However, it would have been absurd to wait where they were in order to learn every move of their enemies, for that would have been a voluntary abandonment of the advantage secured at the cost of so much labor and danger. Captain Dawson insisted that the pursuit should be pressed without any thought of the red men, and Vose consented.

"But there's one thing we mustn't forget, captain," he said, "and that is that it is daytime and not night."

"I do not catch your meaning," replied the captain, pausing on the point of moving off to secure his horse.

"It is this: them people in front will keep as sharp an eye to the rear as to the front; more'n likely it will be sharper, and it will be a bad thing if they discover us when we're two or three miles off."

"How shall we prevent it?"

"We can do it, if we're careful. You'll remember that when you went over this route last, you come upon places where you could see for a mile or more, 'cause the trail was straight and broad, while there are others where you can't see more'n a hundred yards. Them that I've named last is where we must overhaul 'em."

"That sounds well, Vose," said the captain, "but I am unable to see how you are going to manage so as to bring that about."

"While you're getting the animals ready, I'll take a look ahead."

This was not in the nature of an explanation, but the three willingly did their part. Vose disappeared almost instantly, and, though they took but a few minutes to prepare their animals for the resumption of travel, he was back among them, the expression of his face showing that he brought news of importance.

"They ain't fur off," he said.

"How far?" asked the captain.

"I can't say anything more than that we're purty close to 'em. Let's push on!"



CHAPTER XXI

STRANGERS

The signs of an approaching storm that had been noted with some apprehension the night before, passed away. The sky revealed hardly a cloud rift, and, when the sun had climbed the mountain crests, the scene was grand beyond description. But for the grim errand of the four men, holding relentlessly to the pursuit, they must have yielded to its impressive influence.

The trail remained so favorable for a couple of miles further, that it was passed at the same easy, swinging gallop. Vose Adams retained his place a few paces in advance of the others, who saw him glance sharply to the right and left, often to the ground and occasionally to the rear, as if to assure himself that none of his friends was going astray.

The moderate but continuous descent of the path took them so far downward that the change of temperature again became noticeable. The ground was rough and uneven and the animals dropped to a walk. Sometimes the course led around boulders, through sparse growths of cedar, beside brawling torrents, two of which they were compelled to ford, where it was hard for their animals to keep their feet.

"Last fall," remarked the guide, at the most difficult of these passages, "I had to wait two days before I dared try to cross with Hercules and one of the other mules."

His companions nodded their heads but made no other answer. They were not in the mood for talking.

They were now making their way through a canyon similar to Dead Man's Gulch, with rents and yawning ravines opening on the right and left, before which the party might have halted in perplexity, had it been in the night time. But the path showed plainly and the familiarity of the guide prevented any mistake on his part.

Adams had intimated that by a certain line of procedure the watchful fugitives could be prevented from discovering the approach of the pursuers until too late to escape them. In counting upon his ability to do this, he overestimated his skill, for the task was clearly impossible, and it was because of his efforts in that direction that he made a serious blunder. He had crossed for the third time a stream which was shallow, and, upon reaching the opposite bank, where the ground was moist and soft, he reined up with an exclamation of impatience.

"What's the matter?" asked Captain Dawson, in the same mood.

"We've passed 'em," was the reply; "they're somewhere behind us."

"How far?"

"That remains to be found out, but I don't think it's a great distance."

The captain angrily wheeled his horse and re-entered the stream.

"If they don't get away, it won't be our fault," was his ungracious comment; "we have done little else than throw away our chances from the first."

The guide made no response, and the next minute the four were retracing their course, their animals at a walk, and all scanning the rocks on either hand as they passed them.

It was clear by this time that the fugitives held one important advantage over their pursuers. The route that they were following was so devious and so varied in its nature, that only at rare intervals could it be traced with the eye for a quarter or half a mile. Certain of pursuit, Lieutenant Russell and his companion would be constantly on the lookout for it. They were more likely, therefore, to discover the horsemen than the latter were to observe them. Even if their flight was interrupted, there were innumerable places in this immense solitude where they could conceal themselves for an indefinite period.

The question the pursuers asked themselves was whether the others had strayed unwittingly from the trail, or whether they had turned off to elude their pursuers, whose desperate mood they could not but know. The latter supposition seemed the more likely, since the path was marked so plainly that it could be lost only by unaccountable carelessness.

At the first break in the side of the vast mountain walls Vose Adams again slipped from his mule and spent several minutes in studying the ground.

"They haven't gone in here," was his comment, as he remounted.

"Make certain that we are not too far back," said the captain.

"I have made no mistake," was the curt reply of the guide. The party had gone less than twenty rods further, when another rent opened on the other side of the canyon, which was about an eighth of a mile wide. It would not do now to slight anything, and Adams headed his mule diagonally across the gorge, the animal walking slowly, while the rider leaned over with his eyes on the ground. Suddenly he exclaimed:

"We've hit it this time! Here's where they went in!"

All four leaped from the back of their animals. Adams pointed out the faint indentations made by the hoofs of two horses. Less accustomed than he to study such evidence, they failed to note that which was plain to him; the hoof prints of one of the animals were smaller than those of the other, since they were made by Cap, the pony belonging to Nellie Dawson. There could no longer be any doubt that the pursuers were warm on the trail of the fugitives.

Such being the fact, the interest of the men naturally centered on the avenue through which the others had made their way.

It was one of those fissures, sometimes seen among enormous piles of rock, that suggest that some terrific convulsion of nature, ages before, has split the mountain in twain from top to bottom. The latter was on a level with the main canyon itself, the chasm at the beginning being ten or twelve yards in width, but, occurring in a depression of the mountain spur, its height was no more than five or six hundred feet, whereas in other localities it would have been nearly ten times as great. The base was strewn with fragments of sandstone, some of the pieces as large as boulders, which had probably been brought down by the torrents that swept through the ravine in spring or when a cloudburst descended upon the upper portion.

Standing at the entrance, it was observed that the gorge trended sharply to the left, so that the view was shut off at a distance of fifty yards. It was noticeable, too, that the path taken by the fugitives sloped upward at so abrupt an angle that it must have sorely tried the horses.

"I thought so," was the comment of Vose Adams, when he returned from a brief exploration of the ravine; "they got off and led their animals."

"Have you any idea of the distance they went?" asked Captain Dawson, who was in a more gracious mood, now that he appreciated the value of the services of their guide.

"No; I've rid in front of that opening a good many times, but this is the first time I ever went into it."

"Well, what is to be done?" asked Parson Brush.

"Why, foller 'em of course," Wade Ruggles took upon himself to reply.

"That won't do," replied Adams, "for it is likely to upset everything; I'll leave Hercules with you and sneak up the gorge far enough to find how the land lays. I'll come back as soon as I can, but don't get impatient if I'm gone several hours."

Brush and Ruggles showed their displeasure, for, while admitting the skill of the guide, they could not see adequate cause for the impending delay. They had made so many slips that it seemed like inviting another. It was clear that they were close upon the fugitives, and the two believed the true policy was to press the pursuit without relaxing their vigor. But Captain Dawson, the one who naturally would have been dissatisfied, was silent, thereby making it apparent that Adams was carrying out a plan previously agreed upon by the two.

Vose paid no heed to Ruggles and the parson, but started up the ravine, quickly disappearing from view. Believing a long wait inevitable, the three prepared to pass the dismal interval as best they could. Here and there scant patches of grass showed in the canyon, and the animals were allowed to crop what they could of the natural food. The men lounged upon the boulders at hand, smoked their pipes and occasionally exchanged a few words, but none was in the mood for talking and they formed a grim, stolid group.

Hardly ten minutes had passed, when Ruggles, with some evidence of excitement, exclaimed in a guarded undertone:

"Helloa! Something's up!"

He referred to the horses, who are often the most reliable sentinels in the presence of insidious danger. Two of them had stopped plucking the grass, and, with their ears pricked, were staring up the canyon at some object that had attracted their attention and that was invisible to their owners in their present situation.

Convinced that something unusual had taken place, Ruggles walked out into the canyon where he could gain a more extended view. One sweeping glance was enough, when he hurried back to his companions.

"Thunderation! all Sacramento's broke loose and is coming this way!"

The three passed out from the side of the gorge to where they had a view of the strange procession. There seemed to be about a dozen men, mounted on mules, with as many more pack animals, coming from the west in a straggling procession, talking loudly and apparently in exuberant spirits.

"I don't like their looks," said Brush; "it is best to get our property out of their way."

The counsel was good and was followed without a minute's delay. The four animals were rounded up and turned into the ravine, up which Vose Adams had disappeared. They gave no trouble, but, probably because of the steepness of the slope, none of the four went beyond sight. Had the three men been given warning, they would have placed them out of reach, for none knew better than they how attractive horses are to men beyond the power of the law. But it was too late now, and the little party put on a bold front.

As the strangers drew near, they were seen to be nine in number and they formed a motley company. Their pack mules were so cumbrously loaded as to suggest country wagons piled with hay. The wonder was how the tough little animals could carry such enormous burdens, consisting of blankets, picks, shovels, guns, cooking utensils, including even some articles of furniture.

Our older readers will recall that for years after the close of the war, tens of thousands of the blue army overcoats were in use throughout the country. It looked as if every man in the present company was thus provided, including in many instances trousers of the same material, though each person had discarded the army cap for a soft slouch hat, similar to those worn by the miners. All the garments were in a dilapidated condition, proving their rough usage as well as their poor quality. Many of the heavy boots disclosed naked toes, while the mules had not known a curry comb for weeks and perhaps months.

The faces of the men were anything but attractive. Most of them were heavily bearded, with long, frowsy, unkempt hair, dangling about the shoulders. Every one displayed side arms, and there could be no mistake in setting them down as a reckless lot, whom a peaceable citizen would not care to meet anywhere.

The leader of this mongrel gang was a massive man, who bestrode so small a mule that his feet were only a few inches from the ground. There was little semblance of discipline in the company, but a certain rude deference to the fellow, who kept his place at the head, and did the loudest talking, ornamented with plenty of expletives, indicated his prominence among his fellows.

The mountain tramps had descried the three men standing at the side of the canyon, watching them as they approached. They ceased their boisterous talking and studied them as they drew near.

"Howdy, pards?" called the leader, raising his two fingers to his forehead and making a military salute, to which our friends responded coolly, hoping the company would keep on without stopping.

But they were disappointed. Colonel Briggs, as his men called him, suddenly shouted "Whoa!" in a voice that could have been heard a mile off, and pulled so hard on his bridle rein that he drew the jaws of the mule against his breast, while the rider lay back almost on the haunches of his animal, who showed his contrariness by walking round in a short circle before standing still.

"Which way, pards?" asked the leader, while his followers, who with more or less effort succeeded in checking their mules, curiously surveyed the three miners.

"We intend to visit Sacramento," replied Captain Dawson.

"Huh! that's where we come from."

"On your way to the diggings I presume?" continued the captain courteously.

"That's what's the matter; we're going to New Constantinople, which is the name of a mining settlement in Dead Man's Gulch. Do you know anything of the place?"

"We live there."

"The deuce! Queer town, ain't it?"

"In what respect?"

"Don't like visitors; Red Tom and Missouri Mike, two of the gang with me, stopped there a year or so ago with the idee of staying; the best they could do was to sleep there one night and git fired the next morning. That went agin the grain," continued Colonel Briggs, "and the more the boys thought it over the madder they got. When they told the rest of us, we made up our minds that the trouble was the diggings had panned out so rich in them parts that the folks meant to keep 'em to themselves. I don't call that square, so we're going down to divvy with 'em. Big scheme, ain't it?"

Our three friends were astounded. The addition of this gang to New Constantinople meant nothing less than its moral ruin. It would bring a peril from the first hour and doubtless precipitate a murderous conflict with a doubtful issue.

"They are a peculiar people," said Captain Dawson, repressing all evidence of his anger; "it's a mistake to attribute their prejudice against immigrants to the richness of the diggings, for though they have been worked for years, they have not produced much. But they want no strangers among them, and I know they will not allow you and your friends to make your homes in their settlement."

Colonel Briggs threw back his head, opened his enormous mouth and broke into uproarious laughter, most of his companions joining him to the extent of a broad grin.

"Do you hear that, boys? Won't let us settle among 'em, eh? And there are nine of us and we hain't had a scrimmage since we left Sacramento, except with the Injins, which don't count. Stranger, we're yearning to hear your folks say we shan't jine 'em, 'cause if they try to stop it, it'll make things lively."

It was not a pleasant recollection of our friends that, since their departure from New Constantinople, the force left behind would be hardly a match for this desperate gang of marauders, who no doubt were as eager for trouble as they professed to be.

"Why not make a settlement of your own?" was the conciliating question of Parson Brush; "there's plenty of room in this country."

"That would be too peaceable like; it don't suit us; we're looking for trouble."

"And you'll find it powerful quick," said Wade Ruggles, "if you try to shove that gang of yours into New Constantinople."

"That's music in our ears; that's what we're hungry for; we're ready to start an opposition hotel to the Heavenly Bower, too; we've got the stock to furnish it."

"Wade," said the parson, "keep your temper; we can't afford to quarrel with these men."

"It wouldn't take much for me to shoot that chap off his mule as he sets there."

"Leave matters to the captain; it looks as if we shall have a fight, but it is best to keep cool."

The observant trio had noticed an additional cause for uneasiness. More than one of the party were surveying the three horses and mule with admiring eyes. Some of them spoke to one another in low tones, and there could be no doubt they looked with envy upon the animals, which, tiring of their confinement in the ravine, had come forth as if with the purpose of passing under review, on their way to crop the grass from which they had been driven.

"Colonel," called one of the men behind him, "them is likely animals."

"I had obsarved that fact myself; strangers, I've made up my mind to buy them critters; what's your price?"

"They are not for sale," replied Captain Dawson.

"Why not?"

"We need them for our own use."

"Then we'll trade."

"You won't do anything of the kind," said the captain, speaking with the utmost coolness, but with that paling of the countenance and glitter of the eyes that Colonel Briggs would have done well to heed.

"Strikes me, stranger, you're rather peart in your observations," said the leader with an odd chuckle; "we ain't used to having people speak to us in that style."

"It is my custom to say what I mean; it saves misunderstanding."

"It's my opinion, stranger, you'd better say trade."

"It is of no importance to me what your opinion is; we need the horses and the mule for our own use and we shall keep them."

"But you've got one more than you want."

"He belongs to a friend who is not far off and will soon return; we can't spare one of them."

"If we give you four of ours for the lot, that'll make an even thing of it. Besides, we'll throw in something to boot."

"I wouldn't give one of the horse's shoes for all the trash you have piled on top of your animals; the stuff isn't worth house room, but it is what I should expect to see in the hands of a lot of tramps like you and yours; I wouldn't trade our mule for the whole party which, to judge by their looks, ought to be in jail."

Brush and Ruggles were amazed to hear the captain use such language, for it sounded as if he was trying to provoke instead of avoid a fight. The truth was the veteran was thoroughly enraged by the evident purpose of the fellow before him. Although his voice was low and deliberate, the captain's temper was at a white heat. The point had been reached where a desperate struggle seemed unavoidable, and he wished to precipitate the crisis, inasmuch as it had to come.

Colonel Briggs did not laugh, but turning his head, talked for a minute with the man nearest him, their words so low that no one else heard them. Then the leader turned back in a quick, decisive way.

"There don't seem much use in talking, stranger, so 'spose we make a fight of it."

"As you prefer."

The gang hardly expected so firm a front. Some of them muttered to one another. They were not a unit on the question, though it was evident that the majority preferred to fight.

The three men stood with their backs almost against the mountain wall. Each had a Winchester and revolver and all were expert in the use of the weapons. The others were gathered in an irregular group around their leader. They, too, were provided with all the weapons they could use, not to mention the extra guns strapped upon the pack mules. They outnumbered our friends three to one.

Captain Dawson could use his rifle as well with his single arm as formerly with two.

"He can't fire before me," he said in an undertone to Brush, standing next to him; "when the shooting begins, I'll drop him off his mule before he knows what's coming. When I say the word, let fly as quick as lightning! Likely enough they'll win, but we'll make them pay high for their victory."

"Do you notice that tall thin man at the rear?" asked Brush, in the same guarded voice; "his eyes shine like a rattlesnake's; he'll be my first target."



CHAPTER XXII

FRIENDS

Colonel Briggs was nonplussed for the moment. He had failed to scare the men whom he meant to despoil of their property and some of the mutterings behind him showed that he lacked the unanimous support of his followers.

"Boys," he said, looking round in their faces; "you've heerd what these strangers say to my mild requests. Since they are too mean to trade, I leave it to you to say whether we shall let up on 'em or make 'em trade; which is it?"

"Trade! trade!" was the response, given with such ardency that there seemed to be no dissent, though there was.

"That hits me right; trade it shall be; the first one of the strangers that kicks, fill him full of holes."

"And the first man that lays a finger on my property," said Captain Dawson, in the same deliberate voice, "will be shot down like a dog!"

The person whom Parson Brush had selected a few minutes before for his first target and whom he was watching closely, now did an extraordinary thing. This individual was thin to emaciation. His beard was scant and scraggly, and his large black eyes gleamed like those of a wild animal. He had a very long body, and sat so upright in his saddle, with his Winchester resting across in front, that he towered head and shoulders above his companions. From the first, he fixed his penetrating eyes on Captain Dawson and studied him closely. It was this persistent intensity of gaze that attracted the notice of Brush, who set him down as being even more malignant than the leader of the disreputable party.

When a collision was impending, and must have come the next second, the singular looking man, grasping his revolver, raised his hand above his head and called:

"Hold on a minute!"

His commanding voice and manner hushed every one. From his place at the rear, he spurred his mule straight toward the three men standing on the ground.

"Keep off!" commanded the parson; "if you come any nearer I'll shoot!"

The extraordinary looking individual gave him no heed, but forced his mule in front of Captain Dawson, upon whom he kept his eyes riveted.

"Don't fire till I give the word," commanded the captain, who had become suddenly interested in the tall, slim man.

Halting his mule directly before Dawson, and with no more than a couple of yards separating them, the stranger craned his head forward until his chin was almost between the long ears of his animal. He seemed to be trying to look the officer through, while every other man watched the curious proceeding.

Suddenly the fellow resumed his upright posture in the saddle, his manner showing that he had solved the problem that perplexed him. Through his thin, scattered beard, he was seen to be smiling.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Maurice Dawson."

"Formerly captain of the Iowa —— cavalry?"

"The same at your service."

"Don't you know me, captain?"

The officer thus appealed to took a single step forward, and looked searchingly in the face of the man that had thus addressed him.

"There is something familiar in your looks and voice, but I am unable to place you."

"Did you ever hear of Corporal Bob Parker of the —— Missouri?"

"Yes; you are he! I recognize you now! I am glad to greet you."

And shoving his Winchester under the stump of his arm, Captain Dawson extended his hand to his old comrade and shook it warmly, the two seeming to forget the presence of every one else.

"Something in your face struck me," said the corporal, "but I wasn't sure. The last time I saw you, you had both arms."

"Yes; I got rid of this one at the very close of the war."

"Things were pretty well mixed up around Petersburg; I tried to get on your track, but failed; I knew you meant to come to California, and when we drifted here, I was hopeful of finding you, but I didn't think it would be in this style."

While speaking the corporal had retained the hand of the captain, shaking it occasionally as he spoke. He now gave it a final pressure and dropped it.

"Captain, you and I went through some pretty tough scrimmages and you were always dead true and game; when we lost our colonel and major, you took command and led the charge that day at Cold Harbor; Grant or Sheridan couldn't have done better."

"It was rather warm," smiled the captain, blushing at the compliment; "but, corporal, it looks as if we are going to have something of the kind here."

Corporal Parker deliberately turned to the wondering group behind him.

"Jim and Tom, you know what we agreed on, if this should prove to be my old commander. You two wore the gray, but you are true blue now."

At this reminder, two of the company without a word rode forward and placed themselves beside the corporal.

"Now, we'll face the other way."

His suggestion was followed. The three wheeled their animals around, so that their riders, like the footmen, were in a line confronting Colonel Briggs and his astonished company.

"Dress," said the corporal, looking down and moving his mule about until the alignment would have drawn a compliment from a West Point cadet.

"Now, boys, are your shooting irons ready?"

"They gin'rally air," was the significant response of one of the men.

"All right, colonel," added the corporal making a military salute; "everything being in readiness please let the skirmish proceed."

Colonel Briggs emitted a forceful exclamation.

"What's the meaning of all this? I don't understand it."

"There are six on each side; that evens matters; shall you start the music or do you prefer to have the captain fire the opening gun?"

"But you haven't told me what this means."

"It means that Captain Dawson and Corporal Bob Parker have drunk from the same canteen."

It must be conceded that Colonel Briggs had one merit; no one was quicker than he to grasp a situation. So long as there were nine men on one side and three on the other, the success of the former was promising. He meant to crowd the defiant miners to the wall and would have done so but for the unprecedented turn of affairs. Now it was six to six and he knew the mettle of the three recruits that had joined the miners. Bob Parker was the most terrific fighter in the whole company. He was one of those men, occasionally seen, who was absolutely without fear. He would have stood up alone and fought the other eight. During that single week in Sacramento, he gained the name of a terror and caused a sigh of relief on the part of the authorities when he left for the mountains.

The corporal always fired to kill, and his skill with rifle and pistol was marvelous. While talking with Colonel Briggs, he fixed his brilliant black eyes on him, as if to intimate that he had selected him for his pet antagonist. All this was disconcerting.

In this crisis, when every nerve was drawn tense and the question of life and death hung on the passing of a breath, Colonel Briggs leaned backward and elevating his chin in the way that had become familiar, emitted one of his resounding laughs. Then he abruptly snapped his jaws together like the springing of a trap.

"Why, Bob, this puts a different face on things," he said cheerily; "if the man's a friend of yours, of course we can't quarrel with him."

"I rather think not," replied the corporal.

"I was in the army myself," added the colonel, "but didn't stay long; me and General Grant couldn't agree as to how the war should be run, and one night when no one was around, I resigned and left."

"Then you didn't win your title in the service," remarked Captain Dawson, who felt that he could afford to show good will, now that the situation had taken so remarkable a turn.

"Scarcely; the boys think that no officer lower than a colonel is fit to command this crowd, so that's how I got the handle."

Captain Dawson could not forbear saying:

"I think it much more befitting that a true and tried soldier, like Corporal Parker, should be in your place."

"It was offered to me," said the corporal, "but I refused it."

"No; we agreed to make him a full-fledged major-general, but he declined the honor with some sarcastic remarks," said the colonel; "howsumever, boys, now that things have been straightened out, do you intend to go with the captain or with us?"

Corporal Parker addressed his two comrades.

"Wheel and salute!"

They faced their animals around, and, taking the cue from the corporal, made an elaborate military salutation to Captain Dawson and his companions. Then they wheeled again and rode back to their former places.

"With my best regards," added the colonel, also saluting, while the rest half-nodded and grinned over the odd turn of affairs. Dawson, Brush and Ruggles unbent sufficiently to respond, but kept their places, side by side, and watched the curious procession until it passed out of sight beyond a sweeping curve in the canyon.

"I wonder if we are likely to see any more of them," said the parson; "they are an ugly lot and badly want our horses."

"Not badly enough to fight Corporal Parker and his two friends. The corporal is the bravest man I ever saw. I know he was disappointed when the colonel was so quick in backing down. He will go hungry for two or three days, for the sake of a fight. It is he and not the colonel or any one in the company that is spoiling for a row."

"And I picked him out as the first one to shoot," grimly remarked Brush.

"The chances are ten to one that he would have dropped you first, but it shows how easily one may be mistaken."

"I tell you," said Ruggles earnestly, "when that gang strikes New Constantinople, there'll be trouble."

"There's no doubt of it," commented Brush; "the forces will be about equal; if the boys at home could have warning of what is coming, they would make it so hot for Colonel Briggs and his tramps that they would be glad to camp somewhere else."

"That wouldn't improve matters, for of necessity there would be passing back and forth, and there are some people at New Constantinople who would welcome the change. That's the worst of it; a good deal of this evil seed will fall on soil waiting for it."

"We may be back in time to take a hand in the business," said the parson; "I don't know whether your friend, the corporal, can be secured as an ally."

"It is doubtful, for about the only merits he has are his bravery and his loyalty to his friends."

"In my 'pinion the same is considerable," commented Ruggles.

"He would be a powerful friend to Nellie, because she is a female and because she is my daughter, but," added the father with a sigh, "I have my doubts whether I shall ever take her to the settlement again."

This announcement strangely affected the two who heard it, for the dearest schemes which they secretly nourished included the spending of their days in the mining settlement. The hope of each had flickered into life once more with the prospect of recovering and punishing her abductor. They knew that she would bitterly mourn his loss, and would probably be inconsolable for a time, but the months and years would bring forgetfulness and then—who should say what might come to pass?

"We thought," remarked Ruggles, as they resumed their seats, "that we should have a weary wait for Vose, but it didn't prove so dull after all."

The captain looked at his watch.

"He has been gone more than an hour, and there's no saying when he will be back. He has his own way of managing this business, and, though I concede his skill and superior knowledge in this part of the world, it is hard to keep my patience when I see the hours slipping away without bringing any results."

But the patience of the three men was tried more sorely than ever before, and to a greater extent than any one of them anticipated. Noon came and passed and without bringing Vose Adams. The party partook sparingly of their lunch, leaving enough for their absent friend, but the lagging hours wore away and they still waited. They said little to one another, but the captain, unable to restrain his restlessness, wandered down the canyon. The two left behind watched him until he passed from view in the direction taken by Colonel Briggs and his company. A few minutes later, the report of his rifle came back to them.

"I wonder if he's got into trouble," exclaimed the parson, rising to his feet and peering to their left, without seeing everything to explain the sound that had reached them.

"I shouldn't wonder," replied Ruggles; "everything is going wrong; Vose wouldn't stay away so long, unless he, too, was in difficulty."

"The captain may need us; he can't be far off."

Gun in hand, the couple walked hurriedly down the canyon, on the alert for Indians, for it seemed more likely that if any danger threatened, it was from them. To their relief, however, they soon found their alarm groundless. The captain was seen coming, apparently as well as ever.

"Nothing is wrong," he explained when they were within speaking distance; "I saw an antelope among the rocks and took a shot at him."

"How near did you come to hitting him?"

"He made only a single jump after he received my bullet; it's a pity he didn't make a couple of them."

"Why?"

"It would have brought him over the outer rock and into the ravine; then we should have had something for supper. Haven't you seen Adams yet?"

Instead of answering directly the three looked toward the fissure in the side of the canyon, and there, to their unspeakable relief, they saw the man who had been absent for so many hours. As is the rule at such times, their ill-humor deepened.

"Why didn't you wait till morning?" was the question of the captain.

"I was afraid I would have to do so," replied the guide, whose flushed face and agitated manner proved that he brought important news; "but I didn't have to, and got away in time to reach you afore night."

"Not much before," commented the parson; "you must have had a remarkable experience to detain you so long."

"Rather, but I'm starving, give me something to eat, while I talk."

The lunch was produced, and he fell to with avidity, but he saw they were in no mood for frivolity, and he did not presume upon their indulgence.

"Wal, pards, after leaving you, I picked my way as best I could up the gorge, which runs back, with the bottom rising more or less all the way, for 'bout two hundred yards when you reach level ground. That is to say, the gorge ends, but the ground is anything but level."

"And they went all that distance ahead of you with their animals?" asked Brush.

"That's what they done; the tracks of the horses were so plain there couldn't be any mistake 'bout it. At the top of the gorge, the trail slanted off to the right, toward a big pile of rocks, caves and gullies, where it didn't look as if a goat could travel. There was so much stone that it was mighty hard to keep on the trail and I lost it."

"And didn't you find it again?" demanded the captain.

"Yes, but it took a good deal of time; that's one reason why I was gone so long, but it wasn't the only reason by a jug full. When I struck it agin, it led straight toward a high rocky place to the left, where I made up my mind the two were hidin'."

"That would imply that they knew we were close behind them."

"There can't be any doubt of that. What bothered me was to learn what they had done with their horses, fur the prints that I followed was made by the folks' feet. I couldn't figger out what they had done with the animals, and I spent some more time in trying to larn, but it was no use.

"Bime by I struck better ground, where the trail was so clear I could have trotted over it."

"Why didn't you do it?" asked Ruggles.

Adams shook his head.

"It wouldn't have done; as I said they must have found out, purty early in the day, that we was after them, for if they didn't, why did they turn off the reg'lar track?"

"Never mind asking questions," replied the captain; "go on with your story."

"Wal, pards, by that time I must have been a mile from here and it looked as if I'd have to go that much further. I had a good mind to come back after you, for time was important, but when another rocky, walled-up place showed in front of me, I was sartin I was close upon 'em. Their horses couldn't make their way through such a spot, and I was sure I had 'em fast."

"Why didn't you come back at once?" said the captain, "but, never mind, go on with your account."

"I thought it would be best to find out just how they was fixed. At the same time, it would never do to let 'em diskiver that I was about. So I was powerful careful and crept forward as if into an Injin camp. It wasn't long before I smelled burning wood. That told me they had come to a stop, built a fire and didn't dream I was anywhere in the neighborhood.

"But I wasn't through with the bother yet; it took me another long time to find where that fire was burnin', but I hit it at last. A little faint streak of smoke was climbin' from behind a ridge, among a growth of pines. I begun creeping forward when I changed my mind. I thought that if one of 'em happened to be on the watch and see me, they would be off afore I could git anywhere near 'em. So I worked round to the other side to come upon 'em from that. Then you see if they took the alarm, they'd have to come back toward you or make another long circuit. Anyway, I was sure of a chance to meet 'em.

"Wal, pards, I don't want to make a long story of what is a short one. I got round to tother side, but it took me a good while, and it's hardly an hour ago that I catched my first sight of their camp."

"What passed between you and them?" asked the captain.

"When I rested my eyes on the little bundle of wood burnin', there wasn't a man, woman or horse in sight."

The listeners were dumbfounded for the moment. After the waste of the greater part of the day, they were no nearer seeing the fugitives than before. In a voice, husky with passion, Captain Dawson exclaimed:

"It will take hard work to convince me that all this was not done on purpose by you."

"What do you mean?" demanded Vose, showing more anger than at any time since the strange hunt had been begun.

"If you had spent a week trying to fix things so as to help them get away from us, you couldn't have done any better than your own account shows you to have done. The whole day has been lost and we stand just as near success as we did twenty-four hours ago."

"You ought to have returned to us as soon as you located them," added Brush in the effort to soothe the ruffled feelings of the two.

"P'raps I didn't do the wisest thing," replied Adams with unexpected meekness; "but I ain't the first person in the world that has made a mistake. Howsumever, there won't be any more slips by me."

His companions looked inquiringly at him.

"I don't understand that remark," said the captain, "when you are sure to blunder as long as you attempt to manage things."

"That's the p'int; I resign from this time forward; I haven't given satisfaction and you may now do the work to suit yourselves."

"It's just as well," commented the captain, "for we can't make a greater mess of it than you."

The story told by Vose Adams was a singular one, but the most singular feature about it was that it did not contain a grain of truth. Every statement was a falsehood, deliberately intended to deceive, and, seeing that he had succeeded in his purpose, he was satisfied.



CHAPTER XXIII

VOSE ADAMS

Lieutenant Russell gave no hint to Nellie Dawson of the scheme upon which he had fixed his hopes, until after she had confessed her love for him, and he was certain beyond the shadow of a doubt, that he possessed the sole affection of her heart. Even then he hesitated for he knew the shock it would cause the gentle one, who was devotedly attached to her father. But the resolution of Captain Dawson to spend the remainder of his days at the mining settlement, and his intention of selecting her husband from among those that had made New Constantinople their home for years, crystallized the determination that had been vaguely shaping itself in his brain for weeks.

As he expected, she recoiled shocked by the proposal to leave her father; but love is eloquent, and he won by convincing her that the separation would be only temporary. Her father would be quick to see the great wrong his course would inflict upon his child, and he would not only consent to the union, but would follow and make his home with them. It was this implicit belief which made her the companion of Lieutenant Russell in the flight from the mountain settlement.

The project having been carefully planned and arranged, the preparations were more complete than those of their pursuers. They took sufficient extra clothing in the form of wraps and blankets, and enough food to last for several days. They were well mounted and had the companionship of the huge dog Timon, with his almost human intelligence.

The lieutenant's memory of places was good, and, having a number of hours of daylight at command, he escaped the mistake of his pursuers. The turn from Dead Man's Gulch was made at the right point, and they were miles on their way before their flight was discovered by Captain Dawson and his friends.

Both of the fugitives did not doubt they would be pursued. They knew the consuming anger that would take possession of her father, who would probably collect several companions and start after them with furious haste. He would take frightful vengeance upon the man that had dared to steal his daughter. Everything, therefore, must be done to keep beyond his reach until his wrath had time to cool. The intention was to make Sacramento ahead of him. At that city, the lieutenant would seek out his future father-in-law and plead his cause.

When night closed around them, they had penetrated to a distance of perhaps fifteen miles in the Sierras. It was at sunset that they passed a spot, where horses and riders, the latter on foot, had to pick their way with extreme care, while even Timon, who clung faithfully to them, showed timidity, though he had been over the place before. The sagacious brute knew that a mis-step on his part meant death. The passage, however, was made without mishap, and Russell, as he helped his companion into the saddle, assured her that nothing so trying to the nerves was to be expected during the rest of the journey.

There was no fear of pursuit until after nightfall, but Russell frequently pointed his glass backward and scanned the trail over his whole field of vision. When the gathering darkness shut out everything, he had seen nothing of enemies, either white or red. He could not forget that on his previous journey, he and the captain had desperate fighting with the Indians and the same peril still impended.

Nellie was eager to cover all the ground possible, while the opportunity was theirs, and the flight was pushed longer than Russell would have advised. Finally, he insisted they should stop and rest themselves and horses for the remainder of the night. The halting place was selected with much care. The animals were turned loose, where the grass was growing and a small stream wound its way toward a larger one. Then the two, accompanied by Timon, pushed in among the rocks to where the final halt was made.

They were in profound darkness. The lieutenant decided to start a fire, and, with much difficulty, gathered a sufficiency of dried branches. They were fortunate enough to find a partial cavern, so open in front that it would have given slight shelter in the event of a storm. When the blaze threw out its cheerful light, it served to dissipate the gloom which in spite of themselves had oppressed them with the coming of night.

They partook of food and the lieutenant's spirits rose, for he saw nothing to prevent the full success of the dream which had inspired and thrilled him so long. His buoyancy was infectious, and he brought a smile to the beauteous countenance by his merry sallies, and his picture of the happy future that was close at hand.

"Your father will be angry at first," he said; "it would be strange if he were not, but he loves you and I think has a pretty fair opinion of me. When he gains time to think over the matter, he will admit the wisdom of what we have done and we shall receive his blessing."

It was this assurance, more than all else, that served to lift the gloom from her. Deep as was her love for the one at her side, it would not have sufficed to draw her from her adored parent, had she believed that his resentment against her would last. As it was, she grieved that even for a brief time, as she thought would be the case, he should hold harsh feelings toward her.

No chivalrous knight of the Crusades could have been more scrupulously considerate of lady intrusted to his charge than Lieutenant Russell. He would have died before offending Nellie Dawson by act, word or presumptuous thought. When, as the night advanced, the bright eyes began to grow drowsy, he arranged a couch for her, saw that she was well provided with blankets and then turned to the immense dog, who had never left them and who looked as if he understood everything.

"Now, Timon, you are to stay right here," he said, bending over and impressively shaking his finger at the animal; "you are not to venture a dozen feet from your mistress without permission. Do you understand?"

A whine and wagging of the tail left no doubt that the wishes of his late master were clear to him.

"You have your gun at your side," he added, turning to Nellie; "I do not think you will have any call to use it. We have not met any Indians and your father cannot overtake us before morning. Timon will be sure to give you warning of the approach of danger, and, if your gun goes off, I shall be here in a twinkling."

He bade her good night and departed. Enough wood had been flung on the fire to keep it going for an hour or two, but long before it sank to ashes, the girl had drifted into dreamland.

The lieutenant carefully selected his own sleeping quarters. He finally fixed upon a large flat boulder, at the rear of the cavern occupied by Timon and his charge; but, although beyond sight, he was near enough to reach the spot on the instant needed. Spreading out his blanket, he lay down upon it.

"This recalls the old days in Virginia, when mud a foot deep, with the rain dashing in our faces, was what we had for weeks at a time. This couch doesn't equal a feather bed, but it will answer."

The night passed without incident and it was hardly light when the young officer was astir. He visited the horses and found them cropping the grass, but he waited until Timon came to him before calling upon Nellie. She, too, had been awake for some time and they partook of their morning meal with rugged appetites.

She was so eager to hurry on that he lost no time in taking the road again. Neither could doubt that their pursuers were on their trail, and, with the aid of his small glass, he carefully studied the country behind them. It was not long before he made the discovery he dreaded: four horsemen were following their footprints, and beyond them were the five Indians picking their way along the ledge in the opposite direction.

The lieutenant passed the glass to his companion who scrutinized the party with the keenest interest.

"They must have traveled all night," remarked her escort, while she still peered through the instrument.

"That shows how dreadfully angry father is; I hope it will not last."

"Can you make out the members of the party?"

She studied them a minute or two more before answering:

"I think that is father who is close to the man on a mule."

"The one on a mule must be Vose Adams, for he is more accustomed to that sort of animal. I am sorry he is with the party."

"Why?" asked Nellie, lowering the glass and looking at him.

"He is so familiar with the trail, that it will be hard work to outwit him; he isn't the man to make mistakes. Did you recognize the others?"

"I cannot be sure, but I suspect they are Mr. Ruggles and Mr. Brush."

"I have no doubt you are right,—not because I was able to identify them, but because the two are partners and your father would naturally go to them first. I do not think any one of the four has a glass, so, despite their sharp eyes, we have a big advantage in that respect."

"But they know the route better than we, and we are losing time."

The course of the trail took them out of the field of vision of their pursuers. It was at the suggestion of Russell that the two turned aside from the canyon into the fissure-like gorge. This would have been a serious mistake, except for the plan he had in view, for it must place the pursuers in advance, the very thing which it would seem the fugitives ought if possible to prevent.

The lieutenant had believed from the first that Vose Adams, in threading his way through the mountains, traveled a good many miles more than was necessary. It was quite likely that, if he could follow a straight line, he would shorten the distance one-half. Although this was impossible, the young man, nevertheless, was convinced that by changing the route, a good many miles could be saved: and it was in his mind to do that thing.

The lieutenant's experience in campaigning had taught him the danger of going astray, when picking his way through an unfamiliar country, but the little compass attached as a charm to his watch chain would help him to keep track of the variations and windings, and he was confident of coming out right. He and Nellie were well mounted and armed, all of which being impressed upon his companion, she offered no objection to the radical change of plan which took them out of the canyon into the ravine that led them they knew not whither, but it was ominous of disaster that at the top of the fissure, when the two were leading their animals, a grievous mishap occurred. The pony of Nellie slipped and sprained his ankle so badly that he whined with pain and paused with his weight supported on three legs.



"That's a bad go!" exclaimed the dismayed Russell; "it will be several days before he is able to travel."

She examined the ankle, as best she could, trying to soothe the pain by passing her hand over the injured part, but it was plain that neither she nor her companion could give any help.

"Poor fellow," she said sympathetically; "you cannot go any further; what shall be done, Fred?"

"Only one thing seems possible,—take you on my horse."

"And what will become of Cap?"

"We must leave him behind."

"What will happen to him?"

"Some one will pick him up, or, after his leg recovers, he may find his way back to the settlement."

The impulsive girl flung her arms about the animal's neck and touched her lips to the silken nose.

"They shall not part us, Cap," she exclaimed with tears in her eyes.

The lieutenant watched this by-play, full of sympathy for the girl, but he was in a quandary. Prudence seemed to demand that everything should be sacrificed to speed by abandoning the pony. In all probability, the latter would serve as a dinner for some of the bears, wolves or other denizens of the mountains, who would quickly harry him to death. To wait where they were until the animal was able to travel rendered certain a speedy meeting with their pursuers. The woodcraft of Vose Adams would enable him to discover with slight delay the point where the fugitives had left the canyon, and he would guide his companions with the skill of one of the mountain Indians themselves.

On the other hand, the plan he had in view imposed prodigious work upon his own animal. Between the halting place and Sacramento were many miles of easy traveling, over which he could walk, but for long distances the beast would be compelled to carry double. In the event of close pursuit, this must prove a fatal handicap.

In his perplexity, the lieutenant again examined the hurt of the pony.

"It would be cruel to make him take a single step, but he may soon recover. I am afraid to leave him behind and to continue our flight with only my horse. You know how dangerous it is to linger, Nellie, when it is certain they are not far off——"

She caught his arm and whispered:

"Look at Timon! he has discovered something!"

The dog was standing a few paces in front of them, with his nose pointed toward the canyon. He emitted several growls and pricked up his ears in a way that left no doubt that he was angered. The lieutenant had hardly time to place himself in an attitude of defence with his Winchester, when a soft footfall was heard, and the next moment Vose Adams emerged from behind the pile of rocks and approached them.

It was proof of the guide's woodcraft that he was able to come thus close before being detected by Timon, who advanced threateningly toward him. A word, however, from the lieutenant stayed the dog.

"Well, Vose," said the young man, "this is unexpected."

"So I jedge and I've a 'spicion that you ain't tickled half to death to see me."

"We were always friends, but I can't say that either Nellie or I am glad to meet you under the circumstances; for in truth, we have been doing all we could to prevent such a meeting."

"Things has that look," added Vose, standing on guard as may be said, for he was not free from misgiving concerning the young lieutenant whom he had managed to run down. His positive orders forbade him to assume the aggressive, but no one could forbid him to defend himself, and he did not mean that this handsome officer should catch him unprepared.

"Whom have you with you?" asked Russell.

"The captain, Wade Ruggles and the parson."

"What we suspected; I presume no one of the three feels specially affectionate toward me."

"It is all the captain can do to prevent the other two from quarrelin' as to which shall have the first chance to shoot you."

"Why does Captain Dawson prevent them?"

"'Cause he means to have the first chance himself."

"How about you?" grimly asked Lieutenant Russell.

"I'm left."

"How's that?"

"A low down trick was played onto me; as near as I can find out, the captain comes first, Wade and the parson next and me fourth. You can see for yourself that there won't be any chance at all left for me after them three is through."

"It doesn't look so,—that's a fact. But where are the three?"

"Along the main trail, down in the kenyon."

"Why did they not come with you?"

"I advised 'em to wait till I found out how the land laid and they won't leave the spot till I get back."

Lieutenant Russell gave no expression to the thought that flashed upon him. Why not keep Vose Adams a prisoner? The loss of his services to the party would be irreparable, for, as it was, the present hiding place of the fugitives never would have become known to them without the help of the guide. It was a daring scheme, but there were so many objections to carrying it out, that the officer dismissed it. In truth he thought of a much better plan.

"You have told me enough, Vose, to prove that the four men—for I may as well include yourself—feel bitterer toward me than I suspected: do you think this enmity of theirs will last?"

"Not for long."

"How long?"

"They'll let up as soon as you're shot."

Lieutenant Russell could not restrain a smile at this way of putting it, while Nellie was so horrified that she gasped and stared and listened in silence.

"There can be little doubt that you are right, but I meant to ask whether you do not think the captain will moderate his anger when he is given time to think it over."

"He has had all night to do that, and this mornin' he was hotter if anything, than at any time since he larned what you had done."

"When did he learn it?"

Thereupon, Vose told the facts which have already been made known to the reader, the most interesting feature of which was that Adams was not an original member of the pursuing party. But, although the guide was so pronounced in his opinion of the continuance of the enmity of Captain Dawson, the lieutenant believed otherwise. He was confident that if he and Nellie could reach Sacramento before meeting the irate father, the latter would be open to reason, and all would turn out well.

Vose turned to the young woman.

"Nellie, do you want a little advice from me?"

"I am glad to have it at any time."

"Howsumever, what I say is as much for the leftenant as for you, which the same is that both of you should give up this bus'ness."

"But," said Nellie, "you have just told us that father is so angry with Lieutenant Russell that he will shoot him the moment they meet."

"We can fix that easy 'nough; let the leftenant stay here while you go with me; I think we can explain matters to the captain and the others so they won't bother the leftenant."

"And what am I to do?" asked Russell.

"Push on to Sacramento as fast as you can, for though I think I can fix it, I wouldn't advise you to take too many chances."

"In other words, after Nellie and I have fled from the settlement and got this far on the road to safety, you urge me to give her up forever."

"Wal, that's lookin' a little further ahead than I meant to, but I 'spose it amounts to that."

"You mean well, Vose, but do you imagine that Nellie and I did not count the cost before turning our backs on New Constantinople? Don't you suppose we knew we should be pursued and were prepared for the consequences?"

"I can't say as to that, but it strikes me that the plan I laid before you is the only one there is."

"Why?"

"You cannot get away from the captain and the men with him."

"Well, there is no call for me to repeat my opinion, but I will say that the decision shall rest with Nellie herself. If she wishes to go with you I will interpose not a word of objection."

He looked toward her as an invitation for her to speak. There was a world of affection and faith in the lustrous eyes, as she walked resolutely forward and placed herself by his side.

"Only death shall separate us!"



CHAPTER XXIV

AN UNEXPECTED ALLY

The lovelight shone in the eyes of Lieutenant Russell, as he looked down at the slight figure beside him. He tenderly passed his arm around the girl and touched his lips to her forehead.

"It was not that I doubted you, Nellie," he said, "but that Vose might know the full truth."

Then turning to the guide, he asked:

"Do you still advise her to leave me?"

Vose Adams was unaccustomed to scenes like this. He moved about uneasily, coughed, cleared his throat, and for a few minutes was at a loss for words.

"I don't know what to advise," he finally said; "but don't you think, if she could go to the captain and let him see how she feels, he will give in? How would it do for both of you to walk back with your arms round each other's neck and sayin' sweet words—wouldn't that fetch him? Hanged, if I know what to tell you!" he exclaimed desperately, observing the smiles on their faces.

"I am afraid your plan wouldn't work," said the lieutenant, "but you have proved yourself the very friend we need."

These words were a hint of the scheme that had come into the brain of the young officer. Had he made a prisoner of Vose Adams, as he thought for a minute of doing, the guide would really be more dangerous, since there was no way of guarding against his treachery, but if he could be turned into a friend, it would be almost equivalent to saving the fugitives. It was that for which the young man planned, but he felt that the real work must be done by Nellie. He could not win the good will of Vose, but she could, for who was able to resist her appeals?

It was a proof of the brightness of the girl that she caught the purpose of her escort the moment his last words were uttered, and she performed her part with a cleverness that could not have been surpassed.

Tears were in the eyes of the emotional Nellie, but she stepped across the brief intervening space and laid her hand on the arm of Adams.

"How glad I am, Vose, that you will help us, for you have told enough to show that it will not do for us to meet father for some time to come; we are now in your hands."

"Blamed if I won't do anything I can! But what can I do? 'Spose I sneak back, shoot the captain and then plug Ruggles and the parson? Will that suit you?"

"Gracious; I should rather you would kill me than harm a hair of father's head."

"Wal, 'spose I shoot you and the leftenant and the captain and the rest? No; that won't do; how the mischief shall I fix things?"

The cooler headed Russell saw that the problem had been solved; Nellie Dawson had won over Vose Adams, as may be said, by the turn of her finger. He was eager to do all he could to help them, but in the flurry of the moment could not reason with his usual acumen.

"We don't want any shooting, Vose; I am sure that if we can reach Sacramento without meeting the captain, his anger will pass away. In Sacramento, I shall be able to arrange a meeting between him and his daughter, and his love for her will break down the barriers and do the rest."

"I'm in too deep water when you get to figgerin' that way, but there seems to be reason in what you say, but what about Ruggles and the parson?"

"We'll leave them out; they are in this as the friends of Captain Dawson, and will not dare go contrary to his wishes, but if they do, it can make no difference to my plan."

"They're just as savage as the captain," said Vose significantly; "and it won't do to forget 'em; but what did you expect to do, when you left the kenyon? If you come back, you would have been sartin to meet us, and what then?"

"My intention was not to return, but to keep away from the main trail and hunt a shorter road through the mountains to Sacramento."

Vose Adams gave a low whistle of astonishment.

"That's the worst I ever heard!"

"And why?"

"You're not follerin' any trail at all; you would be sartin to get lost and would never find your way through the mountains; anyhow it would take you three or four years, which I ca'clate is longer than you want to wait."

"How can you be so positive?"

"It's true I never went to Sacramento and back, except by follerin' for most of the way the trail that I know so well, but other folks as smart as you have been lost in the mountains and you couldn't help it."

"You advise against it then?"

"I'm so sure of your goin' wrong that I won't try to help you unless you give up the idee."

"Then I hereby give it up."

Since Vose Adams had committed himself to Russell and Nellie's interests, there was no more talking at cross purposes. The object of the three was the same, and they sat down on the rocks for consultation. There was abundance of time in which to do this, since those whom they feared would not leave the canyon until the return of their guide, and he did not mean to go back until the day was so far spent that further delay was unavoidable.

"They will be mad when they see me," he said with a grin, "but it won't do them any good and I'll fix up a yarn about gettin' on and then off your trail agin, that they'll have to be satisfied with."

"That will serve for to-night, but you will all be astir at an early hour to-morrow morning."

"They will still have to depend on me to guide 'em, and I rather think I can steer 'em off the track, so as to give you plenty of time to get out of the way."

"How?"

"As soon as they leave the kenyon, that is as soon as the way is clear, you must ride back to it and put on all steam for Sacramento, for I understand, leftenant, that you've give up your idee of finding a new route through the mountains."

"I have."

"You've got two good animals and you'll gain a full day's start."

"You forget about poor Cap," said Nellie.

"So I did! if he can't go with you, you'll have to leave him behind and ride double, but it will be rather tough on your horse, leftenant."

"Nellie doesn't weigh enough to make any difference, and I expect to walk most of the distance."

An unexpected piece of good fortune raised the spirits of the three. To the amazement of all, Cap, the pony, was seen hunting for grass and bearing upon the lame foot with little inconvenience. That which was thought to be a bad sprain was only a wrench, from which he promised speedily to recover.

"He'll be as well as ever by to-morrow mornin'," said Vose Adams; "you'll need to humor him at first, but not for long."

As has been intimated, the guide remained with them through most of the afternoon, for, if he had gone back to his friends earlier than he did, he would not have dared to offer any excuse for not leading them in the pursuit, and he meant to avert all possibility of that. The reader understands by this time why the guide formulated such an astounding fiction when attempting to explain the cause of his delay. Had his listeners been in cooler mood, they might have tangled him up with a few questions, but their exasperation and disgust prevented.

Before parting with the fugitives, Vose assured them that he was confident their plans could not fail.

"All they've got to do," he reflected, "is to do nothing afore to-morrow and then when the road is open, strike out over the main trail as hard as they can travel. I hope none of them Injins that we had the row with will be pokin' 'round to-night, for if there's to be any trouble, it'll come from them."

It will be recalled that the story of Adams was received with such coolness that he indignantly resigned and told the captain to run matters himself.

"And he'll make purty work of it," chortled Vose "he won't be able to come within miles of where they are hidin'."

When the moody silence had lasted for some time, the guide was moved to remark in a more conciliatory spirit:

"There's one thing that mustn't be forgot: Colonel Briggs and his folks won't make any trouble, but we're not done with them Injins."

"Isn't there likelihood that Colonel Briggs will divert them?" asked the parson.

"No; for the redskins can't be fooled; they'll know it wasn't any of the colonel's folks that give their chief his walkin' papers, but us, and they're the sort of people that don't forget a thing of that kind."

"I was thinking of hunting up enough wood to start a fire," said the captain; "but we don't need it, and I suppose it will be safer without it."

"It seems to me," observed Ruggles, "that what we've got the most to fear is that the Injins will run off with our animals: we would be left in a bad fix."

"We must look out for that; I'll stand guard the first part of the night."

Each was ready to take his turn, and it was arranged that Captain Dawson should act as sentinel until midnight, when he would awake Vose Adams, who would assume the duty till morning. Soon afterward, the three wrapped themselves in their blankets and stretched out on the ground, near the boulders, where they speedily sank into deep slumber.

It seemed to Adams that he had slept less than an hour, when the captain touched him. Rising immediately to a sitting position, he asked:

"Is it midnight?"

"It's a half hour past."

"Why didn't you awake me afore? Have you seen anything wrong?"

"I am not sure; my doubt made me hold on a little longer, but I learned nothing of account."

"What was it anyway?"

"It is only that the animals appear to be uneasy, but it may mean nothing, or it may mean a good deal."

"It's more'n likely it means something. Where are they?"

"Lying down off there to the right, almost near enough to be seen."

"They can't be too close; wal, you can sleep and I'll take my turn."

Thus warned by Captain Dawson, Vose Adams assumed the duties of sentinel with his senses on the alert. He had become so accustomed to the delicate duty, when aware that the slightest slip on his part meant death, that he was better fitted for the task than any member of the party, though the experience of Ruggles and the captain in the army had given them the ability to awake at any moment fixed upon before sinking into slumber, and they were sensitive to the least disturbance while enjoying refreshing rest.

Adams believed what he had remarked more than once that the little company of mountain Indians would do their utmost to revenge themselves upon the men who had taken off their chief. He suspected that the five were prowling in the neighborhood, looking for some such opportunity, and that they would strike a blow before the rising of the morrow's sun.

Nothing was to be hoped for in the way of a diversion, created by the intrusion of Colonel Briggs and his vagrant miners. Not that the Indians were not eager to strike at any members of the hated race, but the all-controlling motive was lacking in the case of the larger party.

Although the moon was in the sky, only a small part of its light penetrated the canyon. Peering into the darkness, Vose dimly made out the forms of the four animals, who, having ceased their cropping of the grass, had lain down for the remainder of the night. They were so near that they could not be stampeded or stolen without the effort being known to the sentinel.

It would have been the height of rashness to start a camp fire, for all the figures within its circle of illumination must have formed the best of targets for their stealthy foes. As it was, an enemy would have to steal from the gloom and approach near enough to touch them, before striking a blow or firing a shot.

Vose Adams, with his Winchester in his right hand and held close to his side, took his seat on the ground, resting his back against the nearest boulder. As a rule, a sentinel can keep awake for an extended time only by motion and exercise, such as walking to and fro, but the trained hunter often takes the risk and there is little danger of his succumbing, especially after he has just finished a nap, as was the case with the guide.

Thus seated, with the boulder rising several feet above his head, Adams's only reliance was upon his keenness of hearing and sight.

He had not waited long when he saw proof of what the captain had told him: the animals were restless, or rather one of them was. The quadruped thus affected was Hercules, his own mule, who, although lying down, twice rose to his feet, shifted his position and lay down again. Then he sniffed as if the air contained an odor that was displeasing to him.

"I wouldn't think much of it, if it was one of the horses," reflected his master, "but Hercules has brains; he knows more'n all the others together, and yet it may be it ain't that after all."

One of the singular facts regarding cattle and other quadrupeds is that they are sometimes troubled with disquieting dreams, the same as ourselves. This trifling cause has resulted many a time in the stampeding of a drove numbering tens of thousands.

"I've knowed Hercules to kick and snort in his sleep, and one time he come mighty near breakin' a leg of mine; howsumever, I don't think that's the trouble with him to-night. I 'spect it's Injins this time!"

When Captain Dawson lay down to sleep and Vose Adams assumed his place as sentinel, the moon was near the zenith, but the contour of the canyon shut out its beams. While Vose was striving to pierce the gloom, over and about the four animals, he noted a flickering tremor against the vast wall which formed the other side of the canyon. A faint, fleecy veil of moonlight having been lifted over the mountain crests, was now flung downward and caught against and suspended upon the projecting rocks and crags. It was but a frosty shimmer, but the veil dangled lower and lower, pendant here and there until the fringe rested on the bottom of the gorge.

The sleeping miners and horses were wrapped in deep shadow, but the tremulous, almost invisible veil still fluttered on the further side of the canyon. By and by, the shifting moon would whisk it up again and all would be gloom as before.

The sentinel lay flat on his face and peered over the prone animals toward the faint light across the canyon, and, looking thus, he saw the outlines of a man moving among the horses and mule. A shadow could not have been more noiseless. Not the faintest rustle betrayed his footsteps.

"Just what I expected," thought Vose; "I'll wager Hercules against a dozen of the best horses in Sacramento that that shadder is one of them five Injins we seen stealin' along the ledge this mornin'. All the same, I can't imagine what the mischief he is driving at."

The guide's first impulse was to bring his rifle to his shoulder and let fly. The intruder was so near that it was impossible to miss him, but two causes operated to prevent this summary course: Vose wished first to learn the business of the intruder, and there was a single possibility in a hundred that he was neither an Indian nor an enemy.

The latter doubt could be solved by challenging the prowler with a threat to fire, if instant satisfaction was refused, while the firing could be made so promptly that the stranger would have no chance of whisking out of reach. Vose decided to wait until he got some idea of the other's business.

He could still dimly discern the form, but it was so obscure that had it not been moving about, he would not have been able to distinguish it or make sure it was within his field of vision.

While studying the phantom, the lower part of the veil of moonlight on the other side of the canyon was twitched up for a hundred feet. Lingering thus a minute, it was twitched still higher; then a third flirt snatched it out of the gorge. The shifting of the moon had left the canyon shrouded in darkness as before.

Nothing could have attested more strikingly the marvelous stealth of the intruder than the fact that not one of the horses was awakened by him. The approach of the great Geronimo and several of his Apaches was betrayed under somewhat similar circumstances by the neighing of a horse that they awakened, apparently when making no noise at all.

This prowler was a shadow in a world of shadows. If Hercules detected his presence, the man succeeded in soothing the fear of the hybrid.

"Halt or I'll fire!"

Vose Adams's voice was low, but in the tomb-like stillness a thunderclap could not have been more distinct. The hail, however, produced no response. The angered Vose drew his Winchester to a level, with his finger on the trigger, but when he ran his eye along the barrel, he failed to perceive any target. He lowered the muzzle a few inches and peered over the top. Nothing was discernible.

"You're there somewhere and I'll find you!"

Instead of rising erect, the sentinel advanced in a crouching posture, so that his head was no higher than if he were on his hands and knees.

This clever strategy was thrown away. Within five seconds, he was at the side of Hercules, prepared and expecting to grapple with his enemy, who, to his exasperation, continued invisible. Vose did not require to have the matter explained to him, for he understood it. Upon being hailed, the intruder instead of throwing up his hands or starting to run, had also assumed a stooping position. It was as if he had quietly sunk below the surface of a sea of darkness through which he was wading, and swum with noiseless celerity to a point beyond reach.

Vose was angered but took his defeat philosophically.

"You was too smart for me that time; I never had it played finer on me, but I guess it's just as well; you've learned that we're on the lookout and you can't sneak into camp without some risk of having a hole bored inter you."

But Vose was not yet through with his nocturnal experiences. He held his seat for some fifteen or twenty minutes without seeing or hearing anything to cause the slightest misgiving. The horses still slept, and even the uneasy Hercules appeared to have become composed and to have made up his mind to slumber until morning.

"I don't b'leve there'll be anything more to disturb me, onless some wild animal wants his supper——"

The thought had hardly taken shape, when a shiver of affright ran through him, though the cause was so slight that it might have brought a smile, being nothing more than a pebble rolling down the ravine, up which the fugitives had passed the day before. The stone came slowly, loosening several similar obstructions, which joined with it, the rustling increasing and continuing until all reached the bottom and lay at rest a few feet from where he sat.

Nothing could have been easier than for this to occur in the natural course of things, since hundreds of such instances were taking place at every hour of the day and night, but in the tense state of the sentinel's nerves, he was inclined to attribute it either to the Indian that had just visited camp and slunk away, or to one of his comrades trying to steal a march upon him.

"I 'spose the next thing will be for him to climb over this boulder behind me and drop onto my head. Howsumever, if he does, he'll find me awake."

Vose sat thus, depending almost wholly upon his sense of hearing to apprise him of the stealthy approach of an enemy, while the long silent hours gradually passed, without bringing additional cause for alarm.



CHAPTER XXV

INSTINCT OR REASON

As the night wore away without bringing any further evidence of the presence of enemies, the solicitude of Vose Adams was transferred to the two, who, hardly a mile distant, were awaiting with equal anxiety the coming of morning. They and he had agreed upon the plan to be pursued, but now, with the crisis at hand, the guide became apprehensive about the final issue.

Suppose the couple should leave their hiding place to return to the main trail before their pursuers were out of the way? Mutual discovery was certain with the dreadful catastrophe that none dreaded more than he. But it would seem that Lieutenant Russell was too cautious to run the risk of so fatal a mistake. He would reconnoitre the ground and keep out of sight until the coast was clear, but the restless Adams was astir at the first streakings of light in the canyon.

He first visited the animals. It was possible that the stealthy prowler of the night before had done them injury, but, so far as he could ascertain, nothing of the kind had occurred. Except for what he had seen and heard during the darkness, he would not have known that a visitor had been in camp.

It was not fully light when the others rose from their primitive couches. Water was at hand, and after drinking and ablution, the group sat down to their morning meal, which disposed of the last remnant furnished by Vose Adams. While they were eating, he told of the occurrences of the night and was surprised that his companions made light of them. To them it was of less importance than to him.

"So long as they do no more than prowl about the camp," remarked Captain Dawson, "we need feel no concern."

"It seems to me," said Brush, "that if the fellow intended mischief, he would have done it, but he has left no traces of anything of the kind."

"Which was because the right kind of chance didn't show itself," said Vose; "if we don't have a lively fight before this bus'ness is over, I'm much mistook, but it's time we was moving."

The guide seemed to have forgotten his resentment of the night before and his friends were too considerate to refer to it. It took but a short time to make the animals ready, when the procession started up the gorge, Vose, as usual, leading, with the captain next, then Wade Ruggles, while the parson brought up the rear, that position naturally falling to him.

Men and beasts were refreshed by their rest and food, and it required but a brief while to reach the top of the gorge, where, as will be remembered, it terminated. It was here that Vose Adams began his fine work, and he showed no more hesitancy in drawing a "long bow," than on the previous night, when pretending to account for his long absence.

"The trail leads to the right," he said, with a glance at the ground, as if to refresh his memory.

His first thrill of misgiving came when he saw the parson pause and look searchingly at the ground. Had he possessed one-half the skill of Vose in trailing, he would have discovered that the guide was misleading them, but he did not have that cleverness nor did any other member of the party. The glance of the parson was perfunctory and his brief pause was to regain his breath after the short but laborious climb of the steep slope. Vose was watching him closely and quickly saw the meaning of his action, for, whatever Brush may have observed on the ground in front of him, it was not the faint impressions left on the stones by the fugitives. Neither the captain nor Ruggles so much as looked at the earth, accepting the dictum of their guide without question.

It was not deemed best to mount the animals, because of the roughness of the ground and the belief that they were close upon the parties for whom they were searching. Vose took care to turn so sharply to the right that they were speedily out of sight of the spot where he had parted from the fugitives. Everything was going promisingly when Wade Ruggles startled his companions by the exclamation:

"Helloa! there's that dog Timon!"

A hundred yards to the left rose a pile of rocks, the highest of which reached an altitude of two hundred feet or more. Upon the crest of one of the lower rocks, which had only a slight height, the immense dog stood in plain sight. It looked as if he had started to ascend the rocks, when he discovered the party and paused to learn their business.

The picture was a striking one. The enormous size of the brute gave the impression at first that he was a wolf or some wild animal that had challenged the advance of the four men. This error would have been made had not each been so familiar with the creature. As he stood, his formidable head raised, his forequarters being slightly higher than the remainder of his body, his position was diagonal. He was surveying his acquaintances, who surveyed him in turn with equal curiosity.

Vose Adams's heart sank. What was the meaning of this? As he viewed it, the presence of the dog could have no other significance than that the lieutenant and Nellie Dawson were close at hand. Timon was in their company and would not have strayed far, so that he had betrayed them. From some cause, which the guide could not comprehend, Lieutenant Russell had made a change of plan and placed himself almost in the path along which Vose was leading the pursuers, in the belief that the fugitives were at a safe distance.

The four men looked at the dog for several moments in silence, when the captain spoke:

"We must be very near them."

"You're dead right," added Ruggles in the same undertone; "we've got 'em cornered sooner than we expected."

"They can't go far," said the parson, "without being stopped by the rocks, when we shall have them in the nicest trap that was ever set for any game."

The reflection of Vose Adams was of a different nature.

"If they make fools of themselves and upset all my plans, what can I do to help 'em? Why didn't they stay where they promised to stay, and why didn't they kill that blamed dog afore he played this trick on 'em?"

Timon stood for two or three minutes so immovable that he suggested a stone image of himself, carved out of the rock on which he was perched. Then he emitted a single husky bark and leaped lightly down from where he had been standing. It was no more than a dozen feet, and he alighted as gracefully as a panther. He trotted part way to the horsemen, who were closely watching his movements, stopped, barked again and wheeling, trotted forward over precisely the course Vose Adams was taking when checked by the appearance of the canine.

The men looked at one another in astonishment. The action of the dog was unaccountable, but Captain Dawson's explanation sounded reasonable.

"That shows we are on the right track and he has come to guide us to where they are awaiting him."

There could be no doubt of it. The actions of the brute said as plainly as so many words: "Come with me and I will take you straight to the people you want to see."

Instead of following Timon at once, the party kept watch of him. He trotted a dozen steps and then paused and looked back. Observing that he was not understood, he emitted several more barks, took a couple of steps and then repeated the performance. His object was so evident that Captain Dawson said:

"That's as plain as the nose on your face; the animal is worth a dozen guides like you, Vose."

"Then why don't you foller him?" sulkily asked the latter.

"That's what we shall do; come on."

Observing that the captain left his horse standing, the parson inquired the reason.

"They are of no use to us and will be only a bother; leave them here until we need them; I will follow the dog and you can take what order you choose, but," he added with unmistakable earnestness, "every one of you must keep in the background till I'm through."

Timon held his motionless position until the four men had taken several steps toward him and there could be no error as to their intention. Vose Adams observed that he was following, without a hair's variation, the course he had in mind.

"It serves 'em right," was his angry reflection; "when the leftenant spoke 'bout hunting up a new trail through the mountains, I oughter knowed he hain't no sense and was sure to make a mess of things. Now's he gone and sneaked off where these folks will stub their toes agin him; I'm 'sprised that the Queen didn't hammer a little sense into his head."

The guide was in a torture of apprehension. The impending outcome was likely to betray the deception he had used, but it was not for that he cared. There could be no mistaking the deadly mood of Captain Dawson and the equally intense hatred of Ruggles and Brush. A meeting with Lieutenant Russell made a frightful tragedy inevitable, and no one could be more vividly aware of the fact than the young officer himself, for Vose had impressed it upon him, but the guide in his anguish of spirit, saw no possible escape from it. He stolidly followed, striving to brace himself for what must soon come.

Meanwhile, the strange leadership continued. Timon seemed to be impatient, for occasionally he broke into a trot, abruptly pausing and looking back, as if to urge his followers to use more haste. Since they did not do so, he checked himself, when about to pass beyond sight and waited for them to draw near. He led them around boulders and masses of rocks, over ridges, down declivities, across one small stream, through a ravine and again among the precipitous piles of stone, until even the hardy men were well nigh exhausted. They had traveled fully a mile over a route that was of the most trying nature.

It was about this time that an extraordinary suspicion began forming in the mind of Vose Adams. He hardly dared give credence to it, but it took greater hold upon him with every few rods of advance. Nothing in the world would have induced him to make known his suspicion, but it continued to grow.

Suddenly Captain Dawson stopped. As he looked around his face was agitated.

"Boys," said he, "there's something infernally strange about this."

Vose Adams saw that his own suspicion had entered the mind of their leader, but the countenance of the guide was as blank as that of a child.

"It's the worst tramp I ever had," remarked the parson, removing his hat and mopping his forehead.

"If there's any harder work," added Ruggles, "count me out."

Captain Dawson looked angrily at Vose.

"Do you know the meaning of this?"

Vose shook his head and prevaricated still further by adding:

"Nor what you're driving at either."

"That dog has misled us; instead of conducting us to the couple he has taken us away from them."