The Silver Canyon: A Tale of the Western Plains

by George Manville Fenn

  CHAPTER FORTY ONE.

  THE LANCERS' LESSONS.

  With Bart for a guide, the relief party made good progress, but theywere, of course, kept back a great deal by the waggons, well horsed asthey were. Alone the lancer troop could have gone rapidly over theground, but the sight of hovering knots of Apaches appearing to rightand left and in their rear, told that they were well watched, and thatif the baggage was left for a few hours, a descent would be certain tofollow.

  In fact, several attempts were made as they got farther out into theplains to lure the lancers away from their stores, but Captain Miguelwas too well versed in plain-fighting to be led astray.

  "No," he said, "I have been bitten once. They'd get us miles awayfeigning attacks and leading us on, and at last, when we made ready fora charge, they'd break up and gallop in all directions, while, when wecame back, tired out and savage, the waggons would have been rifled andtheir guards all slain. I think we'll get our stores safe at the silvercanyon fort, and then, if the Apaches will show fight, why, we shall bethere."

  The days glided on, with plenty of alarms, for, from being harassed bythe presence of about a dozen Indians, these increased and grew tillthere would be nearly a hundred hovering around and constantly on thewatch to cut off any stragglers from the little camp.

  They never succeeded, however, for the captain was too watchful. Henever attempted any charges; but when the savages grew too daring, hegave a few short sharp orders, and half a dozen of the best marksmendismounted and made such practice with their short rifles, that ponyafter pony went galloping riderless over the plain.

  This checked the enemy, but after a few hours they would come on again,and it seemed as if messengers were sent far and wide, for the Indiansgrew in numbers, till at the time when half the distance was covered, itseemed as if at least four hundred were always hovering around in bandsof twenty or forty, making dashes down as if they meant to ride throughthe camp or cut the body of lancers in two. For they would come onyelling and uttering derisive cries till pretty close, and then wheelround like a flock of birds and gallop off again into the plain.

  "I'm saving it all up for them," said Captain Miguel, laughingly, as alow murmur of impatience under so much insult ran through his men."Wait a bit, and they will not find us such cowards as they think."

  "I should like your lancers to make one dash at them though, captain,"said Bart one evening when, evidently growing more confident as theirnumbers increased, the Apaches had been more daring than usual, swoopingdown, riding round and round as if a ring of riderless horses werecircling about the camp, for the savages hung along their horses so thatonly a leg and arm would be visible, while they kept up a desultory firefrom beneath their horses' necks.

  "Bah! let the miserable mosquitoes be," said the captain,contemptuously. "We have not much farther to go, I suppose."

  "I hope to show you the mountain to-morrow," replied Bart.

  "Then they can wait for their chastisement for another day or two. Comenow, my excitable young friend, you think I have been rather quiet andtame with these wretches, don't you?"

  Bart's face grew scarlet.

  "Well, sir, yes, I do," he said, frankly.

  "Well spoken," said the governor, clapping him on the shoulder.

  "Yes," said Captain Miguel, "well spoken; but you are wrong, my boy. Ihave longed for days past to lead my men in a good dashing charge, anddrive these savage animals back to their dens; but I am a soldier incommand, and I have to think of my men as well as my own feelings.These fifty men are to me worth all the Indian nations, and I cannotspare one life, no, not one drop of blood, unless it is to give thesecreatures such a blow as will cow them and teach them to respect acivilised people, who ask nothing of them but to be left alone. Wait alittle longer, my lad; the time has not yet come."

  That night strong outposts were formed, for the Indians were about ingreat force; but no attack was made, and at daybreak, on a lovelymorning, they were once more in motion, while, to Bart's great surprise,though he swept the plain in every direction, not an Indian was to beseen.

  "What does that mean, think you?" said the governor, smiling.

  "An ambush," replied Bart. "They are waiting for us somewhere."

  "Right," exclaimed the Captain, carefully inspecting the plain; "butthere is little chance of ambush here, the ground is too open, unlessthey await us on the other side of that rolling range of hills. You areright though, my lad; it is to take effect later on. This is to lull usinto security; they have not gone far."

  A couple of hours brought them to the foot of the low ridge, when scoutswere sent forward; but they signalled with their lances that the coastwas clear, and the party rode on till the top was reached, and spurringa little in advance of the troop in company with the captain and thegovernor, Bart reined up and pointed right away over the gleaming laketo where the mountain stood up like some huge keep built in the middleof the plain.

  "There is the rock fortress," he cried.

  "And where is the silver canyon?" said the governor, looking eagerlyover the plain.

  "Running east and west, sir, quite out of sight till you are at itsedge, and passing close behind the mountain yonder."

  "Forward, then," cried the captain; "we must be there to-night. Keep upwell with the waggons, and--halt! Yes, I expected so; there are ourfriends away there in the distance. They will be down upon us beforelong, like so many swarms of bees."

  The greatest caution was now observed, and they rode steadily on for afew miles farther, when Bart joyfully pointed out that the occupants ofthe rock fortress were still safe.

  "How can you tell that?" said the governor, eagerly.

  "By the flag, sir," said Bart. "There it is out upon the extreme rightof the mountain. If the Indians had got the better of the Doctor'sparty, they would have torn it down."

  "Or perhaps kept it up as a lure to entrap us," said the captain,smiling; "but I think you are right about that."

  "What a splendid position for a city!" exclaimed the Governor, as theyrode on towards where the waters of the lake gleamed brightly in thesun.

  "Yes; a great town might be placed there," said the captain,thoughtfully; "but you would want some large barracks and a littlearmy," he added with a smile, "to keep our friends there at a distance."

  For, as they neared the mountain, it seemed ominously like a certaintythat the savages now meant to make a tremendous onslaught upon the band,for they were steadily coming on in large numbers, as if to meet thenew-comers before they could form a junction with the holders of therock.

  "I don't want to fight them if I can help it," said Captain Miguel,scanning the approaching Indians carefully as they advanced--"not untilthe waggons are in safety. If we do have to charge them, you driversare all to make for the rock, so as to get under the cover of ourfriends' fire. That is, if it comes to a serious attack, but I do notthink it will."

  The watchfulness and care now exercised by their leader showed how wellworthy he was of being placed in such a position, and the men, even tothe governor, obeyed him without a word, though at times his ordersseemed to run in opposition to their own ideas. For he seemed to bealmost skirmishing from the Indians, instead of making a bold stand, andthe result was that when, after a couple of hours, they came on instrength, their insolence increased with the seeming timidity of therelieving force.

  "You underrated the numbers, young gentleman," said Captain Miguel atlast, when the Apaches were in full force. "You said five hundred. Ishould say there are quite six, and as fine a body of well-mountedwarriors as I have seen upon the plains."

  "Well, Miguel," said the governor, "it seems to me that, unless youattack them, we shall all be swept into the lake."

  "I don't think you will, sir," replied the captain, calmly; "they areonly bragging now, many as they are; they do not mean to attack us yet."

  Captain Miguel was right, for though the Apaches came yelling on,threatening first one flank and then the other, their o
bject was only togoad the lancers into a charge before which they would have scattered,and then gone on leading the troops away. But the captain was not to betricked in that manner; and calmly ignoring the badly aimedrifle-bullets, he made Bart lead, and getting the waggon-horses into asharp trot, they made straight now for the fortress-gate.

  "Steady, steady!" shouted the captain; "no stampeding. Every man in hisplace, and ready to turn when I cry Halt!--to fire, if needs be. Steadythere!"

  His words were needed, for once set in motion like this, and seeingsafety so near, the waggon-drivers were eager to push on faster, andmade gaps in the waggon-train; but they were checked by the lancers, whorode on either side, till at last faces began to appear on the variousledges and the zigzag path up the mountain, and a loud cheer was heard,telling that all was right.

  Then came the fierce yelling of the Indians, who suddenly awoke to thefact that they had put off their attack too long, and that thewaggon-train would escape them if they delayed much more.

  Captain Miguel read the signs of their movements as if they were part ofan open book, and with a cry of satisfaction he shouted out, "At last!"

  Then to the waggon-drivers, "Forward there, forward, and wheel to yourright under the rock. Then behind your waggons and horses for anearth-work, and fire when it is necessary. You, my lad, see to that,and get your friends to help."

  This was shouted amidst the tramp of horses and the rattle and bumpingof the waggons, while the Indians were coming on in force not half amile away.

  "Steady, steady!" shouted the captain, and then, almost imperceptibly,he drew his men away from the sides of the waggon-train, which passedthundering on towards the rock, while the lancers, as if by magic,formed into a compact body, and cantered off by fours towards thecanyon.

  "They've run; they've left us," yelled some of the drivers, in theirSpanish patois. "Forward, or we shall be killed."

  But they were wrong; for all at once the little body of lancers swunground and formed into a line, which came back over the same ground likea wall, that kept on increasing in speed till the horses literally racedover the level plain.

  The Indians were at full gallop now, coming on like a cloud of horse,yelling furiously as they stood up in their stirrups and waved theirlances, their course being such that the lancers would strike them, ifthey charged home, at an angle.

  All at once there was a fluttering of pennons, and the lances of thelittle Mexican force dropped from the perpendicular to the level, thespear-points glistening like lightning in the evening sun.

  This evolution startled the Apaches, some of whom began to draw rein,others rode over them, and the great cloud of horsemen began to exhibitsigns of confusion. Some, however, charged on towards the waggons, andthus escaped the impact, as, with a hearty cheer and their horses atracing pace, the lancers dashed at, into, and over the swarm of Indians,driving their way right through, and seeming to take flight on the otherside as if meaning to go right away.

  Their course was strewed with Apaches and their ponies, but not aMexican was left behind; and then, before the savages could recover fromtheir astonishment, the gallant little band had wheeled round, and werecoming back, trot--canter--gallop, once more at racing speed.

  There was another tremendous impact, for there were so many of thesavages that they could not avoid the charge, and once more the lancersrode right through them, leaving the ground strewn with dead and woundedmen and ponies. Their riderless steeds added to the confusion, while nosooner were the lancers clear, and forming up once more a couple ofhundred yards away, than a tremendous fire was opened from the rockfortress and the waggon-train, making men fall fast.

  The lancers were soon in motion once more for their third charge, butthis was only a feint, for the firing would have been fatal to friend aswell as foe, there being no one to signal a stay. Still the Apaches didnot know this, and having had two experiences--their first--of thecharge of a body of heavily mounted, well-disciplined men, they weresatisfied, and as the lancers began to canter, were in full flight overthe plain, men and ponies dropping beneath the fire and from previouslyreceived lance-wounds, while the ground for a broad space was literallyspotted with the injured and the dead.

  "Oh, if I could have been with you!" cried Bart, riding up to thecaptain rifle in hand.

  "Let soldiers do soldiers' work, my young friend," said the captain,bluntly. "You are excited now; perhaps you will think differentlyanother time."

  CHAPTER FORTY TWO.

  THE SILVER CITY IN THE PLAINS.

  Bart did think differently when he cooled down, and, after a warmgreeting from the Doctor, who praised his bravery and thanked him forbringing help, saw the dreary business of burying the fallen in thosefierce charges; for he shuddered and thought of the horrors of such anoccupation, even when the fights were in thorough self-defence.

  Joses was full of excitement, and kept on shaking hands with the Beaverinstead of with Bart.

  "I knew he'd do it. I knew he'd do it," he kept on saying. "Therearn't a braver lad nowhere, that I will say."

  There was but little time for talking and congratulations, however, forthe waggons had to be unloaded and camp formed for the lancers andMexicans, the former being out in the plains driving in the Indianponies that had not gone off with the Apaches, the result being thatthirty were enclosed in the corral before dark, being some littlecompensation for the former loss.

  Bart learned that night, when the captain and the governor were theguests of the Doctor, that beyond occasional alarms but little had goneon during his absence. The Indians had been there all the time, and hisfriends had always been in full expectation of an attack, night or day,but none had come.

  The most serious threatening had been on the night when Bart set off,but the terrible storm had evidently stopped it, and the Doctor relatedhow the rock had been struck by lightning, a large portion shattered,and the bodies of several Indians found there the next morning.

  There was good watch set that night, not that there was much likelihoodof the Indians returning, but to make sure; and then many hours werespent in rejoicing, for several of the adventurers had been giving wayto despair, feeling that they had done wrong in coming, and were askingin dismay what was to become of them when the stores were exhausted.

  "We can't eat silver," they had reproachfully said to the Doctor; andwhen he had reminded them how he had sent for help, they laughed him toscorn.

  All murmurers were now silenced, and, light-hearted and joyous, thefuture of the silver canyon became the principal topic of conversationwith all.

  The next morning, as it was found that the Indians were still hoveringabout, Captain Miguel showed himself ready for any emergency. TheBeaver and his men were at once mounted on the pick of the Indianponies, and a start was made to meet the enemy.

  So well was this expedition carried out, that, after a good deal offeinting and manoeuvring, the captain was enabled to charge home oncemore, scattering the Indians like chaff, and this time pursuing them totheir temporary camp, with the result that the Apaches, thoroughly cowedby the attacks of these horsemen, who fought altogether like one man,continued their flight, and the whole of the horses and cattle, withmany Indian ponies as well, were taken and driven back in triumph to thecorral by the rocks.

  This encounter with the Indians proved most effectual, for the portionof the nation to which they belonged had never before encountereddisciplined troops; and so stern was the lesson they received, that,though predatory parties were seen from time to time, it was quite ayear before any other serious encounter took place.

  In the meantime, the governor had been so impressed with the value ofthe Doctor's discovery, that, without interfering in the slightestdegree with his prospects, communications were at once opened up withLerisco; more people were invited to come out, smelting furnaces wereerected, the silver purified, and in less than six months a regulartraffic had been established across the plains, over which mules ladenwith the precious metal, escor
ted by troops, were constantly going, andreturning with stores for use in the mining town.

  A town began to spring up rapidly, with warehouses and stores; for themountain was no longer standing in solitary silence in the middle of thegreat plain. The hum of industry was ever to be heard; the picks of theminers were constantly at work; the great stamps that had been erectedloudly pounded up the ore; and the nights that had been dark and lonelyout there in the plains were now illumined, and watched with wonder bythe roving Apaches, when the great silver furnaces glowed and roared asthe precious metal was heated in the crucibles before being poured intothe ingot-making moulds.

  The growth of the place was marvellous, the canyon proving to be so richin the finest kinds of silver, that the ore had but to be roughly tornout of the great rift that was first shown by the chief, and the profitswere so enormous that Doctor Lascelles became as great a man in his wayas the governor, while Bart, as his head officer and superintendent ofthe mine, had rule over quite a host.

  Houses rose rapidly, many of them being of a most substantial kind, andin addition a large barrack was built for the accommodation of fiftymen, who worked as miners, but had certain privileges besides forforming the troop of well-mounted lancers, whose duty it was to protectthe mining town and the silver canyon from predatory bands of Apaches.

  These lancers were raised and drilled by Captain Miguel, Bart beingappointed their leader when he had grown to years of discretion--that isto say, of greater discretion than of old, and that was soon afterDoctor Lascelles had said to him one day:

  "Well, yes, Bart; you always have seemed to be like my son. I think itwill be as well;" and, as a matter of course, that conversation relatedto Bart's marriage with Maude.

  But, in spite of his prosperity and the constant demand for his servicesin connection with the mines and the increase of the town, Bart neverforgot his delight in a ramble in the wilds; and whenever time allowed,and the Beaver and some of his followers had come in from some huntingexpedition, there was just a hint to Joses, when before daybreak nextmorning a start was made either to hunt bison and prong-horn, theblack-tailed deer in the woods at the foot of the mountain, or to fishin some part of the canyon. Unfortunately, though, the sparkling riverbecame spoiled by degrees, owing to the enormous quantities ofmine-refuse that ran in, poisoning the fish, and preventing them fromcoming anywhere near the mountain.

  Still there were plenty to be had by those daring enough to risk anencounter with the Indians, and many were the excursions Bart enjoyedwith Joses and the Beaver, both remaining his attached followers, thoughthe latter used to look sadly at the change that had come over the land.

  And truly it was a wondrous change; for, as years passed on, the towngrew enormously--works sprang up with towering chimneys and furnaces,the former ever belching out their smoke; while of such importance didSilver Canyon City grow, and so great was the traffic, that mules andwaggons could no longer do the work.

  The result is easy to guess. There was a vast range of rolling plain tocross, a few deviations enabling the engineer, who surveyed the countrywith Apaches watching him, to avoid the mountains; and this being done,and capital abundant, a railway soon crept, like a sinuous serpent, fromLerisco to the mountain foot, along which panted and raced the heavilyladen trains.

  The Apaches scouted, and there was some little trouble with them atfirst, but they were punished pretty severely, though they took nolesson so deeply to heart as the one read their chief upon seeing thefirst train run along the rails.

  Poor wretch! he had not much more sense than a bison; for he gallopedhis little pony right on to the line, and pressed forward to meet theengine after firing his rifle--he rode no more!

  "Well, I dare say it's all right, Master Bart," said Joses one day;"everybody's getting rich and happy, and all the rest of it; but somehowI liked the good old times."

  "Why, Joses?" said Bart.

  "Because, you see, Master Bart, we seem to be so horrid safe now."

  "Safe, Joses?"

  "Yes, Master Bart," grumbled the old fellow; "there arn't no risks, nokeeping watch o' nights, no feeling as it arn't likely that you'll eversee another morning, and it isn't exciting enough for me."

  But then the Beaver came up with some news that made Joses' eyessparkle.

  "There's buffalo out on the far plain, captain," he said; "and I've seensign of mountain sheep three days' journey up the canyon. Will theyoung chief Bart go?"

  "That I will, Beaver," cried Bart. "To-morrow at daybreak."

  "No; to-night," said the Beaver.

  "That's the way," growled Joses. "Say yes, Master Bart."

  Bart did say yes, as he generally would upon hearing such news as this--these excursions carrying him back to the old adventurous days, when,quite a lad, he joined in a hunt to find provision for the little camp.

  Then Black Boy would be saddled, for the sturdy little cob never seemedto grow old, except that there were a few grey hairs in his black coat;provisions were prepared, ammunition packed, good-byes said, and for afew days Bart and his friends would be off into the wilderness, awayfrom the bustle and toil always in progress now at the silver canyon.

  THE END.