This discovery brought us to a pause. A consultation ensued, in which
all took part; but as usual, the others listened to the opinions of the
prairie-men, and especially to that of Rube.
The old trapper was inclined to sulk for some time, and acted as if he
meant to withhold his advice. Nothing "miffed" him more than to have
his word contradicted or his skill called in question. I have known him
to be "out of sorts" for days, from having his prairie-craft doubted by
some one whom he deemed less experienced than himself; and, indeed,
there were few of his kind whose knowledge of the wilderness was at all
comparable with his. He was not always in the right; but generally
where _his_ instincts failed, it wat, idle to try further. In the
present case, the man who had thoughtlessly doubted him was one of the
"greenest" of the party, but this only aggravated the matter in the eyes
of Old Rube.
"Sich a fellur as you," he said, giving a last dig to the offending
ranger--"sich a fellur as you oughter keep yur head shet up: thet ur
tongue o' yourn s' allers a gwine like a bull's tail in fly-time.
Wagh!"
As the man made no reply to this rather rough remonstrance, Rube's
"dander" soon smoothed down; and once more becoming cool, he turned his
attention to the business of the hour.
That there had been Indians upon the ground was now an ascertained fact;
the peculiar shoeing of the horses rendered it indubitable. Mexican
horses, if shod at all, would have had a shoeing of iron--at least on
their fore-feet. Wild mustangs would have had the hoof naked; while the
tracks of Texan or American horses could have been easily told, either
from the peculiar shoeing or the superior size of their hoofs. The
horses that had galloped over that ground were neither wild, Texan, nor
Mexican: Indian they must have been.
Although the one track first examined might have settled the point, it
was a fact of too much importance to be left under the slightest doubt.
The presence of Indians meant the presence of enemies--foes dire and
deadly--and it was with something more than feelings of mere curiosity
that my companions scrutinised the sign.
The ashes were blown out from several others, and these carefully
studied. Additional facts were brought to light by those Champollions
of the prairie--Rube and Garey. Whoever rode the horses, had been going
in a gallop. They had not ridden long in one course; but here and there
had turned and struck off in new directions. There had been a score or
so of them. No two had been galloping together; their tracks converged
or crossed one another--now zigzagging, now running in right lines, or
sweeping in curves and circles over the plain.
All this knowledge the trackers had obtained in less than ten minutes--
simply by riding around and examining the tracks. Not to disturb them
in their diagnosis, the rest of us halted and awaited the result of
their scrutiny.
In ten minutes' time both came back to us; they had read the sign to
their satisfaction, and needed no further light.
That sign had disclosed to them one fact of more significance than all
the rest. Of course, we all knew that the Indian horsemen had gone over
the ground before the grass had been burnt; but how long before? We had
no difficulty in making out that it was upon that same day, and since
the rising of the sun--these were trifles easily ascertained; but at
_what hour_ had they passed? Late, or early? With the steed, before,
or after him?
About this point I was most anxious, but I had not the slightest idea
that it could be decided by the "sign."
To my astonishment, those cunning hunters returned to tell me, not only
the very hour at which the steed had passed the spot, but also that the
Indian horsemen had been riding _after him_! Clairvoyance could
scarcely have gone farther.
The old trapper had grown expletive, more than was his wont. It was no
longer a matter of tracking the white steed. Indians were near.
Caution had become necessary, and neither the company nor counsel of the
humblest was to be scorned. We might soon stand in need of the
strength, even of the weakest in our party.
Freely, then, the trackers communicated their discoveries, in answer to
my interrogation.
"The white hoss," said Rube, "must 'a been hyur 'bout four hour ago--
kalkerlatin the rate at which he wur a gwine, an kalkerlatin how fur he
hed ter kum. He hain't 'a stopped nowhur; an 'ceptin i' the thicket, he
hez gallipt the rest o' the way--thet's clur. Wal, we knows the
distance, thurfor we knows the time--thet's clur too; an four hour's
'bout the mark, I reck'n--preehaps a leetle less, an alser preehaps a
leetle more. Now, furrermore to the peint. Them niggurs hez been
eyther clost arter 'im, in view o' the critter, or follerin 'im on the
trail--the one or the t'other--an which 'taint possyble to tell wi' this
hyur sign no-how-cum-somever. But thet they _wur arter_ 'im, me an
Bill's made out clur as mud--thet we sartintly hez."
"How have you ascertained that they were after?"
"The tracks, young fellur--the tracks."
"But how by them?"
"Easy as eatin' hump-rib: them as wur made by the white hoss ur
_un'ermost_."
The conclusion was clear indeed. The Indians must have been _after_
him.
We stayed no longer upon the spot, but once more sending the trackers
forward, moved on after them.
We had advanced about half-a-mile farther, when the horse-tracks,
hitherto scattered, and tending in different directions, became merged
together, as though the Indians had been riding, not in single file--as
is their ordinary method--but in an irregular body of several abreast.
The trackers, after proceeding along this new trail for a hundred yards
or so, deliberately drew up; and dismounting, bent down upon their hands
and knees, as if once more to examine the sign. The rest of us halted a
little behind, and watched their proceedings without offering to
interrupt them.
Both were observed to be busy blowing aside the ashes, not now from any
particular track, but from the full breadth of the trail.
In a few minutes, they succeeded in removing the black dust from a
stretch of several yards--so that the numerous hoof-prints could be
distinctly traced, side by side, or overlapping and half obliterating
one another.
Rube now returned to where they had commenced; and then once more
leisurely advancing upon his knees, with eyes close to the surface,
appeared to scrutinise the print of every hoof separately.
Before he had reached the spot where Garey was still engaged in clearing
off the dust, he rose to his feet with an air that told he was
satisfied, and turning to his companion, cried out--
"Don't bother furrer, Bill: it ur jest as I thort; they've roped 'im, by
Gad!"