+<p>"Why didn't you dig down and see what it was?" said I.</p>
+
+<p>"It was pretty near night when I found it, and besides I wanted Elam to
+see it. I will go with you now, if you say so."</p>
+
+<p>"No," said Elam, filling up his pipe for a fresh smoke. "I'll be happy
+for once in my life for twelve hours, and if at the end of that time I
+find that there is nothing there&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"But I tell you there is something there," ejaculated Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"I will go back and go to herding cattle," added Elam, paying no
+attention to Tom's interruption. "I will give it up as a bad job."</p>
+
+<p>There wasn't much sleeping done in that camp that night, and although we
+stayed awake till toward morning, we had little to say to each other. We
+all wanted to see what was hidden up there. I had seen Elam become
+wonderfully excited whenever anyone spoke of the nugget and hinted that
+it wasn't there, but I had never seen him come so near finding it
+before. When daylight came Tom declared he couldn't wait any longer, so
+we got up and saddled our horses and followed along after him. We did
+not stop to cook breakfast, for in case we did not find the nugget
+nobody would want any. After going about a quarter of a mile, Tom
+stopped and dismounted from his horse.</p>
+
+<p>"There are the stones," said Elam.</p>
+
+<p>"You go along a little further and you will find everything just as I
+described it to you," said Tom. "Elam is about half wild," he added in a
+low tone to me, "so you and I had better take a pick along. Mind, I
+don't say it is the nugget, but there is something hidden in there."</p>
+
+<p>Talk about Elam's being half wild! Tom and I were in that fix also. We
+saw Elam examine the broken bush, the one that was held in place by two
+limbs that were tied about it, and his face grew as white as a sheet. He
+worked his way into the bushes, making his way all too slowly to suit us
+who were following close at his heels, and finally stopped under the
+hanging rock, where there was a clear space about two feet in diameter.
+The bushes grew as thick here as they did anywhere else, but they had
+been cut with a knife to give the digger a chance to work. Not one of us
+said a word, because we were too highly excited. Elam reached his hand
+behind him, and I, knowing what he wanted, placed a spade within it; but
+you might as well have set a child to scraping it out with a teaspoon.
+His hand trembled so that it was scarcely any use to him.</p>
+
+<p>"Here, Elam, give me that spade," I cried. "You will never get it up in
+the world. Now, stand back beside Tom, out of the way."</p>
+
+<p>I did not think Elam would agree to this, but he did, and in two minutes
+I had the leaves and brush all out of the way, faster than it was put
+in, I'll bet. But what was this I struck against before I had gone down
+three inches? It was not as hard as a rock, because, when I placed my
+shovel against it and tried to pry it up, the instrument slipped from it
+and showed me the color of the pure gold.</p>
+
+<p>"Elam, Elam, there's something here!" I shouted, so nearly beside myself
+that I did not know what I was saying. "Stand out of the way and let me
+handle it myself. When I get it out where the horses are, you can
+examine it till your head is as white as Uncle Ezra's."</p>
+
+<p>I have since learned that the nugget weighed 130 pounds, but it did not
+seem half that weight as I pulled it out of the hole and started through
+the bushes with it. I paid no attention to the others, who followed
+along after me, lost in wonder. I carried it out to where the bushes
+ended, and then laid it down, hunted up a rock, and sat down and
+examined it.</p>
+
+<p>"Elam, there's your nugget!" I said.</p>
+
+<p>"By gum, I believe it is!" said Elam.</p>
+
+<p>One would have thought by the way Elam went about it that he did not
+know whether it was or not. For fifteen minutes we sat there and watched
+him as he passed his hands carefully over it, brushing away a little
+particle of dirt here and pecking with his knife there to see if it was
+really gold, until he was satisfied; then he put up his knife and thrust
+out his hand to Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Tender-foot, I never would have found this if it hadn't been for you,"
+said he, with something like a tremor in his voice. "Shake!"</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you," said Tom, taking particular pains to keep his hands out of
+the way. "I'll take your word for it."</p>
+
+<p>"I won't squeeze you, honor bright!" said Elam.</p>
+
+<p>That was as good as though Elam had sworn to it, and Tom gave him his
+hand. He didn't squeeze it, but he shook it very warmly.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2>
+
+<h3>CONCLUSION.</h3>
+
+
+<p>I had often heard Tom Mason speak of his "luck" when telling his
+stories, but I believe he was utterly confounded by the turn his "luck"
+had taken in this particular instance. He was too amazed, so much so
+that he couldn't speak, while Elam, it was plain to be seen, looked upon
+him as a lucky omen. In these days he would have been called a "mascot."
+I was completely thunderstruck, and if Tom had told me that there was a
+nugget hidden under the biggest mountain in the valley, and I could have
+it for the mere fun of digging after it, I believe I should have put
+faith in his story.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish that nugget could speak," said Elam, bringing his examination to
+a stop and sitting down with his arm thrown over his find. "I would like
+to hear it tell of all the places it has been in. After so many years of
+waiting I have at last secured the object of my ambition, thanks to you,
+Tom Mason. Nobody supposed you were going to make yourself rich out
+here, did they?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, and I don't suppose they know it now," replied Tom. "Do you really
+imagine this is the nugget your father had?"</p>
+
+<p>"What is the reason they don't know it now?" demanded Elam.</p>
+
+<p>"Because the find isn't mine."</p>
+
+<p>"Didn't I say that I would give you half of it the moment we dug it up?
+You will find that I am a man of my word, Tom."</p>
+
+<p>"How much do you suppose the thing will pan out?" I said, seizing the
+nugget with both hands and trying to lift it from the ground. "It is
+heavier than it was a while ago."</p>
+
+<p>"That nugget will pan out between five and eight thousand dollars," said
+Elam. "That's the price that Spaniard put upon it."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think this is the same find your father had?" continued Tom. "A
+good many people have been searching for gold since then, and a great
+many nuggets of the size of this one have been dug up."</p>
+
+<p>"That's the reason I wish it could speak," said Elam. "Until I know
+differently I shall believe it is the same nugget. Anyway it is mine.
+Now, boys, I am going to Texas as soon as I can get there. You will go
+with me, of course."</p>
+
+<p>"What are you going down there for?" asked Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"To buy some cattle. You can get them down there for half what they are
+worth up here, and bringing them home across the plains will leave them
+in good order for next winter."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know whether I will go or not. There may be some lawless men
+down there, and you will have money on your person."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, what of it? A man that will stand up the way you did against the
+Red Ghost is not going to be afraid of lawless men! You must go, Tom.
+You are a lucky omen."</p>
+
+<p>As for myself, I did some thinking, too. There was my herd, for
+instance; a small one to be sure, but large enough to keep me in that
+country. If Uncle Ezra would sell his sheep and buy the herd, I would be
+a free man and willing to go to Texas, or any other place to see some
+fun. And that there was fun there I could readily believe. All men who
+had got into a "little trouble" in the more settled portions of the
+community came there to get out of reach of the law, and in a new
+country they did pretty near as they had a mind to. It would not be a
+safe thing for Elam to go down there with one or two thousand dollars in
+his pocket, but I for one was not unwilling to back him up.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, boys, go to sleep on it, and tell me how it looks in the
+morning," said Elam, jumping to his feet and making a place for his
+nugget in one of the pack-saddles. "I wish one of you boys would go back
+and get that pick and shovel that we used to dig this thing up, for we
+want to have them all with us. They will say we were so excited over
+finding the gold that we couldn't think of anything else."</p>
+
+<p>In due time a place had been made in the pack-saddle for the nugget, and
+we were on the back track. We travelled a good deal faster in going than
+we did in coming, for we didn't have to stop to examine signs on the
+way, and one day, to Tom's intense surprise, we found the springs close
+before us. Of course we had talked about Elam's new idea of going to
+Texas to buy his cattle, and we were pretty well decided that if he went
+we should go too. We could see that Elam was greatly pleased over our
+decision, but he did not have much to say about it.</p>
+
+<p>"We must stay here long enough to help Uncle Ezra down with his sheep,"
+said Elam, "and then we'll put out. I wish he would lend me a thousand
+or two on this, and take it up to Denver and get it panned out himself.
+I will take just what he says it's worth; wouldn't you, Tom?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why of course I would."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you have got a say so in it, and I shan't do a thing with it
+unless you say the word," said Elam. "You might as well give up and take
+your half."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps Tom would rather take his share and send it home," said I.</p>
+
+<p>"No, I wouldn't," said Tom. "My uncle has not yet had time to get over
+his pet. It will take him a year to do that, and then I will write to
+him."</p>
+
+<p>On the third night after we camped at the springs we drew up before the
+door of Uncle Ezra's sheep ranch. Boy-like, we had already made up our
+minds that we would not acknowledge to anything; if Uncle Ezra wanted to
+look into our pack-saddles and see what sort of luck we had had, he
+could examine them himself. Uncle Ezra was alone. When he was in the
+woods a more devoted follower of the gun could not be found; but he
+always liked the heat of the fire and preferred a comfortable bunk to
+sleep in, when he was within reach of the home ranch. Ben Hastings had
+gone back to the fort. His father always liked to have him around when
+there was danger in the air, and he had sent a sergeant and two men
+after him.</p>
+
+<p>"Halloa, boys!" said Uncle Ezra, "what sort of luck have you met with? I
+think the last time I saw you, you told me that the next time I saw your
+smiling faces you would have the nugget with you. I don't see any
+nugget."</p>
+
+<p>"We haven't had any luck at all," said Elam. "We ate up the grub, and
+now I am going to cattle-herding."</p>
+
+<p>"Elam," said Uncle Ezra severely, "you are not telling me the truth!
+There is something back of this."</p>
+
+<p>"All right. Come out and see for yourself."</p>
+
+<p>Tom and I removed the saddles from our horses, and at the same time
+Uncle Ezra came out and began his examination. With the very first move
+he made he hit the nugget. I never saw a man more completely taken aback
+than he was.</p>
+
+<p>"Hoop-pe!" was the yell he sent up which awoke the echoes far and near.
+"By gum, if you haven't got it. I don't want a cent!"</p>
+
+<p>In less time than it takes to tell it Uncle Ezra had lifted out the
+nugget and carried it into the cabin beside the fire, so that he could
+have a light to see by. When we got in there he had the nugget on the
+floor, and was pawing it over to see if it was that or something else
+which we had tried to palm off on him. When he saw Elam he got up and
+gave his hand a good hearty shake. I looked at Tom and I saw him put his
+hands into his pocket. I will bet you he would not have had that shake
+for his share of the nugget.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, sir, you got it," said Uncle Ezra. "I declare if it don't beat
+the world!"</p>
+
+<p>"Now, while you are shaking me up you don't want to forget Tom," said
+Elam. "If it hadn't been for him I shouldn't have found it at all."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you mean to say that Tom found it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly, for he found the trail that led to it," replied Elam; and
+then he went on to give Uncle Ezra a brief sketch of the manner in which
+Tom had got at the bottom of things. He added that if he hadn't shown
+Tom the place where the man camped, the nugget would have been up there
+now. Uncle Ezra listened in amazement, and when Elam stopped speaking he
+thrust out his hand to Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Where in the world did you learn to trail?" said he. "Shake."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you," said Tom, retreating a step or two. "I'll take your word
+for it. I wouldn't have such a shaking up as you gave Elam a minute ago
+for anything."</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Ezra laughed, and pulled a camp-stool near to the fire and sat
+down upon it. He couldn't get the nugget out of his head. He kept saying
+"By gum!" every time he looked at it, and now and then he glanced at
+Elam and pinched himself to see if he was wide awake or dreaming.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, I will give you something to chew on while Carlos is getting
+supper for us," said Elam; and as that was a gentle hint that he was
+hungry, I got up and went to work. "We three boys are going to Texas."</p>
+
+<p>"Going to Texas?" asked Uncle Ezra. "Now, wait till I tell you&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"And another thing," said Elam, paying no attention to the interruption;
+"we don't want to stay here until this thing is panned out; so can't you
+lend us a thousand dollars on that nugget?"</p>
+
+<p>"I know what you want," replied Uncle Ezra. "You want me to lend you a
+thousand dollars apiece."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, yes. That's about the way the thing stands."</p>
+
+<p>"Now, wait till I tell you. You will go away with all that money in your
+good clothes, and the first thing you know I will never see you again.
+Somebody will say 'Where's them three fellows that used to hang around
+your place?' and I will say 'Why, they went down to Texas to buy cattle,
+and those Texans found out that they had a lot of money about them and
+shot them.' That's what I'll say. Now, wait till I tell you. You can't
+go!"</p>
+
+<p>That was just about what I expected to hear from Uncle Ezra at the
+start, but I knew it would turn out otherwise. I knew if he had the
+money we would get it, and so I kept still. Tom was very much
+disappointed, but I gave him a wink and nod which told him that our
+circumstances were not as bad as they appeared to be, and that
+everything would come out all right in the end. I didn't blame Uncle
+Ezra for not wanting to let us go away with so much money in our
+pockets, but I did not see any other way out of it. If we wanted to get
+our cattle for about half what they would cost us right there, Texas was
+the place for us to go. The Indians were bad, and we would have to go
+right across the country inhabited by the Comanches, and they were about
+the worst cattle-thieves I ever heard of. Those lawless men&mdash;those who
+did not think that they were bound by any legal or moral restraint
+unless it was right there to punish them&mdash;were found everywhere, and it
+was going to be a matter of some difficulty to evade them. I had been
+there once, and I had seen just enough of it to want to go again. I
+wished now that I had not had quite so much to say in regard to those
+Regulators and Moderators who seemed to turn up when you least expected
+them.</p>
+
+<p>I got supper ready after a while and we all sat down to it&mdash;all except
+Uncle Ezra, who sat on his camp-stool with his eyes fastened on the
+nugget. He turned it first on one side and then on the other so that he
+could view it from all sides, said, "By gum!" every time he looked at
+it, and told us many stories connected with it that we had never heard
+before. To Elam's request that he would take charge of it he readily
+assented. He would keep it out until all the sheep-herders had seen it,
+and then he would hide it somewhere so that nobody would ever think of
+looking for it. It was in the hands of the rightful owner at last, and
+no one need think he was going to handle it again.</p>
+
+<p>"But you have a long way to take it to Denver," said I. "What will you
+do if somebody demands it of you!"</p>
+
+<p>"Now, wait until I tell you," said Uncle Ezra, while a look of
+determination came into his face. "Uncle Ezra has been there."</p>
+
+<p>"Now while you are talking about that nugget you are forgetting about
+me," said Tom. "I've got to go back to Mr. Parsons' cabin, and make some
+amends for that bronco. I didn't agree to let him be torn up. I have
+left money enough in his hands to settle for him."</p>
+
+<p>"That horse won't cost you a cent," said I.</p>
+
+<p>"What makes you say that?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because he was kept for the purpose of sending tender-feet into the
+mountains when Parsons didn't have anything else for them to do. The
+next one that comes along he will have to set him to herding cattle.
+Still I will go with you."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you. What's the reason Elam can't go with you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, he's got to stay here and watch the nugget!"</p>
+
+<p>"By George! Have you got to watch it now that you have found it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir. There are ten men employed on this ranch and four on mine,
+and you may be sure that all of them are not first-class."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, let them come," said Elam, getting up and stretching himself. He
+stood more than six feet in his stockings, and when he brought his arms
+back to show his biceps he fairly made the cabin tremble.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, you, dog-gone you," said Uncle Ezra, getting up and shaking a fist
+in Elam's face. "You want to go off and lose a thousand dollars of it
+and your life besides. Now, wait until I tell you. I'll sleep on it.
+I'll see how it looks in the morning."</p>
+
+<p>But in the morning there was not a word said about it. We ate breakfast
+by the firelight, and then Tom's horse and mine were brought to the door
+and saddled, preparatory to our ride to Mr. Parsons' ranch. In a pair of
+saddle-bags which I carried I had cooked provisions enough to last four
+days. As we were ready to start, Uncle Ezra came to the door and took a
+look at the weather.</p>
+
+<p>"How long do you think you will be gone, Carlos?" said he. "Two weeks?
+Then you needn't mind coming back here. We shall probably get the sheep
+out some time before that, and you had better come to our dugout on the
+plains. I'll see to your cattle. Good-by."</p>
+
+<p>In process of time we rode up to Mr. Parsons' cabin, and if I am any
+judge of the exclamations that arose from all sides they found it
+difficult to recognize Tom. It seemed that his two months in the
+mountains had changed him wonderfully. When he spoke of the bronco and
+repeated some words of advice that Mr. Parsons had given him, the latter
+remembered him at once.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, Tom, I am glad to see you," said he. "Alight and hitch. The bronco
+didn't get away from you, I suppose. And you found the nugget, too?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir; I did," replied Tom quietly.</p>
+
+<p>"Gold sticking out all over it, I suppose. Well, how much do I owe you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I've come here to see how much I owe you," said Tom. "That bronco has
+gone up. The Red Ghost finished him."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Parsons began to get interested now. He looked at me and I nodded
+assent.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you mean to say that the Red Ghost finished him? And did you find
+the nugget?" he exclaimed, hardly believing he had heard aright.</p>
+
+<p>"It's all true, every bit of it," I said. "He found Elam in a canyon
+where he got lost, and afterward found a map. He used that map, which
+started in at the springs, and afterward found the nugget."</p>
+
+<p>"There now!" exclaimed the elderly man, the one who had been in the
+mountains just ahead of Tom, and whose camp the latter slept in every
+night. "I told you that I did not think there was gold hidden there, and
+you thought me crazy."</p>
+
+<p>"Well&mdash;I&mdash;I&mdash;come in, come in," cried Mr. Parsons. "I must hear that
+story from beginning to end. And are you sure he found the nugget?
+Wasn't it something else that he found?"</p>
+
+<p>There were five men standing around who had been ordered to go away on
+some work or another, but they all quit and came into the cabin to hear
+the story. I took the part of spokesman upon myself, for I did not think
+that Tom would care to dwell too minutely on his meeting with the Red
+Ghost or his getting lost in the mountains, and I do not think I left
+out anything. I never saw a lot of men so confounded as they were. To
+suppose that a lot of gold had been hidden there in the mountains, which
+had come from some place a hundred miles away from there, and that Mr.
+Parsons had sent a dozen tender-feet into the hills to find it, was more
+than they could understand. When I got through they looked upon Tom with
+a trifle more of respect than they did before. They couldn't find words
+with which to express their astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, perhaps, you are willing to talk to me about that bronco," said
+Tom. "How much do I owe you for him?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not a red cent," said Mr. Parsons. "Not a single, solitary copper. I
+kept him for the sake of such fellows as you are, and now that he has
+got through with his business, I say let him rest. I shall never have
+any more chances to send him into the mountains with tender-feet. But,
+Tom, I owe you more than I can pay you."</p>
+
+<p>"You let up on one debt and I will let up on the other," said Tom, with
+a laugh. "If Elam wasn't such a hot-headed fellow, I should be glad of
+it. He wants me to take half that nugget, and I don't want to do it."</p>
+
+<p>"Take it and say nothing to nobody," said Mr. Parsons. "You will find
+means to make it up. How much will it pan out?"</p>
+
+<p>"Between $5000 and $8000," I answered. "But it is my opinion it will be
+nearer $5000. Elam has got that story in his head about the sum of money
+that Spaniard put upon it, and he kinder leans to that sum."</p>
+
+<p>"That's a larger amount of money than most of us can make. Now, I hope
+that nobody will knock him in the head for it."</p>
+
+<p>That was just what I was afraid of, and I made all haste to get back to
+Elam. I went up to Denver with him and Uncle Ezra, and there we sold the
+nugget for $6500. The money was all placed in the bank, with the
+exception of $2000, $1000 of which he took back to give to Tom. I sold
+my stock for $5000, and also took $1000 with me to purchase cattle. We
+were gone a month, and when we got back there was nothing to hinder us
+from starting for Texas. We had a long and fearful journey before us,
+more trouble than it is in these times, and we were a long while in
+saying good-by to the friends we left behind. We had something, too,
+that we didn't count on, and what it was and how we got around it shall
+be told in "<span class="smcap">The Missing Pocket-book; Or, Tom Mason's Luck.</span>"</p>
+
+<h3>THE END.</h3>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="FAMOUS_STANDARD_JUVENILE_LIBRARIES" id="FAMOUS_STANDARD_JUVENILE_LIBRARIES"></a>FAMOUS STANDARD JUVENILE LIBRARIES.</h2>
+
+
+<h2>HORATIO ALGER, JR.</h2>
+
+<p>The enormous sales of the books of Horatio Alger, Jr., show the
+greatness of his popularity among the boys, and prove that he is one of
+their most favored writers. I am told that more than half a million
+copies altogether have been sold, and that all the large circulating
+libraries in the country have several complete sets, of which only two
+or three volumes are ever on the shelves at one time. If this is true,
+what thousands and thousands of boys have read and are reading Mr.
+Alger's books! His peculiar style of stories, often imitated but never
+equaled, have taken a hold upon the young people, and, despite their
+similarity, are eagerly read as soon as they appear.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Alger became famous with the publication of that undying book,
+"Ragged Dick, or Street Life in New York." It was his first book for
+young people, and its success was so great that he immediately devoted
+himself to that kind of writing. It was a new and fertile field for a
+writer then, and Mr. Alger's treatment of it at once caught the fancy of
+the boys. "Ragged Dick" first appeared in 1868, and ever since then it
+has been selling steadily, until now it is estimated that about 200,000
+copies of the series have been sold.</p>
+
+<p><i>&mdash;Pleasant Hours for Boys and Girls.</i></p>
+
+<p>A writer for boys should have an abundant sympathy with them. He should
+be able to enter into their plans, hopes, and aspirations. He should
+learn to look upon life as they do. Boys object to be written down to. A
+boy's heart opens to the man or writer who understands him.</p>
+
+<p>&mdash;From <i>Writing Stories for Boys</i>, by Horatio Alger, Jr.</p>
+
+<h3>RAGGED DICK SERIES.</h3>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Ragged Dick.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Fame and Fortune.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Mark the Match Boy.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Rough and Ready.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Ben the Luggage Boy.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Rufus and Rose.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>TATTERED TOM SERIES&mdash;First Series.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Tattered Tom.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Paul the Peddler.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Phil the Fiddler.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Slow and Sure.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>TATTERED TOM SERIES&mdash;Second Series.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Julius.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Young Outlaw.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Sam's Chance.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Telegraph Boy.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>CAMPAIGN SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Frank's Campaign.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Paul Prescott's Charge.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Charlie Codman's Cruise.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>LUCK AND PLUCK SERIES&mdash;First Series.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Luck and Pluck.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Sink or Swim.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Strong and Steady.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Strive and Succeed.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>LUCK AND PLUCK SERIES&mdash;Second Series.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Try and Trust.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Bound to Rise.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Risen from the Ranks.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Herbert Carter's, Legacy.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>BRAVE AND BOLD SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Brave and Bold.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Jack's Ward.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Shifting for Himself.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Wait and Hope.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>NEW WORLD SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Digging for Gold.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Facing the World.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In a New World.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>VICTORY SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Only an Irish Boy.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Victor Vane, or the Young Secretary.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Adrift in the City.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>FRANK AND FEARLESS SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Frank Hunter's Peril.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Young Salesman.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Frank and Fearless.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>GOOD FORTUNE LIBRARY.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Walter Sherwood's Probation.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Young Bank Messenger.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A Boy's Fortune.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>RUPERT'S AMBITION.</h3>
+
+<h3>JED, THE POOR-HOUSE BOY.</h3>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<h2>HARRY CASTLEMON.</h2>
+
+<p>HOW I CAME TO WRITE MY FIRST BOOK.</p>
+
+<p>When I was sixteen years old I belonged to a composition class. It was
+our custom to go on the recitation seat every day with clean slates, and
+we were allowed ten minutes to write seventy words on any subject the
+teacher thought suited to our capacity. One day he gave out "What a Man
+Would See if He Went to Greenland." My heart was in the matter, and
+before the ten minutes were up I had one side of my slate filled. The
+teacher listened to the reading of our compositions, and when they were
+all over he simply said: "Some of you will make your living by writing
+one of these days." That gave me something to ponder upon. I did not say
+so out loud, but I knew that my composition was as good as the best of
+them. By the way, there was another thing that came in my way just then.
+I was reading at that time one of Mayne Reid's works which I had drawn
+from the library, and I pondered upon it as much as I did upon what the
+teacher said to me. In introducing Swartboy to his readers he made use
+of this expression: "No visible change was observable in Swartboy's
+countenance." Now, it occurred to me that if a man of his education
+could make such a blunder as that and still write a book, I ought to be
+able to do it, too. I went home that very day and began a story, "The
+Old Guide's Narrative," which was sent to the <i>New York Weekly</i>, and
+came back, respectfully declined. It was written on both sides of the
+sheets but I didn't know that this was against the rules. Nothing
+abashed, I began another, and receiving some instruction, from a friend
+of mine who was a clerk in a book store, I wrote it on only one side of
+the paper. But mind you, he didn't know what I was doing. Nobody knew
+it; but one day, after a hard Saturday's work&mdash;the other boys had been
+out skating on the brick-pond&mdash;I shyly broached the subject to my
+mother. I felt the need of some sympathy. She listened in amazement, and
+then said: "Why, do you think you could write a book like that?" That
+settled the matter, and from that day no one knew what I was up to until
+I sent the first four volumes of Gunboat Series to my father. Was it
+work? Well, yes; it was hard work, but each week I had the satisfaction
+of seeing the manuscript grow until the "Young Naturalist" was all
+complete.</p>
+
+<p>&mdash;<i>Harry Castlemon in the Writer.</i></p>
+
+<h3>GUNBOAT SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Frank the Young Naturalist.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Frank on a Gunboat.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Frank in the Woods.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Frank before Vicksburg.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Frank on the Lower Mississippi.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Frank on the Prairie.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>ROCKY MOUNTAIN SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Frank Among the Rancheros.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Frank at Don Carlos' Rancho.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Frank in the Mountains.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>SPORTSMAN'S CLUB SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The Sportsman's Club in the Saddle.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Sportsman's Club Afloat.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Sportsman's Club Among the Trappers.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>FRANK NELSON SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Snowed up.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Frank in the Forecastle.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Boy Traders.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>BOY TRAPPER SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The Buried Treasure.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Boy Trapper.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Mail Carrier.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>ROUGHING IT SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">George in Camp.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">George at the Wheel.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">George at the Fort.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>ROD AND GUN SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Don Gordon's Shooting Box.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Rod and Gun Club.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Young Wild Fowlers.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>GO-AHEAD SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Tom Newcombe.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Go-Ahead.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">No Moss.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>WAR SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">True to His Colors.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Rodney the Partisan.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Rodney the Overseer.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Marcy the Blockade-Runner.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Marcy the Refugee.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Sailor Jack the Trader.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>HOUSEBOAT SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The Houseboat Boys.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Young Game Warden.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Mystery of Lost River Ca&ntilde;on.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>AFLOAT AND ASHORE SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Rebellion in Dixie.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Ten-Ton Cutter.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A Sailor in Spite of Himself.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>THE PONY EXPRESS SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The Pony Express Rider.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Carl, The Trailer.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The White Beaver.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<h2>EDWARD S. ELLIS.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Edward S. Ellis, the popular writer of boys' books, is a native of Ohio,
+where he was born somewhat more than a half-century ago. His father was
+a famous hunter and rifle shot, and it was doubtless his exploits and
+those of his associates, with their tales of adventure which gave the
+son his taste for the breezy backwoods and for depicting the stirring
+life of the early settlers on the frontier.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Ellis began writing at an early age and his work was acceptable from
+the first. His parents removed to New Jersey while he was a boy and he
+was graduated from the State Normal School and became a member of the
+faculty while still in his teens. He was afterward principal of the
+Trenton High School, a trustee and then superintendent of schools. By
+that time his services as a writer had become so pronounced that he gave
+his entire attention to literature. He was an exceptionally successful
+teacher and wrote a number of text-books for schools, all of which met
+with high favor. For these and his historical productions, Princeton
+College conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts.</p>
+
+<p>The high moral character, the clean, manly tendencies and the admirable
+literary style of Mr. Ellis' stories have made him as popular on the
+other side of the Atlantic as in this country. A leading paper remarked
+some time since, that no mother need hesitate to place in the hands of
+her boy any book written by Mr. Ellis. They are found in the leading
+Sunday-school libraries, where, as may well be believed, they are in
+wide demand and do much good by their sound, wholesome lessons which
+render them as acceptable to parents as to their children. All of his
+books published by Henry T. Coates &amp; Co. are re-issued in London, and
+many have been translated into other languages. Mr. Ellis is a writer of
+varied accomplishments, and, in addition to his stories, is the author
+of historical works, of a number of pieces of popular music and has made
+several valuable inventions. Mr. Ellis is in the prime of his mental and
+physical powers, and great as have been the merits of his past
+achievements, there is reason to look for more brilliant productions
+from his pen in the near future.</p>
+
+
+<h3>DEERFOOT SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Hunters of the Ozark.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Last War Trail.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Camp in the Mountains<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>LOG CABIN SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Lost Trail.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Footprints in the Forest.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Camp-Fire and Wigwam.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>BOY PIONEER SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Ned in the Block-House.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Ned on the River.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Ned in the Woods.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>THE NORTHWEST SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Two Boys in Wyoming.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Cowmen and Rustlers.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A Strange Craft and its Wonderful Voyage.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>BOONE AND KENTON SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Shod with Silence.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In the Days of the Pioneers.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Phantom of the River.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>IRON HEART, WAR CHIEF OF THE IROQUOIS.</h3>
+
+<h3>THE SECRET OF COFFIN ISLAND.</h3>
+
+<h3>THE BLAZING ARROW.</h3>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<h2>J. T. TROWBRIDGE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Neither as a writer does he stand apart from the great currents of life
+and select some exceptional phase or odd combination of circumstances.
+He stands on the common level and appeals to the universal heart, and
+all that he suggests or achieves is on the plane and in the line of
+march of the great body of humanity.</p>
+
+<p>The Jack Hazard series of stories, published in the late <i>Our Young
+Folks</i>, and continued in the first volume of <i>St. Nicholas</i>, under the
+title of "Fast Friends," is no doubt destined to hold a high place in
+this class of literature. The delight of the boys in them (and of their
+seniors, too) is well founded. They go to the right spot every time.
+Trowbridge knows the heart of a boy like a book, and the heart of a man,
+too, and he has laid them both open in these books in a most successful
+manner. Apart from the qualities that render the series so attractive to
+all young readers, they have great value on account of their
+portraitures of American country life and character. The drawing is
+wonderfully accurate, and as spirited as it is true. The constable,
+Sellick, is an original character, and as minor figures where will we
+find anything better than Miss Wansey, and Mr. P. Pipkin, Esq. The
+picture of Mr. Dink's school, too, is capital, and where else in fiction
+is there a better nick-name than that the boys gave to poor little
+Stephen Treadwell, "Step Hen," as he himself pronounced his name in an
+unfortunate moment when he saw it in print for the first time in his
+lesson in school.</p>
+
+<p>On the whole, these books are very satisfactory, and afford the critical
+reader the rare pleasure of the works that are just adequate, that
+easily fulfill themselves and accomplish all they set out to
+do.&mdash;<i>Scribner's Monthly</i>.</p>
+
+
+<h3>JACK HAZARD SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Jack Hazard and His Fortunes.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Doing His Best.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Young Surveyor.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A Chance for Himself.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Fast Friends.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Lawrence's Adventures.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30428 ***</div>
+</body>
+</html>
diff --git a/30428-h/images/illus1.jpg b/30428-h/images/illus1.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f0ef905
--- /dev/null
+++ b/30428-h/images/illus1.jpg
diff --git a/30428-h/images/illus2.jpg b/30428-h/images/illus2.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1285871
--- /dev/null
+++ b/30428-h/images/illus2.jpg
diff --git a/30428-h/images/illus3.jpg b/30428-h/images/illus3.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a799bf8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/30428-h/images/illus3.jpg
diff --git a/30428-h/images/illus4.jpg b/30428-h/images/illus4.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1a90fab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/30428-h/images/illus4.jpg
diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6312041
--- /dev/null
+++ b/LICENSE.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+Procedures for determining public domain status are described in
+the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org.
+
+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
+jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize
+this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright
+status under the laws that apply to them.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a053f3b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #30428 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/30428)
diff --git a/old/30428-8.txt b/old/30428-8.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bbcaa75
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/30428-8.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,7833 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Elam Storm, The Wolfer, by Harry Castlemon
+
+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: Elam Storm, The Wolfer
+       The Lost Nugget
+
+Author: Harry Castlemon
+
+Release Date: November 8, 2009 [EBook #30428]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ELAM STORM, THE WOLFER ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Edwards, Mary Meehan and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                      ELAM STORM, THE WOLFER
+
+                                OR
+
+                         THE LOST NUGGET
+
+                       BY HARRY CASTLEMON
+
+      AUTHOR OF "GUNBOAT SERIES," "FOREST AND STREAM SERIES,"
+                    "WAR SERIES," ETC., ETC.
+
+
+PHILADELPHIA
+HENRY T. COATES & CO.
+
+Copyright, 1895,
+BY PORTER & COATES.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE RED GHOST.]
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+I. SOMETHING ABOUT THE NUGGET
+
+II. TOM MASON AGAIN
+
+III. TOM BEGINS HIS WANDERINGS
+
+IV. THE WRONG BOAT
+
+V. TOM'S LUCK
+
+VI. TOM ADMIRES THE COWBOYS
+
+VII. A TEMPERANCE LECTURE
+
+VIII. A HOME RANCH
+
+IX. LOST IN THE MOUNTAINS
+
+X. THE CAMP OF ELAM, THE WOLFER
+
+XI. UNWELCOME VISITORS
+
+XII. TOM FINDS SOMETHING
+
+XIII. ELAM INTERVIEWS THE MAJOR
+
+XIV. ELAM UNDER FIRE
+
+XV. UNCLE EZRA PUTS HIS FOOT DOWN
+
+XVI. A NEW EXPEDITION
+
+XVII. THE NUGGET IS FOUND
+
+XVIII. CONCLUSION
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+THE RED GHOST.
+
+TOM'S NEW ACQUAINTANCE.
+
+TOM IN HIDING.
+
+ELAM'S FIGHT WITH THE CHEYENNES.
+
+
+
+
+ELAM STORM, THE WOLFER;
+
+OR,
+
+THE LOST NUGGET.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+SOMETHING ABOUT THE NUGGET.
+
+
+"Yes, sir; it's just like I tell you. Every coyote on this here ranch,
+mean and sneaking as he is, is worth forty dollars to the man who can
+catch him."
+
+"Then what is the reason Carlos and I can't make some money this
+winter?"
+
+"You mout, and then again you moutn't. It aint everybody who can coax
+one of them smart prowlers to stick his foot in a trap. If that was the
+case, my neighbors would have had more sheep, and Elam Storm would be
+worth a bushel of dollars."
+
+"And you are going to grub-stake him again this winter, are you, Uncle
+Ezra?"
+
+"Sure. I always do."
+
+"What is the reason you won't let us go with him to the mountains?"
+
+"'Cause I know that your folks aint so tired of you that they are ready
+to lose you yet awhile; that's why."
+
+"Only just a few days. We'll come back at the end of the week if you say
+so, won't we, Carlos?"
+
+"'Taint no use of talking, Ben; not a bit. Man alive! what would I say
+to the major if anything should happen to you? And going off with Elam
+Storm! That would be the worst yet."
+
+"But Elam is honest and reliable. You have said so more than once, Uncle
+Ezra."
+
+"Oh, he's honest enough, as far as that goes, but shiftless--mighty
+shiftless. And I never said he was reliable except in one way. He's
+reliable enough to go to the mountains every fall and come back every
+spring with a hoss-back load of peltries, and that's all he is reliable
+for. I did make out to hold him down to the business of sheep-herding
+for a couple of years, but then the roaming fever took him again and
+nobody couldn't do nothing with him. He just had to go, and so he asked
+for a grub-stake and lit out."
+
+"You think that while he is in the mountains he looks for something
+besides wolf-skins, don't you?"
+
+"I know he does. He's got a fool notion that will some day be the death
+of him, just as it has been the death of a dozen other men who tried to
+follow out the same notion."
+
+"You promised to tell me all about it some day, and about Elam, too; and
+what better time can we have than the present? We are here by ourselves,
+and there is no one to break in on your story."
+
+"Well, then, I'll tell you if it will ease your minds any. It won't be
+long, so you needn't go to settling yourself as though you had an
+all-night's job before you to listen. And perhaps when I am done you
+will know why I don't want you to go piking about the country with such
+a fellow as Elam Storm."
+
+It was just the night for story-telling and pipes. The blizzard, which
+had been brewing for a week or more, had burst forth in all its fury,
+and the elements were in frightful commotion. The wind howled mournfully
+through the branches of the evergreens that covered the bluff behind the
+cabin; the rain and sleet, freezing as they fell, rattled harshly upon
+the bark roof over our heads; and the whole aspect of nature, as I
+caught a momentary glimpse of it when I went out to gather our evening's
+supply of fire-wood, was cheerless and desolate in the extreme. Our
+party consisted of three (or I should say four, for the Elam Storm whose
+name has so often been mentioned was to have shown up two days
+before)--Uncle Ezra Norton, who was a sheep-herder in a small way during
+the summer, and an untiring hunter and trapper in winter; Ben Hastings,
+whose father, an officer of rank in the regular army, was stationed at
+the fort fifty miles away; and myself, Carlos Burton, a ne'er-do-well,
+who--but I will say no more on that point, as perhaps you will find out
+what sort of a fellow I am as my story progresses. We were comfortably
+sheltered in our valley home, but we heard all the noise of the tempest
+and felt a good deal of its force; and accustomed as I had become to
+such things during my wild life in the far West, I did not forget to
+breathe a silent but heart-felt prayer for any unfortunate who might be
+overtaken by the storm before he had time to reach the shelter of his
+cabin.
+
+Under our humble roof there were warmth, comfort, and supreme
+contentment. The single room of which the cabin could boast was
+brilliantly lighted by the fire on the hearth, which roared back a
+defiance to the storm outside; its rough walls of unhewn logs were
+heavily draped with the skins of the elk, blacktail, and mountain sheep
+that had fallen to our rifles during the hunt, completely shutting out
+all the cold and damp and darkness; and Ben and I, with our moccasoned
+feet thrust toward the cheerful blaze, reclined luxuriously upon a pile
+of genuine Navajo blankets, while our guide, friend, and mentor, Uncle
+Ezra Norton, sat upon his couch of balsam sending up from his pipe
+clouds of tobacco incense that broke in fleecy folds against the low
+roof over our heads. Our minds were in the dreamy, tranquil state that
+comes after a good dinner and a brief season of repose following a
+period of toil and hard tramping that had been rewarded beyond our
+hopes.
+
+Uncle Ezra was a typical borderman, strong as one of his own mules, and
+grizzly as any of the numerous specimens of _Ursus ferox_ that had
+fallen before his big-bored Henry. Although he took no little pride in
+recounting Ben's exploits to the officers of the garrison, he was very
+strict with the boy when the latter was under his care, and never
+permitted him to wander far out of his sight if he could help it.
+
+Uncle Ezra was my particular friend, and had won my undying gratitude by
+his kindness to me. I was in trouble and he helped me out of the deepest
+hole I ever was in. When I struck his ranch one dreary day, two years
+before this story begins, afoot and alone, almost ready to drop with
+fatigue, and told him that every hoof and horn I had in the world had
+been rounded up by a gang of cattle thieves who had driven them into the
+Bad Lands to be slaughtered for their hides--when I told him this he not
+only expressed the profoundest sympathy for my forlorn condition, but
+grub-staked me and sent me into the foot-hills to find a gold mine.
+
+Judging from what I know now there was about as much chance of finding
+gold in the region to which he sent me as there was of being struck by
+lightning, and, more than that, I couldn't have distinguished the
+precious metal from iron pyrites; but I had to do something to pay for
+my outfit, and so I went, glad to get away by myself and brood over my
+great loss. For I had been pretty well off for a boy of fifteen, I want
+you to remember, and every dollar I had made was made by the hardest
+kind of knocks.
+
+When I first came out West, I began working on a ranch, taking my pay in
+stock at twelve dollars a month. My wages soon grew as my services
+increased in value, and as I took to riding like an old timer, I learned
+rapidly, because I liked the business; and it was not long before I was
+the proud possessor of a herd of cattle worth six thousand dollars. But
+it was precarious property in those days,--as uncertain as the weather.
+You might be fairly well off when you rolled yourself up in your blanket
+at night, and as poor as Job's turkey when you awoke in the morning; and
+that's the way it was with me. I was moving my herd to another section
+of the country in search of better pasturage, and was passing through a
+narrow canyon within two days' journey of the new range that one of my
+cowboys had selected for me, when all on a sudden there was a yell of
+charging men, whom I at first thought to be Indians, a rifle shot which
+killed my horse and injured my leg so badly that I could scarcely crawl
+into the nearest thicket out of sight, a hurried stampede of frightened
+cattle, and I was a beggar or the next thing to it. My three cowboys
+disappeared when the cattle did, and that was all the evidence I wanted
+to satisfy me that they were in league with the robbers. Ever since that
+time I had lived in hopes that it might be my good fortune to meet them
+again under different circumstances. When I learned that two of their
+number had been hanged somewhere in Arizona for horse-stealing, I was
+sorry to hear it, and hoped the other would mend his ways and so escape
+lynching, for I wanted to settle with him myself.
+
+At the time my story begins, however, I was on my feet again, as anyone
+can be in that Western country who is suffering from reverses. I had a
+home ranch and perhaps ten thousand dollars' worth of cattle ranging
+near the Bad Lands, into which my small herd had been driven to be
+killed for their hides; but I was poor enough and miserable enough when
+Uncle Ezra sent me off to hunt up a gold mine. I didn't find it, of
+course, but I took back to old Norton's ranch some specimens of quartz
+that made him open his eyes. They looked like chunks of granite, with
+little pieces of different-colored glass scattered through them. I had
+no idea of the value of my find, but so certain was Uncle Ezra that I
+had struck it rich that he took the specimens to Denver himself, and
+some expert there assured him that he was a millionnaire. But he wasn't,
+by a long shot, and neither was I. Uncle Ezra knew no more about
+business outside of sheep-herding and trapping than an Apache knows
+about astronomy, and the fifteen-year-old boy who was his only
+counsellor knew less, and the usual results followed. We were euchred
+out of our find, which meant the loss of bushels of dollars to us.
+During my prospecting tour I camped on the banks of a little stream,
+following through a secluded valley a hundred miles deep in the
+mountains, and stumbled upon a rich deposit of rubies and sapphires.
+Although there were no true red rubies nor true blue sapphires among
+them, they were beautiful gems and worth money. The Denver expert told
+Uncle Ezra that there was a sprinkling of fire opals among them, but
+this I am inclined to doubt, for I never heard of those stones being
+found together. Anyhow, that deposit, whose wealth was first presented
+to my inexperienced eyes, covered sixteen acres of ground, and is being
+worked by a syndicate with a cash capital of two million dollars. Uncle
+Ezra and I saved a small stake for old age; but you bet I will know a
+good thing the next time I see it.
+
+Ben Hastings, as I have said, was the son of an army officer who was
+stationed at the fort a few miles away, and this was the first time he
+had ever been west of the Mississippi. He had the good sense to
+acknowledge that he was a tender-foot, and perhaps that made me take to
+him from the start. He could ride and shoot a little, and had camped in
+small patches of timber like to Adirondacks and up about Moosehead Lake;
+but he did not pretend to know it all, as the majority of Eastern men do
+when they come out here, and so he had plenty of friends among men who
+were willing to assist him. He fairly overflowed with delight when I
+took him an invitation from Uncle Ezra to spend a month on his
+sheep-ranch. His father was glad to let him accept, for old Ezra was a
+particular friend of his, and often acted as guide when the major went
+scouting. This hunt to Wind River Mountains had been undertaken for
+Ben's especial benefit, and as we pushed him to the front as often as
+the opportunity was presented, he shot more elk and blacktail than we
+did.
+
+I have spoken of Elam Storm, a particular friend of all of us. He was
+somewhere in the mountains now and ought to have joined us two days ago,
+but, seeing that it was Elam, we did not pay any attention to it. He was
+a professional wolfer whom Uncle Ezra had befriended. Old Ezra said he
+was shiftless; but he certainly was not lazy, for he would work harder
+at doing nothing than any fellow I ever saw. He was game, too. He had
+some sort of a notion in his head that governed all his actions, and
+although I was as intimate with him as anybody in the country, I never
+could find out what it was. But I did not push my enquiries, I want you
+to understand, for Elam had a sharp tongue, which he did not hesitate to
+use when he thought occasion demanded it, and, besides, he was handy
+with his gun. I had often asked Uncle Ezra to tell me what he knew of
+Elam's history, but could never get him started on the subject; so I was
+glad to hear him say in response to Ben's importunities that he would
+tell the story.
+
+"How long ago was it since Elam came to you?" enquired Ben Hastings,
+with a view of hurrying Uncle Ezra, who was refilling his pipe, gazing
+with great deliberation the while into the fire, as if he there saw the
+incidents he was about to describe.
+
+"He never came to me at all," replied the old man. "I fetched him to my
+ranch, and he's been there off and on ever since. He's a different boy
+from Carlos, here,"--with a nod in my direction,--"the most
+improvidentest fellow you ever saw, and always dead broke, so that I
+have to grub-stake him every fall. I have offered more than once to take
+him right along and give him his pay in stock, so that he could get a
+start with some sheep of his own, but he won't hear to it. That's what
+makes me mad at Elam. It's all along of that fool notion that will some
+day be the death of him like I told you."
+
+"But what is that fool notion?" asked Ben, as Uncle Ezra paused to light
+his pipe with a brand from the fire.
+
+"Wait till I tell you. You see, Elam's history, so far as I know
+anything about it, begins with that treasure train that was lost up the
+country years ago. An army paymaster started for Grayson with three
+government wagons, a guard of twelve soldiers, and thirty thousand
+dollars that was to be paid to the garrison at that place. Report says
+and always did say that there was one private wagon with the train, and
+Elam Storm he sticks to it that that there wagon was his father's. I
+don't dispute that part of his history, but I do dispute all the rest,
+for it won't hold water. He allows that there was a nugget into that
+there wagon, and that it was worth eight thousand dollars; and that's
+right where the history of Elam begins.
+
+"Well, sir, none of them men that went out with them wagons was ever
+seen or heard of after they left Martin's. When the time came for them
+to show up at Grayson and they didn't do it, scouting parties were sent
+out to look for them, and I was with the party that found the wreck of
+one of the wagons. And there's where I found Elam; but not a live man or
+critter or a cent of money did we discover."
+
+"What do you suppose became of them?" enquired Ben.
+
+"Carried off by the robbers that jumped down on the train," replied
+Uncle Ezra. "But whether they was Injuns or white men aint known for
+certain to this day. There wasn't nothing except hoof-prints and a few
+dried spots of blood to show where the attack was made on the train; but
+there was a dim trail leading from it, and by following that trail
+through the chaparral and down a rocky canyon that was hemmed in on all
+sides by mountains we found the wrecked wagon I spoke of. When one of
+the axles broke and let the wagon down so that it could not be hauled
+any further, the robbers took every blessed thing out of it and went on,
+and we never did catch up with them--everything, I say, except Elam. He
+was no doubt left in the wagon for dead, for when we came up he was just
+alive and that was all. He hadn't been hurt at all. He was scared and
+starved almost to the bounds of endurance, but with such care as we
+rough men could give him, and being naturally tough and strong, he
+managed to worry through. After he got so that he could talk he had
+sense enough to remember that his name was the same as his father's,
+Elam Storm, and that was everything he did know. He couldn't tell the
+first thing about the soldiers who composed the escort, or whether the
+men who made the attack were whites or Injuns, or what went with the
+money; and the worst of it was when he grew older none of these things
+didn't come into his mind, like we hoped and believed they would.
+
+"Seeing that the little waif was friendless and alone, and none of us
+didn't know whether he had kith or kin in the world, I offered to take
+him and bring him up as if he were my own son, and the rest of the boys
+they agreed to it. Although he has always been known around these
+diggin's as 'Ezra Norton's kid,' he aint no more relation to me than you
+be, and no more use neither, I might say, so far as helping on the ranch
+is concerned. He always was a shiftless sort of chap, and liked best to
+get away by himself and 'mope,' as I called it, though I believe now
+that he was doing a power of thinking, and trying to remember who he
+was, where he had once lived, and what happened to him before the train
+was lost. I wasn't much surprised when he took to wolfing as a means of
+getting his grub and clothes, for that solitary business just suited his
+solitary disposition; but I was teetotally dumfoundered and mad, too,
+when he told me that his father was alive, and that he would some day
+find him and his big nugget together. Mind you, he didn't say this as
+though he hoped and believed it might be true, but as positive as though
+he knew it was true."
+
+"Where do you suppose they--I mean his father and the nugget--are now?"
+asked Ben.
+
+"Pshaw! His father is dead long ago," replied Uncle Ezra, in a very
+decided tone. "Leastwise the men who went with the wagons are dead, and
+so old Elam must be dead, too. Don't stand to reason that only one man
+out of the whole outfit should turn up alive, does it? These things
+happened thirteen year ago, and Elam is nigh about twenty now, I should
+say. As for his nugget--well, I don't know what to think about that.
+When I first come to this country, there was a nugget of that
+description in existence, which had been dug up somewhere in those very
+mountains, and the finding of it created a rush that reminded old timers
+of California and Deadwood. I jined in with the rest, but never dug out
+more than enough to pay my expenses; and that's what set me to raising
+sheep."
+
+When Uncle Ezra said this, he tipped me a wink, and settled back on his
+couch of fragrant boughs, nursing his left leg for company.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+TOM MASON AGAIN.
+
+
+"Well," said Ben interrogatively, "the nugget that Elam had to do with
+wasn't any relation to this one, was it?"
+
+"Wait till I tell you. I don't reckon there is any one thing in the
+world that has been the cause of so much misery and mischief of all
+kinds as that there nugget," continued Uncle Ezra reflectively. "The man
+who found it, whose name was Morgan, and who was working with two
+pardners, share and share alike, was about as honest as a man ever gets
+to be, but the sight of the small fortune which he unearthed one day by
+a single stroke of his pick, while working a little apart from the
+others, was too much for him. He was as poor as a man ever gets to be,
+and, worse than all, he had a sweetheart off in the States who was
+waiting for him to raise a stake and come home and marry her. He didn't
+like the idea of dividing with his two pardners, who would drop their
+roll at the faro table as soon as they got the chance, and so he took
+and buried his find and worked on as if nothing had happened. That is to
+say, he tried to; but with a big chunk of gold within easy reach of his
+hand it don't stand to reason that he could act just as he did before.
+He was uneasy all the time, and his pardners noticed it and suspected
+something. He took to visiting his nugget's hiding-place every night, to
+make sure that no one had dug it up, and his pardners found it out on
+him; and when at last he grew desperate and tried to carry it away
+secretly, there was some shooting done, and Morgan and one of his
+pardners were killed."
+
+"That left the survivor a rich man!" exclaimed Ben, who was deeply
+interested.
+
+"Now, just wait till I tell you. That left the survivor a tolerable rich
+man, but his sudden accession of wealth scared him so badly that he
+buried the nugget in a new place and put for 'Frisco, where he took sick
+and died. When the medical sharps warned him that he had not long to
+live, he told one of the nurses about the nugget, and gave him a map of
+the locality in which it was hidden. A month or so afterward the nurse
+organized a small expedition and went to the mountains to hunt for the
+treasure; but he hired for a guide a treacherous Greaser, who went
+ahead, dug up the nugget, and brought it to Brazos City, a small mining
+town in which I was located at the time.
+
+"Pierto--that was the Greaser's name--hadn't any more than got his
+nugget into the Gold Dollar saloon, which was kept by a countryman of
+hisn, and put it into a glass case and set it up on the table so that
+everybody could see and admire it, before he was offered eight thousand
+dollars for his find; but Pierto wouldn't sell. He thought he could make
+more money by putting it up at a raffle, and when the raffle was over,
+he would go back to the mountains and try for another nugget, taking
+some of us along if we wanted to go. Three thousand shares at ten
+dollars a share was what he thought would be about right, and I put my
+name down for ten shares then and there.
+
+"The Gold Dollar did a custom-house business after that. Crowds of
+miners from every camp for miles around came there to look at Pierto's
+find, take shares in the raffle, and drink forty-rod whiskey. Pierto and
+the eight countrymen of hisn whom he employed to guard the nugget night
+and day were armed with pepper-boxes and machetes, and were as sassy and
+stuck up as so many bantam chickens, and the lordly way in which they
+ordered us Gringos to stand back and not crowd the nugget too close was
+laughable to see. They were a surly gang and looked able to whip their
+weight in wild-cats; but in reality they were the most harmless lot of
+cowards that Pierto could have got together.
+
+"Like all mining towns, Brazos City could boast of some tough citizens,
+and among them was Red Jimmy Murphy, a noted desperado, and as smart a
+rough as ever pulled a gun. He and two of his pals were in the Gold
+Dollar every day and night, and after looking the ground over they
+concluded that the plant could be raised. No sooner had this been
+settled to their satisfaction than they set to work to get things ready.
+
+"The night before the raffle was to come off the Gold Dollar was packed
+as full as it could hold,--so full that there was scarcely room for the
+fiddlers to work their elbows,--and Pierto's guard had to use some
+little muscular strength to keep the crowd from pushing over the table
+on which lay the nugget in its glass case. Red Jimmy's gang was there,
+ready to grab the chunk at the critical moment, and finally Jimmy
+himself rode into the saloon on a kicking, plunging bronco. The closely
+packed men cursed and threatened and ordered him out, but gave way all
+the same, and when the bronco heard the squawking of the fiddles and
+felt the jab of his rider's spurs, he slewed around and backed toward
+the table. Pierto saw the danger, and made a desperate rush to save his
+nugget, but was just a second too late. Jimmy raised a yell to put his
+pals on the watch, and spurred up the bronco, which at once sent his
+heels into the air as high as the ceiling. Down went the table, and the
+glass flew into a thousand pieces. The nugget went sailing over the
+heads of the crowd and into the hands of one of the gang, who, in spite
+of every effort that was made to stop him, succeeded in tossing it to
+Jimmy; and Jimmy he headed for the door, riding over everybody that got
+in his way. Then there was fun, I tell you. I never saw lead fly so
+thickly before nor since. Everybody had a gun out, and Red Jimmy ought
+by rights to have been riddled like a sieve."
+
+"Uncle Ezra, did you shoot?" asked Ben.
+
+"I presume to say that I made as much noise as the rest," answered the
+old man, with a chuckle. "You know, I held some chances in that chunk,
+and didn't want to lose them. Of course Pierto had to shell out the
+money we paid him for the tickets, for the raffle could not now be
+brought off; we kept him right there under our guns till he gave back
+the last dollar, but he never set eyes on his nugget, and neither did
+we. Red Jimmy, desperately wounded as he was, got away to the mountains
+with his prize, and although a strong posse headed by the sheriff
+followed on his trail and finished him the next day, they did not find
+the nugget. One of his gang made off with it."
+
+"And you lost it all?"
+
+"Cer'n'y," said the old man.
+
+"And never got a chance to raffle for any of it?" asked Ben. "It has
+probably been fixed up into ornaments of some description by this time.
+An article worth eight thousand dollars isn't going to be left around
+loose."
+
+"It wasn't so two years ago."
+
+"Two years?"
+
+"Wait till I tell you. That nugget has travelled as much as five hundred
+miles from here, but somehow it always manages to come back. Here it was
+born, and right here it is going to stay until it has its rights. Mind
+you, that is Elam's way of looking at it, but it aint mine, by a long
+shot. We didn't none of us hear of the nugget again for nearly a year,
+and then one of the boys happened to strike a pardner who had got
+dissatisfied with the money he was making and went off to Pike's Peak,
+and there he learned that two of the gang who had stolen it were seen
+and killed for the part they had taken in the enterprise; for you will
+remember that several miners in the country had knocked off work and
+come in to catch a glimpse of Pierto's find, and of course they didn't
+feel very friendly toward the robbers.
+
+"Well, everybody for miles around kept open eyes for that nugget for
+years, until at last I forgot all about it until I heard that a couple
+of worthless Greasers had somehow got hold of it, and had been found
+done to death with that nugget by their side. Then I gave up all hopes,
+for if the nugget had fallen into the hands of honest men, that was the
+last of it; but it seems it hadn't, and that gave me another show," said
+Ezra, tipping me another wink, which was as near to a laugh as he ever
+got. "The two Greasers were about as tough specimens as you see, and
+they finally got into a fight to see which was the better man. When they
+were found, the victor had the nugget hugged closely to his breast, as
+if he did not want to part with it even in death. Not only that, but
+these two had scarcely found the nugget till they got into a row over
+who should carry it, and one of them got so badly whipped that he
+dropped and fainted right there. The other had strength enough to travel
+ten miles nearer the fort, and there he hid the nugget; but where he hid
+it he don't know. He raved about it while he was sick, and somebody told
+Elam of it (you see, everybody around here knows the history of that
+nugget), and every fall and winter he asks for a grub-stake and lights
+out, and I don't see any more of him till I drive my sheep down on the
+prairie. That happened two years ago, and every fall you'll see three or
+four fellows in the edge of Death Valley, saying nothing to each other,
+but ostensibly hunting coyotes, and all the while looking for that
+nugget, which is the thing they most want to find."
+
+"Then the nugget is really here?" exclaimed Ben.
+
+"It's here or hereabouts. It may be within ten miles of this place or it
+may be a hundred; for nobody knows where that fellow hid it. Mind you, I
+shouldn't like to be the fellow that finds it."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Because Elam will go for him. It's his nugget, and he knows it and he's
+bound to have it. Mind you, Elam doesn't say nothing about it, and he
+can't imagine what it is that sends the fellows prowling around Death
+Valley. But, laws! they may as well give it up. There have been a good
+many landslides in the canyon here the last fall, and if the nugget is
+under them, we may as well bid it good-by. I don't know that this nugget
+is any relation to Elam's, but it looks to me that way; don't it to you?
+And it seems so strange that it should come back here when it gets off a
+certain distance. The poor fellow is out there now hunting for it, and
+he may not show up this trip."
+
+"That won't be anything new for Elam, will it?"
+
+Uncle Ezra thought it would not. He might be a longer or shorter
+distance from there, and if he didn't put in an appearance, it was no
+matter; and, having got through with his talk, Uncle Ezra knocked the
+ashes from his pipe and settled himself in an attitude of rest, while
+Ben and I listened to the noise of the storm and thought of Elam's
+strange history. The nugget belonged to him, and we hoped from the
+bottom of our hearts that he would get it, although we made up our minds
+that he would have a strange time in getting back to the fort with it
+while there were so many desperate men waiting for him to recover it.
+Suddenly Ben thought of something.
+
+"Uncle Ezra, you didn't tell us how Elam's father came into possession
+of that nugget in the first place," said he.
+
+"Ask me something hard," replied the old frontiersman.
+
+"Don't you know?"
+
+"Nobody knows. We don't know whether it was hisn or he was just carrying
+it for somebody. We only know it was there--at least Elam says so. We
+only know that the robbers had it for years. There is a hiatus in the
+history of the nugget, and nobody don't seem to know what became of it
+in that time. We only know that them two Greasers had it and fought over
+it, and that brings it up to two years ago. It's my opinion that there
+will be another hiatus lasting for all time. At any rate it is worth
+eight thousand dollars, and I believe it is the same one I took ten
+chances on."
+
+Uncle Ezra rolled over as if he intended to go to sleep, and once more
+silence reigned in the cabin. Presently a deep snore coming from Ben's
+way told me that he was fast losing consciousness, and I was left to
+keep watch of the fire and listen to the howling of the storm outside.
+While I was thinking how foolish Elam was to go on searching for that
+nugget, when he might just as well have turned an honest sheep-herder,
+and laid out a little of his strength in taking care of his woolly
+companions instead of spending it all in wolfing, I, too, passed into
+the land of dreams.
+
+The next morning's sun (for the storm ceased shortly after midnight)
+found us still upon our blankets, for Uncle Ezra did not intend to go
+hunting that day, and it was nine o'clock when we got breakfast off our
+hands and the dishes washed and put away. We were just settling
+ourselves for another long story--a good one we knew it was going to be,
+for Uncle Ezra had promised to tell us about the first bear he ever
+killed--when a far-away and lonely howl came to our ears. It was so
+lonely that it seemed as if a single wolf was left, and that he was
+mourning over those who had fallen before the hunter's traps and rifle;
+but we knew it was not that. We listened, and when the sound was
+repeated, I threw open the door, and stepped out and set up an answering
+howl.
+
+"That's Elam," said Ezra, in response to Ben's enquiring look. "It is
+his way of announcing his whereabouts. I expect he will come along with
+a hoss-back load of peltries, so that I won't have to grub-stake him
+again this winter. Elam is pretty sharp, if I did raise him."
+
+The blizzard had swept the mountain free of snow, and it was only in the
+valley, where the fury of the storm had spent itself; consequently the
+new-comer had little difficulty in making his appearance. In the course
+of twenty minutes he came up, and then we knew he was not alone. We
+could hear him carrying on a conversation in a loud tone with someone
+near him, but could not catch the stranger's reply. Presently he came
+out of the scrub oaks leading his horse, followed immediately by a boy
+on foot; but where was the horseback load of peltries that Uncle Ezra so
+confidently expected?
+
+"Howdy, boys?" said Elam.
+
+"How do you do?" responded Ben. "Where's the rest of your furs?"
+
+"Gone--all gone!" replied Elam cheerfully. "One hundred dollars' worth
+of wolf-skins and fifty dollars' worth of other furs all gone up in
+smoke."
+
+"Were they burned?"
+
+"Burned? no. Some travelling trappers came to camp while I was absent,
+and Tom, here, wasn't man enough to stop 'em. They took everything I had
+down to the fort, and although I went there and did some of the best
+talking I knew how to do, I came pretty near getting myself in trouble
+by it. I want to see Uncle Ezra, though I suppose it is too late to do
+anything. This fellow is Tom Mason, and I want you to know him and treat
+him right. He got into a little trouble down in Mississippi, where he
+used to live, and came out here to get clear of it. Know him, boys."
+
+We shook hands heartily with Tom Mason, and although we were
+considerably surprised at Elam's statement that his outfit had been
+broken up by thieves, we were a good deal more surprised to learn that
+the youth at his side had got into "trouble" in Mississippi. After
+hitching their horse where he could graze we went into the cabin with
+them, and gathered about them with the idea of hearing an exciting
+story; for although I had been in the far West nearly all my life, I had
+not got over my fondness for a story yet.
+
+"Howdy, Elam?" said Uncle Ezra, removing his pipe from his mouth with
+one hand and extending the other. "You got into trouble, I hear, all on
+account of your furs. How did it happen? And you, too, Tommy." You will
+remember that the door of the cabin was open, and that Uncle Ezra heard
+every word of our conversation. "You didn't steer clear of all trouble
+by coming out here, did you? Well, never mind. Troubles will come to
+everybody, no matter what they do. Sit down and tell me all about it.
+Haven't had any breakfast, have you?"
+
+Elam declared that they had had enough left for breakfast, and produced
+his pipe and got ready for a smoke, while Tom sat by with his gaze
+fastened on the fire. I will tell both stories together, for Elam did
+not touch upon Tom's tale of sorrow at all. But, in the first place, you
+remember something about Tom Mason, don't you? You recall that he got
+Jerry Lamar into serious trouble by stealing a grip-sack that belonged
+to his uncle, General Mason, which contained five thousand dollars, that
+Jerry was arrested and put into prison on account of it, and that the
+only thing that turned Tom Mason in favor of the boys who were working
+to help him was the fact that Luke Redman was going to take the money
+across the river into Texas. Mark Coleman came near getting the money,
+when his skiff was stranded at Dead Man's Elbow, but had to go away
+without it; and from that time the history of the five thousand begins.
+Tom Mason fell in with Joe Coleman, who was Mark's twin brother, and he
+told him everything he had done; and when the last moment arrived, when
+the horns of the settlers announced that they were fast closing in upon
+the robbers, he told Joe to take charge of the money and dived into a
+canebrake and disappeared. No one would have thought of prosecuting Tom
+Mason if he had stayed there, but that was not the thing. He had been
+guilty, he had never done such a thing before, and he couldn't bear to
+stand up in that community and have people point at him and whisper:
+
+"There goes Tom Mason, the boy that robbed his uncle of five thousand
+dollars!"
+
+He would go West, to Texas, and when he had lived over a good portion of
+his life, he would write to his uncle and ask him if he might return.
+
+Now, bear in mind that this is what I heard from Tom's lips, after I
+became so well acquainted with him that he thought it advisable to tell
+me his story. I don't say that I advised him to stay out there in that
+lawless country among those lawless folks, for I didn't. I advised him
+to go home and "live it down"; but Tom was plucky and wouldn't budge an
+inch. Perhaps you will wonder, too, how it came about that a cowboy who
+never heard of Mark Coleman, Duke Hampton, and the rest should come upon
+Tom Mason in time to write the continuation of his story--a sequel that
+the boys in Mississippi knew nothing about until long after it occurred.
+All I can say is it just happened so.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+TOM BEGINS HIS WANDERINGS.
+
+
+"Joe, I will give this valise and gun into your care, and will thank you
+to see that they are restored to their owners. I know you will do this
+much for me, for it is the last favor I shall ask of you."
+
+"I took the articles in question as Tom handed them to me, and when I
+raised my eyes to look at him, he was gone. He had jumped past me,
+dashed out of the passage, and disappeared into the bushes before I
+could say a word to him."
+
+And that was the last that Joe Coleman ever saw of Tom Mason for long
+years to come. He was friendless and alone--how very much alone he never
+knew until by skilful dodging he managed to get on the outskirts of the
+body of settlers that were closing up around Luke Redman and his gang,
+and found himself beyond the reach of capture. His face was very pale,
+but he went about his business as though he knew what he was doing. It
+was very strange that a boy who had servants to wait on him at every
+turn--one to saddle his horse, another to black his boots, and still
+another to serve up his lunch when he got hungry--should have been
+willing to set off on an expedition by himself, but it showed that he
+knew nothing of the world before him.
+
+Having satisfied himself by the sound of the horns and the baying of the
+dogs that he was out of danger, Tom paused long enough to transfer his
+roll of money from his trousers pocket to his boot-leg. He had about
+fifty dollars that was all his own, and as he did not wish to lose it,
+he put it where he thought it would be safe, then straightened up,
+listened for a moment to a faint, far-off note that came to his ears,
+drew his hands swiftly across his eyes, and made the best of his way
+toward the Mississippi River.
+
+"That is my hound, and I'll bet it will be a long time before I shall
+hear him give tongue in that fashion again," soliloquized Tom, as he
+emerged from the cane and took a survey of the prospect before him. "I
+may never hear him, but I shall always remember him."
+
+As Tom came out of the cane he found himself on the verge of that swamp
+over which, one short week previous, the water had stood to the depth of
+fifteen feet; but Our Fellows had already ridden over it, with Sandy
+Todd for a leader,--the boy who admitted that he "might be slow
+a-walkin' an' a-talkin', but was not slow a-ridin',"--in their wild
+chase after the Indians and after Luke Redman, the man who had stolen
+Black Bess, and had managed in some way, they could not tell how, to
+secure possession of the valise which contained General Mason's five
+thousand dollars. The ridges were high and dry, and by following them
+one could enjoy a pleasant ride, avoiding the water altogether; but the
+trouble in Tom's case was the ridges ended either in the swamp at Dead
+Man's Elbow, the place where they afterward captured Luke Redman, or
+veered around until they ended in the very spot Tom did not want to go,
+the town of Burton, which was the only place in the county that could
+boast of a jail. It was dangerous to attempt to pass from one ridge to
+another, for the bottom was covered with a bed of mud in which a
+horseman would sink out of sight. Tom speculated upon this as he walked
+along, and although he was positive that no very desperate attempt would
+be made to capture him when it was found out that he was the guilty one,
+he would have felt safer if he had left all sights and sounds of his
+first wrong-doing far behind. How his uncle would scorn him when first
+he found it out! And the negroes! Why, it wouldn't be long till it would
+be all over the State.
+
+"This is what comes of a rash attempt to have revenge on a boy who never
+did me a thought of harm. Because I couldn't be the leader among Our
+Fellows I had to go to work and get myself into worse trouble by it. Why
+couldn't I have rested easy when I had nothing to worry about? But I
+mustn't allow my thoughts to get the start of me right at the beginning,
+for if I do, I shall come out at the little end of the horn. I wish I
+had an axe, for I would soon get across. I shall never find my way to
+the Mississippi as long as I stay on this side the bayou."
+
+While Tom was talking to himself in this way, he stood upon the bluffs,
+which, by drawing near to one another, had gradually left the low lands
+behind and brought the two banks of the stream within twenty feet--a
+bad-looking place, for it went far to remind Tom of Dead Man's Elbow. It
+was his only chance to cross the stream. While he stood there, looking
+at the dark, muddy water that flowed between him and liberty, that is,
+between him and the Mississippi, and trying hard to determine what his
+chances were of passing the night in his wet clothes with no means of
+starting a fire, his attention was attracted by the very sound he wanted
+to hear. He listened, and when the blows began to fall in regular order,
+as if the woodman was warming at his work, he left the bluffs behind him
+and turned and went into the woods.
+
+"That's an axe," thought Tom, "and as nobody but negroes can be chopping
+out here, I'll go up and get a bite to eat; for, now that I think of it,
+I'm hungry. I must be ten miles from my uncle's now, and of course no
+one down here has heard of that grip-sack business. To-morrow morning I
+will make him cut a tree across the bayou."
+
+Guided by the sound of the woodman's axe, Tom felt his way through the
+cane (for by this time it was so dark in there that feeling was the only
+sense he could go by), and presently came within sight of the chopper.
+He was a jolly, good-natured negro, who seemed a little startled on
+discovering Tom's approach, but speedily recovered himself when the boy
+addressed him by saying:
+
+"Hallo, Snowball! What are you doing so far out of the world?"
+
+"Sarvent, sar. Well, sar, you see all dis timber here? My moster is
+needin' some rail timber mighty bad, so he sends me out here every
+Monday and I stays here until Saturday. Say, boss, what you doin' out
+here? Ise you los'?"
+
+"You haven't seen a gray horse, with saddle and bridle on, going by
+here, have you?" asked Tom in reply.
+
+"No, sar, I aint. Did he threw you?"
+
+"Nor any hounds giving tongue?"
+
+"No, sar, I aint. Ise dey de ones you is lookin' for, boss?"
+
+"They're gone, and the best thing I can do is to follow after them on
+foot," said Tom, looking around for a handy log to sit down on; for, now
+that his tramp for the day was ended and he had somebody to talk to, he
+began to realize that he was tired. "I believe I'll camp with you
+to-night."
+
+"Sarvent, sar. Cert'n'y, sar. Whar might you uns come from?"
+
+"I came from the country about General Mason's place. Have you got
+anything to eat?"
+
+"Oh, yes, sar. Plenty of it, sar," said the negro, sticking his axe into
+the log he was chopping and leading the way off through the bushes. "Dis
+way, sar. I's often heared of folks up your way. Somebody up that a-way
+been a-stealin' five thousand dollars."
+
+Tom was thunderstruck. "Who brought that news here?" he asked.
+
+"De niggers, dey brung it. You can't keep anything away from de
+darkies."
+
+"How far is General Mason's place from here?"
+
+"Fifteen miles, or sich a matter."
+
+"And did the darkies say who stole it?"
+
+"Oh, yes, sar. Dey say that a youngster named Tom Mason--he's just about
+your size, but you aint no thief, be ye?"
+
+"Do I look like a thief?" enquired Tom.
+
+"I aint a-sayin' you did, sar. I only say he was just about your size.
+Then this Luke Redman,--you've heared of him, aint ye?--he got hold of
+the money and tried to run away to Texas."
+
+"Well, the old gentleman has got it now," said Tom, who plainly saw that
+it wouldn't do to talk too freely with the darky on this subject,
+because he knew too much. "They organized a big expedition and hunted
+the man down and captured him."
+
+"I am mighty glad to hear it, and I hope dey will throw dem as 'as got
+it in jail so tight that dey won't never have time to think of five
+thousand dollars. Now, sit down on that block of wood and I'll soon get
+you something to eat. You see, there is two bunks here? One belongs to
+my pardner, who is home now, sick with the rheumatiz. Moster is mighty
+keerful of his niggers, and he don't like to have Pomp come down here
+dat a-way, so he told him he must stay about the house and do light
+chores until next week, when he will come down here to help me split
+rails. Dere's a slice of bacon and some johnny cake for you. If you can
+wait till I fix up the fire I will give you a cup of coffee."
+
+"Does your master give you coffee?" asked Tom in surprise, for he could
+not remember that his uncle ever so far forgot himself.
+
+"'Course he does, sar, when we are splittin' rails; and sometimes"--here
+the darky leaned over and whispered the words to Tom, as if he feared
+that somebody would overhear them--"we take a handful now and then to do
+the old woman. Hy-ya!"
+
+Tom laughed as heartily as the negro did,--his laugh was catching,--but
+said he would wait until the darky had his supper.
+
+"Very well, den. You eat your lunch and I will go back to my
+rail-splittin'. When you get through, just lay down in Pomp's bunk and
+go to sleep. I'll have you up at seven o'clock."
+
+The darky went out, and Tom, being left to himself, proceeded to look
+about him. The cabin, which was built of rails, was barely large enough
+to seat two men at the table; but it was tight, and as the most the
+darkies had to do was to eat and sleep under it, it had plenty of room
+in it. Besides, there was a bench beside the door, and when the darkies
+were tired of working, that was the place for them to "loaf." By the
+time he had made these observations his bacon and johnny cake were gone,
+and he got up and crept into Pomp's bunk.
+
+By the time he awoke it was pitch dark, save where the faint light from
+the dying fire which the negro had kindled to cook his supper shone
+through the open doorway. The terrific snores which came from the bunk
+at his feet told him that the darky had long ago retired to rest, but he
+was hungry, and he crept out of bed to see if anything had been left for
+him. He found a pot of coffee and a huge chunk of bacon and johnny cake
+waiting for him on the coals, and as the fire had not had time to burn
+itself out, they were as warm as when they first were cooked. But by
+certain signs which he discovered while disposing of the good things the
+darky had provided for him, he found that he had been asleep longer than
+he had thought, and that daylight was not far off, and finally the negro
+started up from an apparently sound sleep, threw aside the blankets with
+a frantic sweep of his arm, and sat up and looked about him.
+
+"Hi! dere you is," said he. "I fix up dat fire fo' times during de
+night, but you was sleepin' so soundly that I couldn't b'ar to waken you
+up. Has you got plenty?"
+
+"Plenty, thank you. It's about four o'clock, isn't it?"
+
+The negro pulled himself entirely out of bed, put on his shoes, and went
+out and looked about him. After looking in vain for several stars which
+he ought to have found, but could not, he announced that his guest had
+struck the hour pretty closely.
+
+"Well, then, while you are cooking your own breakfast, couldn't you put
+on a little mess for me? You see, I am not bound for my uncle's house
+just now. I have to go down to the landing to meet the steamer _John
+Clark_ there, and get a trifling sum of money that one of the passengers
+will have ready for me."
+
+"Why, boss, how is you going to get across de bayou?" asked the darky,
+in surprise.
+
+"If my horse had not thrown me, I could have ridden him across," replied
+Tom. "But he had to start off on his own hook, and I shall have to do
+the best I can on foot. For that money I must have."
+
+"Dat's all right, sar. But I don't see how you are going to get across
+de bayou."
+
+"Don't you? Well, you just go ahead and cook me some breakfast and then
+I'll show you. If you had lived in these woods as long as I have, you
+would know that it is an easy matter to cut a tree across some parts of
+the bayou."
+
+Tom washed his hands and face in some muddy water he dipped up from the
+stream that ran a short distance from the camp, dried them on his
+handkerchief, and watched the negro as he went about his work. Now and
+then, when he thought Tom was not looking at him, he would roll up his
+eyes, taking in at one swift glance all the clothing he wore, from his
+hat down to his boots. Tom was well enough acquainted with the negro
+character to know that he had excited his suspicions in some way.
+
+"If I keep on in this way, I shall excite the mistrust of everyone I
+chance to meet," thought Tom, who wondered what he could have said that
+had caused this sudden change in the darky's behavior. "I have shut him
+up like an oyster, and not another thing can I get out of him. I shall
+be with him over half an hour longer, and then he can do what he pleases
+with his suspicions."
+
+"Dat's a mighty slick rascal, dat feller," muttered the darky, as he
+fished the bacon out of the frying-pan and placed it on to a clean chip.
+"Dere's your breakfast, sar. I'll eat mine out here by this stump."
+
+"Give me a cup of coffee," said Tom. "It is all I want."
+
+The steaming beverage was placed before him. Tom thought of the great
+world into which he was so soon to enter, and wondered if everybody in
+it was going to treat him as this obscure darky had done. Texas was a
+pretty good-sized empire, he had heard them say, and he believed it was
+made up mostly of men who had gone there to get clear of the law, and
+who had enough to think of to keep themselves out of trouble;
+consequently they wouldn't bother their heads about a boy who had been
+suspected of stealing five thousand dollars. When Tom had reached this
+point in his meditations, the darky, who had evidently swallowed his
+breakfast whole and rolled up in a piece of old gunny sack the supply he
+intended Tom should take with him, handed the bundle to him with one
+hand, and reached out for the axe with the other.
+
+"Ise ready now if you is, sar."
+
+This was all that passed between them. Tom got up, pointed out the path
+he wished the negro to follow in order to reach the narrowest part of
+the stream, which he had examined the day before, and fell in behind
+him; and it is a noticeable fact that he kept the black in front of him
+all the way to the stream. It is true that the man had no weapon but his
+axe, but with such an article, if he could only get the start with it,
+he could easily march him before his master, and that was the very place
+he didn't want to go. Such things had been done, and Tom did not see why
+they could not be done again. In a few minutes they reached the bank of
+the bayou, and when the negro saw it, he leaned on his axe and shook his
+head.
+
+"You knows what you want to do, don't you, sar?" he asked.
+
+"Yes, I know just what I want to do," replied Tom. "Cut down this tree
+first."
+
+The negro glanced at the top of the tree in order to see which way it
+would fall, cut a few bushes out of his way, and went to work. A few
+blows with the axe brought the tree down and it lodged on the opposite
+bank. Two more trees were cut down and the bridge was completed.
+
+"Good-by, Snowball," said Tom, extending his closed hand toward the
+negro. "I don't want you to do this for nothing. Here's a dollar to pay
+you for your trouble."
+
+"I--I don't want it, sar," replied the darky, drawing back. "I hope dat
+money won't sink you afore you get across de river, but I'm mighty jubus
+about it."
+
+"What money?"
+
+"General Mason's five thousand dollars, sar."
+
+"Do you suppose I have got that amount of money stowed away about me?
+Why, man, it's a valiseful. This money is all honest."
+
+"I can't help dat, sar. I can't shake hands with you, either. I would be
+afraid it would take all the strength out of my arms so't I couldn't
+split more rails."
+
+"All right, then. You stand here on the bank and see me work my way
+across. I bet you that all the money I have about my clothes will not
+sink me if I do fall overboard."
+
+As Tom spoke he stepped recklessly upon the bridge. We say "recklessly,"
+because had he taken more pains to examine the fastenings on the
+opposite bank he would have been more careful. He had nearly crossed the
+bayou when the log on which he was walking tipped a little, and although
+Tom made frantic efforts to save himself by seizing all the branches
+within his reach, it set the whole structure in motion. There was a
+"swish" of tree-tops, and in a moment more the bridge and Tom went into
+the water together. The negro looked, but did not see him come up.
+
+"Dar, now!" said he. "The money he had about his clothes was too heavy
+for him to walk the bridge with."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE WRONG BOAT.
+
+
+The negro, almost overwhelmed with surprise, watched the surface of the
+water to see Tom reappear, but it was only for a moment, and then with a
+rush one of the trees, which had broken loose from its moorings, swept
+over the very place where the head was seen, and the negro fairly danced
+with consternation when he saw one of the limbs catch Tom and carry him
+under water with it.
+
+"Dar, now!" he exclaimed. "If I go home and tell moster about this thief
+being drowned here, he will think I did it. What's dat?"
+
+When Tom arose to the surface, it was only just long enough to clear the
+water from his face, settle his hat firmly on his head, and take a fresh
+hold of the bundle containing his lunch, and then he saw the tree
+sweeping down upon him. To take in one long breath and go down again
+before it got to him was barely the work of a moment, so that when the
+tree passed Tom came up a second time, and this time he was much nearer
+to the bank he wanted to reach than he was before. A few lusty strokes
+brought him to it, and by the aid of trailing roots and vines he made
+his way to the top with the agility of a sailor, so that by the time the
+darky had got over wondering at his narrow escape, he was high upon the
+bank opposite to him, and pulling off his boot to see if his money was
+safe.
+
+"Is dat you, sar?" said he, scarcely raising his voice above a whisper.
+
+"Of course it is I," replied Tom, who did not know whether to get angry
+over the effects of his unfortunate plunge or to laugh outright at the
+darky's exhibition of astonishment. "You thought you had seen the last
+of me, didn't you? It takes a bigger stream than this to drown me. There
+is all the money I have got," he went on, taking his roll from his boot
+and holding it out to the view of the negro. "It don't amount to five
+thousand dollars, by a long shot."
+
+The darky did not know what else to say. He watched Tom as he pulled off
+his coat and vest and wrung the water from them, examined his bundle to
+see that his lunch was safe, said he thought the steamboat landing was
+about ten miles distant and there wasn't any more creeks to cross before
+he got there, and then saw him disappear in the woods. He stood for some
+moments gazing at the place where he had last been seen, and then
+shouldered his axe and turned away.
+
+"Dat's a mighty slick little rascal," said he, as he wended his course
+back to his camp--"a mighty slick little rascal. I don't reckon I'd best
+say anything to moster about it; and as for Pomp--I won't say anything
+to him, either. He'll leave me to cut rails alone if I do dat."
+
+"My first adventure," muttered Tom, as he hastened along the narrow
+ridge that led him toward the Mississippi. "That old darky believes, as
+much as he believes anything, that the little money I had in my boot was
+the cause of my being spilled into the drink; but it is all honest
+money, every bit of it."
+
+The sun grew hot as he went along, and by changing his coat and vest
+from one arm to the other, and by turning his money over in his hands to
+keep the wet bills on the outside, he gradually removed the effects of
+his cold plunge, so that long before he arrived at the point where the
+negroes were chopping he could tell them that he had started for the
+landing on horseback, but that his nag had thrown him and he was obliged
+to continue his journey on foot. He also tried to eat a little of the
+lunch with which the darky had provided him, but the johnny cake and
+bacon were wet, and after a few mouthfuls he dropped the remainder
+behind the log on which he was sitting.
+
+The negroes who were cutting wood for the supply of steamers that were
+plying up and down the river belonged to the man who owned the yard. As
+there were probably a dozen of them in all engaged in chopping wood all
+the time, their employer could afford a white man to oversee their work
+and the teams, but he seemed to have nothing to do but to sit on a log
+and whittle a stick. He listened good-naturedly to Tom's story, and told
+him where he could go to find the camp. The largest house in it was his,
+and he would probably find books and papers enough to amuse him until he
+came in from his work. The _Jennie June_ would probably be the next
+steamer that would stop at the landing for wood, and she would be along
+some time during the night.
+
+"I think that books and papers occupy the most of your time," said Tom
+to himself, as he started away in obedience to these instructions. "If I
+were a negro, I don't know any better job than having you for an
+overseer. Did you see how those negroes clustered around him to hear my
+story? If I had been their overseer, I should have started them back to
+their work in a hurry."
+
+Tom found the camp deserted by all save an old darky who was sitting on
+a bench outside one of the doors sunning himself. He was the cook, he
+said. He pointed out the overseer's house and told Tom to go in there
+and make himself at home, and Tom went; but he did not make himself very
+much at home after he got there. He found several books scattered about,
+but they were all old; and it was hard to tell where the overseer hung
+his clothes, for the back of the solitary chair of which the cabin could
+boast was liberally supplied with them. His trunk was open and the
+contents were littered about, and on the bare table, on which the
+overseer had left some signs of his breakfast which were still
+untouched, were articles that ought long ago to have been in the wash. A
+glance about the cabin showed Tom that there was at least one article of
+which the overseer was choice--his rifle. That, together with the
+powder-horn, bullet-pouch, and hunting-knife, was hung upon pegs over
+the door. Whatever accident might befall his other traps, his hunting
+outfit would always be safe.
+
+Tom took a seat on the bench outside the door, looked up at the sun to
+see how near twelve o'clock it was, and then looked at the negro. The
+latter made no signs of getting dinner, and Tom finally made up his mind
+that the men had taken their dinner to the woods with them; but his own
+stomach clamored loudly for something nourishing, and Tom finally
+accosted the negro.
+
+"I say, uncle, are you not going to get some dinner?"
+
+"Not before fo' o'clock, sar," replied the darky. "I blow de horn den
+and all hands come in."
+
+Tom was uneasy after that, and wished now when it was too late that he
+had reserved a portion of the johnny cake and bacon that had been
+furnished him. Wet as it was, it was much better than nothing. He found
+a book and made out to interest himself in a story for five mortal
+hours, when suddenly the long shrill notes of a horn rang in his ears.
+He would soon have something to eat, at all events. Presently a thought
+occurred to him.
+
+"Say, uncle, how do you tell the time? You haven't got any clock, have
+you?"
+
+"Oh, no, sar," said the negro. "Ise got something better than a clock.
+You see that ar peak of dat building hyar? Well, every time it's fo'
+o'clock the p'int of that peak is right hyar."
+
+"Summer and winter?" asked Tom.
+
+"Summer and winter dat peak is right hyar. Den I knows it is fo' o'clock
+and den I blows de horn."
+
+Tom wanted to ask him whether or not the sun was always in the same
+place summer and winter, but gave it up when he heard the sound of the
+negroes' voices raised in a rude sort of a plantation melody coming from
+the woods, for he knew that supper was close at hand. Nearer came the
+strains, and in the short space of half an hour the cavalcade streamed
+into view. What a lively set they were then! One would have thought that
+cutting wood was the happiest part of a darky's life. Keeping up their
+song, they slipped off the wagon, leaving the teamsters to take care of
+the mules. The overseer came into the cabin, and after exchanging a
+merry salutation with Tom, remarking that he and the darkies had
+performed a task that day that would have done credit to a bigger force
+than his, he cleared the table in readiness for supper. The articles
+that adorned the back of the chair were cast upon the trunk, the
+unwashed apparel on the table was swept off and thrown on the top of
+them, and then the overseer was ready for a smoke.
+
+"Yes, sir, me and the niggers have done a heap of work," said the man,
+seating himself on the threshold by Tom's side. "They were taking it
+easy when you came along, just as I mean that all black ones shall who
+work under me, but perked up a bit and went to work right smart. Aint
+they happy now? Every one singing at the top of his voice."
+
+Supper being over, which consisted of corn bread, bacon, and tea, Tom
+spent two hours in conversation with the overseer, until, as he was
+relating a story of his personal experience, an audible snore came from
+his direction, and, facing about, he found that his auditor had gone
+fast asleep, stretched out on the floor, and using the back of his chair
+for a pillow. It wasn't dark yet, by a long ways, and the sounds that
+came from the camp of the negroes told him that there was a heap of fun
+going on there; but as it seemed to be the rule to go to slumber
+whenever he was ready, Tom went to the overseer's bed and climbed into
+it.
+
+It seemed to him that he had scarcely closed his eyes when someone laid
+a hand upon his shoulder and shouted in his ear that the _Jennie June_
+was at the landing and taking on a load of wood. That was enough for
+Tom, who wanted to get into a bed where he could take his clothes off.
+When he got his eyes fairly open, there was no one in sight, but he
+heard the sound of a steamer's bell, followed by the hoarse commands of
+the mate, and when he reached the door, he found the whole yard lighted
+up by a torch which the steamer had placed in her bow. The boat was made
+fast to the levee when he got there, and her crew were making ready to
+carry on her load of wood, but Tom paid no attention to them. More than
+half asleep, he made his way on deck and into the saloon, which he found
+deserted by all save a party of men who were engaged in playing cards.
+They never looked up as Tom entered, being deeply interested in the
+piles of money before them, and he passed on to the desk and made
+application for a room to a man with a pen behind his ear. Without
+saying a word he took down a key from a board by the side of his desk
+and led Tom along the cabin and unlocked a door and showed him two
+bunks. The lower one had evidently been occupied during the afternoon.
+
+"Take the upper bunk," said the clerk. "The lower one belongs to a man
+who is playing cards, but I guess he won't care. Good-night."
+
+Tom was much too sleepy to know or care who owned the lower bunk; he
+pulled off his clothes and with a mingled sigh of satisfaction and
+comfort climbed into the upper one, and composed himself to sleep. He
+awoke once during the night, only to find that the steamer had finished
+taking on her load of wood, and was now ploughing her way along the
+river; and, having satisfied himself on this point, Tom rolled over and
+went to sleep again.
+
+The next time he awoke it was broad daylight, and the boat was rocking
+as boats always do when they have nothing to do but to make their way to
+their destination as soon as possible. The stool (there were no chairs
+in the state-room) which he had left unoccupied had been drawn close to
+the door, and a man's coat and vest lay over it; but it was not that
+that attracted Tom's attention, and caused his eyes to open to their
+widest extent. It was a revolver, a murderous-looking thing, and
+carrying a ball as big as an army musket. Tom thought it would be a good
+plan to get out of the way of that thing, and, holding in his breath, he
+slipped out of his bunk; but cautious as he was in his movements, the
+man heard him. He opened his eyes and gazed fixedly at Tom, then caught
+up his revolver and thrust it under his pillow, seized his coat and vest
+and threw them between the bulkhead and himself, and then rolled over
+and prepared to go to sleep again.
+
+"Morning," said he.
+
+"Good-morning, sir," said Tom.
+
+He thought it a wise thing to be civil, although the man's face did not
+look like one belonging to one who would use a revolver on slight
+provocation. The long silken whiskers which fell down upon his breast
+might cover up the expression of the lower part of his countenance, but
+they could not conceal the merry twinkle of the mild blue eyes which had
+looked at Tom for a moment. Considerably relieved, Tom slipped into his
+clothes and went out, closing the door behind him, and made the best of
+his way toward the barber shop; for be it known that up to this time Tom
+had not touched his hair at all. There was just one barber there, and he
+was as anxious to make money as anyone he ever saw.
+
+"Shave, sir?" said the negro, as Tom came in and pulled off his hat. "I
+declare if dat aint the worst-looking head I ever set my peepers on. A
+shampoo will just about set you right."
+
+"Don't want it," said Tom shortly.
+
+"I reckon dat you was playing cards last night," said the barber, as he
+deftly tucked the towel around Tom's chin and began brushing up his
+hair.
+
+"No, I wasn't," said Tom.
+
+"Den you missed the purtiest sight you ever see. Dere was one man
+dere,--he was a cattle-raiser,--and he raked in thirty thousand dollars
+from the two sharpers who were trying to gouge him out of his money! I
+wouldn't like to be in his boots, I tell you. Dey mean to kill him afore
+dey get done with this trip! I declare, I believe he bunks with
+you--room No. 19."
+
+"By gracious!" exclaimed Tom, starting up. And to himself he added: "I
+don't wonder that he had his revolver handy. He had his pants on and
+that was the reason I didn't see them."
+
+"Did you say something, sir?" asked the darky.
+
+"No, I didn't," replied Tom.
+
+"Yes, sar, dat was the purtiest sight I ever saw. De man dealt himself
+fo' aces, and one of the sharpers, the one that was hottest after his
+money, fo' kings. De best of it was he drew fo' cards, so he knew right
+where de cards were stocked. The sharper thought there had been a
+mistake somewhere, and went down in his jeans and pulled out his money,
+fifteen thousand dollars' wuth. De man saw him,--he had more bills where
+dem came from,--and de sharper showed fo' kings; but when he went to
+take de money--I declare, your head is awful dirty. I think a shampoo
+will set you just about right."
+
+"I don't want it. Go on. When he went to take the money--then what?"
+
+"Well, he put down de fo' aces with one hand and drew his revolver with
+the other. De sharper concluded he would let the money stay; and dat
+broke up de game. You ought to have seen dat sharper's face. He's a
+mighty slick rogue, and I bet you he'll put a ball into dat sheep-herder
+before we gets up to Fort Gibson."
+
+"Why don't you tell him of it?"
+
+"Shucks! What do I want to go and get myself into trouble for? He goes
+up and down dis road every year and he knows it already. It aint none of
+my business."
+
+The reader will remember that we are describing things that happened a
+good many years ago. At that time the cotton-planters, and the
+cattle-and sheep-herders who lived far back in the country, made use of
+the steamboats, which were the only means of communication they had.
+Gambling was much in vogue, and if the sharpers who met them at New
+Orleans couldn't find any means of inducing them to play there, they
+would take passage in these boats and try them again when every other
+influence except reading was at a discount. It was a dangerous thing to
+pick up a stranger on these trips, especially if one had money with him,
+or anything that could be changed into money. For instance, there was a
+contractor who started from New Orleans to do some government business
+at Little Rock. He had half a dozen teams and everything he wanted to
+make his enterprise successful, with the exception of the men. Those he
+was going to hire of the planters, and of course he had to have some
+money to do it with. On the way up he fell in with a very modest
+stranger who didn't know anything about playing cards, and the
+consequence was before he reached his destination he was penniless. And
+the beauty of it was the modest stranger was dead broke, too! Every cent
+of his little hundred dollars had been won by the two strangers whom the
+contractor had invited to join in their game, as well as the last mule
+which the latter had to pull his wagons. The contractor made out a bill
+of sale of everything he had, and the next morning he was missing. He
+had jumped overboard, and everybody thought he was drowned accidentally.
+The modest stranger and his two confederates took the mules ashore and
+sold them at a big figure, and went back to New Orleans well satisfied
+with their trip. It seems that in the case of this stranger the sharpers
+had picked up the wrong man. He had "stocked" the cards on them, and won
+everything they had, and the darky knew, from certain little signs he
+had seen, that his life was not safe so long as he remained on board
+that steamer. Tom had a horror of everything that related to gambling,
+and he wanted to talk about something else.
+
+"This boat is making pretty good time, isn't she?" he said, during a
+pause in which the darky went back to his bench after his comb and
+brush.
+
+"Yes, sar. We don't touch anywhere till we get to Memphis, and we shall
+reach there about----"
+
+"What?" exclaimed Tom.
+
+"Eh? Did you speak, sar?"
+
+"Why, I want to go down the river," gasped Tom, who couldn't believe
+that his ears were not deceiving him. "Memphis! That's up the river."
+
+"Course it is, sar. And you are going dere as fast as you kin."
+
+"Memphis!" exclaimed Tom.
+
+He couldn't wait for the barber to get through with him, but, jumping
+out from his hands, with the apron floating all about him, he ran to the
+nearest window and looked out. He saw the trees dancing swiftly by, but
+it was not to them that he devoted the most of his attention. The
+current of the river was what drew his gaze. He took one look at it, at
+the trees and stumps that covered the surface of the water which the
+river managed to pick up in the low lands when it was high, and then
+returned disconsolately to his chair. He didn't want to go to Memphis.
+It was two thousand miles out of his way, and, besides, there were any
+number of business men that knew him on the levee.
+
+"You wanted to go to New Orleans, I take it," said the barber.
+
+But Tom was done talking. He wanted to have his hair brushed as quickly
+as possible, so that he might go to the office and settle with the
+clerk; so the darky speedily put the finishing touches to it, received
+twenty cents for his trouble, and Tom hurried out and in a few seconds
+more was standing in front of the desk. He did not see much room when he
+got there, for there was a big broad-shouldered man standing in front of
+the desk, with his arms spread out over it, talking with the clerk; but
+he stepped back to make space for Tom, and smiled so good-naturedly at
+him over his bushy whiskers that the boy was satisfied that he had one
+friend on the boat, if he didn't have another.
+
+"Morning," said he. "Did the sight of that revolver scare you?"
+
+"No, sir. But I got up just in time to find that I am bound up the
+river. I didn't say which way I wanted to go, and the overseer at the
+landing called me for the wrong boat."
+
+"Well, you've got to go now that you are started," said the clerk,
+pulling a book toward him that contained a list of the passengers, "and
+it will take just five dollars to pay your fare to Memphis."
+
+Very reluctantly Tom pulled out his roll of bills and counted out the
+five dollars. Then he turned and went out on the guard and seated
+himself, almost ready to cry with vexation. Presently his room-mate
+appeared, and without saying so much as "By your leave" he drew a chair
+close to Tom's side and sat down.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+TOM'S LUCK.
+
+
+"I say, my young friend, what have you been doing that is contrary to
+Scribner?"
+
+"I don't understand you, sir," said Tom, starting involuntarily.
+
+"I mean," said the stranger, bending over and whispering the words to
+Tom, "what have you been doing that is contrary to law?"
+
+This was a question that Tom never expected to have asked him by
+strangers. Did he carry the marks of the cruel wrong he had done his
+uncle and Jerry Lamar upon his face so that anybody could read them? The
+next time he passed a mirror he would look into it and see.
+
+"What is your name?" asked the stranger suddenly.
+
+"Tom Mason."
+
+"Mine is Bolton--Jasper Bolton; and, Tom, I am glad to see you. Put it
+there. What have you been doing?"
+
+"Not a thing, sir. My uncle has got the money back all right before this
+time."
+
+"Ah! Money, was it? How much?"
+
+"Five thousand dollars."
+
+"_Five_ thousand dollars! W-h-e-w! You didn't try to kill anybody in
+order to get away with it?"
+
+"No, sir. I shot a couple of nigger dogs that were on my trail, but if
+you knew the circumstances, you would say I did right," said Tom, who
+had suddenly made up his mind to make a confidant of Mr. Bolton. "It was
+just this way."
+
+And then Tom straightened around on his seat and faced his new friend
+and told him his story, being interrupted occasionally with such
+expressions as "Ah! yes," and "I see," which led him to believe that he
+was making out a better case against his uncle than he was against
+himself.
+
+"I don't want you to think that my uncle is in any way to blame for all
+this," said Tom, in conclusion. "I wanted money, I wanted to be revenged
+on Jerry Lamar, and so I took it."
+
+"Of course. You ought to have had better sense, seeing that the money
+would all be your own some day. Do you know what I think you had better
+do?"
+
+Tom replied that he did not.
+
+"I think you had better go home, tell your uncle just what you have told
+me, and abide the consequences."
+
+"You don't know my uncle, or you would not advise any such step as
+that," said Tom, with a sigh which showed that he knew him, and that he
+was bound to stick to his course. "I am the only relative he has got in
+the world, but that won't hinder him from saying every time he gets mad
+at me: 'So you are the lad that tried to reduce me to poverty by
+stealing five thousand dollars from me!' He will get all over that when
+he finds that I am not coming home, and then I will go back to him."
+
+"How long do you think it will take him?"
+
+"About a year, maybe two."
+
+"Do you think you can stand it among all these lawless men for that
+length of time?"
+
+"I've got to. I don't see any other way out of it."
+
+"And you were going to Texas to get another start? Texas is a country in
+which all men bring up who have made a failure, and you were bound that
+way."
+
+"Yes, sir. I think I could make another start there."
+
+"Have you any relatives or friends living there?"
+
+"Not a soul," replied Tom, straightening about on his chair and looking
+down at the river. "By the way," he added, "I want to give you a piece
+of advice. Those men of whom you won the money last night have
+threatened to have it all back if they have to kill you."
+
+"Who told you that story?" said Mr. Bolton, with a smile.
+
+"The barber."
+
+"Well, they will have plenty of time to try their hands at it between
+here and Cincinnati. I told them a funny story about being a
+cattle-grower somewhere out West. If they try anything with me, they
+will have their hands full. There are three of them, and I know them
+all. The clerk has got the money now under lock and key. There goes the
+breakfast-bell. I will talk to you again after we go in."
+
+Tom was disappointed in more respects than one when he found that his
+new friend was to leave him at Memphis. With a view of gaining a little
+time he did not follow him into the dining-hall, but went into the
+barber shop and proceeded to wash his hands. When they had been dried to
+his satisfaction, he went out and drew up before the desk.
+
+"Who is that man who talked to me a little while ago?" he asked.
+
+"He's a gambler," was the reply, "and a mighty good one, too. He got
+into those fellows last night, didn't he?"
+
+That was just what Tom was afraid of. He went out and took his seat at
+the table, saw Bolton exchange courtesies with the three sharpers who
+had tried to fleece him the night before, watched him all through the
+meal, and told himself that if that was the style that men of his class
+were made of he had a great deal to learn before he could become a
+gambler. There wasn't a thing about him that could have been found fault
+with in any circle of gentlemen. In spite of his calling he had given
+Tom what he regarded as good advice, and he did not know what else he
+had to say to him.
+
+"There's one thing about it," thought Tom. "He has been around the world
+a good deal, is sometimes flush to-day and strapped to-morrow, but I'll
+bet if he was in my fix he would not go back to my uncle. If I am there
+to take all his abuse, my uncle never will get over flinging his gibes
+at me; but if I am away where I can't hear them, it won't take him so
+long to get over it. He can advise me all he's a mind to, but I won't go
+home."
+
+Breakfast being over, Tom pushed back his chair and went out and seated
+himself on the guard. The gambler did not put in an appearance for
+fifteen minutes, for he was not the one to allow his good fortune to
+take away his appetite. He came at length and bore in his hand a couple
+of cigars, one of which he offered to Tom. But the latter did not smoke.
+
+"You'll need an overcoat, Tom," said Mr. Bolton, after he had lighted
+his cigar and placed his heels upon the railing. "The country you have
+just come from is a summer's day compared to the one where you are
+going. It's only the latter part of December, and you'll find blizzards
+out there, I bet you."
+
+"But I can't afford an overcoat, Mr. Bolton. I have only fifty dollars,
+and it is all my own, too."
+
+"I'll get it for you. I haven't forgotten that I have been in trouble--I
+may be that way next week; and when I do get that way, I'd feel mighty
+glad for the simple gift of an overcoat. I'll get you one in Memphis,
+and at the same time I will tell the clerk to hand you two hundred
+dollars for your own."
+
+"I can't take it, Mr. Bolton," said Tom, astonished at the proposition.
+
+"Oh, yes, you can. You never may be able to return it to me, but if you
+ever find one who is suffering, and you have enough and to spare, I want
+you to hand it to him. That's all the pay I ask. I've owed this for a
+year, and this is the first chance I have had to square up with the
+fellow who gave it to me."
+
+"Where is the fellow now?"
+
+"I don't know whether he is living or dead. He was a good fellow, and
+when I told him what my circumstances were, how I had got in with a
+party of roughs and been cleaned out of my pile, he put his hand into
+his pocket and pulled out two hundred dollars. I told him I never could
+pay him back, and he said if I ever found some other fellow in need just
+to give him a lift. I've done it, and it squares me. But it's a mean
+business anyway."
+
+"Why don't you go on with me instead of going up the Ohio River to
+Cincinnati?"
+
+"To Fort Gibson?" exclaimed Bolton in astonishment.
+
+"I suppose that's where I am going, aint it?"
+
+"Well, you see, Bub, they've got a little document against me up there,"
+said the gambler, with a laugh. "It is a document which the sheriff
+doesn't hold against me, but which the people do."
+
+"Are they going to lynch you?"
+
+"Anyway, that is what they call it."
+
+"Well, by gracious!" said Tom, settling back in his chair and watching
+the clouds of smoke that ascended from the gambler's lips. "What sort of
+men have I become associated with? This man lynched! I would as soon
+think of my uncle's being lynched."
+
+"So now, you see, I naturally keep away from there," continued Bolton.
+"But I'll tell you what I'll do. If you will go on to Fort Hamilton,
+which is as far as navigation is open now, I will give you something
+that will introduce you to Black Dan. He's a gambler, you know."
+
+"Oh, I can't do anything to assist him in gambling," said Tom. "I don't
+know one card from another."
+
+"Why, bless you, I don't want you to do anything to assist him in his
+work. I want you to keep just as far away from cards as you know how,"
+said Mr. Bolton, fumbling with his neck-handkerchief. "Do you see that?
+It's a kinder pretty pin, isn't it?"
+
+Tom took the ornament and looked it over. It was rather large for a pin,
+the body of it being formed of some metal which Tom did not recognize,
+but the diamonds in the middle of it, six of them in all, were what made
+it so valuable.
+
+"That pin is worth five hundred dollars," said Mr. Bolton. "Put it on; I
+want to see how it looks on you."
+
+"But what do you want me to do with it?" enquired Tom.
+
+"I want you to take it up and give it to Black Dan when you see him. You
+are bound to meet him if you go to Fort Hamilton."
+
+"I can't take it. You have already done more for me than I had any right
+to expect."
+
+"Never mind that," said the gambler, taking the pin from Tom's hand and
+fixing it in his neck-handkerchief. "You see, he got into a little
+rucuss a few nights before I came away, and the fellow grabbed him in
+there and tore three of the diamonds out, and he gave it to me with the
+request that I would take it to New Orleans and have it repaired for
+him. There, now, you look like a sport."
+
+"I wish you would take it out," said Tom. "I don't like to have it in
+there. Somebody might see it and rob me."
+
+"You haven't got any baggage, have you?"
+
+Tom replied that all the clothes he had with him were those he stood in
+at that moment.
+
+"It won't take long to fix that. Just tell Dan, when you see him, that
+that thing has been in pawn more times than I can remember, but somehow
+I always managed to work around and get the money. By the way, he owes
+me ten dollars. He didn't give me money enough. What those diamonds are
+set in I don't know. Dan won the mine in which the stuff was found and
+had the pin made from some of the quartz; but the diamonds didn't suit
+him, and so he sent them by me to New Orleans. But, bless you, in two
+months from that time he was as poor as Job's turkey."
+
+"Did he lose the mine?"
+
+"Yes, and all the money he had besides. Perhaps that pin will hit him
+again. Dan is a good fellow. He never went back on a man who was down on
+his luck."
+
+"I don't see why you don't go back to him," ventured Tom.
+
+"Well, you see, there's that document that the people hold against me,"
+said the gambler, with a laugh. "I think I had better stay here until
+that has had time to wear off. Yes, you go on to Fort Hamilton, and
+there you will make a strike. I don't know anybody in Fort Gibson."
+
+"What do you suppose they will set me to doing?"
+
+"Oh, perhaps they will grub-stake you and send you into the mountains to
+hunt up a gold mine. Many a nice fellow has got a start in that way, and
+is now numbered among the millionnaires. You'll get a start if you
+strike Black Dan."
+
+"I hope you will take this pin and wear it while you are on the boat,"
+said Tom; for he had already made up his mind to go on to Fort Hamilton
+and seek an interview with Black Dan if he were still alive. "I wish I
+had some baggage in which I could hide it away."
+
+Without saying a word Mr. Bolton took the pin, adjusted it into his
+shirt-front, and once more placed his heels on the railing. The longer
+Tom talked with him the more he admired him, and the more he detested
+his avocation. The idea that such a man as that should deliberately prey
+upon the cupidity of his neighbors! But, then, if he was a gambler, he
+was the only man in the whole lot of passengers who had taken to him.
+There were a number of finely dressed planters who sat at the table with
+him, but not one had had a word to say to him, and would have allowed
+him to go on his way to ruin if it had not been for this solitary man.
+And how he had trusted him! Was there a planter on the boat who would
+have given him so large an amount of money on so short an acquaintance?
+
+"There's one thing about it," said Tom, as he thrust his hands deep into
+his pockets. "If I make a success of this thing, I shall not have any
+planters, who have already made their mark in the world, to thank for my
+salvation."
+
+The sight of the revolver that was placed upon the stool at the head of
+his bed did not startle Tom as it had done on a former occasion.
+Answering the cheerful "Morning" of the sleepy gambler he made a trip to
+the barber shop to get a "shake up," for Tom had not yet had opportunity
+to buy a brush and comb, and then went out and seated himself on the
+guards. He felt more lonely now than he had at any time since leaving
+home. Memphis was only forty miles away,--he had heard one of the
+customers in the barber shop make that remark,--and he knew that when he
+got there the last friend he had on earth was to take leave of him.
+
+"How will I ever get along without him?" was the question he kept
+constantly asking himself. "Two hundred dollars and a good overcoat
+besides. I think I shall need the overcoat, for if the weather is as
+cold as it is this morning, I should prefer to hug the fire."
+
+While he was thinking about it, Mr. Bolton came out and beckoned to him.
+Tom followed him into the office, and when the blinds had all been
+closed, the clerk unlocked his safe and took out three official
+envelopes; for the thirty thousand made so large a roll of money that he
+could not get the bills all into one. Selecting one of the envelopes, he
+tore it open, counted out two hundred dollars from it, placed it in a
+second envelope, sealed it with a blow of his fist upon the counter, and
+placed Tom's name upon it.
+
+"That's yours, Tom," said he. "I need hardly tell you to be careful of
+it. When you leave the boat at Fort Gibson, the clerk will give it to
+you."
+
+"Must I change boats again?" asked Tom.
+
+"Yes, for this boat draws so much water that she can't run any farther,"
+said the clerk. "I'll keep an eye on you and see that you get through
+all right."
+
+Mr. Bolton then proceeded to count out fifty dollars, which he pushed
+over toward the clerk, after which he put the envelopes in the inside
+pocket of his vest and buttoned his coat over them.
+
+"What's this for?" enquired the clerk.
+
+"That's to pay you for your trouble," said the gambler. "Now, the less I
+hear about this money the better I shall like it. Let us out."
+
+"What have you been doing to him?" enquired the clerk, after he had let
+Mr. Bolton out of the side door on to the guards, locked Tom's money in
+the safe, and raised the blind which gave entrance into the cabin. "Are
+you any relative of his?"
+
+"No. I never saw him until I came on board this boat. I told him my
+story and that led him to give me some money. The barber says he has
+travelled over this road a good many times."
+
+"Oh, I know him. This isn't the first fifty dollars I have made out of
+him. He has a different name every time. This time it is Jasper Bolton.
+Why, two years ago he came aboard of us, clean shaved as any farmer and
+dressed like one, and had charge of twenty-five barrels of dried apples
+which he was taking to Memphis. Of course he got on to a game before he
+had been here a great while, and cleaned everyone out."
+
+"I wish he wouldn't gamble," said Tom. "He has the manners of a
+gentleman."
+
+"Oh, everyone has to make his living at something," said the clerk, with
+a laugh. "And if he can't make his any easier than at gambling, why, I
+say let him keep at it. But you ought to have seen him with those dried
+apples! He talked them up so big among the passengers that he sold them
+for double the sum that I could have bought the same apples for. Oh,
+he's a good one!"
+
+"I shouldn't think he would want to carry that money in his vest
+pocket," said Tom. "How easy it would be for somebody to knock him down
+and take it away from him."
+
+"He's got a big revolver in his pocket," said the clerk.
+
+During the rest of the trip to Memphis Tom stuck as close to Mr.
+Bolton's side as if he had grown there, and listened to some good
+advice, which, had he seen fit to follow it, would have made his
+progress through life a comparatively smooth one; but Tom could not get
+over the "gibes" which he knew his uncle would throw at him as often as
+he got angry. He said that was all that kept him from going back, and
+the gambler finally gave it up in despair.
+
+On arriving at Memphis Mr. Bolton picked up his valise, bade good-by to
+some of the officers whose acquaintance he had made on the way up, and
+stepped ashore with Tom at his heels. The latter kept a close watch over
+the sharpers, and was not a little annoyed to find that they were going
+ashore, too. He called Mr. Bolton's attention to it, but all he got was
+a smile in return; and now, when Tom got a good view of it, he told
+himself that there was more self-confidence in that smile than he had
+given him credit for. Indeed, Mr. Bolton, with his overcoat on and a
+valise in his hand, and the free, swinging stride with which he stepped
+off, looked more like a prosperous business man than he did like
+anything else.
+
+Mr. Bolton was evidently acquainted in Memphis, for he passed three or
+four clothing-houses, and finally turned into an extra fine one, where
+he said he wanted to see the longest and thickest overcoat they had. His
+boy was going away into a country where blizzards were plenty, and he
+desired to see him well protected before he went. The first garment that
+was handed down was a fit, and Tom stood by with it on, and saw Mr.
+Bolton buy another valise, an extra suit of sheep's-gray clothing, a
+couple of blue flannel shirts, and a number of other little things which
+Tom would not have thought of. When the articles had been paid for, Mr.
+Bolton took off his pin, wrapped it in a little piece of paper, and
+thrust it into one corner of the valise, then locked it and handed the
+key to Tom. Then he turned and walked out.
+
+"Mr. Bolton," said Tom, hurrying after him, "I never can repay----"
+
+"Oh, yes, you can. Whenever you meet a fellow that is hard up, and you
+can afford it, just hand him a dollar or two, and that will make it all
+right. Now, be careful of yourself on the way up. You'll find some
+lawless men there who won't hesitate to take the last cent you've got.
+Remember me to Black Dan, and don't forget what I have told you. Put it
+there. So long."
+
+Tom wanted to say something else, but before he could form the words his
+hand had been squeezed for a moment and he was alone. He watched the man
+and then saw him disappear among the crowd.
+
+"I wonder if anybody ever had such luck as this," said Tom, as he turned
+his face slowly toward the levee. "I almost dread to think of it, for
+fear that there is worse luck in store for me."
+
+He was alone now, at all events.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+TOM ADMIRES THE COWBOYS.
+
+
+Tom Mason slowly made his way back to Wolf River, the place where the
+_Jennie June_ was discharging her cargo, locked his baggage in his state
+room, and seated himself on the guard to watch the deck-hands and think
+of Mr. Bolton, if that was his name. Several passengers got off at
+Memphis, and several more got on to take their places, but from the time
+the boat rounded to go up the Arkansas River there was no one who had
+anything to say to him, if we except the clerk and the barber.
+
+Tom thought he had never seen so lonely and desolate a country as that
+through which the Arkansas flowed. Woods were to be seen in every
+direction, and here and there a small clearing with a negro or two
+scattered about to show that somebody lived there. The boat stopped a
+few times to let off a passenger where there was not the sign of a fence
+anywhere around, but she never got out a line for them. She awoke the
+echoes far and near with her hoarse whistle, shoved out a gang-plank, a
+couple of deck-hands ran ashore with the passenger's baggage, and then
+she went on her way up the river. The town of Little Rock was situated
+in the woods, and above that it was all wilderness until Fort Gibson was
+reached. The _Jennie June_ did not tie up alongside the levee, but ran
+on till she came to a little boat with steam up, the only boat there was
+at the landing, and made fast alongside of her, keeping her wheels
+moving all the while, so as not to pull her away from her moorings.
+
+"Have I got to change to that thing?" said Tom.
+
+"Yes, sir," replied the clerk, who hurried past him with a book in his
+hands and a pencil behind his ear. "She's the only one who can go above
+here at all. Plenty of room on her. I'll be ready to go with you in ten
+minutes."
+
+With his baggage between his feet Tom sat down to await the return of
+the clerk, and to make a mental estimate of the vessel that was to take
+him 150 miles further on his journey. He saw that she had no Texas on
+board of her, her pilot-house being seated on the roof of the cabin. Her
+engines were small, being no doubt reduced in weight to make her
+carrying capacity equal to passing over the shoal places she would find
+before her, her spars were ready for use, and she had no roof over her
+main-deck. She could get along very well in dry weather, but what would
+she do when a rain-storm came up? Tom noticed that a good portion of
+baggage was laid out on the boiler deck, and no doubt some of the
+passengers slept there; and consequently it would be a dangerous piece
+of business for any of the wakeful parties to attempt to promenade the
+main-deck with a cigar, as he had often seen done on the _Jennie June_.
+
+"I hope we shall have pleasant weather all the way to Fort Hamilton,"
+thought Tom, as he rested his elbows on the railing and proceeded to
+size up the passengers. "I don't see how they can get all those men into
+the cabin."
+
+Almost the first thing Tom saw, curled up before some luggage they were
+watching, were a couple of Indians, taking good care to keep out of the
+way of the swiftly moving deck-hands. But Indians he could see any day
+by simply riding into his uncle's woods; but who were those long-legged,
+lank fellows who took just as much care of their rifles and knapsacks as
+the Indians did? They were hunters, and Tom could not resist the
+temptation to turn his eyes away from the fore-castle back to the
+main-deck to take a second survey of the motley group of men he had seen
+there. They were cowboys all of them, and their clothing, especially
+their hats and boots, were as nearly perfect as money could buy. They
+were all young fellows, from twenty to twenty-five years of age, and
+wore their six-shooters strapped around them with as much ease as though
+they had been born with them on. The hunters were a lazy set, and were
+willing to work for the furs they captured, while the cowboys were
+willing to work for a salary, and they earned every dollar of it, too.
+
+"That's what I am going to be," thought Tom. "I'll have a horse and
+lariat, and I'll soon learn to ride with the best of them. I don't see
+what Mr. Bolton could have been thinking of when he bought me this
+sheep's-gray suit. None of the cowboys has them on."
+
+While Tom was busy in watching the cowboys and telling himself that
+almost any one of them looked ready for a fight, the clerk came up, and,
+following a motion of his hand, Tom stepped after him into the office.
+He unlocked the safe and, taking out Tom's roll of money, handed it to
+him, saying:
+
+"I have spoken to the clerk about you, and he promises that he will give
+you a nice room with a lower bunk. Good luck to you."
+
+Tom immediately tore open the end of the envelope and began running his
+fingers over the bills. He wanted to see if they were all there.
+
+"I don't want anything," said the clerk. "I wouldn't take anything if
+you were to offer it to me. Come on and let's go and see the clerk. I'm
+awful busy when we are making a landing."
+
+Tom at once picked up his valise and fell in behind the clerk, who led
+the way on board the _Ivanhoe_. By dodging in the rear of some of the
+deck-hands he managed to get on board without being knocked overboard,
+and soon found himself standing beside a man who was shouting out some
+orders to which nobody paid the least attention. He changed his pencil
+from his hand into his mouth long enough to shake Tom by the hand.
+
+"Go up on the boiler deck and set down there till I come," said he.
+"I'll attend to your case in just no time at all."
+
+Seeing that no one else paid any attention to him, Tom ascended the
+stairs and entered the cabin. He wanted to see what sort of a looking
+place it was, but almost recoiled when he opened the door, for it was
+filled so full of stale tobacco smoke that he did not see how anybody
+could live in it. But he knew that he would have to become accustomed to
+that smell before he was on the prairie very long, so he kept on and
+finally found a chair at the further end of the cabin. There was no one
+near him except a man whose arms were outstretched on the table and his
+face buried in his hands; and when Tom approached, he raised his head
+and exhibited a countenance that was literally burning up with fever. He
+was dressed like a cowboy, but there didn't seem to be anyone to attend
+to his wants.
+
+"I say," said he, in a faint voice, "I wish you would be good enough to
+bring me a glass of water."
+
+"Certainly I will," replied Tom, rising and placing his valise in the
+chair.
+
+He did not know where to go to get it, but as he turned into a little
+gangway which he thought ought to lead to the galley he encountered a
+darky, and to him he made known his wants--not for a glass, but for a
+whole pitcher of ice-water. With these in his hand he went back to the
+sick man, who, waving away the glass of water which Tom poured out for
+him, seized the pitcher and drained it nearly dry. Then he set it down,
+and with a sigh of relief settled back in his chair.
+
+"I have been waiting for an hour for someone to hand me a drink of
+water, but I didn't have strength enough to go after it," said he, with
+a smile. "I knew where it was--well, it stayed there."
+
+"Fever and ague?" said Tom.
+
+"Buck ague," responded the man. "I always get it whenever I come to this
+country."
+
+"I should think you would keep away from it, then."
+
+"Well, I had to come with a herd of cattle my employer was getting up
+for the government, and that's the way I got it. Ah! here comes one of
+those lazy kids that ought to have been here and tended to me," added
+the man, as one of those handsome cowboys that Tom had noticed on the
+main-deck rapidly approached the table. When he saw the pitcher of
+ice-water, he stopped and gazed in consternation.
+
+"Somebody's been fixing you!" said he. "He's been taking calomel," he
+explained to Tom.
+
+"He never said a word to me about it," faltered Tom, who thought he was
+in a fair prospect of getting himself into trouble.
+
+"You know the doctor said you must be careful not to drink any water
+after taking that powder," continued the cowboy, looking at Tom as if he
+had a mind to throw the pitcher at his head.
+
+"The kid is all right," said the sick man, "and I'll stay by him. Now,
+if you will go away and let me alone, I'll go to sleep."
+
+He stretched himself out on the table once more, and the cowboy went off
+to consult with his chum. In a few minutes he came back with him, and
+all they could do was to try to arouse the man to ask him what he
+thought they had better do for him; but to such interruptions he always
+replied: "No, no, boys! I'm going to sleep now."
+
+"You ought not to have given that man so much water," said one of the
+cowboys. "But after all it's our own fault, Hank. One of us ought to
+have stayed here with him."
+
+Tom Mason did not know what to say, and neither was he able to account
+for so much forbearance on the part of the cowboys. He looked to see
+them pull their revolvers; but instead of doing that they drew chairs up
+beside their sick comrade and waited to see what was going to happen to
+him, and Tom, filled with remorse, went out on the boiler-deck. Just
+then the _Jennie June's_ bell rang, the lines and gang-planks were
+hauled in, and she backed down the river to her moorings. Then the
+_Ivanhoe's_ bell was struck, and instantly a great hubbub arose among
+the passengers. Hands were shaken, farewells were said, and in ten
+minutes more the little boat was ploughing her way up the river. Tom had
+an opportunity to sit down after that. He pulled a chair up to the
+railing and sat there for ten minutes awaiting the arrival of the clerk,
+and wondering how calomel would operate on that man after he had drank
+ice-water on top of it; and consequently he did not feel very safe when
+he saw the two cowboys approaching him. He had left them to watch over
+the sick man, and he did not like to have them follow him up.
+
+"Look here, pard," said the foremost. "You've got the only lower bunk
+there is in the cabin, and we want to see if you won't give it up to
+that sick boss of ours. The man now occupying the upper bunk has offered
+to give it up, but we don't want it."
+
+"You can have it and welcome," said Tom. "I assure you that my giving
+him a drink was all a mistake. I offered him a glass of water, but he
+wouldn't take it."
+
+Having given up his bed, Tom considered that he had done all that a boy
+could do to make amends for what he had done. He gave the clerk his
+money to lock in the safe, and when night came found a pallet made up
+for him in a remote corner of the cabin. All the report he could get
+regarding the sick man was that he was sleeping soundly, and had fought
+his attendants so hard that it was all they could do to take his clothes
+off.
+
+"I really believe he is coming around all right," said one of the
+cowboys. "When he gets mad and reaches for his revolver, it's a mighty
+good sign."
+
+"Did he draw it on either of you?" asked Tom, in alarm.
+
+"Oh, no; for we took good pains to keep it out of his way."
+
+When Tom got up the next morning (there was no barber shop on this boat,
+and so he had to comb his hair in the wash-room), and went out on the
+boiler-deck to get his breath of fresh air, he found three men out there
+sitting in their chairs, and paying no heed to the cold wind that was
+blowing. The men who slept there had gone into a warmer climate, down in
+the neighborhood of the boilers, but their baggage was scattered around
+just as they had left it. Tom took just one look around, and, seeing how
+desolate things were, was about to retreat to the cabin, when one of the
+men happened to spy him.
+
+"My gracious, there's my doctor!" said he cheerfully. "Come here, old
+man, and give us your flipper."
+
+"Why, I didn't expect to find you out here to-day," said Tom, walking up
+and taking the outstretched hand of his sick man. "My medicine did you
+some good, didn't it? But you ought not to sit out here without
+something around you. You will take cold."
+
+The sick man laughed heartily.
+
+"Why, doctor, I am as sound as a dollar. That water you gave me hit the
+spot, for it set me to perspiring like a trip-hammer. I knew I was all
+right as soon as I could sleep. Draw a chair up and sit down. You won't
+take cold while you have that overcoat on."
+
+Tom drew a chair up alongside the sick man, one of the cowboys moving
+aside to make room for him, and deposited his feet on the railing. The
+wind cut severely, and he would have felt a good deal more cheerful
+beside the cabin fire.
+
+"Where be you a-travelling to, doctor?" said the sick man; for Tom
+didn't know what else to call him. "If you are going out our way, we may
+be able to be of some use to you."
+
+"I am going to Fort Hamilton," said Tom. "How much farther I don't know
+until I have seen Black Dan."
+
+It was curious what a sensation that name occasioned in that little
+company. They simply looked at each other and smiled, and then settled
+down and sought new places for their feet on the railing. It was evident
+that they took Black Dan for a relative of his.
+
+"Have you got much to do with him?" asked one of the cowboys.
+
+"I never saw him," Tom hastened to say. "I got his name from a Mr.
+Bolton, who gave me a very valuable pin to return to him. He got into a
+fight once and had some diamonds torn out of it."
+
+"Yes, Dan has been in a good many fights," said the sick man. "He aint
+the fellow he used to be."
+
+"I--I hope he didn't get the worst of any of them."
+
+"Well--yes. He rather got the worst of the last fight he was in. He got
+into a row with three fellows,--cowboys, I knew them well,--and although
+he managed to get away with all of them, one shot him through the arm
+above the elbow, and it had to be taken off."
+
+"Amputated?" said Tom.
+
+"Yes, I suppose that's what you call it. Then Dan took to drink and lost
+everything he had."
+
+"Why should the loss of his arm send him to drink?"
+
+"He couldn't shuffle the cards any more. He doesn't do anything now but
+get drunk in the morning and then crawl into some hole and sleep it off;
+and he has seen the time when he was worth a million."
+
+Tom Mason was sorry to hear all this. He did not know what he was going
+to do now that Black Dan was in no condition to help him. Who was he
+going to get to grub-stake him and send him into the mountains to find a
+gold mine? He knew that things were pretty high in Fort Hamilton, and
+his two hundred dollars would not last him a great while.
+
+"For a fellow who has never seen Black Dan you appear to take his
+downfall very much to heart," said the sick man.
+
+"Yes, I do. I was depending on him to see me through. I have a very nice
+pin which is his own private property, and which I have been
+commissioned to give into his keeping."
+
+"Have you got it with you?"
+
+Tom replied that the pin was in his baggage, and arose and went after
+it. In a few minutes he returned with it in his hand, and was not a
+little surprised at the exclamations of astonishment that arose from his
+three friends when they handled the ornament, and passed it from one to
+the other and speculated upon its merits.
+
+"Five hundred dollars!" said "Boss" Kelley, who by virtue of his
+position took it upon himself to act as judge when matters came before
+them that were somewhat hard to be decided. Tom had noticed one thing:
+that his word was law to the two cowboys, and that when he spoke the
+other two remained silent. "That's a heap of money to go into Dan's
+hands. How long do you suppose it will last him?"
+
+"Until he can get to Cale's bar," said Hank Monroe.
+
+"And no longer," chimed in Frank Stanley.
+
+"It's his and he ought to have it, if we can find him when he is sober,"
+said Kelley. "Now, doctor, how came you by it in the first place?"
+
+"I am plain Tom Mason, and I don't like to answer to any other name,"
+said the latter; and with the words he settled back in his chair and
+told the history of his meeting with Mr. Bolton. He kept back nothing.
+He knew he could tell it just as it happened, for these men had more or
+less to do with gamblers, and knew the motives which influenced them.
+When he got through, he found that he had them very much interested.
+
+"Why, you haven't done anything," said Stanley. "Go home and tell your
+uncle just what you have told us, and take the racket."
+
+"Boys, I know my uncle," said Tom, shaking his head.
+
+"Perhaps he had better go on," said Kelley. "His uncle will throw things
+at him whenever he gets mad, and it's better to go away and let him get
+over that. Now, Tom, if you are willing to take help from us----"
+
+"I am willing to take help from anybody," said Tom. "I am a stranger in
+a strange place, and don't know what move to make first."
+
+"Very good," said Kelley, extending his hand to be shaken by Tom, a
+proceeding in which he was imitated by both his friends. "That is a
+cowboy's grip, and whenever you get it out here, you may know that you
+are among friends. Tom is one of our party now."
+
+Tom Mason told himself that never had a runaway been blessed with such
+luck. No sooner did one man on whom he was depending for assistance turn
+out to be unreliable than another one came to take his place. For once
+he had forgotten himself and told the truth, and the truth was mighty
+and would prevail. After that he had nothing to do during the rest of
+his trip but sit alongside one of his companions and talk of
+cattle-herding and speculate concerning the future of Black Dan. All he
+could learn regarding the latter was that he was going to the bad as
+rapidly as he could.
+
+"All gamblers come to that sooner or later," said Kelley. "All the money
+I have got was made honestly. I don't know one card from another."
+
+All this was very encouraging. If a man of Kelley's stamp--Tom knew he
+was well off, for he had heard him talk of the thousand head of cattle
+which he was holding fast to until the government came up to his
+price--could live all these years on the prairie and never learn one
+card from another, it was certain that another might do so.
+
+At last, after innumerable discouragements, during which her spars had
+been used until they were all mud, and it seemed impossible for her to
+proceed a foot farther, the _Ivanhoe_ whistled for Fort Hamilton. Then
+Tom saw what had given it that name. A short distance above the little
+circle of houses that always spring up around a fortification, crowning
+a hill, was a stockade from which floated the Stars and Stripes, and
+among the crowd of loungers who assembled to see the boat come in were
+several men dressed in the uniform of the army.
+
+As soon as the landing was made Tom went to the clerk to get the money
+he had locked in the safe, and made his way down the stairs to find
+Kelley and Stanley waiting for him. They all had horses, with their
+extra wardrobe tied up in ponchos behind their saddles, but they had
+given them over to one of their number with orders to take them to the
+Eldorado, the hotel which all the best men in that country patronized.
+
+"Now, we want to find out what's left of Black Dan," said Kelley. "I
+think we will get on his trail somewhere up here."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+A TEMPERANCE LECTURE.
+
+
+It was a muddy, miry place in which Tom Mason now found himself, for it
+had been raining some there and Fort Hamilton was not blessed with a
+system of drainage. There were no sidewalks except in front of the
+various saloons and stores they passed, and half the way they walked
+through mud that was more than ankle deep. It was astonishing to him to
+notice how many people there were on the streets who recognized his
+companions. It was "Howdy, Mr. Kelley?" and "Hello, Stanley!" or "Hello,
+Arrow-foot!" until Tom might be pardoned for thinking that his two
+friends were raised right in town instead of coming from a country a
+hundred miles away.
+
+"Arrow-foot?" said he. "That's one thing I do not understand."
+
+"Well, you see that when my employer first came to this country and
+wanted a name for his cattle, he picked up on his piece of land, close
+by the spot where his dugout is now located, a small piece of clay
+plainly marked with an arrow-foot. There was the stem of the arrow all
+complete, and so he named his cattle 'Arrow-foot.' Almost everybody out
+here is known by the brand his cattle wears."
+
+"But how do they come to call you 'Mr.' Kelley?"
+
+"I don't know, unless it is because I don't drink or gamble with them,
+and have a happy faculty for settling all the rows."
+
+Presently Mr. Kelley made his way into a spacious saloon that occupied
+one end of the block. It had evidently been built by someone who had an
+idea of refinement about him, for its verandas were spacious, the
+windows came down to the floor, and there was a gilded sign over the
+door. Inside the room was large and airy, with a bar on one side and a
+number of tables extending away to the other end. It was quiet enough
+now in the daytime, but when Tom heard the noise that came from it after
+the lamps were lighted, he thought pandemonium had broken loose.
+
+"Howdy, Mr. Kelley? Denominate your poison," said the man behind the
+counter, extending a bottle toward him with one hand and reaching out
+the other to be shaken. "Got back safe and sound, didn't you?"
+
+"I don't take any of that stuff, and you ought to know better than to
+ask me. I got back all right with the exception of the dumb ague, which
+took me just as I got ready to leave Fort Gibson. Have you seen Black
+Dan lately?"
+
+"You're right, I have," said the man, frowning fiercely. "Do you see
+that?" he added, taking out from under his counter a revolver which was
+cocked and ready to be used when it was drawn. "I am going to keep that
+just as it is and show it to him when he wakes up. Because he used to
+own this house is no reason why he should pull a pistol on me!"
+
+"Did he draw it on you?" asked Tom, forgetting where he was in the
+excitement of the moment.
+
+"I should say he did, kid, and Mose, there, was just in time to stop
+him. I hope you have come to take him East, for I don't want him around
+here any longer. It is all I can do to keep him from getting into a
+fight with somebody, and the first thing you know he will pick up the
+wrong man. You took him out, Mose. Do you know where he is?"
+
+"Yes; he's out there," said Mose, motioning one way with his thumb and
+another way with his head. "I can find him."
+
+Mose made an effort to get on his feet, but reeled considerably, and
+would have fallen back in his chair if Mr. Kelley had not caught him and
+placed him steadily on his feet. When he was fairly up, he was all
+right, and made his way out of the house and around the corner, closely
+followed by Mr. Kelley and Tom. Presently he stopped, and curled up
+behind a water-butt, the mud spattered thick on his torn clothing, his
+empty holster and the stump of his crippled arm thrown out recklessly by
+his side, lay all that was left of Black Dan. Tom saw in a minute where
+he had got his cognomen. His complexion was swarthy and his hair and
+whiskers were as black as midnight, but for all that he had been a very
+handsome man. He was dead drunk, and Mr. Kelley saw that all attempts to
+arouse him would be useless.
+
+"Why didn't you put him in a bed?" asked Tom, in accents of disgust.
+
+"He wouldn't stay there," replied Mose. "That is the only place he will
+stay, and there is where we take him as soon as he shows any desire to
+go to sleep."
+
+"Let's go away," said Tom. "I'll never drink a drop of whiskey as long
+as I live."
+
+"It would be useless to try to awake him," said Mr. Kelley. "Mose, you
+tell him that as soon as he wakes up we want to see him down to the
+Eldorado, where we are stopping. We want to see him particularly. You
+can remember that much, can't you?"
+
+"I can, sir," replied Mose, hastily pocketing the dollar which Kelley
+thrust out to him. "I'll send him down as soon as he comes to himself."
+
+"It always comes hard for one to see a man done up in that style," said
+Mr. Kelley, as he and Tom bent their steps toward the Eldorado. "It
+makes me hate whiskey worse than I did before."
+
+Tom had seen so much of the little town of Fort Hamilton that he had
+some doubts about going to the Eldorado. Their little interview with
+Black Dan, if such it could be called, had taken all the conversation
+out of them; but when they entered the living-room of the hotel, and saw
+no semblance of a bar, and the men who were playing cards were doing it
+for fun, and not for money, and there was no sign of a drunken man
+around, his spirits rose wonderfully, and he walked up and placed his
+valise on the counter.
+
+"Ah! here you are," exclaimed Stanley, coming up at that moment. "I
+wasn't able to get a room with four beds in it, but I have engaged one
+end of the dining-room, so that we can all be together to-night."
+
+"Full up to the top notch," said the clerk. "Put it there, Mr. Kelley.
+How are you, Arrow-foot? This young man I don't remember to have seen
+before, but all the same I am glad to meet him."
+
+"Yes, he's a tender-foot, and we are taking him out to have the boss
+grub-stake him."
+
+"Ah! that's your business, is it? Fine business that. You may make a
+strike some day and come back and buy us all out. You're going right in
+the country for one, for there's a nugget worth eight thousand dollars
+for you to pitch on to."
+
+"Yes, Elam Storm's nugget," said Stanley. "I hope to goodness you'll get
+it, for then we shall quit hearing so much about it."
+
+"Oh, it's there, for one with such a reputation as that--why, man alive,
+it extends through twenty years! And the Red Ghost, too; you want to
+steer clear of him."
+
+Tom laughed and said he would do his best to follow the clerk's advice.
+He had heard of Elam Storm's nugget, had even found himself thinking of
+it when awake, and dreaming about it when asleep. He knew that his
+chances for digging it up were rather slim, for he did not suppose that
+the man who had hid it had any idea that it would be unearthed by anyone
+save himself; but if he should happen to strike it with one blow of his
+pick! Wouldn't he be in town? He could then write back to his uncle that
+he had made more than the sum he had temporarily lost, made it by the
+sweat of his brow, and he was sure that the next letter he received from
+his uncle would be one telling him to come back home, and all would be
+forgiven. But the Red Ghost! Tom did not know what to think about him.
+He had been seen, never in broad daylight, and he was a terrible thing
+to look at. He roamed about after nightfall, tearing the mules and
+trampling the teamsters to death, and the worst of it was he was always
+to be found somewhere near the place where the nugget was supposed to be
+hid. Stanley once had a partner that had been done to death, and even
+Mr. Kelley's face grew solemn whenever he spoke of him. That was the
+only thing that made Tom doubtful about taking a grub-stake.
+
+The dinner-bell rang while they were talking, and when the meal was
+ended Tom went out with the two cowboys to look at a horse that Stanley
+had found for him in the morning. They were gone about two hours, and
+when they came back, Tom told himself that he was a cowboy at last; a
+horse, saddle, and bridle were waiting for him at the stable, and the
+poncho which he carried slung over his arm was roomy enough for his
+extra baggage. The first thing that attracted Stanley's notice was a
+strange man talking to Mr. Kelley. The stump of his arm proclaimed who
+he was.
+
+"It's Black Dan," said he. "Now, Tom, let's see how much your temperance
+principles will amount to."
+
+Tom was startled, as well he might be, to know that he had it in his
+power to help a man who, in his palmy days, held an influence in Fort
+Hamilton second only to the commander of the station. He gazed steadily
+at him a moment, then threw his poncho on the table, asked the clerk for
+his valise, and took from it the pin Mr. Bolton had given him, and with
+this in his hand he approached Black Dan, while with a delicacy of
+feeling that some people who occupy prouder stations might have envied
+the cowboys turned toward the window. Hearing from the barkeeper that
+the man who wanted to see him was a "top-notch fellow," Dan had washed
+his face and brushed his hair, and made other efforts to improve
+himself. His holster was filled this time, so it showed that he was in a
+situation to defend himself. Mr. Kelley introduced Tom, and then moved
+away.
+
+"How do you do, sir?" said Dan, gazing hard at Tom's face and trying to
+recollect where he had seen him before. "You have got the advantage of
+me."
+
+"I never saw you before, and I am sorry to find you this way," said Tom,
+trying to keep up his courage. "I want you to look at this pin and tell
+me if you ever saw it before."
+
+Tom unwrapped the pin and placed it in Dan's hands. The latter took it
+in surprise, and finally the wondering scowl his face had assumed gave
+way to an entirely different expression, and he sat for five minutes,
+turning the pin over in his hand, and doubtless harassed by gloomy
+reflections. When he gave that pin to the one from whom Tom had received
+it, he was worth half a million dollars.
+
+"What was Bradshaw doing when he gave you the pin?" said he.
+
+"He told me his name was Bolton," said Tom. "He had been doing some
+gambling, and, finding out from me that I was coming up here, he gave me
+the pin with a request that I should give it to you."
+
+"You haven't come out here with any intention of going into this
+business, have you?"
+
+"What, gambling? Not much I haven't. I think I have seen enough to keep
+me away from gambling forever. I'm going to get a grub-stake and go into
+the mountains. I think I can do better there."
+
+"You are an honest boy, and I wish I could give you something for it.
+One short year ago I could have sent you to the mountains with some
+prospects of success; but now----" Dan held up his crippled arm.
+
+"I should think that would drive you from gambling forever," said Tom
+earnestly. "You have taken to drink, and that is just as bad."
+
+"Well, seeing that you are going to preach, I guess I'll go. Shake. So
+long."
+
+Before Tom could think of another word to say Dan had squeezed his hand
+and was on his way to the door, walking along with his hat pulled over
+his eyes, as if he didn't want to see anybody. When he reached the
+street, he simply touched his forehead to some people he met, and kept
+on his way to the saloon. Tom stepped to the window and saw him go in at
+the door.
+
+"Well, what success did you meet with?" said Stanley.
+
+"I didn't meet with any success at all," said Tom, gazing helplessly out
+at the muddy street. "He said if I was going to preach he'd go. He
+seemed to think I had come out here to go into his business, but I told
+him I had seen enough to keep me away from cards forever."
+
+"Well, I declare!" said Mr. Kelley. "It is the greatest wonder in the
+world he didn't knock you down. He never lets anybody say anything
+against cards in his hearing. You have had a narrow escape."
+
+As Tom sat there with his three friends and talked over the incidents of
+Dan's past life he grew more frightened than ever, and thanked his lucky
+stars that he didn't know more about it before he held his interview
+with the gambler. Tom had told him that he had taken to drink, which was
+as bad as gambling, and Dan had been known to floor a man who had said
+as much to him. That night, while Tom was lying on his bed and trying to
+go to sleep, he heard something more of the pin. High and loud above all
+the hubbub that arose on the streets came the chorus of a song in which
+one voice far outled the others. It was Dan's voice, and proved that the
+pin had been pawned for something besides water. He looked over toward
+Monroe, and saw that the latter was wide awake and looking at him.
+
+"They're going it, aint they?" Tom whispered.
+
+"You're right, they are. Poor Dan! You have done what you could for
+him." And with the words he rolled over and prepared to go to sleep.
+
+The next morning everything was quiet enough. The drunkards had been put
+into the calaboose by the soldiers, and the others had gone to bed to
+sleep it off. Tom wanted to know what had become of Dan, but nobody said
+anything about him, and from that time his name was dropped. They ate
+their breakfast in haste, paid their bills, and in ten minutes more Tom
+was on his way in search of a grub-stake.
+
+"Oh, certainly you'll get it," said Monroe, who rode beside him. "That
+is the way the bosses always treat a tender-foot when they haven't
+anything in particular for him to do. Some of our best known men have
+got their start that way."
+
+"I should think that some of the men you trust that way would run off
+when they find something good," said Tom.
+
+"Why, bless you, they can't take their find with them. They've got to
+stay and work it. I did hear of a fellow who found a lot of iron
+pyrites, and filled his pockets with them. He ran away, making the best
+course he could for Denver, and when he was found, his pockets might
+just as well have been filled with clay."
+
+"Dead?" said Tom.
+
+"Yes; and he was two hundred miles from where he belonged."
+
+"And his find didn't amount to anything?"
+
+"No. It is a brassy substance and looks very much like the precious
+metal, but you need a mine to work it."
+
+"What do you suppose killed him?"
+
+"Don't know. Some people suppose that his mule got away from him, and
+ran away with his outfit. At any rate, there was nothing near him, and
+the fellow got desperate and died from exhaustion. Oh, it's one of the
+things that will happen out here."
+
+"That's a queer way to do," said Tom musingly. "By the way, I haven't
+got any revolver."
+
+"Oh, the old man will give you a pop. You will get everything you need
+to last you two or three months. While that lasts, you are expected to
+do some hunting; when it begins to give out, you want to come home."
+
+"But how will I know the way?"
+
+"The mule will bring you. He will stay there about two months,--that is,
+if he doesn't get frightened,--and when he gets tired of staying, he
+will come home, and you had better come, too."
+
+It was by such talks as this that Tom learned a great deal about the
+business upon which he was soon to embark. It never occurred to him that
+he was to engage in any other business. Cowboys--or, as they were called
+in those days, "vaqueros"--were not as plenty as they became a few years
+later, and if a ranchman could be found who thought him able to make his
+living by riding for a stake, well and good. He certainly would not run
+away with his pockets filled with pyrites. He expected to make a good
+many blunders, but Tom told himself he was used to that. What he thought
+of more than anything else was that nugget worth eight thousand dollars.
+
+They camped that night with a party of emigrants, and for the first time
+Tom had the luxury of sleeping out of doors; but the appetite he brought
+to the breakfast-table with him amply made amends for that. In all the
+hunting excursions he had enjoyed for a week or more on his uncle's
+plantation he always had a darky along to build a shelter for him, cook
+his breakfast for him, and do any other work that happened to be
+necessary, and all he had to do was to ride to and from his
+hunting-grounds and shoot the turkeys after he got there. The next night
+they drew up before a dugout, the first one he had ever seen. The only
+thing that pointed out its place of location were a couple of hay-racks,
+which had been torn to pieces by mules. There was not a human being in
+sight, not even standing in the door to bid them welcome.
+
+"Boys, I am glad my trip is done," said Mr. Kelley, as he threw himself
+from his horse, relieving him of his bridle as he did so. "Tom, what do
+you think of your new home?"
+
+"Why, there is nobody around here," said Tom, gazing on all sides of
+him.
+
+"Oh, they are around here somewhere. It isn't dark yet, and we'll get in
+and light a fire for them. They are out somewhere, looking for some lost
+cattle. We left two hundred head here when we went to the mountains."
+
+"To the mountains?" repeated Tom.
+
+"Yes. I tell you we want to get away from here when the blizzards fly,
+for there isn't a thing to shelter us. I don't expect we shall find more
+than fifty head of those cattle, if we do that."
+
+"What do you suppose will become of them?"
+
+"They will be dead, of course. You see, when cattle are loose on the
+prairie and a storm comes up, and they can't stand it any longer, they
+start and travel in the same way the storm is going; and as the storm
+lasts from three to four days, you can readily imagine that they must
+get exhausted before they stop. When the hailstones come down as large
+as hens' eggs, you can----"
+
+"Haw, haw!" laughed Monroe.
+
+"Well, as large as pigeons' eggs," said Kelley, "and I won't come down
+another grain in weight. Why, an army officer went by here two years ago
+hunting for his thirty-five mules that had been stampeded by a storm,
+and when he found them, there were only four that were able to stand
+alone. Oh, you get out, Monroe! You haven't seen any blizzard yet. Now,
+let's go in and get some supper."
+
+"But what makes the mules run so? Why don't they go under shelter?"
+added Tom, as he picked up his poncho and saddle and followed the man
+inside the house.
+
+"There was just where they were going--for shelter. There aint a piece
+of timber within twenty-five miles of this place to shelter a rabbit."
+
+"Then what do you use for fuel?"
+
+"Buffalo chips. There, Tom, put your plunder in there and set down and
+look around you. You wouldn't think the man who owns this place was
+worth two hundred thousand, but it is a fact."
+
+"Why doesn't he buy a better piece of ground, then? I wouldn't be so far
+from shelter if I were in his place."
+
+"Buy it? He doesn't own this property. Every acre of ground that he
+occupies is Congress land."
+
+"But I'll bet you he wouldn't give it up," said Stanley. "I'd like to
+see somebody come here and say this is his."
+
+"Then you will never see it. Mr. Parsons says that all this property
+will be thrown open to settlement some day, and then he and the rest of
+the squatters will have to go farther West. But, laws! he's got money
+enough, and he began life, Tom, just as you are going to--by taking a
+grub-stake and starting for the mountains. But come on, boys, and let's
+get supper. Stanley, just roll out the rest of that bacon and hard-tack,
+and, Monroe, you go outside and throw in some buffalo chips."
+
+Tom, weary with his long ride, made up his bunk, then threw himself upon
+it and looked about him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+A HOME RANCH.
+
+
+Tom was surprised at the interior of the dugout. From the outside it
+didn't look large enough to accommodate more than three or four men, but
+there were bunks for eight, and there was ample room for the cooking
+stove, a dilapidated affair which looked as though it might have come
+from somebody's scrap-pile and left one of its legs behind it. But there
+was plenty of "draw" to it, as Monroe came in with his arms full of
+buffalo chips, filled the stove full, and touched a match to them. On
+each side of the stove was a blanket, which on being raised proved to
+conceal little cupboards devoted to various odds and ends. One contained
+books and magazines, a whip or two, and several pairs of spurs, and in
+the other were to be found the dishes from which the inmates had eaten
+breakfast, all neatly washed and put away. Tom was surprised at the air
+of neatness that everywhere prevailed.
+
+"Oh, you won't find all dugouts like this one," said Monroe. "Some of
+them are so dirty that you can't find a place to spread your blanket.
+Mr. Parsons' cook did this work, and all the ole man does is to sit
+outside and smoke."
+
+"Here comes the ole man now," said Stanley, who had ascended to the top
+of the stairs and was looking out over the prairie. "He has got a small
+drove of cattle with him, so we shall have some corral duty to do
+to-night."
+
+"And I believe he has more than twenty-five head with him," said Mr.
+Kelley, who dropped everything and came to Stanley's side. "He's got
+fifty if he's got one. Boys, I guess you had better go out there. They
+are tired most to death, and we might let them come in and get some
+supper."
+
+Although the two cowboys had ridden all of fifty miles that day, there
+was no objection raised to this arrangement. Without saying a word they
+buckled on their belts containing their revolvers, shouldered their
+saddles and bridles, and went out behind the hay racks. When they came
+within sight a few minutes later, they were going at full speed to meet
+their employer and his cattle.
+
+"Now, maybe you are able to see something off there, but I can't," said
+Tom, after he had run his eyes in vain over the horizon. "I can't see a
+single thing."
+
+"Can't you see that long line that looks like a pencil-mark off there?"
+said Mr. Kelley, trying in vain to make Tom see the object at which he
+was looking. "Well, it's there plain enough. When you have been on the
+plains as long as I have, you'll notice all little objects like that
+one, and, furthermore, you will want to know what makes them. It will be
+two hours before they come up, and you sit down here on the bench and
+watch it. I will go down and get some supper."
+
+Tom seated himself on the bench beside the door and tried hard to make
+out the approaching line of cattle, but could not do it. Finally he was
+called to supper, and went down saying that he would give his eyes a
+little rest and then maybe he could see them; but he couldn't do it now.
+
+"Supposing you were in a line of march and had a scout out there where
+those men are, and he should begin riding in a circle, what would you
+say?" asked Mr. Kelley.
+
+"I wouldn't say anything," exclaimed Tom. "I wouldn't know what he
+meant."
+
+"He would mean that there was danger close at hand, and you had better
+be gathering your cattle up," said Mr. Kelley. "And if they were
+scattered as far apart as those cattle are, you would want a small
+battalion of men to answer your orders."
+
+"What would be the danger?"
+
+"From Cheyennes, of course."
+
+"Good gracious! Do they ever come out and threaten a whole ranchful of
+cattle?"
+
+"Certainly they do. But they are all right now. They haven't had any
+grievance for a long time, and they are as trustworthy as Indians ever
+get to be. I wouldn't put any faith in them, however. I'd have been
+worth half a million dollars if it hadn't been for those pesky
+redskins."
+
+"Did they steal from you?" asked Tom.
+
+"Yes, they stole me flat, but I got away with my life, and that is
+something to be thankful for. Now, go out and see if you can find those
+cattle."
+
+Tom obediently went, and whether it was from the long rest his eyes had
+had or from some other reason, he distinctly made out a long "pencil
+line" on the horizon. By watching it closely he finally made out that in
+certain places the line was interrupted, and finally decided that that
+was the place where some of the cattle had strayed more than they ought
+to; and he was confirmed in this idea when he saw a solitary figure move
+up and turn them in toward the centre. As Mr. Kelley, having finished
+his dishes, came out and sat down on the bench to enjoy his smoke, he
+finally made out the two horsemen who rode around the outskirts of the
+herd and gradually disappeared.
+
+"It won't be long now before the old man will be along," said he. "You
+will see that he won't ride through the drove, but will come around it.
+If he should try riding through it, he would have a stampede on his
+hands that would do your heart good to see."
+
+"Are they as wild as that?" asked Tom, who told himself that he was
+learning something about the cowboy's business the longer he talked with
+Mr. Kelley.
+
+"You just bet they are. If you should go among them on foot, you would
+either stampede them or else they would charge upon you and gore you to
+death. That's the reason we always use horses in tending cattle."
+
+In about half an hour two horsemen were seen riding around the outskirts
+of the herd. They took a wide circle, so as not to frighten the cattle,
+and finally drew a bee-line for the dugout. Mr. Kelley remarked that
+they were the ones he was expecting, dived down the stairs, and in a few
+minutes the rattling of dishes was heard as he proceeded with his
+preparations for a second supper. The horsemen were hungry, or else
+their animals were, for they occupied much less time in coming in than
+the cowboys who relieved them, and in short order they were near enough
+for Tom to distinguish their faces. Tom took a long look at the man who
+was going to befriend him. He knew who he was, for there was the cut of
+a leader about him; and when the man rode up and swung himself from his
+horse with a "How are you, Tom?" it proved to him that Stanley and
+Monroe had told him something about him.
+
+"Howdy?" shouted a voice from the dugout; and Mr. Kelley stuck his head
+up through the door. "We're still on hand, like a bad dollar bill. How
+many cattle have you got out there?"
+
+"Sixty-five; and pretty good luck, too, seeing that they have been
+stampeded more than forty miles. Where did you pick up this youngster?"
+added Mr. Parsons, giving Tom's hand a hearty squeeze. "I certainly do
+not remember seeing him before."
+
+"No, he's a tender-foot. As he didn't know what else to do, he came out
+here for somebody to grub-stake him."
+
+"Ah!"
+
+"Everyone who knows him has gone back on him," continued Mr. Kelley,
+"and so he has come out here to see if you won't stake him for a gold
+mine."
+
+"M-m-m!"
+
+"And as he cured me of the dumb ague by giving me a pitcher of
+ice-water, I thought I would bring him along."
+
+"Aha!" said the ranchman, who had kept a firm hold of Tom while his
+right-hand man was speaking. "You claim to be a doctor, do you? Well, we
+must do something for you. I was a little older than you are when I went
+into the mountains to seek for a gold mine, and, unfortunately for me, I
+found it. I smell bacon. Is supper ready yet?"
+
+Mr. Kelley made some sort of incoherent reply which Mr. Parsons and his
+man understood, for they dived down the doorway, leaving Tom standing
+alone.
+
+"Unfortunately he got it," Tom kept repeating to himself. "I don't see
+what there was unfortunate about it, unless he was cheated out of it. If
+I had as many cattle as he has got out there, and as many men to obey my
+orders, I should look upon myself as remarkably fortunate."
+
+Tom did not have any opportunity to talk further with Mr. Parsons that
+night, for as soon as he had eaten supper he went to bed and was soon
+sleeping soundly. Tom felt the need of slumber, and when he thought he
+could do so without disturbing anybody, he slipped quietly down the
+stairs. There sat Mr. Kelley fast asleep on his dry-goods box, holding
+in his hand the copy of a newspaper about a fortnight old, and which he
+had been trying to read by the aid of the smoky candle that gave out
+just light enough to show how dark it was; and as everybody else felt
+the need of slumber, and gave over to the influence of it wherever they
+happened to be, Tom threw off his boots and tumbled into his bunk. Once
+during the night he was aroused by somebody coming in and informing Mr.
+Kelley that it was twelve o'clock; then there was a stir of changing
+watches and the camp became silent again. Or no; it wasn't silent. Just
+after the watches had been changed (for men had to keep track of the
+cattle during the night and see that nothing happened to stampede them)
+Tom was treated to a wolf serenade. It began faint and far off, and then
+all on a sudden broke out so fiercely that it seemed as if the pack had
+surrounded the cabin and were about to make an assault upon it.
+
+"What was that?" asked Tom, starting up in alarm.
+
+"It's the pesky coyotes," said Monroe, who was taking off his boots.
+"We're always glad to hear them, for then we know that there is nothing
+else about."
+
+"What else do you think might be about?" said Tom, wondering how any
+lone hunter could find any consolation in such a dismal serenade.
+
+"Indians," said the cowboy shortly. "Good-night."
+
+After that Tom did not sleep very soundly, for at times it seemed to him
+that some of the fierce animals had come to the door, which stood wide
+open all this while, and were about to come in. Once he was sure he
+heard them on top of the cabin, but the others slept on and paid no
+attention to it, and finally Tom became somewhat accustomed to it. He
+did not think he had closed his eyes at all in slumber, but when he
+awoke to a full sense of what was going on, he found that there were
+only two men left in the cabin, Mr. Parsons and his cook. The former sat
+on the edge of his bunk pulling on his boots, and the cook was busy with
+his frying-pan.
+
+"Hallo, youngster!" said Mr. Parsons cheerfully. "You'll have to get up
+earlier than this if you're going to strike a gold mine. Why, it must be
+close on to six o'clock."
+
+"I was awfully tired last night, and the wolves kept me awake," said
+Tom. "I don't see how anybody can sleep with such a din in his ears."
+
+"The time may come when you will be glad to hear them. If there are any
+Indians around, you won't hear them; just the minute the Indians break
+loose the wolves all seem to go into their holes; but when the Indians
+are whipped, they are out in full force."
+
+Tom noticed that the men seemed to be in a hurry, and he lost no time in
+packing his outfit. He ate breakfast when Mr. Parsons did, sitting down
+to it without any invitation from anybody, swallowed his coffee and
+pancakes scalding hot, saddled his horse, and rode away, leaving the
+cook to straighten affairs in the dugout; and all the while it seemed to
+him that he hadn't had any breakfast at all. He couldn't see anything of
+the cattle; but Mr. Parsons put his horse into a lope and proceeded to
+fill his pipe as he went.
+
+"I suppose you know your cattle have gone this way, don't you?" said
+Tom.
+
+"Of course I do," answered Mr. Parsons, taking a long pull at his pipe
+to make sure it was well lighted. "They are ten miles on the way nearer
+home than we are, and we have got to make that up."
+
+"Do you always drive your cattle into the mountains in winter?"
+
+"Yes, sir. We have had some blizzards here that would make your eyes
+bung out if you could have seen them, and I would be penniless to-day if
+my cattle had been caught in them. Some of the cattle ahead of us have
+been driven forty miles by a blizzard that struck us last fall, and I
+have just succeeded in finding them. If my neighbor hadn't been as
+honest as they make them, I wouldn't have got them at all. It would be
+very easy for him to round them up and brand them over again, and then
+tell me that if I could find an arrow brand in his herd I could have
+them."
+
+"How far does your nearest neighbor live from you?"
+
+"Just a jump--fifteen or twenty miles, maybe."
+
+Fifteen or twenty miles! None nearer than that! Tom had found out by
+experience that distances didn't count for anything on the prairie.
+
+"You said last night, in speaking of your gold find, that, unfortunately
+for you, you got it," Tom reminded him. "I would like to know what you
+meant by that. Were you cheated out of it?"
+
+Mr. Parsons replied, with a laugh, that he was not cheated out of it,
+but, on the whole, it didn't much matter. He took a party of experts up
+there, and, after working over the mine for a week or more, they gave
+him twenty thousand dollars for it, of which five thousand went to him
+and the balance to his employer. That made him lazy--too lazy to go to
+work. He spent three thousand dollars in grub-staking men to look up
+claims for him until the end of the year, when he found out that he
+wasn't making anything by it, so he took the balance of his money and
+went into the cattle business.
+
+"That gave me my start," said Mr. Parsons in conclusion. "In four years
+I had made up the money I had spent, and vowed I never would go into it
+again; but here I am talking of sending you to the mountains."
+
+"Do you think you are not going to make anything by it?"
+
+"Well, yes," said Mr. Parsons, with another laugh. "But I have got to do
+something to help you. You ride pretty well, and I should think you
+ought to go into the cattle business."
+
+"Who will take me? Will you?"
+
+"Well, no; I can't. I have had to discharge some parties, not having
+work for them to attend to, and I don't know how I could use you. I will
+tell you this much: when you come back in the spring, I will give you a
+show."
+
+"Thank you," replied Tom. "That's the first encouragement I have had.
+But you say it took you four years to make up the money you had spent.
+I'm not going to stay here four years."
+
+"You aint? What are you going to do?"
+
+"I am going to look for that nugget that Elam Storm has lost."
+
+"Oh, ah!" said Mr. Parsons, the expression on his face giving way to one
+of intense disgust. "Well, you'll never find it."
+
+"Why not? The edge of Death Valley is just crowded with men who haven't
+given up all hopes of finding it."
+
+"Crowded! Young man, I wonder if you know how big Death Valley is?
+Crowded! Now and then you'll find a man who still has that nugget on the
+brain, but if the man who hid it himself, not more than two years ago,
+can't find it, I think it is useless for others to try. There have been
+landslides in all the canyons that run through there till you can't
+rest. I'll tell you what I'll do: if you will find that nugget, I will
+give you ten thousand dollars for it. That's a better offer than I made
+you a while ago. And you may keep the nugget besides. If you are around
+when anybody else digs it up, I will give you five thousand dollars."
+
+There was something in this offer that completely shut off all
+discussion of the finding of Elam Storm's nugget. Mr. Parsons did not
+refer to the matter again, and neither did Tom; but the latter still
+clung to the hope of finding the gold. The nugget was there, or why
+should so large a number of men be on the lookout for it? And if he
+_should_ happen to strike it, he would be a rich man. During all his
+rides he kept that one thought in his mind, and nothing could shake it
+out. There was one thing that ought to have opened Tom's eyes, and that
+was that no nugget of gold had been struck in that country for miles
+around. The nearest place at which any had been found was at Pike's
+Peak, and that was over two hundred miles away. But Tom didn't know
+that, and the only thing that kept the cowboys from telling him of it
+was the fact that when he was in the mountains he would think he was
+doing something, but if he knew there was no gold to reward his search,
+he would give up in despair.
+
+It took our party five days to make the journey between the dugout and
+headquarters, for the cattle were slow of movement, and, besides, they
+were allowed to graze on the way. About ten o'clock a fierce winter
+wind, which made Tom bundle his overcoat closer about him and pull his
+collar up about his ears, sprung up from over the prairie, and the
+cattle ceased feeding and struck out for a canyon about a mile wide
+which opened close in front of them. Along this they held their way for
+five miles and better, until it finally emerged into a broad natural
+prairie, large enough, Tom thought, to pasture all the cattle in the
+country, and went to feeding with one of the herds. The air was soft and
+balmy, and Tom's overcoat was resting across the horn of his saddle. Mr.
+Parsons pulled up his horse and gazed around him with a smile of
+satisfaction.
+
+"These cattle are all mine, Tom," said he. "Every horn and hoof you see
+here has been paid for, and if you want to get in the same way, I will
+give you a chance when you come back to me in the spring. Monroe, you
+and Stanley might as well go out and see if you can find anything of
+that bronco. Tom wants to go away, and we must fit him out early in the
+morning."
+
+This was bringing the matter squarely home to Tom. He was to go away in
+the morning! He looked up at the mountains, and they seemed so large and
+he so small by comparison that he shuddered while he thought of getting
+bewildered in some of those canyons, and lying down and dying there and
+nobody would know what had become of him. But Mr. Parsons didn't
+discourage him. He was made of sterner stuff. He looked up and said with
+an air of determination:
+
+"Yes, I want to get off. The sooner I get to work the sooner I shall be
+doing something to earn my living."
+
+"That's the idea," said Mr. Parsons. "Stick to that and you will come
+out all right. Now, let's go home."
+
+Tom waved his hand to the two cowboys, who galloped away in one
+direction, while he and Mr. Parsons held down the valley, making a wide
+circuit to get out of reach of the grazing cattle. After going in a lope
+Mr. Parsons drew up his horse and began to talk seriously to Tom. He
+told him plainly of the dangers and sufferings which would fall to his
+lot if he endeavored to carry out his plan, but he did not try to turn
+him from his purpose. On the contrary, he tried to warn him so that when
+the dangers came he would be prepared to meet them half-way. He kept
+this up until the home ranch appeared in view, and then he stopped, for
+he didn't want the cowboys to hear what he was saying.
+
+This home ranch was not a dugout. There was a neat cabin to take the
+place of it, and Tom thought some of the cowboys had used an axe pretty
+well by the way they fashioned the logs and put them together. There
+were half a dozen hay-racks out behind the house, protected from
+wandering cattle by rail fences, and there wasn't a thing on the porch,
+no saddles, bridles, and riding whips, all such things having been put
+into a cubby-hole in the rear of the house. But it so happened that the
+cook, who had got there first, had peeled off his coat, and was engaged
+in straightening things out.
+
+"I never did see such a mess as these fellows leave when I go away for
+five minutes," said he. "I can't find a thing where it ought to be,
+though I have hunted high and low for that carving-knife."
+
+Tom took his seat at Mr. Parsons' side while he filled up preparatory to
+a smoke. There were one or two little things that he wanted to speak to
+him about.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+LOST IN THE MOUNTAINS.
+
+
+When Mr. Parsons had fairly settled himself, filled his pipe, lighted
+it, and fell to nursing his leg as a man might who felt at peace with
+himself and all the world, Tom said:
+
+"You didn't say anything about my horse in telling me what I should have
+to get through with. Did you mean that I should leave him at home, and
+go on foot?"
+
+"I did, certainly," said Mr. Parsons. "You will find that the bronco
+will go through some places that you will not care to ride, and,
+besides, you will have one horse less to take care of, and one less to
+watch."
+
+"Have I got to watch him all the time?"
+
+"Well, yes. You must keep the halter on him all the time, and tie him
+fast to a tree when you go into camp. If you don't, he will run away and
+leave you. He'll turn around and take the back track as soon as your
+pack grows light, and you had better come, too."
+
+"That's what one of the cowboys told me," said Tom. "Now, I have got
+some money here. I don't suppose it will be of the least use to me in
+the mountains, and I should like to leave it with somebody."
+
+"All right. Leave your horse and your money with me, and I will take
+care of them."
+
+"If I don't come back, they are yours," continued Tom. "Now, I should
+like to have a gun of some sort."
+
+Without saying a word Mr. Parsons went into the house and brought out a
+rifle and a revolver. Tom took them and examined them, and the way he
+drew the rifle to his face rather astonished Mr. Parsons. He remarked
+that he had handled guns before in his day, and Tom told him that he
+could not remember the time when he did not have a horse and shotgun for
+his own. His uncle furnished him with all these things.
+
+"Then right there is where you ought to have stayed," said Mr. Parsons,
+throwing more energy into his tones than he usually did. "I hope you're
+not going to be sick of your bargain, but I'm afraid you are. Here comes
+the bronco. Do you think you can manage that fellow?"
+
+The bronco which came up at that moment, with Stanley's lariat fastened
+about his neck, was like any other horse, only he seemed to be tired.
+When they stopped him, he lowered his head and drew up one of his hind
+feet, and closed his eyes as if he were fast asleep. But Tom knew better
+than to fool with him. He had read enough to know that the word came
+from the Spanish and meant "wild," and he had got his name from his
+persistent efforts to keep wild cowboys off his back. He couldn't be
+ridden, that was the matter with him; but he would carry a pack-saddle
+all day, and never had been known to leave a man he had accompanied to
+the mountains. Tom said he thought he could manage him, and patted him
+all over; but the horse never opened his eyes to look at him.
+
+Preparations were made for getting Tom off as soon as it was light, and
+by the time darkness fell all was ready. A pack-saddle was brought out
+which looked as though it had been through two or three wars, and the
+cook, following the instructions of his master, began to fill it full of
+provisions, giving no heed to Tom to ask him whether the supplies he
+furnished suited him or not. He had provided so many men with provender
+that he thought anything that would do for one would do for another.
+With darkness came three more cowboys, who listened to what Mr. Parsons
+had to say, and then greeted Tom very cordially, and wished him
+unbounded success in his efforts to find Elam Storm's nugget. One man,
+especially, was particularly interested in Tom's fortunes. He advised
+him to dig wherever he saw a landslide, and if he happened to hit upon
+the right place he would strike it sure. The spot where the man hid it
+was obliterated, but that wouldn't hinder the proper person from
+unearthing the nugget if he only chanced to dig where it was.
+
+"I have looked for that nugget a good many times, and that is the only
+thing that has kept me from finding it; I didn't dig where it was," said
+the man, with something like a sigh of regret. "I know it is somewhere
+in the mountains, else why should so many persons be looking for it?"
+
+Morning came at last, and after Tom had eaten a hasty breakfast he saw
+the pack strapped on his bronco; and the whole thing was done so easily,
+with two experienced cowboys at work, that he regarded it as the least
+difficult part of his undertaking. He had been told repeatedly to get
+the pack on right, and not to unhitch his horse until he did it, or the
+bronco would knock him and his burden into the middle of next week and
+come home, leaving him to follow after as best he could. But Tom was
+sure he had it "down fine," and with a cheerful good-by to the cowboys
+who had assembled to see him off, and a hasty slap on the bronco's flank
+to help him along, he started gayly for the mountains. When he saw that
+camp again, he hoped to have the eight thousand dollar nugget stowed
+away in his pack-saddle.
+
+The first day's work Tom could not complain of. The bronco kept up a
+lively walk, swinging his head from side to side and turning first into
+one canyon and then into another, and did not think it necessary to stop
+for anything to eat until he made his way to a little grove of trees,
+drew a long breath as he stopped under the shade, and looked around at
+Tom as if asking him why he didn't take his pack off. Tom leaned his
+rifle against a log and took his pack off very easily, and the horse
+immediately began taking his supper. Then Tom picked up his rifle and
+looked about him.
+
+"I declare! I believe the whole canyon is full of landslides," said he,
+as he gazed at one pile of rubbish after another filled with logs,
+rocks, and brush which nature had thrown into the valley, some new and
+of recent origin, and others bearing the marks of age upon them. "Hold
+on. Isn't that the mark of a spade over there?"
+
+Tom walked over and looked at it. It was the mark of a spade, sure
+enough, where a man had commenced digging where the landslide ended, and
+had thrown out just earth enough to prove that he had been there, and
+that was all. There were other openings of like character, until Tom
+counted ten in number. Then he looked up at the huge mass above him, and
+made an estimate that it would take an army of men, each armed with a
+spade and pick, to work it all away. These were probably the marks of
+the elderly man among the cowboys, who told him that the reason he
+didn't find the nugget was because he didn't dig in the right place. Tom
+shouldered his rifle, walked back to his log, and sat down.
+
+"I really believe I have been duped," said he disconsolately. "If the
+landslides are all like that, I am certainly not going to work to throw
+them all away just to make eight thousand dollars. Besides, what use
+will it be to me to work where he has been? I'll go on a little
+further."
+
+If Tom had any idea of a landslide, it was a little piece of ground
+which could be thrown away in half a day's time; but the sight of a
+_real_ landslide was what took his breath away. He didn't eat a very
+hearty supper after that, for the thought that was uppermost in his mind
+was that the men who had stood by him, and of whom he had a right to
+expect something better, had completely fooled him in regard to Elam
+Storm's nugget. Instead of telling him that there wasn't any show at all
+of his success, they had fitted him out and sent him away to put in a
+month of his time. There was one thing about it: he would not go back
+until every mouthful in the pack-saddle had been eaten. That much he was
+determined on.
+
+"I had an idea that cowboys were above suspicion, but now I know they
+are not," said Tom spitefully. "I can waste a month of their grub as
+well as anybody, and I won't put a spade in the ground until I see some
+prospects of success."
+
+At the end of a week Tom was still of the same determination, although
+he saw much to discourage him. It was landslides everywhere, and the
+mark of a man's spade was on every one; so it showed that the bronco had
+been over that same ground before. The way was getting lonely, they were
+getting deeper and deeper into the mountains, and somehow Tom felt very
+disconsolate. A deep silence brooded over everything--a silence so
+utterly mysterious that he was not accustomed to it. How gladly he would
+have welcomed Jerry Lamar and listened to news from home and from the
+uncle he had deserted. Another week and Tom found himself hopelessly in
+a pocket. Turn which way he would, there was no chance for him to get
+out. The man had been there before him--indeed, he seemed to have gone
+into all the places and thrown out just earth enough to prove that he
+had been there, but not enough to accomplish anything. It was just
+enough to let Tom see how useless it was to dig there.
+
+Tom's two weeks of tramping in the mountains had given him a ravenous
+appetite; his bronco was hitched so that he could not take to his heels
+and leave his master to find his own way home; and as he sat there on
+his blanket, dividing his attention between his cup of coffee,
+hard-tack, and bacon, he thought seriously of going back to
+headquarters. This was undoubtedly the remotest point reached by the
+man, and if one of his experience should be frightened out by a few
+shovelfuls of earth, or scared at finding himself in a pocket, Tom
+thought himself entitled to follow his lead. It had taken him two weeks
+to reach the pocket (he had managed to keep close run of the days); it
+would probably take him fully as long to return, and so he would fill
+Mr. Parsons' contract anyway. And so it was settled that he was to go
+home; but there's many a slip between determining upon a thing and doing
+it. He finished his coffee and bacon, led the horse down to the spring,
+from which he had scraped the leaves, to give him a drink, and rolled
+himself up in his blanket to go to sleep with his ready rifle safe
+beside him.
+
+How long he slept he did not know, but he was awakened about midnight by
+a sound he had never heard before. It came from his horse, but it wasn't
+a neigh: it was the sound of fear, and made the cold chills creep all
+over him. He started up with his rifle in his hand, but did not have
+time to get off the blanket. Another shriek, which sounded like somebody
+in fearful bodily agony, came from the bushes, and the next minute the
+horse was on the ground and struggling in the grasp of some animal or
+thing which Tom could not remember to have seen or heard of before. It
+had a long neck, long legs, and a wonderfully high body which was
+increased materially by a hump on its back. The horse was as nothing in
+its grasp, and the struggle took place not over ten feet from the
+blanket on which Tom was sitting.
+
+"Great Moses!" was Tom's mental ejaculation.
+
+He sat for an instant as if spellbound, and then his rifle arose to his
+face. He was sure he had a good shot at it and expected to see it drop;
+but instead of that it gave another shriek, tossed the horse away from
+it, breaking like thread the lariat with which he was confined, and with
+a single jump disappeared in the bushes. Tom listened, but could hear no
+sound coming from it to tell what sort of a beast it was. Then he got
+upon his feet and turned his attention to the wounded horse. He was past
+the doctor's aid, for he was dead.
+
+"Well, that beats me," said he, going back to the fire and starting it
+up, so that he could see what sort of wounds the beast had made. "I
+never heard of an animal like that before."
+
+A good many boys would have been startled pretty near to death by the
+sudden appearance of an apparition like that. It must be possessed of
+tremendous power to toss the broncho about as it did, and break the
+lariat with which he was fastened. No ghost could do that, and neither
+could a ghost have made that wide and fearful rent that Tom found when
+he had punched up the fire. Tom thought it best to build up a bright
+blaze, for he did not know how long it would be before the animal would
+come back to finish its work. He loaded the rifle carefully and placed
+the revolver where he could get his hands upon it at a moment's warning.
+He thought of grizzly bears, but had never heard of them taking to the
+bushes on account of a single bullet.
+
+"It couldn't have been a panther or a bear, unless my eyes were
+deceiving me, for it was at least four times as big as the horse," said
+Tom, picking up a brand from the fire and once more approaching the
+specimen of the apparition's handiwork. He hadn't been in sight more
+than a minute, and yet the horse was as dead as a door-nail. "He must
+have been a flesh-eater, for nothing else that I know of could have made
+such wounds. I am beat. Now, how am I going to find my way home?"
+
+If Tom had been frightened at first, he was doubly so now. He was so
+confused he couldn't think. From that hour he sat there on his blanket,
+and by the time that daylight fell so that he could distinguish objects
+near him he had made up his mind what he was going to do. He would take
+everything out of the pack-saddle that he could carry on his back, and
+make his way out of the pocket the same way he came in. He had
+remembered enough of his skill in woodcraft to turn and take a survey of
+his back track, so that it would not appear odd to him when he came to
+go that way again, and he had no doubt that he would be able to find it.
+More than that, the bronco had left the prints of his hoofs and had
+continually browsed on the way, and, taking all these things together,
+Tom was certain that he could strike the trail.
+
+"It is going to be a tight squawk," he soliloquized, "but I am not lost
+yet. I only wish I knew what that animal was. It would take a big load
+off my shoulders if I did."
+
+Tom did not waste any time in forming his bundle, for there were some
+things about the pocket that he did not care to see. He wanted to get
+out of sight of every thing that reminded him of his terrible fright. He
+put all his bacon, hard-tack, and coffee into his blanket, strapped his
+pot to his belt behind, set his pick, spade, and pack-saddle up where
+they could be easily found, shouldered his rifle, and, with a farewell
+glance at the bronco, which had carried his pack so faithfully for him
+so many miles, he plunged into the bushes and left the pocket behind.
+
+For that one single day everything went well. He found the bronco's hoof
+prints in the sand, and easily discovered the places where he had been
+browsing on the way, and as long as these signs remained he couldn't get
+lost. He even found, too, the place where they had stopped the night
+before, but going into camp without the presence of the horse was
+lonesome to him. He saw the place where he had scraped away the leaves
+from the side of the stream to give him a spot to drink, and found the
+sapling to which he had hitched him, and the place where he had spread
+his blanket--but there was little sleep for him that night.
+
+"I wish I knew what that animal was," thought Tom, as he sat on his
+blanket with his rifle in readiness on his knees. "The more I think of
+him the more frightened I become. I wish I was safe at headquarters."
+
+Remember that the signs Tom had been following were only one day old,
+and on the morning of the second day he could not find the place where
+he had entered the camp. Turn which way he would he could not discover
+any footprints. He finally concluded that the middle canyon looked more
+familiar to him than the rest, and, with his heart in his mouth, he
+struck into it. At the spot where the canyon branched into another he
+found a little stream which ran in the direction he thought he ought to
+go, and close beside the stream was a footprint which he took to be his
+own. He was all right now, and with every mile he travelled the faster
+he went, in the hope of finding something else that was encouraging, but
+that solitary footprint was the only thing he saw. There was one thing
+about it that kept up his spirits, and that was he was following a
+stream that ran toward the prairie, and he would continue to follow it
+until the stream or his provisions gave out, and then----Well, that
+hadn't happened yet, and wouldn't happen till he was where he could get
+more provisions. He must reach the house or he would lose his horse and
+$150 in money. He went into camp at a solitary place that night, and,
+for a wonder, slept soundly.
+
+The next morning he was up bright and early, but he did not seem to have
+much appetite for breakfast. And it was so every day until a week had
+passed, and still no change for the better. He was so impatient that he
+could scarcely go into camp. He was impatient to be journeying along
+that little stream that seemed to lead him toward the prairie, but every
+time he looked up and tried to wonder where he was, there were the same
+gloomy mountains stretched away before him that he had at first seen in
+the pocket where he had lost his horse. Tom took no note of the fact
+that his wearing apparel was getting the worse for wear, or that he had
+left his blanket back at his last camping-place, but he did take notice
+that his mind was filled with gloomy forebodings. Why could he not climb
+that mountain on his left and see what was ahead of him? The thought no
+sooner came into his mind than he banished it, took a drink of fresh
+water, and started out at a more moderate pace.
+
+"I'm lost," said he, with a sinking at his heart to which he was an
+entire stranger; "and if I give way to those thoughts, I shall be lost
+utterly. Why did I not think of my gun?"
+
+Tom dropped his pack by his side and fired and loaded three times as
+fast as he could make his fingers move. Then he waited again and fired
+three more; and scarcely had the echoes of the last report died away
+among the mountains when he heard a faint reply, though it came from so
+many directions that he couldn't tell from which way it sounded. But he
+took it to come from down the stream, and, leaving his bundle behind, he
+started in that direction, raising a shout which, to save his life, he
+could not utter above a whisper. He ran until he thought he ought to be
+about where the sound came from, then stopped and fired his gun again,
+and this time met with an immediate response. It was down the stream,
+and there was no doubt about it.
+
+"Who-whoop! Where are you?" shouted Tom, so impatient he could scarcely
+stand still. "I am lost!"
+
+"Follow the stream and you'll strike me," said a voice, and Tom noticed
+that for a backwoods fellow he talked remarkably plain.
+
+It was three weeks since Tom had seen anybody or heard anyone speak, and
+his eagerness to see where the voice came from was desperate. Throwing
+his gun upon the rocks, he broke into another run, and there, just as he
+turned around an abrupt bend in the canyon, he saw the person to whom it
+belonged. The speaker stood with his hat and coat off; his pick lay
+against a stone near by, and the shovel which he had been in the act of
+using when Tom's rifle shots fell upon his ears was standing upright in
+the ground; but he had taken precautions for any emergency, for he held
+his rifle in the hollow of his arm. Beyond a doubt somebody had been
+grub-staking him for gold, or for something else which he was equally
+anxious to find. Tom had just wind enough to take note of these things,
+and then he staggered to a rock near by and seated himself upon it.
+
+"You won't find any gold here," said Tom, resting his elbows on his
+knees and looking down at the ground.
+
+[Illustration: TOM'S NEW ACQUAINTANCE.]
+
+The stranger uncocked his gun, and, bringing the piece to an order arms,
+leaned upon it. He looked hard at Tom, but had nothing to say.
+
+"I have been all over this country, but not a cent's worth of gold could
+I find in it," continued Tom, taking off his hat and drawing his hand
+across his forehead. "Somebody has duped you just the same as they duped
+me."
+
+"Where's your gun?" asked the stranger.
+
+"I left it in the bend up there," said Tom, anxious to hear the sound of
+the voice again. "I was so impatient to get to you that I left it up
+there. I haven't heard a stranger speak for three weeks."
+
+"Where did you come from?"
+
+"Wait till I get my breath and I will answer all your questions. I came
+from a pocket back here in the mountains, where I lost my horse. I wish
+you could have seen that animal, for I don't know what it was: long
+neck, long head, and a body that looked twice as big as my horse. And
+then how strong it was! It broke my lariat----"
+
+"What color was it?" said the stranger, beginning to take a deep
+interest in what his guest had to say.
+
+"I didn't see that it was any other color when compared with my horse.
+It looked just the same--a dark brown. It had a hump on its back----"
+
+"The Red Ghost, by George!"
+
+Tom started and looked at him in amazement.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE CAMP OF ELAM, THE WOLFER.
+
+
+"I aint got any business to be digging around here," said the stranger,
+laying down his rifle and picking up his coat. "We'll go back and get
+your gun, Tender-foot. How far is that pocket from here?"
+
+"Why, it is a two-weeks' journey," said Tom, who suddenly became aware
+that he would have to go over that long tramp again. "I never could find
+my way back there in the world."
+
+"Who sent you into the mountains to dig for my nugget?"
+
+"Your nugget?"
+
+"Them's my very words, stranger."
+
+"Why, who are you?"
+
+"I am Elam Storm, the man who lost the nugget twenty years ago, and who
+intends to have it back if he has to kill every man this side of the
+country you came from; and where's that?"
+
+Tom, who had arisen from his rock at the same time the stranger began to
+put on his coat, stared fixedly at the speaker, and then sat down again.
+So this was Elam Storm, the man who had a better right to the nugget
+than anybody else in the world! He was a boy, not more than nineteen or
+twenty years of age, but he had a face on him which expressed the utmost
+resolution. And he had the physical power, too, to carry out his
+determination, for, as he moved around his camp, putting away his tools
+where he could readily find them, he showed muscles which said that it
+would not be a safe piece of business for anyone to interfere with that
+nugget.
+
+"Where did you come from, I asked you?"
+
+"I came from down in Mississippi, where my uncle owns a plantation and a
+heap of niggers," answered Tom, who did not like the way the boy eyed
+him when he spoke.
+
+"And right there is where you ought to have stayed," said Elam. "Did you
+hear anything about the nugget down there?"
+
+"Of course not," replied Tom, surprised at the proposition. "I started
+to go to Texas, but got on the wrong boat and was brought up here. I
+couldn't do anything else, and so Mr. Parsons grub-staked me and sent me
+into the mountains. He lives out that way a short distance."
+
+"How far do you call a short distance?"
+
+"Fifteen or twenty miles, maybe."
+
+"Haw-ha! Man, you're just about a hundred miles from where he lives."
+
+Tom caught his breath, but could say nothing in reply.
+
+"You have been going further and further away from him ever since you
+lost your horse," continued Elam. "Come on; let's go and get your
+rifle."
+
+"You say that nugget of yours was lost twenty years ago," said Tom, as
+he fell in behind Elam, being afraid to do anything else. "You are not
+that old, are you?"
+
+"Well, not so long as that!" laughed Elam. "It is a long story and will
+take you a good portion of the evening to listen to it. I will tell it
+to you to-night. Now, then, which canyon did you come down?"
+
+Tom looked up and found himself confronted by three gullies, which came
+down and met at that one point. He said he didn't know, but Elam, after
+looking around a little, started up one with as much confidence as
+though he had seen Tom when he came out. After some questioning from Tom
+he showed him a little twig, not larger than a needle, which he had
+brushed off in his hurried flight after he had thrown down his gun; and
+a short distance farther on he found the weapon, which Tom, in his
+excitement, had tossed clear across the creek. Tom was surprised when
+Elam stepped across the stream and picked up the weapon, and relieved
+when it was handed over to him with the assurance that it had suffered
+no injury in its collision with the rocks.
+
+"Now, we will let the bundle go," said he. "There is nothing in it that
+will pay us to go back after it, and I am too tired to go a step
+farther. I hope your camp isn't a great ways from here."
+
+Elam replied that for him it was "just a jump," but he would walk slowly
+so as not to tire the pilgrim. He stopped at his camp where he had been
+digging, and gave Tom a small supply of the corn bread and bacon which
+he had left over from his dinner, and while Tom was eating it he sat by
+on a rock with his elbows resting on his knees. Tom ate as though he
+hadn't had anything for a month, and when his repast was ended, Elam
+took his spade and pick under one arm, shouldered his rifle with the
+other, and set off in a way that was calculated to tire any man, no
+matter how well equipped he might be for travelling. But Tom did not
+care for that. He wanted to get home,--any place was better than the
+bare canyon,--where he could lie down and sleep with nothing to bother
+him. Once in a while Elam turned around and said to him:
+
+"To think that I have been wasting my time for the last month in digging
+in such places as this! I ought to have been fifty miles from here, for
+I know about where that canyon of yours is."
+
+"Do you think that that Red Ghost, or whatever you call it----"
+
+Tom happened to look up and saw that Elam was facing him, and was
+astonished at the expression that came upon his countenance. He would
+not have believed that one who was so sensible on every other point
+should be willing to admit that the apparition that had visited him in
+the pocket and robbed him of his horse was not due to superhuman agency.
+
+"I know how you, Tender-foot, feel about this, but wait until you have a
+chance to shoot it plumb through the head, and it gets away with it all,
+and then tell me what you would think," said Elam sullenly. "You
+probably don't have such things in the settlements, but that's no sign
+that they aint found out here."
+
+"I had as fair a shot at it as anybody could have," said Tom, "and it
+wasn't over ten feet from me. I saw the blood spurt out from a hole in
+its neck, and it flung the horse away from it, broke the lariat, and
+went into the bushes. But do you think it is guarding that treasure?"
+
+"I know it, and nobody can't make me believe differently. I have seen it
+often enough, and it has got the mark of three of my bullets on it."
+
+Elam faced about and went on his way at a faster gait than before, and
+Tom let him go. As eager as he was to learn something about the Red
+Ghost, he was still more eager to reach a permanent camp where he could
+lie down and rest. He found that he was pretty nearly barefooted. His
+sheep's-gray pants hung in tatters about his worn shoes, and Elam had a
+way of jumping from one stone to another and coming down on top of a log
+in a manner that he did not like. At length, when the sun began to go
+down, and Tom experienced some difficulty in finding a place for his
+feet, Elam stopped on the edge of a natural prairie, and pointed out
+something a short distance off.
+
+"There's my horse," said he. "And yonder, where that little grove of
+trees comes down into the prairie, is where my shanty is located. Can
+you stand it till we get there?"
+
+Oh, yes, Tom could stand it that far. He fell in behind Elam, paying no
+attention to the horse, which came up and followed along in their rear,
+pushed his way along the evergreens, and was finally brought to a stand
+by a door in a substantial log house. It was fastened by a bolt on the
+inside, but as the string was out, Elam easily opened it.
+
+"You are welcome to the cabin of Elam, the wolfer," said he, leading the
+way in and pointing to a pile of skins which served him for a bed.
+"Tumble in there, and don't get up till you get ready."
+
+"Thank you," said Tom, handing his rifle to Elam and throwing himself at
+length on the couch. "I never was so tired in my life."
+
+Elam had hardly time to set the rifle up in a corner and shut the door
+before Tom was fast asleep. How long he slept he did not know, but
+during the whole of it he felt that he was under the care of somebody
+who could protect him. If there were any ghosts to visit that camp, they
+would have to strike Elam first.
+
+The first thing he became aware of when he got his eyes fairly opened
+was that he was so full of aches and pains that he could scarcely move,
+and the next, that he did not recognize a thing about the establishment.
+Gradually he raised himself on his elbow, and then Elam Storm came into
+his mind. He could not remember much of what he had said to Elam during
+their first meeting,--he must have been about half crazy, he thought,
+when he talked to him,--but he had said enough to bring him a good bed
+and a sound sleep besides. He found that his feet had been interfered
+with--that they felt easier than they did before; and on removing the
+blanket that had been thrown over them he discovered that his tattered
+shoes and stockings had been removed; that they had been wiped dry and
+moved closer to the fire, which had evidently been going at a great rate
+before it died down to its present bed of ashes. There was plenty of
+wood right there, and with much extra exertion Tom managed to crawl to
+it, and by the persistent blowing of a coal into flame he succeeded in
+starting a fair blaze. Then he contrived to get up. There was a big hunk
+of johnny cake on the table, a slice of bacon with a knife handy to cut
+it, and a bag which proved to contain coffee. A further examination
+showed him that Elam had not gone about his business without leaving a
+letter behind him to tell where he was. The first was a chunk of bark on
+which was rudely traced a picture of a man gathering traps. He knew that
+he was taking the game in, for there was a representation of game in the
+trap. A second piece of bark lay under the first, and Tom could not for
+a long time make sense of what it contained. It was blurred, and was
+intended to represent a man going into camp. In other words, if Elam did
+not get home by daylight, Tom need not worry about it. The pictures were
+rudely traced in charcoal, but the drawing was perfect.
+
+"If I had not been tolerably well posted in backwoods lore, I could not
+have made head or tail out of these pictures," said Tom; and as he spoke
+he thought over all the lessons he had learned from the Indians and
+darkies in the swamp. "Elam is going out to gather his traps, and if he
+does not come home before to-morrow, I need not bother my head about it.
+What is he going to gather up his traps for? I shall have to wait till
+he comes home to have that explained, and now I'll go to work and get
+some breakfast."
+
+Tom had used up nearly all the wood to replenish the fire, and he began
+casting his eyes about the shanty to see if Elam had another pair of
+shoes in waiting to be put on when his own boots became wet, and found
+some moccasons with a pair of stockings neatly folded and hung beside
+them. Elam had worn them once, but that did not matter. He put them on,
+and, seeing Elam's axe resting in one corner, caught it up and went out
+to renew his supply of fire-wood. Hearing the blows of the axe, the
+horse came up and snorted at him, but could not be induced to come near.
+This made it plain that the man who attempted to rob Elam would have to
+leave his horse behind.
+
+Tom chopped until his appetite began to get the better of him, and then
+went in and busied himself about his breakfast. He left the door open
+(for all the light that was admitted to the cabin came through a space
+in the roof over the fireplace through which the smoke escaped), and
+told himself that for one who had never seen the comforts of civilized
+life Elam was able to copy pretty close to them. There was a table whose
+top was made of boards hewed out of a log and smoothed with an axe, and
+one or two three-legged stools without any backs, which proved that Elam
+sometimes had company. The clothing he had worn was neatly hung up at
+one corner of the cabin, and underneath was something which Tom had not
+noticed before: two bundles of skins, nicely tied up and waiting to be
+shipped. They were wolf-skins, and close by them lay half a dozen skins
+of the beaver and otter, not enough to be tied up.
+
+"I know what he meant when he said that I was welcome to the cabin of
+Elam, the wolfer," said Tom. "Somebody has either grub-staked him and
+sent him out here to catch wolves or else he is working for himself.
+Now, where's the spring? I must have some water for my coffee."
+
+Tom easily found the pail of which he was in search, and, going out
+behind the cabin, he followed the path he had noticed while cutting
+wood. It ran through a quiet grove of evergreens, and finally ended in a
+little pool in which Elam found his water. Coming back to the cabin, he
+could not find any coffee-pot, but he found a pan which seemed to have
+been used for nothing but coffee, filled it with water, placed it on
+coals he had raked off to one side, and covered it with one of Elam's
+pictures. With his breakfast fairly going, with his coffee and bacon on
+the coals, and his johnny cake and clean dishes on the table by his
+elbow, he settled back on his stool as complacently as though he had
+never known anything better.
+
+"I don't know what sort of a conscience Elam's got, but if he's got a
+tolerably fair one, it seems to me that he ought to be well contented
+with this life," said Tom. "He was born to this thing, and,
+consequently, don't know anything better; but as for me, there isn't
+money enough in it. But, then, he thinks he is going to find that
+nugget. Well, I'd like to find it myself, but I am not going to bother
+with it with such a fellow as Elam in the way. I don't want to test
+those muscles."
+
+Tom had come to that country to make money; he wasn't going to test
+anybody's muscle in order to make it, but he was going to make it. In
+spite of all the obstacles that were thrown in his way--and he met with
+no greater loss than any tender-foot is likely to meet--he carried back
+to his uncle half as much money as he stole from him, and his uncle was
+glad to see him, too. This was all in the future, and Tom knew nothing
+of it. He ate his breakfast with great satisfaction, getting up from the
+table once in a while to examine something new in Elam's outfit, and
+when it was done, he washed the dishes and put everything back just as
+he had found it. Then there was nothing left for him to do but to cut
+wood until Elam came. The latter would be cold and wet from handling
+those muddy traps, and there would be nothing wanting but a fire for him
+to get up to. Every once in a while he dropped his axe and went out to
+the edge of the evergreens to see if he could discover Elam returning,
+but always came away disappointed. One thing he continually marvelled
+at, and that was the scarcity of game. If anyone had told him that he
+could leave his gun and wander away by himself, he would have thought
+him foolish; and here he had been alone in the mountains nearly a month
+and had not seen anything--not even a jack-rabbit--to shoot at. Had it
+not been for that Red Ghost, or whatever it was, that visited him the
+night he stayed in the pocket, his gun would have been as clean when he
+took it back as when he came out with it. At last, when everything began
+to grow indistinct, and Tom had put away his axe and piled up the wood,
+he looked for Elam again, resolved if he could not see him to go into
+the cabin, haul in the string, and get his supper; but there was Elam
+half-way across the prairie, and, furthermore, he was struggling under a
+weight about as heavy as he could well carry.
+
+"They are wolf-skins," said he, as Tom hurried up to him and took his
+rifle from his grasp. "I've got eighteen, and two otters. How are you,
+Tender-foot? Got over your sleep yet?"
+
+Tom replied that he had got all the slumber he wanted, and then went on
+to tell Elam that he knew where he had gone, and if he did not return
+that night, he would not have been at all worried about it, and that he
+had got the knowledge from the pictures he had left on the table, and
+Elam seemed very much pleased.
+
+"You can't read or write, can you?" asked Tom. "I thought not, but you
+drew those pictures as though you had taken lessons in drawing. I have
+got a good warm fire for you."
+
+Although there were many things that he was anxious to question Elam
+about, Tom did not trouble him until he had had his supper and had
+shaken up the skins preparatory to enjoying his after-supper smoke. Tom
+followed his example and stretched himself out beside him, pulling off
+his moccasons so that he could have the full benefit of the fire.
+
+"Now, Tender-foot, what brought you out to this country?" said Elam,
+pulling up a bundle of wolf-skins so that he could rest his head upon
+it. "Tell me the truth and don't stick at nothing."
+
+Tom replied that there wasn't very much to tell, and went on and
+revealed to Elam as much of his story as he was willing that a stranger
+should know; but he didn't tell him a word about his fuss with Our
+Fellows, or of his stealing five thousand dollars, or of his association
+with gamblers. In short, he gave him to understand that he was hard up,
+that he wanted to go to Texas and had got on to the wrong boat and been
+brought up there. He told him the truth about his meeting with Mr.
+Kelley and his two cowboys, for he did not know but that Elam might see
+them some day.
+
+"I didn't know a thing about this country," said Tom, in conclusion,
+"and Mr. Parsons grub-staked me and sent me out to find a gold mine."
+
+"Haw-ha! You had about as much chance of finding gold here as you would
+in New Orleans," said Elam, as soon as his merriment would allow him to
+speak. "The only gold here is my nugget, and that was buried two years
+ago. Didn't he tell you about that?"
+
+"Yes, he told me about the nugget, but he also told me that by digging
+after it I might strike another gold mine, as some others had done
+before me. But if I ever go again, I don't want to follow such a man as
+went before me."
+
+"Who was it? Was it somebody who was working on Parsons' place?"
+
+"Yes. He was an elderly man, who seemed to take more interest in me than
+anybody else. He told me that the only reason he didn't strike the
+nugget was because he didn't dig in the right place."
+
+"Haw-ha!" laughed Elam.
+
+"And the only reason he didn't dig in the right place was because the
+nugget couldn't be thrown out with two or three spadefuls of earth,"
+continued Tom. "I followed along after him for two weeks, and in every
+camping-place there were two shovelfuls of dirt flung out. If a hen had
+been scratching for that nugget, she would have made better headway."
+
+"He was on the right track, anyhow," said Elam. "If he had kept on till
+he came to that pocket, he would have found it. That would have given me
+a job, for I would a heap sooner find it in the dirt than take it out of
+a man's pack."
+
+"If a man was to find that nugget----"
+
+"Yes, sir, I would," said Elam savagely. "It is mine, and I'm a-going to
+have it, I don't care who unearths it. Do you suppose you could find
+your way back to that pocket?"
+
+"No, sir; I couldn't," said Tom, drawing a long breath of dismay. "In
+the first place, there's the Red Ghost. If you had seen it----"
+
+"Haven't I seen it?" demanded Elam. "It has got the marks of some of my
+bullets."
+
+"It must bear the marks of a good many bullets, and I don't see why some
+of them did not hit it in the proper place. What do you suppose it is,
+anyway?"
+
+"Why, it's a ghost, I tell you. If it wasn't, some of those bullets
+would have struck it in the proper spot, I bet you."
+
+"If it's a ghost, you can't kill it."
+
+"Can't, hey? I'll bet you that I can."
+
+"It looked to me just like a camel," said Tom, who did not like the way
+Elam glared at him every time he struck on this subject.
+
+"A camel! What's them?"
+
+"An animal they make use of in foreign countries to carry heavy burdens
+for them. But, Elam, how came it to appear to you? It don't show itself
+to anybody else who hunts in these mountains, does it?"
+
+"Certainly it does. The history of this nugget is known all over the
+country, and if any man has it on his mind, he may be a hundred miles
+from here, but that makes no difference; it appears to that fellow and
+scares him off. Now, wait till I tell you."
+
+This brought Elam to his story, and he entered upon it a good deal as
+Uncle Ezra did, beginning with the massacre of the soldiers who were
+sent out to pay the garrison at Grayson, and ending with the fight
+between the two miners in the mountains. He seemed to know right where
+the nugget had been ever since it was unearthed. At any rate, he told a
+pretty straight story, and when it was ended filled up his pipe and
+looked at Tom to see what he thought about it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+UNWELCOME VISITORS.
+
+
+"I did think for a time that I should find my father and the nugget
+together, and even gave it out among the sheep-and cattle-growers who
+would listen to me," continued Elam, taking a few long pulls at his
+pipe. "But I have since given that idea up. I didn't say anything to the
+men hereabouts, for it kinder ran in my head after a while that they
+thought I was luny on the subject; so I just kept my ideas to myself.
+You see, the thing couldn't have gone through so many hands without my
+hearing something of my father, but, search high or low, I never heared
+a word about him. The old man is dead. He was killed when the robbers
+made their assault on the train, and the nugget has been doing all this
+of itself."
+
+"All what of itself?" asked Tom.
+
+"Why, it has been bobbing up and bobbing down," replied Elam. "One day
+you know where it is, and by the time you get on the track of it it has
+gone up, nobody knows where."
+
+For a long time Tom did not say anything. The story seemed so real--as
+real as that he was sitting on his couch of furs, with his feet tucked
+under him, gazing hard into the fire. It did not seem possible that the
+story could get abroad, and so many men believe it, and here this one
+was known two hundred miles away. There must be something in it.
+
+"Well," said Elam, "do you think I am crazy?"
+
+"I don't know what to think," said Tom. "Such a story never got wind in
+the settlements."
+
+"Of course it didn't. There's a heap more things that happen out here
+than you think for. There isn't one man in ten who would believe about
+that ghost."
+
+"No, sir," said Tom emphatically. "And I don't know what to believe
+about it, either, and I have seen it. Are you going up there to that
+pocket?"
+
+"I am going to start day after to-morrow if you will show me the way.
+When I strike the nugget, I will give you half."
+
+The proposition almost took Tom's breath away. All that amount of money
+for facing the Red Ghost! Now that he had got safely out of reach of it
+and had heard so much about its going everywhere it pleased, here to-day
+and a hundred miles away to-morrow, Tom was obliged to confess that
+there was more of a ghost about it than he was at first willing to
+suppose. But there was his horse with the broken lariat! No ghost could
+do a thing like that.
+
+"You see, I shall spend to-morrow in gathering in my traps," said Elam.
+"I may not come back, you know, and I don't want to leave them out where
+everybody can steal them, and when they are all in, I shall be ready to
+start."
+
+When Elam said this, Tom picked up a burned chunk, threw it on the fire,
+and laid down again. If Elam thought he wasn't going to come back, what
+was the use of his visiting the pocket? Tom had about concluded that he
+would not go.
+
+"No, I may not come back," said Elam, anxious that Tom should learn just
+how desperate the undertaking was, "and while I don't want to have my
+traps stolen, I want to leave them where someone can use them. Then I
+will pack my spelter on my horse and go to the nighest post--it is just
+a jump from here--and trade it off for provisions. We can easy get them
+as far as here."
+
+"Yes; but what will you do from here on? You won't have any bronco to
+carry them for you."
+
+"We will pack it on our backs. It's a poor hunter who can't go into the
+woods and carry provisions enough for two weeks."
+
+"And what if the Red Ghost appears? The first thing it will pitch into
+will be ourselves. I don't think I will go. I have got all over
+prospecting for gold, and wish that summer might come so that I can go
+to work herding cattle."
+
+"Well, I know what will happen to you then," said Elam.
+
+"Well, what will happen to me then?" said Tom, after waiting for his
+companion to finish what he had on his mind.
+
+"You'll go plumb crazy; that's what will happen to you. You will be set
+to riding the line----"
+
+"What's that?" interrupted Tom.
+
+"Why, riding up and down a fence, or rather where the fence ought to be,
+to see that none of your cattle break away. It will take you two days to
+make a trip, and you will get so tired of it that you will finally skip
+out and leave the line to take care of itself. But all right. You go to
+bed and sleep on it, and if it doesn't look better in the morning, I'll
+say no more about it. I will go by myself."
+
+With something like a sigh of regret Elam turned over and prepared to go
+to sleep. There was no undressing, no handling of blankets, but just as
+he was he was all ready to go to slumber. Tom felt sorry for him, and,
+besides, he knew how Mr. Parsons and the cowboys would look upon such a
+proceeding if it should once get to their ears. And he didn't see any
+way to prevent it. If Elam's story was able to travel for two hundred
+miles, the idea that he was afraid to face the Red Ghost would travel,
+too, and then what would be his prospect of getting employment with Mr.
+Parsons? And, besides, there was a chance for him to go "plumb crazy"
+while riding the line and seeing that the cattle did not break through.
+That was another thing that was against Tom.
+
+"I am afraid I am unlucky, after all," thought he, once more arranging
+his bunch of furs. "I am sent out into the mountains to prospect for
+gold, when there isn't any gold in sight except what belongs to Elam,
+here, and have the promise that when summer comes I shall be given a
+chance." Then aloud: "Say, Elam, does a fellow have to ride this line at
+first, and before he can call himself a full-fledged cowboy?"
+
+"Sure," said Elam; "he must get used to everything that is done on the
+ranch. He must begin at the lowest round of the ladder and work his way
+up."
+
+"Well," said Tom to himself, "I just aint a-going to do it. I'll just go
+to sleep on it now, and if the thing looks better to me to-morrow than
+it does to-night, I'll stick to your heels."
+
+While Tom was thinking about it, he fell asleep. When he awoke the next
+morning, it was broad daylight, but he was alone. Elam must have moved
+with stealthy footsteps while he was getting breakfast; but there was
+everything on the table just as he found it on the previous morning, and
+the pictures which Elam had drawn, and which Tom had placed on the wall
+so that they could be easily seen, had been taken down and put where he
+had seen them the day before.
+
+"I hope to goodness that I will get through with my sleep after a
+while," thought Tom, as he proceeded to put on his moccasons. "He has
+gone out to gather the rest of his traps, and I am left to decide
+whether or not I will go with him. Well, I will go. If that fellow is
+not afraid of the ghost, I'm not, either. I know it isn't a ghost, but
+he thinks it is, and we'll see who will show the most pluck."
+
+Tom went about his business with alacrity, and in an hour the breakfast
+was eaten and the dishes put away. Then he had nothing to do but to cut
+a supply of wood for Elam, though he didn't know how it was going to be
+of any use to him, seeing that he was going to the mountains; but it was
+better than sitting idle all day, and so Tom went at it, throwing the
+wood as fast as he cut it in under the eaves of the cabin, where it
+would be protected from the weather. At last the wood that was down was
+all cut, and Tom, leaning on his axe with one hand, and scratching his
+head with the other, was looking around to determine what tree ought to
+come down next, when he happened to glance toward the path where it
+emerged from the evergreens and ran up to the door of the house, and
+discovered two men standing there with their arms at a ready. If they
+had tried to come up under cover of his chopping they had succeeded
+admirably. They might have approached close to him, and even laid hold
+upon him, and Tom never would have known it until he found himself in
+their grasp.
+
+Of all the sorry-looking specimens that Tom had ever seen since he came
+West these were the beat. Elam would have been ashamed to be seen in
+their company. His clothes were whole and clean, while these men had
+scarcely an article between them that was not in need of repairs. Their
+hats, coats, and trousers ought long ago to have gone to the ragman; and
+as for their boots--they had none, wearing moccasons instead. Tom felt
+that something was going to happen. He knew he was growing pale, but
+leaned with both hands upon his axe and tried not to show it.
+
+"Howdy, pard?" said one of the men, looking all around.
+
+"How are you?" said Tom.
+
+He would have been glad to step into the cabin and get his rifle, but he
+noticed that the men stood between him and the doorway.
+
+"Whar's your pardner?" asked the man.
+
+"He is around here somewhere," said Tom, shouldering his axe and
+starting for the door. "What do you want?"
+
+"I want to know if you have anything to eat? We have been out looking
+for some steers that have broke away, and we've got kinder out of our
+reckonin'."
+
+"Who are you working for?"
+
+"For ole man Parsons. Our horses got away from us, too, and didn't leave
+us so much as a hunk of bacon."
+
+"I don't believe a word of your story," said Tom, who knew from the
+start that the man was lying. "But come in. I reckon Elam would give you
+something if he was here, though, to tell you the truth, we haven't got
+much."
+
+"So Elam is your pardner, is he?"
+
+"You seem to know him pretty well."
+
+"Oh, yes. Elam and I have been hunting many a time."
+
+"He's liable to come back at any minute," returned Tom, who wished there
+was some truth in what he was saying. "He has just stepped out to look
+at some traps. I don't see what keeps him so long, for of course you
+will be glad to see him."
+
+Tom had by this time got inside the cabin, closely followed by the two
+men, who, he noticed, did not go very far from the door. One of them
+hauled a stool up beside it and sat down where he could keep a close
+watch on everything that went on outside, and the other kept so close to
+Tom that the latter could not have used his axe if he had tried it. Tom
+wanted to get his hands on his rifle, but one of the men had placed
+himself directly in front of it so that his broad shoulders were between
+him and the weapon. The men pushed back their hats and took a survey of
+the interior of the cabin while Tom was getting down the side of bacon,
+and finally one of them discovered the pile of wolf-skins which Elam had
+tied up and left in the corner. With a smile and a muttered ejaculation
+he walked over and examined it.
+
+"Elam's at his ole tricks, aint he?" said he, after he had tested the
+skins and tried to determine by the weight of them how many there were
+in the package. "How many do you reckon he's got here? So many skins at
+forty-five dollars apiece would be--how much would it be, Tender-foot?"
+
+Tom was rather taken aback by this style of address. He had tried to
+play himself off on the men as one to the manor born, but his language,
+his dress, or something had given him away entirely. The man spoke to
+him as if he was as well acquainted with his history as Elam was.
+
+"I don't reckon we want anything to eat do we, Aleck?" continued the
+man, lifting the bundle and carrying it back to the door with him. "If
+you see anybody else coming along here that's hard up for grub----"
+
+"Here--you!" exclaimed Tom, throwing down his axe and making an effort
+to take the bundle from the man. "Put that down, if you know when you
+are well off."
+
+"If you know when you are well off, you will keep your hands to yourself
+and sit down thar," said the man, and at the same time the one who had
+been addressed as Aleck arose to his feet, cocking his rifle as he did
+so. "Oh, you needn't call for Elam, 'cause we know where he is as well
+as you do," he continued, as Tom thrust both men aside and started post
+haste for the door. "Now, Tender-foot, just go and behave yourself. We
+know that Elam has gone out to attend to his traps and won't be back
+before night, and so we've got all the time we want. Sit down."
+
+Tom saw it all now. The men had evidently watched Elam from the time he
+started out, until they saw him pick up one trap and set out for
+another, and had then made up their minds to rob him. They little
+expected to find a tender-foot behind to watch his cabin, and had
+consequently made up their story on the spur of the moment.
+
+"Aleck, you will find your bundle over thar," said the man, "and there
+are some otter-skins you can take, too. This rifle I will just take with
+me and leave it agin some rocks out here whar you can easy find it. Mind
+you, we haint done you no harm so far, but don't come nigh this rifle
+under an hour. You hear me?"
+
+Tom said nothing in reply. He watched Aleck as he picked up the other
+bundle and otter-skins (he left the eighteen Elam had brought in the
+night before, because they were not cured), flung them over his
+shoulder, and joined his companion at the door, where the latter had
+already taken charge of the rifle.
+
+"You haint disremembered what I've told you?" he said, in savage tones.
+"You come out in one hour and you can find the rifle; but you come out
+before that time expires and ten to one but you will get a ball through
+your head."
+
+Tom still made no reply, and the robbers went out as noiselessly as they
+had come in. He listened, but did not hear the snapping of a twig or the
+swishing of bushes to prove that they had worked their way through the
+thicket of evergreens to the natural prairie along which Elam was to
+come.
+
+"Well, now, I am beat," drawing a long breath of relief, thrusting his
+feet out in front of him, and putting his hands into his pockets. "So it
+seems that Elam isn't so very happy, after all, and that, no matter
+where one gets, he's going to have trouble. Here he's been working like
+a nailer for--I don't know how long he's been out here--until it seems
+to me----What's that?" he added, as his feet came in contact with a
+small buckskin bag which one of the robbers had dropped.
+
+Tom bent over and saw that one side of the string was broken. The bag
+had been tied around the man's neck, and had worked its way down until
+it found an opening at the bottom of his trousers above his moccasons.
+The man had never noticed it, and this was the first Tom had seen of it.
+It was small, but it was well filled, and Tom began to look about for a
+place to hide it.
+
+"Let him take the skins if he wants to, and I'll take this," said he,
+getting up and looking first into one place and then into another, and
+making up his mind each time that that was a poor spot to hide things.
+"He may miss it before he has gone a great ways, and I don't want him to
+know that he has left that much behind. Just as soon as he goes away
+I'll take it out and examine it."
+
+Tom, who was not so badly frightened as some boys would have been, made
+his way toward the door and finally went out, but could hear no signs of
+the robbers. He removed some sticks from the pile of wood he had cut and
+there placed the bag, covering it over as if nothing had been disturbed,
+and then struck up a lively whistle and started down the path. The
+robbers were not in sight, but there was Elam's horse just quenching his
+thirst at the brook, and that proved that his companion had not been
+stolen afoot, anyway.
+
+"I'll be perfectly safe if I try to find the rifle now," said Tom, as he
+began beating around through the bushes. "By George! I hope they haven't
+carried the gun off with them. They couldn't, for their packs were too
+heavy."
+
+Here was a new apprehension, and it started Tom to work with increased
+speed; and it was only after an hour's steady search that he found the
+gun hidden where nobody would have thought of looking for it. It was
+uninjured, and this made it plain that the only object the robbers had
+in view was to rob Elam.
+
+"They've got just sixteen skins or I'm mistaken," said Tom, shouldering
+his recovered rifle and retracing his steps to camp. "Sixteen skins at
+forty-five dollars would be worth seven hundred dollars and better.
+That's quite a nice little sum to rake out before dinner. Now, my next
+care is to examine that bag."
+
+Arriving at the wood-pile, the bag was taken out and carried into the
+cabin. Tom caught it by the bottom and emptied its contents on the
+table, first taking care, however, to place his rifle across his knees,
+where it could be seized in case of emergency. He was surprised at the
+contents of the little bag. In the first place there was some money
+tightly wrapped up in folds of buckskin, and when Tom unfolded it to see
+how much there was, two yellow-boys rolled out.
+
+"Hurrah! Here's something to pay for the stolen skins," said Tom, and,
+hastily putting the money into his pocket, he caught up his rifle and
+hastened out of doors to listen for some sounds of the returning
+robbers. Everything was silent. The men were gone, and Tom had nothing
+to do but to examine the bag in peace.
+
+"I am glad they didn't do anything more," thought he, as he went in and
+seated himself at the table. "If they had wanted to do mischief, they
+might have pulled a chunk from the fire and set the whole thing to
+going, but instead of doing that they just contented themselves with
+robbing us. Forty dollars. Where did they get it? Two gold eagles and
+bills enough to make up the balance. Here's tobacco enough to last both
+of them a week; needles and thread, so it don't seem to me that they
+ought to have been satisfied to go around with their jackets full of
+holes, as I saw them, and----What's this? It's something pretty
+precious, I guess, because it is wrapped up tightly."
+
+It was a small parcel tied up in buckskin that caught Tom's eye just
+then. It was so neatly wrapped up in numerous folds that by the time Tom
+got them unfolded he fully expected to find some quartz or some more
+gold pieces; but when he brought it to light, there was nothing but a
+little piece of paper, with ordinary lines drawn upon it. Did he throw
+it away? He spread it out upon the table as smoothly as he could, and
+set to work to study out the problem presented to him. One thing was
+plain to him: the line which ran up the middle, paying no attention to
+other lines which came into it at intervals, was a gully. Right ahead it
+went until it branched off in two places, and there it stopped. What did
+it mean?
+
+"It means something, as sure as I am a foot high," said Tom, settling
+back in his chair and holding the paper up before him. "There is
+something buried there, and how did these people come by it? I guess
+that Elam had better see that."
+
+Filled with excitement, Tom bundled the things back into the bag, and
+put the bag into his pocket, wondering what sort of history those two
+men had passed through. Did they know anything about the nugget? The
+idea was ridiculous, simply because there were some marks on a paper
+which he did not understand.
+
+"There was only one of them who escaped with the nugget, and he buried
+it within ten miles of the fort," said Tom. "And Elam says, further,
+that he was so sick and tired when he was relieved that he could not
+draw a map to lead anyone to it. No matter; there's something there, and
+I am in hopes it will----By George! they are coming back."
+
+There was no doubt about it, and he might have heard them before if he
+had not been so busy with his reflections. He listened and could hear
+them tramping through the bushes, and all on a sudden one raised his
+voice and called out to the other, who was evidently behind him:
+
+"I tell you he's got it. If I don't get it back, I am ruined!"
+
+"That means me," thought Tom.
+
+For an instant Tom stood irresolute, and then the idea came upon him
+that he wasn't going to be imposed upon in this way any longer. He moved
+across the floor with long strides, took down his revolver and put it
+into his pocket and moved out of the door, pulling it to after him. The
+men were close upon him. He heard them coming along the path as he
+slipped around the corner of the cabin and into the bushes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+TOM FINDS SOMETHING.
+
+
+"Oh, Aleck, he is gone!" shouted the man who was the first to come
+within sight of the cabin. "The lock-string is out, and he's cut stick
+and gone, with that bag safe upon him; dog-gone the luck!"
+
+"Push open the door," said Aleck. "Mebbe he is there."
+
+The man placed the muzzle of his rifle against the door and thrust it so
+far open that his companion, who stood with cocked piece close at his
+side, would have had no difficulty in getting a shot at Tom if he had
+been on the inside. It was plain that they were afraid of the
+consequences, for as the door swung open they both drew back out of
+sight. If he knew anything of the prairie at all, it wasn't so certain
+that he was going to give up that bag after what he had seen of it.
+
+"Hey, there!" shouted Aleck. "We know you have got it; you might as well
+come out and give up that thing I dropped in here a while ago. By gum,
+he haint in there!"
+
+A little more peeping and looking (you will remember that the inside of
+the cabin was as dark as a pocket) resulted in the astounding discovery
+that there was nobody there. In fact, Tom lay about ten feet from
+them,--the bushes were so thick that he did not think it safe to retreat
+any farther,--and from his hiding-place he could distinctly hear
+everything that passed. He would have been glad to retreat farther, but
+the bushes made such a noise that he was afraid to try it.
+
+[Illustration: TOM IN HIDING.]
+
+"He's gone," said Aleck, hauling a stool out from the cabin and throwing
+himself upon it. "Now, what am I to do?"
+
+"Perhaps you didn't drop it in there," said his companion. "You
+travelled a good ways----"
+
+"Yes, I did," said Aleck, whose rage was fearful to behold. "I felt of
+it when I was coming through the bushes, and I am as certain as I want
+to be that I felt the bag, and nothing else."
+
+"And do you suppose he found it and went to examine it?" said the other
+man, who hadn't done much of the talking. "If I thought that was the
+case--you have got us in a pretty box!"
+
+"I don't suppose nothing else. And just think, it is in Elam's hands.
+Dog-gone the luck! I'd like to shoot myself."
+
+"Aha!" thought Tom. "Now, go on and tell us what it is that's in Elam's
+hands. It's the nugget, and I'll bet my life on it."
+
+"I never did have much faith in it, anyhow," said Aleck's companion,
+who, holding his rifle in the hollow of his arm, kicked a few chips out
+of his way; "but you seemed so eager for it that you had to go and shoot
+a man in order to get it. It's nothing more than I expected."
+
+"I believe I can work my way up there alone," said Aleck.
+
+"With all them gullies coming down? You're crazy. But you don't want to
+sit here a great while. Elam will have it; that feller's gone to find
+him----"
+
+"If I thought Elam would have it, I'd lay around on purpose to shoot
+him," said Aleck, rising from his stool and kicking it out of his way.
+"He aint no more than anybody else, Elam aint."
+
+"Well, if you are going to stay here, you can stay alone. I'll go back
+and take my bundle of skins to the fort, and raise some money on them.
+Then I'll light out, and you won't catch me around where Elam is again."
+
+"By gum! I'll go, too," said Aleck. "But I'll bet you that Elam will
+sleep cold to-night."
+
+"By George! he is going to burn the house," said Tom, drawing a long
+breath. "Well, I have done what I could, and as soon as they go away
+I'll go in and save what I can from the wreck."
+
+The very first words that Aleck uttered after he had set fire to the
+cabin seemed to put a stop to this resolution. He made a great show of
+setting the shanty a-going, entering into it and kicking the burning
+brands about and piling stools and other things upon them, and when he
+came out and closed the door behind him, he was well satisfied with his
+work.
+
+"There, dog-gone you!" sputtered Aleck, shouldering his rifle. "If you
+don't burn, I'll give up. Now, we'll just wait and see if some of 'em
+don't come back here to save things. You'll wait that long, won't you?"
+
+"I won't, if you are going to raise a hand against Elam. I tell you it
+aint safe for anybody to touch him. You have had more pulls at him than
+anybody I know, and you have always said the same."
+
+"And right here in these mountains, too," said Aleck. "I guess she will
+burn well enough without us, so we had better go on."
+
+It may have been the fire that operated on Aleck's superstition in this
+way, for Tom listened and could hear them going headlong along the path.
+He did not think it quite safe to venture near the burning cabin until
+he had seen what had become of the robbers, so he left his rifle where
+it had fallen and, with his revolver for company, pursued the men toward
+the natural prairie. He did not feel the least fear of meeting the
+robbers in the evergreens, for his ears had informed him of their
+passage through them; so when he stopped behind one of the trees and
+took a survey of the ground before him, he was delighted to discover
+them far away, and going along as if all the demons in the woods were
+behind them. His next business was to go back and save what he could.
+The fire was already burning brightly, but, knowing where everything
+was, he succeeded in saving Elam's saddle and bridle, all the
+provisions, his clothing, and a few of the skins which served him for a
+bed. Then he sat down, drew his hands across his heated face, and waited
+as patiently as he could for the rest to burn up. As Elam had occupied
+the cabin for three or four winters, it burned like so much tinder. The
+principal thing that occupied his attention now was what he had heard
+the men say regarding Elam.
+
+"Elam has been shot at three or four times right here in these
+mountains," soliloquized Tom. "He didn't say a word to me about that,
+and I reckon it was something he did not want to speak of. Now, I will
+leave the things right here and go and find Elam."
+
+This would have been a task beyond him had he not seen the way Elam went
+the day before. He went up the prairie to gather in his traps, and of
+course all he had out must have been up that way, too. He didn't know
+anything about the theory of setting traps for wolves, but Elam
+understood it, and he was sure he was going the right way to find him.
+At any rate, he wouldn't go far out of sight of the smoke of the burning
+cabin, and with that resolution he cast his eye over the wreck to see if
+there was anything else that he could save, and struck into the path.
+
+"I'll leave my revolver there where it is," said Tom. "There can't be
+more than one set of thieves around here at once. And I've got what has
+ruined that fellow. If I haven't got the secret of Elam's nugget here in
+my pocket, I'll give up. I'll go with you now, Elam. I'll face a dozen
+Red Ghosts for the sake of getting my hands on this pile of gold. It
+isn't a ghost, anyway. It is a camel, and I don't see how in the name of
+sense any of his tribe managed to get stranded out here. I'll shoot at
+it as quick as I did before."
+
+Filled with such thoughts as these Tom reached the edge of the
+evergreens, but there was no sign of the robbers in sight. Elam's horse
+was there, and he seemed to think there was something wrong by sight and
+smell of the smoke, for he tossed his head and snorted, and when he saw
+Tom approaching took to his heels. Tom was glad of that, for Elam
+thought a good deal of that horse; he would come up at night, and Elam
+would go out to give him a piece of bread and speak friendly words to
+him. He had hardly left the horse behind before he saw Elam approaching.
+He had a few skins thrown over his shoulder, but he was going at a rapid
+rate, as if he knew there was something amiss. Discovering Tom, he threw
+off his skins, laid down his rifle, and seated himself on a rock to
+rest.
+
+"Burned out?" said he cheerfully, when Tom came within speaking
+distance.
+
+"Yes," said Tom. "How did you know it?"
+
+"Oh, I saw it back there in the mountains. How did it catch?"
+
+Tom had by this time come up. He seated himself beside Elam and drew the
+little bag from his pocket. He was in hopes that Elam would recognize
+the bag, but all he did was to look at it and wait for Tom to go on.
+
+"I've had visitors since you left this morning," said Tom. "Two men with
+ragged and torn clothing came there and got into the cabin before I knew
+it, and when they got in, they made a haul of your two bundles of skins
+you had tied up."
+
+"Hallo!" exclaimed Elam. "Seven hundred dollars gone to the bugs. Tell
+me how it happened."
+
+To Tom's astonishment Elam did not seem at all surprised at the robbery,
+but when it came to the discovery of the bag and the description of the
+man who had lost it, Elam sprang to his feet with a wild war-whoop. Tom
+began to see that there was a good deal in Elam, but it wanted danger to
+bring it out.
+
+"I know that fellow," said he, reseating himself after his paroxysm of
+rage had subsided.
+
+"You ought to," responded Tom. "He has had three or four shots at you
+right here in the mountains."
+
+"I know it, and that's my bag you have got there," replied Elam. "Go on
+and tell me the rest."
+
+Tom was more astonished than Elam was to find that the bag belonged to
+him, and it was some little time before he could get his wits to work
+again; but when he did, he gave a full description of the burning of the
+cabin, and told of the direction the men had gone when they got through.
+Elam said they had gone to the fort, and the only way to head them off
+was to get there in advance of them. They intended to raise some money
+on those skins, and after that go to the mountains; but he was certain
+if he could see the commandant or the sutler he would knock their
+expedition into a cocked hat. He dropped these remarks as Tom went
+along, so that by the time he got through he knew pretty nearly what
+Elam was going to do. He was more surprised when he got through than
+Elam was.
+
+"You seem to look upon this robbery as something that ought to have
+happened," said Tom. "I tell you that if I had worked as long as you
+have, and had seven hundred dollars' worth, I would be mad."
+
+"Young man, if you had been out here as long as I have, and been in my
+circumstances, you would have learned to look upon these things as a
+matter of course," answered Elam. "This is the fourth time I have been
+robbed, and I never go to the mountains without expecting it."
+
+"But you never told me about that man shooting at you so many times,"
+answered Tom.
+
+"Well, he did; and once he came so close to me that he laid me on the
+ground," said Elam, baring his brawny chest and showing Tom the ragged
+mark of a bullet there.
+
+"By George!" exclaimed Tom.
+
+"That was the time he stole that bag you have there," continued Elam.
+"He looked at me and thought me to be dead, and so made no bones about
+taking it. But he got fooled for once in his life. He thought I had a
+map there telling him where to look for the nugget."
+
+"Did you have a map of any kind with you?"
+
+"Nary a map," said Elam, with a laugh.
+
+"Well, there's one here now, and I should like to have you look at it.
+The loss of that map made Aleck think he was ruined."
+
+Elam became all attention now, and watched Tom as he took out the piece
+of buckskin and carefully unfolded it. Finally he took out the paper and
+handed it to Elam, taking pains to smooth it out as he did so.
+
+"He said he had to shoot a man in order to get it," said Tom.
+
+"What man was it?"
+
+"I don't know. He didn't describe him."
+
+Elam had been fooled so many times in regard to that nugget that he took
+the paper with a smile, but he had scarcely glanced at it before a look
+of intense earnestness took the place of the smile. He laid down his
+rifle, rested his hands upon his knees, and studied the paper long and
+earnestly.
+
+"Do you make anything out of it?" asked Tom.
+
+"It's the very thing I want," declared Elam. "I have waited and looked
+for a thing like this, and have never found it. The nugget is
+mine--mine, and, Tom, I will give you half if you will stand by me till
+I handle it."
+
+"It's a bargain," replied Tom, and to show how very much in earnest he
+was he offered to shake hands with Elam; but he resolved that he would
+never do it again. All the years of waiting Elam had infused into that
+grip; Tom didn't say anything, but it was all he could do to stand it.
+
+"There is only one thing I can't see into," said he, when he had
+recovered his power of speech, "and that is where that line begins. You
+don't know where in the world it is."
+
+"Do you see all these little dots here at the beginning of the line?
+Well, those are springs. There's a dozen springs break out inside of
+half an acre, and there's only one place in the country where you can
+find them."
+
+"How far is it from here?"
+
+"It is forty miles in a straight line."
+
+"Then what were those men doing here?"
+
+"I give it up."
+
+"And here's some money, too, with the thing," said Tom, undoing the
+piece of buckskin that contained it. "There's forty dollars here."
+
+"I am sure I don't know what brought them in here, unless they came
+after somebody that had the map. I'd like mighty well to find him, but I
+can't stop now to hunt him up. I must have the nugget in the first
+place."
+
+"Well, you had better keep this map," said Tom, as Elam got up and threw
+the skins over his shoulder and picked up his rifle.
+
+"No, you keep it until I come back. I've got to face a couple of rough
+men, and there's no knowing what may happen to me. If I shouldn't come
+back, find Uncle Ezra Norton and give it to him. He will go with you and
+help you hunt it up."
+
+"What have you got to face those rough men for?" said Tom anxiously.
+"Those men who were here were afraid of their lives."
+
+"Yes; but you take them out in the mountains and see if they are afraid
+of their lives. They would shoot you as quickly as they would look at
+you. One of them has more to answer for than he will care to. Uncle Ezra
+Norton. Don't forget him. Now, I am going to leave you here while I go
+on to the fort. I shall be gone three days. You can stand it that long,
+can't you?"
+
+"I can stand it for a week if you will keep those fellows from trading
+off those wolf-skins for provisions," said Tom. "I hope you'll catch
+them right there among our soldiers, and make them give up the skins.
+They've got a heap of cheek to take those skins to the fort."
+
+"The people out here have cheek enough for anything," said Elam, with a
+frown. "This Aleck you speak of took some money off that dead man, and
+yet I'll bet you he would go right to the fort and spend it."
+
+Elam became all activity, and it was all Tom could do to keep pace with
+him as he walked along carrying the skins to the site of the cabin. It
+was a "site," sure enough, for the fire had made rapid headway, and now
+there was nothing but the smouldering remains to be seen. Elam looked at
+the smoking ruins and then at the numerous articles Tom had saved, and
+then said:
+
+"If I had known as much on the day I built this cabin as I do now, I
+could have enjoyed myself better here than the ones who burned it. You
+have saved your boots, haven't you? Well, the things that went up are
+comparatively of little value. Now, if you will punch together some of
+the coals and get me a big dinner, I'll be off. There's a blizzard
+coming up, and as they generally come from the south-west, I would
+advise you to put up a lean-to with its back that way," said Elam,
+motioning with his hand.
+
+"I would really enjoy a blizzard, but not if you are going to be out in
+it," replied Tom, who, for some reason or other, could not bear that
+anything should happen to Elam. "I have never seen one in my life."
+
+For an hour or two the boys were busy, Elam in catching and saddling his
+horse and doing up his blankets to be carried with him, and Tom employed
+with his cooking, and all the while the former was going on with some
+instructions which were destined to make things easier for Tom. He
+didn't want to neglect that lean-to, he said, for in less than three
+days there would be a blizzard that would make him open his eyes. If he
+didn't come back in three days, all Tom would have to do would be to
+take that map to Uncle Ezra Norton (anybody at the fort would show him
+where he lived), and he would know what to do under the circumstances.
+Having said this much, Elam wrapped what was left of his dinner in his
+blankets, so as to carry it with him, shook Tom warmly by the hand (he
+did not put as much vim into it as he did before), mounted his horse,
+and rode down the path out of sight. When he thought a sufficient length
+of time had passed, Tom wandered down to the edge of the evergreens and
+looked out. There was Elam on his horse, skurrying along; not going
+fast, for he had nearly a hundred miles to ride, but taking it easy, as
+though he could stand it. Elam didn't know it, but he was to travel
+twenty miles at as fast a gait as he had ever ridden it before.
+
+"There goes my luck again," said Tom, as he turned about and returned
+through the evergreens. "If anything should happen to him, I don't know
+what I should do. I feel drawn toward the fellow. I will pay attention
+to what he told me, and in order to put it out of the power of those men
+to carry off this map and money I will just chuck the bag in here, where
+I know it is safe."
+
+The place where Tom hid the bag was in a hollow tree. He pushed it in,
+put some leaves and brush over it, and turned away, satisfied, to begin
+work on his lean-to. He could not see any signs of the approaching
+blizzard, but Elam could, and he worked hard. That day he had the frame
+up, and the next day it was all done and the things carried under it.
+
+"There," said Tom, with a smile of satisfaction. "We are all ready for
+what comes. Now, if Elam was only here, I'd be content. One more day, or
+at least I will give him two, and then he will have to show up."
+
+The third day passed without bringing any signs of the missing boy, but
+Tom paid little attention to it. On the fourth he began making trips to
+the edge of the evergreens, and then he saw that the sun was hazy and
+that it began to look stormy. It grew worse on the fifth day, and Tom
+really began to be alarmed. Toward evening a horseman suddenly made his
+appearance on the edge of the prairie, walking slowly along, as if his
+nag was tired almost to death. But it was Elam, for after he had made
+many steps he discovered Tom, and pulled off his hat and waved it to
+him.
+
+"Something has gone wrong," muttered Tom, vigorously returning the
+salute. "Why don't he whip up? If I was as close to home as he is, I
+would go faster than that."
+
+Tom waited in the margin of the woods for him to come up, and when he
+drew nearer saw that his face was pale, and that he carried his arm in a
+sling, as if he had been wounded. When Tom saw that, he began to grow
+pale, too.
+
+"Oh, it's all over," said Elam. "Look there."
+
+"What! Is your horse wounded, too?"
+
+"Yes, and was hardly able to move when I rode him into the fort. Say,
+you told me that soldiers always wanted to see the fair thing done,
+didn't you? They're a mean set. But I got the start of them. Do you know
+what became of those two men who were here? Well, the Cheyennes have got
+them."
+
+"The Cheyennes!" exclaimed Tom.
+
+Elam looked at him and nodded, and got off his horse with difficulty.
+Tom looked at the long ragged streak in his neck, and did not wonder
+that he was glad to be rid of his rider.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+ELAM INTERVIEWS THE MAJOR.
+
+
+When Elam mounted his horse and set out for the fort that morning, it
+was with the secret determination to confront Aleck and his companion,
+or, failing in that, he would push on ahead, and by seeing the colonel
+or the sutler he would render their attempts at disposing of the furs of
+no account. He had already borne enough from one of these men to put him
+pretty well out of patience. Although Elam said nothing about it, Aleck
+had been at the bottom of three desperate attempts upon his life, as
+well as of four efforts that had been made to rob him, and Elam thought
+he couldn't stand it any longer. He rode along just outside of the
+willows that skirted the foot-hills, so that he could not be picked off
+by a stray rifle shot, and keeping a close watch of the prairie on all
+sides of him, and when night came he hadn't seen anything of the
+robbers. When darkness fell, he allowed his horse to browse around him
+while he ate some of the lunch that was wrapped up in his blanket, and
+then put out again. He was satisfied that by this time he had got beyond
+the men, and now he wanted to get to the fort and put the people there
+on their guard. Was Elam flustered while he was doing all this? Not a
+bit of it. He went about his work as he would have tried to compass the
+death of some wild animal that had escaped him. When the first gray
+streaks of dawn were seen in the east, he camped in a sheep-herder's
+dugout, but it was empty. Beyond a doubt the men had gone into the
+mountains to escape the blizzards. There was a small stack of hay behind
+the cabin, and to this Elam staked out his horse, and went in and
+tumbled into an empty bunk. He was within twenty miles of the fort.
+
+Elam slept the sleep of the weary, and when he was aroused to
+consciousness, it was by a note of warning from his horse. Elam was wide
+awake in an instant. He caught up his rifle and hurried to the door of
+the cabin, and the summit of the hills over which he had come the night
+before was crowded with horsemen. They were so far off that he could not
+distinguish anything, but he knew by certain signs they exhibited that
+they were not the men he wanted to see. They were too much scattered.
+
+"I believe those are the Cheyennes," said he, lost in wonder. "I never
+heard of their breaking loose before."
+
+As if in corroboration of his words, a single long-drawn yell arose on
+the air, followed by a chorus that must have been deafening to those
+that were close at hand. That was enough for Elam. With muttered
+ejaculations addressed to the men who were supposed to be near enough to
+the Indians to keep watch of their movements, he rushed to his horse,
+severed the lariat with which he was confined, mounted without saddle or
+bridle, and was off like the wind.
+
+"I tell you now I am whipped," said Elam, gazing back at his line of
+foes, and trying to estimate how many warriors there were in the lot.
+"It's the Cheyennes, and they belong two hundred miles from here. Some
+ruffian has stolen their back pay, and they are going to have revenge
+for it. Keep close, there, or I'll down some of you."
+
+Then followed a chase such as we don't read of in these days. It was
+long and untiring, and all the way Elam looked in vain for assistance.
+His first care was to make out that there were no Cheyennes in advance
+of him, and he concluded that their discovery of him was as much of a
+surprise to them as it was to him; otherwise they would have sent some
+warriors out to surround him. That was all that saved him. He was
+mounted on a mustang, and such an one could not be tired out in a
+twenty-mile race. He seemed to hate the Indians as bad as his master
+did, and put in his best licks from the time he started, but that
+wouldn't do at all. Some of the cool heads behind him were holding in
+their horses, calculating that when the race was nearly finished they
+would come up and settle the matter. Other warriors, carried away by
+their military ardor, or perhaps having some private wrongs to avenge,
+easily outstripped the others, and finally Elam had his attention drawn
+to two who seemed bent on coming up with him. He couldn't hold his horse
+well in hand with nothing but a noose around his neck, but by talking to
+him he finally got him settled down to good solid work.
+
+[Illustration: ELAM'S FIGHT WITH THE CHEYENNES.]
+
+For one hour the chase continued, and then the whitewashed stockade of
+the fort came into view. He could see that there was a commotion in it,
+for the soldiers were running about in obedience to some orders, but
+nearer than all came the two warriors, who seemed determined to run him
+down and take his scalp within reach of the fort. At last they thought
+they were near enough to fire. One of them drew up his rifle, and Elam
+threw himself flat upon his horse's neck. The rifle cracked, and in an
+instant afterward his horse bounded into the air and came to his knees.
+But he didn't carry Elam with him. The moment he felt his horse going he
+bounded to his feet, struck the ground on the opposite side, and when
+the animal staggered to his feet, as he did a second later, he stood
+perfectly still and Elam's deadly rifle was covering the savage's head.
+He dropped, but he was too late. The ball from the rifle which never
+missed sped on its way, and the warrior threw up his hands and measured
+his length on the ground. An instant afterward Elam was mounted on his
+horse again and going toward the fort as fast as ever. At this feat loud
+yells came from the Indians. The death of the warrior and Elam's fair
+chance for escape filled them with rage. The nearest savage fired, and
+this time the bullet found a mark in Elam's body. It struck him near the
+wrist and came out of his hand, but Elam never winced. He changed his
+rifle into his other hand and broke out into a loud yell, for he saw a
+squadron of cavalry come pouring from the fort. The chase was over after
+that. Elam galloped into the fort, swinging his rifle as he went, and
+got off just as his horse came to his knees again.
+
+Of course all was excitement in there. The balance of the soldiers,
+which consisted of a small regiment of infantry, were drawn up outside
+the fort ready to help the cavalry in case the Indians dodged them, the
+teamsters climbing upon the stockade ready to use their rifles, and Elam
+was left to take his horse out of the way and examine his injuries and
+his own. For himself he decided that it was no matter. He could open and
+shut his hand, although it bled profusely, and that proved that the
+bullet had not touched a cord; but his horse--that was a different
+matter. The ball had not gone in, but had cut its way around the neck,
+leaving a mark as broad as his finger. He must have a bucket of water at
+once. While he was looking around for it, he ran against an officer who
+had been busy stationing the men in their proper places.
+
+"Hallo! You're wounded, aint you?" said he, taking Elam's hand. "Come
+with me."
+
+"I've got a horse here that's worse off than I am," said Elam. "I'd like
+to see him fixed in the first place, and then I'll go with you."
+
+"A horse! Well, he belongs to the veterinary surgeon. You come with me."
+
+But Elam insisted that he could not go with the officer until his horse
+had been taken care of, and asked for a bucket of water; and the
+officer, seeing that he was determined, hastened out to find the surgeon
+who had charge of the stock. He presently discovered him, standing on
+the stockade and yelling until he was red in the face over a charge that
+the cavalry had made, but he ceased his demonstrations and jumped down
+when he was told that an officer wanted him.
+
+"Give me one cavalryman against ten Indians," said he, saluting the
+officer. "The savages are gone, sir."
+
+"Did they stand?" asked the officer.
+
+"No, sir. It was every man for himself, sir. A horse, sir? Yes, sir. I
+saw this fellow come down on his knees when those Indians fired at him.
+A pretty bad cut, sir."
+
+Elam, having seen his horse provided for, resigned himself to the
+officer's care, and went with him to the office of the surgeon. The
+latter had got out all his tools and seemed to be waiting for any
+wounded that might be brought in, but Elam was the first to claim his
+attention. The surgeon jumped up briskly, examined Elam's hand, made
+some remark about the bullet not having touched a bone, said that all
+the patient would have to do would be to take good care of it for a few
+days, and by the time he got through talking he had it done up. The
+officer had left by this time, and Elam began to feel quite at his ease
+in the surgeon's presence. In answer to his enquiries he went on to
+explain how he had been surprised in a sheep-herder's cabin, when he
+didn't know that there was a Cheyenne within a hundred miles of him, and
+had depended entirely on the speed of his horse to save him, and asked,
+with some show of hesitation, which he had not exhibited before:
+
+"Do you reckon I could have a word with the major this fine morning? I
+suppose he is pretty busy now."
+
+To tell the truth, Elam stood more in fear of a stranger than he did of
+a grizzly bear, and he felt awed and abashed when he found himself in
+the soldier's presence. The regular, with his snow-white belts, bright
+buttons, and neatly fitting clothes, presented a great contrast to the
+visitor in his well-worn suit of buckskin, and, backwoodsman as he was,
+Elam noticed the difference and felt it keenly. Now, when the excitement
+was all over, he felt sadly out of place there, and he wished that he
+had let the wolf-skins go and stayed at home with Tom. But the surgeon's
+first words reassured him.
+
+"Of course the major will see you," said he cheerfully. "He will want to
+see you the minute he comes back. He has gone out after the hostiles
+now. You can sit here till he comes back."
+
+"I have got a horse out here that is badly hurt, and if you don't
+object, I'll go out and look at him," said Elam.
+
+"Eh? Objections? Certainly not," said the surgeon, in surprise. "I hope
+you will get along as nicely as he will. Only be careful of that hand of
+yours."
+
+Elam had never been to the fort before, and he felt like a cat in a
+strange garret while he loitered about looking at things. He first went
+to see his horse, and found that, under the skilful hands of the
+veterinary surgeon, he had fared as well as he did, for his neck was
+bound up, and he was engaged in munching some hay that had been provided
+for him. Then he went out of the stockade to see how the hostiles were
+getting on, but found that they and the cavalrymen had long ago
+disappeared. An occasional report of a carabine, followed by an
+answering yell, came faintly to his ears, thus proving beyond a doubt
+that the savages had "scattered," thus making it a matter of
+impossibility to hunt them. After that Elam came back and loafed around
+the stockade to see what he could find that was worth looking at. The
+doors of the officers' apartments were wide open, and, although they
+were very plainly furnished, Elam looked upon it as a scene of
+enchantment. He had never seen anything like it before. He had heard of
+carpets, sofas, and pictures, but he had never dreamed that they were
+such beautiful things as he now saw before him.
+
+"I tell you, I wish I was a soldier," whispered Elam, going from one
+room to the other, and stopping every time he saw anything to attract
+his attention. "This is a heap better than I've got at home. Uncle Ezra
+Norton is rich, but he hasn't got anything to compare with this. Wait
+until I get my nugget, and I will have something to go by. I do wish the
+major would hurry up."
+
+But Elam had a long time to wait before he could see the major, for the
+latter did not return until nearly nightfall. When they came, they
+looked more like whipped soldiers than victorious ones. They had two
+dead men with them, three that had been wounded, and half a dozen
+Indians that they had taken prisoners. Elam looked for an execution at
+once, but what was his surprise to see the Indians thrust into the
+guard-house.
+
+"When are they going to shoot those fellows?" whispered Elam to a
+soldier who happened to be near him.
+
+"Shoot whom?" asked the soldier.
+
+"Why, those Indians. They aint a-going to let them shoot white folks and
+have nothing done to them?"
+
+"Oh, yes, they will," said the soldier, with a laugh. "They can shoot
+all they please, and we'll take 'em prisoners and let 'em go. Did you
+think they was going to kill 'em right at once?"
+
+Elam confessed that he did.
+
+"Well, no doubt that would be the proper way to deal with them. Dog-gone
+'em! if I had any dealings with 'em, I'd 'a' left 'em out there."
+
+Elam did not remain long before he saw the major, for an orderly
+approached in full uniform, and saluted him as he would a
+lieutenant-general, and told him that the commandant was at leisure now,
+and would see him. Elam's heart was in his mouth. He did not know what
+to say to the major about his furs, and so he concluded he would let the
+matter go until morning.
+
+"Say," said Elam, "he must be tired now, and you just tell him I'll wait
+until he has had a chance to sleep on it."
+
+"Why, you must see him," said the orderly, who was rather surprised at
+this civilian's way of putting off the major. "What good can he do by
+sleeping on it? Come on."
+
+Elam reluctantly fell in behind the orderly, and allowed himself to be
+conducted into the presence of the major. The table was all set, the
+officers were seated at it, and seemed ready to begin work upon it. He
+was surprised at the actions of the major, a tall, soldierly looking
+man, with gray hair and whiskers, who sat at the head of the table, and
+who arose and advanced with outstretched palm to meet him.
+
+"I am overjoyed to see you," said he, holding fast to the boy's hand
+after shaking it cordially. "You got hurt, didn't you? But I see you
+have been well taken care of. Is the news you bring me good or bad?"
+
+Elam was too bewildered to speak. He looked closely at the major, trying
+hard to remember when and under what circumstances he had seen him
+before, for that this was not their first meeting was evident. If they
+had been strangers, the major would not have greeted him in so cordial
+and friendly a manner. This was what Elam told himself, but he had shot
+wide of the mark.
+
+In order to explain the major's conduct it will be necessary to say that
+these discontented Cheyennes had not broken away from the neighborhood
+of this fort, but had come from a point at least a hundred miles away.
+It was the source of great uneasiness and anxiety to the veteran major,
+who was afraid that his superiors might charge him with being remiss in
+his duty. He had sent three detachments of cavalry in pursuit, but only
+one of them had been heard from, and the news concerning it, which had
+been brought in by a friendly Indian, was most discouraging. The savages
+had eluded his pursuing columns in a way that was perfectly bewildering,
+and the fear that they might surprise and annihilate his men troubled
+the major to such a degree that he could neither eat nor sleep. He was
+glad to see anybody who could give him any information regarding the
+soldiers or the runaways, and he took it for granted that, as Elam had
+come in since the Indians broke away, and had had a running fight with
+them, he must know all about them.
+
+"Where do you reckon you saw me before?" asked Elam.
+
+"I never met you before in my life," answered the major, who saw that
+his visitor did not understand the feelings which prompted him to extend
+so hearty a greeting. "You can tell me about the Cheyennes, and that is
+why I am so glad to welcome you."
+
+"Oh!" said Elam, quite disappointed.
+
+"Talk fast, for I am all impatience," exclaimed the major. "When did you
+see the hostiles last, and where were they? I know that you brought them
+up here to the fort, but where did you meet them in the first place?"
+
+"I found them back here about twenty miles in a sheep-herder's cabin
+where I stopped for the night," said Elam. "The first thing I heard of
+them was a note of warning from my horse, and when I got up, there they
+were."
+
+"Well?" said the major.
+
+"Well, I got on to my horse and lit out. That's the way I brought them
+up here."
+
+"And that's all you know about them?"
+
+"Yes, everything. I didn't know the Cheyennes had broken out before."
+
+The major released the boy's hand and walked back to his seat at the
+table. The expression on his face showed that he was disappointed.
+
+"That aint all I have to tell, major," said Elam quickly. "When I got
+back to my shanty after taking in my traps, I found that two men had
+been there stealing my spelter that I have worked hard for."
+
+The major, who probably knew what was coming next, turned away his head
+and waved his hand up and down in the air to indicate that he did not
+care to hear any more of the story; but Elam, having an object to
+accomplish, went on with dogged perseverance:
+
+"Now, major, those two fellows are coming to this fort, calculating to
+sell them furs,--my furs, mind you,--and I came here to ask you not to
+let them do it."
+
+"I can't interfere in any private quarrels," said the officer. "I have
+something else to think of."
+
+"But, major, it is mine and not theirs," persisted Elam.
+
+"I don't care whose it is," was the impatient reply. "I shan't have
+anything to do with it."
+
+"Won't you keep them from selling it?"
+
+"No, I won't. I shan't bother my head about it. I have enough on my mind
+already, and I can't neglect important government matters for the sake
+of attending to private affairs. Did you say those men were afoot when
+they came to your shanty? Probably the Cheyennes have got them before
+this time. Orderly!"
+
+The door opened, and when the soldier who had shown Elam into the room
+made his appearance, the major commanded him to show the visitor out.
+
+"Now, just one word, major----" began Elam.
+
+"Show him out!" repeated the commandant.
+
+The orderly laid hold of the young hunter's arm and tried to pull him
+toward the door, but couldn't budge him an inch. Elam stood as firmly as
+one of the pickets that composed the stockade.
+
+"Just one word, major, and then I'll leave off and quit a-pestering
+you," he exclaimed. "If you won't make them two fellows give back the
+plunder they have stolen from me, you won't raise any row if I go to
+work and get it back in my own way, will you?"
+
+"No, I don't care how you get it, or whether you get it at all or not,"
+the major almost shouted.
+
+"Oh, I'll get it, you can bet your bottom dollar on it. And if you hear
+of somebody getting hurt while I am getting of it, you mustn't blame
+me."
+
+"Put him out!" roared the major.
+
+The orderly laid hold of Elam's arm with both hands and finally
+succeeded in forcing him into the hall and closing the door after him,
+but the closing of the door did not shut out the sound of his voice.
+Elam had set out to relieve his mind, and he did it; and as there was no
+one else to talk to, he addressed his remarks to the orderly.
+
+"The major needn't blame me if some of them fellows gets hurt," said he.
+"I tried to set the law to going and couldn't do it. I'll never ask a
+soldier to do anything for me again. I can take care of myself. I don't
+see what you fellows come out here for anyway, except it is to wear out
+good clothes and keep grub from spoiling. That's all the use you be."
+
+"Well, go on now, and don't bother any more," said the orderly
+good-naturedly. "The old man said he didn't care how you got the things
+back, and what more do you want?"
+
+"I wanted him to set the law a-going, but he won't do it," said Elam.
+"I'll just set it to going myself."
+
+The young hunter walked off and directed his course toward the sutler's
+store. He knew it was the sutler's store, for when he was loitering
+about the fort he had seen the sutler come in from the stockade with a
+rifle in his hands, and sell a plug of tobacco to one of the teamsters.
+He found the store empty and the sutler leaning against the counter with
+his arms folded. The latter recognized Elam at once, for he had seen him
+come in on that wounded horse.
+
+"Halloa," he exclaimed. "You have got your wound fixed all right. Did
+you have a long race with them?"
+
+Elam in a few words described his adventures, running his eye over the
+goods the sutler had to sell, and wound up by telling of the furs he had
+lost.
+
+"I have got a good many skins," said he, "and I see some things here
+that I should like to have, but I aint got them now."
+
+"How is that? I don't understand you."
+
+"Well, you see, I have done right smart of trapping and shooting since I
+have been out, but while I was gathering up my traps some fellows came
+to my shanty and stole everything I had," said Elam.
+
+"That's bad," said the sutler; and he really thought it was, for no
+doubt he had lost an opportunity to make some good bargains.
+
+"Yes, and they are coming to this post now, those two fellows are, to
+sell those furs," continued Elam earnestly.
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed the sutler, in a very different tone of voice.
+
+If that was the case, perhaps he could make something out of the boy's
+work after all.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+ELAM UNDER FIRE.
+
+
+"Yes, that's bad business," the sutler continued. "They steal furs and
+pass them off as their own. I couldn't do that."
+
+"But this is the fourth time they have robbed me," Elam went on. "You
+have handled skins that they took from me last winter. They'll try to
+sell them at this store, most likely. There aint no traders here, are
+they? I aint seen any of them hanging around."
+
+"No; they have been scarce of late," answered the sutler, who would have
+been glad to know that none of the fraternity would ever show their
+faces in that country again. He wanted to do all the trading that was
+done at that post himself.
+
+"Then they will be sure to sell them to you, if they sell them to
+anybody; but I don't want you to buy them," said Elam. "They belong to
+me, and I've worked hard for them."
+
+The sutler leaned his elbows on the counter, placed his chin on his
+hands, and looked out at the door, whistling softly to himself. Elam
+waited for him to say something, but as he did not, the boy continued:
+
+"I don't want you to buy them skins. You heard what I said to you, I
+reckon?"
+
+"Oh, yes, I heard you," said the sutler, straightening up and jingling a
+bunch of keys in his pocket; "but I don't see how I can help you. When
+hunters come here with furs to sell, I never ask where they got them,
+for it is none of my business. Besides, I don't know these men who you
+say robbed you."
+
+"I will be here to point them out to you," said Elam quickly. "I would
+know them anywhere."
+
+"But I couldn't take your unsupported word against the word of two men,"
+continued the sutler. "If they told me that the property belonged to
+them, I should have to believe them."
+
+"But I will be here," said Elam indignantly.
+
+"Well, you must get somebody to prove that the skins are yours."
+
+Elam looked down at the counter, turning these words over in his mind,
+and when he had grasped their full import, it became clear to him that
+he had no one to depend on but himself. It became evident to him that
+the arm of the law was not extensive enough to reach from the States
+away out there to the fort, and, as the sutler would not lend him
+assistance, he must either take the matter into his own hands or stand
+idly by and see the proceeds of his work go into the pockets of rascals.
+That he resolved he would never do. The very thought enraged him.
+
+"Look a-here, Mr.--Mr. Bluenose," said Elam--Elam did not know the
+sutler's name, and this cognomen was suggested to him by the most
+prominent feature on the man's face, which was a dark purple, telling of
+frequent visits to a private demijohn he kept in the back room--"you
+shan't never make a cent out of that plunder of mine, because it will
+not come into this fort!"
+
+"Don't get excited," said the sutler.
+
+"I aint. I'm only just a-telling of you."
+
+"What are you going to do?"
+
+"Well, the major wouldn't make them two fellows give back my furs, and
+so I asked him if he would raise a furse in case I got them back in my
+own way, and he said he wouldn't," said Elam. "That's all I've got to
+say."
+
+"I'll tell you what's the matter," said the sutler, a bright idea
+striking him; "the Cheyennes have got them. Were they afoot?"
+
+"Yes, they were. I don't know whether they tried to steal my horse or
+not, but anyway they didn't get him."
+
+"Then the Cheyennes have got them beyond a doubt. They could never
+travel through the country you came through."
+
+"Then what's become of my furs? Do you reckon the savages have got them,
+too?"
+
+"I certainly do. I'll tell you what I could do: If the Cheyennes came
+here to sell their furs, I could easily tell your furs from their own,
+and I could throw them out. But, you see, the Indians don't come here.
+They take all their furs to Fort Mitchell."
+
+"Maybe you would throw them out and maybe you wouldn't," said Elam
+emphatically. "I guess I had better take the matter into my own hands.
+When I get my grip on to them furs, you'll know it."
+
+The sutler merely nodded and gazed after Elam, who marched out as if he
+intended to do something.
+
+"That boy is going to be killed," said he to himself. "He thinks more of
+those furs than he does of so much gold. If I was commander of this
+fort, I wouldn't let him go out."
+
+Elam directed his course toward the barn in which he had left his horse
+and rifle when he went in to visit the surgeon. He found them there yet,
+and it was but the work of a moment to shoulder the one and unhitch the
+other, who greeted him with a whinny of recognition, and lead him out to
+the gate. As he expected, there was a sentry there, and he stepped in
+front of him with his musket at "arms port."
+
+"You can't go out," said he.
+
+"Why, what's the matter?" asked Elam innocently.
+
+"Too many Indians," was the reply.
+
+"Oh, well, I just want to let my horse have some grass. He don't think
+much of the hay you have here."
+
+"You don't want your rifle if you're just going out to get grass," said
+the soldier, with a smile.
+
+"No, but I like to have it handy when the pinch comes. If I hadn't had
+it and been able to use it, you wouldn't have seen me here now."
+
+"That's so," said the sentry. "I don't suppose you care enough about
+them as to go among them again. But we'll have to see the corporal about
+that." Then, raising his voice, he called out:
+
+"Corporal of the guard No. 1!"
+
+In process of time the officer of the guard came up, and the sentry made
+known Elam's request in a few words. He looked at Elam and said:
+
+"Oh, let him go. It aint likely that he will go far away with the
+Indians all around him. You don't want to get too far away," he added,
+turning to the young hunter, "because the men on post have orders to
+fire on people that are going out of range."
+
+"Do you see this rifle?" said Elam. "Well, when they come, I will let
+you know. You will never see me inside that fort again," said Elam to
+himself, as the sentry brought his musket to his shoulder and stepped
+out of the way, leaving the road clear for him. "I am going to get my
+furs the first thing, and then I am going down to trade them off to
+Uncle Ezra for a grub-stake for three months. That's what I'll do, and I
+bet you that those two fellows will get hurt."
+
+Elam passed through the gate, and the horse began to crop the grass as
+he went out, thus doing what he could to prove that it was grass he
+wanted, and not the hay that was served up to him in the stable. Being
+continually urged by his master, he kept getting further and further
+away from the stockade. The sentries on guard looked at him, but
+supposing that, as he had got by post No. 1, he was all right, although
+one sentinel did shake his head and warn him that he was going further
+off than the law allowed; so Elam turned and went back.
+
+"I don't like the looks of that fellow, for he handles his gun as though
+he might shoot tolerable straight," said Elam. "We will go more in this
+direction, for here's where the stock was when the Indians came up.
+We'll be a little cautious at first, but we are bound to get away in the
+end."
+
+By keeping his horse on the opposite side from him, and paying no
+attention to the warning gestures of the sentries, he succeeded in
+reaching a point beyond which he was certain that the guards could not
+hit him, and, with a word and a jump, he landed fairly on his nag's
+back.
+
+"Now, old fellow, show them what you can do," he whispered, digging his
+heels into his horse's sides.
+
+He looked back and saw that the sentry he feared most was already
+levelling his gun, and a moment later the bullet ploughed up the grass a
+little beyond him. Had he remained fairly in his seat, it would have
+taken him out of it; but he did just as he had seen the Cheyennes do--he
+threw himself on the side of his horse opposite the marksman, and so he
+had nothing to shoot at save the swiftly running steed. Another musket
+popped, and still another, but Elam did not hear the whistle of their
+bullets. That was all the guards on that side of the stockade, and Elam
+knew he was safe. Before they could load again he would be far out of
+range. He raised himself to a sitting posture, took off his hat and
+waved it at the guards, and then settled down and kept on his way,
+taking care, however, to watch against all chances of pursuit. The fact
+was that his escape had been reported to the major, who, out of all
+patience, exclaimed: "Let him go!"
+
+Elam was now a free man once more, and he resolved that it would be a
+long time before he would again trust himself in the power of the
+soldiers. His first care must be to go back to the sheep-herder's cabin
+in which he had camped the night before he reached the fort, and get his
+saddle and bridle, for he rightly concluded that the savages had been so
+anxious to capture him that they had not time to go in and see if he had
+left anything behind him. It required considerable nerve to do this, but
+Elam had already shown that he had a good share of it. He had not gone
+many miles on his way until he began to meet some sheep-herders and
+cattle-men who were fleeing from their homes and going to the fort for
+protection. The men were generally riding on ahead, and the women came
+after them in wagons drawn by mules. He waved his hat whenever he came
+within sight, for fear that the men might shoot at him, and he knew by
+experience that they could handle their rifles with greater skill than
+the soldiers could handle their muskets.
+
+"Where you going?" demanded one of the men, as he galloped up to meet
+Elam. "Seen any Indians around here?"
+
+"There were plenty of them here this morning," said Elam. "Did they come
+near you?"
+
+"Well, I should say so. They've jumped down on us when we wasn't looking
+for them, and I've got one brother in the wagon that's been laid out.
+You must have been in a rucus with them, judging by the looks of your
+hand and the horse."
+
+"Yes, I got into a fight with them right along here somewhere, and I
+didn't go to the fort without sending one of them up. There was no need
+of my going there at all, but I went to shut off some trade that wasn't
+exactly square. There are no Indians between here and the fort."
+
+"Well, I wish you would ride by the wagon and tell that to my old woman,
+will you? She is scared half to death. Where are you going?"
+
+Elam replied that he was going to the sheep-herder's ranch to get a
+saddle and bridle that he had left there, and after that he was going
+back to the mountains. He had a partner there, and he didn't know
+whether he was alive or dead. He had had enough of depending on the
+soldiers for help, for they had declined to assist him, and,
+furthermore, had shot at him when he attempted to leave the fort.
+
+"Well, I say!" exclaimed the frontiersman, giving Elam a good looking
+over, "you are a brave lad, and I know you will come out all right."
+
+Elam carried the news to the wagon that there were no Indians between
+them and the fort, and afterward continued on his lonely way to the
+sheep-herder's ranch. He came within sight of it about eleven o'clock
+that night, and, dismounting from his horse and leaving him on the open
+prairie, he proceeded to stalk it as he would an antelope, being careful
+that not a glimpse of him should be seen. It was a bright moonlight
+night, and for that reason he was doubly careful. There was something
+more than the saddle and bridle he wanted, and that was his blankets.
+There was some of the lunch left in there. He had eaten but one meal
+that day, and he had nearly a hundred miles to go before he could get
+any more.
+
+Elam was nearly an hour in coming up to that ranch, and he was sure that
+anyone who might be on the lookout would have been deceived for once in
+his life. He crawled all around the hay-racks without seeing anybody,
+and finally went in at the open door without seeing or hearing anybody.
+He found all the articles of which he was in search--the saddle tucked
+away in one corner of a bunk to serve as a pillow, the blankets spread
+over them, and the bridle and lunch placed on a box near the head of the
+bed, and, quickly shouldering them, he made his way out of the cabin in
+the direction in which he had left his horse.
+
+"Now," said Elam, as he strapped the saddle on the animal's back and
+slipped the bridle into his mouth, "the next thing is something else,
+and it's going to be far more dangerous than this. I am going to have
+those furs. I need them more than they do. I have got the map of the
+hiding-place of that nugget at my shanty, and some of them are going to
+get hurt if I don't get it."
+
+Elam kept out a portion of his lunch (the rest was strapped up in the
+blankets, which were stowed away behind the saddle), eating it as he
+galloped along, and this time he directed his course toward the willows
+that lined the base of the foot-hills. At daylight he discovered
+something--the track of an unshod pony. He looked all around, but there
+was no one in sight. He dismounted and saw that the horse had been going
+at full jump, and as there was dew on the ground, the tracks must have
+been made before it fell. A little further on he found another, and by
+comparing the two he made up his mind that they must have been made the
+day before. They were going the same way that he was, and appeared to be
+holding the direction of a long line of willows a few miles off. Elam's
+hair seemed to rise on end. He could imagine how those painted warriors
+had yelled and plied their whips in the endeavor to hunt down their
+victims; for that they were in plain view of someone Elam could readily
+affirm. He thought he could hear the yells, "Hi yah! yip, yip, yip!"
+which the exultant savages sent up as a forerunner of what was coming.
+
+"They got them in there as sure as the world," muttered Elam. "It's all
+right so far, and I can go on without running the risk of seeing any of
+them. I just know I shall see something after I get up there."
+
+Elam put his horse into a lope and followed along after the trail as
+boldly as though he had a right to be there. He didn't feel any fear,
+for he knew that he was on the trail of the Indians instead of having
+them upon his, and he knew they would not be likely to come back without
+the prospect of some gain. Presently he came to the place where some of
+the savages had dismounted and gone into the willows to fight their
+victims on foot, and then something told him that if he got in there he
+would find the bodies of the men who had robbed him of his furs. How
+that little piece of woods must have rung to the savages' war-whoops!
+But all was silent now. He led his horse a short distance into the
+bushes and dismounted, following the trail of an Indian who had crept up
+on all fours toward the place where the doomed men were concealed, and
+presently came into a valley in which the undergrowth had been trampled
+in every direction. Near the middle of the valley were two men who were
+stretched out on the ground, dead. There was nothing on them to indicate
+who they were, but Elam had no difficulty in recognizing them.
+
+"Well, it is better so," said he sorrowfully. "The Indians have got you,
+and that's all there is of it. Now my furs have gone, and I shall have
+to go to Uncle Ezra's to get a grub-stake."
+
+There were no signs of mutilation about them, as there would have been
+if the men had fallen into the hands of the Indians when alive. The
+Cheyennes had evidently been in a hurry, for all they had done was to
+see that the men were dead, after which they had stripped them of their
+clothes, stolen their guns and ammunition and furs, and gone off to hunt
+new booty. In this case it promised to be Elam, who made a desperate
+fight of it. The young hunter resolved that he would go into camp, and
+he did, too, hitching his horse near the stream that ran through the
+valley, just out of sight of the massacred men. He saw no ghosts, but
+slept as placidly as if the field on which the savages had vented their
+spite was a hundred miles away.
+
+When he awoke, it was dark, and the peaceful moon was shining down upon
+him through the tree-tops. He watered his horse, ate what was left of
+the lunch, and began to work his way out of the valley, when he
+discovered that both his nag and himself were sore from the effects of
+their long run. He had gone a long distance out of his way to see what
+the Cheyennes had done, and he didn't feel like bracing up to face the
+eighty miles before him. His horse didn't feel like it either, for when
+he stopped and allowed him to have his own way, he hung his head down
+and went to sleep. The horse seemed to be rendered uneasy by the bandage
+he wore round his neck, and when it was taken off he was more at his
+ease.
+
+It took Elam two days to make the journey to the camp where he had left
+Tom Mason, for he did all of his travelling during the daytime, and
+stopped over at some convenient place for the night. He was getting
+hungry, but his horse was growing stronger everyday. He dared not shoot
+at any of the numerous specimens of the jack-rabbit which constantly
+dodged across his path, for fear that he would betray himself to some
+marauding band of Indians, and not until he got within sight of Tom
+Mason standing in the edge of the willows did he feel comparatively
+safe. Tom gazed in astonishment while he told his story, and it was a
+long time before he could get dinner enough to satisfy him.
+
+"Thank goodness they have left you all right," said Elam, settling back
+on his blanket with a hunk of corn bread and bacon in his uninjured hand
+and a cup of steaming coffee in front of him. "Do you know that I have
+worried about you more than I have about myself?"
+
+"Well, how did those Indians look when they were following you?" asked
+Tom, who had not yet recovered himself. His hand trembled when he poured
+out the coffee so that one would think that he was the one who had had a
+narrow escape from the savages. "Did they yell?"
+
+"Yell? Of course it came faintly to my ears because they were so far
+away, but if I had been close to them, I tell you I wouldn't have had
+any courage left," said Elam, with a laugh. "I've got my saddle and
+bridle, and that's something I did not expect to get."
+
+"Was there no one in the sheep-herder's ranch to look for you?"
+
+"If there had been, I wouldn't 'a' been here. There was nobody there at
+all. I just went in and got my saddle, and that's all there was to it.
+You see, I was on their trail, and they had passed over that ground once
+and thought they had got everybody."
+
+"Well, I am beaten. I never heard a whisper of an Indian since you went
+away. It is lucky for me that they didn't know I was here. How did those
+men look that were killed?"
+
+"They were dead, of course. There was no mutilation about them, only
+just enough to show who killed them. If the Indians had got hold of them
+before they were dead, then you might have expected something. They
+would have just thrown themselves to show how much agony they could put
+them to. I never want to fall into the hands of the Indians alive. Do
+you know that the soldiers always carry a derringer in their pockets?
+Yes, they do, and that last shot is intended for themselves."
+
+"By George!" said Tom, drawing a long breath. "Let us get out of here."
+
+"Where will we go?"
+
+"Let's go back to the States. I never was made to live out here."
+
+"Hi yah! I couldn't make a living there."
+
+"But you talk well enough to make a living anywhere. You won't find one
+man in ten out here who talks as plainly as you do."
+
+"That's all owing to my way of bring up. Ever since I was a little kid I
+have been under the care of Uncle Ezra, who talks about as plain as most
+men do."
+
+"Well, let's go and see him."
+
+"We'll go just as soon as this blizzard is over. It is coming now, and
+in a few minutes you will see my horse coming in here."
+
+"Is that the blizzard? Why, I thought it was snow."
+
+"You go to sleep and see if you don't find snow on the ground in the
+morning. There is one thing that you can bless your lucky stars for: the
+Indians are safely housed up. They'll not think of going out plundering
+while this blizzard lasts."
+
+"They know when it is coming, I suppose?"
+
+Elam replied that they did, and wrapped himself up in his blanket, while
+Tom went out to throw more wood on the fire and to make an estimate of
+the weather. The sky was clouded over, not making it so very difficult
+to travel by night, the wind was in the south, and the rain was quietly
+descending, as though it threatened a warm spring shower. It beat the
+world how Elam could tell that this storm was three days off, that
+before it got through everything would be "holded up," and that the snow
+would be six inches deep. The horse came in about that time and took up
+a position on the leeward side of the fire, where he settled himself
+preparatory to going to sleep. Then Tom thought he had better go, too,
+but the thrilling story to which he had listened took all the sleep out
+of him. What a dreadful fate it would be for him to be killed out there
+in the mountains, as those men were who stole Elam's furs, and no one
+find his body until long after the thing had been forgotten! He fell
+asleep while he was thinking about it, and when he awoke it was with a
+chill, and a feeling that the storm had come sure enough. The wind was
+in the north, and he could not see anything on account of the snow. He
+didn't have as many blankets now as he did when he first struck the
+mountains, for he had left a good portion of them in the gully. All he
+had was his overcoat, and, wrapping himself up in it, he went to sleep
+and forgot all about the blizzard.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+UNCLE EZRA PUTS HIS FOOT DOWN.
+
+
+Tom slept warm and comfortable that night, and perhaps the simple
+presence of Elam had something to do with it. A boy who could go through
+a twenty-mile race with Cheyennes, and have no more to say about it than
+he did, would be a good fellow to have at his back in case trouble
+arose. A person would not think he had been through such an encounter,
+and had seen the bodies of two murdered men besides, for, when he awoke,
+Elam was sitting up on his blanket and looking at his horse. He lay in
+such a position that the threatening streak on the animal's neck, which
+had come so near ending the race then and there and resulting in Elam's
+capture, could be plainly seen.
+
+"Halloa!" exclaimed Elam. "The Indians didn't get you last night, after
+all. I tell you, if our soldiers could strike them now, they would have
+an easy job of it. Now, there's that horse of mine. He has got a worse
+hurt than I have, but he makes no fuss over it. I am anxious to find
+Uncle Ezra, for he has some medicine that will cure it."
+
+"But you can't go where he is--where is he, anyway?" said Tom.
+
+"He is just about two days' journey over the mountains. I know where he
+is, and I ought to have been there before. But, laws! he's quit looking
+for me. If I don't show up at all, he won't worry."
+
+"This storm is just fearful, isn't it?" said Tom, pulling his coat up
+around his ears. "What do you suppose the soldiers are doing that were
+sent out by the commander of that fort? Why, they will freeze to death."
+
+"Do you think we are getting the full benefit of it here?" said Elam,
+with a look of astonishment. "You just go out to the edge of the
+evergreens and look around a bit. You see, we haven't got much snow
+here, for your lean-to keeps it off; but go out where it has a fair
+chance at you. By the way, where is my map?"
+
+Tom replied that it was in the hollow tree, and speedily fished it out
+for him; and while Elam fastened his eyes upon it, Tom went out to the
+edge of the woods to see what the storm looked like on the plains. He
+had been there scarcely a moment when he was glad to turn around and go
+back. Their little grove of evergreens was just the spot for homeless
+wanderers like themselves. The wind was cutting, and blew so hard that
+Tom could not face it for an instant, and he dared not let go his hold
+upon the branches at his side for fear that he would get lost. When he
+got back to the fire, he was glad to heap more wood upon it, and get as
+close to it as possible.
+
+"I don't see how anybody can live out there," said Tom, with a shudder.
+"I should think it would be their death."
+
+"They don't live," said Elam. "They just camp somewhere and stay until
+it blows over. I have been out in a storm that was worse than this, and
+came through all right. You can just imagine what it must be out there
+on the prairie."
+
+All that day the boys remained idle in their lean-to, not daring to go
+out after traps, and before they went to bed that night Elam decided
+that, early the next morning, they would make an effort to reach Uncle
+Ezra's. Their food was getting scarce, and they had no way to replenish
+their stock. A part of the day was spent in hiding the things which they
+could not take with them, for fear that somebody would come along and
+steal them, and the rest of the time was devoted to Elam's stories. It
+was a wonder to Tom how the boy had managed to get through so many
+things and live. He didn't relate his adventures as though there was
+anything great in them, but told them as a mere matter of fact. Anybody
+could pass through such scenes if he only had the courage, but there was
+the point. For the first time in his life Tom wished himself back in
+Mississippi. Anyone might get into scrapes there, as Our Fellows got
+into with Pete, the half-breed, or with Luke Redman of the Swamp
+Dragoons, but there was always a prospect of their coming out alive.
+
+On the morning of the next day a start was made as early as it was light
+enough to see, Elam leading the horse and Tom following close behind
+him. The most of their way led through the gully, and to Tom's delight
+there was hardly any snow on the way; nor was there any game, although
+they kept a bright lookout for it. They camped for two nights in the
+foot-hills, Elam working his way in and out of the gullies, never once
+stopping and never once getting into a pocket. On the last morning they
+ate every bit of the corn bread and bacon.
+
+"They aint far off now," said Elam. "About noon we'll be among friends.
+You will find two boys there just about your size who will give you more
+insight into this life than I ever could. You see they know what you
+want to talk about."
+
+After proceeding about a mile of their journey Elam stopped, placed his
+hand to his mouth, and gave a perfect imitation of a coyote's yell. If
+Tom had not seen him do it he would have thought there was a wolf close
+upon them. A little further on he gave another, and this time there was
+an answer, faint and far off, but still there was something about it
+that did not sound just like a coyote.
+
+"They're there," said Elam. "I would know that yell among a thousand.
+It's Carlos Burton."
+
+"Who is he? You never mentioned him before."
+
+"Well, he is a sharp one. He came out here long after I did, and had
+sense enough to go to herding cattle, while here I am and haven't got
+anything except the clothes I stand in. It's all on account of that
+nugget, too. If the robbers had stolen it and got well away with it I
+might have been in the same fix. Well, it's all in a lifetime."
+
+"I should think you would give it up," said Tom. "You go working after
+it day after day--why, you must have been after it fourteen years."
+
+"Shall I give it up when I've got the map of it right here?" said Elam,
+tapping his ditty-bag, which was hung across his chest under his shirt.
+"I am nearer to it now than I have been before, and you had better talk
+to those who have made fun of me all these years. 'Oh, Elam's a crank;
+let him alone, and when he gets tired looking for the nugget he'll come
+to his senses and go to herding cattle.' That's what the folks around
+here have had to say about me ever since I can remember; but I'll get
+the start of all of them, you see if I don't."
+
+Elam began to look wild when he began to talk about the nugget, and Tom
+was glad to change the subject of the conversation.
+
+"Who is the other fellow?" said he. "You said there were two of them."
+
+"The other fellow is a tender-foot; he don't claim to be anything else.
+I'll bet you, now that I have got over my excitement, that I have been
+talking about his father. His father commands a post within forty miles
+of the place where he is now visiting, but I don't know one soldier from
+another. They all look alike to me, and I didn't think of the
+relationship they bore to each other. No matter; he treated me mighty
+shabby, and I shall always think hard of soldiers after that."
+
+At the end of half an hour they came out of the scrub oaks and found
+themselves in front of a neat little cabin which reminded Tom of the
+negro quarters he had seen in Mississippi. There were two boys standing
+in front of the cabin, and Tom had no trouble in picking out Carlos
+Burton. There was an independent air about him that somehow did not
+belong to the tender-foot, and when Elam introduced him in his off-hand
+way, this boy was the first to welcome him.
+
+"This fellow is Tom Mason, and I want you to know him and treat him
+right. He got into a little trouble down in Mississippi where he used to
+live, and came out here to get clear of it. Know him, boys."
+
+The boys, surprised as they were, were glad to shake hands with Tom,
+because he was Elam's friend; but they were still more anxious to know
+how Elam had come among them for the fourth time robbed of his furs, and
+what he had to say about it. There were some things about him that
+didn't look exactly right. There was his hand, which was still done up
+the way the doctor left it, and the mark on his horse's neck, both of
+which proclaimed that Elam had been in something of a fight; but they
+didn't push him, for they knew they would hear the whole of his story
+when he got inside of the cabin.
+
+What I have written here is the true history of what happened to Tom
+Mason after he gave Joe Coleman the valise, containing the five thousand
+dollars, and the double-barrel shotgun; and I have told the truth, too,
+in regard to Elam and his last attempt at grub-staking. It took him
+pretty near all day to finish the story, and now I can drop the third
+person and go on with my narrative just as it happened. Of course we
+were all amazed at what Elam had to tell, and especially were we hurt to
+hear him speak so of Ben's father; for he it was who was in command of
+the post. It would have done no good to talk to Elam, for very likely he
+had worse things than that to say about the major. We let him go on and
+tell his story in any way he thought proper, calculating to make it all
+right with Ben afterward.
+
+"Now, Tom [he always addressed everybody by his Christian name], tell us
+something more of your story," said Uncle Ezra, who had the map of the
+hiding-place of the nugget spread out on his knee. "You haven't done
+anything to make you a fugitive from home, and I see that Elam has been
+letting you down kinder easy. What have you done?"
+
+It did not take Tom more than fifteen minutes to narrate as much of his
+history as he was willing that strangers should know, and Elam never let
+on that he knew more; he was the closest-mouthed fellow I ever saw. Tom
+told all about the story of the five thousand dollars, and declared that
+he had sent it back to the uncle of whom he had stolen it, but said he
+could not bear the "jibes" that would be thrown at him every time his
+uncle got mad at him. There were men out there who had done worse than
+that.
+
+"That's very true," said Uncle Ezra, looking down at the map he held on
+his knee. "But you haven't done anything so very bad, and I would advise
+you to go home and live it down."
+
+"No, sir, I shan't do it," said Tom emphatically. "I'll stay here until
+he gets over his pet and then I'll go back. Besides, I can't go. I am
+under promise to stand by Elam until he finds his nugget."
+
+"And do you imagine that this paper will tell you where it is?"
+
+"That's what we are depending on."
+
+"You will go, Carlos?" said Elam, addressing me.
+
+"Yes, sir," I answered. "When you dig up that nugget I shall be right
+within reach of you."
+
+"Now, uncle," began Ben, who was in a high state of commotion, "I just
+know you will let me----"
+
+"Now, now!" interrupted Uncle Ezra, waving his hands up and down in the
+air as the major had done when he refused to interfere with the stolen
+furs. "Now, just wait till I tell you. You shan't go!"
+
+"I just know, if my father was here----" began Ben.
+
+"Now, wait till I tell you. Your father would say, No! Here's Indians
+all around you, and you want to go right into the midst of them. And
+going off with Elam Storm! That's the worst yet. Why, your father has
+sent out a squad of cavalry to drive these fellows back where they came
+from, and what would I say to him if I should let you go philandering
+off there? No, sir, you can't go. I shall send word to him in the
+morning and let him know you are all right. I suppose you will need a
+horse, Tom, seeing that the Red Ghost has spoilt your bronco for you."
+
+"I should like to have one," replied Tom. "What do you think that Red
+Ghost is, anyway?"
+
+"Now, wait till I tell you. I don't know."
+
+As it was almost supper time and we had not had anything to eat since
+Elam and Tom came to the cabin, and Uncle Ezra wanted to change the
+subject of the conversation into another channel, he gave me a nod which
+I understood, and I went about preparing the eatables. It was surprising
+how quickly everybody became acquainted with Tom. He and Elam had passed
+through several scenes which were familiar enough to me, but which
+sounded like romance when recounted for Ben's benefit, and it was no
+wonder that the latter looked upon Tom as a person well worth listening
+to. He carried on a lengthy conversation with him while I was getting
+supper, while Elam smoked and talked with Uncle Ezra. He was trying to
+make Uncle Ezra see that after waiting for so many years chance had
+thrown into his power the very thing for which he was looking, and
+sometimes he got so interesting that I was tempted to let the supper go
+and sit down and listen to him.
+
+"There is something hidden there, and that's all there is about it,"
+said Elam emphatically. "You can't make me believe that a man would
+carry around a map of that kind when there was nothing to it, and he
+would say he was ruined if he didn't get it."
+
+"But where did he get it in the first place?" asked Uncle Ezra.
+
+"If I could see the man he shot I could answer that question."
+
+"But how did he know that the man had it at all?"
+
+"Ask me something hard," said Elam. "The man may have told him that he
+had it and refused to give it up; or he may have gone into partnership,
+just the same as Tom has gone into partnership with me. That is
+something I don't know anything about, but I just know there is
+something hidden there, and I'll dig the whole place over but I shall
+find it. If three months' supply of grub won't do me, I'll come back and
+get another. You will stake me, of course?"
+
+"Sure. I'll stake you if it takes the last thing I've got. But I'll tell
+you one thing, Elam, and that aint two, that you won't make anything by
+it. You had better stay at home and go to herding cattle."
+
+Just as long as they talked the hard-headed old frontiersman always came
+to this advice, and Elam always dismissed it with a laugh. Finally he
+said, with more seriousness than I had ever seen him assume before:
+
+"I will tell you what I'll do, Uncle Ezra: I will follow this thing up,
+and if nothing comes of it, I will take your advice. But I will go to
+Texas. I can't stay around where that nugget is without making an effort
+to find it. If you had had it dinged at you for years, you would feel
+the same way."
+
+And I could swear that that was the truth, for Uncle Ezra had often said
+to me that if he had had the nugget preached at him from the time he was
+old enough to remember anything, he would have been as hot after it as
+Elam was. Nothing would have turned him away from it. Uncle Ezra knew
+that Elam was in earnest when he said this, and reached over and shook
+hands with him; and after that the subject was dropped. In the meantime
+Ben and Tom were getting acquainted, and especially was Ben deeply
+interested whenever the other spoke of the Red Ghost. Tom had seen it,
+had a fair shot at it, and could not imagine what had taken it off in
+such a hurry, if it had been a flesh-eating animal; but it was not, and
+so it uttered a scream and went into the bushes. It must have been a
+camel, because that was the only thing that Tom knew of that had a hump
+on its back.
+
+"But camels don't run wild in this country," said Ben.
+
+"Now, wait till I tell you," put in Uncle Ezra, who had got through
+talking with Elam. "A good many years ago the government brought over
+some camels thinking that they could make them useful in carrying
+supplies across the desert; but, somehow or other, it turned out a
+failure, and, seeing that they couldn't sell them, they turned them
+loose to shift for themselves. And that's the way they come to be wild
+here."
+
+"Well, that bangs me!" exclaimed Ben, who was profoundly astonished.
+"But supposing they did turn them out to become wild, they wouldn't
+pitch into horses, would they?"
+
+"I don't know anything about that," returned Uncle Ezra. "I do know that
+there is a camel around here, that he is red in color, that he has
+frightened the lives out of half a dozen people, and that he has been
+shot at numberless times. He does pitch into every horse and mule that
+he gets a chance at, and I don't know what makes him."
+
+"Well, I never heard of a camel doing that before," said Ben, settling
+back on his blanket. "If you get another show at it, Tom, make a sure
+shot, so that you can tell us what it is."
+
+You may be sure that I was glad to hear the old frontiersman talk in
+this way. He had not seen the camel, but he had seen some scientific men
+who had seen him, and he was glad to accept what they had to say in
+regard to the Red Ghost. I, for one, resolved that I would never let it
+get away, if I once got a shot at it.
+
+The evening was passed in much the same way, with talks on various
+subjects, and it was a late hour when we sought our blankets. We all
+slept soundly, all except Tom, who awoke about midnight, and, to save
+his life, could not go to sleep again. He rolled and tossed on his
+blankets, and then, for fear that he might awaken some of us, concluded
+that he would go out and look at the weather. He pulled on his
+moccasons, opened the door, and went out, but on the threshold he
+stopped, for every drop of blood in him seemed to rush back upon his
+heart, leaving his face as pale as death itself. He was not frightened,
+but there, within less than twenty-five yards of him, stood the Red
+Ghost. He stood with his head forward, as if he were listening to some
+sounds that came to him from the horses' quarters, which, you will
+remember, were in the scrub-oaks behind the cabin. It was no wonder that
+Tom was excited, for there it was as plain as daylight. It looked as big
+as three or four horses.
+
+"By George! I wish it would stay there just a minute longer. If I make
+out to get my rifle----"
+
+With a step that would not have awakened a cricket, Tom stepped back
+into the cabin and laid hold of the first rifle he came to. It was not
+his own; it was Uncle Ezra's Henry--a rifle that would shoot sixteen
+times without being reloaded. With this in his hands he walked quietly
+back, and there stood the object just as he had left it. It did not seem
+to hear Tom at all. Fearful of being seen, Tom raised his gun with a
+very slow and steady aim, and covered the spot just where he thought the
+heart ought to be. One second he stood thus, but it was long enough for
+Tom, who pressed the trigger.
+
+"There!" said Tom, drawing a long breath. "If I didn't make a good shot
+that time I never did. Hold on! It is coming right for me!"
+
+The animal was fatally hurt, and the long bounds it made, and the shrill
+screams it uttered, would have taxed Tom's nerves, if he had had any. To
+throw out the empty shell and insert another one was slowly and
+deliberately done, and the second ball struck it in the breast, when Tom
+thought that another bound would land it squarely on the top of him.
+That settled it. It stayed right there, and all he could see of the Red
+Ghost was the twigs and leaves which it threw up during its struggles.
+In the meantime there was a terrific commotion in the cabin, and his
+three friends came rushing out to see what was the matter.
+
+"Who's got my rifle!" exclaimed Uncle Ezra. "Now, wait till I tell you,"
+he shouted, while lost in astonishment. "He's got the Red Ghost; by gum,
+if he aint!"
+
+They drew as near the struggling animal as they could, while Uncle Ezra
+went in to bring out a brand from the fire to examine it, and Tom stood
+by, not a little elated. It was the first desperate adventure he had
+had, and he had stood up to the mark like a man. When the animal had
+ceased its contortions, and the firebrands were brought out so that we
+could examine it closely, it was curious to see what different views the
+hunters took of their prize. Elam could hardly be made to believe that
+it was not a ghost. He stood at a distance while the others were
+inspecting it, and when he saw they were handling it, he remarked that
+the bullet he had sent into its neck ought to have finished it when he
+got it. Ben examined its legs and Tom felt of its hump. He said that
+when an Arab had a long journey to make he always examined the hump to
+see if his camel was in good condition, while an American always looked
+to his horse's hoofs. He did not think this animal was in a fit
+condition to travel, although it had come seventy-five miles since Tom
+had last seen it, picking up its living on the way.
+
+"Tom, you will do to tie to," said Elam, when he became satisfied that
+the animal was dead. "Shake!"
+
+"Thank you," said Tom, seeing that his hands were safely out of reach.
+"If it's all the same to you I'll not shake hands with you. I did it
+once back there in the mountains, and I haven't got over it."
+
+"Well, Tom, you certainly have done something to be proud of," said
+Ezra. "Let's go in and take a smoke. We'll finish our examination by
+daylight."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+A NEW EXPEDITION.
+
+
+There wasn't much sleeping done in the cabin that night, there was so
+much to talk about. To say that the hunters were very much pleased over
+the success of Tom's lucky shots would be putting it very mildly. Elam
+was much elated to know it was a camel, an animal he had never seen
+before, and not a genuine ghost, who had stood between him and the
+finding of the nugget. He was not satisfied until he had burned up three
+or four brands in going out to see the object to make sure it was there
+yet. To tell the truth, this Red Ghost had often stood between Elam and
+the accomplishment of his hopes; and as much as he desired to possess
+the nugget he did not dare face it alone.
+
+"It is there yet," said Elam, coming in once more and throwing a
+half-burned chunk upon the fire. "Tom, you have made me your everlasting
+debtor. Now I hope the finding of the nugget will go the same way."
+
+"I hope I can have the same effect upon your other work," said Tom
+modestly. "If I do, you will call me a lucky omen."
+
+"What is an 'omen'?" asked Elam, who had never heard the word before.
+
+"Why, it is an occurrence supposed to show the character of some future
+event. That is about as near as I can come to it. If I am with you, you
+will find the nugget without the least trouble: if I am not, you won't."
+
+"Well, I'll see that you don't get very far from me till I find out what
+this map means. There is something hidden there, and I know it."
+
+It was while we were talking in this way that daylight came, and I began
+getting breakfast while Elam and Uncle Ezra smoked, and Ben and Tom were
+packing up the skins which had fallen to Ben's rifle during the hunt. I
+could see that Ben was sadly disappointed in not being permitted to
+accompany Elam on his search for the nugget, but like the soldier he
+was, he gave right up. He knew that his father did not believe in such
+things anyway, and very likely his refusal would have been more pointed
+than Uncle Ezra's. When the breakfast was over all hands turned to and
+washed the dishes and put them away. We calculated to visit the camp
+again during the winter, and, if we did, we wanted to know what we had
+to go on. Then we went out to saddle our horses and take a last look at
+the Red Ghost.
+
+"Are we going to leave this thing here?" asked Ben.
+
+"Sure!" replied Uncle Ezra. "We can't carry it with us."
+
+"I'll bet I don't leave it all here," said Elam, going into the cabin
+and returning with an axe in his hand. "The folks down there won't
+believe that we killed anything, and I am going to have one of the
+feet."
+
+The thing was hideous when we came to look at it by daylight, and
+especially the great hoofs with which it had tramped so far. They were
+lacerated in every direction, and one cut had hardly had time to heal
+before it got another. Elam plied the axe vigorously, and in a few
+moments each boy had a foot which he was to take along to show to the
+people "down there." Finally Uncle Ezra said he would take the head. It
+was scarred and seamed all over, but he thought that anyone who had seen
+a camel would be sure to recognize it. Then we brought up the horses,
+but I tell you it took two men to saddle them. They couldn't bear the
+scent of the camel; I had to take my nag out of sight of it, and it was
+a long time before he quit snorting. With a good deal of merriment we
+got them all saddled at last, and with Tom and Ben riding my horse and
+Elam's, we bid good-by to our camp in the mountains. We had twenty miles
+to go and then we were among friends again.
+
+"Say," said Elam, when he had allowed the others to get so far ahead
+that there was no danger of their overhearing our conversation, "I don't
+think I am crazy; do you?"
+
+"I never thought so," said I, although I knew there had been some talk
+of it in the settlement. "I was sure if that nugget was there you would
+find it. I shouldn't have offered to go with you if I had thought you
+were crazy."
+
+"You have seen the map and know just what there is onto it?" continued
+Elam.
+
+"I certainly have."
+
+"And you know the place where it starts is over there by those springs?"
+
+"I do certainly."
+
+"And do you think that those men would carry around a map of that kind
+unless there was something on it?" said Elam, going over the argument he
+had used the night before with Uncle Ezra.
+
+"No, I don't think they would. And it's your ditty-bag that they took
+from you when you were shot."
+
+"I know it; and many's the time I have thought of it, too, and never
+expected to see it again. Thank goodness, I have two men with me who
+don't think I am crazy! I have told Uncle Ezra that I never would give
+it up again until I have that nugget in my hands. I know that gully up
+there, and it is a pretty big place. Now, that is all I have to say. If
+you want to know anything more, now is the time to ask me."
+
+"Don't you think that there are other parties up there, hunting for it?"
+I asked, knowing that his story had been noised abroad. "Just think; you
+have been looking for it fourteen years."
+
+"Longer than that; and I ought to get it, for they say that perseverance
+conquers all things. As for other parties looking for it, why, they can
+get it if they want it. But where's the map?"
+
+"That's so. I think you have got the only one there is in existence."
+
+"I only hope there are other fellows looking for the nugget," said Elam,
+shifting his rifle from one shoulder to the other, "because we won't
+have to work where they have been. It will make matters so much easier
+for us."
+
+After that Elam kept still about the nugget, and during the whole of the
+twenty miles I never heard him speak of it again. We accomplished the
+journey just about dark, Elam and I walking all the way, and Tom I know
+was glad to get back among civilized people once more. My headquarters
+were right there with Uncle Ezra, for I had only four men to take care
+of my small herd, and didn't think it best to get too far away from him.
+We rode up to the shanty and began to dismount, when the door flew open
+and the foreman of the ranch appeared on the threshold.
+
+"Well, I declare, if there aint Uncle Ezra!" he exclaimed in a
+stentorian voice. "What you got? Enough furs to load one horse with?"
+
+While the foreman was speaking he untied the bundle of skins and laid it
+upon the porch, when he happened to discover Tom Mason. He did not say
+anything, but nodded to Tom, and then turned his attention to his
+employer's horse, whom he had unsaddled while one was thinking about it.
+
+"Are you here all alone?" asked Uncle Ezra.
+
+"All alone!" replied the foreman. "You see, there has been a blizzard
+lately, and we thought we had better look up the sheep. I have just got
+in. What have you got in that bag?"
+
+"Something that will make your eyes bulge out," replied Uncle Ezra.
+"Wait till we get in, and we will show it to you."
+
+The horses, being unsaddled, were turned loose to go where they chose;
+the foreman carried Ben's bundle of skins into the cabin, and Uncle Ezra
+brought up the rear with the bag containing what was left of the prize.
+There was a fire burning brightly at one end of the room, and Tom and
+Ben drew camp-stools up in front of it to get some heat, while Elam and
+I took our overcoats off and waited for Uncle Ezra to turn out the
+contents of the bag. We waited until the old frontiersman had hung up
+his coat and hat where they belonged and seated himself on a camp-stool
+before the fire, and then the head and four feet of the camel were
+tumbled out on the floor.
+
+"What in the name of common sense are those?" cried the foreman in
+astonishment.
+
+"They are part of the Red Ghost," said Uncle Ezra; and then he went on
+to tell the story much as I have told it, although he put in some
+additions of his own. The foreman was profoundly amazed. Not daring to
+use his hands, he used a poker to move the things about, so that he
+could see on all sides of them. The antics he went through were enough
+to make the hunters laugh.
+
+"What do you think now about my being crazy?" demanded Elam. "I've shot
+at that thing, and I don't see why I didn't get him; but I can see now
+why it was. He was so big that a bullet had to be put in the right place
+to get him."
+
+"That's about the case with everything I have shot, Elam," said the
+foreman. "I had to put the ball in the right place, or I didn't get him.
+But you have removed a heap from my mind. Who shot him?"
+
+"Here's the man, right here."
+
+Seeing that the foreman began to take a deeper interest in Tom after
+that, Uncle Ezra introduced him, and he failed to say that Tom had got
+into a "little trouble" down in Mississippi where he used to live, and
+had come out West to get clear of it. Uncle Ezra didn't think that was
+any of his business. He said that Tom wanted to see new sights, and he
+reckoned he had already had his fill of them, having been lost in the
+mountains and shot the Red Ghost besides. Now, he was going into
+partnership with Elam after the nugget, and Uncle Ezra thought he had a
+boy who could be depended upon. The foreman shook hands with Tom, and
+said he was glad to see him. Then he wanted to know whether they had
+eaten supper yet.
+
+"Well, no," replied Uncle Ezra. "You see, we started from our camp up
+there sooner than we expected. Elam has got a map telling him where to
+look to find his nugget."
+
+"Ah, get out!" said the foreman. He had heard so many things about a
+"map" that he did not believe a word of it.
+
+"Well, he has, sure enough. It came from the man who tried to rob him.
+And you haven't heard anything about the Indians, have you?"
+
+"Indians!" exclaimed the foreman. "Have they broken out?"
+
+"Just give your knife to Elam and sit down," said Uncle Ezra. "It
+appears to me that we have heard of a heap of things that you don't know
+anything about."
+
+The man gave Elam his knife, which he had in his hand to begin work with
+upon the ham he had laid upon the table, and sat down.
+
+"I wondered all the time what was the matter with Elam's hand," said he.
+"I hope the Indians didn't shoot him."
+
+"Didn't they, though?" said Elam. "You just wait and hear Uncle Ezra
+tell the story."
+
+It was a long narrative that the old frontiersman had to tell, and I saw
+that Elam was so much interested in it that he forgot all about the
+supper, and I got up and assisted him; and that was all he wanted. He
+left me to do the work, and sat down. The foreman heard Uncle Ezra
+through without interruption, and then turned and gave Elam a good
+looking over. After that he got up and assisted me with the supper.
+
+"So Elam has really got a map of the place where that nugget is hid?"
+were the first words he uttered. He didn't seem to care a straw about
+the Indians, but he did care about the gold. "I wish I knew the man he
+shot to get it."
+
+After that the evening was just what you would expect of one spent in a
+hunter's camp, or one passed in a sheep-herder's ranch, which was the
+same thing. We ate supper; then those who were inclined to the weed
+enjoyed their good-night smoke, and talked of ghosts, Indians, and
+sheep-herder's life until we were all tired out and went to bed. We had
+regular bunks to sleep in, and could thrash around all we had a mind to
+without fear of disturbing anyone else. The foreman got up once to
+replenish the fire and take a look at the weather, and I heard him say,
+when he crawled back into his bunk, that it was a clear, cold
+night--just the one that sheep enjoy.
+
+When I awoke I found the foreman busy in the storeroom in putting up our
+three months' supplies and Uncle Ezra engaged in cooking breakfast. Ben
+was seated at one end of the table, engaged in writing a letter to his
+father, and Elam had gone out after a certain stockman to carry it to
+the fort for him. It was dark, and you couldn't see a thing.
+
+"I think it best to let the boy's father know when he is well off," said
+Uncle Ezra, returning my greeting. "It aint everybody who would go to
+that trouble, I confess--sending a lone man off in a country that has
+been infested with Indians. But I know how it is myself. If I had a
+boy----"
+
+"You have got one," I said. "There's Elam."
+
+"Elam!" said the frontiersman in a tone of contempt. "Elam went to work
+and got himself into a fuss without saying a word to me about it. Elam!
+now he's got a map that he thinks will show him where the gold is
+hidden."
+
+"But don't you think there is something hidden there?" asked Ben.
+
+"Now, wait till I tell you. I don't know; but every scrap he gets hold
+of he thinks it is a map. That's what makes me mad at Elam. And you,
+dog-gone you! You have got better sense than that."
+
+I had heard all I wanted to out of Uncle Ezra. It was plain that he
+didn't think there was anything in that map. Well, as Elam said, it was
+all in a lifetime. My time wasn't worth anything to me, for I had men to
+do the work, and if I made a botch of it, if there wasn't anything to be
+made by digging up that gully, there was one thing out of the way. Elam
+was bound to become a cattle-herder in case this thing failed. He was
+determined to go to Texas, for he couldn't live there and have that
+nugget thrown at him by every man he met, and I would go with him. Uncle
+Ezra had often made offers for my cattle, intending to leave
+sheep-herding on account of the wolves, and invest all his extra money
+in steers, and if this thing turned out a failure he could have them and
+welcome. I would be as deep in the mud as Elam was, and I didn't care to
+have the thing thrown up at me all the time. Texas was the land of
+promise with us fellows, any way. The fellows there had got into the way
+of driving cattle to northern markets and selling them, and in that way
+we could at least see our friends once every year. So I didn't care what
+Uncle Ezra said about it.
+
+In about an hour Elam came back with the stockman of whom he had been in
+search. His name was Sandy; I never heard him called by any other name,
+and if his pluck only equalled his red hair and whiskers he certainly
+had lots of it. Of course we had to go through with the Red Ghost and
+Tom's being lost, the discovery of the map and Elam's escape from the
+Indians, but Sandy never said a word about it. He just sat on his
+camp-stool with his elbows resting on his knees, and looked up at Uncle
+Ezra. When the latter got through with his story he simply said:
+
+"Where's the letter?"
+
+Of course it was arranged that Sandy should go with us as far as the
+canyon that led to the springs, and beyond that he was to take care of
+himself. With his letter tucked away in his pocket, he shook Ben by the
+hand, and told him that his father would receive what he had written by
+noon the next day; and then we all mounted and rode off. Tom had been
+supplied with a pair of boots to take the place of his moccasons, and
+rode a horse that belonged to Uncle Ezra. We had two mules with us, Elam
+leading the one and I the other, which carried our supplies and also our
+digging tools; for we intended to dig as no people had ever dug before
+for that nugget.
+
+"I hope you will get it, boys," said Sandy, as he lifted his hat to us
+when we reached the canyon that branched off from his trail. "But I have
+my doubts."
+
+"Oh, of course we're cranks!" said Elam.
+
+"I never said that of you," said Sandy reproachfully. "I always said
+that if the nugget was there you'd get it."
+
+"And how am I going to find out where the nugget is unless I have a
+map?" demanded Elam. "I've got one now, and if I make a failure of this
+thing, I am going to Texas. When you see me again I'll have the nugget.
+Good-by."
+
+We saw no Indians, although we kept a bright lookout for them, and about
+three o'clock in the afternoon arrived at the springs, for I do not know
+what else to call them. We had had no dinner, intending to leave it
+until we got to our camping place, and while Tom and I unsaddled and
+staked out the horses, Elam strolled away with his rifle on his shoulder
+to look up the springs. He was gone fully an hour, and when he came back
+he set his rifle down and never said a word. I knew that something was
+the matter, but I thought I would wait until he got ready to tell it. He
+ate his dinner; he ate a good hearty one, too, so that the news he had
+brought did not interfere with his appetite, and filled his pipe; and
+then I knew that something was coming.
+
+"Carlos," said he, as he stretched his legs out in front of him, "those
+springs have all been tampered with."
+
+"What do you mean?" I asked.
+
+"They have been tampered with the same as this one has," continued Elam,
+pointing to the spring at which our horses had drank. "All the stuff and
+leaves have been pulled out of them."
+
+"Well, what of it?"
+
+"What of it? It means that somebody has been going in on our trail."
+
+"All right; let it be so. You found all the springs, didn't you? We're
+on their trail, and if we overtake them at the end of a week we will see
+what we can do with them. You said yourself that it would make things
+easier for us."
+
+"Yes, I know I said it, but I don't like to see that people are so hot
+after that nugget."
+
+It did seem to me that everyone had got wind of that nugget, and were
+going after it at the same time. How it came about I did not know. Here
+they had gone on for two years and let Elam dig where he had a mind to,
+and now when he knew where the gold was, other people knew it too and
+were determined to have it. I suggested that it might be those men who
+had robbed him, but Elam laughed at it.
+
+"Those men never came near here," said Elam. "Otherwise, how did they
+strike my camp fifty miles away? It has been done by somebody nearer
+than that, and has been done by somebody within three weeks, too."
+
+From this time out (we were all of two weeks on the trail) Elam was
+moody. He would ride all day and wouldn't say a word to either of us,
+and when we made camp at night he would go off and stay until dark. And
+the worst of it was, we camped every single night right where the men
+had slept. I began to shake in my boots, and did not wonder at Elam's
+contrary mood. In fact we were all that way. It was very seldom that we
+exchanged an opinion with one another. Elam kept his map constantly at
+hand and referred to it at every turn in the road. Sometimes he would be
+gone all day, and we would hear nothing of him until night, when he
+would come in, ask for supper, and roll himself up in his blanket and go
+to sleep. Things went on in this way for two weeks, as I said, and then
+one day, as we were watering our horses at the brook that ran through
+the canyon, we were suddenly surprised by the appearance of two men who
+stood on the opposite bank. They were a hard-looking set, but then that
+was to be expected in a country where all men lived out of doors. To
+show that they were friendly they threw their rifles into the hollow of
+their arms.
+
+"Howdy, pard?" said one.
+
+"Howdy?" replied Elam. As he was the chief man we allowed him to do all
+the talking.
+
+"You're just the men we wanted to see," said the man in a delighted
+tone. "We haven't had anything to eat since yisterday. Will ye give us a
+bite?"
+
+"Sure!" replied Elam. "What are you doing so far away in the mountains?"
+
+"We got lost, and are now trying to find our way out. This stream leads
+to some water on the prairie, I reckon? How far is the fort from here?"
+
+Elam made some reply, I didn't know what it was, while I began to look
+the men over to see if I could discover any signs of their being lost.
+Their moccasons were whole, or as much so as could be expected, and the
+wear and tear of their buckskin shirts was no more than our own. They
+were strangers to me, and I confess that I was not at all pleased to see
+them. The talk about their being lost was one thing that did the
+business for me. The men were hunters or trappers on the face of them;
+they never would be taken for anything else, and the idea of their
+getting bewildered in the mountains that they had probably passed over a
+dozen times was a little too far fetched. I caught a glimpse of Elam's
+face as he was leading his horse up the opposite bank, and there was a
+look on it that boded mischief.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+THE NUGGET IS FOUND.
+
+
+"Where are your horses?" I demanded.
+
+"Horses? We aint got none," replied the man.
+
+"Somebody must have grub-staked you," I continued. "They never sent you
+into the mountains to get lost."
+
+"We grub-staked ourselves," answered the man impatiently. "But I'll tell
+you what's the matter with you. Somebody has grub-staked you, and sent
+you in here to search for gold, and I want to know which one of you is
+Elam Storm. Speak quick!"
+
+The next thing that happened was a little short of bewildering. In less
+time than it takes to tell it, Elam and I were covered with the muzzles
+of two cocked rifles, thus making it plain to me that the men had seen
+us, and hastily made up their plans what to do with us. They couldn't
+have moved so quickly if they hadn't. They paid no attention to Tom, but
+covered Elam and me. All they said was:
+
+"Don't you move, Tender-foot. You may save the life of one, but you will
+be a goner in the end. Now, drop your guns right where you stand."
+
+In an instant Elam and I laid down our rifles, and Tom did the same. It
+was too close a call to do otherwise, for a suspicious move on the part
+of one of us would have sent us to kingdom come in short order. There
+was "shoot" in the men's eyes, and we saw it plain enough.
+
+"Now," said the leader, "go over there and set down, away from your
+guns. Which one of you is Elam Storm?"
+
+"My name is Toby Johnson," replied Elam, speaking before anybody else
+had a chance to open his mouth. "I don't deny that I am sent up here to
+prospect for gold; but I don't see much chance of finding any."
+
+"And what's your name?" demanded the leader, turning to me.
+
+It was a little time before I could speak. Elam's plan for throwing them
+off the scent was a good one, but it came so sudden that it fairly took
+my breath away.
+
+"I am Carlos Burton," I replied.
+
+"Burton! I know you," said the man, who hardly knew whether to be
+delighted or otherwise at the discovery he had made; and then all of a
+sudden it flashed upon me that here was the man who had stolen my
+cattle. How I wished I had my rifle in my hands! There would have been
+one cattle-thief less in the world, I bet you; but, then, what good
+would it have done? I would have been gone up, too, for the other man
+still held his cocked rifle in his hands.
+
+"Ah, yes! Burton," continued the leader, "Do you remember one of the
+fellows who took some cattle away from you once?"
+
+"I didn't see the men, but I have heard what sort of looking fellows
+they were. I should like to see you under different circumstances."
+
+"Well, I don't know but you will, but I doubt it. What sort of appearing
+fellow is that Elam Storm? Seen him, either of you?"
+
+"I don't know him," said Elam. "I never heard of him. I am a stranger in
+these parts."
+
+"Seeing that neither of you is Elam Storm, perhaps you may have
+something about you that tells you where to go to find his nugget. Stand
+up and put your hands above your head. You have got a ditty-bag about
+you?"
+
+"Yes, sir, and there it is," said Elam, rising to his feet and throwing
+his bag outside his shirt, so that the man could examine it.
+
+Well, there! the turning point had been reached at last, and Elam was
+the one who helped it along. Tom was utterly confounded, and I was so
+amazed and provoked that I hid my face from the men by resting my elbows
+on my knees and looking down at the ground. Of course Elam's map was
+found, there was no doubt about that. I saw him have it in his hand not
+half an hour before, and was positive that he put it in the bag out of
+sight. With that gone we were as powerless as the two men were. I
+listened, but could not hear him say anything about the map. He took the
+bag off Elam's neck and up-ended it on the ground. There were a pipe,
+some tobacco, and some matches, and that was all there was in it. He put
+them all back, after helping himself to a generous chew of the weed, and
+turned to Tom and myself; but as we didn't have any bags he let us go.
+
+"You have been duped, fellows," said the leader. "Who sent you here,
+anyway?"
+
+"Uncle Ezra," said Elam.
+
+"Ah, yes! He's a great chap for such things. And you'll meet Elam
+somewhere up there, and you want to look out that he doesn't put a
+bullet into you. He thinks he's got a dead sure thing on that gold."
+
+"Were you sent out here to hunt for it?" asked Elam, and I held my
+breath in suspense, waiting for his answer. I wanted to find out who was
+at the bottom of this matter.
+
+"Well, that's neither here nor there," said the man. "We're here, and
+that's enough for anybody to know. Here's Burton, now. I did steal some
+cattle from him because I was hard up, but I don't want him to go on and
+get fooled in this way. And you'll get fooled as sure as you live. Now,
+we don't want anything to eat. We have got everything we want out here
+in the rocks to last us to the fort; and if you'll say you won't shoot
+at us, we'll give you your guns."
+
+"I won't shoot at you," said Elam. "You have given me a point to go on,
+and I don't know but I had better turn around and go back. Here's a
+tender-foot come out here to see the country----"
+
+"All right. Go on, and let him dig away some of the landslides until he
+gets sick of them. He won't get nothing, I bet you. Now, suppose you
+take your creeters and go on your way. We can have a fair view of you
+for a quarter of a mile, and that's all we want."
+
+Elam at once picked up his gun, mounted his horse and rode away, leading
+one of the mules, leaving Tom and I to follow at our leisure. I noticed
+that the two men eyed me rather sharply. They didn't know how I felt at
+being reduced to poverty, and they were ready to nip in the bud any move
+that I took to be even with them. I didn't feel very good over it, you
+may imagine, and when I got on my horse I couldn't resist an inclination
+to say a word to them.
+
+"I hear that two of the men who engaged with you in that cattle-thieving
+business were hanged for horse-stealing," I said.
+
+"Has that story got around down here?" said one of the men.
+
+"Yes; and I am very sorry that they were dealt with in that way. I
+wanted to get even with them myself. It seems as though those six
+thousand dollars didn't go very far with you."
+
+"Well, go on now, for we don't want to take this matter into our own
+hands. We will wait until you get up to the turn in the canyon, and then
+you had better look out."
+
+I rode on up the gully after Tom and Elam, and when I got up to the turn
+I looked back. The men were not in sight. Elam rode a little way further
+and then dismounted, preparatory to going into camp.
+
+"There were two things that happened to-day that I did not think
+possible," said I, throwing myself out of my saddle in a disgusted
+humor. "One was that Elam would give up when he saw himself cornered."
+
+"I saw at the start that they did not want to hurt anything," said Elam.
+"Suppose we had resisted them; where would we be now?"
+
+"And another thing, I did not think it possible for me to stand near the
+man who stole my cattle without putting a chunk of lead into him. He
+didn't say who he was until after he had charge of my rifle, did he?"
+
+"No, but I tell you you wouldn't have made anything by trying to shoot
+him. If we had made the least attempt to cock a gun, it would have been
+good-by. Those fellows were not fools."
+
+"And what made Elam deny his identity?" said Tom. "You said you were
+Toby Johnson."
+
+"And what became of his map?" I chimed in. "I saw him have it a short
+time before they came up. What did you do with it, Elam?"
+
+"It's there, close to where I was sitting on the rock. When we think we
+have given them time to get away, I'll go back there and get it. I
+didn't want them to find it on me."
+
+"And do you say that you took it out of your bag and threw it on the
+rocks?" said Tom in utter amazement. "I sat close to you all the while,
+and I never saw you do anything like it."
+
+"No; I took it out of my pocket," said Elam. "The name I gave, Toby
+Johnson, saved them from handling me mighty rough."
+
+"Well, now I am beaten!" I exclaimed.
+
+"You see, if I had told them what my name was, they would have said at
+the start that I had some sort of a map with me, and would have hazed
+till I give it up. But they would never have got it," said Elam quietly,
+and there was deep determination in his words. "But I know one thing,
+and that aint two. Those fellows have left their picks and spades up
+here. They got tired of them and didn't mean to take them back."
+
+"Who were they, anyway?" asked Tom. "They were not the men who stole the
+skins."
+
+"Now, wait until I tell you; I don't know."
+
+"One of them might have been the man who got shot," I suggested.
+
+"There are a good many things connected with this nugget that we will
+never find out," said Elam. "And that's one of them. We'll stay here
+until we get dinner, and then I will go back after my map. It is all in
+a lifetime. So long as I get my nugget I don't care."
+
+"I never heard of men turning out so friendly after doing their best to
+rob us," said Tom, pulling the saddle off his horse. "And you met them
+half-way."
+
+"Who? Me? I will always be friendly with a man who never tries to do me
+dirt," said Elam. "If they had had the nugget you would have seen more."
+
+I was very glad indeed that they did not have the nugget. So long as
+they let us off without being hurt I was abundantly satisfied; but if
+they had had gold stowed away in their blankets, we probably should
+never have seen them. They would have slunk away among the rocks and
+tried to hide their booty for fear that we should try to take it away
+from them. Would Elam try to hide his nugget after he got it? Well, he
+had not got it yet by a long ways. We ate dinner where we were, and Elam
+shouldered his rifle, lighted his pipe, and started back after his map.
+He told us that we had better stay where we were, and this gave me an
+idea that Elam was afraid he might be shot. He was gone half an hour,
+and when he came back his face wore his old-time expression again.
+
+"Have you got it?" asked Tom, who always wanted to make sure that he was
+in the right.
+
+"Course I have," said Elam. "Catch up, and we'll go on. There is one
+thing about this map business that I don't exactly like. You see this
+nugget is hid in a pocket."
+
+Of course, I was thunderstruck, but then Elam had been all over that
+country, and of course knew where every pocket went to. He knew which
+canyons ran back into the mountains and which did not.
+
+"You see this man had a fight before he got the nugget, and he was too
+badly hurt to get off his course to find a pocket to bury his find,"
+Elam hastened to explain. "Now, this canyon that we are in goes back
+into the mountains I don't know how far, and it was in this gully that
+the fight took place; consequently the find is buried right here
+alongside of this little stream."
+
+"Who do you suppose that man was, anyway?" Tom remarked. "You have never
+heard of him since, have you?"
+
+"Now, wait until I tell you. I don't know. But let us go ahead, and I
+will tell you what I mean in a day or two."
+
+"What do you look for anyway, when you go off by yourself?" asked Tom.
+"If you would give us a pointer on that subject we might be able to help
+you."
+
+"I don't mind telling you that I am looking for a trail," said Elam.
+"And it is so old that no one but myself would notice it. When I find
+that trail I'm a-going to follow it up. It isn't over ten feet long, for
+a man as badly hurt as that one was, aint a-going to go a great ways to
+hide a nugget."
+
+"Do you mean to tell me that we are on his trail now?" exclaimed Tom in
+amazement.
+
+"Certainly I do. I have found two or three places where he slept."
+
+"Why didn't you speak about it?"
+
+"Do you suppose I have come in here this far without following some
+trail? Of course not. Some of the marks he made are so badly obliterated
+by the wind and the rain, that you can't make head nor tail of them,
+unless you know what had been there in the first place. Why, I have
+found blood on the rocks where he slept."
+
+"You're beaten, aint you, Tom?" I asked, when he gazed at me, lost in
+wonder.
+
+"I should say I was. I wish you had showed me that spot."
+
+"Well, I will the next time I come across one. Good gracious! if I
+didn't know any more about trailing than you do, I would never find that
+nugget."
+
+"How do you suppose your father came by it in the first place? He must
+have got it in some honest way or he wouldn't have had it in his wagon."
+
+"That is one thing that I don't know," answered Elam solemnly. "He got
+it, and how it ever came noised abroad that it belonged to me beats my
+time. I wish the man that started that story had it crammed down his
+throat."
+
+Elam was getting excited again, and we thought it best to leave him
+alone until he got over thinking about the nugget. We didn't raise any
+objections when he spurred up his horse and got out of sight of us in
+the bushes. When we were certain that he had passed out of hearing, Tom
+said:
+
+"Why, it is two years since that man, whoever he was, made that trail
+through here, and to think he can find some traces of it now! It bangs
+me completely."
+
+"There are two things which must be taken into consideration," said I.
+"In the first place that man didn't know what he left of a trail; he
+hoped nobody would ever find it. A twig may have been broken down and he
+left it so, certain it would lead him back to the place where he had
+buried his find. In the next place there is some little sign for which
+Elam is looking that will lead him directly to the place he wants to
+find; some branch of a tree that has been broken down and looks as
+though somebody had been browsing there, and it will tell Elam that he
+is hot on the trail. Do you see?"
+
+"Yes, I see; but I don't see how a man can follow a trail two years old.
+I wish you would show me his next camping ground. If I am a lucky omen,
+I may be able to find the nugget."
+
+I laughed and promised Tom that I would show him the next place I found;
+but it was a long time before I found any. You could not have told that
+a man had passed through there in one year or ten, the weather had so
+completely done away with all his work. But it did not make any
+difference to Elam. Sometimes he would be gone before we were up, but he
+always came back to supper, which we took pains to have good and hot for
+him. We never made any enquiries, for he knew just how impatient we
+were, and he would not keep us waiting a moment longer than was
+necessary. We had been in the canyon six weeks, and, to tell you the
+truth, Tom and I were getting pretty tired of the search. It was the
+same thing over and over every day, and I was glad that nobody had
+connected my name with a lost nugget. Elam would go along on foot,
+leaving his horse to follow or not as he pleased; and if he found a
+little pile of stones on the bank that didn't look as though it had been
+thrown up by nature, he would go into the bushes and perhaps be gone for
+an hour. We had long ago passed the pocket, and were continuing on our
+way slowly and laboriously up the canyon, and one day Elam startled Tom
+by calling out:
+
+"I reckon you will think I am all right now. Here is the place where
+that fellow camped."
+
+In less than two seconds Tom and I were by Elam's side. Cautioning us
+not to go too far so as to disturb things, he plainly pointed out to us
+the marks of a person's figure on the leaves. Some of the bushes had
+been broken down, and the leaves had blown over where he lay, but by
+carefully brushing these aside the impress of a person's form could be
+seen. There was no doubt about it, and I told Elam so in a way that made
+him all right again.
+
+"Where do you suppose that fellow is now?" said Tom.
+
+"I don't know," said Elam. "My impression is that he died."
+
+"But he wouldn't have given this map to a man when he knew it to be
+wrong, would he?"
+
+"I tell you that there's a heap of things connected with this nugget
+that we shall never find out. We are on the right trail yet. I tell you
+I feel encouraged."
+
+We all did for that matter, and every day we searched both sides of the
+stream to find that man's camping place, and when we found it we would
+call the others up; but one day Tom came into camp, and his face was
+full of news.
+
+"I don't want to raise any false hopes," said he, "but if I have not
+found something I will give it up. It's on the left-hand side of the
+creek. In the first place there were four stones laid up the bank, and
+the bush at whose foot they lay had been broken down and leaned away
+from the bank. And further than that, it was held in position by two of
+the branches, which were firmly tied about it."
+
+"Tom, I believe you have found it," said I.
+
+"It is too far away to find it before dark, but I will go there the
+first thing in the morning," continued Tom, who was so excited that he
+could scarcely speak plainly. "We want to take along our picks and
+shovels, too."
+
+We both glanced at Elam, but he didn't say anything. He was lying back
+on his blanket, with his pipe between his teeth and his hands under his
+head. He smiled all over, but said nothing.
+
+"Go on," said he to Tom. "What else did you find?"
+
+"And right there is where the fun comes in," said Tom. "The passage was
+about twenty feet long--he was too badly hurt to go further--and with
+every step of the way he had broken down a piece of the bushes, first on
+one side and then on the other, to enable him to keep a straight course.
+Right under the head of a rock that the passage brings up against, you
+will find something buried. It may not be the nugget, but there is
+something there."
+
+"Why didn't you dig down and see what it was?" said I.
+
+"It was pretty near night when I found it, and besides I wanted Elam to
+see it. I will go with you now, if you say so."
+
+"No," said Elam, filling up his pipe for a fresh smoke. "I'll be happy
+for once in my life for twelve hours, and if at the end of that time I
+find that there is nothing there----"
+
+"But I tell you there is something there," ejaculated Tom.
+
+"I will go back and go to herding cattle," added Elam, paying no
+attention to Tom's interruption. "I will give it up as a bad job."
+
+There wasn't much sleeping done in that camp that night, and although we
+stayed awake till toward morning, we had little to say to each other. We
+all wanted to see what was hidden up there. I had seen Elam become
+wonderfully excited whenever anyone spoke of the nugget and hinted that
+it wasn't there, but I had never seen him come so near finding it
+before. When daylight came Tom declared he couldn't wait any longer, so
+we got up and saddled our horses and followed along after him. We did
+not stop to cook breakfast, for in case we did not find the nugget
+nobody would want any. After going about a quarter of a mile, Tom
+stopped and dismounted from his horse.
+
+"There are the stones," said Elam.
+
+"You go along a little further and you will find everything just as I
+described it to you," said Tom. "Elam is about half wild," he added in a
+low tone to me, "so you and I had better take a pick along. Mind, I
+don't say it is the nugget, but there is something hidden in there."
+
+Talk about Elam's being half wild! Tom and I were in that fix also. We
+saw Elam examine the broken bush, the one that was held in place by two
+limbs that were tied about it, and his face grew as white as a sheet. He
+worked his way into the bushes, making his way all too slowly to suit us
+who were following close at his heels, and finally stopped under the
+hanging rock, where there was a clear space about two feet in diameter.
+The bushes grew as thick here as they did anywhere else, but they had
+been cut with a knife to give the digger a chance to work. Not one of us
+said a word, because we were too highly excited. Elam reached his hand
+behind him, and I, knowing what he wanted, placed a spade within it; but
+you might as well have set a child to scraping it out with a teaspoon.
+His hand trembled so that it was scarcely any use to him.
+
+"Here, Elam, give me that spade," I cried. "You will never get it up in
+the world. Now, stand back beside Tom, out of the way."
+
+I did not think Elam would agree to this, but he did, and in two minutes
+I had the leaves and brush all out of the way, faster than it was put
+in, I'll bet. But what was this I struck against before I had gone down
+three inches? It was not as hard as a rock, because, when I placed my
+shovel against it and tried to pry it up, the instrument slipped from it
+and showed me the color of the pure gold.
+
+"Elam, Elam, there's something here!" I shouted, so nearly beside myself
+that I did not know what I was saying. "Stand out of the way and let me
+handle it myself. When I get it out where the horses are, you can
+examine it till your head is as white as Uncle Ezra's."
+
+I have since learned that the nugget weighed 130 pounds, but it did not
+seem half that weight as I pulled it out of the hole and started through
+the bushes with it. I paid no attention to the others, who followed
+along after me, lost in wonder. I carried it out to where the bushes
+ended, and then laid it down, hunted up a rock, and sat down and
+examined it.
+
+"Elam, there's your nugget!" I said.
+
+"By gum, I believe it is!" said Elam.
+
+One would have thought by the way Elam went about it that he did not
+know whether it was or not. For fifteen minutes we sat there and watched
+him as he passed his hands carefully over it, brushing away a little
+particle of dirt here and pecking with his knife there to see if it was
+really gold, until he was satisfied; then he put up his knife and thrust
+out his hand to Tom.
+
+"Tender-foot, I never would have found this if it hadn't been for you,"
+said he, with something like a tremor in his voice. "Shake!"
+
+"Thank you," said Tom, taking particular pains to keep his hands out of
+the way. "I'll take your word for it."
+
+"I won't squeeze you, honor bright!" said Elam.
+
+That was as good as though Elam had sworn to it, and Tom gave him his
+hand. He didn't squeeze it, but he shook it very warmly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+CONCLUSION.
+
+
+I had often heard Tom Mason speak of his "luck" when telling his
+stories, but I believe he was utterly confounded by the turn his "luck"
+had taken in this particular instance. He was too amazed, so much so
+that he couldn't speak, while Elam, it was plain to be seen, looked upon
+him as a lucky omen. In these days he would have been called a "mascot."
+I was completely thunderstruck, and if Tom had told me that there was a
+nugget hidden under the biggest mountain in the valley, and I could have
+it for the mere fun of digging after it, I believe I should have put
+faith in his story.
+
+"I wish that nugget could speak," said Elam, bringing his examination to
+a stop and sitting down with his arm thrown over his find. "I would like
+to hear it tell of all the places it has been in. After so many years of
+waiting I have at last secured the object of my ambition, thanks to you,
+Tom Mason. Nobody supposed you were going to make yourself rich out
+here, did they?"
+
+"No, and I don't suppose they know it now," replied Tom. "Do you really
+imagine this is the nugget your father had?"
+
+"What is the reason they don't know it now?" demanded Elam.
+
+"Because the find isn't mine."
+
+"Didn't I say that I would give you half of it the moment we dug it up?
+You will find that I am a man of my word, Tom."
+
+"How much do you suppose the thing will pan out?" I said, seizing the
+nugget with both hands and trying to lift it from the ground. "It is
+heavier than it was a while ago."
+
+"That nugget will pan out between five and eight thousand dollars," said
+Elam. "That's the price that Spaniard put upon it."
+
+"Do you think this is the same find your father had?" continued Tom. "A
+good many people have been searching for gold since then, and a great
+many nuggets of the size of this one have been dug up."
+
+"That's the reason I wish it could speak," said Elam. "Until I know
+differently I shall believe it is the same nugget. Anyway it is mine.
+Now, boys, I am going to Texas as soon as I can get there. You will go
+with me, of course."
+
+"What are you going down there for?" asked Tom.
+
+"To buy some cattle. You can get them down there for half what they are
+worth up here, and bringing them home across the plains will leave them
+in good order for next winter."
+
+"I don't know whether I will go or not. There may be some lawless men
+down there, and you will have money on your person."
+
+"Well, what of it? A man that will stand up the way you did against the
+Red Ghost is not going to be afraid of lawless men! You must go, Tom.
+You are a lucky omen."
+
+As for myself, I did some thinking, too. There was my herd, for
+instance; a small one to be sure, but large enough to keep me in that
+country. If Uncle Ezra would sell his sheep and buy the herd, I would be
+a free man and willing to go to Texas, or any other place to see some
+fun. And that there was fun there I could readily believe. All men who
+had got into a "little trouble" in the more settled portions of the
+community came there to get out of reach of the law, and in a new
+country they did pretty near as they had a mind to. It would not be a
+safe thing for Elam to go down there with one or two thousand dollars in
+his pocket, but I for one was not unwilling to back him up.
+
+"Well, boys, go to sleep on it, and tell me how it looks in the
+morning," said Elam, jumping to his feet and making a place for his
+nugget in one of the pack-saddles. "I wish one of you boys would go back
+and get that pick and shovel that we used to dig this thing up, for we
+want to have them all with us. They will say we were so excited over
+finding the gold that we couldn't think of anything else."
+
+In due time a place had been made in the pack-saddle for the nugget, and
+we were on the back track. We travelled a good deal faster in going than
+we did in coming, for we didn't have to stop to examine signs on the
+way, and one day, to Tom's intense surprise, we found the springs close
+before us. Of course we had talked about Elam's new idea of going to
+Texas to buy his cattle, and we were pretty well decided that if he went
+we should go too. We could see that Elam was greatly pleased over our
+decision, but he did not have much to say about it.
+
+"We must stay here long enough to help Uncle Ezra down with his sheep,"
+said Elam, "and then we'll put out. I wish he would lend me a thousand
+or two on this, and take it up to Denver and get it panned out himself.
+I will take just what he says it's worth; wouldn't you, Tom?"
+
+"Why of course I would."
+
+"Well, you have got a say so in it, and I shan't do a thing with it
+unless you say the word," said Elam. "You might as well give up and take
+your half."
+
+"Perhaps Tom would rather take his share and send it home," said I.
+
+"No, I wouldn't," said Tom. "My uncle has not yet had time to get over
+his pet. It will take him a year to do that, and then I will write to
+him."
+
+On the third night after we camped at the springs we drew up before the
+door of Uncle Ezra's sheep ranch. Boy-like, we had already made up our
+minds that we would not acknowledge to anything; if Uncle Ezra wanted to
+look into our pack-saddles and see what sort of luck we had had, he
+could examine them himself. Uncle Ezra was alone. When he was in the
+woods a more devoted follower of the gun could not be found; but he
+always liked the heat of the fire and preferred a comfortable bunk to
+sleep in, when he was within reach of the home ranch. Ben Hastings had
+gone back to the fort. His father always liked to have him around when
+there was danger in the air, and he had sent a sergeant and two men
+after him.
+
+"Halloa, boys!" said Uncle Ezra, "what sort of luck have you met with? I
+think the last time I saw you, you told me that the next time I saw your
+smiling faces you would have the nugget with you. I don't see any
+nugget."
+
+"We haven't had any luck at all," said Elam. "We ate up the grub, and
+now I am going to cattle-herding."
+
+"Elam," said Uncle Ezra severely, "you are not telling me the truth!
+There is something back of this."
+
+"All right. Come out and see for yourself."
+
+Tom and I removed the saddles from our horses, and at the same time
+Uncle Ezra came out and began his examination. With the very first move
+he made he hit the nugget. I never saw a man more completely taken aback
+than he was.
+
+"Hoop-pe!" was the yell he sent up which awoke the echoes far and near.
+"By gum, if you haven't got it. I don't want a cent!"
+
+In less time than it takes to tell it Uncle Ezra had lifted out the
+nugget and carried it into the cabin beside the fire, so that he could
+have a light to see by. When we got in there he had the nugget on the
+floor, and was pawing it over to see if it was that or something else
+which we had tried to palm off on him. When he saw Elam he got up and
+gave his hand a good hearty shake. I looked at Tom and I saw him put his
+hands into his pocket. I will bet you he would not have had that shake
+for his share of the nugget.
+
+"Well, sir, you got it," said Uncle Ezra. "I declare if it don't beat
+the world!"
+
+"Now, while you are shaking me up you don't want to forget Tom," said
+Elam. "If it hadn't been for him I shouldn't have found it at all."
+
+"Do you mean to say that Tom found it?"
+
+"Certainly, for he found the trail that led to it," replied Elam; and
+then he went on to give Uncle Ezra a brief sketch of the manner in which
+Tom had got at the bottom of things. He added that if he hadn't shown
+Tom the place where the man camped, the nugget would have been up there
+now. Uncle Ezra listened in amazement, and when Elam stopped speaking he
+thrust out his hand to Tom.
+
+"Where in the world did you learn to trail?" said he. "Shake."
+
+"Thank you," said Tom, retreating a step or two. "I'll take your word
+for it. I wouldn't have such a shaking up as you gave Elam a minute ago
+for anything."
+
+Uncle Ezra laughed, and pulled a camp-stool near to the fire and sat
+down upon it. He couldn't get the nugget out of his head. He kept saying
+"By gum!" every time he looked at it, and now and then he glanced at
+Elam and pinched himself to see if he was wide awake or dreaming.
+
+"Now, I will give you something to chew on while Carlos is getting
+supper for us," said Elam; and as that was a gentle hint that he was
+hungry, I got up and went to work. "We three boys are going to Texas."
+
+"Going to Texas?" asked Uncle Ezra. "Now, wait till I tell you----"
+
+"And another thing," said Elam, paying no attention to the interruption;
+"we don't want to stay here until this thing is panned out; so can't you
+lend us a thousand dollars on that nugget?"
+
+"I know what you want," replied Uncle Ezra. "You want me to lend you a
+thousand dollars apiece."
+
+"Well, yes. That's about the way the thing stands."
+
+"Now, wait till I tell you. You will go away with all that money in your
+good clothes, and the first thing you know I will never see you again.
+Somebody will say 'Where's them three fellows that used to hang around
+your place?' and I will say 'Why, they went down to Texas to buy cattle,
+and those Texans found out that they had a lot of money about them and
+shot them.' That's what I'll say. Now, wait till I tell you. You can't
+go!"
+
+That was just about what I expected to hear from Uncle Ezra at the
+start, but I knew it would turn out otherwise. I knew if he had the
+money we would get it, and so I kept still. Tom was very much
+disappointed, but I gave him a wink and nod which told him that our
+circumstances were not as bad as they appeared to be, and that
+everything would come out all right in the end. I didn't blame Uncle
+Ezra for not wanting to let us go away with so much money in our
+pockets, but I did not see any other way out of it. If we wanted to get
+our cattle for about half what they would cost us right there, Texas was
+the place for us to go. The Indians were bad, and we would have to go
+right across the country inhabited by the Comanches, and they were about
+the worst cattle-thieves I ever heard of. Those lawless men--those who
+did not think that they were bound by any legal or moral restraint
+unless it was right there to punish them--were found everywhere, and it
+was going to be a matter of some difficulty to evade them. I had been
+there once, and I had seen just enough of it to want to go again. I
+wished now that I had not had quite so much to say in regard to those
+Regulators and Moderators who seemed to turn up when you least expected
+them.
+
+I got supper ready after a while and we all sat down to it--all except
+Uncle Ezra, who sat on his camp-stool with his eyes fastened on the
+nugget. He turned it first on one side and then on the other so that he
+could view it from all sides, said, "By gum!" every time he looked at
+it, and told us many stories connected with it that we had never heard
+before. To Elam's request that he would take charge of it he readily
+assented. He would keep it out until all the sheep-herders had seen it,
+and then he would hide it somewhere so that nobody would ever think of
+looking for it. It was in the hands of the rightful owner at last, and
+no one need think he was going to handle it again.
+
+"But you have a long way to take it to Denver," said I. "What will you
+do if somebody demands it of you!"
+
+"Now, wait until I tell you," said Uncle Ezra, while a look of
+determination came into his face. "Uncle Ezra has been there."
+
+"Now while you are talking about that nugget you are forgetting about
+me," said Tom. "I've got to go back to Mr. Parsons' cabin, and make some
+amends for that bronco. I didn't agree to let him be torn up. I have
+left money enough in his hands to settle for him."
+
+"That horse won't cost you a cent," said I.
+
+"What makes you say that?"
+
+"Because he was kept for the purpose of sending tender-feet into the
+mountains when Parsons didn't have anything else for them to do. The
+next one that comes along he will have to set him to herding cattle.
+Still I will go with you."
+
+"Thank you. What's the reason Elam can't go with you?"
+
+"Why, he's got to stay here and watch the nugget!"
+
+"By George! Have you got to watch it now that you have found it?"
+
+"Yes, sir. There are ten men employed on this ranch and four on mine,
+and you may be sure that all of them are not first-class."
+
+"Well, let them come," said Elam, getting up and stretching himself. He
+stood more than six feet in his stockings, and when he brought his arms
+back to show his biceps he fairly made the cabin tremble.
+
+"Yes, you, dog-gone you," said Uncle Ezra, getting up and shaking a fist
+in Elam's face. "You want to go off and lose a thousand dollars of it
+and your life besides. Now, wait until I tell you. I'll sleep on it.
+I'll see how it looks in the morning."
+
+But in the morning there was not a word said about it. We ate breakfast
+by the firelight, and then Tom's horse and mine were brought to the door
+and saddled, preparatory to our ride to Mr. Parsons' ranch. In a pair of
+saddle-bags which I carried I had cooked provisions enough to last four
+days. As we were ready to start, Uncle Ezra came to the door and took a
+look at the weather.
+
+"How long do you think you will be gone, Carlos?" said he. "Two weeks?
+Then you needn't mind coming back here. We shall probably get the sheep
+out some time before that, and you had better come to our dugout on the
+plains. I'll see to your cattle. Good-by."
+
+In process of time we rode up to Mr. Parsons' cabin, and if I am any
+judge of the exclamations that arose from all sides they found it
+difficult to recognize Tom. It seemed that his two months in the
+mountains had changed him wonderfully. When he spoke of the bronco and
+repeated some words of advice that Mr. Parsons had given him, the latter
+remembered him at once.
+
+"Why, Tom, I am glad to see you," said he. "Alight and hitch. The bronco
+didn't get away from you, I suppose. And you found the nugget, too?"
+
+"Yes, sir; I did," replied Tom quietly.
+
+"Gold sticking out all over it, I suppose. Well, how much do I owe you?"
+
+"I've come here to see how much I owe you," said Tom. "That bronco has
+gone up. The Red Ghost finished him."
+
+Mr. Parsons began to get interested now. He looked at me and I nodded
+assent.
+
+"Do you mean to say that the Red Ghost finished him? And did you find
+the nugget?" he exclaimed, hardly believing he had heard aright.
+
+"It's all true, every bit of it," I said. "He found Elam in a canyon
+where he got lost, and afterward found a map. He used that map, which
+started in at the springs, and afterward found the nugget."
+
+"There now!" exclaimed the elderly man, the one who had been in the
+mountains just ahead of Tom, and whose camp the latter slept in every
+night. "I told you that I did not think there was gold hidden there, and
+you thought me crazy."
+
+"Well--I--I--come in, come in," cried Mr. Parsons. "I must hear that
+story from beginning to end. And are you sure he found the nugget?
+Wasn't it something else that he found?"
+
+There were five men standing around who had been ordered to go away on
+some work or another, but they all quit and came into the cabin to hear
+the story. I took the part of spokesman upon myself, for I did not think
+that Tom would care to dwell too minutely on his meeting with the Red
+Ghost or his getting lost in the mountains, and I do not think I left
+out anything. I never saw a lot of men so confounded as they were. To
+suppose that a lot of gold had been hidden there in the mountains, which
+had come from some place a hundred miles away from there, and that Mr.
+Parsons had sent a dozen tender-feet into the hills to find it, was more
+than they could understand. When I got through they looked upon Tom with
+a trifle more of respect than they did before. They couldn't find words
+with which to express their astonishment.
+
+"Now, perhaps, you are willing to talk to me about that bronco," said
+Tom. "How much do I owe you for him?"
+
+"Not a red cent," said Mr. Parsons. "Not a single, solitary copper. I
+kept him for the sake of such fellows as you are, and now that he has
+got through with his business, I say let him rest. I shall never have
+any more chances to send him into the mountains with tender-feet. But,
+Tom, I owe you more than I can pay you."
+
+"You let up on one debt and I will let up on the other," said Tom, with
+a laugh. "If Elam wasn't such a hot-headed fellow, I should be glad of
+it. He wants me to take half that nugget, and I don't want to do it."
+
+"Take it and say nothing to nobody," said Mr. Parsons. "You will find
+means to make it up. How much will it pan out?"
+
+"Between $5000 and $8000," I answered. "But it is my opinion it will be
+nearer $5000. Elam has got that story in his head about the sum of money
+that Spaniard put upon it, and he kinder leans to that sum."
+
+"That's a larger amount of money than most of us can make. Now, I hope
+that nobody will knock him in the head for it."
+
+That was just what I was afraid of, and I made all haste to get back to
+Elam. I went up to Denver with him and Uncle Ezra, and there we sold the
+nugget for $6500. The money was all placed in the bank, with the
+exception of $2000, $1000 of which he took back to give to Tom. I sold
+my stock for $5000, and also took $1000 with me to purchase cattle. We
+were gone a month, and when we got back there was nothing to hinder us
+from starting for Texas. We had a long and fearful journey before us,
+more trouble than it is in these times, and we were a long while in
+saying good-by to the friends we left behind. We had something, too,
+that we didn't count on, and what it was and how we got around it shall
+be told in "THE MISSING POCKET-BOOK; OR, TOM MASON'S LUCK."
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+FAMOUS STANDARD JUVENILE LIBRARIES.
+
+
+HORATIO ALGER, JR.
+
+The enormous sales of the books of Horatio Alger, Jr., show the
+greatness of his popularity among the boys, and prove that he is one of
+their most favored writers. I am told that more than half a million
+copies altogether have been sold, and that all the large circulating
+libraries in the country have several complete sets, of which only two
+or three volumes are ever on the shelves at one time. If this is true,
+what thousands and thousands of boys have read and are reading Mr.
+Alger's books! His peculiar style of stories, often imitated but never
+equaled, have taken a hold upon the young people, and, despite their
+similarity, are eagerly read as soon as they appear.
+
+Mr. Alger became famous with the publication of that undying book,
+"Ragged Dick, or Street Life in New York." It was his first book for
+young people, and its success was so great that he immediately devoted
+himself to that kind of writing. It was a new and fertile field for a
+writer then, and Mr. Alger's treatment of it at once caught the fancy of
+the boys. "Ragged Dick" first appeared in 1868, and ever since then it
+has been selling steadily, until now it is estimated that about 200,000
+copies of the series have been sold.
+
+_--Pleasant Hours for Boys and Girls._
+
+A writer for boys should have an abundant sympathy with them. He should
+be able to enter into their plans, hopes, and aspirations. He should
+learn to look upon life as they do. Boys object to be written down to. A
+boy's heart opens to the man or writer who understands him.
+
+--From _Writing Stories for Boys_, by Horatio Alger, Jr.
+
+RAGGED DICK SERIES.
+
+    Ragged Dick.
+    Fame and Fortune.
+    Mark the Match Boy.
+    Rough and Ready.
+    Ben the Luggage Boy.
+    Rufus and Rose.
+
+
+TATTERED TOM SERIES--First Series.
+
+    Tattered Tom.
+    Paul the Peddler.
+    Phil the Fiddler.
+    Slow and Sure.
+
+
+TATTERED TOM SERIES--Second Series.
+
+    Julius.
+    The Young Outlaw.
+    Sam's Chance.
+    The Telegraph Boy.
+
+
+CAMPAIGN SERIES.
+
+    Frank's Campaign.
+    Paul Prescott's Charge.
+    Charlie Codman's Cruise.
+
+
+LUCK AND PLUCK SERIES--First Series.
+
+    Luck and Pluck.
+    Sink or Swim.
+    Strong and Steady.
+    Strive and Succeed.
+
+
+LUCK AND PLUCK SERIES--Second Series.
+
+    Try and Trust.
+    Bound to Rise.
+    Risen from the Ranks.
+    Herbert Carter's, Legacy.
+
+
+BRAVE AND BOLD SERIES.
+
+    Brave and Bold.
+    Jack's Ward.
+    Shifting for Himself.
+    Wait and Hope.
+
+
+NEW WORLD SERIES.
+
+    Digging for Gold.
+    Facing the World.
+    In a New World.
+
+
+VICTORY SERIES.
+
+    Only an Irish Boy.
+    Victor Vane, or the Young Secretary.
+    Adrift in the City.
+
+
+FRANK AND FEARLESS SERIES.
+
+    Frank Hunter's Peril.
+    The Young Salesman.
+    Frank and Fearless.
+
+
+GOOD FORTUNE LIBRARY.
+
+    Walter Sherwood's Probation.
+    The Young Bank Messenger.
+    A Boy's Fortune.
+
+
+RUPERT'S AMBITION.
+
+JED, THE POOR-HOUSE BOY.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+HARRY CASTLEMON.
+
+HOW I CAME TO WRITE MY FIRST BOOK.
+
+When I was sixteen years old I belonged to a composition class. It was
+our custom to go on the recitation seat every day with clean slates, and
+we were allowed ten minutes to write seventy words on any subject the
+teacher thought suited to our capacity. One day he gave out "What a Man
+Would See if He Went to Greenland." My heart was in the matter, and
+before the ten minutes were up I had one side of my slate filled. The
+teacher listened to the reading of our compositions, and when they were
+all over he simply said: "Some of you will make your living by writing
+one of these days." That gave me something to ponder upon. I did not say
+so out loud, but I knew that my composition was as good as the best of
+them. By the way, there was another thing that came in my way just then.
+I was reading at that time one of Mayne Reid's works which I had drawn
+from the library, and I pondered upon it as much as I did upon what the
+teacher said to me. In introducing Swartboy to his readers he made use
+of this expression: "No visible change was observable in Swartboy's
+countenance." Now, it occurred to me that if a man of his education
+could make such a blunder as that and still write a book, I ought to be
+able to do it, too. I went home that very day and began a story, "The
+Old Guide's Narrative," which was sent to the _New York Weekly_, and
+came back, respectfully declined. It was written on both sides of the
+sheets but I didn't know that this was against the rules. Nothing
+abashed, I began another, and receiving some instruction, from a friend
+of mine who was a clerk in a book store, I wrote it on only one side of
+the paper. But mind you, he didn't know what I was doing. Nobody knew
+it; but one day, after a hard Saturday's work--the other boys had been
+out skating on the brick-pond--I shyly broached the subject to my
+mother. I felt the need of some sympathy. She listened in amazement, and
+then said: "Why, do you think you could write a book like that?" That
+settled the matter, and from that day no one knew what I was up to until
+I sent the first four volumes of Gunboat Series to my father. Was it
+work? Well, yes; it was hard work, but each week I had the satisfaction
+of seeing the manuscript grow until the "Young Naturalist" was all
+complete.
+
+--_Harry Castlemon in the Writer._
+
+GUNBOAT SERIES.
+
+    Frank the Young Naturalist.
+    Frank on a Gunboat.
+    Frank in the Woods.
+    Frank before Vicksburg.
+    Frank on the Lower Mississippi.
+    Frank on the Prairie.
+
+
+ROCKY MOUNTAIN SERIES.
+
+    Frank Among the Rancheros.
+    Frank at Don Carlos' Rancho.
+    Frank in the Mountains.
+
+
+SPORTSMAN'S CLUB SERIES.
+
+    The Sportsman's Club in the Saddle.
+    The Sportsman's Club Afloat.
+    The Sportsman's Club Among the Trappers.
+
+
+FRANK NELSON SERIES.
+
+    Snowed up.
+    Frank in the Forecastle.
+    The Boy Traders.
+
+
+BOY TRAPPER SERIES.
+
+    The Buried Treasure.
+    The Boy Trapper.
+    The Mail Carrier.
+
+
+ROUGHING IT SERIES.
+
+    George in Camp.
+    George at the Wheel.
+    George at the Fort.
+
+
+ROD AND GUN SERIES.
+
+    Don Gordon's Shooting Box.
+    Rod and Gun Club.
+    The Young Wild Fowlers.
+
+
+GO-AHEAD SERIES.
+
+    Tom Newcombe.
+    Go-Ahead.
+    No Moss.
+
+
+WAR SERIES.
+
+    True to His Colors.
+    Rodney the Partisan.
+    Rodney the Overseer.
+    Marcy the Blockade-Runner.
+    Marcy the Refugee.
+    Sailor Jack the Trader.
+
+
+HOUSEBOAT SERIES.
+
+    The Houseboat Boys.
+    The Young Game Warden.
+    The Mystery of Lost River Cañon.
+
+
+AFLOAT AND ASHORE SERIES.
+
+    Rebellion in Dixie.
+    The Ten-Ton Cutter.
+    A Sailor in Spite of Himself.
+
+
+THE PONY EXPRESS SERIES.
+
+    The Pony Express Rider.
+    Carl, The Trailer.
+    The White Beaver.
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+EDWARD S. ELLIS.
+
+
+Edward S. Ellis, the popular writer of boys' books, is a native of Ohio,
+where he was born somewhat more than a half-century ago. His father was
+a famous hunter and rifle shot, and it was doubtless his exploits and
+those of his associates, with their tales of adventure which gave the
+son his taste for the breezy backwoods and for depicting the stirring
+life of the early settlers on the frontier.
+
+Mr. Ellis began writing at an early age and his work was acceptable from
+the first. His parents removed to New Jersey while he was a boy and he
+was graduated from the State Normal School and became a member of the
+faculty while still in his teens. He was afterward principal of the
+Trenton High School, a trustee and then superintendent of schools. By
+that time his services as a writer had become so pronounced that he gave
+his entire attention to literature. He was an exceptionally successful
+teacher and wrote a number of text-books for schools, all of which met
+with high favor. For these and his historical productions, Princeton
+College conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts.
+
+The high moral character, the clean, manly tendencies and the admirable
+literary style of Mr. Ellis' stories have made him as popular on the
+other side of the Atlantic as in this country. A leading paper remarked
+some time since, that no mother need hesitate to place in the hands of
+her boy any book written by Mr. Ellis. They are found in the leading
+Sunday-school libraries, where, as may well be believed, they are in
+wide demand and do much good by their sound, wholesome lessons which
+render them as acceptable to parents as to their children. All of his
+books published by Henry T. Coates & Co. are re-issued in London, and
+many have been translated into other languages. Mr. Ellis is a writer of
+varied accomplishments, and, in addition to his stories, is the author
+of historical works, of a number of pieces of popular music and has made
+several valuable inventions. Mr. Ellis is in the prime of his mental and
+physical powers, and great as have been the merits of his past
+achievements, there is reason to look for more brilliant productions
+from his pen in the near future.
+
+
+DEERFOOT SERIES.
+
+    Hunters of the Ozark.
+    The Last War Trail.
+    Camp in the Mountains
+
+
+LOG CABIN SERIES.
+
+    Lost Trail.
+    Footprints in the Forest.
+    Camp-Fire and Wigwam.
+
+
+BOY PIONEER SERIES.
+
+    Ned in the Block-House.
+    Ned on the River.
+    Ned in the Woods.
+
+
+THE NORTHWEST SERIES.
+
+    Two Boys in Wyoming.
+    Cowmen and Rustlers.
+    A Strange Craft and its Wonderful Voyage.
+
+
+BOONE AND KENTON SERIES.
+
+    Shod with Silence.
+    In the Days of the Pioneers.
+    Phantom of the River.
+
+
+IRON HEART, WAR CHIEF OF THE IROQUOIS.
+
+THE SECRET OF COFFIN ISLAND.
+
+THE BLAZING ARROW.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+J. T. TROWBRIDGE.
+
+
+Neither as a writer does he stand apart from the great currents of life
+and select some exceptional phase or odd combination of circumstances.
+He stands on the common level and appeals to the universal heart, and
+all that he suggests or achieves is on the plane and in the line of
+march of the great body of humanity.
+
+The Jack Hazard series of stories, published in the late _Our Young
+Folks_, and continued in the first volume of _St. Nicholas_, under the
+title of "Fast Friends," is no doubt destined to hold a high place in
+this class of literature. The delight of the boys in them (and of their
+seniors, too) is well founded. They go to the right spot every time.
+Trowbridge knows the heart of a boy like a book, and the heart of a man,
+too, and he has laid them both open in these books in a most successful
+manner. Apart from the qualities that render the series so attractive to
+all young readers, they have great value on account of their
+portraitures of American country life and character. The drawing is
+wonderfully accurate, and as spirited as it is true. The constable,
+Sellick, is an original character, and as minor figures where will we
+find anything better than Miss Wansey, and Mr. P. Pipkin, Esq. The
+picture of Mr. Dink's school, too, is capital, and where else in fiction
+is there a better nick-name than that the boys gave to poor little
+Stephen Treadwell, "Step Hen," as he himself pronounced his name in an
+unfortunate moment when he saw it in print for the first time in his
+lesson in school.
+
+On the whole, these books are very satisfactory, and afford the critical
+reader the rare pleasure of the works that are just adequate, that
+easily fulfill themselves and accomplish all they set out to
+do.--_Scribner's Monthly_.
+
+
+JACK HAZARD SERIES.
+
+    Jack Hazard and His Fortunes.
+    Doing His Best.
+    The Young Surveyor.
+    A Chance for Himself.
+    Fast Friends.
+    Lawrence's Adventures.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Elam Storm, The Wolfer, by Harry Castlemon
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ELAM STORM, THE WOLFER ***
+
+***** This file should be named 30428-8.txt or 30428-8.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/4/2/30428/
+
+Produced by David Edwards, Mary Meehan and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://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
+http://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, are 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 http://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
+http://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 http://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 http://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 checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart is 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:
+
+     http://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
diff --git a/old/30428-8.zip b/old/30428-8.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fad7564
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/30428-8.zip
diff --git a/old/30428-h.zip b/old/30428-h.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..55c101f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/30428-h.zip
diff --git a/old/30428-h/30428-h.htm b/old/30428-h/30428-h.htm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1817616
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/30428-h/30428-h.htm
@@ -0,0 +1,7990 @@
+<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
+    "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
+
+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
+  <head>
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" />
+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Elam Storm, The Wolfer, by Harry Castlemon.
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css">
+<!--
+    p {  margin-top: .75em;
+         text-align: justify;
+         margin-bottom: .75em;
+         }
+    h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 {
+         text-align: center; /* all headings centered */
+         clear: both;
+         }
+    hr { width: 33%;
+	 margin-top: 2em;
+	 margin-bottom: 2em;
+         margin-left: auto;
+         margin-right: auto;
+         clear: both;
+       }
+
+    table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;}
+
+    body{margin-left: 10%;
+         margin-right: 10%;
+        }
+
+    .pagenum  { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */
+            /*  visibility: hidden;  */
+                position: absolute;
+                left: 92%;
+                font-size: smaller;
+                text-align: right;
+              } /* page numbers */
+
+    .linenum  {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */
+    .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;}
+    .sidenote {width: 20%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em;
+               padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em; margin-left: 1em;
+               float: right; clear: right; margin-top: 1em;
+               font-size: smaller; color: black; background: #eeeeee; border: dashed 1px;}
+
+    .bb       {border-bottom: solid 2px;}
+    .bl       {border-left: solid 2px;}
+    .bt       {border-top: solid 2px;}
+    .br       {border-right: solid 2px;}
+    .bbox     {border: solid 2px;}
+
+    .center   {text-align: center;}
+    .smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
+    .u        {text-decoration: underline;}
+
+    .caption  {font-weight: bold;}
+
+    .figcenter   {margin: auto; text-align: center;}
+
+    .figleft     {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top:
+                 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 0; text-align: center;}
+
+    .figright    {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em;
+                 margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;}
+
+    .footnotes        {border: dashed 1px;}
+    .footnote         {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;}
+    .footnote .label  {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;}
+    .fnanchor         {vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;}
+
+    .poem             {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;}
+    .poem br          {display: none;}
+    .poem .stanza     {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;}
+    .poem span.i0     {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;}
+    .poem span.i2     {display: block; margin-left: 2em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;}
+    .poem span.i4     {display: block; margin-left: 4em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;}
+-->
+    </style>
+  </head>
+<body>
+
+
+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Elam Storm, The Wolfer, by Harry Castlemon
+
+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: Elam Storm, The Wolfer
+       The Lost Nugget
+
+Author: Harry Castlemon
+
+Release Date: November 8, 2009 [EBook #30428]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ELAM STORM, THE WOLFER ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Edwards, Mary Meehan and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+<h1>ELAM STORM, THE WOLFER</h1>
+
+<h3>OR</h3>
+
+<h2>THE LOST NUGGET</h2>
+
+<h2>BY HARRY CASTLEMON</h2>
+
+<h4>AUTHOR OF "GUNBOAT SERIES," "FOREST AND STREAM SERIES," "WAR SERIES,"
+ETC., ETC.</h4>
+
+<h4>PHILADELPHIA<br />
+HENRY T. COATES &amp; CO.</h4>
+
+<h4><span class="smcap">Copyright</span>, 1895,<br />
+BY PORTER &amp; COATES.</h4>
+
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a name="illus1" id="illus1"></a>
+<img src="images/illus1.jpg" alt=""/>
+</div>
+
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">The Red Ghost.</span></h3>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CONTENTS.</h2>
+
+<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. -->
+<p>
+<a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I. <span class="smcap">Something about the Nugget</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II. <span class="smcap">Tom Mason Again</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III. <span class="smcap">Tom Begins his Wanderings</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV. <span class="smcap">The Wrong Boat</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V. <span class="smcap">Tom's Luck</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI. <span class="smcap">Tom Admires the Cowboys</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII. <span class="smcap">A Temperance Lecture</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII. <span class="smcap">A Home Ranch</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX. <span class="smcap">Lost in the Mountains</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X. <span class="smcap">The Camp of Elam, the Wolfer</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI. <span class="smcap">Unwelcome Visitors</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII. <span class="smcap">Tom Finds Something</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII. <span class="smcap">Elam Interviews the Major</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV. <span class="smcap">Elam Under Fire</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV. <span class="smcap">Uncle Ezra Puts his Foot Down</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI. <span class="smcap">A New Expedition</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII. <span class="smcap">The Nugget is Found</span></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII. <span class="smcap">Conclusion</span></a><br /><br />
+<a href="#FAMOUS_STANDARD_JUVENILE_LIBRARIES">FAMOUS STANDARD JUVENILE LIBRARIES.</a><br />
+</p>
+<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. -->
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2>
+
+
+<p><a href="#illus1"><span class="smcap">The Red Ghost.</span></a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#illus2"><span class="smcap">Tom's New Acquaintance.</span></a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#illus3"><span class="smcap">Tom in hiding.</span></a></p>
+
+<p><a href="#illus4"><span class="smcap">Elam's Fight with the Cheyennes.</span></a></p>
+
+
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>ELAM STORM, THE WOLFER;</h2>
+
+<h4>OR,</h4>
+
+<h3>THE LOST NUGGET.</h3>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2>
+
+<h3>SOMETHING ABOUT THE NUGGET.</h3>
+
+
+<p>"Yes, sir; it's just like I tell you. Every coyote on this here ranch,
+mean and sneaking as he is, is worth forty dollars to the man who can
+catch him."</p>
+
+<p>"Then what is the reason Carlos and I can't make some money this
+winter?"</p>
+
+<p>"You mout, and then again you moutn't. It aint everybody who can coax
+one of them smart prowlers to stick his foot in a trap. If that was the
+case, my neighbors would have had more sheep, and Elam Storm would be
+worth a bushel of dollars."</p>
+
+<p>"And you are going to grub-stake him again this winter, are you, Uncle
+Ezra?"</p>
+
+<p>"Sure. I always do."</p>
+
+<p>"What is the reason you won't let us go with him to the mountains?"</p>
+
+<p>"'Cause I know that your folks aint so tired of you that they are ready
+to lose you yet awhile; that's why."</p>
+
+<p>"Only just a few days. We'll come back at the end of the week if you say
+so, won't we, Carlos?"</p>
+
+<p>"'Taint no use of talking, Ben; not a bit. Man alive! what would I say
+to the major if anything should happen to you? And going off with Elam
+Storm! That would be the worst yet."</p>
+
+<p>"But Elam is honest and reliable. You have said so more than once, Uncle
+Ezra."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, he's honest enough, as far as that goes, but shiftless&mdash;mighty
+shiftless. And I never said he was reliable except in one way. He's
+reliable enough to go to the mountains every fall and come back every
+spring with a hoss-back load of peltries, and that's all he is reliable
+for. I did make out to hold him down to the business of sheep-herding
+for a couple of years, but then the roaming fever took him again and
+nobody couldn't do nothing with him. He just had to go, and so he asked
+for a grub-stake and lit out."</p>
+
+<p>"You think that while he is in the mountains he looks for something
+besides wolf-skins, don't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I know he does. He's got a fool notion that will some day be the death
+of him, just as it has been the death of a dozen other men who tried to
+follow out the same notion."</p>
+
+<p>"You promised to tell me all about it some day, and about Elam, too; and
+what better time can we have than the present? We are here by ourselves,
+and there is no one to break in on your story."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, I'll tell you if it will ease your minds any. It won't be
+long, so you needn't go to settling yourself as though you had an
+all-night's job before you to listen. And perhaps when I am done you
+will know why I don't want you to go piking about the country with such
+a fellow as Elam Storm."</p>
+
+<p>It was just the night for story-telling and pipes. The blizzard, which
+had been brewing for a week or more, had burst forth in all its fury,
+and the elements were in frightful commotion. The wind howled mournfully
+through the branches of the evergreens that covered the bluff behind the
+cabin; the rain and sleet, freezing as they fell, rattled harshly upon
+the bark roof over our heads; and the whole aspect of nature, as I
+caught a momentary glimpse of it when I went out to gather our evening's
+supply of fire-wood, was cheerless and desolate in the extreme. Our
+party consisted of three (or I should say four, for the Elam Storm whose
+name has so often been mentioned was to have shown up two days
+before)&mdash;Uncle Ezra Norton, who was a sheep-herder in a small way during
+the summer, and an untiring hunter and trapper in winter; Ben Hastings,
+whose father, an officer of rank in the regular army, was stationed at
+the fort fifty miles away; and myself, Carlos Burton, a ne'er-do-well,
+who&mdash;but I will say no more on that point, as perhaps you will find out
+what sort of a fellow I am as my story progresses. We were comfortably
+sheltered in our valley home, but we heard all the noise of the tempest
+and felt a good deal of its force; and accustomed as I had become to
+such things during my wild life in the far West, I did not forget to
+breathe a silent but heart-felt prayer for any unfortunate who might be
+overtaken by the storm before he had time to reach the shelter of his
+cabin.</p>
+
+<p>Under our humble roof there were warmth, comfort, and supreme
+contentment. The single room of which the cabin could boast was
+brilliantly lighted by the fire on the hearth, which roared back a
+defiance to the storm outside; its rough walls of unhewn logs were
+heavily draped with the skins of the elk, blacktail, and mountain sheep
+that had fallen to our rifles during the hunt, completely shutting out
+all the cold and damp and darkness; and Ben and I, with our moccasoned
+feet thrust toward the cheerful blaze, reclined luxuriously upon a pile
+of genuine Navajo blankets, while our guide, friend, and mentor, Uncle
+Ezra Norton, sat upon his couch of balsam sending up from his pipe
+clouds of tobacco incense that broke in fleecy folds against the low
+roof over our heads. Our minds were in the dreamy, tranquil state that
+comes after a good dinner and a brief season of repose following a
+period of toil and hard tramping that had been rewarded beyond our
+hopes.</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Ezra was a typical borderman, strong as one of his own mules, and
+grizzly as any of the numerous specimens of <i>Ursus ferox</i> that had
+fallen before his big-bored Henry. Although he took no little pride in
+recounting Ben's exploits to the officers of the garrison, he was very
+strict with the boy when the latter was under his care, and never
+permitted him to wander far out of his sight if he could help it.</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Ezra was my particular friend, and had won my undying gratitude by
+his kindness to me. I was in trouble and he helped me out of the deepest
+hole I ever was in. When I struck his ranch one dreary day, two years
+before this story begins, afoot and alone, almost ready to drop with
+fatigue, and told him that every hoof and horn I had in the world had
+been rounded up by a gang of cattle thieves who had driven them into the
+Bad Lands to be slaughtered for their hides&mdash;when I told him this he not
+only expressed the profoundest sympathy for my forlorn condition, but
+grub-staked me and sent me into the foot-hills to find a gold mine.</p>
+
+<p>Judging from what I know now there was about as much chance of finding
+gold in the region to which he sent me as there was of being struck by
+lightning, and, more than that, I couldn't have distinguished the
+precious metal from iron pyrites; but I had to do something to pay for
+my outfit, and so I went, glad to get away by myself and brood over my
+great loss. For I had been pretty well off for a boy of fifteen, I want
+you to remember, and every dollar I had made was made by the hardest
+kind of knocks.</p>
+
+<p>When I first came out West, I began working on a ranch, taking my pay in
+stock at twelve dollars a month. My wages soon grew as my services
+increased in value, and as I took to riding like an old timer, I learned
+rapidly, because I liked the business; and it was not long before I was
+the proud possessor of a herd of cattle worth six thousand dollars. But
+it was precarious property in those days,&mdash;as uncertain as the weather.
+You might be fairly well off when you rolled yourself up in your blanket
+at night, and as poor as Job's turkey when you awoke in the morning; and
+that's the way it was with me. I was moving my herd to another section
+of the country in search of better pasturage, and was passing through a
+narrow canyon within two days' journey of the new range that one of my
+cowboys had selected for me, when all on a sudden there was a yell of
+charging men, whom I at first thought to be Indians, a rifle shot which
+killed my horse and injured my leg so badly that I could scarcely crawl
+into the nearest thicket out of sight, a hurried stampede of frightened
+cattle, and I was a beggar or the next thing to it. My three cowboys
+disappeared when the cattle did, and that was all the evidence I wanted
+to satisfy me that they were in league with the robbers. Ever since that
+time I had lived in hopes that it might be my good fortune to meet them
+again under different circumstances. When I learned that two of their
+number had been hanged somewhere in Arizona for horse-stealing, I was
+sorry to hear it, and hoped the other would mend his ways and so escape
+lynching, for I wanted to settle with him myself.</p>
+
+<p>At the time my story begins, however, I was on my feet again, as anyone
+can be in that Western country who is suffering from reverses. I had a
+home ranch and perhaps ten thousand dollars' worth of cattle ranging
+near the Bad Lands, into which my small herd had been driven to be
+killed for their hides; but I was poor enough and miserable enough when
+Uncle Ezra sent me off to hunt up a gold mine. I didn't find it, of
+course, but I took back to old Norton's ranch some specimens of quartz
+that made him open his eyes. They looked like chunks of granite, with
+little pieces of different-colored glass scattered through them. I had
+no idea of the value of my find, but so certain was Uncle Ezra that I
+had struck it rich that he took the specimens to Denver himself, and
+some expert there assured him that he was a millionnaire. But he wasn't,
+by a long shot, and neither was I. Uncle Ezra knew no more about
+business outside of sheep-herding and trapping than an Apache knows
+about astronomy, and the fifteen-year-old boy who was his only
+counsellor knew less, and the usual results followed. We were euchred
+out of our find, which meant the loss of bushels of dollars to us.
+During my prospecting tour I camped on the banks of a little stream,
+following through a secluded valley a hundred miles deep in the
+mountains, and stumbled upon a rich deposit of rubies and sapphires.
+Although there were no true red rubies nor true blue sapphires among
+them, they were beautiful gems and worth money. The Denver expert told
+Uncle Ezra that there was a sprinkling of fire opals among them, but
+this I am inclined to doubt, for I never heard of those stones being
+found together. Anyhow, that deposit, whose wealth was first presented
+to my inexperienced eyes, covered sixteen acres of ground, and is being
+worked by a syndicate with a cash capital of two million dollars. Uncle
+Ezra and I saved a small stake for old age; but you bet I will know a
+good thing the next time I see it.</p>
+
+<p>Ben Hastings, as I have said, was the son of an army officer who was
+stationed at the fort a few miles away, and this was the first time he
+had ever been west of the Mississippi. He had the good sense to
+acknowledge that he was a tender-foot, and perhaps that made me take to
+him from the start. He could ride and shoot a little, and had camped in
+small patches of timber like to Adirondacks and up about Moosehead Lake;
+but he did not pretend to know it all, as the majority of Eastern men do
+when they come out here, and so he had plenty of friends among men who
+were willing to assist him. He fairly overflowed with delight when I
+took him an invitation from Uncle Ezra to spend a month on his
+sheep-ranch. His father was glad to let him accept, for old Ezra was a
+particular friend of his, and often acted as guide when the major went
+scouting. This hunt to Wind River Mountains had been undertaken for
+Ben's especial benefit, and as we pushed him to the front as often as
+the opportunity was presented, he shot more elk and blacktail than we
+did.</p>
+
+<p>I have spoken of Elam Storm, a particular friend of all of us. He was
+somewhere in the mountains now and ought to have joined us two days ago,
+but, seeing that it was Elam, we did not pay any attention to it. He was
+a professional wolfer whom Uncle Ezra had befriended. Old Ezra said he
+was shiftless; but he certainly was not lazy, for he would work harder
+at doing nothing than any fellow I ever saw. He was game, too. He had
+some sort of a notion in his head that governed all his actions, and
+although I was as intimate with him as anybody in the country, I never
+could find out what it was. But I did not push my enquiries, I want you
+to understand, for Elam had a sharp tongue, which he did not hesitate to
+use when he thought occasion demanded it, and, besides, he was handy
+with his gun. I had often asked Uncle Ezra to tell me what he knew of
+Elam's history, but could never get him started on the subject; so I was
+glad to hear him say in response to Ben's importunities that he would
+tell the story.</p>
+
+<p>"How long ago was it since Elam came to you?" enquired Ben Hastings,
+with a view of hurrying Uncle Ezra, who was refilling his pipe, gazing
+with great deliberation the while into the fire, as if he there saw the
+incidents he was about to describe.</p>
+
+<p>"He never came to me at all," replied the old man. "I fetched him to my
+ranch, and he's been there off and on ever since. He's a different boy
+from Carlos, here,"&mdash;with a nod in my direction,&mdash;"the most
+improvidentest fellow you ever saw, and always dead broke, so that I
+have to grub-stake him every fall. I have offered more than once to take
+him right along and give him his pay in stock, so that he could get a
+start with some sheep of his own, but he won't hear to it. That's what
+makes me mad at Elam. It's all along of that fool notion that will some
+day be the death of him like I told you."</p>
+
+<p>"But what is that fool notion?" asked Ben, as Uncle Ezra paused to light
+his pipe with a brand from the fire.</p>
+
+<p>"Wait till I tell you. You see, Elam's history, so far as I know
+anything about it, begins with that treasure train that was lost up the
+country years ago. An army paymaster started for Grayson with three
+government wagons, a guard of twelve soldiers, and thirty thousand
+dollars that was to be paid to the garrison at that place. Report says
+and always did say that there was one private wagon with the train, and
+Elam Storm he sticks to it that that there wagon was his father's. I
+don't dispute that part of his history, but I do dispute all the rest,
+for it won't hold water. He allows that there was a nugget into that
+there wagon, and that it was worth eight thousand dollars; and that's
+right where the history of Elam begins.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, sir, none of them men that went out with them wagons was ever
+seen or heard of after they left Martin's. When the time came for them
+to show up at Grayson and they didn't do it, scouting parties were sent
+out to look for them, and I was with the party that found the wreck of
+one of the wagons. And there's where I found Elam; but not a live man or
+critter or a cent of money did we discover."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you suppose became of them?" enquired Ben.</p>
+
+<p>"Carried off by the robbers that jumped down on the train," replied
+Uncle Ezra. "But whether they was Injuns or white men aint known for
+certain to this day. There wasn't nothing except hoof-prints and a few
+dried spots of blood to show where the attack was made on the train; but
+there was a dim trail leading from it, and by following that trail
+through the chaparral and down a rocky canyon that was hemmed in on all
+sides by mountains we found the wrecked wagon I spoke of. When one of
+the axles broke and let the wagon down so that it could not be hauled
+any further, the robbers took every blessed thing out of it and went on,
+and we never did catch up with them&mdash;everything, I say, except Elam. He
+was no doubt left in the wagon for dead, for when we came up he was just
+alive and that was all. He hadn't been hurt at all. He was scared and
+starved almost to the bounds of endurance, but with such care as we
+rough men could give him, and being naturally tough and strong, he
+managed to worry through. After he got so that he could talk he had
+sense enough to remember that his name was the same as his father's,
+Elam Storm, and that was everything he did know. He couldn't tell the
+first thing about the soldiers who composed the escort, or whether the
+men who made the attack were whites or Injuns, or what went with the
+money; and the worst of it was when he grew older none of these things
+didn't come into his mind, like we hoped and believed they would.</p>
+
+<p>"Seeing that the little waif was friendless and alone, and none of us
+didn't know whether he had kith or kin in the world, I offered to take
+him and bring him up as if he were my own son, and the rest of the boys
+they agreed to it. Although he has always been known around these
+diggin's as 'Ezra Norton's kid,' he aint no more relation to me than you
+be, and no more use neither, I might say, so far as helping on the ranch
+is concerned. He always was a shiftless sort of chap, and liked best to
+get away by himself and 'mope,' as I called it, though I believe now
+that he was doing a power of thinking, and trying to remember who he
+was, where he had once lived, and what happened to him before the train
+was lost. I wasn't much surprised when he took to wolfing as a means of
+getting his grub and clothes, for that solitary business just suited his
+solitary disposition; but I was teetotally dumfoundered and mad, too,
+when he told me that his father was alive, and that he would some day
+find him and his big nugget together. Mind you, he didn't say this as
+though he hoped and believed it might be true, but as positive as though
+he knew it was true."</p>
+
+<p>"Where do you suppose they&mdash;I mean his father and the nugget&mdash;are now?"
+asked Ben.</p>
+
+<p>"Pshaw! His father is dead long ago," replied Uncle Ezra, in a very
+decided tone. "Leastwise the men who went with the wagons are dead, and
+so old Elam must be dead, too. Don't stand to reason that only one man
+out of the whole outfit should turn up alive, does it? These things
+happened thirteen year ago, and Elam is nigh about twenty now, I should
+say. As for his nugget&mdash;well, I don't know what to think about that.
+When I first come to this country, there was a nugget of that
+description in existence, which had been dug up somewhere in those very
+mountains, and the finding of it created a rush that reminded old timers
+of California and Deadwood. I jined in with the rest, but never dug out
+more than enough to pay my expenses; and that's what set me to raising
+sheep."</p>
+
+<p>When Uncle Ezra said this, he tipped me a wink, and settled back on his
+couch of fragrant boughs, nursing his left leg for company.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2>
+
+<h3>TOM MASON AGAIN.</h3>
+
+
+<p>"Well," said Ben interrogatively, "the nugget that Elam had to do with
+wasn't any relation to this one, was it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Wait till I tell you. I don't reckon there is any one thing in the
+world that has been the cause of so much misery and mischief of all
+kinds as that there nugget," continued Uncle Ezra reflectively. "The man
+who found it, whose name was Morgan, and who was working with two
+pardners, share and share alike, was about as honest as a man ever gets
+to be, but the sight of the small fortune which he unearthed one day by
+a single stroke of his pick, while working a little apart from the
+others, was too much for him. He was as poor as a man ever gets to be,
+and, worse than all, he had a sweetheart off in the States who was
+waiting for him to raise a stake and come home and marry her. He didn't
+like the idea of dividing with his two pardners, who would drop their
+roll at the faro table as soon as they got the chance, and so he took
+and buried his find and worked on as if nothing had happened. That is to
+say, he tried to; but with a big chunk of gold within easy reach of his
+hand it don't stand to reason that he could act just as he did before.
+He was uneasy all the time, and his pardners noticed it and suspected
+something. He took to visiting his nugget's hiding-place every night, to
+make sure that no one had dug it up, and his pardners found it out on
+him; and when at last he grew desperate and tried to carry it away
+secretly, there was some shooting done, and Morgan and one of his
+pardners were killed."</p>
+
+<p>"That left the survivor a rich man!" exclaimed Ben, who was deeply
+interested.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, just wait till I tell you. That left the survivor a tolerable rich
+man, but his sudden accession of wealth scared him so badly that he
+buried the nugget in a new place and put for 'Frisco, where he took sick
+and died. When the medical sharps warned him that he had not long to
+live, he told one of the nurses about the nugget, and gave him a map of
+the locality in which it was hidden. A month or so afterward the nurse
+organized a small expedition and went to the mountains to hunt for the
+treasure; but he hired for a guide a treacherous Greaser, who went
+ahead, dug up the nugget, and brought it to Brazos City, a small mining
+town in which I was located at the time.</p>
+
+<p>"Pierto&mdash;that was the Greaser's name&mdash;hadn't any more than got his
+nugget into the Gold Dollar saloon, which was kept by a countryman of
+hisn, and put it into a glass case and set it up on the table so that
+everybody could see and admire it, before he was offered eight thousand
+dollars for his find; but Pierto wouldn't sell. He thought he could make
+more money by putting it up at a raffle, and when the raffle was over,
+he would go back to the mountains and try for another nugget, taking
+some of us along if we wanted to go. Three thousand shares at ten
+dollars a share was what he thought would be about right, and I put my
+name down for ten shares then and there.</p>
+
+<p>"The Gold Dollar did a custom-house business after that. Crowds of
+miners from every camp for miles around came there to look at Pierto's
+find, take shares in the raffle, and drink forty-rod whiskey. Pierto and
+the eight countrymen of hisn whom he employed to guard the nugget night
+and day were armed with pepper-boxes and machetes, and were as sassy and
+stuck up as so many bantam chickens, and the lordly way in which they
+ordered us Gringos to stand back and not crowd the nugget too close was
+laughable to see. They were a surly gang and looked able to whip their
+weight in wild-cats; but in reality they were the most harmless lot of
+cowards that Pierto could have got together.</p>
+
+<p>"Like all mining towns, Brazos City could boast of some tough citizens,
+and among them was Red Jimmy Murphy, a noted desperado, and as smart a
+rough as ever pulled a gun. He and two of his pals were in the Gold
+Dollar every day and night, and after looking the ground over they
+concluded that the plant could be raised. No sooner had this been
+settled to their satisfaction than they set to work to get things ready.</p>
+
+<p>"The night before the raffle was to come off the Gold Dollar was packed
+as full as it could hold,&mdash;so full that there was scarcely room for the
+fiddlers to work their elbows,&mdash;and Pierto's guard had to use some
+little muscular strength to keep the crowd from pushing over the table
+on which lay the nugget in its glass case. Red Jimmy's gang was there,
+ready to grab the chunk at the critical moment, and finally Jimmy
+himself rode into the saloon on a kicking, plunging bronco. The closely
+packed men cursed and threatened and ordered him out, but gave way all
+the same, and when the bronco heard the squawking of the fiddles and
+felt the jab of his rider's spurs, he slewed around and backed toward
+the table. Pierto saw the danger, and made a desperate rush to save his
+nugget, but was just a second too late. Jimmy raised a yell to put his
+pals on the watch, and spurred up the bronco, which at once sent his
+heels into the air as high as the ceiling. Down went the table, and the
+glass flew into a thousand pieces. The nugget went sailing over the
+heads of the crowd and into the hands of one of the gang, who, in spite
+of every effort that was made to stop him, succeeded in tossing it to
+Jimmy; and Jimmy he headed for the door, riding over everybody that got
+in his way. Then there was fun, I tell you. I never saw lead fly so
+thickly before nor since. Everybody had a gun out, and Red Jimmy ought
+by rights to have been riddled like a sieve."</p>
+
+<p>"Uncle Ezra, did you shoot?" asked Ben.</p>
+
+<p>"I presume to say that I made as much noise as the rest," answered the
+old man, with a chuckle. "You know, I held some chances in that chunk,
+and didn't want to lose them. Of course Pierto had to shell out the
+money we paid him for the tickets, for the raffle could not now be
+brought off; we kept him right there under our guns till he gave back
+the last dollar, but he never set eyes on his nugget, and neither did
+we. Red Jimmy, desperately wounded as he was, got away to the mountains
+with his prize, and although a strong posse headed by the sheriff
+followed on his trail and finished him the next day, they did not find
+the nugget. One of his gang made off with it."</p>
+
+<p>"And you lost it all?"</p>
+
+<p>"Cer'n'y," said the old man.</p>
+
+<p>"And never got a chance to raffle for any of it?" asked Ben. "It has
+probably been fixed up into ornaments of some description by this time.
+An article worth eight thousand dollars isn't going to be left around
+loose."</p>
+
+<p>"It wasn't so two years ago."</p>
+
+<p>"Two years?"</p>
+
+<p>"Wait till I tell you. That nugget has travelled as much as five hundred
+miles from here, but somehow it always manages to come back. Here it was
+born, and right here it is going to stay until it has its rights. Mind
+you, that is Elam's way of looking at it, but it aint mine, by a long
+shot. We didn't none of us hear of the nugget again for nearly a year,
+and then one of the boys happened to strike a pardner who had got
+dissatisfied with the money he was making and went off to Pike's Peak,
+and there he learned that two of the gang who had stolen it were seen
+and killed for the part they had taken in the enterprise; for you will
+remember that several miners in the country had knocked off work and
+come in to catch a glimpse of Pierto's find, and of course they didn't
+feel very friendly toward the robbers.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, everybody for miles around kept open eyes for that nugget for
+years, until at last I forgot all about it until I heard that a couple
+of worthless Greasers had somehow got hold of it, and had been found
+done to death with that nugget by their side. Then I gave up all hopes,
+for if the nugget had fallen into the hands of honest men, that was the
+last of it; but it seems it hadn't, and that gave me another show," said
+Ezra, tipping me another wink, which was as near to a laugh as he ever
+got. "The two Greasers were about as tough specimens as you see, and
+they finally got into a fight to see which was the better man. When they
+were found, the victor had the nugget hugged closely to his breast, as
+if he did not want to part with it even in death. Not only that, but
+these two had scarcely found the nugget till they got into a row over
+who should carry it, and one of them got so badly whipped that he
+dropped and fainted right there. The other had strength enough to travel
+ten miles nearer the fort, and there he hid the nugget; but where he hid
+it he don't know. He raved about it while he was sick, and somebody told
+Elam of it (you see, everybody around here knows the history of that
+nugget), and every fall and winter he asks for a grub-stake and lights
+out, and I don't see any more of him till I drive my sheep down on the
+prairie. That happened two years ago, and every fall you'll see three or
+four fellows in the edge of Death Valley, saying nothing to each other,
+but ostensibly hunting coyotes, and all the while looking for that
+nugget, which is the thing they most want to find."</p>
+
+<p>"Then the nugget is really here?" exclaimed Ben.</p>
+
+<p>"It's here or hereabouts. It may be within ten miles of this place or it
+may be a hundred; for nobody knows where that fellow hid it. Mind you, I
+shouldn't like to be the fellow that finds it."</p>
+
+<p>"Why not?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because Elam will go for him. It's his nugget, and he knows it and he's
+bound to have it. Mind you, Elam doesn't say nothing about it, and he
+can't imagine what it is that sends the fellows prowling around Death
+Valley. But, laws! they may as well give it up. There have been a good
+many landslides in the canyon here the last fall, and if the nugget is
+under them, we may as well bid it good-by. I don't know that this nugget
+is any relation to Elam's, but it looks to me that way; don't it to you?
+And it seems so strange that it should come back here when it gets off a
+certain distance. The poor fellow is out there now hunting for it, and
+he may not show up this trip."</p>
+
+<p>"That won't be anything new for Elam, will it?"</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Ezra thought it would not. He might be a longer or shorter
+distance from there, and if he didn't put in an appearance, it was no
+matter; and, having got through with his talk, Uncle Ezra knocked the
+ashes from his pipe and settled himself in an attitude of rest, while
+Ben and I listened to the noise of the storm and thought of Elam's
+strange history. The nugget belonged to him, and we hoped from the
+bottom of our hearts that he would get it, although we made up our minds
+that he would have a strange time in getting back to the fort with it
+while there were so many desperate men waiting for him to recover it.
+Suddenly Ben thought of something.</p>
+
+<p>"Uncle Ezra, you didn't tell us how Elam's father came into possession
+of that nugget in the first place," said he.</p>
+
+<p>"Ask me something hard," replied the old frontiersman.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you know?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nobody knows. We don't know whether it was hisn or he was just carrying
+it for somebody. We only know it was there&mdash;at least Elam says so. We
+only know that the robbers had it for years. There is a hiatus in the
+history of the nugget, and nobody don't seem to know what became of it
+in that time. We only know that them two Greasers had it and fought over
+it, and that brings it up to two years ago. It's my opinion that there
+will be another hiatus lasting for all time. At any rate it is worth
+eight thousand dollars, and I believe it is the same one I took ten
+chances on."</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Ezra rolled over as if he intended to go to sleep, and once more
+silence reigned in the cabin. Presently a deep snore coming from Ben's
+way told me that he was fast losing consciousness, and I was left to
+keep watch of the fire and listen to the howling of the storm outside.
+While I was thinking how foolish Elam was to go on searching for that
+nugget, when he might just as well have turned an honest sheep-herder,
+and laid out a little of his strength in taking care of his woolly
+companions instead of spending it all in wolfing, I, too, passed into
+the land of dreams.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning's sun (for the storm ceased shortly after midnight)
+found us still upon our blankets, for Uncle Ezra did not intend to go
+hunting that day, and it was nine o'clock when we got breakfast off our
+hands and the dishes washed and put away. We were just settling
+ourselves for another long story&mdash;a good one we knew it was going to be,
+for Uncle Ezra had promised to tell us about the first bear he ever
+killed&mdash;when a far-away and lonely howl came to our ears. It was so
+lonely that it seemed as if a single wolf was left, and that he was
+mourning over those who had fallen before the hunter's traps and rifle;
+but we knew it was not that. We listened, and when the sound was
+repeated, I threw open the door, and stepped out and set up an answering
+howl.</p>
+
+<p>"That's Elam," said Ezra, in response to Ben's enquiring look. "It is
+his way of announcing his whereabouts. I expect he will come along with
+a hoss-back load of peltries, so that I won't have to grub-stake him
+again this winter. Elam is pretty sharp, if I did raise him."</p>
+
+<p>The blizzard had swept the mountain free of snow, and it was only in the
+valley, where the fury of the storm had spent itself; consequently the
+new-comer had little difficulty in making his appearance. In the course
+of twenty minutes he came up, and then we knew he was not alone. We
+could hear him carrying on a conversation in a loud tone with someone
+near him, but could not catch the stranger's reply. Presently he came
+out of the scrub oaks leading his horse, followed immediately by a boy
+on foot; but where was the horseback load of peltries that Uncle Ezra so
+confidently expected?</p>
+
+<p>"Howdy, boys?" said Elam.</p>
+
+<p>"How do you do?" responded Ben. "Where's the rest of your furs?"</p>
+
+<p>"Gone&mdash;all gone!" replied Elam cheerfully. "One hundred dollars' worth
+of wolf-skins and fifty dollars' worth of other furs all gone up in
+smoke."</p>
+
+<p>"Were they burned?"</p>
+
+<p>"Burned? no. Some travelling trappers came to camp while I was absent,
+and Tom, here, wasn't man enough to stop 'em. They took everything I had
+down to the fort, and although I went there and did some of the best
+talking I knew how to do, I came pretty near getting myself in trouble
+by it. I want to see Uncle Ezra, though I suppose it is too late to do
+anything. This fellow is Tom Mason, and I want you to know him and treat
+him right. He got into a little trouble down in Mississippi, where he
+used to live, and came out here to get clear of it. Know him, boys."</p>
+
+<p>We shook hands heartily with Tom Mason, and although we were
+considerably surprised at Elam's statement that his outfit had been
+broken up by thieves, we were a good deal more surprised to learn that
+the youth at his side had got into "trouble" in Mississippi. After
+hitching their horse where he could graze we went into the cabin with
+them, and gathered about them with the idea of hearing an exciting
+story; for although I had been in the far West nearly all my life, I had
+not got over my fondness for a story yet.</p>
+
+<p>"Howdy, Elam?" said Uncle Ezra, removing his pipe from his mouth with
+one hand and extending the other. "You got into trouble, I hear, all on
+account of your furs. How did it happen? And you, too, Tommy." You will
+remember that the door of the cabin was open, and that Uncle Ezra heard
+every word of our conversation. "You didn't steer clear of all trouble
+by coming out here, did you? Well, never mind. Troubles will come to
+everybody, no matter what they do. Sit down and tell me all about it.
+Haven't had any breakfast, have you?"</p>
+
+<p>Elam declared that they had had enough left for breakfast, and produced
+his pipe and got ready for a smoke, while Tom sat by with his gaze
+fastened on the fire. I will tell both stories together, for Elam did
+not touch upon Tom's tale of sorrow at all. But, in the first place, you
+remember something about Tom Mason, don't you? You recall that he got
+Jerry Lamar into serious trouble by stealing a grip-sack that belonged
+to his uncle, General Mason, which contained five thousand dollars, that
+Jerry was arrested and put into prison on account of it, and that the
+only thing that turned Tom Mason in favor of the boys who were working
+to help him was the fact that Luke Redman was going to take the money
+across the river into Texas. Mark Coleman came near getting the money,
+when his skiff was stranded at Dead Man's Elbow, but had to go away
+without it; and from that time the history of the five thousand begins.
+Tom Mason fell in with Joe Coleman, who was Mark's twin brother, and he
+told him everything he had done; and when the last moment arrived, when
+the horns of the settlers announced that they were fast closing in upon
+the robbers, he told Joe to take charge of the money and dived into a
+canebrake and disappeared. No one would have thought of prosecuting Tom
+Mason if he had stayed there, but that was not the thing. He had been
+guilty, he had never done such a thing before, and he couldn't bear to
+stand up in that community and have people point at him and whisper:</p>
+
+<p>"There goes Tom Mason, the boy that robbed his uncle of five thousand
+dollars!"</p>
+
+<p>He would go West, to Texas, and when he had lived over a good portion of
+his life, he would write to his uncle and ask him if he might return.</p>
+
+<p>Now, bear in mind that this is what I heard from Tom's lips, after I
+became so well acquainted with him that he thought it advisable to tell
+me his story. I don't say that I advised him to stay out there in that
+lawless country among those lawless folks, for I didn't. I advised him
+to go home and "live it down"; but Tom was plucky and wouldn't budge an
+inch. Perhaps you will wonder, too, how it came about that a cowboy who
+never heard of Mark Coleman, Duke Hampton, and the rest should come upon
+Tom Mason in time to write the continuation of his story&mdash;a sequel that
+the boys in Mississippi knew nothing about until long after it occurred.
+All I can say is it just happened so.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2>
+
+<h3>TOM BEGINS HIS WANDERINGS.</h3>
+
+
+<p>"Joe, I will give this valise and gun into your care, and will thank you
+to see that they are restored to their owners. I know you will do this
+much for me, for it is the last favor I shall ask of you."</p>
+
+<p>"I took the articles in question as Tom handed them to me, and when I
+raised my eyes to look at him, he was gone. He had jumped past me,
+dashed out of the passage, and disappeared into the bushes before I
+could say a word to him."</p>
+
+<p>And that was the last that Joe Coleman ever saw of Tom Mason for long
+years to come. He was friendless and alone&mdash;how very much alone he never
+knew until by skilful dodging he managed to get on the outskirts of the
+body of settlers that were closing up around Luke Redman and his gang,
+and found himself beyond the reach of capture. His face was very pale,
+but he went about his business as though he knew what he was doing. It
+was very strange that a boy who had servants to wait on him at every
+turn&mdash;one to saddle his horse, another to black his boots, and still
+another to serve up his lunch when he got hungry&mdash;should have been
+willing to set off on an expedition by himself, but it showed that he
+knew nothing of the world before him.</p>
+
+<p>Having satisfied himself by the sound of the horns and the baying of the
+dogs that he was out of danger, Tom paused long enough to transfer his
+roll of money from his trousers pocket to his boot-leg. He had about
+fifty dollars that was all his own, and as he did not wish to lose it,
+he put it where he thought it would be safe, then straightened up,
+listened for a moment to a faint, far-off note that came to his ears,
+drew his hands swiftly across his eyes, and made the best of his way
+toward the Mississippi River.</p>
+
+<p>"That is my hound, and I'll bet it will be a long time before I shall
+hear him give tongue in that fashion again," soliloquized Tom, as he
+emerged from the cane and took a survey of the prospect before him. "I
+may never hear him, but I shall always remember him."</p>
+
+<p>As Tom came out of the cane he found himself on the verge of that swamp
+over which, one short week previous, the water had stood to the depth of
+fifteen feet; but Our Fellows had already ridden over it, with Sandy
+Todd for a leader,&mdash;the boy who admitted that he "might be slow
+a-walkin' an' a-talkin', but was not slow a-ridin',"&mdash;in their wild
+chase after the Indians and after Luke Redman, the man who had stolen
+Black Bess, and had managed in some way, they could not tell how, to
+secure possession of the valise which contained General Mason's five
+thousand dollars. The ridges were high and dry, and by following them
+one could enjoy a pleasant ride, avoiding the water altogether; but the
+trouble in Tom's case was the ridges ended either in the swamp at Dead
+Man's Elbow, the place where they afterward captured Luke Redman, or
+veered around until they ended in the very spot Tom did not want to go,
+the town of Burton, which was the only place in the county that could
+boast of a jail. It was dangerous to attempt to pass from one ridge to
+another, for the bottom was covered with a bed of mud in which a
+horseman would sink out of sight. Tom speculated upon this as he walked
+along, and although he was positive that no very desperate attempt would
+be made to capture him when it was found out that he was the guilty one,
+he would have felt safer if he had left all sights and sounds of his
+first wrong-doing far behind. How his uncle would scorn him when first
+he found it out! And the negroes! Why, it wouldn't be long till it would
+be all over the State.</p>
+
+<p>"This is what comes of a rash attempt to have revenge on a boy who never
+did me a thought of harm. Because I couldn't be the leader among Our
+Fellows I had to go to work and get myself into worse trouble by it. Why
+couldn't I have rested easy when I had nothing to worry about? But I
+mustn't allow my thoughts to get the start of me right at the beginning,
+for if I do, I shall come out at the little end of the horn. I wish I
+had an axe, for I would soon get across. I shall never find my way to
+the Mississippi as long as I stay on this side the bayou."</p>
+
+<p>While Tom was talking to himself in this way, he stood upon the bluffs,
+which, by drawing near to one another, had gradually left the low lands
+behind and brought the two banks of the stream within twenty feet&mdash;a
+bad-looking place, for it went far to remind Tom of Dead Man's Elbow. It
+was his only chance to cross the stream. While he stood there, looking
+at the dark, muddy water that flowed between him and liberty, that is,
+between him and the Mississippi, and trying hard to determine what his
+chances were of passing the night in his wet clothes with no means of
+starting a fire, his attention was attracted by the very sound he wanted
+to hear. He listened, and when the blows began to fall in regular order,
+as if the woodman was warming at his work, he left the bluffs behind him
+and turned and went into the woods.</p>
+
+<p>"That's an axe," thought Tom, "and as nobody but negroes can be chopping
+out here, I'll go up and get a bite to eat; for, now that I think of it,
+I'm hungry. I must be ten miles from my uncle's now, and of course no
+one down here has heard of that grip-sack business. To-morrow morning I
+will make him cut a tree across the bayou."</p>
+
+<p>Guided by the sound of the woodman's axe, Tom felt his way through the
+cane (for by this time it was so dark in there that feeling was the only
+sense he could go by), and presently came within sight of the chopper.
+He was a jolly, good-natured negro, who seemed a little startled on
+discovering Tom's approach, but speedily recovered himself when the boy
+addressed him by saying:</p>
+
+<p>"Hallo, Snowball! What are you doing so far out of the world?"</p>
+
+<p>"Sarvent, sar. Well, sar, you see all dis timber here? My moster is
+needin' some rail timber mighty bad, so he sends me out here every
+Monday and I stays here until Saturday. Say, boss, what you doin' out
+here? Ise you los'?"</p>
+
+<p>"You haven't seen a gray horse, with saddle and bridle on, going by
+here, have you?" asked Tom in reply.</p>
+
+<p>"No, sar, I aint. Did he threw you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nor any hounds giving tongue?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, sar, I aint. Ise dey de ones you is lookin' for, boss?"</p>
+
+<p>"They're gone, and the best thing I can do is to follow after them on
+foot," said Tom, looking around for a handy log to sit down on; for, now
+that his tramp for the day was ended and he had somebody to talk to, he
+began to realize that he was tired. "I believe I'll camp with you
+to-night."</p>
+
+<p>"Sarvent, sar. Cert'n'y, sar. Whar might you uns come from?"</p>
+
+<p>"I came from the country about General Mason's place. Have you got
+anything to eat?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, sar. Plenty of it, sar," said the negro, sticking his axe into
+the log he was chopping and leading the way off through the bushes. "Dis
+way, sar. I's often heared of folks up your way. Somebody up that a-way
+been a-stealin' five thousand dollars."</p>
+
+<p>Tom was thunderstruck. "Who brought that news here?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"De niggers, dey brung it. You can't keep anything away from de
+darkies."</p>
+
+<p>"How far is General Mason's place from here?"</p>
+
+<p>"Fifteen miles, or sich a matter."</p>
+
+<p>"And did the darkies say who stole it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, sar. Dey say that a youngster named Tom Mason&mdash;he's just about
+your size, but you aint no thief, be ye?"</p>
+
+<p>"Do I look like a thief?" enquired Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"I aint a-sayin' you did, sar. I only say he was just about your size.
+Then this Luke Redman,&mdash;you've heared of him, aint ye?&mdash;he got hold of
+the money and tried to run away to Texas."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, the old gentleman has got it now," said Tom, who plainly saw that
+it wouldn't do to talk too freely with the darky on this subject,
+because he knew too much. "They organized a big expedition and hunted
+the man down and captured him."</p>
+
+<p>"I am mighty glad to hear it, and I hope dey will throw dem as 'as got
+it in jail so tight that dey won't never have time to think of five
+thousand dollars. Now, sit down on that block of wood and I'll soon get
+you something to eat. You see, there is two bunks here? One belongs to
+my pardner, who is home now, sick with the rheumatiz. Moster is mighty
+keerful of his niggers, and he don't like to have Pomp come down here
+dat a-way, so he told him he must stay about the house and do light
+chores until next week, when he will come down here to help me split
+rails. Dere's a slice of bacon and some johnny cake for you. If you can
+wait till I fix up the fire I will give you a cup of coffee."</p>
+
+<p>"Does your master give you coffee?" asked Tom in surprise, for he could
+not remember that his uncle ever so far forgot himself.</p>
+
+<p>"'Course he does, sar, when we are splittin' rails; and sometimes"&mdash;here
+the darky leaned over and whispered the words to Tom, as if he feared
+that somebody would overhear them&mdash;"we take a handful now and then to do
+the old woman. Hy-ya!"</p>
+
+<p>Tom laughed as heartily as the negro did,&mdash;his laugh was catching,&mdash;but
+said he would wait until the darky had his supper.</p>
+
+<p>"Very well, den. You eat your lunch and I will go back to my
+rail-splittin'. When you get through, just lay down in Pomp's bunk and
+go to sleep. I'll have you up at seven o'clock."</p>
+
+<p>The darky went out, and Tom, being left to himself, proceeded to look
+about him. The cabin, which was built of rails, was barely large enough
+to seat two men at the table; but it was tight, and as the most the
+darkies had to do was to eat and sleep under it, it had plenty of room
+in it. Besides, there was a bench beside the door, and when the darkies
+were tired of working, that was the place for them to "loaf." By the
+time he had made these observations his bacon and johnny cake were gone,
+and he got up and crept into Pomp's bunk.</p>
+
+<p>By the time he awoke it was pitch dark, save where the faint light from
+the dying fire which the negro had kindled to cook his supper shone
+through the open doorway. The terrific snores which came from the bunk
+at his feet told him that the darky had long ago retired to rest, but he
+was hungry, and he crept out of bed to see if anything had been left for
+him. He found a pot of coffee and a huge chunk of bacon and johnny cake
+waiting for him on the coals, and as the fire had not had time to burn
+itself out, they were as warm as when they first were cooked. But by
+certain signs which he discovered while disposing of the good things the
+darky had provided for him, he found that he had been asleep longer than
+he had thought, and that daylight was not far off, and finally the negro
+started up from an apparently sound sleep, threw aside the blankets with
+a frantic sweep of his arm, and sat up and looked about him.</p>
+
+<p>"Hi! dere you is," said he. "I fix up dat fire fo' times during de
+night, but you was sleepin' so soundly that I couldn't b'ar to waken you
+up. Has you got plenty?"</p>
+
+<p>"Plenty, thank you. It's about four o'clock, isn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>The negro pulled himself entirely out of bed, put on his shoes, and went
+out and looked about him. After looking in vain for several stars which
+he ought to have found, but could not, he announced that his guest had
+struck the hour pretty closely.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, while you are cooking your own breakfast, couldn't you put
+on a little mess for me? You see, I am not bound for my uncle's house
+just now. I have to go down to the landing to meet the steamer <i>John
+Clark</i> there, and get a trifling sum of money that one of the passengers
+will have ready for me."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, boss, how is you going to get across de bayou?" asked the darky,
+in surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"If my horse had not thrown me, I could have ridden him across," replied
+Tom. "But he had to start off on his own hook, and I shall have to do
+the best I can on foot. For that money I must have."</p>
+
+<p>"Dat's all right, sar. But I don't see how you are going to get across
+de bayou."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you? Well, you just go ahead and cook me some breakfast and then
+I'll show you. If you had lived in these woods as long as I have, you
+would know that it is an easy matter to cut a tree across some parts of
+the bayou."</p>
+
+<p>Tom washed his hands and face in some muddy water he dipped up from the
+stream that ran a short distance from the camp, dried them on his
+handkerchief, and watched the negro as he went about his work. Now and
+then, when he thought Tom was not looking at him, he would roll up his
+eyes, taking in at one swift glance all the clothing he wore, from his
+hat down to his boots. Tom was well enough acquainted with the negro
+character to know that he had excited his suspicions in some way.</p>
+
+<p>"If I keep on in this way, I shall excite the mistrust of everyone I
+chance to meet," thought Tom, who wondered what he could have said that
+had caused this sudden change in the darky's behavior. "I have shut him
+up like an oyster, and not another thing can I get out of him. I shall
+be with him over half an hour longer, and then he can do what he pleases
+with his suspicions."</p>
+
+<p>"Dat's a mighty slick rascal, dat feller," muttered the darky, as he
+fished the bacon out of the frying-pan and placed it on to a clean chip.
+"Dere's your breakfast, sar. I'll eat mine out here by this stump."</p>
+
+<p>"Give me a cup of coffee," said Tom. "It is all I want."</p>
+
+<p>The steaming beverage was placed before him. Tom thought of the great
+world into which he was so soon to enter, and wondered if everybody in
+it was going to treat him as this obscure darky had done. Texas was a
+pretty good-sized empire, he had heard them say, and he believed it was
+made up mostly of men who had gone there to get clear of the law, and
+who had enough to think of to keep themselves out of trouble;
+consequently they wouldn't bother their heads about a boy who had been
+suspected of stealing five thousand dollars. When Tom had reached this
+point in his meditations, the darky, who had evidently swallowed his
+breakfast whole and rolled up in a piece of old gunny sack the supply he
+intended Tom should take with him, handed the bundle to him with one
+hand, and reached out for the axe with the other.</p>
+
+<p>"Ise ready now if you is, sar."</p>
+
+<p>This was all that passed between them. Tom got up, pointed out the path
+he wished the negro to follow in order to reach the narrowest part of
+the stream, which he had examined the day before, and fell in behind
+him; and it is a noticeable fact that he kept the black in front of him
+all the way to the stream. It is true that the man had no weapon but his
+axe, but with such an article, if he could only get the start with it,
+he could easily march him before his master, and that was the very place
+he didn't want to go. Such things had been done, and Tom did not see why
+they could not be done again. In a few minutes they reached the bank of
+the bayou, and when the negro saw it, he leaned on his axe and shook his
+head.</p>
+
+<p>"You knows what you want to do, don't you, sar?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I know just what I want to do," replied Tom. "Cut down this tree
+first."</p>
+
+<p>The negro glanced at the top of the tree in order to see which way it
+would fall, cut a few bushes out of his way, and went to work. A few
+blows with the axe brought the tree down and it lodged on the opposite
+bank. Two more trees were cut down and the bridge was completed.</p>
+
+<p>"Good-by, Snowball," said Tom, extending his closed hand toward the
+negro. "I don't want you to do this for nothing. Here's a dollar to pay
+you for your trouble."</p>
+
+<p>"I&mdash;I don't want it, sar," replied the darky, drawing back. "I hope dat
+money won't sink you afore you get across de river, but I'm mighty jubus
+about it."</p>
+
+<p>"What money?"</p>
+
+<p>"General Mason's five thousand dollars, sar."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you suppose I have got that amount of money stowed away about me?
+Why, man, it's a valiseful. This money is all honest."</p>
+
+<p>"I can't help dat, sar. I can't shake hands with you, either. I would be
+afraid it would take all the strength out of my arms so't I couldn't
+split more rails."</p>
+
+<p>"All right, then. You stand here on the bank and see me work my way
+across. I bet you that all the money I have about my clothes will not
+sink me if I do fall overboard."</p>
+
+<p>As Tom spoke he stepped recklessly upon the bridge. We say "recklessly,"
+because had he taken more pains to examine the fastenings on the
+opposite bank he would have been more careful. He had nearly crossed the
+bayou when the log on which he was walking tipped a little, and although
+Tom made frantic efforts to save himself by seizing all the branches
+within his reach, it set the whole structure in motion. There was a
+"swish" of tree-tops, and in a moment more the bridge and Tom went into
+the water together. The negro looked, but did not see him come up.</p>
+
+<p>"Dar, now!" said he. "The money he had about his clothes was too heavy
+for him to walk the bridge with."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE WRONG BOAT.</h3>
+
+
+<p>The negro, almost overwhelmed with surprise, watched the surface of the
+water to see Tom reappear, but it was only for a moment, and then with a
+rush one of the trees, which had broken loose from its moorings, swept
+over the very place where the head was seen, and the negro fairly danced
+with consternation when he saw one of the limbs catch Tom and carry him
+under water with it.</p>
+
+<p>"Dar, now!" he exclaimed. "If I go home and tell moster about this thief
+being drowned here, he will think I did it. What's dat?"</p>
+
+<p>When Tom arose to the surface, it was only just long enough to clear the
+water from his face, settle his hat firmly on his head, and take a fresh
+hold of the bundle containing his lunch, and then he saw the tree
+sweeping down upon him. To take in one long breath and go down again
+before it got to him was barely the work of a moment, so that when the
+tree passed Tom came up a second time, and this time he was much nearer
+to the bank he wanted to reach than he was before. A few lusty strokes
+brought him to it, and by the aid of trailing roots and vines he made
+his way to the top with the agility of a sailor, so that by the time the
+darky had got over wondering at his narrow escape, he was high upon the
+bank opposite to him, and pulling off his boot to see if his money was
+safe.</p>
+
+<p>"Is dat you, sar?" said he, scarcely raising his voice above a whisper.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course it is I," replied Tom, who did not know whether to get angry
+over the effects of his unfortunate plunge or to laugh outright at the
+darky's exhibition of astonishment. "You thought you had seen the last
+of me, didn't you? It takes a bigger stream than this to drown me. There
+is all the money I have got," he went on, taking his roll from his boot
+and holding it out to the view of the negro. "It don't amount to five
+thousand dollars, by a long shot."</p>
+
+<p>The darky did not know what else to say. He watched Tom as he pulled off
+his coat and vest and wrung the water from them, examined his bundle to
+see that his lunch was safe, said he thought the steamboat landing was
+about ten miles distant and there wasn't any more creeks to cross before
+he got there, and then saw him disappear in the woods. He stood for some
+moments gazing at the place where he had last been seen, and then
+shouldered his axe and turned away.</p>
+
+<p>"Dat's a mighty slick little rascal," said he, as he wended his course
+back to his camp&mdash;"a mighty slick little rascal. I don't reckon I'd best
+say anything to moster about it; and as for Pomp&mdash;I won't say anything
+to him, either. He'll leave me to cut rails alone if I do dat."</p>
+
+<p>"My first adventure," muttered Tom, as he hastened along the narrow
+ridge that led him toward the Mississippi. "That old darky believes, as
+much as he believes anything, that the little money I had in my boot was
+the cause of my being spilled into the drink; but it is all honest
+money, every bit of it."</p>
+
+<p>The sun grew hot as he went along, and by changing his coat and vest
+from one arm to the other, and by turning his money over in his hands to
+keep the wet bills on the outside, he gradually removed the effects of
+his cold plunge, so that long before he arrived at the point where the
+negroes were chopping he could tell them that he had started for the
+landing on horseback, but that his nag had thrown him and he was obliged
+to continue his journey on foot. He also tried to eat a little of the
+lunch with which the darky had provided him, but the johnny cake and
+bacon were wet, and after a few mouthfuls he dropped the remainder
+behind the log on which he was sitting.</p>
+
+<p>The negroes who were cutting wood for the supply of steamers that were
+plying up and down the river belonged to the man who owned the yard. As
+there were probably a dozen of them in all engaged in chopping wood all
+the time, their employer could afford a white man to oversee their work
+and the teams, but he seemed to have nothing to do but to sit on a log
+and whittle a stick. He listened good-naturedly to Tom's story, and told
+him where he could go to find the camp. The largest house in it was his,
+and he would probably find books and papers enough to amuse him until he
+came in from his work. The <i>Jennie June</i> would probably be the next
+steamer that would stop at the landing for wood, and she would be along
+some time during the night.</p>
+
+<p>"I think that books and papers occupy the most of your time," said Tom
+to himself, as he started away in obedience to these instructions. "If I
+were a negro, I don't know any better job than having you for an
+overseer. Did you see how those negroes clustered around him to hear my
+story? If I had been their overseer, I should have started them back to
+their work in a hurry."</p>
+
+<p>Tom found the camp deserted by all save an old darky who was sitting on
+a bench outside one of the doors sunning himself. He was the cook, he
+said. He pointed out the overseer's house and told Tom to go in there
+and make himself at home, and Tom went; but he did not make himself very
+much at home after he got there. He found several books scattered about,
+but they were all old; and it was hard to tell where the overseer hung
+his clothes, for the back of the solitary chair of which the cabin could
+boast was liberally supplied with them. His trunk was open and the
+contents were littered about, and on the bare table, on which the
+overseer had left some signs of his breakfast which were still
+untouched, were articles that ought long ago to have been in the wash. A
+glance about the cabin showed Tom that there was at least one article of
+which the overseer was choice&mdash;his rifle. That, together with the
+powder-horn, bullet-pouch, and hunting-knife, was hung upon pegs over
+the door. Whatever accident might befall his other traps, his hunting
+outfit would always be safe.</p>
+
+<p>Tom took a seat on the bench outside the door, looked up at the sun to
+see how near twelve o'clock it was, and then looked at the negro. The
+latter made no signs of getting dinner, and Tom finally made up his mind
+that the men had taken their dinner to the woods with them; but his own
+stomach clamored loudly for something nourishing, and Tom finally
+accosted the negro.</p>
+
+<p>"I say, uncle, are you not going to get some dinner?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not before fo' o'clock, sar," replied the darky. "I blow de horn den
+and all hands come in."</p>
+
+<p>Tom was uneasy after that, and wished now when it was too late that he
+had reserved a portion of the johnny cake and bacon that had been
+furnished him. Wet as it was, it was much better than nothing. He found
+a book and made out to interest himself in a story for five mortal
+hours, when suddenly the long shrill notes of a horn rang in his ears.
+He would soon have something to eat, at all events. Presently a thought
+occurred to him.</p>
+
+<p>"Say, uncle, how do you tell the time? You haven't got any clock, have
+you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no, sar," said the negro. "Ise got something better than a clock.
+You see that ar peak of dat building hyar? Well, every time it's fo'
+o'clock the p'int of that peak is right hyar."</p>
+
+<p>"Summer and winter?" asked Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Summer and winter dat peak is right hyar. Den I knows it is fo' o'clock
+and den I blows de horn."</p>
+
+<p>Tom wanted to ask him whether or not the sun was always in the same
+place summer and winter, but gave it up when he heard the sound of the
+negroes' voices raised in a rude sort of a plantation melody coming from
+the woods, for he knew that supper was close at hand. Nearer came the
+strains, and in the short space of half an hour the cavalcade streamed
+into view. What a lively set they were then! One would have thought that
+cutting wood was the happiest part of a darky's life. Keeping up their
+song, they slipped off the wagon, leaving the teamsters to take care of
+the mules. The overseer came into the cabin, and after exchanging a
+merry salutation with Tom, remarking that he and the darkies had
+performed a task that day that would have done credit to a bigger force
+than his, he cleared the table in readiness for supper. The articles
+that adorned the back of the chair were cast upon the trunk, the
+unwashed apparel on the table was swept off and thrown on the top of
+them, and then the overseer was ready for a smoke.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir, me and the niggers have done a heap of work," said the man,
+seating himself on the threshold by Tom's side. "They were taking it
+easy when you came along, just as I mean that all black ones shall who
+work under me, but perked up a bit and went to work right smart. Aint
+they happy now? Every one singing at the top of his voice."</p>
+
+<p>Supper being over, which consisted of corn bread, bacon, and tea, Tom
+spent two hours in conversation with the overseer, until, as he was
+relating a story of his personal experience, an audible snore came from
+his direction, and, facing about, he found that his auditor had gone
+fast asleep, stretched out on the floor, and using the back of his chair
+for a pillow. It wasn't dark yet, by a long ways, and the sounds that
+came from the camp of the negroes told him that there was a heap of fun
+going on there; but as it seemed to be the rule to go to slumber
+whenever he was ready, Tom went to the overseer's bed and climbed into
+it.</p>
+
+<p>It seemed to him that he had scarcely closed his eyes when someone laid
+a hand upon his shoulder and shouted in his ear that the <i>Jennie June</i>
+was at the landing and taking on a load of wood. That was enough for
+Tom, who wanted to get into a bed where he could take his clothes off.
+When he got his eyes fairly open, there was no one in sight, but he
+heard the sound of a steamer's bell, followed by the hoarse commands of
+the mate, and when he reached the door, he found the whole yard lighted
+up by a torch which the steamer had placed in her bow. The boat was made
+fast to the levee when he got there, and her crew were making ready to
+carry on her load of wood, but Tom paid no attention to them. More than
+half asleep, he made his way on deck and into the saloon, which he found
+deserted by all save a party of men who were engaged in playing cards.
+They never looked up as Tom entered, being deeply interested in the
+piles of money before them, and he passed on to the desk and made
+application for a room to a man with a pen behind his ear. Without
+saying a word he took down a key from a board by the side of his desk
+and led Tom along the cabin and unlocked a door and showed him two
+bunks. The lower one had evidently been occupied during the afternoon.</p>
+
+<p>"Take the upper bunk," said the clerk. "The lower one belongs to a man
+who is playing cards, but I guess he won't care. Good-night."</p>
+
+<p>Tom was much too sleepy to know or care who owned the lower bunk; he
+pulled off his clothes and with a mingled sigh of satisfaction and
+comfort climbed into the upper one, and composed himself to sleep. He
+awoke once during the night, only to find that the steamer had finished
+taking on her load of wood, and was now ploughing her way along the
+river; and, having satisfied himself on this point, Tom rolled over and
+went to sleep again.</p>
+
+<p>The next time he awoke it was broad daylight, and the boat was rocking
+as boats always do when they have nothing to do but to make their way to
+their destination as soon as possible. The stool (there were no chairs
+in the state-room) which he had left unoccupied had been drawn close to
+the door, and a man's coat and vest lay over it; but it was not that
+that attracted Tom's attention, and caused his eyes to open to their
+widest extent. It was a revolver, a murderous-looking thing, and
+carrying a ball as big as an army musket. Tom thought it would be a good
+plan to get out of the way of that thing, and, holding in his breath, he
+slipped out of his bunk; but cautious as he was in his movements, the
+man heard him. He opened his eyes and gazed fixedly at Tom, then caught
+up his revolver and thrust it under his pillow, seized his coat and vest
+and threw them between the bulkhead and himself, and then rolled over
+and prepared to go to sleep again.</p>
+
+<p>"Morning," said he.</p>
+
+<p>"Good-morning, sir," said Tom.</p>
+
+<p>He thought it a wise thing to be civil, although the man's face did not
+look like one belonging to one who would use a revolver on slight
+provocation. The long silken whiskers which fell down upon his breast
+might cover up the expression of the lower part of his countenance, but
+they could not conceal the merry twinkle of the mild blue eyes which had
+looked at Tom for a moment. Considerably relieved, Tom slipped into his
+clothes and went out, closing the door behind him, and made the best of
+his way toward the barber shop; for be it known that up to this time Tom
+had not touched his hair at all. There was just one barber there, and he
+was as anxious to make money as anyone he ever saw.</p>
+
+<p>"Shave, sir?" said the negro, as Tom came in and pulled off his hat. "I
+declare if dat aint the worst-looking head I ever set my peepers on. A
+shampoo will just about set you right."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't want it," said Tom shortly.</p>
+
+<p>"I reckon dat you was playing cards last night," said the barber, as he
+deftly tucked the towel around Tom's chin and began brushing up his
+hair.</p>
+
+<p>"No, I wasn't," said Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Den you missed the purtiest sight you ever see. Dere was one man
+dere,&mdash;he was a cattle-raiser,&mdash;and he raked in thirty thousand dollars
+from the two sharpers who were trying to gouge him out of his money! I
+wouldn't like to be in his boots, I tell you. Dey mean to kill him afore
+dey get done with this trip! I declare, I believe he bunks with
+you&mdash;room No. 19."</p>
+
+<p>"By gracious!" exclaimed Tom, starting up. And to himself he added: "I
+don't wonder that he had his revolver handy. He had his pants on and
+that was the reason I didn't see them."</p>
+
+<p>"Did you say something, sir?" asked the darky.</p>
+
+<p>"No, I didn't," replied Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sar, dat was the purtiest sight I ever saw. De man dealt himself
+fo' aces, and one of the sharpers, the one that was hottest after his
+money, fo' kings. De best of it was he drew fo' cards, so he knew right
+where de cards were stocked. The sharper thought there had been a
+mistake somewhere, and went down in his jeans and pulled out his money,
+fifteen thousand dollars' wuth. De man saw him,&mdash;he had more bills where
+dem came from,&mdash;and de sharper showed fo' kings; but when he went to
+take de money&mdash;I declare, your head is awful dirty. I think a shampoo
+will set you just about right."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't want it. Go on. When he went to take the money&mdash;then what?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, he put down de fo' aces with one hand and drew his revolver with
+the other. De sharper concluded he would let the money stay; and dat
+broke up de game. You ought to have seen dat sharper's face. He's a
+mighty slick rogue, and I bet you he'll put a ball into dat sheep-herder
+before we gets up to Fort Gibson."</p>
+
+<p>"Why don't you tell him of it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Shucks! What do I want to go and get myself into trouble for? He goes
+up and down dis road every year and he knows it already. It aint none of
+my business."</p>
+
+<p>The reader will remember that we are describing things that happened a
+good many years ago. At that time the cotton-planters, and the
+cattle-and sheep-herders who lived far back in the country, made use of
+the steamboats, which were the only means of communication they had.
+Gambling was much in vogue, and if the sharpers who met them at New
+Orleans couldn't find any means of inducing them to play there, they
+would take passage in these boats and try them again when every other
+influence except reading was at a discount. It was a dangerous thing to
+pick up a stranger on these trips, especially if one had money with him,
+or anything that could be changed into money. For instance, there was a
+contractor who started from New Orleans to do some government business
+at Little Rock. He had half a dozen teams and everything he wanted to
+make his enterprise successful, with the exception of the men. Those he
+was going to hire of the planters, and of course he had to have some
+money to do it with. On the way up he fell in with a very modest
+stranger who didn't know anything about playing cards, and the
+consequence was before he reached his destination he was penniless. And
+the beauty of it was the modest stranger was dead broke, too! Every cent
+of his little hundred dollars had been won by the two strangers whom the
+contractor had invited to join in their game, as well as the last mule
+which the latter had to pull his wagons. The contractor made out a bill
+of sale of everything he had, and the next morning he was missing. He
+had jumped overboard, and everybody thought he was drowned accidentally.
+The modest stranger and his two confederates took the mules ashore and
+sold them at a big figure, and went back to New Orleans well satisfied
+with their trip. It seems that in the case of this stranger the sharpers
+had picked up the wrong man. He had "stocked" the cards on them, and won
+everything they had, and the darky knew, from certain little signs he
+had seen, that his life was not safe so long as he remained on board
+that steamer. Tom had a horror of everything that related to gambling,
+and he wanted to talk about something else.</p>
+
+<p>"This boat is making pretty good time, isn't she?" he said, during a
+pause in which the darky went back to his bench after his comb and
+brush.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sar. We don't touch anywhere till we get to Memphis, and we shall
+reach there about&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"What?" exclaimed Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Eh? Did you speak, sar?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, I want to go down the river," gasped Tom, who couldn't believe
+that his ears were not deceiving him. "Memphis! That's up the river."</p>
+
+<p>"Course it is, sar. And you are going dere as fast as you kin."</p>
+
+<p>"Memphis!" exclaimed Tom.</p>
+
+<p>He couldn't wait for the barber to get through with him, but, jumping
+out from his hands, with the apron floating all about him, he ran to the
+nearest window and looked out. He saw the trees dancing swiftly by, but
+it was not to them that he devoted the most of his attention. The
+current of the river was what drew his gaze. He took one look at it, at
+the trees and stumps that covered the surface of the water which the
+river managed to pick up in the low lands when it was high, and then
+returned disconsolately to his chair. He didn't want to go to Memphis.
+It was two thousand miles out of his way, and, besides, there were any
+number of business men that knew him on the levee.</p>
+
+<p>"You wanted to go to New Orleans, I take it," said the barber.</p>
+
+<p>But Tom was done talking. He wanted to have his hair brushed as quickly
+as possible, so that he might go to the office and settle with the
+clerk; so the darky speedily put the finishing touches to it, received
+twenty cents for his trouble, and Tom hurried out and in a few seconds
+more was standing in front of the desk. He did not see much room when he
+got there, for there was a big broad-shouldered man standing in front of
+the desk, with his arms spread out over it, talking with the clerk; but
+he stepped back to make space for Tom, and smiled so good-naturedly at
+him over his bushy whiskers that the boy was satisfied that he had one
+friend on the boat, if he didn't have another.</p>
+
+<p>"Morning," said he. "Did the sight of that revolver scare you?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, sir. But I got up just in time to find that I am bound up the
+river. I didn't say which way I wanted to go, and the overseer at the
+landing called me for the wrong boat."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you've got to go now that you are started," said the clerk,
+pulling a book toward him that contained a list of the passengers, "and
+it will take just five dollars to pay your fare to Memphis."</p>
+
+<p>Very reluctantly Tom pulled out his roll of bills and counted out the
+five dollars. Then he turned and went out on the guard and seated
+himself, almost ready to cry with vexation. Presently his room-mate
+appeared, and without saying so much as "By your leave" he drew a chair
+close to Tom's side and sat down.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2>
+
+<h3>TOM'S LUCK.</h3>
+
+
+<p>"I say, my young friend, what have you been doing that is contrary to
+Scribner?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't understand you, sir," said Tom, starting involuntarily.</p>
+
+<p>"I mean," said the stranger, bending over and whispering the words to
+Tom, "what have you been doing that is contrary to law?"</p>
+
+<p>This was a question that Tom never expected to have asked him by
+strangers. Did he carry the marks of the cruel wrong he had done his
+uncle and Jerry Lamar upon his face so that anybody could read them? The
+next time he passed a mirror he would look into it and see.</p>
+
+<p>"What is your name?" asked the stranger suddenly.</p>
+
+<p>"Tom Mason."</p>
+
+<p>"Mine is Bolton&mdash;Jasper Bolton; and, Tom, I am glad to see you. Put it
+there. What have you been doing?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not a thing, sir. My uncle has got the money back all right before this
+time."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah! Money, was it? How much?"</p>
+
+<p>"Five thousand dollars."</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Five</i> thousand dollars! W-h-e-w! You didn't try to kill anybody in
+order to get away with it?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, sir. I shot a couple of nigger dogs that were on my trail, but if
+you knew the circumstances, you would say I did right," said Tom, who
+had suddenly made up his mind to make a confidant of Mr. Bolton. "It was
+just this way."</p>
+
+<p>And then Tom straightened around on his seat and faced his new friend
+and told him his story, being interrupted occasionally with such
+expressions as "Ah! yes," and "I see," which led him to believe that he
+was making out a better case against his uncle than he was against
+himself.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't want you to think that my uncle is in any way to blame for all
+this," said Tom, in conclusion. "I wanted money, I wanted to be revenged
+on Jerry Lamar, and so I took it."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course. You ought to have had better sense, seeing that the money
+would all be your own some day. Do you know what I think you had better
+do?"</p>
+
+<p>Tom replied that he did not.</p>
+
+<p>"I think you had better go home, tell your uncle just what you have told
+me, and abide the consequences."</p>
+
+<p>"You don't know my uncle, or you would not advise any such step as
+that," said Tom, with a sigh which showed that he knew him, and that he
+was bound to stick to his course. "I am the only relative he has got in
+the world, but that won't hinder him from saying every time he gets mad
+at me: 'So you are the lad that tried to reduce me to poverty by
+stealing five thousand dollars from me!' He will get all over that when
+he finds that I am not coming home, and then I will go back to him."</p>
+
+<p>"How long do you think it will take him?"</p>
+
+<p>"About a year, maybe two."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think you can stand it among all these lawless men for that
+length of time?"</p>
+
+<p>"I've got to. I don't see any other way out of it."</p>
+
+<p>"And you were going to Texas to get another start? Texas is a country in
+which all men bring up who have made a failure, and you were bound that
+way."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir. I think I could make another start there."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you any relatives or friends living there?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not a soul," replied Tom, straightening about on his chair and looking
+down at the river. "By the way," he added, "I want to give you a piece
+of advice. Those men of whom you won the money last night have
+threatened to have it all back if they have to kill you."</p>
+
+<p>"Who told you that story?" said Mr. Bolton, with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>"The barber."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, they will have plenty of time to try their hands at it between
+here and Cincinnati. I told them a funny story about being a
+cattle-grower somewhere out West. If they try anything with me, they
+will have their hands full. There are three of them, and I know them
+all. The clerk has got the money now under lock and key. There goes the
+breakfast-bell. I will talk to you again after we go in."</p>
+
+<p>Tom was disappointed in more respects than one when he found that his
+new friend was to leave him at Memphis. With a view of gaining a little
+time he did not follow him into the dining-hall, but went into the
+barber shop and proceeded to wash his hands. When they had been dried to
+his satisfaction, he went out and drew up before the desk.</p>
+
+<p>"Who is that man who talked to me a little while ago?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"He's a gambler," was the reply, "and a mighty good one, too. He got
+into those fellows last night, didn't he?"</p>
+
+<p>That was just what Tom was afraid of. He went out and took his seat at
+the table, saw Bolton exchange courtesies with the three sharpers who
+had tried to fleece him the night before, watched him all through the
+meal, and told himself that if that was the style that men of his class
+were made of he had a great deal to learn before he could become a
+gambler. There wasn't a thing about him that could have been found fault
+with in any circle of gentlemen. In spite of his calling he had given
+Tom what he regarded as good advice, and he did not know what else he
+had to say to him.</p>
+
+<p>"There's one thing about it," thought Tom. "He has been around the world
+a good deal, is sometimes flush to-day and strapped to-morrow, but I'll
+bet if he was in my fix he would not go back to my uncle. If I am there
+to take all his abuse, my uncle never will get over flinging his gibes
+at me; but if I am away where I can't hear them, it won't take him so
+long to get over it. He can advise me all he's a mind to, but I won't go
+home."</p>
+
+<p>Breakfast being over, Tom pushed back his chair and went out and seated
+himself on the guard. The gambler did not put in an appearance for
+fifteen minutes, for he was not the one to allow his good fortune to
+take away his appetite. He came at length and bore in his hand a couple
+of cigars, one of which he offered to Tom. But the latter did not smoke.</p>
+
+<p>"You'll need an overcoat, Tom," said Mr. Bolton, after he had lighted
+his cigar and placed his heels upon the railing. "The country you have
+just come from is a summer's day compared to the one where you are
+going. It's only the latter part of December, and you'll find blizzards
+out there, I bet you."</p>
+
+<p>"But I can't afford an overcoat, Mr. Bolton. I have only fifty dollars,
+and it is all my own, too."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll get it for you. I haven't forgotten that I have been in trouble&mdash;I
+may be that way next week; and when I do get that way, I'd feel mighty
+glad for the simple gift of an overcoat. I'll get you one in Memphis,
+and at the same time I will tell the clerk to hand you two hundred
+dollars for your own."</p>
+
+<p>"I can't take it, Mr. Bolton," said Tom, astonished at the proposition.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, you can. You never may be able to return it to me, but if you
+ever find one who is suffering, and you have enough and to spare, I want
+you to hand it to him. That's all the pay I ask. I've owed this for a
+year, and this is the first chance I have had to square up with the
+fellow who gave it to me."</p>
+
+<p>"Where is the fellow now?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know whether he is living or dead. He was a good fellow, and
+when I told him what my circumstances were, how I had got in with a
+party of roughs and been cleaned out of my pile, he put his hand into
+his pocket and pulled out two hundred dollars. I told him I never could
+pay him back, and he said if I ever found some other fellow in need just
+to give him a lift. I've done it, and it squares me. But it's a mean
+business anyway."</p>
+
+<p>"Why don't you go on with me instead of going up the Ohio River to
+Cincinnati?"</p>
+
+<p>"To Fort Gibson?" exclaimed Bolton in astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose that's where I am going, aint it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you see, Bub, they've got a little document against me up there,"
+said the gambler, with a laugh. "It is a document which the sheriff
+doesn't hold against me, but which the people do."</p>
+
+<p>"Are they going to lynch you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Anyway, that is what they call it."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, by gracious!" said Tom, settling back in his chair and watching
+the clouds of smoke that ascended from the gambler's lips. "What sort of
+men have I become associated with? This man lynched! I would as soon
+think of my uncle's being lynched."</p>
+
+<p>"So now, you see, I naturally keep away from there," continued Bolton.
+"But I'll tell you what I'll do. If you will go on to Fort Hamilton,
+which is as far as navigation is open now, I will give you something
+that will introduce you to Black Dan. He's a gambler, you know."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I can't do anything to assist him in gambling," said Tom. "I don't
+know one card from another."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, bless you, I don't want you to do anything to assist him in his
+work. I want you to keep just as far away from cards as you know how,"
+said Mr. Bolton, fumbling with his neck-handkerchief. "Do you see that?
+It's a kinder pretty pin, isn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>Tom took the ornament and looked it over. It was rather large for a pin,
+the body of it being formed of some metal which Tom did not recognize,
+but the diamonds in the middle of it, six of them in all, were what made
+it so valuable.</p>
+
+<p>"That pin is worth five hundred dollars," said Mr. Bolton. "Put it on; I
+want to see how it looks on you."</p>
+
+<p>"But what do you want me to do with it?" enquired Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"I want you to take it up and give it to Black Dan when you see him. You
+are bound to meet him if you go to Fort Hamilton."</p>
+
+<p>"I can't take it. You have already done more for me than I had any right
+to expect."</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind that," said the gambler, taking the pin from Tom's hand and
+fixing it in his neck-handkerchief. "You see, he got into a little
+rucuss a few nights before I came away, and the fellow grabbed him in
+there and tore three of the diamonds out, and he gave it to me with the
+request that I would take it to New Orleans and have it repaired for
+him. There, now, you look like a sport."</p>
+
+<p>"I wish you would take it out," said Tom. "I don't like to have it in
+there. Somebody might see it and rob me."</p>
+
+<p>"You haven't got any baggage, have you?"</p>
+
+<p>Tom replied that all the clothes he had with him were those he stood in
+at that moment.</p>
+
+<p>"It won't take long to fix that. Just tell Dan, when you see him, that
+that thing has been in pawn more times than I can remember, but somehow
+I always managed to work around and get the money. By the way, he owes
+me ten dollars. He didn't give me money enough. What those diamonds are
+set in I don't know. Dan won the mine in which the stuff was found and
+had the pin made from some of the quartz; but the diamonds didn't suit
+him, and so he sent them by me to New Orleans. But, bless you, in two
+months from that time he was as poor as Job's turkey."</p>
+
+<p>"Did he lose the mine?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and all the money he had besides. Perhaps that pin will hit him
+again. Dan is a good fellow. He never went back on a man who was down on
+his luck."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't see why you don't go back to him," ventured Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you see, there's that document that the people hold against me,"
+said the gambler, with a laugh. "I think I had better stay here until
+that has had time to wear off. Yes, you go on to Fort Hamilton, and
+there you will make a strike. I don't know anybody in Fort Gibson."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you suppose they will set me to doing?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, perhaps they will grub-stake you and send you into the mountains to
+hunt up a gold mine. Many a nice fellow has got a start in that way, and
+is now numbered among the millionnaires. You'll get a start if you
+strike Black Dan."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope you will take this pin and wear it while you are on the boat,"
+said Tom; for he had already made up his mind to go on to Fort Hamilton
+and seek an interview with Black Dan if he were still alive. "I wish I
+had some baggage in which I could hide it away."</p>
+
+<p>Without saying a word Mr. Bolton took the pin, adjusted it into his
+shirt-front, and once more placed his heels on the railing. The longer
+Tom talked with him the more he admired him, and the more he detested
+his avocation. The idea that such a man as that should deliberately prey
+upon the cupidity of his neighbors! But, then, if he was a gambler, he
+was the only man in the whole lot of passengers who had taken to him.
+There were a number of finely dressed planters who sat at the table with
+him, but not one had had a word to say to him, and would have allowed
+him to go on his way to ruin if it had not been for this solitary man.
+And how he had trusted him! Was there a planter on the boat who would
+have given him so large an amount of money on so short an acquaintance?</p>
+
+<p>"There's one thing about it," said Tom, as he thrust his hands deep into
+his pockets. "If I make a success of this thing, I shall not have any
+planters, who have already made their mark in the world, to thank for my
+salvation."</p>
+
+<p>The sight of the revolver that was placed upon the stool at the head of
+his bed did not startle Tom as it had done on a former occasion.
+Answering the cheerful "Morning" of the sleepy gambler he made a trip to
+the barber shop to get a "shake up," for Tom had not yet had opportunity
+to buy a brush and comb, and then went out and seated himself on the
+guards. He felt more lonely now than he had at any time since leaving
+home. Memphis was only forty miles away,&mdash;he had heard one of the
+customers in the barber shop make that remark,&mdash;and he knew that when he
+got there the last friend he had on earth was to take leave of him.</p>
+
+<p>"How will I ever get along without him?" was the question he kept
+constantly asking himself. "Two hundred dollars and a good overcoat
+besides. I think I shall need the overcoat, for if the weather is as
+cold as it is this morning, I should prefer to hug the fire."</p>
+
+<p>While he was thinking about it, Mr. Bolton came out and beckoned to him.
+Tom followed him into the office, and when the blinds had all been
+closed, the clerk unlocked his safe and took out three official
+envelopes; for the thirty thousand made so large a roll of money that he
+could not get the bills all into one. Selecting one of the envelopes, he
+tore it open, counted out two hundred dollars from it, placed it in a
+second envelope, sealed it with a blow of his fist upon the counter, and
+placed Tom's name upon it.</p>
+
+<p>"That's yours, Tom," said he. "I need hardly tell you to be careful of
+it. When you leave the boat at Fort Gibson, the clerk will give it to
+you."</p>
+
+<p>"Must I change boats again?" asked Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, for this boat draws so much water that she can't run any farther,"
+said the clerk. "I'll keep an eye on you and see that you get through
+all right."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Bolton then proceeded to count out fifty dollars, which he pushed
+over toward the clerk, after which he put the envelopes in the inside
+pocket of his vest and buttoned his coat over them.</p>
+
+<p>"What's this for?" enquired the clerk.</p>
+
+<p>"That's to pay you for your trouble," said the gambler. "Now, the less I
+hear about this money the better I shall like it. Let us out."</p>
+
+<p>"What have you been doing to him?" enquired the clerk, after he had let
+Mr. Bolton out of the side door on to the guards, locked Tom's money in
+the safe, and raised the blind which gave entrance into the cabin. "Are
+you any relative of his?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. I never saw him until I came on board this boat. I told him my
+story and that led him to give me some money. The barber says he has
+travelled over this road a good many times."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I know him. This isn't the first fifty dollars I have made out of
+him. He has a different name every time. This time it is Jasper Bolton.
+Why, two years ago he came aboard of us, clean shaved as any farmer and
+dressed like one, and had charge of twenty-five barrels of dried apples
+which he was taking to Memphis. Of course he got on to a game before he
+had been here a great while, and cleaned everyone out."</p>
+
+<p>"I wish he wouldn't gamble," said Tom. "He has the manners of a
+gentleman."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, everyone has to make his living at something," said the clerk, with
+a laugh. "And if he can't make his any easier than at gambling, why, I
+say let him keep at it. But you ought to have seen him with those dried
+apples! He talked them up so big among the passengers that he sold them
+for double the sum that I could have bought the same apples for. Oh,
+he's a good one!"</p>
+
+<p>"I shouldn't think he would want to carry that money in his vest
+pocket," said Tom. "How easy it would be for somebody to knock him down
+and take it away from him."</p>
+
+<p>"He's got a big revolver in his pocket," said the clerk.</p>
+
+<p>During the rest of the trip to Memphis Tom stuck as close to Mr.
+Bolton's side as if he had grown there, and listened to some good
+advice, which, had he seen fit to follow it, would have made his
+progress through life a comparatively smooth one; but Tom could not get
+over the "gibes" which he knew his uncle would throw at him as often as
+he got angry. He said that was all that kept him from going back, and
+the gambler finally gave it up in despair.</p>
+
+<p>On arriving at Memphis Mr. Bolton picked up his valise, bade good-by to
+some of the officers whose acquaintance he had made on the way up, and
+stepped ashore with Tom at his heels. The latter kept a close watch over
+the sharpers, and was not a little annoyed to find that they were going
+ashore, too. He called Mr. Bolton's attention to it, but all he got was
+a smile in return; and now, when Tom got a good view of it, he told
+himself that there was more self-confidence in that smile than he had
+given him credit for. Indeed, Mr. Bolton, with his overcoat on and a
+valise in his hand, and the free, swinging stride with which he stepped
+off, looked more like a prosperous business man than he did like
+anything else.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Bolton was evidently acquainted in Memphis, for he passed three or
+four clothing-houses, and finally turned into an extra fine one, where
+he said he wanted to see the longest and thickest overcoat they had. His
+boy was going away into a country where blizzards were plenty, and he
+desired to see him well protected before he went. The first garment that
+was handed down was a fit, and Tom stood by with it on, and saw Mr.
+Bolton buy another valise, an extra suit of sheep's-gray clothing, a
+couple of blue flannel shirts, and a number of other little things which
+Tom would not have thought of. When the articles had been paid for, Mr.
+Bolton took off his pin, wrapped it in a little piece of paper, and
+thrust it into one corner of the valise, then locked it and handed the
+key to Tom. Then he turned and walked out.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Bolton," said Tom, hurrying after him, "I never can repay&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, you can. Whenever you meet a fellow that is hard up, and you
+can afford it, just hand him a dollar or two, and that will make it all
+right. Now, be careful of yourself on the way up. You'll find some
+lawless men there who won't hesitate to take the last cent you've got.
+Remember me to Black Dan, and don't forget what I have told you. Put it
+there. So long."</p>
+
+<p>Tom wanted to say something else, but before he could form the words his
+hand had been squeezed for a moment and he was alone. He watched the man
+and then saw him disappear among the crowd.</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder if anybody ever had such luck as this," said Tom, as he turned
+his face slowly toward the levee. "I almost dread to think of it, for
+fear that there is worse luck in store for me."</p>
+
+<p>He was alone now, at all events.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2>
+
+<h3>TOM ADMIRES THE COWBOYS.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Tom Mason slowly made his way back to Wolf River, the place where the
+<i>Jennie June</i> was discharging her cargo, locked his baggage in his state
+room, and seated himself on the guard to watch the deck-hands and think
+of Mr. Bolton, if that was his name. Several passengers got off at
+Memphis, and several more got on to take their places, but from the time
+the boat rounded to go up the Arkansas River there was no one who had
+anything to say to him, if we except the clerk and the barber.</p>
+
+<p>Tom thought he had never seen so lonely and desolate a country as that
+through which the Arkansas flowed. Woods were to be seen in every
+direction, and here and there a small clearing with a negro or two
+scattered about to show that somebody lived there. The boat stopped a
+few times to let off a passenger where there was not the sign of a fence
+anywhere around, but she never got out a line for them. She awoke the
+echoes far and near with her hoarse whistle, shoved out a gang-plank, a
+couple of deck-hands ran ashore with the passenger's baggage, and then
+she went on her way up the river. The town of Little Rock was situated
+in the woods, and above that it was all wilderness until Fort Gibson was
+reached. The <i>Jennie June</i> did not tie up alongside the levee, but ran
+on till she came to a little boat with steam up, the only boat there was
+at the landing, and made fast alongside of her, keeping her wheels
+moving all the while, so as not to pull her away from her moorings.</p>
+
+<p>"Have I got to change to that thing?" said Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir," replied the clerk, who hurried past him with a book in his
+hands and a pencil behind his ear. "She's the only one who can go above
+here at all. Plenty of room on her. I'll be ready to go with you in ten
+minutes."</p>
+
+<p>With his baggage between his feet Tom sat down to await the return of
+the clerk, and to make a mental estimate of the vessel that was to take
+him 150 miles further on his journey. He saw that she had no Texas on
+board of her, her pilot-house being seated on the roof of the cabin. Her
+engines were small, being no doubt reduced in weight to make her
+carrying capacity equal to passing over the shoal places she would find
+before her, her spars were ready for use, and she had no roof over her
+main-deck. She could get along very well in dry weather, but what would
+she do when a rain-storm came up? Tom noticed that a good portion of
+baggage was laid out on the boiler deck, and no doubt some of the
+passengers slept there; and consequently it would be a dangerous piece
+of business for any of the wakeful parties to attempt to promenade the
+main-deck with a cigar, as he had often seen done on the <i>Jennie June</i>.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope we shall have pleasant weather all the way to Fort Hamilton,"
+thought Tom, as he rested his elbows on the railing and proceeded to
+size up the passengers. "I don't see how they can get all those men into
+the cabin."</p>
+
+<p>Almost the first thing Tom saw, curled up before some luggage they were
+watching, were a couple of Indians, taking good care to keep out of the
+way of the swiftly moving deck-hands. But Indians he could see any day
+by simply riding into his uncle's woods; but who were those long-legged,
+lank fellows who took just as much care of their rifles and knapsacks as
+the Indians did? They were hunters, and Tom could not resist the
+temptation to turn his eyes away from the fore-castle back to the
+main-deck to take a second survey of the motley group of men he had seen
+there. They were cowboys all of them, and their clothing, especially
+their hats and boots, were as nearly perfect as money could buy. They
+were all young fellows, from twenty to twenty-five years of age, and
+wore their six-shooters strapped around them with as much ease as though
+they had been born with them on. The hunters were a lazy set, and were
+willing to work for the furs they captured, while the cowboys were
+willing to work for a salary, and they earned every dollar of it, too.</p>
+
+<p>"That's what I am going to be," thought Tom. "I'll have a horse and
+lariat, and I'll soon learn to ride with the best of them. I don't see
+what Mr. Bolton could have been thinking of when he bought me this
+sheep's-gray suit. None of the cowboys has them on."</p>
+
+<p>While Tom was busy in watching the cowboys and telling himself that
+almost any one of them looked ready for a fight, the clerk came up, and,
+following a motion of his hand, Tom stepped after him into the office.
+He unlocked the safe and, taking out Tom's roll of money, handed it to
+him, saying:</p>
+
+<p>"I have spoken to the clerk about you, and he promises that he will give
+you a nice room with a lower bunk. Good luck to you."</p>
+
+<p>Tom immediately tore open the end of the envelope and began running his
+fingers over the bills. He wanted to see if they were all there.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't want anything," said the clerk. "I wouldn't take anything if
+you were to offer it to me. Come on and let's go and see the clerk. I'm
+awful busy when we are making a landing."</p>
+
+<p>Tom at once picked up his valise and fell in behind the clerk, who led
+the way on board the <i>Ivanhoe</i>. By dodging in the rear of some of the
+deck-hands he managed to get on board without being knocked overboard,
+and soon found himself standing beside a man who was shouting out some
+orders to which nobody paid the least attention. He changed his pencil
+from his hand into his mouth long enough to shake Tom by the hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Go up on the boiler deck and set down there till I come," said he.
+"I'll attend to your case in just no time at all."</p>
+
+<p>Seeing that no one else paid any attention to him, Tom ascended the
+stairs and entered the cabin. He wanted to see what sort of a looking
+place it was, but almost recoiled when he opened the door, for it was
+filled so full of stale tobacco smoke that he did not see how anybody
+could live in it. But he knew that he would have to become accustomed to
+that smell before he was on the prairie very long, so he kept on and
+finally found a chair at the further end of the cabin. There was no one
+near him except a man whose arms were outstretched on the table and his
+face buried in his hands; and when Tom approached, he raised his head
+and exhibited a countenance that was literally burning up with fever. He
+was dressed like a cowboy, but there didn't seem to be anyone to attend
+to his wants.</p>
+
+<p>"I say," said he, in a faint voice, "I wish you would be good enough to
+bring me a glass of water."</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly I will," replied Tom, rising and placing his valise in the
+chair.</p>
+
+<p>He did not know where to go to get it, but as he turned into a little
+gangway which he thought ought to lead to the galley he encountered a
+darky, and to him he made known his wants&mdash;not for a glass, but for a
+whole pitcher of ice-water. With these in his hand he went back to the
+sick man, who, waving away the glass of water which Tom poured out for
+him, seized the pitcher and drained it nearly dry. Then he set it down,
+and with a sigh of relief settled back in his chair.</p>
+
+<p>"I have been waiting for an hour for someone to hand me a drink of
+water, but I didn't have strength enough to go after it," said he, with
+a smile. "I knew where it was&mdash;well, it stayed there."</p>
+
+<p>"Fever and ague?" said Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Buck ague," responded the man. "I always get it whenever I come to this
+country."</p>
+
+<p>"I should think you would keep away from it, then."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I had to come with a herd of cattle my employer was getting up
+for the government, and that's the way I got it. Ah! here comes one of
+those lazy kids that ought to have been here and tended to me," added
+the man, as one of those handsome cowboys that Tom had noticed on the
+main-deck rapidly approached the table. When he saw the pitcher of
+ice-water, he stopped and gazed in consternation.</p>
+
+<p>"Somebody's been fixing you!" said he. "He's been taking calomel," he
+explained to Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"He never said a word to me about it," faltered Tom, who thought he was
+in a fair prospect of getting himself into trouble.</p>
+
+<p>"You know the doctor said you must be careful not to drink any water
+after taking that powder," continued the cowboy, looking at Tom as if he
+had a mind to throw the pitcher at his head.</p>
+
+<p>"The kid is all right," said the sick man, "and I'll stay by him. Now,
+if you will go away and let me alone, I'll go to sleep."</p>
+
+<p>He stretched himself out on the table once more, and the cowboy went off
+to consult with his chum. In a few minutes he came back with him, and
+all they could do was to try to arouse the man to ask him what he
+thought they had better do for him; but to such interruptions he always
+replied: "No, no, boys! I'm going to sleep now."</p>
+
+<p>"You ought not to have given that man so much water," said one of the
+cowboys. "But after all it's our own fault, Hank. One of us ought to
+have stayed here with him."</p>
+
+<p>Tom Mason did not know what to say, and neither was he able to account
+for so much forbearance on the part of the cowboys. He looked to see
+them pull their revolvers; but instead of doing that they drew chairs up
+beside their sick comrade and waited to see what was going to happen to
+him, and Tom, filled with remorse, went out on the boiler-deck. Just
+then the <i>Jennie June's</i> bell rang, the lines and gang-planks were
+hauled in, and she backed down the river to her moorings. Then the
+<i>Ivanhoe's</i> bell was struck, and instantly a great hubbub arose among
+the passengers. Hands were shaken, farewells were said, and in ten
+minutes more the little boat was ploughing her way up the river. Tom had
+an opportunity to sit down after that. He pulled a chair up to the
+railing and sat there for ten minutes awaiting the arrival of the clerk,
+and wondering how calomel would operate on that man after he had drank
+ice-water on top of it; and consequently he did not feel very safe when
+he saw the two cowboys approaching him. He had left them to watch over
+the sick man, and he did not like to have them follow him up.</p>
+
+<p>"Look here, pard," said the foremost. "You've got the only lower bunk
+there is in the cabin, and we want to see if you won't give it up to
+that sick boss of ours. The man now occupying the upper bunk has offered
+to give it up, but we don't want it."</p>
+
+<p>"You can have it and welcome," said Tom. "I assure you that my giving
+him a drink was all a mistake. I offered him a glass of water, but he
+wouldn't take it."</p>
+
+<p>Having given up his bed, Tom considered that he had done all that a boy
+could do to make amends for what he had done. He gave the clerk his
+money to lock in the safe, and when night came found a pallet made up
+for him in a remote corner of the cabin. All the report he could get
+regarding the sick man was that he was sleeping soundly, and had fought
+his attendants so hard that it was all they could do to take his clothes
+off.</p>
+
+<p>"I really believe he is coming around all right," said one of the
+cowboys. "When he gets mad and reaches for his revolver, it's a mighty
+good sign."</p>
+
+<p>"Did he draw it on either of you?" asked Tom, in alarm.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no; for we took good pains to keep it out of his way."</p>
+
+<p>When Tom got up the next morning (there was no barber shop on this boat,
+and so he had to comb his hair in the wash-room), and went out on the
+boiler-deck to get his breath of fresh air, he found three men out there
+sitting in their chairs, and paying no heed to the cold wind that was
+blowing. The men who slept there had gone into a warmer climate, down in
+the neighborhood of the boilers, but their baggage was scattered around
+just as they had left it. Tom took just one look around, and, seeing how
+desolate things were, was about to retreat to the cabin, when one of the
+men happened to spy him.</p>
+
+<p>"My gracious, there's my doctor!" said he cheerfully. "Come here, old
+man, and give us your flipper."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, I didn't expect to find you out here to-day," said Tom, walking up
+and taking the outstretched hand of his sick man. "My medicine did you
+some good, didn't it? But you ought not to sit out here without
+something around you. You will take cold."</p>
+
+<p>The sick man laughed heartily.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, doctor, I am as sound as a dollar. That water you gave me hit the
+spot, for it set me to perspiring like a trip-hammer. I knew I was all
+right as soon as I could sleep. Draw a chair up and sit down. You won't
+take cold while you have that overcoat on."</p>
+
+<p>Tom drew a chair up alongside the sick man, one of the cowboys moving
+aside to make room for him, and deposited his feet on the railing. The
+wind cut severely, and he would have felt a good deal more cheerful
+beside the cabin fire.</p>
+
+<p>"Where be you a-travelling to, doctor?" said the sick man; for Tom
+didn't know what else to call him. "If you are going out our way, we may
+be able to be of some use to you."</p>
+
+<p>"I am going to Fort Hamilton," said Tom. "How much farther I don't know
+until I have seen Black Dan."</p>
+
+<p>It was curious what a sensation that name occasioned in that little
+company. They simply looked at each other and smiled, and then settled
+down and sought new places for their feet on the railing. It was evident
+that they took Black Dan for a relative of his.</p>
+
+<p>"Have you got much to do with him?" asked one of the cowboys.</p>
+
+<p>"I never saw him," Tom hastened to say. "I got his name from a Mr.
+Bolton, who gave me a very valuable pin to return to him. He got into a
+fight once and had some diamonds torn out of it."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, Dan has been in a good many fights," said the sick man. "He aint
+the fellow he used to be."</p>
+
+<p>"I&mdash;I hope he didn't get the worst of any of them."</p>
+
+<p>"Well&mdash;yes. He rather got the worst of the last fight he was in. He got
+into a row with three fellows,&mdash;cowboys, I knew them well,&mdash;and although
+he managed to get away with all of them, one shot him through the arm
+above the elbow, and it had to be taken off."</p>
+
+<p>"Amputated?" said Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I suppose that's what you call it. Then Dan took to drink and lost
+everything he had."</p>
+
+<p>"Why should the loss of his arm send him to drink?"</p>
+
+<p>"He couldn't shuffle the cards any more. He doesn't do anything now but
+get drunk in the morning and then crawl into some hole and sleep it off;
+and he has seen the time when he was worth a million."</p>
+
+<p>Tom Mason was sorry to hear all this. He did not know what he was going
+to do now that Black Dan was in no condition to help him. Who was he
+going to get to grub-stake him and send him into the mountains to find a
+gold mine? He knew that things were pretty high in Fort Hamilton, and
+his two hundred dollars would not last him a great while.</p>
+
+<p>"For a fellow who has never seen Black Dan you appear to take his
+downfall very much to heart," said the sick man.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I do. I was depending on him to see me through. I have a very nice
+pin which is his own private property, and which I have been
+commissioned to give into his keeping."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you got it with you?"</p>
+
+<p>Tom replied that the pin was in his baggage, and arose and went after
+it. In a few minutes he returned with it in his hand, and was not a
+little surprised at the exclamations of astonishment that arose from his
+three friends when they handled the ornament, and passed it from one to
+the other and speculated upon its merits.</p>
+
+<p>"Five hundred dollars!" said "Boss" Kelley, who by virtue of his
+position took it upon himself to act as judge when matters came before
+them that were somewhat hard to be decided. Tom had noticed one thing:
+that his word was law to the two cowboys, and that when he spoke the
+other two remained silent. "That's a heap of money to go into Dan's
+hands. How long do you suppose it will last him?"</p>
+
+<p>"Until he can get to Cale's bar," said Hank Monroe.</p>
+
+<p>"And no longer," chimed in Frank Stanley.</p>
+
+<p>"It's his and he ought to have it, if we can find him when he is sober,"
+said Kelley. "Now, doctor, how came you by it in the first place?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am plain Tom Mason, and I don't like to answer to any other name,"
+said the latter; and with the words he settled back in his chair and
+told the history of his meeting with Mr. Bolton. He kept back nothing.
+He knew he could tell it just as it happened, for these men had more or
+less to do with gamblers, and knew the motives which influenced them.
+When he got through, he found that he had them very much interested.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, you haven't done anything," said Stanley. "Go home and tell your
+uncle just what you have told us, and take the racket."</p>
+
+<p>"Boys, I know my uncle," said Tom, shaking his head.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps he had better go on," said Kelley. "His uncle will throw things
+at him whenever he gets mad, and it's better to go away and let him get
+over that. Now, Tom, if you are willing to take help from us&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I am willing to take help from anybody," said Tom. "I am a stranger in
+a strange place, and don't know what move to make first."</p>
+
+<p>"Very good," said Kelley, extending his hand to be shaken by Tom, a
+proceeding in which he was imitated by both his friends. "That is a
+cowboy's grip, and whenever you get it out here, you may know that you
+are among friends. Tom is one of our party now."</p>
+
+<p>Tom Mason told himself that never had a runaway been blessed with such
+luck. No sooner did one man on whom he was depending for assistance turn
+out to be unreliable than another one came to take his place. For once
+he had forgotten himself and told the truth, and the truth was mighty
+and would prevail. After that he had nothing to do during the rest of
+his trip but sit alongside one of his companions and talk of
+cattle-herding and speculate concerning the future of Black Dan. All he
+could learn regarding the latter was that he was going to the bad as
+rapidly as he could.</p>
+
+<p>"All gamblers come to that sooner or later," said Kelley. "All the money
+I have got was made honestly. I don't know one card from another."</p>
+
+<p>All this was very encouraging. If a man of Kelley's stamp&mdash;Tom knew he
+was well off, for he had heard him talk of the thousand head of cattle
+which he was holding fast to until the government came up to his
+price&mdash;could live all these years on the prairie and never learn one
+card from another, it was certain that another might do so.</p>
+
+<p>At last, after innumerable discouragements, during which her spars had
+been used until they were all mud, and it seemed impossible for her to
+proceed a foot farther, the <i>Ivanhoe</i> whistled for Fort Hamilton. Then
+Tom saw what had given it that name. A short distance above the little
+circle of houses that always spring up around a fortification, crowning
+a hill, was a stockade from which floated the Stars and Stripes, and
+among the crowd of loungers who assembled to see the boat come in were
+several men dressed in the uniform of the army.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as the landing was made Tom went to the clerk to get the money
+he had locked in the safe, and made his way down the stairs to find
+Kelley and Stanley waiting for him. They all had horses, with their
+extra wardrobe tied up in ponchos behind their saddles, but they had
+given them over to one of their number with orders to take them to the
+Eldorado, the hotel which all the best men in that country patronized.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, we want to find out what's left of Black Dan," said Kelley. "I
+think we will get on his trail somewhere up here."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2>
+
+<h3>A TEMPERANCE LECTURE.</h3>
+
+
+<p>It was a muddy, miry place in which Tom Mason now found himself, for it
+had been raining some there and Fort Hamilton was not blessed with a
+system of drainage. There were no sidewalks except in front of the
+various saloons and stores they passed, and half the way they walked
+through mud that was more than ankle deep. It was astonishing to him to
+notice how many people there were on the streets who recognized his
+companions. It was "Howdy, Mr. Kelley?" and "Hello, Stanley!" or "Hello,
+Arrow-foot!" until Tom might be pardoned for thinking that his two
+friends were raised right in town instead of coming from a country a
+hundred miles away.</p>
+
+<p>"Arrow-foot?" said he. "That's one thing I do not understand."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you see that when my employer first came to this country and
+wanted a name for his cattle, he picked up on his piece of land, close
+by the spot where his dugout is now located, a small piece of clay
+plainly marked with an arrow-foot. There was the stem of the arrow all
+complete, and so he named his cattle 'Arrow-foot.' Almost everybody out
+here is known by the brand his cattle wears."</p>
+
+<p>"But how do they come to call you 'Mr.' Kelley?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know, unless it is because I don't drink or gamble with them,
+and have a happy faculty for settling all the rows."</p>
+
+<p>Presently Mr. Kelley made his way into a spacious saloon that occupied
+one end of the block. It had evidently been built by someone who had an
+idea of refinement about him, for its verandas were spacious, the
+windows came down to the floor, and there was a gilded sign over the
+door. Inside the room was large and airy, with a bar on one side and a
+number of tables extending away to the other end. It was quiet enough
+now in the daytime, but when Tom heard the noise that came from it after
+the lamps were lighted, he thought pandemonium had broken loose.</p>
+
+<p>"Howdy, Mr. Kelley? Denominate your poison," said the man behind the
+counter, extending a bottle toward him with one hand and reaching out
+the other to be shaken. "Got back safe and sound, didn't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't take any of that stuff, and you ought to know better than to
+ask me. I got back all right with the exception of the dumb ague, which
+took me just as I got ready to leave Fort Gibson. Have you seen Black
+Dan lately?"</p>
+
+<p>"You're right, I have," said the man, frowning fiercely. "Do you see
+that?" he added, taking out from under his counter a revolver which was
+cocked and ready to be used when it was drawn. "I am going to keep that
+just as it is and show it to him when he wakes up. Because he used to
+own this house is no reason why he should pull a pistol on me!"</p>
+
+<p>"Did he draw it on you?" asked Tom, forgetting where he was in the
+excitement of the moment.</p>
+
+<p>"I should say he did, kid, and Mose, there, was just in time to stop
+him. I hope you have come to take him East, for I don't want him around
+here any longer. It is all I can do to keep him from getting into a
+fight with somebody, and the first thing you know he will pick up the
+wrong man. You took him out, Mose. Do you know where he is?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; he's out there," said Mose, motioning one way with his thumb and
+another way with his head. "I can find him."</p>
+
+<p>Mose made an effort to get on his feet, but reeled considerably, and
+would have fallen back in his chair if Mr. Kelley had not caught him and
+placed him steadily on his feet. When he was fairly up, he was all
+right, and made his way out of the house and around the corner, closely
+followed by Mr. Kelley and Tom. Presently he stopped, and curled up
+behind a water-butt, the mud spattered thick on his torn clothing, his
+empty holster and the stump of his crippled arm thrown out recklessly by
+his side, lay all that was left of Black Dan. Tom saw in a minute where
+he had got his cognomen. His complexion was swarthy and his hair and
+whiskers were as black as midnight, but for all that he had been a very
+handsome man. He was dead drunk, and Mr. Kelley saw that all attempts to
+arouse him would be useless.</p>
+
+<p>"Why didn't you put him in a bed?" asked Tom, in accents of disgust.</p>
+
+<p>"He wouldn't stay there," replied Mose. "That is the only place he will
+stay, and there is where we take him as soon as he shows any desire to
+go to sleep."</p>
+
+<p>"Let's go away," said Tom. "I'll never drink a drop of whiskey as long
+as I live."</p>
+
+<p>"It would be useless to try to awake him," said Mr. Kelley. "Mose, you
+tell him that as soon as he wakes up we want to see him down to the
+Eldorado, where we are stopping. We want to see him particularly. You
+can remember that much, can't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I can, sir," replied Mose, hastily pocketing the dollar which Kelley
+thrust out to him. "I'll send him down as soon as he comes to himself."</p>
+
+<p>"It always comes hard for one to see a man done up in that style," said
+Mr. Kelley, as he and Tom bent their steps toward the Eldorado. "It
+makes me hate whiskey worse than I did before."</p>
+
+<p>Tom had seen so much of the little town of Fort Hamilton that he had
+some doubts about going to the Eldorado. Their little interview with
+Black Dan, if such it could be called, had taken all the conversation
+out of them; but when they entered the living-room of the hotel, and saw
+no semblance of a bar, and the men who were playing cards were doing it
+for fun, and not for money, and there was no sign of a drunken man
+around, his spirits rose wonderfully, and he walked up and placed his
+valise on the counter.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah! here you are," exclaimed Stanley, coming up at that moment. "I
+wasn't able to get a room with four beds in it, but I have engaged one
+end of the dining-room, so that we can all be together to-night."</p>
+
+<p>"Full up to the top notch," said the clerk. "Put it there, Mr. Kelley.
+How are you, Arrow-foot? This young man I don't remember to have seen
+before, but all the same I am glad to meet him."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, he's a tender-foot, and we are taking him out to have the boss
+grub-stake him."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah! that's your business, is it? Fine business that. You may make a
+strike some day and come back and buy us all out. You're going right in
+the country for one, for there's a nugget worth eight thousand dollars
+for you to pitch on to."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, Elam Storm's nugget," said Stanley. "I hope to goodness you'll get
+it, for then we shall quit hearing so much about it."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, it's there, for one with such a reputation as that&mdash;why, man alive,
+it extends through twenty years! And the Red Ghost, too; you want to
+steer clear of him."</p>
+
+<p>Tom laughed and said he would do his best to follow the clerk's advice.
+He had heard of Elam Storm's nugget, had even found himself thinking of
+it when awake, and dreaming about it when asleep. He knew that his
+chances for digging it up were rather slim, for he did not suppose that
+the man who had hid it had any idea that it would be unearthed by anyone
+save himself; but if he should happen to strike it with one blow of his
+pick! Wouldn't he be in town? He could then write back to his uncle that
+he had made more than the sum he had temporarily lost, made it by the
+sweat of his brow, and he was sure that the next letter he received from
+his uncle would be one telling him to come back home, and all would be
+forgiven. But the Red Ghost! Tom did not know what to think about him.
+He had been seen, never in broad daylight, and he was a terrible thing
+to look at. He roamed about after nightfall, tearing the mules and
+trampling the teamsters to death, and the worst of it was he was always
+to be found somewhere near the place where the nugget was supposed to be
+hid. Stanley once had a partner that had been done to death, and even
+Mr. Kelley's face grew solemn whenever he spoke of him. That was the
+only thing that made Tom doubtful about taking a grub-stake.</p>
+
+<p>The dinner-bell rang while they were talking, and when the meal was
+ended Tom went out with the two cowboys to look at a horse that Stanley
+had found for him in the morning. They were gone about two hours, and
+when they came back, Tom told himself that he was a cowboy at last; a
+horse, saddle, and bridle were waiting for him at the stable, and the
+poncho which he carried slung over his arm was roomy enough for his
+extra baggage. The first thing that attracted Stanley's notice was a
+strange man talking to Mr. Kelley. The stump of his arm proclaimed who
+he was.</p>
+
+<p>"It's Black Dan," said he. "Now, Tom, let's see how much your temperance
+principles will amount to."</p>
+
+<p>Tom was startled, as well he might be, to know that he had it in his
+power to help a man who, in his palmy days, held an influence in Fort
+Hamilton second only to the commander of the station. He gazed steadily
+at him a moment, then threw his poncho on the table, asked the clerk for
+his valise, and took from it the pin Mr. Bolton had given him, and with
+this in his hand he approached Black Dan, while with a delicacy of
+feeling that some people who occupy prouder stations might have envied
+the cowboys turned toward the window. Hearing from the barkeeper that
+the man who wanted to see him was a "top-notch fellow," Dan had washed
+his face and brushed his hair, and made other efforts to improve
+himself. His holster was filled this time, so it showed that he was in a
+situation to defend himself. Mr. Kelley introduced Tom, and then moved
+away.</p>
+
+<p>"How do you do, sir?" said Dan, gazing hard at Tom's face and trying to
+recollect where he had seen him before. "You have got the advantage of
+me."</p>
+
+<p>"I never saw you before, and I am sorry to find you this way," said Tom,
+trying to keep up his courage. "I want you to look at this pin and tell
+me if you ever saw it before."</p>
+
+<p>Tom unwrapped the pin and placed it in Dan's hands. The latter took it
+in surprise, and finally the wondering scowl his face had assumed gave
+way to an entirely different expression, and he sat for five minutes,
+turning the pin over in his hand, and doubtless harassed by gloomy
+reflections. When he gave that pin to the one from whom Tom had received
+it, he was worth half a million dollars.</p>
+
+<p>"What was Bradshaw doing when he gave you the pin?" said he.</p>
+
+<p>"He told me his name was Bolton," said Tom. "He had been doing some
+gambling, and, finding out from me that I was coming up here, he gave me
+the pin with a request that I should give it to you."</p>
+
+<p>"You haven't come out here with any intention of going into this
+business, have you?"</p>
+
+<p>"What, gambling? Not much I haven't. I think I have seen enough to keep
+me away from gambling forever. I'm going to get a grub-stake and go into
+the mountains. I think I can do better there."</p>
+
+<p>"You are an honest boy, and I wish I could give you something for it.
+One short year ago I could have sent you to the mountains with some
+prospects of success; but now&mdash;&mdash;" Dan held up his crippled arm.</p>
+
+<p>"I should think that would drive you from gambling forever," said Tom
+earnestly. "You have taken to drink, and that is just as bad."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, seeing that you are going to preach, I guess I'll go. Shake. So
+long."</p>
+
+<p>Before Tom could think of another word to say Dan had squeezed his hand
+and was on his way to the door, walking along with his hat pulled over
+his eyes, as if he didn't want to see anybody. When he reached the
+street, he simply touched his forehead to some people he met, and kept
+on his way to the saloon. Tom stepped to the window and saw him go in at
+the door.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, what success did you meet with?" said Stanley.</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't meet with any success at all," said Tom, gazing helplessly out
+at the muddy street. "He said if I was going to preach he'd go. He
+seemed to think I had come out here to go into his business, but I told
+him I had seen enough to keep me away from cards forever."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I declare!" said Mr. Kelley. "It is the greatest wonder in the
+world he didn't knock you down. He never lets anybody say anything
+against cards in his hearing. You have had a narrow escape."</p>
+
+<p>As Tom sat there with his three friends and talked over the incidents of
+Dan's past life he grew more frightened than ever, and thanked his lucky
+stars that he didn't know more about it before he held his interview
+with the gambler. Tom had told him that he had taken to drink, which was
+as bad as gambling, and Dan had been known to floor a man who had said
+as much to him. That night, while Tom was lying on his bed and trying to
+go to sleep, he heard something more of the pin. High and loud above all
+the hubbub that arose on the streets came the chorus of a song in which
+one voice far outled the others. It was Dan's voice, and proved that the
+pin had been pawned for something besides water. He looked over toward
+Monroe, and saw that the latter was wide awake and looking at him.</p>
+
+<p>"They're going it, aint they?" Tom whispered.</p>
+
+<p>"You're right, they are. Poor Dan! You have done what you could for
+him." And with the words he rolled over and prepared to go to sleep.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning everything was quiet enough. The drunkards had been put
+into the calaboose by the soldiers, and the others had gone to bed to
+sleep it off. Tom wanted to know what had become of Dan, but nobody said
+anything about him, and from that time his name was dropped. They ate
+their breakfast in haste, paid their bills, and in ten minutes more Tom
+was on his way in search of a grub-stake.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, certainly you'll get it," said Monroe, who rode beside him. "That
+is the way the bosses always treat a tender-foot when they haven't
+anything in particular for him to do. Some of our best known men have
+got their start that way."</p>
+
+<p>"I should think that some of the men you trust that way would run off
+when they find something good," said Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, bless you, they can't take their find with them. They've got to
+stay and work it. I did hear of a fellow who found a lot of iron
+pyrites, and filled his pockets with them. He ran away, making the best
+course he could for Denver, and when he was found, his pockets might
+just as well have been filled with clay."</p>
+
+<p>"Dead?" said Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; and he was two hundred miles from where he belonged."</p>
+
+<p>"And his find didn't amount to anything?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. It is a brassy substance and looks very much like the precious
+metal, but you need a mine to work it."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you suppose killed him?"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't know. Some people suppose that his mule got away from him, and
+ran away with his outfit. At any rate, there was nothing near him, and
+the fellow got desperate and died from exhaustion. Oh, it's one of the
+things that will happen out here."</p>
+
+<p>"That's a queer way to do," said Tom musingly. "By the way, I haven't
+got any revolver."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, the old man will give you a pop. You will get everything you need
+to last you two or three months. While that lasts, you are expected to
+do some hunting; when it begins to give out, you want to come home."</p>
+
+<p>"But how will I know the way?"</p>
+
+<p>"The mule will bring you. He will stay there about two months,&mdash;that is,
+if he doesn't get frightened,&mdash;and when he gets tired of staying, he
+will come home, and you had better come, too."</p>
+
+<p>It was by such talks as this that Tom learned a great deal about the
+business upon which he was soon to embark. It never occurred to him that
+he was to engage in any other business. Cowboys&mdash;or, as they were called
+in those days, "vaqueros"&mdash;were not as plenty as they became a few years
+later, and if a ranchman could be found who thought him able to make his
+living by riding for a stake, well and good. He certainly would not run
+away with his pockets filled with pyrites. He expected to make a good
+many blunders, but Tom told himself he was used to that. What he thought
+of more than anything else was that nugget worth eight thousand dollars.</p>
+
+<p>They camped that night with a party of emigrants, and for the first time
+Tom had the luxury of sleeping out of doors; but the appetite he brought
+to the breakfast-table with him amply made amends for that. In all the
+hunting excursions he had enjoyed for a week or more on his uncle's
+plantation he always had a darky along to build a shelter for him, cook
+his breakfast for him, and do any other work that happened to be
+necessary, and all he had to do was to ride to and from his
+hunting-grounds and shoot the turkeys after he got there. The next night
+they drew up before a dugout, the first one he had ever seen. The only
+thing that pointed out its place of location were a couple of hay-racks,
+which had been torn to pieces by mules. There was not a human being in
+sight, not even standing in the door to bid them welcome.</p>
+
+<p>"Boys, I am glad my trip is done," said Mr. Kelley, as he threw himself
+from his horse, relieving him of his bridle as he did so. "Tom, what do
+you think of your new home?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, there is nobody around here," said Tom, gazing on all sides of
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, they are around here somewhere. It isn't dark yet, and we'll get in
+and light a fire for them. They are out somewhere, looking for some lost
+cattle. We left two hundred head here when we went to the mountains."</p>
+
+<p>"To the mountains?" repeated Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. I tell you we want to get away from here when the blizzards fly,
+for there isn't a thing to shelter us. I don't expect we shall find more
+than fifty head of those cattle, if we do that."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you suppose will become of them?"</p>
+
+<p>"They will be dead, of course. You see, when cattle are loose on the
+prairie and a storm comes up, and they can't stand it any longer, they
+start and travel in the same way the storm is going; and as the storm
+lasts from three to four days, you can readily imagine that they must
+get exhausted before they stop. When the hailstones come down as large
+as hens' eggs, you can&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Haw, haw!" laughed Monroe.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, as large as pigeons' eggs," said Kelley, "and I won't come down
+another grain in weight. Why, an army officer went by here two years ago
+hunting for his thirty-five mules that had been stampeded by a storm,
+and when he found them, there were only four that were able to stand
+alone. Oh, you get out, Monroe! You haven't seen any blizzard yet. Now,
+let's go in and get some supper."</p>
+
+<p>"But what makes the mules run so? Why don't they go under shelter?"
+added Tom, as he picked up his poncho and saddle and followed the man
+inside the house.</p>
+
+<p>"There was just where they were going&mdash;for shelter. There aint a piece
+of timber within twenty-five miles of this place to shelter a rabbit."</p>
+
+<p>"Then what do you use for fuel?"</p>
+
+<p>"Buffalo chips. There, Tom, put your plunder in there and set down and
+look around you. You wouldn't think the man who owns this place was
+worth two hundred thousand, but it is a fact."</p>
+
+<p>"Why doesn't he buy a better piece of ground, then? I wouldn't be so far
+from shelter if I were in his place."</p>
+
+<p>"Buy it? He doesn't own this property. Every acre of ground that he
+occupies is Congress land."</p>
+
+<p>"But I'll bet you he wouldn't give it up," said Stanley. "I'd like to
+see somebody come here and say this is his."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you will never see it. Mr. Parsons says that all this property
+will be thrown open to settlement some day, and then he and the rest of
+the squatters will have to go farther West. But, laws! he's got money
+enough, and he began life, Tom, just as you are going to&mdash;by taking a
+grub-stake and starting for the mountains. But come on, boys, and let's
+get supper. Stanley, just roll out the rest of that bacon and hard-tack,
+and, Monroe, you go outside and throw in some buffalo chips."</p>
+
+<p>Tom, weary with his long ride, made up his bunk, then threw himself upon
+it and looked about him.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2>
+
+<h3>A HOME RANCH.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Tom was surprised at the interior of the dugout. From the outside it
+didn't look large enough to accommodate more than three or four men, but
+there were bunks for eight, and there was ample room for the cooking
+stove, a dilapidated affair which looked as though it might have come
+from somebody's scrap-pile and left one of its legs behind it. But there
+was plenty of "draw" to it, as Monroe came in with his arms full of
+buffalo chips, filled the stove full, and touched a match to them. On
+each side of the stove was a blanket, which on being raised proved to
+conceal little cupboards devoted to various odds and ends. One contained
+books and magazines, a whip or two, and several pairs of spurs, and in
+the other were to be found the dishes from which the inmates had eaten
+breakfast, all neatly washed and put away. Tom was surprised at the air
+of neatness that everywhere prevailed.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, you won't find all dugouts like this one," said Monroe. "Some of
+them are so dirty that you can't find a place to spread your blanket.
+Mr. Parsons' cook did this work, and all the ole man does is to sit
+outside and smoke."</p>
+
+<p>"Here comes the ole man now," said Stanley, who had ascended to the top
+of the stairs and was looking out over the prairie. "He has got a small
+drove of cattle with him, so we shall have some corral duty to do
+to-night."</p>
+
+<p>"And I believe he has more than twenty-five head with him," said Mr.
+Kelley, who dropped everything and came to Stanley's side. "He's got
+fifty if he's got one. Boys, I guess you had better go out there. They
+are tired most to death, and we might let them come in and get some
+supper."</p>
+
+<p>Although the two cowboys had ridden all of fifty miles that day, there
+was no objection raised to this arrangement. Without saying a word they
+buckled on their belts containing their revolvers, shouldered their
+saddles and bridles, and went out behind the hay racks. When they came
+within sight a few minutes later, they were going at full speed to meet
+their employer and his cattle.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, maybe you are able to see something off there, but I can't," said
+Tom, after he had run his eyes in vain over the horizon. "I can't see a
+single thing."</p>
+
+<p>"Can't you see that long line that looks like a pencil-mark off there?"
+said Mr. Kelley, trying in vain to make Tom see the object at which he
+was looking. "Well, it's there plain enough. When you have been on the
+plains as long as I have, you'll notice all little objects like that
+one, and, furthermore, you will want to know what makes them. It will be
+two hours before they come up, and you sit down here on the bench and
+watch it. I will go down and get some supper."</p>
+
+<p>Tom seated himself on the bench beside the door and tried hard to make
+out the approaching line of cattle, but could not do it. Finally he was
+called to supper, and went down saying that he would give his eyes a
+little rest and then maybe he could see them; but he couldn't do it now.</p>
+
+<p>"Supposing you were in a line of march and had a scout out there where
+those men are, and he should begin riding in a circle, what would you
+say?" asked Mr. Kelley.</p>
+
+<p>"I wouldn't say anything," exclaimed Tom. "I wouldn't know what he
+meant."</p>
+
+<p>"He would mean that there was danger close at hand, and you had better
+be gathering your cattle up," said Mr. Kelley. "And if they were
+scattered as far apart as those cattle are, you would want a small
+battalion of men to answer your orders."</p>
+
+<p>"What would be the danger?"</p>
+
+<p>"From Cheyennes, of course."</p>
+
+<p>"Good gracious! Do they ever come out and threaten a whole ranchful of
+cattle?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly they do. But they are all right now. They haven't had any
+grievance for a long time, and they are as trustworthy as Indians ever
+get to be. I wouldn't put any faith in them, however. I'd have been
+worth half a million dollars if it hadn't been for those pesky
+redskins."</p>
+
+<p>"Did they steal from you?" asked Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, they stole me flat, but I got away with my life, and that is
+something to be thankful for. Now, go out and see if you can find those
+cattle."</p>
+
+<p>Tom obediently went, and whether it was from the long rest his eyes had
+had or from some other reason, he distinctly made out a long "pencil
+line" on the horizon. By watching it closely he finally made out that in
+certain places the line was interrupted, and finally decided that that
+was the place where some of the cattle had strayed more than they ought
+to; and he was confirmed in this idea when he saw a solitary figure move
+up and turn them in toward the centre. As Mr. Kelley, having finished
+his dishes, came out and sat down on the bench to enjoy his smoke, he
+finally made out the two horsemen who rode around the outskirts of the
+herd and gradually disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>"It won't be long now before the old man will be along," said he. "You
+will see that he won't ride through the drove, but will come around it.
+If he should try riding through it, he would have a stampede on his
+hands that would do your heart good to see."</p>
+
+<p>"Are they as wild as that?" asked Tom, who told himself that he was
+learning something about the cowboy's business the longer he talked with
+Mr. Kelley.</p>
+
+<p>"You just bet they are. If you should go among them on foot, you would
+either stampede them or else they would charge upon you and gore you to
+death. That's the reason we always use horses in tending cattle."</p>
+
+<p>In about half an hour two horsemen were seen riding around the outskirts
+of the herd. They took a wide circle, so as not to frighten the cattle,
+and finally drew a bee-line for the dugout. Mr. Kelley remarked that
+they were the ones he was expecting, dived down the stairs, and in a few
+minutes the rattling of dishes was heard as he proceeded with his
+preparations for a second supper. The horsemen were hungry, or else
+their animals were, for they occupied much less time in coming in than
+the cowboys who relieved them, and in short order they were near enough
+for Tom to distinguish their faces. Tom took a long look at the man who
+was going to befriend him. He knew who he was, for there was the cut of
+a leader about him; and when the man rode up and swung himself from his
+horse with a "How are you, Tom?" it proved to him that Stanley and
+Monroe had told him something about him.</p>
+
+<p>"Howdy?" shouted a voice from the dugout; and Mr. Kelley stuck his head
+up through the door. "We're still on hand, like a bad dollar bill. How
+many cattle have you got out there?"</p>
+
+<p>"Sixty-five; and pretty good luck, too, seeing that they have been
+stampeded more than forty miles. Where did you pick up this youngster?"
+added Mr. Parsons, giving Tom's hand a hearty squeeze. "I certainly do
+not remember seeing him before."</p>
+
+<p>"No, he's a tender-foot. As he didn't know what else to do, he came out
+here for somebody to grub-stake him."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah!"</p>
+
+<p>"Everyone who knows him has gone back on him," continued Mr. Kelley,
+"and so he has come out here to see if you won't stake him for a gold
+mine."</p>
+
+<p>"M-m-m!"</p>
+
+<p>"And as he cured me of the dumb ague by giving me a pitcher of
+ice-water, I thought I would bring him along."</p>
+
+<p>"Aha!" said the ranchman, who had kept a firm hold of Tom while his
+right-hand man was speaking. "You claim to be a doctor, do you? Well, we
+must do something for you. I was a little older than you are when I went
+into the mountains to seek for a gold mine, and, unfortunately for me, I
+found it. I smell bacon. Is supper ready yet?"</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Kelley made some sort of incoherent reply which Mr. Parsons and his
+man understood, for they dived down the doorway, leaving Tom standing
+alone.</p>
+
+<p>"Unfortunately he got it," Tom kept repeating to himself. "I don't see
+what there was unfortunate about it, unless he was cheated out of it. If
+I had as many cattle as he has got out there, and as many men to obey my
+orders, I should look upon myself as remarkably fortunate."</p>
+
+<p>Tom did not have any opportunity to talk further with Mr. Parsons that
+night, for as soon as he had eaten supper he went to bed and was soon
+sleeping soundly. Tom felt the need of slumber, and when he thought he
+could do so without disturbing anybody, he slipped quietly down the
+stairs. There sat Mr. Kelley fast asleep on his dry-goods box, holding
+in his hand the copy of a newspaper about a fortnight old, and which he
+had been trying to read by the aid of the smoky candle that gave out
+just light enough to show how dark it was; and as everybody else felt
+the need of slumber, and gave over to the influence of it wherever they
+happened to be, Tom threw off his boots and tumbled into his bunk. Once
+during the night he was aroused by somebody coming in and informing Mr.
+Kelley that it was twelve o'clock; then there was a stir of changing
+watches and the camp became silent again. Or no; it wasn't silent. Just
+after the watches had been changed (for men had to keep track of the
+cattle during the night and see that nothing happened to stampede them)
+Tom was treated to a wolf serenade. It began faint and far off, and then
+all on a sudden broke out so fiercely that it seemed as if the pack had
+surrounded the cabin and were about to make an assault upon it.</p>
+
+<p>"What was that?" asked Tom, starting up in alarm.</p>
+
+<p>"It's the pesky coyotes," said Monroe, who was taking off his boots.
+"We're always glad to hear them, for then we know that there is nothing
+else about."</p>
+
+<p>"What else do you think might be about?" said Tom, wondering how any
+lone hunter could find any consolation in such a dismal serenade.</p>
+
+<p>"Indians," said the cowboy shortly. "Good-night."</p>
+
+<p>After that Tom did not sleep very soundly, for at times it seemed to him
+that some of the fierce animals had come to the door, which stood wide
+open all this while, and were about to come in. Once he was sure he
+heard them on top of the cabin, but the others slept on and paid no
+attention to it, and finally Tom became somewhat accustomed to it. He
+did not think he had closed his eyes at all in slumber, but when he
+awoke to a full sense of what was going on, he found that there were
+only two men left in the cabin, Mr. Parsons and his cook. The former sat
+on the edge of his bunk pulling on his boots, and the cook was busy with
+his frying-pan.</p>
+
+<p>"Hallo, youngster!" said Mr. Parsons cheerfully. "You'll have to get up
+earlier than this if you're going to strike a gold mine. Why, it must be
+close on to six o'clock."</p>
+
+<p>"I was awfully tired last night, and the wolves kept me awake," said
+Tom. "I don't see how anybody can sleep with such a din in his ears."</p>
+
+<p>"The time may come when you will be glad to hear them. If there are any
+Indians around, you won't hear them; just the minute the Indians break
+loose the wolves all seem to go into their holes; but when the Indians
+are whipped, they are out in full force."</p>
+
+<p>Tom noticed that the men seemed to be in a hurry, and he lost no time in
+packing his outfit. He ate breakfast when Mr. Parsons did, sitting down
+to it without any invitation from anybody, swallowed his coffee and
+pancakes scalding hot, saddled his horse, and rode away, leaving the
+cook to straighten affairs in the dugout; and all the while it seemed to
+him that he hadn't had any breakfast at all. He couldn't see anything of
+the cattle; but Mr. Parsons put his horse into a lope and proceeded to
+fill his pipe as he went.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose you know your cattle have gone this way, don't you?" said
+Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course I do," answered Mr. Parsons, taking a long pull at his pipe
+to make sure it was well lighted. "They are ten miles on the way nearer
+home than we are, and we have got to make that up."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you always drive your cattle into the mountains in winter?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir. We have had some blizzards here that would make your eyes
+bung out if you could have seen them, and I would be penniless to-day if
+my cattle had been caught in them. Some of the cattle ahead of us have
+been driven forty miles by a blizzard that struck us last fall, and I
+have just succeeded in finding them. If my neighbor hadn't been as
+honest as they make them, I wouldn't have got them at all. It would be
+very easy for him to round them up and brand them over again, and then
+tell me that if I could find an arrow brand in his herd I could have
+them."</p>
+
+<p>"How far does your nearest neighbor live from you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Just a jump&mdash;fifteen or twenty miles, maybe."</p>
+
+<p>Fifteen or twenty miles! None nearer than that! Tom had found out by
+experience that distances didn't count for anything on the prairie.</p>
+
+<p>"You said last night, in speaking of your gold find, that, unfortunately
+for you, you got it," Tom reminded him. "I would like to know what you
+meant by that. Were you cheated out of it?"</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Parsons replied, with a laugh, that he was not cheated out of it,
+but, on the whole, it didn't much matter. He took a party of experts up
+there, and, after working over the mine for a week or more, they gave
+him twenty thousand dollars for it, of which five thousand went to him
+and the balance to his employer. That made him lazy&mdash;too lazy to go to
+work. He spent three thousand dollars in grub-staking men to look up
+claims for him until the end of the year, when he found out that he
+wasn't making anything by it, so he took the balance of his money and
+went into the cattle business.</p>
+
+<p>"That gave me my start," said Mr. Parsons in conclusion. "In four years
+I had made up the money I had spent, and vowed I never would go into it
+again; but here I am talking of sending you to the mountains."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think you are not going to make anything by it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, yes," said Mr. Parsons, with another laugh. "But I have got to do
+something to help you. You ride pretty well, and I should think you
+ought to go into the cattle business."</p>
+
+<p>"Who will take me? Will you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, no; I can't. I have had to discharge some parties, not having
+work for them to attend to, and I don't know how I could use you. I will
+tell you this much: when you come back in the spring, I will give you a
+show."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you," replied Tom. "That's the first encouragement I have had.
+But you say it took you four years to make up the money you had spent.
+I'm not going to stay here four years."</p>
+
+<p>"You aint? What are you going to do?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am going to look for that nugget that Elam Storm has lost."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, ah!" said Mr. Parsons, the expression on his face giving way to one
+of intense disgust. "Well, you'll never find it."</p>
+
+<p>"Why not? The edge of Death Valley is just crowded with men who haven't
+given up all hopes of finding it."</p>
+
+<p>"Crowded! Young man, I wonder if you know how big Death Valley is?
+Crowded! Now and then you'll find a man who still has that nugget on the
+brain, but if the man who hid it himself, not more than two years ago,
+can't find it, I think it is useless for others to try. There have been
+landslides in all the canyons that run through there till you can't
+rest. I'll tell you what I'll do: if you will find that nugget, I will
+give you ten thousand dollars for it. That's a better offer than I made
+you a while ago. And you may keep the nugget besides. If you are around
+when anybody else digs it up, I will give you five thousand dollars."</p>
+
+<p>There was something in this offer that completely shut off all
+discussion of the finding of Elam Storm's nugget. Mr. Parsons did not
+refer to the matter again, and neither did Tom; but the latter still
+clung to the hope of finding the gold. The nugget was there, or why
+should so large a number of men be on the lookout for it? And if he
+<i>should</i> happen to strike it, he would be a rich man. During all his
+rides he kept that one thought in his mind, and nothing could shake it
+out. There was one thing that ought to have opened Tom's eyes, and that
+was that no nugget of gold had been struck in that country for miles
+around. The nearest place at which any had been found was at Pike's
+Peak, and that was over two hundred miles away. But Tom didn't know
+that, and the only thing that kept the cowboys from telling him of it
+was the fact that when he was in the mountains he would think he was
+doing something, but if he knew there was no gold to reward his search,
+he would give up in despair.</p>
+
+<p>It took our party five days to make the journey between the dugout and
+headquarters, for the cattle were slow of movement, and, besides, they
+were allowed to graze on the way. About ten o'clock a fierce winter
+wind, which made Tom bundle his overcoat closer about him and pull his
+collar up about his ears, sprung up from over the prairie, and the
+cattle ceased feeding and struck out for a canyon about a mile wide
+which opened close in front of them. Along this they held their way for
+five miles and better, until it finally emerged into a broad natural
+prairie, large enough, Tom thought, to pasture all the cattle in the
+country, and went to feeding with one of the herds. The air was soft and
+balmy, and Tom's overcoat was resting across the horn of his saddle. Mr.
+Parsons pulled up his horse and gazed around him with a smile of
+satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>"These cattle are all mine, Tom," said he. "Every horn and hoof you see
+here has been paid for, and if you want to get in the same way, I will
+give you a chance when you come back to me in the spring. Monroe, you
+and Stanley might as well go out and see if you can find anything of
+that bronco. Tom wants to go away, and we must fit him out early in the
+morning."</p>
+
+<p>This was bringing the matter squarely home to Tom. He was to go away in
+the morning! He looked up at the mountains, and they seemed so large and
+he so small by comparison that he shuddered while he thought of getting
+bewildered in some of those canyons, and lying down and dying there and
+nobody would know what had become of him. But Mr. Parsons didn't
+discourage him. He was made of sterner stuff. He looked up and said with
+an air of determination:</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I want to get off. The sooner I get to work the sooner I shall be
+doing something to earn my living."</p>
+
+<p>"That's the idea," said Mr. Parsons. "Stick to that and you will come
+out all right. Now, let's go home."</p>
+
+<p>Tom waved his hand to the two cowboys, who galloped away in one
+direction, while he and Mr. Parsons held down the valley, making a wide
+circuit to get out of reach of the grazing cattle. After going in a lope
+Mr. Parsons drew up his horse and began to talk seriously to Tom. He
+told him plainly of the dangers and sufferings which would fall to his
+lot if he endeavored to carry out his plan, but he did not try to turn
+him from his purpose. On the contrary, he tried to warn him so that when
+the dangers came he would be prepared to meet them half-way. He kept
+this up until the home ranch appeared in view, and then he stopped, for
+he didn't want the cowboys to hear what he was saying.</p>
+
+<p>This home ranch was not a dugout. There was a neat cabin to take the
+place of it, and Tom thought some of the cowboys had used an axe pretty
+well by the way they fashioned the logs and put them together. There
+were half a dozen hay-racks out behind the house, protected from
+wandering cattle by rail fences, and there wasn't a thing on the porch,
+no saddles, bridles, and riding whips, all such things having been put
+into a cubby-hole in the rear of the house. But it so happened that the
+cook, who had got there first, had peeled off his coat, and was engaged
+in straightening things out.</p>
+
+<p>"I never did see such a mess as these fellows leave when I go away for
+five minutes," said he. "I can't find a thing where it ought to be,
+though I have hunted high and low for that carving-knife."</p>
+
+<p>Tom took his seat at Mr. Parsons' side while he filled up preparatory to
+a smoke. There were one or two little things that he wanted to speak to
+him about.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2>
+
+<h3>LOST IN THE MOUNTAINS.</h3>
+
+
+<p>When Mr. Parsons had fairly settled himself, filled his pipe, lighted
+it, and fell to nursing his leg as a man might who felt at peace with
+himself and all the world, Tom said:</p>
+
+<p>"You didn't say anything about my horse in telling me what I should have
+to get through with. Did you mean that I should leave him at home, and
+go on foot?"</p>
+
+<p>"I did, certainly," said Mr. Parsons. "You will find that the bronco
+will go through some places that you will not care to ride, and,
+besides, you will have one horse less to take care of, and one less to
+watch."</p>
+
+<p>"Have I got to watch him all the time?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, yes. You must keep the halter on him all the time, and tie him
+fast to a tree when you go into camp. If you don't, he will run away and
+leave you. He'll turn around and take the back track as soon as your
+pack grows light, and you had better come, too."</p>
+
+<p>"That's what one of the cowboys told me," said Tom. "Now, I have got
+some money here. I don't suppose it will be of the least use to me in
+the mountains, and I should like to leave it with somebody."</p>
+
+<p>"All right. Leave your horse and your money with me, and I will take
+care of them."</p>
+
+<p>"If I don't come back, they are yours," continued Tom. "Now, I should
+like to have a gun of some sort."</p>
+
+<p>Without saying a word Mr. Parsons went into the house and brought out a
+rifle and a revolver. Tom took them and examined them, and the way he
+drew the rifle to his face rather astonished Mr. Parsons. He remarked
+that he had handled guns before in his day, and Tom told him that he
+could not remember the time when he did not have a horse and shotgun for
+his own. His uncle furnished him with all these things.</p>
+
+<p>"Then right there is where you ought to have stayed," said Mr. Parsons,
+throwing more energy into his tones than he usually did. "I hope you're
+not going to be sick of your bargain, but I'm afraid you are. Here comes
+the bronco. Do you think you can manage that fellow?"</p>
+
+<p>The bronco which came up at that moment, with Stanley's lariat fastened
+about his neck, was like any other horse, only he seemed to be tired.
+When they stopped him, he lowered his head and drew up one of his hind
+feet, and closed his eyes as if he were fast asleep. But Tom knew better
+than to fool with him. He had read enough to know that the word came
+from the Spanish and meant "wild," and he had got his name from his
+persistent efforts to keep wild cowboys off his back. He couldn't be
+ridden, that was the matter with him; but he would carry a pack-saddle
+all day, and never had been known to leave a man he had accompanied to
+the mountains. Tom said he thought he could manage him, and patted him
+all over; but the horse never opened his eyes to look at him.</p>
+
+<p>Preparations were made for getting Tom off as soon as it was light, and
+by the time darkness fell all was ready. A pack-saddle was brought out
+which looked as though it had been through two or three wars, and the
+cook, following the instructions of his master, began to fill it full of
+provisions, giving no heed to Tom to ask him whether the supplies he
+furnished suited him or not. He had provided so many men with provender
+that he thought anything that would do for one would do for another.
+With darkness came three more cowboys, who listened to what Mr. Parsons
+had to say, and then greeted Tom very cordially, and wished him
+unbounded success in his efforts to find Elam Storm's nugget. One man,
+especially, was particularly interested in Tom's fortunes. He advised
+him to dig wherever he saw a landslide, and if he happened to hit upon
+the right place he would strike it sure. The spot where the man hid it
+was obliterated, but that wouldn't hinder the proper person from
+unearthing the nugget if he only chanced to dig where it was.</p>
+
+<p>"I have looked for that nugget a good many times, and that is the only
+thing that has kept me from finding it; I didn't dig where it was," said
+the man, with something like a sigh of regret. "I know it is somewhere
+in the mountains, else why should so many persons be looking for it?"</p>
+
+<p>Morning came at last, and after Tom had eaten a hasty breakfast he saw
+the pack strapped on his bronco; and the whole thing was done so easily,
+with two experienced cowboys at work, that he regarded it as the least
+difficult part of his undertaking. He had been told repeatedly to get
+the pack on right, and not to unhitch his horse until he did it, or the
+bronco would knock him and his burden into the middle of next week and
+come home, leaving him to follow after as best he could. But Tom was
+sure he had it "down fine," and with a cheerful good-by to the cowboys
+who had assembled to see him off, and a hasty slap on the bronco's flank
+to help him along, he started gayly for the mountains. When he saw that
+camp again, he hoped to have the eight thousand dollar nugget stowed
+away in his pack-saddle.</p>
+
+<p>The first day's work Tom could not complain of. The bronco kept up a
+lively walk, swinging his head from side to side and turning first into
+one canyon and then into another, and did not think it necessary to stop
+for anything to eat until he made his way to a little grove of trees,
+drew a long breath as he stopped under the shade, and looked around at
+Tom as if asking him why he didn't take his pack off. Tom leaned his
+rifle against a log and took his pack off very easily, and the horse
+immediately began taking his supper. Then Tom picked up his rifle and
+looked about him.</p>
+
+<p>"I declare! I believe the whole canyon is full of landslides," said he,
+as he gazed at one pile of rubbish after another filled with logs,
+rocks, and brush which nature had thrown into the valley, some new and
+of recent origin, and others bearing the marks of age upon them. "Hold
+on. Isn't that the mark of a spade over there?"</p>
+
+<p>Tom walked over and looked at it. It was the mark of a spade, sure
+enough, where a man had commenced digging where the landslide ended, and
+had thrown out just earth enough to prove that he had been there, and
+that was all. There were other openings of like character, until Tom
+counted ten in number. Then he looked up at the huge mass above him, and
+made an estimate that it would take an army of men, each armed with a
+spade and pick, to work it all away. These were probably the marks of
+the elderly man among the cowboys, who told him that the reason he
+didn't find the nugget was because he didn't dig in the right place. Tom
+shouldered his rifle, walked back to his log, and sat down.</p>
+
+<p>"I really believe I have been duped," said he disconsolately. "If the
+landslides are all like that, I am certainly not going to work to throw
+them all away just to make eight thousand dollars. Besides, what use
+will it be to me to work where he has been? I'll go on a little
+further."</p>
+
+<p>If Tom had any idea of a landslide, it was a little piece of ground
+which could be thrown away in half a day's time; but the sight of a
+<i>real</i> landslide was what took his breath away. He didn't eat a very
+hearty supper after that, for the thought that was uppermost in his mind
+was that the men who had stood by him, and of whom he had a right to
+expect something better, had completely fooled him in regard to Elam
+Storm's nugget. Instead of telling him that there wasn't any show at all
+of his success, they had fitted him out and sent him away to put in a
+month of his time. There was one thing about it: he would not go back
+until every mouthful in the pack-saddle had been eaten. That much he was
+determined on.</p>
+
+<p>"I had an idea that cowboys were above suspicion, but now I know they
+are not," said Tom spitefully. "I can waste a month of their grub as
+well as anybody, and I won't put a spade in the ground until I see some
+prospects of success."</p>
+
+<p>At the end of a week Tom was still of the same determination, although
+he saw much to discourage him. It was landslides everywhere, and the
+mark of a man's spade was on every one; so it showed that the bronco had
+been over that same ground before. The way was getting lonely, they were
+getting deeper and deeper into the mountains, and somehow Tom felt very
+disconsolate. A deep silence brooded over everything&mdash;a silence so
+utterly mysterious that he was not accustomed to it. How gladly he would
+have welcomed Jerry Lamar and listened to news from home and from the
+uncle he had deserted. Another week and Tom found himself hopelessly in
+a pocket. Turn which way he would, there was no chance for him to get
+out. The man had been there before him&mdash;indeed, he seemed to have gone
+into all the places and thrown out just earth enough to prove that he
+had been there, but not enough to accomplish anything. It was just
+enough to let Tom see how useless it was to dig there.</p>
+
+<p>Tom's two weeks of tramping in the mountains had given him a ravenous
+appetite; his bronco was hitched so that he could not take to his heels
+and leave his master to find his own way home; and as he sat there on
+his blanket, dividing his attention between his cup of coffee,
+hard-tack, and bacon, he thought seriously of going back to
+headquarters. This was undoubtedly the remotest point reached by the
+man, and if one of his experience should be frightened out by a few
+shovelfuls of earth, or scared at finding himself in a pocket, Tom
+thought himself entitled to follow his lead. It had taken him two weeks
+to reach the pocket (he had managed to keep close run of the days); it
+would probably take him fully as long to return, and so he would fill
+Mr. Parsons' contract anyway. And so it was settled that he was to go
+home; but there's many a slip between determining upon a thing and doing
+it. He finished his coffee and bacon, led the horse down to the spring,
+from which he had scraped the leaves, to give him a drink, and rolled
+himself up in his blanket to go to sleep with his ready rifle safe
+beside him.</p>
+
+<p>How long he slept he did not know, but he was awakened about midnight by
+a sound he had never heard before. It came from his horse, but it wasn't
+a neigh: it was the sound of fear, and made the cold chills creep all
+over him. He started up with his rifle in his hand, but did not have
+time to get off the blanket. Another shriek, which sounded like somebody
+in fearful bodily agony, came from the bushes, and the next minute the
+horse was on the ground and struggling in the grasp of some animal or
+thing which Tom could not remember to have seen or heard of before. It
+had a long neck, long legs, and a wonderfully high body which was
+increased materially by a hump on its back. The horse was as nothing in
+its grasp, and the struggle took place not over ten feet from the
+blanket on which Tom was sitting.</p>
+
+<p>"Great Moses!" was Tom's mental ejaculation.</p>
+
+<p>He sat for an instant as if spellbound, and then his rifle arose to his
+face. He was sure he had a good shot at it and expected to see it drop;
+but instead of that it gave another shriek, tossed the horse away from
+it, breaking like thread the lariat with which he was confined, and with
+a single jump disappeared in the bushes. Tom listened, but could hear no
+sound coming from it to tell what sort of a beast it was. Then he got
+upon his feet and turned his attention to the wounded horse. He was past
+the doctor's aid, for he was dead.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, that beats me," said he, going back to the fire and starting it
+up, so that he could see what sort of wounds the beast had made. "I
+never heard of an animal like that before."</p>
+
+<p>A good many boys would have been startled pretty near to death by the
+sudden appearance of an apparition like that. It must be possessed of
+tremendous power to toss the broncho about as it did, and break the
+lariat with which he was fastened. No ghost could do that, and neither
+could a ghost have made that wide and fearful rent that Tom found when
+he had punched up the fire. Tom thought it best to build up a bright
+blaze, for he did not know how long it would be before the animal would
+come back to finish its work. He loaded the rifle carefully and placed
+the revolver where he could get his hands upon it at a moment's warning.
+He thought of grizzly bears, but had never heard of them taking to the
+bushes on account of a single bullet.</p>
+
+<p>"It couldn't have been a panther or a bear, unless my eyes were
+deceiving me, for it was at least four times as big as the horse," said
+Tom, picking up a brand from the fire and once more approaching the
+specimen of the apparition's handiwork. He hadn't been in sight more
+than a minute, and yet the horse was as dead as a door-nail. "He must
+have been a flesh-eater, for nothing else that I know of could have made
+such wounds. I am beat. Now, how am I going to find my way home?"</p>
+
+<p>If Tom had been frightened at first, he was doubly so now. He was so
+confused he couldn't think. From that hour he sat there on his blanket,
+and by the time that daylight fell so that he could distinguish objects
+near him he had made up his mind what he was going to do. He would take
+everything out of the pack-saddle that he could carry on his back, and
+make his way out of the pocket the same way he came in. He had
+remembered enough of his skill in woodcraft to turn and take a survey of
+his back track, so that it would not appear odd to him when he came to
+go that way again, and he had no doubt that he would be able to find it.
+More than that, the bronco had left the prints of his hoofs and had
+continually browsed on the way, and, taking all these things together,
+Tom was certain that he could strike the trail.</p>
+
+<p>"It is going to be a tight squawk," he soliloquized, "but I am not lost
+yet. I only wish I knew what that animal was. It would take a big load
+off my shoulders if I did."</p>
+
+<p>Tom did not waste any time in forming his bundle, for there were some
+things about the pocket that he did not care to see. He wanted to get
+out of sight of every thing that reminded him of his terrible fright. He
+put all his bacon, hard-tack, and coffee into his blanket, strapped his
+pot to his belt behind, set his pick, spade, and pack-saddle up where
+they could be easily found, shouldered his rifle, and, with a farewell
+glance at the bronco, which had carried his pack so faithfully for him
+so many miles, he plunged into the bushes and left the pocket behind.</p>
+
+<p>For that one single day everything went well. He found the bronco's hoof
+prints in the sand, and easily discovered the places where he had been
+browsing on the way, and as long as these signs remained he couldn't get
+lost. He even found, too, the place where they had stopped the night
+before, but going into camp without the presence of the horse was
+lonesome to him. He saw the place where he had scraped away the leaves
+from the side of the stream to give him a spot to drink, and found the
+sapling to which he had hitched him, and the place where he had spread
+his blanket&mdash;but there was little sleep for him that night.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish I knew what that animal was," thought Tom, as he sat on his
+blanket with his rifle in readiness on his knees. "The more I think of
+him the more frightened I become. I wish I was safe at headquarters."</p>
+
+<p>Remember that the signs Tom had been following were only one day old,
+and on the morning of the second day he could not find the place where
+he had entered the camp. Turn which way he would he could not discover
+any footprints. He finally concluded that the middle canyon looked more
+familiar to him than the rest, and, with his heart in his mouth, he
+struck into it. At the spot where the canyon branched into another he
+found a little stream which ran in the direction he thought he ought to
+go, and close beside the stream was a footprint which he took to be his
+own. He was all right now, and with every mile he travelled the faster
+he went, in the hope of finding something else that was encouraging, but
+that solitary footprint was the only thing he saw. There was one thing
+about it that kept up his spirits, and that was he was following a
+stream that ran toward the prairie, and he would continue to follow it
+until the stream or his provisions gave out, and then&mdash;&mdash;Well, that
+hadn't happened yet, and wouldn't happen till he was where he could get
+more provisions. He must reach the house or he would lose his horse and
+$150 in money. He went into camp at a solitary place that night, and,
+for a wonder, slept soundly.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning he was up bright and early, but he did not seem to have
+much appetite for breakfast. And it was so every day until a week had
+passed, and still no change for the better. He was so impatient that he
+could scarcely go into camp. He was impatient to be journeying along
+that little stream that seemed to lead him toward the prairie, but every
+time he looked up and tried to wonder where he was, there were the same
+gloomy mountains stretched away before him that he had at first seen in
+the pocket where he had lost his horse. Tom took no note of the fact
+that his wearing apparel was getting the worse for wear, or that he had
+left his blanket back at his last camping-place, but he did take notice
+that his mind was filled with gloomy forebodings. Why could he not climb
+that mountain on his left and see what was ahead of him? The thought no
+sooner came into his mind than he banished it, took a drink of fresh
+water, and started out at a more moderate pace.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm lost," said he, with a sinking at his heart to which he was an
+entire stranger; "and if I give way to those thoughts, I shall be lost
+utterly. Why did I not think of my gun?"</p>
+
+<p>Tom dropped his pack by his side and fired and loaded three times as
+fast as he could make his fingers move. Then he waited again and fired
+three more; and scarcely had the echoes of the last report died away
+among the mountains when he heard a faint reply, though it came from so
+many directions that he couldn't tell from which way it sounded. But he
+took it to come from down the stream, and, leaving his bundle behind, he
+started in that direction, raising a shout which, to save his life, he
+could not utter above a whisper. He ran until he thought he ought to be
+about where the sound came from, then stopped and fired his gun again,
+and this time met with an immediate response. It was down the stream,
+and there was no doubt about it.</p>
+
+<p>"Who-whoop! Where are you?" shouted Tom, so impatient he could scarcely
+stand still. "I am lost!"</p>
+
+<p>"Follow the stream and you'll strike me," said a voice, and Tom noticed
+that for a backwoods fellow he talked remarkably plain.</p>
+
+<p>It was three weeks since Tom had seen anybody or heard anyone speak, and
+his eagerness to see where the voice came from was desperate. Throwing
+his gun upon the rocks, he broke into another run, and there, just as he
+turned around an abrupt bend in the canyon, he saw the person to whom it
+belonged. The speaker stood with his hat and coat off; his pick lay
+against a stone near by, and the shovel which he had been in the act of
+using when Tom's rifle shots fell upon his ears was standing upright in
+the ground; but he had taken precautions for any emergency, for he held
+his rifle in the hollow of his arm. Beyond a doubt somebody had been
+grub-staking him for gold, or for something else which he was equally
+anxious to find. Tom had just wind enough to take note of these things,
+and then he staggered to a rock near by and seated himself upon it.</p>
+
+<p>"You won't find any gold here," said Tom, resting his elbows on his
+knees and looking down at the ground.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a name="illus2" id="illus2"></a>
+<img src="images/illus2.jpg" alt=""/>
+</div>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Tom's New Acquaintance.</span></h3>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>The stranger uncocked his gun, and, bringing the piece to an order arms,
+leaned upon it. He looked hard at Tom, but had nothing to say.</p>
+
+<p>"I have been all over this country, but not a cent's worth of gold could
+I find in it," continued Tom, taking off his hat and drawing his hand
+across his forehead. "Somebody has duped you just the same as they duped
+me."</p>
+
+<p>"Where's your gun?" asked the stranger.</p>
+
+<p>"I left it in the bend up there," said Tom, anxious to hear the sound of
+the voice again. "I was so impatient to get to you that I left it up
+there. I haven't heard a stranger speak for three weeks."</p>
+
+<p>"Where did you come from?"</p>
+
+<p>"Wait till I get my breath and I will answer all your questions. I came
+from a pocket back here in the mountains, where I lost my horse. I wish
+you could have seen that animal, for I don't know what it was: long
+neck, long head, and a body that looked twice as big as my horse. And
+then how strong it was! It broke my lariat&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"What color was it?" said the stranger, beginning to take a deep
+interest in what his guest had to say.</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't see that it was any other color when compared with my horse.
+It looked just the same&mdash;a dark brown. It had a hump on its back&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"The Red Ghost, by George!"</p>
+
+<p>Tom started and looked at him in amazement.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE CAMP OF ELAM, THE WOLFER.</h3>
+
+
+<p>"I aint got any business to be digging around here," said the stranger,
+laying down his rifle and picking up his coat. "We'll go back and get
+your gun, Tender-foot. How far is that pocket from here?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, it is a two-weeks' journey," said Tom, who suddenly became aware
+that he would have to go over that long tramp again. "I never could find
+my way back there in the world."</p>
+
+<p>"Who sent you into the mountains to dig for my nugget?"</p>
+
+<p>"Your nugget?"</p>
+
+<p>"Them's my very words, stranger."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, who are you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am Elam Storm, the man who lost the nugget twenty years ago, and who
+intends to have it back if he has to kill every man this side of the
+country you came from; and where's that?"</p>
+
+<p>Tom, who had arisen from his rock at the same time the stranger began to
+put on his coat, stared fixedly at the speaker, and then sat down again.
+So this was Elam Storm, the man who had a better right to the nugget
+than anybody else in the world! He was a boy, not more than nineteen or
+twenty years of age, but he had a face on him which expressed the utmost
+resolution. And he had the physical power, too, to carry out his
+determination, for, as he moved around his camp, putting away his tools
+where he could readily find them, he showed muscles which said that it
+would not be a safe piece of business for anyone to interfere with that
+nugget.</p>
+
+<p>"Where did you come from, I asked you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I came from down in Mississippi, where my uncle owns a plantation and a
+heap of niggers," answered Tom, who did not like the way the boy eyed
+him when he spoke.</p>
+
+<p>"And right there is where you ought to have stayed," said Elam. "Did you
+hear anything about the nugget down there?"</p>
+
+<p>"Of course not," replied Tom, surprised at the proposition. "I started
+to go to Texas, but got on the wrong boat and was brought up here. I
+couldn't do anything else, and so Mr. Parsons grub-staked me and sent me
+into the mountains. He lives out that way a short distance."</p>
+
+<p>"How far do you call a short distance?"</p>
+
+<p>"Fifteen or twenty miles, maybe."</p>
+
+<p>"Haw-ha! Man, you're just about a hundred miles from where he lives."</p>
+
+<p>Tom caught his breath, but could say nothing in reply.</p>
+
+<p>"You have been going further and further away from him ever since you
+lost your horse," continued Elam. "Come on; let's go and get your
+rifle."</p>
+
+<p>"You say that nugget of yours was lost twenty years ago," said Tom, as
+he fell in behind Elam, being afraid to do anything else. "You are not
+that old, are you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, not so long as that!" laughed Elam. "It is a long story and will
+take you a good portion of the evening to listen to it. I will tell it
+to you to-night. Now, then, which canyon did you come down?"</p>
+
+<p>Tom looked up and found himself confronted by three gullies, which came
+down and met at that one point. He said he didn't know, but Elam, after
+looking around a little, started up one with as much confidence as
+though he had seen Tom when he came out. After some questioning from Tom
+he showed him a little twig, not larger than a needle, which he had
+brushed off in his hurried flight after he had thrown down his gun; and
+a short distance farther on he found the weapon, which Tom, in his
+excitement, had tossed clear across the creek. Tom was surprised when
+Elam stepped across the stream and picked up the weapon, and relieved
+when it was handed over to him with the assurance that it had suffered
+no injury in its collision with the rocks.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, we will let the bundle go," said he. "There is nothing in it that
+will pay us to go back after it, and I am too tired to go a step
+farther. I hope your camp isn't a great ways from here."</p>
+
+<p>Elam replied that for him it was "just a jump," but he would walk slowly
+so as not to tire the pilgrim. He stopped at his camp where he had been
+digging, and gave Tom a small supply of the corn bread and bacon which
+he had left over from his dinner, and while Tom was eating it he sat by
+on a rock with his elbows resting on his knees. Tom ate as though he
+hadn't had anything for a month, and when his repast was ended, Elam
+took his spade and pick under one arm, shouldered his rifle with the
+other, and set off in a way that was calculated to tire any man, no
+matter how well equipped he might be for travelling. But Tom did not
+care for that. He wanted to get home,&mdash;any place was better than the
+bare canyon,&mdash;where he could lie down and sleep with nothing to bother
+him. Once in a while Elam turned around and said to him:</p>
+
+<p>"To think that I have been wasting my time for the last month in digging
+in such places as this! I ought to have been fifty miles from here, for
+I know about where that canyon of yours is."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think that that Red Ghost, or whatever you call it&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Tom happened to look up and saw that Elam was facing him, and was
+astonished at the expression that came upon his countenance. He would
+not have believed that one who was so sensible on every other point
+should be willing to admit that the apparition that had visited him in
+the pocket and robbed him of his horse was not due to superhuman agency.</p>
+
+<p>"I know how you, Tender-foot, feel about this, but wait until you have a
+chance to shoot it plumb through the head, and it gets away with it all,
+and then tell me what you would think," said Elam sullenly. "You
+probably don't have such things in the settlements, but that's no sign
+that they aint found out here."</p>
+
+<p>"I had as fair a shot at it as anybody could have," said Tom, "and it
+wasn't over ten feet from me. I saw the blood spurt out from a hole in
+its neck, and it flung the horse away from it, broke the lariat, and
+went into the bushes. But do you think it is guarding that treasure?"</p>
+
+<p>"I know it, and nobody can't make me believe differently. I have seen it
+often enough, and it has got the mark of three of my bullets on it."</p>
+
+<p>Elam faced about and went on his way at a faster gait than before, and
+Tom let him go. As eager as he was to learn something about the Red
+Ghost, he was still more eager to reach a permanent camp where he could
+lie down and rest. He found that he was pretty nearly barefooted. His
+sheep's-gray pants hung in tatters about his worn shoes, and Elam had a
+way of jumping from one stone to another and coming down on top of a log
+in a manner that he did not like. At length, when the sun began to go
+down, and Tom experienced some difficulty in finding a place for his
+feet, Elam stopped on the edge of a natural prairie, and pointed out
+something a short distance off.</p>
+
+<p>"There's my horse," said he. "And yonder, where that little grove of
+trees comes down into the prairie, is where my shanty is located. Can
+you stand it till we get there?"</p>
+
+<p>Oh, yes, Tom could stand it that far. He fell in behind Elam, paying no
+attention to the horse, which came up and followed along in their rear,
+pushed his way along the evergreens, and was finally brought to a stand
+by a door in a substantial log house. It was fastened by a bolt on the
+inside, but as the string was out, Elam easily opened it.</p>
+
+<p>"You are welcome to the cabin of Elam, the wolfer," said he, leading the
+way in and pointing to a pile of skins which served him for a bed.
+"Tumble in there, and don't get up till you get ready."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you," said Tom, handing his rifle to Elam and throwing himself at
+length on the couch. "I never was so tired in my life."</p>
+
+<p>Elam had hardly time to set the rifle up in a corner and shut the door
+before Tom was fast asleep. How long he slept he did not know, but
+during the whole of it he felt that he was under the care of somebody
+who could protect him. If there were any ghosts to visit that camp, they
+would have to strike Elam first.</p>
+
+<p>The first thing he became aware of when he got his eyes fairly opened
+was that he was so full of aches and pains that he could scarcely move,
+and the next, that he did not recognize a thing about the establishment.
+Gradually he raised himself on his elbow, and then Elam Storm came into
+his mind. He could not remember much of what he had said to Elam during
+their first meeting,&mdash;he must have been about half crazy, he thought,
+when he talked to him,&mdash;but he had said enough to bring him a good bed
+and a sound sleep besides. He found that his feet had been interfered
+with&mdash;that they felt easier than they did before; and on removing the
+blanket that had been thrown over them he discovered that his tattered
+shoes and stockings had been removed; that they had been wiped dry and
+moved closer to the fire, which had evidently been going at a great rate
+before it died down to its present bed of ashes. There was plenty of
+wood right there, and with much extra exertion Tom managed to crawl to
+it, and by the persistent blowing of a coal into flame he succeeded in
+starting a fair blaze. Then he contrived to get up. There was a big hunk
+of johnny cake on the table, a slice of bacon with a knife handy to cut
+it, and a bag which proved to contain coffee. A further examination
+showed him that Elam had not gone about his business without leaving a
+letter behind him to tell where he was. The first was a chunk of bark on
+which was rudely traced a picture of a man gathering traps. He knew that
+he was taking the game in, for there was a representation of game in the
+trap. A second piece of bark lay under the first, and Tom could not for
+a long time make sense of what it contained. It was blurred, and was
+intended to represent a man going into camp. In other words, if Elam did
+not get home by daylight, Tom need not worry about it. The pictures were
+rudely traced in charcoal, but the drawing was perfect.</p>
+
+<p>"If I had not been tolerably well posted in backwoods lore, I could not
+have made head or tail out of these pictures," said Tom; and as he spoke
+he thought over all the lessons he had learned from the Indians and
+darkies in the swamp. "Elam is going out to gather his traps, and if he
+does not come home before to-morrow, I need not bother my head about it.
+What is he going to gather up his traps for? I shall have to wait till
+he comes home to have that explained, and now I'll go to work and get
+some breakfast."</p>
+
+<p>Tom had used up nearly all the wood to replenish the fire, and he began
+casting his eyes about the shanty to see if Elam had another pair of
+shoes in waiting to be put on when his own boots became wet, and found
+some moccasons with a pair of stockings neatly folded and hung beside
+them. Elam had worn them once, but that did not matter. He put them on,
+and, seeing Elam's axe resting in one corner, caught it up and went out
+to renew his supply of fire-wood. Hearing the blows of the axe, the
+horse came up and snorted at him, but could not be induced to come near.
+This made it plain that the man who attempted to rob Elam would have to
+leave his horse behind.</p>
+
+<p>Tom chopped until his appetite began to get the better of him, and then
+went in and busied himself about his breakfast. He left the door open
+(for all the light that was admitted to the cabin came through a space
+in the roof over the fireplace through which the smoke escaped), and
+told himself that for one who had never seen the comforts of civilized
+life Elam was able to copy pretty close to them. There was a table whose
+top was made of boards hewed out of a log and smoothed with an axe, and
+one or two three-legged stools without any backs, which proved that Elam
+sometimes had company. The clothing he had worn was neatly hung up at
+one corner of the cabin, and underneath was something which Tom had not
+noticed before: two bundles of skins, nicely tied up and waiting to be
+shipped. They were wolf-skins, and close by them lay half a dozen skins
+of the beaver and otter, not enough to be tied up.</p>
+
+<p>"I know what he meant when he said that I was welcome to the cabin of
+Elam, the wolfer," said Tom. "Somebody has either grub-staked him and
+sent him out here to catch wolves or else he is working for himself.
+Now, where's the spring? I must have some water for my coffee."</p>
+
+<p>Tom easily found the pail of which he was in search, and, going out
+behind the cabin, he followed the path he had noticed while cutting
+wood. It ran through a quiet grove of evergreens, and finally ended in a
+little pool in which Elam found his water. Coming back to the cabin, he
+could not find any coffee-pot, but he found a pan which seemed to have
+been used for nothing but coffee, filled it with water, placed it on
+coals he had raked off to one side, and covered it with one of Elam's
+pictures. With his breakfast fairly going, with his coffee and bacon on
+the coals, and his johnny cake and clean dishes on the table by his
+elbow, he settled back on his stool as complacently as though he had
+never known anything better.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know what sort of a conscience Elam's got, but if he's got a
+tolerably fair one, it seems to me that he ought to be well contented
+with this life," said Tom. "He was born to this thing, and,
+consequently, don't know anything better; but as for me, there isn't
+money enough in it. But, then, he thinks he is going to find that
+nugget. Well, I'd like to find it myself, but I am not going to bother
+with it with such a fellow as Elam in the way. I don't want to test
+those muscles."</p>
+
+<p>Tom had come to that country to make money; he wasn't going to test
+anybody's muscle in order to make it, but he was going to make it. In
+spite of all the obstacles that were thrown in his way&mdash;and he met with
+no greater loss than any tender-foot is likely to meet&mdash;he carried back
+to his uncle half as much money as he stole from him, and his uncle was
+glad to see him, too. This was all in the future, and Tom knew nothing
+of it. He ate his breakfast with great satisfaction, getting up from the
+table once in a while to examine something new in Elam's outfit, and
+when it was done, he washed the dishes and put everything back just as
+he had found it. Then there was nothing left for him to do but to cut
+wood until Elam came. The latter would be cold and wet from handling
+those muddy traps, and there would be nothing wanting but a fire for him
+to get up to. Every once in a while he dropped his axe and went out to
+the edge of the evergreens to see if he could discover Elam returning,
+but always came away disappointed. One thing he continually marvelled
+at, and that was the scarcity of game. If anyone had told him that he
+could leave his gun and wander away by himself, he would have thought
+him foolish; and here he had been alone in the mountains nearly a month
+and had not seen anything&mdash;not even a jack-rabbit&mdash;to shoot at. Had it
+not been for that Red Ghost, or whatever it was, that visited him the
+night he stayed in the pocket, his gun would have been as clean when he
+took it back as when he came out with it. At last, when everything began
+to grow indistinct, and Tom had put away his axe and piled up the wood,
+he looked for Elam again, resolved if he could not see him to go into
+the cabin, haul in the string, and get his supper; but there was Elam
+half-way across the prairie, and, furthermore, he was struggling under a
+weight about as heavy as he could well carry.</p>
+
+<p>"They are wolf-skins," said he, as Tom hurried up to him and took his
+rifle from his grasp. "I've got eighteen, and two otters. How are you,
+Tender-foot? Got over your sleep yet?"</p>
+
+<p>Tom replied that he had got all the slumber he wanted, and then went on
+to tell Elam that he knew where he had gone, and if he did not return
+that night, he would not have been at all worried about it, and that he
+had got the knowledge from the pictures he had left on the table, and
+Elam seemed very much pleased.</p>
+
+<p>"You can't read or write, can you?" asked Tom. "I thought not, but you
+drew those pictures as though you had taken lessons in drawing. I have
+got a good warm fire for you."</p>
+
+<p>Although there were many things that he was anxious to question Elam
+about, Tom did not trouble him until he had had his supper and had
+shaken up the skins preparatory to enjoying his after-supper smoke. Tom
+followed his example and stretched himself out beside him, pulling off
+his moccasons so that he could have the full benefit of the fire.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Tender-foot, what brought you out to this country?" said Elam,
+pulling up a bundle of wolf-skins so that he could rest his head upon
+it. "Tell me the truth and don't stick at nothing."</p>
+
+<p>Tom replied that there wasn't very much to tell, and went on and
+revealed to Elam as much of his story as he was willing that a stranger
+should know; but he didn't tell him a word about his fuss with Our
+Fellows, or of his stealing five thousand dollars, or of his association
+with gamblers. In short, he gave him to understand that he was hard up,
+that he wanted to go to Texas and had got on to the wrong boat and been
+brought up there. He told him the truth about his meeting with Mr.
+Kelley and his two cowboys, for he did not know but that Elam might see
+them some day.</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't know a thing about this country," said Tom, in conclusion,
+"and Mr. Parsons grub-staked me and sent me out to find a gold mine."</p>
+
+<p>"Haw-ha! You had about as much chance of finding gold here as you would
+in New Orleans," said Elam, as soon as his merriment would allow him to
+speak. "The only gold here is my nugget, and that was buried two years
+ago. Didn't he tell you about that?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, he told me about the nugget, but he also told me that by digging
+after it I might strike another gold mine, as some others had done
+before me. But if I ever go again, I don't want to follow such a man as
+went before me."</p>
+
+<p>"Who was it? Was it somebody who was working on Parsons' place?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. He was an elderly man, who seemed to take more interest in me than
+anybody else. He told me that the only reason he didn't strike the
+nugget was because he didn't dig in the right place."</p>
+
+<p>"Haw-ha!" laughed Elam.</p>
+
+<p>"And the only reason he didn't dig in the right place was because the
+nugget couldn't be thrown out with two or three spadefuls of earth,"
+continued Tom. "I followed along after him for two weeks, and in every
+camping-place there were two shovelfuls of dirt flung out. If a hen had
+been scratching for that nugget, she would have made better headway."</p>
+
+<p>"He was on the right track, anyhow," said Elam. "If he had kept on till
+he came to that pocket, he would have found it. That would have given me
+a job, for I would a heap sooner find it in the dirt than take it out of
+a man's pack."</p>
+
+<p>"If a man was to find that nugget&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir, I would," said Elam savagely. "It is mine, and I'm a-going to
+have it, I don't care who unearths it. Do you suppose you could find
+your way back to that pocket?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, sir; I couldn't," said Tom, drawing a long breath of dismay. "In
+the first place, there's the Red Ghost. If you had seen it&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Haven't I seen it?" demanded Elam. "It has got the marks of some of my
+bullets."</p>
+
+<p>"It must bear the marks of a good many bullets, and I don't see why some
+of them did not hit it in the proper place. What do you suppose it is,
+anyway?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, it's a ghost, I tell you. If it wasn't, some of those bullets
+would have struck it in the proper spot, I bet you."</p>
+
+<p>"If it's a ghost, you can't kill it."</p>
+
+<p>"Can't, hey? I'll bet you that I can."</p>
+
+<p>"It looked to me just like a camel," said Tom, who did not like the way
+Elam glared at him every time he struck on this subject.</p>
+
+<p>"A camel! What's them?"</p>
+
+<p>"An animal they make use of in foreign countries to carry heavy burdens
+for them. But, Elam, how came it to appear to you? It don't show itself
+to anybody else who hunts in these mountains, does it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly it does. The history of this nugget is known all over the
+country, and if any man has it on his mind, he may be a hundred miles
+from here, but that makes no difference; it appears to that fellow and
+scares him off. Now, wait till I tell you."</p>
+
+<p>This brought Elam to his story, and he entered upon it a good deal as
+Uncle Ezra did, beginning with the massacre of the soldiers who were
+sent out to pay the garrison at Grayson, and ending with the fight
+between the two miners in the mountains. He seemed to know right where
+the nugget had been ever since it was unearthed. At any rate, he told a
+pretty straight story, and when it was ended filled up his pipe and
+looked at Tom to see what he thought about it.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2>
+
+<h3>UNWELCOME VISITORS.</h3>
+
+
+<p>"I did think for a time that I should find my father and the nugget
+together, and even gave it out among the sheep-and cattle-growers who
+would listen to me," continued Elam, taking a few long pulls at his
+pipe. "But I have since given that idea up. I didn't say anything to the
+men hereabouts, for it kinder ran in my head after a while that they
+thought I was luny on the subject; so I just kept my ideas to myself.
+You see, the thing couldn't have gone through so many hands without my
+hearing something of my father, but, search high or low, I never heared
+a word about him. The old man is dead. He was killed when the robbers
+made their assault on the train, and the nugget has been doing all this
+of itself."</p>
+
+<p>"All what of itself?" asked Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, it has been bobbing up and bobbing down," replied Elam. "One day
+you know where it is, and by the time you get on the track of it it has
+gone up, nobody knows where."</p>
+
+<p>For a long time Tom did not say anything. The story seemed so real&mdash;as
+real as that he was sitting on his couch of furs, with his feet tucked
+under him, gazing hard into the fire. It did not seem possible that the
+story could get abroad, and so many men believe it, and here this one
+was known two hundred miles away. There must be something in it.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said Elam, "do you think I am crazy?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know what to think," said Tom. "Such a story never got wind in
+the settlements."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course it didn't. There's a heap more things that happen out here
+than you think for. There isn't one man in ten who would believe about
+that ghost."</p>
+
+<p>"No, sir," said Tom emphatically. "And I don't know what to believe
+about it, either, and I have seen it. Are you going up there to that
+pocket?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am going to start day after to-morrow if you will show me the way.
+When I strike the nugget, I will give you half."</p>
+
+<p>The proposition almost took Tom's breath away. All that amount of money
+for facing the Red Ghost! Now that he had got safely out of reach of it
+and had heard so much about its going everywhere it pleased, here to-day
+and a hundred miles away to-morrow, Tom was obliged to confess that
+there was more of a ghost about it than he was at first willing to
+suppose. But there was his horse with the broken lariat! No ghost could
+do a thing like that.</p>
+
+<p>"You see, I shall spend to-morrow in gathering in my traps," said Elam.
+"I may not come back, you know, and I don't want to leave them out where
+everybody can steal them, and when they are all in, I shall be ready to
+start."</p>
+
+<p>When Elam said this, Tom picked up a burned chunk, threw it on the fire,
+and laid down again. If Elam thought he wasn't going to come back, what
+was the use of his visiting the pocket? Tom had about concluded that he
+would not go.</p>
+
+<p>"No, I may not come back," said Elam, anxious that Tom should learn just
+how desperate the undertaking was, "and while I don't want to have my
+traps stolen, I want to leave them where someone can use them. Then I
+will pack my spelter on my horse and go to the nighest post&mdash;it is just
+a jump from here&mdash;and trade it off for provisions. We can easy get them
+as far as here."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; but what will you do from here on? You won't have any bronco to
+carry them for you."</p>
+
+<p>"We will pack it on our backs. It's a poor hunter who can't go into the
+woods and carry provisions enough for two weeks."</p>
+
+<p>"And what if the Red Ghost appears? The first thing it will pitch into
+will be ourselves. I don't think I will go. I have got all over
+prospecting for gold, and wish that summer might come so that I can go
+to work herding cattle."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I know what will happen to you then," said Elam.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, what will happen to me then?" said Tom, after waiting for his
+companion to finish what he had on his mind.</p>
+
+<p>"You'll go plumb crazy; that's what will happen to you. You will be set
+to riding the line&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"What's that?" interrupted Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, riding up and down a fence, or rather where the fence ought to be,
+to see that none of your cattle break away. It will take you two days to
+make a trip, and you will get so tired of it that you will finally skip
+out and leave the line to take care of itself. But all right. You go to
+bed and sleep on it, and if it doesn't look better in the morning, I'll
+say no more about it. I will go by myself."</p>
+
+<p>With something like a sigh of regret Elam turned over and prepared to go
+to sleep. There was no undressing, no handling of blankets, but just as
+he was he was all ready to go to slumber. Tom felt sorry for him, and,
+besides, he knew how Mr. Parsons and the cowboys would look upon such a
+proceeding if it should once get to their ears. And he didn't see any
+way to prevent it. If Elam's story was able to travel for two hundred
+miles, the idea that he was afraid to face the Red Ghost would travel,
+too, and then what would be his prospect of getting employment with Mr.
+Parsons? And, besides, there was a chance for him to go "plumb crazy"
+while riding the line and seeing that the cattle did not break through.
+That was another thing that was against Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid I am unlucky, after all," thought he, once more arranging
+his bunch of furs. "I am sent out into the mountains to prospect for
+gold, when there isn't any gold in sight except what belongs to Elam,
+here, and have the promise that when summer comes I shall be given a
+chance." Then aloud: "Say, Elam, does a fellow have to ride this line at
+first, and before he can call himself a full-fledged cowboy?"</p>
+
+<p>"Sure," said Elam; "he must get used to everything that is done on the
+ranch. He must begin at the lowest round of the ladder and work his way
+up."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said Tom to himself, "I just aint a-going to do it. I'll just go
+to sleep on it now, and if the thing looks better to me to-morrow than
+it does to-night, I'll stick to your heels."</p>
+
+<p>While Tom was thinking about it, he fell asleep. When he awoke the next
+morning, it was broad daylight, but he was alone. Elam must have moved
+with stealthy footsteps while he was getting breakfast; but there was
+everything on the table just as he found it on the previous morning, and
+the pictures which Elam had drawn, and which Tom had placed on the wall
+so that they could be easily seen, had been taken down and put where he
+had seen them the day before.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope to goodness that I will get through with my sleep after a
+while," thought Tom, as he proceeded to put on his moccasons. "He has
+gone out to gather the rest of his traps, and I am left to decide
+whether or not I will go with him. Well, I will go. If that fellow is
+not afraid of the ghost, I'm not, either. I know it isn't a ghost, but
+he thinks it is, and we'll see who will show the most pluck."</p>
+
+<p>Tom went about his business with alacrity, and in an hour the breakfast
+was eaten and the dishes put away. Then he had nothing to do but to cut
+a supply of wood for Elam, though he didn't know how it was going to be
+of any use to him, seeing that he was going to the mountains; but it was
+better than sitting idle all day, and so Tom went at it, throwing the
+wood as fast as he cut it in under the eaves of the cabin, where it
+would be protected from the weather. At last the wood that was down was
+all cut, and Tom, leaning on his axe with one hand, and scratching his
+head with the other, was looking around to determine what tree ought to
+come down next, when he happened to glance toward the path where it
+emerged from the evergreens and ran up to the door of the house, and
+discovered two men standing there with their arms at a ready. If they
+had tried to come up under cover of his chopping they had succeeded
+admirably. They might have approached close to him, and even laid hold
+upon him, and Tom never would have known it until he found himself in
+their grasp.</p>
+
+<p>Of all the sorry-looking specimens that Tom had ever seen since he came
+West these were the beat. Elam would have been ashamed to be seen in
+their company. His clothes were whole and clean, while these men had
+scarcely an article between them that was not in need of repairs. Their
+hats, coats, and trousers ought long ago to have gone to the ragman; and
+as for their boots&mdash;they had none, wearing moccasons instead. Tom felt
+that something was going to happen. He knew he was growing pale, but
+leaned with both hands upon his axe and tried not to show it.</p>
+
+<p>"Howdy, pard?" said one of the men, looking all around.</p>
+
+<p>"How are you?" said Tom.</p>
+
+<p>He would have been glad to step into the cabin and get his rifle, but he
+noticed that the men stood between him and the doorway.</p>
+
+<p>"Whar's your pardner?" asked the man.</p>
+
+<p>"He is around here somewhere," said Tom, shouldering his axe and
+starting for the door. "What do you want?"</p>
+
+<p>"I want to know if you have anything to eat? We have been out looking
+for some steers that have broke away, and we've got kinder out of our
+reckonin'."</p>
+
+<p>"Who are you working for?"</p>
+
+<p>"For ole man Parsons. Our horses got away from us, too, and didn't leave
+us so much as a hunk of bacon."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't believe a word of your story," said Tom, who knew from the
+start that the man was lying. "But come in. I reckon Elam would give you
+something if he was here, though, to tell you the truth, we haven't got
+much."</p>
+
+<p>"So Elam is your pardner, is he?"</p>
+
+<p>"You seem to know him pretty well."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes. Elam and I have been hunting many a time."</p>
+
+<p>"He's liable to come back at any minute," returned Tom, who wished there
+was some truth in what he was saying. "He has just stepped out to look
+at some traps. I don't see what keeps him so long, for of course you
+will be glad to see him."</p>
+
+<p>Tom had by this time got inside the cabin, closely followed by the two
+men, who, he noticed, did not go very far from the door. One of them
+hauled a stool up beside it and sat down where he could keep a close
+watch on everything that went on outside, and the other kept so close to
+Tom that the latter could not have used his axe if he had tried it. Tom
+wanted to get his hands on his rifle, but one of the men had placed
+himself directly in front of it so that his broad shoulders were between
+him and the weapon. The men pushed back their hats and took a survey of
+the interior of the cabin while Tom was getting down the side of bacon,
+and finally one of them discovered the pile of wolf-skins which Elam had
+tied up and left in the corner. With a smile and a muttered ejaculation
+he walked over and examined it.</p>
+
+<p>"Elam's at his ole tricks, aint he?" said he, after he had tested the
+skins and tried to determine by the weight of them how many there were
+in the package. "How many do you reckon he's got here? So many skins at
+forty-five dollars apiece would be&mdash;how much would it be, Tender-foot?"</p>
+
+<p>Tom was rather taken aback by this style of address. He had tried to
+play himself off on the men as one to the manor born, but his language,
+his dress, or something had given him away entirely. The man spoke to
+him as if he was as well acquainted with his history as Elam was.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't reckon we want anything to eat do we, Aleck?" continued the
+man, lifting the bundle and carrying it back to the door with him. "If
+you see anybody else coming along here that's hard up for grub&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Here&mdash;you!" exclaimed Tom, throwing down his axe and making an effort
+to take the bundle from the man. "Put that down, if you know when you
+are well off."</p>
+
+<p>"If you know when you are well off, you will keep your hands to yourself
+and sit down thar," said the man, and at the same time the one who had
+been addressed as Aleck arose to his feet, cocking his rifle as he did
+so. "Oh, you needn't call for Elam, 'cause we know where he is as well
+as you do," he continued, as Tom thrust both men aside and started post
+haste for the door. "Now, Tender-foot, just go and behave yourself. We
+know that Elam has gone out to attend to his traps and won't be back
+before night, and so we've got all the time we want. Sit down."</p>
+
+<p>Tom saw it all now. The men had evidently watched Elam from the time he
+started out, until they saw him pick up one trap and set out for
+another, and had then made up their minds to rob him. They little
+expected to find a tender-foot behind to watch his cabin, and had
+consequently made up their story on the spur of the moment.</p>
+
+<p>"Aleck, you will find your bundle over thar," said the man, "and there
+are some otter-skins you can take, too. This rifle I will just take with
+me and leave it agin some rocks out here whar you can easy find it. Mind
+you, we haint done you no harm so far, but don't come nigh this rifle
+under an hour. You hear me?"</p>
+
+<p>Tom said nothing in reply. He watched Aleck as he picked up the other
+bundle and otter-skins (he left the eighteen Elam had brought in the
+night before, because they were not cured), flung them over his
+shoulder, and joined his companion at the door, where the latter had
+already taken charge of the rifle.</p>
+
+<p>"You haint disremembered what I've told you?" he said, in savage tones.
+"You come out in one hour and you can find the rifle; but you come out
+before that time expires and ten to one but you will get a ball through
+your head."</p>
+
+<p>Tom still made no reply, and the robbers went out as noiselessly as they
+had come in. He listened, but did not hear the snapping of a twig or the
+swishing of bushes to prove that they had worked their way through the
+thicket of evergreens to the natural prairie along which Elam was to
+come.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, now, I am beat," drawing a long breath of relief, thrusting his
+feet out in front of him, and putting his hands into his pockets. "So it
+seems that Elam isn't so very happy, after all, and that, no matter
+where one gets, he's going to have trouble. Here he's been working like
+a nailer for&mdash;I don't know how long he's been out here&mdash;until it seems
+to me&mdash;&mdash;What's that?" he added, as his feet came in contact with a
+small buckskin bag which one of the robbers had dropped.</p>
+
+<p>Tom bent over and saw that one side of the string was broken. The bag
+had been tied around the man's neck, and had worked its way down until
+it found an opening at the bottom of his trousers above his moccasons.
+The man had never noticed it, and this was the first Tom had seen of it.
+It was small, but it was well filled, and Tom began to look about for a
+place to hide it.</p>
+
+<p>"Let him take the skins if he wants to, and I'll take this," said he,
+getting up and looking first into one place and then into another, and
+making up his mind each time that that was a poor spot to hide things.
+"He may miss it before he has gone a great ways, and I don't want him to
+know that he has left that much behind. Just as soon as he goes away
+I'll take it out and examine it."</p>
+
+<p>Tom, who was not so badly frightened as some boys would have been, made
+his way toward the door and finally went out, but could hear no signs of
+the robbers. He removed some sticks from the pile of wood he had cut and
+there placed the bag, covering it over as if nothing had been disturbed,
+and then struck up a lively whistle and started down the path. The
+robbers were not in sight, but there was Elam's horse just quenching his
+thirst at the brook, and that proved that his companion had not been
+stolen afoot, anyway.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll be perfectly safe if I try to find the rifle now," said Tom, as he
+began beating around through the bushes. "By George! I hope they haven't
+carried the gun off with them. They couldn't, for their packs were too
+heavy."</p>
+
+<p>Here was a new apprehension, and it started Tom to work with increased
+speed; and it was only after an hour's steady search that he found the
+gun hidden where nobody would have thought of looking for it. It was
+uninjured, and this made it plain that the only object the robbers had
+in view was to rob Elam.</p>
+
+<p>"They've got just sixteen skins or I'm mistaken," said Tom, shouldering
+his recovered rifle and retracing his steps to camp. "Sixteen skins at
+forty-five dollars would be worth seven hundred dollars and better.
+That's quite a nice little sum to rake out before dinner. Now, my next
+care is to examine that bag."</p>
+
+<p>Arriving at the wood-pile, the bag was taken out and carried into the
+cabin. Tom caught it by the bottom and emptied its contents on the
+table, first taking care, however, to place his rifle across his knees,
+where it could be seized in case of emergency. He was surprised at the
+contents of the little bag. In the first place there was some money
+tightly wrapped up in folds of buckskin, and when Tom unfolded it to see
+how much there was, two yellow-boys rolled out.</p>
+
+<p>"Hurrah! Here's something to pay for the stolen skins," said Tom, and,
+hastily putting the money into his pocket, he caught up his rifle and
+hastened out of doors to listen for some sounds of the returning
+robbers. Everything was silent. The men were gone, and Tom had nothing
+to do but to examine the bag in peace.</p>
+
+<p>"I am glad they didn't do anything more," thought he, as he went in and
+seated himself at the table. "If they had wanted to do mischief, they
+might have pulled a chunk from the fire and set the whole thing to
+going, but instead of doing that they just contented themselves with
+robbing us. Forty dollars. Where did they get it? Two gold eagles and
+bills enough to make up the balance. Here's tobacco enough to last both
+of them a week; needles and thread, so it don't seem to me that they
+ought to have been satisfied to go around with their jackets full of
+holes, as I saw them, and&mdash;&mdash;What's this? It's something pretty
+precious, I guess, because it is wrapped up tightly."</p>
+
+<p>It was a small parcel tied up in buckskin that caught Tom's eye just
+then. It was so neatly wrapped up in numerous folds that by the time Tom
+got them unfolded he fully expected to find some quartz or some more
+gold pieces; but when he brought it to light, there was nothing but a
+little piece of paper, with ordinary lines drawn upon it. Did he throw
+it away? He spread it out upon the table as smoothly as he could, and
+set to work to study out the problem presented to him. One thing was
+plain to him: the line which ran up the middle, paying no attention to
+other lines which came into it at intervals, was a gully. Right ahead it
+went until it branched off in two places, and there it stopped. What did
+it mean?</p>
+
+<p>"It means something, as sure as I am a foot high," said Tom, settling
+back in his chair and holding the paper up before him. "There is
+something buried there, and how did these people come by it? I guess
+that Elam had better see that."</p>
+
+<p>Filled with excitement, Tom bundled the things back into the bag, and
+put the bag into his pocket, wondering what sort of history those two
+men had passed through. Did they know anything about the nugget? The
+idea was ridiculous, simply because there were some marks on a paper
+which he did not understand.</p>
+
+<p>"There was only one of them who escaped with the nugget, and he buried
+it within ten miles of the fort," said Tom. "And Elam says, further,
+that he was so sick and tired when he was relieved that he could not
+draw a map to lead anyone to it. No matter; there's something there, and
+I am in hopes it will&mdash;&mdash;By George! they are coming back."</p>
+
+<p>There was no doubt about it, and he might have heard them before if he
+had not been so busy with his reflections. He listened and could hear
+them tramping through the bushes, and all on a sudden one raised his
+voice and called out to the other, who was evidently behind him:</p>
+
+<p>"I tell you he's got it. If I don't get it back, I am ruined!"</p>
+
+<p>"That means me," thought Tom.</p>
+
+<p>For an instant Tom stood irresolute, and then the idea came upon him
+that he wasn't going to be imposed upon in this way any longer. He moved
+across the floor with long strides, took down his revolver and put it
+into his pocket and moved out of the door, pulling it to after him. The
+men were close upon him. He heard them coming along the path as he
+slipped around the corner of the cabin and into the bushes.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2>
+
+<h3>TOM FINDS SOMETHING.</h3>
+
+
+<p>"Oh, Aleck, he is gone!" shouted the man who was the first to come
+within sight of the cabin. "The lock-string is out, and he's cut stick
+and gone, with that bag safe upon him; dog-gone the luck!"</p>
+
+<p>"Push open the door," said Aleck. "Mebbe he is there."</p>
+
+<p>The man placed the muzzle of his rifle against the door and thrust it so
+far open that his companion, who stood with cocked piece close at his
+side, would have had no difficulty in getting a shot at Tom if he had
+been on the inside. It was plain that they were afraid of the
+consequences, for as the door swung open they both drew back out of
+sight. If he knew anything of the prairie at all, it wasn't so certain
+that he was going to give up that bag after what he had seen of it.</p>
+
+<p>"Hey, there!" shouted Aleck. "We know you have got it; you might as well
+come out and give up that thing I dropped in here a while ago. By gum,
+he haint in there!"</p>
+
+<p>A little more peeping and looking (you will remember that the inside of
+the cabin was as dark as a pocket) resulted in the astounding discovery
+that there was nobody there. In fact, Tom lay about ten feet from
+them,&mdash;the bushes were so thick that he did not think it safe to retreat
+any farther,&mdash;and from his hiding-place he could distinctly hear
+everything that passed. He would have been glad to retreat farther, but
+the bushes made such a noise that he was afraid to try it.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a name="illus3" id="illus3"></a>
+<img src="images/illus3.jpg" alt=""/>
+</div>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Tom in hiding.</span></h3>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>"He's gone," said Aleck, hauling a stool out from the cabin and throwing
+himself upon it. "Now, what am I to do?"</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps you didn't drop it in there," said his companion. "You
+travelled a good ways&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I did," said Aleck, whose rage was fearful to behold. "I felt of
+it when I was coming through the bushes, and I am as certain as I want
+to be that I felt the bag, and nothing else."</p>
+
+<p>"And do you suppose he found it and went to examine it?" said the other
+man, who hadn't done much of the talking. "If I thought that was the
+case&mdash;you have got us in a pretty box!"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't suppose nothing else. And just think, it is in Elam's hands.
+Dog-gone the luck! I'd like to shoot myself."</p>
+
+<p>"Aha!" thought Tom. "Now, go on and tell us what it is that's in Elam's
+hands. It's the nugget, and I'll bet my life on it."</p>
+
+<p>"I never did have much faith in it, anyhow," said Aleck's companion,
+who, holding his rifle in the hollow of his arm, kicked a few chips out
+of his way; "but you seemed so eager for it that you had to go and shoot
+a man in order to get it. It's nothing more than I expected."</p>
+
+<p>"I believe I can work my way up there alone," said Aleck.</p>
+
+<p>"With all them gullies coming down? You're crazy. But you don't want to
+sit here a great while. Elam will have it; that feller's gone to find
+him&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"If I thought Elam would have it, I'd lay around on purpose to shoot
+him," said Aleck, rising from his stool and kicking it out of his way.
+"He aint no more than anybody else, Elam aint."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, if you are going to stay here, you can stay alone. I'll go back
+and take my bundle of skins to the fort, and raise some money on them.
+Then I'll light out, and you won't catch me around where Elam is again."</p>
+
+<p>"By gum! I'll go, too," said Aleck. "But I'll bet you that Elam will
+sleep cold to-night."</p>
+
+<p>"By George! he is going to burn the house," said Tom, drawing a long
+breath. "Well, I have done what I could, and as soon as they go away
+I'll go in and save what I can from the wreck."</p>
+
+<p>The very first words that Aleck uttered after he had set fire to the
+cabin seemed to put a stop to this resolution. He made a great show of
+setting the shanty a-going, entering into it and kicking the burning
+brands about and piling stools and other things upon them, and when he
+came out and closed the door behind him, he was well satisfied with his
+work.</p>
+
+<p>"There, dog-gone you!" sputtered Aleck, shouldering his rifle. "If you
+don't burn, I'll give up. Now, we'll just wait and see if some of 'em
+don't come back here to save things. You'll wait that long, won't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I won't, if you are going to raise a hand against Elam. I tell you it
+aint safe for anybody to touch him. You have had more pulls at him than
+anybody I know, and you have always said the same."</p>
+
+<p>"And right here in these mountains, too," said Aleck. "I guess she will
+burn well enough without us, so we had better go on."</p>
+
+<p>It may have been the fire that operated on Aleck's superstition in this
+way, for Tom listened and could hear them going headlong along the path.
+He did not think it quite safe to venture near the burning cabin until
+he had seen what had become of the robbers, so he left his rifle where
+it had fallen and, with his revolver for company, pursued the men toward
+the natural prairie. He did not feel the least fear of meeting the
+robbers in the evergreens, for his ears had informed him of their
+passage through them; so when he stopped behind one of the trees and
+took a survey of the ground before him, he was delighted to discover
+them far away, and going along as if all the demons in the woods were
+behind them. His next business was to go back and save what he could.
+The fire was already burning brightly, but, knowing where everything
+was, he succeeded in saving Elam's saddle and bridle, all the
+provisions, his clothing, and a few of the skins which served him for a
+bed. Then he sat down, drew his hands across his heated face, and waited
+as patiently as he could for the rest to burn up. As Elam had occupied
+the cabin for three or four winters, it burned like so much tinder. The
+principal thing that occupied his attention now was what he had heard
+the men say regarding Elam.</p>
+
+<p>"Elam has been shot at three or four times right here in these
+mountains," soliloquized Tom. "He didn't say a word to me about that,
+and I reckon it was something he did not want to speak of. Now, I will
+leave the things right here and go and find Elam."</p>
+
+<p>This would have been a task beyond him had he not seen the way Elam went
+the day before. He went up the prairie to gather in his traps, and of
+course all he had out must have been up that way, too. He didn't know
+anything about the theory of setting traps for wolves, but Elam
+understood it, and he was sure he was going the right way to find him.
+At any rate, he wouldn't go far out of sight of the smoke of the burning
+cabin, and with that resolution he cast his eye over the wreck to see if
+there was anything else that he could save, and struck into the path.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll leave my revolver there where it is," said Tom. "There can't be
+more than one set of thieves around here at once. And I've got what has
+ruined that fellow. If I haven't got the secret of Elam's nugget here in
+my pocket, I'll give up. I'll go with you now, Elam. I'll face a dozen
+Red Ghosts for the sake of getting my hands on this pile of gold. It
+isn't a ghost, anyway. It is a camel, and I don't see how in the name of
+sense any of his tribe managed to get stranded out here. I'll shoot at
+it as quick as I did before."</p>
+
+<p>Filled with such thoughts as these Tom reached the edge of the
+evergreens, but there was no sign of the robbers in sight. Elam's horse
+was there, and he seemed to think there was something wrong by sight and
+smell of the smoke, for he tossed his head and snorted, and when he saw
+Tom approaching took to his heels. Tom was glad of that, for Elam
+thought a good deal of that horse; he would come up at night, and Elam
+would go out to give him a piece of bread and speak friendly words to
+him. He had hardly left the horse behind before he saw Elam approaching.
+He had a few skins thrown over his shoulder, but he was going at a rapid
+rate, as if he knew there was something amiss. Discovering Tom, he threw
+off his skins, laid down his rifle, and seated himself on a rock to
+rest.</p>
+
+<p>"Burned out?" said he cheerfully, when Tom came within speaking
+distance.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Tom. "How did you know it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I saw it back there in the mountains. How did it catch?"</p>
+
+<p>Tom had by this time come up. He seated himself beside Elam and drew the
+little bag from his pocket. He was in hopes that Elam would recognize
+the bag, but all he did was to look at it and wait for Tom to go on.</p>
+
+<p>"I've had visitors since you left this morning," said Tom. "Two men with
+ragged and torn clothing came there and got into the cabin before I knew
+it, and when they got in, they made a haul of your two bundles of skins
+you had tied up."</p>
+
+<p>"Hallo!" exclaimed Elam. "Seven hundred dollars gone to the bugs. Tell
+me how it happened."</p>
+
+<p>To Tom's astonishment Elam did not seem at all surprised at the robbery,
+but when it came to the discovery of the bag and the description of the
+man who had lost it, Elam sprang to his feet with a wild war-whoop. Tom
+began to see that there was a good deal in Elam, but it wanted danger to
+bring it out.</p>
+
+<p>"I know that fellow," said he, reseating himself after his paroxysm of
+rage had subsided.</p>
+
+<p>"You ought to," responded Tom. "He has had three or four shots at you
+right here in the mountains."</p>
+
+<p>"I know it, and that's my bag you have got there," replied Elam. "Go on
+and tell me the rest."</p>
+
+<p>Tom was more astonished than Elam was to find that the bag belonged to
+him, and it was some little time before he could get his wits to work
+again; but when he did, he gave a full description of the burning of the
+cabin, and told of the direction the men had gone when they got through.
+Elam said they had gone to the fort, and the only way to head them off
+was to get there in advance of them. They intended to raise some money
+on those skins, and after that go to the mountains; but he was certain
+if he could see the commandant or the sutler he would knock their
+expedition into a cocked hat. He dropped these remarks as Tom went
+along, so that by the time he got through he knew pretty nearly what
+Elam was going to do. He was more surprised when he got through than
+Elam was.</p>
+
+<p>"You seem to look upon this robbery as something that ought to have
+happened," said Tom. "I tell you that if I had worked as long as you
+have, and had seven hundred dollars' worth, I would be mad."</p>
+
+<p>"Young man, if you had been out here as long as I have, and been in my
+circumstances, you would have learned to look upon these things as a
+matter of course," answered Elam. "This is the fourth time I have been
+robbed, and I never go to the mountains without expecting it."</p>
+
+<p>"But you never told me about that man shooting at you so many times,"
+answered Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, he did; and once he came so close to me that he laid me on the
+ground," said Elam, baring his brawny chest and showing Tom the ragged
+mark of a bullet there.</p>
+
+<p>"By George!" exclaimed Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"That was the time he stole that bag you have there," continued Elam.
+"He looked at me and thought me to be dead, and so made no bones about
+taking it. But he got fooled for once in his life. He thought I had a
+map there telling him where to look for the nugget."</p>
+
+<p>"Did you have a map of any kind with you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nary a map," said Elam, with a laugh.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, there's one here now, and I should like to have you look at it.
+The loss of that map made Aleck think he was ruined."</p>
+
+<p>Elam became all attention now, and watched Tom as he took out the piece
+of buckskin and carefully unfolded it. Finally he took out the paper and
+handed it to Elam, taking pains to smooth it out as he did so.</p>
+
+<p>"He said he had to shoot a man in order to get it," said Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"What man was it?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know. He didn't describe him."</p>
+
+<p>Elam had been fooled so many times in regard to that nugget that he took
+the paper with a smile, but he had scarcely glanced at it before a look
+of intense earnestness took the place of the smile. He laid down his
+rifle, rested his hands upon his knees, and studied the paper long and
+earnestly.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you make anything out of it?" asked Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"It's the very thing I want," declared Elam. "I have waited and looked
+for a thing like this, and have never found it. The nugget is
+mine&mdash;mine, and, Tom, I will give you half if you will stand by me till
+I handle it."</p>
+
+<p>"It's a bargain," replied Tom, and to show how very much in earnest he
+was he offered to shake hands with Elam; but he resolved that he would
+never do it again. All the years of waiting Elam had infused into that
+grip; Tom didn't say anything, but it was all he could do to stand it.</p>
+
+<p>"There is only one thing I can't see into," said he, when he had
+recovered his power of speech, "and that is where that line begins. You
+don't know where in the world it is."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you see all these little dots here at the beginning of the line?
+Well, those are springs. There's a dozen springs break out inside of
+half an acre, and there's only one place in the country where you can
+find them."</p>
+
+<p>"How far is it from here?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is forty miles in a straight line."</p>
+
+<p>"Then what were those men doing here?"</p>
+
+<p>"I give it up."</p>
+
+<p>"And here's some money, too, with the thing," said Tom, undoing the
+piece of buckskin that contained it. "There's forty dollars here."</p>
+
+<p>"I am sure I don't know what brought them in here, unless they came
+after somebody that had the map. I'd like mighty well to find him, but I
+can't stop now to hunt him up. I must have the nugget in the first
+place."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you had better keep this map," said Tom, as Elam got up and threw
+the skins over his shoulder and picked up his rifle.</p>
+
+<p>"No, you keep it until I come back. I've got to face a couple of rough
+men, and there's no knowing what may happen to me. If I shouldn't come
+back, find Uncle Ezra Norton and give it to him. He will go with you and
+help you hunt it up."</p>
+
+<p>"What have you got to face those rough men for?" said Tom anxiously.
+"Those men who were here were afraid of their lives."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; but you take them out in the mountains and see if they are afraid
+of their lives. They would shoot you as quickly as they would look at
+you. One of them has more to answer for than he will care to. Uncle Ezra
+Norton. Don't forget him. Now, I am going to leave you here while I go
+on to the fort. I shall be gone three days. You can stand it that long,
+can't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I can stand it for a week if you will keep those fellows from trading
+off those wolf-skins for provisions," said Tom. "I hope you'll catch
+them right there among our soldiers, and make them give up the skins.
+They've got a heap of cheek to take those skins to the fort."</p>
+
+<p>"The people out here have cheek enough for anything," said Elam, with a
+frown. "This Aleck you speak of took some money off that dead man, and
+yet I'll bet you he would go right to the fort and spend it."</p>
+
+<p>Elam became all activity, and it was all Tom could do to keep pace with
+him as he walked along carrying the skins to the site of the cabin. It
+was a "site," sure enough, for the fire had made rapid headway, and now
+there was nothing but the smouldering remains to be seen. Elam looked at
+the smoking ruins and then at the numerous articles Tom had saved, and
+then said:</p>
+
+<p>"If I had known as much on the day I built this cabin as I do now, I
+could have enjoyed myself better here than the ones who burned it. You
+have saved your boots, haven't you? Well, the things that went up are
+comparatively of little value. Now, if you will punch together some of
+the coals and get me a big dinner, I'll be off. There's a blizzard
+coming up, and as they generally come from the south-west, I would
+advise you to put up a lean-to with its back that way," said Elam,
+motioning with his hand.</p>
+
+<p>"I would really enjoy a blizzard, but not if you are going to be out in
+it," replied Tom, who, for some reason or other, could not bear that
+anything should happen to Elam. "I have never seen one in my life."</p>
+
+<p>For an hour or two the boys were busy, Elam in catching and saddling his
+horse and doing up his blankets to be carried with him, and Tom employed
+with his cooking, and all the while the former was going on with some
+instructions which were destined to make things easier for Tom. He
+didn't want to neglect that lean-to, he said, for in less than three
+days there would be a blizzard that would make him open his eyes. If he
+didn't come back in three days, all Tom would have to do would be to
+take that map to Uncle Ezra Norton (anybody at the fort would show him
+where he lived), and he would know what to do under the circumstances.
+Having said this much, Elam wrapped what was left of his dinner in his
+blankets, so as to carry it with him, shook Tom warmly by the hand (he
+did not put as much vim into it as he did before), mounted his horse,
+and rode down the path out of sight. When he thought a sufficient length
+of time had passed, Tom wandered down to the edge of the evergreens and
+looked out. There was Elam on his horse, skurrying along; not going
+fast, for he had nearly a hundred miles to ride, but taking it easy, as
+though he could stand it. Elam didn't know it, but he was to travel
+twenty miles at as fast a gait as he had ever ridden it before.</p>
+
+<p>"There goes my luck again," said Tom, as he turned about and returned
+through the evergreens. "If anything should happen to him, I don't know
+what I should do. I feel drawn toward the fellow. I will pay attention
+to what he told me, and in order to put it out of the power of those men
+to carry off this map and money I will just chuck the bag in here, where
+I know it is safe."</p>
+
+<p>The place where Tom hid the bag was in a hollow tree. He pushed it in,
+put some leaves and brush over it, and turned away, satisfied, to begin
+work on his lean-to. He could not see any signs of the approaching
+blizzard, but Elam could, and he worked hard. That day he had the frame
+up, and the next day it was all done and the things carried under it.</p>
+
+<p>"There," said Tom, with a smile of satisfaction. "We are all ready for
+what comes. Now, if Elam was only here, I'd be content. One more day, or
+at least I will give him two, and then he will have to show up."</p>
+
+<p>The third day passed without bringing any signs of the missing boy, but
+Tom paid little attention to it. On the fourth he began making trips to
+the edge of the evergreens, and then he saw that the sun was hazy and
+that it began to look stormy. It grew worse on the fifth day, and Tom
+really began to be alarmed. Toward evening a horseman suddenly made his
+appearance on the edge of the prairie, walking slowly along, as if his
+nag was tired almost to death. But it was Elam, for after he had made
+many steps he discovered Tom, and pulled off his hat and waved it to
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"Something has gone wrong," muttered Tom, vigorously returning the
+salute. "Why don't he whip up? If I was as close to home as he is, I
+would go faster than that."</p>
+
+<p>Tom waited in the margin of the woods for him to come up, and when he
+drew nearer saw that his face was pale, and that he carried his arm in a
+sling, as if he had been wounded. When Tom saw that, he began to grow
+pale, too.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, it's all over," said Elam. "Look there."</p>
+
+<p>"What! Is your horse wounded, too?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and was hardly able to move when I rode him into the fort. Say,
+you told me that soldiers always wanted to see the fair thing done,
+didn't you? They're a mean set. But I got the start of them. Do you know
+what became of those two men who were here? Well, the Cheyennes have got
+them."</p>
+
+<p>"The Cheyennes!" exclaimed Tom.</p>
+
+<p>Elam looked at him and nodded, and got off his horse with difficulty.
+Tom looked at the long ragged streak in his neck, and did not wonder
+that he was glad to be rid of his rider.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.</h2>
+
+<h3>ELAM INTERVIEWS THE MAJOR.</h3>
+
+
+<p>When Elam mounted his horse and set out for the fort that morning, it
+was with the secret determination to confront Aleck and his companion,
+or, failing in that, he would push on ahead, and by seeing the colonel
+or the sutler he would render their attempts at disposing of the furs of
+no account. He had already borne enough from one of these men to put him
+pretty well out of patience. Although Elam said nothing about it, Aleck
+had been at the bottom of three desperate attempts upon his life, as
+well as of four efforts that had been made to rob him, and Elam thought
+he couldn't stand it any longer. He rode along just outside of the
+willows that skirted the foot-hills, so that he could not be picked off
+by a stray rifle shot, and keeping a close watch of the prairie on all
+sides of him, and when night came he hadn't seen anything of the
+robbers. When darkness fell, he allowed his horse to browse around him
+while he ate some of the lunch that was wrapped up in his blanket, and
+then put out again. He was satisfied that by this time he had got beyond
+the men, and now he wanted to get to the fort and put the people there
+on their guard. Was Elam flustered while he was doing all this? Not a
+bit of it. He went about his work as he would have tried to compass the
+death of some wild animal that had escaped him. When the first gray
+streaks of dawn were seen in the east, he camped in a sheep-herder's
+dugout, but it was empty. Beyond a doubt the men had gone into the
+mountains to escape the blizzards. There was a small stack of hay behind
+the cabin, and to this Elam staked out his horse, and went in and
+tumbled into an empty bunk. He was within twenty miles of the fort.</p>
+
+<p>Elam slept the sleep of the weary, and when he was aroused to
+consciousness, it was by a note of warning from his horse. Elam was wide
+awake in an instant. He caught up his rifle and hurried to the door of
+the cabin, and the summit of the hills over which he had come the night
+before was crowded with horsemen. They were so far off that he could not
+distinguish anything, but he knew by certain signs they exhibited that
+they were not the men he wanted to see. They were too much scattered.</p>
+
+<p>"I believe those are the Cheyennes," said he, lost in wonder. "I never
+heard of their breaking loose before."</p>
+
+<p>As if in corroboration of his words, a single long-drawn yell arose on
+the air, followed by a chorus that must have been deafening to those
+that were close at hand. That was enough for Elam. With muttered
+ejaculations addressed to the men who were supposed to be near enough to
+the Indians to keep watch of their movements, he rushed to his horse,
+severed the lariat with which he was confined, mounted without saddle or
+bridle, and was off like the wind.</p>
+
+<p>"I tell you now I am whipped," said Elam, gazing back at his line of
+foes, and trying to estimate how many warriors there were in the lot.
+"It's the Cheyennes, and they belong two hundred miles from here. Some
+ruffian has stolen their back pay, and they are going to have revenge
+for it. Keep close, there, or I'll down some of you."</p>
+
+<p>Then followed a chase such as we don't read of in these days. It was
+long and untiring, and all the way Elam looked in vain for assistance.
+His first care was to make out that there were no Cheyennes in advance
+of him, and he concluded that their discovery of him was as much of a
+surprise to them as it was to him; otherwise they would have sent some
+warriors out to surround him. That was all that saved him. He was
+mounted on a mustang, and such an one could not be tired out in a
+twenty-mile race. He seemed to hate the Indians as bad as his master
+did, and put in his best licks from the time he started, but that
+wouldn't do at all. Some of the cool heads behind him were holding in
+their horses, calculating that when the race was nearly finished they
+would come up and settle the matter. Other warriors, carried away by
+their military ardor, or perhaps having some private wrongs to avenge,
+easily outstripped the others, and finally Elam had his attention drawn
+to two who seemed bent on coming up with him. He couldn't hold his horse
+well in hand with nothing but a noose around his neck, but by talking to
+him he finally got him settled down to good solid work.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a name="illus4" id="illus4"></a>
+<img src="images/illus4.jpg" alt=""/>
+</div>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Elam's Fight with the Cheyennes.</span></h3>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>For one hour the chase continued, and then the whitewashed stockade of
+the fort came into view. He could see that there was a commotion in it,
+for the soldiers were running about in obedience to some orders, but
+nearer than all came the two warriors, who seemed determined to run him
+down and take his scalp within reach of the fort. At last they thought
+they were near enough to fire. One of them drew up his rifle, and Elam
+threw himself flat upon his horse's neck. The rifle cracked, and in an
+instant afterward his horse bounded into the air and came to his knees.
+But he didn't carry Elam with him. The moment he felt his horse going he
+bounded to his feet, struck the ground on the opposite side, and when
+the animal staggered to his feet, as he did a second later, he stood
+perfectly still and Elam's deadly rifle was covering the savage's head.
+He dropped, but he was too late. The ball from the rifle which never
+missed sped on its way, and the warrior threw up his hands and measured
+his length on the ground. An instant afterward Elam was mounted on his
+horse again and going toward the fort as fast as ever. At this feat loud
+yells came from the Indians. The death of the warrior and Elam's fair
+chance for escape filled them with rage. The nearest savage fired, and
+this time the bullet found a mark in Elam's body. It struck him near the
+wrist and came out of his hand, but Elam never winced. He changed his
+rifle into his other hand and broke out into a loud yell, for he saw a
+squadron of cavalry come pouring from the fort. The chase was over after
+that. Elam galloped into the fort, swinging his rifle as he went, and
+got off just as his horse came to his knees again.</p>
+
+<p>Of course all was excitement in there. The balance of the soldiers,
+which consisted of a small regiment of infantry, were drawn up outside
+the fort ready to help the cavalry in case the Indians dodged them, the
+teamsters climbing upon the stockade ready to use their rifles, and Elam
+was left to take his horse out of the way and examine his injuries and
+his own. For himself he decided that it was no matter. He could open and
+shut his hand, although it bled profusely, and that proved that the
+bullet had not touched a cord; but his horse&mdash;that was a different
+matter. The ball had not gone in, but had cut its way around the neck,
+leaving a mark as broad as his finger. He must have a bucket of water at
+once. While he was looking around for it, he ran against an officer who
+had been busy stationing the men in their proper places.</p>
+
+<p>"Hallo! You're wounded, aint you?" said he, taking Elam's hand. "Come
+with me."</p>
+
+<p>"I've got a horse here that's worse off than I am," said Elam. "I'd like
+to see him fixed in the first place, and then I'll go with you."</p>
+
+<p>"A horse! Well, he belongs to the veterinary surgeon. You come with me."</p>
+
+<p>But Elam insisted that he could not go with the officer until his horse
+had been taken care of, and asked for a bucket of water; and the
+officer, seeing that he was determined, hastened out to find the surgeon
+who had charge of the stock. He presently discovered him, standing on
+the stockade and yelling until he was red in the face over a charge that
+the cavalry had made, but he ceased his demonstrations and jumped down
+when he was told that an officer wanted him.</p>
+
+<p>"Give me one cavalryman against ten Indians," said he, saluting the
+officer. "The savages are gone, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"Did they stand?" asked the officer.</p>
+
+<p>"No, sir. It was every man for himself, sir. A horse, sir? Yes, sir. I
+saw this fellow come down on his knees when those Indians fired at him.
+A pretty bad cut, sir."</p>
+
+<p>Elam, having seen his horse provided for, resigned himself to the
+officer's care, and went with him to the office of the surgeon. The
+latter had got out all his tools and seemed to be waiting for any
+wounded that might be brought in, but Elam was the first to claim his
+attention. The surgeon jumped up briskly, examined Elam's hand, made
+some remark about the bullet not having touched a bone, said that all
+the patient would have to do would be to take good care of it for a few
+days, and by the time he got through talking he had it done up. The
+officer had left by this time, and Elam began to feel quite at his ease
+in the surgeon's presence. In answer to his enquiries he went on to
+explain how he had been surprised in a sheep-herder's cabin, when he
+didn't know that there was a Cheyenne within a hundred miles of him, and
+had depended entirely on the speed of his horse to save him, and asked,
+with some show of hesitation, which he had not exhibited before:</p>
+
+<p>"Do you reckon I could have a word with the major this fine morning? I
+suppose he is pretty busy now."</p>
+
+<p>To tell the truth, Elam stood more in fear of a stranger than he did of
+a grizzly bear, and he felt awed and abashed when he found himself in
+the soldier's presence. The regular, with his snow-white belts, bright
+buttons, and neatly fitting clothes, presented a great contrast to the
+visitor in his well-worn suit of buckskin, and, backwoodsman as he was,
+Elam noticed the difference and felt it keenly. Now, when the excitement
+was all over, he felt sadly out of place there, and he wished that he
+had let the wolf-skins go and stayed at home with Tom. But the surgeon's
+first words reassured him.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course the major will see you," said he cheerfully. "He will want to
+see you the minute he comes back. He has gone out after the hostiles
+now. You can sit here till he comes back."</p>
+
+<p>"I have got a horse out here that is badly hurt, and if you don't
+object, I'll go out and look at him," said Elam.</p>
+
+<p>"Eh? Objections? Certainly not," said the surgeon, in surprise. "I hope
+you will get along as nicely as he will. Only be careful of that hand of
+yours."</p>
+
+<p>Elam had never been to the fort before, and he felt like a cat in a
+strange garret while he loitered about looking at things. He first went
+to see his horse, and found that, under the skilful hands of the
+veterinary surgeon, he had fared as well as he did, for his neck was
+bound up, and he was engaged in munching some hay that had been provided
+for him. Then he went out of the stockade to see how the hostiles were
+getting on, but found that they and the cavalrymen had long ago
+disappeared. An occasional report of a carabine, followed by an
+answering yell, came faintly to his ears, thus proving beyond a doubt
+that the savages had "scattered," thus making it a matter of
+impossibility to hunt them. After that Elam came back and loafed around
+the stockade to see what he could find that was worth looking at. The
+doors of the officers' apartments were wide open, and, although they
+were very plainly furnished, Elam looked upon it as a scene of
+enchantment. He had never seen anything like it before. He had heard of
+carpets, sofas, and pictures, but he had never dreamed that they were
+such beautiful things as he now saw before him.</p>
+
+<p>"I tell you, I wish I was a soldier," whispered Elam, going from one
+room to the other, and stopping every time he saw anything to attract
+his attention. "This is a heap better than I've got at home. Uncle Ezra
+Norton is rich, but he hasn't got anything to compare with this. Wait
+until I get my nugget, and I will have something to go by. I do wish the
+major would hurry up."</p>
+
+<p>But Elam had a long time to wait before he could see the major, for the
+latter did not return until nearly nightfall. When they came, they
+looked more like whipped soldiers than victorious ones. They had two
+dead men with them, three that had been wounded, and half a dozen
+Indians that they had taken prisoners. Elam looked for an execution at
+once, but what was his surprise to see the Indians thrust into the
+guard-house.</p>
+
+<p>"When are they going to shoot those fellows?" whispered Elam to a
+soldier who happened to be near him.</p>
+
+<p>"Shoot whom?" asked the soldier.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, those Indians. They aint a-going to let them shoot white folks and
+have nothing done to them?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, they will," said the soldier, with a laugh. "They can shoot
+all they please, and we'll take 'em prisoners and let 'em go. Did you
+think they was going to kill 'em right at once?"</p>
+
+<p>Elam confessed that he did.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, no doubt that would be the proper way to deal with them. Dog-gone
+'em! if I had any dealings with 'em, I'd 'a' left 'em out there."</p>
+
+<p>Elam did not remain long before he saw the major, for an orderly
+approached in full uniform, and saluted him as he would a
+lieutenant-general, and told him that the commandant was at leisure now,
+and would see him. Elam's heart was in his mouth. He did not know what
+to say to the major about his furs, and so he concluded he would let the
+matter go until morning.</p>
+
+<p>"Say," said Elam, "he must be tired now, and you just tell him I'll wait
+until he has had a chance to sleep on it."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, you must see him," said the orderly, who was rather surprised at
+this civilian's way of putting off the major. "What good can he do by
+sleeping on it? Come on."</p>
+
+<p>Elam reluctantly fell in behind the orderly, and allowed himself to be
+conducted into the presence of the major. The table was all set, the
+officers were seated at it, and seemed ready to begin work upon it. He
+was surprised at the actions of the major, a tall, soldierly looking
+man, with gray hair and whiskers, who sat at the head of the table, and
+who arose and advanced with outstretched palm to meet him.</p>
+
+<p>"I am overjoyed to see you," said he, holding fast to the boy's hand
+after shaking it cordially. "You got hurt, didn't you? But I see you
+have been well taken care of. Is the news you bring me good or bad?"</p>
+
+<p>Elam was too bewildered to speak. He looked closely at the major, trying
+hard to remember when and under what circumstances he had seen him
+before, for that this was not their first meeting was evident. If they
+had been strangers, the major would not have greeted him in so cordial
+and friendly a manner. This was what Elam told himself, but he had shot
+wide of the mark.</p>
+
+<p>In order to explain the major's conduct it will be necessary to say that
+these discontented Cheyennes had not broken away from the neighborhood
+of this fort, but had come from a point at least a hundred miles away.
+It was the source of great uneasiness and anxiety to the veteran major,
+who was afraid that his superiors might charge him with being remiss in
+his duty. He had sent three detachments of cavalry in pursuit, but only
+one of them had been heard from, and the news concerning it, which had
+been brought in by a friendly Indian, was most discouraging. The savages
+had eluded his pursuing columns in a way that was perfectly bewildering,
+and the fear that they might surprise and annihilate his men troubled
+the major to such a degree that he could neither eat nor sleep. He was
+glad to see anybody who could give him any information regarding the
+soldiers or the runaways, and he took it for granted that, as Elam had
+come in since the Indians broke away, and had had a running fight with
+them, he must know all about them.</p>
+
+<p>"Where do you reckon you saw me before?" asked Elam.</p>
+
+<p>"I never met you before in my life," answered the major, who saw that
+his visitor did not understand the feelings which prompted him to extend
+so hearty a greeting. "You can tell me about the Cheyennes, and that is
+why I am so glad to welcome you."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh!" said Elam, quite disappointed.</p>
+
+<p>"Talk fast, for I am all impatience," exclaimed the major. "When did you
+see the hostiles last, and where were they? I know that you brought them
+up here to the fort, but where did you meet them in the first place?"</p>
+
+<p>"I found them back here about twenty miles in a sheep-herder's cabin
+where I stopped for the night," said Elam. "The first thing I heard of
+them was a note of warning from my horse, and when I got up, there they
+were."</p>
+
+<p>"Well?" said the major.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I got on to my horse and lit out. That's the way I brought them
+up here."</p>
+
+<p>"And that's all you know about them?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, everything. I didn't know the Cheyennes had broken out before."</p>
+
+<p>The major released the boy's hand and walked back to his seat at the
+table. The expression on his face showed that he was disappointed.</p>
+
+<p>"That aint all I have to tell, major," said Elam quickly. "When I got
+back to my shanty after taking in my traps, I found that two men had
+been there stealing my spelter that I have worked hard for."</p>
+
+<p>The major, who probably knew what was coming next, turned away his head
+and waved his hand up and down in the air to indicate that he did not
+care to hear any more of the story; but Elam, having an object to
+accomplish, went on with dogged perseverance:</p>
+
+<p>"Now, major, those two fellows are coming to this fort, calculating to
+sell them furs,&mdash;my furs, mind you,&mdash;and I came here to ask you not to
+let them do it."</p>
+
+<p>"I can't interfere in any private quarrels," said the officer. "I have
+something else to think of."</p>
+
+<p>"But, major, it is mine and not theirs," persisted Elam.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't care whose it is," was the impatient reply. "I shan't have
+anything to do with it."</p>
+
+<p>"Won't you keep them from selling it?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, I won't. I shan't bother my head about it. I have enough on my mind
+already, and I can't neglect important government matters for the sake
+of attending to private affairs. Did you say those men were afoot when
+they came to your shanty? Probably the Cheyennes have got them before
+this time. Orderly!"</p>
+
+<p>The door opened, and when the soldier who had shown Elam into the room
+made his appearance, the major commanded him to show the visitor out.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, just one word, major&mdash;&mdash;" began Elam.</p>
+
+<p>"Show him out!" repeated the commandant.</p>
+
+<p>The orderly laid hold of the young hunter's arm and tried to pull him
+toward the door, but couldn't budge him an inch. Elam stood as firmly as
+one of the pickets that composed the stockade.</p>
+
+<p>"Just one word, major, and then I'll leave off and quit a-pestering
+you," he exclaimed. "If you won't make them two fellows give back the
+plunder they have stolen from me, you won't raise any row if I go to
+work and get it back in my own way, will you?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, I don't care how you get it, or whether you get it at all or not,"
+the major almost shouted.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I'll get it, you can bet your bottom dollar on it. And if you hear
+of somebody getting hurt while I am getting of it, you mustn't blame
+me."</p>
+
+<p>"Put him out!" roared the major.</p>
+
+<p>The orderly laid hold of Elam's arm with both hands and finally
+succeeded in forcing him into the hall and closing the door after him,
+but the closing of the door did not shut out the sound of his voice.
+Elam had set out to relieve his mind, and he did it; and as there was no
+one else to talk to, he addressed his remarks to the orderly.</p>
+
+<p>"The major needn't blame me if some of them fellows gets hurt," said he.
+"I tried to set the law to going and couldn't do it. I'll never ask a
+soldier to do anything for me again. I can take care of myself. I don't
+see what you fellows come out here for anyway, except it is to wear out
+good clothes and keep grub from spoiling. That's all the use you be."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, go on now, and don't bother any more," said the orderly
+good-naturedly. "The old man said he didn't care how you got the things
+back, and what more do you want?"</p>
+
+<p>"I wanted him to set the law a-going, but he won't do it," said Elam.
+"I'll just set it to going myself."</p>
+
+<p>The young hunter walked off and directed his course toward the sutler's
+store. He knew it was the sutler's store, for when he was loitering
+about the fort he had seen the sutler come in from the stockade with a
+rifle in his hands, and sell a plug of tobacco to one of the teamsters.
+He found the store empty and the sutler leaning against the counter with
+his arms folded. The latter recognized Elam at once, for he had seen him
+come in on that wounded horse.</p>
+
+<p>"Halloa," he exclaimed. "You have got your wound fixed all right. Did
+you have a long race with them?"</p>
+
+<p>Elam in a few words described his adventures, running his eye over the
+goods the sutler had to sell, and wound up by telling of the furs he had
+lost.</p>
+
+<p>"I have got a good many skins," said he, "and I see some things here
+that I should like to have, but I aint got them now."</p>
+
+<p>"How is that? I don't understand you."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you see, I have done right smart of trapping and shooting since I
+have been out, but while I was gathering up my traps some fellows came
+to my shanty and stole everything I had," said Elam.</p>
+
+<p>"That's bad," said the sutler; and he really thought it was, for no
+doubt he had lost an opportunity to make some good bargains.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and they are coming to this post now, those two fellows are, to
+sell those furs," continued Elam earnestly.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah!" exclaimed the sutler, in a very different tone of voice.</p>
+
+<p>If that was the case, perhaps he could make something out of the boy's
+work after all.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h2>
+
+<h3>ELAM UNDER FIRE.</h3>
+
+
+<p>"Yes, that's bad business," the sutler continued. "They steal furs and
+pass them off as their own. I couldn't do that."</p>
+
+<p>"But this is the fourth time they have robbed me," Elam went on. "You
+have handled skins that they took from me last winter. They'll try to
+sell them at this store, most likely. There aint no traders here, are
+they? I aint seen any of them hanging around."</p>
+
+<p>"No; they have been scarce of late," answered the sutler, who would have
+been glad to know that none of the fraternity would ever show their
+faces in that country again. He wanted to do all the trading that was
+done at that post himself.</p>
+
+<p>"Then they will be sure to sell them to you, if they sell them to
+anybody; but I don't want you to buy them," said Elam. "They belong to
+me, and I've worked hard for them."</p>
+
+<p>The sutler leaned his elbows on the counter, placed his chin on his
+hands, and looked out at the door, whistling softly to himself. Elam
+waited for him to say something, but as he did not, the boy continued:</p>
+
+<p>"I don't want you to buy them skins. You heard what I said to you, I
+reckon?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, I heard you," said the sutler, straightening up and jingling a
+bunch of keys in his pocket; "but I don't see how I can help you. When
+hunters come here with furs to sell, I never ask where they got them,
+for it is none of my business. Besides, I don't know these men who you
+say robbed you."</p>
+
+<p>"I will be here to point them out to you," said Elam quickly. "I would
+know them anywhere."</p>
+
+<p>"But I couldn't take your unsupported word against the word of two men,"
+continued the sutler. "If they told me that the property belonged to
+them, I should have to believe them."</p>
+
+<p>"But I will be here," said Elam indignantly.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you must get somebody to prove that the skins are yours."</p>
+
+<p>Elam looked down at the counter, turning these words over in his mind,
+and when he had grasped their full import, it became clear to him that
+he had no one to depend on but himself. It became evident to him that
+the arm of the law was not extensive enough to reach from the States
+away out there to the fort, and, as the sutler would not lend him
+assistance, he must either take the matter into his own hands or stand
+idly by and see the proceeds of his work go into the pockets of rascals.
+That he resolved he would never do. The very thought enraged him.</p>
+
+<p>"Look a-here, Mr.&mdash;Mr. Bluenose," said Elam&mdash;Elam did not know the
+sutler's name, and this cognomen was suggested to him by the most
+prominent feature on the man's face, which was a dark purple, telling of
+frequent visits to a private demijohn he kept in the back room&mdash;"you
+shan't never make a cent out of that plunder of mine, because it will
+not come into this fort!"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't get excited," said the sutler.</p>
+
+<p>"I aint. I'm only just a-telling of you."</p>
+
+<p>"What are you going to do?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, the major wouldn't make them two fellows give back my furs, and
+so I asked him if he would raise a furse in case I got them back in my
+own way, and he said he wouldn't," said Elam. "That's all I've got to
+say."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll tell you what's the matter," said the sutler, a bright idea
+striking him; "the Cheyennes have got them. Were they afoot?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, they were. I don't know whether they tried to steal my horse or
+not, but anyway they didn't get him."</p>
+
+<p>"Then the Cheyennes have got them beyond a doubt. They could never
+travel through the country you came through."</p>
+
+<p>"Then what's become of my furs? Do you reckon the savages have got them,
+too?"</p>
+
+<p>"I certainly do. I'll tell you what I could do: If the Cheyennes came
+here to sell their furs, I could easily tell your furs from their own,
+and I could throw them out. But, you see, the Indians don't come here.
+They take all their furs to Fort Mitchell."</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe you would throw them out and maybe you wouldn't," said Elam
+emphatically. "I guess I had better take the matter into my own hands.
+When I get my grip on to them furs, you'll know it."</p>
+
+<p>The sutler merely nodded and gazed after Elam, who marched out as if he
+intended to do something.</p>
+
+<p>"That boy is going to be killed," said he to himself. "He thinks more of
+those furs than he does of so much gold. If I was commander of this
+fort, I wouldn't let him go out."</p>
+
+<p>Elam directed his course toward the barn in which he had left his horse
+and rifle when he went in to visit the surgeon. He found them there yet,
+and it was but the work of a moment to shoulder the one and unhitch the
+other, who greeted him with a whinny of recognition, and lead him out to
+the gate. As he expected, there was a sentry there, and he stepped in
+front of him with his musket at "arms port."</p>
+
+<p>"You can't go out," said he.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, what's the matter?" asked Elam innocently.</p>
+
+<p>"Too many Indians," was the reply.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, well, I just want to let my horse have some grass. He don't think
+much of the hay you have here."</p>
+
+<p>"You don't want your rifle if you're just going out to get grass," said
+the soldier, with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>"No, but I like to have it handy when the pinch comes. If I hadn't had
+it and been able to use it, you wouldn't have seen me here now."</p>
+
+<p>"That's so," said the sentry. "I don't suppose you care enough about
+them as to go among them again. But we'll have to see the corporal about
+that." Then, raising his voice, he called out:</p>
+
+<p>"Corporal of the guard No. 1!"</p>
+
+<p>In process of time the officer of the guard came up, and the sentry made
+known Elam's request in a few words. He looked at Elam and said:</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, let him go. It aint likely that he will go far away with the
+Indians all around him. You don't want to get too far away," he added,
+turning to the young hunter, "because the men on post have orders to
+fire on people that are going out of range."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you see this rifle?" said Elam. "Well, when they come, I will let
+you know. You will never see me inside that fort again," said Elam to
+himself, as the sentry brought his musket to his shoulder and stepped
+out of the way, leaving the road clear for him. "I am going to get my
+furs the first thing, and then I am going down to trade them off to
+Uncle Ezra for a grub-stake for three months. That's what I'll do, and I
+bet you that those two fellows will get hurt."</p>
+
+<p>Elam passed through the gate, and the horse began to crop the grass as
+he went out, thus doing what he could to prove that it was grass he
+wanted, and not the hay that was served up to him in the stable. Being
+continually urged by his master, he kept getting further and further
+away from the stockade. The sentries on guard looked at him, but
+supposing that, as he had got by post No. 1, he was all right, although
+one sentinel did shake his head and warn him that he was going further
+off than the law allowed; so Elam turned and went back.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't like the looks of that fellow, for he handles his gun as though
+he might shoot tolerable straight," said Elam. "We will go more in this
+direction, for here's where the stock was when the Indians came up.
+We'll be a little cautious at first, but we are bound to get away in the
+end."</p>
+
+<p>By keeping his horse on the opposite side from him, and paying no
+attention to the warning gestures of the sentries, he succeeded in
+reaching a point beyond which he was certain that the guards could not
+hit him, and, with a word and a jump, he landed fairly on his nag's
+back.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, old fellow, show them what you can do," he whispered, digging his
+heels into his horse's sides.</p>
+
+<p>He looked back and saw that the sentry he feared most was already
+levelling his gun, and a moment later the bullet ploughed up the grass a
+little beyond him. Had he remained fairly in his seat, it would have
+taken him out of it; but he did just as he had seen the Cheyennes do&mdash;he
+threw himself on the side of his horse opposite the marksman, and so he
+had nothing to shoot at save the swiftly running steed. Another musket
+popped, and still another, but Elam did not hear the whistle of their
+bullets. That was all the guards on that side of the stockade, and Elam
+knew he was safe. Before they could load again he would be far out of
+range. He raised himself to a sitting posture, took off his hat and
+waved it at the guards, and then settled down and kept on his way,
+taking care, however, to watch against all chances of pursuit. The fact
+was that his escape had been reported to the major, who, out of all
+patience, exclaimed: "Let him go!"</p>
+
+<p>Elam was now a free man once more, and he resolved that it would be a
+long time before he would again trust himself in the power of the
+soldiers. His first care must be to go back to the sheep-herder's cabin
+in which he had camped the night before he reached the fort, and get his
+saddle and bridle, for he rightly concluded that the savages had been so
+anxious to capture him that they had not time to go in and see if he had
+left anything behind him. It required considerable nerve to do this, but
+Elam had already shown that he had a good share of it. He had not gone
+many miles on his way until he began to meet some sheep-herders and
+cattle-men who were fleeing from their homes and going to the fort for
+protection. The men were generally riding on ahead, and the women came
+after them in wagons drawn by mules. He waved his hat whenever he came
+within sight, for fear that the men might shoot at him, and he knew by
+experience that they could handle their rifles with greater skill than
+the soldiers could handle their muskets.</p>
+
+<p>"Where you going?" demanded one of the men, as he galloped up to meet
+Elam. "Seen any Indians around here?"</p>
+
+<p>"There were plenty of them here this morning," said Elam. "Did they come
+near you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I should say so. They've jumped down on us when we wasn't looking
+for them, and I've got one brother in the wagon that's been laid out.
+You must have been in a rucus with them, judging by the looks of your
+hand and the horse."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I got into a fight with them right along here somewhere, and I
+didn't go to the fort without sending one of them up. There was no need
+of my going there at all, but I went to shut off some trade that wasn't
+exactly square. There are no Indians between here and the fort."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I wish you would ride by the wagon and tell that to my old woman,
+will you? She is scared half to death. Where are you going?"</p>
+
+<p>Elam replied that he was going to the sheep-herder's ranch to get a
+saddle and bridle that he had left there, and after that he was going
+back to the mountains. He had a partner there, and he didn't know
+whether he was alive or dead. He had had enough of depending on the
+soldiers for help, for they had declined to assist him, and,
+furthermore, had shot at him when he attempted to leave the fort.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I say!" exclaimed the frontiersman, giving Elam a good looking
+over, "you are a brave lad, and I know you will come out all right."</p>
+
+<p>Elam carried the news to the wagon that there were no Indians between
+them and the fort, and afterward continued on his lonely way to the
+sheep-herder's ranch. He came within sight of it about eleven o'clock
+that night, and, dismounting from his horse and leaving him on the open
+prairie, he proceeded to stalk it as he would an antelope, being careful
+that not a glimpse of him should be seen. It was a bright moonlight
+night, and for that reason he was doubly careful. There was something
+more than the saddle and bridle he wanted, and that was his blankets.
+There was some of the lunch left in there. He had eaten but one meal
+that day, and he had nearly a hundred miles to go before he could get
+any more.</p>
+
+<p>Elam was nearly an hour in coming up to that ranch, and he was sure that
+anyone who might be on the lookout would have been deceived for once in
+his life. He crawled all around the hay-racks without seeing anybody,
+and finally went in at the open door without seeing or hearing anybody.
+He found all the articles of which he was in search&mdash;the saddle tucked
+away in one corner of a bunk to serve as a pillow, the blankets spread
+over them, and the bridle and lunch placed on a box near the head of the
+bed, and, quickly shouldering them, he made his way out of the cabin in
+the direction in which he had left his horse.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," said Elam, as he strapped the saddle on the animal's back and
+slipped the bridle into his mouth, "the next thing is something else,
+and it's going to be far more dangerous than this. I am going to have
+those furs. I need them more than they do. I have got the map of the
+hiding-place of that nugget at my shanty, and some of them are going to
+get hurt if I don't get it."</p>
+
+<p>Elam kept out a portion of his lunch (the rest was strapped up in the
+blankets, which were stowed away behind the saddle), eating it as he
+galloped along, and this time he directed his course toward the willows
+that lined the base of the foot-hills. At daylight he discovered
+something&mdash;the track of an unshod pony. He looked all around, but there
+was no one in sight. He dismounted and saw that the horse had been going
+at full jump, and as there was dew on the ground, the tracks must have
+been made before it fell. A little further on he found another, and by
+comparing the two he made up his mind that they must have been made the
+day before. They were going the same way that he was, and appeared to be
+holding the direction of a long line of willows a few miles off. Elam's
+hair seemed to rise on end. He could imagine how those painted warriors
+had yelled and plied their whips in the endeavor to hunt down their
+victims; for that they were in plain view of someone Elam could readily
+affirm. He thought he could hear the yells, "Hi yah! yip, yip, yip!"
+which the exultant savages sent up as a forerunner of what was coming.</p>
+
+<p>"They got them in there as sure as the world," muttered Elam. "It's all
+right so far, and I can go on without running the risk of seeing any of
+them. I just know I shall see something after I get up there."</p>
+
+<p>Elam put his horse into a lope and followed along after the trail as
+boldly as though he had a right to be there. He didn't feel any fear,
+for he knew that he was on the trail of the Indians instead of having
+them upon his, and he knew they would not be likely to come back without
+the prospect of some gain. Presently he came to the place where some of
+the savages had dismounted and gone into the willows to fight their
+victims on foot, and then something told him that if he got in there he
+would find the bodies of the men who had robbed him of his furs. How
+that little piece of woods must have rung to the savages' war-whoops!
+But all was silent now. He led his horse a short distance into the
+bushes and dismounted, following the trail of an Indian who had crept up
+on all fours toward the place where the doomed men were concealed, and
+presently came into a valley in which the undergrowth had been trampled
+in every direction. Near the middle of the valley were two men who were
+stretched out on the ground, dead. There was nothing on them to indicate
+who they were, but Elam had no difficulty in recognizing them.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, it is better so," said he sorrowfully. "The Indians have got you,
+and that's all there is of it. Now my furs have gone, and I shall have
+to go to Uncle Ezra's to get a grub-stake."</p>
+
+<p>There were no signs of mutilation about them, as there would have been
+if the men had fallen into the hands of the Indians when alive. The
+Cheyennes had evidently been in a hurry, for all they had done was to
+see that the men were dead, after which they had stripped them of their
+clothes, stolen their guns and ammunition and furs, and gone off to hunt
+new booty. In this case it promised to be Elam, who made a desperate
+fight of it. The young hunter resolved that he would go into camp, and
+he did, too, hitching his horse near the stream that ran through the
+valley, just out of sight of the massacred men. He saw no ghosts, but
+slept as placidly as if the field on which the savages had vented their
+spite was a hundred miles away.</p>
+
+<p>When he awoke, it was dark, and the peaceful moon was shining down upon
+him through the tree-tops. He watered his horse, ate what was left of
+the lunch, and began to work his way out of the valley, when he
+discovered that both his nag and himself were sore from the effects of
+their long run. He had gone a long distance out of his way to see what
+the Cheyennes had done, and he didn't feel like bracing up to face the
+eighty miles before him. His horse didn't feel like it either, for when
+he stopped and allowed him to have his own way, he hung his head down
+and went to sleep. The horse seemed to be rendered uneasy by the bandage
+he wore round his neck, and when it was taken off he was more at his
+ease.</p>
+
+<p>It took Elam two days to make the journey to the camp where he had left
+Tom Mason, for he did all of his travelling during the daytime, and
+stopped over at some convenient place for the night. He was getting
+hungry, but his horse was growing stronger everyday. He dared not shoot
+at any of the numerous specimens of the jack-rabbit which constantly
+dodged across his path, for fear that he would betray himself to some
+marauding band of Indians, and not until he got within sight of Tom
+Mason standing in the edge of the willows did he feel comparatively
+safe. Tom gazed in astonishment while he told his story, and it was a
+long time before he could get dinner enough to satisfy him.</p>
+
+<p>"Thank goodness they have left you all right," said Elam, settling back
+on his blanket with a hunk of corn bread and bacon in his uninjured hand
+and a cup of steaming coffee in front of him. "Do you know that I have
+worried about you more than I have about myself?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, how did those Indians look when they were following you?" asked
+Tom, who had not yet recovered himself. His hand trembled when he poured
+out the coffee so that one would think that he was the one who had had a
+narrow escape from the savages. "Did they yell?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yell? Of course it came faintly to my ears because they were so far
+away, but if I had been close to them, I tell you I wouldn't have had
+any courage left," said Elam, with a laugh. "I've got my saddle and
+bridle, and that's something I did not expect to get."</p>
+
+<p>"Was there no one in the sheep-herder's ranch to look for you?"</p>
+
+<p>"If there had been, I wouldn't 'a' been here. There was nobody there at
+all. I just went in and got my saddle, and that's all there was to it.
+You see, I was on their trail, and they had passed over that ground once
+and thought they had got everybody."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I am beaten. I never heard a whisper of an Indian since you went
+away. It is lucky for me that they didn't know I was here. How did those
+men look that were killed?"</p>
+
+<p>"They were dead, of course. There was no mutilation about them, only
+just enough to show who killed them. If the Indians had got hold of them
+before they were dead, then you might have expected something. They
+would have just thrown themselves to show how much agony they could put
+them to. I never want to fall into the hands of the Indians alive. Do
+you know that the soldiers always carry a derringer in their pockets?
+Yes, they do, and that last shot is intended for themselves."</p>
+
+<p>"By George!" said Tom, drawing a long breath. "Let us get out of here."</p>
+
+<p>"Where will we go?"</p>
+
+<p>"Let's go back to the States. I never was made to live out here."</p>
+
+<p>"Hi yah! I couldn't make a living there."</p>
+
+<p>"But you talk well enough to make a living anywhere. You won't find one
+man in ten out here who talks as plainly as you do."</p>
+
+<p>"That's all owing to my way of bring up. Ever since I was a little kid I
+have been under the care of Uncle Ezra, who talks about as plain as most
+men do."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, let's go and see him."</p>
+
+<p>"We'll go just as soon as this blizzard is over. It is coming now, and
+in a few minutes you will see my horse coming in here."</p>
+
+<p>"Is that the blizzard? Why, I thought it was snow."</p>
+
+<p>"You go to sleep and see if you don't find snow on the ground in the
+morning. There is one thing that you can bless your lucky stars for: the
+Indians are safely housed up. They'll not think of going out plundering
+while this blizzard lasts."</p>
+
+<p>"They know when it is coming, I suppose?"</p>
+
+<p>Elam replied that they did, and wrapped himself up in his blanket, while
+Tom went out to throw more wood on the fire and to make an estimate of
+the weather. The sky was clouded over, not making it so very difficult
+to travel by night, the wind was in the south, and the rain was quietly
+descending, as though it threatened a warm spring shower. It beat the
+world how Elam could tell that this storm was three days off, that
+before it got through everything would be "holded up," and that the snow
+would be six inches deep. The horse came in about that time and took up
+a position on the leeward side of the fire, where he settled himself
+preparatory to going to sleep. Then Tom thought he had better go, too,
+but the thrilling story to which he had listened took all the sleep out
+of him. What a dreadful fate it would be for him to be killed out there
+in the mountains, as those men were who stole Elam's furs, and no one
+find his body until long after the thing had been forgotten! He fell
+asleep while he was thinking about it, and when he awoke it was with a
+chill, and a feeling that the storm had come sure enough. The wind was
+in the north, and he could not see anything on account of the snow. He
+didn't have as many blankets now as he did when he first struck the
+mountains, for he had left a good portion of them in the gully. All he
+had was his overcoat, and, wrapping himself up in it, he went to sleep
+and forgot all about the blizzard.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.</h2>
+
+<h3>UNCLE EZRA PUTS HIS FOOT DOWN.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Tom slept warm and comfortable that night, and perhaps the simple
+presence of Elam had something to do with it. A boy who could go through
+a twenty-mile race with Cheyennes, and have no more to say about it than
+he did, would be a good fellow to have at his back in case trouble
+arose. A person would not think he had been through such an encounter,
+and had seen the bodies of two murdered men besides, for, when he awoke,
+Elam was sitting up on his blanket and looking at his horse. He lay in
+such a position that the threatening streak on the animal's neck, which
+had come so near ending the race then and there and resulting in Elam's
+capture, could be plainly seen.</p>
+
+<p>"Halloa!" exclaimed Elam. "The Indians didn't get you last night, after
+all. I tell you, if our soldiers could strike them now, they would have
+an easy job of it. Now, there's that horse of mine. He has got a worse
+hurt than I have, but he makes no fuss over it. I am anxious to find
+Uncle Ezra, for he has some medicine that will cure it."</p>
+
+<p>"But you can't go where he is&mdash;where is he, anyway?" said Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"He is just about two days' journey over the mountains. I know where he
+is, and I ought to have been there before. But, laws! he's quit looking
+for me. If I don't show up at all, he won't worry."</p>
+
+<p>"This storm is just fearful, isn't it?" said Tom, pulling his coat up
+around his ears. "What do you suppose the soldiers are doing that were
+sent out by the commander of that fort? Why, they will freeze to death."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think we are getting the full benefit of it here?" said Elam,
+with a look of astonishment. "You just go out to the edge of the
+evergreens and look around a bit. You see, we haven't got much snow
+here, for your lean-to keeps it off; but go out where it has a fair
+chance at you. By the way, where is my map?"</p>
+
+<p>Tom replied that it was in the hollow tree, and speedily fished it out
+for him; and while Elam fastened his eyes upon it, Tom went out to the
+edge of the woods to see what the storm looked like on the plains. He
+had been there scarcely a moment when he was glad to turn around and go
+back. Their little grove of evergreens was just the spot for homeless
+wanderers like themselves. The wind was cutting, and blew so hard that
+Tom could not face it for an instant, and he dared not let go his hold
+upon the branches at his side for fear that he would get lost. When he
+got back to the fire, he was glad to heap more wood upon it, and get as
+close to it as possible.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't see how anybody can live out there," said Tom, with a shudder.
+"I should think it would be their death."</p>
+
+<p>"They don't live," said Elam. "They just camp somewhere and stay until
+it blows over. I have been out in a storm that was worse than this, and
+came through all right. You can just imagine what it must be out there
+on the prairie."</p>
+
+<p>All that day the boys remained idle in their lean-to, not daring to go
+out after traps, and before they went to bed that night Elam decided
+that, early the next morning, they would make an effort to reach Uncle
+Ezra's. Their food was getting scarce, and they had no way to replenish
+their stock. A part of the day was spent in hiding the things which they
+could not take with them, for fear that somebody would come along and
+steal them, and the rest of the time was devoted to Elam's stories. It
+was a wonder to Tom how the boy had managed to get through so many
+things and live. He didn't relate his adventures as though there was
+anything great in them, but told them as a mere matter of fact. Anybody
+could pass through such scenes if he only had the courage, but there was
+the point. For the first time in his life Tom wished himself back in
+Mississippi. Anyone might get into scrapes there, as Our Fellows got
+into with Pete, the half-breed, or with Luke Redman of the Swamp
+Dragoons, but there was always a prospect of their coming out alive.</p>
+
+<p>On the morning of the next day a start was made as early as it was light
+enough to see, Elam leading the horse and Tom following close behind
+him. The most of their way led through the gully, and to Tom's delight
+there was hardly any snow on the way; nor was there any game, although
+they kept a bright lookout for it. They camped for two nights in the
+foot-hills, Elam working his way in and out of the gullies, never once
+stopping and never once getting into a pocket. On the last morning they
+ate every bit of the corn bread and bacon.</p>
+
+<p>"They aint far off now," said Elam. "About noon we'll be among friends.
+You will find two boys there just about your size who will give you more
+insight into this life than I ever could. You see they know what you
+want to talk about."</p>
+
+<p>After proceeding about a mile of their journey Elam stopped, placed his
+hand to his mouth, and gave a perfect imitation of a coyote's yell. If
+Tom had not seen him do it he would have thought there was a wolf close
+upon them. A little further on he gave another, and this time there was
+an answer, faint and far off, but still there was something about it
+that did not sound just like a coyote.</p>
+
+<p>"They're there," said Elam. "I would know that yell among a thousand.
+It's Carlos Burton."</p>
+
+<p>"Who is he? You never mentioned him before."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, he is a sharp one. He came out here long after I did, and had
+sense enough to go to herding cattle, while here I am and haven't got
+anything except the clothes I stand in. It's all on account of that
+nugget, too. If the robbers had stolen it and got well away with it I
+might have been in the same fix. Well, it's all in a lifetime."</p>
+
+<p>"I should think you would give it up," said Tom. "You go working after
+it day after day&mdash;why, you must have been after it fourteen years."</p>
+
+<p>"Shall I give it up when I've got the map of it right here?" said Elam,
+tapping his ditty-bag, which was hung across his chest under his shirt.
+"I am nearer to it now than I have been before, and you had better talk
+to those who have made fun of me all these years. 'Oh, Elam's a crank;
+let him alone, and when he gets tired looking for the nugget he'll come
+to his senses and go to herding cattle.' That's what the folks around
+here have had to say about me ever since I can remember; but I'll get
+the start of all of them, you see if I don't."</p>
+
+<p>Elam began to look wild when he began to talk about the nugget, and Tom
+was glad to change the subject of the conversation.</p>
+
+<p>"Who is the other fellow?" said he. "You said there were two of them."</p>
+
+<p>"The other fellow is a tender-foot; he don't claim to be anything else.
+I'll bet you, now that I have got over my excitement, that I have been
+talking about his father. His father commands a post within forty miles
+of the place where he is now visiting, but I don't know one soldier from
+another. They all look alike to me, and I didn't think of the
+relationship they bore to each other. No matter; he treated me mighty
+shabby, and I shall always think hard of soldiers after that."</p>
+
+<p>At the end of half an hour they came out of the scrub oaks and found
+themselves in front of a neat little cabin which reminded Tom of the
+negro quarters he had seen in Mississippi. There were two boys standing
+in front of the cabin, and Tom had no trouble in picking out Carlos
+Burton. There was an independent air about him that somehow did not
+belong to the tender-foot, and when Elam introduced him in his off-hand
+way, this boy was the first to welcome him.</p>
+
+<p>"This fellow is Tom Mason, and I want you to know him and treat him
+right. He got into a little trouble down in Mississippi where he used to
+live, and came out here to get clear of it. Know him, boys."</p>
+
+<p>The boys, surprised as they were, were glad to shake hands with Tom,
+because he was Elam's friend; but they were still more anxious to know
+how Elam had come among them for the fourth time robbed of his furs, and
+what he had to say about it. There were some things about him that
+didn't look exactly right. There was his hand, which was still done up
+the way the doctor left it, and the mark on his horse's neck, both of
+which proclaimed that Elam had been in something of a fight; but they
+didn't push him, for they knew they would hear the whole of his story
+when he got inside of the cabin.</p>
+
+<p>What I have written here is the true history of what happened to Tom
+Mason after he gave Joe Coleman the valise, containing the five thousand
+dollars, and the double-barrel shotgun; and I have told the truth, too,
+in regard to Elam and his last attempt at grub-staking. It took him
+pretty near all day to finish the story, and now I can drop the third
+person and go on with my narrative just as it happened. Of course we
+were all amazed at what Elam had to tell, and especially were we hurt to
+hear him speak so of Ben's father; for he it was who was in command of
+the post. It would have done no good to talk to Elam, for very likely he
+had worse things than that to say about the major. We let him go on and
+tell his story in any way he thought proper, calculating to make it all
+right with Ben afterward.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Tom [he always addressed everybody by his Christian name], tell us
+something more of your story," said Uncle Ezra, who had the map of the
+hiding-place of the nugget spread out on his knee. "You haven't done
+anything to make you a fugitive from home, and I see that Elam has been
+letting you down kinder easy. What have you done?"</p>
+
+<p>It did not take Tom more than fifteen minutes to narrate as much of his
+history as he was willing that strangers should know, and Elam never let
+on that he knew more; he was the closest-mouthed fellow I ever saw. Tom
+told all about the story of the five thousand dollars, and declared that
+he had sent it back to the uncle of whom he had stolen it, but said he
+could not bear the "jibes" that would be thrown at him every time his
+uncle got mad at him. There were men out there who had done worse than
+that.</p>
+
+<p>"That's very true," said Uncle Ezra, looking down at the map he held on
+his knee. "But you haven't done anything so very bad, and I would advise
+you to go home and live it down."</p>
+
+<p>"No, sir, I shan't do it," said Tom emphatically. "I'll stay here until
+he gets over his pet and then I'll go back. Besides, I can't go. I am
+under promise to stand by Elam until he finds his nugget."</p>
+
+<p>"And do you imagine that this paper will tell you where it is?"</p>
+
+<p>"That's what we are depending on."</p>
+
+<p>"You will go, Carlos?" said Elam, addressing me.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir," I answered. "When you dig up that nugget I shall be right
+within reach of you."</p>
+
+<p>"Now, uncle," began Ben, who was in a high state of commotion, "I just
+know you will let me&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Now, now!" interrupted Uncle Ezra, waving his hands up and down in the
+air as the major had done when he refused to interfere with the stolen
+furs. "Now, just wait till I tell you. You shan't go!"</p>
+
+<p>"I just know, if my father was here&mdash;&mdash;" began Ben.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, wait till I tell you. Your father would say, No! Here's Indians
+all around you, and you want to go right into the midst of them. And
+going off with Elam Storm! That's the worst yet. Why, your father has
+sent out a squad of cavalry to drive these fellows back where they came
+from, and what would I say to him if I should let you go philandering
+off there? No, sir, you can't go. I shall send word to him in the
+morning and let him know you are all right. I suppose you will need a
+horse, Tom, seeing that the Red Ghost has spoilt your bronco for you."</p>
+
+<p>"I should like to have one," replied Tom. "What do you think that Red
+Ghost is, anyway?"</p>
+
+<p>"Now, wait till I tell you. I don't know."</p>
+
+<p>As it was almost supper time and we had not had anything to eat since
+Elam and Tom came to the cabin, and Uncle Ezra wanted to change the
+subject of the conversation into another channel, he gave me a nod which
+I understood, and I went about preparing the eatables. It was surprising
+how quickly everybody became acquainted with Tom. He and Elam had passed
+through several scenes which were familiar enough to me, but which
+sounded like romance when recounted for Ben's benefit, and it was no
+wonder that the latter looked upon Tom as a person well worth listening
+to. He carried on a lengthy conversation with him while I was getting
+supper, while Elam smoked and talked with Uncle Ezra. He was trying to
+make Uncle Ezra see that after waiting for so many years chance had
+thrown into his power the very thing for which he was looking, and
+sometimes he got so interesting that I was tempted to let the supper go
+and sit down and listen to him.</p>
+
+<p>"There is something hidden there, and that's all there is about it,"
+said Elam emphatically. "You can't make me believe that a man would
+carry around a map of that kind when there was nothing to it, and he
+would say he was ruined if he didn't get it."</p>
+
+<p>"But where did he get it in the first place?" asked Uncle Ezra.</p>
+
+<p>"If I could see the man he shot I could answer that question."</p>
+
+<p>"But how did he know that the man had it at all?"</p>
+
+<p>"Ask me something hard," said Elam. "The man may have told him that he
+had it and refused to give it up; or he may have gone into partnership,
+just the same as Tom has gone into partnership with me. That is
+something I don't know anything about, but I just know there is
+something hidden there, and I'll dig the whole place over but I shall
+find it. If three months' supply of grub won't do me, I'll come back and
+get another. You will stake me, of course?"</p>
+
+<p>"Sure. I'll stake you if it takes the last thing I've got. But I'll tell
+you one thing, Elam, and that aint two, that you won't make anything by
+it. You had better stay at home and go to herding cattle."</p>
+
+<p>Just as long as they talked the hard-headed old frontiersman always came
+to this advice, and Elam always dismissed it with a laugh. Finally he
+said, with more seriousness than I had ever seen him assume before:</p>
+
+<p>"I will tell you what I'll do, Uncle Ezra: I will follow this thing up,
+and if nothing comes of it, I will take your advice. But I will go to
+Texas. I can't stay around where that nugget is without making an effort
+to find it. If you had had it dinged at you for years, you would feel
+the same way."</p>
+
+<p>And I could swear that that was the truth, for Uncle Ezra had often said
+to me that if he had had the nugget preached at him from the time he was
+old enough to remember anything, he would have been as hot after it as
+Elam was. Nothing would have turned him away from it. Uncle Ezra knew
+that Elam was in earnest when he said this, and reached over and shook
+hands with him; and after that the subject was dropped. In the meantime
+Ben and Tom were getting acquainted, and especially was Ben deeply
+interested whenever the other spoke of the Red Ghost. Tom had seen it,
+had a fair shot at it, and could not imagine what had taken it off in
+such a hurry, if it had been a flesh-eating animal; but it was not, and
+so it uttered a scream and went into the bushes. It must have been a
+camel, because that was the only thing that Tom knew of that had a hump
+on its back.</p>
+
+<p>"But camels don't run wild in this country," said Ben.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, wait till I tell you," put in Uncle Ezra, who had got through
+talking with Elam. "A good many years ago the government brought over
+some camels thinking that they could make them useful in carrying
+supplies across the desert; but, somehow or other, it turned out a
+failure, and, seeing that they couldn't sell them, they turned them
+loose to shift for themselves. And that's the way they come to be wild
+here."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, that bangs me!" exclaimed Ben, who was profoundly astonished.
+"But supposing they did turn them out to become wild, they wouldn't
+pitch into horses, would they?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know anything about that," returned Uncle Ezra. "I do know that
+there is a camel around here, that he is red in color, that he has
+frightened the lives out of half a dozen people, and that he has been
+shot at numberless times. He does pitch into every horse and mule that
+he gets a chance at, and I don't know what makes him."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I never heard of a camel doing that before," said Ben, settling
+back on his blanket. "If you get another show at it, Tom, make a sure
+shot, so that you can tell us what it is."</p>
+
+<p>You may be sure that I was glad to hear the old frontiersman talk in
+this way. He had not seen the camel, but he had seen some scientific men
+who had seen him, and he was glad to accept what they had to say in
+regard to the Red Ghost. I, for one, resolved that I would never let it
+get away, if I once got a shot at it.</p>
+
+<p>The evening was passed in much the same way, with talks on various
+subjects, and it was a late hour when we sought our blankets. We all
+slept soundly, all except Tom, who awoke about midnight, and, to save
+his life, could not go to sleep again. He rolled and tossed on his
+blankets, and then, for fear that he might awaken some of us, concluded
+that he would go out and look at the weather. He pulled on his
+moccasons, opened the door, and went out, but on the threshold he
+stopped, for every drop of blood in him seemed to rush back upon his
+heart, leaving his face as pale as death itself. He was not frightened,
+but there, within less than twenty-five yards of him, stood the Red
+Ghost. He stood with his head forward, as if he were listening to some
+sounds that came to him from the horses' quarters, which, you will
+remember, were in the scrub-oaks behind the cabin. It was no wonder that
+Tom was excited, for there it was as plain as daylight. It looked as big
+as three or four horses.</p>
+
+<p>"By George! I wish it would stay there just a minute longer. If I make
+out to get my rifle&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>With a step that would not have awakened a cricket, Tom stepped back
+into the cabin and laid hold of the first rifle he came to. It was not
+his own; it was Uncle Ezra's Henry&mdash;a rifle that would shoot sixteen
+times without being reloaded. With this in his hands he walked quietly
+back, and there stood the object just as he had left it. It did not seem
+to hear Tom at all. Fearful of being seen, Tom raised his gun with a
+very slow and steady aim, and covered the spot just where he thought the
+heart ought to be. One second he stood thus, but it was long enough for
+Tom, who pressed the trigger.</p>
+
+<p>"There!" said Tom, drawing a long breath. "If I didn't make a good shot
+that time I never did. Hold on! It is coming right for me!"</p>
+
+<p>The animal was fatally hurt, and the long bounds it made, and the shrill
+screams it uttered, would have taxed Tom's nerves, if he had had any. To
+throw out the empty shell and insert another one was slowly and
+deliberately done, and the second ball struck it in the breast, when Tom
+thought that another bound would land it squarely on the top of him.
+That settled it. It stayed right there, and all he could see of the Red
+Ghost was the twigs and leaves which it threw up during its struggles.
+In the meantime there was a terrific commotion in the cabin, and his
+three friends came rushing out to see what was the matter.</p>
+
+<p>"Who's got my rifle!" exclaimed Uncle Ezra. "Now, wait till I tell you,"
+he shouted, while lost in astonishment. "He's got the Red Ghost; by gum,
+if he aint!"</p>
+
+<p>They drew as near the struggling animal as they could, while Uncle Ezra
+went in to bring out a brand from the fire to examine it, and Tom stood
+by, not a little elated. It was the first desperate adventure he had
+had, and he had stood up to the mark like a man. When the animal had
+ceased its contortions, and the firebrands were brought out so that we
+could examine it closely, it was curious to see what different views the
+hunters took of their prize. Elam could hardly be made to believe that
+it was not a ghost. He stood at a distance while the others were
+inspecting it, and when he saw they were handling it, he remarked that
+the bullet he had sent into its neck ought to have finished it when he
+got it. Ben examined its legs and Tom felt of its hump. He said that
+when an Arab had a long journey to make he always examined the hump to
+see if his camel was in good condition, while an American always looked
+to his horse's hoofs. He did not think this animal was in a fit
+condition to travel, although it had come seventy-five miles since Tom
+had last seen it, picking up its living on the way.</p>
+
+<p>"Tom, you will do to tie to," said Elam, when he became satisfied that
+the animal was dead. "Shake!"</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you," said Tom, seeing that his hands were safely out of reach.
+"If it's all the same to you I'll not shake hands with you. I did it
+once back there in the mountains, and I haven't got over it."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Tom, you certainly have done something to be proud of," said
+Ezra. "Let's go in and take a smoke. We'll finish our examination by
+daylight."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI.</h2>
+
+<h3>A NEW EXPEDITION.</h3>
+
+
+<p>There wasn't much sleeping done in the cabin that night, there was so
+much to talk about. To say that the hunters were very much pleased over
+the success of Tom's lucky shots would be putting it very mildly. Elam
+was much elated to know it was a camel, an animal he had never seen
+before, and not a genuine ghost, who had stood between him and the
+finding of the nugget. He was not satisfied until he had burned up three
+or four brands in going out to see the object to make sure it was there
+yet. To tell the truth, this Red Ghost had often stood between Elam and
+the accomplishment of his hopes; and as much as he desired to possess
+the nugget he did not dare face it alone.</p>
+
+<p>"It is there yet," said Elam, coming in once more and throwing a
+half-burned chunk upon the fire. "Tom, you have made me your everlasting
+debtor. Now I hope the finding of the nugget will go the same way."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope I can have the same effect upon your other work," said Tom
+modestly. "If I do, you will call me a lucky omen."</p>
+
+<p>"What is an 'omen'?" asked Elam, who had never heard the word before.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, it is an occurrence supposed to show the character of some future
+event. That is about as near as I can come to it. If I am with you, you
+will find the nugget without the least trouble: if I am not, you won't."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I'll see that you don't get very far from me till I find out what
+this map means. There is something hidden there, and I know it."</p>
+
+<p>It was while we were talking in this way that daylight came, and I began
+getting breakfast while Elam and Uncle Ezra smoked, and Ben and Tom were
+packing up the skins which had fallen to Ben's rifle during the hunt. I
+could see that Ben was sadly disappointed in not being permitted to
+accompany Elam on his search for the nugget, but like the soldier he
+was, he gave right up. He knew that his father did not believe in such
+things anyway, and very likely his refusal would have been more pointed
+than Uncle Ezra's. When the breakfast was over all hands turned to and
+washed the dishes and put them away. We calculated to visit the camp
+again during the winter, and, if we did, we wanted to know what we had
+to go on. Then we went out to saddle our horses and take a last look at
+the Red Ghost.</p>
+
+<p>"Are we going to leave this thing here?" asked Ben.</p>
+
+<p>"Sure!" replied Uncle Ezra. "We can't carry it with us."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll bet I don't leave it all here," said Elam, going into the cabin
+and returning with an axe in his hand. "The folks down there won't
+believe that we killed anything, and I am going to have one of the
+feet."</p>
+
+<p>The thing was hideous when we came to look at it by daylight, and
+especially the great hoofs with which it had tramped so far. They were
+lacerated in every direction, and one cut had hardly had time to heal
+before it got another. Elam plied the axe vigorously, and in a few
+moments each boy had a foot which he was to take along to show to the
+people "down there." Finally Uncle Ezra said he would take the head. It
+was scarred and seamed all over, but he thought that anyone who had seen
+a camel would be sure to recognize it. Then we brought up the horses,
+but I tell you it took two men to saddle them. They couldn't bear the
+scent of the camel; I had to take my nag out of sight of it, and it was
+a long time before he quit snorting. With a good deal of merriment we
+got them all saddled at last, and with Tom and Ben riding my horse and
+Elam's, we bid good-by to our camp in the mountains. We had twenty miles
+to go and then we were among friends again.</p>
+
+<p>"Say," said Elam, when he had allowed the others to get so far ahead
+that there was no danger of their overhearing our conversation, "I don't
+think I am crazy; do you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I never thought so," said I, although I knew there had been some talk
+of it in the settlement. "I was sure if that nugget was there you would
+find it. I shouldn't have offered to go with you if I had thought you
+were crazy."</p>
+
+<p>"You have seen the map and know just what there is onto it?" continued
+Elam.</p>
+
+<p>"I certainly have."</p>
+
+<p>"And you know the place where it starts is over there by those springs?"</p>
+
+<p>"I do certainly."</p>
+
+<p>"And do you think that those men would carry around a map of that kind
+unless there was something on it?" said Elam, going over the argument he
+had used the night before with Uncle Ezra.</p>
+
+<p>"No, I don't think they would. And it's your ditty-bag that they took
+from you when you were shot."</p>
+
+<p>"I know it; and many's the time I have thought of it, too, and never
+expected to see it again. Thank goodness, I have two men with me who
+don't think I am crazy! I have told Uncle Ezra that I never would give
+it up again until I have that nugget in my hands. I know that gully up
+there, and it is a pretty big place. Now, that is all I have to say. If
+you want to know anything more, now is the time to ask me."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you think that there are other parties up there, hunting for it?"
+I asked, knowing that his story had been noised abroad. "Just think; you
+have been looking for it fourteen years."</p>
+
+<p>"Longer than that; and I ought to get it, for they say that perseverance
+conquers all things. As for other parties looking for it, why, they can
+get it if they want it. But where's the map?"</p>
+
+<p>"That's so. I think you have got the only one there is in existence."</p>
+
+<p>"I only hope there are other fellows looking for the nugget," said Elam,
+shifting his rifle from one shoulder to the other, "because we won't
+have to work where they have been. It will make matters so much easier
+for us."</p>
+
+<p>After that Elam kept still about the nugget, and during the whole of the
+twenty miles I never heard him speak of it again. We accomplished the
+journey just about dark, Elam and I walking all the way, and Tom I know
+was glad to get back among civilized people once more. My headquarters
+were right there with Uncle Ezra, for I had only four men to take care
+of my small herd, and didn't think it best to get too far away from him.
+We rode up to the shanty and began to dismount, when the door flew open
+and the foreman of the ranch appeared on the threshold.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I declare, if there aint Uncle Ezra!" he exclaimed in a
+stentorian voice. "What you got? Enough furs to load one horse with?"</p>
+
+<p>While the foreman was speaking he untied the bundle of skins and laid it
+upon the porch, when he happened to discover Tom Mason. He did not say
+anything, but nodded to Tom, and then turned his attention to his
+employer's horse, whom he had unsaddled while one was thinking about it.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you here all alone?" asked Uncle Ezra.</p>
+
+<p>"All alone!" replied the foreman. "You see, there has been a blizzard
+lately, and we thought we had better look up the sheep. I have just got
+in. What have you got in that bag?"</p>
+
+<p>"Something that will make your eyes bulge out," replied Uncle Ezra.
+"Wait till we get in, and we will show it to you."</p>
+
+<p>The horses, being unsaddled, were turned loose to go where they chose;
+the foreman carried Ben's bundle of skins into the cabin, and Uncle Ezra
+brought up the rear with the bag containing what was left of the prize.
+There was a fire burning brightly at one end of the room, and Tom and
+Ben drew camp-stools up in front of it to get some heat, while Elam and
+I took our overcoats off and waited for Uncle Ezra to turn out the
+contents of the bag. We waited until the old frontiersman had hung up
+his coat and hat where they belonged and seated himself on a camp-stool
+before the fire, and then the head and four feet of the camel were
+tumbled out on the floor.</p>
+
+<p>"What in the name of common sense are those?" cried the foreman in
+astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>"They are part of the Red Ghost," said Uncle Ezra; and then he went on
+to tell the story much as I have told it, although he put in some
+additions of his own. The foreman was profoundly amazed. Not daring to
+use his hands, he used a poker to move the things about, so that he
+could see on all sides of them. The antics he went through were enough
+to make the hunters laugh.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you think now about my being crazy?" demanded Elam. "I've shot
+at that thing, and I don't see why I didn't get him; but I can see now
+why it was. He was so big that a bullet had to be put in the right place
+to get him."</p>
+
+<p>"That's about the case with everything I have shot, Elam," said the
+foreman. "I had to put the ball in the right place, or I didn't get him.
+But you have removed a heap from my mind. Who shot him?"</p>
+
+<p>"Here's the man, right here."</p>
+
+<p>Seeing that the foreman began to take a deeper interest in Tom after
+that, Uncle Ezra introduced him, and he failed to say that Tom had got
+into a "little trouble" down in Mississippi where he used to live, and
+had come out West to get clear of it. Uncle Ezra didn't think that was
+any of his business. He said that Tom wanted to see new sights, and he
+reckoned he had already had his fill of them, having been lost in the
+mountains and shot the Red Ghost besides. Now, he was going into
+partnership with Elam after the nugget, and Uncle Ezra thought he had a
+boy who could be depended upon. The foreman shook hands with Tom, and
+said he was glad to see him. Then he wanted to know whether they had
+eaten supper yet.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, no," replied Uncle Ezra. "You see, we started from our camp up
+there sooner than we expected. Elam has got a map telling him where to
+look to find his nugget."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, get out!" said the foreman. He had heard so many things about a
+"map" that he did not believe a word of it.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, he has, sure enough. It came from the man who tried to rob him.
+And you haven't heard anything about the Indians, have you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Indians!" exclaimed the foreman. "Have they broken out?"</p>
+
+<p>"Just give your knife to Elam and sit down," said Uncle Ezra. "It
+appears to me that we have heard of a heap of things that you don't know
+anything about."</p>
+
+<p>The man gave Elam his knife, which he had in his hand to begin work with
+upon the ham he had laid upon the table, and sat down.</p>
+
+<p>"I wondered all the time what was the matter with Elam's hand," said he.
+"I hope the Indians didn't shoot him."</p>
+
+<p>"Didn't they, though?" said Elam. "You just wait and hear Uncle Ezra
+tell the story."</p>
+
+<p>It was a long narrative that the old frontiersman had to tell, and I saw
+that Elam was so much interested in it that he forgot all about the
+supper, and I got up and assisted him; and that was all he wanted. He
+left me to do the work, and sat down. The foreman heard Uncle Ezra
+through without interruption, and then turned and gave Elam a good
+looking over. After that he got up and assisted me with the supper.</p>
+
+<p>"So Elam has really got a map of the place where that nugget is hid?"
+were the first words he uttered. He didn't seem to care a straw about
+the Indians, but he did care about the gold. "I wish I knew the man he
+shot to get it."</p>
+
+<p>After that the evening was just what you would expect of one spent in a
+hunter's camp, or one passed in a sheep-herder's ranch, which was the
+same thing. We ate supper; then those who were inclined to the weed
+enjoyed their good-night smoke, and talked of ghosts, Indians, and
+sheep-herder's life until we were all tired out and went to bed. We had
+regular bunks to sleep in, and could thrash around all we had a mind to
+without fear of disturbing anyone else. The foreman got up once to
+replenish the fire and take a look at the weather, and I heard him say,
+when he crawled back into his bunk, that it was a clear, cold
+night&mdash;just the one that sheep enjoy.</p>
+
+<p>When I awoke I found the foreman busy in the storeroom in putting up our
+three months' supplies and Uncle Ezra engaged in cooking breakfast. Ben
+was seated at one end of the table, engaged in writing a letter to his
+father, and Elam had gone out after a certain stockman to carry it to
+the fort for him. It was dark, and you couldn't see a thing.</p>
+
+<p>"I think it best to let the boy's father know when he is well off," said
+Uncle Ezra, returning my greeting. "It aint everybody who would go to
+that trouble, I confess&mdash;sending a lone man off in a country that has
+been infested with Indians. But I know how it is myself. If I had a
+boy&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"You have got one," I said. "There's Elam."</p>
+
+<p>"Elam!" said the frontiersman in a tone of contempt. "Elam went to work
+and got himself into a fuss without saying a word to me about it. Elam!
+now he's got a map that he thinks will show him where the gold is
+hidden."</p>
+
+<p>"But don't you think there is something hidden there?" asked Ben.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, wait till I tell you. I don't know; but every scrap he gets hold
+of he thinks it is a map. That's what makes me mad at Elam. And you,
+dog-gone you! You have got better sense than that."</p>
+
+<p>I had heard all I wanted to out of Uncle Ezra. It was plain that he
+didn't think there was anything in that map. Well, as Elam said, it was
+all in a lifetime. My time wasn't worth anything to me, for I had men to
+do the work, and if I made a botch of it, if there wasn't anything to be
+made by digging up that gully, there was one thing out of the way. Elam
+was bound to become a cattle-herder in case this thing failed. He was
+determined to go to Texas, for he couldn't live there and have that
+nugget thrown at him by every man he met, and I would go with him. Uncle
+Ezra had often made offers for my cattle, intending to leave
+sheep-herding on account of the wolves, and invest all his extra money
+in steers, and if this thing turned out a failure he could have them and
+welcome. I would be as deep in the mud as Elam was, and I didn't care to
+have the thing thrown up at me all the time. Texas was the land of
+promise with us fellows, any way. The fellows there had got into the way
+of driving cattle to northern markets and selling them, and in that way
+we could at least see our friends once every year. So I didn't care what
+Uncle Ezra said about it.</p>
+
+<p>In about an hour Elam came back with the stockman of whom he had been in
+search. His name was Sandy; I never heard him called by any other name,
+and if his pluck only equalled his red hair and whiskers he certainly
+had lots of it. Of course we had to go through with the Red Ghost and
+Tom's being lost, the discovery of the map and Elam's escape from the
+Indians, but Sandy never said a word about it. He just sat on his
+camp-stool with his elbows resting on his knees, and looked up at Uncle
+Ezra. When the latter got through with his story he simply said:</p>
+
+<p>"Where's the letter?"</p>
+
+<p>Of course it was arranged that Sandy should go with us as far as the
+canyon that led to the springs, and beyond that he was to take care of
+himself. With his letter tucked away in his pocket, he shook Ben by the
+hand, and told him that his father would receive what he had written by
+noon the next day; and then we all mounted and rode off. Tom had been
+supplied with a pair of boots to take the place of his moccasons, and
+rode a horse that belonged to Uncle Ezra. We had two mules with us, Elam
+leading the one and I the other, which carried our supplies and also our
+digging tools; for we intended to dig as no people had ever dug before
+for that nugget.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope you will get it, boys," said Sandy, as he lifted his hat to us
+when we reached the canyon that branched off from his trail. "But I have
+my doubts."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, of course we're cranks!" said Elam.</p>
+
+<p>"I never said that of you," said Sandy reproachfully. "I always said
+that if the nugget was there you'd get it."</p>
+
+<p>"And how am I going to find out where the nugget is unless I have a
+map?" demanded Elam. "I've got one now, and if I make a failure of this
+thing, I am going to Texas. When you see me again I'll have the nugget.
+Good-by."</p>
+
+<p>We saw no Indians, although we kept a bright lookout for them, and about
+three o'clock in the afternoon arrived at the springs, for I do not know
+what else to call them. We had had no dinner, intending to leave it
+until we got to our camping place, and while Tom and I unsaddled and
+staked out the horses, Elam strolled away with his rifle on his shoulder
+to look up the springs. He was gone fully an hour, and when he came back
+he set his rifle down and never said a word. I knew that something was
+the matter, but I thought I would wait until he got ready to tell it. He
+ate his dinner; he ate a good hearty one, too, so that the news he had
+brought did not interfere with his appetite, and filled his pipe; and
+then I knew that something was coming.</p>
+
+<p>"Carlos," said he, as he stretched his legs out in front of him, "those
+springs have all been tampered with."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean?" I asked.</p>
+
+<p>"They have been tampered with the same as this one has," continued Elam,
+pointing to the spring at which our horses had drank. "All the stuff and
+leaves have been pulled out of them."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, what of it?"</p>
+
+<p>"What of it? It means that somebody has been going in on our trail."</p>
+
+<p>"All right; let it be so. You found all the springs, didn't you? We're
+on their trail, and if we overtake them at the end of a week we will see
+what we can do with them. You said yourself that it would make things
+easier for us."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I know I said it, but I don't like to see that people are so hot
+after that nugget."</p>
+
+<p>It did seem to me that everyone had got wind of that nugget, and were
+going after it at the same time. How it came about I did not know. Here
+they had gone on for two years and let Elam dig where he had a mind to,
+and now when he knew where the gold was, other people knew it too and
+were determined to have it. I suggested that it might be those men who
+had robbed him, but Elam laughed at it.</p>
+
+<p>"Those men never came near here," said Elam. "Otherwise, how did they
+strike my camp fifty miles away? It has been done by somebody nearer
+than that, and has been done by somebody within three weeks, too."</p>
+
+<p>From this time out (we were all of two weeks on the trail) Elam was
+moody. He would ride all day and wouldn't say a word to either of us,
+and when we made camp at night he would go off and stay until dark. And
+the worst of it was, we camped every single night right where the men
+had slept. I began to shake in my boots, and did not wonder at Elam's
+contrary mood. In fact we were all that way. It was very seldom that we
+exchanged an opinion with one another. Elam kept his map constantly at
+hand and referred to it at every turn in the road. Sometimes he would be
+gone all day, and we would hear nothing of him until night, when he
+would come in, ask for supper, and roll himself up in his blanket and go
+to sleep. Things went on in this way for two weeks, as I said, and then
+one day, as we were watering our horses at the brook that ran through
+the canyon, we were suddenly surprised by the appearance of two men who
+stood on the opposite bank. They were a hard-looking set, but then that
+was to be expected in a country where all men lived out of doors. To
+show that they were friendly they threw their rifles into the hollow of
+their arms.</p>
+
+<p>"Howdy, pard?" said one.</p>
+
+<p>"Howdy?" replied Elam. As he was the chief man we allowed him to do all
+the talking.</p>
+
+<p>"You're just the men we wanted to see," said the man in a delighted
+tone. "We haven't had anything to eat since yisterday. Will ye give us a
+bite?"</p>
+
+<p>"Sure!" replied Elam. "What are you doing so far away in the mountains?"</p>
+
+<p>"We got lost, and are now trying to find our way out. This stream leads
+to some water on the prairie, I reckon? How far is the fort from here?"</p>
+
+<p>Elam made some reply, I didn't know what it was, while I began to look
+the men over to see if I could discover any signs of their being lost.
+Their moccasons were whole, or as much so as could be expected, and the
+wear and tear of their buckskin shirts was no more than our own. They
+were strangers to me, and I confess that I was not at all pleased to see
+them. The talk about their being lost was one thing that did the
+business for me. The men were hunters or trappers on the face of them;
+they never would be taken for anything else, and the idea of their
+getting bewildered in the mountains that they had probably passed over a
+dozen times was a little too far fetched. I caught a glimpse of Elam's
+face as he was leading his horse up the opposite bank, and there was a
+look on it that boded mischief.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE NUGGET IS FOUND.</h3>
+
+
+<p>"Where are your horses?" I demanded.</p>
+
+<p>"Horses? We aint got none," replied the man.</p>
+
+<p>"Somebody must have grub-staked you," I continued. "They never sent you
+into the mountains to get lost."</p>
+
+<p>"We grub-staked ourselves," answered the man impatiently. "But I'll tell
+you what's the matter with you. Somebody has grub-staked you, and sent
+you in here to search for gold, and I want to know which one of you is
+Elam Storm. Speak quick!"</p>
+
+<p>The next thing that happened was a little short of bewildering. In less
+time than it takes to tell it, Elam and I were covered with the muzzles
+of two cocked rifles, thus making it plain to me that the men had seen
+us, and hastily made up their plans what to do with us. They couldn't
+have moved so quickly if they hadn't. They paid no attention to Tom, but
+covered Elam and me. All they said was:</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you move, Tender-foot. You may save the life of one, but you will
+be a goner in the end. Now, drop your guns right where you stand."</p>
+
+<p>In an instant Elam and I laid down our rifles, and Tom did the same. It
+was too close a call to do otherwise, for a suspicious move on the part
+of one of us would have sent us to kingdom come in short order. There
+was "shoot" in the men's eyes, and we saw it plain enough.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," said the leader, "go over there and set down, away from your
+guns. Which one of you is Elam Storm?"</p>
+
+<p>"My name is Toby Johnson," replied Elam, speaking before anybody else
+had a chance to open his mouth. "I don't deny that I am sent up here to
+prospect for gold; but I don't see much chance of finding any."</p>
+
+<p>"And what's your name?" demanded the leader, turning to me.</p>
+
+<p>It was a little time before I could speak. Elam's plan for throwing them
+off the scent was a good one, but it came so sudden that it fairly took
+my breath away.</p>
+
+<p>"I am Carlos Burton," I replied.</p>
+
+<p>"Burton! I know you," said the man, who hardly knew whether to be
+delighted or otherwise at the discovery he had made; and then all of a
+sudden it flashed upon me that here was the man who had stolen my
+cattle. How I wished I had my rifle in my hands! There would have been
+one cattle-thief less in the world, I bet you; but, then, what good
+would it have done? I would have been gone up, too, for the other man
+still held his cocked rifle in his hands.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, yes! Burton," continued the leader, "Do you remember one of the
+fellows who took some cattle away from you once?"</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't see the men, but I have heard what sort of looking fellows
+they were. I should like to see you under different circumstances."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I don't know but you will, but I doubt it. What sort of appearing
+fellow is that Elam Storm? Seen him, either of you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know him," said Elam. "I never heard of him. I am a stranger in
+these parts."</p>
+
+<p>"Seeing that neither of you is Elam Storm, perhaps you may have
+something about you that tells you where to go to find his nugget. Stand
+up and put your hands above your head. You have got a ditty-bag about
+you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir, and there it is," said Elam, rising to his feet and throwing
+his bag outside his shirt, so that the man could examine it.</p>
+
+<p>Well, there! the turning point had been reached at last, and Elam was
+the one who helped it along. Tom was utterly confounded, and I was so
+amazed and provoked that I hid my face from the men by resting my elbows
+on my knees and looking down at the ground. Of course Elam's map was
+found, there was no doubt about that. I saw him have it in his hand not
+half an hour before, and was positive that he put it in the bag out of
+sight. With that gone we were as powerless as the two men were. I
+listened, but could not hear him say anything about the map. He took the
+bag off Elam's neck and up-ended it on the ground. There were a pipe,
+some tobacco, and some matches, and that was all there was in it. He put
+them all back, after helping himself to a generous chew of the weed, and
+turned to Tom and myself; but as we didn't have any bags he let us go.</p>
+
+<p>"You have been duped, fellows," said the leader. "Who sent you here,
+anyway?"</p>
+
+<p>"Uncle Ezra," said Elam.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, yes! He's a great chap for such things. And you'll meet Elam
+somewhere up there, and you want to look out that he doesn't put a
+bullet into you. He thinks he's got a dead sure thing on that gold."</p>
+
+<p>"Were you sent out here to hunt for it?" asked Elam, and I held my
+breath in suspense, waiting for his answer. I wanted to find out who was
+at the bottom of this matter.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, that's neither here nor there," said the man. "We're here, and
+that's enough for anybody to know. Here's Burton, now. I did steal some
+cattle from him because I was hard up, but I don't want him to go on and
+get fooled in this way. And you'll get fooled as sure as you live. Now,
+we don't want anything to eat. We have got everything we want out here
+in the rocks to last us to the fort; and if you'll say you won't shoot
+at us, we'll give you your guns."</p>
+
+<p>"I won't shoot at you," said Elam. "You have given me a point to go on,
+and I don't know but I had better turn around and go back. Here's a
+tender-foot come out here to see the country&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"All right. Go on, and let him dig away some of the landslides until he
+gets sick of them. He won't get nothing, I bet you. Now, suppose you
+take your creeters and go on your way. We can have a fair view of you
+for a quarter of a mile, and that's all we want."</p>
+
+<p>Elam at once picked up his gun, mounted his horse and rode away, leading
+one of the mules, leaving Tom and I to follow at our leisure. I noticed
+that the two men eyed me rather sharply. They didn't know how I felt at
+being reduced to poverty, and they were ready to nip in the bud any move
+that I took to be even with them. I didn't feel very good over it, you
+may imagine, and when I got on my horse I couldn't resist an inclination
+to say a word to them.</p>
+
+<p>"I hear that two of the men who engaged with you in that cattle-thieving
+business were hanged for horse-stealing," I said.</p>
+
+<p>"Has that story got around down here?" said one of the men.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; and I am very sorry that they were dealt with in that way. I
+wanted to get even with them myself. It seems as though those six
+thousand dollars didn't go very far with you."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, go on now, for we don't want to take this matter into our own
+hands. We will wait until you get up to the turn in the canyon, and then
+you had better look out."</p>
+
+<p>I rode on up the gully after Tom and Elam, and when I got up to the turn
+I looked back. The men were not in sight. Elam rode a little way further
+and then dismounted, preparatory to going into camp.</p>
+
+<p>"There were two things that happened to-day that I did not think
+possible," said I, throwing myself out of my saddle in a disgusted
+humor. "One was that Elam would give up when he saw himself cornered."</p>
+
+<p>"I saw at the start that they did not want to hurt anything," said Elam.
+"Suppose we had resisted them; where would we be now?"</p>
+
+<p>"And another thing, I did not think it possible for me to stand near the
+man who stole my cattle without putting a chunk of lead into him. He
+didn't say who he was until after he had charge of my rifle, did he?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, but I tell you you wouldn't have made anything by trying to shoot
+him. If we had made the least attempt to cock a gun, it would have been
+good-by. Those fellows were not fools."</p>
+
+<p>"And what made Elam deny his identity?" said Tom. "You said you were
+Toby Johnson."</p>
+
+<p>"And what became of his map?" I chimed in. "I saw him have it a short
+time before they came up. What did you do with it, Elam?"</p>
+
+<p>"It's there, close to where I was sitting on the rock. When we think we
+have given them time to get away, I'll go back there and get it. I
+didn't want them to find it on me."</p>
+
+<p>"And do you say that you took it out of your bag and threw it on the
+rocks?" said Tom in utter amazement. "I sat close to you all the while,
+and I never saw you do anything like it."</p>
+
+<p>"No; I took it out of my pocket," said Elam. "The name I gave, Toby
+Johnson, saved them from handling me mighty rough."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, now I am beaten!" I exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>"You see, if I had told them what my name was, they would have said at
+the start that I had some sort of a map with me, and would have hazed
+till I give it up. But they would never have got it," said Elam quietly,
+and there was deep determination in his words. "But I know one thing,
+and that aint two. Those fellows have left their picks and spades up
+here. They got tired of them and didn't mean to take them back."</p>
+
+<p>"Who were they, anyway?" asked Tom. "They were not the men who stole the
+skins."</p>
+
+<p>"Now, wait until I tell you; I don't know."</p>
+
+<p>"One of them might have been the man who got shot," I suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"There are a good many things connected with this nugget that we will
+never find out," said Elam. "And that's one of them. We'll stay here
+until we get dinner, and then I will go back after my map. It is all in
+a lifetime. So long as I get my nugget I don't care."</p>
+
+<p>"I never heard of men turning out so friendly after doing their best to
+rob us," said Tom, pulling the saddle off his horse. "And you met them
+half-way."</p>
+
+<p>"Who? Me? I will always be friendly with a man who never tries to do me
+dirt," said Elam. "If they had had the nugget you would have seen more."</p>
+
+<p>I was very glad indeed that they did not have the nugget. So long as
+they let us off without being hurt I was abundantly satisfied; but if
+they had had gold stowed away in their blankets, we probably should
+never have seen them. They would have slunk away among the rocks and
+tried to hide their booty for fear that we should try to take it away
+from them. Would Elam try to hide his nugget after he got it? Well, he
+had not got it yet by a long ways. We ate dinner where we were, and Elam
+shouldered his rifle, lighted his pipe, and started back after his map.
+He told us that we had better stay where we were, and this gave me an
+idea that Elam was afraid he might be shot. He was gone half an hour,
+and when he came back his face wore his old-time expression again.</p>
+
+<p>"Have you got it?" asked Tom, who always wanted to make sure that he was
+in the right.</p>
+
+<p>"Course I have," said Elam. "Catch up, and we'll go on. There is one
+thing about this map business that I don't exactly like. You see this
+nugget is hid in a pocket."</p>
+
+<p>Of course, I was thunderstruck, but then Elam had been all over that
+country, and of course knew where every pocket went to. He knew which
+canyons ran back into the mountains and which did not.</p>
+
+<p>"You see this man had a fight before he got the nugget, and he was too
+badly hurt to get off his course to find a pocket to bury his find,"
+Elam hastened to explain. "Now, this canyon that we are in goes back
+into the mountains I don't know how far, and it was in this gully that
+the fight took place; consequently the find is buried right here
+alongside of this little stream."</p>
+
+<p>"Who do you suppose that man was, anyway?" Tom remarked. "You have never
+heard of him since, have you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Now, wait until I tell you. I don't know. But let us go ahead, and I
+will tell you what I mean in a day or two."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you look for anyway, when you go off by yourself?" asked Tom.
+"If you would give us a pointer on that subject we might be able to help
+you."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't mind telling you that I am looking for a trail," said Elam.
+"And it is so old that no one but myself would notice it. When I find
+that trail I'm a-going to follow it up. It isn't over ten feet long, for
+a man as badly hurt as that one was, aint a-going to go a great ways to
+hide a nugget."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you mean to tell me that we are on his trail now?" exclaimed Tom in
+amazement.</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly I do. I have found two or three places where he slept."</p>
+
+<p>"Why didn't you speak about it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Do you suppose I have come in here this far without following some
+trail? Of course not. Some of the marks he made are so badly obliterated
+by the wind and the rain, that you can't make head nor tail of them,
+unless you know what had been there in the first place. Why, I have
+found blood on the rocks where he slept."</p>
+
+<p>"You're beaten, aint you, Tom?" I asked, when he gazed at me, lost in
+wonder.</p>
+
+<p>"I should say I was. I wish you had showed me that spot."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I will the next time I come across one. Good gracious! if I
+didn't know any more about trailing than you do, I would never find that
+nugget."</p>
+
+<p>"How do you suppose your father came by it in the first place? He must
+have got it in some honest way or he wouldn't have had it in his wagon."</p>
+
+<p>"That is one thing that I don't know," answered Elam solemnly. "He got
+it, and how it ever came noised abroad that it belonged to me beats my
+time. I wish the man that started that story had it crammed down his
+throat."</p>
+
+<p>Elam was getting excited again, and we thought it best to leave him
+alone until he got over thinking about the nugget. We didn't raise any
+objections when he spurred up his horse and got out of sight of us in
+the bushes. When we were certain that he had passed out of hearing, Tom
+said:</p>
+
+<p>"Why, it is two years since that man, whoever he was, made that trail
+through here, and to think he can find some traces of it now! It bangs
+me completely."</p>
+
+<p>"There are two things which must be taken into consideration," said I.
+"In the first place that man didn't know what he left of a trail; he
+hoped nobody would ever find it. A twig may have been broken down and he
+left it so, certain it would lead him back to the place where he had
+buried his find. In the next place there is some little sign for which
+Elam is looking that will lead him directly to the place he wants to
+find; some branch of a tree that has been broken down and looks as
+though somebody had been browsing there, and it will tell Elam that he
+is hot on the trail. Do you see?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I see; but I don't see how a man can follow a trail two years old.
+I wish you would show me his next camping ground. If I am a lucky omen,
+I may be able to find the nugget."</p>
+
+<p>I laughed and promised Tom that I would show him the next place I found;
+but it was a long time before I found any. You could not have told that
+a man had passed through there in one year or ten, the weather had so
+completely done away with all his work. But it did not make any
+difference to Elam. Sometimes he would be gone before we were up, but he
+always came back to supper, which we took pains to have good and hot for
+him. We never made any enquiries, for he knew just how impatient we
+were, and he would not keep us waiting a moment longer than was
+necessary. We had been in the canyon six weeks, and, to tell you the
+truth, Tom and I were getting pretty tired of the search. It was the
+same thing over and over every day, and I was glad that nobody had
+connected my name with a lost nugget. Elam would go along on foot,
+leaving his horse to follow or not as he pleased; and if he found a
+little pile of stones on the bank that didn't look as though it had been
+thrown up by nature, he would go into the bushes and perhaps be gone for
+an hour. We had long ago passed the pocket, and were continuing on our
+way slowly and laboriously up the canyon, and one day Elam startled Tom
+by calling out:</p>
+
+<p>"I reckon you will think I am all right now. Here is the place where
+that fellow camped."</p>
+
+<p>In less than two seconds Tom and I were by Elam's side. Cautioning us
+not to go too far so as to disturb things, he plainly pointed out to us
+the marks of a person's figure on the leaves. Some of the bushes had
+been broken down, and the leaves had blown over where he lay, but by
+carefully brushing these aside the impress of a person's form could be
+seen. There was no doubt about it, and I told Elam so in a way that made
+him all right again.</p>
+
+<p>"Where do you suppose that fellow is now?" said Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know," said Elam. "My impression is that he died."</p>
+
+<p>"But he wouldn't have given this map to a man when he knew it to be
+wrong, would he?"</p>
+
+<p>"I tell you that there's a heap of things connected with this nugget
+that we shall never find out. We are on the right trail yet. I tell you
+I feel encouraged."</p>
+
+<p>We all did for that matter, and every day we searched both sides of the
+stream to find that man's camping place, and when we found it we would
+call the others up; but one day Tom came into camp, and his face was
+full of news.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't want to raise any false hopes," said he, "but if I have not
+found something I will give it up. It's on the left-hand side of the
+creek. In the first place there were four stones laid up the bank, and
+the bush at whose foot they lay had been broken down and leaned away
+from the bank. And further than that, it was held in position by two of
+the branches, which were firmly tied about it."</p>
+
+<p>"Tom, I believe you have found it," said I.</p>
+
+<p>"It is too far away to find it before dark, but I will go there the
+first thing in the morning," continued Tom, who was so excited that he
+could scarcely speak plainly. "We want to take along our picks and
+shovels, too."</p>
+
+<p>We both glanced at Elam, but he didn't say anything. He was lying back
+on his blanket, with his pipe between his teeth and his hands under his
+head. He smiled all over, but said nothing.</p>
+
+<p>"Go on," said he to Tom. "What else did you find?"</p>
+
+<p>"And right there is where the fun comes in," said Tom. "The passage was
+about twenty feet long&mdash;he was too badly hurt to go further&mdash;and with
+every step of the way he had broken down a piece of the bushes, first on
+one side and then on the other, to enable him to keep a straight course.
+Right under the head of a rock that the passage brings up against, you
+will find something buried. It may not be the nugget, but there is
+something there."</p>
+
+<p>"Why didn't you dig down and see what it was?" said I.</p>
+
+<p>"It was pretty near night when I found it, and besides I wanted Elam to
+see it. I will go with you now, if you say so."</p>
+
+<p>"No," said Elam, filling up his pipe for a fresh smoke. "I'll be happy
+for once in my life for twelve hours, and if at the end of that time I
+find that there is nothing there&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"But I tell you there is something there," ejaculated Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"I will go back and go to herding cattle," added Elam, paying no
+attention to Tom's interruption. "I will give it up as a bad job."</p>
+
+<p>There wasn't much sleeping done in that camp that night, and although we
+stayed awake till toward morning, we had little to say to each other. We
+all wanted to see what was hidden up there. I had seen Elam become
+wonderfully excited whenever anyone spoke of the nugget and hinted that
+it wasn't there, but I had never seen him come so near finding it
+before. When daylight came Tom declared he couldn't wait any longer, so
+we got up and saddled our horses and followed along after him. We did
+not stop to cook breakfast, for in case we did not find the nugget
+nobody would want any. After going about a quarter of a mile, Tom
+stopped and dismounted from his horse.</p>
+
+<p>"There are the stones," said Elam.</p>
+
+<p>"You go along a little further and you will find everything just as I
+described it to you," said Tom. "Elam is about half wild," he added in a
+low tone to me, "so you and I had better take a pick along. Mind, I
+don't say it is the nugget, but there is something hidden in there."</p>
+
+<p>Talk about Elam's being half wild! Tom and I were in that fix also. We
+saw Elam examine the broken bush, the one that was held in place by two
+limbs that were tied about it, and his face grew as white as a sheet. He
+worked his way into the bushes, making his way all too slowly to suit us
+who were following close at his heels, and finally stopped under the
+hanging rock, where there was a clear space about two feet in diameter.
+The bushes grew as thick here as they did anywhere else, but they had
+been cut with a knife to give the digger a chance to work. Not one of us
+said a word, because we were too highly excited. Elam reached his hand
+behind him, and I, knowing what he wanted, placed a spade within it; but
+you might as well have set a child to scraping it out with a teaspoon.
+His hand trembled so that it was scarcely any use to him.</p>
+
+<p>"Here, Elam, give me that spade," I cried. "You will never get it up in
+the world. Now, stand back beside Tom, out of the way."</p>
+
+<p>I did not think Elam would agree to this, but he did, and in two minutes
+I had the leaves and brush all out of the way, faster than it was put
+in, I'll bet. But what was this I struck against before I had gone down
+three inches? It was not as hard as a rock, because, when I placed my
+shovel against it and tried to pry it up, the instrument slipped from it
+and showed me the color of the pure gold.</p>
+
+<p>"Elam, Elam, there's something here!" I shouted, so nearly beside myself
+that I did not know what I was saying. "Stand out of the way and let me
+handle it myself. When I get it out where the horses are, you can
+examine it till your head is as white as Uncle Ezra's."</p>
+
+<p>I have since learned that the nugget weighed 130 pounds, but it did not
+seem half that weight as I pulled it out of the hole and started through
+the bushes with it. I paid no attention to the others, who followed
+along after me, lost in wonder. I carried it out to where the bushes
+ended, and then laid it down, hunted up a rock, and sat down and
+examined it.</p>
+
+<p>"Elam, there's your nugget!" I said.</p>
+
+<p>"By gum, I believe it is!" said Elam.</p>
+
+<p>One would have thought by the way Elam went about it that he did not
+know whether it was or not. For fifteen minutes we sat there and watched
+him as he passed his hands carefully over it, brushing away a little
+particle of dirt here and pecking with his knife there to see if it was
+really gold, until he was satisfied; then he put up his knife and thrust
+out his hand to Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Tender-foot, I never would have found this if it hadn't been for you,"
+said he, with something like a tremor in his voice. "Shake!"</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you," said Tom, taking particular pains to keep his hands out of
+the way. "I'll take your word for it."</p>
+
+<p>"I won't squeeze you, honor bright!" said Elam.</p>
+
+<p>That was as good as though Elam had sworn to it, and Tom gave him his
+hand. He didn't squeeze it, but he shook it very warmly.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2>
+
+<h3>CONCLUSION.</h3>
+
+
+<p>I had often heard Tom Mason speak of his "luck" when telling his
+stories, but I believe he was utterly confounded by the turn his "luck"
+had taken in this particular instance. He was too amazed, so much so
+that he couldn't speak, while Elam, it was plain to be seen, looked upon
+him as a lucky omen. In these days he would have been called a "mascot."
+I was completely thunderstruck, and if Tom had told me that there was a
+nugget hidden under the biggest mountain in the valley, and I could have
+it for the mere fun of digging after it, I believe I should have put
+faith in his story.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish that nugget could speak," said Elam, bringing his examination to
+a stop and sitting down with his arm thrown over his find. "I would like
+to hear it tell of all the places it has been in. After so many years of
+waiting I have at last secured the object of my ambition, thanks to you,
+Tom Mason. Nobody supposed you were going to make yourself rich out
+here, did they?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, and I don't suppose they know it now," replied Tom. "Do you really
+imagine this is the nugget your father had?"</p>
+
+<p>"What is the reason they don't know it now?" demanded Elam.</p>
+
+<p>"Because the find isn't mine."</p>
+
+<p>"Didn't I say that I would give you half of it the moment we dug it up?
+You will find that I am a man of my word, Tom."</p>
+
+<p>"How much do you suppose the thing will pan out?" I said, seizing the
+nugget with both hands and trying to lift it from the ground. "It is
+heavier than it was a while ago."</p>
+
+<p>"That nugget will pan out between five and eight thousand dollars," said
+Elam. "That's the price that Spaniard put upon it."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think this is the same find your father had?" continued Tom. "A
+good many people have been searching for gold since then, and a great
+many nuggets of the size of this one have been dug up."</p>
+
+<p>"That's the reason I wish it could speak," said Elam. "Until I know
+differently I shall believe it is the same nugget. Anyway it is mine.
+Now, boys, I am going to Texas as soon as I can get there. You will go
+with me, of course."</p>
+
+<p>"What are you going down there for?" asked Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"To buy some cattle. You can get them down there for half what they are
+worth up here, and bringing them home across the plains will leave them
+in good order for next winter."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know whether I will go or not. There may be some lawless men
+down there, and you will have money on your person."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, what of it? A man that will stand up the way you did against the
+Red Ghost is not going to be afraid of lawless men! You must go, Tom.
+You are a lucky omen."</p>
+
+<p>As for myself, I did some thinking, too. There was my herd, for
+instance; a small one to be sure, but large enough to keep me in that
+country. If Uncle Ezra would sell his sheep and buy the herd, I would be
+a free man and willing to go to Texas, or any other place to see some
+fun. And that there was fun there I could readily believe. All men who
+had got into a "little trouble" in the more settled portions of the
+community came there to get out of reach of the law, and in a new
+country they did pretty near as they had a mind to. It would not be a
+safe thing for Elam to go down there with one or two thousand dollars in
+his pocket, but I for one was not unwilling to back him up.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, boys, go to sleep on it, and tell me how it looks in the
+morning," said Elam, jumping to his feet and making a place for his
+nugget in one of the pack-saddles. "I wish one of you boys would go back
+and get that pick and shovel that we used to dig this thing up, for we
+want to have them all with us. They will say we were so excited over
+finding the gold that we couldn't think of anything else."</p>
+
+<p>In due time a place had been made in the pack-saddle for the nugget, and
+we were on the back track. We travelled a good deal faster in going than
+we did in coming, for we didn't have to stop to examine signs on the
+way, and one day, to Tom's intense surprise, we found the springs close
+before us. Of course we had talked about Elam's new idea of going to
+Texas to buy his cattle, and we were pretty well decided that if he went
+we should go too. We could see that Elam was greatly pleased over our
+decision, but he did not have much to say about it.</p>
+
+<p>"We must stay here long enough to help Uncle Ezra down with his sheep,"
+said Elam, "and then we'll put out. I wish he would lend me a thousand
+or two on this, and take it up to Denver and get it panned out himself.
+I will take just what he says it's worth; wouldn't you, Tom?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why of course I would."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you have got a say so in it, and I shan't do a thing with it
+unless you say the word," said Elam. "You might as well give up and take
+your half."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps Tom would rather take his share and send it home," said I.</p>
+
+<p>"No, I wouldn't," said Tom. "My uncle has not yet had time to get over
+his pet. It will take him a year to do that, and then I will write to
+him."</p>
+
+<p>On the third night after we camped at the springs we drew up before the
+door of Uncle Ezra's sheep ranch. Boy-like, we had already made up our
+minds that we would not acknowledge to anything; if Uncle Ezra wanted to
+look into our pack-saddles and see what sort of luck we had had, he
+could examine them himself. Uncle Ezra was alone. When he was in the
+woods a more devoted follower of the gun could not be found; but he
+always liked the heat of the fire and preferred a comfortable bunk to
+sleep in, when he was within reach of the home ranch. Ben Hastings had
+gone back to the fort. His father always liked to have him around when
+there was danger in the air, and he had sent a sergeant and two men
+after him.</p>
+
+<p>"Halloa, boys!" said Uncle Ezra, "what sort of luck have you met with? I
+think the last time I saw you, you told me that the next time I saw your
+smiling faces you would have the nugget with you. I don't see any
+nugget."</p>
+
+<p>"We haven't had any luck at all," said Elam. "We ate up the grub, and
+now I am going to cattle-herding."</p>
+
+<p>"Elam," said Uncle Ezra severely, "you are not telling me the truth!
+There is something back of this."</p>
+
+<p>"All right. Come out and see for yourself."</p>
+
+<p>Tom and I removed the saddles from our horses, and at the same time
+Uncle Ezra came out and began his examination. With the very first move
+he made he hit the nugget. I never saw a man more completely taken aback
+than he was.</p>
+
+<p>"Hoop-pe!" was the yell he sent up which awoke the echoes far and near.
+"By gum, if you haven't got it. I don't want a cent!"</p>
+
+<p>In less time than it takes to tell it Uncle Ezra had lifted out the
+nugget and carried it into the cabin beside the fire, so that he could
+have a light to see by. When we got in there he had the nugget on the
+floor, and was pawing it over to see if it was that or something else
+which we had tried to palm off on him. When he saw Elam he got up and
+gave his hand a good hearty shake. I looked at Tom and I saw him put his
+hands into his pocket. I will bet you he would not have had that shake
+for his share of the nugget.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, sir, you got it," said Uncle Ezra. "I declare if it don't beat
+the world!"</p>
+
+<p>"Now, while you are shaking me up you don't want to forget Tom," said
+Elam. "If it hadn't been for him I shouldn't have found it at all."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you mean to say that Tom found it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly, for he found the trail that led to it," replied Elam; and
+then he went on to give Uncle Ezra a brief sketch of the manner in which
+Tom had got at the bottom of things. He added that if he hadn't shown
+Tom the place where the man camped, the nugget would have been up there
+now. Uncle Ezra listened in amazement, and when Elam stopped speaking he
+thrust out his hand to Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Where in the world did you learn to trail?" said he. "Shake."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you," said Tom, retreating a step or two. "I'll take your word
+for it. I wouldn't have such a shaking up as you gave Elam a minute ago
+for anything."</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Ezra laughed, and pulled a camp-stool near to the fire and sat
+down upon it. He couldn't get the nugget out of his head. He kept saying
+"By gum!" every time he looked at it, and now and then he glanced at
+Elam and pinched himself to see if he was wide awake or dreaming.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, I will give you something to chew on while Carlos is getting
+supper for us," said Elam; and as that was a gentle hint that he was
+hungry, I got up and went to work. "We three boys are going to Texas."</p>
+
+<p>"Going to Texas?" asked Uncle Ezra. "Now, wait till I tell you&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"And another thing," said Elam, paying no attention to the interruption;
+"we don't want to stay here until this thing is panned out; so can't you
+lend us a thousand dollars on that nugget?"</p>
+
+<p>"I know what you want," replied Uncle Ezra. "You want me to lend you a
+thousand dollars apiece."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, yes. That's about the way the thing stands."</p>
+
+<p>"Now, wait till I tell you. You will go away with all that money in your
+good clothes, and the first thing you know I will never see you again.
+Somebody will say 'Where's them three fellows that used to hang around
+your place?' and I will say 'Why, they went down to Texas to buy cattle,
+and those Texans found out that they had a lot of money about them and
+shot them.' That's what I'll say. Now, wait till I tell you. You can't
+go!"</p>
+
+<p>That was just about what I expected to hear from Uncle Ezra at the
+start, but I knew it would turn out otherwise. I knew if he had the
+money we would get it, and so I kept still. Tom was very much
+disappointed, but I gave him a wink and nod which told him that our
+circumstances were not as bad as they appeared to be, and that
+everything would come out all right in the end. I didn't blame Uncle
+Ezra for not wanting to let us go away with so much money in our
+pockets, but I did not see any other way out of it. If we wanted to get
+our cattle for about half what they would cost us right there, Texas was
+the place for us to go. The Indians were bad, and we would have to go
+right across the country inhabited by the Comanches, and they were about
+the worst cattle-thieves I ever heard of. Those lawless men&mdash;those who
+did not think that they were bound by any legal or moral restraint
+unless it was right there to punish them&mdash;were found everywhere, and it
+was going to be a matter of some difficulty to evade them. I had been
+there once, and I had seen just enough of it to want to go again. I
+wished now that I had not had quite so much to say in regard to those
+Regulators and Moderators who seemed to turn up when you least expected
+them.</p>
+
+<p>I got supper ready after a while and we all sat down to it&mdash;all except
+Uncle Ezra, who sat on his camp-stool with his eyes fastened on the
+nugget. He turned it first on one side and then on the other so that he
+could view it from all sides, said, "By gum!" every time he looked at
+it, and told us many stories connected with it that we had never heard
+before. To Elam's request that he would take charge of it he readily
+assented. He would keep it out until all the sheep-herders had seen it,
+and then he would hide it somewhere so that nobody would ever think of
+looking for it. It was in the hands of the rightful owner at last, and
+no one need think he was going to handle it again.</p>
+
+<p>"But you have a long way to take it to Denver," said I. "What will you
+do if somebody demands it of you!"</p>
+
+<p>"Now, wait until I tell you," said Uncle Ezra, while a look of
+determination came into his face. "Uncle Ezra has been there."</p>
+
+<p>"Now while you are talking about that nugget you are forgetting about
+me," said Tom. "I've got to go back to Mr. Parsons' cabin, and make some
+amends for that bronco. I didn't agree to let him be torn up. I have
+left money enough in his hands to settle for him."</p>
+
+<p>"That horse won't cost you a cent," said I.</p>
+
+<p>"What makes you say that?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because he was kept for the purpose of sending tender-feet into the
+mountains when Parsons didn't have anything else for them to do. The
+next one that comes along he will have to set him to herding cattle.
+Still I will go with you."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you. What's the reason Elam can't go with you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, he's got to stay here and watch the nugget!"</p>
+
+<p>"By George! Have you got to watch it now that you have found it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir. There are ten men employed on this ranch and four on mine,
+and you may be sure that all of them are not first-class."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, let them come," said Elam, getting up and stretching himself. He
+stood more than six feet in his stockings, and when he brought his arms
+back to show his biceps he fairly made the cabin tremble.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, you, dog-gone you," said Uncle Ezra, getting up and shaking a fist
+in Elam's face. "You want to go off and lose a thousand dollars of it
+and your life besides. Now, wait until I tell you. I'll sleep on it.
+I'll see how it looks in the morning."</p>
+
+<p>But in the morning there was not a word said about it. We ate breakfast
+by the firelight, and then Tom's horse and mine were brought to the door
+and saddled, preparatory to our ride to Mr. Parsons' ranch. In a pair of
+saddle-bags which I carried I had cooked provisions enough to last four
+days. As we were ready to start, Uncle Ezra came to the door and took a
+look at the weather.</p>
+
+<p>"How long do you think you will be gone, Carlos?" said he. "Two weeks?
+Then you needn't mind coming back here. We shall probably get the sheep
+out some time before that, and you had better come to our dugout on the
+plains. I'll see to your cattle. Good-by."</p>
+
+<p>In process of time we rode up to Mr. Parsons' cabin, and if I am any
+judge of the exclamations that arose from all sides they found it
+difficult to recognize Tom. It seemed that his two months in the
+mountains had changed him wonderfully. When he spoke of the bronco and
+repeated some words of advice that Mr. Parsons had given him, the latter
+remembered him at once.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, Tom, I am glad to see you," said he. "Alight and hitch. The bronco
+didn't get away from you, I suppose. And you found the nugget, too?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir; I did," replied Tom quietly.</p>
+
+<p>"Gold sticking out all over it, I suppose. Well, how much do I owe you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I've come here to see how much I owe you," said Tom. "That bronco has
+gone up. The Red Ghost finished him."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Parsons began to get interested now. He looked at me and I nodded
+assent.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you mean to say that the Red Ghost finished him? And did you find
+the nugget?" he exclaimed, hardly believing he had heard aright.</p>
+
+<p>"It's all true, every bit of it," I said. "He found Elam in a canyon
+where he got lost, and afterward found a map. He used that map, which
+started in at the springs, and afterward found the nugget."</p>
+
+<p>"There now!" exclaimed the elderly man, the one who had been in the
+mountains just ahead of Tom, and whose camp the latter slept in every
+night. "I told you that I did not think there was gold hidden there, and
+you thought me crazy."</p>
+
+<p>"Well&mdash;I&mdash;I&mdash;come in, come in," cried Mr. Parsons. "I must hear that
+story from beginning to end. And are you sure he found the nugget?
+Wasn't it something else that he found?"</p>
+
+<p>There were five men standing around who had been ordered to go away on
+some work or another, but they all quit and came into the cabin to hear
+the story. I took the part of spokesman upon myself, for I did not think
+that Tom would care to dwell too minutely on his meeting with the Red
+Ghost or his getting lost in the mountains, and I do not think I left
+out anything. I never saw a lot of men so confounded as they were. To
+suppose that a lot of gold had been hidden there in the mountains, which
+had come from some place a hundred miles away from there, and that Mr.
+Parsons had sent a dozen tender-feet into the hills to find it, was more
+than they could understand. When I got through they looked upon Tom with
+a trifle more of respect than they did before. They couldn't find words
+with which to express their astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, perhaps, you are willing to talk to me about that bronco," said
+Tom. "How much do I owe you for him?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not a red cent," said Mr. Parsons. "Not a single, solitary copper. I
+kept him for the sake of such fellows as you are, and now that he has
+got through with his business, I say let him rest. I shall never have
+any more chances to send him into the mountains with tender-feet. But,
+Tom, I owe you more than I can pay you."</p>
+
+<p>"You let up on one debt and I will let up on the other," said Tom, with
+a laugh. "If Elam wasn't such a hot-headed fellow, I should be glad of
+it. He wants me to take half that nugget, and I don't want to do it."</p>
+
+<p>"Take it and say nothing to nobody," said Mr. Parsons. "You will find
+means to make it up. How much will it pan out?"</p>
+
+<p>"Between $5000 and $8000," I answered. "But it is my opinion it will be
+nearer $5000. Elam has got that story in his head about the sum of money
+that Spaniard put upon it, and he kinder leans to that sum."</p>
+
+<p>"That's a larger amount of money than most of us can make. Now, I hope
+that nobody will knock him in the head for it."</p>
+
+<p>That was just what I was afraid of, and I made all haste to get back to
+Elam. I went up to Denver with him and Uncle Ezra, and there we sold the
+nugget for $6500. The money was all placed in the bank, with the
+exception of $2000, $1000 of which he took back to give to Tom. I sold
+my stock for $5000, and also took $1000 with me to purchase cattle. We
+were gone a month, and when we got back there was nothing to hinder us
+from starting for Texas. We had a long and fearful journey before us,
+more trouble than it is in these times, and we were a long while in
+saying good-by to the friends we left behind. We had something, too,
+that we didn't count on, and what it was and how we got around it shall
+be told in "<span class="smcap">The Missing Pocket-book; Or, Tom Mason's Luck.</span>"</p>
+
+<h3>THE END.</h3>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="FAMOUS_STANDARD_JUVENILE_LIBRARIES" id="FAMOUS_STANDARD_JUVENILE_LIBRARIES"></a>FAMOUS STANDARD JUVENILE LIBRARIES.</h2>
+
+
+<h2>HORATIO ALGER, JR.</h2>
+
+<p>The enormous sales of the books of Horatio Alger, Jr., show the
+greatness of his popularity among the boys, and prove that he is one of
+their most favored writers. I am told that more than half a million
+copies altogether have been sold, and that all the large circulating
+libraries in the country have several complete sets, of which only two
+or three volumes are ever on the shelves at one time. If this is true,
+what thousands and thousands of boys have read and are reading Mr.
+Alger's books! His peculiar style of stories, often imitated but never
+equaled, have taken a hold upon the young people, and, despite their
+similarity, are eagerly read as soon as they appear.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Alger became famous with the publication of that undying book,
+"Ragged Dick, or Street Life in New York." It was his first book for
+young people, and its success was so great that he immediately devoted
+himself to that kind of writing. It was a new and fertile field for a
+writer then, and Mr. Alger's treatment of it at once caught the fancy of
+the boys. "Ragged Dick" first appeared in 1868, and ever since then it
+has been selling steadily, until now it is estimated that about 200,000
+copies of the series have been sold.</p>
+
+<p><i>&mdash;Pleasant Hours for Boys and Girls.</i></p>
+
+<p>A writer for boys should have an abundant sympathy with them. He should
+be able to enter into their plans, hopes, and aspirations. He should
+learn to look upon life as they do. Boys object to be written down to. A
+boy's heart opens to the man or writer who understands him.</p>
+
+<p>&mdash;From <i>Writing Stories for Boys</i>, by Horatio Alger, Jr.</p>
+
+<h3>RAGGED DICK SERIES.</h3>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Ragged Dick.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Fame and Fortune.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Mark the Match Boy.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Rough and Ready.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Ben the Luggage Boy.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Rufus and Rose.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>TATTERED TOM SERIES&mdash;First Series.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Tattered Tom.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Paul the Peddler.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Phil the Fiddler.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Slow and Sure.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>TATTERED TOM SERIES&mdash;Second Series.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Julius.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Young Outlaw.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Sam's Chance.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Telegraph Boy.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>CAMPAIGN SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Frank's Campaign.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Paul Prescott's Charge.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Charlie Codman's Cruise.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>LUCK AND PLUCK SERIES&mdash;First Series.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Luck and Pluck.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Sink or Swim.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Strong and Steady.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Strive and Succeed.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>LUCK AND PLUCK SERIES&mdash;Second Series.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Try and Trust.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Bound to Rise.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Risen from the Ranks.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Herbert Carter's, Legacy.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>BRAVE AND BOLD SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Brave and Bold.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Jack's Ward.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Shifting for Himself.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Wait and Hope.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>NEW WORLD SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Digging for Gold.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Facing the World.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In a New World.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>VICTORY SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Only an Irish Boy.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Victor Vane, or the Young Secretary.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Adrift in the City.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>FRANK AND FEARLESS SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Frank Hunter's Peril.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Young Salesman.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Frank and Fearless.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>GOOD FORTUNE LIBRARY.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Walter Sherwood's Probation.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Young Bank Messenger.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A Boy's Fortune.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>RUPERT'S AMBITION.</h3>
+
+<h3>JED, THE POOR-HOUSE BOY.</h3>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<h2>HARRY CASTLEMON.</h2>
+
+<p>HOW I CAME TO WRITE MY FIRST BOOK.</p>
+
+<p>When I was sixteen years old I belonged to a composition class. It was
+our custom to go on the recitation seat every day with clean slates, and
+we were allowed ten minutes to write seventy words on any subject the
+teacher thought suited to our capacity. One day he gave out "What a Man
+Would See if He Went to Greenland." My heart was in the matter, and
+before the ten minutes were up I had one side of my slate filled. The
+teacher listened to the reading of our compositions, and when they were
+all over he simply said: "Some of you will make your living by writing
+one of these days." That gave me something to ponder upon. I did not say
+so out loud, but I knew that my composition was as good as the best of
+them. By the way, there was another thing that came in my way just then.
+I was reading at that time one of Mayne Reid's works which I had drawn
+from the library, and I pondered upon it as much as I did upon what the
+teacher said to me. In introducing Swartboy to his readers he made use
+of this expression: "No visible change was observable in Swartboy's
+countenance." Now, it occurred to me that if a man of his education
+could make such a blunder as that and still write a book, I ought to be
+able to do it, too. I went home that very day and began a story, "The
+Old Guide's Narrative," which was sent to the <i>New York Weekly</i>, and
+came back, respectfully declined. It was written on both sides of the
+sheets but I didn't know that this was against the rules. Nothing
+abashed, I began another, and receiving some instruction, from a friend
+of mine who was a clerk in a book store, I wrote it on only one side of
+the paper. But mind you, he didn't know what I was doing. Nobody knew
+it; but one day, after a hard Saturday's work&mdash;the other boys had been
+out skating on the brick-pond&mdash;I shyly broached the subject to my
+mother. I felt the need of some sympathy. She listened in amazement, and
+then said: "Why, do you think you could write a book like that?" That
+settled the matter, and from that day no one knew what I was up to until
+I sent the first four volumes of Gunboat Series to my father. Was it
+work? Well, yes; it was hard work, but each week I had the satisfaction
+of seeing the manuscript grow until the "Young Naturalist" was all
+complete.</p>
+
+<p>&mdash;<i>Harry Castlemon in the Writer.</i></p>
+
+<h3>GUNBOAT SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Frank the Young Naturalist.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Frank on a Gunboat.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Frank in the Woods.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Frank before Vicksburg.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Frank on the Lower Mississippi.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Frank on the Prairie.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>ROCKY MOUNTAIN SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Frank Among the Rancheros.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Frank at Don Carlos' Rancho.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Frank in the Mountains.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>SPORTSMAN'S CLUB SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The Sportsman's Club in the Saddle.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Sportsman's Club Afloat.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Sportsman's Club Among the Trappers.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>FRANK NELSON SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Snowed up.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Frank in the Forecastle.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Boy Traders.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>BOY TRAPPER SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The Buried Treasure.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Boy Trapper.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Mail Carrier.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>ROUGHING IT SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">George in Camp.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">George at the Wheel.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">George at the Fort.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>ROD AND GUN SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Don Gordon's Shooting Box.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Rod and Gun Club.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Young Wild Fowlers.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>GO-AHEAD SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Tom Newcombe.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Go-Ahead.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">No Moss.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>WAR SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">True to His Colors.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Rodney the Partisan.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Rodney the Overseer.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Marcy the Blockade-Runner.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Marcy the Refugee.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Sailor Jack the Trader.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>HOUSEBOAT SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The Houseboat Boys.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Young Game Warden.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Mystery of Lost River Ca&ntilde;on.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>AFLOAT AND ASHORE SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Rebellion in Dixie.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Ten-Ton Cutter.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A Sailor in Spite of Himself.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>THE PONY EXPRESS SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The Pony Express Rider.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Carl, The Trailer.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The White Beaver.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<h2>EDWARD S. ELLIS.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Edward S. Ellis, the popular writer of boys' books, is a native of Ohio,
+where he was born somewhat more than a half-century ago. His father was
+a famous hunter and rifle shot, and it was doubtless his exploits and
+those of his associates, with their tales of adventure which gave the
+son his taste for the breezy backwoods and for depicting the stirring
+life of the early settlers on the frontier.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Ellis began writing at an early age and his work was acceptable from
+the first. His parents removed to New Jersey while he was a boy and he
+was graduated from the State Normal School and became a member of the
+faculty while still in his teens. He was afterward principal of the
+Trenton High School, a trustee and then superintendent of schools. By
+that time his services as a writer had become so pronounced that he gave
+his entire attention to literature. He was an exceptionally successful
+teacher and wrote a number of text-books for schools, all of which met
+with high favor. For these and his historical productions, Princeton
+College conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts.</p>
+
+<p>The high moral character, the clean, manly tendencies and the admirable
+literary style of Mr. Ellis' stories have made him as popular on the
+other side of the Atlantic as in this country. A leading paper remarked
+some time since, that no mother need hesitate to place in the hands of
+her boy any book written by Mr. Ellis. They are found in the leading
+Sunday-school libraries, where, as may well be believed, they are in
+wide demand and do much good by their sound, wholesome lessons which
+render them as acceptable to parents as to their children. All of his
+books published by Henry T. Coates &amp; Co. are re-issued in London, and
+many have been translated into other languages. Mr. Ellis is a writer of
+varied accomplishments, and, in addition to his stories, is the author
+of historical works, of a number of pieces of popular music and has made
+several valuable inventions. Mr. Ellis is in the prime of his mental and
+physical powers, and great as have been the merits of his past
+achievements, there is reason to look for more brilliant productions
+from his pen in the near future.</p>
+
+
+<h3>DEERFOOT SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Hunters of the Ozark.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Last War Trail.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Camp in the Mountains<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>LOG CABIN SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Lost Trail.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Footprints in the Forest.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Camp-Fire and Wigwam.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>BOY PIONEER SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Ned in the Block-House.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Ned on the River.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Ned in the Woods.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>THE NORTHWEST SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Two Boys in Wyoming.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Cowmen and Rustlers.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A Strange Craft and its Wonderful Voyage.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>BOONE AND KENTON SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Shod with Silence.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In the Days of the Pioneers.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Phantom of the River.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<h3>IRON HEART, WAR CHIEF OF THE IROQUOIS.</h3>
+
+<h3>THE SECRET OF COFFIN ISLAND.</h3>
+
+<h3>THE BLAZING ARROW.</h3>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<h2>J. T. TROWBRIDGE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Neither as a writer does he stand apart from the great currents of life
+and select some exceptional phase or odd combination of circumstances.
+He stands on the common level and appeals to the universal heart, and
+all that he suggests or achieves is on the plane and in the line of
+march of the great body of humanity.</p>
+
+<p>The Jack Hazard series of stories, published in the late <i>Our Young
+Folks</i>, and continued in the first volume of <i>St. Nicholas</i>, under the
+title of "Fast Friends," is no doubt destined to hold a high place in
+this class of literature. The delight of the boys in them (and of their
+seniors, too) is well founded. They go to the right spot every time.
+Trowbridge knows the heart of a boy like a book, and the heart of a man,
+too, and he has laid them both open in these books in a most successful
+manner. Apart from the qualities that render the series so attractive to
+all young readers, they have great value on account of their
+portraitures of American country life and character. The drawing is
+wonderfully accurate, and as spirited as it is true. The constable,
+Sellick, is an original character, and as minor figures where will we
+find anything better than Miss Wansey, and Mr. P. Pipkin, Esq. The
+picture of Mr. Dink's school, too, is capital, and where else in fiction
+is there a better nick-name than that the boys gave to poor little
+Stephen Treadwell, "Step Hen," as he himself pronounced his name in an
+unfortunate moment when he saw it in print for the first time in his
+lesson in school.</p>
+
+<p>On the whole, these books are very satisfactory, and afford the critical
+reader the rare pleasure of the works that are just adequate, that
+easily fulfill themselves and accomplish all they set out to
+do.&mdash;<i>Scribner's Monthly</i>.</p>
+
+
+<h3>JACK HAZARD SERIES.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Jack Hazard and His Fortunes.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Doing His Best.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Young Surveyor.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A Chance for Himself.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Fast Friends.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Lawrence's Adventures.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Elam Storm, The Wolfer, by Harry Castlemon
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ELAM STORM, THE WOLFER ***
+
+***** This file should be named 30428-h.htm or 30428-h.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/4/2/30428/
+
+Produced by David Edwards, Mary Meehan and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://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
+http://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, are 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 http://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
+http://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 http://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 http://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 checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart is 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:
+
+     http://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+
+
+</pre>
+
+</body>
+</html>
diff --git a/old/30428-h/images/illus1.jpg b/old/30428-h/images/illus1.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f0ef905
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/30428-h/images/illus1.jpg
diff --git a/old/30428-h/images/illus2.jpg b/old/30428-h/images/illus2.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1285871
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/30428-h/images/illus2.jpg
diff --git a/old/30428-h/images/illus3.jpg b/old/30428-h/images/illus3.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a799bf8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/30428-h/images/illus3.jpg
diff --git a/old/30428-h/images/illus4.jpg b/old/30428-h/images/illus4.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1a90fab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/30428-h/images/illus4.jpg
diff --git a/old/30428.txt b/old/30428.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..675cc6f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/30428.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,7833 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Elam Storm, The Wolfer, by Harry Castlemon
+
+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: Elam Storm, The Wolfer
+       The Lost Nugget
+
+Author: Harry Castlemon
+
+Release Date: November 8, 2009 [EBook #30428]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ELAM STORM, THE WOLFER ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Edwards, Mary Meehan and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                      ELAM STORM, THE WOLFER
+
+                                OR
+
+                         THE LOST NUGGET
+
+                       BY HARRY CASTLEMON
+
+      AUTHOR OF "GUNBOAT SERIES," "FOREST AND STREAM SERIES,"
+                    "WAR SERIES," ETC., ETC.
+
+
+PHILADELPHIA
+HENRY T. COATES & CO.
+
+Copyright, 1895,
+BY PORTER & COATES.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE RED GHOST.]
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+I. SOMETHING ABOUT THE NUGGET
+
+II. TOM MASON AGAIN
+
+III. TOM BEGINS HIS WANDERINGS
+
+IV. THE WRONG BOAT
+
+V. TOM'S LUCK
+
+VI. TOM ADMIRES THE COWBOYS
+
+VII. A TEMPERANCE LECTURE
+
+VIII. A HOME RANCH
+
+IX. LOST IN THE MOUNTAINS
+
+X. THE CAMP OF ELAM, THE WOLFER
+
+XI. UNWELCOME VISITORS
+
+XII. TOM FINDS SOMETHING
+
+XIII. ELAM INTERVIEWS THE MAJOR
+
+XIV. ELAM UNDER FIRE
+
+XV. UNCLE EZRA PUTS HIS FOOT DOWN
+
+XVI. A NEW EXPEDITION
+
+XVII. THE NUGGET IS FOUND
+
+XVIII. CONCLUSION
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+THE RED GHOST.
+
+TOM'S NEW ACQUAINTANCE.
+
+TOM IN HIDING.
+
+ELAM'S FIGHT WITH THE CHEYENNES.
+
+
+
+
+ELAM STORM, THE WOLFER;
+
+OR,
+
+THE LOST NUGGET.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+SOMETHING ABOUT THE NUGGET.
+
+
+"Yes, sir; it's just like I tell you. Every coyote on this here ranch,
+mean and sneaking as he is, is worth forty dollars to the man who can
+catch him."
+
+"Then what is the reason Carlos and I can't make some money this
+winter?"
+
+"You mout, and then again you moutn't. It aint everybody who can coax
+one of them smart prowlers to stick his foot in a trap. If that was the
+case, my neighbors would have had more sheep, and Elam Storm would be
+worth a bushel of dollars."
+
+"And you are going to grub-stake him again this winter, are you, Uncle
+Ezra?"
+
+"Sure. I always do."
+
+"What is the reason you won't let us go with him to the mountains?"
+
+"'Cause I know that your folks aint so tired of you that they are ready
+to lose you yet awhile; that's why."
+
+"Only just a few days. We'll come back at the end of the week if you say
+so, won't we, Carlos?"
+
+"'Taint no use of talking, Ben; not a bit. Man alive! what would I say
+to the major if anything should happen to you? And going off with Elam
+Storm! That would be the worst yet."
+
+"But Elam is honest and reliable. You have said so more than once, Uncle
+Ezra."
+
+"Oh, he's honest enough, as far as that goes, but shiftless--mighty
+shiftless. And I never said he was reliable except in one way. He's
+reliable enough to go to the mountains every fall and come back every
+spring with a hoss-back load of peltries, and that's all he is reliable
+for. I did make out to hold him down to the business of sheep-herding
+for a couple of years, but then the roaming fever took him again and
+nobody couldn't do nothing with him. He just had to go, and so he asked
+for a grub-stake and lit out."
+
+"You think that while he is in the mountains he looks for something
+besides wolf-skins, don't you?"
+
+"I know he does. He's got a fool notion that will some day be the death
+of him, just as it has been the death of a dozen other men who tried to
+follow out the same notion."
+
+"You promised to tell me all about it some day, and about Elam, too; and
+what better time can we have than the present? We are here by ourselves,
+and there is no one to break in on your story."
+
+"Well, then, I'll tell you if it will ease your minds any. It won't be
+long, so you needn't go to settling yourself as though you had an
+all-night's job before you to listen. And perhaps when I am done you
+will know why I don't want you to go piking about the country with such
+a fellow as Elam Storm."
+
+It was just the night for story-telling and pipes. The blizzard, which
+had been brewing for a week or more, had burst forth in all its fury,
+and the elements were in frightful commotion. The wind howled mournfully
+through the branches of the evergreens that covered the bluff behind the
+cabin; the rain and sleet, freezing as they fell, rattled harshly upon
+the bark roof over our heads; and the whole aspect of nature, as I
+caught a momentary glimpse of it when I went out to gather our evening's
+supply of fire-wood, was cheerless and desolate in the extreme. Our
+party consisted of three (or I should say four, for the Elam Storm whose
+name has so often been mentioned was to have shown up two days
+before)--Uncle Ezra Norton, who was a sheep-herder in a small way during
+the summer, and an untiring hunter and trapper in winter; Ben Hastings,
+whose father, an officer of rank in the regular army, was stationed at
+the fort fifty miles away; and myself, Carlos Burton, a ne'er-do-well,
+who--but I will say no more on that point, as perhaps you will find out
+what sort of a fellow I am as my story progresses. We were comfortably
+sheltered in our valley home, but we heard all the noise of the tempest
+and felt a good deal of its force; and accustomed as I had become to
+such things during my wild life in the far West, I did not forget to
+breathe a silent but heart-felt prayer for any unfortunate who might be
+overtaken by the storm before he had time to reach the shelter of his
+cabin.
+
+Under our humble roof there were warmth, comfort, and supreme
+contentment. The single room of which the cabin could boast was
+brilliantly lighted by the fire on the hearth, which roared back a
+defiance to the storm outside; its rough walls of unhewn logs were
+heavily draped with the skins of the elk, blacktail, and mountain sheep
+that had fallen to our rifles during the hunt, completely shutting out
+all the cold and damp and darkness; and Ben and I, with our moccasoned
+feet thrust toward the cheerful blaze, reclined luxuriously upon a pile
+of genuine Navajo blankets, while our guide, friend, and mentor, Uncle
+Ezra Norton, sat upon his couch of balsam sending up from his pipe
+clouds of tobacco incense that broke in fleecy folds against the low
+roof over our heads. Our minds were in the dreamy, tranquil state that
+comes after a good dinner and a brief season of repose following a
+period of toil and hard tramping that had been rewarded beyond our
+hopes.
+
+Uncle Ezra was a typical borderman, strong as one of his own mules, and
+grizzly as any of the numerous specimens of _Ursus ferox_ that had
+fallen before his big-bored Henry. Although he took no little pride in
+recounting Ben's exploits to the officers of the garrison, he was very
+strict with the boy when the latter was under his care, and never
+permitted him to wander far out of his sight if he could help it.
+
+Uncle Ezra was my particular friend, and had won my undying gratitude by
+his kindness to me. I was in trouble and he helped me out of the deepest
+hole I ever was in. When I struck his ranch one dreary day, two years
+before this story begins, afoot and alone, almost ready to drop with
+fatigue, and told him that every hoof and horn I had in the world had
+been rounded up by a gang of cattle thieves who had driven them into the
+Bad Lands to be slaughtered for their hides--when I told him this he not
+only expressed the profoundest sympathy for my forlorn condition, but
+grub-staked me and sent me into the foot-hills to find a gold mine.
+
+Judging from what I know now there was about as much chance of finding
+gold in the region to which he sent me as there was of being struck by
+lightning, and, more than that, I couldn't have distinguished the
+precious metal from iron pyrites; but I had to do something to pay for
+my outfit, and so I went, glad to get away by myself and brood over my
+great loss. For I had been pretty well off for a boy of fifteen, I want
+you to remember, and every dollar I had made was made by the hardest
+kind of knocks.
+
+When I first came out West, I began working on a ranch, taking my pay in
+stock at twelve dollars a month. My wages soon grew as my services
+increased in value, and as I took to riding like an old timer, I learned
+rapidly, because I liked the business; and it was not long before I was
+the proud possessor of a herd of cattle worth six thousand dollars. But
+it was precarious property in those days,--as uncertain as the weather.
+You might be fairly well off when you rolled yourself up in your blanket
+at night, and as poor as Job's turkey when you awoke in the morning; and
+that's the way it was with me. I was moving my herd to another section
+of the country in search of better pasturage, and was passing through a
+narrow canyon within two days' journey of the new range that one of my
+cowboys had selected for me, when all on a sudden there was a yell of
+charging men, whom I at first thought to be Indians, a rifle shot which
+killed my horse and injured my leg so badly that I could scarcely crawl
+into the nearest thicket out of sight, a hurried stampede of frightened
+cattle, and I was a beggar or the next thing to it. My three cowboys
+disappeared when the cattle did, and that was all the evidence I wanted
+to satisfy me that they were in league with the robbers. Ever since that
+time I had lived in hopes that it might be my good fortune to meet them
+again under different circumstances. When I learned that two of their
+number had been hanged somewhere in Arizona for horse-stealing, I was
+sorry to hear it, and hoped the other would mend his ways and so escape
+lynching, for I wanted to settle with him myself.
+
+At the time my story begins, however, I was on my feet again, as anyone
+can be in that Western country who is suffering from reverses. I had a
+home ranch and perhaps ten thousand dollars' worth of cattle ranging
+near the Bad Lands, into which my small herd had been driven to be
+killed for their hides; but I was poor enough and miserable enough when
+Uncle Ezra sent me off to hunt up a gold mine. I didn't find it, of
+course, but I took back to old Norton's ranch some specimens of quartz
+that made him open his eyes. They looked like chunks of granite, with
+little pieces of different-colored glass scattered through them. I had
+no idea of the value of my find, but so certain was Uncle Ezra that I
+had struck it rich that he took the specimens to Denver himself, and
+some expert there assured him that he was a millionnaire. But he wasn't,
+by a long shot, and neither was I. Uncle Ezra knew no more about
+business outside of sheep-herding and trapping than an Apache knows
+about astronomy, and the fifteen-year-old boy who was his only
+counsellor knew less, and the usual results followed. We were euchred
+out of our find, which meant the loss of bushels of dollars to us.
+During my prospecting tour I camped on the banks of a little stream,
+following through a secluded valley a hundred miles deep in the
+mountains, and stumbled upon a rich deposit of rubies and sapphires.
+Although there were no true red rubies nor true blue sapphires among
+them, they were beautiful gems and worth money. The Denver expert told
+Uncle Ezra that there was a sprinkling of fire opals among them, but
+this I am inclined to doubt, for I never heard of those stones being
+found together. Anyhow, that deposit, whose wealth was first presented
+to my inexperienced eyes, covered sixteen acres of ground, and is being
+worked by a syndicate with a cash capital of two million dollars. Uncle
+Ezra and I saved a small stake for old age; but you bet I will know a
+good thing the next time I see it.
+
+Ben Hastings, as I have said, was the son of an army officer who was
+stationed at the fort a few miles away, and this was the first time he
+had ever been west of the Mississippi. He had the good sense to
+acknowledge that he was a tender-foot, and perhaps that made me take to
+him from the start. He could ride and shoot a little, and had camped in
+small patches of timber like to Adirondacks and up about Moosehead Lake;
+but he did not pretend to know it all, as the majority of Eastern men do
+when they come out here, and so he had plenty of friends among men who
+were willing to assist him. He fairly overflowed with delight when I
+took him an invitation from Uncle Ezra to spend a month on his
+sheep-ranch. His father was glad to let him accept, for old Ezra was a
+particular friend of his, and often acted as guide when the major went
+scouting. This hunt to Wind River Mountains had been undertaken for
+Ben's especial benefit, and as we pushed him to the front as often as
+the opportunity was presented, he shot more elk and blacktail than we
+did.
+
+I have spoken of Elam Storm, a particular friend of all of us. He was
+somewhere in the mountains now and ought to have joined us two days ago,
+but, seeing that it was Elam, we did not pay any attention to it. He was
+a professional wolfer whom Uncle Ezra had befriended. Old Ezra said he
+was shiftless; but he certainly was not lazy, for he would work harder
+at doing nothing than any fellow I ever saw. He was game, too. He had
+some sort of a notion in his head that governed all his actions, and
+although I was as intimate with him as anybody in the country, I never
+could find out what it was. But I did not push my enquiries, I want you
+to understand, for Elam had a sharp tongue, which he did not hesitate to
+use when he thought occasion demanded it, and, besides, he was handy
+with his gun. I had often asked Uncle Ezra to tell me what he knew of
+Elam's history, but could never get him started on the subject; so I was
+glad to hear him say in response to Ben's importunities that he would
+tell the story.
+
+"How long ago was it since Elam came to you?" enquired Ben Hastings,
+with a view of hurrying Uncle Ezra, who was refilling his pipe, gazing
+with great deliberation the while into the fire, as if he there saw the
+incidents he was about to describe.
+
+"He never came to me at all," replied the old man. "I fetched him to my
+ranch, and he's been there off and on ever since. He's a different boy
+from Carlos, here,"--with a nod in my direction,--"the most
+improvidentest fellow you ever saw, and always dead broke, so that I
+have to grub-stake him every fall. I have offered more than once to take
+him right along and give him his pay in stock, so that he could get a
+start with some sheep of his own, but he won't hear to it. That's what
+makes me mad at Elam. It's all along of that fool notion that will some
+day be the death of him like I told you."
+
+"But what is that fool notion?" asked Ben, as Uncle Ezra paused to light
+his pipe with a brand from the fire.
+
+"Wait till I tell you. You see, Elam's history, so far as I know
+anything about it, begins with that treasure train that was lost up the
+country years ago. An army paymaster started for Grayson with three
+government wagons, a guard of twelve soldiers, and thirty thousand
+dollars that was to be paid to the garrison at that place. Report says
+and always did say that there was one private wagon with the train, and
+Elam Storm he sticks to it that that there wagon was his father's. I
+don't dispute that part of his history, but I do dispute all the rest,
+for it won't hold water. He allows that there was a nugget into that
+there wagon, and that it was worth eight thousand dollars; and that's
+right where the history of Elam begins.
+
+"Well, sir, none of them men that went out with them wagons was ever
+seen or heard of after they left Martin's. When the time came for them
+to show up at Grayson and they didn't do it, scouting parties were sent
+out to look for them, and I was with the party that found the wreck of
+one of the wagons. And there's where I found Elam; but not a live man or
+critter or a cent of money did we discover."
+
+"What do you suppose became of them?" enquired Ben.
+
+"Carried off by the robbers that jumped down on the train," replied
+Uncle Ezra. "But whether they was Injuns or white men aint known for
+certain to this day. There wasn't nothing except hoof-prints and a few
+dried spots of blood to show where the attack was made on the train; but
+there was a dim trail leading from it, and by following that trail
+through the chaparral and down a rocky canyon that was hemmed in on all
+sides by mountains we found the wrecked wagon I spoke of. When one of
+the axles broke and let the wagon down so that it could not be hauled
+any further, the robbers took every blessed thing out of it and went on,
+and we never did catch up with them--everything, I say, except Elam. He
+was no doubt left in the wagon for dead, for when we came up he was just
+alive and that was all. He hadn't been hurt at all. He was scared and
+starved almost to the bounds of endurance, but with such care as we
+rough men could give him, and being naturally tough and strong, he
+managed to worry through. After he got so that he could talk he had
+sense enough to remember that his name was the same as his father's,
+Elam Storm, and that was everything he did know. He couldn't tell the
+first thing about the soldiers who composed the escort, or whether the
+men who made the attack were whites or Injuns, or what went with the
+money; and the worst of it was when he grew older none of these things
+didn't come into his mind, like we hoped and believed they would.
+
+"Seeing that the little waif was friendless and alone, and none of us
+didn't know whether he had kith or kin in the world, I offered to take
+him and bring him up as if he were my own son, and the rest of the boys
+they agreed to it. Although he has always been known around these
+diggin's as 'Ezra Norton's kid,' he aint no more relation to me than you
+be, and no more use neither, I might say, so far as helping on the ranch
+is concerned. He always was a shiftless sort of chap, and liked best to
+get away by himself and 'mope,' as I called it, though I believe now
+that he was doing a power of thinking, and trying to remember who he
+was, where he had once lived, and what happened to him before the train
+was lost. I wasn't much surprised when he took to wolfing as a means of
+getting his grub and clothes, for that solitary business just suited his
+solitary disposition; but I was teetotally dumfoundered and mad, too,
+when he told me that his father was alive, and that he would some day
+find him and his big nugget together. Mind you, he didn't say this as
+though he hoped and believed it might be true, but as positive as though
+he knew it was true."
+
+"Where do you suppose they--I mean his father and the nugget--are now?"
+asked Ben.
+
+"Pshaw! His father is dead long ago," replied Uncle Ezra, in a very
+decided tone. "Leastwise the men who went with the wagons are dead, and
+so old Elam must be dead, too. Don't stand to reason that only one man
+out of the whole outfit should turn up alive, does it? These things
+happened thirteen year ago, and Elam is nigh about twenty now, I should
+say. As for his nugget--well, I don't know what to think about that.
+When I first come to this country, there was a nugget of that
+description in existence, which had been dug up somewhere in those very
+mountains, and the finding of it created a rush that reminded old timers
+of California and Deadwood. I jined in with the rest, but never dug out
+more than enough to pay my expenses; and that's what set me to raising
+sheep."
+
+When Uncle Ezra said this, he tipped me a wink, and settled back on his
+couch of fragrant boughs, nursing his left leg for company.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+TOM MASON AGAIN.
+
+
+"Well," said Ben interrogatively, "the nugget that Elam had to do with
+wasn't any relation to this one, was it?"
+
+"Wait till I tell you. I don't reckon there is any one thing in the
+world that has been the cause of so much misery and mischief of all
+kinds as that there nugget," continued Uncle Ezra reflectively. "The man
+who found it, whose name was Morgan, and who was working with two
+pardners, share and share alike, was about as honest as a man ever gets
+to be, but the sight of the small fortune which he unearthed one day by
+a single stroke of his pick, while working a little apart from the
+others, was too much for him. He was as poor as a man ever gets to be,
+and, worse than all, he had a sweetheart off in the States who was
+waiting for him to raise a stake and come home and marry her. He didn't
+like the idea of dividing with his two pardners, who would drop their
+roll at the faro table as soon as they got the chance, and so he took
+and buried his find and worked on as if nothing had happened. That is to
+say, he tried to; but with a big chunk of gold within easy reach of his
+hand it don't stand to reason that he could act just as he did before.
+He was uneasy all the time, and his pardners noticed it and suspected
+something. He took to visiting his nugget's hiding-place every night, to
+make sure that no one had dug it up, and his pardners found it out on
+him; and when at last he grew desperate and tried to carry it away
+secretly, there was some shooting done, and Morgan and one of his
+pardners were killed."
+
+"That left the survivor a rich man!" exclaimed Ben, who was deeply
+interested.
+
+"Now, just wait till I tell you. That left the survivor a tolerable rich
+man, but his sudden accession of wealth scared him so badly that he
+buried the nugget in a new place and put for 'Frisco, where he took sick
+and died. When the medical sharps warned him that he had not long to
+live, he told one of the nurses about the nugget, and gave him a map of
+the locality in which it was hidden. A month or so afterward the nurse
+organized a small expedition and went to the mountains to hunt for the
+treasure; but he hired for a guide a treacherous Greaser, who went
+ahead, dug up the nugget, and brought it to Brazos City, a small mining
+town in which I was located at the time.
+
+"Pierto--that was the Greaser's name--hadn't any more than got his
+nugget into the Gold Dollar saloon, which was kept by a countryman of
+hisn, and put it into a glass case and set it up on the table so that
+everybody could see and admire it, before he was offered eight thousand
+dollars for his find; but Pierto wouldn't sell. He thought he could make
+more money by putting it up at a raffle, and when the raffle was over,
+he would go back to the mountains and try for another nugget, taking
+some of us along if we wanted to go. Three thousand shares at ten
+dollars a share was what he thought would be about right, and I put my
+name down for ten shares then and there.
+
+"The Gold Dollar did a custom-house business after that. Crowds of
+miners from every camp for miles around came there to look at Pierto's
+find, take shares in the raffle, and drink forty-rod whiskey. Pierto and
+the eight countrymen of hisn whom he employed to guard the nugget night
+and day were armed with pepper-boxes and machetes, and were as sassy and
+stuck up as so many bantam chickens, and the lordly way in which they
+ordered us Gringos to stand back and not crowd the nugget too close was
+laughable to see. They were a surly gang and looked able to whip their
+weight in wild-cats; but in reality they were the most harmless lot of
+cowards that Pierto could have got together.
+
+"Like all mining towns, Brazos City could boast of some tough citizens,
+and among them was Red Jimmy Murphy, a noted desperado, and as smart a
+rough as ever pulled a gun. He and two of his pals were in the Gold
+Dollar every day and night, and after looking the ground over they
+concluded that the plant could be raised. No sooner had this been
+settled to their satisfaction than they set to work to get things ready.
+
+"The night before the raffle was to come off the Gold Dollar was packed
+as full as it could hold,--so full that there was scarcely room for the
+fiddlers to work their elbows,--and Pierto's guard had to use some
+little muscular strength to keep the crowd from pushing over the table
+on which lay the nugget in its glass case. Red Jimmy's gang was there,
+ready to grab the chunk at the critical moment, and finally Jimmy
+himself rode into the saloon on a kicking, plunging bronco. The closely
+packed men cursed and threatened and ordered him out, but gave way all
+the same, and when the bronco heard the squawking of the fiddles and
+felt the jab of his rider's spurs, he slewed around and backed toward
+the table. Pierto saw the danger, and made a desperate rush to save his
+nugget, but was just a second too late. Jimmy raised a yell to put his
+pals on the watch, and spurred up the bronco, which at once sent his
+heels into the air as high as the ceiling. Down went the table, and the
+glass flew into a thousand pieces. The nugget went sailing over the
+heads of the crowd and into the hands of one of the gang, who, in spite
+of every effort that was made to stop him, succeeded in tossing it to
+Jimmy; and Jimmy he headed for the door, riding over everybody that got
+in his way. Then there was fun, I tell you. I never saw lead fly so
+thickly before nor since. Everybody had a gun out, and Red Jimmy ought
+by rights to have been riddled like a sieve."
+
+"Uncle Ezra, did you shoot?" asked Ben.
+
+"I presume to say that I made as much noise as the rest," answered the
+old man, with a chuckle. "You know, I held some chances in that chunk,
+and didn't want to lose them. Of course Pierto had to shell out the
+money we paid him for the tickets, for the raffle could not now be
+brought off; we kept him right there under our guns till he gave back
+the last dollar, but he never set eyes on his nugget, and neither did
+we. Red Jimmy, desperately wounded as he was, got away to the mountains
+with his prize, and although a strong posse headed by the sheriff
+followed on his trail and finished him the next day, they did not find
+the nugget. One of his gang made off with it."
+
+"And you lost it all?"
+
+"Cer'n'y," said the old man.
+
+"And never got a chance to raffle for any of it?" asked Ben. "It has
+probably been fixed up into ornaments of some description by this time.
+An article worth eight thousand dollars isn't going to be left around
+loose."
+
+"It wasn't so two years ago."
+
+"Two years?"
+
+"Wait till I tell you. That nugget has travelled as much as five hundred
+miles from here, but somehow it always manages to come back. Here it was
+born, and right here it is going to stay until it has its rights. Mind
+you, that is Elam's way of looking at it, but it aint mine, by a long
+shot. We didn't none of us hear of the nugget again for nearly a year,
+and then one of the boys happened to strike a pardner who had got
+dissatisfied with the money he was making and went off to Pike's Peak,
+and there he learned that two of the gang who had stolen it were seen
+and killed for the part they had taken in the enterprise; for you will
+remember that several miners in the country had knocked off work and
+come in to catch a glimpse of Pierto's find, and of course they didn't
+feel very friendly toward the robbers.
+
+"Well, everybody for miles around kept open eyes for that nugget for
+years, until at last I forgot all about it until I heard that a couple
+of worthless Greasers had somehow got hold of it, and had been found
+done to death with that nugget by their side. Then I gave up all hopes,
+for if the nugget had fallen into the hands of honest men, that was the
+last of it; but it seems it hadn't, and that gave me another show," said
+Ezra, tipping me another wink, which was as near to a laugh as he ever
+got. "The two Greasers were about as tough specimens as you see, and
+they finally got into a fight to see which was the better man. When they
+were found, the victor had the nugget hugged closely to his breast, as
+if he did not want to part with it even in death. Not only that, but
+these two had scarcely found the nugget till they got into a row over
+who should carry it, and one of them got so badly whipped that he
+dropped and fainted right there. The other had strength enough to travel
+ten miles nearer the fort, and there he hid the nugget; but where he hid
+it he don't know. He raved about it while he was sick, and somebody told
+Elam of it (you see, everybody around here knows the history of that
+nugget), and every fall and winter he asks for a grub-stake and lights
+out, and I don't see any more of him till I drive my sheep down on the
+prairie. That happened two years ago, and every fall you'll see three or
+four fellows in the edge of Death Valley, saying nothing to each other,
+but ostensibly hunting coyotes, and all the while looking for that
+nugget, which is the thing they most want to find."
+
+"Then the nugget is really here?" exclaimed Ben.
+
+"It's here or hereabouts. It may be within ten miles of this place or it
+may be a hundred; for nobody knows where that fellow hid it. Mind you, I
+shouldn't like to be the fellow that finds it."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Because Elam will go for him. It's his nugget, and he knows it and he's
+bound to have it. Mind you, Elam doesn't say nothing about it, and he
+can't imagine what it is that sends the fellows prowling around Death
+Valley. But, laws! they may as well give it up. There have been a good
+many landslides in the canyon here the last fall, and if the nugget is
+under them, we may as well bid it good-by. I don't know that this nugget
+is any relation to Elam's, but it looks to me that way; don't it to you?
+And it seems so strange that it should come back here when it gets off a
+certain distance. The poor fellow is out there now hunting for it, and
+he may not show up this trip."
+
+"That won't be anything new for Elam, will it?"
+
+Uncle Ezra thought it would not. He might be a longer or shorter
+distance from there, and if he didn't put in an appearance, it was no
+matter; and, having got through with his talk, Uncle Ezra knocked the
+ashes from his pipe and settled himself in an attitude of rest, while
+Ben and I listened to the noise of the storm and thought of Elam's
+strange history. The nugget belonged to him, and we hoped from the
+bottom of our hearts that he would get it, although we made up our minds
+that he would have a strange time in getting back to the fort with it
+while there were so many desperate men waiting for him to recover it.
+Suddenly Ben thought of something.
+
+"Uncle Ezra, you didn't tell us how Elam's father came into possession
+of that nugget in the first place," said he.
+
+"Ask me something hard," replied the old frontiersman.
+
+"Don't you know?"
+
+"Nobody knows. We don't know whether it was hisn or he was just carrying
+it for somebody. We only know it was there--at least Elam says so. We
+only know that the robbers had it for years. There is a hiatus in the
+history of the nugget, and nobody don't seem to know what became of it
+in that time. We only know that them two Greasers had it and fought over
+it, and that brings it up to two years ago. It's my opinion that there
+will be another hiatus lasting for all time. At any rate it is worth
+eight thousand dollars, and I believe it is the same one I took ten
+chances on."
+
+Uncle Ezra rolled over as if he intended to go to sleep, and once more
+silence reigned in the cabin. Presently a deep snore coming from Ben's
+way told me that he was fast losing consciousness, and I was left to
+keep watch of the fire and listen to the howling of the storm outside.
+While I was thinking how foolish Elam was to go on searching for that
+nugget, when he might just as well have turned an honest sheep-herder,
+and laid out a little of his strength in taking care of his woolly
+companions instead of spending it all in wolfing, I, too, passed into
+the land of dreams.
+
+The next morning's sun (for the storm ceased shortly after midnight)
+found us still upon our blankets, for Uncle Ezra did not intend to go
+hunting that day, and it was nine o'clock when we got breakfast off our
+hands and the dishes washed and put away. We were just settling
+ourselves for another long story--a good one we knew it was going to be,
+for Uncle Ezra had promised to tell us about the first bear he ever
+killed--when a far-away and lonely howl came to our ears. It was so
+lonely that it seemed as if a single wolf was left, and that he was
+mourning over those who had fallen before the hunter's traps and rifle;
+but we knew it was not that. We listened, and when the sound was
+repeated, I threw open the door, and stepped out and set up an answering
+howl.
+
+"That's Elam," said Ezra, in response to Ben's enquiring look. "It is
+his way of announcing his whereabouts. I expect he will come along with
+a hoss-back load of peltries, so that I won't have to grub-stake him
+again this winter. Elam is pretty sharp, if I did raise him."
+
+The blizzard had swept the mountain free of snow, and it was only in the
+valley, where the fury of the storm had spent itself; consequently the
+new-comer had little difficulty in making his appearance. In the course
+of twenty minutes he came up, and then we knew he was not alone. We
+could hear him carrying on a conversation in a loud tone with someone
+near him, but could not catch the stranger's reply. Presently he came
+out of the scrub oaks leading his horse, followed immediately by a boy
+on foot; but where was the horseback load of peltries that Uncle Ezra so
+confidently expected?
+
+"Howdy, boys?" said Elam.
+
+"How do you do?" responded Ben. "Where's the rest of your furs?"
+
+"Gone--all gone!" replied Elam cheerfully. "One hundred dollars' worth
+of wolf-skins and fifty dollars' worth of other furs all gone up in
+smoke."
+
+"Were they burned?"
+
+"Burned? no. Some travelling trappers came to camp while I was absent,
+and Tom, here, wasn't man enough to stop 'em. They took everything I had
+down to the fort, and although I went there and did some of the best
+talking I knew how to do, I came pretty near getting myself in trouble
+by it. I want to see Uncle Ezra, though I suppose it is too late to do
+anything. This fellow is Tom Mason, and I want you to know him and treat
+him right. He got into a little trouble down in Mississippi, where he
+used to live, and came out here to get clear of it. Know him, boys."
+
+We shook hands heartily with Tom Mason, and although we were
+considerably surprised at Elam's statement that his outfit had been
+broken up by thieves, we were a good deal more surprised to learn that
+the youth at his side had got into "trouble" in Mississippi. After
+hitching their horse where he could graze we went into the cabin with
+them, and gathered about them with the idea of hearing an exciting
+story; for although I had been in the far West nearly all my life, I had
+not got over my fondness for a story yet.
+
+"Howdy, Elam?" said Uncle Ezra, removing his pipe from his mouth with
+one hand and extending the other. "You got into trouble, I hear, all on
+account of your furs. How did it happen? And you, too, Tommy." You will
+remember that the door of the cabin was open, and that Uncle Ezra heard
+every word of our conversation. "You didn't steer clear of all trouble
+by coming out here, did you? Well, never mind. Troubles will come to
+everybody, no matter what they do. Sit down and tell me all about it.
+Haven't had any breakfast, have you?"
+
+Elam declared that they had had enough left for breakfast, and produced
+his pipe and got ready for a smoke, while Tom sat by with his gaze
+fastened on the fire. I will tell both stories together, for Elam did
+not touch upon Tom's tale of sorrow at all. But, in the first place, you
+remember something about Tom Mason, don't you? You recall that he got
+Jerry Lamar into serious trouble by stealing a grip-sack that belonged
+to his uncle, General Mason, which contained five thousand dollars, that
+Jerry was arrested and put into prison on account of it, and that the
+only thing that turned Tom Mason in favor of the boys who were working
+to help him was the fact that Luke Redman was going to take the money
+across the river into Texas. Mark Coleman came near getting the money,
+when his skiff was stranded at Dead Man's Elbow, but had to go away
+without it; and from that time the history of the five thousand begins.
+Tom Mason fell in with Joe Coleman, who was Mark's twin brother, and he
+told him everything he had done; and when the last moment arrived, when
+the horns of the settlers announced that they were fast closing in upon
+the robbers, he told Joe to take charge of the money and dived into a
+canebrake and disappeared. No one would have thought of prosecuting Tom
+Mason if he had stayed there, but that was not the thing. He had been
+guilty, he had never done such a thing before, and he couldn't bear to
+stand up in that community and have people point at him and whisper:
+
+"There goes Tom Mason, the boy that robbed his uncle of five thousand
+dollars!"
+
+He would go West, to Texas, and when he had lived over a good portion of
+his life, he would write to his uncle and ask him if he might return.
+
+Now, bear in mind that this is what I heard from Tom's lips, after I
+became so well acquainted with him that he thought it advisable to tell
+me his story. I don't say that I advised him to stay out there in that
+lawless country among those lawless folks, for I didn't. I advised him
+to go home and "live it down"; but Tom was plucky and wouldn't budge an
+inch. Perhaps you will wonder, too, how it came about that a cowboy who
+never heard of Mark Coleman, Duke Hampton, and the rest should come upon
+Tom Mason in time to write the continuation of his story--a sequel that
+the boys in Mississippi knew nothing about until long after it occurred.
+All I can say is it just happened so.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+TOM BEGINS HIS WANDERINGS.
+
+
+"Joe, I will give this valise and gun into your care, and will thank you
+to see that they are restored to their owners. I know you will do this
+much for me, for it is the last favor I shall ask of you."
+
+"I took the articles in question as Tom handed them to me, and when I
+raised my eyes to look at him, he was gone. He had jumped past me,
+dashed out of the passage, and disappeared into the bushes before I
+could say a word to him."
+
+And that was the last that Joe Coleman ever saw of Tom Mason for long
+years to come. He was friendless and alone--how very much alone he never
+knew until by skilful dodging he managed to get on the outskirts of the
+body of settlers that were closing up around Luke Redman and his gang,
+and found himself beyond the reach of capture. His face was very pale,
+but he went about his business as though he knew what he was doing. It
+was very strange that a boy who had servants to wait on him at every
+turn--one to saddle his horse, another to black his boots, and still
+another to serve up his lunch when he got hungry--should have been
+willing to set off on an expedition by himself, but it showed that he
+knew nothing of the world before him.
+
+Having satisfied himself by the sound of the horns and the baying of the
+dogs that he was out of danger, Tom paused long enough to transfer his
+roll of money from his trousers pocket to his boot-leg. He had about
+fifty dollars that was all his own, and as he did not wish to lose it,
+he put it where he thought it would be safe, then straightened up,
+listened for a moment to a faint, far-off note that came to his ears,
+drew his hands swiftly across his eyes, and made the best of his way
+toward the Mississippi River.
+
+"That is my hound, and I'll bet it will be a long time before I shall
+hear him give tongue in that fashion again," soliloquized Tom, as he
+emerged from the cane and took a survey of the prospect before him. "I
+may never hear him, but I shall always remember him."
+
+As Tom came out of the cane he found himself on the verge of that swamp
+over which, one short week previous, the water had stood to the depth of
+fifteen feet; but Our Fellows had already ridden over it, with Sandy
+Todd for a leader,--the boy who admitted that he "might be slow
+a-walkin' an' a-talkin', but was not slow a-ridin',"--in their wild
+chase after the Indians and after Luke Redman, the man who had stolen
+Black Bess, and had managed in some way, they could not tell how, to
+secure possession of the valise which contained General Mason's five
+thousand dollars. The ridges were high and dry, and by following them
+one could enjoy a pleasant ride, avoiding the water altogether; but the
+trouble in Tom's case was the ridges ended either in the swamp at Dead
+Man's Elbow, the place where they afterward captured Luke Redman, or
+veered around until they ended in the very spot Tom did not want to go,
+the town of Burton, which was the only place in the county that could
+boast of a jail. It was dangerous to attempt to pass from one ridge to
+another, for the bottom was covered with a bed of mud in which a
+horseman would sink out of sight. Tom speculated upon this as he walked
+along, and although he was positive that no very desperate attempt would
+be made to capture him when it was found out that he was the guilty one,
+he would have felt safer if he had left all sights and sounds of his
+first wrong-doing far behind. How his uncle would scorn him when first
+he found it out! And the negroes! Why, it wouldn't be long till it would
+be all over the State.
+
+"This is what comes of a rash attempt to have revenge on a boy who never
+did me a thought of harm. Because I couldn't be the leader among Our
+Fellows I had to go to work and get myself into worse trouble by it. Why
+couldn't I have rested easy when I had nothing to worry about? But I
+mustn't allow my thoughts to get the start of me right at the beginning,
+for if I do, I shall come out at the little end of the horn. I wish I
+had an axe, for I would soon get across. I shall never find my way to
+the Mississippi as long as I stay on this side the bayou."
+
+While Tom was talking to himself in this way, he stood upon the bluffs,
+which, by drawing near to one another, had gradually left the low lands
+behind and brought the two banks of the stream within twenty feet--a
+bad-looking place, for it went far to remind Tom of Dead Man's Elbow. It
+was his only chance to cross the stream. While he stood there, looking
+at the dark, muddy water that flowed between him and liberty, that is,
+between him and the Mississippi, and trying hard to determine what his
+chances were of passing the night in his wet clothes with no means of
+starting a fire, his attention was attracted by the very sound he wanted
+to hear. He listened, and when the blows began to fall in regular order,
+as if the woodman was warming at his work, he left the bluffs behind him
+and turned and went into the woods.
+
+"That's an axe," thought Tom, "and as nobody but negroes can be chopping
+out here, I'll go up and get a bite to eat; for, now that I think of it,
+I'm hungry. I must be ten miles from my uncle's now, and of course no
+one down here has heard of that grip-sack business. To-morrow morning I
+will make him cut a tree across the bayou."
+
+Guided by the sound of the woodman's axe, Tom felt his way through the
+cane (for by this time it was so dark in there that feeling was the only
+sense he could go by), and presently came within sight of the chopper.
+He was a jolly, good-natured negro, who seemed a little startled on
+discovering Tom's approach, but speedily recovered himself when the boy
+addressed him by saying:
+
+"Hallo, Snowball! What are you doing so far out of the world?"
+
+"Sarvent, sar. Well, sar, you see all dis timber here? My moster is
+needin' some rail timber mighty bad, so he sends me out here every
+Monday and I stays here until Saturday. Say, boss, what you doin' out
+here? Ise you los'?"
+
+"You haven't seen a gray horse, with saddle and bridle on, going by
+here, have you?" asked Tom in reply.
+
+"No, sar, I aint. Did he threw you?"
+
+"Nor any hounds giving tongue?"
+
+"No, sar, I aint. Ise dey de ones you is lookin' for, boss?"
+
+"They're gone, and the best thing I can do is to follow after them on
+foot," said Tom, looking around for a handy log to sit down on; for, now
+that his tramp for the day was ended and he had somebody to talk to, he
+began to realize that he was tired. "I believe I'll camp with you
+to-night."
+
+"Sarvent, sar. Cert'n'y, sar. Whar might you uns come from?"
+
+"I came from the country about General Mason's place. Have you got
+anything to eat?"
+
+"Oh, yes, sar. Plenty of it, sar," said the negro, sticking his axe into
+the log he was chopping and leading the way off through the bushes. "Dis
+way, sar. I's often heared of folks up your way. Somebody up that a-way
+been a-stealin' five thousand dollars."
+
+Tom was thunderstruck. "Who brought that news here?" he asked.
+
+"De niggers, dey brung it. You can't keep anything away from de
+darkies."
+
+"How far is General Mason's place from here?"
+
+"Fifteen miles, or sich a matter."
+
+"And did the darkies say who stole it?"
+
+"Oh, yes, sar. Dey say that a youngster named Tom Mason--he's just about
+your size, but you aint no thief, be ye?"
+
+"Do I look like a thief?" enquired Tom.
+
+"I aint a-sayin' you did, sar. I only say he was just about your size.
+Then this Luke Redman,--you've heared of him, aint ye?--he got hold of
+the money and tried to run away to Texas."
+
+"Well, the old gentleman has got it now," said Tom, who plainly saw that
+it wouldn't do to talk too freely with the darky on this subject,
+because he knew too much. "They organized a big expedition and hunted
+the man down and captured him."
+
+"I am mighty glad to hear it, and I hope dey will throw dem as 'as got
+it in jail so tight that dey won't never have time to think of five
+thousand dollars. Now, sit down on that block of wood and I'll soon get
+you something to eat. You see, there is two bunks here? One belongs to
+my pardner, who is home now, sick with the rheumatiz. Moster is mighty
+keerful of his niggers, and he don't like to have Pomp come down here
+dat a-way, so he told him he must stay about the house and do light
+chores until next week, when he will come down here to help me split
+rails. Dere's a slice of bacon and some johnny cake for you. If you can
+wait till I fix up the fire I will give you a cup of coffee."
+
+"Does your master give you coffee?" asked Tom in surprise, for he could
+not remember that his uncle ever so far forgot himself.
+
+"'Course he does, sar, when we are splittin' rails; and sometimes"--here
+the darky leaned over and whispered the words to Tom, as if he feared
+that somebody would overhear them--"we take a handful now and then to do
+the old woman. Hy-ya!"
+
+Tom laughed as heartily as the negro did,--his laugh was catching,--but
+said he would wait until the darky had his supper.
+
+"Very well, den. You eat your lunch and I will go back to my
+rail-splittin'. When you get through, just lay down in Pomp's bunk and
+go to sleep. I'll have you up at seven o'clock."
+
+The darky went out, and Tom, being left to himself, proceeded to look
+about him. The cabin, which was built of rails, was barely large enough
+to seat two men at the table; but it was tight, and as the most the
+darkies had to do was to eat and sleep under it, it had plenty of room
+in it. Besides, there was a bench beside the door, and when the darkies
+were tired of working, that was the place for them to "loaf." By the
+time he had made these observations his bacon and johnny cake were gone,
+and he got up and crept into Pomp's bunk.
+
+By the time he awoke it was pitch dark, save where the faint light from
+the dying fire which the negro had kindled to cook his supper shone
+through the open doorway. The terrific snores which came from the bunk
+at his feet told him that the darky had long ago retired to rest, but he
+was hungry, and he crept out of bed to see if anything had been left for
+him. He found a pot of coffee and a huge chunk of bacon and johnny cake
+waiting for him on the coals, and as the fire had not had time to burn
+itself out, they were as warm as when they first were cooked. But by
+certain signs which he discovered while disposing of the good things the
+darky had provided for him, he found that he had been asleep longer than
+he had thought, and that daylight was not far off, and finally the negro
+started up from an apparently sound sleep, threw aside the blankets with
+a frantic sweep of his arm, and sat up and looked about him.
+
+"Hi! dere you is," said he. "I fix up dat fire fo' times during de
+night, but you was sleepin' so soundly that I couldn't b'ar to waken you
+up. Has you got plenty?"
+
+"Plenty, thank you. It's about four o'clock, isn't it?"
+
+The negro pulled himself entirely out of bed, put on his shoes, and went
+out and looked about him. After looking in vain for several stars which
+he ought to have found, but could not, he announced that his guest had
+struck the hour pretty closely.
+
+"Well, then, while you are cooking your own breakfast, couldn't you put
+on a little mess for me? You see, I am not bound for my uncle's house
+just now. I have to go down to the landing to meet the steamer _John
+Clark_ there, and get a trifling sum of money that one of the passengers
+will have ready for me."
+
+"Why, boss, how is you going to get across de bayou?" asked the darky,
+in surprise.
+
+"If my horse had not thrown me, I could have ridden him across," replied
+Tom. "But he had to start off on his own hook, and I shall have to do
+the best I can on foot. For that money I must have."
+
+"Dat's all right, sar. But I don't see how you are going to get across
+de bayou."
+
+"Don't you? Well, you just go ahead and cook me some breakfast and then
+I'll show you. If you had lived in these woods as long as I have, you
+would know that it is an easy matter to cut a tree across some parts of
+the bayou."
+
+Tom washed his hands and face in some muddy water he dipped up from the
+stream that ran a short distance from the camp, dried them on his
+handkerchief, and watched the negro as he went about his work. Now and
+then, when he thought Tom was not looking at him, he would roll up his
+eyes, taking in at one swift glance all the clothing he wore, from his
+hat down to his boots. Tom was well enough acquainted with the negro
+character to know that he had excited his suspicions in some way.
+
+"If I keep on in this way, I shall excite the mistrust of everyone I
+chance to meet," thought Tom, who wondered what he could have said that
+had caused this sudden change in the darky's behavior. "I have shut him
+up like an oyster, and not another thing can I get out of him. I shall
+be with him over half an hour longer, and then he can do what he pleases
+with his suspicions."
+
+"Dat's a mighty slick rascal, dat feller," muttered the darky, as he
+fished the bacon out of the frying-pan and placed it on to a clean chip.
+"Dere's your breakfast, sar. I'll eat mine out here by this stump."
+
+"Give me a cup of coffee," said Tom. "It is all I want."
+
+The steaming beverage was placed before him. Tom thought of the great
+world into which he was so soon to enter, and wondered if everybody in
+it was going to treat him as this obscure darky had done. Texas was a
+pretty good-sized empire, he had heard them say, and he believed it was
+made up mostly of men who had gone there to get clear of the law, and
+who had enough to think of to keep themselves out of trouble;
+consequently they wouldn't bother their heads about a boy who had been
+suspected of stealing five thousand dollars. When Tom had reached this
+point in his meditations, the darky, who had evidently swallowed his
+breakfast whole and rolled up in a piece of old gunny sack the supply he
+intended Tom should take with him, handed the bundle to him with one
+hand, and reached out for the axe with the other.
+
+"Ise ready now if you is, sar."
+
+This was all that passed between them. Tom got up, pointed out the path
+he wished the negro to follow in order to reach the narrowest part of
+the stream, which he had examined the day before, and fell in behind
+him; and it is a noticeable fact that he kept the black in front of him
+all the way to the stream. It is true that the man had no weapon but his
+axe, but with such an article, if he could only get the start with it,
+he could easily march him before his master, and that was the very place
+he didn't want to go. Such things had been done, and Tom did not see why
+they could not be done again. In a few minutes they reached the bank of
+the bayou, and when the negro saw it, he leaned on his axe and shook his
+head.
+
+"You knows what you want to do, don't you, sar?" he asked.
+
+"Yes, I know just what I want to do," replied Tom. "Cut down this tree
+first."
+
+The negro glanced at the top of the tree in order to see which way it
+would fall, cut a few bushes out of his way, and went to work. A few
+blows with the axe brought the tree down and it lodged on the opposite
+bank. Two more trees were cut down and the bridge was completed.
+
+"Good-by, Snowball," said Tom, extending his closed hand toward the
+negro. "I don't want you to do this for nothing. Here's a dollar to pay
+you for your trouble."
+
+"I--I don't want it, sar," replied the darky, drawing back. "I hope dat
+money won't sink you afore you get across de river, but I'm mighty jubus
+about it."
+
+"What money?"
+
+"General Mason's five thousand dollars, sar."
+
+"Do you suppose I have got that amount of money stowed away about me?
+Why, man, it's a valiseful. This money is all honest."
+
+"I can't help dat, sar. I can't shake hands with you, either. I would be
+afraid it would take all the strength out of my arms so't I couldn't
+split more rails."
+
+"All right, then. You stand here on the bank and see me work my way
+across. I bet you that all the money I have about my clothes will not
+sink me if I do fall overboard."
+
+As Tom spoke he stepped recklessly upon the bridge. We say "recklessly,"
+because had he taken more pains to examine the fastenings on the
+opposite bank he would have been more careful. He had nearly crossed the
+bayou when the log on which he was walking tipped a little, and although
+Tom made frantic efforts to save himself by seizing all the branches
+within his reach, it set the whole structure in motion. There was a
+"swish" of tree-tops, and in a moment more the bridge and Tom went into
+the water together. The negro looked, but did not see him come up.
+
+"Dar, now!" said he. "The money he had about his clothes was too heavy
+for him to walk the bridge with."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE WRONG BOAT.
+
+
+The negro, almost overwhelmed with surprise, watched the surface of the
+water to see Tom reappear, but it was only for a moment, and then with a
+rush one of the trees, which had broken loose from its moorings, swept
+over the very place where the head was seen, and the negro fairly danced
+with consternation when he saw one of the limbs catch Tom and carry him
+under water with it.
+
+"Dar, now!" he exclaimed. "If I go home and tell moster about this thief
+being drowned here, he will think I did it. What's dat?"
+
+When Tom arose to the surface, it was only just long enough to clear the
+water from his face, settle his hat firmly on his head, and take a fresh
+hold of the bundle containing his lunch, and then he saw the tree
+sweeping down upon him. To take in one long breath and go down again
+before it got to him was barely the work of a moment, so that when the
+tree passed Tom came up a second time, and this time he was much nearer
+to the bank he wanted to reach than he was before. A few lusty strokes
+brought him to it, and by the aid of trailing roots and vines he made
+his way to the top with the agility of a sailor, so that by the time the
+darky had got over wondering at his narrow escape, he was high upon the
+bank opposite to him, and pulling off his boot to see if his money was
+safe.
+
+"Is dat you, sar?" said he, scarcely raising his voice above a whisper.
+
+"Of course it is I," replied Tom, who did not know whether to get angry
+over the effects of his unfortunate plunge or to laugh outright at the
+darky's exhibition of astonishment. "You thought you had seen the last
+of me, didn't you? It takes a bigger stream than this to drown me. There
+is all the money I have got," he went on, taking his roll from his boot
+and holding it out to the view of the negro. "It don't amount to five
+thousand dollars, by a long shot."
+
+The darky did not know what else to say. He watched Tom as he pulled off
+his coat and vest and wrung the water from them, examined his bundle to
+see that his lunch was safe, said he thought the steamboat landing was
+about ten miles distant and there wasn't any more creeks to cross before
+he got there, and then saw him disappear in the woods. He stood for some
+moments gazing at the place where he had last been seen, and then
+shouldered his axe and turned away.
+
+"Dat's a mighty slick little rascal," said he, as he wended his course
+back to his camp--"a mighty slick little rascal. I don't reckon I'd best
+say anything to moster about it; and as for Pomp--I won't say anything
+to him, either. He'll leave me to cut rails alone if I do dat."
+
+"My first adventure," muttered Tom, as he hastened along the narrow
+ridge that led him toward the Mississippi. "That old darky believes, as
+much as he believes anything, that the little money I had in my boot was
+the cause of my being spilled into the drink; but it is all honest
+money, every bit of it."
+
+The sun grew hot as he went along, and by changing his coat and vest
+from one arm to the other, and by turning his money over in his hands to
+keep the wet bills on the outside, he gradually removed the effects of
+his cold plunge, so that long before he arrived at the point where the
+negroes were chopping he could tell them that he had started for the
+landing on horseback, but that his nag had thrown him and he was obliged
+to continue his journey on foot. He also tried to eat a little of the
+lunch with which the darky had provided him, but the johnny cake and
+bacon were wet, and after a few mouthfuls he dropped the remainder
+behind the log on which he was sitting.
+
+The negroes who were cutting wood for the supply of steamers that were
+plying up and down the river belonged to the man who owned the yard. As
+there were probably a dozen of them in all engaged in chopping wood all
+the time, their employer could afford a white man to oversee their work
+and the teams, but he seemed to have nothing to do but to sit on a log
+and whittle a stick. He listened good-naturedly to Tom's story, and told
+him where he could go to find the camp. The largest house in it was his,
+and he would probably find books and papers enough to amuse him until he
+came in from his work. The _Jennie June_ would probably be the next
+steamer that would stop at the landing for wood, and she would be along
+some time during the night.
+
+"I think that books and papers occupy the most of your time," said Tom
+to himself, as he started away in obedience to these instructions. "If I
+were a negro, I don't know any better job than having you for an
+overseer. Did you see how those negroes clustered around him to hear my
+story? If I had been their overseer, I should have started them back to
+their work in a hurry."
+
+Tom found the camp deserted by all save an old darky who was sitting on
+a bench outside one of the doors sunning himself. He was the cook, he
+said. He pointed out the overseer's house and told Tom to go in there
+and make himself at home, and Tom went; but he did not make himself very
+much at home after he got there. He found several books scattered about,
+but they were all old; and it was hard to tell where the overseer hung
+his clothes, for the back of the solitary chair of which the cabin could
+boast was liberally supplied with them. His trunk was open and the
+contents were littered about, and on the bare table, on which the
+overseer had left some signs of his breakfast which were still
+untouched, were articles that ought long ago to have been in the wash. A
+glance about the cabin showed Tom that there was at least one article of
+which the overseer was choice--his rifle. That, together with the
+powder-horn, bullet-pouch, and hunting-knife, was hung upon pegs over
+the door. Whatever accident might befall his other traps, his hunting
+outfit would always be safe.
+
+Tom took a seat on the bench outside the door, looked up at the sun to
+see how near twelve o'clock it was, and then looked at the negro. The
+latter made no signs of getting dinner, and Tom finally made up his mind
+that the men had taken their dinner to the woods with them; but his own
+stomach clamored loudly for something nourishing, and Tom finally
+accosted the negro.
+
+"I say, uncle, are you not going to get some dinner?"
+
+"Not before fo' o'clock, sar," replied the darky. "I blow de horn den
+and all hands come in."
+
+Tom was uneasy after that, and wished now when it was too late that he
+had reserved a portion of the johnny cake and bacon that had been
+furnished him. Wet as it was, it was much better than nothing. He found
+a book and made out to interest himself in a story for five mortal
+hours, when suddenly the long shrill notes of a horn rang in his ears.
+He would soon have something to eat, at all events. Presently a thought
+occurred to him.
+
+"Say, uncle, how do you tell the time? You haven't got any clock, have
+you?"
+
+"Oh, no, sar," said the negro. "Ise got something better than a clock.
+You see that ar peak of dat building hyar? Well, every time it's fo'
+o'clock the p'int of that peak is right hyar."
+
+"Summer and winter?" asked Tom.
+
+"Summer and winter dat peak is right hyar. Den I knows it is fo' o'clock
+and den I blows de horn."
+
+Tom wanted to ask him whether or not the sun was always in the same
+place summer and winter, but gave it up when he heard the sound of the
+negroes' voices raised in a rude sort of a plantation melody coming from
+the woods, for he knew that supper was close at hand. Nearer came the
+strains, and in the short space of half an hour the cavalcade streamed
+into view. What a lively set they were then! One would have thought that
+cutting wood was the happiest part of a darky's life. Keeping up their
+song, they slipped off the wagon, leaving the teamsters to take care of
+the mules. The overseer came into the cabin, and after exchanging a
+merry salutation with Tom, remarking that he and the darkies had
+performed a task that day that would have done credit to a bigger force
+than his, he cleared the table in readiness for supper. The articles
+that adorned the back of the chair were cast upon the trunk, the
+unwashed apparel on the table was swept off and thrown on the top of
+them, and then the overseer was ready for a smoke.
+
+"Yes, sir, me and the niggers have done a heap of work," said the man,
+seating himself on the threshold by Tom's side. "They were taking it
+easy when you came along, just as I mean that all black ones shall who
+work under me, but perked up a bit and went to work right smart. Aint
+they happy now? Every one singing at the top of his voice."
+
+Supper being over, which consisted of corn bread, bacon, and tea, Tom
+spent two hours in conversation with the overseer, until, as he was
+relating a story of his personal experience, an audible snore came from
+his direction, and, facing about, he found that his auditor had gone
+fast asleep, stretched out on the floor, and using the back of his chair
+for a pillow. It wasn't dark yet, by a long ways, and the sounds that
+came from the camp of the negroes told him that there was a heap of fun
+going on there; but as it seemed to be the rule to go to slumber
+whenever he was ready, Tom went to the overseer's bed and climbed into
+it.
+
+It seemed to him that he had scarcely closed his eyes when someone laid
+a hand upon his shoulder and shouted in his ear that the _Jennie June_
+was at the landing and taking on a load of wood. That was enough for
+Tom, who wanted to get into a bed where he could take his clothes off.
+When he got his eyes fairly open, there was no one in sight, but he
+heard the sound of a steamer's bell, followed by the hoarse commands of
+the mate, and when he reached the door, he found the whole yard lighted
+up by a torch which the steamer had placed in her bow. The boat was made
+fast to the levee when he got there, and her crew were making ready to
+carry on her load of wood, but Tom paid no attention to them. More than
+half asleep, he made his way on deck and into the saloon, which he found
+deserted by all save a party of men who were engaged in playing cards.
+They never looked up as Tom entered, being deeply interested in the
+piles of money before them, and he passed on to the desk and made
+application for a room to a man with a pen behind his ear. Without
+saying a word he took down a key from a board by the side of his desk
+and led Tom along the cabin and unlocked a door and showed him two
+bunks. The lower one had evidently been occupied during the afternoon.
+
+"Take the upper bunk," said the clerk. "The lower one belongs to a man
+who is playing cards, but I guess he won't care. Good-night."
+
+Tom was much too sleepy to know or care who owned the lower bunk; he
+pulled off his clothes and with a mingled sigh of satisfaction and
+comfort climbed into the upper one, and composed himself to sleep. He
+awoke once during the night, only to find that the steamer had finished
+taking on her load of wood, and was now ploughing her way along the
+river; and, having satisfied himself on this point, Tom rolled over and
+went to sleep again.
+
+The next time he awoke it was broad daylight, and the boat was rocking
+as boats always do when they have nothing to do but to make their way to
+their destination as soon as possible. The stool (there were no chairs
+in the state-room) which he had left unoccupied had been drawn close to
+the door, and a man's coat and vest lay over it; but it was not that
+that attracted Tom's attention, and caused his eyes to open to their
+widest extent. It was a revolver, a murderous-looking thing, and
+carrying a ball as big as an army musket. Tom thought it would be a good
+plan to get out of the way of that thing, and, holding in his breath, he
+slipped out of his bunk; but cautious as he was in his movements, the
+man heard him. He opened his eyes and gazed fixedly at Tom, then caught
+up his revolver and thrust it under his pillow, seized his coat and vest
+and threw them between the bulkhead and himself, and then rolled over
+and prepared to go to sleep again.
+
+"Morning," said he.
+
+"Good-morning, sir," said Tom.
+
+He thought it a wise thing to be civil, although the man's face did not
+look like one belonging to one who would use a revolver on slight
+provocation. The long silken whiskers which fell down upon his breast
+might cover up the expression of the lower part of his countenance, but
+they could not conceal the merry twinkle of the mild blue eyes which had
+looked at Tom for a moment. Considerably relieved, Tom slipped into his
+clothes and went out, closing the door behind him, and made the best of
+his way toward the barber shop; for be it known that up to this time Tom
+had not touched his hair at all. There was just one barber there, and he
+was as anxious to make money as anyone he ever saw.
+
+"Shave, sir?" said the negro, as Tom came in and pulled off his hat. "I
+declare if dat aint the worst-looking head I ever set my peepers on. A
+shampoo will just about set you right."
+
+"Don't want it," said Tom shortly.
+
+"I reckon dat you was playing cards last night," said the barber, as he
+deftly tucked the towel around Tom's chin and began brushing up his
+hair.
+
+"No, I wasn't," said Tom.
+
+"Den you missed the purtiest sight you ever see. Dere was one man
+dere,--he was a cattle-raiser,--and he raked in thirty thousand dollars
+from the two sharpers who were trying to gouge him out of his money! I
+wouldn't like to be in his boots, I tell you. Dey mean to kill him afore
+dey get done with this trip! I declare, I believe he bunks with
+you--room No. 19."
+
+"By gracious!" exclaimed Tom, starting up. And to himself he added: "I
+don't wonder that he had his revolver handy. He had his pants on and
+that was the reason I didn't see them."
+
+"Did you say something, sir?" asked the darky.
+
+"No, I didn't," replied Tom.
+
+"Yes, sar, dat was the purtiest sight I ever saw. De man dealt himself
+fo' aces, and one of the sharpers, the one that was hottest after his
+money, fo' kings. De best of it was he drew fo' cards, so he knew right
+where de cards were stocked. The sharper thought there had been a
+mistake somewhere, and went down in his jeans and pulled out his money,
+fifteen thousand dollars' wuth. De man saw him,--he had more bills where
+dem came from,--and de sharper showed fo' kings; but when he went to
+take de money--I declare, your head is awful dirty. I think a shampoo
+will set you just about right."
+
+"I don't want it. Go on. When he went to take the money--then what?"
+
+"Well, he put down de fo' aces with one hand and drew his revolver with
+the other. De sharper concluded he would let the money stay; and dat
+broke up de game. You ought to have seen dat sharper's face. He's a
+mighty slick rogue, and I bet you he'll put a ball into dat sheep-herder
+before we gets up to Fort Gibson."
+
+"Why don't you tell him of it?"
+
+"Shucks! What do I want to go and get myself into trouble for? He goes
+up and down dis road every year and he knows it already. It aint none of
+my business."
+
+The reader will remember that we are describing things that happened a
+good many years ago. At that time the cotton-planters, and the
+cattle-and sheep-herders who lived far back in the country, made use of
+the steamboats, which were the only means of communication they had.
+Gambling was much in vogue, and if the sharpers who met them at New
+Orleans couldn't find any means of inducing them to play there, they
+would take passage in these boats and try them again when every other
+influence except reading was at a discount. It was a dangerous thing to
+pick up a stranger on these trips, especially if one had money with him,
+or anything that could be changed into money. For instance, there was a
+contractor who started from New Orleans to do some government business
+at Little Rock. He had half a dozen teams and everything he wanted to
+make his enterprise successful, with the exception of the men. Those he
+was going to hire of the planters, and of course he had to have some
+money to do it with. On the way up he fell in with a very modest
+stranger who didn't know anything about playing cards, and the
+consequence was before he reached his destination he was penniless. And
+the beauty of it was the modest stranger was dead broke, too! Every cent
+of his little hundred dollars had been won by the two strangers whom the
+contractor had invited to join in their game, as well as the last mule
+which the latter had to pull his wagons. The contractor made out a bill
+of sale of everything he had, and the next morning he was missing. He
+had jumped overboard, and everybody thought he was drowned accidentally.
+The modest stranger and his two confederates took the mules ashore and
+sold them at a big figure, and went back to New Orleans well satisfied
+with their trip. It seems that in the case of this stranger the sharpers
+had picked up the wrong man. He had "stocked" the cards on them, and won
+everything they had, and the darky knew, from certain little signs he
+had seen, that his life was not safe so long as he remained on board
+that steamer. Tom had a horror of everything that related to gambling,
+and he wanted to talk about something else.
+
+"This boat is making pretty good time, isn't she?" he said, during a
+pause in which the darky went back to his bench after his comb and
+brush.
+
+"Yes, sar. We don't touch anywhere till we get to Memphis, and we shall
+reach there about----"
+
+"What?" exclaimed Tom.
+
+"Eh? Did you speak, sar?"
+
+"Why, I want to go down the river," gasped Tom, who couldn't believe
+that his ears were not deceiving him. "Memphis! That's up the river."
+
+"Course it is, sar. And you are going dere as fast as you kin."
+
+"Memphis!" exclaimed Tom.
+
+He couldn't wait for the barber to get through with him, but, jumping
+out from his hands, with the apron floating all about him, he ran to the
+nearest window and looked out. He saw the trees dancing swiftly by, but
+it was not to them that he devoted the most of his attention. The
+current of the river was what drew his gaze. He took one look at it, at
+the trees and stumps that covered the surface of the water which the
+river managed to pick up in the low lands when it was high, and then
+returned disconsolately to his chair. He didn't want to go to Memphis.
+It was two thousand miles out of his way, and, besides, there were any
+number of business men that knew him on the levee.
+
+"You wanted to go to New Orleans, I take it," said the barber.
+
+But Tom was done talking. He wanted to have his hair brushed as quickly
+as possible, so that he might go to the office and settle with the
+clerk; so the darky speedily put the finishing touches to it, received
+twenty cents for his trouble, and Tom hurried out and in a few seconds
+more was standing in front of the desk. He did not see much room when he
+got there, for there was a big broad-shouldered man standing in front of
+the desk, with his arms spread out over it, talking with the clerk; but
+he stepped back to make space for Tom, and smiled so good-naturedly at
+him over his bushy whiskers that the boy was satisfied that he had one
+friend on the boat, if he didn't have another.
+
+"Morning," said he. "Did the sight of that revolver scare you?"
+
+"No, sir. But I got up just in time to find that I am bound up the
+river. I didn't say which way I wanted to go, and the overseer at the
+landing called me for the wrong boat."
+
+"Well, you've got to go now that you are started," said the clerk,
+pulling a book toward him that contained a list of the passengers, "and
+it will take just five dollars to pay your fare to Memphis."
+
+Very reluctantly Tom pulled out his roll of bills and counted out the
+five dollars. Then he turned and went out on the guard and seated
+himself, almost ready to cry with vexation. Presently his room-mate
+appeared, and without saying so much as "By your leave" he drew a chair
+close to Tom's side and sat down.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+TOM'S LUCK.
+
+
+"I say, my young friend, what have you been doing that is contrary to
+Scribner?"
+
+"I don't understand you, sir," said Tom, starting involuntarily.
+
+"I mean," said the stranger, bending over and whispering the words to
+Tom, "what have you been doing that is contrary to law?"
+
+This was a question that Tom never expected to have asked him by
+strangers. Did he carry the marks of the cruel wrong he had done his
+uncle and Jerry Lamar upon his face so that anybody could read them? The
+next time he passed a mirror he would look into it and see.
+
+"What is your name?" asked the stranger suddenly.
+
+"Tom Mason."
+
+"Mine is Bolton--Jasper Bolton; and, Tom, I am glad to see you. Put it
+there. What have you been doing?"
+
+"Not a thing, sir. My uncle has got the money back all right before this
+time."
+
+"Ah! Money, was it? How much?"
+
+"Five thousand dollars."
+
+"_Five_ thousand dollars! W-h-e-w! You didn't try to kill anybody in
+order to get away with it?"
+
+"No, sir. I shot a couple of nigger dogs that were on my trail, but if
+you knew the circumstances, you would say I did right," said Tom, who
+had suddenly made up his mind to make a confidant of Mr. Bolton. "It was
+just this way."
+
+And then Tom straightened around on his seat and faced his new friend
+and told him his story, being interrupted occasionally with such
+expressions as "Ah! yes," and "I see," which led him to believe that he
+was making out a better case against his uncle than he was against
+himself.
+
+"I don't want you to think that my uncle is in any way to blame for all
+this," said Tom, in conclusion. "I wanted money, I wanted to be revenged
+on Jerry Lamar, and so I took it."
+
+"Of course. You ought to have had better sense, seeing that the money
+would all be your own some day. Do you know what I think you had better
+do?"
+
+Tom replied that he did not.
+
+"I think you had better go home, tell your uncle just what you have told
+me, and abide the consequences."
+
+"You don't know my uncle, or you would not advise any such step as
+that," said Tom, with a sigh which showed that he knew him, and that he
+was bound to stick to his course. "I am the only relative he has got in
+the world, but that won't hinder him from saying every time he gets mad
+at me: 'So you are the lad that tried to reduce me to poverty by
+stealing five thousand dollars from me!' He will get all over that when
+he finds that I am not coming home, and then I will go back to him."
+
+"How long do you think it will take him?"
+
+"About a year, maybe two."
+
+"Do you think you can stand it among all these lawless men for that
+length of time?"
+
+"I've got to. I don't see any other way out of it."
+
+"And you were going to Texas to get another start? Texas is a country in
+which all men bring up who have made a failure, and you were bound that
+way."
+
+"Yes, sir. I think I could make another start there."
+
+"Have you any relatives or friends living there?"
+
+"Not a soul," replied Tom, straightening about on his chair and looking
+down at the river. "By the way," he added, "I want to give you a piece
+of advice. Those men of whom you won the money last night have
+threatened to have it all back if they have to kill you."
+
+"Who told you that story?" said Mr. Bolton, with a smile.
+
+"The barber."
+
+"Well, they will have plenty of time to try their hands at it between
+here and Cincinnati. I told them a funny story about being a
+cattle-grower somewhere out West. If they try anything with me, they
+will have their hands full. There are three of them, and I know them
+all. The clerk has got the money now under lock and key. There goes the
+breakfast-bell. I will talk to you again after we go in."
+
+Tom was disappointed in more respects than one when he found that his
+new friend was to leave him at Memphis. With a view of gaining a little
+time he did not follow him into the dining-hall, but went into the
+barber shop and proceeded to wash his hands. When they had been dried to
+his satisfaction, he went out and drew up before the desk.
+
+"Who is that man who talked to me a little while ago?" he asked.
+
+"He's a gambler," was the reply, "and a mighty good one, too. He got
+into those fellows last night, didn't he?"
+
+That was just what Tom was afraid of. He went out and took his seat at
+the table, saw Bolton exchange courtesies with the three sharpers who
+had tried to fleece him the night before, watched him all through the
+meal, and told himself that if that was the style that men of his class
+were made of he had a great deal to learn before he could become a
+gambler. There wasn't a thing about him that could have been found fault
+with in any circle of gentlemen. In spite of his calling he had given
+Tom what he regarded as good advice, and he did not know what else he
+had to say to him.
+
+"There's one thing about it," thought Tom. "He has been around the world
+a good deal, is sometimes flush to-day and strapped to-morrow, but I'll
+bet if he was in my fix he would not go back to my uncle. If I am there
+to take all his abuse, my uncle never will get over flinging his gibes
+at me; but if I am away where I can't hear them, it won't take him so
+long to get over it. He can advise me all he's a mind to, but I won't go
+home."
+
+Breakfast being over, Tom pushed back his chair and went out and seated
+himself on the guard. The gambler did not put in an appearance for
+fifteen minutes, for he was not the one to allow his good fortune to
+take away his appetite. He came at length and bore in his hand a couple
+of cigars, one of which he offered to Tom. But the latter did not smoke.
+
+"You'll need an overcoat, Tom," said Mr. Bolton, after he had lighted
+his cigar and placed his heels upon the railing. "The country you have
+just come from is a summer's day compared to the one where you are
+going. It's only the latter part of December, and you'll find blizzards
+out there, I bet you."
+
+"But I can't afford an overcoat, Mr. Bolton. I have only fifty dollars,
+and it is all my own, too."
+
+"I'll get it for you. I haven't forgotten that I have been in trouble--I
+may be that way next week; and when I do get that way, I'd feel mighty
+glad for the simple gift of an overcoat. I'll get you one in Memphis,
+and at the same time I will tell the clerk to hand you two hundred
+dollars for your own."
+
+"I can't take it, Mr. Bolton," said Tom, astonished at the proposition.
+
+"Oh, yes, you can. You never may be able to return it to me, but if you
+ever find one who is suffering, and you have enough and to spare, I want
+you to hand it to him. That's all the pay I ask. I've owed this for a
+year, and this is the first chance I have had to square up with the
+fellow who gave it to me."
+
+"Where is the fellow now?"
+
+"I don't know whether he is living or dead. He was a good fellow, and
+when I told him what my circumstances were, how I had got in with a
+party of roughs and been cleaned out of my pile, he put his hand into
+his pocket and pulled out two hundred dollars. I told him I never could
+pay him back, and he said if I ever found some other fellow in need just
+to give him a lift. I've done it, and it squares me. But it's a mean
+business anyway."
+
+"Why don't you go on with me instead of going up the Ohio River to
+Cincinnati?"
+
+"To Fort Gibson?" exclaimed Bolton in astonishment.
+
+"I suppose that's where I am going, aint it?"
+
+"Well, you see, Bub, they've got a little document against me up there,"
+said the gambler, with a laugh. "It is a document which the sheriff
+doesn't hold against me, but which the people do."
+
+"Are they going to lynch you?"
+
+"Anyway, that is what they call it."
+
+"Well, by gracious!" said Tom, settling back in his chair and watching
+the clouds of smoke that ascended from the gambler's lips. "What sort of
+men have I become associated with? This man lynched! I would as soon
+think of my uncle's being lynched."
+
+"So now, you see, I naturally keep away from there," continued Bolton.
+"But I'll tell you what I'll do. If you will go on to Fort Hamilton,
+which is as far as navigation is open now, I will give you something
+that will introduce you to Black Dan. He's a gambler, you know."
+
+"Oh, I can't do anything to assist him in gambling," said Tom. "I don't
+know one card from another."
+
+"Why, bless you, I don't want you to do anything to assist him in his
+work. I want you to keep just as far away from cards as you know how,"
+said Mr. Bolton, fumbling with his neck-handkerchief. "Do you see that?
+It's a kinder pretty pin, isn't it?"
+
+Tom took the ornament and looked it over. It was rather large for a pin,
+the body of it being formed of some metal which Tom did not recognize,
+but the diamonds in the middle of it, six of them in all, were what made
+it so valuable.
+
+"That pin is worth five hundred dollars," said Mr. Bolton. "Put it on; I
+want to see how it looks on you."
+
+"But what do you want me to do with it?" enquired Tom.
+
+"I want you to take it up and give it to Black Dan when you see him. You
+are bound to meet him if you go to Fort Hamilton."
+
+"I can't take it. You have already done more for me than I had any right
+to expect."
+
+"Never mind that," said the gambler, taking the pin from Tom's hand and
+fixing it in his neck-handkerchief. "You see, he got into a little
+rucuss a few nights before I came away, and the fellow grabbed him in
+there and tore three of the diamonds out, and he gave it to me with the
+request that I would take it to New Orleans and have it repaired for
+him. There, now, you look like a sport."
+
+"I wish you would take it out," said Tom. "I don't like to have it in
+there. Somebody might see it and rob me."
+
+"You haven't got any baggage, have you?"
+
+Tom replied that all the clothes he had with him were those he stood in
+at that moment.
+
+"It won't take long to fix that. Just tell Dan, when you see him, that
+that thing has been in pawn more times than I can remember, but somehow
+I always managed to work around and get the money. By the way, he owes
+me ten dollars. He didn't give me money enough. What those diamonds are
+set in I don't know. Dan won the mine in which the stuff was found and
+had the pin made from some of the quartz; but the diamonds didn't suit
+him, and so he sent them by me to New Orleans. But, bless you, in two
+months from that time he was as poor as Job's turkey."
+
+"Did he lose the mine?"
+
+"Yes, and all the money he had besides. Perhaps that pin will hit him
+again. Dan is a good fellow. He never went back on a man who was down on
+his luck."
+
+"I don't see why you don't go back to him," ventured Tom.
+
+"Well, you see, there's that document that the people hold against me,"
+said the gambler, with a laugh. "I think I had better stay here until
+that has had time to wear off. Yes, you go on to Fort Hamilton, and
+there you will make a strike. I don't know anybody in Fort Gibson."
+
+"What do you suppose they will set me to doing?"
+
+"Oh, perhaps they will grub-stake you and send you into the mountains to
+hunt up a gold mine. Many a nice fellow has got a start in that way, and
+is now numbered among the millionnaires. You'll get a start if you
+strike Black Dan."
+
+"I hope you will take this pin and wear it while you are on the boat,"
+said Tom; for he had already made up his mind to go on to Fort Hamilton
+and seek an interview with Black Dan if he were still alive. "I wish I
+had some baggage in which I could hide it away."
+
+Without saying a word Mr. Bolton took the pin, adjusted it into his
+shirt-front, and once more placed his heels on the railing. The longer
+Tom talked with him the more he admired him, and the more he detested
+his avocation. The idea that such a man as that should deliberately prey
+upon the cupidity of his neighbors! But, then, if he was a gambler, he
+was the only man in the whole lot of passengers who had taken to him.
+There were a number of finely dressed planters who sat at the table with
+him, but not one had had a word to say to him, and would have allowed
+him to go on his way to ruin if it had not been for this solitary man.
+And how he had trusted him! Was there a planter on the boat who would
+have given him so large an amount of money on so short an acquaintance?
+
+"There's one thing about it," said Tom, as he thrust his hands deep into
+his pockets. "If I make a success of this thing, I shall not have any
+planters, who have already made their mark in the world, to thank for my
+salvation."
+
+The sight of the revolver that was placed upon the stool at the head of
+his bed did not startle Tom as it had done on a former occasion.
+Answering the cheerful "Morning" of the sleepy gambler he made a trip to
+the barber shop to get a "shake up," for Tom had not yet had opportunity
+to buy a brush and comb, and then went out and seated himself on the
+guards. He felt more lonely now than he had at any time since leaving
+home. Memphis was only forty miles away,--he had heard one of the
+customers in the barber shop make that remark,--and he knew that when he
+got there the last friend he had on earth was to take leave of him.
+
+"How will I ever get along without him?" was the question he kept
+constantly asking himself. "Two hundred dollars and a good overcoat
+besides. I think I shall need the overcoat, for if the weather is as
+cold as it is this morning, I should prefer to hug the fire."
+
+While he was thinking about it, Mr. Bolton came out and beckoned to him.
+Tom followed him into the office, and when the blinds had all been
+closed, the clerk unlocked his safe and took out three official
+envelopes; for the thirty thousand made so large a roll of money that he
+could not get the bills all into one. Selecting one of the envelopes, he
+tore it open, counted out two hundred dollars from it, placed it in a
+second envelope, sealed it with a blow of his fist upon the counter, and
+placed Tom's name upon it.
+
+"That's yours, Tom," said he. "I need hardly tell you to be careful of
+it. When you leave the boat at Fort Gibson, the clerk will give it to
+you."
+
+"Must I change boats again?" asked Tom.
+
+"Yes, for this boat draws so much water that she can't run any farther,"
+said the clerk. "I'll keep an eye on you and see that you get through
+all right."
+
+Mr. Bolton then proceeded to count out fifty dollars, which he pushed
+over toward the clerk, after which he put the envelopes in the inside
+pocket of his vest and buttoned his coat over them.
+
+"What's this for?" enquired the clerk.
+
+"That's to pay you for your trouble," said the gambler. "Now, the less I
+hear about this money the better I shall like it. Let us out."
+
+"What have you been doing to him?" enquired the clerk, after he had let
+Mr. Bolton out of the side door on to the guards, locked Tom's money in
+the safe, and raised the blind which gave entrance into the cabin. "Are
+you any relative of his?"
+
+"No. I never saw him until I came on board this boat. I told him my
+story and that led him to give me some money. The barber says he has
+travelled over this road a good many times."
+
+"Oh, I know him. This isn't the first fifty dollars I have made out of
+him. He has a different name every time. This time it is Jasper Bolton.
+Why, two years ago he came aboard of us, clean shaved as any farmer and
+dressed like one, and had charge of twenty-five barrels of dried apples
+which he was taking to Memphis. Of course he got on to a game before he
+had been here a great while, and cleaned everyone out."
+
+"I wish he wouldn't gamble," said Tom. "He has the manners of a
+gentleman."
+
+"Oh, everyone has to make his living at something," said the clerk, with
+a laugh. "And if he can't make his any easier than at gambling, why, I
+say let him keep at it. But you ought to have seen him with those dried
+apples! He talked them up so big among the passengers that he sold them
+for double the sum that I could have bought the same apples for. Oh,
+he's a good one!"
+
+"I shouldn't think he would want to carry that money in his vest
+pocket," said Tom. "How easy it would be for somebody to knock him down
+and take it away from him."
+
+"He's got a big revolver in his pocket," said the clerk.
+
+During the rest of the trip to Memphis Tom stuck as close to Mr.
+Bolton's side as if he had grown there, and listened to some good
+advice, which, had he seen fit to follow it, would have made his
+progress through life a comparatively smooth one; but Tom could not get
+over the "gibes" which he knew his uncle would throw at him as often as
+he got angry. He said that was all that kept him from going back, and
+the gambler finally gave it up in despair.
+
+On arriving at Memphis Mr. Bolton picked up his valise, bade good-by to
+some of the officers whose acquaintance he had made on the way up, and
+stepped ashore with Tom at his heels. The latter kept a close watch over
+the sharpers, and was not a little annoyed to find that they were going
+ashore, too. He called Mr. Bolton's attention to it, but all he got was
+a smile in return; and now, when Tom got a good view of it, he told
+himself that there was more self-confidence in that smile than he had
+given him credit for. Indeed, Mr. Bolton, with his overcoat on and a
+valise in his hand, and the free, swinging stride with which he stepped
+off, looked more like a prosperous business man than he did like
+anything else.
+
+Mr. Bolton was evidently acquainted in Memphis, for he passed three or
+four clothing-houses, and finally turned into an extra fine one, where
+he said he wanted to see the longest and thickest overcoat they had. His
+boy was going away into a country where blizzards were plenty, and he
+desired to see him well protected before he went. The first garment that
+was handed down was a fit, and Tom stood by with it on, and saw Mr.
+Bolton buy another valise, an extra suit of sheep's-gray clothing, a
+couple of blue flannel shirts, and a number of other little things which
+Tom would not have thought of. When the articles had been paid for, Mr.
+Bolton took off his pin, wrapped it in a little piece of paper, and
+thrust it into one corner of the valise, then locked it and handed the
+key to Tom. Then he turned and walked out.
+
+"Mr. Bolton," said Tom, hurrying after him, "I never can repay----"
+
+"Oh, yes, you can. Whenever you meet a fellow that is hard up, and you
+can afford it, just hand him a dollar or two, and that will make it all
+right. Now, be careful of yourself on the way up. You'll find some
+lawless men there who won't hesitate to take the last cent you've got.
+Remember me to Black Dan, and don't forget what I have told you. Put it
+there. So long."
+
+Tom wanted to say something else, but before he could form the words his
+hand had been squeezed for a moment and he was alone. He watched the man
+and then saw him disappear among the crowd.
+
+"I wonder if anybody ever had such luck as this," said Tom, as he turned
+his face slowly toward the levee. "I almost dread to think of it, for
+fear that there is worse luck in store for me."
+
+He was alone now, at all events.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+TOM ADMIRES THE COWBOYS.
+
+
+Tom Mason slowly made his way back to Wolf River, the place where the
+_Jennie June_ was discharging her cargo, locked his baggage in his state
+room, and seated himself on the guard to watch the deck-hands and think
+of Mr. Bolton, if that was his name. Several passengers got off at
+Memphis, and several more got on to take their places, but from the time
+the boat rounded to go up the Arkansas River there was no one who had
+anything to say to him, if we except the clerk and the barber.
+
+Tom thought he had never seen so lonely and desolate a country as that
+through which the Arkansas flowed. Woods were to be seen in every
+direction, and here and there a small clearing with a negro or two
+scattered about to show that somebody lived there. The boat stopped a
+few times to let off a passenger where there was not the sign of a fence
+anywhere around, but she never got out a line for them. She awoke the
+echoes far and near with her hoarse whistle, shoved out a gang-plank, a
+couple of deck-hands ran ashore with the passenger's baggage, and then
+she went on her way up the river. The town of Little Rock was situated
+in the woods, and above that it was all wilderness until Fort Gibson was
+reached. The _Jennie June_ did not tie up alongside the levee, but ran
+on till she came to a little boat with steam up, the only boat there was
+at the landing, and made fast alongside of her, keeping her wheels
+moving all the while, so as not to pull her away from her moorings.
+
+"Have I got to change to that thing?" said Tom.
+
+"Yes, sir," replied the clerk, who hurried past him with a book in his
+hands and a pencil behind his ear. "She's the only one who can go above
+here at all. Plenty of room on her. I'll be ready to go with you in ten
+minutes."
+
+With his baggage between his feet Tom sat down to await the return of
+the clerk, and to make a mental estimate of the vessel that was to take
+him 150 miles further on his journey. He saw that she had no Texas on
+board of her, her pilot-house being seated on the roof of the cabin. Her
+engines were small, being no doubt reduced in weight to make her
+carrying capacity equal to passing over the shoal places she would find
+before her, her spars were ready for use, and she had no roof over her
+main-deck. She could get along very well in dry weather, but what would
+she do when a rain-storm came up? Tom noticed that a good portion of
+baggage was laid out on the boiler deck, and no doubt some of the
+passengers slept there; and consequently it would be a dangerous piece
+of business for any of the wakeful parties to attempt to promenade the
+main-deck with a cigar, as he had often seen done on the _Jennie June_.
+
+"I hope we shall have pleasant weather all the way to Fort Hamilton,"
+thought Tom, as he rested his elbows on the railing and proceeded to
+size up the passengers. "I don't see how they can get all those men into
+the cabin."
+
+Almost the first thing Tom saw, curled up before some luggage they were
+watching, were a couple of Indians, taking good care to keep out of the
+way of the swiftly moving deck-hands. But Indians he could see any day
+by simply riding into his uncle's woods; but who were those long-legged,
+lank fellows who took just as much care of their rifles and knapsacks as
+the Indians did? They were hunters, and Tom could not resist the
+temptation to turn his eyes away from the fore-castle back to the
+main-deck to take a second survey of the motley group of men he had seen
+there. They were cowboys all of them, and their clothing, especially
+their hats and boots, were as nearly perfect as money could buy. They
+were all young fellows, from twenty to twenty-five years of age, and
+wore their six-shooters strapped around them with as much ease as though
+they had been born with them on. The hunters were a lazy set, and were
+willing to work for the furs they captured, while the cowboys were
+willing to work for a salary, and they earned every dollar of it, too.
+
+"That's what I am going to be," thought Tom. "I'll have a horse and
+lariat, and I'll soon learn to ride with the best of them. I don't see
+what Mr. Bolton could have been thinking of when he bought me this
+sheep's-gray suit. None of the cowboys has them on."
+
+While Tom was busy in watching the cowboys and telling himself that
+almost any one of them looked ready for a fight, the clerk came up, and,
+following a motion of his hand, Tom stepped after him into the office.
+He unlocked the safe and, taking out Tom's roll of money, handed it to
+him, saying:
+
+"I have spoken to the clerk about you, and he promises that he will give
+you a nice room with a lower bunk. Good luck to you."
+
+Tom immediately tore open the end of the envelope and began running his
+fingers over the bills. He wanted to see if they were all there.
+
+"I don't want anything," said the clerk. "I wouldn't take anything if
+you were to offer it to me. Come on and let's go and see the clerk. I'm
+awful busy when we are making a landing."
+
+Tom at once picked up his valise and fell in behind the clerk, who led
+the way on board the _Ivanhoe_. By dodging in the rear of some of the
+deck-hands he managed to get on board without being knocked overboard,
+and soon found himself standing beside a man who was shouting out some
+orders to which nobody paid the least attention. He changed his pencil
+from his hand into his mouth long enough to shake Tom by the hand.
+
+"Go up on the boiler deck and set down there till I come," said he.
+"I'll attend to your case in just no time at all."
+
+Seeing that no one else paid any attention to him, Tom ascended the
+stairs and entered the cabin. He wanted to see what sort of a looking
+place it was, but almost recoiled when he opened the door, for it was
+filled so full of stale tobacco smoke that he did not see how anybody
+could live in it. But he knew that he would have to become accustomed to
+that smell before he was on the prairie very long, so he kept on and
+finally found a chair at the further end of the cabin. There was no one
+near him except a man whose arms were outstretched on the table and his
+face buried in his hands; and when Tom approached, he raised his head
+and exhibited a countenance that was literally burning up with fever. He
+was dressed like a cowboy, but there didn't seem to be anyone to attend
+to his wants.
+
+"I say," said he, in a faint voice, "I wish you would be good enough to
+bring me a glass of water."
+
+"Certainly I will," replied Tom, rising and placing his valise in the
+chair.
+
+He did not know where to go to get it, but as he turned into a little
+gangway which he thought ought to lead to the galley he encountered a
+darky, and to him he made known his wants--not for a glass, but for a
+whole pitcher of ice-water. With these in his hand he went back to the
+sick man, who, waving away the glass of water which Tom poured out for
+him, seized the pitcher and drained it nearly dry. Then he set it down,
+and with a sigh of relief settled back in his chair.
+
+"I have been waiting for an hour for someone to hand me a drink of
+water, but I didn't have strength enough to go after it," said he, with
+a smile. "I knew where it was--well, it stayed there."
+
+"Fever and ague?" said Tom.
+
+"Buck ague," responded the man. "I always get it whenever I come to this
+country."
+
+"I should think you would keep away from it, then."
+
+"Well, I had to come with a herd of cattle my employer was getting up
+for the government, and that's the way I got it. Ah! here comes one of
+those lazy kids that ought to have been here and tended to me," added
+the man, as one of those handsome cowboys that Tom had noticed on the
+main-deck rapidly approached the table. When he saw the pitcher of
+ice-water, he stopped and gazed in consternation.
+
+"Somebody's been fixing you!" said he. "He's been taking calomel," he
+explained to Tom.
+
+"He never said a word to me about it," faltered Tom, who thought he was
+in a fair prospect of getting himself into trouble.
+
+"You know the doctor said you must be careful not to drink any water
+after taking that powder," continued the cowboy, looking at Tom as if he
+had a mind to throw the pitcher at his head.
+
+"The kid is all right," said the sick man, "and I'll stay by him. Now,
+if you will go away and let me alone, I'll go to sleep."
+
+He stretched himself out on the table once more, and the cowboy went off
+to consult with his chum. In a few minutes he came back with him, and
+all they could do was to try to arouse the man to ask him what he
+thought they had better do for him; but to such interruptions he always
+replied: "No, no, boys! I'm going to sleep now."
+
+"You ought not to have given that man so much water," said one of the
+cowboys. "But after all it's our own fault, Hank. One of us ought to
+have stayed here with him."
+
+Tom Mason did not know what to say, and neither was he able to account
+for so much forbearance on the part of the cowboys. He looked to see
+them pull their revolvers; but instead of doing that they drew chairs up
+beside their sick comrade and waited to see what was going to happen to
+him, and Tom, filled with remorse, went out on the boiler-deck. Just
+then the _Jennie June's_ bell rang, the lines and gang-planks were
+hauled in, and she backed down the river to her moorings. Then the
+_Ivanhoe's_ bell was struck, and instantly a great hubbub arose among
+the passengers. Hands were shaken, farewells were said, and in ten
+minutes more the little boat was ploughing her way up the river. Tom had
+an opportunity to sit down after that. He pulled a chair up to the
+railing and sat there for ten minutes awaiting the arrival of the clerk,
+and wondering how calomel would operate on that man after he had drank
+ice-water on top of it; and consequently he did not feel very safe when
+he saw the two cowboys approaching him. He had left them to watch over
+the sick man, and he did not like to have them follow him up.
+
+"Look here, pard," said the foremost. "You've got the only lower bunk
+there is in the cabin, and we want to see if you won't give it up to
+that sick boss of ours. The man now occupying the upper bunk has offered
+to give it up, but we don't want it."
+
+"You can have it and welcome," said Tom. "I assure you that my giving
+him a drink was all a mistake. I offered him a glass of water, but he
+wouldn't take it."
+
+Having given up his bed, Tom considered that he had done all that a boy
+could do to make amends for what he had done. He gave the clerk his
+money to lock in the safe, and when night came found a pallet made up
+for him in a remote corner of the cabin. All the report he could get
+regarding the sick man was that he was sleeping soundly, and had fought
+his attendants so hard that it was all they could do to take his clothes
+off.
+
+"I really believe he is coming around all right," said one of the
+cowboys. "When he gets mad and reaches for his revolver, it's a mighty
+good sign."
+
+"Did he draw it on either of you?" asked Tom, in alarm.
+
+"Oh, no; for we took good pains to keep it out of his way."
+
+When Tom got up the next morning (there was no barber shop on this boat,
+and so he had to comb his hair in the wash-room), and went out on the
+boiler-deck to get his breath of fresh air, he found three men out there
+sitting in their chairs, and paying no heed to the cold wind that was
+blowing. The men who slept there had gone into a warmer climate, down in
+the neighborhood of the boilers, but their baggage was scattered around
+just as they had left it. Tom took just one look around, and, seeing how
+desolate things were, was about to retreat to the cabin, when one of the
+men happened to spy him.
+
+"My gracious, there's my doctor!" said he cheerfully. "Come here, old
+man, and give us your flipper."
+
+"Why, I didn't expect to find you out here to-day," said Tom, walking up
+and taking the outstretched hand of his sick man. "My medicine did you
+some good, didn't it? But you ought not to sit out here without
+something around you. You will take cold."
+
+The sick man laughed heartily.
+
+"Why, doctor, I am as sound as a dollar. That water you gave me hit the
+spot, for it set me to perspiring like a trip-hammer. I knew I was all
+right as soon as I could sleep. Draw a chair up and sit down. You won't
+take cold while you have that overcoat on."
+
+Tom drew a chair up alongside the sick man, one of the cowboys moving
+aside to make room for him, and deposited his feet on the railing. The
+wind cut severely, and he would have felt a good deal more cheerful
+beside the cabin fire.
+
+"Where be you a-travelling to, doctor?" said the sick man; for Tom
+didn't know what else to call him. "If you are going out our way, we may
+be able to be of some use to you."
+
+"I am going to Fort Hamilton," said Tom. "How much farther I don't know
+until I have seen Black Dan."
+
+It was curious what a sensation that name occasioned in that little
+company. They simply looked at each other and smiled, and then settled
+down and sought new places for their feet on the railing. It was evident
+that they took Black Dan for a relative of his.
+
+"Have you got much to do with him?" asked one of the cowboys.
+
+"I never saw him," Tom hastened to say. "I got his name from a Mr.
+Bolton, who gave me a very valuable pin to return to him. He got into a
+fight once and had some diamonds torn out of it."
+
+"Yes, Dan has been in a good many fights," said the sick man. "He aint
+the fellow he used to be."
+
+"I--I hope he didn't get the worst of any of them."
+
+"Well--yes. He rather got the worst of the last fight he was in. He got
+into a row with three fellows,--cowboys, I knew them well,--and although
+he managed to get away with all of them, one shot him through the arm
+above the elbow, and it had to be taken off."
+
+"Amputated?" said Tom.
+
+"Yes, I suppose that's what you call it. Then Dan took to drink and lost
+everything he had."
+
+"Why should the loss of his arm send him to drink?"
+
+"He couldn't shuffle the cards any more. He doesn't do anything now but
+get drunk in the morning and then crawl into some hole and sleep it off;
+and he has seen the time when he was worth a million."
+
+Tom Mason was sorry to hear all this. He did not know what he was going
+to do now that Black Dan was in no condition to help him. Who was he
+going to get to grub-stake him and send him into the mountains to find a
+gold mine? He knew that things were pretty high in Fort Hamilton, and
+his two hundred dollars would not last him a great while.
+
+"For a fellow who has never seen Black Dan you appear to take his
+downfall very much to heart," said the sick man.
+
+"Yes, I do. I was depending on him to see me through. I have a very nice
+pin which is his own private property, and which I have been
+commissioned to give into his keeping."
+
+"Have you got it with you?"
+
+Tom replied that the pin was in his baggage, and arose and went after
+it. In a few minutes he returned with it in his hand, and was not a
+little surprised at the exclamations of astonishment that arose from his
+three friends when they handled the ornament, and passed it from one to
+the other and speculated upon its merits.
+
+"Five hundred dollars!" said "Boss" Kelley, who by virtue of his
+position took it upon himself to act as judge when matters came before
+them that were somewhat hard to be decided. Tom had noticed one thing:
+that his word was law to the two cowboys, and that when he spoke the
+other two remained silent. "That's a heap of money to go into Dan's
+hands. How long do you suppose it will last him?"
+
+"Until he can get to Cale's bar," said Hank Monroe.
+
+"And no longer," chimed in Frank Stanley.
+
+"It's his and he ought to have it, if we can find him when he is sober,"
+said Kelley. "Now, doctor, how came you by it in the first place?"
+
+"I am plain Tom Mason, and I don't like to answer to any other name,"
+said the latter; and with the words he settled back in his chair and
+told the history of his meeting with Mr. Bolton. He kept back nothing.
+He knew he could tell it just as it happened, for these men had more or
+less to do with gamblers, and knew the motives which influenced them.
+When he got through, he found that he had them very much interested.
+
+"Why, you haven't done anything," said Stanley. "Go home and tell your
+uncle just what you have told us, and take the racket."
+
+"Boys, I know my uncle," said Tom, shaking his head.
+
+"Perhaps he had better go on," said Kelley. "His uncle will throw things
+at him whenever he gets mad, and it's better to go away and let him get
+over that. Now, Tom, if you are willing to take help from us----"
+
+"I am willing to take help from anybody," said Tom. "I am a stranger in
+a strange place, and don't know what move to make first."
+
+"Very good," said Kelley, extending his hand to be shaken by Tom, a
+proceeding in which he was imitated by both his friends. "That is a
+cowboy's grip, and whenever you get it out here, you may know that you
+are among friends. Tom is one of our party now."
+
+Tom Mason told himself that never had a runaway been blessed with such
+luck. No sooner did one man on whom he was depending for assistance turn
+out to be unreliable than another one came to take his place. For once
+he had forgotten himself and told the truth, and the truth was mighty
+and would prevail. After that he had nothing to do during the rest of
+his trip but sit alongside one of his companions and talk of
+cattle-herding and speculate concerning the future of Black Dan. All he
+could learn regarding the latter was that he was going to the bad as
+rapidly as he could.
+
+"All gamblers come to that sooner or later," said Kelley. "All the money
+I have got was made honestly. I don't know one card from another."
+
+All this was very encouraging. If a man of Kelley's stamp--Tom knew he
+was well off, for he had heard him talk of the thousand head of cattle
+which he was holding fast to until the government came up to his
+price--could live all these years on the prairie and never learn one
+card from another, it was certain that another might do so.
+
+At last, after innumerable discouragements, during which her spars had
+been used until they were all mud, and it seemed impossible for her to
+proceed a foot farther, the _Ivanhoe_ whistled for Fort Hamilton. Then
+Tom saw what had given it that name. A short distance above the little
+circle of houses that always spring up around a fortification, crowning
+a hill, was a stockade from which floated the Stars and Stripes, and
+among the crowd of loungers who assembled to see the boat come in were
+several men dressed in the uniform of the army.
+
+As soon as the landing was made Tom went to the clerk to get the money
+he had locked in the safe, and made his way down the stairs to find
+Kelley and Stanley waiting for him. They all had horses, with their
+extra wardrobe tied up in ponchos behind their saddles, but they had
+given them over to one of their number with orders to take them to the
+Eldorado, the hotel which all the best men in that country patronized.
+
+"Now, we want to find out what's left of Black Dan," said Kelley. "I
+think we will get on his trail somewhere up here."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+A TEMPERANCE LECTURE.
+
+
+It was a muddy, miry place in which Tom Mason now found himself, for it
+had been raining some there and Fort Hamilton was not blessed with a
+system of drainage. There were no sidewalks except in front of the
+various saloons and stores they passed, and half the way they walked
+through mud that was more than ankle deep. It was astonishing to him to
+notice how many people there were on the streets who recognized his
+companions. It was "Howdy, Mr. Kelley?" and "Hello, Stanley!" or "Hello,
+Arrow-foot!" until Tom might be pardoned for thinking that his two
+friends were raised right in town instead of coming from a country a
+hundred miles away.
+
+"Arrow-foot?" said he. "That's one thing I do not understand."
+
+"Well, you see that when my employer first came to this country and
+wanted a name for his cattle, he picked up on his piece of land, close
+by the spot where his dugout is now located, a small piece of clay
+plainly marked with an arrow-foot. There was the stem of the arrow all
+complete, and so he named his cattle 'Arrow-foot.' Almost everybody out
+here is known by the brand his cattle wears."
+
+"But how do they come to call you 'Mr.' Kelley?"
+
+"I don't know, unless it is because I don't drink or gamble with them,
+and have a happy faculty for settling all the rows."
+
+Presently Mr. Kelley made his way into a spacious saloon that occupied
+one end of the block. It had evidently been built by someone who had an
+idea of refinement about him, for its verandas were spacious, the
+windows came down to the floor, and there was a gilded sign over the
+door. Inside the room was large and airy, with a bar on one side and a
+number of tables extending away to the other end. It was quiet enough
+now in the daytime, but when Tom heard the noise that came from it after
+the lamps were lighted, he thought pandemonium had broken loose.
+
+"Howdy, Mr. Kelley? Denominate your poison," said the man behind the
+counter, extending a bottle toward him with one hand and reaching out
+the other to be shaken. "Got back safe and sound, didn't you?"
+
+"I don't take any of that stuff, and you ought to know better than to
+ask me. I got back all right with the exception of the dumb ague, which
+took me just as I got ready to leave Fort Gibson. Have you seen Black
+Dan lately?"
+
+"You're right, I have," said the man, frowning fiercely. "Do you see
+that?" he added, taking out from under his counter a revolver which was
+cocked and ready to be used when it was drawn. "I am going to keep that
+just as it is and show it to him when he wakes up. Because he used to
+own this house is no reason why he should pull a pistol on me!"
+
+"Did he draw it on you?" asked Tom, forgetting where he was in the
+excitement of the moment.
+
+"I should say he did, kid, and Mose, there, was just in time to stop
+him. I hope you have come to take him East, for I don't want him around
+here any longer. It is all I can do to keep him from getting into a
+fight with somebody, and the first thing you know he will pick up the
+wrong man. You took him out, Mose. Do you know where he is?"
+
+"Yes; he's out there," said Mose, motioning one way with his thumb and
+another way with his head. "I can find him."
+
+Mose made an effort to get on his feet, but reeled considerably, and
+would have fallen back in his chair if Mr. Kelley had not caught him and
+placed him steadily on his feet. When he was fairly up, he was all
+right, and made his way out of the house and around the corner, closely
+followed by Mr. Kelley and Tom. Presently he stopped, and curled up
+behind a water-butt, the mud spattered thick on his torn clothing, his
+empty holster and the stump of his crippled arm thrown out recklessly by
+his side, lay all that was left of Black Dan. Tom saw in a minute where
+he had got his cognomen. His complexion was swarthy and his hair and
+whiskers were as black as midnight, but for all that he had been a very
+handsome man. He was dead drunk, and Mr. Kelley saw that all attempts to
+arouse him would be useless.
+
+"Why didn't you put him in a bed?" asked Tom, in accents of disgust.
+
+"He wouldn't stay there," replied Mose. "That is the only place he will
+stay, and there is where we take him as soon as he shows any desire to
+go to sleep."
+
+"Let's go away," said Tom. "I'll never drink a drop of whiskey as long
+as I live."
+
+"It would be useless to try to awake him," said Mr. Kelley. "Mose, you
+tell him that as soon as he wakes up we want to see him down to the
+Eldorado, where we are stopping. We want to see him particularly. You
+can remember that much, can't you?"
+
+"I can, sir," replied Mose, hastily pocketing the dollar which Kelley
+thrust out to him. "I'll send him down as soon as he comes to himself."
+
+"It always comes hard for one to see a man done up in that style," said
+Mr. Kelley, as he and Tom bent their steps toward the Eldorado. "It
+makes me hate whiskey worse than I did before."
+
+Tom had seen so much of the little town of Fort Hamilton that he had
+some doubts about going to the Eldorado. Their little interview with
+Black Dan, if such it could be called, had taken all the conversation
+out of them; but when they entered the living-room of the hotel, and saw
+no semblance of a bar, and the men who were playing cards were doing it
+for fun, and not for money, and there was no sign of a drunken man
+around, his spirits rose wonderfully, and he walked up and placed his
+valise on the counter.
+
+"Ah! here you are," exclaimed Stanley, coming up at that moment. "I
+wasn't able to get a room with four beds in it, but I have engaged one
+end of the dining-room, so that we can all be together to-night."
+
+"Full up to the top notch," said the clerk. "Put it there, Mr. Kelley.
+How are you, Arrow-foot? This young man I don't remember to have seen
+before, but all the same I am glad to meet him."
+
+"Yes, he's a tender-foot, and we are taking him out to have the boss
+grub-stake him."
+
+"Ah! that's your business, is it? Fine business that. You may make a
+strike some day and come back and buy us all out. You're going right in
+the country for one, for there's a nugget worth eight thousand dollars
+for you to pitch on to."
+
+"Yes, Elam Storm's nugget," said Stanley. "I hope to goodness you'll get
+it, for then we shall quit hearing so much about it."
+
+"Oh, it's there, for one with such a reputation as that--why, man alive,
+it extends through twenty years! And the Red Ghost, too; you want to
+steer clear of him."
+
+Tom laughed and said he would do his best to follow the clerk's advice.
+He had heard of Elam Storm's nugget, had even found himself thinking of
+it when awake, and dreaming about it when asleep. He knew that his
+chances for digging it up were rather slim, for he did not suppose that
+the man who had hid it had any idea that it would be unearthed by anyone
+save himself; but if he should happen to strike it with one blow of his
+pick! Wouldn't he be in town? He could then write back to his uncle that
+he had made more than the sum he had temporarily lost, made it by the
+sweat of his brow, and he was sure that the next letter he received from
+his uncle would be one telling him to come back home, and all would be
+forgiven. But the Red Ghost! Tom did not know what to think about him.
+He had been seen, never in broad daylight, and he was a terrible thing
+to look at. He roamed about after nightfall, tearing the mules and
+trampling the teamsters to death, and the worst of it was he was always
+to be found somewhere near the place where the nugget was supposed to be
+hid. Stanley once had a partner that had been done to death, and even
+Mr. Kelley's face grew solemn whenever he spoke of him. That was the
+only thing that made Tom doubtful about taking a grub-stake.
+
+The dinner-bell rang while they were talking, and when the meal was
+ended Tom went out with the two cowboys to look at a horse that Stanley
+had found for him in the morning. They were gone about two hours, and
+when they came back, Tom told himself that he was a cowboy at last; a
+horse, saddle, and bridle were waiting for him at the stable, and the
+poncho which he carried slung over his arm was roomy enough for his
+extra baggage. The first thing that attracted Stanley's notice was a
+strange man talking to Mr. Kelley. The stump of his arm proclaimed who
+he was.
+
+"It's Black Dan," said he. "Now, Tom, let's see how much your temperance
+principles will amount to."
+
+Tom was startled, as well he might be, to know that he had it in his
+power to help a man who, in his palmy days, held an influence in Fort
+Hamilton second only to the commander of the station. He gazed steadily
+at him a moment, then threw his poncho on the table, asked the clerk for
+his valise, and took from it the pin Mr. Bolton had given him, and with
+this in his hand he approached Black Dan, while with a delicacy of
+feeling that some people who occupy prouder stations might have envied
+the cowboys turned toward the window. Hearing from the barkeeper that
+the man who wanted to see him was a "top-notch fellow," Dan had washed
+his face and brushed his hair, and made other efforts to improve
+himself. His holster was filled this time, so it showed that he was in a
+situation to defend himself. Mr. Kelley introduced Tom, and then moved
+away.
+
+"How do you do, sir?" said Dan, gazing hard at Tom's face and trying to
+recollect where he had seen him before. "You have got the advantage of
+me."
+
+"I never saw you before, and I am sorry to find you this way," said Tom,
+trying to keep up his courage. "I want you to look at this pin and tell
+me if you ever saw it before."
+
+Tom unwrapped the pin and placed it in Dan's hands. The latter took it
+in surprise, and finally the wondering scowl his face had assumed gave
+way to an entirely different expression, and he sat for five minutes,
+turning the pin over in his hand, and doubtless harassed by gloomy
+reflections. When he gave that pin to the one from whom Tom had received
+it, he was worth half a million dollars.
+
+"What was Bradshaw doing when he gave you the pin?" said he.
+
+"He told me his name was Bolton," said Tom. "He had been doing some
+gambling, and, finding out from me that I was coming up here, he gave me
+the pin with a request that I should give it to you."
+
+"You haven't come out here with any intention of going into this
+business, have you?"
+
+"What, gambling? Not much I haven't. I think I have seen enough to keep
+me away from gambling forever. I'm going to get a grub-stake and go into
+the mountains. I think I can do better there."
+
+"You are an honest boy, and I wish I could give you something for it.
+One short year ago I could have sent you to the mountains with some
+prospects of success; but now----" Dan held up his crippled arm.
+
+"I should think that would drive you from gambling forever," said Tom
+earnestly. "You have taken to drink, and that is just as bad."
+
+"Well, seeing that you are going to preach, I guess I'll go. Shake. So
+long."
+
+Before Tom could think of another word to say Dan had squeezed his hand
+and was on his way to the door, walking along with his hat pulled over
+his eyes, as if he didn't want to see anybody. When he reached the
+street, he simply touched his forehead to some people he met, and kept
+on his way to the saloon. Tom stepped to the window and saw him go in at
+the door.
+
+"Well, what success did you meet with?" said Stanley.
+
+"I didn't meet with any success at all," said Tom, gazing helplessly out
+at the muddy street. "He said if I was going to preach he'd go. He
+seemed to think I had come out here to go into his business, but I told
+him I had seen enough to keep me away from cards forever."
+
+"Well, I declare!" said Mr. Kelley. "It is the greatest wonder in the
+world he didn't knock you down. He never lets anybody say anything
+against cards in his hearing. You have had a narrow escape."
+
+As Tom sat there with his three friends and talked over the incidents of
+Dan's past life he grew more frightened than ever, and thanked his lucky
+stars that he didn't know more about it before he held his interview
+with the gambler. Tom had told him that he had taken to drink, which was
+as bad as gambling, and Dan had been known to floor a man who had said
+as much to him. That night, while Tom was lying on his bed and trying to
+go to sleep, he heard something more of the pin. High and loud above all
+the hubbub that arose on the streets came the chorus of a song in which
+one voice far outled the others. It was Dan's voice, and proved that the
+pin had been pawned for something besides water. He looked over toward
+Monroe, and saw that the latter was wide awake and looking at him.
+
+"They're going it, aint they?" Tom whispered.
+
+"You're right, they are. Poor Dan! You have done what you could for
+him." And with the words he rolled over and prepared to go to sleep.
+
+The next morning everything was quiet enough. The drunkards had been put
+into the calaboose by the soldiers, and the others had gone to bed to
+sleep it off. Tom wanted to know what had become of Dan, but nobody said
+anything about him, and from that time his name was dropped. They ate
+their breakfast in haste, paid their bills, and in ten minutes more Tom
+was on his way in search of a grub-stake.
+
+"Oh, certainly you'll get it," said Monroe, who rode beside him. "That
+is the way the bosses always treat a tender-foot when they haven't
+anything in particular for him to do. Some of our best known men have
+got their start that way."
+
+"I should think that some of the men you trust that way would run off
+when they find something good," said Tom.
+
+"Why, bless you, they can't take their find with them. They've got to
+stay and work it. I did hear of a fellow who found a lot of iron
+pyrites, and filled his pockets with them. He ran away, making the best
+course he could for Denver, and when he was found, his pockets might
+just as well have been filled with clay."
+
+"Dead?" said Tom.
+
+"Yes; and he was two hundred miles from where he belonged."
+
+"And his find didn't amount to anything?"
+
+"No. It is a brassy substance and looks very much like the precious
+metal, but you need a mine to work it."
+
+"What do you suppose killed him?"
+
+"Don't know. Some people suppose that his mule got away from him, and
+ran away with his outfit. At any rate, there was nothing near him, and
+the fellow got desperate and died from exhaustion. Oh, it's one of the
+things that will happen out here."
+
+"That's a queer way to do," said Tom musingly. "By the way, I haven't
+got any revolver."
+
+"Oh, the old man will give you a pop. You will get everything you need
+to last you two or three months. While that lasts, you are expected to
+do some hunting; when it begins to give out, you want to come home."
+
+"But how will I know the way?"
+
+"The mule will bring you. He will stay there about two months,--that is,
+if he doesn't get frightened,--and when he gets tired of staying, he
+will come home, and you had better come, too."
+
+It was by such talks as this that Tom learned a great deal about the
+business upon which he was soon to embark. It never occurred to him that
+he was to engage in any other business. Cowboys--or, as they were called
+in those days, "vaqueros"--were not as plenty as they became a few years
+later, and if a ranchman could be found who thought him able to make his
+living by riding for a stake, well and good. He certainly would not run
+away with his pockets filled with pyrites. He expected to make a good
+many blunders, but Tom told himself he was used to that. What he thought
+of more than anything else was that nugget worth eight thousand dollars.
+
+They camped that night with a party of emigrants, and for the first time
+Tom had the luxury of sleeping out of doors; but the appetite he brought
+to the breakfast-table with him amply made amends for that. In all the
+hunting excursions he had enjoyed for a week or more on his uncle's
+plantation he always had a darky along to build a shelter for him, cook
+his breakfast for him, and do any other work that happened to be
+necessary, and all he had to do was to ride to and from his
+hunting-grounds and shoot the turkeys after he got there. The next night
+they drew up before a dugout, the first one he had ever seen. The only
+thing that pointed out its place of location were a couple of hay-racks,
+which had been torn to pieces by mules. There was not a human being in
+sight, not even standing in the door to bid them welcome.
+
+"Boys, I am glad my trip is done," said Mr. Kelley, as he threw himself
+from his horse, relieving him of his bridle as he did so. "Tom, what do
+you think of your new home?"
+
+"Why, there is nobody around here," said Tom, gazing on all sides of
+him.
+
+"Oh, they are around here somewhere. It isn't dark yet, and we'll get in
+and light a fire for them. They are out somewhere, looking for some lost
+cattle. We left two hundred head here when we went to the mountains."
+
+"To the mountains?" repeated Tom.
+
+"Yes. I tell you we want to get away from here when the blizzards fly,
+for there isn't a thing to shelter us. I don't expect we shall find more
+than fifty head of those cattle, if we do that."
+
+"What do you suppose will become of them?"
+
+"They will be dead, of course. You see, when cattle are loose on the
+prairie and a storm comes up, and they can't stand it any longer, they
+start and travel in the same way the storm is going; and as the storm
+lasts from three to four days, you can readily imagine that they must
+get exhausted before they stop. When the hailstones come down as large
+as hens' eggs, you can----"
+
+"Haw, haw!" laughed Monroe.
+
+"Well, as large as pigeons' eggs," said Kelley, "and I won't come down
+another grain in weight. Why, an army officer went by here two years ago
+hunting for his thirty-five mules that had been stampeded by a storm,
+and when he found them, there were only four that were able to stand
+alone. Oh, you get out, Monroe! You haven't seen any blizzard yet. Now,
+let's go in and get some supper."
+
+"But what makes the mules run so? Why don't they go under shelter?"
+added Tom, as he picked up his poncho and saddle and followed the man
+inside the house.
+
+"There was just where they were going--for shelter. There aint a piece
+of timber within twenty-five miles of this place to shelter a rabbit."
+
+"Then what do you use for fuel?"
+
+"Buffalo chips. There, Tom, put your plunder in there and set down and
+look around you. You wouldn't think the man who owns this place was
+worth two hundred thousand, but it is a fact."
+
+"Why doesn't he buy a better piece of ground, then? I wouldn't be so far
+from shelter if I were in his place."
+
+"Buy it? He doesn't own this property. Every acre of ground that he
+occupies is Congress land."
+
+"But I'll bet you he wouldn't give it up," said Stanley. "I'd like to
+see somebody come here and say this is his."
+
+"Then you will never see it. Mr. Parsons says that all this property
+will be thrown open to settlement some day, and then he and the rest of
+the squatters will have to go farther West. But, laws! he's got money
+enough, and he began life, Tom, just as you are going to--by taking a
+grub-stake and starting for the mountains. But come on, boys, and let's
+get supper. Stanley, just roll out the rest of that bacon and hard-tack,
+and, Monroe, you go outside and throw in some buffalo chips."
+
+Tom, weary with his long ride, made up his bunk, then threw himself upon
+it and looked about him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+A HOME RANCH.
+
+
+Tom was surprised at the interior of the dugout. From the outside it
+didn't look large enough to accommodate more than three or four men, but
+there were bunks for eight, and there was ample room for the cooking
+stove, a dilapidated affair which looked as though it might have come
+from somebody's scrap-pile and left one of its legs behind it. But there
+was plenty of "draw" to it, as Monroe came in with his arms full of
+buffalo chips, filled the stove full, and touched a match to them. On
+each side of the stove was a blanket, which on being raised proved to
+conceal little cupboards devoted to various odds and ends. One contained
+books and magazines, a whip or two, and several pairs of spurs, and in
+the other were to be found the dishes from which the inmates had eaten
+breakfast, all neatly washed and put away. Tom was surprised at the air
+of neatness that everywhere prevailed.
+
+"Oh, you won't find all dugouts like this one," said Monroe. "Some of
+them are so dirty that you can't find a place to spread your blanket.
+Mr. Parsons' cook did this work, and all the ole man does is to sit
+outside and smoke."
+
+"Here comes the ole man now," said Stanley, who had ascended to the top
+of the stairs and was looking out over the prairie. "He has got a small
+drove of cattle with him, so we shall have some corral duty to do
+to-night."
+
+"And I believe he has more than twenty-five head with him," said Mr.
+Kelley, who dropped everything and came to Stanley's side. "He's got
+fifty if he's got one. Boys, I guess you had better go out there. They
+are tired most to death, and we might let them come in and get some
+supper."
+
+Although the two cowboys had ridden all of fifty miles that day, there
+was no objection raised to this arrangement. Without saying a word they
+buckled on their belts containing their revolvers, shouldered their
+saddles and bridles, and went out behind the hay racks. When they came
+within sight a few minutes later, they were going at full speed to meet
+their employer and his cattle.
+
+"Now, maybe you are able to see something off there, but I can't," said
+Tom, after he had run his eyes in vain over the horizon. "I can't see a
+single thing."
+
+"Can't you see that long line that looks like a pencil-mark off there?"
+said Mr. Kelley, trying in vain to make Tom see the object at which he
+was looking. "Well, it's there plain enough. When you have been on the
+plains as long as I have, you'll notice all little objects like that
+one, and, furthermore, you will want to know what makes them. It will be
+two hours before they come up, and you sit down here on the bench and
+watch it. I will go down and get some supper."
+
+Tom seated himself on the bench beside the door and tried hard to make
+out the approaching line of cattle, but could not do it. Finally he was
+called to supper, and went down saying that he would give his eyes a
+little rest and then maybe he could see them; but he couldn't do it now.
+
+"Supposing you were in a line of march and had a scout out there where
+those men are, and he should begin riding in a circle, what would you
+say?" asked Mr. Kelley.
+
+"I wouldn't say anything," exclaimed Tom. "I wouldn't know what he
+meant."
+
+"He would mean that there was danger close at hand, and you had better
+be gathering your cattle up," said Mr. Kelley. "And if they were
+scattered as far apart as those cattle are, you would want a small
+battalion of men to answer your orders."
+
+"What would be the danger?"
+
+"From Cheyennes, of course."
+
+"Good gracious! Do they ever come out and threaten a whole ranchful of
+cattle?"
+
+"Certainly they do. But they are all right now. They haven't had any
+grievance for a long time, and they are as trustworthy as Indians ever
+get to be. I wouldn't put any faith in them, however. I'd have been
+worth half a million dollars if it hadn't been for those pesky
+redskins."
+
+"Did they steal from you?" asked Tom.
+
+"Yes, they stole me flat, but I got away with my life, and that is
+something to be thankful for. Now, go out and see if you can find those
+cattle."
+
+Tom obediently went, and whether it was from the long rest his eyes had
+had or from some other reason, he distinctly made out a long "pencil
+line" on the horizon. By watching it closely he finally made out that in
+certain places the line was interrupted, and finally decided that that
+was the place where some of the cattle had strayed more than they ought
+to; and he was confirmed in this idea when he saw a solitary figure move
+up and turn them in toward the centre. As Mr. Kelley, having finished
+his dishes, came out and sat down on the bench to enjoy his smoke, he
+finally made out the two horsemen who rode around the outskirts of the
+herd and gradually disappeared.
+
+"It won't be long now before the old man will be along," said he. "You
+will see that he won't ride through the drove, but will come around it.
+If he should try riding through it, he would have a stampede on his
+hands that would do your heart good to see."
+
+"Are they as wild as that?" asked Tom, who told himself that he was
+learning something about the cowboy's business the longer he talked with
+Mr. Kelley.
+
+"You just bet they are. If you should go among them on foot, you would
+either stampede them or else they would charge upon you and gore you to
+death. That's the reason we always use horses in tending cattle."
+
+In about half an hour two horsemen were seen riding around the outskirts
+of the herd. They took a wide circle, so as not to frighten the cattle,
+and finally drew a bee-line for the dugout. Mr. Kelley remarked that
+they were the ones he was expecting, dived down the stairs, and in a few
+minutes the rattling of dishes was heard as he proceeded with his
+preparations for a second supper. The horsemen were hungry, or else
+their animals were, for they occupied much less time in coming in than
+the cowboys who relieved them, and in short order they were near enough
+for Tom to distinguish their faces. Tom took a long look at the man who
+was going to befriend him. He knew who he was, for there was the cut of
+a leader about him; and when the man rode up and swung himself from his
+horse with a "How are you, Tom?" it proved to him that Stanley and
+Monroe had told him something about him.
+
+"Howdy?" shouted a voice from the dugout; and Mr. Kelley stuck his head
+up through the door. "We're still on hand, like a bad dollar bill. How
+many cattle have you got out there?"
+
+"Sixty-five; and pretty good luck, too, seeing that they have been
+stampeded more than forty miles. Where did you pick up this youngster?"
+added Mr. Parsons, giving Tom's hand a hearty squeeze. "I certainly do
+not remember seeing him before."
+
+"No, he's a tender-foot. As he didn't know what else to do, he came out
+here for somebody to grub-stake him."
+
+"Ah!"
+
+"Everyone who knows him has gone back on him," continued Mr. Kelley,
+"and so he has come out here to see if you won't stake him for a gold
+mine."
+
+"M-m-m!"
+
+"And as he cured me of the dumb ague by giving me a pitcher of
+ice-water, I thought I would bring him along."
+
+"Aha!" said the ranchman, who had kept a firm hold of Tom while his
+right-hand man was speaking. "You claim to be a doctor, do you? Well, we
+must do something for you. I was a little older than you are when I went
+into the mountains to seek for a gold mine, and, unfortunately for me, I
+found it. I smell bacon. Is supper ready yet?"
+
+Mr. Kelley made some sort of incoherent reply which Mr. Parsons and his
+man understood, for they dived down the doorway, leaving Tom standing
+alone.
+
+"Unfortunately he got it," Tom kept repeating to himself. "I don't see
+what there was unfortunate about it, unless he was cheated out of it. If
+I had as many cattle as he has got out there, and as many men to obey my
+orders, I should look upon myself as remarkably fortunate."
+
+Tom did not have any opportunity to talk further with Mr. Parsons that
+night, for as soon as he had eaten supper he went to bed and was soon
+sleeping soundly. Tom felt the need of slumber, and when he thought he
+could do so without disturbing anybody, he slipped quietly down the
+stairs. There sat Mr. Kelley fast asleep on his dry-goods box, holding
+in his hand the copy of a newspaper about a fortnight old, and which he
+had been trying to read by the aid of the smoky candle that gave out
+just light enough to show how dark it was; and as everybody else felt
+the need of slumber, and gave over to the influence of it wherever they
+happened to be, Tom threw off his boots and tumbled into his bunk. Once
+during the night he was aroused by somebody coming in and informing Mr.
+Kelley that it was twelve o'clock; then there was a stir of changing
+watches and the camp became silent again. Or no; it wasn't silent. Just
+after the watches had been changed (for men had to keep track of the
+cattle during the night and see that nothing happened to stampede them)
+Tom was treated to a wolf serenade. It began faint and far off, and then
+all on a sudden broke out so fiercely that it seemed as if the pack had
+surrounded the cabin and were about to make an assault upon it.
+
+"What was that?" asked Tom, starting up in alarm.
+
+"It's the pesky coyotes," said Monroe, who was taking off his boots.
+"We're always glad to hear them, for then we know that there is nothing
+else about."
+
+"What else do you think might be about?" said Tom, wondering how any
+lone hunter could find any consolation in such a dismal serenade.
+
+"Indians," said the cowboy shortly. "Good-night."
+
+After that Tom did not sleep very soundly, for at times it seemed to him
+that some of the fierce animals had come to the door, which stood wide
+open all this while, and were about to come in. Once he was sure he
+heard them on top of the cabin, but the others slept on and paid no
+attention to it, and finally Tom became somewhat accustomed to it. He
+did not think he had closed his eyes at all in slumber, but when he
+awoke to a full sense of what was going on, he found that there were
+only two men left in the cabin, Mr. Parsons and his cook. The former sat
+on the edge of his bunk pulling on his boots, and the cook was busy with
+his frying-pan.
+
+"Hallo, youngster!" said Mr. Parsons cheerfully. "You'll have to get up
+earlier than this if you're going to strike a gold mine. Why, it must be
+close on to six o'clock."
+
+"I was awfully tired last night, and the wolves kept me awake," said
+Tom. "I don't see how anybody can sleep with such a din in his ears."
+
+"The time may come when you will be glad to hear them. If there are any
+Indians around, you won't hear them; just the minute the Indians break
+loose the wolves all seem to go into their holes; but when the Indians
+are whipped, they are out in full force."
+
+Tom noticed that the men seemed to be in a hurry, and he lost no time in
+packing his outfit. He ate breakfast when Mr. Parsons did, sitting down
+to it without any invitation from anybody, swallowed his coffee and
+pancakes scalding hot, saddled his horse, and rode away, leaving the
+cook to straighten affairs in the dugout; and all the while it seemed to
+him that he hadn't had any breakfast at all. He couldn't see anything of
+the cattle; but Mr. Parsons put his horse into a lope and proceeded to
+fill his pipe as he went.
+
+"I suppose you know your cattle have gone this way, don't you?" said
+Tom.
+
+"Of course I do," answered Mr. Parsons, taking a long pull at his pipe
+to make sure it was well lighted. "They are ten miles on the way nearer
+home than we are, and we have got to make that up."
+
+"Do you always drive your cattle into the mountains in winter?"
+
+"Yes, sir. We have had some blizzards here that would make your eyes
+bung out if you could have seen them, and I would be penniless to-day if
+my cattle had been caught in them. Some of the cattle ahead of us have
+been driven forty miles by a blizzard that struck us last fall, and I
+have just succeeded in finding them. If my neighbor hadn't been as
+honest as they make them, I wouldn't have got them at all. It would be
+very easy for him to round them up and brand them over again, and then
+tell me that if I could find an arrow brand in his herd I could have
+them."
+
+"How far does your nearest neighbor live from you?"
+
+"Just a jump--fifteen or twenty miles, maybe."
+
+Fifteen or twenty miles! None nearer than that! Tom had found out by
+experience that distances didn't count for anything on the prairie.
+
+"You said last night, in speaking of your gold find, that, unfortunately
+for you, you got it," Tom reminded him. "I would like to know what you
+meant by that. Were you cheated out of it?"
+
+Mr. Parsons replied, with a laugh, that he was not cheated out of it,
+but, on the whole, it didn't much matter. He took a party of experts up
+there, and, after working over the mine for a week or more, they gave
+him twenty thousand dollars for it, of which five thousand went to him
+and the balance to his employer. That made him lazy--too lazy to go to
+work. He spent three thousand dollars in grub-staking men to look up
+claims for him until the end of the year, when he found out that he
+wasn't making anything by it, so he took the balance of his money and
+went into the cattle business.
+
+"That gave me my start," said Mr. Parsons in conclusion. "In four years
+I had made up the money I had spent, and vowed I never would go into it
+again; but here I am talking of sending you to the mountains."
+
+"Do you think you are not going to make anything by it?"
+
+"Well, yes," said Mr. Parsons, with another laugh. "But I have got to do
+something to help you. You ride pretty well, and I should think you
+ought to go into the cattle business."
+
+"Who will take me? Will you?"
+
+"Well, no; I can't. I have had to discharge some parties, not having
+work for them to attend to, and I don't know how I could use you. I will
+tell you this much: when you come back in the spring, I will give you a
+show."
+
+"Thank you," replied Tom. "That's the first encouragement I have had.
+But you say it took you four years to make up the money you had spent.
+I'm not going to stay here four years."
+
+"You aint? What are you going to do?"
+
+"I am going to look for that nugget that Elam Storm has lost."
+
+"Oh, ah!" said Mr. Parsons, the expression on his face giving way to one
+of intense disgust. "Well, you'll never find it."
+
+"Why not? The edge of Death Valley is just crowded with men who haven't
+given up all hopes of finding it."
+
+"Crowded! Young man, I wonder if you know how big Death Valley is?
+Crowded! Now and then you'll find a man who still has that nugget on the
+brain, but if the man who hid it himself, not more than two years ago,
+can't find it, I think it is useless for others to try. There have been
+landslides in all the canyons that run through there till you can't
+rest. I'll tell you what I'll do: if you will find that nugget, I will
+give you ten thousand dollars for it. That's a better offer than I made
+you a while ago. And you may keep the nugget besides. If you are around
+when anybody else digs it up, I will give you five thousand dollars."
+
+There was something in this offer that completely shut off all
+discussion of the finding of Elam Storm's nugget. Mr. Parsons did not
+refer to the matter again, and neither did Tom; but the latter still
+clung to the hope of finding the gold. The nugget was there, or why
+should so large a number of men be on the lookout for it? And if he
+_should_ happen to strike it, he would be a rich man. During all his
+rides he kept that one thought in his mind, and nothing could shake it
+out. There was one thing that ought to have opened Tom's eyes, and that
+was that no nugget of gold had been struck in that country for miles
+around. The nearest place at which any had been found was at Pike's
+Peak, and that was over two hundred miles away. But Tom didn't know
+that, and the only thing that kept the cowboys from telling him of it
+was the fact that when he was in the mountains he would think he was
+doing something, but if he knew there was no gold to reward his search,
+he would give up in despair.
+
+It took our party five days to make the journey between the dugout and
+headquarters, for the cattle were slow of movement, and, besides, they
+were allowed to graze on the way. About ten o'clock a fierce winter
+wind, which made Tom bundle his overcoat closer about him and pull his
+collar up about his ears, sprung up from over the prairie, and the
+cattle ceased feeding and struck out for a canyon about a mile wide
+which opened close in front of them. Along this they held their way for
+five miles and better, until it finally emerged into a broad natural
+prairie, large enough, Tom thought, to pasture all the cattle in the
+country, and went to feeding with one of the herds. The air was soft and
+balmy, and Tom's overcoat was resting across the horn of his saddle. Mr.
+Parsons pulled up his horse and gazed around him with a smile of
+satisfaction.
+
+"These cattle are all mine, Tom," said he. "Every horn and hoof you see
+here has been paid for, and if you want to get in the same way, I will
+give you a chance when you come back to me in the spring. Monroe, you
+and Stanley might as well go out and see if you can find anything of
+that bronco. Tom wants to go away, and we must fit him out early in the
+morning."
+
+This was bringing the matter squarely home to Tom. He was to go away in
+the morning! He looked up at the mountains, and they seemed so large and
+he so small by comparison that he shuddered while he thought of getting
+bewildered in some of those canyons, and lying down and dying there and
+nobody would know what had become of him. But Mr. Parsons didn't
+discourage him. He was made of sterner stuff. He looked up and said with
+an air of determination:
+
+"Yes, I want to get off. The sooner I get to work the sooner I shall be
+doing something to earn my living."
+
+"That's the idea," said Mr. Parsons. "Stick to that and you will come
+out all right. Now, let's go home."
+
+Tom waved his hand to the two cowboys, who galloped away in one
+direction, while he and Mr. Parsons held down the valley, making a wide
+circuit to get out of reach of the grazing cattle. After going in a lope
+Mr. Parsons drew up his horse and began to talk seriously to Tom. He
+told him plainly of the dangers and sufferings which would fall to his
+lot if he endeavored to carry out his plan, but he did not try to turn
+him from his purpose. On the contrary, he tried to warn him so that when
+the dangers came he would be prepared to meet them half-way. He kept
+this up until the home ranch appeared in view, and then he stopped, for
+he didn't want the cowboys to hear what he was saying.
+
+This home ranch was not a dugout. There was a neat cabin to take the
+place of it, and Tom thought some of the cowboys had used an axe pretty
+well by the way they fashioned the logs and put them together. There
+were half a dozen hay-racks out behind the house, protected from
+wandering cattle by rail fences, and there wasn't a thing on the porch,
+no saddles, bridles, and riding whips, all such things having been put
+into a cubby-hole in the rear of the house. But it so happened that the
+cook, who had got there first, had peeled off his coat, and was engaged
+in straightening things out.
+
+"I never did see such a mess as these fellows leave when I go away for
+five minutes," said he. "I can't find a thing where it ought to be,
+though I have hunted high and low for that carving-knife."
+
+Tom took his seat at Mr. Parsons' side while he filled up preparatory to
+a smoke. There were one or two little things that he wanted to speak to
+him about.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+LOST IN THE MOUNTAINS.
+
+
+When Mr. Parsons had fairly settled himself, filled his pipe, lighted
+it, and fell to nursing his leg as a man might who felt at peace with
+himself and all the world, Tom said:
+
+"You didn't say anything about my horse in telling me what I should have
+to get through with. Did you mean that I should leave him at home, and
+go on foot?"
+
+"I did, certainly," said Mr. Parsons. "You will find that the bronco
+will go through some places that you will not care to ride, and,
+besides, you will have one horse less to take care of, and one less to
+watch."
+
+"Have I got to watch him all the time?"
+
+"Well, yes. You must keep the halter on him all the time, and tie him
+fast to a tree when you go into camp. If you don't, he will run away and
+leave you. He'll turn around and take the back track as soon as your
+pack grows light, and you had better come, too."
+
+"That's what one of the cowboys told me," said Tom. "Now, I have got
+some money here. I don't suppose it will be of the least use to me in
+the mountains, and I should like to leave it with somebody."
+
+"All right. Leave your horse and your money with me, and I will take
+care of them."
+
+"If I don't come back, they are yours," continued Tom. "Now, I should
+like to have a gun of some sort."
+
+Without saying a word Mr. Parsons went into the house and brought out a
+rifle and a revolver. Tom took them and examined them, and the way he
+drew the rifle to his face rather astonished Mr. Parsons. He remarked
+that he had handled guns before in his day, and Tom told him that he
+could not remember the time when he did not have a horse and shotgun for
+his own. His uncle furnished him with all these things.
+
+"Then right there is where you ought to have stayed," said Mr. Parsons,
+throwing more energy into his tones than he usually did. "I hope you're
+not going to be sick of your bargain, but I'm afraid you are. Here comes
+the bronco. Do you think you can manage that fellow?"
+
+The bronco which came up at that moment, with Stanley's lariat fastened
+about his neck, was like any other horse, only he seemed to be tired.
+When they stopped him, he lowered his head and drew up one of his hind
+feet, and closed his eyes as if he were fast asleep. But Tom knew better
+than to fool with him. He had read enough to know that the word came
+from the Spanish and meant "wild," and he had got his name from his
+persistent efforts to keep wild cowboys off his back. He couldn't be
+ridden, that was the matter with him; but he would carry a pack-saddle
+all day, and never had been known to leave a man he had accompanied to
+the mountains. Tom said he thought he could manage him, and patted him
+all over; but the horse never opened his eyes to look at him.
+
+Preparations were made for getting Tom off as soon as it was light, and
+by the time darkness fell all was ready. A pack-saddle was brought out
+which looked as though it had been through two or three wars, and the
+cook, following the instructions of his master, began to fill it full of
+provisions, giving no heed to Tom to ask him whether the supplies he
+furnished suited him or not. He had provided so many men with provender
+that he thought anything that would do for one would do for another.
+With darkness came three more cowboys, who listened to what Mr. Parsons
+had to say, and then greeted Tom very cordially, and wished him
+unbounded success in his efforts to find Elam Storm's nugget. One man,
+especially, was particularly interested in Tom's fortunes. He advised
+him to dig wherever he saw a landslide, and if he happened to hit upon
+the right place he would strike it sure. The spot where the man hid it
+was obliterated, but that wouldn't hinder the proper person from
+unearthing the nugget if he only chanced to dig where it was.
+
+"I have looked for that nugget a good many times, and that is the only
+thing that has kept me from finding it; I didn't dig where it was," said
+the man, with something like a sigh of regret. "I know it is somewhere
+in the mountains, else why should so many persons be looking for it?"
+
+Morning came at last, and after Tom had eaten a hasty breakfast he saw
+the pack strapped on his bronco; and the whole thing was done so easily,
+with two experienced cowboys at work, that he regarded it as the least
+difficult part of his undertaking. He had been told repeatedly to get
+the pack on right, and not to unhitch his horse until he did it, or the
+bronco would knock him and his burden into the middle of next week and
+come home, leaving him to follow after as best he could. But Tom was
+sure he had it "down fine," and with a cheerful good-by to the cowboys
+who had assembled to see him off, and a hasty slap on the bronco's flank
+to help him along, he started gayly for the mountains. When he saw that
+camp again, he hoped to have the eight thousand dollar nugget stowed
+away in his pack-saddle.
+
+The first day's work Tom could not complain of. The bronco kept up a
+lively walk, swinging his head from side to side and turning first into
+one canyon and then into another, and did not think it necessary to stop
+for anything to eat until he made his way to a little grove of trees,
+drew a long breath as he stopped under the shade, and looked around at
+Tom as if asking him why he didn't take his pack off. Tom leaned his
+rifle against a log and took his pack off very easily, and the horse
+immediately began taking his supper. Then Tom picked up his rifle and
+looked about him.
+
+"I declare! I believe the whole canyon is full of landslides," said he,
+as he gazed at one pile of rubbish after another filled with logs,
+rocks, and brush which nature had thrown into the valley, some new and
+of recent origin, and others bearing the marks of age upon them. "Hold
+on. Isn't that the mark of a spade over there?"
+
+Tom walked over and looked at it. It was the mark of a spade, sure
+enough, where a man had commenced digging where the landslide ended, and
+had thrown out just earth enough to prove that he had been there, and
+that was all. There were other openings of like character, until Tom
+counted ten in number. Then he looked up at the huge mass above him, and
+made an estimate that it would take an army of men, each armed with a
+spade and pick, to work it all away. These were probably the marks of
+the elderly man among the cowboys, who told him that the reason he
+didn't find the nugget was because he didn't dig in the right place. Tom
+shouldered his rifle, walked back to his log, and sat down.
+
+"I really believe I have been duped," said he disconsolately. "If the
+landslides are all like that, I am certainly not going to work to throw
+them all away just to make eight thousand dollars. Besides, what use
+will it be to me to work where he has been? I'll go on a little
+further."
+
+If Tom had any idea of a landslide, it was a little piece of ground
+which could be thrown away in half a day's time; but the sight of a
+_real_ landslide was what took his breath away. He didn't eat a very
+hearty supper after that, for the thought that was uppermost in his mind
+was that the men who had stood by him, and of whom he had a right to
+expect something better, had completely fooled him in regard to Elam
+Storm's nugget. Instead of telling him that there wasn't any show at all
+of his success, they had fitted him out and sent him away to put in a
+month of his time. There was one thing about it: he would not go back
+until every mouthful in the pack-saddle had been eaten. That much he was
+determined on.
+
+"I had an idea that cowboys were above suspicion, but now I know they
+are not," said Tom spitefully. "I can waste a month of their grub as
+well as anybody, and I won't put a spade in the ground until I see some
+prospects of success."
+
+At the end of a week Tom was still of the same determination, although
+he saw much to discourage him. It was landslides everywhere, and the
+mark of a man's spade was on every one; so it showed that the bronco had
+been over that same ground before. The way was getting lonely, they were
+getting deeper and deeper into the mountains, and somehow Tom felt very
+disconsolate. A deep silence brooded over everything--a silence so
+utterly mysterious that he was not accustomed to it. How gladly he would
+have welcomed Jerry Lamar and listened to news from home and from the
+uncle he had deserted. Another week and Tom found himself hopelessly in
+a pocket. Turn which way he would, there was no chance for him to get
+out. The man had been there before him--indeed, he seemed to have gone
+into all the places and thrown out just earth enough to prove that he
+had been there, but not enough to accomplish anything. It was just
+enough to let Tom see how useless it was to dig there.
+
+Tom's two weeks of tramping in the mountains had given him a ravenous
+appetite; his bronco was hitched so that he could not take to his heels
+and leave his master to find his own way home; and as he sat there on
+his blanket, dividing his attention between his cup of coffee,
+hard-tack, and bacon, he thought seriously of going back to
+headquarters. This was undoubtedly the remotest point reached by the
+man, and if one of his experience should be frightened out by a few
+shovelfuls of earth, or scared at finding himself in a pocket, Tom
+thought himself entitled to follow his lead. It had taken him two weeks
+to reach the pocket (he had managed to keep close run of the days); it
+would probably take him fully as long to return, and so he would fill
+Mr. Parsons' contract anyway. And so it was settled that he was to go
+home; but there's many a slip between determining upon a thing and doing
+it. He finished his coffee and bacon, led the horse down to the spring,
+from which he had scraped the leaves, to give him a drink, and rolled
+himself up in his blanket to go to sleep with his ready rifle safe
+beside him.
+
+How long he slept he did not know, but he was awakened about midnight by
+a sound he had never heard before. It came from his horse, but it wasn't
+a neigh: it was the sound of fear, and made the cold chills creep all
+over him. He started up with his rifle in his hand, but did not have
+time to get off the blanket. Another shriek, which sounded like somebody
+in fearful bodily agony, came from the bushes, and the next minute the
+horse was on the ground and struggling in the grasp of some animal or
+thing which Tom could not remember to have seen or heard of before. It
+had a long neck, long legs, and a wonderfully high body which was
+increased materially by a hump on its back. The horse was as nothing in
+its grasp, and the struggle took place not over ten feet from the
+blanket on which Tom was sitting.
+
+"Great Moses!" was Tom's mental ejaculation.
+
+He sat for an instant as if spellbound, and then his rifle arose to his
+face. He was sure he had a good shot at it and expected to see it drop;
+but instead of that it gave another shriek, tossed the horse away from
+it, breaking like thread the lariat with which he was confined, and with
+a single jump disappeared in the bushes. Tom listened, but could hear no
+sound coming from it to tell what sort of a beast it was. Then he got
+upon his feet and turned his attention to the wounded horse. He was past
+the doctor's aid, for he was dead.
+
+"Well, that beats me," said he, going back to the fire and starting it
+up, so that he could see what sort of wounds the beast had made. "I
+never heard of an animal like that before."
+
+A good many boys would have been startled pretty near to death by the
+sudden appearance of an apparition like that. It must be possessed of
+tremendous power to toss the broncho about as it did, and break the
+lariat with which he was fastened. No ghost could do that, and neither
+could a ghost have made that wide and fearful rent that Tom found when
+he had punched up the fire. Tom thought it best to build up a bright
+blaze, for he did not know how long it would be before the animal would
+come back to finish its work. He loaded the rifle carefully and placed
+the revolver where he could get his hands upon it at a moment's warning.
+He thought of grizzly bears, but had never heard of them taking to the
+bushes on account of a single bullet.
+
+"It couldn't have been a panther or a bear, unless my eyes were
+deceiving me, for it was at least four times as big as the horse," said
+Tom, picking up a brand from the fire and once more approaching the
+specimen of the apparition's handiwork. He hadn't been in sight more
+than a minute, and yet the horse was as dead as a door-nail. "He must
+have been a flesh-eater, for nothing else that I know of could have made
+such wounds. I am beat. Now, how am I going to find my way home?"
+
+If Tom had been frightened at first, he was doubly so now. He was so
+confused he couldn't think. From that hour he sat there on his blanket,
+and by the time that daylight fell so that he could distinguish objects
+near him he had made up his mind what he was going to do. He would take
+everything out of the pack-saddle that he could carry on his back, and
+make his way out of the pocket the same way he came in. He had
+remembered enough of his skill in woodcraft to turn and take a survey of
+his back track, so that it would not appear odd to him when he came to
+go that way again, and he had no doubt that he would be able to find it.
+More than that, the bronco had left the prints of his hoofs and had
+continually browsed on the way, and, taking all these things together,
+Tom was certain that he could strike the trail.
+
+"It is going to be a tight squawk," he soliloquized, "but I am not lost
+yet. I only wish I knew what that animal was. It would take a big load
+off my shoulders if I did."
+
+Tom did not waste any time in forming his bundle, for there were some
+things about the pocket that he did not care to see. He wanted to get
+out of sight of every thing that reminded him of his terrible fright. He
+put all his bacon, hard-tack, and coffee into his blanket, strapped his
+pot to his belt behind, set his pick, spade, and pack-saddle up where
+they could be easily found, shouldered his rifle, and, with a farewell
+glance at the bronco, which had carried his pack so faithfully for him
+so many miles, he plunged into the bushes and left the pocket behind.
+
+For that one single day everything went well. He found the bronco's hoof
+prints in the sand, and easily discovered the places where he had been
+browsing on the way, and as long as these signs remained he couldn't get
+lost. He even found, too, the place where they had stopped the night
+before, but going into camp without the presence of the horse was
+lonesome to him. He saw the place where he had scraped away the leaves
+from the side of the stream to give him a spot to drink, and found the
+sapling to which he had hitched him, and the place where he had spread
+his blanket--but there was little sleep for him that night.
+
+"I wish I knew what that animal was," thought Tom, as he sat on his
+blanket with his rifle in readiness on his knees. "The more I think of
+him the more frightened I become. I wish I was safe at headquarters."
+
+Remember that the signs Tom had been following were only one day old,
+and on the morning of the second day he could not find the place where
+he had entered the camp. Turn which way he would he could not discover
+any footprints. He finally concluded that the middle canyon looked more
+familiar to him than the rest, and, with his heart in his mouth, he
+struck into it. At the spot where the canyon branched into another he
+found a little stream which ran in the direction he thought he ought to
+go, and close beside the stream was a footprint which he took to be his
+own. He was all right now, and with every mile he travelled the faster
+he went, in the hope of finding something else that was encouraging, but
+that solitary footprint was the only thing he saw. There was one thing
+about it that kept up his spirits, and that was he was following a
+stream that ran toward the prairie, and he would continue to follow it
+until the stream or his provisions gave out, and then----Well, that
+hadn't happened yet, and wouldn't happen till he was where he could get
+more provisions. He must reach the house or he would lose his horse and
+$150 in money. He went into camp at a solitary place that night, and,
+for a wonder, slept soundly.
+
+The next morning he was up bright and early, but he did not seem to have
+much appetite for breakfast. And it was so every day until a week had
+passed, and still no change for the better. He was so impatient that he
+could scarcely go into camp. He was impatient to be journeying along
+that little stream that seemed to lead him toward the prairie, but every
+time he looked up and tried to wonder where he was, there were the same
+gloomy mountains stretched away before him that he had at first seen in
+the pocket where he had lost his horse. Tom took no note of the fact
+that his wearing apparel was getting the worse for wear, or that he had
+left his blanket back at his last camping-place, but he did take notice
+that his mind was filled with gloomy forebodings. Why could he not climb
+that mountain on his left and see what was ahead of him? The thought no
+sooner came into his mind than he banished it, took a drink of fresh
+water, and started out at a more moderate pace.
+
+"I'm lost," said he, with a sinking at his heart to which he was an
+entire stranger; "and if I give way to those thoughts, I shall be lost
+utterly. Why did I not think of my gun?"
+
+Tom dropped his pack by his side and fired and loaded three times as
+fast as he could make his fingers move. Then he waited again and fired
+three more; and scarcely had the echoes of the last report died away
+among the mountains when he heard a faint reply, though it came from so
+many directions that he couldn't tell from which way it sounded. But he
+took it to come from down the stream, and, leaving his bundle behind, he
+started in that direction, raising a shout which, to save his life, he
+could not utter above a whisper. He ran until he thought he ought to be
+about where the sound came from, then stopped and fired his gun again,
+and this time met with an immediate response. It was down the stream,
+and there was no doubt about it.
+
+"Who-whoop! Where are you?" shouted Tom, so impatient he could scarcely
+stand still. "I am lost!"
+
+"Follow the stream and you'll strike me," said a voice, and Tom noticed
+that for a backwoods fellow he talked remarkably plain.
+
+It was three weeks since Tom had seen anybody or heard anyone speak, and
+his eagerness to see where the voice came from was desperate. Throwing
+his gun upon the rocks, he broke into another run, and there, just as he
+turned around an abrupt bend in the canyon, he saw the person to whom it
+belonged. The speaker stood with his hat and coat off; his pick lay
+against a stone near by, and the shovel which he had been in the act of
+using when Tom's rifle shots fell upon his ears was standing upright in
+the ground; but he had taken precautions for any emergency, for he held
+his rifle in the hollow of his arm. Beyond a doubt somebody had been
+grub-staking him for gold, or for something else which he was equally
+anxious to find. Tom had just wind enough to take note of these things,
+and then he staggered to a rock near by and seated himself upon it.
+
+"You won't find any gold here," said Tom, resting his elbows on his
+knees and looking down at the ground.
+
+[Illustration: TOM'S NEW ACQUAINTANCE.]
+
+The stranger uncocked his gun, and, bringing the piece to an order arms,
+leaned upon it. He looked hard at Tom, but had nothing to say.
+
+"I have been all over this country, but not a cent's worth of gold could
+I find in it," continued Tom, taking off his hat and drawing his hand
+across his forehead. "Somebody has duped you just the same as they duped
+me."
+
+"Where's your gun?" asked the stranger.
+
+"I left it in the bend up there," said Tom, anxious to hear the sound of
+the voice again. "I was so impatient to get to you that I left it up
+there. I haven't heard a stranger speak for three weeks."
+
+"Where did you come from?"
+
+"Wait till I get my breath and I will answer all your questions. I came
+from a pocket back here in the mountains, where I lost my horse. I wish
+you could have seen that animal, for I don't know what it was: long
+neck, long head, and a body that looked twice as big as my horse. And
+then how strong it was! It broke my lariat----"
+
+"What color was it?" said the stranger, beginning to take a deep
+interest in what his guest had to say.
+
+"I didn't see that it was any other color when compared with my horse.
+It looked just the same--a dark brown. It had a hump on its back----"
+
+"The Red Ghost, by George!"
+
+Tom started and looked at him in amazement.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE CAMP OF ELAM, THE WOLFER.
+
+
+"I aint got any business to be digging around here," said the stranger,
+laying down his rifle and picking up his coat. "We'll go back and get
+your gun, Tender-foot. How far is that pocket from here?"
+
+"Why, it is a two-weeks' journey," said Tom, who suddenly became aware
+that he would have to go over that long tramp again. "I never could find
+my way back there in the world."
+
+"Who sent you into the mountains to dig for my nugget?"
+
+"Your nugget?"
+
+"Them's my very words, stranger."
+
+"Why, who are you?"
+
+"I am Elam Storm, the man who lost the nugget twenty years ago, and who
+intends to have it back if he has to kill every man this side of the
+country you came from; and where's that?"
+
+Tom, who had arisen from his rock at the same time the stranger began to
+put on his coat, stared fixedly at the speaker, and then sat down again.
+So this was Elam Storm, the man who had a better right to the nugget
+than anybody else in the world! He was a boy, not more than nineteen or
+twenty years of age, but he had a face on him which expressed the utmost
+resolution. And he had the physical power, too, to carry out his
+determination, for, as he moved around his camp, putting away his tools
+where he could readily find them, he showed muscles which said that it
+would not be a safe piece of business for anyone to interfere with that
+nugget.
+
+"Where did you come from, I asked you?"
+
+"I came from down in Mississippi, where my uncle owns a plantation and a
+heap of niggers," answered Tom, who did not like the way the boy eyed
+him when he spoke.
+
+"And right there is where you ought to have stayed," said Elam. "Did you
+hear anything about the nugget down there?"
+
+"Of course not," replied Tom, surprised at the proposition. "I started
+to go to Texas, but got on the wrong boat and was brought up here. I
+couldn't do anything else, and so Mr. Parsons grub-staked me and sent me
+into the mountains. He lives out that way a short distance."
+
+"How far do you call a short distance?"
+
+"Fifteen or twenty miles, maybe."
+
+"Haw-ha! Man, you're just about a hundred miles from where he lives."
+
+Tom caught his breath, but could say nothing in reply.
+
+"You have been going further and further away from him ever since you
+lost your horse," continued Elam. "Come on; let's go and get your
+rifle."
+
+"You say that nugget of yours was lost twenty years ago," said Tom, as
+he fell in behind Elam, being afraid to do anything else. "You are not
+that old, are you?"
+
+"Well, not so long as that!" laughed Elam. "It is a long story and will
+take you a good portion of the evening to listen to it. I will tell it
+to you to-night. Now, then, which canyon did you come down?"
+
+Tom looked up and found himself confronted by three gullies, which came
+down and met at that one point. He said he didn't know, but Elam, after
+looking around a little, started up one with as much confidence as
+though he had seen Tom when he came out. After some questioning from Tom
+he showed him a little twig, not larger than a needle, which he had
+brushed off in his hurried flight after he had thrown down his gun; and
+a short distance farther on he found the weapon, which Tom, in his
+excitement, had tossed clear across the creek. Tom was surprised when
+Elam stepped across the stream and picked up the weapon, and relieved
+when it was handed over to him with the assurance that it had suffered
+no injury in its collision with the rocks.
+
+"Now, we will let the bundle go," said he. "There is nothing in it that
+will pay us to go back after it, and I am too tired to go a step
+farther. I hope your camp isn't a great ways from here."
+
+Elam replied that for him it was "just a jump," but he would walk slowly
+so as not to tire the pilgrim. He stopped at his camp where he had been
+digging, and gave Tom a small supply of the corn bread and bacon which
+he had left over from his dinner, and while Tom was eating it he sat by
+on a rock with his elbows resting on his knees. Tom ate as though he
+hadn't had anything for a month, and when his repast was ended, Elam
+took his spade and pick under one arm, shouldered his rifle with the
+other, and set off in a way that was calculated to tire any man, no
+matter how well equipped he might be for travelling. But Tom did not
+care for that. He wanted to get home,--any place was better than the
+bare canyon,--where he could lie down and sleep with nothing to bother
+him. Once in a while Elam turned around and said to him:
+
+"To think that I have been wasting my time for the last month in digging
+in such places as this! I ought to have been fifty miles from here, for
+I know about where that canyon of yours is."
+
+"Do you think that that Red Ghost, or whatever you call it----"
+
+Tom happened to look up and saw that Elam was facing him, and was
+astonished at the expression that came upon his countenance. He would
+not have believed that one who was so sensible on every other point
+should be willing to admit that the apparition that had visited him in
+the pocket and robbed him of his horse was not due to superhuman agency.
+
+"I know how you, Tender-foot, feel about this, but wait until you have a
+chance to shoot it plumb through the head, and it gets away with it all,
+and then tell me what you would think," said Elam sullenly. "You
+probably don't have such things in the settlements, but that's no sign
+that they aint found out here."
+
+"I had as fair a shot at it as anybody could have," said Tom, "and it
+wasn't over ten feet from me. I saw the blood spurt out from a hole in
+its neck, and it flung the horse away from it, broke the lariat, and
+went into the bushes. But do you think it is guarding that treasure?"
+
+"I know it, and nobody can't make me believe differently. I have seen it
+often enough, and it has got the mark of three of my bullets on it."
+
+Elam faced about and went on his way at a faster gait than before, and
+Tom let him go. As eager as he was to learn something about the Red
+Ghost, he was still more eager to reach a permanent camp where he could
+lie down and rest. He found that he was pretty nearly barefooted. His
+sheep's-gray pants hung in tatters about his worn shoes, and Elam had a
+way of jumping from one stone to another and coming down on top of a log
+in a manner that he did not like. At length, when the sun began to go
+down, and Tom experienced some difficulty in finding a place for his
+feet, Elam stopped on the edge of a natural prairie, and pointed out
+something a short distance off.
+
+"There's my horse," said he. "And yonder, where that little grove of
+trees comes down into the prairie, is where my shanty is located. Can
+you stand it till we get there?"
+
+Oh, yes, Tom could stand it that far. He fell in behind Elam, paying no
+attention to the horse, which came up and followed along in their rear,
+pushed his way along the evergreens, and was finally brought to a stand
+by a door in a substantial log house. It was fastened by a bolt on the
+inside, but as the string was out, Elam easily opened it.
+
+"You are welcome to the cabin of Elam, the wolfer," said he, leading the
+way in and pointing to a pile of skins which served him for a bed.
+"Tumble in there, and don't get up till you get ready."
+
+"Thank you," said Tom, handing his rifle to Elam and throwing himself at
+length on the couch. "I never was so tired in my life."
+
+Elam had hardly time to set the rifle up in a corner and shut the door
+before Tom was fast asleep. How long he slept he did not know, but
+during the whole of it he felt that he was under the care of somebody
+who could protect him. If there were any ghosts to visit that camp, they
+would have to strike Elam first.
+
+The first thing he became aware of when he got his eyes fairly opened
+was that he was so full of aches and pains that he could scarcely move,
+and the next, that he did not recognize a thing about the establishment.
+Gradually he raised himself on his elbow, and then Elam Storm came into
+his mind. He could not remember much of what he had said to Elam during
+their first meeting,--he must have been about half crazy, he thought,
+when he talked to him,--but he had said enough to bring him a good bed
+and a sound sleep besides. He found that his feet had been interfered
+with--that they felt easier than they did before; and on removing the
+blanket that had been thrown over them he discovered that his tattered
+shoes and stockings had been removed; that they had been wiped dry and
+moved closer to the fire, which had evidently been going at a great rate
+before it died down to its present bed of ashes. There was plenty of
+wood right there, and with much extra exertion Tom managed to crawl to
+it, and by the persistent blowing of a coal into flame he succeeded in
+starting a fair blaze. Then he contrived to get up. There was a big hunk
+of johnny cake on the table, a slice of bacon with a knife handy to cut
+it, and a bag which proved to contain coffee. A further examination
+showed him that Elam had not gone about his business without leaving a
+letter behind him to tell where he was. The first was a chunk of bark on
+which was rudely traced a picture of a man gathering traps. He knew that
+he was taking the game in, for there was a representation of game in the
+trap. A second piece of bark lay under the first, and Tom could not for
+a long time make sense of what it contained. It was blurred, and was
+intended to represent a man going into camp. In other words, if Elam did
+not get home by daylight, Tom need not worry about it. The pictures were
+rudely traced in charcoal, but the drawing was perfect.
+
+"If I had not been tolerably well posted in backwoods lore, I could not
+have made head or tail out of these pictures," said Tom; and as he spoke
+he thought over all the lessons he had learned from the Indians and
+darkies in the swamp. "Elam is going out to gather his traps, and if he
+does not come home before to-morrow, I need not bother my head about it.
+What is he going to gather up his traps for? I shall have to wait till
+he comes home to have that explained, and now I'll go to work and get
+some breakfast."
+
+Tom had used up nearly all the wood to replenish the fire, and he began
+casting his eyes about the shanty to see if Elam had another pair of
+shoes in waiting to be put on when his own boots became wet, and found
+some moccasons with a pair of stockings neatly folded and hung beside
+them. Elam had worn them once, but that did not matter. He put them on,
+and, seeing Elam's axe resting in one corner, caught it up and went out
+to renew his supply of fire-wood. Hearing the blows of the axe, the
+horse came up and snorted at him, but could not be induced to come near.
+This made it plain that the man who attempted to rob Elam would have to
+leave his horse behind.
+
+Tom chopped until his appetite began to get the better of him, and then
+went in and busied himself about his breakfast. He left the door open
+(for all the light that was admitted to the cabin came through a space
+in the roof over the fireplace through which the smoke escaped), and
+told himself that for one who had never seen the comforts of civilized
+life Elam was able to copy pretty close to them. There was a table whose
+top was made of boards hewed out of a log and smoothed with an axe, and
+one or two three-legged stools without any backs, which proved that Elam
+sometimes had company. The clothing he had worn was neatly hung up at
+one corner of the cabin, and underneath was something which Tom had not
+noticed before: two bundles of skins, nicely tied up and waiting to be
+shipped. They were wolf-skins, and close by them lay half a dozen skins
+of the beaver and otter, not enough to be tied up.
+
+"I know what he meant when he said that I was welcome to the cabin of
+Elam, the wolfer," said Tom. "Somebody has either grub-staked him and
+sent him out here to catch wolves or else he is working for himself.
+Now, where's the spring? I must have some water for my coffee."
+
+Tom easily found the pail of which he was in search, and, going out
+behind the cabin, he followed the path he had noticed while cutting
+wood. It ran through a quiet grove of evergreens, and finally ended in a
+little pool in which Elam found his water. Coming back to the cabin, he
+could not find any coffee-pot, but he found a pan which seemed to have
+been used for nothing but coffee, filled it with water, placed it on
+coals he had raked off to one side, and covered it with one of Elam's
+pictures. With his breakfast fairly going, with his coffee and bacon on
+the coals, and his johnny cake and clean dishes on the table by his
+elbow, he settled back on his stool as complacently as though he had
+never known anything better.
+
+"I don't know what sort of a conscience Elam's got, but if he's got a
+tolerably fair one, it seems to me that he ought to be well contented
+with this life," said Tom. "He was born to this thing, and,
+consequently, don't know anything better; but as for me, there isn't
+money enough in it. But, then, he thinks he is going to find that
+nugget. Well, I'd like to find it myself, but I am not going to bother
+with it with such a fellow as Elam in the way. I don't want to test
+those muscles."
+
+Tom had come to that country to make money; he wasn't going to test
+anybody's muscle in order to make it, but he was going to make it. In
+spite of all the obstacles that were thrown in his way--and he met with
+no greater loss than any tender-foot is likely to meet--he carried back
+to his uncle half as much money as he stole from him, and his uncle was
+glad to see him, too. This was all in the future, and Tom knew nothing
+of it. He ate his breakfast with great satisfaction, getting up from the
+table once in a while to examine something new in Elam's outfit, and
+when it was done, he washed the dishes and put everything back just as
+he had found it. Then there was nothing left for him to do but to cut
+wood until Elam came. The latter would be cold and wet from handling
+those muddy traps, and there would be nothing wanting but a fire for him
+to get up to. Every once in a while he dropped his axe and went out to
+the edge of the evergreens to see if he could discover Elam returning,
+but always came away disappointed. One thing he continually marvelled
+at, and that was the scarcity of game. If anyone had told him that he
+could leave his gun and wander away by himself, he would have thought
+him foolish; and here he had been alone in the mountains nearly a month
+and had not seen anything--not even a jack-rabbit--to shoot at. Had it
+not been for that Red Ghost, or whatever it was, that visited him the
+night he stayed in the pocket, his gun would have been as clean when he
+took it back as when he came out with it. At last, when everything began
+to grow indistinct, and Tom had put away his axe and piled up the wood,
+he looked for Elam again, resolved if he could not see him to go into
+the cabin, haul in the string, and get his supper; but there was Elam
+half-way across the prairie, and, furthermore, he was struggling under a
+weight about as heavy as he could well carry.
+
+"They are wolf-skins," said he, as Tom hurried up to him and took his
+rifle from his grasp. "I've got eighteen, and two otters. How are you,
+Tender-foot? Got over your sleep yet?"
+
+Tom replied that he had got all the slumber he wanted, and then went on
+to tell Elam that he knew where he had gone, and if he did not return
+that night, he would not have been at all worried about it, and that he
+had got the knowledge from the pictures he had left on the table, and
+Elam seemed very much pleased.
+
+"You can't read or write, can you?" asked Tom. "I thought not, but you
+drew those pictures as though you had taken lessons in drawing. I have
+got a good warm fire for you."
+
+Although there were many things that he was anxious to question Elam
+about, Tom did not trouble him until he had had his supper and had
+shaken up the skins preparatory to enjoying his after-supper smoke. Tom
+followed his example and stretched himself out beside him, pulling off
+his moccasons so that he could have the full benefit of the fire.
+
+"Now, Tender-foot, what brought you out to this country?" said Elam,
+pulling up a bundle of wolf-skins so that he could rest his head upon
+it. "Tell me the truth and don't stick at nothing."
+
+Tom replied that there wasn't very much to tell, and went on and
+revealed to Elam as much of his story as he was willing that a stranger
+should know; but he didn't tell him a word about his fuss with Our
+Fellows, or of his stealing five thousand dollars, or of his association
+with gamblers. In short, he gave him to understand that he was hard up,
+that he wanted to go to Texas and had got on to the wrong boat and been
+brought up there. He told him the truth about his meeting with Mr.
+Kelley and his two cowboys, for he did not know but that Elam might see
+them some day.
+
+"I didn't know a thing about this country," said Tom, in conclusion,
+"and Mr. Parsons grub-staked me and sent me out to find a gold mine."
+
+"Haw-ha! You had about as much chance of finding gold here as you would
+in New Orleans," said Elam, as soon as his merriment would allow him to
+speak. "The only gold here is my nugget, and that was buried two years
+ago. Didn't he tell you about that?"
+
+"Yes, he told me about the nugget, but he also told me that by digging
+after it I might strike another gold mine, as some others had done
+before me. But if I ever go again, I don't want to follow such a man as
+went before me."
+
+"Who was it? Was it somebody who was working on Parsons' place?"
+
+"Yes. He was an elderly man, who seemed to take more interest in me than
+anybody else. He told me that the only reason he didn't strike the
+nugget was because he didn't dig in the right place."
+
+"Haw-ha!" laughed Elam.
+
+"And the only reason he didn't dig in the right place was because the
+nugget couldn't be thrown out with two or three spadefuls of earth,"
+continued Tom. "I followed along after him for two weeks, and in every
+camping-place there were two shovelfuls of dirt flung out. If a hen had
+been scratching for that nugget, she would have made better headway."
+
+"He was on the right track, anyhow," said Elam. "If he had kept on till
+he came to that pocket, he would have found it. That would have given me
+a job, for I would a heap sooner find it in the dirt than take it out of
+a man's pack."
+
+"If a man was to find that nugget----"
+
+"Yes, sir, I would," said Elam savagely. "It is mine, and I'm a-going to
+have it, I don't care who unearths it. Do you suppose you could find
+your way back to that pocket?"
+
+"No, sir; I couldn't," said Tom, drawing a long breath of dismay. "In
+the first place, there's the Red Ghost. If you had seen it----"
+
+"Haven't I seen it?" demanded Elam. "It has got the marks of some of my
+bullets."
+
+"It must bear the marks of a good many bullets, and I don't see why some
+of them did not hit it in the proper place. What do you suppose it is,
+anyway?"
+
+"Why, it's a ghost, I tell you. If it wasn't, some of those bullets
+would have struck it in the proper spot, I bet you."
+
+"If it's a ghost, you can't kill it."
+
+"Can't, hey? I'll bet you that I can."
+
+"It looked to me just like a camel," said Tom, who did not like the way
+Elam glared at him every time he struck on this subject.
+
+"A camel! What's them?"
+
+"An animal they make use of in foreign countries to carry heavy burdens
+for them. But, Elam, how came it to appear to you? It don't show itself
+to anybody else who hunts in these mountains, does it?"
+
+"Certainly it does. The history of this nugget is known all over the
+country, and if any man has it on his mind, he may be a hundred miles
+from here, but that makes no difference; it appears to that fellow and
+scares him off. Now, wait till I tell you."
+
+This brought Elam to his story, and he entered upon it a good deal as
+Uncle Ezra did, beginning with the massacre of the soldiers who were
+sent out to pay the garrison at Grayson, and ending with the fight
+between the two miners in the mountains. He seemed to know right where
+the nugget had been ever since it was unearthed. At any rate, he told a
+pretty straight story, and when it was ended filled up his pipe and
+looked at Tom to see what he thought about it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+UNWELCOME VISITORS.
+
+
+"I did think for a time that I should find my father and the nugget
+together, and even gave it out among the sheep-and cattle-growers who
+would listen to me," continued Elam, taking a few long pulls at his
+pipe. "But I have since given that idea up. I didn't say anything to the
+men hereabouts, for it kinder ran in my head after a while that they
+thought I was luny on the subject; so I just kept my ideas to myself.
+You see, the thing couldn't have gone through so many hands without my
+hearing something of my father, but, search high or low, I never heared
+a word about him. The old man is dead. He was killed when the robbers
+made their assault on the train, and the nugget has been doing all this
+of itself."
+
+"All what of itself?" asked Tom.
+
+"Why, it has been bobbing up and bobbing down," replied Elam. "One day
+you know where it is, and by the time you get on the track of it it has
+gone up, nobody knows where."
+
+For a long time Tom did not say anything. The story seemed so real--as
+real as that he was sitting on his couch of furs, with his feet tucked
+under him, gazing hard into the fire. It did not seem possible that the
+story could get abroad, and so many men believe it, and here this one
+was known two hundred miles away. There must be something in it.
+
+"Well," said Elam, "do you think I am crazy?"
+
+"I don't know what to think," said Tom. "Such a story never got wind in
+the settlements."
+
+"Of course it didn't. There's a heap more things that happen out here
+than you think for. There isn't one man in ten who would believe about
+that ghost."
+
+"No, sir," said Tom emphatically. "And I don't know what to believe
+about it, either, and I have seen it. Are you going up there to that
+pocket?"
+
+"I am going to start day after to-morrow if you will show me the way.
+When I strike the nugget, I will give you half."
+
+The proposition almost took Tom's breath away. All that amount of money
+for facing the Red Ghost! Now that he had got safely out of reach of it
+and had heard so much about its going everywhere it pleased, here to-day
+and a hundred miles away to-morrow, Tom was obliged to confess that
+there was more of a ghost about it than he was at first willing to
+suppose. But there was his horse with the broken lariat! No ghost could
+do a thing like that.
+
+"You see, I shall spend to-morrow in gathering in my traps," said Elam.
+"I may not come back, you know, and I don't want to leave them out where
+everybody can steal them, and when they are all in, I shall be ready to
+start."
+
+When Elam said this, Tom picked up a burned chunk, threw it on the fire,
+and laid down again. If Elam thought he wasn't going to come back, what
+was the use of his visiting the pocket? Tom had about concluded that he
+would not go.
+
+"No, I may not come back," said Elam, anxious that Tom should learn just
+how desperate the undertaking was, "and while I don't want to have my
+traps stolen, I want to leave them where someone can use them. Then I
+will pack my spelter on my horse and go to the nighest post--it is just
+a jump from here--and trade it off for provisions. We can easy get them
+as far as here."
+
+"Yes; but what will you do from here on? You won't have any bronco to
+carry them for you."
+
+"We will pack it on our backs. It's a poor hunter who can't go into the
+woods and carry provisions enough for two weeks."
+
+"And what if the Red Ghost appears? The first thing it will pitch into
+will be ourselves. I don't think I will go. I have got all over
+prospecting for gold, and wish that summer might come so that I can go
+to work herding cattle."
+
+"Well, I know what will happen to you then," said Elam.
+
+"Well, what will happen to me then?" said Tom, after waiting for his
+companion to finish what he had on his mind.
+
+"You'll go plumb crazy; that's what will happen to you. You will be set
+to riding the line----"
+
+"What's that?" interrupted Tom.
+
+"Why, riding up and down a fence, or rather where the fence ought to be,
+to see that none of your cattle break away. It will take you two days to
+make a trip, and you will get so tired of it that you will finally skip
+out and leave the line to take care of itself. But all right. You go to
+bed and sleep on it, and if it doesn't look better in the morning, I'll
+say no more about it. I will go by myself."
+
+With something like a sigh of regret Elam turned over and prepared to go
+to sleep. There was no undressing, no handling of blankets, but just as
+he was he was all ready to go to slumber. Tom felt sorry for him, and,
+besides, he knew how Mr. Parsons and the cowboys would look upon such a
+proceeding if it should once get to their ears. And he didn't see any
+way to prevent it. If Elam's story was able to travel for two hundred
+miles, the idea that he was afraid to face the Red Ghost would travel,
+too, and then what would be his prospect of getting employment with Mr.
+Parsons? And, besides, there was a chance for him to go "plumb crazy"
+while riding the line and seeing that the cattle did not break through.
+That was another thing that was against Tom.
+
+"I am afraid I am unlucky, after all," thought he, once more arranging
+his bunch of furs. "I am sent out into the mountains to prospect for
+gold, when there isn't any gold in sight except what belongs to Elam,
+here, and have the promise that when summer comes I shall be given a
+chance." Then aloud: "Say, Elam, does a fellow have to ride this line at
+first, and before he can call himself a full-fledged cowboy?"
+
+"Sure," said Elam; "he must get used to everything that is done on the
+ranch. He must begin at the lowest round of the ladder and work his way
+up."
+
+"Well," said Tom to himself, "I just aint a-going to do it. I'll just go
+to sleep on it now, and if the thing looks better to me to-morrow than
+it does to-night, I'll stick to your heels."
+
+While Tom was thinking about it, he fell asleep. When he awoke the next
+morning, it was broad daylight, but he was alone. Elam must have moved
+with stealthy footsteps while he was getting breakfast; but there was
+everything on the table just as he found it on the previous morning, and
+the pictures which Elam had drawn, and which Tom had placed on the wall
+so that they could be easily seen, had been taken down and put where he
+had seen them the day before.
+
+"I hope to goodness that I will get through with my sleep after a
+while," thought Tom, as he proceeded to put on his moccasons. "He has
+gone out to gather the rest of his traps, and I am left to decide
+whether or not I will go with him. Well, I will go. If that fellow is
+not afraid of the ghost, I'm not, either. I know it isn't a ghost, but
+he thinks it is, and we'll see who will show the most pluck."
+
+Tom went about his business with alacrity, and in an hour the breakfast
+was eaten and the dishes put away. Then he had nothing to do but to cut
+a supply of wood for Elam, though he didn't know how it was going to be
+of any use to him, seeing that he was going to the mountains; but it was
+better than sitting idle all day, and so Tom went at it, throwing the
+wood as fast as he cut it in under the eaves of the cabin, where it
+would be protected from the weather. At last the wood that was down was
+all cut, and Tom, leaning on his axe with one hand, and scratching his
+head with the other, was looking around to determine what tree ought to
+come down next, when he happened to glance toward the path where it
+emerged from the evergreens and ran up to the door of the house, and
+discovered two men standing there with their arms at a ready. If they
+had tried to come up under cover of his chopping they had succeeded
+admirably. They might have approached close to him, and even laid hold
+upon him, and Tom never would have known it until he found himself in
+their grasp.
+
+Of all the sorry-looking specimens that Tom had ever seen since he came
+West these were the beat. Elam would have been ashamed to be seen in
+their company. His clothes were whole and clean, while these men had
+scarcely an article between them that was not in need of repairs. Their
+hats, coats, and trousers ought long ago to have gone to the ragman; and
+as for their boots--they had none, wearing moccasons instead. Tom felt
+that something was going to happen. He knew he was growing pale, but
+leaned with both hands upon his axe and tried not to show it.
+
+"Howdy, pard?" said one of the men, looking all around.
+
+"How are you?" said Tom.
+
+He would have been glad to step into the cabin and get his rifle, but he
+noticed that the men stood between him and the doorway.
+
+"Whar's your pardner?" asked the man.
+
+"He is around here somewhere," said Tom, shouldering his axe and
+starting for the door. "What do you want?"
+
+"I want to know if you have anything to eat? We have been out looking
+for some steers that have broke away, and we've got kinder out of our
+reckonin'."
+
+"Who are you working for?"
+
+"For ole man Parsons. Our horses got away from us, too, and didn't leave
+us so much as a hunk of bacon."
+
+"I don't believe a word of your story," said Tom, who knew from the
+start that the man was lying. "But come in. I reckon Elam would give you
+something if he was here, though, to tell you the truth, we haven't got
+much."
+
+"So Elam is your pardner, is he?"
+
+"You seem to know him pretty well."
+
+"Oh, yes. Elam and I have been hunting many a time."
+
+"He's liable to come back at any minute," returned Tom, who wished there
+was some truth in what he was saying. "He has just stepped out to look
+at some traps. I don't see what keeps him so long, for of course you
+will be glad to see him."
+
+Tom had by this time got inside the cabin, closely followed by the two
+men, who, he noticed, did not go very far from the door. One of them
+hauled a stool up beside it and sat down where he could keep a close
+watch on everything that went on outside, and the other kept so close to
+Tom that the latter could not have used his axe if he had tried it. Tom
+wanted to get his hands on his rifle, but one of the men had placed
+himself directly in front of it so that his broad shoulders were between
+him and the weapon. The men pushed back their hats and took a survey of
+the interior of the cabin while Tom was getting down the side of bacon,
+and finally one of them discovered the pile of wolf-skins which Elam had
+tied up and left in the corner. With a smile and a muttered ejaculation
+he walked over and examined it.
+
+"Elam's at his ole tricks, aint he?" said he, after he had tested the
+skins and tried to determine by the weight of them how many there were
+in the package. "How many do you reckon he's got here? So many skins at
+forty-five dollars apiece would be--how much would it be, Tender-foot?"
+
+Tom was rather taken aback by this style of address. He had tried to
+play himself off on the men as one to the manor born, but his language,
+his dress, or something had given him away entirely. The man spoke to
+him as if he was as well acquainted with his history as Elam was.
+
+"I don't reckon we want anything to eat do we, Aleck?" continued the
+man, lifting the bundle and carrying it back to the door with him. "If
+you see anybody else coming along here that's hard up for grub----"
+
+"Here--you!" exclaimed Tom, throwing down his axe and making an effort
+to take the bundle from the man. "Put that down, if you know when you
+are well off."
+
+"If you know when you are well off, you will keep your hands to yourself
+and sit down thar," said the man, and at the same time the one who had
+been addressed as Aleck arose to his feet, cocking his rifle as he did
+so. "Oh, you needn't call for Elam, 'cause we know where he is as well
+as you do," he continued, as Tom thrust both men aside and started post
+haste for the door. "Now, Tender-foot, just go and behave yourself. We
+know that Elam has gone out to attend to his traps and won't be back
+before night, and so we've got all the time we want. Sit down."
+
+Tom saw it all now. The men had evidently watched Elam from the time he
+started out, until they saw him pick up one trap and set out for
+another, and had then made up their minds to rob him. They little
+expected to find a tender-foot behind to watch his cabin, and had
+consequently made up their story on the spur of the moment.
+
+"Aleck, you will find your bundle over thar," said the man, "and there
+are some otter-skins you can take, too. This rifle I will just take with
+me and leave it agin some rocks out here whar you can easy find it. Mind
+you, we haint done you no harm so far, but don't come nigh this rifle
+under an hour. You hear me?"
+
+Tom said nothing in reply. He watched Aleck as he picked up the other
+bundle and otter-skins (he left the eighteen Elam had brought in the
+night before, because they were not cured), flung them over his
+shoulder, and joined his companion at the door, where the latter had
+already taken charge of the rifle.
+
+"You haint disremembered what I've told you?" he said, in savage tones.
+"You come out in one hour and you can find the rifle; but you come out
+before that time expires and ten to one but you will get a ball through
+your head."
+
+Tom still made no reply, and the robbers went out as noiselessly as they
+had come in. He listened, but did not hear the snapping of a twig or the
+swishing of bushes to prove that they had worked their way through the
+thicket of evergreens to the natural prairie along which Elam was to
+come.
+
+"Well, now, I am beat," drawing a long breath of relief, thrusting his
+feet out in front of him, and putting his hands into his pockets. "So it
+seems that Elam isn't so very happy, after all, and that, no matter
+where one gets, he's going to have trouble. Here he's been working like
+a nailer for--I don't know how long he's been out here--until it seems
+to me----What's that?" he added, as his feet came in contact with a
+small buckskin bag which one of the robbers had dropped.
+
+Tom bent over and saw that one side of the string was broken. The bag
+had been tied around the man's neck, and had worked its way down until
+it found an opening at the bottom of his trousers above his moccasons.
+The man had never noticed it, and this was the first Tom had seen of it.
+It was small, but it was well filled, and Tom began to look about for a
+place to hide it.
+
+"Let him take the skins if he wants to, and I'll take this," said he,
+getting up and looking first into one place and then into another, and
+making up his mind each time that that was a poor spot to hide things.
+"He may miss it before he has gone a great ways, and I don't want him to
+know that he has left that much behind. Just as soon as he goes away
+I'll take it out and examine it."
+
+Tom, who was not so badly frightened as some boys would have been, made
+his way toward the door and finally went out, but could hear no signs of
+the robbers. He removed some sticks from the pile of wood he had cut and
+there placed the bag, covering it over as if nothing had been disturbed,
+and then struck up a lively whistle and started down the path. The
+robbers were not in sight, but there was Elam's horse just quenching his
+thirst at the brook, and that proved that his companion had not been
+stolen afoot, anyway.
+
+"I'll be perfectly safe if I try to find the rifle now," said Tom, as he
+began beating around through the bushes. "By George! I hope they haven't
+carried the gun off with them. They couldn't, for their packs were too
+heavy."
+
+Here was a new apprehension, and it started Tom to work with increased
+speed; and it was only after an hour's steady search that he found the
+gun hidden where nobody would have thought of looking for it. It was
+uninjured, and this made it plain that the only object the robbers had
+in view was to rob Elam.
+
+"They've got just sixteen skins or I'm mistaken," said Tom, shouldering
+his recovered rifle and retracing his steps to camp. "Sixteen skins at
+forty-five dollars would be worth seven hundred dollars and better.
+That's quite a nice little sum to rake out before dinner. Now, my next
+care is to examine that bag."
+
+Arriving at the wood-pile, the bag was taken out and carried into the
+cabin. Tom caught it by the bottom and emptied its contents on the
+table, first taking care, however, to place his rifle across his knees,
+where it could be seized in case of emergency. He was surprised at the
+contents of the little bag. In the first place there was some money
+tightly wrapped up in folds of buckskin, and when Tom unfolded it to see
+how much there was, two yellow-boys rolled out.
+
+"Hurrah! Here's something to pay for the stolen skins," said Tom, and,
+hastily putting the money into his pocket, he caught up his rifle and
+hastened out of doors to listen for some sounds of the returning
+robbers. Everything was silent. The men were gone, and Tom had nothing
+to do but to examine the bag in peace.
+
+"I am glad they didn't do anything more," thought he, as he went in and
+seated himself at the table. "If they had wanted to do mischief, they
+might have pulled a chunk from the fire and set the whole thing to
+going, but instead of doing that they just contented themselves with
+robbing us. Forty dollars. Where did they get it? Two gold eagles and
+bills enough to make up the balance. Here's tobacco enough to last both
+of them a week; needles and thread, so it don't seem to me that they
+ought to have been satisfied to go around with their jackets full of
+holes, as I saw them, and----What's this? It's something pretty
+precious, I guess, because it is wrapped up tightly."
+
+It was a small parcel tied up in buckskin that caught Tom's eye just
+then. It was so neatly wrapped up in numerous folds that by the time Tom
+got them unfolded he fully expected to find some quartz or some more
+gold pieces; but when he brought it to light, there was nothing but a
+little piece of paper, with ordinary lines drawn upon it. Did he throw
+it away? He spread it out upon the table as smoothly as he could, and
+set to work to study out the problem presented to him. One thing was
+plain to him: the line which ran up the middle, paying no attention to
+other lines which came into it at intervals, was a gully. Right ahead it
+went until it branched off in two places, and there it stopped. What did
+it mean?
+
+"It means something, as sure as I am a foot high," said Tom, settling
+back in his chair and holding the paper up before him. "There is
+something buried there, and how did these people come by it? I guess
+that Elam had better see that."
+
+Filled with excitement, Tom bundled the things back into the bag, and
+put the bag into his pocket, wondering what sort of history those two
+men had passed through. Did they know anything about the nugget? The
+idea was ridiculous, simply because there were some marks on a paper
+which he did not understand.
+
+"There was only one of them who escaped with the nugget, and he buried
+it within ten miles of the fort," said Tom. "And Elam says, further,
+that he was so sick and tired when he was relieved that he could not
+draw a map to lead anyone to it. No matter; there's something there, and
+I am in hopes it will----By George! they are coming back."
+
+There was no doubt about it, and he might have heard them before if he
+had not been so busy with his reflections. He listened and could hear
+them tramping through the bushes, and all on a sudden one raised his
+voice and called out to the other, who was evidently behind him:
+
+"I tell you he's got it. If I don't get it back, I am ruined!"
+
+"That means me," thought Tom.
+
+For an instant Tom stood irresolute, and then the idea came upon him
+that he wasn't going to be imposed upon in this way any longer. He moved
+across the floor with long strides, took down his revolver and put it
+into his pocket and moved out of the door, pulling it to after him. The
+men were close upon him. He heard them coming along the path as he
+slipped around the corner of the cabin and into the bushes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+TOM FINDS SOMETHING.
+
+
+"Oh, Aleck, he is gone!" shouted the man who was the first to come
+within sight of the cabin. "The lock-string is out, and he's cut stick
+and gone, with that bag safe upon him; dog-gone the luck!"
+
+"Push open the door," said Aleck. "Mebbe he is there."
+
+The man placed the muzzle of his rifle against the door and thrust it so
+far open that his companion, who stood with cocked piece close at his
+side, would have had no difficulty in getting a shot at Tom if he had
+been on the inside. It was plain that they were afraid of the
+consequences, for as the door swung open they both drew back out of
+sight. If he knew anything of the prairie at all, it wasn't so certain
+that he was going to give up that bag after what he had seen of it.
+
+"Hey, there!" shouted Aleck. "We know you have got it; you might as well
+come out and give up that thing I dropped in here a while ago. By gum,
+he haint in there!"
+
+A little more peeping and looking (you will remember that the inside of
+the cabin was as dark as a pocket) resulted in the astounding discovery
+that there was nobody there. In fact, Tom lay about ten feet from
+them,--the bushes were so thick that he did not think it safe to retreat
+any farther,--and from his hiding-place he could distinctly hear
+everything that passed. He would have been glad to retreat farther, but
+the bushes made such a noise that he was afraid to try it.
+
+[Illustration: TOM IN HIDING.]
+
+"He's gone," said Aleck, hauling a stool out from the cabin and throwing
+himself upon it. "Now, what am I to do?"
+
+"Perhaps you didn't drop it in there," said his companion. "You
+travelled a good ways----"
+
+"Yes, I did," said Aleck, whose rage was fearful to behold. "I felt of
+it when I was coming through the bushes, and I am as certain as I want
+to be that I felt the bag, and nothing else."
+
+"And do you suppose he found it and went to examine it?" said the other
+man, who hadn't done much of the talking. "If I thought that was the
+case--you have got us in a pretty box!"
+
+"I don't suppose nothing else. And just think, it is in Elam's hands.
+Dog-gone the luck! I'd like to shoot myself."
+
+"Aha!" thought Tom. "Now, go on and tell us what it is that's in Elam's
+hands. It's the nugget, and I'll bet my life on it."
+
+"I never did have much faith in it, anyhow," said Aleck's companion,
+who, holding his rifle in the hollow of his arm, kicked a few chips out
+of his way; "but you seemed so eager for it that you had to go and shoot
+a man in order to get it. It's nothing more than I expected."
+
+"I believe I can work my way up there alone," said Aleck.
+
+"With all them gullies coming down? You're crazy. But you don't want to
+sit here a great while. Elam will have it; that feller's gone to find
+him----"
+
+"If I thought Elam would have it, I'd lay around on purpose to shoot
+him," said Aleck, rising from his stool and kicking it out of his way.
+"He aint no more than anybody else, Elam aint."
+
+"Well, if you are going to stay here, you can stay alone. I'll go back
+and take my bundle of skins to the fort, and raise some money on them.
+Then I'll light out, and you won't catch me around where Elam is again."
+
+"By gum! I'll go, too," said Aleck. "But I'll bet you that Elam will
+sleep cold to-night."
+
+"By George! he is going to burn the house," said Tom, drawing a long
+breath. "Well, I have done what I could, and as soon as they go away
+I'll go in and save what I can from the wreck."
+
+The very first words that Aleck uttered after he had set fire to the
+cabin seemed to put a stop to this resolution. He made a great show of
+setting the shanty a-going, entering into it and kicking the burning
+brands about and piling stools and other things upon them, and when he
+came out and closed the door behind him, he was well satisfied with his
+work.
+
+"There, dog-gone you!" sputtered Aleck, shouldering his rifle. "If you
+don't burn, I'll give up. Now, we'll just wait and see if some of 'em
+don't come back here to save things. You'll wait that long, won't you?"
+
+"I won't, if you are going to raise a hand against Elam. I tell you it
+aint safe for anybody to touch him. You have had more pulls at him than
+anybody I know, and you have always said the same."
+
+"And right here in these mountains, too," said Aleck. "I guess she will
+burn well enough without us, so we had better go on."
+
+It may have been the fire that operated on Aleck's superstition in this
+way, for Tom listened and could hear them going headlong along the path.
+He did not think it quite safe to venture near the burning cabin until
+he had seen what had become of the robbers, so he left his rifle where
+it had fallen and, with his revolver for company, pursued the men toward
+the natural prairie. He did not feel the least fear of meeting the
+robbers in the evergreens, for his ears had informed him of their
+passage through them; so when he stopped behind one of the trees and
+took a survey of the ground before him, he was delighted to discover
+them far away, and going along as if all the demons in the woods were
+behind them. His next business was to go back and save what he could.
+The fire was already burning brightly, but, knowing where everything
+was, he succeeded in saving Elam's saddle and bridle, all the
+provisions, his clothing, and a few of the skins which served him for a
+bed. Then he sat down, drew his hands across his heated face, and waited
+as patiently as he could for the rest to burn up. As Elam had occupied
+the cabin for three or four winters, it burned like so much tinder. The
+principal thing that occupied his attention now was what he had heard
+the men say regarding Elam.
+
+"Elam has been shot at three or four times right here in these
+mountains," soliloquized Tom. "He didn't say a word to me about that,
+and I reckon it was something he did not want to speak of. Now, I will
+leave the things right here and go and find Elam."
+
+This would have been a task beyond him had he not seen the way Elam went
+the day before. He went up the prairie to gather in his traps, and of
+course all he had out must have been up that way, too. He didn't know
+anything about the theory of setting traps for wolves, but Elam
+understood it, and he was sure he was going the right way to find him.
+At any rate, he wouldn't go far out of sight of the smoke of the burning
+cabin, and with that resolution he cast his eye over the wreck to see if
+there was anything else that he could save, and struck into the path.
+
+"I'll leave my revolver there where it is," said Tom. "There can't be
+more than one set of thieves around here at once. And I've got what has
+ruined that fellow. If I haven't got the secret of Elam's nugget here in
+my pocket, I'll give up. I'll go with you now, Elam. I'll face a dozen
+Red Ghosts for the sake of getting my hands on this pile of gold. It
+isn't a ghost, anyway. It is a camel, and I don't see how in the name of
+sense any of his tribe managed to get stranded out here. I'll shoot at
+it as quick as I did before."
+
+Filled with such thoughts as these Tom reached the edge of the
+evergreens, but there was no sign of the robbers in sight. Elam's horse
+was there, and he seemed to think there was something wrong by sight and
+smell of the smoke, for he tossed his head and snorted, and when he saw
+Tom approaching took to his heels. Tom was glad of that, for Elam
+thought a good deal of that horse; he would come up at night, and Elam
+would go out to give him a piece of bread and speak friendly words to
+him. He had hardly left the horse behind before he saw Elam approaching.
+He had a few skins thrown over his shoulder, but he was going at a rapid
+rate, as if he knew there was something amiss. Discovering Tom, he threw
+off his skins, laid down his rifle, and seated himself on a rock to
+rest.
+
+"Burned out?" said he cheerfully, when Tom came within speaking
+distance.
+
+"Yes," said Tom. "How did you know it?"
+
+"Oh, I saw it back there in the mountains. How did it catch?"
+
+Tom had by this time come up. He seated himself beside Elam and drew the
+little bag from his pocket. He was in hopes that Elam would recognize
+the bag, but all he did was to look at it and wait for Tom to go on.
+
+"I've had visitors since you left this morning," said Tom. "Two men with
+ragged and torn clothing came there and got into the cabin before I knew
+it, and when they got in, they made a haul of your two bundles of skins
+you had tied up."
+
+"Hallo!" exclaimed Elam. "Seven hundred dollars gone to the bugs. Tell
+me how it happened."
+
+To Tom's astonishment Elam did not seem at all surprised at the robbery,
+but when it came to the discovery of the bag and the description of the
+man who had lost it, Elam sprang to his feet with a wild war-whoop. Tom
+began to see that there was a good deal in Elam, but it wanted danger to
+bring it out.
+
+"I know that fellow," said he, reseating himself after his paroxysm of
+rage had subsided.
+
+"You ought to," responded Tom. "He has had three or four shots at you
+right here in the mountains."
+
+"I know it, and that's my bag you have got there," replied Elam. "Go on
+and tell me the rest."
+
+Tom was more astonished than Elam was to find that the bag belonged to
+him, and it was some little time before he could get his wits to work
+again; but when he did, he gave a full description of the burning of the
+cabin, and told of the direction the men had gone when they got through.
+Elam said they had gone to the fort, and the only way to head them off
+was to get there in advance of them. They intended to raise some money
+on those skins, and after that go to the mountains; but he was certain
+if he could see the commandant or the sutler he would knock their
+expedition into a cocked hat. He dropped these remarks as Tom went
+along, so that by the time he got through he knew pretty nearly what
+Elam was going to do. He was more surprised when he got through than
+Elam was.
+
+"You seem to look upon this robbery as something that ought to have
+happened," said Tom. "I tell you that if I had worked as long as you
+have, and had seven hundred dollars' worth, I would be mad."
+
+"Young man, if you had been out here as long as I have, and been in my
+circumstances, you would have learned to look upon these things as a
+matter of course," answered Elam. "This is the fourth time I have been
+robbed, and I never go to the mountains without expecting it."
+
+"But you never told me about that man shooting at you so many times,"
+answered Tom.
+
+"Well, he did; and once he came so close to me that he laid me on the
+ground," said Elam, baring his brawny chest and showing Tom the ragged
+mark of a bullet there.
+
+"By George!" exclaimed Tom.
+
+"That was the time he stole that bag you have there," continued Elam.
+"He looked at me and thought me to be dead, and so made no bones about
+taking it. But he got fooled for once in his life. He thought I had a
+map there telling him where to look for the nugget."
+
+"Did you have a map of any kind with you?"
+
+"Nary a map," said Elam, with a laugh.
+
+"Well, there's one here now, and I should like to have you look at it.
+The loss of that map made Aleck think he was ruined."
+
+Elam became all attention now, and watched Tom as he took out the piece
+of buckskin and carefully unfolded it. Finally he took out the paper and
+handed it to Elam, taking pains to smooth it out as he did so.
+
+"He said he had to shoot a man in order to get it," said Tom.
+
+"What man was it?"
+
+"I don't know. He didn't describe him."
+
+Elam had been fooled so many times in regard to that nugget that he took
+the paper with a smile, but he had scarcely glanced at it before a look
+of intense earnestness took the place of the smile. He laid down his
+rifle, rested his hands upon his knees, and studied the paper long and
+earnestly.
+
+"Do you make anything out of it?" asked Tom.
+
+"It's the very thing I want," declared Elam. "I have waited and looked
+for a thing like this, and have never found it. The nugget is
+mine--mine, and, Tom, I will give you half if you will stand by me till
+I handle it."
+
+"It's a bargain," replied Tom, and to show how very much in earnest he
+was he offered to shake hands with Elam; but he resolved that he would
+never do it again. All the years of waiting Elam had infused into that
+grip; Tom didn't say anything, but it was all he could do to stand it.
+
+"There is only one thing I can't see into," said he, when he had
+recovered his power of speech, "and that is where that line begins. You
+don't know where in the world it is."
+
+"Do you see all these little dots here at the beginning of the line?
+Well, those are springs. There's a dozen springs break out inside of
+half an acre, and there's only one place in the country where you can
+find them."
+
+"How far is it from here?"
+
+"It is forty miles in a straight line."
+
+"Then what were those men doing here?"
+
+"I give it up."
+
+"And here's some money, too, with the thing," said Tom, undoing the
+piece of buckskin that contained it. "There's forty dollars here."
+
+"I am sure I don't know what brought them in here, unless they came
+after somebody that had the map. I'd like mighty well to find him, but I
+can't stop now to hunt him up. I must have the nugget in the first
+place."
+
+"Well, you had better keep this map," said Tom, as Elam got up and threw
+the skins over his shoulder and picked up his rifle.
+
+"No, you keep it until I come back. I've got to face a couple of rough
+men, and there's no knowing what may happen to me. If I shouldn't come
+back, find Uncle Ezra Norton and give it to him. He will go with you and
+help you hunt it up."
+
+"What have you got to face those rough men for?" said Tom anxiously.
+"Those men who were here were afraid of their lives."
+
+"Yes; but you take them out in the mountains and see if they are afraid
+of their lives. They would shoot you as quickly as they would look at
+you. One of them has more to answer for than he will care to. Uncle Ezra
+Norton. Don't forget him. Now, I am going to leave you here while I go
+on to the fort. I shall be gone three days. You can stand it that long,
+can't you?"
+
+"I can stand it for a week if you will keep those fellows from trading
+off those wolf-skins for provisions," said Tom. "I hope you'll catch
+them right there among our soldiers, and make them give up the skins.
+They've got a heap of cheek to take those skins to the fort."
+
+"The people out here have cheek enough for anything," said Elam, with a
+frown. "This Aleck you speak of took some money off that dead man, and
+yet I'll bet you he would go right to the fort and spend it."
+
+Elam became all activity, and it was all Tom could do to keep pace with
+him as he walked along carrying the skins to the site of the cabin. It
+was a "site," sure enough, for the fire had made rapid headway, and now
+there was nothing but the smouldering remains to be seen. Elam looked at
+the smoking ruins and then at the numerous articles Tom had saved, and
+then said:
+
+"If I had known as much on the day I built this cabin as I do now, I
+could have enjoyed myself better here than the ones who burned it. You
+have saved your boots, haven't you? Well, the things that went up are
+comparatively of little value. Now, if you will punch together some of
+the coals and get me a big dinner, I'll be off. There's a blizzard
+coming up, and as they generally come from the south-west, I would
+advise you to put up a lean-to with its back that way," said Elam,
+motioning with his hand.
+
+"I would really enjoy a blizzard, but not if you are going to be out in
+it," replied Tom, who, for some reason or other, could not bear that
+anything should happen to Elam. "I have never seen one in my life."
+
+For an hour or two the boys were busy, Elam in catching and saddling his
+horse and doing up his blankets to be carried with him, and Tom employed
+with his cooking, and all the while the former was going on with some
+instructions which were destined to make things easier for Tom. He
+didn't want to neglect that lean-to, he said, for in less than three
+days there would be a blizzard that would make him open his eyes. If he
+didn't come back in three days, all Tom would have to do would be to
+take that map to Uncle Ezra Norton (anybody at the fort would show him
+where he lived), and he would know what to do under the circumstances.
+Having said this much, Elam wrapped what was left of his dinner in his
+blankets, so as to carry it with him, shook Tom warmly by the hand (he
+did not put as much vim into it as he did before), mounted his horse,
+and rode down the path out of sight. When he thought a sufficient length
+of time had passed, Tom wandered down to the edge of the evergreens and
+looked out. There was Elam on his horse, skurrying along; not going
+fast, for he had nearly a hundred miles to ride, but taking it easy, as
+though he could stand it. Elam didn't know it, but he was to travel
+twenty miles at as fast a gait as he had ever ridden it before.
+
+"There goes my luck again," said Tom, as he turned about and returned
+through the evergreens. "If anything should happen to him, I don't know
+what I should do. I feel drawn toward the fellow. I will pay attention
+to what he told me, and in order to put it out of the power of those men
+to carry off this map and money I will just chuck the bag in here, where
+I know it is safe."
+
+The place where Tom hid the bag was in a hollow tree. He pushed it in,
+put some leaves and brush over it, and turned away, satisfied, to begin
+work on his lean-to. He could not see any signs of the approaching
+blizzard, but Elam could, and he worked hard. That day he had the frame
+up, and the next day it was all done and the things carried under it.
+
+"There," said Tom, with a smile of satisfaction. "We are all ready for
+what comes. Now, if Elam was only here, I'd be content. One more day, or
+at least I will give him two, and then he will have to show up."
+
+The third day passed without bringing any signs of the missing boy, but
+Tom paid little attention to it. On the fourth he began making trips to
+the edge of the evergreens, and then he saw that the sun was hazy and
+that it began to look stormy. It grew worse on the fifth day, and Tom
+really began to be alarmed. Toward evening a horseman suddenly made his
+appearance on the edge of the prairie, walking slowly along, as if his
+nag was tired almost to death. But it was Elam, for after he had made
+many steps he discovered Tom, and pulled off his hat and waved it to
+him.
+
+"Something has gone wrong," muttered Tom, vigorously returning the
+salute. "Why don't he whip up? If I was as close to home as he is, I
+would go faster than that."
+
+Tom waited in the margin of the woods for him to come up, and when he
+drew nearer saw that his face was pale, and that he carried his arm in a
+sling, as if he had been wounded. When Tom saw that, he began to grow
+pale, too.
+
+"Oh, it's all over," said Elam. "Look there."
+
+"What! Is your horse wounded, too?"
+
+"Yes, and was hardly able to move when I rode him into the fort. Say,
+you told me that soldiers always wanted to see the fair thing done,
+didn't you? They're a mean set. But I got the start of them. Do you know
+what became of those two men who were here? Well, the Cheyennes have got
+them."
+
+"The Cheyennes!" exclaimed Tom.
+
+Elam looked at him and nodded, and got off his horse with difficulty.
+Tom looked at the long ragged streak in his neck, and did not wonder
+that he was glad to be rid of his rider.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+ELAM INTERVIEWS THE MAJOR.
+
+
+When Elam mounted his horse and set out for the fort that morning, it
+was with the secret determination to confront Aleck and his companion,
+or, failing in that, he would push on ahead, and by seeing the colonel
+or the sutler he would render their attempts at disposing of the furs of
+no account. He had already borne enough from one of these men to put him
+pretty well out of patience. Although Elam said nothing about it, Aleck
+had been at the bottom of three desperate attempts upon his life, as
+well as of four efforts that had been made to rob him, and Elam thought
+he couldn't stand it any longer. He rode along just outside of the
+willows that skirted the foot-hills, so that he could not be picked off
+by a stray rifle shot, and keeping a close watch of the prairie on all
+sides of him, and when night came he hadn't seen anything of the
+robbers. When darkness fell, he allowed his horse to browse around him
+while he ate some of the lunch that was wrapped up in his blanket, and
+then put out again. He was satisfied that by this time he had got beyond
+the men, and now he wanted to get to the fort and put the people there
+on their guard. Was Elam flustered while he was doing all this? Not a
+bit of it. He went about his work as he would have tried to compass the
+death of some wild animal that had escaped him. When the first gray
+streaks of dawn were seen in the east, he camped in a sheep-herder's
+dugout, but it was empty. Beyond a doubt the men had gone into the
+mountains to escape the blizzards. There was a small stack of hay behind
+the cabin, and to this Elam staked out his horse, and went in and
+tumbled into an empty bunk. He was within twenty miles of the fort.
+
+Elam slept the sleep of the weary, and when he was aroused to
+consciousness, it was by a note of warning from his horse. Elam was wide
+awake in an instant. He caught up his rifle and hurried to the door of
+the cabin, and the summit of the hills over which he had come the night
+before was crowded with horsemen. They were so far off that he could not
+distinguish anything, but he knew by certain signs they exhibited that
+they were not the men he wanted to see. They were too much scattered.
+
+"I believe those are the Cheyennes," said he, lost in wonder. "I never
+heard of their breaking loose before."
+
+As if in corroboration of his words, a single long-drawn yell arose on
+the air, followed by a chorus that must have been deafening to those
+that were close at hand. That was enough for Elam. With muttered
+ejaculations addressed to the men who were supposed to be near enough to
+the Indians to keep watch of their movements, he rushed to his horse,
+severed the lariat with which he was confined, mounted without saddle or
+bridle, and was off like the wind.
+
+"I tell you now I am whipped," said Elam, gazing back at his line of
+foes, and trying to estimate how many warriors there were in the lot.
+"It's the Cheyennes, and they belong two hundred miles from here. Some
+ruffian has stolen their back pay, and they are going to have revenge
+for it. Keep close, there, or I'll down some of you."
+
+Then followed a chase such as we don't read of in these days. It was
+long and untiring, and all the way Elam looked in vain for assistance.
+His first care was to make out that there were no Cheyennes in advance
+of him, and he concluded that their discovery of him was as much of a
+surprise to them as it was to him; otherwise they would have sent some
+warriors out to surround him. That was all that saved him. He was
+mounted on a mustang, and such an one could not be tired out in a
+twenty-mile race. He seemed to hate the Indians as bad as his master
+did, and put in his best licks from the time he started, but that
+wouldn't do at all. Some of the cool heads behind him were holding in
+their horses, calculating that when the race was nearly finished they
+would come up and settle the matter. Other warriors, carried away by
+their military ardor, or perhaps having some private wrongs to avenge,
+easily outstripped the others, and finally Elam had his attention drawn
+to two who seemed bent on coming up with him. He couldn't hold his horse
+well in hand with nothing but a noose around his neck, but by talking to
+him he finally got him settled down to good solid work.
+
+[Illustration: ELAM'S FIGHT WITH THE CHEYENNES.]
+
+For one hour the chase continued, and then the whitewashed stockade of
+the fort came into view. He could see that there was a commotion in it,
+for the soldiers were running about in obedience to some orders, but
+nearer than all came the two warriors, who seemed determined to run him
+down and take his scalp within reach of the fort. At last they thought
+they were near enough to fire. One of them drew up his rifle, and Elam
+threw himself flat upon his horse's neck. The rifle cracked, and in an
+instant afterward his horse bounded into the air and came to his knees.
+But he didn't carry Elam with him. The moment he felt his horse going he
+bounded to his feet, struck the ground on the opposite side, and when
+the animal staggered to his feet, as he did a second later, he stood
+perfectly still and Elam's deadly rifle was covering the savage's head.
+He dropped, but he was too late. The ball from the rifle which never
+missed sped on its way, and the warrior threw up his hands and measured
+his length on the ground. An instant afterward Elam was mounted on his
+horse again and going toward the fort as fast as ever. At this feat loud
+yells came from the Indians. The death of the warrior and Elam's fair
+chance for escape filled them with rage. The nearest savage fired, and
+this time the bullet found a mark in Elam's body. It struck him near the
+wrist and came out of his hand, but Elam never winced. He changed his
+rifle into his other hand and broke out into a loud yell, for he saw a
+squadron of cavalry come pouring from the fort. The chase was over after
+that. Elam galloped into the fort, swinging his rifle as he went, and
+got off just as his horse came to his knees again.
+
+Of course all was excitement in there. The balance of the soldiers,
+which consisted of a small regiment of infantry, were drawn up outside
+the fort ready to help the cavalry in case the Indians dodged them, the
+teamsters climbing upon the stockade ready to use their rifles, and Elam
+was left to take his horse out of the way and examine his injuries and
+his own. For himself he decided that it was no matter. He could open and
+shut his hand, although it bled profusely, and that proved that the
+bullet had not touched a cord; but his horse--that was a different
+matter. The ball had not gone in, but had cut its way around the neck,
+leaving a mark as broad as his finger. He must have a bucket of water at
+once. While he was looking around for it, he ran against an officer who
+had been busy stationing the men in their proper places.
+
+"Hallo! You're wounded, aint you?" said he, taking Elam's hand. "Come
+with me."
+
+"I've got a horse here that's worse off than I am," said Elam. "I'd like
+to see him fixed in the first place, and then I'll go with you."
+
+"A horse! Well, he belongs to the veterinary surgeon. You come with me."
+
+But Elam insisted that he could not go with the officer until his horse
+had been taken care of, and asked for a bucket of water; and the
+officer, seeing that he was determined, hastened out to find the surgeon
+who had charge of the stock. He presently discovered him, standing on
+the stockade and yelling until he was red in the face over a charge that
+the cavalry had made, but he ceased his demonstrations and jumped down
+when he was told that an officer wanted him.
+
+"Give me one cavalryman against ten Indians," said he, saluting the
+officer. "The savages are gone, sir."
+
+"Did they stand?" asked the officer.
+
+"No, sir. It was every man for himself, sir. A horse, sir? Yes, sir. I
+saw this fellow come down on his knees when those Indians fired at him.
+A pretty bad cut, sir."
+
+Elam, having seen his horse provided for, resigned himself to the
+officer's care, and went with him to the office of the surgeon. The
+latter had got out all his tools and seemed to be waiting for any
+wounded that might be brought in, but Elam was the first to claim his
+attention. The surgeon jumped up briskly, examined Elam's hand, made
+some remark about the bullet not having touched a bone, said that all
+the patient would have to do would be to take good care of it for a few
+days, and by the time he got through talking he had it done up. The
+officer had left by this time, and Elam began to feel quite at his ease
+in the surgeon's presence. In answer to his enquiries he went on to
+explain how he had been surprised in a sheep-herder's cabin, when he
+didn't know that there was a Cheyenne within a hundred miles of him, and
+had depended entirely on the speed of his horse to save him, and asked,
+with some show of hesitation, which he had not exhibited before:
+
+"Do you reckon I could have a word with the major this fine morning? I
+suppose he is pretty busy now."
+
+To tell the truth, Elam stood more in fear of a stranger than he did of
+a grizzly bear, and he felt awed and abashed when he found himself in
+the soldier's presence. The regular, with his snow-white belts, bright
+buttons, and neatly fitting clothes, presented a great contrast to the
+visitor in his well-worn suit of buckskin, and, backwoodsman as he was,
+Elam noticed the difference and felt it keenly. Now, when the excitement
+was all over, he felt sadly out of place there, and he wished that he
+had let the wolf-skins go and stayed at home with Tom. But the surgeon's
+first words reassured him.
+
+"Of course the major will see you," said he cheerfully. "He will want to
+see you the minute he comes back. He has gone out after the hostiles
+now. You can sit here till he comes back."
+
+"I have got a horse out here that is badly hurt, and if you don't
+object, I'll go out and look at him," said Elam.
+
+"Eh? Objections? Certainly not," said the surgeon, in surprise. "I hope
+you will get along as nicely as he will. Only be careful of that hand of
+yours."
+
+Elam had never been to the fort before, and he felt like a cat in a
+strange garret while he loitered about looking at things. He first went
+to see his horse, and found that, under the skilful hands of the
+veterinary surgeon, he had fared as well as he did, for his neck was
+bound up, and he was engaged in munching some hay that had been provided
+for him. Then he went out of the stockade to see how the hostiles were
+getting on, but found that they and the cavalrymen had long ago
+disappeared. An occasional report of a carabine, followed by an
+answering yell, came faintly to his ears, thus proving beyond a doubt
+that the savages had "scattered," thus making it a matter of
+impossibility to hunt them. After that Elam came back and loafed around
+the stockade to see what he could find that was worth looking at. The
+doors of the officers' apartments were wide open, and, although they
+were very plainly furnished, Elam looked upon it as a scene of
+enchantment. He had never seen anything like it before. He had heard of
+carpets, sofas, and pictures, but he had never dreamed that they were
+such beautiful things as he now saw before him.
+
+"I tell you, I wish I was a soldier," whispered Elam, going from one
+room to the other, and stopping every time he saw anything to attract
+his attention. "This is a heap better than I've got at home. Uncle Ezra
+Norton is rich, but he hasn't got anything to compare with this. Wait
+until I get my nugget, and I will have something to go by. I do wish the
+major would hurry up."
+
+But Elam had a long time to wait before he could see the major, for the
+latter did not return until nearly nightfall. When they came, they
+looked more like whipped soldiers than victorious ones. They had two
+dead men with them, three that had been wounded, and half a dozen
+Indians that they had taken prisoners. Elam looked for an execution at
+once, but what was his surprise to see the Indians thrust into the
+guard-house.
+
+"When are they going to shoot those fellows?" whispered Elam to a
+soldier who happened to be near him.
+
+"Shoot whom?" asked the soldier.
+
+"Why, those Indians. They aint a-going to let them shoot white folks and
+have nothing done to them?"
+
+"Oh, yes, they will," said the soldier, with a laugh. "They can shoot
+all they please, and we'll take 'em prisoners and let 'em go. Did you
+think they was going to kill 'em right at once?"
+
+Elam confessed that he did.
+
+"Well, no doubt that would be the proper way to deal with them. Dog-gone
+'em! if I had any dealings with 'em, I'd 'a' left 'em out there."
+
+Elam did not remain long before he saw the major, for an orderly
+approached in full uniform, and saluted him as he would a
+lieutenant-general, and told him that the commandant was at leisure now,
+and would see him. Elam's heart was in his mouth. He did not know what
+to say to the major about his furs, and so he concluded he would let the
+matter go until morning.
+
+"Say," said Elam, "he must be tired now, and you just tell him I'll wait
+until he has had a chance to sleep on it."
+
+"Why, you must see him," said the orderly, who was rather surprised at
+this civilian's way of putting off the major. "What good can he do by
+sleeping on it? Come on."
+
+Elam reluctantly fell in behind the orderly, and allowed himself to be
+conducted into the presence of the major. The table was all set, the
+officers were seated at it, and seemed ready to begin work upon it. He
+was surprised at the actions of the major, a tall, soldierly looking
+man, with gray hair and whiskers, who sat at the head of the table, and
+who arose and advanced with outstretched palm to meet him.
+
+"I am overjoyed to see you," said he, holding fast to the boy's hand
+after shaking it cordially. "You got hurt, didn't you? But I see you
+have been well taken care of. Is the news you bring me good or bad?"
+
+Elam was too bewildered to speak. He looked closely at the major, trying
+hard to remember when and under what circumstances he had seen him
+before, for that this was not their first meeting was evident. If they
+had been strangers, the major would not have greeted him in so cordial
+and friendly a manner. This was what Elam told himself, but he had shot
+wide of the mark.
+
+In order to explain the major's conduct it will be necessary to say that
+these discontented Cheyennes had not broken away from the neighborhood
+of this fort, but had come from a point at least a hundred miles away.
+It was the source of great uneasiness and anxiety to the veteran major,
+who was afraid that his superiors might charge him with being remiss in
+his duty. He had sent three detachments of cavalry in pursuit, but only
+one of them had been heard from, and the news concerning it, which had
+been brought in by a friendly Indian, was most discouraging. The savages
+had eluded his pursuing columns in a way that was perfectly bewildering,
+and the fear that they might surprise and annihilate his men troubled
+the major to such a degree that he could neither eat nor sleep. He was
+glad to see anybody who could give him any information regarding the
+soldiers or the runaways, and he took it for granted that, as Elam had
+come in since the Indians broke away, and had had a running fight with
+them, he must know all about them.
+
+"Where do you reckon you saw me before?" asked Elam.
+
+"I never met you before in my life," answered the major, who saw that
+his visitor did not understand the feelings which prompted him to extend
+so hearty a greeting. "You can tell me about the Cheyennes, and that is
+why I am so glad to welcome you."
+
+"Oh!" said Elam, quite disappointed.
+
+"Talk fast, for I am all impatience," exclaimed the major. "When did you
+see the hostiles last, and where were they? I know that you brought them
+up here to the fort, but where did you meet them in the first place?"
+
+"I found them back here about twenty miles in a sheep-herder's cabin
+where I stopped for the night," said Elam. "The first thing I heard of
+them was a note of warning from my horse, and when I got up, there they
+were."
+
+"Well?" said the major.
+
+"Well, I got on to my horse and lit out. That's the way I brought them
+up here."
+
+"And that's all you know about them?"
+
+"Yes, everything. I didn't know the Cheyennes had broken out before."
+
+The major released the boy's hand and walked back to his seat at the
+table. The expression on his face showed that he was disappointed.
+
+"That aint all I have to tell, major," said Elam quickly. "When I got
+back to my shanty after taking in my traps, I found that two men had
+been there stealing my spelter that I have worked hard for."
+
+The major, who probably knew what was coming next, turned away his head
+and waved his hand up and down in the air to indicate that he did not
+care to hear any more of the story; but Elam, having an object to
+accomplish, went on with dogged perseverance:
+
+"Now, major, those two fellows are coming to this fort, calculating to
+sell them furs,--my furs, mind you,--and I came here to ask you not to
+let them do it."
+
+"I can't interfere in any private quarrels," said the officer. "I have
+something else to think of."
+
+"But, major, it is mine and not theirs," persisted Elam.
+
+"I don't care whose it is," was the impatient reply. "I shan't have
+anything to do with it."
+
+"Won't you keep them from selling it?"
+
+"No, I won't. I shan't bother my head about it. I have enough on my mind
+already, and I can't neglect important government matters for the sake
+of attending to private affairs. Did you say those men were afoot when
+they came to your shanty? Probably the Cheyennes have got them before
+this time. Orderly!"
+
+The door opened, and when the soldier who had shown Elam into the room
+made his appearance, the major commanded him to show the visitor out.
+
+"Now, just one word, major----" began Elam.
+
+"Show him out!" repeated the commandant.
+
+The orderly laid hold of the young hunter's arm and tried to pull him
+toward the door, but couldn't budge him an inch. Elam stood as firmly as
+one of the pickets that composed the stockade.
+
+"Just one word, major, and then I'll leave off and quit a-pestering
+you," he exclaimed. "If you won't make them two fellows give back the
+plunder they have stolen from me, you won't raise any row if I go to
+work and get it back in my own way, will you?"
+
+"No, I don't care how you get it, or whether you get it at all or not,"
+the major almost shouted.
+
+"Oh, I'll get it, you can bet your bottom dollar on it. And if you hear
+of somebody getting hurt while I am getting of it, you mustn't blame
+me."
+
+"Put him out!" roared the major.
+
+The orderly laid hold of Elam's arm with both hands and finally
+succeeded in forcing him into the hall and closing the door after him,
+but the closing of the door did not shut out the sound of his voice.
+Elam had set out to relieve his mind, and he did it; and as there was no
+one else to talk to, he addressed his remarks to the orderly.
+
+"The major needn't blame me if some of them fellows gets hurt," said he.
+"I tried to set the law to going and couldn't do it. I'll never ask a
+soldier to do anything for me again. I can take care of myself. I don't
+see what you fellows come out here for anyway, except it is to wear out
+good clothes and keep grub from spoiling. That's all the use you be."
+
+"Well, go on now, and don't bother any more," said the orderly
+good-naturedly. "The old man said he didn't care how you got the things
+back, and what more do you want?"
+
+"I wanted him to set the law a-going, but he won't do it," said Elam.
+"I'll just set it to going myself."
+
+The young hunter walked off and directed his course toward the sutler's
+store. He knew it was the sutler's store, for when he was loitering
+about the fort he had seen the sutler come in from the stockade with a
+rifle in his hands, and sell a plug of tobacco to one of the teamsters.
+He found the store empty and the sutler leaning against the counter with
+his arms folded. The latter recognized Elam at once, for he had seen him
+come in on that wounded horse.
+
+"Halloa," he exclaimed. "You have got your wound fixed all right. Did
+you have a long race with them?"
+
+Elam in a few words described his adventures, running his eye over the
+goods the sutler had to sell, and wound up by telling of the furs he had
+lost.
+
+"I have got a good many skins," said he, "and I see some things here
+that I should like to have, but I aint got them now."
+
+"How is that? I don't understand you."
+
+"Well, you see, I have done right smart of trapping and shooting since I
+have been out, but while I was gathering up my traps some fellows came
+to my shanty and stole everything I had," said Elam.
+
+"That's bad," said the sutler; and he really thought it was, for no
+doubt he had lost an opportunity to make some good bargains.
+
+"Yes, and they are coming to this post now, those two fellows are, to
+sell those furs," continued Elam earnestly.
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed the sutler, in a very different tone of voice.
+
+If that was the case, perhaps he could make something out of the boy's
+work after all.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+ELAM UNDER FIRE.
+
+
+"Yes, that's bad business," the sutler continued. "They steal furs and
+pass them off as their own. I couldn't do that."
+
+"But this is the fourth time they have robbed me," Elam went on. "You
+have handled skins that they took from me last winter. They'll try to
+sell them at this store, most likely. There aint no traders here, are
+they? I aint seen any of them hanging around."
+
+"No; they have been scarce of late," answered the sutler, who would have
+been glad to know that none of the fraternity would ever show their
+faces in that country again. He wanted to do all the trading that was
+done at that post himself.
+
+"Then they will be sure to sell them to you, if they sell them to
+anybody; but I don't want you to buy them," said Elam. "They belong to
+me, and I've worked hard for them."
+
+The sutler leaned his elbows on the counter, placed his chin on his
+hands, and looked out at the door, whistling softly to himself. Elam
+waited for him to say something, but as he did not, the boy continued:
+
+"I don't want you to buy them skins. You heard what I said to you, I
+reckon?"
+
+"Oh, yes, I heard you," said the sutler, straightening up and jingling a
+bunch of keys in his pocket; "but I don't see how I can help you. When
+hunters come here with furs to sell, I never ask where they got them,
+for it is none of my business. Besides, I don't know these men who you
+say robbed you."
+
+"I will be here to point them out to you," said Elam quickly. "I would
+know them anywhere."
+
+"But I couldn't take your unsupported word against the word of two men,"
+continued the sutler. "If they told me that the property belonged to
+them, I should have to believe them."
+
+"But I will be here," said Elam indignantly.
+
+"Well, you must get somebody to prove that the skins are yours."
+
+Elam looked down at the counter, turning these words over in his mind,
+and when he had grasped their full import, it became clear to him that
+he had no one to depend on but himself. It became evident to him that
+the arm of the law was not extensive enough to reach from the States
+away out there to the fort, and, as the sutler would not lend him
+assistance, he must either take the matter into his own hands or stand
+idly by and see the proceeds of his work go into the pockets of rascals.
+That he resolved he would never do. The very thought enraged him.
+
+"Look a-here, Mr.--Mr. Bluenose," said Elam--Elam did not know the
+sutler's name, and this cognomen was suggested to him by the most
+prominent feature on the man's face, which was a dark purple, telling of
+frequent visits to a private demijohn he kept in the back room--"you
+shan't never make a cent out of that plunder of mine, because it will
+not come into this fort!"
+
+"Don't get excited," said the sutler.
+
+"I aint. I'm only just a-telling of you."
+
+"What are you going to do?"
+
+"Well, the major wouldn't make them two fellows give back my furs, and
+so I asked him if he would raise a furse in case I got them back in my
+own way, and he said he wouldn't," said Elam. "That's all I've got to
+say."
+
+"I'll tell you what's the matter," said the sutler, a bright idea
+striking him; "the Cheyennes have got them. Were they afoot?"
+
+"Yes, they were. I don't know whether they tried to steal my horse or
+not, but anyway they didn't get him."
+
+"Then the Cheyennes have got them beyond a doubt. They could never
+travel through the country you came through."
+
+"Then what's become of my furs? Do you reckon the savages have got them,
+too?"
+
+"I certainly do. I'll tell you what I could do: If the Cheyennes came
+here to sell their furs, I could easily tell your furs from their own,
+and I could throw them out. But, you see, the Indians don't come here.
+They take all their furs to Fort Mitchell."
+
+"Maybe you would throw them out and maybe you wouldn't," said Elam
+emphatically. "I guess I had better take the matter into my own hands.
+When I get my grip on to them furs, you'll know it."
+
+The sutler merely nodded and gazed after Elam, who marched out as if he
+intended to do something.
+
+"That boy is going to be killed," said he to himself. "He thinks more of
+those furs than he does of so much gold. If I was commander of this
+fort, I wouldn't let him go out."
+
+Elam directed his course toward the barn in which he had left his horse
+and rifle when he went in to visit the surgeon. He found them there yet,
+and it was but the work of a moment to shoulder the one and unhitch the
+other, who greeted him with a whinny of recognition, and lead him out to
+the gate. As he expected, there was a sentry there, and he stepped in
+front of him with his musket at "arms port."
+
+"You can't go out," said he.
+
+"Why, what's the matter?" asked Elam innocently.
+
+"Too many Indians," was the reply.
+
+"Oh, well, I just want to let my horse have some grass. He don't think
+much of the hay you have here."
+
+"You don't want your rifle if you're just going out to get grass," said
+the soldier, with a smile.
+
+"No, but I like to have it handy when the pinch comes. If I hadn't had
+it and been able to use it, you wouldn't have seen me here now."
+
+"That's so," said the sentry. "I don't suppose you care enough about
+them as to go among them again. But we'll have to see the corporal about
+that." Then, raising his voice, he called out:
+
+"Corporal of the guard No. 1!"
+
+In process of time the officer of the guard came up, and the sentry made
+known Elam's request in a few words. He looked at Elam and said:
+
+"Oh, let him go. It aint likely that he will go far away with the
+Indians all around him. You don't want to get too far away," he added,
+turning to the young hunter, "because the men on post have orders to
+fire on people that are going out of range."
+
+"Do you see this rifle?" said Elam. "Well, when they come, I will let
+you know. You will never see me inside that fort again," said Elam to
+himself, as the sentry brought his musket to his shoulder and stepped
+out of the way, leaving the road clear for him. "I am going to get my
+furs the first thing, and then I am going down to trade them off to
+Uncle Ezra for a grub-stake for three months. That's what I'll do, and I
+bet you that those two fellows will get hurt."
+
+Elam passed through the gate, and the horse began to crop the grass as
+he went out, thus doing what he could to prove that it was grass he
+wanted, and not the hay that was served up to him in the stable. Being
+continually urged by his master, he kept getting further and further
+away from the stockade. The sentries on guard looked at him, but
+supposing that, as he had got by post No. 1, he was all right, although
+one sentinel did shake his head and warn him that he was going further
+off than the law allowed; so Elam turned and went back.
+
+"I don't like the looks of that fellow, for he handles his gun as though
+he might shoot tolerable straight," said Elam. "We will go more in this
+direction, for here's where the stock was when the Indians came up.
+We'll be a little cautious at first, but we are bound to get away in the
+end."
+
+By keeping his horse on the opposite side from him, and paying no
+attention to the warning gestures of the sentries, he succeeded in
+reaching a point beyond which he was certain that the guards could not
+hit him, and, with a word and a jump, he landed fairly on his nag's
+back.
+
+"Now, old fellow, show them what you can do," he whispered, digging his
+heels into his horse's sides.
+
+He looked back and saw that the sentry he feared most was already
+levelling his gun, and a moment later the bullet ploughed up the grass a
+little beyond him. Had he remained fairly in his seat, it would have
+taken him out of it; but he did just as he had seen the Cheyennes do--he
+threw himself on the side of his horse opposite the marksman, and so he
+had nothing to shoot at save the swiftly running steed. Another musket
+popped, and still another, but Elam did not hear the whistle of their
+bullets. That was all the guards on that side of the stockade, and Elam
+knew he was safe. Before they could load again he would be far out of
+range. He raised himself to a sitting posture, took off his hat and
+waved it at the guards, and then settled down and kept on his way,
+taking care, however, to watch against all chances of pursuit. The fact
+was that his escape had been reported to the major, who, out of all
+patience, exclaimed: "Let him go!"
+
+Elam was now a free man once more, and he resolved that it would be a
+long time before he would again trust himself in the power of the
+soldiers. His first care must be to go back to the sheep-herder's cabin
+in which he had camped the night before he reached the fort, and get his
+saddle and bridle, for he rightly concluded that the savages had been so
+anxious to capture him that they had not time to go in and see if he had
+left anything behind him. It required considerable nerve to do this, but
+Elam had already shown that he had a good share of it. He had not gone
+many miles on his way until he began to meet some sheep-herders and
+cattle-men who were fleeing from their homes and going to the fort for
+protection. The men were generally riding on ahead, and the women came
+after them in wagons drawn by mules. He waved his hat whenever he came
+within sight, for fear that the men might shoot at him, and he knew by
+experience that they could handle their rifles with greater skill than
+the soldiers could handle their muskets.
+
+"Where you going?" demanded one of the men, as he galloped up to meet
+Elam. "Seen any Indians around here?"
+
+"There were plenty of them here this morning," said Elam. "Did they come
+near you?"
+
+"Well, I should say so. They've jumped down on us when we wasn't looking
+for them, and I've got one brother in the wagon that's been laid out.
+You must have been in a rucus with them, judging by the looks of your
+hand and the horse."
+
+"Yes, I got into a fight with them right along here somewhere, and I
+didn't go to the fort without sending one of them up. There was no need
+of my going there at all, but I went to shut off some trade that wasn't
+exactly square. There are no Indians between here and the fort."
+
+"Well, I wish you would ride by the wagon and tell that to my old woman,
+will you? She is scared half to death. Where are you going?"
+
+Elam replied that he was going to the sheep-herder's ranch to get a
+saddle and bridle that he had left there, and after that he was going
+back to the mountains. He had a partner there, and he didn't know
+whether he was alive or dead. He had had enough of depending on the
+soldiers for help, for they had declined to assist him, and,
+furthermore, had shot at him when he attempted to leave the fort.
+
+"Well, I say!" exclaimed the frontiersman, giving Elam a good looking
+over, "you are a brave lad, and I know you will come out all right."
+
+Elam carried the news to the wagon that there were no Indians between
+them and the fort, and afterward continued on his lonely way to the
+sheep-herder's ranch. He came within sight of it about eleven o'clock
+that night, and, dismounting from his horse and leaving him on the open
+prairie, he proceeded to stalk it as he would an antelope, being careful
+that not a glimpse of him should be seen. It was a bright moonlight
+night, and for that reason he was doubly careful. There was something
+more than the saddle and bridle he wanted, and that was his blankets.
+There was some of the lunch left in there. He had eaten but one meal
+that day, and he had nearly a hundred miles to go before he could get
+any more.
+
+Elam was nearly an hour in coming up to that ranch, and he was sure that
+anyone who might be on the lookout would have been deceived for once in
+his life. He crawled all around the hay-racks without seeing anybody,
+and finally went in at the open door without seeing or hearing anybody.
+He found all the articles of which he was in search--the saddle tucked
+away in one corner of a bunk to serve as a pillow, the blankets spread
+over them, and the bridle and lunch placed on a box near the head of the
+bed, and, quickly shouldering them, he made his way out of the cabin in
+the direction in which he had left his horse.
+
+"Now," said Elam, as he strapped the saddle on the animal's back and
+slipped the bridle into his mouth, "the next thing is something else,
+and it's going to be far more dangerous than this. I am going to have
+those furs. I need them more than they do. I have got the map of the
+hiding-place of that nugget at my shanty, and some of them are going to
+get hurt if I don't get it."
+
+Elam kept out a portion of his lunch (the rest was strapped up in the
+blankets, which were stowed away behind the saddle), eating it as he
+galloped along, and this time he directed his course toward the willows
+that lined the base of the foot-hills. At daylight he discovered
+something--the track of an unshod pony. He looked all around, but there
+was no one in sight. He dismounted and saw that the horse had been going
+at full jump, and as there was dew on the ground, the tracks must have
+been made before it fell. A little further on he found another, and by
+comparing the two he made up his mind that they must have been made the
+day before. They were going the same way that he was, and appeared to be
+holding the direction of a long line of willows a few miles off. Elam's
+hair seemed to rise on end. He could imagine how those painted warriors
+had yelled and plied their whips in the endeavor to hunt down their
+victims; for that they were in plain view of someone Elam could readily
+affirm. He thought he could hear the yells, "Hi yah! yip, yip, yip!"
+which the exultant savages sent up as a forerunner of what was coming.
+
+"They got them in there as sure as the world," muttered Elam. "It's all
+right so far, and I can go on without running the risk of seeing any of
+them. I just know I shall see something after I get up there."
+
+Elam put his horse into a lope and followed along after the trail as
+boldly as though he had a right to be there. He didn't feel any fear,
+for he knew that he was on the trail of the Indians instead of having
+them upon his, and he knew they would not be likely to come back without
+the prospect of some gain. Presently he came to the place where some of
+the savages had dismounted and gone into the willows to fight their
+victims on foot, and then something told him that if he got in there he
+would find the bodies of the men who had robbed him of his furs. How
+that little piece of woods must have rung to the savages' war-whoops!
+But all was silent now. He led his horse a short distance into the
+bushes and dismounted, following the trail of an Indian who had crept up
+on all fours toward the place where the doomed men were concealed, and
+presently came into a valley in which the undergrowth had been trampled
+in every direction. Near the middle of the valley were two men who were
+stretched out on the ground, dead. There was nothing on them to indicate
+who they were, but Elam had no difficulty in recognizing them.
+
+"Well, it is better so," said he sorrowfully. "The Indians have got you,
+and that's all there is of it. Now my furs have gone, and I shall have
+to go to Uncle Ezra's to get a grub-stake."
+
+There were no signs of mutilation about them, as there would have been
+if the men had fallen into the hands of the Indians when alive. The
+Cheyennes had evidently been in a hurry, for all they had done was to
+see that the men were dead, after which they had stripped them of their
+clothes, stolen their guns and ammunition and furs, and gone off to hunt
+new booty. In this case it promised to be Elam, who made a desperate
+fight of it. The young hunter resolved that he would go into camp, and
+he did, too, hitching his horse near the stream that ran through the
+valley, just out of sight of the massacred men. He saw no ghosts, but
+slept as placidly as if the field on which the savages had vented their
+spite was a hundred miles away.
+
+When he awoke, it was dark, and the peaceful moon was shining down upon
+him through the tree-tops. He watered his horse, ate what was left of
+the lunch, and began to work his way out of the valley, when he
+discovered that both his nag and himself were sore from the effects of
+their long run. He had gone a long distance out of his way to see what
+the Cheyennes had done, and he didn't feel like bracing up to face the
+eighty miles before him. His horse didn't feel like it either, for when
+he stopped and allowed him to have his own way, he hung his head down
+and went to sleep. The horse seemed to be rendered uneasy by the bandage
+he wore round his neck, and when it was taken off he was more at his
+ease.
+
+It took Elam two days to make the journey to the camp where he had left
+Tom Mason, for he did all of his travelling during the daytime, and
+stopped over at some convenient place for the night. He was getting
+hungry, but his horse was growing stronger everyday. He dared not shoot
+at any of the numerous specimens of the jack-rabbit which constantly
+dodged across his path, for fear that he would betray himself to some
+marauding band of Indians, and not until he got within sight of Tom
+Mason standing in the edge of the willows did he feel comparatively
+safe. Tom gazed in astonishment while he told his story, and it was a
+long time before he could get dinner enough to satisfy him.
+
+"Thank goodness they have left you all right," said Elam, settling back
+on his blanket with a hunk of corn bread and bacon in his uninjured hand
+and a cup of steaming coffee in front of him. "Do you know that I have
+worried about you more than I have about myself?"
+
+"Well, how did those Indians look when they were following you?" asked
+Tom, who had not yet recovered himself. His hand trembled when he poured
+out the coffee so that one would think that he was the one who had had a
+narrow escape from the savages. "Did they yell?"
+
+"Yell? Of course it came faintly to my ears because they were so far
+away, but if I had been close to them, I tell you I wouldn't have had
+any courage left," said Elam, with a laugh. "I've got my saddle and
+bridle, and that's something I did not expect to get."
+
+"Was there no one in the sheep-herder's ranch to look for you?"
+
+"If there had been, I wouldn't 'a' been here. There was nobody there at
+all. I just went in and got my saddle, and that's all there was to it.
+You see, I was on their trail, and they had passed over that ground once
+and thought they had got everybody."
+
+"Well, I am beaten. I never heard a whisper of an Indian since you went
+away. It is lucky for me that they didn't know I was here. How did those
+men look that were killed?"
+
+"They were dead, of course. There was no mutilation about them, only
+just enough to show who killed them. If the Indians had got hold of them
+before they were dead, then you might have expected something. They
+would have just thrown themselves to show how much agony they could put
+them to. I never want to fall into the hands of the Indians alive. Do
+you know that the soldiers always carry a derringer in their pockets?
+Yes, they do, and that last shot is intended for themselves."
+
+"By George!" said Tom, drawing a long breath. "Let us get out of here."
+
+"Where will we go?"
+
+"Let's go back to the States. I never was made to live out here."
+
+"Hi yah! I couldn't make a living there."
+
+"But you talk well enough to make a living anywhere. You won't find one
+man in ten out here who talks as plainly as you do."
+
+"That's all owing to my way of bring up. Ever since I was a little kid I
+have been under the care of Uncle Ezra, who talks about as plain as most
+men do."
+
+"Well, let's go and see him."
+
+"We'll go just as soon as this blizzard is over. It is coming now, and
+in a few minutes you will see my horse coming in here."
+
+"Is that the blizzard? Why, I thought it was snow."
+
+"You go to sleep and see if you don't find snow on the ground in the
+morning. There is one thing that you can bless your lucky stars for: the
+Indians are safely housed up. They'll not think of going out plundering
+while this blizzard lasts."
+
+"They know when it is coming, I suppose?"
+
+Elam replied that they did, and wrapped himself up in his blanket, while
+Tom went out to throw more wood on the fire and to make an estimate of
+the weather. The sky was clouded over, not making it so very difficult
+to travel by night, the wind was in the south, and the rain was quietly
+descending, as though it threatened a warm spring shower. It beat the
+world how Elam could tell that this storm was three days off, that
+before it got through everything would be "holded up," and that the snow
+would be six inches deep. The horse came in about that time and took up
+a position on the leeward side of the fire, where he settled himself
+preparatory to going to sleep. Then Tom thought he had better go, too,
+but the thrilling story to which he had listened took all the sleep out
+of him. What a dreadful fate it would be for him to be killed out there
+in the mountains, as those men were who stole Elam's furs, and no one
+find his body until long after the thing had been forgotten! He fell
+asleep while he was thinking about it, and when he awoke it was with a
+chill, and a feeling that the storm had come sure enough. The wind was
+in the north, and he could not see anything on account of the snow. He
+didn't have as many blankets now as he did when he first struck the
+mountains, for he had left a good portion of them in the gully. All he
+had was his overcoat, and, wrapping himself up in it, he went to sleep
+and forgot all about the blizzard.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+UNCLE EZRA PUTS HIS FOOT DOWN.
+
+
+Tom slept warm and comfortable that night, and perhaps the simple
+presence of Elam had something to do with it. A boy who could go through
+a twenty-mile race with Cheyennes, and have no more to say about it than
+he did, would be a good fellow to have at his back in case trouble
+arose. A person would not think he had been through such an encounter,
+and had seen the bodies of two murdered men besides, for, when he awoke,
+Elam was sitting up on his blanket and looking at his horse. He lay in
+such a position that the threatening streak on the animal's neck, which
+had come so near ending the race then and there and resulting in Elam's
+capture, could be plainly seen.
+
+"Halloa!" exclaimed Elam. "The Indians didn't get you last night, after
+all. I tell you, if our soldiers could strike them now, they would have
+an easy job of it. Now, there's that horse of mine. He has got a worse
+hurt than I have, but he makes no fuss over it. I am anxious to find
+Uncle Ezra, for he has some medicine that will cure it."
+
+"But you can't go where he is--where is he, anyway?" said Tom.
+
+"He is just about two days' journey over the mountains. I know where he
+is, and I ought to have been there before. But, laws! he's quit looking
+for me. If I don't show up at all, he won't worry."
+
+"This storm is just fearful, isn't it?" said Tom, pulling his coat up
+around his ears. "What do you suppose the soldiers are doing that were
+sent out by the commander of that fort? Why, they will freeze to death."
+
+"Do you think we are getting the full benefit of it here?" said Elam,
+with a look of astonishment. "You just go out to the edge of the
+evergreens and look around a bit. You see, we haven't got much snow
+here, for your lean-to keeps it off; but go out where it has a fair
+chance at you. By the way, where is my map?"
+
+Tom replied that it was in the hollow tree, and speedily fished it out
+for him; and while Elam fastened his eyes upon it, Tom went out to the
+edge of the woods to see what the storm looked like on the plains. He
+had been there scarcely a moment when he was glad to turn around and go
+back. Their little grove of evergreens was just the spot for homeless
+wanderers like themselves. The wind was cutting, and blew so hard that
+Tom could not face it for an instant, and he dared not let go his hold
+upon the branches at his side for fear that he would get lost. When he
+got back to the fire, he was glad to heap more wood upon it, and get as
+close to it as possible.
+
+"I don't see how anybody can live out there," said Tom, with a shudder.
+"I should think it would be their death."
+
+"They don't live," said Elam. "They just camp somewhere and stay until
+it blows over. I have been out in a storm that was worse than this, and
+came through all right. You can just imagine what it must be out there
+on the prairie."
+
+All that day the boys remained idle in their lean-to, not daring to go
+out after traps, and before they went to bed that night Elam decided
+that, early the next morning, they would make an effort to reach Uncle
+Ezra's. Their food was getting scarce, and they had no way to replenish
+their stock. A part of the day was spent in hiding the things which they
+could not take with them, for fear that somebody would come along and
+steal them, and the rest of the time was devoted to Elam's stories. It
+was a wonder to Tom how the boy had managed to get through so many
+things and live. He didn't relate his adventures as though there was
+anything great in them, but told them as a mere matter of fact. Anybody
+could pass through such scenes if he only had the courage, but there was
+the point. For the first time in his life Tom wished himself back in
+Mississippi. Anyone might get into scrapes there, as Our Fellows got
+into with Pete, the half-breed, or with Luke Redman of the Swamp
+Dragoons, but there was always a prospect of their coming out alive.
+
+On the morning of the next day a start was made as early as it was light
+enough to see, Elam leading the horse and Tom following close behind
+him. The most of their way led through the gully, and to Tom's delight
+there was hardly any snow on the way; nor was there any game, although
+they kept a bright lookout for it. They camped for two nights in the
+foot-hills, Elam working his way in and out of the gullies, never once
+stopping and never once getting into a pocket. On the last morning they
+ate every bit of the corn bread and bacon.
+
+"They aint far off now," said Elam. "About noon we'll be among friends.
+You will find two boys there just about your size who will give you more
+insight into this life than I ever could. You see they know what you
+want to talk about."
+
+After proceeding about a mile of their journey Elam stopped, placed his
+hand to his mouth, and gave a perfect imitation of a coyote's yell. If
+Tom had not seen him do it he would have thought there was a wolf close
+upon them. A little further on he gave another, and this time there was
+an answer, faint and far off, but still there was something about it
+that did not sound just like a coyote.
+
+"They're there," said Elam. "I would know that yell among a thousand.
+It's Carlos Burton."
+
+"Who is he? You never mentioned him before."
+
+"Well, he is a sharp one. He came out here long after I did, and had
+sense enough to go to herding cattle, while here I am and haven't got
+anything except the clothes I stand in. It's all on account of that
+nugget, too. If the robbers had stolen it and got well away with it I
+might have been in the same fix. Well, it's all in a lifetime."
+
+"I should think you would give it up," said Tom. "You go working after
+it day after day--why, you must have been after it fourteen years."
+
+"Shall I give it up when I've got the map of it right here?" said Elam,
+tapping his ditty-bag, which was hung across his chest under his shirt.
+"I am nearer to it now than I have been before, and you had better talk
+to those who have made fun of me all these years. 'Oh, Elam's a crank;
+let him alone, and when he gets tired looking for the nugget he'll come
+to his senses and go to herding cattle.' That's what the folks around
+here have had to say about me ever since I can remember; but I'll get
+the start of all of them, you see if I don't."
+
+Elam began to look wild when he began to talk about the nugget, and Tom
+was glad to change the subject of the conversation.
+
+"Who is the other fellow?" said he. "You said there were two of them."
+
+"The other fellow is a tender-foot; he don't claim to be anything else.
+I'll bet you, now that I have got over my excitement, that I have been
+talking about his father. His father commands a post within forty miles
+of the place where he is now visiting, but I don't know one soldier from
+another. They all look alike to me, and I didn't think of the
+relationship they bore to each other. No matter; he treated me mighty
+shabby, and I shall always think hard of soldiers after that."
+
+At the end of half an hour they came out of the scrub oaks and found
+themselves in front of a neat little cabin which reminded Tom of the
+negro quarters he had seen in Mississippi. There were two boys standing
+in front of the cabin, and Tom had no trouble in picking out Carlos
+Burton. There was an independent air about him that somehow did not
+belong to the tender-foot, and when Elam introduced him in his off-hand
+way, this boy was the first to welcome him.
+
+"This fellow is Tom Mason, and I want you to know him and treat him
+right. He got into a little trouble down in Mississippi where he used to
+live, and came out here to get clear of it. Know him, boys."
+
+The boys, surprised as they were, were glad to shake hands with Tom,
+because he was Elam's friend; but they were still more anxious to know
+how Elam had come among them for the fourth time robbed of his furs, and
+what he had to say about it. There were some things about him that
+didn't look exactly right. There was his hand, which was still done up
+the way the doctor left it, and the mark on his horse's neck, both of
+which proclaimed that Elam had been in something of a fight; but they
+didn't push him, for they knew they would hear the whole of his story
+when he got inside of the cabin.
+
+What I have written here is the true history of what happened to Tom
+Mason after he gave Joe Coleman the valise, containing the five thousand
+dollars, and the double-barrel shotgun; and I have told the truth, too,
+in regard to Elam and his last attempt at grub-staking. It took him
+pretty near all day to finish the story, and now I can drop the third
+person and go on with my narrative just as it happened. Of course we
+were all amazed at what Elam had to tell, and especially were we hurt to
+hear him speak so of Ben's father; for he it was who was in command of
+the post. It would have done no good to talk to Elam, for very likely he
+had worse things than that to say about the major. We let him go on and
+tell his story in any way he thought proper, calculating to make it all
+right with Ben afterward.
+
+"Now, Tom [he always addressed everybody by his Christian name], tell us
+something more of your story," said Uncle Ezra, who had the map of the
+hiding-place of the nugget spread out on his knee. "You haven't done
+anything to make you a fugitive from home, and I see that Elam has been
+letting you down kinder easy. What have you done?"
+
+It did not take Tom more than fifteen minutes to narrate as much of his
+history as he was willing that strangers should know, and Elam never let
+on that he knew more; he was the closest-mouthed fellow I ever saw. Tom
+told all about the story of the five thousand dollars, and declared that
+he had sent it back to the uncle of whom he had stolen it, but said he
+could not bear the "jibes" that would be thrown at him every time his
+uncle got mad at him. There were men out there who had done worse than
+that.
+
+"That's very true," said Uncle Ezra, looking down at the map he held on
+his knee. "But you haven't done anything so very bad, and I would advise
+you to go home and live it down."
+
+"No, sir, I shan't do it," said Tom emphatically. "I'll stay here until
+he gets over his pet and then I'll go back. Besides, I can't go. I am
+under promise to stand by Elam until he finds his nugget."
+
+"And do you imagine that this paper will tell you where it is?"
+
+"That's what we are depending on."
+
+"You will go, Carlos?" said Elam, addressing me.
+
+"Yes, sir," I answered. "When you dig up that nugget I shall be right
+within reach of you."
+
+"Now, uncle," began Ben, who was in a high state of commotion, "I just
+know you will let me----"
+
+"Now, now!" interrupted Uncle Ezra, waving his hands up and down in the
+air as the major had done when he refused to interfere with the stolen
+furs. "Now, just wait till I tell you. You shan't go!"
+
+"I just know, if my father was here----" began Ben.
+
+"Now, wait till I tell you. Your father would say, No! Here's Indians
+all around you, and you want to go right into the midst of them. And
+going off with Elam Storm! That's the worst yet. Why, your father has
+sent out a squad of cavalry to drive these fellows back where they came
+from, and what would I say to him if I should let you go philandering
+off there? No, sir, you can't go. I shall send word to him in the
+morning and let him know you are all right. I suppose you will need a
+horse, Tom, seeing that the Red Ghost has spoilt your bronco for you."
+
+"I should like to have one," replied Tom. "What do you think that Red
+Ghost is, anyway?"
+
+"Now, wait till I tell you. I don't know."
+
+As it was almost supper time and we had not had anything to eat since
+Elam and Tom came to the cabin, and Uncle Ezra wanted to change the
+subject of the conversation into another channel, he gave me a nod which
+I understood, and I went about preparing the eatables. It was surprising
+how quickly everybody became acquainted with Tom. He and Elam had passed
+through several scenes which were familiar enough to me, but which
+sounded like romance when recounted for Ben's benefit, and it was no
+wonder that the latter looked upon Tom as a person well worth listening
+to. He carried on a lengthy conversation with him while I was getting
+supper, while Elam smoked and talked with Uncle Ezra. He was trying to
+make Uncle Ezra see that after waiting for so many years chance had
+thrown into his power the very thing for which he was looking, and
+sometimes he got so interesting that I was tempted to let the supper go
+and sit down and listen to him.
+
+"There is something hidden there, and that's all there is about it,"
+said Elam emphatically. "You can't make me believe that a man would
+carry around a map of that kind when there was nothing to it, and he
+would say he was ruined if he didn't get it."
+
+"But where did he get it in the first place?" asked Uncle Ezra.
+
+"If I could see the man he shot I could answer that question."
+
+"But how did he know that the man had it at all?"
+
+"Ask me something hard," said Elam. "The man may have told him that he
+had it and refused to give it up; or he may have gone into partnership,
+just the same as Tom has gone into partnership with me. That is
+something I don't know anything about, but I just know there is
+something hidden there, and I'll dig the whole place over but I shall
+find it. If three months' supply of grub won't do me, I'll come back and
+get another. You will stake me, of course?"
+
+"Sure. I'll stake you if it takes the last thing I've got. But I'll tell
+you one thing, Elam, and that aint two, that you won't make anything by
+it. You had better stay at home and go to herding cattle."
+
+Just as long as they talked the hard-headed old frontiersman always came
+to this advice, and Elam always dismissed it with a laugh. Finally he
+said, with more seriousness than I had ever seen him assume before:
+
+"I will tell you what I'll do, Uncle Ezra: I will follow this thing up,
+and if nothing comes of it, I will take your advice. But I will go to
+Texas. I can't stay around where that nugget is without making an effort
+to find it. If you had had it dinged at you for years, you would feel
+the same way."
+
+And I could swear that that was the truth, for Uncle Ezra had often said
+to me that if he had had the nugget preached at him from the time he was
+old enough to remember anything, he would have been as hot after it as
+Elam was. Nothing would have turned him away from it. Uncle Ezra knew
+that Elam was in earnest when he said this, and reached over and shook
+hands with him; and after that the subject was dropped. In the meantime
+Ben and Tom were getting acquainted, and especially was Ben deeply
+interested whenever the other spoke of the Red Ghost. Tom had seen it,
+had a fair shot at it, and could not imagine what had taken it off in
+such a hurry, if it had been a flesh-eating animal; but it was not, and
+so it uttered a scream and went into the bushes. It must have been a
+camel, because that was the only thing that Tom knew of that had a hump
+on its back.
+
+"But camels don't run wild in this country," said Ben.
+
+"Now, wait till I tell you," put in Uncle Ezra, who had got through
+talking with Elam. "A good many years ago the government brought over
+some camels thinking that they could make them useful in carrying
+supplies across the desert; but, somehow or other, it turned out a
+failure, and, seeing that they couldn't sell them, they turned them
+loose to shift for themselves. And that's the way they come to be wild
+here."
+
+"Well, that bangs me!" exclaimed Ben, who was profoundly astonished.
+"But supposing they did turn them out to become wild, they wouldn't
+pitch into horses, would they?"
+
+"I don't know anything about that," returned Uncle Ezra. "I do know that
+there is a camel around here, that he is red in color, that he has
+frightened the lives out of half a dozen people, and that he has been
+shot at numberless times. He does pitch into every horse and mule that
+he gets a chance at, and I don't know what makes him."
+
+"Well, I never heard of a camel doing that before," said Ben, settling
+back on his blanket. "If you get another show at it, Tom, make a sure
+shot, so that you can tell us what it is."
+
+You may be sure that I was glad to hear the old frontiersman talk in
+this way. He had not seen the camel, but he had seen some scientific men
+who had seen him, and he was glad to accept what they had to say in
+regard to the Red Ghost. I, for one, resolved that I would never let it
+get away, if I once got a shot at it.
+
+The evening was passed in much the same way, with talks on various
+subjects, and it was a late hour when we sought our blankets. We all
+slept soundly, all except Tom, who awoke about midnight, and, to save
+his life, could not go to sleep again. He rolled and tossed on his
+blankets, and then, for fear that he might awaken some of us, concluded
+that he would go out and look at the weather. He pulled on his
+moccasons, opened the door, and went out, but on the threshold he
+stopped, for every drop of blood in him seemed to rush back upon his
+heart, leaving his face as pale as death itself. He was not frightened,
+but there, within less than twenty-five yards of him, stood the Red
+Ghost. He stood with his head forward, as if he were listening to some
+sounds that came to him from the horses' quarters, which, you will
+remember, were in the scrub-oaks behind the cabin. It was no wonder that
+Tom was excited, for there it was as plain as daylight. It looked as big
+as three or four horses.
+
+"By George! I wish it would stay there just a minute longer. If I make
+out to get my rifle----"
+
+With a step that would not have awakened a cricket, Tom stepped back
+into the cabin and laid hold of the first rifle he came to. It was not
+his own; it was Uncle Ezra's Henry--a rifle that would shoot sixteen
+times without being reloaded. With this in his hands he walked quietly
+back, and there stood the object just as he had left it. It did not seem
+to hear Tom at all. Fearful of being seen, Tom raised his gun with a
+very slow and steady aim, and covered the spot just where he thought the
+heart ought to be. One second he stood thus, but it was long enough for
+Tom, who pressed the trigger.
+
+"There!" said Tom, drawing a long breath. "If I didn't make a good shot
+that time I never did. Hold on! It is coming right for me!"
+
+The animal was fatally hurt, and the long bounds it made, and the shrill
+screams it uttered, would have taxed Tom's nerves, if he had had any. To
+throw out the empty shell and insert another one was slowly and
+deliberately done, and the second ball struck it in the breast, when Tom
+thought that another bound would land it squarely on the top of him.
+That settled it. It stayed right there, and all he could see of the Red
+Ghost was the twigs and leaves which it threw up during its struggles.
+In the meantime there was a terrific commotion in the cabin, and his
+three friends came rushing out to see what was the matter.
+
+"Who's got my rifle!" exclaimed Uncle Ezra. "Now, wait till I tell you,"
+he shouted, while lost in astonishment. "He's got the Red Ghost; by gum,
+if he aint!"
+
+They drew as near the struggling animal as they could, while Uncle Ezra
+went in to bring out a brand from the fire to examine it, and Tom stood
+by, not a little elated. It was the first desperate adventure he had
+had, and he had stood up to the mark like a man. When the animal had
+ceased its contortions, and the firebrands were brought out so that we
+could examine it closely, it was curious to see what different views the
+hunters took of their prize. Elam could hardly be made to believe that
+it was not a ghost. He stood at a distance while the others were
+inspecting it, and when he saw they were handling it, he remarked that
+the bullet he had sent into its neck ought to have finished it when he
+got it. Ben examined its legs and Tom felt of its hump. He said that
+when an Arab had a long journey to make he always examined the hump to
+see if his camel was in good condition, while an American always looked
+to his horse's hoofs. He did not think this animal was in a fit
+condition to travel, although it had come seventy-five miles since Tom
+had last seen it, picking up its living on the way.
+
+"Tom, you will do to tie to," said Elam, when he became satisfied that
+the animal was dead. "Shake!"
+
+"Thank you," said Tom, seeing that his hands were safely out of reach.
+"If it's all the same to you I'll not shake hands with you. I did it
+once back there in the mountains, and I haven't got over it."
+
+"Well, Tom, you certainly have done something to be proud of," said
+Ezra. "Let's go in and take a smoke. We'll finish our examination by
+daylight."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+A NEW EXPEDITION.
+
+
+There wasn't much sleeping done in the cabin that night, there was so
+much to talk about. To say that the hunters were very much pleased over
+the success of Tom's lucky shots would be putting it very mildly. Elam
+was much elated to know it was a camel, an animal he had never seen
+before, and not a genuine ghost, who had stood between him and the
+finding of the nugget. He was not satisfied until he had burned up three
+or four brands in going out to see the object to make sure it was there
+yet. To tell the truth, this Red Ghost had often stood between Elam and
+the accomplishment of his hopes; and as much as he desired to possess
+the nugget he did not dare face it alone.
+
+"It is there yet," said Elam, coming in once more and throwing a
+half-burned chunk upon the fire. "Tom, you have made me your everlasting
+debtor. Now I hope the finding of the nugget will go the same way."
+
+"I hope I can have the same effect upon your other work," said Tom
+modestly. "If I do, you will call me a lucky omen."
+
+"What is an 'omen'?" asked Elam, who had never heard the word before.
+
+"Why, it is an occurrence supposed to show the character of some future
+event. That is about as near as I can come to it. If I am with you, you
+will find the nugget without the least trouble: if I am not, you won't."
+
+"Well, I'll see that you don't get very far from me till I find out what
+this map means. There is something hidden there, and I know it."
+
+It was while we were talking in this way that daylight came, and I began
+getting breakfast while Elam and Uncle Ezra smoked, and Ben and Tom were
+packing up the skins which had fallen to Ben's rifle during the hunt. I
+could see that Ben was sadly disappointed in not being permitted to
+accompany Elam on his search for the nugget, but like the soldier he
+was, he gave right up. He knew that his father did not believe in such
+things anyway, and very likely his refusal would have been more pointed
+than Uncle Ezra's. When the breakfast was over all hands turned to and
+washed the dishes and put them away. We calculated to visit the camp
+again during the winter, and, if we did, we wanted to know what we had
+to go on. Then we went out to saddle our horses and take a last look at
+the Red Ghost.
+
+"Are we going to leave this thing here?" asked Ben.
+
+"Sure!" replied Uncle Ezra. "We can't carry it with us."
+
+"I'll bet I don't leave it all here," said Elam, going into the cabin
+and returning with an axe in his hand. "The folks down there won't
+believe that we killed anything, and I am going to have one of the
+feet."
+
+The thing was hideous when we came to look at it by daylight, and
+especially the great hoofs with which it had tramped so far. They were
+lacerated in every direction, and one cut had hardly had time to heal
+before it got another. Elam plied the axe vigorously, and in a few
+moments each boy had a foot which he was to take along to show to the
+people "down there." Finally Uncle Ezra said he would take the head. It
+was scarred and seamed all over, but he thought that anyone who had seen
+a camel would be sure to recognize it. Then we brought up the horses,
+but I tell you it took two men to saddle them. They couldn't bear the
+scent of the camel; I had to take my nag out of sight of it, and it was
+a long time before he quit snorting. With a good deal of merriment we
+got them all saddled at last, and with Tom and Ben riding my horse and
+Elam's, we bid good-by to our camp in the mountains. We had twenty miles
+to go and then we were among friends again.
+
+"Say," said Elam, when he had allowed the others to get so far ahead
+that there was no danger of their overhearing our conversation, "I don't
+think I am crazy; do you?"
+
+"I never thought so," said I, although I knew there had been some talk
+of it in the settlement. "I was sure if that nugget was there you would
+find it. I shouldn't have offered to go with you if I had thought you
+were crazy."
+
+"You have seen the map and know just what there is onto it?" continued
+Elam.
+
+"I certainly have."
+
+"And you know the place where it starts is over there by those springs?"
+
+"I do certainly."
+
+"And do you think that those men would carry around a map of that kind
+unless there was something on it?" said Elam, going over the argument he
+had used the night before with Uncle Ezra.
+
+"No, I don't think they would. And it's your ditty-bag that they took
+from you when you were shot."
+
+"I know it; and many's the time I have thought of it, too, and never
+expected to see it again. Thank goodness, I have two men with me who
+don't think I am crazy! I have told Uncle Ezra that I never would give
+it up again until I have that nugget in my hands. I know that gully up
+there, and it is a pretty big place. Now, that is all I have to say. If
+you want to know anything more, now is the time to ask me."
+
+"Don't you think that there are other parties up there, hunting for it?"
+I asked, knowing that his story had been noised abroad. "Just think; you
+have been looking for it fourteen years."
+
+"Longer than that; and I ought to get it, for they say that perseverance
+conquers all things. As for other parties looking for it, why, they can
+get it if they want it. But where's the map?"
+
+"That's so. I think you have got the only one there is in existence."
+
+"I only hope there are other fellows looking for the nugget," said Elam,
+shifting his rifle from one shoulder to the other, "because we won't
+have to work where they have been. It will make matters so much easier
+for us."
+
+After that Elam kept still about the nugget, and during the whole of the
+twenty miles I never heard him speak of it again. We accomplished the
+journey just about dark, Elam and I walking all the way, and Tom I know
+was glad to get back among civilized people once more. My headquarters
+were right there with Uncle Ezra, for I had only four men to take care
+of my small herd, and didn't think it best to get too far away from him.
+We rode up to the shanty and began to dismount, when the door flew open
+and the foreman of the ranch appeared on the threshold.
+
+"Well, I declare, if there aint Uncle Ezra!" he exclaimed in a
+stentorian voice. "What you got? Enough furs to load one horse with?"
+
+While the foreman was speaking he untied the bundle of skins and laid it
+upon the porch, when he happened to discover Tom Mason. He did not say
+anything, but nodded to Tom, and then turned his attention to his
+employer's horse, whom he had unsaddled while one was thinking about it.
+
+"Are you here all alone?" asked Uncle Ezra.
+
+"All alone!" replied the foreman. "You see, there has been a blizzard
+lately, and we thought we had better look up the sheep. I have just got
+in. What have you got in that bag?"
+
+"Something that will make your eyes bulge out," replied Uncle Ezra.
+"Wait till we get in, and we will show it to you."
+
+The horses, being unsaddled, were turned loose to go where they chose;
+the foreman carried Ben's bundle of skins into the cabin, and Uncle Ezra
+brought up the rear with the bag containing what was left of the prize.
+There was a fire burning brightly at one end of the room, and Tom and
+Ben drew camp-stools up in front of it to get some heat, while Elam and
+I took our overcoats off and waited for Uncle Ezra to turn out the
+contents of the bag. We waited until the old frontiersman had hung up
+his coat and hat where they belonged and seated himself on a camp-stool
+before the fire, and then the head and four feet of the camel were
+tumbled out on the floor.
+
+"What in the name of common sense are those?" cried the foreman in
+astonishment.
+
+"They are part of the Red Ghost," said Uncle Ezra; and then he went on
+to tell the story much as I have told it, although he put in some
+additions of his own. The foreman was profoundly amazed. Not daring to
+use his hands, he used a poker to move the things about, so that he
+could see on all sides of them. The antics he went through were enough
+to make the hunters laugh.
+
+"What do you think now about my being crazy?" demanded Elam. "I've shot
+at that thing, and I don't see why I didn't get him; but I can see now
+why it was. He was so big that a bullet had to be put in the right place
+to get him."
+
+"That's about the case with everything I have shot, Elam," said the
+foreman. "I had to put the ball in the right place, or I didn't get him.
+But you have removed a heap from my mind. Who shot him?"
+
+"Here's the man, right here."
+
+Seeing that the foreman began to take a deeper interest in Tom after
+that, Uncle Ezra introduced him, and he failed to say that Tom had got
+into a "little trouble" down in Mississippi where he used to live, and
+had come out West to get clear of it. Uncle Ezra didn't think that was
+any of his business. He said that Tom wanted to see new sights, and he
+reckoned he had already had his fill of them, having been lost in the
+mountains and shot the Red Ghost besides. Now, he was going into
+partnership with Elam after the nugget, and Uncle Ezra thought he had a
+boy who could be depended upon. The foreman shook hands with Tom, and
+said he was glad to see him. Then he wanted to know whether they had
+eaten supper yet.
+
+"Well, no," replied Uncle Ezra. "You see, we started from our camp up
+there sooner than we expected. Elam has got a map telling him where to
+look to find his nugget."
+
+"Ah, get out!" said the foreman. He had heard so many things about a
+"map" that he did not believe a word of it.
+
+"Well, he has, sure enough. It came from the man who tried to rob him.
+And you haven't heard anything about the Indians, have you?"
+
+"Indians!" exclaimed the foreman. "Have they broken out?"
+
+"Just give your knife to Elam and sit down," said Uncle Ezra. "It
+appears to me that we have heard of a heap of things that you don't know
+anything about."
+
+The man gave Elam his knife, which he had in his hand to begin work with
+upon the ham he had laid upon the table, and sat down.
+
+"I wondered all the time what was the matter with Elam's hand," said he.
+"I hope the Indians didn't shoot him."
+
+"Didn't they, though?" said Elam. "You just wait and hear Uncle Ezra
+tell the story."
+
+It was a long narrative that the old frontiersman had to tell, and I saw
+that Elam was so much interested in it that he forgot all about the
+supper, and I got up and assisted him; and that was all he wanted. He
+left me to do the work, and sat down. The foreman heard Uncle Ezra
+through without interruption, and then turned and gave Elam a good
+looking over. After that he got up and assisted me with the supper.
+
+"So Elam has really got a map of the place where that nugget is hid?"
+were the first words he uttered. He didn't seem to care a straw about
+the Indians, but he did care about the gold. "I wish I knew the man he
+shot to get it."
+
+After that the evening was just what you would expect of one spent in a
+hunter's camp, or one passed in a sheep-herder's ranch, which was the
+same thing. We ate supper; then those who were inclined to the weed
+enjoyed their good-night smoke, and talked of ghosts, Indians, and
+sheep-herder's life until we were all tired out and went to bed. We had
+regular bunks to sleep in, and could thrash around all we had a mind to
+without fear of disturbing anyone else. The foreman got up once to
+replenish the fire and take a look at the weather, and I heard him say,
+when he crawled back into his bunk, that it was a clear, cold
+night--just the one that sheep enjoy.
+
+When I awoke I found the foreman busy in the storeroom in putting up our
+three months' supplies and Uncle Ezra engaged in cooking breakfast. Ben
+was seated at one end of the table, engaged in writing a letter to his
+father, and Elam had gone out after a certain stockman to carry it to
+the fort for him. It was dark, and you couldn't see a thing.
+
+"I think it best to let the boy's father know when he is well off," said
+Uncle Ezra, returning my greeting. "It aint everybody who would go to
+that trouble, I confess--sending a lone man off in a country that has
+been infested with Indians. But I know how it is myself. If I had a
+boy----"
+
+"You have got one," I said. "There's Elam."
+
+"Elam!" said the frontiersman in a tone of contempt. "Elam went to work
+and got himself into a fuss without saying a word to me about it. Elam!
+now he's got a map that he thinks will show him where the gold is
+hidden."
+
+"But don't you think there is something hidden there?" asked Ben.
+
+"Now, wait till I tell you. I don't know; but every scrap he gets hold
+of he thinks it is a map. That's what makes me mad at Elam. And you,
+dog-gone you! You have got better sense than that."
+
+I had heard all I wanted to out of Uncle Ezra. It was plain that he
+didn't think there was anything in that map. Well, as Elam said, it was
+all in a lifetime. My time wasn't worth anything to me, for I had men to
+do the work, and if I made a botch of it, if there wasn't anything to be
+made by digging up that gully, there was one thing out of the way. Elam
+was bound to become a cattle-herder in case this thing failed. He was
+determined to go to Texas, for he couldn't live there and have that
+nugget thrown at him by every man he met, and I would go with him. Uncle
+Ezra had often made offers for my cattle, intending to leave
+sheep-herding on account of the wolves, and invest all his extra money
+in steers, and if this thing turned out a failure he could have them and
+welcome. I would be as deep in the mud as Elam was, and I didn't care to
+have the thing thrown up at me all the time. Texas was the land of
+promise with us fellows, any way. The fellows there had got into the way
+of driving cattle to northern markets and selling them, and in that way
+we could at least see our friends once every year. So I didn't care what
+Uncle Ezra said about it.
+
+In about an hour Elam came back with the stockman of whom he had been in
+search. His name was Sandy; I never heard him called by any other name,
+and if his pluck only equalled his red hair and whiskers he certainly
+had lots of it. Of course we had to go through with the Red Ghost and
+Tom's being lost, the discovery of the map and Elam's escape from the
+Indians, but Sandy never said a word about it. He just sat on his
+camp-stool with his elbows resting on his knees, and looked up at Uncle
+Ezra. When the latter got through with his story he simply said:
+
+"Where's the letter?"
+
+Of course it was arranged that Sandy should go with us as far as the
+canyon that led to the springs, and beyond that he was to take care of
+himself. With his letter tucked away in his pocket, he shook Ben by the
+hand, and told him that his father would receive what he had written by
+noon the next day; and then we all mounted and rode off. Tom had been
+supplied with a pair of boots to take the place of his moccasons, and
+rode a horse that belonged to Uncle Ezra. We had two mules with us, Elam
+leading the one and I the other, which carried our supplies and also our
+digging tools; for we intended to dig as no people had ever dug before
+for that nugget.
+
+"I hope you will get it, boys," said Sandy, as he lifted his hat to us
+when we reached the canyon that branched off from his trail. "But I have
+my doubts."
+
+"Oh, of course we're cranks!" said Elam.
+
+"I never said that of you," said Sandy reproachfully. "I always said
+that if the nugget was there you'd get it."
+
+"And how am I going to find out where the nugget is unless I have a
+map?" demanded Elam. "I've got one now, and if I make a failure of this
+thing, I am going to Texas. When you see me again I'll have the nugget.
+Good-by."
+
+We saw no Indians, although we kept a bright lookout for them, and about
+three o'clock in the afternoon arrived at the springs, for I do not know
+what else to call them. We had had no dinner, intending to leave it
+until we got to our camping place, and while Tom and I unsaddled and
+staked out the horses, Elam strolled away with his rifle on his shoulder
+to look up the springs. He was gone fully an hour, and when he came back
+he set his rifle down and never said a word. I knew that something was
+the matter, but I thought I would wait until he got ready to tell it. He
+ate his dinner; he ate a good hearty one, too, so that the news he had
+brought did not interfere with his appetite, and filled his pipe; and
+then I knew that something was coming.
+
+"Carlos," said he, as he stretched his legs out in front of him, "those
+springs have all been tampered with."
+
+"What do you mean?" I asked.
+
+"They have been tampered with the same as this one has," continued Elam,
+pointing to the spring at which our horses had drank. "All the stuff and
+leaves have been pulled out of them."
+
+"Well, what of it?"
+
+"What of it? It means that somebody has been going in on our trail."
+
+"All right; let it be so. You found all the springs, didn't you? We're
+on their trail, and if we overtake them at the end of a week we will see
+what we can do with them. You said yourself that it would make things
+easier for us."
+
+"Yes, I know I said it, but I don't like to see that people are so hot
+after that nugget."
+
+It did seem to me that everyone had got wind of that nugget, and were
+going after it at the same time. How it came about I did not know. Here
+they had gone on for two years and let Elam dig where he had a mind to,
+and now when he knew where the gold was, other people knew it too and
+were determined to have it. I suggested that it might be those men who
+had robbed him, but Elam laughed at it.
+
+"Those men never came near here," said Elam. "Otherwise, how did they
+strike my camp fifty miles away? It has been done by somebody nearer
+than that, and has been done by somebody within three weeks, too."
+
+From this time out (we were all of two weeks on the trail) Elam was
+moody. He would ride all day and wouldn't say a word to either of us,
+and when we made camp at night he would go off and stay until dark. And
+the worst of it was, we camped every single night right where the men
+had slept. I began to shake in my boots, and did not wonder at Elam's
+contrary mood. In fact we were all that way. It was very seldom that we
+exchanged an opinion with one another. Elam kept his map constantly at
+hand and referred to it at every turn in the road. Sometimes he would be
+gone all day, and we would hear nothing of him until night, when he
+would come in, ask for supper, and roll himself up in his blanket and go
+to sleep. Things went on in this way for two weeks, as I said, and then
+one day, as we were watering our horses at the brook that ran through
+the canyon, we were suddenly surprised by the appearance of two men who
+stood on the opposite bank. They were a hard-looking set, but then that
+was to be expected in a country where all men lived out of doors. To
+show that they were friendly they threw their rifles into the hollow of
+their arms.
+
+"Howdy, pard?" said one.
+
+"Howdy?" replied Elam. As he was the chief man we allowed him to do all
+the talking.
+
+"You're just the men we wanted to see," said the man in a delighted
+tone. "We haven't had anything to eat since yisterday. Will ye give us a
+bite?"
+
+"Sure!" replied Elam. "What are you doing so far away in the mountains?"
+
+"We got lost, and are now trying to find our way out. This stream leads
+to some water on the prairie, I reckon? How far is the fort from here?"
+
+Elam made some reply, I didn't know what it was, while I began to look
+the men over to see if I could discover any signs of their being lost.
+Their moccasons were whole, or as much so as could be expected, and the
+wear and tear of their buckskin shirts was no more than our own. They
+were strangers to me, and I confess that I was not at all pleased to see
+them. The talk about their being lost was one thing that did the
+business for me. The men were hunters or trappers on the face of them;
+they never would be taken for anything else, and the idea of their
+getting bewildered in the mountains that they had probably passed over a
+dozen times was a little too far fetched. I caught a glimpse of Elam's
+face as he was leading his horse up the opposite bank, and there was a
+look on it that boded mischief.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+THE NUGGET IS FOUND.
+
+
+"Where are your horses?" I demanded.
+
+"Horses? We aint got none," replied the man.
+
+"Somebody must have grub-staked you," I continued. "They never sent you
+into the mountains to get lost."
+
+"We grub-staked ourselves," answered the man impatiently. "But I'll tell
+you what's the matter with you. Somebody has grub-staked you, and sent
+you in here to search for gold, and I want to know which one of you is
+Elam Storm. Speak quick!"
+
+The next thing that happened was a little short of bewildering. In less
+time than it takes to tell it, Elam and I were covered with the muzzles
+of two cocked rifles, thus making it plain to me that the men had seen
+us, and hastily made up their plans what to do with us. They couldn't
+have moved so quickly if they hadn't. They paid no attention to Tom, but
+covered Elam and me. All they said was:
+
+"Don't you move, Tender-foot. You may save the life of one, but you will
+be a goner in the end. Now, drop your guns right where you stand."
+
+In an instant Elam and I laid down our rifles, and Tom did the same. It
+was too close a call to do otherwise, for a suspicious move on the part
+of one of us would have sent us to kingdom come in short order. There
+was "shoot" in the men's eyes, and we saw it plain enough.
+
+"Now," said the leader, "go over there and set down, away from your
+guns. Which one of you is Elam Storm?"
+
+"My name is Toby Johnson," replied Elam, speaking before anybody else
+had a chance to open his mouth. "I don't deny that I am sent up here to
+prospect for gold; but I don't see much chance of finding any."
+
+"And what's your name?" demanded the leader, turning to me.
+
+It was a little time before I could speak. Elam's plan for throwing them
+off the scent was a good one, but it came so sudden that it fairly took
+my breath away.
+
+"I am Carlos Burton," I replied.
+
+"Burton! I know you," said the man, who hardly knew whether to be
+delighted or otherwise at the discovery he had made; and then all of a
+sudden it flashed upon me that here was the man who had stolen my
+cattle. How I wished I had my rifle in my hands! There would have been
+one cattle-thief less in the world, I bet you; but, then, what good
+would it have done? I would have been gone up, too, for the other man
+still held his cocked rifle in his hands.
+
+"Ah, yes! Burton," continued the leader, "Do you remember one of the
+fellows who took some cattle away from you once?"
+
+"I didn't see the men, but I have heard what sort of looking fellows
+they were. I should like to see you under different circumstances."
+
+"Well, I don't know but you will, but I doubt it. What sort of appearing
+fellow is that Elam Storm? Seen him, either of you?"
+
+"I don't know him," said Elam. "I never heard of him. I am a stranger in
+these parts."
+
+"Seeing that neither of you is Elam Storm, perhaps you may have
+something about you that tells you where to go to find his nugget. Stand
+up and put your hands above your head. You have got a ditty-bag about
+you?"
+
+"Yes, sir, and there it is," said Elam, rising to his feet and throwing
+his bag outside his shirt, so that the man could examine it.
+
+Well, there! the turning point had been reached at last, and Elam was
+the one who helped it along. Tom was utterly confounded, and I was so
+amazed and provoked that I hid my face from the men by resting my elbows
+on my knees and looking down at the ground. Of course Elam's map was
+found, there was no doubt about that. I saw him have it in his hand not
+half an hour before, and was positive that he put it in the bag out of
+sight. With that gone we were as powerless as the two men were. I
+listened, but could not hear him say anything about the map. He took the
+bag off Elam's neck and up-ended it on the ground. There were a pipe,
+some tobacco, and some matches, and that was all there was in it. He put
+them all back, after helping himself to a generous chew of the weed, and
+turned to Tom and myself; but as we didn't have any bags he let us go.
+
+"You have been duped, fellows," said the leader. "Who sent you here,
+anyway?"
+
+"Uncle Ezra," said Elam.
+
+"Ah, yes! He's a great chap for such things. And you'll meet Elam
+somewhere up there, and you want to look out that he doesn't put a
+bullet into you. He thinks he's got a dead sure thing on that gold."
+
+"Were you sent out here to hunt for it?" asked Elam, and I held my
+breath in suspense, waiting for his answer. I wanted to find out who was
+at the bottom of this matter.
+
+"Well, that's neither here nor there," said the man. "We're here, and
+that's enough for anybody to know. Here's Burton, now. I did steal some
+cattle from him because I was hard up, but I don't want him to go on and
+get fooled in this way. And you'll get fooled as sure as you live. Now,
+we don't want anything to eat. We have got everything we want out here
+in the rocks to last us to the fort; and if you'll say you won't shoot
+at us, we'll give you your guns."
+
+"I won't shoot at you," said Elam. "You have given me a point to go on,
+and I don't know but I had better turn around and go back. Here's a
+tender-foot come out here to see the country----"
+
+"All right. Go on, and let him dig away some of the landslides until he
+gets sick of them. He won't get nothing, I bet you. Now, suppose you
+take your creeters and go on your way. We can have a fair view of you
+for a quarter of a mile, and that's all we want."
+
+Elam at once picked up his gun, mounted his horse and rode away, leading
+one of the mules, leaving Tom and I to follow at our leisure. I noticed
+that the two men eyed me rather sharply. They didn't know how I felt at
+being reduced to poverty, and they were ready to nip in the bud any move
+that I took to be even with them. I didn't feel very good over it, you
+may imagine, and when I got on my horse I couldn't resist an inclination
+to say a word to them.
+
+"I hear that two of the men who engaged with you in that cattle-thieving
+business were hanged for horse-stealing," I said.
+
+"Has that story got around down here?" said one of the men.
+
+"Yes; and I am very sorry that they were dealt with in that way. I
+wanted to get even with them myself. It seems as though those six
+thousand dollars didn't go very far with you."
+
+"Well, go on now, for we don't want to take this matter into our own
+hands. We will wait until you get up to the turn in the canyon, and then
+you had better look out."
+
+I rode on up the gully after Tom and Elam, and when I got up to the turn
+I looked back. The men were not in sight. Elam rode a little way further
+and then dismounted, preparatory to going into camp.
+
+"There were two things that happened to-day that I did not think
+possible," said I, throwing myself out of my saddle in a disgusted
+humor. "One was that Elam would give up when he saw himself cornered."
+
+"I saw at the start that they did not want to hurt anything," said Elam.
+"Suppose we had resisted them; where would we be now?"
+
+"And another thing, I did not think it possible for me to stand near the
+man who stole my cattle without putting a chunk of lead into him. He
+didn't say who he was until after he had charge of my rifle, did he?"
+
+"No, but I tell you you wouldn't have made anything by trying to shoot
+him. If we had made the least attempt to cock a gun, it would have been
+good-by. Those fellows were not fools."
+
+"And what made Elam deny his identity?" said Tom. "You said you were
+Toby Johnson."
+
+"And what became of his map?" I chimed in. "I saw him have it a short
+time before they came up. What did you do with it, Elam?"
+
+"It's there, close to where I was sitting on the rock. When we think we
+have given them time to get away, I'll go back there and get it. I
+didn't want them to find it on me."
+
+"And do you say that you took it out of your bag and threw it on the
+rocks?" said Tom in utter amazement. "I sat close to you all the while,
+and I never saw you do anything like it."
+
+"No; I took it out of my pocket," said Elam. "The name I gave, Toby
+Johnson, saved them from handling me mighty rough."
+
+"Well, now I am beaten!" I exclaimed.
+
+"You see, if I had told them what my name was, they would have said at
+the start that I had some sort of a map with me, and would have hazed
+till I give it up. But they would never have got it," said Elam quietly,
+and there was deep determination in his words. "But I know one thing,
+and that aint two. Those fellows have left their picks and spades up
+here. They got tired of them and didn't mean to take them back."
+
+"Who were they, anyway?" asked Tom. "They were not the men who stole the
+skins."
+
+"Now, wait until I tell you; I don't know."
+
+"One of them might have been the man who got shot," I suggested.
+
+"There are a good many things connected with this nugget that we will
+never find out," said Elam. "And that's one of them. We'll stay here
+until we get dinner, and then I will go back after my map. It is all in
+a lifetime. So long as I get my nugget I don't care."
+
+"I never heard of men turning out so friendly after doing their best to
+rob us," said Tom, pulling the saddle off his horse. "And you met them
+half-way."
+
+"Who? Me? I will always be friendly with a man who never tries to do me
+dirt," said Elam. "If they had had the nugget you would have seen more."
+
+I was very glad indeed that they did not have the nugget. So long as
+they let us off without being hurt I was abundantly satisfied; but if
+they had had gold stowed away in their blankets, we probably should
+never have seen them. They would have slunk away among the rocks and
+tried to hide their booty for fear that we should try to take it away
+from them. Would Elam try to hide his nugget after he got it? Well, he
+had not got it yet by a long ways. We ate dinner where we were, and Elam
+shouldered his rifle, lighted his pipe, and started back after his map.
+He told us that we had better stay where we were, and this gave me an
+idea that Elam was afraid he might be shot. He was gone half an hour,
+and when he came back his face wore his old-time expression again.
+
+"Have you got it?" asked Tom, who always wanted to make sure that he was
+in the right.
+
+"Course I have," said Elam. "Catch up, and we'll go on. There is one
+thing about this map business that I don't exactly like. You see this
+nugget is hid in a pocket."
+
+Of course, I was thunderstruck, but then Elam had been all over that
+country, and of course knew where every pocket went to. He knew which
+canyons ran back into the mountains and which did not.
+
+"You see this man had a fight before he got the nugget, and he was too
+badly hurt to get off his course to find a pocket to bury his find,"
+Elam hastened to explain. "Now, this canyon that we are in goes back
+into the mountains I don't know how far, and it was in this gully that
+the fight took place; consequently the find is buried right here
+alongside of this little stream."
+
+"Who do you suppose that man was, anyway?" Tom remarked. "You have never
+heard of him since, have you?"
+
+"Now, wait until I tell you. I don't know. But let us go ahead, and I
+will tell you what I mean in a day or two."
+
+"What do you look for anyway, when you go off by yourself?" asked Tom.
+"If you would give us a pointer on that subject we might be able to help
+you."
+
+"I don't mind telling you that I am looking for a trail," said Elam.
+"And it is so old that no one but myself would notice it. When I find
+that trail I'm a-going to follow it up. It isn't over ten feet long, for
+a man as badly hurt as that one was, aint a-going to go a great ways to
+hide a nugget."
+
+"Do you mean to tell me that we are on his trail now?" exclaimed Tom in
+amazement.
+
+"Certainly I do. I have found two or three places where he slept."
+
+"Why didn't you speak about it?"
+
+"Do you suppose I have come in here this far without following some
+trail? Of course not. Some of the marks he made are so badly obliterated
+by the wind and the rain, that you can't make head nor tail of them,
+unless you know what had been there in the first place. Why, I have
+found blood on the rocks where he slept."
+
+"You're beaten, aint you, Tom?" I asked, when he gazed at me, lost in
+wonder.
+
+"I should say I was. I wish you had showed me that spot."
+
+"Well, I will the next time I come across one. Good gracious! if I
+didn't know any more about trailing than you do, I would never find that
+nugget."
+
+"How do you suppose your father came by it in the first place? He must
+have got it in some honest way or he wouldn't have had it in his wagon."
+
+"That is one thing that I don't know," answered Elam solemnly. "He got
+it, and how it ever came noised abroad that it belonged to me beats my
+time. I wish the man that started that story had it crammed down his
+throat."
+
+Elam was getting excited again, and we thought it best to leave him
+alone until he got over thinking about the nugget. We didn't raise any
+objections when he spurred up his horse and got out of sight of us in
+the bushes. When we were certain that he had passed out of hearing, Tom
+said:
+
+"Why, it is two years since that man, whoever he was, made that trail
+through here, and to think he can find some traces of it now! It bangs
+me completely."
+
+"There are two things which must be taken into consideration," said I.
+"In the first place that man didn't know what he left of a trail; he
+hoped nobody would ever find it. A twig may have been broken down and he
+left it so, certain it would lead him back to the place where he had
+buried his find. In the next place there is some little sign for which
+Elam is looking that will lead him directly to the place he wants to
+find; some branch of a tree that has been broken down and looks as
+though somebody had been browsing there, and it will tell Elam that he
+is hot on the trail. Do you see?"
+
+"Yes, I see; but I don't see how a man can follow a trail two years old.
+I wish you would show me his next camping ground. If I am a lucky omen,
+I may be able to find the nugget."
+
+I laughed and promised Tom that I would show him the next place I found;
+but it was a long time before I found any. You could not have told that
+a man had passed through there in one year or ten, the weather had so
+completely done away with all his work. But it did not make any
+difference to Elam. Sometimes he would be gone before we were up, but he
+always came back to supper, which we took pains to have good and hot for
+him. We never made any enquiries, for he knew just how impatient we
+were, and he would not keep us waiting a moment longer than was
+necessary. We had been in the canyon six weeks, and, to tell you the
+truth, Tom and I were getting pretty tired of the search. It was the
+same thing over and over every day, and I was glad that nobody had
+connected my name with a lost nugget. Elam would go along on foot,
+leaving his horse to follow or not as he pleased; and if he found a
+little pile of stones on the bank that didn't look as though it had been
+thrown up by nature, he would go into the bushes and perhaps be gone for
+an hour. We had long ago passed the pocket, and were continuing on our
+way slowly and laboriously up the canyon, and one day Elam startled Tom
+by calling out:
+
+"I reckon you will think I am all right now. Here is the place where
+that fellow camped."
+
+In less than two seconds Tom and I were by Elam's side. Cautioning us
+not to go too far so as to disturb things, he plainly pointed out to us
+the marks of a person's figure on the leaves. Some of the bushes had
+been broken down, and the leaves had blown over where he lay, but by
+carefully brushing these aside the impress of a person's form could be
+seen. There was no doubt about it, and I told Elam so in a way that made
+him all right again.
+
+"Where do you suppose that fellow is now?" said Tom.
+
+"I don't know," said Elam. "My impression is that he died."
+
+"But he wouldn't have given this map to a man when he knew it to be
+wrong, would he?"
+
+"I tell you that there's a heap of things connected with this nugget
+that we shall never find out. We are on the right trail yet. I tell you
+I feel encouraged."
+
+We all did for that matter, and every day we searched both sides of the
+stream to find that man's camping place, and when we found it we would
+call the others up; but one day Tom came into camp, and his face was
+full of news.
+
+"I don't want to raise any false hopes," said he, "but if I have not
+found something I will give it up. It's on the left-hand side of the
+creek. In the first place there were four stones laid up the bank, and
+the bush at whose foot they lay had been broken down and leaned away
+from the bank. And further than that, it was held in position by two of
+the branches, which were firmly tied about it."
+
+"Tom, I believe you have found it," said I.
+
+"It is too far away to find it before dark, but I will go there the
+first thing in the morning," continued Tom, who was so excited that he
+could scarcely speak plainly. "We want to take along our picks and
+shovels, too."
+
+We both glanced at Elam, but he didn't say anything. He was lying back
+on his blanket, with his pipe between his teeth and his hands under his
+head. He smiled all over, but said nothing.
+
+"Go on," said he to Tom. "What else did you find?"
+
+"And right there is where the fun comes in," said Tom. "The passage was
+about twenty feet long--he was too badly hurt to go further--and with
+every step of the way he had broken down a piece of the bushes, first on
+one side and then on the other, to enable him to keep a straight course.
+Right under the head of a rock that the passage brings up against, you
+will find something buried. It may not be the nugget, but there is
+something there."
+
+"Why didn't you dig down and see what it was?" said I.
+
+"It was pretty near night when I found it, and besides I wanted Elam to
+see it. I will go with you now, if you say so."
+
+"No," said Elam, filling up his pipe for a fresh smoke. "I'll be happy
+for once in my life for twelve hours, and if at the end of that time I
+find that there is nothing there----"
+
+"But I tell you there is something there," ejaculated Tom.
+
+"I will go back and go to herding cattle," added Elam, paying no
+attention to Tom's interruption. "I will give it up as a bad job."
+
+There wasn't much sleeping done in that camp that night, and although we
+stayed awake till toward morning, we had little to say to each other. We
+all wanted to see what was hidden up there. I had seen Elam become
+wonderfully excited whenever anyone spoke of the nugget and hinted that
+it wasn't there, but I had never seen him come so near finding it
+before. When daylight came Tom declared he couldn't wait any longer, so
+we got up and saddled our horses and followed along after him. We did
+not stop to cook breakfast, for in case we did not find the nugget
+nobody would want any. After going about a quarter of a mile, Tom
+stopped and dismounted from his horse.
+
+"There are the stones," said Elam.
+
+"You go along a little further and you will find everything just as I
+described it to you," said Tom. "Elam is about half wild," he added in a
+low tone to me, "so you and I had better take a pick along. Mind, I
+don't say it is the nugget, but there is something hidden in there."
+
+Talk about Elam's being half wild! Tom and I were in that fix also. We
+saw Elam examine the broken bush, the one that was held in place by two
+limbs that were tied about it, and his face grew as white as a sheet. He
+worked his way into the bushes, making his way all too slowly to suit us
+who were following close at his heels, and finally stopped under the
+hanging rock, where there was a clear space about two feet in diameter.
+The bushes grew as thick here as they did anywhere else, but they had
+been cut with a knife to give the digger a chance to work. Not one of us
+said a word, because we were too highly excited. Elam reached his hand
+behind him, and I, knowing what he wanted, placed a spade within it; but
+you might as well have set a child to scraping it out with a teaspoon.
+His hand trembled so that it was scarcely any use to him.
+
+"Here, Elam, give me that spade," I cried. "You will never get it up in
+the world. Now, stand back beside Tom, out of the way."
+
+I did not think Elam would agree to this, but he did, and in two minutes
+I had the leaves and brush all out of the way, faster than it was put
+in, I'll bet. But what was this I struck against before I had gone down
+three inches? It was not as hard as a rock, because, when I placed my
+shovel against it and tried to pry it up, the instrument slipped from it
+and showed me the color of the pure gold.
+
+"Elam, Elam, there's something here!" I shouted, so nearly beside myself
+that I did not know what I was saying. "Stand out of the way and let me
+handle it myself. When I get it out where the horses are, you can
+examine it till your head is as white as Uncle Ezra's."
+
+I have since learned that the nugget weighed 130 pounds, but it did not
+seem half that weight as I pulled it out of the hole and started through
+the bushes with it. I paid no attention to the others, who followed
+along after me, lost in wonder. I carried it out to where the bushes
+ended, and then laid it down, hunted up a rock, and sat down and
+examined it.
+
+"Elam, there's your nugget!" I said.
+
+"By gum, I believe it is!" said Elam.
+
+One would have thought by the way Elam went about it that he did not
+know whether it was or not. For fifteen minutes we sat there and watched
+him as he passed his hands carefully over it, brushing away a little
+particle of dirt here and pecking with his knife there to see if it was
+really gold, until he was satisfied; then he put up his knife and thrust
+out his hand to Tom.
+
+"Tender-foot, I never would have found this if it hadn't been for you,"
+said he, with something like a tremor in his voice. "Shake!"
+
+"Thank you," said Tom, taking particular pains to keep his hands out of
+the way. "I'll take your word for it."
+
+"I won't squeeze you, honor bright!" said Elam.
+
+That was as good as though Elam had sworn to it, and Tom gave him his
+hand. He didn't squeeze it, but he shook it very warmly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+CONCLUSION.
+
+
+I had often heard Tom Mason speak of his "luck" when telling his
+stories, but I believe he was utterly confounded by the turn his "luck"
+had taken in this particular instance. He was too amazed, so much so
+that he couldn't speak, while Elam, it was plain to be seen, looked upon
+him as a lucky omen. In these days he would have been called a "mascot."
+I was completely thunderstruck, and if Tom had told me that there was a
+nugget hidden under the biggest mountain in the valley, and I could have
+it for the mere fun of digging after it, I believe I should have put
+faith in his story.
+
+"I wish that nugget could speak," said Elam, bringing his examination to
+a stop and sitting down with his arm thrown over his find. "I would like
+to hear it tell of all the places it has been in. After so many years of
+waiting I have at last secured the object of my ambition, thanks to you,
+Tom Mason. Nobody supposed you were going to make yourself rich out
+here, did they?"
+
+"No, and I don't suppose they know it now," replied Tom. "Do you really
+imagine this is the nugget your father had?"
+
+"What is the reason they don't know it now?" demanded Elam.
+
+"Because the find isn't mine."
+
+"Didn't I say that I would give you half of it the moment we dug it up?
+You will find that I am a man of my word, Tom."
+
+"How much do you suppose the thing will pan out?" I said, seizing the
+nugget with both hands and trying to lift it from the ground. "It is
+heavier than it was a while ago."
+
+"That nugget will pan out between five and eight thousand dollars," said
+Elam. "That's the price that Spaniard put upon it."
+
+"Do you think this is the same find your father had?" continued Tom. "A
+good many people have been searching for gold since then, and a great
+many nuggets of the size of this one have been dug up."
+
+"That's the reason I wish it could speak," said Elam. "Until I know
+differently I shall believe it is the same nugget. Anyway it is mine.
+Now, boys, I am going to Texas as soon as I can get there. You will go
+with me, of course."
+
+"What are you going down there for?" asked Tom.
+
+"To buy some cattle. You can get them down there for half what they are
+worth up here, and bringing them home across the plains will leave them
+in good order for next winter."
+
+"I don't know whether I will go or not. There may be some lawless men
+down there, and you will have money on your person."
+
+"Well, what of it? A man that will stand up the way you did against the
+Red Ghost is not going to be afraid of lawless men! You must go, Tom.
+You are a lucky omen."
+
+As for myself, I did some thinking, too. There was my herd, for
+instance; a small one to be sure, but large enough to keep me in that
+country. If Uncle Ezra would sell his sheep and buy the herd, I would be
+a free man and willing to go to Texas, or any other place to see some
+fun. And that there was fun there I could readily believe. All men who
+had got into a "little trouble" in the more settled portions of the
+community came there to get out of reach of the law, and in a new
+country they did pretty near as they had a mind to. It would not be a
+safe thing for Elam to go down there with one or two thousand dollars in
+his pocket, but I for one was not unwilling to back him up.
+
+"Well, boys, go to sleep on it, and tell me how it looks in the
+morning," said Elam, jumping to his feet and making a place for his
+nugget in one of the pack-saddles. "I wish one of you boys would go back
+and get that pick and shovel that we used to dig this thing up, for we
+want to have them all with us. They will say we were so excited over
+finding the gold that we couldn't think of anything else."
+
+In due time a place had been made in the pack-saddle for the nugget, and
+we were on the back track. We travelled a good deal faster in going than
+we did in coming, for we didn't have to stop to examine signs on the
+way, and one day, to Tom's intense surprise, we found the springs close
+before us. Of course we had talked about Elam's new idea of going to
+Texas to buy his cattle, and we were pretty well decided that if he went
+we should go too. We could see that Elam was greatly pleased over our
+decision, but he did not have much to say about it.
+
+"We must stay here long enough to help Uncle Ezra down with his sheep,"
+said Elam, "and then we'll put out. I wish he would lend me a thousand
+or two on this, and take it up to Denver and get it panned out himself.
+I will take just what he says it's worth; wouldn't you, Tom?"
+
+"Why of course I would."
+
+"Well, you have got a say so in it, and I shan't do a thing with it
+unless you say the word," said Elam. "You might as well give up and take
+your half."
+
+"Perhaps Tom would rather take his share and send it home," said I.
+
+"No, I wouldn't," said Tom. "My uncle has not yet had time to get over
+his pet. It will take him a year to do that, and then I will write to
+him."
+
+On the third night after we camped at the springs we drew up before the
+door of Uncle Ezra's sheep ranch. Boy-like, we had already made up our
+minds that we would not acknowledge to anything; if Uncle Ezra wanted to
+look into our pack-saddles and see what sort of luck we had had, he
+could examine them himself. Uncle Ezra was alone. When he was in the
+woods a more devoted follower of the gun could not be found; but he
+always liked the heat of the fire and preferred a comfortable bunk to
+sleep in, when he was within reach of the home ranch. Ben Hastings had
+gone back to the fort. His father always liked to have him around when
+there was danger in the air, and he had sent a sergeant and two men
+after him.
+
+"Halloa, boys!" said Uncle Ezra, "what sort of luck have you met with? I
+think the last time I saw you, you told me that the next time I saw your
+smiling faces you would have the nugget with you. I don't see any
+nugget."
+
+"We haven't had any luck at all," said Elam. "We ate up the grub, and
+now I am going to cattle-herding."
+
+"Elam," said Uncle Ezra severely, "you are not telling me the truth!
+There is something back of this."
+
+"All right. Come out and see for yourself."
+
+Tom and I removed the saddles from our horses, and at the same time
+Uncle Ezra came out and began his examination. With the very first move
+he made he hit the nugget. I never saw a man more completely taken aback
+than he was.
+
+"Hoop-pe!" was the yell he sent up which awoke the echoes far and near.
+"By gum, if you haven't got it. I don't want a cent!"
+
+In less time than it takes to tell it Uncle Ezra had lifted out the
+nugget and carried it into the cabin beside the fire, so that he could
+have a light to see by. When we got in there he had the nugget on the
+floor, and was pawing it over to see if it was that or something else
+which we had tried to palm off on him. When he saw Elam he got up and
+gave his hand a good hearty shake. I looked at Tom and I saw him put his
+hands into his pocket. I will bet you he would not have had that shake
+for his share of the nugget.
+
+"Well, sir, you got it," said Uncle Ezra. "I declare if it don't beat
+the world!"
+
+"Now, while you are shaking me up you don't want to forget Tom," said
+Elam. "If it hadn't been for him I shouldn't have found it at all."
+
+"Do you mean to say that Tom found it?"
+
+"Certainly, for he found the trail that led to it," replied Elam; and
+then he went on to give Uncle Ezra a brief sketch of the manner in which
+Tom had got at the bottom of things. He added that if he hadn't shown
+Tom the place where the man camped, the nugget would have been up there
+now. Uncle Ezra listened in amazement, and when Elam stopped speaking he
+thrust out his hand to Tom.
+
+"Where in the world did you learn to trail?" said he. "Shake."
+
+"Thank you," said Tom, retreating a step or two. "I'll take your word
+for it. I wouldn't have such a shaking up as you gave Elam a minute ago
+for anything."
+
+Uncle Ezra laughed, and pulled a camp-stool near to the fire and sat
+down upon it. He couldn't get the nugget out of his head. He kept saying
+"By gum!" every time he looked at it, and now and then he glanced at
+Elam and pinched himself to see if he was wide awake or dreaming.
+
+"Now, I will give you something to chew on while Carlos is getting
+supper for us," said Elam; and as that was a gentle hint that he was
+hungry, I got up and went to work. "We three boys are going to Texas."
+
+"Going to Texas?" asked Uncle Ezra. "Now, wait till I tell you----"
+
+"And another thing," said Elam, paying no attention to the interruption;
+"we don't want to stay here until this thing is panned out; so can't you
+lend us a thousand dollars on that nugget?"
+
+"I know what you want," replied Uncle Ezra. "You want me to lend you a
+thousand dollars apiece."
+
+"Well, yes. That's about the way the thing stands."
+
+"Now, wait till I tell you. You will go away with all that money in your
+good clothes, and the first thing you know I will never see you again.
+Somebody will say 'Where's them three fellows that used to hang around
+your place?' and I will say 'Why, they went down to Texas to buy cattle,
+and those Texans found out that they had a lot of money about them and
+shot them.' That's what I'll say. Now, wait till I tell you. You can't
+go!"
+
+That was just about what I expected to hear from Uncle Ezra at the
+start, but I knew it would turn out otherwise. I knew if he had the
+money we would get it, and so I kept still. Tom was very much
+disappointed, but I gave him a wink and nod which told him that our
+circumstances were not as bad as they appeared to be, and that
+everything would come out all right in the end. I didn't blame Uncle
+Ezra for not wanting to let us go away with so much money in our
+pockets, but I did not see any other way out of it. If we wanted to get
+our cattle for about half what they would cost us right there, Texas was
+the place for us to go. The Indians were bad, and we would have to go
+right across the country inhabited by the Comanches, and they were about
+the worst cattle-thieves I ever heard of. Those lawless men--those who
+did not think that they were bound by any legal or moral restraint
+unless it was right there to punish them--were found everywhere, and it
+was going to be a matter of some difficulty to evade them. I had been
+there once, and I had seen just enough of it to want to go again. I
+wished now that I had not had quite so much to say in regard to those
+Regulators and Moderators who seemed to turn up when you least expected
+them.
+
+I got supper ready after a while and we all sat down to it--all except
+Uncle Ezra, who sat on his camp-stool with his eyes fastened on the
+nugget. He turned it first on one side and then on the other so that he
+could view it from all sides, said, "By gum!" every time he looked at
+it, and told us many stories connected with it that we had never heard
+before. To Elam's request that he would take charge of it he readily
+assented. He would keep it out until all the sheep-herders had seen it,
+and then he would hide it somewhere so that nobody would ever think of
+looking for it. It was in the hands of the rightful owner at last, and
+no one need think he was going to handle it again.
+
+"But you have a long way to take it to Denver," said I. "What will you
+do if somebody demands it of you!"
+
+"Now, wait until I tell you," said Uncle Ezra, while a look of
+determination came into his face. "Uncle Ezra has been there."
+
+"Now while you are talking about that nugget you are forgetting about
+me," said Tom. "I've got to go back to Mr. Parsons' cabin, and make some
+amends for that bronco. I didn't agree to let him be torn up. I have
+left money enough in his hands to settle for him."
+
+"That horse won't cost you a cent," said I.
+
+"What makes you say that?"
+
+"Because he was kept for the purpose of sending tender-feet into the
+mountains when Parsons didn't have anything else for them to do. The
+next one that comes along he will have to set him to herding cattle.
+Still I will go with you."
+
+"Thank you. What's the reason Elam can't go with you?"
+
+"Why, he's got to stay here and watch the nugget!"
+
+"By George! Have you got to watch it now that you have found it?"
+
+"Yes, sir. There are ten men employed on this ranch and four on mine,
+and you may be sure that all of them are not first-class."
+
+"Well, let them come," said Elam, getting up and stretching himself. He
+stood more than six feet in his stockings, and when he brought his arms
+back to show his biceps he fairly made the cabin tremble.
+
+"Yes, you, dog-gone you," said Uncle Ezra, getting up and shaking a fist
+in Elam's face. "You want to go off and lose a thousand dollars of it
+and your life besides. Now, wait until I tell you. I'll sleep on it.
+I'll see how it looks in the morning."
+
+But in the morning there was not a word said about it. We ate breakfast
+by the firelight, and then Tom's horse and mine were brought to the door
+and saddled, preparatory to our ride to Mr. Parsons' ranch. In a pair of
+saddle-bags which I carried I had cooked provisions enough to last four
+days. As we were ready to start, Uncle Ezra came to the door and took a
+look at the weather.
+
+"How long do you think you will be gone, Carlos?" said he. "Two weeks?
+Then you needn't mind coming back here. We shall probably get the sheep
+out some time before that, and you had better come to our dugout on the
+plains. I'll see to your cattle. Good-by."
+
+In process of time we rode up to Mr. Parsons' cabin, and if I am any
+judge of the exclamations that arose from all sides they found it
+difficult to recognize Tom. It seemed that his two months in the
+mountains had changed him wonderfully. When he spoke of the bronco and
+repeated some words of advice that Mr. Parsons had given him, the latter
+remembered him at once.
+
+"Why, Tom, I am glad to see you," said he. "Alight and hitch. The bronco
+didn't get away from you, I suppose. And you found the nugget, too?"
+
+"Yes, sir; I did," replied Tom quietly.
+
+"Gold sticking out all over it, I suppose. Well, how much do I owe you?"
+
+"I've come here to see how much I owe you," said Tom. "That bronco has
+gone up. The Red Ghost finished him."
+
+Mr. Parsons began to get interested now. He looked at me and I nodded
+assent.
+
+"Do you mean to say that the Red Ghost finished him? And did you find
+the nugget?" he exclaimed, hardly believing he had heard aright.
+
+"It's all true, every bit of it," I said. "He found Elam in a canyon
+where he got lost, and afterward found a map. He used that map, which
+started in at the springs, and afterward found the nugget."
+
+"There now!" exclaimed the elderly man, the one who had been in the
+mountains just ahead of Tom, and whose camp the latter slept in every
+night. "I told you that I did not think there was gold hidden there, and
+you thought me crazy."
+
+"Well--I--I--come in, come in," cried Mr. Parsons. "I must hear that
+story from beginning to end. And are you sure he found the nugget?
+Wasn't it something else that he found?"
+
+There were five men standing around who had been ordered to go away on
+some work or another, but they all quit and came into the cabin to hear
+the story. I took the part of spokesman upon myself, for I did not think
+that Tom would care to dwell too minutely on his meeting with the Red
+Ghost or his getting lost in the mountains, and I do not think I left
+out anything. I never saw a lot of men so confounded as they were. To
+suppose that a lot of gold had been hidden there in the mountains, which
+had come from some place a hundred miles away from there, and that Mr.
+Parsons had sent a dozen tender-feet into the hills to find it, was more
+than they could understand. When I got through they looked upon Tom with
+a trifle more of respect than they did before. They couldn't find words
+with which to express their astonishment.
+
+"Now, perhaps, you are willing to talk to me about that bronco," said
+Tom. "How much do I owe you for him?"
+
+"Not a red cent," said Mr. Parsons. "Not a single, solitary copper. I
+kept him for the sake of such fellows as you are, and now that he has
+got through with his business, I say let him rest. I shall never have
+any more chances to send him into the mountains with tender-feet. But,
+Tom, I owe you more than I can pay you."
+
+"You let up on one debt and I will let up on the other," said Tom, with
+a laugh. "If Elam wasn't such a hot-headed fellow, I should be glad of
+it. He wants me to take half that nugget, and I don't want to do it."
+
+"Take it and say nothing to nobody," said Mr. Parsons. "You will find
+means to make it up. How much will it pan out?"
+
+"Between $5000 and $8000," I answered. "But it is my opinion it will be
+nearer $5000. Elam has got that story in his head about the sum of money
+that Spaniard put upon it, and he kinder leans to that sum."
+
+"That's a larger amount of money than most of us can make. Now, I hope
+that nobody will knock him in the head for it."
+
+That was just what I was afraid of, and I made all haste to get back to
+Elam. I went up to Denver with him and Uncle Ezra, and there we sold the
+nugget for $6500. The money was all placed in the bank, with the
+exception of $2000, $1000 of which he took back to give to Tom. I sold
+my stock for $5000, and also took $1000 with me to purchase cattle. We
+were gone a month, and when we got back there was nothing to hinder us
+from starting for Texas. We had a long and fearful journey before us,
+more trouble than it is in these times, and we were a long while in
+saying good-by to the friends we left behind. We had something, too,
+that we didn't count on, and what it was and how we got around it shall
+be told in "THE MISSING POCKET-BOOK; OR, TOM MASON'S LUCK."
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+FAMOUS STANDARD JUVENILE LIBRARIES.
+
+
+HORATIO ALGER, JR.
+
+The enormous sales of the books of Horatio Alger, Jr., show the
+greatness of his popularity among the boys, and prove that he is one of
+their most favored writers. I am told that more than half a million
+copies altogether have been sold, and that all the large circulating
+libraries in the country have several complete sets, of which only two
+or three volumes are ever on the shelves at one time. If this is true,
+what thousands and thousands of boys have read and are reading Mr.
+Alger's books! His peculiar style of stories, often imitated but never
+equaled, have taken a hold upon the young people, and, despite their
+similarity, are eagerly read as soon as they appear.
+
+Mr. Alger became famous with the publication of that undying book,
+"Ragged Dick, or Street Life in New York." It was his first book for
+young people, and its success was so great that he immediately devoted
+himself to that kind of writing. It was a new and fertile field for a
+writer then, and Mr. Alger's treatment of it at once caught the fancy of
+the boys. "Ragged Dick" first appeared in 1868, and ever since then it
+has been selling steadily, until now it is estimated that about 200,000
+copies of the series have been sold.
+
+_--Pleasant Hours for Boys and Girls._
+
+A writer for boys should have an abundant sympathy with them. He should
+be able to enter into their plans, hopes, and aspirations. He should
+learn to look upon life as they do. Boys object to be written down to. A
+boy's heart opens to the man or writer who understands him.
+
+--From _Writing Stories for Boys_, by Horatio Alger, Jr.
+
+RAGGED DICK SERIES.
+
+    Ragged Dick.
+    Fame and Fortune.
+    Mark the Match Boy.
+    Rough and Ready.
+    Ben the Luggage Boy.
+    Rufus and Rose.
+
+
+TATTERED TOM SERIES--First Series.
+
+    Tattered Tom.
+    Paul the Peddler.
+    Phil the Fiddler.
+    Slow and Sure.
+
+
+TATTERED TOM SERIES--Second Series.
+
+    Julius.
+    The Young Outlaw.
+    Sam's Chance.
+    The Telegraph Boy.
+
+
+CAMPAIGN SERIES.
+
+    Frank's Campaign.
+    Paul Prescott's Charge.
+    Charlie Codman's Cruise.
+
+
+LUCK AND PLUCK SERIES--First Series.
+
+    Luck and Pluck.
+    Sink or Swim.
+    Strong and Steady.
+    Strive and Succeed.
+
+
+LUCK AND PLUCK SERIES--Second Series.
+
+    Try and Trust.
+    Bound to Rise.
+    Risen from the Ranks.
+    Herbert Carter's, Legacy.
+
+
+BRAVE AND BOLD SERIES.
+
+    Brave and Bold.
+    Jack's Ward.
+    Shifting for Himself.
+    Wait and Hope.
+
+
+NEW WORLD SERIES.
+
+    Digging for Gold.
+    Facing the World.
+    In a New World.
+
+
+VICTORY SERIES.
+
+    Only an Irish Boy.
+    Victor Vane, or the Young Secretary.
+    Adrift in the City.
+
+
+FRANK AND FEARLESS SERIES.
+
+    Frank Hunter's Peril.
+    The Young Salesman.
+    Frank and Fearless.
+
+
+GOOD FORTUNE LIBRARY.
+
+    Walter Sherwood's Probation.
+    The Young Bank Messenger.
+    A Boy's Fortune.
+
+
+RUPERT'S AMBITION.
+
+JED, THE POOR-HOUSE BOY.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+HARRY CASTLEMON.
+
+HOW I CAME TO WRITE MY FIRST BOOK.
+
+When I was sixteen years old I belonged to a composition class. It was
+our custom to go on the recitation seat every day with clean slates, and
+we were allowed ten minutes to write seventy words on any subject the
+teacher thought suited to our capacity. One day he gave out "What a Man
+Would See if He Went to Greenland." My heart was in the matter, and
+before the ten minutes were up I had one side of my slate filled. The
+teacher listened to the reading of our compositions, and when they were
+all over he simply said: "Some of you will make your living by writing
+one of these days." That gave me something to ponder upon. I did not say
+so out loud, but I knew that my composition was as good as the best of
+them. By the way, there was another thing that came in my way just then.
+I was reading at that time one of Mayne Reid's works which I had drawn
+from the library, and I pondered upon it as much as I did upon what the
+teacher said to me. In introducing Swartboy to his readers he made use
+of this expression: "No visible change was observable in Swartboy's
+countenance." Now, it occurred to me that if a man of his education
+could make such a blunder as that and still write a book, I ought to be
+able to do it, too. I went home that very day and began a story, "The
+Old Guide's Narrative," which was sent to the _New York Weekly_, and
+came back, respectfully declined. It was written on both sides of the
+sheets but I didn't know that this was against the rules. Nothing
+abashed, I began another, and receiving some instruction, from a friend
+of mine who was a clerk in a book store, I wrote it on only one side of
+the paper. But mind you, he didn't know what I was doing. Nobody knew
+it; but one day, after a hard Saturday's work--the other boys had been
+out skating on the brick-pond--I shyly broached the subject to my
+mother. I felt the need of some sympathy. She listened in amazement, and
+then said: "Why, do you think you could write a book like that?" That
+settled the matter, and from that day no one knew what I was up to until
+I sent the first four volumes of Gunboat Series to my father. Was it
+work? Well, yes; it was hard work, but each week I had the satisfaction
+of seeing the manuscript grow until the "Young Naturalist" was all
+complete.
+
+--_Harry Castlemon in the Writer._
+
+GUNBOAT SERIES.
+
+    Frank the Young Naturalist.
+    Frank on a Gunboat.
+    Frank in the Woods.
+    Frank before Vicksburg.
+    Frank on the Lower Mississippi.
+    Frank on the Prairie.
+
+
+ROCKY MOUNTAIN SERIES.
+
+    Frank Among the Rancheros.
+    Frank at Don Carlos' Rancho.
+    Frank in the Mountains.
+
+
+SPORTSMAN'S CLUB SERIES.
+
+    The Sportsman's Club in the Saddle.
+    The Sportsman's Club Afloat.
+    The Sportsman's Club Among the Trappers.
+
+
+FRANK NELSON SERIES.
+
+    Snowed up.
+    Frank in the Forecastle.
+    The Boy Traders.
+
+
+BOY TRAPPER SERIES.
+
+    The Buried Treasure.
+    The Boy Trapper.
+    The Mail Carrier.
+
+
+ROUGHING IT SERIES.
+
+    George in Camp.
+    George at the Wheel.
+    George at the Fort.
+
+
+ROD AND GUN SERIES.
+
+    Don Gordon's Shooting Box.
+    Rod and Gun Club.
+    The Young Wild Fowlers.
+
+
+GO-AHEAD SERIES.
+
+    Tom Newcombe.
+    Go-Ahead.
+    No Moss.
+
+
+WAR SERIES.
+
+    True to His Colors.
+    Rodney the Partisan.
+    Rodney the Overseer.
+    Marcy the Blockade-Runner.
+    Marcy the Refugee.
+    Sailor Jack the Trader.
+
+
+HOUSEBOAT SERIES.
+
+    The Houseboat Boys.
+    The Young Game Warden.
+    The Mystery of Lost River Canon.
+
+
+AFLOAT AND ASHORE SERIES.
+
+    Rebellion in Dixie.
+    The Ten-Ton Cutter.
+    A Sailor in Spite of Himself.
+
+
+THE PONY EXPRESS SERIES.
+
+    The Pony Express Rider.
+    Carl, The Trailer.
+    The White Beaver.
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+EDWARD S. ELLIS.
+
+
+Edward S. Ellis, the popular writer of boys' books, is a native of Ohio,
+where he was born somewhat more than a half-century ago. His father was
+a famous hunter and rifle shot, and it was doubtless his exploits and
+those of his associates, with their tales of adventure which gave the
+son his taste for the breezy backwoods and for depicting the stirring
+life of the early settlers on the frontier.
+
+Mr. Ellis began writing at an early age and his work was acceptable from
+the first. His parents removed to New Jersey while he was a boy and he
+was graduated from the State Normal School and became a member of the
+faculty while still in his teens. He was afterward principal of the
+Trenton High School, a trustee and then superintendent of schools. By
+that time his services as a writer had become so pronounced that he gave
+his entire attention to literature. He was an exceptionally successful
+teacher and wrote a number of text-books for schools, all of which met
+with high favor. For these and his historical productions, Princeton
+College conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts.
+
+The high moral character, the clean, manly tendencies and the admirable
+literary style of Mr. Ellis' stories have made him as popular on the
+other side of the Atlantic as in this country. A leading paper remarked
+some time since, that no mother need hesitate to place in the hands of
+her boy any book written by Mr. Ellis. They are found in the leading
+Sunday-school libraries, where, as may well be believed, they are in
+wide demand and do much good by their sound, wholesome lessons which
+render them as acceptable to parents as to their children. All of his
+books published by Henry T. Coates & Co. are re-issued in London, and
+many have been translated into other languages. Mr. Ellis is a writer of
+varied accomplishments, and, in addition to his stories, is the author
+of historical works, of a number of pieces of popular music and has made
+several valuable inventions. Mr. Ellis is in the prime of his mental and
+physical powers, and great as have been the merits of his past
+achievements, there is reason to look for more brilliant productions
+from his pen in the near future.
+
+
+DEERFOOT SERIES.
+
+    Hunters of the Ozark.
+    The Last War Trail.
+    Camp in the Mountains
+
+
+LOG CABIN SERIES.
+
+    Lost Trail.
+    Footprints in the Forest.
+    Camp-Fire and Wigwam.
+
+
+BOY PIONEER SERIES.
+
+    Ned in the Block-House.
+    Ned on the River.
+    Ned in the Woods.
+
+
+THE NORTHWEST SERIES.
+
+    Two Boys in Wyoming.
+    Cowmen and Rustlers.
+    A Strange Craft and its Wonderful Voyage.
+
+
+BOONE AND KENTON SERIES.
+
+    Shod with Silence.
+    In the Days of the Pioneers.
+    Phantom of the River.
+
+
+IRON HEART, WAR CHIEF OF THE IROQUOIS.
+
+THE SECRET OF COFFIN ISLAND.
+
+THE BLAZING ARROW.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+J. T. TROWBRIDGE.
+
+
+Neither as a writer does he stand apart from the great currents of life
+and select some exceptional phase or odd combination of circumstances.
+He stands on the common level and appeals to the universal heart, and
+all that he suggests or achieves is on the plane and in the line of
+march of the great body of humanity.
+
+The Jack Hazard series of stories, published in the late _Our Young
+Folks_, and continued in the first volume of _St. Nicholas_, under the
+title of "Fast Friends," is no doubt destined to hold a high place in
+this class of literature. The delight of the boys in them (and of their
+seniors, too) is well founded. They go to the right spot every time.
+Trowbridge knows the heart of a boy like a book, and the heart of a man,
+too, and he has laid them both open in these books in a most successful
+manner. Apart from the qualities that render the series so attractive to
+all young readers, they have great value on account of their
+portraitures of American country life and character. The drawing is
+wonderfully accurate, and as spirited as it is true. The constable,
+Sellick, is an original character, and as minor figures where will we
+find anything better than Miss Wansey, and Mr. P. Pipkin, Esq. The
+picture of Mr. Dink's school, too, is capital, and where else in fiction
+is there a better nick-name than that the boys gave to poor little
+Stephen Treadwell, "Step Hen," as he himself pronounced his name in an
+unfortunate moment when he saw it in print for the first time in his
+lesson in school.
+
+On the whole, these books are very satisfactory, and afford the critical
+reader the rare pleasure of the works that are just adequate, that
+easily fulfill themselves and accomplish all they set out to
+do.--_Scribner's Monthly_.
+
+
+JACK HAZARD SERIES.
+
+    Jack Hazard and His Fortunes.
+    Doing His Best.
+    The Young Surveyor.
+    A Chance for Himself.
+    Fast Friends.
+    Lawrence's Adventures.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Elam Storm, The Wolfer, by Harry Castlemon
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ELAM STORM, THE WOLFER ***
+
+***** This file should be named 30428.txt or 30428.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/4/2/30428/
+
+Produced by David Edwards, Mary Meehan and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://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
+http://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, are 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 http://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
+http://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 http://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 http://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 checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart is 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:
+
+     http://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
diff --git a/old/30428.zip b/old/30428.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f9722a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/30428.zip