by James Otis
CHAPTER V.
DICK "PULLS THROUGH."
When Dick had retraced his steps to Mansfield's he found no less thanten of the citizens there, several of whom he had already met; and allwere evidently eager to talk with the boy who had walked across SmokeCreek Desert.
There were but few in that section of the country who would have daredto make the venture, although it was by no means a dangerous ordifficult journey for a horseman; and Dick's bravery, in connectionwith all the circumstances, pleased the citizens of Antelope Springwonderfully well.
The package Dick carried told that he had been successful in finding aphysician, and Mr. Mansfield was curious to learn how much the medicalgentleman had charged for his services.
"He wouldn't take a cent," Dick said in reply to the question. "Itseems to me the folks in this town are mighty good."
"I don't reckon we'll ever be hung for our goodness," the proprietor ofthe shop said with a grin; "but it is considerable of a treat to see akid with so much sand as you've shown. Dr. Manter knew which side hisbread was buttered on when he wouldn't take your money; an' if yourfather don't get better with what you're takin' to him, you can count onManter seein' the thing through. You've got quite a load, my son."
"Yes; an' I'm countin' on carryin' more, if you'll take money for whatI buy. I don't want to set myself up for a beggar, 'cause I've got thestuff to pay for everything."
"What do you want?"
"About ten pounds of flour, and the same weight in bacon or salt pork,with a little pepper and salt, will be as much as I can carry."
"It's a good deal more'n I'd want to tote forty-five miles 'twixt nowand sunset," one of the visitors remarked; and Dick replied cheerily,--
"It wouldn't seem very heavy if you was carryin' it to your folkswho'd had nothin' but fresh meat to eat for the last month. Mother andMargie will be wild when I bring in that much."
"I'll put up twenty-five pounds in all, for I reckon there are otherthings that would come handy," Mr. Mansfield said as he began to weighout the articles, and Dick asked quickly,--
"You're to let me pay for 'em?"
"Sure," the proprietor replied as he winked at the loungers. "Youshall give all the stuff is worth."
"I didn't want to hang 'round here very long; but Mr. Mason said I wasto wait for him."
"If Bob Mason give sich orders it'll be worth your while to stop aspell; for he's as cross-grained as a broncho when matters don't go tohis likin', an' might make trouble for you."
Dick was considerably disturbed by this remark, which had much thesound of a threat, and looked out of the door uneasily.
The citizens had been exceedingly kind to him; but he had had nolittle experience with inhabitants of frontier towns, and knew thatfriendship might be changed to enmity very suddenly.
The shopkeeper had not finished filling the small order when Bob Masonrode up on a wiry-looking broncho, and after tying the beast to ahitching-post, entered the store.
"I had an idea that was what you were up to," one of the loungerssaid; and Mason replied with a laugh,--
"When we have sich a visitor as this 'ere kid, I reckon we're calledon to make things pleasant for him." Then turning to Dick he added,"If it so be your daddy pulls through all right for the next week orten days, he should be in condition to ride this far?"
"After the horses have rested a little I counted on starting forWillow Point."
"It strikes me that would be too rough a journey for the old man atthis time of the year. We're needin' kids like you in this town, an' Iallow you'll find a shelter here till spring. Then, if the settlementdon't suit you, it'll be only a case of goin' on when the travellin'is easier."
"Do you mean that we'd better live here?" Dick asked in surprise.
"That's the way some of us have figgered it."
"Can I find work enough to pay our way? You see, daddy won't be inshape to do anything for quite a spell."
"I'll give you a job on my ranch, an' pay fair wages."
"Then we'll be glad to stop."
"All right, my son. You shall take your own time about comin', andI'll hold the job open till you get here. Now I'm allowin' to lend youthat broncho, so you can get back in case the old man grows worse.He's a tricky beast; but I reckon you'll handle him without any toomuch trouble. The only drawback is that I can't furnish a saddle."
"If you can spare the pony, I'll get along without the fixings," Dickreplied, his eyes gleaming with delight; for with such a steed hewould be able to visit the town at short notice, if it should becomenecessary.
"I'm allowin' that I've got a saddle he can have for a spell," Mr.Mansfield replied thoughtfully; and although Dick insisted that therewas really no need of one, it was brought out.
The loungers took it upon themselves to see that the broncho wasproperly harnessed; and now that it was no longer necessary to limitthe weight of the supplies, the shopkeeper suggested that the amountof flour and bacon be doubled.
"Will ten dollars be enough to pay for it?" Dick asked.
"We'll make a charge of it, seein's you're goin' to work for BobMason. You can give me an order on him after you've been here a spell,an' it'll be the same thing as cash."
"Now you're doin' the square thing, Mansfield," Mason saidapprovingly; and despite Dick's protests that he preferred to pay hisway so long as he had the money, the matter was thus arranged.
"You are sure I can earn enough to pay for what we'll need to eatbetween now and spring?" the boy asked doubtfully.
"I'm allowing from what I've seen, that you'll earn a man's wages, an'that'll be thirty dollars a month. If your father is anything likeyou, I'll guarantee he can find work enough to support the family; an'Antelope Spring is needin' settlers mighty bad."
The supply of provisions and the medicines were packed in a bag,divided into two portions of equal weight that they might be carriedover the saddle, and then Dick was ready to mount.
He realized fully how kind the people of the town had been to him, andwas eager to say that which should give token of the gratitude in hisheart; but the words refused to come at his bidding.
He stammered in the attempt to speak, cleared his throat nervously,and tried again,--
"You've been mighty good, all hands, an' I'm thinkin' it'll help daddypull through. I wish--I wish"--
"That's all right, my son," Bob Mason interrupted. "We've got a goodidea of what you want to say, an' you can let it go at that. As ageneral thing we don't get stuck on kids; but when one flashes up inthe style you have, we cotton to him mightily. You can push that 'erebroncho right along, for forty-five miles ain't any terrible big jobfor him, an' canter into camp this side of midnight with considerabletime to spare."
"I thank you all, an' so will mother an' daddy when they get here," hesaid in a husky tone, as he mounted; and then waving his cap by way ofadieu, he rode away, the happiest boy to be found on either side ofthe Rocky Mountains.
Night had not fully come when he halted at the eastern edge of thedesert to give the broncho water and grass; and here he remained anhour, the crackers and cheese left from breakfast affording anappetizing supper to a lad who had known but little variation in hisbill of fare from fresh meat, broiled or stewed, more often withoutsalt or pepper.
The stars guided him on the course across the waste of sand, and thepony made his way over the yielding surface at a pace which surprisedthe rider.
"He can walk four miles an hour, according to this showing, and Ishould be in camp before ten o'clock."
In this he was not mistaken. The broncho pushed ahead rapidly, provingthat he had traversed deserts before, and was eager to complete thejourney; and when Dick came within sight of the wagon, his mother wasstanding in front of the camp-fire, so intent on broiling a slice ofvenison that she was ignorant of his coming until he shouted cheerily,--
"Here I am, mother dear, coming along with a good bit of style, and somany fine things that you'll open your eyes mighty wide when this bagis emptied. How is my poo
r old man?"
He had dismounted as he ceased speaking, and was instantly clasped inhis mother's arms.
"O Dick, Dick, how sore my heart has been! Your father said you couldnot get across the desert on foot, and I have pictured you lying onthe sands dying."
"You've made your pictures all wrong, dearie; for here I am in primecondition, and loaded down with good things. The people up at AntelopeSpring have shown themselves to be mighty generous. How is daddy?"
"He is resting comfortably just now, although he has sufferedconsiderable pain. Did you see a doctor?"
"Yes; an' am loaded way up to the muzzle with directions as to whatmust be done. Let's go in and see the poor old man, an' then I'll tellyou both the story."
Mr. Stevens's voice was heard from the inside of the wagon as he spokeDick's name; Margie clambered out, her big brown eyes heavy withslumber, to greet her brother, and the boy was forced to receive hercaresses before it was possible to care for the broncho.
Then, as soon as might be, Dick entered the wagon, and the hand-claspfrom his father was sufficient reward for all his sufferings in thedesert.
It was midnight before he finished telling of his journey, andreception by the men of Antelope Spring.
He would have kept secret the peril which came to him with thesand-storm; but his father questioned him so closely that it becamenecessary to go into all the details, and more than once before thetale was concluded did his mother press him lovingly to her as shewiped the tears from her eyes.
"You mustn't cry now it is all over," he said with a smile, as hereturned the warm pressure of her hand. "I'm none the worse for havin'been half buried, an' we're rich. I'm countin' on pullin' out of hereas soon as the horses are in condition; an' we'll stay at the towntill spring--perhaps longer."
Although he claimed that he was not hungry, his mother insisted onpreparing supper from the seemingly ample store of provisions; andwhen the meal had been eaten it was so nearly morning that Dick wouldhave dispensed with the formality of going to bed, but that his motherdeclared it was necessary he should gain some rest.
His heart was filled with thankfulness when he lay down under thewagon again, covered with a blanket; and perhaps for the first time inhis life Dick did more than repeat the prayer his mother taught him,for he whispered very softly,--
"You've been mighty good to me, God, an' I hope you're goin' to let mypoor old man have another whack at livin'."
Dick had repeated to his mother all the instructions given him by thephysician, and before he was awake next morning Mrs. Stevens set aboutdressing the wound in a more thorough manner than had ever beenpossible before.
She was yet engaged in this task when the boy opened his eyes, andlearning to his surprise that the day was at least an hour old, sprangto his feet like one who has been guilty of an indiscretion.
"What! up already?" he cried in surprise, as looking through the flapof the wagon-covering, he saw what his mother was doing.
"Yes, Dick dear, and I have good news for you. Both your father and Inow think he was mistaken in believing the bone was shattered by thebullet. Perhaps it is splintered some, but nothing more serious."
"Then you won't be obliged to have it cut off, daddy, an' should beable to get round right soon."
"There's this much certain, Dick, whether the bone is injured or not,my life has been saved through your efforts; for I know enough aboutgun-shot wounds to understand that I couldn't have pulled throughwithout something more than we were able to get here."
"Yet you would have prevented me from leaving if I had told you whatwas in my mind."
"I should for a fact; because if one of us two must go under, it wouldbe best for mother an' Margie that I was that one."
"Why, daddy! you have no right to talk like that!"
"It's true, Dick. I've been a sort of ne'er-do-well, otherwise Iwouldn't have been called Roving Dick, while you are really the headof the house."
"I won't listen to such talk, daddy; for it sounds as if you were out ofyour head again, as when we were alone that night. You'll perk up afterwe're at Antelope Spring, an' show the people there what you can do."
"I shall be obliged to work very hard in order to make a good showingby the side of you."
Dick hurried away, for it pained him to hear his father talk in suchfashion; yet at the same time he hoped most fervently that there wouldbe no more roaming in search of a place where the least possibleamount of labor was necessary, and it really seemed as if "RovingDick" had made up his mind to lead a different life.
There was little opportunity for the boy to remain idle.
The supplies he had brought from Mr. Mansfield's shop would notsuffice to provide the family with food many days unless it wasre-enforced by fresh meat; and as soon as Dick had seen to it that thehorses and the broncho were safe, he made preparations for ahunting-trip.
When breakfast had been eaten, and how delicious was the taste ofbacon and flour-bread to this little party, which had been deprived ofsuch food so long, he started off, returning at night-fall with asmall deer and half a dozen rabbits.
The greater portion of the venison he cut up ready for smoking; andwhen his mother asked why he was planning so much labor for himself,he replied cheerily,--
"We're likely to lay here ten days at the very least, for the horseswon't be in condition to travel in much less time; and now is mychance to put in a stock of provisions for the winter. It never'll doto spend all my wages for food; because you and Margie are to befitted out in proper shape, and now I haven't even the rifle to sell,for that belongs to the prospectors."
Not an idle hour did Dick Stevens spend during the time they remainedencamped at Buffalo Meadows; and when the time came that his fatherbelieved they might safely begin the journey to Antelope Spring, he hadsuch a supply of smoked meat as would keep the family in food many days.
Mr. Stevens's wound had healed with reasonable rapidity, thanks to thematerials for its dressing which Dick had risked his life to procure;and on the morning they decided to cross the desert the invalid wasable to take his place on the front seat of the wagon to play the partof driver.
Dick rode the broncho, as a matter of course; and to him this journeywas most enjoyable.
Not until the second day did the family arrive at their destination, andDick received such a reception as caused his cheeks to redden with joy.
Bob Mason chanced to be in front of Mansfield's store when the partyrode up, and insisted on their remaining there until he could summonthe inhabitants of the settlement to give them welcome.
"We're glad you've come," Mr. Mason said when he believed the time hadcome for him to make a speech. "We've seen the kid, an' know how muchsand he's got; so if the rest of the family are anything like him, and Ireckon they must be, we're gettin' the kind of citizens we hanker after.I've pre-empted the boy, an' allow he'll look out for things on theranch as well as any man I could hire, an' a good deal better'n theaverage run. We've got a house here for the rest of you, an' Stevenswill find plenty of work if he's handy with tools. Now then, kid, we'llget the old folks settled, an' after that I'll yank you off with me."
Mason led the way to a rude shanty of boards, which was neither the bestnor the worst dwelling in the town; and to Mrs. Stevens and Margie itseemed much like a palace, for it was a place they could call home, apleasure they had not enjoyed since leaving Willow Point two years ago.
Dick observed with satisfaction that there was a sufficient amount offurniture in the shanty to serve his parents until money could beearned with which to purchase more; and then he rode away with BobMason, leading the team-horses to that gentleman's corral.
He had brought his family to a home, and had before him a goodprospect of supplying them with food, even though his father shouldnot be able to do any work until the coming spring; therefore DickStevens was a very happy boy.
Here we will leave him; for he is yet in Mason's employ, and it is saidin Antelope Spring to-day, or was a few months ago, t
hat when "Bob Masonhired that kid to oversee his ranch, he knew what he was about."
It is hard to believe that a boy only fifteen years of age (for Dickhas _now_ been an overseer, or "boss puncher" as it is termed inNevada, nearly two years) could care for a ranch of six hundred acres;yet he has done it, as more than one can testify, and in such asatisfactory manner that next year he is to have an interest in theherds and flocks on the "Mason Place."
Mr. Stevens recovered from the wound in due time; and early in thespring after his arrival at the settlement, he joined Messrs. Parsons& Robinson in prospecting among the ranges.
His good fortune was even greater than Dick's; for before the wintercame again the firm had struck a rich lead of silver, which has beenworked with such profit that "Roving Dick's" home is one of the bestand the cosiest to be found in the State.
Mr. Stevens would have been glad had young Dick decided to give up hiswork on the ranch; but the latter has declared again and again that hewill leave mining strictly alone, because "cattle are good enough forhim."
THE END.
[Transcriber's Note:
* Pg 24 Added opening quotes before "I went, an' have got back".
* Otherwise, archaic and inconsistent spelling and hyphenationretained.]
