CHAPTER IV
LEAPING HORSE
"He is a fine fellow," Jerry said, after the Indian had left him. "Youmust have a talk with him one of these days over his adventures amongthe 'Rappahoes and Navahoes, who are both as troublesome rascals as areto be found on the plains. An Indian seldom talks of his adventures, butsometimes when you can get him in the right humour you may hear aboutthem."
"He talks very fair English," Tom said.
"Yes; he has been ten years among us. He was employed for two or threeyears supplying the railway men with meat; but no Indian cares to huntlong in one place, and he often goes away with parties of either huntersor gold-seekers. He knows the country well, and is a first-rate shot;and men are always glad to have him with them. There is no more trustyred-skin on the plains, and he will go through fire and water for thosewhom he regards as his special friends. I should say he is about the oneman alive who could take you to your uncle."
"Do you think he would?" Tom asked eagerly.
"Ah, that is another matter; I don't know what his plans are. If he isengaged to go with another party he will go, for he would not failanyone to whom he had made a promise. If he isn't engaged he mightperhaps do it. Not for pay, for he has little use for money. His huntingsupplies him with all he wants. It gives him food, and occasionally hewill go with a bundle of pelts to the nearest town, and the money hegets for them will supply him with tea and tobacco and ammunition, andsuch clothes as he requires, which is little enough. Buckskin iseverlasting wear, and he gets his worked up for him by the women of anyIndian tribe among whom he may be hunting. If he were one of these fortIndians it would be only a question of money; but it would never do tooffer it to him. He does not forget that he is a chief, though he hasbeen away so many years from what there is left of his old tribe. If hedid it at all it would be for the sake of your uncle. I know they havehunted together, and fought the Apaches together. I won't say but thatif we get at him the right way, and he don't happen to have no otherplans in his mind, that he might not be willing to start with you."
"I should be glad if he would, Jerry. I have been quite dreading to getto Fort Bridger. I have had such a splendid time of it with you that Ishould feel awfully lonely after you had gone on."
"Yes, I dare say you would feel lonesome. I should have felt lonesomemyself if I did not light upon some mate going the same way. We got onvery well together, Tom. When Pete Hoskings first put it to me whether Iwould be willing to take you with me as far as this, I thought thatthough I liked you well enough, it would not be in my way to be playinga sort of schoolmaster business to a young tenderfoot; but I had got tolike the notion before we left Denver, and now it seems to me that wehave had a rare good time of it together."
"We have indeed, Jerry; at least I have had. Even if the Indian wouldagree to take me I should miss you awfully."
Jerry made no reply, but sat smoking his pipe and looking into the fire.As he was sometimes inclined to be taciturn, Tom made no attempt tocontinue the conversation; and after moving out and shifting thepicket-pegs so as to give the horses a fresh range of grass to munchduring the night, he returned to the fire, wrapped himself in hisblankets and lay down, his "Good-night, Jerry," meeting with noresponse, his companion being evidently absorbed in his own thoughts.
"You are not going on to-day, Jerry, are you?" Tom said, as he threw offhis blankets and sat up in the morning. The sun was not yet up, butJerry had already stirred up the embers, put some meat over them tocook, and put the kettle among them.
"No, I shall stop here for a day or two, lad. I am in no special hurry,and have no call to push on. I have not made up my mind about thingsyet."
They had scarcely finished breakfast when Leaping Horse came down fromthe fort.
"Tom here has been asking me, chief, whether there was any chance ofgetting you to guide him to his uncle. I said, of course, that I did notknow what your plans were; but that if you had nothing special beforeyou, possibly you might be willing to do so, as I know that you andStraight Harry have done some tall hunting and fighting together."
The Indian's face was impassive.
"Can my young brother ride day after day and night after night, can hego long without food and water, is he ready to run the risk of his scalpbeing taken by the 'Rappahoes? Can he crawl and hide, can he leave hishorse and travel on foot, can he hear the war-cry of the red-skinswithout fear?"
"I don't say that I can do all these things, chief," Tom said; "but Ican do my best. And, anyhow, I think I can promise that if we should beattacked you shall see no signs of my being afraid, whatever I may feel.I am only a boy yet, but I hope I am not a coward."
"You have come a long way across the sea to find my brother, StraightHarry. You would not have come so far alone if your heart had been weak.Leaping Horse is going back to join his white brother again, and willtake you to him."
Tom felt that any outburst of delight would be viewed with distaste bythis grave Indian, and he replied simply: "I thank you with all myheart, chief, and I am sure that my uncle will be grateful to you."
The chief nodded his head gravely, and then, as if the matter weresettled and no more need be said about it, he turned to Jerry:
"Which way is my white friend going?"
"I'm dog-goned if I know. I had reckoned to go down past Utah, and to goout prospecting among the hills, say a hundred miles farther west; thenwhile I journeyed along with Tom I got mixed in my mind. I should liketo have handed him over safe to Harry; but if Harry had gone down to theUte hills with an idea of trying a spot I have heard him speak of, wherehe thought he had struck it rich, he might not have cared to have had mecome there, and so I concluded last night it was best the lad shouldwait here till Harry got back. Now the thing is altered; they are justhunting and prospecting, and might be glad to have me with them, and Imight as well be there as anywhere else; so as you are going back there,I reckon I shall be one of the party."
"That will be capital, Jerry," Tom said. "With you as well as the chiefwe shall be sure to get through; and it will be awfully jolly having youwith us."
"Don't you make any mistake," the miner said, "I should not be of muchmore use in finding them than you would. I ain't been up among themountains all these years without learning something, but I ain't nomore than a child by the side of the chief. And don't you think thisaffair is going to be a circus. I tell you it is going to be a hard job.There ain't a dozen white men as have been over that country, and weshall want to be pretty spry if we are to bring back our scalps. It is apowerful rough country. There are peaks there, lots of them, tenthousand feet high, and some of them two or three thousand above that.There are rivers, torrents, and defiles. I don't say there will be muchchance of running short of food, if it wasn't that half the time onewill be afraid to fire for fear the 'tarnal Indians should hear us. Weain't got above a month afore the first snows fall. Altogether it is arisky business, look at it which way you will."
"Well, Jerry, if it is as bad as that, I don't think it will be rightfor you and the chief to risk your lives merely that I should find myuncle. If he is alive he is sure to come back here sooner or later; orif he goes some other way back to Denver he will hear from Pete that Iam here, and will either write or come for me."
"It ain't entirely on your account, lad, as I am thinking of going; andI am pretty sure the chief would tell you that it is the same with him.You see, he tried to persuade your uncle to turn back. My opinion is,that though he had to come here to keep the appointment, he had it inhis mind to go back again to join your uncle. Haven't I about struckyour thoughts, chief?"
The chief nodded. "My white brother Harry is in danger," he said."Leaping Horse had to leave him; but would have started back to-day totake his place by his side. The Hunting Dog will go with him."
"I thought so, chief; I am dog-goned if I did not think so. It wasHunting Dog you came back here to meet, I suppose."
"Hunting Dog is of my tribe," he said; "he is my sister's son. He cameacross the pl
ains to join me. He has hunted in his own country; this isthe first time he has come out to take his place as a man. Leaping Horsewill teach him to be a warrior."
"That is good; the more the better, so that there ain't too many. Well,what is your advice, chief? Shall we take our pack pony with theoutfit?"
The chief shook his head decidedly. "Must travel quick and be able togallop fast. My white brothers must take nothing but what they can carrywith them."
"All right, chief; we will not overload ourselves. We will just take ourrobes and blankets, our shooting-irons, some tea and sugar, and a fewpounds of flour. At what time shall we start?"
"In an hour we will ride out from the fort."
"We shall be ready. Ten minutes would fix us, except that I must go intothe fort and sell my critter and what flour and outfit we sha'n't want,to a trader there.
"I ain't done badly by that deal," Jerry said when he returned. "I havesold the pony for more than I gave for him; for the red-skins have beenkeeping away from the fort of late, and the folks going by are alwayswanting horses in place of those that have died on the way. The otherthings all sold for a good bit more than we gave for them at Denver.Carriage comes mighty high on these plains; besides, the trader took hischances and reckoned them in."
"How do you mean, Jerry?"
"Waal, I told him we was going up to the Shoshone Sierra, and intendedto hunt about and to come back, maybe by the Yellowstone and then by theBear rivers, and that we would take the price of the goods out in tradewhen we got back. That made it a sort of lottery for him, for if wenever came back at all he would never have to pay, so he could afford totake his risks and offer me a good price. I reckon he thinks he has gotthem at a gift. He has given two pieces of paper, one for you and onefor me, saying that he owes the two of us the money; so if I should gounder and you should get back, you will draw it all right."
They at once proceeded to pack their ponies. Divided between thesaddle-bags of the two animals were four pounds of tea, eight of sugar,and thirty-six of flour. Each took a good store of ammunition, an extrapair of breeches, a flannel shirt, and a pair of stockings. The rest oftheir clothes had been packed, and taken up by Jerry to the traders tolie there until their return.
"That is light enough for anything," Jerry said, when the things werestowed into the saddle-bags. "Four-and-twenty pounds of grub and fivepounds of ammunition brings it up to nine-and-twenty pounds each, littleenough for a trip that may last three months for aught we know."
In addition to the ammunition in the saddle-bags, each carried apowder-horn and a bag of bullets over his shoulder. The revolvers werein their belts, and the rifles slung behind them. While Jerry was awayat the fort Tom had made and baked three loaves, which were cut up andput in the holsters.
"Now we are ready, Tom; the Indians will be out in a minute or two. Thesun is just at its highest."
Two minutes later the chief and his companion rode out from the gate ofthe fort. Jerry and Tom mounted their horses and cantered over to meetthem. As they came up, Tom looked with interest at the young Indian. Hejudged him to be about nineteen, and he had a bright and intelligentface. He was, like his uncle, attired in buckskin; but the shirt wasfringed and embroidered, as was the band that carried his powder-horn, agift, doubtless, from some Indian maiden at his departure from hisvillage. No greetings were exchanged; but the chief and Jerry rode atonce side by side towards the northeast, and Tom took his place by theside of the young Indian.
"How are you?" he said, holding out his hand. The young Indian took itand responded to the shake, but he shook his head.
"Ah, you don't speak English yet?" Hunting Dog again shook his head."That is a pity," Tom went on; "it would have been jolly if we couldhave talked together."
The chief said something to Jerry, who turned around in his saddle. "Hisuncle says he can talk some. He has taught him a little when he has paidvisits to the village, but he has had no practice in speaking it. Hewill get on after a time."
All were well mounted, and they travelled fast. Just before sunset theycrossed the Green River at a ford used by the emigrants, and some fiftymiles northeast of Fort Bridger. They had seen a herd of deer by theway, and the two Indians had dismounted and stalked them. The otherslost sight of them, but when two rifle-shots were heard Jerry said, "Wewill take the horses along to them, you may be sure they have got meat;the chief is a dead shot, and he says that his nephew has also giftsthat way." As they expected, they found the Indians standing beside twodead deer. Hunting Dog laid open the stomachs with a slash of his knife,and removed the entrails, then tying the hind legs together swung thecarcasses on to his horse behind the saddle, and the journey was at oncerenewed.
"You will make for Fremont's Buttes, I suppose, chief?" Jerry said, asafter riding up the river for three or four miles so as to be able toobtain wood for their fire--as for a considerable distance on eitherside of the emigrant trail not a shrub was to be seen--they dismounted,turned the horses loose, lit a fire, and prepared a meal.
"Yes. We will go over the pass and camp at one of the little lakes atthe head of the north fork, thence we will ride across the plain andford Little Wind River, and then follow up the Sage Creek and make ourcamp at night on Buffalo Lake. From there we must follow their trail."
"And where shall we have to begin to look out for the 'Rappahoes?"
"They may be over the next rise; no one can say. The 'Rappahoes are likethe dead leaves drifting before the wind. They come as far south as theemigrant trail, and have attacked caravans many times. After to-night wemust look out for them always, and must put out our fires before dark."
Tom had noticed how carefully the young Indian had selected the wood forthe fire; searching carefully along by the edge of the river fordrift-wood, and rejecting all that contained any sap. He himself hadoffered to cut down some wood with the axe he carried strapped to hissaddle, but Hunting Dog had shaken his head.
"No good, no good," he said. "Make heap smoke; smoke very bad."
Tom thought that the shrub he was about to cut would give out obnoxioussmoke that would perhaps flavour the meat hanging over it, but when theIndian added, "Heap smoke, red-skins see a long way," he understood thatHunting Dog had been so careful in choosing the wood in order to avoidmaking any smoke whatever that might attract the attention of Indians ata distance from them. It was his first lesson in the necessity forcaution; and as darkness set in he looked round several times, halfexpecting to see some crouching red-skins. The careless demeanour of hiscompanions, however, reassured him, for he felt certain that if therewas any fear of a surprise, they would be watchful.
After supper the Indian talked over with Jerry the route they would mostprobably have to pursue. The miner had never been in this part of thecountry before; indeed, very few white men, with the exception oftrappers who had married Indian women and had been admitted into theirtribes, had ever penetrated into this, the wildest portion of the RockyMountains. Vague rumours existed of the abundance of game there, and ofthe existence of gold, but only one attempt had been made to prospect ona large scale. This had taken place three years before, when a party oftwenty Californian miners penetrated into the mountains. None of themreturned, but reports brought down by Indians to the settlements were tothe effect that, while working a gold reef they had discovered, theywere attacked and killed to a man by a war party of Sioux.
"I was mighty nigh being one of that crowd," Jerry said when he told thestory to Tom, as they sat over the camp-fire that night. "I heard oftheir start when I got back to Salt Lake City, after being away for sometime among the hills. I legged it arter them as fast as I could, but Ifound when I got to the last settlement that they had gone on ten daysbefore, and as I did not know what line they had followed, and did notcare to cross the pass alone, I gave it up. Mighty lucky thing it was,though I did not think so at the time."
"But why should my uncle's party have gone into such a dangerous countrywhen they knew that the natives were so hostile?"
"
It is a mighty big place, it is pretty nigh as big as all the easternstates chucked into one, and the red-skins are not thick. No one knowshow many there are, but it is agreed they are not a big tribe. Then itain't like the plains, where a party travelling can be seen by an Indianscout miles and miles away. It is all broken ground, canyons and valleysand rocks. Then again, when we get on the other side of the Wind Riverthey tell me there are big forests. That is so, chief, isn't it?"
The chief nodded. "Heap forests," he said, "higher up rocks and badlands; all bad. In winter snow everywhere on hills. Red-skins not likecold; too much cold, wigwam no good."
"That's it, you see, Tom. We are here a long way above the sea-level,and so in the hills you soon get above the timber-line. It's barren landthere, just rock, without grass enough for horses, and in winter it isso all-fired cold that the Indians can't live there in their wigwams. Ireckon their villages are down in the sheltered valleys, and if we don'thave the bad luck to run plump into one of these we may wander about amighty long time before we meet with a red-skin. That is what you mean,isn't it, chief?"
Leaping Horse grunted an assent.
"What game is there in the country?"
"There are wapitis, which are big stag with thundering great horns, andthere are big-horns. Them are mountain sheep; they are mostly up abovethe timber-line. Wapitis and big-horns are good for food, but theirskins ain't worth taking off. There is beaver, heaps of them; though Ireckon there ain't as many as there were by a long way, for since thewhites came out here and opened trade, and the red-skins found theycould get good prices for beaver, they have brought them down bythousands every year. Still, there is no doubt there is plenty left, andthat trappers would do first-rate there if the red-skins were friendly.In course, there is plenty of b'ars, but unless you happen to have athundering good chance it is just as well to leave the b'ars alone, forwhat with the chances of getting badly mauled, and what with the weightof the skin, it don't pay even when you come right side up out of atussle."
"Are there any maps of the region?"
"None of any account. They are all just guess-work. You may take it thatthis is just a heap of mountains chucked down anyhow. Such maps as thereare have been made from tales trappers who came in with pelts have told.Well, firstly they only knew about just where the tribe they had joinedlived, and in the second place you may bet they warn't such fools as totell anything as would help other fellows to get there; so you may putdown that they told very little, and what they did tell was all lies.Some day or other I suppose there will be an expedition fitted out to goright through, and to punish these dog-goned red-skins and open thecountry; but it will be a long time arter that afore it will be safetravelling, for I reckon that soldiers might march and march for yearsthrough them mountains without ever catching a sight of a red-skin ifthey chose to keep out of their way. And now I reckon we had best get inatween our blankets."
The two Indians had already lain down by the fire. Tom was some timebefore he could get to sleep. The thought of the wild and unknowncountry he was about to enter, with its great game, its hidden goldtreasures, its Indians and its dangers, so excited his imagination that,tired as he was with the long ride, two or three hours passed before hefell off to sleep. He was awoke by being shaken somewhat roughly byJerry.
"Why, you are sleeping as sound as a b'ar in a hollow tree," the minersaid. "You are generally pretty spry in the morning." A dip in the coldwater of the river awoke Tom thoroughly, and by the time he had rejoinedhis comrades breakfast was ready. The ground rose rapidly as they rodeforward. They were now following an Indian trail, a slightly-marked pathmade by the Indians as they travelled down with their ponies laden withbeaver skins, to exchange for ammunition, blankets, and tobacco at thetrading station. The country was barren in the extreme, being coveredonly with patches of sage brush. As they proceeded it became more andmore hilly, and distant ridges and peaks could be seen as they crossedover the crests.
"These are the bad lands, I suppose?"
"You bet they are, Tom, but nothing like as bad as you will see aforeyou are done. Sage brush will grow pretty nigh everywhere, but there arethousands of square miles of rock where even sage brush cannot live."
The hills presently became broken up into fantastic shapes, whileisolated rocks and pinnacles rose high above the general level.
"How curiously they are coloured," Tom remarked, "just regular bands ofwhite and red and green and orange; and you see the same markings on allthese crags, at the same level."
"Just so, Tom. We reckon that this country, and it is just the same downsouth, was once level, and the rains and the rivers and torrents cuttheir way through it and wore it down, and just these buttes and cragsand spires were left standing, as if to show what the nature of theground was everywhere. Though why the different kinds of rocks has suchdifferent colours is more than I can tell. I went out once with an oldparty as they called a scientific explorer. I have heard him say thiswas all under water once, and sometimes one kind of stuff settled downlike mud to the bottom, sometimes another, though where all the watercame from is more nor I can tell. He said something about the groundbeing raised afterwards, and I suppose the water run off then. I did notpay much attention to his talk, for he was so choke-full of larning, andhad got such a lot of hard names on the tip of his tongue, that therewere no making head or tail of what he was saying."
Tom had learnt something of the elements of geology, and could form anidea of the processes by which the strange country at which he waslooking had been formed.
"That's Fremont's Buttes," the Indian said presently, pointing to aflat-topped hill that towered above the others ahead.
"Why, I thought you said it was a fifty-mile ride to-day, Jerry, and wecan't have gone more than half that."
"How far do you suppose that hill is off?"
"Three or four miles, I should think."
"It is over twenty, lad. Up here in the mountains the air is so clearyou can see things plain as you couldn't make out the outlines of downbelow."
"But it seems to me so close that I could make out people walking abouton the top," Tom said a little incredulously.
"I dare say, lad. But you will see when you have ridden another hour itwon't seem much closer than it does now."
Tom found out that the miner was not joking with him, as he at first hadthought was the case. Mile after mile was ridden, and the landmarkseemed little nearer than before. Presently Hunting Dog said somethingto the chief, pointing away to the right. Leaping Horse at once reinedin, and motioned to his white companions to do the same.
"What is it, chief?" Jerry asked.
"Wapiti," he replied.
"That is good news," the miner said. "It will be lucky if we can lay ina supply of deer flesh here. The less we shoot after we get through thepass the better. Shall we go with you, chief?"
"My white brothers had better ride on slowly," Leaping Horse said."Might scare deer. No good lose time."
Tom felt rather disappointed, but as he went on slowly with Jerry, theminer said: "You will have plenty of chances later on, lad, and there isno time to lose in fooling about. The red-skins will do the business."
Looking back, Tom saw the two Indians gallop away till they neared thecrest of a low swell. Then they leapt from their horses, and stoopinglow went forward. In a short time they lay prone on the ground, andwriggled along until just on the crest.
"I reckon the stag is just over there somewhere," Jerry said. "The youngred-skin must have caught sight of an antler."
They stopped their ponies altogether now, and sat watching the Indians.These were half a mile away, but every movement was as clearly visibleas if they were but a hundred yards distant. The chief raised himself onhis arms and then on to his knees. A moment later he lay down again, andthey then crawled along parallel with the crest for a couple of hundredyards. Then they paused, and with their rifles advanced they creptforward again.
"Now they see them," Jerry exclaimed.
The Ind
ians lay for half a minute motionless. Then two tiny puffs ofsmoke darted out. The Indians rose to their feet and dashed forward asthe sound of their shots reached the ears of their companions.
"Come on," Jerry said, "you may be sure they have brought down one staganyhow. The herd could not have been far from that crest or the boywould not have seen the antler over it, and the chief is not likely tomiss a wapiti at a hundred yards."
Looking back presently Tom saw that the Indian ponies had disappeared.
"Ay, Hunting Dog has come back for them. You may be sure they won't belong before they are up with us again."
In a quarter of an hour the two Indians rode up, each having thehind-quarters of a deer fastened across his horse behind the saddle,while the tongues hung from the peaks.
"Kill them both at first shot, chief?" Jerry asked; "I did not hearanother report."
"Close by," the chief said; "no could miss."
"It seems a pity to lose such a quantity of meat," Tom remarked.
"The Indians seldom carry off more than the hindquarters of a deer,never if they think there is a chance of getting more soon. There is alot more flesh on the hindquarters than there is on the rest of thestag. But that they are wasteful, the red-skins are, can't be denied.Even when they have got plenty of meat they will shoot a buffalo any dayjust for the sake of his tongue."
It was still early in the afternoon when they passed under the shadow ofthe buttes, and, two miles farther, came upon a small lake, the waterfrom which ran north. Here they unsaddled the horses and prepared tocamp.