Frank in the Mountains

by Harry Castlemon

  CHAPTER II.

  WHAT CAME OF IT.

  No sooner had the chief's yell died away than the whole tribe took itup; and such a din as that which rung in Frank's ears during the nextfew seconds, he had never heard before. The yells did not expressdelight, but surprise and indignation; for their youthful champion wasbeing left behind at the very commencement of the race. Frank took thelead at the start. The instant the signal was given, he bounded forwardlike an arrow from a bow, and was well under way before the Indian hadmade a step.

  "Whoop!" yelled Dick, his stentorian voice ringing out loud and clearabove the noise made by the excited savages; "if that wasn't well donemay I never draw a bead on an Injun agin." The trapper was followingclose at Frank's heels, swinging along with an easy, graceful motion,and moving over the ground so lightly that he scarcely seemed to touchit. "Don't be in too big a hurry," said he, as Frank continued toincrease his speed. "Save some of your wind for the finish. Come along,thar," he added, looking over his shoulder at the young Indian. "If youcan't keep up, come here an' I'll tote you."

  The savage, however, was not yet beaten. Quickly recovering from hissurprise, and spurred on by the yells of derision which his friends sentafter him, he exerted himself to the utmost; and before they reached theend of the course, he had overtaken Frank, and was running side by sidewith him; but he could not pass him. Indeed, it was quite as much as hecould do to keep pace with him; while Frank was running well withinhimself, with plenty of power held in reserve, and ready, at a word fromthe trapper, to put on a fresh burst of speed, and leave his rival farin the rear. They reached the tree at the end of the course, swung roundit like two flashes of light, and sped along the home stretch withunabated speed, the Indian beginning to feel the effects of his rapidrun, and Frank apparently as fresh as when he started.

  "He aint half the runner I thought he was," said the trapper, toencourage his young friend. "He's blowing his bellows already. I say,Injun! I reckon you're a little out of practice, aint you? The next timeyou banter a white feller to race with you, you had better pick out agood hoss to carry you. We haint begun to run yet. Let out just theleast bit, youngster."

  Frank "let out" a good deal; and although the Indian made desperateattempts to keep pace with him, he quickly left him behind, and finallyflew past the place where the chief was standing, the winner by fiftyyards.

  "Whoop! Whoop!" shouted Dick, who seemed to be almost beside himselfwith delight. "I say, chief! If you've got any young fellers in camp,who think themselves something great at ridin', jumpin', throwin' thelasso, an' handlin' the rifle, jest trot 'em out. We've beat yourunnin', an' now that we have got our blood up, we are ready for a'mostany thing."

  The issue of the race greatly astonished the Indians. Frank, as hepassed the chief, was welcomed with cheers from the officers of thefort, the trappers, and from Archie, who hurried up to him, and shookhis hand as though he had not met him for months; while the defeatedrunner was greeted with jeers and ridicule. No one, not even Dick,seemed more delighted than the chief. He approached the place whereFrank was standing, patted him on the back, and looked at him with asmuch curiosity and admiration as he would have bestowed upon a steamboator a locomotive, had one suddenly made its appearance in the valley."Good boy!" said he, approvingly. "Ought to be Injun."

  "He had oughter be a trapper," said old Bob. "A boy who can run likethat is wasting his time by living in the States. If you would stay outhere among the mountains fur a few years, Master Frank, you might get tobe the leader of a band of trappers, or the captain of a wagon train."

  Frank, flushed with excitement and exercise, turned to look for hisrival. He saw him standing at a little distance from the other membersof the tribe, leaning against a tree, with his arms folded, and a fiercescowl on his face. His defeat, and the reception he had met with fromhis friends, had made him very angry. Now and then some one jeered athim, but the majority of the tribe took no notice of him whatever. Theyseemed to think that an Indian who would allow a white boy to run fasterthan he did, was not worth noticing.

  "You've give him a big back-set, Frank," said Dick; "an' my advice toyou is to keep your eyes open as long as we stay in the valley. You'vemade an enemy of that feller, an' I know, by the squint in his eye, thathe wouldn't think no more of slippin' a ball or arrer into you, than hewould of eatin' a piece of jerked buffaler. You see these Injuns aremighty wild yet; they haint been whipped enough to make 'em tame. Theyseem friendly enough now, but they've no great love fur white folks;an', if they thought they could do it without bringin' harm tothemselves, they would massacree the last one of us afore they are anhour older. I don't like the way they act, any how; an', mark what Isay, youngster, we're goin' to have trouble with 'em. Bars an' buffaler!What's up now?"

  The trapper was not long in finding out what was up, and neither wasFrank. The young Indian, smarting under his defeat, and stung by theridicule of his friends, had determined to retrieve his lost reputation.If he could not distance the white boy in a foot-race, he could perhapsbeat him at something else, and so regain some of the laurels that hadbeen wrested from him. He resolved to try it; and before Frank knew whatwas going on, the Indian stepped up behind him, and clasping his sinewyarms around his body, lifted him from his feet, and attempted to throwhim to the ground. He took Frank by surprise, and caught him in such amanner that his arms were pinned to his side, thus placing him at greatdisadvantage.

  "That's a cowardly way of doing business," shouted Archie, indignantly."Why don't you give a fellow a fair chance? If he throws you, Frank, getup and try it again, for this won't be a fair test."

  "He aint a goin' to be throwed," said the trapper. "That Injun will haveto eat a heap of dried buffaler meat afore he can get Frank off hispins. Show him what you can do, youngster."

  The young Indian speedily found that he had got his hands full, and thatone hundred and sixty pounds of bone and muscle was an exceedinglyunhandy weight to manage, especially when backed up by such skill andcourage as Frank possessed. The latter positively refused to be thrown.The Indian, although he exerted himself to the utmost, could not forcehim from an upright position, for Frank, like a cat, always fell feetforemost. The excitement ran high as the young athletes struggled overthe ground. Yells of delight and encouragement from the friends of bothparties arose in deafening chorus, and Indians, officers, and trapperspushed and elbowed one another to obtain a position from which theycould view the contest, which was decided in Frank's favor much moreeasily and quickly than the foot-race. After a few ineffectual attempts,he succeeded in freeing his arms; and catching the Indian around thebody, broke his hold in an instant, and sent him headlong to the ground.The ease with which it was done astonished every one who witnessed it,and had a very chilling effect upon the ardor of the Indian, who jumpedto his feet and stole off toward the village, looking exceedinglyhumiliated and crestfallen.

  Frank, although he was proud of his victories, as any other boy wouldhave been under the same circumstances, was almost sorry that he hadallowed himself to be persuaded into contesting the Indian's claims tosuperiority. The expression he saw on the face of his rival told himthat he was almost beside himself with fury; and Frank did not relishthe thought that any one, even an Indian, whom he never expected to seeagain, should be angry at him for any thing he had done. He would havebeen astonished had he known what was to be the result of this morning'swork. He was destined to see and know a great deal more of his rival,and also of the chief, whose interest in him now seemed to be redoubled;and this foot-race and wrestling match were the preludes to more thanone exciting and disagreeable event that was to happen before he sawCalifornia again.

  "Youngster, I am proud of you," exclaimed Dick, seizing Frank's hand,and giving it a grip and a shake that made the boy double up like ajack-knife; "but I say agin, that you had better keep a good lookout aslong as them red skins stay about here. They're mighty onsartin, an'thar's no knowin' what they may do. Let's go home."

  Frank put on his jacke
t and hat, and followed the trappers toward thehouse. He found Captain Porter, Mr. Brent, and Adam impatiently awaitinghis arrival, for they had witnessed the race, and were anxious to knowall about it. Dick, as usual, acted as spokesman; and Frank afterwardsaid that he had not the least idea how swift a runner he was, or whatan astonishing victory he had won, until he heard the trapper relate theparticulars. If one might judge by what he said, Frank could beat anymustang in Mr. Brent's stables.

  The listeners were all as highly elated as the trapper. Adam shook hisnew friend warmly by the hand, and the Captain laughed until he shookall over like a big bowl of jelly. Frank was once more a hero, andduring the next half hour the race formed the chief topic ofconversation; but even that grew tiresome at last, and the cousins, whocould not remain long inactive, strolled off toward the camp of thetrappers. Shortly afterward they emerged from the grove, mounted ontheir horses, and rode toward the mountains.

  They had not decided where they were going, or what they would do; but,as far as the sport they were likely to meet with was concerned, thatmade little difference. In that wilderness they could not run amiss ofsomething to excite and amuse them, let them go in what direction theywould. If they preferred quiet sport, there was plenty of it to be foundin the brook that ran through the valley. No city fishermen, with theirjointed poles and artificial flies, had ever invaded this retired spot;and having no enemies except an occasional fishhawk, and a fewstraggling Indians and trappers to contend with, the trout hadincreased and multiplied until the stream fairly swarmed with them. Ifthey decided to try their rifles, and engage in some more active andexhilerating sport than fishing, there were the mountains, whichabounded in game of every description. If they felt so inclined theymight, within less than half an hour, make the acquaintance of a pantheror two, or renew their intimacy with the grizzlies. Archie did not denythat he was afraid of grizzly bears, and, for that reason, he thought itbest to give them and their haunts a wide berth. He picked out a shadyspot on the bank of the brook, and said he would stop there and try hisluck at fishing; while Frank, who had heard that elk were plenty in themountains, thought he would ride farther on and see if he could findone. "I shall not go far," said he, "for not being acquainted with thecountry, I might get lost; and I shouldn't like the idea of beingobliged to stay in the mountains all night."

  "Nor I either," replied Archie; "and for that reason I am going to stayhere, where I know I am safe. Hold on a minute, and see me catch afish."

  Archie dismounted from his horse, and after tying the animal to aneighboring tree, cut from the thicket a long, slender sapling, which,on being stripped of its branches, promised to answer the purpose forwhich it was intended, and to pull out a trout as well as anytwenty-five-dollar rod. Then he produced a fish-line from his pocket,and in a short time his pole was rigged. The bait was dropped carefullyover the bank, and no sooner had it touched the water than it was seizedby a ravenous trout, which found itself struggling on the ground in atwinkling.

  "He is rather larger than those we used to catch about Lawrence, isn'the?" said Frank. "Now, if I am fortunate enough to knock over an elk,we'll have a supper such as people in the cities do not often enjoy."

  Archie, intent upon securing his fish before it floundered back into thewater, did not reply; and when he looked up again, his cousin was out ofsight.

  Frank urged Roderick into a gallop, and soon had left the valley behind,and was threading his way through a thickly-wooded ravine that led intothe mountains. Here he became more cautious in his movements, andallowed his horse to walk leisurely along, while he peered through thetrees on every side of him, in the hope of meeting with one of thenumerous elk which every evening descended from the mountains into thevalley to crop the grass and slake their thirst at the brook. Hischances for a shot at one of these animals would have been greatlyincreased if he had left his horse behind; but grizzlies were plenty,and Frank did not like the idea of encountering one while on foot. Onthis particular evening, however, the mountains seemed to be deserted.Not a living animal of any description did he see, during the hour and ahalf that he continued on his course up the ravine; and becomingdiscouraged at last, he turned Roderick about and rode toward therancho.

  "I wish I could see just one squirrel," said Frank, who, like all younghunters, considered it his duty to empty his gun at something before hereturned home. "What's that?"

  A slight movement in the bushes in advance of him attracted hisattention; then a twig snapped behind him, and a yell, so sudden andappalling that it made Frank's blood run cold, echoed through theravine; and before he could look about him to see what was the matter,he was pulled from his saddle and thrown to the ground. In a twinklinghis rifle was torn from his grasp, his hands bound behind his back, andhe was helped to his feet to find himself surrounded by a party ofIndians in war costume.