Part 17 (1/2)
”And will he take me there?”
”Yes; the Beaver will take his brother there, and give it all into his hands”
”At last!” cried the Doctor excitedly Then in a low voice, ”Suppose it should not prove to be silver after all?”
”I know it is silver,” said the Indian, quietly ”Look,” he cried, taking a clu ”That ca upon the lariat of the chief”
”Ask him when he will take me there!” cried the Doctor
”He says now,” replied the Indian, s way, and the plains are hot, and there is little water; but we can hunt as we go, and all will be well”
”You know the way fro way, is it not?”
The Indian smiled ”It is a very short journey,” he said ”I know the way”
In effect they started as soon as the ca the way, took theulch, of whose existence they were unaware, by which they made an easy descent into the plain, and into which they passed with such good effect that at sunset the bold bluff where the adventure with the bears had taken place stood up in the distance, with the steep wall falling away on either side, looking diminutive in the distance, and very different to what it really was
They had had a rapid progress over a long range of perfectly level plain, the horses, after the toils in the rass beneath their feet; and hence it was that when they were ca mane and tail had been divested of saddle and bridle, and after being watered was about to be secured by its lariat to the tether-peg, the excitable little creature, that had been till now all docility and tractableness, suddenly uttered a shrill neigh, pranced, reared up, and before Bart could seize it by the mane, went off across the plain like the wind
The loss of such a beast would have been irreparable, and the Doctor and Joses ran to untether their horses to join pursuit, but before they could reach them, the Beaver and half a dozen of histheir lariats as they rode and holding them over their heads ready to use as lassoes as soon as they could get within reach of the fugitive
No easy task this, for as, dolefully enough, Bart looked on fro distance ahead, while now the Indians see to the left to try and cut the restive little creature off, as hepart of the plain about a couple of miles away
Bart was helpless, for there was no horse of their own left that was of the slightest use for pursuit of his swift little cob, and all he could do was to stare after those engaged in the pursuit in a hopeless way as the truant galloped on at full speed, swishi+ng its tail, tossing its head, and apparently revelling in its newly-found liberty
All at once Bart became aware of the fact that one of the Indians had been for so hih as if he were enjoying the youth's ht Bart, as he darted an indignant look at the Indian, who sat upon his swift pony like a group cut in bronze ”He one after Black Boy, for his pony looks as if it could go”
Just then the Indian threw hi and drew near to Bart, with the horse-hair rein in his hand Then hefellow to o after erly
The Indian did not understand his words, but evidently realised their , for he smiled and nodded, and placed the rein in Bart's hand, when he leaped into the saddle, or rather into the apology for a saddle, for it was only a piece of bison hide held on by a bandage, while a sort of knob or peg was in the place of the pommel, a contrivance invented by the Indians to hold on by when attacking a dangerous eneside of their horse, and fire or shoot arrows beneath its neck, their bodies being in this way thoroughly protected by their horses
The Indian smiled and drew back when Bart touched the pony with his heel, the result being that, instead of going off at a gallop, the little restive beast reared up, pawing at the air with its hoofs, and nearly falling backwards upon its rider
The Indian looked on intently as if ready to leap forward and seize the bridle should Bart be dismounted But the lad kept his seat, and the pony went on all fours again, but only to begin kicking furiously, to dislodge the strange white-faced being upon its back It was like an insult to an animal that had been accustomed to carry true-blooded Indians all its life, dressed in skins ornamented with feathers and neatly painted up for special occasions, to have a pale-faced, undersized hue clothesseemed to be to kick him off as soon as it could
These seemed to be the ideas of the Indian pony as exemplified by its acts; but the wildest of animals of the horse family cannot always do as they please, and it was evidently with so like astonishment that the little steed found Bart, still fixed fir off backwards over the tail
This being so, the pony began to what is called ”buck,” that is to say, instead of letting its back rereeable hollow curve, one which seems to have been , it curved its spine in the opposite direction, arching it as a cat would, but of course in aup from the earth in a series of buck juround at once
Still, in spite of this being the most difficult form of horse trouble to reat deal, but he had been long used to riding restive horses, and he sat there as coolly as if in a chair