ARTHUR PLANS REVENGE.
Meanwhile, Arthur Vane continued his mad flight toward the settlement.
His hat was gone, his fine shot-gun had been thrown aside as a useless
incumbrance, and his tomahawk and knife had dropped out of his belt; but
he was too frightened to stop to pick them up. No pause he knew until he
reached Mr. Harris's rancho, where he reined up his panting horse, and
electrified the family by shouting through the open window:
"Grizzly bears! Grizzly bears!"
"Where?" breathlessly inquired Mr. Harris, running out on the porch.
Before Arthur could reply, Johnny's mother appeared; and a single glance
at the frightened hunter and his dripping steed, was enough to awaken in
her mind the most terrible apprehensions. She knew, instinctively, that
something dreadful had happened.
"O, my son!" she screamed, sinking down on the porch, and covering her
face with her hands.
Mr. Harris did not stop to ask any questions then. He knew the route the
boys had taken in the morning, and his first thought was to start for
the scene of the conflict, although he had little hopes of arriving in
time to be of any assistance to the young hunters.
"José!" he shouted to one of his Rancheros, who happened to pass by the
house at that moment, "call all the men to saddle up at once. The boys
have been attacked by a grizzly in the mountains."
The gentleman carried his fainting wife into the house, and presently
re-appeared with a brace of revolvers strapped to his waist, and a rifle
in his hand.
"Did you see any of the boys hurt?"
He asked this question in a firm voice; but his pale face and quivering
lips showed that the news he had just received had not been without its
effect upon him.
"No, sir," replied Arthur. "My horse ran away with me; but I heard the
fight, and I know that the dogs were all cut to pieces. The bear was an
awful monster--as large as an ox; and such teeth and claws as he had! I
never saw the like in all my hunting."
In a few moments, half a dozen herdsmen, all well armed, galloped up,
one of them leading his employer's horse.
"Vane," said Mr. Harris, as he sprang into his saddle, "you will stop on
your way home, and tell Mr. Winters, will you not?"
Arthur replied by putting spurs to his horse, and in a few moments he
was standing in Mr. Winters's court, spreading consternation among the
people of the rancho. Dick and Bob were there; but, unlike the rest of
the herdsmen, they seemed to be but little affected by Arthur's story.
"You'll never see those boys again," said the latter, winding up his
narrative with a description of the bear by which they had been
attacked.
"Now, don't you be anyways oneasy," replied Dick, hurrying off to saddle
his horse. "If it war a grizzly, he's dead enough by this time, for I
knowed them youngsters long afore you sot eyes on to 'em, an' I know
what they can do. Didn't I tell you, 'Squire," he added, turning to Mr.
Winters, who was pacing anxiously up and down the porch, "that Frank
would come out all right when he war stampeded with them buffaler? Wal,
I tell you the same now."
Arthur remained at the rancho until Uncle James and his herdsmen set out
for the mountains, and then turned his face homeward.
It is a rule that seldom fails, that when one meets a braggadocio, he
can put him down as a coward. We have seen that it held good in Arthur's
case; for, although he had not caught the smallest glimpse of the animal
in the bushes, he was so terrified that he had run his horse eight
miles; and, while he was plunging his spurs into the gray's sides at
almost every jump, he imagined that the animal was running away with
him. He was so badly frightened that he did not pause to consider that
he might have occasioned a great deal of unnecessary anxiety and alarm
by the stories he had circulated. He really believed that every word he
had uttered was the truth; and he reached this conclusion by a process
of reasoning perfectly satisfactory to himself. He had heard the growls
and snarls uttered by the animal in the bushes, when attacked by the
dogs, and they were so appalling, that he felt safe in believing that
they came from some terrible monster. The conduct of the hounds, and of
Johnny's horse, confirmed this opinion. Besides, Frank and Archie had
pronounced the animal a grizzly, and Arthur was quite sure it was; for
nothing else, except a lion or tiger, could have uttered such growls. He
had heard that grizzlies were very tenacious of life, and hard to whip,
and, consequently, it followed, as a thing of course, that Frank and
Archie, and the dogs, were utterly annihilated.
"I'm safe, thank goodness!" said Arthur, to himself. "If those fellows
were foolish enough to stay there and be clawed to pieces, that's their
lookout and not mine. Johnny Harris insulted me by calling me a coward.
He may escape from the bear, and if he does, I shall think up a plan to
punish him."
When Arthur reached home, he repeated his story as he had told it to Mr.
Harris and Uncle James, and he straightway found himself a hero. He had
seen a grizzly bear with terrible claws, and a frightful array of teeth;
his horse had run away with him, and carried him eight miles before he
could stop him, and he had come home with a whole skin. It was
wonderful.
Arthur threw on airs accordingly. He strutted about among the herdsmen,
and entertained his servant, a Mexican boy about his own age, named
Pedro, with a description of the fight, in which he had seen four fierce
dogs completely demolished.
Pedro complimented him highly, and the Rancheros called him a brave
lad--although Arthur himself failed to see what he had done that was
deserving of praise. He went to bed in excellent spirits, and was
awakened in the morning, about daylight, by Pedro, who came into his
room, carrying in his hand a double-barreled shot-gun, a tomahawk, and
sheath-knife, and, under his arm, he held a hat, and a bundle wrapped up
in a newspaper. Pedro held his sombrero over his face, so that nothing
could be seen but his eyes, which were brimful of laughter.
"Now, then," exclaimed Arthur, raising himself on his elbow, and looking
fiercely at the boy, "what do you want in here at this barbarous hour,
and what are you grinning at?"
"Why, sir--the bear, you know; it wasn't a bear after all," stammered
Pedro, in reply.
"It wasn't! I say it was. Didn't I see him with my own eyes, and hear
him growl with my own ears? Take that hat down from your face, and stop
your laughing."
Pedro obeyed. He placed the bundle on a chair beside the bed, leaned the
gun up in one corner, deposited the other articles upon the table, and
then pulled out of his pocket a note which he handed to Arthur.
"Now take yourself off," commanded that young gentleman.
Pedro vanished, and Arthur heard him laughing to himself as he passed
through the hall.
"What does the rascal mean, I wonder; and who can be writing to me so
early in the morning?"
Arthur looked at the bundle, which lay on the chair beside him, felt of
it with his fingers, and then turned his attention to the note, which
ran as follows:
"Frank, Archie, and Johnny present their compliments to Colonel
Vane, and beg leave to inform him that, after a struggle
unequaled in the annals of hunting, they succeeded in dispatching
the monster by which they were attacked yesterday. They are,
also, happy to announce that the dogs, which were so badly cut up
during the fight, have so far recovered as to be out, and to take
their regular rations. They request the Colonel to accept the
accompanying articles, including the skin of the grizzly bear,
and to preserve them as mementoes of the most exciting event of
his life. They sincerely hope that the Colonel sustained no
injury during his ride on his runaway horse."
Arthur read this letter over twice, and, although he made no comments
upon it, it was easy enough to see that he was highly enraged. He sat up
in the bed, and, with trembling hands, tore off the covering of the
bundle, and discovered the skin of the gray wolf.
"By gracious!" exclaimed Arthur, jumping out on the floor. "Was a
gentleman ever before so insulted? That little Yankee, Archie Winters,
is at the bottom of all this, and if he don't suffer for it, I'll know
the reason why."
He tore the note into fragments, pitched the bundle out of the window,
and walked angrily about the room, shaking his fists in the air, and
threatening all sorts of vengeance against Archie and his two friends.
If he had been in his sober senses, he would have felt heartily ashamed
of himself; but the note had opened his eyes to the fact that he had
sadly injured his reputation, and he was angry at his companions because
he had done so--although how they could be blamed for that, it would
have puzzled a sensible boy to determine. But, after all, his case was
not an isolated one. It is by no means uncommon for boys, when they get
angry, to revenge themselves upon some innocent thing. We remember that,
on a certain rainy day, several boys were congregated in a barn, amusing
themselves by turning hand-springs. One clumsy fellow, whose feet were
so heavy that he could not get them over his head, became greatly
enraged at his failures, and finally tried to soothe his wounded pride
by whipping one of his companions.
Arthur was actuated by the same spirit. He walked up and down his room
for a long time, trying to make up his mind what he should do, and, when
he was called to breakfast, he had decided upon a plan of operations,
which promised to make Archie and his friends a great deal of trouble.
"I'll be revenged upon the whole lot of them at once," said Arthur, to
himself. "Upon Johnny Harris, for calling me a coward; upon Archie
Winters, for writing me that note--for I know he did it, although
Johnny's name does come last--and upon Frank Nelson, for being a friend
to those fellows, and for being so stuck up. He scarcely spoke to me
yesterday, and I won't stand such treatment from any boy. I'll teach
these backwoodsmen to insult a gentleman!"
"Well, Arthur," said Mr. Vane, as the boy seated himself at the table,
"you must have looked through a very badly-frightened pair of eyes, to
make a grizzly bear out of a wolf."
"Who told you it was a wolf?" asked Arthur, gruffly.
"One of Mr. Winters's herdsmen--Dick Lewis, I believe, they call him. He
came over this morning to bring your weapons and hat."
Dick despised a coward quite as much as he admired a boy of spirit and
courage, and it is certain that the story, as he had heard it from Frank
and Archie, lost nothing in passing through his hands. He first told it
to Mr. Vane, as he handed him the articles he had brought, and then
repeated it to one of the Rancheros; and, by the time Arthur had
finished his breakfast, the occurrences of the previous day were known
to every one on the rancho. Pedro laughed when he brought out Arthur's
horse, and the herdsmen, as he rode through their quarters, exchanged
winks with one another, and made a great many remarks about grizzly
bears, especially concerning the one Arthur had seen the day before.
There was one man, however, who took no part in the joking and laughing,
and that was Joaquin, who was just mounting his horse to drive up some
stock.
"Don't mind them," said he, as Arthur rode beside him. "They are a set
of blackguards, and don't know how to treat a gentleman."
"Now, that's like a true friend," replied Arthur. "You're the only one I
have on the ranch."
Joaquin was a villainous-looking Mexican, and since he had been in Mr.
Vane's employ, he had had little to do with the other herdsmen. He
seemed to prefer to be alone, unless he could have Arthur for company.
He always took a great deal of interest in the boy's affairs, and it was
from his lips that Arthur had heard the story of Frank's adventures with
Pierre Costello. Joaquin had gained Arthur's good will by confiding to
him a great many secrets, and one day he went so far as to confess that
Pierre was his particular friend, and that, if he felt so disposed, he
could point out the cave in the mountains where the robber was
concealed, and tell who it was that supplied him with food, and kept him
posted in all that happened in the settlement. Joaquin might have added,
further, that he himself had held several long interviews with Pierre of
late, and had talked over with him certain plans, in which Arthur Vane
and his three companions of the previous day bore prominent parts. But
this was one secret that the Ranchero kept to himself.
"If you know where the robber is hidden, why don't you tell Mr. Winters,
and claim the reward?" Arthur had one day asked Joaquin.
"What! betray my best friend!" exclaimed that worthy, in great
astonishment. "I am not base enough to abuse any man's confidence. Do
you suppose that if you were in Pierre's place, and I knew where you
were concealed, that I could be hired to play false to you? No, sir!"
Arthur remembered this remark, and on this particular morning, as he
rode out with the Ranchero, he called the latter's attention to it, and
asked if he could trust him. The reply was a strong affirmative, which
satisfied Arthur that he might speak freely, and the result was, the
revelation of his plan for taking revenge on Frank, Johnny, and Archie.
Joaquin listened attentively, and Arthur was delighted at the readiness,
and even eagerness, with which the herdsman fell in with his ideas, and
promised his assistance. He had one amendment to propose, that did not
exactly suit Arthur; but, after a little argument, he agreed to it. They
talked the matter over for half an hour, and then Arthur started for
home, and the Ranchero galloped off to attend to his stock.
That night, after all his companions were asleep, Joaquin crept quietly
out of his quarters, and, after saddling his horse, rode toward the
mountains. He was gone nearly all night, but returned in time to get to
bed before the herdsmen awoke; and, when he arose with the others, none
of them knew that he had been away from the rancho. Arthur Vane must
have known something about it, however, for the next morning, as soon as
he had eaten his breakfast, he mounted his horse, and overtook Joaquin,
just as he was leaving his quarters.
"Well!" said Arthur.
The Ranchero looked suspiciously about him, and, finding that there was
no one within sight or hearing, he detached his knife and sheath from
his belt, produced a folded paper from the crown of his sombrero, and
handed them both to Arthur, saying, in a suppressed whisper:
"It's all right."
"Did you see him?" asked Arthur, eagerly.
"I did, and he says your plan is an excellent one, and he will help you
to carry it out. The black line on that paper points out the road you
are to follow; the light lines, that branch off from it, are old
bridle-paths. Look at the paper often, and you can't get lost. He has
never seen you, you know, and, when you find him, you must show him my
knife to prove that you are a friend. Bear one thing in mind, now, and
that is, you are playing a dangerous game, and if you are found out, the
country around here will be too hot to hold you. Remember that I am your
only friend in this matter, and say nothing to nobody except me."
With this piece of advice, the Ranchero galloped off, and Arthur, after
placing the knife in his belt, and putting the paper carefully away in
his pocket, rode toward the mountains.
During the next few hours, Arthur consulted his paper frequently, and,
about noon, he was standing at the base of a precipitous cliff, twenty
miles from home, examining the natural features of the place, and
comparing them with his diagram. He saw no one; but half way up the
cliff was a huge bowlder, over which peered a pair of eyes that were
closely watching every move he made; and, when Arthur whistled twice,
the eyes disappeared, and a man stepped from behind the rock, and said,
in a gruff voice:
"Who are you, and what do you want here?"
"Are you Pierre Costello?" asked Arthur.
"Well, now, that's no concern of yours," replied the man. "Who are you?"
As he spoke, he drew a revolver from his sash, and rested it on the rock
beside him, the muzzle pointing straight at the boy's head.
"Don't!" cried Arthur, turning pale, and stepping back. "I am Arthur
Vane, and I have come here to have a talk with you. Here is Joaquin's
knife, which will prove that I am all right."
The man returned his revolver to his belt, and came down the cliff; and,
presently, Arthur found himself standing face to face with a live
robber.
"I am Pierre Costello," said the latter; "and I was waiting for you."