The Silver Canyon: A Tale of the Western Plains
Page 35
CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE.
HOW JOSES FED THE CATTLE.
The Apaches seemed to have had so severe a lesson that they kept rightaway in the plain for the rest of the day; and as it appeared to besafe, the Indians went out with the Beaver to hide the ghastly relics ofthe attack, returning afterwards to the Doctor to sit in council upon avery important point, and that was what they were to do about the cattleand horses.
This was a terrible question; for while the occupants of the rockfortress could very well manage to hold out for a considerable time ifthey were beleaguered, having an ample store of meal and dried meat,with an abundant supply of water, the horses and cattle must have food,and to have driven them out to the lake grazing-grounds meant to acertainty that either there must be a severe battle to save them or theApaches would sweep them off.
"The Beaver and his men will watch and fight for the cattle," said thechief, quietly.
"I know that, my brave fellow; but if they were yours, would you letthem go out to graze?" said the Doctor.
"No," replied the chief, smiling; "because the Apache dogs would carryall away."
"Well," said the Doctor, "we must not risk it. Let us go out and cut asmuch grass as we can to-day, for the poor brutes are in great distress."
The chief nodded, and said that it was good; and while strict watch waskept from the rock, three parts of the men were hurried down to thenearest point where there was an abundance of buffalo-grass really in astate of naturally-made hay, and bundles of this were cut and carried tothe starving cattle.
It was a terribly arduous job in the hot sun; and it made the Doctorthink that if matters went on in this way, the silver procured from themine would be very dearly bought.
Even with all their efforts there was but a very scanty supply obtained,and of that Joses declared the mules got by far the best share, bitingand kicking at the horses whenever they approached, and driving the moretimid quite away.
Strict watch was kept that night, but no Apaches came, and as soon as itwas light the next morning the horizon was swept in the hope of findingthat they were gone; but no such good fortune attended thesilver-miners, and instead, to the Doctor's chagrin, of their being ableto continue their toil of obtaining the precious metal, it was thoughtadvisable to go out and cut more fodder for the starving beasts.
The next day came, and no Apaches were visible.
"We can drive the cattle out to-day, Beaver," said the Doctor; "theenemy are gone."
"The Apache dogs are only hiding," replied the chief, "and will ridedown as soon as the cattle are feeding by the lake."
The Doctor uttered an impatient ejaculation and turned to Joses.
"What do you say?" he asked.
"Beaver's right, master."
"Well, perhaps he is; but we can't go on like this," cried the Doctor,impatiently. "No silver can be dug if the men are to be always cuttinggrass. Here! you and Harry and a dozen greasers, drive out half thecattle to feed. Bart, you take the glass, and keep watch from high upthe path. The signal of danger directly you see the Indians is thefiring of your piece. If you hear that fired, Joses, you are to drivein the cattle directly, and we will cover your return."
"Good!" said Joses; and without a word he summoned Harry and a dozenmen, going off directly after through the gateway to the corral, sayingto Bart, as he went, "Of course, I do as master tells me, but you keep asharp look-out, Master Bart, or we shan't get them bullocks and cowsback."
Bart promised, and took his station, rifle across his knee and glass inhand, to look out for danger, while before he had been there long theBeaver came and sat beside him, making Bart hurriedly apologise for therisk he had caused on the day of their adventure, he never having beenalone since with the chief.
"Master Bart, brave young chief," was all the Indian said; and then hesat silently gazing out over the plain, while no sooner were the cattlereleased than they set off lowing towards the pastures at a longlumbering gallop, Joses and his followers having hard work to keep upwith them, for they needed no driving.
In less than half an hour they were all munching away contentedlyenough, with Joses and his men on the far side to keep the drove fromgoing too far out towards the plain, and then all at once the Beaverstarted up, pointing right away.
"Apache dogs!" he shouted.
Bart brought the glass to bear, and saw that the chief was right.
In an instant he had cocked and fired his piece, giving the alarm, whenthe garrison ran to their places ready to cover the coming in of thecattle-drivers and their herd, Bart, seeing that Joses had taken thealarm, and with his men was trying to drive the feeding animals back.
But the Doctor had not calculated upon hunger and bovine obstinacy. Thepoor brutes after much fasting were where they could eat their fill, andthough Joses and his men drove them from one place, they blundered backto another, lowing, bellowing, and getting more and more excited, butnever a step nearer to their corral.
And all this while the Apaches were coming on at full speed, sweepingover the level plain like a cloud.
The Doctor grew frantic.
"Quick!" he cried; "we must go out to help Joses and his men. No, itwould be madness. Good heavens! what a mistake!"
"Let me go with the Beaver and his men to his help," cried Bartexcitedly.
"My dear Bart, the Indians will be upon them before you could reach thehorses, let alone saddle and bridle and mount."
"It is true," said the Beaver, sternly. "Chief Joses must fight theApache dogs himself."
Bart knew they could do nothing, and just then he saw that the Mexicangreasers had left the cattle, and were coming at full speed as hard asthey could run towards the shelter of the rock.
"The cattle must go," cried the Doctor, bitterly. "It is my fault. Whydoes not Joses leave them? Harry is running with the others."
"Because poor Joses is too brave a fellow," cried Bart in despair. "Imust go to his help; I must indeed," he cried piteously.
"Young chief Bart must stay," said the Beaver, sternly, as he seized thelad's arm. "He would be killed. Let chief Joses be. He is wise, andcan laugh at the Apache dogs."
It was an exciting scene, the Mexican labourers fleeing over the plain,the cattle calmly resuming their grazing, and the cloud of Indianhorsemen tearing along like a whirlwind.
The occupants of the rock were helpless, and the loss of the cattle wasforgotten in the peril of Joses, though murmurs long and deep wereuttered by the Englishmen against him who had sent them out to graze.
In spite, too, of the terrible loss, there was something interesting andwonderfully exciting in the way in which the Apaches charged down withlowered lances, the cattle calmly grazing till they were near; thenlifting up their heads in wonder, and as the Indians swooped round, theywheeled about, and went off at a gallop, but only to be cleverly headedand driven back; and then with the Apaches behind, and forming acrescent which partly enclosed the lumbering beasts, they were drivenoff at full speed fight away towards the plain, gradually disappearingfrom their owners' eyes.
"Only half as many to feed," said the Doctor, bitterly.
"Poor Joses!" groaned Bart with a piteous sigh.
"Chief Joses coming," said the Beaver pointing; and to the delight ofall they could see Joses in the distance, his rifle shouldered, marchingquietly towards them, and evidently making himself a cigarette as hecame.
Half an hour later he was in their midst.
"Couldn't save the obstinate beasts, master," he said quietly; "theywere worse than buffler."
"But how did you manage to escape?" cried the Doctor and Bart in abreath.
"Oh! when I see it was all over, I just crept under a bush, and waitedtill the Indian dogs had gone."
"Chief Joses too wise for Apache dog," said the Beaver, with a calmsmile. "Beaver-with-Sharp-Teeth told young chief Bart so."
"Yes," said Bart; "and I can't tell you how glad I am."
"Just about as glad as I am, Master Bart," said Jos
es, gruffly. "I didmy best, master, and I couldn't do no more."
"I know, Joses," replied the Doctor. "It was my fault; and the greasersran away?"
"Lord, master, if we'd had five hundred thousand greasers there it wouldhave been all the same. Nothing but a troop of horse would have broughtthe obstinate cattle back to their corral. You won't send out no more?"
"No, Joses, not a hoof," said the Doctor, gloomily; and he went to histent on the top of the mountain to ponder upon the gloomy state of theiraffairs.