by Charles King
CHAPTER VIII.
"The Gray Fox" had but just received his promotion to the star, jumpingevery colonel in the army. He had been doing mighty work among therecalcitrant Apaches at a time when other commanders were having hardluck in their respective fields--one, indeed, forfeiting his ownhonored and valued life through heeding the sophistries of the PeaceCommissioners rather than the appeals of officers and men who long hadknown the Modocs. For long years the warriors of the Arizona desertsand mountains had bidden defiance to the methods of departmentcommanders who fought them from their desks at Drum Barracks, or theOccidental, but George Crook came from years of successful campaigningafter other tribes, and in person led his troopers to the scene ofaction. One after another the heads of noted chiefs were bowed, orlaid, at his feet. The pioneers, the settlers, the ranchmen and minerstook heart and hope again, and the marauders to the mountains. Thencame "our friends the enemy," from the far East, with petition andprayer. Suspension of hostilities, on part of the troops at least, wasordered, while most excellently pious emissaries arrived inviting thewarriors to come in, to be reasoned with, taught the error of theirways and persuaded to promise to be good. The astute Apache had noobjection to such proceedings. He was certainly willing to have thesoldier quit fighting, just as willing to come and hear exhortation andprayer, when coupled with presents and plenty to eat; most Indianswould be. So the new general stepped aside, as ordered, and left theelders a fair field. "The Gray Fox" went hunting bear and deer, andwhile the Apache chieftains went down to the Gila to reap what theycould from the lavish hands of the good and the gentle, their young menswooped on the stage roads and scattered ranches, and made hay aftertheir own fashion while shone the sun of peace and promise. So happenedit along the Verde and Salado that the Apache came down like the wolfon the fold, and so Harris had come up from the Southern Sierra, and'Tonio had sworn that, all signs to the contrary notwithstanding, hispeople were not, as the agent declared, the pillagers and pirates."Apache-Mohave? _No!_ No!!"
"The Gray Fox" had ventured to give his views to the War Department,which in turn had ventured to express itself to the Secretary of theInterior. But let us lose no time in following further. The Easternpress, and such of the Eastern public as had any leisure to devote tothe subject, persisted in looking upon Indian affairs from theviewpoint and remoteness of Boston, where once upon a time MilesStandish and our Puritan forbears handled such matters in a manneranything but Puritanical. Nothing was left to the military arm of theGovernment but temporary submission, so, as has been said, "the GrayFox" went off on a hunt for bear, mountain lions, and such big game aswas reported to be awaiting him toward the Grand Canon to the north. Anadjutant-general of the old school was left in charge of the desk andthe department, and all on a sudden found that while Peace and itscommissioners held their sway far to the south, grim-visaged War hadburst upon the northward valleys, and chaos had come again.
The couriers bearing Archer's report to Prescott found others,similarly burdened, from the upper reservation, from Camp Sandy, andeven from points to the west and south of department head-quarters, alltelling of death and depredation. So, while the chief of staff ruefullydigested these tidings at the office, the couriers proceeded to have atime in town, to the end that, when replies and instructions were inreadiness to be sent out, only two of the six were in shape to takethem, and Archer's runner--one of the frontier scouts, half Mexican,half Apache--was one of the two.
Now, the chief of staff had been nearly three years in Arizona, hadserved in similar capacity to predecessors of "the Gray Fox," andnaturally thought he understood the Apache, and the situation, farbetter than did his new commander, and the fact that he had allowedthis conviction to be known had led to a degree of official frictionbetween himself and the one aide-de-camp left that was fast verging onthe personal. Bright, almost invariably the companion of the general inhis journeyings, was even now with him, lost in the mountains ninetymiles in one direction; Willett, the newly appointed aide-de-camp, waswith the commander of Camp Almy, ninety miles away in another, whileblack-bearded Wickham stood alone at Prescott. Wickham had not beenconsulted when Willett was sent with confidential instructions to Almy.Wickham would have disapproved, and the chief of staff knew it. Wickham_had_ to be shown Archer's despatch, though the adjutant-generalwould gladly have concealed it, and now, in chagrin at the outcome ofaffairs at Almy, and in consternation at the ebullition all around him,the adjutant--general was quite at a loss what to do. Wickham, ifasked, would have said at once, "Send for General Crook," but thatwould be confession that he, the experienced, did not know how tohandle the situation. So again he took no counsel with Wickham, butissued instructions in the name of the department commander and orderedthem carried out forthwith.
Then it transpired that only two couriers were fit to go. Thereupon,the commanding officer of the one cavalry troop at the post was orderedto detail three non-commissioned officers, with a brace of troopersapiece, as bearers of despatches to Date Creek, Wickenberg, Sandy andthe reservation, while Sanchez, the Mexican-Apache Mercury, was orderedto hasten back to Almy by way of the Mazatzal. It was then but tenA.M., and to the annoyance of the adjutant-general, Sanchez shook hisblack mane and said something that sounded like _hasta la noche_--hewouldn't start till night. Asked why, the interpreter said he fearedApache Tontos, and being assured by the adjutant-general that no Tontocould be west of the Verde, intimated his conviction of the officer'smisinformation by the only sign he knew as bearing on the matter--thatof the forked tongue, which called for no interpreter, as it conciselysaid, You lie. Sanchez meant neither insult nor insolence, but theadjutant-general regarded it as both, ordered another sergeant and twomen got ready at once to ride to Almy, and bade the interpreter takeSanchez to the post guard-house and turn him over for discipline to theofficer of the day. The sergeant started forty minutes later, with histwo men at his back, and just thirty-five minutes behind Sanchez, wholeft the station on the spur of the moment, and the interpreter with acleft weasand. It is a mistake for one man to attempt the incarcerationof an armed half-blood of the Indian race. Sanchez started in the lead,afoot, and, in spite of his fear of Tontos, kept it all the way to theMazatzal, where, as was later learned, he abandoned the paths ofrectitude and the trail to Almy, and joining a party of twenty youngrenegades, complacently watched the coming of that sergeant anddetachment from behind the sheltering bowlders of Dead Man's Canon, andthus it happened that the orders Archer had been expecting three longdays and nights were destined never to get to him.
It was this situation he had been puzzling over when at ten P.M. theofficer of the day came in to say that new signal fires in the eastwere now being answered by others in the west, away over in theMazatzal, and the general went forth to the northern edge of the"bench" to have a good look at them, wishing very much he had Stannardor Turner or "Capitan Chiquito"--little Harris--to help him guess theirmeaning.
But Stannard, with his sturdy troop, was still far afield, scouting thefastnesses of the Mogollon in hopes still of overtaking the maraudingband that had ruined Bennett's ranch, murdered its owner, and borneaway into the wilds two helpless little settlers for whom ahalf-crazed, heart-broken woman at Almy was wailing night and day.Turner, following another route and clew, was exploring the SierraAncha south of Tonto Creek, and Lieutenant Harris, in fever andtorment, was occupying an airy room in the post surgeon's quarters, theobject of Bentley's ceaseless care, and of deep solicitude on part ofthe entire garrison.
Borne in the arms of Stannard's men, poor young Mrs. Bennett, raving,had been carried back to the ruins, and thence by ambulance to thepost. There now she lay with her reason almost gone, nursed by thehospital steward's wife, and visited frequently by three gentle women,whose hearts were wrung at sight of her grief. Mrs. Stannard sometimesspent hours in the effort to soothe and comfort her. Mrs. Archer washardly less assiduous, but was beginning now to have anxieties of herown. Lilian, her beloved daughter, fancy free, as the mother had reasonto know, up to t
he time of their coming to this far-away,out-of-the-way station, seemed dangerously near the point of losing herheart to that very attractive and presentable fellow, Willett, theaide-de-camp, and Mrs. Archer did not half like it.
When the news was brought in to Almy that Mrs. Bennett had beenrecaptured, and that Lieutenant Harris was wounded in the fight whichscattered her abductors, Willett was the first to mount and away tomeet them. It was his orderly who came galloping back for the ambulance,and Willett who, before the arrival of the surgeon, had caused to berigged up a capital litter on which, later, by easy stages hissuffering classmate was borne to the post. Harris was indeed sorelyhurt, so sorely that the faintest jar was agony. Harris was weak andpallid from suffering when lifted to his couch in the doctor'squarters, bearing it all with closed eyes and clinching teeth,suppressing every sound. The general was there to bear a hand and speaka word of cheer, all the time wishing it were possible to overtake thecourier, by that time nearly twenty-four hours on his way to Prescott,that he might amend the wording of that report. He was for sending a"supplementary" that very evening, but who was there to send? Sanchezwas the only available post courier. The scouts were away with thecavalry. Both troops were now afield. Barely a dozen horses were leftat the post, and every able-bodied, ambitious cavalryman was with hiscomrades on the trail. They who remained were the extra duty men, orthe weaklings. Moreover, when Archer spoke of it to Willett, the lattervery diplomatically argued against it. Wait a day and something _worth_sending would surely turn up. Two such captains as Stannard and Turnercould not fail to accomplish something. They could be counted on tofind the hostiles and punish them wherever found. Moreover, as yet,there were only evil tidings to send, for so the wounding of Harriswould be regarded, and the recapture of poor Mrs. Bennett without herchildren would hardly compensate. There was still another thing to beconsidered, but even Willett balked at saying this. He had said enoughto induce Archer to hold his hand another day at least, so why use moreammunition until he had to?
Two days, therefore, had gone by without news from the field column orfurther message to Prescott. Then it was easy to persuade Archer thatit was best to wait the return of Sanchez, and, for Willett, those twodays, especially the long, exquisite evenings, had been full of- sweetand thrilling interest. "I should be more with Harris, I suppose youare thinking," he had said to Lilian Archer, "and there I would be,but--I cannot rid myself of the feeling that he would rather be alone.He always was peculiar, and I seem to worry rather than to help him."
"But you were classmates," said she, "and I thought----"
"Classmates, yes," he answered, "but never much together. Evenclassmates, you know, are not always intimates."
"Still I should think that now--here----" she began again, her handstraying listlessly over the strings of her guitar, her slender fingerstrying inaudible chords.
He glanced over his shoulder to where Mrs. Archer and Mrs. Stannard,fast becoming warm friends, were in chat near the open doorway. Thenhis handsome head was lowered, and with it the deep, melodious voice.
"Can you not think that here, and now, I might have greater need ofevery moment? Any hour may bring my marching orders."
She drew back, just a little. This was only the evening after hisreturn with the wounded. "You always welcome field orders," sheventured.
"I always have--hitherto."
The voice of Mrs. Archer was uplifted at this juncture, just a bit."Lilian, dear, you and Mr. Willett would be wise to pull your chairsthis way. I've never liked that corner since 'Tonio's discovery. Where_is_ 'Tonio, Mr. Willett?"
"I wish I knew, Mrs. Archer," said Willett, rising and holding forth ahand to aid Miss Archer to her feet--something she did not need, yettook. "He was with Stannard when I left. He was with him when theyrescued Mrs. Bennett. He was said to be all distress when he saw thatHarris was hit--and then he disappeared. Stannard's last despatch saidhe had not rejoined."
It was another beautiful, moonlit evening, and the post was very still.The men of Archer's two infantry companies were clustered about theirlog barracks or wandering away by twos and threes to the trader's storeon the flats. The general was pacing the parade in earnest and murmuredtalk with the post adjutant. Bentley, the surgeon, was busy with hischarges, having left Harris in a fitful, feverish doze. Not since thenight of the calamity at Bennett's had the sentries reported sign ofsignal fire in the hills, but this night, before the last filament ofgold had died at the top of the peak, Number Four had caught a glimpseof a tiny blaze afar over to the east, and instantly passed the word.Only half an hour it was observed, and then, away toward thesouth-east, an answering gleam burned for a moment against the blackbackground of the Sierras. Then both went out as suddenly as theystarted.
The general was dining at the moment, and, believing that the fireswould not so soon be extinguished, the officer of the day had not atonce reported them. He was at Archer's door as the veteran came forth,haranguing Willett, again his guest at dinner, but with anxious eyesturned at once to hear the report. "No matter what time it happens," hesaid, "hereafter, when signals are seen, let the guard notify me atonce." And the officer retired musing over this bit of evidence thatthe commanding officer was growing a trifle irritable.
It was soon after guard mount next day that two runners from Sandy hadcome in, weary and hungry. "'Patchie sign--_todas partes_," said theleader, after delivering his despatch. But he, too, was half Apache andhad squirmed through without mishap. For two hours after reading Archerkept the contents to himself. The adjutant-general wished to consulthim at Prescott. Ninety miles north-west by buckboard, through acountry infested by hostile Indians! It was a trip he little cared totake and leave his wife and daughter here! At noon he had had to tellthem, and tell Willett, who was teaching Lilian a fandango he had heardon the Colorado. Mother and daughter looked anxiously at each other andsaid nothing. It was decided he should wait until night beforearranging when to start. Surely this night should bring news of somekind.
And surely enough, at ten came the summons that took him, field-glassin hand, to the northward edge of the little mesa again. Somewhere inthe direction of Diamond Butte, almost due east, one fire was brightlyblazing. Over in the Mazatzal to the westward there were two, and evenas they stood and studied them, Archer dropped his glasses at anexclamation of surprise from one of his officers, and there, gaunt andweary, yet erect and fearless, stood 'Tonio. Like a wraith he seemed tohave blown in among them, and now patiently awaited the attention ofthe commander; yet, when accosted, all he would say in answer toquestion, for they knew not his native tongue, was "_Capitan Chiquito_!"
So they led him to the doctor's quarters, and Bentley tiptoed in to seewhat Harris was doing. He was awake, in pain and fever, but clear-headed."Of course I'm able to see 'Tonio," said he. "I _need_ to see him."Whereupon shufflings were heard in the hallway without, and presentlyin the dim lamplight 'Tonio knelt by the young chief's side, took theclutching white hand and laid it one instant on his head. To no otherof their number had 'Tonio ever tendered such homage. Rising to hisfeet, he looked about him, his glittering eyes fixed one moment in muteappeal; another moment, and gloomily, they studied Willett's handsomeface. Then he spoke, Harris half haltingly explaining. It beganlanguidly on the latter's part. It quickly changed to excitement, thento vehement life. 'Tonio was telling of some sharp encounter whereinwomen and children had been slain, whereby the mountain tribes were allaroused, and then he had gone on to declare what Indian vengeance woulddemand. Impassioned, 'Tonio threw himself at the first pause on hisknees by the side of the cot whereon lay his beloved _Capitan_, and itwas to him he spoke. It was he who translated:
"No one," said 'Tonio, "should venture beyond sentry post either day ornight. Even now the rocks and woods about the station were full offoemen. Get ready to fight them and to take care of the women andchildren. They mean revenge! They mean attack! Renegade Apaches!" saidhe, "all renegade! Apache-Mohave, no!"