CHAPTER XV
Giving 'em Pepper
It was a jovial party which sat round the camp fire on the eveningfollowing the defeat of the Indians, for even the old and tried hunterscould not help a feeling of elation.
"It makes yer feel jest like a kid," said Steve, as he blinked in thefirelight, and looked across at Jack, who was tending the buffalo steakshissing over the embers. "It ain't so many hours ago as me and Carrotswas, as yer might say, fair up agin it. I didn't look to come out clear.And yet, here we aer, and I'm watchin' thim steaks pretty close, whichseems to show as thar ain't nothing much wrong."
"And the back, mate?" asked Tom, striding across towards him, andlooking particularly big.
"Jest as well as ever," came the hearty answer. "I'm that young andskittish, seems I could kick the carrots off Jack's head. Hand over oneof them steaks, young 'un. A man same as me don't oughter be keptwaitin'."
"We was talkin' of pepper," began Jacob, one of the hunters, when themeal was ended, and all were smoking their pipes. "That 'ere word mindsme of a time when we give them red devils pepper same as we did to-day,only 'twarn't in these here parts, and we wasn't fer makin' gold inCaliforny."
"You kin get to at the yarn," sang out Seth promptly. "Thar ain't one ofus as feels he aer got any use for a blanket yet awhile, and seem' it'sfine and pleasant, why jest wet yer throat, and then let's have it fromthe beginnin'."
He leaned across to the hunter and handed him a brimming pannikin, whichhe had just replenished from the keg of spirit the party carried, andfrom the water bag in which the precious fluid was stored. Jacob let hishead fall back promptly, raised the pannikin, and for the moment thesilence which had fallen on the camp was broken by the gurgle of thefluid.
"Thanks, mate," gasped Jacob, getting his breath. "We was talkin' ofpepper."
"We war," admitted Steve, edging a trifle closer to the fire.
"And we aer fair greedy fer the story," smiled Tom. "You ain't got nocall ter look up ter the sky. The yarn ain't thar. Ye've got it stowedin yer head. Give it a shake and out with it. Ef not, I'll send Carrotshere ter see whether a little hammerin' won't help you any."
There was a hearty laugh as Tom spoke, but the words made not thesmallest difference to Jacob. He sat back on his elbows staring up atthe sky, as if endeavouring to collect memories of past times. Jack tooka look at the big hunter, wondered whether he himself would ever presentsuch a decidedly manly appearance, and then fell to admiring the heavenstoo. For they were on the verge of California, and overhead hung acloudless vault, speckled with such bright, twinkling stars that eventhe moon rays were paled.
"It war a night same as this," began Jacob at length, "jest fer all theworld same as this. The stars and moon that bright and clear yer couldsee to read easy. Wall, I ain't here ter tell of the stars and sichlike.I'm mindin' the time when I was workin' the cattle fer a boss a goodishway south of this, in a country that's even now more Injun thananythin'. He was rough, war that 'ere boss, and we ended a long dayamongst the beasts with sharp and bitter words. I 'low as a man as hiresme has a right ter git the value of his dollars outer me. But I don'tcotton to no bossin'. I don't see that 'cos a man employs a hand he hasa right ter bully him, ter shout names at him, and rile him every hourof the day. That ain't in reason."
He looked round the assembled scouts, as if to gather their views on thematter.
"Git on with it," shouted Steve shortly.
"Them's my views in a nutshell," cried Tom. "No man ain't goin' ter bebullied."
"So I thought," continued Jacob. "And though it war evenin', and dark tobe expected precious soon, I jest give the boss back some of the liphe'd been throwin' at me, and at the same time told him I war quittin'.We squared up the wages right off, and then I climbed into my saddle andrid away from the farm. I war mighty angry and hot."
"And likely as not didn't take no partic'lar direction," sang out one ofthe listeners.
"Ye've got it right and early. I was that mad with the boss I jestkicked the flanks of my hoss and rid right off like a whirlwind. But aman finds a gallop across the grass kinder clears his brain, and takesthe anger out of him. I soon got to rememberin' that I hadn't touched acrust sense breakfast, and that war early with the sun risin'.
"Ye're a fool, Jacob," I says to myself. "Ye've rid off hot and hasty,like a child, and now ye've got ter suffer. Whar's best to go?"
"The hoss could tell yer," cried Tom.
"Right agin!" agreed Jacob. "That hoss knew better than me whar I waslikely to find food. I've seed the same thing many a time out on theplains. Ef a man's lost, and don't know from Adam whar he aer, it'sbetter to give a free rein and leave it to the mount. Suppose he scentssomethin'. Anyway he generally knows whar he's likely to get a feed forhimself and a drop of water. I jest give my critter his head, andsomewhar's about eleven that night we come to a shanty with a woodenstockade right round it."
"Same as settlers has in an Injun country," remarked Steve.
"The very same, and seems they need them 'ere stockades. Wall, thar theshanty was, outlined clear in the light, lookin' that peaceful yerwouldn't ha' thought a fly could ha' come to harm. But I hadn't gotwithin seventy yards when thar was a flash from the house, high up underthe roof, and then a loud report."
"Injuns in already," ventured one of Jacob's companions.
"Wrong, fer sure," growled Steve. "Ef Injuns had been thar, they'd haveburned the place within a few minutes. A white's house aer pison to anInjun. It makes him fair mad. He can't keep his hands off it, nor fireaway from the roofin'."
"That comes of havin' Injun experience," said Jacob, resuming, andsending a nod in Steve's direction. "It warn't Injuns. All the same,when thar's bullets flyin', reckon one don't sit still thinkin'. I wasoff my hoss in a jiffy, gettin' cover under the stockade. Then I put myhands to my mouth and sent the folks in the house, whoever they mightbe, the shout we was used to give in them parts. Heard it?"
He did not wait for an answer, but put his hands at once to his lips,and sent forth a halloo which awoke the echoes.
"Thar ain't no mistake about a call like that," said Jacob, decision inhis tones, "and the folks in that shanty couldn't help but know that itwas a white man outside, one as was friendly."
"And so the shootin' stopped," suggested Tom.
"Wrong. A bit of a bullet kicked a stone at my feet and sent me howlin'.Reckon a flint can hurt most same as a bullet. Anyway, that 'ere stonegive me a blow that staggered me. And after it half a dozen shots rangout from the shanty."
"What in thunder did it all mean?" asked one of the men.
"And then there was a shout, an answerin' shout."
"Yes," said Steve, edging a trifle closer, "an answerin' shout."
"A woman's shout. A shrill sort of a scream. A thing you couldn't call ashout, but there ain't no other name as I knows of."
Jacob looked round at his audience questioningly, while each one of theparty wore a different expression on his face.
"Reckon you was wishin' you hadn't row'd with the boss," grinned Tom.
"P'raps you had falled asleep on your hoss," cried Seth, "and was sorterdreamin'."
Jacob snorted with indignation. "As ef that war likely," he cried."Didn't I say as I howled with pain when the flint struck me? No. You'reguessin'. The shanty war there, standin' black in the moonlight, andthem shouts were real. They were shrill, and come from a woman. Theykind of scared me fer a minute."
"Yer bolted again?" asked Steve.
"I jest hooked the reins over the corner of a post standin' outside thestockade, and clambered over."
"More bullets," suggested one of the men.
"Shots, yes, but not in my direction. Thar was shoutin', a man's and awoman's, and then shootin'. Then the door of the shanty war opened and Iran in."
Jacob stopped for a moment at the most critical point in his narrative,causing all his comrades to sit up expectantly.
"Wall?" demanded Tom irritably, stuffing his pipe with his finger.
"It was Injuns," asserted one of the men. "Yer was taken by a bit offoolin'."
"It warn't," answered Jacob shortly and curtly. "It war a madman."
"A madman! A madman!" The words were bandied from one to another. Thelisteners looked askance at one another, for madness out on the plainswas in those days exceptional, and in nearly every case ended in aterrible tragedy.
"Man or woman?" asked Seth. "Seems either's likely."
"It war the man," said Jacob slowly. "It war the man, a white man, sameas you and me. Seems he'd gone suddenly crazy at sight of me, and set toat shootin'. It war his wife's voice I'd heard, her's and her two boys.When I got in to the sorter parlour place in the centre of the shanty,thar she war, with the two young 'uns, holdin' on to the man fer theirlives."
"Gee, that war strange!" muttered Steve. "P'raps something outer theordinary had scared him."
"Or he'd been thinkin' so long about Injuns, and likely attacks, thatthe thing had kind of got on his mind and unhinged it. I've heard tellof a similar thing afore. A man gets fidgety, specially ef he ain't usedto Injuns and the plains, and ain't been brought up to the life. Hisnerves git shook up, and one fine day, when there ain't no real danger,he takes his own shadow for an enemy, and blazes off with his gun. Oftenenough it's someone he's most fond of that he shoots."
Tom delivered himself of the statement calmly and slowly. Then hecarefully refilled his pipe, while his comrades looked round at oneanother. Jacob, the slow, ponderous Jacob, who so seldom launched into atale, had provided the camp with a subject, a riddle, and all struggledto come to a solution.
"It war that, or near it," agreed Tricky Seth.
"Or he'd been ill, and was jumpin' mad in his delirium," suggestedanother.
"I dunno as you're right or wrong," came slowly from Jacob. "Reckon hewar ill, ill with grief and anxiety, and reckon his nerves was fairshook up. He war mad, stark, starin' crazy without a doubt, and we hadto make him fast so as he shouldn't do anyone a mischief."
"Yer ain't told us why," cried one of the men. "What had come along toupset this here man so? Somethin' outer the ordinary."
"Yer kin guess so. It war somethin' outer the ordinary, and sense Istarted this here yarn by sayin' that I knew of a time when we'd giventhe critters real pepper, you can 'low as it war Injuns as war thecause. Injuns had come along and upset this man till he was worriedclean off his head. Now I'll tell yer how it happened. Allen Rivers wara new settler out in them parts, a brave man fer all his madness. He'dbeen warned time and agin to beware of the Injuns, specially of HawkEye, a critter that was chief of a tribe huntin' in that neighbourhood.And yer must understand that although trouble with the redskins war as ageneral thing to be expected, yet thar war times when powder and leadand sichlike articles was runnin' short in the wigwams, and the crittershad need to come in to the white man's settlements and be friendly.Allen Rivers had set up a sorter store. He'd had visits from the Injuns,and he'd done smart business with Hawk Eye. The chief had been thatsmilin' that Allen had taken him into the stockade, and once into thehouse, and the Injun had been able to get a good look round. Wall, Allenhad two boys--the youngsters that met me on the doorstep--twelve andfourteen years of age, and proper plucked 'uns too; thar war his wife,as brave a woman as you could meet in a week's march, and besides themthree, a baby, a gal. Wall, now----"
Jacob coughed. He was one of those slow men who take a deal of rousing,and who seldom indulge in a yarn, but, when once induced to speak, do soat their own pace and leisure. The burly scout was exasperatingly slowin his utterance.
"Ye've got to the pith of it," sang out Steve. "Thar war a baby."
"Thar war. A baby gal, and Injuns has a strange sorter likin' fer babygals as is the children of white people. They thinks they bring 'em goodluck; and it seemed as Hawk Eye's own wife hadn't got no children. Nodoubt the chief got to tellin' her of Allen Rivers's shanty, of his wifeand kids, and set her wishin' fer the gal. Anyway, Hawk Eye had donetrade with Allen jest two days before I come there, and seemed to haveridden back to his own place. But that very mornin' the child was taken,taken from its bark crib, which Mrs. Allen had jest set down outside thedoor of the shanty. And though every one of 'em searched fer all hecould, and though Allen climbed on to his horse and rid round and round,thar warn't a trace of the kid, not a trace. But one of the boys pickedup a feather, and then they knew as it war Hawk Eye and his people thathad done it."
"I've knowed a similar thing," said Steve, interrupting. "Them critterslooks upon a white kid as likely to bring 'em victory in their fightin',and fortune in their huntin'. You aer made no error. Push on with it,Jacob."
"Allen guessed that ef they'd taken the kid they might be up to moremischief, and, bein' a nervous, jerky sort of feller, blest ef hedidn't go off his head. That's whar we get to when I arrived. Allenwarn't no more good. He war, instead, a worry. Thar war me and the twoboys and Mrs. Rivers."
"With Injuns round about?"
"With the critters on the far side of the stockade," agreed Jacob."Seems I had missed 'em by a chance. I was jest a quarter of an hour tooearly for 'em. But I hadn't been in the shanty more'n a few minutes, andhad made Allen fast, when I seed a figure clamberin' over the gate ofthe stockade. Remember, it war a bright night, same as this, and deadagin the Injun's chances. But they reckoned to take the place easy, andwasn't over cautious."
"Yer give that feller pepper?" asked Seth.
Jacob nodded. "I dropped him same as a bird, and that set 'em howlin'.The shot took 'em all by surprise. They looked to have the gate of thestockade open and to be in the shanty afore Allen and his wife warproperly awake. The critters set up a howl that was enough to scare one,and then three of 'em came clamberin' after the man I'd shot.
"'Jest get to them other windows, boys,' I sang out; fer there wereloopholes in the corners of the shutters on all four sides of theshanty. 'Shoot down any man as yer kin see, and ef ye're bothered, jestsing out. I'll be with yer in a jiffy.'
"Countin' Mrs. Rivers thar was just four of us, and for ten minutes wewas kept precious busy. But them lads could shoot, and their mother like'em, so that, presently, the critters crept off from the stockade,leavin' seven of their braves chewin' the grass inside. Yer see, they'dstood out clear and easy as they climbed, and, the range bein' a shortone, thar warn't no missin'.
"'Gone?' asks Mrs. Rivers, when there wasn't no more of 'em to be seen.
"'Don't yer believe it, ma'am,' I answered. 'Thim critters has got theireyes on the goods in this store, and fer that reason they ain't likelyto give up the business. And now there's those braves down thar. We'vekilled seven of 'em, and the others won't dare to go back to theirwigwams with sich a tale, and with nary a scalp to show. They're boundto come agin, and we've got to look precious lively. Thar ain't nosayin' whar they'll come, but come they will, yer kin take my davy. Ef Iwasn't sure that the critters was outside, I'd suggest that one of theyoungsters tried to leg it away from the shanty so as to fetch help. Butthey're outside, the skunks, and on a night same as this the ladwouldn't stand a ghostly.'
"Wall, mates, we got back to our loopholes, and kept a pretty closewatch fer a couple of hours without seein' a sight of them Injuns. Butthey was thar, close outside. I heard 'em callin' to one another. Thensuddenly I cottoned to what the artful critters was doin'. The moon wassinkin', but as bright as ever, and them Injuns reckoned that one of thewalls of the stockade was castin' a biggish shadow on the yard inside.They war busy diggin' their way in under it."
There was a murmur from the hunters assembled round the fire.
"Jest like the critters," growled Steve. "I've knowed 'em do the same insimilar cases. And the wust of the business aer this: yer kin feel sureas that aer their game, and sense the shadow's deepest in onepartic'lar spot, yer kin reckon to a foot or two whar they're diggin'.But yer can't stop the varmint. Ef yer put an eyelid over the stockade,there's a man ready with an arrow, and ef you think to blaze at 'emthrough the woodwork, why, it aer like loosin' off a gun int
o the air.Even ef you hit a man, the others jest lie quiet, so yer don't knowwhat's happened. But maybe one of the critters gets to the hole ye'vemade in the stockade, and then it's your turn to look out fer bullets."
"Jest so. That's how we war situated," agreed Jacob. "It war one of themtarnation bothers that tries a man's nerves. I'd been in more than oneruction with the redskins afore that day, and I knew somethin' about thecritters. It war as clear as daylight that when they war ready they'dlet the earth on our side fall in, and then the varmint would comerushin' fer the shanty. It war an almighty fix. It jest made me give upthinkin'. I got lookin' fer the first of them critters to comeclamberin' in, and listenin' all the while to Mrs. Rivers prayin'. Thenone of them bright lads come out with a suggestion."
"Ah! That's like Carrots," ventured Tom. "'Tain't always the old handthat kin manage a fix of that sort. What war his partic'lar idea? Blestef I ain't mighty bothered."
"I'll tell yer. It war a case with him of kill or cure, as you'll agreeas I get on with the story. And he didn't come straight to me to askwhat I thought of the business. Joe war his name, and a kid chuck-fullof larnin'. Wall, seems he got rummagin' in the place whar his fatherstored the stuff he traded with the Injuns, and then slips outer thedoor.
"'Joe's gone out ter see what he kin do with 'em,' says Hal, hisbrother, comin' across the shanty to where I was watchin'. 'Jest see youdon't shoot him.'
"Yer kin guess I was mighty surprised. 'Gone outside!' I cried. 'Why,they'll shoot him quicker than ever I shall. What for? What's hedoin'?'"
"Hal hadn't a notion, and so, seein' as something precious bad mightcome of it, I slipped out of the shanty to join him. And when I came tothe edge of the stockade whar we reckoned the Injuns was diggin', therewarn't a doubt that they was there, on the far side of the woodwork,precious near ready to break through and finish the matter. Joe warthere, lyin' on his face, and sense I knew they'd hear me ef I evenwhispered, I laid down beside him and learned what he was doin'. He wasdiggin' fast with his fingers, tearin' the turf and soil away bit bybit, and makin' not so much as a sound to give the enemy a warnin'.Within four feet of him, perhaps, there was Injuns workin' at the samegame, cuttin' the earth away with their knives and tomahawks, and ef Iwas asked to guess their true position, I should say as they were closereven than that, and in a little while would be carving their way intothe hole which Joe war making.
"Two foot ahead of Joe there war a dark object, and when I crept acrossto feel around it, and see what it was, you kin guess I jest started. Itwar a powder keg, same as we carry, already opened, and ready forfirin'."
There was excitement now on the faces of the men gathered round the campfire. Excitement and some curiosity. For difficulty and danger wereeveryday affairs to these scouts, and a tale which demonstrated thecunning of the Indians, and the bravery and resource of those who wereopposed to this deadly enemy, was always sure of an attentive hearing.Tom drew in a deep breath, while Steve grunted.
"Powder," he said, as if he were thinking deeply. "That war akill-or-cure remedy sure! Seems to me that ef you could be sartin ofgettin' the hull crowd of the Injuns close together, yer might kill aheap and scare the rest so badly as to make 'em ride away. But ef yerfailed, why, it stands to reason yer would blow a hole through yourstockade big enough to allow a hull tribe of the critters to pass, andmight jest as well be askin' fer a funeral. Get along, Jacob. Yer make aman want to be tellin' the story hisself, instead of waitin' fer you."
"It war a case of kill or cure," agreed the burly scout, ignoringSteve's remarks, "but Joe warn't the boy to spoil his plan for a bit ofwaitin'. He finished that hole while I lay thar, and popped in his kegextry careful. Then he rammed the earth round it with his fists, laidhis fuse, and sat listenin'.
"'We'll wait till one of them strikes the keg with his knife,' hewhispered, fer the Injuns happened to be making a tidy heap of noise,and so there warn't no fear of their hearin'. 'That'll be the time terfire it.'
"And jest yer remember to lie as flat as yer kin when yer put down thematch,' I answered. 'The explosion of that powder will smash thestockade to pieces, and I ain't so sure as it won't wreck the shanty.'
"Wall, to come to the end of it, Joe waited there listenin' like aterrier till there war the sharp click of a knife falling on the keg,and a grunt from one of the Indians. That war enough for us. Joe and Icrept away from the place as quickly as we could, yer may guess, and laydown agin at the far end of the trail, which was jest outside theshanty. Then Joe lifted his pistol, laid the muzzle along the train, anddrew his trigger as steady as if he warn't shootin' nothin' inpartic'lar. Them critters was smashed to pieces. That is, eight or nineof them was killed by the explosion."
A chorus of exclamations came from the assembled hunters. There was asparkle about their eyes which showed that they had listened to thenarrative with more than usual attention.
"Gee! That war a brave kid!" cried Seth. "A right down plucked 'un! Whathappened? The hull stockade war blown to matchwood, one would guess, andperhaps the shanty with it? Git on! Fer a slow 'un ye're as bad as anyI've ever met."
Jacob grinned. He was slow, and he knew it. At the same time he was fartoo cool and burly an individual to be intimidated.
"I never was a hustler," he said, "and I'm too old now to begin. EfSeth, thar, Tricky Seth, as he's ginerally known, aer in a hurry, why,I'll quit talkin', and he kin take the field. I'm always game tolisten."
"Get in at it, Jacob, man!" shouted Tom, shaking his fist at the hunter."That 'ere kid fired the trail with his pistol, and the keg of powderblew the Injun varmint to pieces. Wall--"
"Wall, someone's asked about the stockade. It war broke into tinypieces. Joe and me was hoisted pretty nigh on to the roof of theshanty, while the door of the place was shook clear off its hinges. Oldman Rivers, as was as mad as any hatter a minute before, was blowed backto his proper senses. Leastwise, all I knows is that he was crazy aforethe explosion, and afterwards, when me and young Joe had pickedourselves up, and had kinder cleared the dust and dirt away--fer we wasproperly covered--Allen war smilin' all over, and talkin' to his wife asef he hadn't never been mad. And warn't he proud of that ere kid!"
"What about the Injuns?" demanded one of the listeners eagerly; for,after all, the whole point in the narrative depended upon them. Scouts,one and all, could appreciate a gallant if desperate action, fer theywere brave men themselves; but their interest, once the tale of daringand courage on the part of their own race was told, was centred in thecommon enemy, the Red Indian warrior, the fierce man of the plains whohad waged such ceaseless warfare with the white invaders of hishunting-grounds, who had caused them such cruel losses, and who, becauseof his terrible cruelty--because he killed not men alone, but women andchildren--was detested by hunters and prospectors throughout thecountry. It was the attackers Seth and his comrades longed to hearabout.
"They was blowed to pieces," said Steve. "Wall, what become of the rest?There was more than eight or nine of the varmint."
"There was fifty, as we reckoned," said Jacob solemnly, "and they wasscared pretty nigh outer their lives. Hawk Eye, him that had caused thewhole ruction, rid off as ef there was powder kegs exploding under hishorse's heels all the way; and reckon they got back to the wigwams fewerthan when they left, and with a yarn to give that would make the squawshowl at 'em. They was beat, mates, badly beat, and a slip of a boy didit. Old man Rivers had come back to his senses properly, and guess heset to at once to rig up his stockade again, and make all ready againstanother attack. And ef he was a wise man--and I heard tell as hismadness didn't ever occur agin--he never afterwards made the mistake oflettin' a red-skinned varmint look into his store. Them critters isnever to be trusted. Ef they find ye're rich, ye've kinder asked them tocome in the first time thar's an opportunity, and take yer scalp andeverything that's yours. Keep the varmint at arm's length is my motto;or, better still, keep 'em always well ahead of your gun, and see asye've powder and ball handy."
The burly hunter subsided in
to silence, reached for the pannikin, andpoured himself out a helping of spirit. He filled up with water, tossedhis head back into characteristic position, and again the gurgle offluid was heard. For scouts were rough men; their manners were not ofthe nicest.
As for his listeners, they began a very animated discussion as to themerits of the yarn just narrated, and the incident of which Jacob hadbeen a witness recalled many another incident, totally unlike thatrecorded by him, but nevertheless showing the courage and resource ofthe white man and the determination of the common enemy. Then Steveimposed silence upon the group by stirring the fire vigorously with hisboot and causing the sparks to fly upwards.
"Mates," he said in his dry-as-dust style, "mates, this here Jacob ha'given us a yarn that kinder stirs a man, and we aer glad to hear as hehad a hand in beatin' them varmint. He was caught in a muss, so to say,and, seein' he had rowed with his boss, and got lost on the plains, why,seems he had hisself to blame. Still, ef he hadn't arrived at old manRivers's shanty, them critters would ha' broke in, fer Jacob shot downthe first as climbed the stockade. He came out of the muss nicely, andnow that he ha' told us, he has gone silent agin, same as he isgenerally. But he ain't finished, not by a bit."
All looked across at the burly hunter. Jacob was filling his pipe in adogged sort of manner, and scowled at Steve as he finished speaking.
"Thar ain't no more," he growled; "leastwise, none that I'm goin' tertell. Besides, it's husky work talkin'. I've finished. Reckon it's timewe took to our blankets."
"Yer ain't said never a word about that 'ere kid that Hawk Eye stolefrom the Rivers's," accused Steve, pointing a finger at Jacob.
"And I ain't goin' ter," came the short, sturdy answer. "I've donetalkin' fer the night. Time we was turnin' in."
There was a scowl on his face, and something more. The big scout,usually so stolid and so transparently straightforward, looked confusedand almost ashamed of himself. He made a grimace at Steve, and commencedto rise from his seat. But Tom put a heavy hand on his shoulder.
"Steve aer the lad fer spottin' things," he laughed. "Let's have therest of the yarn."
"I ain't goin' ter talk no more," came the surly answer.
"Then I'll give the yarn, mates."
It was Bill Huskins who spoke, "Black Bill", as he was known, because ofhis dark complexion. He was short and wiry, like Steve, a merry enoughfellow, but given to taciturnity and silence, as was customary withscouts. He grinned across at Jacob, ignored his threatening gestures,and then put himself into a position of ease, as if determined to tellhis tale, whatever happened.
"I war along with that 'ere boss as had the words with Jacob," heannounced, "and seein' as Jacob thar', ain't able ter speak, why, I'llget in with the yarn. Thar's more to tell. A hull heap more. That 'erekid was took right off to Hawk Eye's wigwams, and it stands to reasonwhite folks wasn't goin' ter sit down and put up with sich a thing.'Sides, Mrs. Rivers swore as she'd ride there all alone herself, efthere wasn't a man ter do it. So in course we went, and here's whathappened."