THE GOLD MINE
A proud girl was Na-tee-kah that bright September day, and she took an
extraordinary amount of pains with her hair. So, for that matter, did
Ha-ha-pah-no, and Sile could but discern that both treated him with much
more respect than at first. He had been with Two Arrows at the recovery
of the ponies, he had killed a buck and a bear, and was evidently able
to use the weapons of grown-up white braves. He was therefore not a boy
to be snubbed; and, if it had not been for his unfortunate light
complexion, he was almost good-looking. At all events he was disposed to
do his best to be polite, and they were willing to meet him as nearly
half-way as was consistent with dignity and propriety. They were under
the especial care of the judge himself, however, and Na-tee-kah derived
a vast amount of comfort from an occasional look at his very fatherly
and benevolent face. Her obvious respect for Yellow Pine was mingled
with something like fear as yet, and she would not have a word to say to
any of the miners. Horses were furnished to both of them when the camp
broke up for the day's travelling, and no man in the party was more at
home upon one, except that a side-saddle was an invention that they had
never heard of and did not need.
"We'll git to the mine afore night, jedge," said Yellow Pine, when they
halted for their noon luncheon, and the further information he added
stimulated all hands to push forward. Not one sign of peril or even of
human presence, other than their own, did they encounter, and yet the
other human beings of that region were hourly drawing nearer.
The camp of the Apache marauders broke up at sunrise, with a
considerable amount of discontented grumbling. A man familiar with their
dialect, or with only a little of it, could easily have gathered that
they were eager for news which did not come, and for scouts who did not
return. Not all of them, to say the least, would ever again come into
that or any other camp, news or no news. In the absence of any, it was
plainly a due precaution to push forward even farther beyond the
supposed pursuit of the men in blue.
There was a good deal more than a mere supposition about that pursuit,
for Captain Grover and his men were on the trail at as early an hour as
was consistent with a proper care of their horses, and a hearty
breakfast all around. They were a fine looking lot of men, bronzed and
weather-beaten and soldierly. Their uniforms were not exactly in
"parade" condition, but there was nothing slovenly about them, and their
weapons were in excellent order. They had several "led-horses," to make
good the places of any that might become over-wearied, and every animal
in the troop showed signs of careful grooming. A captain, a lieutenant,
and thirty men did not seem an overpowering force for a hundred and more
of Apache warriors to run from, but neither of the two parties could
have a correct knowledge of the strength of the other. Besides, the main
object of an Indian raid is never a hard fight, but rather to pick up
scalps and plunder and get away without serious loss. Red men are
courageous enough, but they have a strong objection to being shot at or
sabred, and know that it does not take a great many hard-won victories
over cavalry, even if they should win them, to about wipe out the
fighting strength of a tribe.
As for Captain Grover, he had been ordered to follow and "strike" that
band of Apaches, and compel them to return to their "reservation," and
he had no other purpose in mind than to obey thoroughly.
"I'll follow them," he remarked to the lieutenant, "as far as they
choose to go. We've wiped out six of their scouts already."
"Garry," said one of the men at the same moment, "reckon them 'Paches'll
begin to think this 'ere's an unhealthy crowd to creep in on."
"The more on 'em we can pick off," said Garry, "the fewer we'll have to
fight at the close."
"Sharp work when that comes, or I'm mistaken, but they can't take hoss
plunder into the mountains."
As they rode along so cheerily and confidently, it became plainer and
plainer that those men had small doubt of their ability to deal with any
ordinary band of red horse-thieves if they could meet them fairly. It
would hardly have seemed so to an unprejudiced observer of the Apache
cavalcade that morning. Every warrior was a perfect horseman, and was
well mounted and well armed. There were lances instead of sabres, but
the pistols and carbines, or rifles, were just as good as those carried
by the cavalry. The red men were all trained and experienced soldiers,
under capable leaders, and it looked as if all they had to do was to
choose a good position and wait for Captain Grover and his men, and
destroy them all. As it was, all they seemed to think of was to urge
their drove of stolen quadrupeds forward. They could not make the best
of time so encumbered, and when they again halted for the night, the men
in blue were several miles nearer without one Apache knowing exactly
where they were. The trail these had made told Captain Grover all he as
yet needed to know, with the help of one used-up pony that the Indians
had turned loose to shift for himself.
"Beginning to break down, are they?" said the captain. "I'll strike them
among the foothills of the ranges within three days."
All that exciting chase was as yet hidden from the red and white men in
the upper valley, and it was quite possible that they would never know
anything about it. That depended, in fact, upon whether the Apaches
should turn to the left or the right when they reached the "forks" of
the little river.
It was pretty late when Two Arrows again caught up with his pale-face
friends, and his pony showed signs of very hard riding. If he had been a
grown-up brave he could not possibly have had so warm a reception,
except from Na-tee-kah and Ha-ha-pah-no. These two considered him the
tallest kind of a young chief already, but all the rest regarded him
very much as Yellow Pine did, as "the likeliest young redskin he'd ever
come across."
"I believe he is," said Judge Parks, and Sile had added,
"Father, what wouldn't he know pretty soon if he could learn to read and
write? He understands everything he sees right away."
"I'd like to try the experiment, Sile, but I don't believe he would ever
take kindly to books. I'll talk about it some other time. There is
something else on my mind just now."
There was a good deal upon everybody's mind, and even Sile ceased to
admire Long Bear's present when Yellow Pine rose in his stirrups and
pointed forward, shouting.
"There she is, jedge--right back in that there notch!"
Away to the right of them the craggy mountain arose against the sky,
facing the valley with an uncommonly precipitous wall. In this grim face
of granite could be seen what looked like a mere indentation. When they
came to it, however, they discovered that Yellow Pine's "notch" was much
narrower at its mouth than beyond it, owing to some ancient overturn and
"landslide" of great rocks and small, which almost shut it in. Beyond
this barrier, the opening through which was a mere roadway, there were
several acres of good grass and trees. There were springs of water also,
and the whole place was a good one to camp in, so long as no more
bowlders should break loose from the slopes above and come crashing down
into it. It was plain that none had done so for a long time past, and
the wagons were hauled fearlessly in. There was nobody with them but
their drivers, for every other human being had galloped on after Yellow
Pine and Judge Parks until the old miner drew rein in front of a great
mass of shattered, ragged, dirty looking quartz rock. In front of this a
deep hole had been dug by somebody, and near it were traces of old
camp-fires, bones of deer and buffalo, some rusty tin cans, and a
worn-out pickaxe.
"That's the lode, jedge. It's all I ever told ye it was. Safest place in
the world, too, now the 'Paches are gethered onto their reservation. We
can go right to work to-morrow mornin'."
Judge Parks was at that moment examining some bits of quartz he had
picked up. He took from his pocket a magnifying-glass and closely
inspected stone after stone.
"It looks like it, Pine. I haven't a doubt of the value of that vein.
Look at that, Sile."
Sile looked with a face more deeply flushed than even his father's.
"Why, it's exactly like Yellow Pine's old specimens, so far as I can
see; no more gold in these than in them."
"That's just the point, Sile. He brought me fair specimens. There isn't
any humbug or delusion about it. It's all right, Pine, so far as I can
see. As for safety, the mouth of this notch could be made a perfect fort
of, if we had to quit mining and go to fighting."
"Guess we won't ever have to do that. Game's plenty, and so is fish, and
we won't have to use up our provisions. Chance for you, Sile. You can
keep the camp-fires going. Fetch in some fish, first thing in the
morning, and then go for all the fresh meat there is. What we don't eat
we can cure and put away."
"I'll do the hunting!" shouted Sile. "What are the men all chopping
for? There's plenty of dry dead wood."
"I'd call it!" exclaimed Yellow Pine. "If they ain't struck with the
mine-fever now. Jest look at 'em, jedge."
"Pine," shouted one of the men from a little distance, "this 'ere shelf
by the spring's the spot you marked for the shelter, isn't it?"
"All right, boys," he responded. "Thirty feet by twelve, and an ell for
cooking and an ell for stowage."
"Nine feet high to the front, and slope to seven and a half, and lay on
the mud as you go?"
"That's it. Pitch in, boys."
"I declare," said the judge; "they haven't eaten a mouthful and they've
begun building."
"They're old hands, and the sight of that show of pay-rock has kind o'
stirred 'em up. It's all correct, though, jedge. We can look for storms
every now and then, and the shelter won't be up any too soon if one of
them busters should happen to be on its way."