For the Liberty of Texas

by Edward Stratemeyer

  CHAPTER IX.

  BIG FOOT AND THE MISSING PAPERS.

  Dan's cry brought Mr. Radbury into the cabin without further delay,followed by Ralph and Poke Stover.

  "What has been stolen?" queried Amos Radbury. "I see that oldRevolutionary sword of your grandfather is gone."

  "So are two of the pistols, and that half dozen solid silver spoonsmother got from Aunt Elizabeth," answered Dan. "But what of money inthe desk?"

  "I had but little--not over twenty dollars all told, Dan." Mr. Radburywalked over to the little desk, which was a rude affair made by himselfduring his leisure hours. "Yes, it's been ransacked pretty thoroughly."

  "Is anything missing?" asked Ralph.

  "I can't say." Amos Radbury looked over a number of the papers. "Iguess they are all right. No, there is my discharge from the army,after the war of 1812. The rascal who broke open the desk took thepleasure of tearing that in half." He rummaged about a bit more."Hullo, it's gone!" he cried.

  "What's gone?" came from both boys.

  "The papers relating to this grant of land."

  "Are you sure?" asked Dan.

  "Yes, it isn't anywhere about."

  Mr. Radbury was more worried about the papers pertaining to the landgrant than over anything else, and at once a search was instituted,outside of the ranch home as well as indoors. It proved of noavail,--the papers were gone.

  "Will it do much harm?" asked Ralph, who knew very little as yet aboutreal estate matters.

  "It may and it may not," answered the father. "Of course the grant isrecorded, but with matters in such a revolutionary state the recordsmay at some time be destroyed, and then somebody else might comeforward and claim this grant."

  "Well, I reckon you won't give it up, partner," put in Poke Stover,suggestively.

  "Not without a fight, Stover," was Mr. Radbury's firm answer. "The landis mine, paid for, and I'll hold it, papers or no papers, and no matterhow the affairs of the government turn."

  "I wonder who was the thief," mused Dan. "I don't believe it was anIndian. He might take the other things, but he wouldn't know anythingabout the papers, nor care for them."

  "He might be cute enough to take the papers just to throw us off thescent," suggested Ralph.

  "You're wrong, Ralph, for he wouldn't know one paper from another."

  "But he'd know the land papers were important, because of the seals onthem," persisted the youngest Radbury.

  The Indian in the corner now demanded their attention. He was plainlyin a bad way, and Poke Stover said it was very doubtful if he wouldlive.

  "If he does pull through it will only be because he's a redskin and astough as all creation," added the old frontiersman.

  In his guttural tongue the redskin appealed to Dan for a drink ofwater.

  "Certainly, I'll give you a drink," answered the boy, kindly, and wentout to get some water that was cool. After the Indian had had his fill,Dan used the remainder of the water in washing his wounds and thenbound them up. After this he got out an old blanket, and he and Ralphplaced the wounded fellow on this. Before, the red man's face had had ascowl on it, but now it became more friendly.

  "White boys heap good," he grunted. "Big Foot no forget dem," and henodded his head suggestively. He had been shot in the leg, and wassuffering from loss of blood.

  "Tell me who robbed the cabin," said Dan, for he felt that Big Foot hadhad nothing to do with it.

  The Indian knit his brow in speculation.

  "White boy ask Big Foot hard question," he said, presently.

  "But you must know."

  "Big Foot t'ink know, not sure. Big Foot crawl in here out of hot sun.He half dead. Udder man come, rob place while Big Foot half dead."

  "Well, who do you imagine the other man was? It couldn't have been oneof your tribe."

  "I t'ink him half my tribe. I t'ink him 'Merican-Indian, um HankStiger."

  "Hank Stiger!" cried Dan. "Father, did you hear that?"

  "What is it, Dan?"

  "This Indian was half in a faint when the cabin was robbed, but hethinks the thief was Hank Stiger."

  "That is not improbable, for Stiger was around this vicinity and didnot fight with the Comanches. He could easily have come in after wewent off on the trail. When was the robbery committed?"

  "Him come in at the last sundown," answered Big Foot, meaning theevening before.

  "Alone?"

  "Yes."

  "And which way did he go?"

  The wounded red man could not answer this query, and he now became soexhausted that the others questioned him no further.

  The fire was started up, and a generous meal for all hands wasprepared, of which the Indian was given all that was good for him. Thenthe red man went to sleep, while the Radburys began to mend thebattered door and put things into shape generally. Poke Stover went offto the timber, to find out what had become of Ralph's deer, and to seeif any of the enemy were still lurking in the vicinity.

  It was learned by nightfall that no Indians were around for miles, andthis made the Radburys breathe much more easily. Strange to say, Stoverhad found the deer just where Mr. Radbury had left it, and now broughtit in.

  "A good shot, lad," said the old frontiersman to Ralph. "No one couldhave made a better."

  "Yes, it was a good shot," answered the boy. "I'm afraid I'll not beable to do as well every time."

  "You mustn't expect it. If you could do as well every time you'd be asfine a shot as Davy Crockett himself."

  "They tell me Crockett thinks of coming down to Texas," put in Mr.Radbury. "They say he is tired of things up in Tennessee."

  "Yes, I heard he was coming down," replied Poke Stover. "Well, he's awonderful old fighter, and if we have any trouble with the Mexicans yecan reckon on it as how he'll be to the front from the very start." Howtrue was the old frontiersman's prediction the future chapters of ourtale will show.

  They hardly knew what to do with the Indian. Stover wished to turn himout to shift for himself, but the boys pleaded for the wounded red man,and in the end he was allowed to remain where he was. The Radburysretired to their sleeping-apartment, while Stover made himselfcomfortable in front of the big open fireplace. All, however, slept, asthe saying goes, "with one eye open."

  The next week was a busy one. It was found that not only had theIndians attacked the cabin, but they had also tried to wreck the cattleshed, and both structures had to be mended and put into order. Duringthe absence of the settlers some of the cattle and the mustangs hadstrayed away to other ranges, and these had to be rounded up, for inthose days men of limited means, like Mr. Radbury, did not allow theirlive stock to wander far away, to be rounded up once or twice a year.If they had allowed this, cattle and ponies might have gotten into theIndian country and never been heard of again.

  At the end of the week Poke Stover left, stating that he was going tomake a trip to San Antonio de Bexar, to learn how matters were goingpolitically.

  "There may be a scrap on already," he remarked, "and, if so, I don'twant to be sitting here, sucking my thumbs."

  "I admire your sentiment," replied Mr. Radbury. "If there is trouble,can I rely upon you to give me warning?"

  "Certainly," answered Poke Stover.

  He left on Saturday morning, and on Sunday Big Foot sat up for thefirst time. The Radburys had done their best for him, and for this hewas extremely grateful.

  "Big Foot pay back some day," he said. "Pay back sure." The boys hardlygave attention to these words, but had good cause to remember themlater.

  During the next few months matters ran smoothly, until one day whensome of the settlers from Gonzales came in. They reported anotherIndian uprising farther eastward, and declared that the localgovernment was doing nothing to check the red men.

  "We must take the law into our own hands, neighbour Radbury," said one,who lived a matter of thirty miles away, yet considered himself afairly close neighbour. "The Mexicans don't care a rap for us, and Ireckon they'd just as lief see the Injuns ride over us
as not."

  "I trust Santa Anna does the right thing by us," answered Mr. Radbury.

  "I wouldn't trust any of 'em."

  "Well, if they don't do right, they had better look out for SamHouston, or he'll be on their heels."

  "Yes, I've great faith in Houston," was the other settler's answer."He's a lawyer and a fighter, and I reckon he can whip 'em both in thecourt-room or on the battle-field."