"Why doesn"t he buy a better piece of ground, then? I wouldn"t be so far from shelter if I were in his place."
"Buy it? He doesn"t own this property. Every acre of ground that he occupies is Congress land."
"But I"ll bet you he wouldn"t give it up," said Stanley. "I"d like to see somebody come here and say this is his."
"Then you will never see it. Mr. Parsons says that all this property will be thrown open to settlement some day, and then he and the rest of the squatters will have to go farther West. But, laws! he"s got money enough, and he began life, Tom, just as you are going to--by taking a grub-stake and starting for the mountains. But come on, boys, and let"s get supper. Stanley, just roll out the rest of that bacon and hard-tack, and, Monroe, you go outside and throw in some buffalo chips."
Tom, weary with his long ride, made up his bunk, then threw himself upon it and looked about him.
CHAPTER VIII.
A HOME RANCH.
Tom was surprised at the interior of the dugout. From the outside it didn"t look large enough to accommodate more than three or four men, but there were bunks for eight, and there was ample room for the cooking stove, a dilapidated affair which looked as though it might have come from somebody"s sc.r.a.p-pile and left one of its legs behind it. But there was plenty of "draw" to it, as Monroe came in with his arms full of buffalo chips, filled the stove full, and touched a match to them. On each side of the stove was a blanket, which on being raised proved to conceal little cupboards devoted to various odds and ends. One contained books and magazines, a whip or two, and several pairs of spurs, and in the other were to be found the dishes from which the inmates had eaten breakfast, all neatly washed and put away. Tom was surprised at the air of neatness that everywhere prevailed.
"Oh, you won"t find all dugouts like this one," said Monroe. "Some of them are so dirty that you can"t find a place to spread your blanket.
Mr. Parsons" cook did this work, and all the ole man does is to sit outside and smoke."
"Here comes the ole man now," said Stanley, who had ascended to the top of the stairs and was looking out over the prairie. "He has got a small drove of cattle with him, so we shall have some corral duty to do to-night."
"And I believe he has more than twenty-five head with him," said Mr.
Kelley, who dropped everything and came to Stanley"s side. "He"s got fifty if he"s got one. Boys, I guess you had better go out there. They are tired most to death, and we might let them come in and get some supper."
Although the two cowboys had ridden all of fifty miles that day, there was no objection raised to this arrangement. Without saying a word they buckled on their belts containing their revolvers, shouldered their saddles and bridles, and went out behind the hay racks. When they came within sight a few minutes later, they were going at full speed to meet their employer and his cattle.
"Now, maybe you are able to see something off there, but I can"t," said Tom, after he had run his eyes in vain over the horizon. "I can"t see a single thing."
"Can"t you see that long line that looks like a pencil-mark off there?"
said Mr. Kelley, trying in vain to make Tom see the object at which he was looking. "Well, it"s there plain enough. When you have been on the plains as long as I have, you"ll notice all little objects like that one, and, furthermore, you will want to know what makes them. It will be two hours before they come up, and you sit down here on the bench and watch it. I will go down and get some supper."
Tom seated himself on the bench beside the door and tried hard to make out the approaching line of cattle, but could not do it. Finally he was called to supper, and went down saying that he would give his eyes a little rest and then maybe he could see them; but he couldn"t do it now.
"Supposing you were in a line of march and had a scout out there where those men are, and he should begin riding in a circle, what would you say?" asked Mr. Kelley.
"I wouldn"t say anything," exclaimed Tom. "I wouldn"t know what he meant."
"He would mean that there was danger close at hand, and you had better be gathering your cattle up," said Mr. Kelley. "And if they were scattered as far apart as those cattle are, you would want a small battalion of men to answer your orders."
"What would be the danger?"
"From Cheyennes, of course."
"Good gracious! Do they ever come out and threaten a whole ranchful of cattle?"
"Certainly they do. But they are all right now. They haven"t had any grievance for a long time, and they are as trustworthy as Indians ever get to be. I wouldn"t put any faith in them, however. I"d have been worth half a million dollars if it hadn"t been for those pesky redskins."
"Did they steal from you?" asked Tom.
"Yes, they stole me flat, but I got away with my life, and that is something to be thankful for. Now, go out and see if you can find those cattle."
Tom obediently went, and whether it was from the long rest his eyes had had or from some other reason, he distinctly made out a long "pencil line" on the horizon. By watching it closely he finally made out that in certain places the line was interrupted, and finally decided that that was the place where some of the cattle had strayed more than they ought to; and he was confirmed in this idea when he saw a solitary figure move up and turn them in toward the centre. As Mr. Kelley, having finished his dishes, came out and sat down on the bench to enjoy his smoke, he finally made out the two hors.e.m.e.n who rode around the outskirts of the herd and gradually disappeared.
"It won"t be long now before the old man will be along," said he. "You will see that he won"t ride through the drove, but will come around it.
If he should try riding through it, he would have a stampede on his hands that would do your heart good to see."
"Are they as wild as that?" asked Tom, who told himself that he was learning something about the cowboy"s business the longer he talked with Mr. Kelley.
"You just bet they are. If you should go among them on foot, you would either stampede them or else they would charge upon you and gore you to death. That"s the reason we always use horses in tending cattle."
In about half an hour two hors.e.m.e.n were seen riding around the outskirts of the herd. They took a wide circle, so as not to frighten the cattle, and finally drew a bee-line for the dugout. Mr. Kelley remarked that they were the ones he was expecting, dived down the stairs, and in a few minutes the rattling of dishes was heard as he proceeded with his preparations for a second supper. The hors.e.m.e.n were hungry, or else their animals were, for they occupied much less time in coming in than the cowboys who relieved them, and in short order they were near enough for Tom to distinguish their faces. Tom took a long look at the man who was going to befriend him. He knew who he was, for there was the cut of a leader about him; and when the man rode up and swung himself from his horse with a "How are you, Tom?" it proved to him that Stanley and Monroe had told him something about him.
"Howdy?" shouted a voice from the dugout; and Mr. Kelley stuck his head up through the door. "We"re still on hand, like a bad dollar bill. How many cattle have you got out there?"
"Sixty-five; and pretty good luck, too, seeing that they have been stampeded more than forty miles. Where did you pick up this youngster?"
added Mr. Parsons, giving Tom"s hand a hearty squeeze. "I certainly do not remember seeing him before."
"No, he"s a tender-foot. As he didn"t know what else to do, he came out here for somebody to grub-stake him."
"Ah!"
"Everyone who knows him has gone back on him," continued Mr. Kelley, "and so he has come out here to see if you won"t stake him for a gold mine."
"M-m-m!"
"And as he cured me of the dumb ague by giving me a pitcher of ice-water, I thought I would bring him along."
"Aha!" said the ranchman, who had kept a firm hold of Tom while his right-hand man was speaking. "You claim to be a doctor, do you? Well, we must do something for you. I was a little older than you are when I went into the mountains to seek for a gold mine, and, unfortunately for me, I found it. I smell bacon. Is supper ready yet?"
Mr. Kelley made some sort of incoherent reply which Mr. Parsons and his man understood, for they dived down the doorway, leaving Tom standing alone.
"Unfortunately he got it," Tom kept repeating to himself. "I don"t see what there was unfortunate about it, unless he was cheated out of it. If I had as many cattle as he has got out there, and as many men to obey my orders, I should look upon myself as remarkably fortunate."
Tom did not have any opportunity to talk further with Mr. Parsons that night, for as soon as he had eaten supper he went to bed and was soon sleeping soundly. Tom felt the need of slumber, and when he thought he could do so without disturbing anybody, he slipped quietly down the stairs. There sat Mr. Kelley fast asleep on his dry-goods box, holding in his hand the copy of a newspaper about a fortnight old, and which he had been trying to read by the aid of the smoky candle that gave out just light enough to show how dark it was; and as everybody else felt the need of slumber, and gave over to the influence of it wherever they happened to be, Tom threw off his boots and tumbled into his bunk. Once during the night he was aroused by somebody coming in and informing Mr.
Kelley that it was twelve o"clock; then there was a stir of changing watches and the camp became silent again. Or no; it wasn"t silent. Just after the watches had been changed (for men had to keep track of the cattle during the night and see that nothing happened to stampede them) Tom was treated to a wolf serenade. It began faint and far off, and then all on a sudden broke out so fiercely that it seemed as if the pack had surrounded the cabin and were about to make an a.s.sault upon it.
"What was that?" asked Tom, starting up in alarm.
"It"s the pesky coyotes," said Monroe, who was taking off his boots.
"We"re always glad to hear them, for then we know that there is nothing else about."
"What else do you think might be about?" said Tom, wondering how any lone hunter could find any consolation in such a dismal serenade.
"Indians," said the cowboy shortly. "Good-night."