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[Illustration: THE ROBBERS FOILED.]
_FRANK NELSON SERIES_
SNOWED UP;
OR, THE
SPORTSMAN’S CLUB IN THE MOUNTAINS.
BY HARRY CASTLEMON,
AUTHOR OF “THE GUNBOAT SERIES,” “SPORTSMAN’S CLUB SERIES,” “ROCKY
MOUNTAIN SERIES,” &C.
THE JOHN C. WINSTON CO.,
PHILADELPHIA,
CHICAGO, TORONTO.
FAMOUS CASTLEMON BOOKS.
=GUNBOAT SERIES.= By HARRY CASTLEMON. 6 vols. 12mo.
FRANK THE YOUNG NATURALIST.
FRANK IN THE WOODS.
FRANK ON THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI.
FRANK ON A GUNBOAT.
FRANK BEFORE VICKSBURG.
FRANK ON THE PRAIRIE.
=ROCKY MOUNTAIN SERIES.= By HARRY CASTLEMON. 3 vols. 12mo. Cloth.
FRANK AMONG THE RANCHEROS.
FRANK IN THE MOUNTAINS.
FRANK AT DON CARLOS’ RANCH.
=SPORTSMAN’S CLUB SERIES.= By HARRY CASTLEMON. 3 vols. 12mo. Cloth.
THE SPORTSMAN’S CLUB IN THE SADDLE.
THE SPORTSMAN’S CLUB AFLOAT.
THE SPORTSMAN’S CLUB AMONG THE TRAPPERS.
=FRANK NELSON SERIES.= By HARRY CASTLEMON. 3 vols. 12mo. Cloth.
SNOWED UP.
FRANK IN THE FORECASTLE.
THE BOY TRADERS.
=BOY TRAPPER SERIES.= By HARRY CASTLEMON. 3 vols. 12mo. Cloth.
THE BURIED TREASURE.
THE BOY TRAPPER.
THE MAIL-CARRIER.
=ROUGHING IT SERIES.= By HARRY CASTLEMON. 3 vols. 12mo. Cloth.
GEORGE IN CAMP.
GEORGE AT THE WHEEL.
GEORGE AT THE FORT.
=ROD AND GUN SERIES.= By HARRY CASTLEMON. 3 vols. 12mo. Cloth.
DON GORDON’S SHOOTING BOX.
THE YOUNG WILD FOWLERS.
ROD AND GUN CLUB.
=GO-AHEAD SERIES.= By HARRY CASTLEMON. 3 vols. 12mo. Cloth.
TOM NEWCOMBE.
GO-AHEAD.
NO MOSS.
=FOREST AND STREAM SERIES.= By HARRY CASTLEMON. 3 vols. 12mo. Cloth.
JOE WAYRING.
SNAGGED AND SUNK.
STEEL HORSE.
=WAR SERIES.= By HARRY CASTLEMON. 5 vols. 12mo. Cloth.
TRUE TO HIS COLORS.
RODNEY THE OVERSEER.
MARCY THE REFUGEE.
RODNEY THE PARTISAN.
MARCY THE BLOCKADE-RUNNER.
_Other Volumes in Preparation._
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1876, by
R. W. CARROLL & CO.,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
Copyright, 1904, by CHARLES A. FOSDICK.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
A Dispute Page 7
CHAPTER II.
What Archie knew about Money 17
CHAPTER III.
Archie makes a Trade 28
CHAPTER IV.
The new Horse 42
CHAPTER V.
The Indian trades back 57
CHAPTER VI.
Eugene’s Plan 73
CHAPTER VII.
The Wild Man of the Woods 87
CHAPTER VIII.
The Emigrant Train 104
CHAPTER IX.
An Enemy in Camp 126
CHAPTER X.
The Pike’s Treasure 140
CHAPTER XI.
Snowed up 156
CHAPTER XII.
The Silent Witness 175
CHAPTER XIII.
The Stowaway 193
CHAPTER XIV.
A long Way Home 208
CHAPTER XV.
A cheap Boarding-house 225
CHAPTER XVI.
Brown’s Misfortune 244
CHAPTER XVII.
What came of it 262
CHAPTER XVIII.
Conclusion 281
SNOWED UP;
OR, THE
SPORTSMAN’S CLUB IN THE MOUNTAINS.
CHAPTER I.
A DISPUTE.
“Did you ever hear tell of sich a thing afore, Zack?”
“I never did in all my born days—never! The idee of this little snipe
comin’ out here, fresh from the States, an’ tellin’ a man like me,
what’s done nothin’ but guide wagon-trains acrosst the prairie fur the
last ten years—the idee of his tellin’ me that I am losin’ the hul
kit an’ bilin’ of you, an’ that I am doin’ it a purpose! I say it’s
ridikilis, an’ I won’t stand it. Here, Sile, hold my gun till I make
him chaw them words of his’n!”
“You are very much mistaken in me, my friend,” replied a calm voice,
which contrasted strangely with the excited guide’s insolent tones. “I
may be fresh from the States, but I have seen more of prairie life than
you seem to imagine. At any rate, I know enough about it to be sure
that you are not on the road to the Fort.”
This conversation took place one bright morning, between our old friend
Archie Winters, and two rough looking frontiersmen, who answered to the
names of Zack and Silas. The latter stood leaning on his rifle, and
glaring down at the boy before him as if he meant to destroy him by the
angry glances from his eyes, while Zack was rolling up his sleeves and
making other demonstrations which showed a desire on his part to fight
somebody. Close by Archie’s side were his two inseparable companions,
Fred Craven and Eugene Gaylord, who sat in their saddles, being mounted
on the same horses they had ridden from Salt Lake City to Fort Bolton.
Eugene held Archie’s old horse by the bridle, while Archie’s attention
was about equally divided between the two trappers and a small bay
steed, with black points and a white star in his forehead, to which he
was clinging with both hands. The horse bore Archie’s saddle strapped
firmly on his back, and was kept in partial subjection by a rawhide
lasso, which was twisted tightly about his lower jaw, the ends being
passed over the animal’s neck and around the horn of the saddle to
serve as a bridle. Like Roderick and King James, this horse had a
history which shall be related in due time.
Around this group which we have described were gathered a dozen or more
emigrants, men, women and children, who waited impatiently to hear what
would be said next, and looked first at the guides and then at Archie,
as if trying to discover something in their faces that would aid them
in deciding between the disputants. A little distance away stood two
wagons, the mules and oxen harnessed and yoked and ready to start; but
there was a wide difference of opinion between Archie and the guides on
a matter that was of vital importance to the emigrants, and they could
not think of resuming their journey until it had been settled.
Having made his preparations for a pugilistic encounter, with as much
care and deliberation as he would have exhibited had he been about to
measure strength with a person of his own stature and weight, Zack once
more addressed himself to Archie.
“We was all quiet an’ peaceable like till you come,” said he; “but
since you dropped down amongst us all of a sudden, like you had come
from the clouds, an’ without nobody’s askin’ you to come, thar’s been a
rumpus goin’ on the hul time.”
“The rumpus, as you call it, was all raised by you,” returned Archie.
“You’ve had a good many remarks to make about us, but we have kept
silent.”
“Now you can jest toddle off about your business, if you’ve got any,”
coutinued Zack, “or take what follows. I haint agoin’ to waste no time
a waitin’ on you, nuther.”
“We have business,” answered Archie, “but we are in no great hurry to
attend to it. The prairie is as free to us as it is to you, and when we
get tired of staying here, we’re going to Fort Bolton.”
“So be we,” said Zack.
“How far do you call it from here?” asked Archie.
“A matter of thirty miles, mebbe.”
“And which way?”
“Off thar,” said Zack, extending his arm toward the north-west.
“Well, I say it is off _there_,” replied Archie, pointing in just the
opposite direction, “and distant about three days’ journey. I ought to
know, for I have just come from there.”
“What brought you so far away from the Fort?” asked one of the
emigrants.
“As we told you last night, we have been following a drove of wild
horses, trying to catch one of them.”
“An’ as _we_ told you last night, that’s a likely story,” said Zack,
glancing at Silas, who nodded assent. “You’re purty lookin’ fellers to
ketch a wild hoss, haint you now!”
“Well, here’s the horse, any how,” returned Archie, jerking his thumb
over his shoulder toward the animal he was holding. “If you don’t
believe he is wild, just put yourself within reach of his heels, if
you dare. We followed the drove he was in for three days and more, and
that’s what brought us so far from the Fort.”
“An’ that’s how you come to be teetotally turned round an’ lost,” added
Zack. “You fellers can do as you like about it, but I tell you that if
you foller them young cubs you’ll never see Fort Bolton the longest day
you live.”
This last remark was called forth by a movement on the part of the
emigrants, who, in response to a sign from one of their number, drew a
little apart to hold a consultation. Their actions led Zack to mistrust
that they were on the point of deciding against him, and this seemed
to increase the feelings of animosity which, for some unaccountable
reason, he had shown toward Archie and his friends ever since they
first appeared in the emigrant camp.
“If they do go with you I’ll allow they won’t have much to foller,”
said Zack, in savage tones, “cause I’ll wallop you till thar ain’t
nothing left of you.”
“I don’t see why you should want to do that,” answered Archie. “These
people are nothing to you, and it can make no difference to you whether
they go your way or mine.”
“Then what odds does it make to you?” demanded Silas.
“None whatever. They told us they wanted to go to Bolton, and as we
were going right there we offered to show them the way.”
“More like you want to show ’em the way to some place in the mountains
whar you can rob ’em,” snapped Zack.
“O, come now,” returned Archie, “that’s rather too far-fetched. I’ve
seen whole families composed of such as you. There are some of them in
irons now at the Fort.”
“What do you mean by that?” demanded Zack.
“I mean that there are some men of your calling in irons now in Fort
Bolton,” repeated Archie, not in the least terrified by the expression
of almost ungovernable fury which settled on the man’s face. “That’s
what I mean. Have a care,” he added, as Zack dashed his hat upon the
ground with an angry exclamation and started fiercely toward him. “I
have a friend here who will not see me imposed upon.”
As Archie spoke he swung himself around beside the horse he was
holding, which, believing no doubt that the boy was about to mount him,
turned swiftly, thus presenting his heels toward the advancing guide,
who halted very suddenly.
“He knows how to handle his feet,” continued Archie, “and I believe he
can kick your hat off your head the first time trying. Suppose you put
it on and let him make the attempt.”
Zack did not see fit to accept this proposition, and neither did
he renew his hostile demonstrations. Whether it was because he did
not think it quite safe to trust himself too close to the horse’s
heels, or for the reason that he did not like the looks of the
sixteen-shooters which Eugene and Featherweight promptly unslung from
their backs, we have no means of knowing. Perhaps it was because the
emigrants had brought their consultation to an end, and having decided
upon their course, came up to announce what it was.
“Are you sure you are right?” asked an old white-headed man, addressing
himself to Archie.
“Yes, sir, as sure as I can be,” was the reply. “We have taken pains
to keep our bearings, and I am certain that if we have no bad luck, we
shall be in Bolton in less than three days. We shall travel as nearly
south-east as we can to get there, too.”
“Well, we have concluded to trust ourselves to you. Bring on the
wagons, boys.”
“You’ll never see the Fort,” said Zack, whose rage was so great that he
could scarcely make himself understood.
None of the emigrants made any reply. The women and children were
assisted into the wagons, and the drivers climbed to their seats
and drove after Eugene and Featherweight, who rode off over the
prairie. Archie had some difficulty in mounting his steed, for the
animal persisted in keeping his head toward him, and it was only
after repeated efforts that the boy managed to seize the horn of the
saddle and swung himself upon the horse’s back. Even after he got
there the animal did not seem disposed to permit him to remain, for
he straightway began to kick and plunge furiously. But Archie had not
lived among the Rancheros of California for nothing. By thrusting the
long rowels of his Mexican spurs through the hair-girth with which his
saddle was strapped to the horse’s back, he was able to keep a secure
seat in spite of the furious efforts made to dislodge him; and when at
last his nag was wearied with his fruitless struggles, he urged him
into a lope, and in a few seconds drew up beside his friends at the
head of the wagon-train.