Scouting with Kit Carson

by George Cary Eggleston

  CHAPTER XXII--A WHITE MAN IN THE INDIAN VILLAGE

  As Reuben dashed forward he speedily discovered that swift as was thepony he was riding it was unable to overtake the wild leader he wasfollowing. Indeed, in a brief time it became plain to the young trapperthat his own horse was steadily dropping behind.

  Aware, however, of the plan which was in the mind of Kit Carson forchasing the horse they were all so desirous of securing, he sturdilycontinued his efforts, all the time urging his horse to still greaterendeavours. It seemed to Reuben that never before had he ridden soswiftly. The air appeared to strike him in the face, the hoofs of hisflying animal barely touching the sand. And yet every time he glancedahead he saw the black horse running easily, his neck arched and hishead held high, the long tail sweeping the ground at every leap.

  What a magnificent animal the leader of the drove was! And how easilyhe maintained his lead! Frequently the horse stopped and seemed almostto be tempted to turn and dash past its pursuer and rejoin hiscompanions that had started toward a valley several miles distant.

  And the hopeless part of his task was, as Reuben soon discovered, thatthe animal he was following did not seem to be tiring. It still raneasily when two miles or more had been covered by the pony which Reubenwas riding. Jack could not be far away now, Reuben thought, and hebegan to peer anxiously ahead of him for the coming of his ally.

  For some strange reason the black leader did not turn toward theplains. He was running nearer the hills than was Reuben's mount,holding to his course, doubtless from the very fact that his pursuerwas coming from the same direction.

  On and still on fled the pursuer and the pursued. In spite of all hisefforts, Reuben steadily dropped behind until, as he estimated thedistance, there was at least one hundred yards between him and the ponyhe was so desirous of capturing.

  Again Reuben rose in his stirrups and shouting into the ears of hishorse urged it to still greater efforts; and the pony responded nobly.Its sides were heaving now and a sound very like a groan came withevery breath. He could see by an occasional glance that the nostrils ofhis pony were red and dilated. There was no time for mercy, however,and with every forward leap now Reuben shouted into the ears of hishorse.

  He was wondering why Jack did not appear. He was confident that he hadpassed more than the number of miles that had been assigned to him inthe race, but his friend still was nowhere within sight.

  In a brief time, however, riding forth from behind one of thefoothills, Jack suddenly appeared. And it was high time for his aid tobe given. The poor beast upon which Reuben was mounted was nowtrembling in every muscle and its strength was so nearly gone that whenReuben halted it was barely able to stand.

  Hastily dismounting, as soon as the young trapper was aware that thechase was to be taken up by his friend, Reuben patted the neck of hispony and in low tones spoke soothingly to it. The poor animal wasstanding with lowered head and with an air of such complete dejectionas Reuben thought he never before had seen displayed by any livinganimal.

  His meditations, however, were interrupted by the report of a gun inthe distance and the faint sound of a shout that came across the sands.Glancing hastily in the direction from which the hail had come, Reubensaw that soon after his friend had appeared to join in the chase theblack horse had swerved in his course and instead of continuing on hisway had turned backward and now was directly approaching the placewhere Reuben was standing.

  And still the horse was running easily and apparently without fatigue.To overtake him seemed almost a hopeless undertaking. Again Reubenassured himself that never before had he seen such strength combinedwith swiftness and grace.

  Aware, however, that he must do something now to help, Reuben leapedupon the back of his tired horse and urged it once more to join in thepursuit. A challenging neigh now came from the swiftly running blackhorse, and almost as if he ignored the puny efforts of his foes toovertake him, the course he was following again was changed and with asudden burst of speed the animal, like a thunder-bolt, dashed past theplace where Reuben was standing.

  The young trapper now joined in the shouts and he, too, discharged hisgun as a warning to Kit Carson, who was doubtless waiting at the placewhere he had abandoned the chase. The efforts, however, were useless,as in a brief time once more, swiftly swerving to his left, the blackhorse dashed into what at first seemed to Reuben to be an unbroken massof rocks. In an instant the animal had disappeared from sight.

  As rapidly as his horse was able to bear him, Reuben rode to the placewhere the leader had so strangely disappeared. As he came near hediscovered a narrow opening or gorge apparently caused by some greatcrack in the formations centuries before. As Reuben entered the narrowplace he saw eight or ten feet below him a stretch of more level land,though it was dotted here and there with stones and boulders.

  It seemed impossible to the young scout that a horse could have leapedto the ground below. However, at that moment he heard the sound of adefiant neigh and in a brief time was able to discern the outline ofthe form of the black horse speeding along a narrow trail which was atleast twenty-five feet above the plain on which he was riding.

  It was plain that the horse was familiar with every foot of the region.Along this narrow ledge the black horse now was running with confidenceunbroken, although the pathway was not more than a yard wide. Indeed inseveral places it seemed to the astonished Reuben that the width wasstill less.

  Every moment he expected to see the black pony lose his foothold andfall to the rock-covered ground below him. His expectations, however,were not fulfilled, for the sure-footed animal, scarcely pausing in hisflight, steadily continued on his way. At one place Reuben saw him leapacross a narrow ravine and without any slip regain his footing on theopposite side. Although the young trapper's admiration of the horseincreased, he was now well-nigh hopeless that the animal ever could betaken.

  Indeed it was not long before the horse disappeared from sight, andReuben was unable to determine which of the numerous gorges he hadentered, as several converged at the point where the black leader waslost to sight.

  It was impossible for Reuben's horse to attempt to follow. Not only wasthe leap from the rock one which few animals would be able to make withsafety, but also the nearly exhausted condition of his mount made suchan attempt worse than reckless. There was nothing to be done except toreturn and join his companions.

  "Did you get him, Reuben?" inquired Kit Carson dryly, as the youngtrapper, discovering his friend, rode slowly to meet him.

  "No, I didn't," said Reuben glumly.

  "I'm surprised. Still, when we have him broken, I think you'll enjoy aspin on that black demon as much as any of us."

  "If you ever take him," suggested Reuben dryly.

  "Why," said Kit Carson in apparent surprise, "you haven't any questionabout that, have you? Of course we're going to take him."

  "Not to-day," suggested Reuben.

  "No, not to-day," acknowledged the scout; "but there are other days tocome."

  "Do you believe that that black leader, after to-day's chase, will stayaround this part of the country any longer? He will take his followersand start for some other part of the mountains."

  "Perhaps he will," acknowledged Kit Carson, "but before that time comeswe'll have another chance at him."

  "You never can take him," asserted Reuben. "I never in my life sawanything run the way that pony did. And it doesn't make any differencewhether he's running on the plains or along a ledge of the rocks. Why,he followed a narrow little ledge for three hundred yards. I expectedevery minute to see him tumble into the bed of the stream that wastwenty-five or thirty feet below him. As far as I could see he didn'tslip once."

  "Oh, yes, he's a wonderful animal," said Kit Carson quietly, "and weshall appreciate him all the more after we have had a chance to breakhim in."

  "You won't break him in very soon," said Reuben, shaking his head. "Youstand just about as much chance of getting that black horse as you doof grabbing a streak of lightni
ng by its tail."

  Kit Carson smiled and made no response to the assertion of his youngcompanion, and then at his suggestion they all started on their wayback to camp.

  In silence the men advanced, and when two hours had elapsed, Kit Carsonsuggested: "I think I'll go over to the Indian village. Do you want tocome, Reuben?"

  The lad hesitated a moment and then said, "I'm hungry."

  "Come along with me and the squaws will feed you. And Jack, too, if hewants to come," added the scout amiably. Jack, however, insisted uponreturning to his companions and rode away alone as Kit Carson andReuben started toward the Indian village.

  It was not long before they found themselves in the little settlement,where the words of the scout were confirmed, for food was soon providedfor the hungry hunters, and, as Kit Carson had said, the squaws seemedto vie with one another in their efforts to please their whitevisitors.

  Soon after Reuben had finished his repast he was startled by the sightof an approaching white man. To all appearances the man belonged to thevillage. He was, however, neither dressed as were the Indians nor didhis appearance suggest that he was a newcomer or a stranger in themidst of the redmen. Reuben's surprise, however, was caused by hisconviction that the man before him was the same one he had seen at SanGabriel, and if he was not the missing Jean, at least he so stronglyresembled him that a stranger might take one for the other.

  "Look at that man," said Reuben in a low voice as he turned to KitCarson. "Do you know who he is? He looks to me like Jean Badeau."

  In response to the suggestion of his young friend Kit Carson glancedhastily at the man to whom Reuben had referred and then said, "Are yousure?" As he spoke the scout glanced at the young trapper, but hequickly was aware that Reuben had not heard his question. He wasstaring blankly at the white man.