Edward S. Ellis

“ AT the instant of turning, Alden saw a form rise from the grass, less than two rods from the wagon, and glide with incredible swiftness toward it. The Indian was crouching, a rifle in his left hand and a knife in his right. Through an unexplainable instinct he knew where some of the women and children were sleeping, and he intended to bound in among them, strike right and left with venomous fierceness, slaying the sleepers with lightning-like quickness, and then dart away in the moonlight. ”

“ Few of the men kept their saddles throughout the day. It was too tiresome for horses and riders. The latter sometimes walked for hours, or climbed into the lumbering wagons and rode behind the oxen. The children, of whom there were more than a score of different ages, delighted to play hide and seek, chasing one another over the prairie and then tumbling into the rear of the vehicles, where their merry shouts were smothered by the canvas covers which hid them from sight.
Alden and Jethro had tramped for two hours and were again in the saddle, their horses on a walk. ”

“ An enormous bear, dark in color, came swinging forward from the direction of the ridge. His waddling, lumbering gait, and his vast bulk left no doubt of his identity. In any circumstances he would have been a most formidable foe to meet.
“It’s a grizzly!” whispered Alden, shrinking behind the boulder so low that only by taking off his hat was he barely able to peer over.
In one sense the discovery was a relief, for it explained the panic of the pony. Better a dozen grizzly bears than half as many Indians. ”

“ Yielding to a strange misgiving, Alden had lain flat on the ground to escape discovery. When the pony came opposite, he was within a dozen paces, near enough to scent that something was amiss. He snorted and leaped the other way. In the same instant the lantern flirted upward. Its uncertain light, revealed that the stranger had brought his rifle to his shoulder and was aiming at the point of disturbance.
“Don’t fire!” called the youth, springing to his feet; “I’m a friend.” ”

“ After a time it was plain the pony had given up the fight. He was galloping steadily, as if like the others, he had but one ambition in life which was to throw the miles behind him in the shortest possible time. All the same, Alden was on his guard. There was no saying what whim might enter the head of the brute. One of his kind will be good for weeks with no other object than to throw a man off his guard. It did not seem likely that such was the case with the animal Alden was riding, though it might be so. ”

“ The ridge which caused Alden anxiety had been crossed, and now when he looked back he traced the outlines of the vague column of smoke that was slow in dissolving in the summer air. Surely nothing more was to be feared from that source. No matter how well mounted a party of Indians might be, none could overhaul the peerless Dick, whose graceful legs were again doubling under him with marvelous rapidity and carrying him and his burden as an eagle bears its eaglet on its broad back. ”

“ Shagbark had his silent moods, but not so often when the two were together. A peculiar result of nature and training shown by the veteran amused Alden. The guide never lost his habit of eternal alertness. No matter how deeply interested the two were in what was being said, Shagbark kept glancing ahead, on each side, and frequently behind him. Even when sitting on the ground or eating with the others this bird-like flitting of his eyes was kept up. It seemed impossible for such a man to be caught off his guard. ”

“ He strolled about the open space, pausing now and then to survey through his glasses the snowy peaks which towered far into the sky to the westward, or at the lower hills to the north, where the gnarled pine, the dwarfed cedar, the rushing torrents and the gorges made up one of the many wild regions which abound over thousands of square miles of area. Abundance of game was there always with the added spice of danger from the dusky hunters who preferred to bag the white invaders in preference to deer, antelope, buffalo, or mountain sheep. ”

“ There were stretches of plain where the panting pony and his master could not get a drop of water for hours. When they plunged into the mountains in the depth of winter, the temperature was often far below zero, but the undaunted rider kicked away the snow on the lee side of some boulder, kindled a fire of dead limbs, when he could find such sparse fuel, but more often he had nothing of that nature. The tough little pony was wrapped about by his blanket, the master inclosed his iron body in another, or partly in the same one, lay down and slept, with never a dream to disturb his rest. ”

“ SEVERAL facts saved Alden Payne from drowning. In the first place, the deep hole into which he stepped was only three or four feet across. The space was so slight indeed that his own momentum in walking threw him against the other side, where the water was shallower than before. Moreover, he was a powerful swimmer, but the strongest swimmer that ever lived could not sustain himself when incumbered by such heavy clothing, two mail pouches and a rifle. The youth promptly let go of the weapon, but clung to Uncle Sam’s property as if it were his very life. ”

“ Only in self-defense would he shoot a human being, as he had proved weeks before.
“I don’t want your life; if you will get out of my path I won’t hurt you,” was the thought of Alden, who lowered his gun, but held it ready to use on the instant it might become necessary. He feared that because the shot was delayed, the Indian would turn and try to use his bow. In that event, the youth would fire to kill.
He held himself ready to anticipate hostile action. He was so close to the fleeing warrior and the air was so clear, that every trifle about the fugitive was noticed. ”

“ At the same instant, a wiry pony, with flashing eyes and dilated nostrils and fine muscles aquiver, made a tremendous leap which carried him almost to the middle of the street, and heading toward the river, plunged away under the prick of the spur, on a dead run.
Horse and rider made a fine picture. Silver mounted trappings decorated both. The man might have been mistaken for a circus performer, in his brilliant uniform, with plated horn, pistol, scabbard and belt, gay, flower-worked leggings, jingling spurs and fine boots with high heels, such as cowmen and rustlers affect. ”

“ Moreover the evidence on the bank of the stream left no doubt that it was a well-known ford, where teams could cross with little difficulty. Wherefore Alden could probably do the same.
He decided to try it. Ever mindful of the inestimable value of the mail treasure, he adjusted them with much care about his neck, somewhat as if they were life preservers, and holding his light rifle in his hand, he stepped cautiously into the current like an elephant venturing upon a rickety bridge. ”

“ It stirs one’s blood to dash over the plains, through the mountain files and across plateaus at headlong speed; we have to make an average of over twelve miles an hour. I’m not doing it now, but when the chance offers, I shall even matters by going at a rate of twenty or twenty-five miles.”
“That is almost railroad time,” replied Alden admiringly.
“It heats the railway trains in many places.”
“But you are always in danger.”
“That’s what adds to the fun; the speed itself gives a man a thrill and the possibility of ambush, a treacherous shot or an open attack sets the blood tingling.” ”

“ The steady tramping, riding and the dragging of the heavy Conestogas made the rest welcome to men, women, children and to the animals. By nine o’clock everything was in the form it would be two hours later, provided no disturbance took place.
Night had hardly shut in, when a mile or so to the westward the lights of another camp twinkled through the darkness. All knew it came from the party that had been traveling near them for several days past. Shagbark had spoken of riding forward with Alden and making a call upon the emigrants, but decided to wait a while. ”

“ One of them would not have ventured alone to the neighborhood. There might be a dozen, a score, or half a hundred who were formulating if they had not already formulated a plan to surprise and massacre every one of the whites. As to what that plan was he was as ignorant as the slumbering Jethro Mix.
All that Alden could do was use his eyes and hearing. No fear of his falling asleep, even if he did lean against the thick spokes of the wagon wheel. He knew better than to confine his attention to the spot where the warrior had appeared and vanished. ”

“ Poor Dick! it will be a sad blow to his brother Sam. I suppose your friends will look after the body when they come up to it?”
“There’s no doubt of that; I sent word to Shagbark, our guide, who would do it without any such request from me.”
“Shagbark, eh? So he’s your guide; well, there isn’t a better one in the West than he; that’s what Kit Carson has said many a time and he knows. See here, my young friend, what’s the use of your staying in that saddle? Your pony doesn’t go any farther.” ”

“ For the first time the youth interfered with the pace of his animal. Certain that he would exhaust himself by running up the slope, Alden pulled gently on the rein. The pony flirted his head impatiently and refused to put on the brakes.
“Your nerve will kill you,” said the rider, resigning the attempt for the moment.
The incline grew steeper. Alden pulled harder and the pony dropped to a walk, but plainly he did not like it.
“No use, Dick; I shan’t let you kill yourself; you forget that I’m heavier than your late master and it is cruelty to allow you to gallop up hill.” ”

“ The certainty of such a penalty has prevented many an Indian assault.
As Shagbark and Abner Fleming stood by the wagon which had escaped the dreadful peril, the latter shuddered.
“What’s the matter?” asked the guide.
The other indicated the inanimate form that still lay on its face under the Conestoga.
“Can’t we get rid of that, Shagbark?”
“Nothing is easier; obsarve.”
Leaning his rifle against the tailboard, the hunter stooped, seized each ankle, and raising his hands so that they were at his own hips, and with a moccasin on either side, he ran fifty yards out on the plains. ”

“ A party of Indians had formed an ambush at that point for the Pony Express Rider. In the gloom, they may have supposed he was lying low on his horse’s back, but they fired together and snuffed out the steed supposed to be carrying him.
Deep gratitude stirred Alden Payne. He had believed himself the worst used person in the world, when he was deserted by the pony, and, say what we please, it was a shabby act, but the offender had paid dearly for it. ”

“ Barely a hundred yards away stood an Indian warrior. He seemed to be looking at the youth himself, though that was impossible because Alden must have been invisible to the keenest of eyes while wrapped in the shadow. The red man was as erect as a statue, a rifle in one hand which rested at the side below his hip. ”

“ Shagbark was a man of moods. The second night after crossing the Missouri, when the wagons had been placed in a circle, the animals allowed to browse on the luxuriant grass, so well guarded that they could not wander afield, he came back and sat down among the group that were eating from the food spread on a blanket. He was so talkative that all were astonished. He laughed, chuckled, and went so far as to relate some of his strange experiences in the wild regions of the Northwest. He took special notice of Alden Payne. ”

“ Two sets of mail bags were approaching each other from points two thousand miles apart, and there were times when this approach was at the astounding speed of forty and even fifty miles an hour! The average daily rate was two hundred and fifty miles a day, but where everything was favorable, or when an express rider was fleeing from the vengeful red men, his pony struck a gait of twenty-five miles and maintained it, when an untrained horse would have dropped in his tracks. ”

“ The next moment, while Alden was staring at the strange sight, he recalled the orders of Shagbark.
“The minute ye’re sure it’s a redskin, shoot!”
Nothing could be easier than for the youth to bring his rifle to a level where he was screened by the darkness, and bring down the Indian as he would bring down any other game. But he could not do it. The thought of shooting a human being, even though an enemy probably seeking the life of the youth himself, was intolerable. ”

“ Ten minutes later as he swept round another turn in the gorge, he saw Shagbark riding a little way in front of the train. Inasmuch as the emigrants and Jethro were approaching each other, the distance had been considerably shortened thereby.
Shagbark the veteran never showed more amazement and fear, than when he caught sight of the riderless Firebug galloping toward him with the negro close behind. He stopped his horse, threw up his head and stared. Before Jethro could check his pony, the hunter demanded:
“What’s the matter? What does it all mean; whar’s the younker?” ”

“ THE day was crisp, clear and sunshiny, Alden strove to shake off the feelings that oppressed him. He knew he was not treating his hospitable friends right, for they had shown him every courtesy, as they would have done had he chosen to spend weeks at the mail station; Cal invited him to go on a hunting excursion after the midday meal. Ordinarily the youth would have accepted eagerly, but his mood forced him to decline. ”