ARCHIE MAKES A TRADE.
The last time we saw the Sportsman’s Club, as we have already
said—when we speak of the Club now we include all our friends who
left Bellville in the _Stranger_ for a voyage around the world—they
were located in their camp a short distance from Fort Bolton, having
just been joined by Dick Lewis and old Bob Kelly, the famous trappers,
who held so high a place in the estimation and affections of Frank and
his cousin Archie. All our friends now, from the old sailor down, had
a warm place in their hearts for them, for it was by their assistance
that Walter had been rescued from the most dangerous situation in which
he had ever been placed.
It was not likely that the Club would ever forget the thrilling
adventures through which they had so recently passed. If they desired
to bring them more vividly to mind, all they had to do was to go up to
the Fort and take a look at the outlaws, who were there confined in
irons and under guard, or ride down the gully to Potter’s rancho, where
the final scenes in the drama had been enacted.
The Club never grew tired of visiting the rancho. They spent many
an hour there, exploring every nook and corner of the building, and
more than one article of plunder which had there been secreted, did
they find and give into Colonel Gaylord’s possession. Everything that
had fallen to the share of Dick Lewis and old Bob had been carefully
preserved, and was also given into the charge of the commandant, to
be returned to its lawful owners, if they should ever be found. Each
boy retained a few things of no particular value, to remind him of the
robber band, and Frank kept the horse Potter had presented to him. He
told the colonel how he came by him, and the colonel said it was all
right. Frank had borne a prominent part in the exciting scenes that had
transpired during the last few days, and the colonel probably thought
it no more than right that he should be allowed to keep the horse, as a
small reward for his services.
This horse was the occasion of a spirited controversy and rivalry,
which straightway arose between the cousins, and was similar to that
which had taken place when they first came upon the prairie, years
ago. Frank thought much of his new acquisition, which was really a
magnificent animal, and boasted of his qualities, while Archie made
light of them, challenged him to a race, and was badly beaten for his
pains. Then Archie borrowed every fast horse about the Fort that he
could hear of, and ran him against the black, which left them behind,
one and all, so easily that it was really provoking. Even Dick’s fine
nag, the one Frank had stolen out from under the rifles of the herders,
and which his owner declared could not be beaten by anything that stood
on four feet, was distanced, and Archie, Eugene and Featherweight—of
course these two sided with Archie in everything—laid their heads
together and declared that something must be done. What that something
was that ought to be done they could not make up their minds, until
one day Eugene, who was strolling about the Fort, examining everything
there with as much interest as though he had never seen it before,
accidentally overheard a conversation between Frank and Lieutenant
Gaylord which suggested something to him. There had been a race that
morning between the cousins, Archie being mounted on Dick’s horse, in
which Frank as usual came out ahead, and he and the lieutenant, who
were fast friends, were having a hearty laugh over it.
“That’s a fine animal of yours, Nelson,” said the young officer, “but
there never was a horse yet so swift that some other couldn’t beat him.
I know where there are two, and I can put my hand on one of them almost
any day, which can take him down in a mile race, as easily as falling
off a log.”
“Where are they?” asked Frank.
“One of them belongs to a one-eyed Indian who comes to the Fort
occasionally. He is a mouse-colored animal, spotted all over with
white, and looks odd enough at a distance; but he is pretty when you
get close to him, and is as fleet as an antelope.”
“And the other?”
“He belongs to father; but he doesn’t do him much good, seeing that he
has not set eyes on him for three months.”
“Was he stolen?” asked Frank.
“No; he escaped and joined a drove of wild horses.”
“Then there is no danger that Archie will get hold of him.”
“None whatever.”
“And how about this Indian’s horse? Couldn’t he buy him?”
“No. There isn’t an officer about the fort who has not tried to
purchase him, but the owner will not sell him. These Indians know a
good horse when they see him as well as a white man does. They are like
the Arabs. They will sell any of their old hacks, but their best stock
they keep for their own use.”
This was all Eugene could catch of the conversation, but it was quite
enough to set him to thinking. He hurried back to the camp, to find
Fred and Archie, and taking them off on one side, told them what he had
heard.
“I only hope that horse will come about while we are here,” said Archie.
“So do I,” replied Eugene. “We’ll try our best to buy him. It is no
sign that we should fail because others have done so. We may have
something the Indian wants.”
“Look there!” said Bob, suddenly calling to the three friends. “Isn’t
that a queer colored blanket that man has spread over his horse?”
The boys looked and saw a horseman riding toward the fort. A closer
examination revealed the fact that he was an Indian; and a still closer
inspection of the animal he rode satisfied them that what Bob had
supposed to be a blanket, was not a blanket after all. It looked more
like a leopard skin. Bob was the first to discover his error, or at
least to speak of it.
“I declare,” said he, as the Indian drew nearer, “I believe the spots
are in the horse!”
“I know they are,” whispered Eugene, excitedly. “Now if the man on his
back is a one-eyed Indian, he’s the very fellow we’re looking for.
Let’s go and see.”
The boys walked rapidly toward the Fort, but before they reached it the
Indian had dismounted at the gate, where he was joined by Frank and
Lieutenant Gaylord. The former seemed to be very much interested in the
horse. He gave him a good looking over, passed his hands over his sleek
skin, felt his legs, examined his mouth, and then put his hands into
his pockets and stood off again and looked at him. His actions were
enough to satisfy Archie and his two friends that they had not been
mistaken in the horse. They slackened their pace and loitered along,
to give Frank and the lieutenant time to finish their examination and
get out of the way, and when they saw them go into the Fort they ran up
and accosted the Indian. He had one eye and consequently, as Eugene
declared, must be the man they wanted to see.
“Hallo, uncle,” said Featherweight. “That’s an odd-looking beast you’ve
got there.”
“Me chief, no uncle,” said the Indian.
“Ah! all right. You Indians put one in mind of Artemas Ward’s military
company, you’re all officers. I’ve never seen one of you yet who did
not claim to be a chief. Where did you get him?”
“Injun raise him,” replied the owner of the horse.
“He isn’t good for much, is he? He looks as though he were made up of
three or four horses of different colors.”
“He good as three, four, half dozen,” said the Indian. “Keep good.”
“You don’t care about selling him, do you?”
“Well, s’pose Injun sell, what you give?”
“O, I don’t want him,” said Fred. “I’ve got one that just suits me.”
“I have a horse I’ll trade for him,” said Archie. “How much boot will
you give me? I know he is good, for I rode him all the way from Salt
Lake City.”
“Where he?” asked the Indian, looking around.
“O, he’s down at the camp.”
“S’pose you let Injun see him.”
“All right, I will.”
Archie walked off, whistling as he went, and acting altogether very
unconcerned; but he was in reality highly excited. The Indian talked
as if he might possibly be induced to trade, and the prospect of
owning a horse that could beat his cousin’s, was enough to put Archie
in the best of spirits. He caught his nag, which was feeding near the
camp, saddled and bridled him, and rode back to the Fort. He found his
friends waiting for him on the other side of the stockade, where they
had taken the Indian and his horse, so that Frank, if he should happen
to come out, should not see what was going on. They intended to make
the trade, if they could, and surprise him.
“There’s a horse for you, chief,” said Featherweight, as Archie rode
up and dismounted. “If he isn’t a good one I never saw one.”
A grunt was the only reply the Indian made. Whether it was intended to
express contempt, or something else, the boys did not know. He gave
Archie’s horse a good looking over, while the owner and his companions
stood near, calm and indifferent to all outward appearance, but really
very anxious, and impatient to hear his decision.
“Well, speak up,” said Eugene, as the Indian, having completed his
examination, stepped back to take a general survey of the horse. “Will
you trade?”
“You got blanket?” asked the savage.
“O, we’re not going to give you more boot than you can carry away—you
may depend on that,” said Featherweight.
“I wouldn’t mind throwing in a pair of blankets,” said Archie.
“Good?” asked the Indian.
“Yes, they’ll be good. Not a hole in them.”
“And to make you feel a little better over it, perhaps we’ll add a
pipe or two and some tobacco,” said Eugene.
“Five pounds?”
“Yes; we’ll say five pounds.”
“You got six-shooter short-gun?”
No, Archie was quite sure he had no revolver that he could spare. He
had but two, and he might need them before he saw home again. But
Eugene suggested that he might purchase a second-hand weapon of the
sutler, and after some debate the point was conceded.
The bargaining thus commenced continued for nearly half an hour, the
Indian showing himself as smart as any Yankee in a trade, sticking
to his points with so much pertinacity that the boys were obliged to
yield to every one of them, and finally Archie left his companions
in high glee and walked into the Fort. When he came out again, a few
minutes afterward, he carried a pair of blankets over his arm, an army
revolver in his hand, and his pockets were filled with tobacco, powder,
lead, cartridges, pipes and knives. The Indian critically examined
every article as it was passed over to him, and then after shifting
his saddle to the back of Archie’s horse mounted and rode off, leaving
Archie holding fast to his new purchase and looking first at one and
then at the other of his companions, who were so highly elated that
they could scarcely restrain their glee until the Indian was out of
hearing.
“We did it,” said Featherweight, who was the first to speak.
“And so easily, too,” added Eugene. “You got him cheap, Eugene, if
he is as good as the lieutenant says he is. Your old horse cost you
seventy-five dollars in Salt Lake, and the articles you bought of the
sutler, being all second-hand, could not have cost you much more than
twenty dollars. Ninety-five dollars is little money for a good horse.”
Archie drew a long breath and looked at his nag with an expression of
great satisfaction on his face, which, however, quickly changed to a
look of anxiety as a disagreeable thought intruded itself upon him.
“Fellows,” said he, “perhaps this isn’t the horse we want at all. I
have my suspicions. That Indian parted with him almost too willingly.”
“Eh?” exclaimed Eugene. “O no, that can’t be. The lieutenant said the
horse was mouse-colored and covered all over with white spots, and that
his owner was a one-eyed Indian.”
“But if there should happen to be two mouse-colored horses about the
Fort and two one-eyed Indians,” said Fred, dolefully, “why then——”
“And another thing,” continued Eugene, when Featherweight paused,
“didn’t we see Frank and the lieutenant looking at this very horse
while we were on our way from the camp? That meant something, according
to my way of thinking.”
“If I have been cheated,” said Archie, “I shall never hear the last of
it.”
“But you haven’t been cheated,” said Eugene. “Lend me the horse for
about five minutes, and you and Fred stay here till I come back. I’ll
soon settle the matter.”
Archie’s saddle and bridle were quickly put upon the mustang, and then
Eugene mounted him and rode around an angle of the stockade into the
gate.