"Well, I needn"t grumble, I"m the one Boss trusted most. Seven youngsters in hand and one in the bush--land knows where!--is a bigger job "n just drivin" a four-footed team. I ain"t no call to feel lonesome but just to feel sot up. Funny, ain"t it, Lem! You a regular, dyed-in-the-wool old bach to find yourself suddenly playin" daddy to seven strappin" boys an" gals! Seven an" there"d ought to be eight.
Ought to be--_must be_--that"s what it spells to Captain Lemuel Hunt.
For if--if--as I reasonably suspicion--that there Jim Barlow, poor writer, has fell into the hands of a pa.s.sel of Injuns, his cake"s dough, lessen I can rake it out their oven into mine."
The departure of the buckboard, with solemn Silent Pete in charge, had a depressing effect upon the group left watching it. Everything would go on just as usual, of course. Why should there be any difference?
But--how lonesome it was! How they would miss Lady Gray"s sweet voice and presence, and the "Boss"s" jokes and laughter!
The thought was too much for tender-hearted Alfy, and after a spluttering, and sniffling to stem her own grief, she burst into an audible boo-hoo, that promptly started Molly"s tears, though she shed them silently. All, indeed, were very sober and Leslie"s face was pale.
He hadn"t realized till now how necessary his mother had become to his happiness, and he felt sorely inclined to follow the example of the weeping girls though rather indignant against them. It wasn"t their Lady Gray who had left, nor their beloved Dad. He exclaimed, testily:
"Girls, quit that! I"m your host now and I say--no crying! What I propose is--do something. Let"s ride to Bald Eagle Peak--or Rock. You"ll need clear eyes to follow that trail, but there"ll be just time enough to do it before bedtime. Hurray for "Boots and Saddles!""
Captain Lem answered quickly:
"Lad, you can"t do that! You mustn"t take that road till you know more about ridin" "n you do now, nor unless you start by daybreak. I wouldn"t try it myself, old mountaineer as I am, at this hour, lessen it was a case of life and death. No, you can"t go."
Leslie"s temper rose and he retorted:
"I"m "Boss" here now and don"t you dare say "mustn"t" to me!"
The sharpshooter laughed ironically; and this enraged the boy still further. His riding whip was in his hand and, with a furious look at the Captain, he lifted it and brought it down upon the old man"s head--who staggered backward, then fell to the ground as if he were dead.
"Leslie! Leslie!" shrieked the onlookers, "what have you done?"
"Killed him--I--guess!" he gasped and threw himself beside the prostrate ranchman.
CHAPTER XI
THE SHEEP HERDER"S CABIN
When, in the delirium of fever, Jim Barlow strayed from his room at San Leon, the one idea in his mind was that the mountains called him. One distant peak, in especial, seemed imbued with life, using human speech and gesture--warning him to come, and come at once, lest some terrible thing befall him. He must obey! He must--he must!
He set off at a run, his bare feet unconsciously seeking the smooth driveway of the home-piece, and following it at breakneck speed till it ended in the road below the mesa. There the rougher going hindered him somewhat, but not greatly, and he kept to the highway till it reached a river and a bridge.
Beyond the bridge the road divided into three forks, the northern one ascending steadily toward the peak to which his fancy still fixed itself and he struck off upon this. How long he travelled he did not know, though his unnatural strength due to his fever must have lasted for hours. Gradually, that fierce, inward excitement that drove him on gave place to a sudden weariness, and he dropped like a stone on the spot where it overcame him.
As the morning rose, clear and bright, a company of hors.e.m.e.n, riding in single file toward a distant pa.s.s, came upon a prostrate, nearly naked figure lying in their path. The hors.e.m.e.n were Ute Indians, and like many of their white brothers, were prospecting for gold. All sorts of precious metals were to be found in these Rocky mountains, and were their own rightful inheritance. They were peaceably inclined to share and share alike with the pale faces. For years there had been friendship between them and the red men had learned many things from the white. Not the least had been this craving for gold; and where once they would have toiled only in the chase, to shoot and kill the game with which the mountains abounded, they now longed for the glittering stones hidden within them.
But they were in no haste. The gold was hidden--it would keep, and they had ridden all night long. So, at sight of poor Jim, lying motionless, they dismounted and discussed him.
"He is dead," said the foremost, in his own tongue which, of course, the lad would not have understood, even if he had heard.
Another stooped down and turned the boy"s face upward. It was scratched with the underbrush through which he had made his way and the light garments he wore were in shreds. His feet were swollen and bruised and the bandages had been torn from his arm.
"Not dead. Might as well be. Heap bad," said another Indian, gravely shaking his head.
There were four in the party and one of them filled a cup at a nearby spring and dashed the water over the lad"s face. His fit of exhaustion was about over, anyway, and the shock of the ice-cold water revived him, so that he opened his eyes and looked into the dark face bent above him.
But there was no intelligence in this look and presently his lids drooped and he was once more oblivious to all about him.
The Indians held a consultation. Three were for going on, after they had breakfasted, and leaving the vagrant to his fate. One was for giving help and, being the leader of the party as well as a red-skinned "Good Samaritan," his counsel prevailed.
When they resumed the trail, Jim Barlow was carried with them, very much like a sack of meal across a saddle bow. But carried--not left to die.
When he again opened his eyes, and this time with consciousness in them, he was in a small shanty, rude in the extreme; and his bed a pile of hemlock boughs spread with a woollen blanket. He lay for some time trying to think where he was and what had happened to him, and idly watching the bent figure of a man sitting just outside the doorway of the hut. The man was smoking and a little boy was playing in the sand at his feet.
Jim couldn"t see anything interesting in these two strangers nor in the cabin itself and, with a feeling of great weakness, closed his eyes once more, and for many hours of sound, refreshing sleep. When for the third time he awoke his senses had returned and only the weakness remained. He tried to speak and after several efforts succeeded in asking, audibly:
"Where am I?"
At sound of his voice the man outside rose and came to the boy, nodding his head in satisfaction but in silence.
"Where--am--I?" asked Jim, again.
The man shook his head. By his appearance he was Mexican, but he wore an Indian costume of buckskin, once gaily decorated and fringed but now worn and very dirty. His straight black hair hung low over his forehead and his hands looked as if they had never seen water. His face was not ugly, neither was it kind; and he seemed more stolid than stupid.
"Where--am--I? Who are you?" again demanded Jim, trying to get up, but instantly sinking back from utter weakness.
There was no answer; but, after a long contemplation of his guest, the Mexican crossed to a little stove, wherein a few sticks were burning.
From a rusty coffee pot which stood upon it, he poured some liquid into a tin cup and brought it to the lad.
Jim tried to sit up and take the cup into his own hand but he could not; so, with unexpected gentleness, the man slipped his arm under his patient"s shoulders and raised him to a half-sitting posture. Then he held the cup to Jim"s lips, who drank eagerly, the muddy coffee seeming like nectar to his dry, parched throat.
The drink refreshed him but he was still too weak to rise, or even care to do so. Dozing and waking, wondering a little over his situation yet mostly indifferent to everything, the hours pa.s.sed.
Jim"s interest was next aroused by the man"s dressing of his arm. He did this with real skill, removing the big leaves of some healing plant, with which it had been bound, and replacing these with fresh ones, confining them in place by long strips of split reeds.
The soft, cool leaves were wonderfully comforting and with the easing of the pain serious thoughts came. To the injured lad everything now seemed a blank from the evening meal at San Leon, after his arrival there, until now. Why he had left that ranch and why he had come to this queer place he could not imagine; but the picture of the beautiful, mission-like house was distinct, and of Dorothy walking across its lawn beside him.
Dorothy! It seemed a long time since he had seen her or heard her sweet voice chide him for his misdoings. Why--now he remembered--he hadn"t said good-night to Dorothy, his first faithful friend. But it is needless to follow the gropings of Jim"s mind back to the realization of his present situation. Yet the first and strongest feeling which possessed him was that he must tell Dorothy where he was. Dolly was such a hand to worry, silly Dolly! And she was his best, earliest friend.
The Mexican brought him his breakfast of bacon and corn bread, with another cup of that coffee which always stood upon the stove. A child came with the man and gazed at Jim with solemn, wondering eyes.
Jim returned the stare with interest. This was the first small Indian he had ever seen and to judge by the little fellow"s face he might have been an old, old man--he was so grave and dignified.
"How are you, sonny?" said Jim.
The midget simply blinked.
"Can"t you talk, kid?" again questioned the stranger, holding out his hand.
The little boy did not answer, save by placing his own chubby, extremely dirty hand on Jim"s extended palm.
"Good. You"re friendly, if you are dumb. Sort of needs washin", don"t it? Water. Can you bring me some water? I"m thirsty."
The child walked to a big tank, or half-barrel, outside the door and dipped the tin coffee cup within it. But he was too short to reach the low supply and giving himself an extra hitch upwards, over the edge, the better to obtain the draught, he lost his balance and fell in head first.