Part 15 (1/2)
It looked as if honors had fairly been heaped upon him and Na-tee-kah, and, for their sakes, upon Ha-ha-pah-no So fact concerning the latter that she had learned how to make coffee, and that her hair was now brushed and combed and made shi+ny They knehat coain be the same woman in her own estimation, they were sure of that She had always held her head high enough, for her husband was a renowned brave and her tongue was always in good order
The drove of ponies and mules was the centre of attraction, after Two Arrows had finished his recital, and every Nez Perce searched it eagerly for his own It was decided to send off several braves at once, with soh the pass the lodges and other materials they had hidden near the camp of their starvation
Two Arrows ate his breakfast and dinner in one meal, and was then bidden to mount a pony at once and ride away after his pale-face friends, with the strongest assurances that the Nez Perces regarded thear-skin to Sile, as a proper acknowledgment of the fact that he had been a looker-on at the rescue of the quadrupeds fro leadershi+p of the bad old ladly away upon his errand, and soe” All whom they left behind them had now abundant subject-hs!” The entire future suddenly brightened up for that band of Nez Perces, and they were entirely confident of their ability to procure a new supply of dogs As for One-eye, that sagacious brute wandered around the corral, frohly He would have folloo Arrows, but for the stern refusal of Long Bear He was needed at ho and barking to be done On the whole he was as well satisfied to have it so, for his accu to think about seriously
Sile was not exactly a hero when he reached cary boy It seemed to him that he could eat as many trout as Ha-ha-pah-no could broil for hi tih so upon venison cuts and coffee All had roolad of a little bear-h after breakfast, to go and see his bear brought in He would not willingly have missed that, and was only afraid lest it should have been stolen in his absence, in spite of the care taken by Yellow Pine to throw bushes over it, and give any roving coyote an idea that a trap was there Said Pine, in answer to a question,
”Theood One on 'em'd sit down in front of that there, and howl all day and all night before he'd uess at a trap?”
”Oh, they're laid on kind o' reg'lar, and he'd smell the b'ar too, and he'd knoas so they ain't cunnin' enough for, and that's a rifle-bullet They'd dodge that if they could see it a coht in and skinned, and Sile said to hi better than a deer to tell of when Two Arrows gets back again”
CHAPTER XXI
THE GOLD MINE
A proud girl was Na-tee-kah that bright September day, and she took an extraordinary amount of pains with her hair So, for that matter, did Ha-ha-pah-no, and Sile could but discern that both treated him with much more respect than at first He had been with Two Arrows at the recovery of the ponies, he had killed a buck and a bear, and was evidently able to use the weapons of grown-up white braves He was therefore not a boy to be snubbed; and, if it had not been for his unfortunate light co At all events he was disposed to do his best to be polite, and they illing to nity and propriety They were under the especial care of the judge himself, however, and Na-tee-kah derived a vast amount of comfort from an occasional look at his very fatherly and benevolent face Her obvious respect for Yellow Pine waslike fear as yet, and she would not have a word to say to any of the miners Horses were furnished to both of the, and no man in the party was more at home upon one, except that a side-saddle was an invention that they had never heard of and did not need
”We'll git to the e,” said Yellow Pine, when they halted for their noon luncheon, and the further information he added stin of peril or even of human presence, other than their own, did they encounter, and yet the other hu nearer
The camp of the Apache marauders broke up at sunrise, with a considerable a A man familiar with their dialect, or with only a little of it, could easily have gathered that they were eager for nehich did not come, and for scouts who did not return Not all of theain come into that or any other camp, news or no news In the absence of any, it was plainly a due precaution to push forward even farther beyond the supposed pursuit of the ood deal more than a mere supposition about that pursuit, for Captain Grover and his men were on the trail at as early an hour as was consistent with a proper care of their horses, and a hearty breakfast all around They were a fine looking lot of men, bronzed and weather-beaten and soldierly Their uniforms were not exactly in ”parade” condition, but there was nothing slovenly about them, and their weapons were in excellent order They had several ”led-horses,” to ht becons of careful groo A captain, a lieutenant, and thirtyforce for a hundred and more of Apache warriors to run from, but neither of the two parties could have a correct knowledge of the strength of the other Besides, the ht, but rather to pick up scalps and plunder and get aithout serious loss Redobjection to being shot at or sabred, and know that it does not take a great many hard-won victories over cavalry, even if they should win theth of a tribe
As for Captain Grover, he had been ordered to follow and ”strike” that band of Apaches, and compel them to return to their ”reservation,” and he had no other purpose in hly
”I'll follow theo We've wiped out six of their scouts already”
”Garry,” said one of the in to think this 'ere's an unhealthy crowd to creep in on”
”The more on 'eht at the close”
”Sharp hen that comes, or I'm mistaken, but they can't take hoss plunder into theso cheerily and confidently, it became plainer and plainer that those men had small doubt of their ability to deal with any ordinary band of red horse-thieves if they could meet them fairly It would hardly have seemed so to an unprejudiced observer of the Apache cavalcade thatEvery warrior was a perfect horseman, and ell mounted and well armed There were lances instead of sabres, but the pistols and carbines, or rifles, were just as good as those carried by the cavalry The red men were all trained and experienced soldiers, under capable leaders, and it looked as if all they had to do was to choose a good position and wait for Captain Grover and his men, and destroy thee their drove of stolen quadrupeds forward They could not ain halted for the night, the men in blue were severalexactly where they were The trail these had made told Captain Grover all he as yet needed to knoith the help of one used-up pony that the Indians had turned loose to shi+ft for hi to break down, are they?” said the captain ”I'll strike thees within three days”
All that exciting chase was as yet hidden from the red and white men in the upper valley, and it was quite possible that they would never know anything about it That depended, in fact, upon whether the Apaches should turn to the left or the right when they reached the ”forks” of the little river
It was pretty late when Two Arrows again caught up with his pale-face friends, and his pony showed signs of very hard riding If he had been a grown-up brave he could not possibly have had so warm a reception, except from Na-tee-kah and Ha-ha-pah-no These two considered hi chief already, but all the rest regarded hi redskin he'd ever coe Parks, and Sile had added,
”Father, ouldn't he know pretty soon if he could learn to read and write? He understands everything he sees right away”