CHAPTER III
THE LEGEND OF THE THUNDER BIRD
Immediately after lunch Mr. Phipps hastened off and the boys returned tothe veranda to form their patrol. Herb Phipps was acclaimed chairman andthe meeting was on.
"First thing's nomination of officers," announced the chair. "Shoot insome names, yuh guys!"
"The patrol leader's got to be a first-class scout," grinned Gray."Stand up, Windy! I move the nom'nations be closed!"
"Here, hold on!" Fred sprang up at once. "I'll only be here a few weeks,kids. What's the use? One of you had better--"
"Aw, beat it." "Sit down!" "Cut it out!" came from the others. Dunkgained the floor.
"Second the nomination, Mr. Chairman! Let's make Windy leader while he'shere, anyhow."
"All in favor?"
"Aye." And Fred was elected. Carlito was then put up against Gray forassistant, but the New Yorker promptly withdrew and the young Apache gotthe honor. The boys were then sworn by Fred and Gray together, and thepatrol was a fact.
"What we goin' to call her?" asked Fly. Various titles were proposed andvoted down but finally Carl came across with "The Thunder Bird Patrol."This was greeted with a yell of delight, and was chosen without delay.
"Oh, Windy!" called Jerry from a swing at the other end of the veranda."Chase out to the kitchen and tell Hop Sing to give you the rattlerlariat, will you? This swing needs tying up."
Fred promptly rose and vanished, suspecting nothing. At Fort Bayard themen had a standing joke on all tenderfeet. They sent them all over thefort asking for the "rattler lariat"--which is slang for whiskey--and aswhiskey is a thing forbidden at the fort, the unhappy tenderfoot usuallyended up under arrest. The crowd on the porch expected that Hop Singwould catch the joke as he had done before, and send Fred out to thebunkhouse or corral to some of the men who would send him on farther.
"Thought mebbe it'd be good for him," grinned Jerry in expectation."Windy's pretty solid, but he's liable to get the notion that being fromthe East he knows 'bout everythin' that's--Wow!"
The speech ended in a startled yell. Jerry and Fly had been sitting inthe vine-shaded swing at the end of the porch, and from the vines besidethem came an unmistakable rattle. Jerry took one flying leap, lost hisbalance, and crashed into Dunk's chair. Fly followed him so closely thathe tripped and all three rolled headfirst into Carlito. At the sameinstant there was a rustle among the vines and Herb jumped to the wall,where a revolver was hanging.
"Don't shoot!" came the laughing voice of Fred. As he poked his headthrough the vines a shout went up and Fred came around the corner of theveranda. "Pretty slick," he laughed, as Jerry scrambled up. "Hop Singput me wise, though!"
"Say, did you make that blamed rattle?" inquired Fly uneasily.
"Sure," grinned Windy, holding up a string of rattles. "Hop gave methese and showed me how to use 'em."
"Oh, what I'll do to that Chink!" groaned Jerry as the crowd shoutedwith laughter. But just then Hop Sing appeared with a platter ofdoughnuts as propitiation, and peace was made.
During the afternoon Fred and Gray measured the others for theiruniforms. These would consist of the breeches, puttees and coat, thelatter being only necessary for trips up into the mountains where it waschilly. A complete list of everything that was wanted was made out andgiven to Herb, who would hand it over to his father to be ordered atonce.
"Ever see a cliff dwelling, Windy?" asked Dunk, after they had beenmeasured.
"No," answered Fred. "Any 'round here?"
"Sure," cried Fly eagerly. "Feller over at Silver City has a tameone--built it himself! Collects two bits each from tourists to see it."
"Shut up!" laughed Dunk, and fired a pillow at Fly. "There's a mightygood bunch of 'em over north of the post, Windy. Five or six real oldMojaves there too. Make baskets and stuff to sell. S'pose we ride overthere to-morrow, fellows."
This proved agreeable to all save Fly, who was to help his father withsome work. So it was arranged that Herb and Gray should come over earlyfor the others and all would take a trip who could do so.
"Tell your dad," said Jerry to Herb, "that we'll start work Monday. Thisis Tuesday. If our uniforms ain't here it won't matter."
"Monday night, then," replied Herb. "I can't see what there is to do'cept just sit around and keep an eye on the sheep all night. We'llprob'ly scatter all over the range."
The party returned to the garrison in time for dinner. All were in highfeather at having actually formed a patrol. When the news spread aroundthe fort that evening it met with general approval.
"Good for Phipps!" exclaimed Captain Crawford, at dinner. "Guess we canspare you chaps some service revolvers if you want 'em. How about it,Gerald?"
"Fine!" cried Jerry delightedly. "Sure we want 'em."
"We won't really need them, I s'pose?" asked Fred.
"You may," returned the captain. "Especially if you're going up againstthat sheep-destroyer of Phipps'. Looks to me like it was some cattle menfrom the ranges over beyond the Circle B. P. If it is you'll have topass it up. If it's some animal or other, go to it!"
Herb and Gray arrived before the sunrise gun boomed next morning, andafter a hasty breakfast the party rode to the northwest. They soon foundthemselves among the hills that bordered the river, and about teno'clock Carlito halted them.
"See that cliff yonder?" Jerry pointed to a steep ascent that rose abovethe low water across the river. Halfway up could be seen a crumblingruin from which rose a trail of smoke. "There's a cliff dwellin', Windy.Looks like old Tommy's home too."
"Tommy's the only Mojave there who can talk any English," explained Dunkas they splashed through the river. "We'll leave the horses down herean' hike up."
Leaving the ponies to graze along the river bank the boys began theascent of a well-worn path. It had been hollowed out in places and madeeasier for visitors, so that they had no difficulty in reaching thecliff dwellings on the ledge. As they did so, Fred, who had followedCarlito closely, saw two wrinkled and blanket-clad Indians with a coupleof fat squaws, seated over a small fire. One of the chiefs was hideouslytattooed on the forehead and chin, and the women were heavily ornamentedwith strings of many-colored beads and gaudy pendants. Two of them worelarge brass earrings. All had a miscellaneous supply of brass buttonsdistributed over their blankets.
"Hello, Tommy!" called Jerry cheerfully as he gained the ledge. "Betterbring over some more stuff! We've got some new people at the post. Sellsome baskets easy."
The eldest Mojave shook his head without looking up. "No tadavia," hereturned. "No got. Nex' week, mebbe. All gone."
"You fellows show Windy over the place," said Carl. "I'm going to talkto Tommy." Squatting down beside the other Indians, he broke into aflood of Mexican.
"Come on, Windy," laughed Dunk. "Carl ain't got no use for us now."
At first Fred was somewhat disappointed in the cliff dwellings, or whatwas left of them. Only part of the walls were standing in many cases,the roofs having caved in, the remainder of the buildings beingsurrounded by fallen rocks and mortar.
"I suppose these are a good many hundred years old," he said as hestepped into one of the better preserved caves which the Indians hadtaken possession of. There was a rounded hole in the center of the stonefloor where the inhabitants had ground their corn, and this was still inuse by Tommy and his friends. All the arrow heads and broken pottery hadbeen taken away by previous visitors, but the walls were inscribed withstrange characters, the sign language of the vanished race. Queeranimals of all sorts drawn in crude fashion, mingled with figures ofdogs, snakes and mysterious marks of their own, were among the roughdrawings.
Very little light came in through the narrow door and single smallwindow, and when Fred emerged and stood at the edge of the terrace thebright sunshine made him blink his eyes, and the fresh beauties ofnature were a strange contrast to the dark, dusty interior of the cliffhouse. They were now far above the river, which could be heard below.Opposite was a low hill or two and beyond the hills the
blisteringyellow and red of the desert. They were facing the garrison, which washidden by the hills. Behind them lay the mountains, and to the west afar-off snowy peak was just visible around the corner of the ledge.
"She's fifty miles away," said Herb, as he pointed to the latter. "Looksabout ten, eh? Seems like yuh could toss a stone into them hillsyonder."
Fred had not yet become used to judging distances in this country, wherethe atmosphere was wonderfully clear. It seemed almost incredible to himthat the mountain was so far away. He would have liked more time toexplore other of the cliff dwellings, for the strange sights held hisinterest, but the other boys, who had been over the ground many times,seemed to be growing impatient, and they all returned to where Carl wasstill talking to Tommy. They stood behind the silently working Indians,whose faces were as expressionless and inhospitable as their bent backs.
"Just see 'em weave," exclaimed Fred, as the large but deft fingerswound in and out through many colors of straw.
"And listen to Carl and that Indian jabber," he continued. "I didn'tknow they could talk so fast."
"Oh, the Indians around here are partly civilized," said Jerry, who hadbeen watching with them. "As long as they can get good trade for theirbaskets and beadwork, and do some swapping now and then, they seemsatisfied."
Carl finally ended his conversation with Tommy, and springing to hisfeet, in true Indian fashion, he joined the other boys and sat down toeat the lunch which they had brought with them. After Fred had inducedTommy to part with a beaded buckskin knife sheath for a dollar, allreturned down the winding path to the river.
"Well, I've got some red-hot news for you," announced Carlito, as theyleft the river behind and headed back through the low hills toward thefort.
"Yuh must 'a' got it from Tommy, then," returned Herb. "Yuh ain't donenothin' but jabber Greaser to him and old Alche-say. What's on yourmind?"
"Why, Tommy's the oldest buck anywhere around here," replied Carlito. "Ithought maybe he'd give me some dope on the Thunder Bird. I don't knowanything but what I heard when I was a little kid, but I got him toloosen up. Want to hear it?"
"Sure," cried Dunk, and drew back his pony beside Carl. "Come on backhere, Windy! Slow down, Jerry. Now we're fixed."
"What I told you before," began Carlito when all were riding in a buncharound him, "was true enough. Deputies from the tribes met twice a year,spring and fall. This was all long before the white men ever showed up.Tommy says--and he ought to know if anyone does--that somewhere up inthe mountains north of here was the shrine of the Thunder Bird. It seemsthat there were three medicine men who kept an altar for offeringsacrifices to the Thunder Bird three times a year, and there were greatfestivities in which the people took part. One year there was a bigscrap on between the Navajos and some of my own people. While thedeputies were worshipping at the altar that fall, somebody saidsomething, and the Apache delegates pulled out hidden knives and killeda Navajo. It was a rule that no weapons were allowed on the sacredplace, and no sooner had the blood been shed than the Thunder Bird camedown in a big-storm and killed the whole bunch with his lightningarrows."
"And that's the kind of a monster we have to fight!" exclaimed Fred.
"Oh, well, that's the way Tommy told it. I suppose they really gotstruck by lightning. Anyhow, everyone was killed, even the medicine men,except one brave who crawled away with the news and died. It was asacred law that no one could visit the shrine in the daytime exceptduring the sacrifices. Everybody was scared to go after the bodies untilnext spring. Then some medicine men tried it. They got about halfwaywhen the Thunder Bird flew down in the dark and beat them off the path.After that it was said that the Thunder Bird was angry; so the sacredspot was left alone and gradually forgotten. Each tribe of Indiansworshipped him at home, and the old custom was passed up. Tommy saysthat nobody knows now even where the sacred spot is. When he was a boyan old man told him it was on a high peak in the mountains, but hiddenby some rocks and boulders so nobody could find it. It's all a legendnow."
"That's funny," exclaimed Jerry, as Carlito paused. "How did the ThunderBird knock those chaps around that way?"
"Search me," responded the Apache. "He says the Thunder Bird was angryat having his shrine profaned with blood and wouldn't let it be usedagain."
"Sounds a whole lot like the Thunder Bird was after them sheep, Herb,"laughed Dunk. "Better get us medicine men's outfits, Carl! We may need'em!"
"I think we'll need six-guns more," replied the Apache gravely.
"Gee, it's goin' to be a real adventure," exclaimed Fred, his brighteyes snapping. "But how are we goin' to start?"
"Well, if the Thunder Bird lives up in the mountains, why not try andfind out where he roosts?" suggested Herb.
"Anyhow, while we're waiting for our uniforms, we might take Fred on alittle hunting an' fishing trip up in the mountains, and mebbe do someinvestigating on the side," added Jerry.
"And talk over how we're goin' to get at the sheep stealer," went onFred.
So it was decided that on Monday the boys would go for a hunt and mapout their plans. But they did not know what was to happen in themeantime to help solve the problem for them.