Argosy, Vol. 1 (1882) — page 142: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

AN INDIAN one here. See the footprints, Ben? Moccasins, by George!” The- men leaned eagerly forward in their saddles and gazed at the marks. ‘ Injuns, by jings!’’ declared Ben. “Caught him, too, sure’s thunder,” remarked Dan Luther. “ Jumped on him when his hoss fell.” “ Right you are,” responded their leader gravely; “and they’ve skedad- dled with him. Mebbe thought he was the only feller follering *em. Reckon they'll find their mistake, eh, boys?” ‘* That’s the talk!” was the reply, and the whole party spurred onward. But the redskins and their prisoner had a good twenty minutes’ start, and that meant a good deal to an Indian who never seeks to spare horseflesh. At the end of the pass the herders halted again and gathered around their leader for a council of war. “Tl tell ye what it is, boys,” said Ben, ‘“‘ that Gray Fox is a cleaner, an’ no mistake. His name fits him, fur he’s keener’n any old fox of ’em all. Ye kin see by these tracks that the cattle went through this here pass not long after noon, but two or three of the scamps hung back ter kiver their tracks from jest such a crowd as this here. It’s hard lines that Raf fell in with ’em, but that can’t be helped. “Now you can see that the trails separate right here,” went on Ben. “ ‘Them with the cattle’s south’ard, like- ly ter meet the big gang that the sojers are chasin’; but these fellers with Raf- ferty hev kept right on westward. “ That’s done ter lead any one that was a follerin’ him away from the cattle. Arter they’ve done their prettiest ter slip us, they'll circle aroun’ an’ come up with the main body, too. “Now I propose we separate. I'll take Mr. Phil an’ foller arter those scamps that hev got Raf; an’ you, Dan, take the other fellers an’ keep on arter the cattle. We'll meet again jest as luck lets us.” ‘It’s a goin’ ter be dark in a blamed short while,” said Dan doubtfully. ROUND UP. 133 “Let it. You fellers keep on as far as ye kin; then camp on the trail an’ pick it up agin in the morning. Now git.” Both parties put spurs to their horses and dashed away from the pass, shortly disappearing from each other’s sight. Ben and Phil rode like the wind for the first half hour. “ They’ve tried to hide their trail not far from the pass. It’s coming night,” Ben said, “ an’ we wanter find out their ‘slip’ and recover the trail agin before it’s too dark ter do fine work. There'll be a moon by an’ by, and we'll travel by that.” Within three miles of the pass the trail led thém to a broad stream which here flowed through the valley. The Indians had entered the water upon one side, but there were no marks on the further shore to show that they had ridden on. “ Humph! that’s an old dodge,” mut- tered Ben. ‘“ They’ve kept in the stream for some distance, but as we know pretty well in which direction they’re really bound it amounts to no slip at all. They went south, of course. Come along, Phil.” Phil accepted Ben’s superior knowl- edge of Indian nature and rode on in silence. In less than a mile they reached a part of the stream where the banks were higher. The opposite bank was espe- cially high, its summit being quite twenty feet above the water. It ap- peared as though the stream had forced its way through the cut, for the bank sloped directly up from the water and the soil was sandy. “ That’s the place,” declared Ben, with satisfaction, reining his horse into the water. “ That’s where they left the stream, I'll bet ye. Ye see, the bank’s so loose that it would rattle right down an’ hide their tracks.” He forced his horse to ford thie stream just above the bank, and, fol- lowed by Phil, mounted to its summit. Sure enough, it didn’t take a seconc COMNMUGCLE OOKS eo