"SURROUNDED BY INDIANS."
A good breakfast and a few hours' rest seemed to put a different aspect
upon the face of affairs; the day was glorious, and though the region
they were in was arid and wanting in water, there was plenty to interest
any one travelling on an expedition of research. A good look-out was
kept for Indians, but the party seemed to have gone right away, and to
give them ample time to get to a greater distance, Dr Lascelles
determined, if he could find a spring anywhere at hand, to stay where
they were for a couple of days.
"You see, Bart," he said, as they hunted about amongst the craggiest
part of the amphitheatre where fortune or misfortune had led them, "it
does not much matter where we go, so long as it is into a region where
Europeans have not penetrated before. Many of these hills are teeming
with mineral treasures, and we must come upon some of Nature's wasting
store if we persevere."
"Then we might find metals here, sir?" said Bart eagerly.
"As likely here as anywhere else. These rocks are partly quartz, and at
any time we may come upon some of the stone veined with gold, or stumble
upon a place where silver lies in blocks."
"I hope," laughed Bart, "when we do, I may stumble right over one of the
blocks and so be sure of examining it. I think I should know silver if
I found it."
"I am not so sure," said the Doctor. "You've led a life of a kind that
has not made you very likely to understand minerals, but I daresay we
shall both know a little more about them before we have done--that is,"
he added with a sigh, "if the Indians will leave us alone."
"We must give them the slip, sir," said Bart, laughing.
"Perhaps we may, my boy; but we have another difficulty to contend
with."
"What's that, sir; the distance?"
"No, Bart; I'm uneasy about the men. I'm afraid they will strike sooner
or later, and insist upon going back."
"I'm not, sir," replied Bart. "I will answer for Joses, and he has only
to say he means to go forward, and the others then will keep by his
side. Mind that snake, sir."
The Doctor raised his rifle to fire, but refrained, lest the report
should be heard, and drawing back, the rattlesnake did the same; then
they continued their journey, the Doctor examining the rocks attentively
as he went on, but seeing nothing worthy of notice.
"We must be well on our guard against these reptiles, Bart; that is the
first I have seen, and they may prove numerous."
"They are numerous," said Bart; and he told of the number he had seen
upon the slope above them.
"That settles me upon going forward this evening," said the Doctor, "for
water seems to be very scarce. We must try and strike the river higher
up, and follow its course. We shall then have plenty of water always
within reach, and find wood and trees and hiding-places."
"But I thought you wanted to get into a mountainous part, sir, where
precious minerals would be found," said Bart.
"Exactly, my dear boy, and that is just the place we shall reach if we
persevere, for it is up in these rocky fastnesses, where the rivers have
their sources, and sometimes their beds are sprinkled with the specks
and also with pieces of gold that have been washed out of the sides of
the mighty hills."
They went on thoughtfully for a time, the Doctor giving a chip here and
a chip there as he passed masses of rock, but nothing rewarded him, and
their walk was so uneventful that they saw nothing more than another
rattlesnake, the valley being so solitary and deserted that, with the
exception of a large hawk, they did not even see a bird.
They, however, found a tiny spring of water which trickled down among
the rocks, and finally formed a little pool, ample for supplying their
horses with water, and this discovery made the Doctor propose a return.
"I don't like leaving Maude for long," he said.
"Joses will watch over her, sir, as safely as you would yourself. You
saved his life once he told me."
"He told you that!" exclaimed the Doctor.
"Yes, sir, when the rattlesnake bit him, and I don't think he would ever
be ungrateful, though I think he feels hurt that you do not place more
trust in him."
"Well, let him prove himself well worthy of my trust," said the Doctor,
bluntly. "I have not found him so ready as he should be in helping me
with my plans."
Here the Doctor became very silent and reserved, and though Bart asked
him several questions, and tried to get him into conversation, he hardly
spoke, but seemed moody and thoughtful till they were close upon the
little camp.
This was hidden from them till they were almost there, for the upper end
of the Horse-shoe Valley was extremely rugged, and their way lay in and
out among heavy blocks of stone that seemed as if they had been hurled
down from the mountain-side.
When they were just about to turn into the narrow opening where the
waggon lay and the horses were tethered, the Doctor stooped down to
examine some fragments that lay loose about their feet, and the
consequence was that Bart went on alone. He was just about to give a
peculiar whistle, one used commonly by himself and the men when they
wished to signal their whereabouts, when he stopped short, half hidden
by the rocks, raised his rifle to his shoulder, and stood ready to fire,
while his face, tanned as it was by the sun, turned of a sickly hue.
For a moment he was about to fire. Then he felt that he must rush
forward and save Maude. The next moment calmer reflection told him that
such help and strength as he could command would be needed, and,
slipping back out of sight, he ran to where he had left the Doctor.
He found him sitting down examining by means of a little
magnifying-glass one of the fragments of rock that he had chipped off,
while his rifle lay across his knee.
He seemed so calm and content that in those moments of emergency Bart
almost shrank from speaking, knowing, as he did, how terrible would be
the effect of his words.
Just then the Doctor looked up, saw his strange gaze, and dropping the
fragments, he leaped to his feet.
"What is it?" he cried; "what is wrong?" and as he spoke the lock of his
double rifle gave forth two ominous clicks twice over.
"They have come round while we have been away," whispered Bart hoarsely.
"They? Who? Our men?"
"No," panted Bart; "the camp is surrounded by Indians."