by Old Sleuth
CHAPTER II.
A RECOGNITION--THE WOODSMAN'S DISCLOSURES--ACHANCE AFTER ALL--THE BIVOUAC--DESMOND'SDISCOVERY--SAVAGES GALORE.
The coffee was soon prepared and Brooks produced some dried meat and afew crackers, and the three men, so strangely met, sat down to enjoytheir meal. The woodsman was offered the first cup of coffee, and as hedrank it down, all hot and steaming, he smacked his lips and exclaimed:
"Well, that was good; that cup of coffee makes us friends. I may do youa good turn."
"Good enough; we are ready for a good turn. We've had rather hard luckso far."
"So you are after a mine, eh?"
"Yes."
"You are regular prospectors?"
"Yes."
"You have to strike a surface ledge to make any money. Don't think aclaim would amount to much out here unless you found a nest of them soas to attract a crowd, and a town, and a mill, and all that. Accordingto my idea the mines out here all need capital to work 'em in case youshould strike one."
Regardless of possibilities, as the night was a little chilly, Brookshad created quite a blaze, and by the light of the fire he had a fairchance to study the woodsman's face, and finally he asked abruptly:
"Stranger, what is your name?"
The woodsman laughed, and said:
"I thought you'd ask that question."
"You did?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Well, it's natural that you should, but that ain't the reason I thoughtso."
"It is not?"
"No."
"Well, why did you think so?"
"I was going to ask your name."
"Certainly; my name is Brooks."
"I thought so."
"You did?"
"Yes."
"What made you think my name was Brooks?"
"Can't you guess?"
"No."
"Why did you ask my name?"
"As you said, it was a natural question."
"That ain't the reason you asked it."
"It is not?"
"No."
"Well, you may tell me the true reason."
"You've been studying my face."
"I have."
"You think you've seen me before somewhere?"
"Well, you did see me before."
"I did?"
"Yes."
"When and where?"
"Just look sharp and see if you can't place me."
"I can't."
"It was a great many years ago."
"It must have been; but to tell the truth, there is something veryfamiliar in your face."
"Yes, and you discovered it at the start, but you don't place me; Iplaced you. I didn't until you mentioned your name."
"You now recall?"
"I do."
"Where have we met?"
"Try to remember."
"Tell me your name."
"Oh, certainly, by and by; but in the meantime pay me the compliment ofremembering who I am."
"You have the advantage."
"How?"
"I told you my name."
"I will tell you mine in good time, but try to remember."
"I give it up."
"You do?"
"I do."
The woodsman laughed, and said:
"We slept together one night."
"We did?"
"Yes."
"When and where?"
"And now you can't recall?"
"I cannot."
"You are a square man, but there has come a change over you."
"Did we meet often?"
"No."
"Were we intimate?"
"Well, yes, for the time being."
"I give it up."
"You don't place me?"
"No."
Again the woodsman laughed and said:
"Do you remember about fifteen years ago a young fellow, tired, wet, andhungry, tried to find shelter in a freight car?"
"Hello! you are not Henry Creedon?"
"Yes, I am, and this is the second time you've fed me. You appear to bemy good angel; I may prove your good angel."
"So you are Henry Creedon?"
"I am," and turning to Desmond, Creedon said:
"Your friend there one night made a fight for me, fed me and foundshelter for me. He was a tramp then; I was footing it out West here."
"Henry," said Brooks, "what have you been doing all these years?"
"Mine hunting."
"Mine hunting for fifteen years?"
"Yes."
"And have you found a mine yet?"
The woodsman laughed, and Brooks said:
"Desmond, we did indeed take desperate chances, and we've been making afool's chase, I reckon. Here is a man who has been mine hunting forfifteen years and has not found one yet. Where do we come in?"
"I'll tell you," said Creedon; "it's luck when you find a mine. More arefound by chance than are discovered by experts, but I think I've foundone; I can't tell. You see, I was raised in a factory town, I've had noeducation and I can't tell its value. I know where the find is located,however, and some of these days I'll strike a prospecting party who willhave an engineer with them, and then I will know the value of my find."
"If you take a party in with you they will demand a share."
"Certainly."
"Do you intend to share with them?"
"I can't do otherwise."
"Yes, that is so; suppose I find an engineer for you?"
"I suppose you will want a rake in."
"Certainly."
"Well, Brooks, I'll tell you, I don't want to start in on a divide witheveryone, but I've made up my mind to take you in with me. I know youare a kind-hearted and honest man, even though you are a tramp, awhisky-loving tramp, and that I remember you emptied my canister thatnight."
"Yes, but I am not drinking now; I've reformed."
"You have?"
"Yes."
"So much the better for you."
"I've something to tell you."
"Go it."
"I am just the man to establish the value of your mine."
"You are?"
"Yes, I am."
"How is that, eh? Have you become an expert after being in the mountainssix weeks? and I am not in one way, and I've been here for fifteenyears."
"I was an expert before I came to the mountains."
"You were?"
"Yes."
"How is that?"
"I am a civil engineer by profession."
"What's that?"
"I am a civil engineer by profession."
"You don't tell me!"
"That's what I tell you, and I tell you the truth."
"Then you are just the man I want."
"I said I was; I am more than an engineer, I am a mineralogist and ageologist."
"Hold on, don't overcome a fellow out here in the mountains; if you area civil engineer that is enough for me. Hang your mineralogy andgeology; what I want is a man who can estimate. No doubt about the ledgeI've struck; the question is, how much will it cost to mine it; how muchis there of it? You see I've had some experience here in the mountains,and sometimes we strike what is called a pocket; we might find gold fora few feet one way and another, and then strike dead rock and no gold. Iain't a mineralogist or geologist or a civil engineer, and I am afraidmy find won't amount to much, but it is worth investigation, and as youare able to estimate we will make a start. To-morrow I will take you tomy ledge and then we will know whether we are millionaires ortramps--eh? mountain tramps--but I am grateful for this food and coffee,and now if you'll give me a little tobacco I'll be the most contentedman in the mountains, whether my mine turns out a hit or a misthrow."
So tobacco was produced; Brooks himself was an inveterate smoker, andsince being in the mountains Desmond had taken to the weed, and therewas promise that some day he might become an inveterate.
The three men had a jolly time, but in a quiet way. Creedon was a goodstory t
eller; he had had many weird experiences in the mountains. He hadacted as guide to a great many parties, he had engaged in about fiftyfights with Indians during his residence in the great West, and had meta great many very notable characters.
When the men concluded to lie down to sleep for the night theyextinguished their fire, and each man found a crevice into which hecrept, and only those who have slept in the open air in a pure climatecan tell of the exhilarating effects that follow a slumber under theconditions described.
Desmond was the first to awake, and he peeped forth from his crevice andglanced down toward the point where the fire had been, when he beheld asight that caused his blood to run cold. Five fierce-looking savageswere grouped around the spot where the campfire had been, and he had achance to study a scene he had never before witnessed. He beheld fivesavages in full war paint; they were dressed in a most grotesque manner,part of their attire being fragments of United States uniforms, showingthat the red men had been in a skirmish, and possibly had come outvictorious, and had had an opportunity to strip the bodies of the dead.
A great deal has been written about the shrewdness of redmen. They areshrewd when their qualities are once fully aroused and they are on thescent, but they are given to assumptions, the same as white men. Ofcourse Creedon was practically to be credited when he said that theIndians assumed there had been a camp there and that the campers haddeparted, but had they made as close observations as when on a trailthey would have made discoveries that would have suggested the nearpresence of the late campers.
Creedon had as far as possible destroyed all signs when raking out thefire of a recent encampment, but an experienced and alert eye can detectthe truth despite these little tricks.
Desmond saw the Indians: they were a hard-looking lot, the worstspecimens he had ever beheld, and they were assassins at sight, as hedetermined. He was secure from observation, but it was necessary to warnhis comrades, who were in different crevices, and at that moment Creedonactually snored. He was in the crevice adjoining the one where Desmondhad taken refuge.
The Indians were too far away to overhear the snore, but it was possiblethe man might awake and step forth; then, as Desmond feared, the fightwould commence. He did not desire a fight; he might think the chanceswould be with his party, as only two of the Indians had rifles, but thenif even one of their own party were kicked over it would be a saddisaster.
The lad meditated some little time and studied the conditions. Hecrawled into his crevice, and, lo, he saw a lateral breakaway. He mightgain Creedon's berth, as he called it, without chancing an outsidesteal. Fortune favored him; Creedon's crevice was one of several rentsin the rock, and he managed to reach the sleeper's foot, and hecautiously touched it, fearing at the moment that Creedon in hissurprise might make an outcry or an inquiry in a loud tone, but here helearned a lesson in woodcraft. Creedon did not make an outcry; he awokeand cautiously investigated, and soon discovered that Desmond hadtouched him and was seeking to communicate with him. He demanded in awhisper:
"What is it, lad?"
"There are Indians in the gulch."
"Aha! where?"
"Down where we were camped last night."
"You keep low and I will take a peep."
Desmond could afford to let Creedon take a peep. The woodsman did peepand took in the situation, and he said:
"You are smaller than I am; does the rent where you are run to the berthwhere Brooks is sleeping?"
"It may; I will find out and go slow; we don't want a fight if we canhelp it, but we've got the dead bulge on those redskins if we have tofight."