That was true. Captured in Mexico when he was five years old, Pedro had
been adopted by an Apache family. He had taken so readily to Apache ways
that he was now one of their finest and fiercest warriors. He spoke
again:
"If you care not because some spoke against you, what is the trouble? It
is no pleasure to go raiding or anywhere else with one who does little
except stew in his own anger."
Geronimo said bitterly, "Ne-po-se was one of the men who spoke against
me."
"The father of Alope does not like you," Zayigo said. "But that is no
news in the Mimbreno village. Ne-po-se does not care to have Alope marry
a mere warrior when it is possible that a chief will offer five horses
in exchange for her."
For a moment Geronimo did not answer. For five years he had watched
Alope become lovelier each year. Her image accompanied him wherever he
went by day and haunted his dreams by night. He was as deeply in love as
a young man can be.
He said finally, "When I became a warrior in full standing, I went to
Ne-po-se and asked for Alope. He sneered at me, and said to come back
when I could offer ten horses for his daughter's hand."
"Ten horses!" Zayigo said in astonishment. "That is unheard of, even for
such a bride as Alope! What do you intend to do?"
"Pay for my bride what she is worth," Geronimo said. "That is why we are
in Mexico, where there are plenty of horses for the taking."
He spoke more easily, for talking about his troubles had made them seem
less. Zayigo and Pedro Gonzalez smiled, their white teeth flashing in
the darkness.
"Now you talk as the leader we hoped we were following," Pedro Gonzalez
said happily. "Of course there are plenty of horses in Mexico. And when
it comes to stealing horses, no warriors are more clever than Geronimo.
You shall gain the price of your bride."
"I shall have the price or I shall not return to the Mimbreno village,"
Geronimo vowed. "And I know we shall return for we go against Mexicans.
"I think it must be true that something in the food they eat or the
water they drink turns the marrow of Mexican men's bones to jelly as
soon as they become men. Captive Mexican women fit very well into our
tribe, as do children if taken young enough. The men do little except
tremble with fear, and that is why it is better to kill than capture
them."
Pedro Gonzalez laughed joyously. "It is long since I have fought
Mexicans. Let us hope this is a good fight."
They curled up in their blankets and slept. The night was still black
about them when they rose to go on. Traveling at a loose-legged gait
that covered the ground with amazing speed, they were many miles from
their camping place when the sun rose. They stopped to nibble parched
corn from pouches that hung at their belts, rested less than five
minutes, and went on.
Geronimo, who had been this way many times and who also had a splendid
sense of direction, led the others through steep-walled canyons and over
brush-grown hilltops. By midafternoon they were looking from the top of
a hill down on the _rancheria_ they intended to raid.
The house and other buildings were built of adobe, or sun-dried brick.
To one side were extensive corrals made of poles that had been
laboriously hauled from some river bottom or other where trees were
plentiful. There were about fifty horses in the corrals.
The three Apaches crouched in the brush and bided their time. They were
heedless of the sun that burned down upon them. Thirst that would have
driven a white man mad bothered them not at all. They were trained to
endure thirst.
An hour before dark, several Mexican riders came with a herd of forty
horses. They put them in the same corral where the fifty were already
confined, and turned their own saddle mounts in with them. Two more
riders came, stripped saddles and bridles from their mounts, and shut
them in the corral. Then all the Mexicans went into the house.
Night fell before the three Apaches stirred. Geronimo gave his orders.
"Zayigo and Pedro, keep those in the house from coming out. I go to the
corral."
Geronimo slipped away in the darkness. He could no longer see the
corral, but his sense of direction was so sure that he went exactly to
it. The Mexicans had draped their saddles over the top rail and hung
their bridles on the saddle horns. Taking no saddles, for all three
raiders were expert bareback riders, Geronimo looped three bridles over
his shoulder and entered the corral.
The horses snorted in alarm when they got his scent, then wheeled to run
to the corral's far side. Geronimo did not hurry even slightly, for in
the first place any quick move would frighten the horses. In the second
place, with Zayigo and Pedro Gonzalez watching the house, he was not
afraid that the Mexicans would come. In the third place, Geronimo had
done this so many times that he knew exactly how to go about it.
[Illustration: _The horses snorted in alarm_]
Presently he backed a group of horses into a corner of the corral.
Geronimo caught one, held it by looping the reins of one of his three
bridles around its neck, and bridled it. He mounted.
At that moment, a stallion screamed.
The door of the house was flung open. But when Zayigo's rifle spoke, the
door was slammed shut quickly. Still refusing to hurry, Geronimo caught
and bridled two more horses. Sitting his own mount, and holding the
reins of the other two, he whistled shrilly.
Zayigo and Pedro Gonzalez appeared out of the darkness. Not speaking,
for each knew exactly what he must do, they mounted the two bridled
horses. Geronimo opened the gate and the three drove the herd through.
There were hundreds of other horses grazing on the vast acreage of the
_rancheria_. But this was the only herd kept near the house and the
raiders had been careful to take all of them. The rest were miles away
at other water holes. Even if the Mexicans recovered their wits
immediately, they would still need hours to get more horses and launch
any kind of pursuit.
The raiders drove their herd toward Apache land at a leisurely walk.
[Illustration: _Geronimo brought the skins of puma_]
On their return Geronimo gave Ne-po-se twenty fine horses. It was a gift
so dazzling that even Mangus Coloradus, giant chief of the Mimbreno
Apaches, came to inquire about it. And Ne-po-se could no longer forbid
Alope to marry the brave young Geronimo.
Several thousand people lived in the Mimbreno village. But since most
Apaches liked plenty of room between themselves and their neighbors, the
village was spread over several hills.
Geronimo and Alope, however, built a fine wickiup very near the house of
Geronimo's widowed mother. Alope decorated it with pictures while
Geronimo brought the skins of elk, deer, antelope, puma, and other
creatures that fell to his hunting arrows. There were no bear skins
because bears are sacred to Apaches.
The following twelve years were probably the only truly happy ones
Geronimo ever knew. A daughter came to live in the wickiup, then a son,
then another daughter. It was a full and wonderful life for all.