PREPARING FOR AN ATTACK
A good while before Two Arrows reached the camp of his people Judge
Parks and Yellow Pine discovered that they had done about as much as
they could at the mouth of what was yet to be the mine until they should
have men to help them. The judge handed to Na-tee-kah another book of
pictures to wonder over, and then he and Pine went upon a tour of
inspection. They found the choppers busy with beetles and wedges upon
the lengths of easily-cloven pine, and the heap of long, wide slabs or
shingles for the roof was growing rapidly.
"We can make it weather-tight with moss-packing," said Pine, "and if we
can't have sash and glass we can make good solid doors and shutters."
"There will be storms," said the judge.
"Yes, but the winters are never hard down here. Even if we got snowed in
it wouldn't stay long, and the supply-train'll get here before the end
of next month. Can't lose its way."
"I should say not. But now just look at that wall."
It was worth looking at, if only for the way in which it was rising.
The mud and stones went into place with a perfect rush. At that rate
there would quickly be a finished house there, such as it was to be. All
was well and solidly laid, too, and the inner face was smooth enough.
That was more than could be said for the outside, and Pine remarked,
"Reckon nobody'll care to rub himself very hard against the side of that
shelter when it's done."
From the house they both strolled away for a look at the animals, and
then on down to the mouth of the notch. They were noting with care the
several peculiarities of the rocky elevations to the right and left,
when the judge felt his arm gripped very hard, and Yellow Pine
exclaimed,
"Look there, jedge! Something's happened to the young redskin."
Judge Parks carried a spy-glass as good as Sile's and it was up
instantly. "That's Sile, but the horse he's leading isn't a pony. Look,
Pine."
"I'd call it--How close this thing does bring 'em. I could count his
buttons. He's carrying two rifles and a lance. Something mighty queer
has turned up, jedge, but you can see that Sile's all right. What can
have become of Two Arrows? I hope he hasn't been wiped out. He was the
likeliest kind of a young chap."
"We'll know when he gets here."
Waiting was about all they could do, but they grew more and more
impatient until Sile came within hail. After that the questions and
answers chased each other back and forth until the entire account of
Sile's hunt and its ending was perfectly understood.
Sile saw his father shudder and turn pale, and then flush fiery red,
while he described his encounter with the Apache. He had dismounted
before he got to that, and the next thing he felt was a pair of arms
around him, and he heard Yellow Pine exclaim,
"I could a'most hug the young rooster myself. It was jest the gamest
kind of thing to do. I say, Sile, he barked ye on yer left arm. I'd call
it, now, if that there wasn't close work. Take yer jacket off."
Sile had hardly paid any attention to that matter, although his arm had
felt a little stiff, and there was really not much of a hurt. In another
instant his father was saying so, but he said it with a peculiar look
upon his face. The Indian's bullet had been a "Minie-ball," of course,
and, as it grazed his arm, one of its ragged edges had torn through the
cloth and touched the flesh only just enough to break the skin and draw
a little blood. Sile could fairly say he was "wounded," and no more, and
Yellow Pine remarked,
"Reckon we won't send ye to the hospital for that; but I'm all-fired
glad it didn't go any nigher. It's jest on a line to where it would ha'
knocked yer arm off, if it had struck onto the bone. It's the narrerest
kind of an escape."
Judge Parks had nothing more to say, for some reason, and seemed willing
that Sile should go right on with further particulars of the day.
"Two Arrows is right," said Pine. "He'd know a war-party, sure. It's war
with us, anyhow, and there isn't but one thing to be done. The men must
knock off from the house, and come right down and block this 'ere
opening with logs and rocks. We can make the best kind of a rifle-pit.
Only leave room for one man, or for one hoss at a time, to get in or
out."
"That's it," said the judge. "Now, Sile, come along. You must let the
men see what you've been up to. They'll know exactly what it means."
Sile had a curious sense of bashfulness about it, but he followed his
father, and in a few minutes more the rough, bearded, red-shirted
fellows were giving him three of the most ringing cheers he had ever
heard. Ha-ha-pah-no and Na-tee-kah looked at him with something that was
half wonder. They could not have believed it, but for the horse and the
lance, and the rifle and the belt. Here was the Red-head, a mere
pale-face boy, bringing in trophies of which a great warrior might have
been proud. Na-tee-kah had a sort of notion that Two Arrows must have
done it somehow, until well assured that her brother had not been
present, and that the Red-head had not taken the scalp of the slain
Apache. She had heard that the pale-face warriors sometimes neglected
that duty, but could not well understand why, even when Ha-ha-pah-no
explained to her that it was "bad medicine" for a white man to scalp
anybody.
The situation called for something more than cheers, however, and the
miners hurried to the mouth of the notch. To pack it breast-high with
fragments of wood and stone was no great matter, and the breastwork was
finished in time for a late supper.
"Tell ye what, jedge," remarked one of the men, "if I was a redskin I
wouldn't be in a hurry to ride up to that there bar, with a half a dozen
rifles peepin' over it. Reckon it'd take the cleanest kind of grit. A
feller could stand behind it and pepper away, and be a'most safe agin
anything short of cannon."
The wagons and other things were left as they were, and the entire notch
was a perfectly safe corral for the animals. All the human beings moved
their bivouac down towards the barrier they had made, leaving the fires
behind them.
"They're all right, there," said Pine, "and we needn't kindle any down
hereaway to tell jest where we are."
There was sense in that, and one sentry was as good as a dozen to keep
watch at the narrow entrance left, for even that was securely closed
until there should be a good reason for opening it.
Sile found himself the hero of the camp, and that the scratch upon his
arm excused him from guard duty. At first he was well pleased to lie
down and go to sleep, after the severe fatigue and excitement of his
great ride. Never before had he raced it after such a fashion, and every
bone and muscle felt the effects of the long strain. He saw, too, that
everybody else was taking the matter with perfect coolness. All those
miners had been in tight places more than once, and they had great faith
in the prudence of redskins about charging upon white riflemen hidden
behind rocks. Sile ate a hearty supper. In fact, he was compelled at
last to be very positive with Ha-ha-pah-no. She would have gone right on
cooking for him until morning if he had let her, and so would
Na-tee-kah. They were positively proud of the privilege of bringing him
his coffee. He was assured that the horse and weapons of the Apache
warrior were his own personal property, and he examined them again and
again with a sense of ownership that he had never felt for anything
else. He could not tell why, until Jonas remarked to him,
"If you hadn't pulled straight, your plunder'd be in the 'Pache camp
'bout now, scalp and all. It was jest a question of grit and shootin'.
I'm powerful glad you made out to throw yer lead to the right spot."
So was Sile, but it was not easy, somehow, for him to make up his mind
that he had really killed anybody. He found a queer idea in his mind
several times that before long that Apache warrior would wake up and
wonder what had become of his horse and his weapons. Not long after
supper he curled up in his blanket at the foot of a tree, and in a few
minutes he was soundly asleep. He did not hear his father say to Yellow
Pine, as the two bent over him,
"My brave boy!"
Nor did he hear Pine grumble,
"If he hasn't earned a good snooze, then nobody has. Tell ye what,
jedge, that feller'll be guv'ner of a State one of these days. I'd vote
for him. I'd like to have seen him 'changing shots with that there
redskin."
They moved away, and the judge remarked,
"We are safe enough for to-night, but they'll find us to-morrow."
"Maybe, maybe not. I can't quite make it out as to what could bring 'em
away up here. Two Arrows told Sile they was a war-party, and if that's
so, they must have been licked somewhere. They'd never have cut it for
these ranges without somebody was after 'em."
"Perhaps so. We'll see. Anyhow, we can keep a sharp lookout."
There was no danger that any sentry would sleep on his post that night,
but all the first part and the middle of it went by as peacefully as if
the valley were uninhabited.
Sile slept and slept, and when at last he opened his eyes, he could not
have told why he did so. The stars were shining. The night air was crisp
and chilly, but he was warm under his blanket. It took him almost a
minute to gather his thoughts and understand where he really was. That
was partly because he had been sleeping heavily, and partly because, at
the very last, he had dreamed of being at home, and of leading a
remarkable horse into the sitting-room to show it to his mother.
It was a strange place to wake up in, and he could dimly see the forms
of other men, rolled in blankets, lying near, each with a rifle lying by
him ready for prompt use.
"They won't be taken by surprise," said Sile to himself. "I'm going down
for a look at the barrier. I've lain still long enough."
He felt a little stiff when he first rose to his feet, but it passed
away when he stretched himself and began to walk. His left arm pained
him more than he had expected, and he found it slightly swollen. It was
not precisely like the same scratch made in any other way, and he was
glad that there was no more of it. Still, he hardly knew what he had
that he valued more highly than that light hurt upon his arm. It had
made a sort of soldier of him. It was a promotion, and he vaguely hoped
that it would leave a scar. Then he half wished that the scar might come
out upon his face, where it would not be forever covered up by his
coat-sleeve.
"My new horse is in the corral, and I couldn't pick him out now. My
lance and things are in the wagon. I'll go and have a look at the
barrier. I'm feeling tip-top."