Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 1092 — page 4: what you’re looking at

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

LO IY OE Ty Ee Ry — a “wy > ° : & : Se a eT INE LE I TE I OR A A TIE LLL LL LOLI ILI OLE LEE, LETT OES ELE TTT IO LOE LE ITY I LN 8 DAIS LE mab Old Cross-Eye, the Maverick-Hunter. 5 wood, and, after several windings, ended in a little opening, tbat contained a small house, built in the frail and hasty style that is com- mon in the Mexican parts of Texas under the name of ‘‘ jacals,”"* bu’ not common inthe wesi- tern and thrifty portions of the State, Never- theless, it was in a jacal that Old Cross Eye and his friend lived, ar:i it answered all their pur- pores as well as any mure pretentious building. t was built of thin saplings, woven together into.a sort of basket work, and was cool in the intense heats of that part of the State, where the hot wind, from the immense plains of the Llano Estacado, makes the weather very sul- it tae summer months, here was very little clearing around the jacal, and a narrow path led from its front into the corral, a gate at the end showing that the exit and entrance was used at discretion. Down this path the bunters led their horses, and turned them into the corral, where the ani- mals fell to cropping tbe grass with an avidity that showed the racing bad not burt either of them, Into the hut, then, the two men went, and Old Cross-Eye smiled, as he saw that a fire had been lighted in the center, and the haunch of a fawn of the black-tailed deer, that had been shot the day before, had been cub, into slices and bung by the fire, ready to roast or broil. ‘“*T got ready, as soon as | heard the born,” explained Tom, “I knew you would be bun- gry, and I cut up the venison so as to save trouble. It’s just rigbtin flavor.” ~ Old Cross-Eye nodded and went to the fire at once, where he began to toast bis slices of veni- son, witha face that showed bow he appreci- ated the attention of the others to bis comforts. They both said very little till the repast was finished, when the old man observed, as he wiped his mouth on bis sleeve: ‘*I tell ye what, Tom; it isn’t everybody hag as good vittles as we, after all. It ain’t a rich place to be sure; but, if we kin get the herd we took to-day, branded, and balf-way tame, we ee have a little spare cash yet.” Tom looked out of the door; for the jacal bad no window, and the smoke of the fire went through a hole in the roof. His face had a sad look on it, as he said: ‘* Yes, there’s money init. I see all that; but what a set of savages the men are, and when one does meet a girl, who has a mind and a soul, she is sure to be too far above you in wealth to look at you, or, if she does look at you, then the people of the border call you an interioper, and try to pick quarrels with you, about nothing.” Old Cross-Eye nodded, as if he Dalleratsoa what the otber was driving at. ‘1 know all that, boy; but you furgit that the rule in Texas is for every man to take keer of his own door-yard,. If any of ’em pitches on ye, why don’t ye fight ’em back?” Tom ‘si hed, He bad the dreamy face, with delicate lines, that proclaims a man of five tastes and poetical likings. There wasa certain artistic quality in his dress, that aided in giving one this impression, besides the presence, in the hut, of several drawings and water-color sketches of the scenery of Texas, all the work of his hands, ; ‘‘T hate to be brawling, all the time,” he said, Old Cross Eye remarked: ‘* Ye've got to do it, in Texas.” CHAPTER V. THE VISIT OF THE INDIANS. Tue home of the Maverick-Hunters—for Tom Field and Jake Mitchell were in partuership in the little hut by the bead-waters of Blue Fork —was right up at the edge of the Indian terri- tory, a very different place now to what it was when the Eastern Indians were first moved there. There are several nations of the red-men who have acquired considerable civilization and wealth, and the raising of cattle is an indusiry, with the Cherokees and others, just as much as with their white ayy When Old Cross-Evye and bis partner went out after dinner to look at their herds and con- sult about getting them branded, they found that the cattle in the huge corral looked excit- ed, and were running from side toside in a way that showed the presence of something to dis- turb them, in spite of their fatigue after the long race they bad already had. As soon as Old Cross-Eye had set eyes on them, he said, decidedly: ‘‘Injuos, Tom. They’ve been at the cattle, as sure as fate. I told ye it wouldn’tdo to trust ’em too much, boy. long as we was poor, they didn’t wanter disturb us, but they seen we had a good baul,and they’re comin’ to take some of it.” Tom Field cast his eyes over the corral. There was no one in sight, but the tired cattle were running to and fro, in a manner indicative of suppressed excitement, which was only pre- vented from becoming a regular stampede by their exhaustion and the fact that they had no place to get out, The disturbing place was evidently on the op- posite side of the corral, where the barranca * Pronounced “* Harcals."” The e558 ake Con ee ae ae ae rr a TT extended, and the little herd of ponies that the hunters owned was coming toward the but, as: to.ask for.protection from an enemy of some ind. “It’s Injuns, as sure as fate,” asseverated-Olg Cross-Eye, as he noted their actions. ‘“‘ Never knowed it to fail, when the beasts acts that way. Seems like they knowed that they be- longed to white folks, and that Injuns weren't nateral to ’em.” Tom Field made an impatient motion of his head, as he retorted: ‘ “You're always talking about the Indians, like the rest of the Texans, and neither of you know any more avoutthem than you do about the moov. If there are any Indians in the bar- ranca, I’m going to find who they are, and what they want.” He whistled for his pony, which he had train- ed to come at the call, expecting salt, and the pretty little animal trotted up to him and rau its nose under the arm of its master, in a way that showed the affectionate ties that existed between the two, “Stay here, and I'll ride over and investi- gate,” was the brief salutation of the young man to bigs elder, and be threw himself, bare- back, on the pony, and cantered off to the place where the cattle were stamping and snorting in terror, at the edge of the deep chasm, called a barranca, which formed one of the boundaries of this natural corral. As he advaneed, the cattle rushed out of his: path as if they had not yet got used to him, and the young man arrived at the edge of the chasm and looked down, to see, as Old Cross- Eye had predicted, several Indians at tbe bot- tom of the gully, trying to climb up tbe sides. When they saw bim they began to Jaugh and make all sorts of signals of amity to him, to which he responded by waving his hand and calling back to them, in the language of the Kiowas, to which they belonged: ‘(Come round the other way. This is not the way that we réceive our guests. The house is open at all times to the friends who, love us.” The three Indians who had been down in the gully looked as if they were ashamed to be caught where they were; but, they made the best of it, and called back: ‘We were afraid that if we went the other way you would not be at home, We want meat, and it is far to our lodges.” ** Come up this way then, and take what you want,” the young man called out in his mo t kindly tones, ‘‘ The house is always open to my red brothers,” \ He waited at the edge of the barranea til! they got up to him, and helped the !ast man up by the hand, amid smiles and ‘* Hows,” of the most polite description, This young man bad come to the West and taken up bis abode at the edge of the Indian Territory on purpose to study the Indians, for whom he had conceived a most romantic admiration, and had devoted himself, ever since bis arrival, to the language of men who were looked on, at the West, as lit- tle better than wild beasts. Had he done this at any place where the Tex- an cowboys and ranchers could have seen him, he would probably have incurred their bitter hate and contempt, under the title of *‘squaw man,” though he bad never taken to himself any In- dian wife whatever. As it was, bis isolation, at the edge of the State, saved him from this, and the only per- son who knew of his tastes was Oid Cross- Eye. The elder, being an ordinary prejudiced frontiersman of but little education, thought that his young friend was crazy on the subject of the red-men, and cherished a sort of uneasi- ness, all the time, lest the Indians should take to doing some piece of what be would call “ devil- try,” and break out into a carnival of murder and rapine. Old Cross-Eye had come from Minnesota, where he remembered the great massacre which had occurred uring the civil war; an he had the idea, common to the West since that day, that all Indians were bad, and that exter- mination would be the best thing fer the world, in their case. Tom, who had the faith and enthusiasm of the young student of Catlin-and the early writers, thought, on the contrary, that the pre- qactloes of bis friend were not founded on know- edge, and that it was impossible for men, who started with the convicticn that all Indians were bad, to attain any knowledge of them, Now, as he rode slowly toward the house, across the ¢orral, the three men who followed him attracted a great deal of attention from the cattle, for a man on horseback is the regular herdsman in Texas, and when they see one on foot, it is, to them, a signal that an enemy is approaching, They began to stamp their feet and run after the three men on foot, and Tom had to ride to the front of the friends he bad brought in, and protect them from the as- saults of the very cattle he had driven in, ex- baustel, a sbort hour before, The Indians took the matter very coolly, for they were accustomed to cattle, and kept near the horse till they bad arrived within rushing distance of the but, when they made a break for the narrow lane, which they evidently knew by heart,and succeeded in getting in without being gored, though the angry cattle came ramping after them, to within a foot of the gate, when they appeared to be frightened at something and went back toetbheir grass < Pain. Tom Field rode into the gate, and tcok his friends to the but where Old Cross-Eye sat, on the skull of an ox—the only kind of seat patro- nized in that primitive establishment—and nod- ded coldly as they came in, for hé knew they bad only come on a begging expedition. The foremost Indian remarked to Tom in his own tongue: “The man with the crooked ¢yes does not like us to come here. Tell him that the land was ours, before he came,” He spoke in a way that showed he meant it. Tom translated the remark, with the addi- tion: ** Civility costs nothing, Juke. Put your pre- judice aside for once, if you can do such a thing.” Old Cross-Eye rose and shcok hands with the Indiaus, all round, saying ‘‘ How,” to each of them, and the red-men reciprocated the civili- ty, with a dignity that showed they resented the previous rudeness, for the Indians them- selves are nothing if not hospitable, The oldest Indian of the three was enlled Wild Cat, and be and Tom were old frien¢s, as ap- peared the moment they sat down. Tom pro- duced a pipo and tobacco, and offered it to the new-comers, with a grace that he bad learned from the Indians themselves, after which it was passed from one to the other, and the party in the hut smoked silently for several minutes. At last Tom said to Wild Cat: ‘* What do my brothers wish to-day?” Wild Cat waved bis hand, as he answered: “We want nothing. If we did, we weuld take it. The land is ours, and the cattle would not be here if we did not allow it. Your people have driven away the buffalo, and we want some meat for our wives and children.” ‘“ How many do yeu want?’ asked Tom, with a glance at Old Cross-Eye to see bow he took the demand, if be understood it, which Tom coubted, Wild Cat held up both hans. ‘Weare many, and the Washington father has not sent us the rations he promised, if the men from the South will let us take ten oxen, we will not come back for many days.” Tom spoke to Old Cross-Eve. ‘*They want ten oxen. What are we to do about it? My advice is to give it to them.” Old Cross Eve grunted. ‘‘Hem! I spose they’ve got to have it; but who’s a-goin’ to tell they’re not comin’ back in a week?” Wild Cat betrayed no sign that he understood the speech, though, as a matter of fact, he end his friends #l) understood English. They vever spoke it execpt asa matter of necessity, from pride in their own tongue, like most of the In- dians of the Territory. Tom Field hesitated. He was staggered at the demand of the Indians, himself, fcr, if they wanted ten head at first, they might come again and strip the ranchers of all they had, “T think that we have no choice,” he replied, as soon as he had collected his thoughts. “ They can take it all, at any time, if they please, and we know it; while, if we treat them btoneatly and liberally, they may be our friends.” Old Cross-Eye sbrugged his sboulders, ; ‘You do the bargainin’, You know all abou them, you say. They’ve got to have it, I spose. If we bad a show, I'd rather fight for the cattle, but we bain’t got any show at all, I wish we had: ’t comehere, sometimes.” Tom turned to Wild Cat, with the remark: * You shall have what you want. When wiil you take them?” Wild Cat arose, **My white brother is 8 man who bas a good heart to the red brother, He sball not be sorry for it, nor the man with the crooked eye either. We saw tbat you bad taken a great stock of cattle, and we came to ask you for a share. You bave given it to us, and we will help you with the rest. You are only twoand we are many. We will come down to your corral in the morning and help you to brand the cattle, We will take our oxen then.” Then the Indian bowed his bead with a dig- nity that a white king might bave envied, and stalked out of the but, followed by bis friends, when Old Cross-Eye exclaimed, in a tone of smothered vexation: ‘‘ They're a comin’ again; are they, with the hull tribe to help ’em. By gosh, I wish they'd stay away. You'll be the death of us both, with our huutin’ arter Injuns. Tell ye they're all nad, every one of ’em, This is only the fust haul. Tuey’ll. keep on till they’ve skinned us clean.” Tom made no answer, for hé had risen to fol- low his friends, and saw them go out on the prairie through the path ia the motte, Wild Cat led the way, and was followed by Man- that-Walks and Standing Fox. | The three were ragged fellows, in the semi- civilized dress that marks the Indian who lives ‘ | ~=, = COMICDOOKS.