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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. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: 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 & CO.</h4> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Copyright</span>, 1895,<br /> +BY PORTER & 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—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)—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.</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—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,—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,"—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."</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—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—I mean his father and the nugget—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—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—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.</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,—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."</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—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—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.</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—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—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—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.</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,—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.</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—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—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,—you've heared of him, aint ye?—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"—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!"</p> + +<p>Tom laughed as heartily as the negro did,—his laugh was catching,—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—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—"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."</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—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,—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."</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,—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."</p> + +<p>"I don't want it. Go on. When he went to take the money—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——"</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—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—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,—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.</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——"</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—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—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—I hope he didn't get the worst of any of them."</p> + +<p>"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."</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——"</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—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.</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—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——" 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,—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."</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—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.</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——"</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—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—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—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—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—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.</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—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——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——"</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—a dark brown. It had a hump on its back——"</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,—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:</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——"</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,—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.</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—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.</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——"</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——"</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—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—it is just +a jump from here—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——"</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—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—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——"</p> + +<p>"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."</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—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.</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——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——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,—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.</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——"</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—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——"</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—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—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,—my furs, mind you,—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——" 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.—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!"</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—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—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—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—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—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——"</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——" 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——"</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—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—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—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——"</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——"</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—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."</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——"</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——"</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—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.</p> + +<p>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.</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—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?"</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>—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>—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—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—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—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—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—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.</p> + +<p>—<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 Cañon.<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 & 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.—<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. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: 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. 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