WATCHING AND WAITING.
THE presence of the Apaches within a short distance of the building
brought about a complication for which the rescue party were as
unprepared as were the whites within the structure. But for them, one
of Nick’s friends would have ridden forward and opened a conversation
with Rickard, by which the terms of the exchange could have been
effected with little delay. Herbert told Strubell that unless the
criminal demanded an exorbitant price, it should be accepted. Although
he had only a small amount of funds with him, he would give him a draft
that would be honored without question by Mr. Lord in San Antonio; and
if Rickard kept his part of the agreement, it would be respected by
Herbert and his companions, who were governed by a sense of honor that
would prevent any advantage being taken of circumstances that must of
necessity be in their favor.
But if one of the party advanced to open communication, he would be
observed by the watchful Apaches before a safe point was reached.
Since Rickard must know of the presence of the red men, it was likely
he would admit such an applicant the moment he saw his danger, but a
sudden dash of the warriors might shut him out from the refuge.
The man would not allow the whole party to enter, inasmuch as that
would disarrange his own plans, though he was not apt to object to the
visit of one of their number. As yet, he could not have learned that
the white men were behind the elevation of the prairie.
The simple question, therefore, was as to how Strubell and his
companions could negotiate with Rickard without betraying themselves to
the Apaches. Furthermore, it must not be forgotten that the situation
of the three men and boy was extremely dangerous. They were on the open
prairie, and liable to be discovered by the red men, even with the
exercise of the extremest care on their own part. Such discovery was
almost certain to be followed by a desperate fight, with the chances
overwhelmingly against our friends.
This will be conceded when it is remembered that Geronimo and his
fierce miscreants, who defied our forces in the Southwest so long,
never numbered more than a fractional part of the white soldiers. Those
Apaches are born fighters, and the most dangerous Indians that ever
trod the American continent. A dozen of them, well mounted, would make
short work of three white men and one boy, no matter how bravely they
might defend themselves. Eph Bozeman and the Texan friends were sure
to do well and would tumble more than one of their assailants from the
saddle, but their own ultimate destruction was inevitable.
The situation being as I have shown, it will be seen that the presence
of the Apaches immeasurably increased the peril. It was agreed that
no movement should be made until nightfall, up to which time the main
object would be to avoid discovery by the swarthy raiders.
This was so important that Strubell and Lattin made their way back to
where the ponies were grazing, and forced all of them to lie down. The
four were so well trained that they readily obeyed. They would keep
that posture, though suffering from hunger, until ordered to rise.
There was no water within reach, a deprivation which the men felt as
much as did the animals.
It should be stated that the words of Strubell about the plans of Bell
Rickard gave Herbert a reasonable explanation of the course of Nick
Ribsam, which, until then, was as much of a puzzle as the conduct
of his captors. Doubtless he had been convinced from the words and
action of his party that his life was not in immediate danger, and he
therefore refrained from increasing their enmity by any attempt at
escape. Had a good chance presented, he would have been quick to take
it, but he was carefully watched and he bided his time.
Returning from the animals, the Texans lay down on the grass beside
Herbert and Bozeman, and resumed watching the Apaches, with an
occasional study of the front of the building for signs of the party
behind the walls.
The Indians remained grouped in close order for nearly half an hour.
Then one of their number galloped off for a hundred yards or more,
circled about, and returned. Shortly after, a couple did the same thing.
“Do you know what that means?” asked Eph of Herbert.
“I have no idea.”
“It doesn’t mean nothin’; it’s hard for a redskin to set still, though
he can do it for hours at a stretch when he sees a chance of lifting
any ha’r. Them chaps, and their ponies too, get tired of stayin’ in one
spot, so they take a little spurt like that to set thar blood goin’.
Thar they go again!”
The party broke apart, and soon the whole company were circling about
and back and forth like a lot of equestrians in a circus ring. They
doubled in and out, in the most bewildering fashion, but the men, who
devoted themselves to watching them closely, agreed that there were
about a dozen, as at first supposed.
These exhibitions of horsemanship were of special interest to the party
lying down behind the elevation, for the Apaches needed not to extend
their circling far to pass behind the ridge, when they would be sure to
discover them. And just about that time, as Strubell expressed it, the
band would begin to play.
The red men rode so far to the eastward more than once that this
discovery seemed inevitable. It caused much anxiety, and our friends
withdrew their attention for a time from the building and kept it upon
their more active enemies.
The situation was peculiarly trying to Herbert Watrous, who understood
his danger in case of an attack from the Apaches. He would be
perilously placed because of his inexperience. In fact, it struck him
more than once that Nick had much the better of it as compared with him.
The one fortunate thing was that the afternoon was near to its close,
and the night must lessen the danger, so far as the Apaches were
concerned.
The latter were acting out their ferocious nature. When they knew the
adobe building was empty, it possessed no attraction to them. They
passed it by without so much as firing a shot at its gray walls, but,
when they saw three horsemen ride through the broad entrance, they
halted, and began laying their plans for destroying them. That’s Apache
nature, but perhaps, after all, it is not so different to the nature of
the white man.
It was decided by the Texans that Eph Bozeman should ride forward to
meet Bell Rickard. His relations with the horse thieves insured against
the distrust they were likely to feel in the case of either of the
others. He would doubtless be admitted without misgiving, and once
within the building, he could complete arrangements for the ransom of
Nick Ribsam.
It was Eph’s choice to go on foot, though in the event of detection by
the Apaches his case was likely to be hopeless, whereas, if he were
mounted on his fleet plug, he might dash off and escape.
That which decided the old trapper was the greater liability of being
discovered if he rode a horse. The Apaches were certain to manœuvre
about the building in the darkness, searching for a way of making a
stealthy inroad on the defenders, and it was too much to expect them
to fail to see a horseman seeking entrance through the regular avenue.
Instead of walking erect, he would creep on his hands and knees, from
the moment he reached the rim of the danger circle until he knocked
at the door. By this course, though it involved much delay, he could
use his marvellous expertness, trained to the highest point by a half
century among the wilds of the Great West.
Old Eph had done the same thing before. He and Kit Carson once crept a
full mile, over the cactus plains in Southern California, to elude a
band of Navajoes that had followed them for several days and nights,
and the injuries received during that ordeal were felt for months
afterward.
He was glad of the chance to repeat the difficult feat, for he had
lived an adventurous life too long to lose his liking for it, now
that he was growing old. Besides, such persons are unwilling to admit
any failure of their powers until the proof is forced upon them so
impressively that it is impossible to deceive themselves.