As Dr Lascelles stood watching there, his thoughts naturally went back
to the events of the past day, the sixth since they had bidden good-bye
to civilisation and started upon their expedition. He thought of the
remonstrance offered by his men to their proceeding farther; then of the
satisfactory way in which the difficulty had been settled; and later on
of the troubles brought up by his man's remarks. He recalled the weary
years he had spent upon his cattle farm, in which he had invested after
the death of his wife in England; how he had come out to New Mexico, and
settled down to form a cattle-breeding establishment with his young
daughter Maude for companion.
Then he thought of how everything had gone wrong, not only with him, but
with his neighbours, one of the nearest being killed by an onslaught of
a savage tribe of Indians, the news being brought to him by the son of
the slaughtered man. The result had been that the Doctor had determined
to flee at once; but the day was put off, and as no more troubles
presented themselves just then, he once more settled down. Young Bart
became by degrees almost as it were a son, and the fight was continued
till herd after herd had been swept away by the Indians; and at last Dr
Lascelles, the clever physician who had wearied of England and his
practice after his terrible loss, and who had come out to the West to
seek rest and make money for his child, found himself a beggar, and
obliged to begin life again.
Earlier in life he had been a great lover of geology, and was something
of a metallurgist; and though he had of late devoted himself to the
wild, rough life of a western cattle farmer, he had now and then spent a
few hours in exploring the mountainous parts of the country near: so
that when he had once more to look the world in the face, and decide
whether he should settle down as some more successful cattle-breeder's
man, the idea occurred to him that his knowledge of geology might prove
useful in this painful strait.
He jumped at the idea.
Of course: why not? Scores of men had made discoveries of gold, silver,
and other valuable metals, and the result had been fortune. Why should
not he do something of the kind?
He mentioned the idea to young Bartholomew Woodlaw, who jumped at the
prospect, but looked grave directly after.
"I should like it, Mr Lascelles," he said, "but there is Maude."
"What of her?" said the Doctor.
"How could we take her into the wilds?"
"It would be safer to take her into the deserts and mountains, than to
leave her here," said the Doctor bitterly. "I should at least always
have her under my eye."
He went out and told his men, who were hanging about the old ranche
although there was no work for them to do.
One minute they were looking dull and gloomy, the next they were waving
their hats and blankets in the air, and the result of it all was that in
less than a month Dr Lascelles had well stored a waggon with the wreck
of his fortune, purchased a small tent for his daughter's use, and, all
well-armed, the little party had started off into the wilds of New
Mexico, bound for the mountain region, where the Doctor hoped to make
some discovery of mineral treasure sufficient to recompense him for all
his risk, as well as for the losses of the past.
They were, then, six days out when there was what had seemed to be a
sort of mutiny among his men--a trouble that he was in the act of
quelling when we made his acquaintance in the last chapter--though, as
we have seen, it proved to be no mutiny at all, but merely a
remonstrance on the part of the rough, honest fellows who had decided to
share his fortunes, against running into what they esteemed to be
unnecessary risks.
Joses and his three fellows were about as brigandish and wild-looking a
set of half savages as a traveller could light upon in a day's journey
even in these uncivilised parts. In fact, no stranger would have been
ready to trust his life or property in their keeping, if he could have
gone farther. If he had, though, he would most probably have fared
worse; for it is not always your pleasantest outside that proves to hide
the best within.
These few lines, then, will place the reader _au courant_, as the French
say, with the reason of the discussion at the beginning of the last
chapter, and show him as well why it was that Dr Lascelles, Bart
Woodlaw, and Maud Lascelles were out there in the desert with such rough
companions. This being then the case, we will at once proceed to deal
with their adventurous career.