Chapter VIII.
Those were busy days which followed--days all too short for the years oflabor that loomed so drearily before the pioneers; but they set to workbravely, plowing, building, and planning, and the manifold cares oftheir new, strange life left no time for repining over the events of thepast, or even to investigate the nature of that strange visitant whichhad so startled them with its fleeting appearance.
Although a hurried search was made near the Old Corral, no trace of thelost treasure could be discovered; and whenever the subject wasmentioned, or the hope expressed of the ultimate recovery of theprincely treasure, the colonel would discourage it as delusive andvisionary, and would say that the surest way to recover the lost fortunewas to extract the gold from the soil through the medium of the plow andan application of good "horse sense" to their farming.
Several masons were employed from the nearest town, forty miles distant,and, after tearing down the walls of the Old Corral, the stone wasutilized in building, first, a dwelling for Colonel Warlow in the grovein the river's bend; next, a cottage for Clifford on the site of the oldstronghold, which had been entirely obliterated, save that portion whichhad fallen over Colonel Warlow years ago, and which had soprovidentially shielded him from death. The entire party had decidedthat it should remain as a monument of the past, and accordingly thestones which had been hurled down by the drunken fury of the Indians,were replaced carefully; so the wall now appeared as it did a quarter ofa century before, on the night of that terrible tragedy.
Squire Moreland and his son Ralph also built, from the same confusedstone-heap, comfortable dwellings a mile down the valley, but situatedon the opposite side of the river from the Warlows; and, as all of thebuildings were located near natural timber, they presented a veryhome-like appearance when completed.
But during all the while the plows were kept busily turning the fertilevalley sod, which was planted in corn and millet, thus providing feedfor the stock the ensuing winter.
Yet it must not be supposed by the reader that incessant toil aloneoccupied the time of the settlers, to the exclusion of all pleasure; formany were the pleasant fishing parties and excursions to the Sand Hills,far off to the north-west, where the delicious sand-plums crimsoned thelow shrubs which clothed the hills, relieving, on these occasions, theirlife of monotony.
An occasional antelope-hunt on the Flats to the south was indulged in bythe sporting members of the colony, varied by the excitement of awolf-chase or the sight of a stray buffalo.
Then the ceaseless tide of travel on the Santa Fe Trail, thronging withsettlers bound for the rich prairies to the south, was in itself a linkto the past and an endless source of interest to the colonists.
One of the first moves of the Warlow and Moreland families was toorganize a school district, a proceeding which is never omitted by thefirst settler of the western prairies, who, the very day he "files,"begins planning more or less secretly, to secure the location of aschool-house on his "claim."
So, according to pioneer traditions, the district was organized,consisting of a territory ten miles square, and a meeting was called atthe house of Colonel Warlow, at which assemblage of the settlers it wasdecided "to vote bonds to build a school-house immediately."
All the voters present agreed, with perfect unanimity, that "bonding"was the only feasible method of accomplishing the object which they hadin view; but when it came to specifying the time for which the bondswere to run, or, in other words, were to mature, then a stormy sceneensued, and with varying degrees of eloquence the subject was hotlydiscussed by the local orators.
It was proposed by one embryo politician--whose speeches were said byRobbie to be longer than his furrows--"that the bonds be made payable inone year," in which event the entire amount would have to be met by adirect tax on all the assessible property in the district; and as thelands of the settlers would not be subject to taxation for the period ofthe next five years, the burden would fall upon the railroad land, whichconstituted one-half of all the territory embraced within the limits ofthe district; and the aforementioned "political economist" proceeded todemonstrate to his hearers the beauty and fitness (?) of making acompany of friendly capitalists, who lived, as he averred, over in NewEngland, not only pay the two thousand dollars which was to build theirschool-house, but, in addition to this, be taxed to maintain the schoolfor the next five years; and he closed his brilliant peroration byasserting "that his policy was to make all bloated bondholders andcorporation scamps squeal when he had the _chaince_."
The squire and colonel both opposed the measure, the latter replying ina speech of some length, in which he vigorously attacked the principlesadvocated by the "_chaince orator_" saying that it would be both immoraland unwise to take such a rascally advantage of a company that weredoing so much to help the State and develop its resources. Then hewarned his hearers of the consequences of so unjust a course, tellingthem plainly it was little better than highway robbery, and the railroadcompany would retaliate by raising the rates of shipping, whereby allwould suffer alike.
But his appeal was disregarded by the rampant majority, and, although hepleaded with the audience to make the bonds payable in thirty years,which, he said, was but equitable, the motion to make the bonds payablein one year was sustained, and one ardent supporter of that _iniquitous_measure, a man in a coon-skin cap, was heard to remark, as he mountedhis mule, which had one crank leg:--
"Good enough fur them railroad fellers; they just haint got no businessa-comin' out hyur with their bulljine a-spilin' of our freightin'."
Although the free discussion at the meeting led to a feeling ofanimosity, the work of building was begun and rapidly pushed forward tocompletion, soon as the bonds which had been voted for the purpose couldbe disposed of to those same "bloated bondholders" of the East, and bythe middle of August, the large stone school-house, with a bell-towerand rose window, crowned a knoll just across the river from the OldCorral.
* * * * *
THE GRASSHOPPER RAID.
A short time after the day on which the new school-house had beendedicated by a public dinner, in which all the colonists participated, apeculiar haziness was noticed in the air, and, on looking up at the sun,swarms of gauzy-winged insects were seen floating southward on the lightbreeze; but they were too high for Clifford and Rob--who stood in thebarn-yard wondering what they were--to conjecture the terrible import ofthe phenomenon.
Thicker and more dense became the haze, now almost obscuring the sun, oragain thinning out to a silvery mist, which quickly changed to fleecyclouds again, drifting overhead like the scud of a summer storm.
Mrs. Warlow, who stood on the latticed balcony that ran along theeastern front of the dwelling, and on which there opened glass doors,instead of windows, from the long range of dormer gables in the upperstory of that picturesque homestead, was looking out to the north, andas she saw a dark, strange cloud quickly rising, she called to the boysto come in at once as a storm was almost upon them.
As the boys glanced out towards the north-west they could see theunnatural, black cloud stretching across the northern horizon, butmomentarily growing nearer, like a dense shadow on a summer landscape.
Their father, who had been reading on the porch, laid aside his paper onhearing the unusual commotion, and stepped out in the yard.
"What can it be?" said Clifford anxiously.
"A dust-storm, probably," replied the colonel, as the weather had beendry and parching hot for several weeks past.
On came the threatening cloud, filling the air from the earth to anincredible height, and a low muffled roar grew louder every moment;then, as the startled family sought the shelter of the dwelling, aseething mass of insects filled the air.
"Grasshoppers! grasshoppers!" cried Rob, dancing about in wildexcitement.
"Locusts!" exclaimed the colonel in great consternation; but even thenno one but himself realized the terrible disaster and wide-spread ruinwhich their visit portended; but as h
e said, gravely, that they were thedreaded locusts or grasshoppers which often laid waste whole nations ofSpanish-America, devouring every vestige of the growing crops of thosecountries and in one day leaving the land like a desert, then themeaning of the appalling calamity slowly dawned upon them.
It was truly an awe-inspiring scene that met their sight, as they stoodby the wide windows and looked out on the storm of insect life thatraged by, darkening the sun itself as they swarmed along in countlessbillions.
One who sees the feeble "hopper" spring aside from his path through theEastern meadows can but dimly comprehend the terrible sight--the cubicmiles of winged pests that rush by with a hurtling roar, filling the airall that day like the drifting snow-flakes, through which the sunlightdimly glimmered, or rolling by like the rack of some fierce storm.
As the dew-drop that glints quivering in the morning may be a thing ofbeauty, but when multiplied by the waters of old ocean becomes grand andimposing, so it was with this feeble insect when re-enforced by hismultitudinous kinsmen; and when our friends saw his hordes darkening thesun, and earth and sky swarming with his hosts, they realized, asClifford said, "that neither corn nor cotton, but 'hopper,' was king,"and thenceforth that once reviled insect was held in great respect,though still regarded as an unmitigated nuisance by all the members ofour colony.
Next morning every tree, shrub, and building was covered by the insectsin huge, dark masses, which flew up in disgusting swarms as the settlerswalked along, and the fields of sod-corn were soon stripped clear ofevery ear and blade by the winged pests, and all the vegetables, also,fell victims to their rapacious appetites--save, perhaps, the warty oldradishes, that stood bravely up in the ruined garden, rejoicing in their"strength." The woolly stems of the millet, likewise, defied theirinsatiable appetites.
The grasshoppers hung about until late in the fall, as if loath to leavesuch hospitable friends; and when it became apparent that the pests weredepositing their eggs in the ground, honey-combing the roads, fields,and banks of the streams with their cells, then the outlook became trulydiscouraging; for it was known that the young brood, which the nextsummer's sun would hatch out, would work greater havoc and ruin thanthat which the settler had just witnessed,--all of which dishearteningprospects only served still more to weaken the vertebrae of thosesettlers not endowed by nature with spines like an oak-tree.
Accordingly, near the end of September, this faint-hearted classinaugurated an hegira back to the Land of the Mother-in-law, and bytheir haste it was to be inferred that the much-maligned lady of storyand song had changed her traditional spots, and now stood waiting toreceive them with open hand, on the digital members of which no longerwere visible the "claws" of malicious metaphor.
The long caravan, as it wended its eastward course, was headed by the"chaince" orator, and the coon-skin cap and crank-legged mule, of"bulljine" memory, guarded the rear of the retreating host.
It appeared as if the exodus of the settlers was regarded as a signalof departure by the grasshoppers also; for one fine morning they rose upin darkening swarms and departed to the south-west.
The Warlow and Moreland families, who had preferred to remain when theirmore faint-hearted neighbors left, now proceeded to sow their fields inwheat and rye, and the autumn rains and warm sunshine soon clothed thefields with a rank growth of the cereals, which, with the millet,prairie-hay, and the pasture the wheat-fields afforded, served to keeptheir stock in good condition during the mild winter that followed.
Our friends devoted the early winter to building stone barns andcorrals, or pens for the stock, and so busy, indeed, were the energeticsettlers that they could scarcely realize that March was with themagain; but the way in which that wayward jade proceeded to demonstratethe fact left no doubt in the minds of those who tried to withstand herwindy arguments. Although the weather was very dry, the wheat and ryefields were green and rank; but when April passed, and had neglected toshed the customary tears over the frolics of her wayward younger sister,and the drouth still continued, even the stoical colonel became alarmedand fearful for the future.
To add to the gloom of the outlook, the warm sunshine had so operated asan incubator that the earth fairly squirmed with the newly hatched broodof young grasshoppers; and as May came on still warm and dry, and theyoung pests began their dread ravages on the tender young vegetablesand fields of grain, then grim famine, with all its horrors, stared thesettlers in the face.
But on May 16th, a change was noticed in the atmosphere. The barometerdenoted a rain; and as Rob limped about, he said that he could feel astorm in his bones; but Clifford thought that was owing to his tightboots.
A north-east wind began to blow, cold and chilly, and a mist wrapped theearth in its foggy folds until all the hills grew faint and dim; then afine, drizzling rain followed, which before noon merged into a perfectdeluge, and the rivulets as they poured down from the highlands, mingledtheir gurgling songs with the river's low bass, raging and roaring overits rocky bed, all making sweet music to the ear of the anxiouscolonist.
The Warlow homestead stood, as I have heretofore explained, in a grovethat grew in the river's bend; and as the house was situated on lowground, some apprehension was felt by the family lest the river shouldreach the dwelling; and as the barn was on still lower ground, on thebank of the stream, it was suggested that the stock should be taken tothe upland pasture; a field that was inclosed with a fence of barbedwire, and connected with the barn-yard by a lane.
Accordingly, Clifford and Rob drove the horses and mules, with thecattle, up to the pasture, and after closing the gate started on theirreturn through the pouring rain; but when they reached the margin ofwhat was, but an hour before, a shallow, grass-bedded brook, babblingaway through the meadow, they found now a wide glassy stream, to wadewhich they knew was impossible; so divesting themselves of theirsuperfluous clothing, they tied their boots up in bundles to throwacross.
Clifford's budget landed safely; but Rob was not so fortunate, he havingundershot the mark, and he cried:--
"There go my Sundiest boots!"
At the rueful outcry, Clifford turned, just in time to see the bobbingbundle disappear in the muddy water.
The boys swam over safely (but Robbie's bundle was not recovered untilseveral days had elapsed, but then found to be sadly water-logged), andas poor Rob stood shivering in the rain, Clifford gave him his overcoat.
"Oh, a fellow only needs a pair of sandals and a plantain-leaf to keepoff the dew in this dry region," said Rob, as he buttoned the welcomegarment around him.
The boys, after changing their wet garments when they reached home, wentdown into the parlor where Maud sat, twanging her guitar and singing:--
"Oh, gentle, gentle summer rain! Let not the drooping lily pine;"
But Rob interrupted, and with an air of tragedy, sang:--
"Oh, cats and pitchforks cease to rain And trickle down my chilly spine."
Then, his mother coming in, he proceeded to tell about their "cruise,"and the sad fate of his bundle.
"Oh, you might have been drowned in that horrid stream!" said Maud,dropping her guitar in consternation.
"About the only way a fellow can escape such a fate out-doors to-day isto jump into the river," said Clifford, in high good-humor. "Talk aboutthe 'dry belt,'" he continued; "I hope that geographical girdle willsoon prove all too short to span this western 'waste.'"
The colonel, who had just come in, said with an anxious face:--
"I am afraid the only dry belt left by morning will be the upstairs,unless this flood ceases soon."
At this announcement Mrs. Warlow and Maud flew into a panic, saying theywould all be drowned; to which gloomy predictions the colonel andClifford replied with arguments to the effect that the house being ofstone would resist any flood, and all that was necessary to insure theirsafety, would be to retire to the upper story of the dwelling in casethe water rose into the house; and the feminine portion of the householdwas soon reassured, and busied themse
lves preparing an early supper,while the stronger members of the family were busy carrying thefurniture up to that place of refuge.
The books, pictures, carpets, and other "household goods," were soonbeyond danger; but the old rosewood piano was a load which nearly defiedtheir united efforts, though it, too, was successfully drawn up thestairway with the aid of block and tackle, and finally the store ofprovisions--a very slender store indeed--was carried to the upper rooms.
After the hasty supper, Clifford and Bob went to the stream, lantern inhand, to take a survey of the situation. They found the river lacked nowbut a foot of reaching the upper bank, and as it was still raining intorrents they realized the gravity of their position.
It was a strange, weird sight--the sullen, roaring stream; but yesterdaya silvery chain, scarce linking the shallow pools where pebbles andshells had shown in the clear, quiet depths--now a mad, dark river,boiling and swirling along in the red glare of the light.
When they had returned to the dwelling and reported the situation, thecolonel looked very grave, and they began to canvass the prospect of aretreat. There was Clifford's dwelling, they remembered, at the OldCorral, situated high and dry; but to reach it they would have to crossa stream that was a foaming torrent, and the wild, swift river on thesouth completely cut them off from retreat in that direction; while awayto the north stretched the limitless prairie, with not a habitation formore than a score of miles to shelter them from the cold and drivingrain.
A Fortune Hunter; Or, The Old Stone Corral: A Tale of the Santa Fe Trail Page 9
