CHAPTER VII.
A BUFFALO HUNT.
Many weeks were spent in the migration, and it became exceedinglymonotonous and tiresome before their destination was at last sighted.When, one beautiful afternoon, Mr. Worth pointed ahead to a rollingknoll covered with trees and announced that there was their future home,John and Ben set up a wild cheer and dashed ahead to examine the spot.Camp was pitched on the banks of the Yellowstone, and dug-outs weremade--the cave part first and then the outer portion of substantiallogs. Two large cabins were constructed for the family's dwelling andkitchen, and several more for the men, of whom there were many, thisbeing an important mine.
No time was lost in settling, and in an incredibly short while thehousehold belongings were in place, the provisions stowed away safely,and the regular camp routine begun. It was necessary to get aconsiderable portion of the tunnel driven before frost came. Theopening was made horizontally into the side of the hill and continued ina straight line until the vein of coal was struck, when the tunnel hadto follow it in whatever direction it went.
The boys were to be initiated into real miner's work at this camp. Theywere well grown, strong lads, fully able to do their share. During thepreliminary digging of the drift they did little beyond their regularchores, except to drive the teams that carted away the earth from themouth of the cave.
The important duty of supplying the camp with fresh meat was alsoentrusted to them, and it was not long before every haunt of furred andfeathered thing that lived within a radius of miles around was known tothem.
Within a few weeks after the establishment of the camp all preliminarywork had been completed and the mine was ready for business. Tofacilitate the delivery of coal to daylight, a rough railroad had beenbuilt; its tracks were of wood, its rolling stock one small,four-wheeled box car, its motive power, Jerry the mule. Of thisunderground railway John was installed as president, board of directors,general manager, inspector general, passenger and freight agent, chiefengineer, and superintendent of motive power. One day he was engaged inhis many brain-taxing duties, the most trying of which was keeping themotive power "moting." The flaring lamp in his hat showed but little ofthe mule's tough hide, but that little the superintendent belaboredlustily. The little car rumbled and bumped along the rough wooden railson its way to one of the rooms where the coal was being dug. Johnwhistled cheerily to himself and occasionally interrupted the melody toshout into the mule's wagging ears: "Git up, Jerry!" Soon a point ofyellow light appeared far off in the darkness, and as the lumbering carwent on it grew in size and strength until its nature could be made outdistinctly.
"Hello, Ben," shouted the young driver to his brother, whose cap-lighthad showed so clearly up the tunnel. "You'd better oil the hinges ofthat door; they squeak like a hungry rat."
The mule had stopped before a great door which blocked the way; it wasso placed as to change the ventilating current of air, and it was Ben'sduty to open and close it after each loaded or empty car. He sat in alittle recess of the wall and pulled the door open and shut with the aidof a rope.
"It's mighty lonesome here," said he. "Seems as if I couldn't stand itsometimes, so I brought along the 'Arabian Nights' to-day. Been readingabout Aladdin; he was underground, too, but all he had to do was to ruba lamp and he just wallowed in pearls, diamonds, and things, while I sithere all day for half a dollar, and do nothing but open and shut thisdoor for you and your old mule."
"Yes, I know all about him," answered John, as he drove through thedoorway.
"'Tisn't true, any way," shouted Ben after him. "Couldn't be. Aladdinwas a Chinaman, and no Chink ever made even a dollar a day."
"Guess you're right, but don't get lonesome," the voice came echoingback through the darkness, mingled with the rumble of the car and thesharp slap of the stick on poor Jerry's flank.
For a month or more John continued to drive the mule and Ben tended thedoor. It was late one afternoon, and the younger boy was feeling verytired of living away from the sun and the bright fresh air; the darknessand dankness oppressed him not a little, so he was glad to hear John'sstrong voice singing:
"Down in the coal mine, Underneath the ground, Digging dusky diamonds All the year around."
"I'd sing too if I was getting a dollar 'stead of a half, and had achance to see daylight once in a while," grumbled Ben as his brotherstopped to talk a bit.
"Hold on a while and don't get excited," counselled the elder. "I'mgoing to be promoted, and what's the matter with you moving up too?"
"Why? How?" inquired the discontented one eagerly.
"I'm going to be a regular miner; going to work with Bill Cooper, bestminer out, father says."
"Then I'll drive Jerry and gather in the dollar," cried Ben. "But who'lltend door?"
For a minute the boy's face showed his disappointment; then he smiledagain as the thought came of a way out of the difficulty. A friendlyIndian camp was located across the river, and the boys, white and red,often came together for all sorts of sports.
"Why not get 'Coyote-on-a-hill' to work the door while I run the car?"said Ben exultingly. "He'd be scared to death at first, but I'll tellhim about the fifty cents a day and that will brace his nerve."
And so it turned out. The Indian boy took Ben's place, while John turnedover Jerry to his brother and cast in his fortunes with Bill Cooper.
"Coyote-on-a-hill" was pretty badly scared the first day, but Ben gavehim a word of encouragement whenever he went by, and never failed toremind him of the money he was making, so he stuck it out like a man,and presently got quite used to the dreary darkness.
Both of the Worth boys expressed themselves as pleased with the change;what Jerry thought of it he never remarked.
John found his new work anything but easy. Bill Cooper was a fearlessminer and a hard worker, and his assistant had all he could do to keepup with the task set for him. It was necessary first to cut under themass of coal that was to be dislodged; to do this John had to lie on hisside and so swing his pick in a cramped position. To make the verticalcut was not much easier, for he found it hard to work squeezed inbetween the walls of coal as the crevice deepened. The bottom and sidecuts made, he bored holes (round holes with a flat drill, the knack ofwhich he acquired only after long practice and a choice collection ofsmashed fingers) and then tamped in the paper cartridge of powder. Whenthe fuse was in place, all that was needed to complete the work was alight from his lamp. The former was plain, straightforward hard work,the latter sport. The fuse lay like a snake just sliding into its hole,the place was quiet as death and as dark as a tomb, except where theflickering glare of the young miner's lamp shone; his face was coveredwith coal dust, through which his eyes peered with unnatural prominence.
He would take the lamp from his cap, stoop down and touch the bare flameto the end of the snake fuse; it would immediately begin to sputtersparks, and as John drew back for safety he could watch it eat its waytowards the black wall and the powder within it. The red sparks drewnearer and nearer the hole, then, after a spiteful little shower,disappeared. It seemed a long time to the miner waiting behind hisprotecting shield before the rending, shaking report sounded, followedby the glare of the explosion and the rattle of the falling coal. ThenBen soon turned up with Jerry, and both boys shovelled the loose coal ofvarying-sized lumps into the car.
Bill Cooper, though insisting that John must do his share, generallytook the hardest and most dangerous places himself; so it came about oneday that the boy worked at the vertical cut while his partner cut under,propping up the mass of coal (with wooden logs cut for the purpose) ashe went in deeper.
The work was hard, and neither man nor boy spent any breath in talking.The dull ring of the pick was the only sound. Deeper and deeper grewthe crevice; soon only John's foot was visible and Cooper haddisappeared entirely under the overhanging ledge of coal; only the faintglowing of the light and the sound of the tools betrayed the workmen. Itwas dirty, tiring, dangerous work. At any moment that great mass ofmin
eral might fall if the supports were not properly placed or theking-brace happened to be lodged in a soft spot.
"Come out if you want to save your skin, Bill," cried John suddenly. "Ihear it popping and working all around, and it's beginning to move."
"In a minute. Wait till I dig out this far corner." His voice seemed tocome from the bowels of the earth and had such an uncanny sound thatJohn shivered.
"Hurry! Never mind the corner--it's going to fall. Come out, quick!"John's voice had such a note of fear and entreaty in it that the manbelow was impressed.
"All right," he said, "I'll come right along."
The boy stopped working and listened. There was a peculiar sliding soundthat filled the air all about him, and from time to time a stone droppedto the floor with an echoing rattle.
"Come out." With an appalling roar the great mass of coal came down.John was badly squeezed, his light was extinguished, and all the breathwas knocked out of him, but he managed to work himself free and make hisway to the room. His only thought was of Bill, under that heap of coalsomewhere, and of the need of help.
He rushed along blindly through the solid darkness, his handsoutstretched before him, shouting as he went, "Help, quick!"
Some men who were working in the entry answered him.
"What's up?" they asked.
"Help! Bill lies under a whole lot of coal."
They hurried to the coal face, and John showed them where he thought theimprisoned man lay, buried under tons of coal; the men, seizing picks,wedges, and sledges, began working frantically to rescue their comrade.
For half an hour they toiled as they never toiled before. Then there wasa cry of horror. The body was found. The poor fellow's arms were raisedin the very act of swinging his pick, and he evidently had had aninstant and well-nigh painless death.
"Well, boys, I hope mine comes as easy as his," said old Mike McGuire,who had witnessed many a similar scene.
They took up the body gently and tenderly laid it in the car, the mulewas unhitched, and the miners pushed it slowly to the open air, thewhole force following.
On Sunday Bill's sorrowing comrades buried him. Mr. Worth read a fewverses from the camp's only Bible, offered a short prayer, and thesimple ceremony was over.
Of Bill Cooper, like many of the men of that time, little was known, andif any one should question as to his origin he would probably beanswered with, "Came from the East, I guess." He had made many friends,but none felt his tragic death more than his young partner.
After this the work became irksome. John did not get along so well withhis new partner, and often when he stopped to rest the sight came beforehis eyes of his dead friend as he lay under the black shroud of coal.Nevertheless, he toiled away faithfully, and seemed in a fair way ofbecoming an expert coal miner.
It was now well towards midwinter, and the boys began to long after someskating on the clear ice which had for some time covered the rivercompletely. Alec was a handy blacksmith, and at their entreaties he setto work and fashioned them two pairs of rough but very serviceableskates. Since skating on the ice was something the boys had neverlearned, they had to get Yumping Yim, the Swede, to teach them how touse these new acquisitions. Though they were rude affairs, the boys,whose muscles were developed by snowshoeing, soon managed to make goodheadway on the river. In a sharp spin down the glassy surface after theday's work was over they could forget that their backs ached and theirarms were heavy as lead. The brisk wind and change of exercise was likea tonic to them, and though the air-holes in the ice made night skatingrather dangerous, it only added zest to their enjoyment.
As the boys skimmed past the Indian camp, which was a large one, theysometimes found a whole delegation of young savages out to watch theirprogress. The Indians had never seen skates before, and their wonder andinterest were great. This camp, in turn, greatly interested the whiteboys; as they lay in bed they could hear the _bum-bum-bum-bum_ of themedicine man's tom-tom come booming monotonously over the river. Thissound continued so everlastingly every night that the boys' curiositywas aroused and they determined to see what the medicine man did besidesmaking such a row.
After dark one night, they stole out and over to the red men's lodges,traced the booming noise, and finally, after great care and muchdodging--for the Indian will not tolerate any spying on or interferencewith what he considers sacred--they reached the tepee from which thesound came; then they crept round to the opening flap and Johncautiously thrust his head in, but quickly withdrew it.
"What's the matter?" whispered Ben.
"Old Crow Hat's facing this way. I was afraid he'd see us," Johnanswered. "Let's look under this side."
Suiting the action to the word, the boys lifted the side of thetent-like lodge and gazed at the old medicine man. He was seated beforethe fire, his tom-tom between his knees, his head bowed low, and hislong hair hanging over his face (an uncommon condition, for the red mengenerally keep their hair most neatly parted). Crow Hat swayed to andfro in time with the slow beating of his drum, and as he swung hechanted, "_Eeyuh! Eeyuh! Eeyuh!_" raising and lowering his voice as thetom-tom was beaten loudly or softly. Long the boys watched him,fascinated by the weird sound. Suddenly he began to thump his drumfuriously and his voice rose from a low half-grunt to a shriek. The"_Eeyuh! Eeyuh!_" was now like the wail of a fierce wind.
This was too much for the boys' strained nerves. They backed awayhurriedly and made for home, and it was some time before the sound ofthat last frenzied cry died out of their ears.
Bill Cooper's end had a great effect on John, and he was glad of thefirst opportunity to get out of the black hole and into the open air.Indeed, both boys welcomed the work of cutting and hauling props for themine, which fell to them soon after their night visit to the Indians.
The elder was busily working unloading props at the mine entrance oneday when Ben came down to him excitedly: "Say, John," he cried, "a squawjust came down from the big flat and she says she saw some buffalo overbeyond the camp. The Indians over the creek are saddling up to go forthem. Can't we go?"
"I don't know," said John, excited in turn. "You'll have to ask father.Go on up and see him while I finish this job."
The youngster went off on the run, and in a moment returned. One look athis face was sufficient to show John that he had the desired permission.
The mules were unhitched and turned out for the day. Baldy and Ben'shorse were quickly saddled, rifles, belts, and cartridges were slung on,and in a twinkling the two young hunters were off after the biggest gamethe country afforded.
THE BIGGEST GAME THE COUNTRY AFFORDED. (_Page 119._)]
A SQUAW . . . JUST SAW SOME BUFFALO. (_Page 118._)]
When they got to the camp they found that most of the bucks had alreadystarted, but old "Wolf Voice," a minor chief with whom the boys had madefriends, still remained.
"There's Wolf Voice; he'll let us go with him," said John. "Hello, canwe go with you?" he shouted to the old man.
"You got good horse? Me go quick," grunted the brave.
"I guess we'll keep up," and Baldy danced as if to show his mettle. In afew minutes they were on their way up the slope to the plateau whichsurrounded the camping place. Baldy kept up easily with the Indian'spony and Wolf Voice turned after they had covered a mile at a roundpace. "Heap good horse," said he.
"Yes," replied John. "He can beat anything around here in a half-milerun. Want to try now?"
The temptation was great, for the pony the chief rode was his best, butthe thought of the chase restrained him. "Plenty ride soon," he said.
The level reached, the boys found that the great shaggy beasts werealready surrounded, so they took a place in the circle and waitedimpatiently for a chance at the game.
With a yell the Indians rode towards the dazed animals, who nowseparated and began to run frantically in all directions. The party ofhunters, of whom there were about twenty-five, also split up into littlegroups, and each party chased a buffalo. One of the animals came towardsthe boys.
/> "Get out of his way," yelled John to his brother, "and let him passbetween us. Then fire as he goes."
The great lumbering beast came nearer and nearer, and as they watched,ready to spring away in case he should charge them, they noticed that hewas being followed far off by an Indian.
"Now shoot," shouted John, as the quarry rushed by. Both rifles rangout, but the buffalo passed on without showing a sign of being hit.Immediately Ben's horse bolted with him, but Baldy stood his ground tillhis rider urged him after the fleeing game. John held his rifle ready tomake a safe shot when opportunity offered. The horse was now gainingrapidly, but hearing the thump of hoofs behind him and then an Indianyelling, he turned his head and saw that Big Hawk, a young brave, wasshouting something. He could not hear what it was, however, and paid noattention.
The race continued, and John's whole thought was to get in a good shot._Zip_! it was the unmistakable sound of a bullet, and as the boy turnedto see from whence it came, _zip_! another bullet went humming by: theIndian was firing from behind, and the shots were coming unpleasantlyclose. John drew Baldy to one side just in time to get out of thepathway of another leaden pellet.
This last shot caught the buffalo in the leg, and he lunged forward onhis massive head. Big Hawk then rode up and riddled him with bullets.
John was angry clear through.
"The coward," he muttered. "Might have hit me--'twasn't his fault hedidn't either. Anybody could do up a buffalo from behind. 'Fraid I'd gethim, I guess. See that?" He added as Ben came up.
Ben was indignant too, and both boys went up to where the young buck wasskinning the scarcely dead beast, determined to have their share. TheIndian protested against sharing the game, but Wolf Voice happened tocome up at this moment, and, with the authority of a chief, soon settledthe dispute by giving the boys a fine hind quarter. This they lashedsecurely with a lariat on Ben's horse. Then both rode off triumphantlyon Baldy.