Part 4 (2/2)
I was still unable to walk, and he had to do all the work of packing up for the trip hoon, covered it with the wagon-sheet we had used in the dugout, and made me a comfortable bed inside We had three hundred beaver and one hundred otter skins to show for our work That et thehth day of the journey home we reached a ranch on the Republican River, where we rested for a couple of days Then ent on to the ranch where Harrington had obtained his cattle and paid for the yoke with twenty-five beaver skins, the equivalent of a hundred dollars in money
At the end of twenty days' travel we reached Salt Creek Valley, where I elcomed by my rateful was ton for what he had done forhis hoe of our far, this man, who had safely weathered the ht cold while setting out soht a doctor fro in our power to save him, but in a week he died The loss of a member of our own family could not have affected us more
I was now inappetite for adventure A very few out that I had forgotten all about my resolve to forsake the frontier forever I looked about
I was not long in finding it In April, 1860, the firanized the wonderful ”Pony Express,” the er-service that this country has ever seen The route was from St Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, a distance of two thousand ebrush and alkali desert, and through two great ainst ti fifteen miles apart A rider's route covered three stations, with an exchange of horses at each, so that he was expected at the beginning to cover close to forty-five e fifteenthe enterprise had been busy for so the best ponies to be had for htest, most wiry and most experienced riders This was a life that appealed toin years, but I had already earned a reputation for co safe out of perilous adventures, and I was hired
Naturally our equipes which we carried ritten on the thinnest paper to be found These we carried in a waterproof pouch, slung under our ar as was absolutely necessary
The first trip of the Pony Express was e of two hundredour riders and ht days President Buchanan's last Presidential ht days President Lincoln's inaugural, the following March, took only seven days and seventeen hours for the journey between St Joseph and Sacraot used to the work When it becae that the boys could do better than forty-five thened The pay of the rider was from 100 to 125 a month It was announced that the further a man rode the better would be his pay That put speed and endurance into all of us
Stern necessity often cothen our day's work even beyond our desires In the hostile Indian country, riders were frequently shot In such an event the man whose relief had been killed had to ride on to the next station, doing two ents were another menace, and often they proved as deadly as the Indians
In stretchingfurther and further west Finally I was riding well into the foothills of the Rockies
Still further west my route was pushed Soon I rode from Red buttes to Sater, a distance of seventy-six ents and Indians infested this country I never was quite sure when I started out when I should reach my destination, or whether I should never reach it at all
One day I galloped into the station at Three Crossings to find that ht before There was no one to take his place His route was eighty-five miles across country to the west I had no tiood pony out of the stables I was soon on e, the end of the new route, on schedule ti-place The round trip was 320 miles, and I made it in twenty-one hours and fortymy two years' service as a Pony Express rider One day as I was leaving Horse Creek, a party of fifteen Indians jaht miles west of the station They fired at me repeatedly, but my luck held, and I went unscathed My mount was a California roan pony, the fastest in the stables I dug the spurs into his sides, and, lying flat on his back, I kept straight on for Sater Bridge eleven ht me more speedily to shelter, but I did not dare risk it
The Indians ca with all the speed they could put into their horses, but my pony drew rapidly ahead I had a lead of two et no new pony The stock-tender had been killed by the Indians during the night
All his ponies had been stolen and driven off I kept on, therefore, to Plonts Station, twelvethe same pony--a ride of twenty-four miles on one mount At Plonts I told the people what had happened at Sater Bridge Then, with a fresh horse, I finished my route without further adventure
[Illustration: PURSUED BY FIFTEEN BLOODTHIRSTY INDIANS, I HAD A RUNNING FIGHT OF ELEVEN MILES]
CHAPTER II
About the middle of September the Indians beca the Sater, between Split Rock and Three Crossings A stage had been robbed and two passengers killed outright Lem Flowers, the driver, was badly wounded The thievish redskins also drove stock repeatedly fro in wait for passing stages and Pony Express riders
It was useless to keep the Express going until these depredations could be stopped A lay-off of six weeks was ordered, and our tianized to carry the war into the Indians' own country, and teach them that the white man's property must be let alone This party I joined