Bart did think differently when he cooled down, and, after a warm
greeting from the Doctor, who praised his bravery and thanked him for
bringing help, saw the dreary business of burying the fallen in those
fierce charges; for he shuddered and thought of the horrors of such an
occupation, even when the fights were in thorough self-defence.
Joses was full of excitement, and kept on shaking hands with the Beaver
instead of with Bart.
"I knew he'd do it. I knew he'd do it," he kept on saying. "There
arn't a braver lad nowhere, that I will say."
There was but little time for talking and congratulations, however, for
the waggons had to be unloaded and camp formed for the lancers and
Mexicans, the former being out in the plains driving in the Indian
ponies that had not gone off with the Apaches, the result being that
thirty were enclosed in the corral before dark, being some little
compensation for the former loss.
Bart learned that night, when the captain and the governor were the
guests of the Doctor, that beyond occasional alarms but little had gone
on during his absence. The Indians had been there all the time, and his
friends had always been in full expectation of an attack, night or day,
but none had come.
The most serious threatening had been on the night when Bart set off,
but the terrible storm had evidently stopped it, and the Doctor related
how the rock had been struck by lightning, a large portion shattered,
and the bodies of several Indians found there the next morning.
There was good watch set that night, not that there was much likelihood
of the Indians returning, but to make sure; and then many hours were
spent in rejoicing, for several of the adventurers had been giving way
to despair, feeling that they had done wrong in coming, and were asking
in dismay what was to become of them when the stores were exhausted.
"We can't eat silver," they had reproachfully said to the Doctor; and
when he had reminded them how he had sent for help, they laughed him to
scorn.
All murmurers were now silenced, and, light-hearted and joyous, the
future of the silver canyon became the principal topic of conversation
with all.
The next morning, as it was found that the Indians were still hovering
about, Captain Miguel showed himself ready for any emergency. The
Beaver and his men were at once mounted on the pick of the Indian
ponies, and a start was made to meet the enemy.
So well was this expedition carried out, that, after a good deal of
feinting and manoeuvring, the captain was enabled to charge home once
more, scattering the Indians like chaff, and this time pursuing them to
their temporary camp, with the result that the Apaches, thoroughly cowed
by the attacks of these horsemen, who fought altogether like one man,
continued their flight, and the whole of the horses and cattle, with
many Indian ponies as well, were taken and driven back in triumph to the
corral by the rocks.
This encounter with the Indians proved most effectual, for the portion
of the nation to which they belonged had never before encountered
disciplined troops; and so stern was the lesson they received, that,
though predatory parties were seen from time to time, it was quite a
year before any other serious encounter took place.
In the meantime, the governor had been so impressed with the value of
the Doctor's discovery, that, without interfering in the slightest
degree with his prospects, communications were at once opened up with
Lerisco; more people were invited to come out, smelting furnaces were
erected, the silver purified, and in less than six months a regular
traffic had been established across the plains, over which mules laden
with the precious metal, escorted by troops, were constantly going, and
returning with stores for use in the mining town.
A town began to spring up rapidly, with warehouses and stores; for the
mountain was no longer standing in solitary silence in the middle of the
great plain. The hum of industry was ever to be heard; the picks of the
miners were constantly at work; the great stamps that had been erected
loudly pounded up the ore; and the nights that had been dark and lonely
out there in the plains were now illumined, and watched with wonder by
the roving Apaches, when the great silver furnaces glowed and roared as
the precious metal was heated in the crucibles before being poured into
the ingot-making moulds.
The growth of the place was marvellous, the canyon proving to be so rich
in the finest kinds of silver, that the ore had but to be roughly torn
out of the great rift that was first shown by the chief, and the profits
were so enormous that Doctor Lascelles became as great a man in his way
as the governor, while Bart, as his head officer and superintendent of
the mine, had rule over quite a host.
Houses rose rapidly, many of them being of a most substantial kind, and
in addition a large barrack was built for the accommodation of fifty
men, who worked as miners, but had certain privileges besides for
forming the troop of well-mounted lancers, whose duty it was to protect
the mining town and the silver canyon from predatory bands of Apaches.
These lancers were raised and drilled by Captain Miguel, Bart being
appointed their leader when he had grown to years of discretion--that is
to say, of greater discretion than of old, and that was soon after
Doctor Lascelles had said to him one day:
"Well, yes, Bart; you always have seemed to be like my son. I think it
will be as well;" and, as a matter of course, that conversation related
to Bart's marriage with Maude.
But, in spite of his prosperity and the constant demand for his services
in connection with the mines and the increase of the town, Bart never
forgot his delight in a ramble in the wilds; and whenever time allowed,
and the Beaver and some of his followers had come in from some hunting
expedition, there was just a hint to Joses, when before daybreak next
morning a start was made either to hunt bison and prong-horn, the
black-tailed deer in the woods at the foot of the mountain, or to fish
in some part of the canyon. Unfortunately, though, the sparkling river
became spoiled by degrees, owing to the enormous quantities of
mine-refuse that ran in, poisoning the fish, and preventing them from
coming anywhere near the mountain.
Still there were plenty to be had by those daring enough to risk an
encounter with the Indians, and many were the excursions Bart enjoyed
with Joses and the Beaver, both remaining his attached followers, though
the latter used to look sadly at the change that had come over the land.
And truly it was a wondrous change; for, as years passed on, the town
grew enormously--works sprang up with towering chimneys and furnaces,
the former ever belching out their smoke; while of such importance did
Silver Canyon City grow, and so great was the traffic, that mules and
waggons could no longer do the work.
The result is easy to guess. There was a vast range of rolling plain to
cross, a few deviations enabling the engineer, who surveyed the country
with Apaches watching him, to avoid the mountains; and this being done,
and capital abundant, a railway soon crept, like a sinuous serpent, from
Lerisco to the mountain foot, along which panted and raced the heavily
laden trains.
The Apaches scouted, and there was some little trouble with them at
first, but they were punished pretty severely, though they took no
lesson so deeply to heart as the one read their chief upon seeing the
first train run along the rails.
Poor wretch! he had not much more sense than a bison; for he galloped
his little pony right on to the line, and pressed forward to meet the
engine after firing his rifle--he rode no more!
"Well, I dare say it's all right, Master Bart," said Joses one day;
"everybody's getting rich and happy, and all the rest of it; but somehow
I liked the good old times."
"Why, Joses?" said Bart.
"Because, you see, Master Bart, we seem to be so horrid safe now."
"Safe, Joses?"
"Yes, Master Bart," grumbled the old fellow; "there arn't no risks, no
keeping watch o' nights, no feeling as it arn't likely that you'll ever
see another morning, and it isn't exciting enough for me."
But then the Beaver came up with some news that made Joses' eyes
sparkle.
"There's buffalo out on the far plain, captain," he said; "and I've seen
sign of mountain sheep three days' journey up the canyon. Will the
young chief Bart go?"
"That I will, Beaver," cried Bart. "To-morrow at daybreak."
"No; to-night," said the Beaver.
"That's the way," growled Joses. "Say yes, Master Bart."
Bart did say yes, as he generally would upon hearing such news as this--
these excursions carrying him back to the old adventurous days, when,
quite a lad, he joined in a hunt to find provision for the little camp.
Then Black Boy would be saddled, for the sturdy little cob never seemed
to grow old, except that there were a few grey hairs in his black coat;
provisions were prepared, ammunition packed, good-byes said, and for a
few days Bart and his friends would be off into the wilderness, away
from the bustle and toil always in progress now at the silver canyon.