Altsheler, Joseph - [Great West 01]

by The Great Sioux Trail (lit)

  "My legs are shaking under me," said the hunter. "I'd never have believed that it could have been done, and I know it couldn't, but here we are, anyhow."

  "It wuz young William who thought of it, and who dared to speak of it," said the Little Giant, "an' so it's his win."

  "Right you are, Giant," said the hunter heartily. "When I looked at that cliff it stood up straight as a wall to me. It was like most other things, it wasn't as hard when you attacked it as you thought it was, but I still don't see how we ever got the animals up, and if I didn't see 'em standing here I wouldn't be- lieve it."

  Will, holding to a cedar, looked into the gulf from which they had climbed. As more of the stars had gone away he could not now see the bottom. The great defile had all the aspects of a vast and bottomless

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  abyss, and he felt that their emergence from it was a marvel, a miracle in which they had been assisted by some greater power. He was assailed by a weakness and, trembling, he drew back from the ledge. But neither the hunter nor the Little Giant had seen his momentary collapse and he was glad, pardonable though it was.

  "The ground back o' the cliff seems to be pretty well covered with forest," said the Little Giant, "an* I reckon we'd- better stay here a spell 'til everybody, men an* animals, git rested up a bit."

  "You never spoke truer words, Tom Bent," said Boyd. "I can make out a fairly level stretch of ground just ahead, and I'll lead the way to it."

  They crouched there. "Crouch" is the only word that describes it, as the horses and mules themselves sank down through weariness, and their masters, too, were glad enough to lie on the earth and wait for their strength to come back. Will's senses, despite his exhaustion, were nevertheless acute. He heard a heavy, lumbering form shuffling through a thicket, and he knew that it was an alarmed bear moving from the vicinity of the intruders. He heard also the light tread of small animals.

  "I judge from these sounds," said Boyd, "that we must be on a sort of plateau of some extent. If it was just a knife edge ridge between two chasms you wouldn't find so many animals here. Maybe we'd better lay by until day, or until it's light enough to see. In the dark we might tumble into some place a thousand feet deep."

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  "What about the Sioux who were on the heights throwing down the rocks?" asked Will. "Mightn't they come along the cliff and find us here ?"

  "No. The way may be so cut by dips and ravines that it's all but impassable. The chances are a thou- sand to one in favor of it, as this is one of the rough- est countries in the world."

  "A thousand to one is good enough for me," said Will, stretching himself luxuriously on the ground. Presently he saw Boyd and Bent wrapping themselves in the blankets and he promptly imitated them, as a cold wind was beginning to blow down from the north- west, a wind that cut, and, at such a time, a lack of protection from the weather might be fatal.

  The warmth from the blankets pervaded his _.ame, and with the heat came the restoration of his nerves. There was also a buoyancy caused by the escape from the Sioux, and, for the time being at least, he felt a certain freedom from care. His comrades and the animals did not stir, and, while not thinking of sleep, he fell asleep just the same.

  He was awakened by a long, fierce shout, much like the howl of hungry wolves, and full of rage and dis- appointment. He sat up on his blankets, and was amazed to hear the two men laughing softly.

  "It's them thar Sioux, Will," said the Little Giant. "They've found out at last that thar was no outlet at the end o' the pass, an' they've come up it to the end, jest to run ag'inst a blank wall, an' to find that we've plum' vanished, flew away, hosses an' mules an' all."

  "But won't they find our trail up the cliff?" 123

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  'No, they won't dream o' sech a thing, but in case they do dream o' it we'll all three creep to the edge an' set thar with our repeatin* rifles. A fine time they'd hev climbin* up thar in the face o' three sharp- s hooters armed with sech weapons ez ours."

  Will saw at once that their position was well nigh impregnable, at least against foes in the defile, and he crept with the others to the edge, not forgetting his invaluable glasses. A lot of the stars had come back and with the aid of the powerful lenses, he was able to penetrate the depths of the pass, seeing there at least a score of Sioux in a group, apparently taking counsel with one another. He could not discern their faces, and, of course, their words were inaudible at the dis- tance, but their gestures expressed perplexity. Their savage minds might well believe that witchcraft had been at work, and he hoped that they had some such idea. The climbing of the cliff by the animals was an achievement bordering so closely upon the impossible that even if they saw traces of the hoofs on the lower slopes they would think the spirits of the air had come down to help the fugitives.

  "What are they doing, young William?" asked the Little Giant.

  "Nothing that I can see except to talk as if puzzled."

  "I almost wish they would strike our trail and start up the cliff. We could pick off every one of 'em before they reached the top."

  "I'd rather they went back."

  That's what they're likely to do, young William. Even if they saw our trail going up the cliff, they

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  won't follow it. They've had a taste of our martcs- manship, an* they know it would be certain death. It looks to me ez if they wuz goin' to drift back down the trail."

  "You judge right, Tom. There they go. I wish I could read the expression on their faces. They must be wild with rage. They're moving a little faster now, and the sooner they disappear from my sight the better."

  He handed the glasses to the Little Giant, who, after taking a look, passed them to Boyd. 7*he hunter had the last glimpse of them as they turned a curve and were hidden by the rocky wall.

  "That settles 'em, for the time, anyway," he said, "and now I think we'd better see what kind of a country we've come into. You stay here with the animals, Will, they like you and it's easy for you to keep 'em quiet, while Giant and me scout about and see the lay of the land."

  Will promptly accepted his part of the task. The horses and mules, alarmed perhaps by such a wild and lonely situation, and tremulous, too, from mem- ories of that frightful climb up the cliff, crowded close about him, while he stroked their noses and manes, and felt himself their protector.

  The hunter and the Little Giant vanished without noise, and Will waited a full hour before either re- turned. But he was not lonesome. The horses and mules rubbed their noses against him, and in the dark and the wilderness they made evident their feel- ing that he was the one who would guard them.

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  The noise of a light footstep sounded and the hunter, who had gone south, stood before him.

  "It's good news I bring," said Boyd. "We're cut off to the south by a cliff that no one can climb, and it seems to run away toward the west for countless miles. The Sioux can't reach us from that direction. Ah, here is Tom ! What has he to say ?"

  "What I hev to say is always important," replied the Little Giant, "but this time its importance is speshul. A couple o' miles to the north a great trans- verse pass runs out o' the main one, an' cuts off toward the west. It's deep an' steep an' I reckon it bars the way than"

  "That being the case, we're on a peninsula," said Boyd, "and this peninsula rises in the west toward very high mountains. I can see a white dome off in that direction."

  "All these facts now bein' diskivered," said the Little Giant, "I think we've shook off them Sioux fur good, though thar ain't no tellin' when we'll run afoul another bunch. But we'll take the good things the moment hez give us, an* look fur what we need, wood, water an' grass."

  "Wood we have all about us," said Will. "Water is bound to be plentiful in these forested mountains, and we may strike grass by daylight."

  They began an advance, making it
very cautious, owing to the extremely rough nature of the country, and all their caution was needed, as they had to cross several ravines, and the ground was so broken that a misstep at any time might have proved serious. In

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  this manner they made several miles and the general trend of the ground was a rapid ascent. Toward dawn they came to a 1 brook flowing very fast, and they found its waters almost as cold as ice. Will judged it to be a glacial stream issuing from the great white dome, now plainly visible, though far ahead.

  A short distance beyond the stream they found an open space with grass for the animals, and very glad, too, they were to reach it, as they were shaken by their immense exertions and the hard trail in the dark.

  "This valley jest had to be here," said the Little Giant, " 'cause we couldn't hev stood goin' on any more. The hosses an' mules theirselves are too tired to eat, but they will begin croppin* afore long."

  "And it's so cold up here I think we'd better light a fire and have warm food," said Boyd. "We can smother the smoke, and anyway it will pay us to run the risk."

  It was a task soon done, and long before breakfast was finished the horses and mules were peacefully grazing. Will then took his rifle and examined the country himself in some detail, going as far as the great precipice on the south. It was not a gulch or ravine, but the ground dropped down suddenly three or four hundred feet. Beyond that the forest ex- tended as before.

  The view to the west was magnificent and majestic beyond description. Up, up rose the slope, cliff on cliff and the imperial white dome beyond ! That way, too, apparently, they had to go, as they were cut off by the precipices on all other sides, and at the moment

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  Will felt no particular sorrow because of it The gold had taken a second place in his mind, and with these two wise and brave comrades of his he would penetrate the great mysteries of the west. The south- ward turn into the plains, following the diagram of the map, could wait.

  When he returned to the camp he found the animals still grazing and his comrades sitting by the fire, which had now burned down to a bed of coals.

  "I don't see anything for us to do except to go straight on toward the great snow mountain," he said.

  "That's about the same conclusion that Tom and I have come to," said Boyd. "We're likely to get up pretty high, where it's winter all the year 'round, but it's better than running into the hands of the Sioux, or any of the mountain tribes. I vote, though, that this army of three spend the rest of the day here, and since storms gather at any time on these uplands, we'd better build another wickiup."

  "An' make brush shelters for the animals, too," said the Little Giant.

  The wickiup was built and they arranged crude, but nevertheless excellent, protection for the horses, a precaution that was soon justified, as it began to rain the following night, and they had alternating rain, snow and sleet for two days and two nights. The animals were able to dig enough grass from under the snow for sustenance, but most of the time they spent in the shelter devised for them. When the lair weather returned and the snow melted, they left the second wickiup, resuming the ascent of the mighty

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  slopes. They were all restored by their rest, and de- spite the elevation and the wildness they were able to find plenty of forage for the animals.

  "We've got to be mighty partic'ler with them hosses an' mules," said the Little Giant, " 'cause even ef we should reach the mine without 'em we're bound to hev 'em to pack out the gold fur us. I expect we'll hev to ketch an' train 'bout twenty wild hosses, too, ez we'll need 'em fur all the gold that I'm countin' on findin*. Didn't you say thar was that much, young William?"

  "I didn't give the exact amount," replied the lad, "nor do I suppose anyone can tell from surface in- dications how much gold there is in a mine, but from the word my father brought we'll need the twenty wild horses and more."

  "O' course we will. I knowed it afore you said it. I've hunted gold fifteen to twenty years without findin' a speck, an' so it stands to reason that when I do find it I'll find a mountain of it."

  Although the slope rose steadily, the ground, for the present, was not much cut up, and they were able to ride in comfort. Much of the country was beautiful and parklike. While far below there were endless brown plains, here were great forests, without much undergrowth, and cold, clear streams, running down from the vast snowy dome that always loomed ahead, and that never seemed to come any nearer.

  "How high would you say that peak wuz, young William?" asked the Little Giant. "You're an eddi- cated lad, an' I reckon you know 'bout these things."

  "You give me too much credit," laughed Will in 129

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  reply. "One has to have instruments with which to calculate the height of mountains, and I couldn't do it even if I had the instruments, but I should say from what I've heard about the country and the tales of explorers that the peak we're looking at is about 14,000 feet high."

  "I've seen it once before, though from the south," said Boyd, "and I've also met an exploring geographer kind of fellow who had seen it and who told me it rose close on to three miles above the sea. Different Indian tribes have different names for it, but I don't remember any of 'em."

  "I think I'll call it the White Dome," said Will, examining it for the hundredth time through his glasses. "From here it looks like a round mountain, though it may have another shape, of course, on the other three sides. It's a fine mountain and as it's the first time I ever saw it I'm going to call it my peak. The forest is heavy and green clear up to the snow line, and beyond that I think I see a vast glacier."

  Two days later they made another stop in a shel- tered valley through which ran a mountain torrent. The hunter and the Little Giant shot two mule deer and a mountain sheep, and they considered the addi- tion to their larder very welcome, as they had been making large inroads on their stores. The weather, too, had grown so cold that they kept a fire burning both day and night. Far over their heads they heard a bitter wind of the mountains blowing, and when Will climbed out of the valley and turned his glasses toward the White Dome he could not see the peak, it

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  was wrapped around so thoroughly by mists and vapors and falling snow:

  They built the fire large and high on the second night, and as they sat around it they held a serious con- sultation. They feared incessant storms and blizzards if they rose to still higher levels, and attempted to pass around on the lofty slopes of the peak. It would, perhaps, be wiser to follow the torrent, and enter the plains below, braving the dangers of the Sioux.

  "What good will the gold be to us if we're all froze to death under fifty feet o' snow?" asked the Little Giant.

  "None at all," replied the hunter, "and it wouldn't be any good to us, either, if we was to slip down a precipice a thousand feet and fall on the rocks below."

  Will shivered.

  "I believe I'd rather be frozen to death in Tom's way," he said.

  "Then I vote that in the morning, if the wind dies, we turn down the gorge and hunt the plains. What say you, Will?"

  "It seems the wise thing to do."

  "And you, Giant?"

  "Me votin' last, the vote is unany-mous, an' I reckon ef we wuz to put it to the four hosses an' two mules they'd vote jest ez we're votin'. Tomorrow mornin', bright an' early, we start on our farewell journey from the mountings."

  They had saved and tanned the skins of three black bears they had slain, and with big needles and pack thread they had turned them into crude overcoats with

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  the hair inside. Now when they put them on they found them serviceable but heavy. At any rate, wrapped in furs they ceased to shiver, though the wind of the mountains was still exceedingly bitter.

  Fortunately the gorge down which the stream flowed was wide, a
nd, the descent not being too rapid, they were able to follow it a long time, though the pace was very slow. At points where the gorge narrowed, they took to the water, and were compelled to lead the ani- mals with great care, lest they slip on the bowlders that were thick in the bed of the stream.

  When night came they were far down the mountain and there had been no accident, but they were wet to the waist, and as quickly as they could they kindled a big and roaring fire in the lee of a cliff, careless whether or not it was seen by enemies. Then they roasted themselves before it, until every thread of clothing they wore was dry, ate heavily of their food and drank two or three cups of coffee apiece.

  Only then did Will feel warmed thoroughly. The older men found a fairly level place with sparse grass for the horses, and then they put out their fire. They told the lad there was no need to keep a watch, and, wrapped in his bear overcoat and blankets, he slept in the shadow of the cliff. But the hunter had seen a trace which he believed to be a human footprint. When the Little Giant knelt in the dusk and looked at it he was of the same opinion.

  "It's too faint, Jim," he said, "fur us to tell whether it wuz made by a white man or a red man."

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  it may be an outlaw, horse thief or murderer, and that's not the kind of people we want to join us on this gold hunt. If it's Indians, they're enemies, no matter to what tribe they belong."

  "An* then, whichever it is, our repeatin' rifles are our best friends."

  CHAPTER VI

  THE OUTLAW

  WHEN Will awoke the next morning he did not open his eyes at once. The air was very cold, but he felt so snug in his bearskin and blankets that he had an immense temptation to turn on his other side and sleep a little more. Then, hear- ing the hum of voices he opened his eyes wide and sat up, seeing, to his great surprise, that the little party in the camp now numbered four instead of three.