CHAPTER XVI
The Bashful Jacob
It was useless for the burly Jacob to frown and scowl, and shake athreatening fist at Black Bill. The latter took not the slightestnotice, save that the reflection from the camp fire, falling upon hisdusky features, showed a certain twinkling of the eye which was somewhatunusual.
"You, Bill Huskins, yer ain't no friend of mine ef yer get to talkin',"growled Jacob at last, seeing that grimaces made no difference, and hadno effect upon his comrade. "I gives yer fair warnin' that that taleain't to be repeated. These here mates of ours ain't got no interest init. 'Sides, it's time we war in our blankets."
"I dunno," exclaimed Tom warmly, holding his fingers to the blaze. "Idunno so much about that, Jacob. There's men here as would be glad tolisten. It might come to you or ter me ter marry one of these here days,and then ef a kid of ours was snatched by the red-skinned varmint, we'dget to and remember a yarn, and maybe find something in it to help us.Jest you sit still and chew a plug of 'bacca. Bill, fire away. It aeronly Jacob's 'tarnal bashfulness."
"My, you should ha' seen him when he rid up with young Joe Rivers besidehim," said Bill, nothing loath to tell the story, and grinning widelyat the irate Jacob. "Jest put yerselves in his place fer a few seconds.Here was Jacob, not so old as he aer now by a goodish bit, riding backto join an outfit he'd left jest a few hours afore, and left too withwords hot and fiery agin the boss. There's only two ways of lookin' at athing like that. It aer right down cheek, or it aer murder that brings aman back. I've seen men as was fired from an outfit, and went awaypeaceful. But they got to thinkin' that they war injured. They satbroodin' over the matter, till their danders was properly up, and thenthey rode back to face that 'ere boss and have it out with him. Guess itlooked as ef Jacob thar had rid back fer a ruction, and old man Staplesas was our boss must have thought the same. Any way, he sees Jacobcomin', and then gets his hand down close to his shooter. I war ridin'in from the opposite direction, and when I caught a sight of Jacob, Islipped outer my saddle and got round the end of the shanty. Bulletsgets flyin' on sich an occasion, and a man ain't no use when he gets intheir way. He can't easily stop 'em. They has a way of layin' him out."
There was a chorus of approval from the assembled hunters, and evenJacob gave a nod. Indeed, his growling and his grimaces had all been apart of his dissembling. To the looker-on it seemed that there must besomething about this part of the yarn with which he disagreed, somethingperhaps likely to lead to his own embarrassment. But he could enjoy therecollection of his action with regard to the boss with whom he hadexchanged heated words.
"It war cheek," he agreed. "Gee! Now that I comes to think of it, he'dhave been in the right ef he had shot me down without a word and withoutwaitin'."
"He wasn't sich a bad feller," continued Bill. "Old man Staples had asoftish heart under as rough a skin as ever I saw. He dropped his handto the butt of his gun, as I've said already, and kinder worked his wayalong till he stood behind one of the big corner posts of the stockade.Then he took a close look at Jacob and at the boy. Yer should ha' seenour mate over thar. He climbs outer his saddle extry slow. Guess he waswonderin' how he was to get to at the matter. Then he walked straight upto Staples.
"'Yer ain't got no cause to fear me, boss,' he says. 'I ain't here toquarrel. As man to man I tell you that you're over rough with yourtongue, and that there's few but blacks that could stand it. I'm here toask fer help.'
"That took Staples' breath away. 'Help!' he calls out, as ef he waspuzzled. 'A few hours ago you rid away as hot as anything, and then Iwas the last man, according to your own words, that you'd come to foranything in the way of help. What's it mean?'
"'It isn't fer me I want it,' says Jacob. 'It's fer the kid's mother andfather.'
"Wall, when the matter were put before old man Staples and the boys, yermay reckon there wasn't much jawin'."
Bill looked round the circle, and there came an emphatic nod from eachof the men.
"I'll give 'em all due credit," admitted Jacob warmly. "Old man Staplesand every one of the outfit was hot to get to at Hawk Eye. Yer don'thave to ask hunters and cattlemen twice when thar's a rescue to betried, specially when it's a kid that's been taken, and the Injuncritters has something ter do with the matter. Reckon the chance of afight with them varmint would draw any man from the ranches."
"'Yer kin count on every man jack of us,' sings out Staples; 'and,Jacob, you and I'll agree to be friends fer the time being. Shakehands,'" continued Bill. "'Thar's seventeen of us here, and we'll callin at Romney's ranch on the way across to Rivers's shanty, and pick uphis crowd. He's sure to have some twenty to thirty, so we'll be nearlyfifty when we're ready. Now, boys, get to and pack grub and ammunition.We'll be off in ten minutes.'
"It war quick work, mates," said Bill, looking round for the approval ofhis fellows. "But men of an outfit same as that aer pretty nigh alwaysready fer something. Thar was enough dried flesh in the camp to feedfifty men fer more than a week, and of course we had heaps of powder andlead. Men don't take to ranching in an Indian country onless they havegood guns, and plenty of the proper stuff to put in 'em. And so, withina quarter of an hour we war ridin' away, nineteen of us in all, countingJacob and Joe, and with our mate thar and the boss he'd rowed with solately riding ahead, chattin' as ef thar'd never been a word betweenthem. That's how chaps of our sort act when thar's trouble in the air,and someone is askin' fer help."
The dark-featured scout looked into the fire for a while, and took abreathing spell, while his mates nodded their approval. They knewthoroughly well the truth of Bill's statement. Out on the wide plainsof America men quarrelled just as they did in the cities. Indeed theirquarrels were rather more frequent than amongst men working underdifferent surroundings, and often enough resulted in severe wounding, orin the death of one of the contestants. But they could and did sink themost pressing personal quarrels when duty called, and to these roughmen, inured to every sort of hardship, there was no duty that appealedso forcibly as one where the rescue of a fellow white was concerned. Awoman sought for their help. That in itself was sufficient. That callwas so strong that there was not a man in the plains who could ignoreit, and not one, who, if he were coward enough to be deaf to such acall, could continue to live in friendship with the hunters andcattlemen. He would be branded as a craven, and forced to ride from thecountry. Remember, in considering this, that these hunters of whom wewrite were the descendants of men who had fought for and won America,and that their sons to-day form a part of that nation which is thewonder and envy of the world.
"At Romneys we was extry lucky," said Bill. "It happened that he'dfitted out a big outfit, and there war thirty-three men, counting Romneyhimself and one son. At Rivers's shanty we picked up the other boy,leaving Allen hisself to ride back ter Romney's with his wife, for itwarn't safe for them to remain behind in a ruined stockade. Then we setto ter follow Hawk Eye, and Jacob thar warn't long in lickin' up thetrace. My, this talkin' do tell on a feller. Just get to at it fer abit, Jacob boy. Yer ain't no need ter fear. I'll take on agin when ye'vegot right into the business."
It was a clever manoeuvre on Bill's part. As he was telling his yarnhe had kept an eye on the burly scout, and noticed, with a grin ofdelight, that Jacob could not restrain his own interest. Indeed it wasonly natural that the narration of deeds which he had himself helped tocarry out should rouse any hunter, nor was it wonderful that Jacob,forgetting his former behaviour, and surliness, should at once complywith Bill's request.
"He's put it right, yer may take it, mates," he said in his slow manner."It warn't long afore we dropped on Hawk Eye's traces, and then we setout to follow slowly. In a general sorter way we knew that the varminthad his camp thirty miles west of Rivers's shanty, but, in course, hewar often moving. An Injun don't stay long in one country. As soon asbeasts begin to get few he moves, onless thar's other attractions."
"Sich as scalps," interrupted Steve.
"Or men and women to be murdered without a chance of getti
n' hurtyourself," added Jacob bitterly. "That's what makes us chaps hate themcritters wuss than pisen. Ef they fought us alone, and with all theircunning, we shouldn't want ter grumble, 'cos all's square and fair inthis sorter warfare; but when they gits to killing women and children,then it makes a man's blood boil. I reckon it aer bound to be warfarebetween white and red man to the bitter end, till the red varmint aercleared outer existence. Wall, I was sayin', we picked up Hawk Eye'strace, and rid after him easy. Fer we knew he'd have moved. It stood toreason that he would expect ter be followed, fer wheniver thim crittershas stolen a child before, us hunters and scouts has never rested. Itain't likely neither."
"It ain't, yer bet," came emphatically from Tom. "The bosses on theranches has a hard time ter get men when thar's sich a case. A chap kincamp out on the plains with his mates, and spend not a dollar. He don'tneed ter work fer a time, and kin shoot all his food. So, when themInjuns has done a thing same as this, the boys give up work. They settledown to life in the open, and they turn to huntin' the critters tillthey're wiped out. Git on with it."
Jacob glared at Tom. He realized that he was slow, but here was anexcuse. Tom had deliberately interrupted him.
"He warn't thar when we came to his camp," he said deliberately. "Andhis ashes was stone cold, showing that the squaws had stamped them outthe instant he arrived back. They may have left at once, thar warn't nosayin', sence the ashes war cold. But me and old man Staples put ourheads together, and come to the conclusion that they hadn't hustled. Yersee, Hawk Eye had rid thirty miles hard, and his hosses must have beendone. Then it takes a time to pack up an Injun village. Them crittersdon't leave their squaws and children behind, same as we would ef we wasfightin' against white people. They know that their own red brotherswould slaughter the lot ef the fighting happened to be against them. Andthey ain't never given us whites a chance to show what we're made of.They can't believe that we would leave women and children alone, andeven feed them ef need be. Howsomever, he warn't there, so the nextbusiness was to find out whar he'd gone to."
"Yer may put it down fer sure it's the mountains," said Staples, who'dseen a heap of Injun fightin'. "Thar's other red tribes up thar in thegullies, and ef Hawk Eye can set up a friendship with them, or make 'embelieve that we're comin' to attack the hull lot, then in course we havegot a precious lot of work before us. What do you say?"
"I said I was with him. But we couldn't afford ter make a mistake, andso we divided, thirty of us ridin' slow towards the mountains, whiletwelve followed Hawk Eye's trail across the prairie. It ran clear fromthe village away from the mountains."
"It did," interrupted Bill, agreeing emphatically. "I war one of themtwelve, and I'll tell yer what happened to us. We rid fifteen milesstraight off over the plain till we came ter a river. It war jest a bitof a thing, twenty feet wide, and pretty shallow. On the far side yercould see whar the Injuns had climbed out of the water, fer the grasswas all beaten down. Guess they war travelling with all their horses,and the wigwam poles war slung in their usual way, trailing behind.Wall, there war the marks of the poles on the ground. They ran on for amile, then stopped altogether."
There was a chuckle from more than one of the scouts. The trick playedby the Indians was so simple that none of them could possibly have beentaken in. Each one knew that it was an old Indian custom, whentravelling, to sling the wigwam poles to the horses, letting the endstrail on the ground behind, and loading their belongings, includingtheir women and children, on the poles, converting them, in fact, into aspecies of wheelless cart.
"They jest hooked up the poles, turned, and came back to the river incourse," said Tom with a significant look.
"They did that. The hull crowd of the critters rid their horses fer fivemiles up the stream. Then they took to the grass again, and their trailcut clear up fer the mountains. We didn't need to follow too closely. Weknew that Jacob and his crowd would hit upon the tracks higher up, and,sure enough, when we come up with 'em that evenin' they was campedbeside the trace. Next day we rid on up a gully, still followin' thetracks, and that second evenin' hit upon the spot Hawk Eye had chosen.He war an artful cuss. Ef ever thar war one, it war him. He warn'tcornered, don't yer think it. But he war thar, almost within shoutin'distance. Now, Jacob, yer kin come in agin."
"Yer kin guess whar they was," said the latter shortly. "Hawk Eye andhis women and children had taken to a cliff that was as steep as a wall,and higher than any yer ever saw. He knew, in course, that we wouldfollow, though, accordin' to his nature, he'd played every sort ofcunning trick to throw us off the trace. And when we got thar, he sat upon the face of his cliff grinnin' at us. Guess he thought he war deadsafe. Along with him he had his women and children--the hull tribe, infact. Yer could jest see the tips of their wigwams laid out back of aflat place near the top of the cliff. Above them thar was jest red rock,with a broken edge at the top. But don't get thinkin' we could come atthem from that direction. There was a hull crowd of the critters on thesky line, letting us take a square look, jest to kind of remind us thatthey war ready in case we war inclined ter do a bit of climbingourselves."
"It war a tarnation tough job, it war," admitted Jacob, scrubbing hisbristly chin with the back of a hand which was huge, to say the leastof it, and burned, by the sun and exposure, to a dirty-brown colour.
"Yer was beat fer the moment, so to say," suggested Steve, stirringhimself and stretching his legs. "But yer wasn't fer givin' in."
"We warn't," came stolidly from Jacob. "It stands to reason we wasn'tgoin' back to the ranches with the kid still in the Hawk Eye's wigwams.We'd kinder sworn to get done with the job, and in course we war ferstayin'. But there warn't a single sarcumstance as seemed likely to helpus. Yer could look round that 'ere gully, and thar you was same asbefore. Jest the plains runnin' away from under your feet right out intothe open, a bit of a rocky hill to the right standin' all alone, andthen the cliff, the face of a mighty big mountain. Yer might say as wecould ha' ridden round, mounted from the far side, and then come alongter the Injun camp. But Hawk Eye knew what he was doin'.
"Thar ain't no use thinkin' of the far side,' said old man Staples whenwe asked him. 'It's too rough fer hosses, and if we was to go afoot weshould be dropped upon by other tribes of the varmint. That 'ere HawkEye climbed up that cliff. That's what we've got to do, so the sooner wesets to work to find the path he followed the nearer we aer ter rescuingthe kid.'
"Wall, it war a teaser, and no mistake. Yer couldn't get near enough toHawk Eye's post to take a clear look but yer was fired at by hiscritters, and, sence they had guns in plenty, it war precious warm work,so warm that old man Staples called us off.
"'Best form a camp and get to watchin' the varmint,' he said. 'My ideais that we take up a post on this here hill. It'll show Hawk Eye that weain't fer leavin', and I've a sorter notion that when we git higher weshall have a chance of seein' more, and perhaps of gettin' a sight ofthe path used by the Indians.'
"It war sound advice, and in course we followed it. We rid our hosses tothe hill that stood all alone by itself, within five hundred yards ofthe cliff, and then me and Bill thar was sent ahead to locate a patheasy fer the hosses. We found it after a goodish bit, and went up. Itwas steep, in course, too steep fer hosses as a general rule. But themcritters we rode out on the ranches was as clever as cats, and hillsdidn't frighten 'em. This one war a goodish deal higher than ye'd havethought, lookin' at it from below; and when we war on top thar was HawkEye's camp as plain as possible. Thar was grass, too, fer our hosses,and a spring throwing water into a hollow, from which it trickled downthe side of the hill.
"'Jest the likeliest place that ever was,' says Bill thar. 'I'll go downand call up the others.'
"It war nigh sundown before we was all located in the camp, and incourse we warn't able to eat and smoke and sleep as ef we war in afriendly country. There ain't never no knowing what an Injun'll be upto, and so old man Staples war right when he posted ten of us as alookout, with ten more to relieve in two hours' time, and so on, th
roughthe night. As to Hawk Eye, he and his critters didn't seem to take nonotice of our movements. They let their fires die down soon aftersunset, and then thar warn't a sound from 'em. But they wasn'tsleepin'."
"Yer bet!" came sharply from Tom. "I've lived in this here country, manand boy, and most times thar's been Injuns around. Wall, it aer prettynear always war to the knife between them and whites. It ain't that wedon't want ter live peaceful with them. We do. But they can't kinder seea white man anywhar but they want to take his scalp. Seems we're nateralenemies. Anyway, I guess that that 'ere Hawk Eye and his braves wasn'tfer bein' so quiet and harmless as they seemed. We ain't forgot thatJoe, with Jacob to help him, had blowed some ten of them to pieces. Yerain't goin' ter kid me that Injuns could forgit or forgive that."
There was an exclamation from most of the scouts. It was an obviouspoint to them, one and all. Their close acquaintance with Indians andtheir methods told them, without shadow of doubt, that Hawk Eye wouldneither forgive nor forget the injury he had suffered, but would striveto the utmost of his power to retaliate.
"They was jest laughin' in their sleeves," proceeded Jacob. "Seems thatthey was hopin' we would camp somewhars near at hand, 'cos Hawk Eye andhis braves had been pretty busy. Back away over the top of the mountainthar was a hollow which was big enough ter shelter a hull nation ofInjuns, and, ef only we could ha' seen the critters, it war thar thatHawk Eye and his braves was on the night we climbed ter the top of ourhill. Thar was a mighty palaver, it seems, and when we woke in themornin', and the light allowed us to look out, thar was the result ofall their talkin'. Thar was three hundred red varmint skirmishin' aboutround the hill, and Hawk Eye and his men scrambling down their cliff,whilst their womenfolk was dancing a kinder war dance on the top. It wara fair surprise. It jest took our breath away."
"Gee! That war serious," interjected Steve. "Hawk Eye had patched up hisquarrels with the other tribes, I suppose, and had persuaded them tocome in to wipe the hull party of whites out. Wall, seein' as you andBill aer here, yer wasn't wiped out. Yer managed to slip between thefingers of the critters. But it war a tight fix. Injuns aer thatcunnin', and they never want sleep when thar's a scalp to be taken. Yerwas flummoxed, Jacob."
"We war. We got extry silent eatin' breakfast, and jest waited ter seewhat they would be doin'. But we wasn't going ter be taken easy. Old manStaples war a fine fellow, though I say it, and he soon fixed us up withboulders and tree stumps, so that we had a stockade all round us. Thenwe set to work to hunt fer likely places where a man could climb, andfilled 'em with the biggest boulders we could find.
"'That ain't enough,' said Staples, when we'd done. 'An Injun couldcrawl over them, and most likely he'd have his knife into one of ourboys before he knew it. We'll lay a trap for them.'"
"A trap! A kind of ambush?" asked Seth.
"Ef yer likes ter call it that, yes. Reckon Staples had got the ideafrom young Joe, and thought he'd give Hawk Eye and his critters a secondturn of powder ef they was fools enough ter come and take it. So he setsus ter work jest as dusk war fallin', and right behind each one of thebarriers we'd formed on the paths up the side of our hill we dug a holewith our knives, or formed it with rocks. Then we put in a goodishcharge of powder--perhaps four handfuls in each hole--for Romney's menhad brought along a spare keg. Thar was canes growing on that hill ofours, and it war Bill's idea about the train. We let one of the canesdown into the centre of the hole with its charge of powder, and filledin rocks all round, stamping them down. Then it warn't difficult to fillthe centre of the canes with powder, and take a train from thar, undercover of leaves, to where it was wanted. Last of all, we fixed a shooterat each place, tied firm ter pegs driven into the ground, and riggedtwine across whar the critters was likely to come, fixin' the ends tothe triggers of the shooters. It war a proper idea.
"Gee! It war," admitted Steve, his praise unstinted. "I'm jest burnin'to hear what happened. That old man Staples were shrewd."
"He war," admitted Jacob warmly, a fact to be commented on, consideringthe fact that the two had had a bitter quarrel. "That dodge of his savedus a heap of worryin', 'cos, though we set guards, in course, theyhadn't need to be extry careful, for them mines we'd laid was prettysure to keep out the Injuns."
"They attacked that night?" asked Tom.
"Wrong! They set to and had another palaver. Them critters always makesme think of the time I war a boy, and war sent to the settlement forsome eddication. In course I was often rowin' with other boys, same asmost lads do. Wall, ef my memory ain't serving me a bad trick,we didn't so often get to with our fists right away at thecommencement of the ruction. Thar was ginerally a deal of jawin'.'Touch-me-agin-and-I'll-knock-yer-down' sort of thing. Then, when ourblood was hot enough, we'd set to at one another, and, gee! warn't themscuffles warm!"
Jacob sat back at the recollection, opened an enormous mouth, andlaughed--a laugh which was a bellow, and which exposed a set of bigstrong teeth, blackened by much smoking. A kick from Bill brought him tohis senses.
"We ain't talkin' of schools," he reminded Jacob. "Git in at thebusiness. Them critters had a palaver. Gee! Ef you ain't slow enough fera funeral. It's enough ter make the boys swear."
There was indignation on Jacob's face for the moment. Then his mouthbroadened out into another smile. "Yer do git impatient," he said in hissleepy way; "but I ain't fer tantalizing anyone. Them critters hadanother palaver. Reckon they smoked the pipe of peace betweenthemselves, arranged what was to be done with the scalps they war goingto take, and then dug up the hatchet. They was round us as thick as beeson the following morning, and we could see them climbing down from HawkEye's camp on the cliff ledge. Then, since it's dead clean up agin Injunnature to begin an attack of that sort without a bit of talking, theysent Hawk Eye and three other chiefs to parley with us.
"'You kin clear out, safe and sound, and without us touchin' a haar ofyer heads,' he says, 'so long as yer leave the one as fired that traindown at the shanty. We don't want no struggling, so you'll hand over allguns and knives too.'"
There was a giggle from the circle of scouts, and a derisive laugh fromSeth.
"My!" he cried gaily, "them varmint do take the white man fer a fool!Yer agreed to them terms, in course?"
"We warn't wantin' to have our scalps raised jest then," came Jacob'sslow and satirical reply. "An Injun aer that ontrustworthy that itwouldn't ha' done to take Hawk Eye's word at all. 'Sides, there war Mrs.Rivers. Ef we left the camp and returned to our ranches without the boy,and without the gal as Hawk Eye had stolen, thar was the mother to face;and, I give you my word, thar warn't one of us in that crowd as wouldn'thave been dead ashamed ter do so. In course we refused. Old man Staples,as knew the Injuns like a book, answered Hawk Eye with the same sorterblarney.
"'You git right back to yer camp,' he says, 'and bring along the kid.Then, ef she ain't been harmed, and ef all them braves of yours downbelow has gone off quietly to their wigwams, we'll git back to our homeswithout hurtin' yer; but, ef thar's been damage done, and ef yer ain'tslippy about quittin', we'll make yer feel sorry all your lives that yerwas ever born.'
"That war Staples's style of talkin', and it fair tickled the Injuns. Itwar the sort of thing they'd have said theirselves, and so they couldrelish it. But it didn't bring them no nearer to our scalps, and, sencesittin' down below wouldn't help neither, they made up their minds tohave a turn at the job that very night. Wall, reckon forty of thecritters came creepin' up somewhares about half-past two in the earlymornin', and you kin guess what happened. One of the parties found ourbarrier before the others reached the boulders blocking the path theywas following. Them strings worked as ef they was part of a machine,and, I tell yer, the sparks flew. The explosion didn't give Hawk Eye andhis chiefs any chance of larnin' what had happened, 'cos the crittersthat came up agin the mine wasn't left to be axed any questions.
"In course it made 'em even more careful, and when another of the mineshad exploded, and cleared out a second party, the braves was calledback, and th
em chiefs got to at another palaver. And next mornin' theterms they offered us was a little easier. We could go, so long as weleft only our shooters and knives. They'd dropped wantin' the boy, yersee; fer in course it war Joe who had fired the train down at hisfather's shanty. But Staples let 'em see that we was even moredetermined than before. 'You kin get back to yer friends,' he says, 'andtell 'em this: We want the gal you stole, and we want a brave and asquaw from each tribe. We'll take good care of them; but they'll be likehostages. Ye'll have 'em back, safe and sound, once we've reached theranches.'
"That fairly roused the Injuns, mates, and within an hour of Hawk Eyeleaving us after the palaver the best part of three hundred of thecritters galloped up to the hill, and started climbing it as fast asthey was able. And this time the daylight helped them, fer they knewwe'd laid mines, and was on the lookout for the strings. Still, one ortwo of 'em was careless, and got blowed sky high. The rest came on witha rush, and for a time it war warmish. We was bunched together behindour barricades, and, as I said right away at the beginnin' of the yarn,we give them proper pepper. But they was too many, and it soon come tohand-to-hand fightin'. Wall, we beat the critters, and, jest to finishthe yarn without more talkin', we got that kid, and took her safe backto the mother. Blow'd if I ain't sleepy. Time we was turned in. Goodnight, mates, I'm goin'."
The ponderous Jacob showed astonishing celerity. It was the first timethat any had seen him rise so quickly under similar circumstances,though, to be sure, the burly fellow could move quickly enough whenneeded, as he had already proved that day.
"Hold hard, sonny!" cried Tom, detaining him with a firm hand. "That'stoo short an ending. Yer was surrounded. That's whar we got to. Let'shave the rest quietly, and not thrown in all in a hurry."
"I ain't goin' ter say no more. I'm off ter my blanket," came the stolidanswer.
"And that's jest whar I come in," cried Bill suddenly. "Yer rememberJacob lad was fer moving earlier on. That's when I began to help him.This time he's clean shut up, so I'll have to take the yarn to the veryend. Jacob thar says it war hand-to-hand fightin'. In course, when thebusiness was over, and we had time to take a look round, there was agoodish few of us as had been wounded. Two of our chaps was killed,while I guess we'd laid out thirty of the Injuns. But that ain't all. Itwar gettin' dusk when them critters was driven off, and you kin guess asit took a while to decide how many of our mates had been hurt, and totend to those that needed it. It warn't fer half an hour, perhaps, thatold man Staples sings out fer Jacob.
"'Whar is the man!' he asks, kind of anxious, fer he seemed to havetaken a sudden and violent fancy to him. 'Whar is he?'
"And when we come to search high and low there wasn't a sign of thecritter. He war clean gone."
"Gone!" exclaimed one of the men. "Whar? What fer?"
"Ha! That's what I'm a-comin' to," grinned Bill. "It aer that part ofthe yarn as wild hosses couldn't drag from Jacob. But he has got to hearit. Jest sit right down on him, Tom, and hold him. Gee! Ef hisbashfulness don't beat me altogether."