Wyn Roosevelt

“ The boys gave a deep groan and then Irish roused up. Pete was already wide awake, and aghast at what he saw, two greenish-white faces in the gloom and with audible groans too. At first he was paralyzed, then Irish broke the spell.
“Howly Saints!” he yelled, “it’s the devil!”
Then he sprang from his bunk yelling at every second, and made for the ladder. Pete wasted no breath in yells. He put it into action. When the boy gave his first yell the old sailor likewise jumped for the ladder; no matter if he did have to pass within a few inches of those ghostly ghosts, the fresh air for him. ”

“ The boys cut loose at full gallop down the ravine, utterly reckless of what might be ahead of them. They tore through the brush, crushing down every obstacle in their way, determined to head those mules or die in the attempt. They were mad through and through, and, for one, I can sympathize with them. They won the race by about twenty feet. Caliente with one last leap was in the trail.
The mules saw that they were intercepted and came to a halt, and looked at Jim and Juarez with quiet unconcern, mingled with a slight surprise at being so rudely interrupted in their little jaunt. ”

“ He stood looking at the hill with the light of the campfire shining on it like a big red star, and the sound of the axes came faint and clear to him. “They sure are getting ready for somebody,” growled the giant, “and I reckon it’s us, but I’m going to find out for sartain. Where’s that gully?” He stalked along until he found it, and then disappeared as though the earth had swallowed him.
Now Juarez had been debating whether to go back and warn the boys that the enemy was approaching, or to find out more of what Gus Gols was going to do before reporting to Jim, the commander of the faithful. ”

“ Berwick smiled at this, showing his fine white teeth.
“Well, now, ‘War,’ that’s unusual sense for a kid, I must say. The fact that you don’t want a thing for a boy of your years is no argument. It may be smoking or chewing or something else that will make ’em devilish sick, but a kid will do it just for a show and to make an impression on his friends what a terrible character he is.”
“None of us are like that,” said Juarez. “Perhaps it is because we have seen plenty of real life on the frontier and have had plenty of excitement and adventure without resorting to foolishness.” ”

“ After several miles of hard travel, the two began going up steadily, along a narrow and steep trail, with the brawling stream below. The valley had narrowed into a deep canyon with great walls of pale granite, and uncountable black pines growing everywhere.
The hail made the trail slippery and once the horse came near slipping into the depths of the gorge below, but with a tremendous straining effort the plucky animal scrambled back to safety. It was evident that his rider was born to be hanged, for he seemed able to escape every other form of death. ”

“ Jeems took the boy’s task of stoking, Jim was at the wheel, sending Pete below to the forecastle to take a good sleep. Tom and Jo were detailed to go to their respective cabins and turn in for the night, as the old captain had rather perversely taken it into his head to stand watch on the bridge, though Jim had tried to dissuade him.
“It won’t do your rheumatism any good, Captain,” warned Jim. “It’s mighty wet and cold on the bridge and the wind is rushing fierce.”
“Trying to make me out an old man,” growled the captain, much aggrieved. “I guess I can stand as much as any of you boys. ”

“ At last Juarez’s vigilance was rewarded. He crouched, looking over the edge of the gully in the direction of the mountain with its heavily-wooded slope.
He was positive that he saw a line of horsemen moving along the edge of the trees. Then he heard a horse’s shoe strike a stone, and the low voices of men. A thrill went through him at the nearness of the encounter. Lucky that he and Jim had been on hand to hear the plans laid at the pow-wow, for they would in all probability have been captured or killed, since the outlaws could have rushed the camp easily. ”

“ They would have much preferred to be hanged, so they prepared to leave home immediately and without due notice. Father Jim’s grasp relaxed for a moment, and, with a wrench, both boys tore themselves loose and sped away in the darkness, and from this outer darkness they hurled remarks and pieces of dirt and small stones at the three about the campfire, just as other small bad boys would do; but the grown-ups paid no attention to the culprits, merely pulled their sombreros down around their ears and began a diligent study of the diagram of the Lost Mine. ”

“ CHAPTER XVIII THE DIAGRAM
“What’s the use of being a philosopher and a thinker, Jeems,” inquired Jim, after the roar of laughter had spent itself at his ludicrous remark, “if you can’t invent some way to stop a mite of a pony like Mosquito?”
“There isn’t any use trying to be a philosopher,” said Jeems frankly, “when you are traveling with such a hair-brained gang as you fellows. ”

“ Nothing is too tough for us.”
“That’s so,” agreed the chorus.
“This country begins to look very familiar,” soliloquized Jeems. “Here’s a rock I’ve sat on many a time to rest coming home from a hunt, and down there are the three pines struck by lightning, on the Fourth of July, too——”
“Go on with you,” jeered Tom, “don’t give us any tall yarn like that.”
“Halt! there he goes!” cried Juarez, bringing his rifle to his shoulder and aiming it at a fleeting shadow among the pines down the mountain slope. ”

“ In a short time the [Pg 194] ground was covered with several inches of whiteness.
“Did you boys ever hear that old circus joke?” inquired Jeems, looking musingly out at the jumping hail.
“Not recently,” said Jo. “Fire away, Jeems, and relieve your mind.”
“Well, in the circus they have a king rigged up on a throne. Him in a red robe and a tinsel crown. All the varlets come in and bow low before his majesty. Then comes the clown and bows lower than the others.
“‘Hail! Hail!’ he cries.
“‘How dare you hail,’ roars the king, ‘when I’m reigning!’ Then the crowd yells.” ”

“ With an exclamation of horror, Captain Kerns turned his ship’s prow straight for the scene of the disaster, for he saw what had happened. It was enough to startle even a man so hardened to sights of danger as the captain. As for Tom, when he saw the beginning of the accident, he pressed his hand close against his eyes to shut out what promised to be terrible destruction for his two brothers, and his two tried comrades. ”

“ To make it more interesting the Sea Eagle would then dip under a huge wave and the water would swish and roll aft along the main deck. The wind whistled and hummed through the taut ropes, and altogether it was a lively night, even if the sturdy old captain did discount its terrors. Occasionally Jim and Jo would slide across the bridge and bring up against the side ”

“ However, it was only an unusually large wave that had raised the whale up and allowed the placid carcass to slide down again.
“Ahoy there, squall coming!” hailed the captain’s voice from the quarter deck of the Sea Eagle. “Get aboard quick.”
The boys obeyed, but with obvious reluctance, for the whale had much of interest for them yet. But they saw the squall whitening over the ocean from the northwest quarter, and coming with great rapidity.
“We don’t want to worry the old man any more to-day,” suggested Jim, “so we will pull for the shore.” ”

“ As he strode back and forth he thought and pondered over Jeems’ story. Suppose they should find this rich pocket mine of gold in the Sierras, what would they do with the money? Jim was not grasping and the mere idea of getting rich did not appeal to him. “A fool can make money,” he had sometimes said, “but it takes a wise man to spend it.” Then he brought his fist down hard upon the rail.
“I’ve got it, Jo,” he cried, “if we find that mine, we will take a trip around the world and see if we can’t discover something new. We’ve got the ship already.”
“What do we need of more money?” asked Jo. ”

“ By this time the whole Frontier gang was present on the quarter deck looking at the dark spots on the blue ocean that now had become visible to [Pg 48] the naked eye. To say that they were interested was to put it very mildly. There was a strange interest to these marine monsters.
“Let’s get one of those fellows,” cried Juarez. “We have a couple of harpoons.”
“Get ready, boys,” cried Jim. “It’s a go.”
“What!” roared the captain. “You boys can’t spear a whale even if you did get nigh him. He would spank you to kingdom come with his tail. You stay right here where I can keep an eye on you. ”

“ It did not take the boys long to cover the ground between the cabin and the place where they had left Juarez with the horses and mules. It was a little over half a mile from the shelf where the cabin stood to the group of pines where Juarez was. The upper half of the slope was covered with tall tufted grass and scattered rocks. The lower part was a long slide of sand.
“I’ll beat you tenderfeet down,” vaunted Jim.
“Let’s get an even start and I’ll show you,” said Jo, who was in truth a fleet runner. “Jeems will give us the send-off, as he is the only one who has his revolver with him.” ”

“ It was a beautiful plan and it appealed to him in several ways.
“Those American pigs,” he said, “they think through their snouts. They do not know enough to guard their camp in this country.”
But as we know, there was something of a surprise in store for this enterprising gentleman. It is evident that he was not the same fellow that Juarez had detected skulking in the woods that morning, for this was a Mexican who was stalking the boys’ camp. He came swiftly through the grass, with a silence born of custom. It was well for him that he did, else Jo would have been on his trail in a minute. ”

“ It was lucky for them that he was not free to get at them, for the old captain was doubly irritated by their outcry since he had been somewhat nervous himself. Pete and the lad ran aft as though the devil indeed was after them. Jim heard the commotion just as he started down the ladder, and in a jiffy he had collared the runaways. ”

“ So Jo took his turn. With due deliberation he aimed the shining little cannon aft toward the distant fray. Then he fired, but the shot sent up a spurt from a wave some distance short.
[Pg 69]
“We are getting too far away,” said Jim, “to get in an accurate shot.”
“Say, Jim,” put in Tom, “you haven’t told me why things seem closer on the ocean than they do on land.” If pertinacity meant success in life, Tom Darlington would no doubt reach the top of the ladder. Jim was somewhat surprised, and he did not want to admit ignorance, so he sparred for time. ”

“ Jim laughed and began an examination of the floor, whirling the light from the lantern slowly around until he came to some damp footprints in the middle of the floor.
“These ghosts must have worn moccasins,” Jim remarked, “for if I don’t mistake that is the sign of ’em, and they got their feet damp. You stay here long enough and you will probably hear them sneeze.”
“But how was they complected that way?” questioned old Pete, his face growing very red with the possibility of his being made a fool of by a couple of kids. ”

“ On more than one occasion his strength and fleetness had saved Jim’s life. No one else was equal to controlling him.
Jeems’ and Tom’s work was to look after the mules, take off their packs and feed and water the animals. Jeems seemed to get along with the mules all right, much better than he did with the horses. Perhaps the mules were philosophers. At least they were very wise animals, canny and self-controlled. No mule you notice will overeat even [Pg 171] when he has a chance, but with a horse it is different.
Jo’s duties were very active ones. ”

“ There was bitter rebellion on the part of Tom, and he was backed by Jo.
“You can stay,” Jim said finally. “We have [Pg 256] enough, and more than enough. If we don’t pull up stakes now, we will be snowed under. A storm will strike us at this altitude any time at this season. We did not come here to spend the winter and we are not prepared for it. What’s the use of the gold? It won’t buy us anything if we are nothing but beautiful frozen corpses.”
“You hit the nail on the head that time, Skipper,” said Jeems Howell, the philosopher. “Gold is no good if you are dead. ”

“ Jim’s was blue; Juarez the same color and Jo’s red. As for hats, they still wore their weather-beaten sombreros. They were just the hats for this kind of weather.
The evening came on dark and blustery and with a steady beating rain from the northwest. All [Pg 74] about, the seas were humping through the darkness. But the Sea Eagle was a staunch boat, well built, and well ballasted, and though she shipped a few seas and the spray flew high over her bridge, she did not roll or plunge unduly.
“Sort of a nasty night, Jim,” remarked Jo, as their dark forms emerged on deck from the companionway. ”

“ Five husky fellows can do a great deal in two hours and a half of daylight. Jim had thought out his plan and talked it over with Juarez, so there was no time lost in useless palaver. He had chosen a small open space where the horses had been tethered the night before as the place for the fort.
Jim and Juarez, aided by Jo, went to work cutting down trees. They were old hands at this business, and it was a caution the way the trees crashed and fell. Tom and Jeems were kept busy dragging fallen logs from the slopes of the hill, and turning them up. ”

“ They looked around anxiously. “There’s his pony over there,” said Juarez, “having a good time grazing.”
“I suspect we will find Jeems grazing somewhere back here on the mountain,” said Jim. “Jo, you go look for him, if you think you won’t fall off, too.”
With a grunt Jo turned his horse at right angles, and went back up the mountain slope. He soon came upon Jeems seated placidly upon the ground apparently enjoying the view.
“Lost something, Jeems?” he inquired.
“Yes, my pony,” he replied.
“He is grazing down below,” said Jo. “Why don’t you get up?”
“I’m grazing here,” replied Jeems. ”