CHAPTER XIV.
THE ZUNI SNAKE CATCHER.
Whatever the other boys may have thought about it, knowing that Billiecould not have gone a great while without food, they understood hisweakness too well to make any remark.
Fortunately they had something along with them; for as cowboys Donaldand Adrian had long ago learned to always look ahead, since no one couldtell when he would need food when abroad on the range. And so theyquickly thrust into Billie's eager hands quite a quantity of stuff.
He ate like a hungry wolf, while his chums sat there in their saddles,and waited patiently for him to take the first savage edge off hisappetite. Billie was mumbling to himself meanwhile, just as a starvingboy might when food has come into his possession. In imagination he hadbeen pretty far gone; but it was all right now; and soon Billie wasfeeling himself again.
"Thought I could make way with a cartload of grub," he said, "judgingfrom the way my empty stomach kept griping me; but seems like I'mstalled already. P'raps it wasn't _quite_ so bad as I believed; butexcuse me from ever going through such a terrible experience again. Justthinking you're starving to death is mighty near as bad as the realthing!"
"You're right, Billie; and more than one man has just died from theeffects of imagination, believe me," said Adrian.
"But ain't you going to tell us all that happened to you since you losttouch with us yesterday?" demanded Donald, showing how anxious he andAdrian must be to know what their lost chum had been doing all thiswhile; and how he had been able to keep steadily on, headed into thenorth.
"Yes, when we found Jupiter grazing along the border of the desert thismorning," Adrian went on to say, "we thought at first you must be incamp, and we looked everywhere but couldn't see hide nor hair of you.Then Donald here noticed that while the pony had his saddle and bridleon, you'd roped him; and from that we guessed he must have broken awaywhen you had him staked out, for your pin was at the end of the lariat.Then we _were_ in a stew, because we knew what it meant to be left onfoot out on the desert."
"What made the pony break away, Billie?" asked Donald, suspiciously.
"When the wolf pack came down on me, the beast got frightened, and justleft his poor master in the lurch," returned the rescued one, calmly,yet watching out of the corner of his eyes to notice the others exchangequick looks, and nod their heads, as if to say: "see, just like I toldyou, Billie was equal to anything that came along; he's all right,Billie is!"
"Wolves, eh?" remarked Adrian, presently.
"So the hungry critters got scent of you last night, did they, Billie?"questioned the other chum, eagerly; "and you must have had a tough timestaying awake to chase the pack away. Knock over any?"
"Oh! I don't know how many, because as fast as I bowled one over therest would jump in, and gobble him up. This morning all I could findthere, was a lot of bones scattered about, and some chunks of hair."
Billie said this as coolly as though after all it were a very littlematter, and hardly worth mentioning, after a fellow had alone andunaided slain a grizzly bear.
"And you've really not had any sleep all night, then?" Adrian asked; asthough that was the most astonishing part of the whole business in hiseyes.
"Never a wink I can truthfully say," the hero of the occasion declared,holding up his right hand in affirmation; "but I'm feeling all rightagain now. I could stand the wolf part of it, yes, and the keeping onguard a thousand hours, like it seemed to me; but the _starving_ wasjust awful. I'm mighty glad to be with you both again. And p'raps, whennoontime comes, we can cook something warm."
"Oh! we'll promise you that, old fellow," laughed Adrian; "but let's begetting out of this blistering heat. I think it's even worse after thatsand storm. Over yonder we've got our camp, with poor old Bray waitingfor us. He pulled through in good shape, because a mule is tougher thanmost horses. Come, jump up in your saddle again, and see how it feels toride."
Billie had stepped over and secured Jupiter. The truant horse actuallyseemed glad to greet his stout master again, for he had given severalsnorts, and rubbed his velvety muzzle against Billie's hand, as thoughapologizing for having deserted him so basely. But Billie was of aforgiving nature, and could not hold a grudge. He was moreover sodelighted to see his mount again that he just forgot his grievance.
It was with some difficulty, however, that he climbed into his saddle,for his limbs seemed more or less stiff after such a wakeful and uneasynight of it. Once mounted, and they started to gallop over the billowysurface of the desert, heading toward the nearby hills.
Billie soon began to experience the old familiar sense of exhilarationas of yore.
"This is what I call great!" he called out, as he urged Jupiter on afterthe flying steeds of his chums; "they say you never miss the water tillthe well runs dry; and I'm sure I never really appreciated what a joy itwas to ride till I had to peg it afoot this same morning. But I've had agreat experience all around, boys, and I've learned my lesson, yes, lotsof 'em."
"Glad to hear it," said Adrian, over his shoulder; "and what might oneof the same be, Billie?"
"Never to scorn small things, and to lick the platter clean," respondedthe fat boy, promptly; "why, all morning long I've been haunted byremorse, I tell you. Seemed like I could see the ghost of every bit offood I've wasted for years rising right up to accuse me. You notice howdifferent I'm agoing to live after this. No scraps going to waste from_my_ dish, let me tell you."
The others laughed heartily, and remarked that such noble sentiments didtheir author proud; also more to the effect that from that time forththey would expect to see Billie putting on additional weight, since, ifhe wasted nothing, his rations must increase in proportion.
Presently they reached the border of the desert, and Billie gave a cheeras he found himself actually under the shelter of the trees, whose greenbranches he had seen when far out on the sandy waste.
The tent was soon rounded up, with Bray tethered close by; and it seemedto Billy, whose heart was overflowing with gratitude and thanksgiving,that the old pack mule's salute was meant in honor of his coming backfrom the dead, as it were.
"So this is the country where the Zuni village is located, is it?"Billie asked, later on, when they began to make ready to break camp, andstart off once more, this time avoiding the desert, and sticking to thehills.
"Yes, somewhere not a great distance off we can expect to run across thecanyon where the rock houses that are really caves, were cut out,hundreds of years ago by the ancient cliff dwellers," Adrian went on tosay.
"And," added Donald, "it wouldn't surprise me if we ran across some ofthe Indians any old time now, because this must be their stampingground. Get your cayuse, Billie, and we'll be off. Course you feel rockyafter not getting any sleep last night, but it'll wear away. Don't Iknow what it is, after night wrangling the saddle band of horses, whenthere were cattle rustlers hanging around, ready to stampede the herd,so the boys couldn't set out after them? All ready to start, Adrian?Then here we go!"
So the three of them set out, with the pack mule bringing up the rear,as unwilling to move as ever, and having to be half dragged along, untilthe fit of stubbornness wore away.
Donald remembered all that he had been told concerning the ground theywere now passing over and accordingly laid his course toward thenortheast.
Sometimes they were surrounded by rocks, and then again trees would adda pleasing change to the landscape.
"There's the first Indian!" remarked Donald, suddenly, as he reined in_Wireless_, and pointed ahead.
"Whatever do you s'pose he's adoing there, a-bending down, and huntinglike he'd lost something precious?" Billie wanted to know. "They don'tpick up diamonds around here, now, I shouldn't think, do they, Donald?"
"Well, the diamondbacks are found in another part of the country,"replied the other, with a laugh; "but these smaller prairie rattlers arejust as poisonous, I'm told, even if they don't look so terrible."
"Oh! do you mean that warrior is ahunting rattlesnakes?" demand
edBillie, with a shiver; for, as we happen to know, he had lately foundreason to conceive a great aversion for the scaly reptiles, one and all.
"Looks like it to me," replied Donald. "You see, their big dance comesalong soon now, and as they need a lot of the wrigglers to show offbefore the people who come here just to see them do their stunts, why,of course they've got to hustle, and call in every one that lives aroundthis section."
They slowly advanced toward the spot where the Zuni brave was bendingdown, and with a stick tickling a coiled snake, in order to induce himto straighten out, so there would be little danger of his striking whenhe was snatched up; for it is a peculiarity of the rattlesnake that hecannot defend himself unless coiled, which is the reason they instantlythrow themselves that way when alarmed.
"Oh! a heap of people believe they draw out the poison fangs, and thelittle sack that holds the green fluid, so that there ain't no dangerafter all," remarked Billie, in rather a loud voice, as they haltedclose by to watch the Zuni finish his risky task.
He must have heard what Billie said, and understood the implied slur,though he kept right on with his job. They saw him finally succeed ininducing the rattlesnake to uncoil, and start to wriggle away; whenquick as a flash that dusky experienced hand shot out, the fingersclosed upon the neck of the snake, and thus it was lifted triumphantlyfrom the ground.
"He's beckoning to us to come up closer," said Donald, guessing what thedusky Zuni brave wanted with them; and a minute later they were bendingover from their saddles, watching him, while he squeezed his captive insuch a fashion that its jaws spread wide open, and revealed two longfangs projecting from the upper jaw, and from which drops of a greenishfluid were slowly exuding.