The Trail of The Badger: A Story of the Colorado Border Thirty Years Ago

by Anonymous

  CHAPTER X

  THE PADRON

  "What do you mean?" cried Antonio. "How do you know? I thought you saidyou had never heard of him."

  "We hadn't," replied Dick, "until you mentioned his name, but from yourdescription we have no doubt we saw him some months ago up here at thehead of the valley."

  With this by way of preface, my companion related to our newacquaintance the particulars of our "interview" with the "little giant,"as he called him.

  "It must be the same man," said Antonio. "I wonder what he was doing sofar away from his own mountain. You say he shot the wolf with acopper-headed arrow? That's something I should like to investigate, ifonly the padron were not so dead set against my going up into themountain. Where does he get his copper? In fact----" He paused toconsider, and then went on: "Yes; I don't see why I shouldn't tellyou--my uncle won't go himself, and he won't let me go, so I may aswell tell _you_. The truth is that the reason why I was so anxious tomake an excursion up there was just that--to find out where El Tejongets his copper. And not only he, but the villagers down here. Everyhouse in Hermanos has its copper bowl and dipper. They are hammered outof lumps of native copper; some of them must weigh five or six pounds.Where did they come from? Lumps of copper of that size were not washeddown the streams--they were dug up. But by whom, and where?"

  I felt a great inclination to tell him. He had been so friendly andcommunicative that I began to feel rather uncomfortable at the thoughtthat we were drawing all this information from him under what might beregarded as false pretences.

  I was pretty sure that Dick would be feeling much the same--for amongboys, as I have many a time noticed, there is nothing more catching thanopen-heartedness--and I was right; for, glancing at him to see what hethought, I caught his eye, when he immediately raised his eyebrows atrifle, as much as to say, "Shall I tell him?"

  "Yes," said I, aloud. "I think so. Though we must remember, Dick, thatit isn't altogether our secret."

  Dick nodded, and turning to the young Mexican, who was gazing at usopen-eyed, wondering what we were talking about, he said:

  "Senor Antonio, my friend and I agree that it isn't quite fair to you tolet you go on telling us these things without our telling you somethingin return. As Frank says, it is not altogether our own secret, but atthe same time we don't think it is quite a square deal to get all theseparticulars from you and to keep you in the dark about ourselves. I cantell you this much, anyhow: that our object in coming down here was tofind out where those same lumps of copper did come from."

  "Why, how did _you_ know anything about them?" cried Antonio, openinghis eyes wider still.

  "I passed through Hermanos about eighteen months ago," replied Dick, "incompany with a German naturalist, Herr Bergen, when we noticed the greatnumber of copper bowls and things, and the sight of them reminded theprofessor of a story he had heard of an old copper mine, abandoned morethan a hundred years ago, supposed to be somewhere down in thiscountry. The story the professor told us is the story which we think wehave no business to repeat, but I can tell you this much, at least, thatit seemed to indicate the Dos Hermanos as the site of the old mine; andso we got leave to come down here to see if we couldn't trail it up."

  "Is that so? What fun you will have. I wish I could go with you. Butthat, I know, is out of the question: the padron would not consent, andI could not go against his will. But if I can help you I shall be veryglad. Does the story you refer to indicate which of the two peaks is theright one?"

  "No, it doesn't," replied Dick. "We suppose that the copper used to bebrought down to the _Casa_ on pack-burros, and we thought there might bethe remains of a trail down here in the valley. That is what we weredoing when you rode up:--looking for the trail; and we thought perhapswe had found it when we discovered this indentation in the soil that wehave been following."

  "And I believe you have!" cried Antonio. "That's just what you have! Itgoes on straight southward from here, very plain, to within half a mileof the _Casa_ and then seems to die out for some reason. But, that it isthe old trail I feel certain. Your copper mine is up there on the northpeak as sure as----"

  He stopped short, his enthusiasm suddenly died out, and pulling a longface, he gazed at us rather blankly.

  "Well?" asked Dick.

  "I was forgetting. There's something else up there on the north peak."

  "What's that?"

  "The Badger!"

  "That's so!" cried Dick. "I'd forgotten him, too. Do you suppose hewould interfere with us?"

  "That's more than I can say. From what the padron has told me, I imagineit is only to him that El Tejon objects, and perhaps also to me as oneof the family; but I'm not sure about that. Look here! I'll tell youwhat I'll do. I'll just ride home and ask him what he thinks. You stayhere. I'll be back in half an hour."

  "You are very kind," said my partner. "But why should we trouble you tocome back here? We'll ride down with you."

  To our surprise the young fellow flushed and looked embarrassed, butrecovering in a moment, he said:

  "Come on, then. But before we go, let me tell you something. The reasonI hesitated was that I feared you might not receive a very heartywelcome from the padron. The truth of the matter is--to put it plainly,once for all--he hates strangers, and above all he hates the Americans.I am sorry it should be so, but so it is. The feeling is not uncommonamong the older Mexicans: those who went through the war of '46; and ifyou stop to think of it, it isn't altogether unreasonable. According tothe padron's view of the matter, his native country was invaded withoutcause or justice; he, himself, fought against the invader; his ownbrother and many of his friends were killed; and finally, he saw theland where he was born torn away from its old moorings and attached tothe country of the enemy."

  This defence of his fellow-countryman, which the young Mexican deliveredwith much earnestness and feeling, was a revelation to me. Hitherto Ihad only considered the war with Mexico from our side, glorying in oursuccess and admiring--very rightly--the bravery of our soldiers. Thatthe Mexicans, themselves, might have a point of view of their own hadnever occurred to me, until this young fellow thus held up their side ofthe picture for me to see.

  "That's a matter I never thought of before," said I; "but when you dostop to think of it, it is _not_ surprising that the older generation ofMexicans should have no liking for us."

  "No," Dick chimed in; "and I don't think you can blame them, either."

  "I'm glad you see it that way," said Antonio. "It makes things allcomfortable for me. So, now, let us get along. And if the padron doesn'tseem best pleased to see you, you will know why."

  Following along the line of the supposed trail, which continued ingeneral to be pretty plain, we presently passed alongside of a high bankof earth to which our guide called our attention.

  "Just ride up here a minute," said he. "Now, do you see how thisearth-bank forms a perfect square, measuring about two hundred yardseach way? What do you make of that?"

  "It was evidently built up," said I; "it can't be a natural formation.But what the earth was piled up for, I can't see."

  "I think I can," remarked Dick. "If I'm not mistaken, this is the siteof an old pueblo."

  "Just what I think," responded Antonio. "An old pueblo which probablystood here before ever the Spaniards came to the country, and has beenmelted down to this shapeless bank by the rains of centuries. Thisvalley must have supported a good-sized population once--very muchlarger than at present."

  "It looks like it," Dick assented. "I wonder where they got their waterfrom--for I suppose they lived mostly by agriculture, as the Pueblos dostill. Hasn't the padron ever tried to find the old source of supply?"

  The young Mexican shook his head. "No," said he. "The source of supply,wherever it was, was up in the mountains somewhere, and in spite of thefact that if he could find it, it would increase the value of the granta thousand times, he daren't go to look for it."

  "My! What a chance there is here"--Dick began, when he suddenly ch
eckedhimself. "Here's some one coming," said he. "Is this the padron?"

  "Yes; he must be coming to see who you are. I hope he won't make himselfunpleasant."

  As Antonio spoke, there came riding toward us a square-set, gray-hairedMexican, at whom, as he approached, we gazed with much interest. He wasa man of fifty, or thereabouts, harsh-featured and forbidding, whoscowled at us in a manner which made me, at least, rather wish I had notcome. To put it shortly and plainly, the Senor Galvez had, in fact, themost truculent countenance I had ever seen; and his first remark to hisnephew, as the latter advanced to meet him, was on a par with hisappearance.

  "What are you bringing these American pigs here for, Antonio?" hegrowled, in Spanish. "You know I will have nothing to do with them."

  Poor Antonio flushed painfully under his brown skin. He half raised hishand with a deprecatory gesture, as though to beg the speaker to be moremoderate, while he glanced uneasily at us out of the corner of his eyeto see if we had understood.

  It was then that Dick and I congratulated ourselves on havingaccidentally deceived our friend into the belief that we did not speakSpanish. Suppressing our natural desire to bandy a few compliments withthe churlish padron, we put on an expression of countenance as stolidand vacant as if we had been indeed the American pigsaforesaid--immensely to the comfort of the younger man, as it was easyto see.

  "Do not be harsh, senor," said he. "They are only boys, and they aredoing no harm here. Moreover," he went on, "they have brought you apiece of information which you will be glad to have:--El Tejon is stillalive."

  The elder man started; his weather-beaten face paled a little.

  "How do they know that?" he asked, suspiciously.

  Antonio briefly told him our story.

  "Hm!" grunted the padron, glowering at us from under his bushy eyebrows."But what are these boys skulking around here for? They don't pretend, Isuppose, that they have come all the way down from Mosby just to tell methey have seen El Tejon."

  "Not at all," replied Antonio, with considerable spirit. "They aregentlemen, and they don't pretend anything. That bigger one of the two,the freckled one with the hook-nose and red hair"--it was Dick he meant,and intense was my desire to wink at him and laugh--"that one passedthrough here before; he noticed how every house contained its copperbowl and dipper--just as I did--and he has come down here with hisfriend--just as I wanted to do--to try to find out where the coppercame from. We have had a long talk about it, and we have concluded thatit probably came from somewhere up on the north peak. What I broughtthem down here for was to ask you whether you thought The Badger wouldlet them alone if they went up there--that's all."

  "That's all, is it? Well, perhaps it is. But I'm suspicious ofstrangers, Antonio, especially since----"

  He paused, seemingly considering whether he should or should not mentionthe subject he had in mind, but at length--evidently supposing that wecould not understand what he was saying--he went on:

  "I had not intended to say anything to you about it, but three daysago--the day you rode over to Zapatero to spend the night--somethingoccurred here which makes me rather uneasy. I had been away all daymyself that day and on my return I found a young man in the village whohad come, he said, from Santa Fe. For a young man to come to thisout-of-the-way place, all alone, from Santa Fe, or from anywhere else,for that matter, was a strange thing: it made me suspicious that he wasafter no good. And I became more than suspicious when I found that hehad spent the day going from one house to another inquiring after ElTejon!"

  "Inquiring after El Tejon!" repeated Antonio. "That was strange;especially considering that El Tejon has been practically dead for adozen years. Did he offer any explanation?"

  "No. To tell the truth, I did not give him the opportunity. When I foundout what he was doing, how he had slipped into the village during myabsence and had gone prying about among these ignorant peons, askingquestions concerning my enemy, I was so enraged that I threatened toshoot him if he did not depart at once. I made a mistake there, I admit;if I had curbed my anger, I might have found out what his object was.But I did not, so there is no more to be said."

  "That was unfortunate," said Antonio; "but, as you say, it can't behelped now. So the stranger went off, did he? Did he return to----"

  "No, he didn't," Galvez interrupted, "or, at any rate, not immediately.I'll tell you how I know. I was so distrustful of him that I followedhis trail next morning--it was dark when he left, and I couldn't do itthen. It was an easy trail to follow, for his horse was shod, and ours,of course, are not. It led eastward for a mile and then turned back,circled round the village and went up into the north mountain. I havenot seen him, nor a trace of him since."

  "It is a strange thing," said Antonio, thoughtfully. "What was the youngman like? How old? Was he a Mexican or an American?"

  "I don't know. He looked like an American, though he spoke Spanishperfectly. He might be twenty years old. It is an odd thing,Antonio--and it is that, perhaps, which made me speak so sharply when Ifirst saw these new friends of yours--but the young man was somethinglike the bigger one of these two boys: the same hook-nose and light-grayeyes, though his hair was black instead of red."

  "A strange thing altogether," said Antonio, reflectively. "I don'twonder you feel a little uneasy."

  "As to these boys here," the padron went on, jerking his head in ourdirection, "you may tell them that they need not fear The Badger. It isonly I who have cause to fear him, and perhaps you, as my nephew. Theseboys may go where they like without danger. The chances are they won'tsee El Tejon--they certainly won't if he doesn't want to be seen. And,Antonio, just thank them for bringing me their information, and thensend them off."

  So saying, old Galvez turned his unmannerly back on us and rode away.

  The interview, if it can be called such--for the padron had notaddressed a single word to us--being plainly at an end, we shook handswith our friend, Antonio, and having thanked him very heartily for hisservice, we set off for camp, riding fast, in our hurry to get backbefore darkness should overtake us.