CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE.
THE WAR-TRAIL.
The band was mounted by the earliest dawn, and as the notes of the bugledied away our horses plashed through the river, crossing to the otherside. We soon debouched from the timber bottom, coming out upon sandyplains that stretched westward to the Mibres Mountains. We rode overthese plains in a southerly direction, climbing long ridges of sand thattraversed them from east to west. The drift lay in deep furrows, andour horses sank above the fetlocks as we journeyed. We were crossingthe western section of the Jornada.
We travelled in Indian file. Habit has formed this disposition amongIndians and hunters on the march. The tangled paths of the forest, andthe narrow defiles of the mountains admit of no other. Even whenpassing a plain, our cavalcade was strung out for a quarter of a mile.The atajo followed in charge of the arrieros.
For the first day of our march we kept on without nooning. There wasneither grass nor water on the route; and a halt under the hot sun wouldnot have refreshed us.
Early in the afternoon a dark line became visible, stretching across theplain. As we drew nearer, a green wall rose before us, and wedistinguished the groves of cotton-wood. The hunters knew it to be thetimber on the Paloma. We were soon passing under the shade of itsquivering canopy, and reaching the banks of a clear stream, we haltedfor the night.
Our camp was formed without either tents or lodges. Those used on theDel Norte had been left behind in "cache." An expedition like ourscould not be cumbered with camp baggage. Each man's blanket was hishouse, his bed, and his cloak.
Fires were kindled, and ribs roasted; and fatigued with our journey (thefirst day's ride has always this effect), we were soon wrapped in ourblankets and sleeping soundly.
We were summoned next morning by the call of the bugle soundingreveille. The band partook somewhat of a military organisation, andeveryone understood the signals of light cavalry.
Our breakfast was soon cooked and eaten; our horses were drawn fromtheir pickets, saddled, and mounted; and at another signal we movedforward on the route.
The incidents of our first journey were repeated, with but littlevariety, for several days in succession. We travelled through a desertcountry, here and there covered with wild sage and mezquite.
We passed on our route clumps of cacti, and thickets of creosote bushes,that emitted their foul odours as we crushed through them. On thefourth evening we camped at a spring, the Ojo de Vaca, lying on theeastern borders of the Llanos.
Over the western section of this great prairie passes the Apachewar-trail, running southward into Sonora. Near the trail, andoverlooking it, a high mountain rises out of the plain. It is thePinon.
It was our design to reach this mountain, and "cacher" among the rocks,near a well-known spring, until our enemies should pass; but to effectthis we would have to cross the war-trail, and our own tracks wouldbetray us. Here was a difficulty which had not occurred to Seguin.There was no other point except the Pinon from which we could certainlysee the enemy on their route and be ourselves hidden. This mountain,then, must be reached; and how were we to effect it without crossing thetrail?
After our arrival at Ojo de Vaca, Seguin drew the men together todeliberate on this matter.
"Let us spread," said a hunter, "and keep wide over the paraira, tillwe've got clar past the Apash trail. They won't notice a single trackhyar and thyar, I reckin."
"Ay, but they will, though," rejoined another. "Do ye think an Injun'sa-goin' to pass a shod horse track 'ithout follerin' it up? No, siree!"
"We kin muffle the hoofs, as far as that goes," suggested the firstspeaker.
"Wagh! That ud only make it worse. I tried that dodge once afore, an'nearly lost my har for it. He's a blind Injun kin be fooled that away.'Twon't do nohow."
"They're not going to be so partickler when they're on the war-trail, Iwarrant ye. I don't see why it shouldn't do well enough."
Most of the hunters agreed with the former speaker. The Indians wouldnot fail to notice so many muffled tracks, and suspect there wassomething in the wind. The idea of "muffling" was therefore abandoned.What next? The trapper Rube, who up to this time had said nothing, nowdrew the attention of all by abruptly exclaiming, "Pish!"
"Well! what have you to say, old hoss?" inquired one of the hunters.
"Thet yur a set o' fools, one and all o' ee. I kud take the full o'that paraira o' hosses acrosst the 'Pash trail, 'ithout making a signthat any Injun's a-gwine to foller, particularly an Injun on thewar-beat as them is now."
"How?" asked Seguin.
"I'll tell yur how, cap, ev yur'll tell me what 'ee wants to cross thetrail for."
"Why, to conceal ourselves in the Pinon range; what else?"
"An' how are 'ee gwine to `cacher' in the Peenyun 'ithout water?"
"There is a spring on the side of it, at the foot of the mountain."
"That's true as Scripter. I knows that; but at that very spring theInjuns 'll cool their lappers as they go down south'ard. How are 'eegwine to get at it with this cavayard 'ithout makin' sign? This childdon't see that very clur."
"You are right, Rube. We cannot touch the Pinon spring without leavingour marks too plainly; and it is the very place where the war-party maymake a halt."
"I sees no confoundered use in the hul on us crossin' the paraira now.We kan't hunt buffler till they've passed, anyways. So it's thischild's idee that a dozen o' us 'll be enough to `cacher' in thePeenyun, and watch for the niggurs a-goin' south. A dozen mout do itsafe enough, but not the hul cavayard."
"And would you have the rest to remain here?"
"Not hyur. Let 'em go north'ard from hyur, and then strike west throughthe Musquite Hills. Thur's a crick runs thur, about twenty mile or sothis side the trail. They can git water and grass, and `cacher' thurtill we sends for 'em."
"But why not remain by this spring, where we have both in plenty?"
"Cap'n, jest because some o' the Injun party may take a notion in thurheads to kum this way themselves. I reckin we had better make blindtracks before leavin' hyur."
The force of Rube's reasoning was apparent to all, and to none more thanSeguin himself. It was resolved to follow his advice at once. Thevidette party was told off; and the rest of the band, with the atajo,after blinding the tracks around the spring, struck off in anorth-westerly direction.
They were to travel on to the Mezquite Hills, that lay some ten ortwelve miles to the north-west of the spring. There they were to"cacher" by a stream well known to several of them, and wait untilwarned to join us.
The vidette party, of whom I was one, moved westward across the prairie.
Rube, Garey, El Sol, and his sister, with Sanchez, a _ci-devant_bull-fighter, and half a dozen others, composed the party. Seguinhimself was our head and guide.
Before leaving the Ojo de Vaca we had stripped the shoes off the horses,filling the nail-holes with clay, so that their tracks would be takenfor those of wild mustangs. Such were the precautions of men who knewthat their lives might be the forfeit of a single footprint.
As we approached the point where the war-trail intersected the prairie,we separated and deployed to distances of half a mile each. In thismanner we rode forward to the Pinon mountain, where we came togetheragain, and turned northward along the foot of the range.
It was sundown when we reached the spring, having ridden all day acrossthe plain. We descried it, as we approached, close in to the mountainfoot, and marked by a grove of cotton-woods and willows. We did nottake our horses near the water; but, having reached a defile in themountain, we rode into it, and "cached" them in a thicket of nut-pine.In this thicket we spent the night.
With the first light of morning we made a reconnaissance of our cache.
In front of us was a low ridge covered with loose rocks and stragglingtrees of the nut-pine. This ridge separated the defile from the plain;and from its top, screened by a thicket of the pines, we commanded aview of the water as well as the trail,
and the Llanos stretching awayto the north, south, and east. It was just the sort of hiding-place werequired for our object.
In the morning it became necessary to descend for water. For thispurpose we had provided ourselves with a mule-bucket and extra xuages.We visited the spring, and filled our vessels, taking care to leave notraces of out footsteps in the mud.
We kept constant watch during the first day, but no Indians appeared.Deer and antelopes, with a small gang of buffaloes, came to thespring-branch to drink, and then roamed off again over the greenmeadows. It was a tempting sight, for we could easily have crept withinshot, but we dared not touch them. We knew that the Indian dogs wouldscent their slaughter.
In the evening we went again for water, making the journey twice, as ouranimals began to suffer from thirst. We adopted the same precautions asbefore.
Next day we again watched the horizon to the north with eager eyes.Seguin had a small pocket-glass, and we could see the prairie with itfor a distance of nearly thirty miles; but as yet no enemy could bedescried.
The third day passed with a like result; and we began to fear that thewarriors had taken some other trail.
Another circumstance rendered us uneasy. We had eaten nearly the wholeof our provisions, and were now chewing the raw nuts of the pinon. Wedared not kindle a fire to roast them. Indians can read the smoke at agreat distance.
The fourth day arrived and still no sign on the horizon to the north.Our tasajo was all eaten, and we began to hunger. The nuts did notsatisfy us. The game was in plenty at the spring, and mottling thegrassy plain. One proposed to lie among the willows and shoot anantelope or a black-tailed deer, of which there were troops in theneighbourhood.
"We dare not," said Seguin; "their dogs would find the blood. It mightbetray us."
"I can procure one without letting a drop," rejoined a Mexican hunter.
"How?" inquired several in a breath.
The man pointed to his lasso.
"But your tracks; you would make deep footmarks in the struggle?"
"We can blind them, captain," rejoined the man.
"You may try, then," assented the chief.
The Mexican unfastened the lasso from his saddle, and, taking acompanion, proceeded to the spring. They crept in among the willows,and lay in wait. We watched them from the ridge.
They had not remained more than a quarter of an hour when a herd ofantelopes was seen approaching from the plain. These walked directlyfor the spring, one following the other in Indian file. They were soonclose in to the willows where the hunters had concealed themselves.Here they suddenly halted, throwing up their heads and snuffing the air.They had scented danger, but it was too late for the foremost to turnand lope off.
"Yonder goes the lasso!" cried one.
We saw the noose flying in the air and settling over his head. The herdsuddenly wheeled, but the loop was around the neck of their leader; andafter three or four skips, he sprang up, and falling upon his back, laymotionless.
The hunter came out from the willows, and, taking up the animal, nowchoked dead, carried him towards the entrance of the defile. Hiscompanion followed, blinding the tracks of both. In a few minutes theyhad reached us. The antelope was skinned, and eaten raw, in the blood!
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Our horses grow thin with hunger and thirst. We fear to go too often tothe water, though we become less cautious as the hours pass. Two moreantelopes are lassoed by the expert hunter.
The night of the fourth day is clear moonlight. The Indians often marchby moonlight, particularly when on the war-trail. We keep our videttestationed during the night as in the day. On this night we look outwith more hopes than usual. It is such a lovely night! a full moon,clear and calm.
We are not disappointed. Near midnight the vidette awakes us. Thereare dark forms on the sky away to the north. It may be buffaloes, butwe see that they are approaching.
We stand, one and all, straining our eyes through the white air, andaway over the silvery sward. There are glancing objects: arms it mustbe. "Horses! horsemen! They are Indians!"
"Oh, God! comrades, we are mad! Our horses: they may neigh!"
We bound after our leader down the hill, over the rocks, and through thetrees. We run for the thicket where our animals are tied. We may betoo late, for horses can hear each other miles off; and the slightestconcussion vibrates afar through the elastic atmosphere of these highplateaux. We reach the caballada. What is Seguin doing? He has tornthe blanket from under his saddle, and is muffling the head of hishorse!
We follow his example, without exchanging a word, for we know this isthe only plan to pursue.
In a few minutes we feel secure again, and return to our watch-stationon the height.
We had shaved our time closely; for, on reaching the hill-top, we couldhear the exclamations of Indians, the "thump, thump" of hoofs on thehard plain, and an occasional neigh, as their horses scented the water.The foremost were advancing to the spring; and we could see the longline of mounted men stretching in their deploying to the far horizon.
Closer they came, and we could distinguish the pennons and glitteringpoints of their spears. We could see their half-naked bodies gleamingin the clear moonlight.
In a short time the foremost of them had ridden up to the bushes,halting as they came, and giving their animals to drink. Then one byone they wheeled out of the water, and trotting a short distance overthe prairie, flung themselves to the ground, and commenced unharnessingtheir horses.
It was evidently their intention to camp for the night.
For nearly an hour they came filing forward, until two thousandwarriors, with their horses, dotted the plain below us.
We stood observing their movements. We had no fear of being seenourselves. We were lying with our bodies behind the rocks, and ourfaces partially screened by the foliage of the pinon trees. We couldsee and hear with distinctness all that was passing, for the savageswere not over three hundred yards from our position.
They proceed to picket their horses in a wide circle, far out on theplain. There the grama grass is longer and more luxuriant than in theimmediate neighbourhood of the spring. They strip the animals, andbring away their horse-furniture, consisting of hair bridles, buffalorobes, and skins of the grizzly bear. Few have saddles. Indians do notgenerally use them on a war expedition.
Each man strikes his spear into the ground, and rests against it hisshield, bow, and quiver. He places his robe or skin beside it. That ishis tent and bed.
The spears are soon aligned upon the prairie, forming a front of severalhundred yards; and thus they have pitched their camp with a quicknessand regularity far outstripping the Chasseurs of Vincennes.
They are encamped in two parties. There are two bands, the Apache andNavajo. The latter is much the smaller, and rests farther off from ourposition.
We hear them cutting and chopping with their tomahawks among thethickets at the foot of the mountain. We can see them carrying faggotsout upon the plain, piling them together, and setting them on fire.
Many fires are soon blazing brightly. The savages squat around them,cooking their suppers. We can see the paint glittering on their facesand naked breasts. They are of many hues. Some are red, as though theywere smeared with blood. Some appear of a jetty blackness. Some blackon one side of the face, and red or white on the other. Some aremottled like hounds, and some striped and chequered. Their cheeks andbreasts are tattooed with the forms of animals: wolves, panthers, bears,buffaloes, and other hideous devices, plainly discernible under theblaze of the pine-wood fires. Some have a red hand painted on theirbosoms, and not a few exhibit as their device the death's head andcross-bones!
All these are their coats of arms, symbolical of the "medicine" of thewearer; adopted, no doubt, from like silly fancies to those which putthe crest upon the carriage, on the lackey's button, or the brass sealstamp of the merchant's clerk.
/> There is vanity in the wilderness. In savage as in civilised life thereis a "snobdom."
What do we see? Bright helmets, brazen and steel, with nodding plumesof the ostrich! These upon savages! Whence came these?
From the cuirassiers of Chihuahua. Poor devils! They were roughlyhandled upon one occasion by these savage lancers.
We see the red meat spluttering over the fires upon spits of willowrods. We see the Indians fling the pinon nuts into the cinders, andthen draw them forth again, parched and smoking. We see them lighttheir claystone pipes, and send forth clouds of blue vapour. We seethem gesticulate as they relate their red adventures to one another. Wehear them shout, and chatter, and laugh like mountebanks. How unlikethe forest Indian!
For two hours we watch their movements, and listen to their voices.Then the horse-guard is detailed, and marches off to the caballada; andthe Indians, one after another, spread their skins, roll themselves intheir blankets, and sleep.
The fires cease to blaze; but by the moonlight we can distinguish theprostrate bodies of the savages. White objects are moving among them.They are dogs prowling after the _debris_ of their supper. These runfrom point to point, snarling at one another, and barking at the coyotesthat sneak around the skirts of the camp.
Out upon the prairie the horses are still awake and busy. We can hearthem stamping their hoofs and cropping the rich pasture. Erect formsare seen standing at intervals along the line. These are the guards ofthe caballada.