The small boy squinted up his eyes to keep the wine out; then he shook the liquid from his hair, looked up and grinned.
"Youse fellers is reg"lar kids," said he.
"Lord, that"s a great boy!" said the agent. "He"s the oldest man in the crowd. Say, let"s give him a white man"s start, beginning with a bath."
The whole party went to the barbershop and made the darky proprietor dispense a bath and a hair-cut for nothing.
"Shave, sir?" asked the latter, when the hair had been properly trimmed.
"No," replied the youth. "I t"ink I"ll let me whiskers grow. Dere"s enuff wind in dis country ter keep der moths outen "em."
Then they raided the clothing store, and abused the Hebrew owner until he reduced the price. "Oof der lodt--everyding, shennelmun! Sigsdy ber zent.
Dere"s no broffit left--it doaned bay fur the freight."
"Look here, Sol! Will you swear that on a piece of pork?" demanded the agent. The Hebrew moaned.
"Doaned dalk to me!" he cried. "My heardt iss prooken!"
Clean, trimmed and clothed, Chescheela James Felton was a different looking boy. Months only could take those animal lines out of his face, and fresh air and wholesome food fill out the hollows of the cheeks, but, all in all, he was not a bad-looking youngster.
Jim Felton bought some supplies for his camp, and prepared to start for home that afternoon, as they could yet make fifteen miles before dark.
The new friends of the morning saw them off with hearty good-bys. The boy quite unexpectedly thanked them for their treatment and the money. The poor little soul had heard few words of grat.i.tude, and had less chance to employ them.
His speech was curious, but the generous big men saw behind the words, and felt really touched by the old-child"s attempt to express himself.
The two Jims soon pushed on, through the rolling foot-hills near the town, into the broken country. The boy kept watching, watching, but said little, until at last they came to the stupendous cliffs of Paha-Sahpedon, overhanging the trail with dark majesty. Jim happened to glance at the boy, and saw him looking up, mouth and eyes wide open.
"Say, Mister!" gasped Ches. "Who built them!"
"Built?" repeated Jim, puzzled. Then he understood. "The hand of G.o.d, my boy," he replied.
The urchin shivered. "I feel"s if dey was comin" ertop o" me," he gasped.
"Let"s hook it outer here."
Jim spanked the burro, and they flew out of the Paha-Sahpedon at a canter.
They camped that night in the spruces of Silver Creek, in one of the prettiest little places that ever lay out of doors. As they prepared the supper and ate it, sharing plate, cup and spoon, the boy was fairly ecstatic.
"Dis is der bulliest ol" time dat ever I had," said he. "I didn"t know dere was places like dis "tall, "cept Cintral Park. Yer can run aroun"
here all yer like, can"t yer, Mister? n.o.buddy"ll stop yer?"
"Not if you ran a thousand miles, Ches. This is the free land, boy. You can do what you like." Jim spoke with warmth, for, although he felt that the child could not understand, yet the love of the country swelled in him so hot that he could never speak of it carelessly.
"Dat"s prutty d.a.m.n good," responded Ches.
"It is," replied Jim. "Now, Ches, will you do something to oblige me?"
"Sure!"
"Well, then, don"t swear. I don"t like to hear boys swear."
"I won"t cuss another cuss, if I kin help it. Dey"ll come out too quick for me sometimes, but I"ll try to do dat, now."
"Thank you. Now, let"s get the stuff cleared up and roll in."
In the middle of the night Jim heard a strange noise, a puzzling sound he could not trace. Becoming wider awake, it resolved itself into a stifled weeping.
"h.e.l.lo there, Ches! What"s the matter?" he cried.
The boy flung himself into Jim"s arms with a cry. "Ar, I"m scart to deat"," said he. "Take holt uf me, Mister! Take holt uf me! Dere ain"t anyt"ing but you and me here "tall!"
Jim gathered up the trembling figure. "Nothing will hurt you, Ches," he said. "You"re safe here."
"I wasn"t t"inkin" of gettin" hurted," retorted the boy, with shaky indignation. "Did youse t"ink I"d weaken fur dat? Yer don"t know me, den.
Dat ain"t bodderin" me--I"ve been hurted plenty. I"m just scart, dat"s wat"s der matter."
"Well, now, you cuddle right up in my arms, like a little puppy dog, and you"ll feel all right."
"Say, you"re prutty good stuff, Mister Felton," whimpered the little voice. "Dis is der bulliest time I ever had, even if I am scart."
"I think you"re a brave boy, Ches. Now go to sleep."
A small hand reached timidly around until it found the man"s and gave it an affectionate squeeze. "Good night, sir," said Ches.
Jim lay awake, thinking dreamily, long after the boy"s regular breathing showed that he was at peace again. The man felt a tenderness for the waif so abruptly put in his care that only a lonely man can feel. He speculated about the boy"s future; he wondered what kind of a man he would make. Surely, with a foundation of such courage, the better part could be brought out.
Then he wondered what Anne would say to the adoption, or rather what advice she would give, for he felt entirely sure of her broad humanity, outside of their one difference. He felt the need of her practical sense.
Soon he had drifted into thinking of Anne entirely. Not bitterly now, but with a steady longing. The gray light of the waning moon, sifting through the boughs, was the true lumina for reverie. Why had he not answered her letter? Perhaps by this time--
What was that moving in the gra.s.s? He had noticed a sort of something before. He threw up his right hand in a threatening gesture, to frighten the intruder away.
Instantly he got his answer, and an icy wind seemed to ruff his hair--that insistent, dry, shrilling sound that will make a man"s blood turn cold if anything will--the whirring defiance of a rattlesnake!
Jim thought quick and hard, with chills and fever coursing over him _ad libitum_. He did not want to waken and frighten the boy. He managed to slip his arm out without disturbing the sleeper. But now! There wasn"t a club around except the short sticks of the fire. A two-foot stick is not the proper equipment for rattler hunting, except to those born with nerves so strong that they do not hesitate to catch Mr. Crotalus by the tail and snap his head off.
Jim thought of the rope he had used for a cinch, and made for it with his eye on the snake, lest the latter should approach closer to the boy.
With a deep thankfulness for the heft of the rope, he returned and struck with all the strength of his big body, and pounded away in a sort of crazy rage, although the first stroke had done the business.
He snapped the sweat from his brow as he looked down at the still writhing reptile.
"My G.o.d! What might have happened if the boy hadn"t waked me?" he thought. The superst.i.tion of the miner rose in him rampant. "I believe that kid"s going to bring me good luck," he said. "Darned if I don"t.
Well, I could stand some."
He took up the body of the rattler on a stick and heaved it far away, then lit his pipe.
"I don"t think I care for any more sleep to-night," he laughed. "Like Ches, it ain"t that anything will hurt me out here, but I"m everlastingly scared."