A DARING RIDE
For the moment there was not one Apache horseman lingering within reach
of the sharpshooters at the gap, and it was possible to get away from it
unseen. All peril would come afterwards, but there was a vast amount of
it, and the proposed errand of Two Arrows called for unlimited courage.
His light weight upon a fresh racer gave him some advantage over heavy
warriors upon horses already hard ridden, but this fact did not cover
the whole question by any means, for a bullet will travel faster than
the swiftest mustang. Sile did his best to communicate every fact that
his spy-glass had given him; Long Bear said "Ugh!" with a deep and
expressive intonation; the logs were removed from the entrance; and then
Na-tee-kah's heart beat terribly, for she saw her hero brother dash
forth all alone, she could not guess why nor whither. Then there was
another sudden commotion, for Yellow Pine shouted, and Long Bear echoed
it in his own tongue,
"Mount, men! Mount and be ready, every mother's son of ye! I'm jest
going to back that there young catamount if it costs me my hair!"
There was the swiftest kind of saddling and mounting, and not a Nez
Perce boy old enough to draw a bow was willing to be left behind. When,
therefore, the whole force rode out upon the slope in front of the
notch, it looked a good deal stronger than it really was. All that work
required many minutes, and during all of these the daring young
messenger had been doing capitally.
Leaving the gap, he wheeled his fleet mustang to the right and dashed
away until he deemed himself within reach of a small grove of trees,
around which he could sweep back into the right course to reach the
cavalry. It was an acute enough calculation, but out of that very bit of
bushy timber came first a brace of rifle-bullets and then a pair of
mounted Apaches, as soon as these believed that they had let him go far
enough. That is, they rode out to cut off his return, and they both
failed to do him or his horse any harm. It was a race now, with the
chances against the pursuers, and Two Arrows sent back a derisive whoop
as he struck out straight for what he believed to be his mark. He
understood in an instant that he had escaped the main body of his
enemies, but there was no telling when he might meet one of their
smaller squads. He felt in every fibre of his body that he was now armed
as a warrior, and was doing the work of a warrior and of an uncommonly
daring brave. His heart beat with fierce delight and hope, and his very
mustang seemed to feel the excitement, and went forward with long, eager
bounds. The wind was in his face, and now it brought him something. It
was a faint sound, and far away, but it was the bugle-note which bade
Captain Grover's men to change their trot to a gallop.
The little force of cavalry had taken upon them no small risk in dashing
forward, now that they had a better knowledge of the strength of their
opponents. It was almost rashness, but it was such a facing of odds as
our gallant soldiers are all the while doing. There was nothing
exceptional about it, terrible as have been the disasters now and then
resulting. Captain Grover determined to gain whatever might be gained by
promptly following up his first success, and so he had well used all the
minutes the Apache chief was wasting. At about the time when the latter
had decided that there must be an effort made to recover the lost
plunder, unless the cavalry should prove too numerous, Captain Grover
had ridden far enough to make good the military plan of a young Nez
Perce chief. His own spy-glass was at work from every rising ground he
came to, and now it brought an exclamation from him:
"What's up now? One chased by two? Forward! Gallop!"
Two Apache braves, already very sure they could not catch the rider they
were chasing, wheeled quickly and rode in the opposite direction, and
in a few moments more Two Arrows was rapidly explaining the situation to
Captain Grover. It was a very plain one, and not a second was wasted in
considering it. Again the word was "forward," and the remaining distance
to be travelled was not great. The decision of the Apaches to advance
was likely to make it shorter, but that was an unpleasant time for the
chief in command of those unlucky red men. Just as two of his braves
came in to inform him that a messenger from the men among the rocks had
reached the cavalry, another announced that all the pale-faces and Nez
Perces had come out from the rocks to fight and were "heap strong." Nor
was that the whole of it, for one of his scouts from the rear dashed up
with the news that yet another party of Nez Perces was coming, he did
not know how many. These were the fellows sent through the pass for the
"cached" property, but what Apache could say how many more might follow?
or how many more blue-coated veterans might be at hand?
It looked for all the world as if that enterprising band of Apache
"business men" were surrounded and trapped. They had already lost all
the proceeds of their season's hard work, and the rest of their stock in
trade, of all sorts, was pretty sure to follow. More consultation was
absolutely necessary, and before it was over Sile could announce, from
his perch upon the rock,
"Coming! I can see Two Arrows."
Then there was a cheering, and Na-tee-kah felt all but proud of the
noise made by the Big Tongue--there was so very much of it.
"Forward, men!" shouted Judge Parks. "We must be on hand. Come down,
Sile. Keep near _me_."
Sile was down and mounted in a moment, but there was to be no great
battle that day. The Apache "council of war" lasted until it could hear
the cavalry bugle and the distant whoop of the Big Tongue. It could not
hear the howl of One-eye, for that brave animal was sitting in the very
entrance of the barrier guarding the notch, all alone except for the
squaws. It was better to go upon any reservation, and to promise any
amount and degree of good behavior, than to spend the remainder of that
fine day in being shot and sabred. So the council decided, and so, in
due and dignified form, they announced to Captain Grover, before he had
an opportunity to bid his veterans charge.
The official duty of the captain, after that, was to disarm his
captives, the weapons to be all returned upon reaching the reservation,
and to order them at once into a camp by themselves, under a guard. Word
was sent to Garry and his men to move the quadrupeds down the river as
fast as possible, the prisoners there being untied and sent to their
main body. Rapid orders were given, and were mingled with as rapid
conversations with Judge Parks, Yellow Pine, and Long Bear.
"Where's that messenger?" suddenly exclaimed Captain Grover, after he
had listened to the facts as to the sending of Two Arrows. There was a
glow upon the brave soldier's face, and he was unbuckling the flap of
one of his holsters, for he was yet in the saddle.
Two Arrows was summoned and came forward, and a great many eyes were
upon him.
"Young brave!" said Captain Grover emphatically. "I never heard of a
pluckier volunteer in all my life. Take that; keep your head level,
that's all. You've more courage than you've any real need of."
"That" was a handsome silver-mounted army revolver. Given in that way it
was a mark of distinction for a great chief to be proud of, and Long
Bear, indeed, was nearly as proud as was Two Arrows.
"There, Sile," said his father; "see that you do as well with your
advantages as that Nez Perce boy has done with his."
"I will, father; but why could he not have some more? What is to hinder
him from going to school? There's all my gold, now, in the wagon; I'd
spend a good deal of it."
"Sile, my boy, I've been thinking of it. We will do it. It's a good
thing. The girl too."
It was time now for Captain Grover to ride in and see the notch and the
mine, and to get the best dinner the miners and Ha-ha-pah-no could cook
for him and his men. Then it was time for Na-tee-kah to go nearly wild
with pride over her brother and his revolver. After that there was a
long consultation between Long Bear and his children and Judge Parks and
Sile. Two Arrows seemed to be inclined to say very little at first. He
sat with his new rifle across his lap, and his priceless revolver
resting upon that, and One-eye came and sat down beside him. Long Bear
himself seemed to be in doubt as his pale-face friends urged upon him
the advantages of their offer. He was hardly able to see what good there
could be in the learning of the white men for a red horseman of the
plains; but at last Two Arrows motioned to Sile for his spy-glass,
hanging at his side. He took it and looked through it at the distant
mountains, and then turned to Long Bear and pointed at them, saying,
"Look! See!"
"Ugh!" said the old chief, "see heap."
"Now look. See," said Two Arrows, "see big heap."
"Ugh! Big medicine," said Long Bear, handing the glass to Sile, but Two
Arrows arose and stood proudly erect, rifle in hand.
"Will you go?" asked Sile.
"Go," said Two Arrows. "Good friend. Go. Got Nez Perce eye now; want
pale-face eye."
"Ugh!" exclaimed Long Bear; "what Na-tee-kah say?"
The question was put to her, but it was hardly needful, after she found
that Two Arrows was to go. She was willing to learn anything he did, and
she was not even daunted by quick mental vision of a white lady with her
bonnet on. She would even wear the dress of a pale-face squaw if Two
Arrows would put on such things as were worn by the Red-head. So it was
settled, although it would be a number of weeks before the judge and
Sile could set out for their eastern home.
* * * * *
At several points in the East there are schools designed and maintained
for the special education of Indian girls and boys, only needing greater
help from men and women who have money intrusted to them by the Giver.
Among all the tribes of the West, and in every band, Na-tee-kah and Two
Arrows wait to be found and enticed into a training that is for their
everlasting good and for that of their race.
THE END
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| Transcriber's Note: |
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| Typographical errors corrected in the text: |
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| Page 6 pursuasive changed to persuasive |
| Page 12 acquainttance changed to acquaintance |
| Page 73 pappose changed to pappoose |
| Page 83 if changed to it |
| Page 109 wherebouts changed to whereabouts |
| Page 117 familar changed to familiar |
| Page 121 necesary chaged to necessary |
| Page 129 vension changed to venison |
| Page 164 vension changed to venison |
| Page 203 he changed to be |
|Page 220 condemmed changed to condemned |
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