CHAPTER XXII
STEALING FROM HORSE THIEVES
Hugh now knew all that he was likely to learn, and starting downstream, still well out of sight in the timber, he kept along themountain side until the camp had been left two or three milesbehind. Then mounting, he passed out into the open valley, andkeeping close to its border, rode hard to the Platte River. It wasbut little after noon when he rode into the Platte bottom, andtwo hours more brought him in sight of his camp. The boys saw himwhile he was yet a long way off, and he could see them standing andwatching him, and talking together as he approached.
As he rode up to the lodge he said, "Well, boys, here I am. Now,I wish you two would go out and catch up old Baldy and your tworiding horses, and bring them in and put them on picket. We've gotto pack up, too, before very long, and get ready for a quick moveand a long ride. When you get your horses we'll have something toeat, and I'll tell you what's happened."
Hugh unsaddled, filled his pipe, started the fire, and began tocook some food, for by this time he was pretty hungry. While he wascooking, the boys came in and picketed the horses, and then Hughsaid to them, "We'd better get our packs together, and pull downthe lodge, and get everything ready for a move. I went up thereand found the camp of these fellows. They're horse thieves, allright enough, and they've about a hundred head of horses, most ofthem Mr. Sturgis', but some are Powell's, and some belong to otherneighbors of ours. Of course I could not see the brands on all thehorses, but I saw the men that were driving them, and that's enoughfor me. I don't know, son, if you ever saw Red McClusky or JackDowling; but they're the men up there with the horses, with a boynot much older than you two, and I expect they've run 'em off andare going to take 'em up north.
"Now, I figure that we can do one of two things. We can go up thereand kill those fellows, and drive the horses back, or we can go upthere and steal the horses from them, and leave them afoot, andjust take the horses back on the range.
"I feel some like killing the thieves, but I don't want you boysto be mixed up in anything of that kind; it might be bad for you.I reckon the best thing we can do will be to go up and steal thehorses; steal 'em all if we can, so as to leave them fellows afoot.But if they've got sand to follow us, why then we've got to fight;because I know mighty well that they've no right to this property."
The boys said nothing for a time, but when Hugh spoke of stealingthe horses they looked at each other and grinned, with a delightthat they could not conceal.
"What are you fellows laughing at?" said Hugh, when he saw them."This ain't no joke; this is serious business."
"That's so, Hugh," said Jack, "but I guess we were both laughingbecause Joe suggested that if these were horse thieves, the bestthing we could do would be to go and steal the horses."
"Well," said Hugh, "I reckon that's what we've got to do; but Ido hope that we can get 'em all. Now, to do that, we've each oneof us got to do his part, and to do it the best way we know how.I'd rather have done it last night than do it to-night, becauselast night those fellows were tired, and to-night they'll sleeplighter; they may hear the horses walking off; but all the same, Idon't believe they will. Now, you boys better saddle your horses,and we'll make up the packs and put 'em all together here, and puthobbles on the pack animals, so that there'll be no time lost incatching them, when we come back. You see, if we have to stop hereit'll take quite a time to pack, and if we leave any horses upthere for those fellows to ride, they may follow us for a way, andthere's no saying what may happen. I don't want either of you boysto get shot, and I'm sure I don't want to get shot myself."
After the meal was eaten, the packs were quickly made up, the packhorses were driven in, caught and hobbled, and the afternoon wasnot half gone when the three were riding back up the valley.
Jack and Joe were somewhat impatient, but Hugh checked them."There's no hurry," he said, "we can't do anything till the middleof the night. Those fellows may sit up round the fire for quite awhile, and they might notice if the horses were moving much. I amin hopes that Joe and I can go up there afoot, and cut loose theirriding horses, and then just slowly and quietly shove the wholebunch down until we get them well below the camp, and then we canstart them at a good gait. There'll be no trouble about keepingthem going fast, for we've got plenty of riding horses in the bunchthere, and we can change often."
The sun had not set when they entered the valley. They followedit up for what seemed to the boys a long distance, but at lengthHugh stopped and dismounted, saying, "The camp is only about a mileabove here."
It was now dark night. Hugh sat down on the ground, holding hishorse's bridle, and began to fill his pipe, and the boys sat closeto him.
"Now," he said, "I am going to take you boys up just where I camedown this morning, and we'll get around these horses at the upperend of the valley, and work them down slowly on the other side fromthe camp. I'll go over and cut loose the horses that are picketed,and then we'll work on slowly until we get down well below this.Then we can go. I don't want either of you boys to shoot unlessyou have to; and if you have to, I'd rather have you shoot notto kill, but to cripple. If you get a chance, shoot at the man'sshoulder, so he can't use his gun. On the other hand, I've heardthat Dowling is handy with a gun in either hand. We've got to takesome chances, of course. I don't expect we'll see anything of thosefellows without we leave them a horse or two. If we do that, whythen to-morrow morning they'll come on. You boys keep right closeafter me, and try to make as little noise as you can. Don't letyour horses call. They may want to when they smell the others, butkeep them from doing it if you can."
Keeping well to the left, and close in under the timber, Hugh rodeslowly along, and after a time they saw the light of the fireflickering on the other side of the valley, and occasionally couldsee shadows passing in front of it. As they moved along, they saw,from time to time, horses feeding, and once rode close to an oldmare, whose little colt, not seeing them until they were near, gavea great bound into the air and rushed away for a few yards.
Hugh kept on up the valley until it narrowed, going almost to thepoint where he had crossed in the morning. Then he stopped and saidto the boys:
"Now get off your horses and lead them. I reckon we're above allthe horses, and now we'll go back down stream. Keep on the sideaway from the camp; keep spread out some; and when you come to anyhorses just walk toward them and get them to move along slowly.I'll keep out toward the middle until we get down near the camp;then, if the fire's gone down, I'll try to cut loose the horses,and I'll try to push them and all the others down the stream. Itmay take longer than we think, and you boys when you get down wherewe went into the timber, on the way up, get off your horses and liedown on the ground together and wait. See that you don't make anynoise; see that you don't shoot me; keep your wits about you; anddon't get excited or scared." The boys listened without a word.
"Now," Hugh continued, "we'll start. Jack, you go over next to thetimber, but keep fairly well out from the edge, and try to see allthe time that you don't miss any of the horses. Joe, you keep outnearer the middle, and get all the horses you can, and both of youwork as slow and careful as you know how."
The three separated and set about their task. To Jack it seemedsort of shivery work, being off there alone. He wondered ifanything would happen to Hugh or Joe; whether the thieves wouldfind out what was being done, and would attack them; whether Hughand Joe would meet him down at the end of the valley, and what inthe world he would do if they did not. He had not much time forthoughts like these, however, for he had to watch the sky-line ofthe timber, and to figure how far he was from it; to look out forhorses in front of him, and to travel along without stumbling, orrunning into little low bushes, or doing anything that would make anoise.
Before long he saw his first horse, an old mare with a colt. Hewalked toward her, and as he approached, she began slowly to walkaway. Then there were other horses off to his right and to hisleft, and he walked back and forward across the valley, sometimesseeing that the horses
to his left were moving slowly along downthe valley, which told him that Joe was doing his work, sometimescoming to a large bunch of brush, around which he had to pass inorder to be sure that no horses were hidden there. All the time hekept a good lookout across the valley, to see if he could see thefire of the camp, and at length, after he had gone, as it seemed, avery long way, he recognized, under the opposite hills, a dim glowon the bushes, which told him of a fire burned down. This he wasglad to see, because it made him feel sure that the thieves hadgone to bed and were asleep.
By this time he had in front of him a good many horses, all goingquietly and feeding as they went. Now and then two or three wouldlag behind, and he was obliged to cross over and walk behind them,but they at once started on, and Jack felt pretty sure that, sofar as his side of the valley was concerned, the horses had allbeen gathered. As he approached the place where they had enteredthe timber he began to hope that before long he would see Joe;and it was not very long after that that he saw one horse laggingbehind all the rest, and as he went over to drive it along, he sawthat someone was walking by it, and knew that this must be Joe. Hewanted to go over and speak to him, but remembering that he had hisown horses to look after, he restrained himself and kept on downthe valley. At the same time he was glad to be sure that Joe wasclose by. Now, if only Hugh would appear, he should feel that theywere all right. Now the valley grew more and more narrow, and theboys were closer together, and presently, as the horses bunched upto pass through a narrow place between two points of timber, Jackand Joe were almost side by side.
"Everything all right, Joe?" said Jack.
"All right," said Joe. "We've got a good bunch of horses."
"Have you seen anything of Hugh?" said Jack.
"No," said Joe, "I ain't seen Hugh, but the horses off to my leftare moving along; I reckon he's there somewhere." The words werehardly spoken when suddenly, apparently from a horse that waswalking just in front of them, Hugh's voice said:
"All right, boys; I believe we've done the trick. I think we canmount now and go ahead. Don't start 'em up yet, we'll go two orthree miles further, and then we'll let 'em sail." Both boys weredelighted to hear Hugh, and they mounted and crowded close to him.
"O Hugh," said Jack, "do you think we got 'em all?"
"Well," said Hugh, "I don't know about that, we've got the most of'em. They may have riding horses cached in the brush somewhere.I was afraid to go right close to the camp, for fear some of 'emmight be awake; but I got two picketed horses; there may be onehidden somewhere else; but I don't believe they've got horsesenough to ride to-morrow, and I'm almighty sure they haven't gothorses enough to catch us."
"What time is it, Hugh, do you think?" said Jack.
"Well, I don't know," said Hugh, "but it's considerable after themiddle of the night. We've got plenty of time to get these horsesdown to camp, and pack, and start the whole outfit on before itgets day; and pretty soon I'm going to begin to hurry 'em. I wantyou two boys to drive the horses, and when we get out of thevalley, I'm going to ride round them, and go ahead of them andlead them. Keep them going well until you hear me whoop; or if youcan't hear me, until you see me. I shall ride pretty hard untilwe get near the camp, but we must stop the horses before we getthere; otherwise they'll frighten our pack animals, and we won'tbe able to catch them. Now," said Hugh, as they came to a littleenlargement of the valley, "I'll go ahead, and you give me a fewminutes to get around them, and then start them up. When I hearthem beginning to gallop, I'll go just ahead of them, and they'llall follow me."
The cavalcade proceeded at a walk for ten minutes more, and thenJoe and Jack began to hurry the animals, and before long theywere galloping at a good rate of speed down the valley. When theyreached the Platte bottom the horses turned off, following thetrail by which they had come up, and swung steadily along at a goodgait. Now and then Jack recognized, even in the darkness, a placethat they had passed before, but for the most part the country alllooked strange to him. It seemed as if they had been going for along time when he thought he heard a faint whoop from in front, andat the same moment Joe called out to him:
"Hold on, Jack; drop back. Hugh called, and we must let the horsesstop."
They drew their horses into a walk, and before long the animalsthey were driving also slowed down. Then, after a little while theyheard Hugh, not far in front of them, calling out:
"Come round here, boys, and help catch the pack animals, and putthe packs on."
They rode through the horses, which had now stopped and begun tofeed, and it took but a short time to catch their pack horses, andsaddle and pack up. Then turning loose the packs, they all threerode round behind the herd, and started it on again.
CHAPTER XXIII
"DIED WITH HIS BOOTS ON"
It was now growing light, and they drove the horses hard. Hugh rodesteadily behind the bunch, while the boys were out on either flank,keeping them straight, and not permitting any lagging. Once theystopped for a little while and caught three fresh horses which Hughpointed out, put their saddles on them and turned loose their ownhorses.
The morning passed, and it was now the middle of the afternoon.The boys had noticed that Hugh often turned about and lookedback up the level valley, and they themselves were also watchingthe back trail to see whether there was any pursuit. The sun wasgetting low, when far back up the valley was seen a speck of dust,which gradually grew larger, and underneath it they could see ablack spot that was constantly growing nearer and nearer. It wasevidently a man on horseback. After they had watched it for sometime, Hugh motioned both boys to come over toward him, and ridingthere side by side in the thick dust kicked up by the hurryingherd, Hugh said to them:
"Boys, there's one man coming, and he's on a good horse, and we'vegot to kill him, I expect. Let these horses stop now, and catch upthree other animals and change the packs onto them, and by thattime this fellow will be close up to us, and we can see what hewants."
They slowed down their horses, the willing herd stopped and beganto feed.
Jack and Joe rode through it, and one by one caught the packhorses, which they brought back to Hugh. Then Hugh, sitting on hishorse, pointed out to them other animals to catch, and they ropedthem, brought them up, and one by one the packs were transferredto the new horses. The horses did not like it very much, and oneor two of them bucked, and to Jack it seemed rather nervous workto be doing this when the approaching horseman kept growing largerand larger, and when, for all he knew, before long bullets would beflying. The work was finished before the horseman was near them,and then Hugh told the boys to start the herd on again. But Jackdemurred, and said:
"Hold on, Hugh; are you going to stay here and meet this man? Ithink we all ought to stay, because something may happen."
"Well," said Hugh, "I don't like the idea of your stopping. I'drather have you go on and start these horses. Nothing's going tohappen to me; I feel pretty sure of that. I shall be on the ground,and have every advantage over this fellow, if he wants trouble."
"Hugh," said Joe, "how will this do: suppose Jack gets off twentysteps one side of you and I get off twenty steps on the other, andwe won't do anything unless it looks like you were going to gethurt; then we can shoot."
"All right," said Hugh, "if it will make you boys feel any easier;but I tell you nothing is going to happen. If that fellow don'tstop when he gets within good rifle shot I'll stop him, and I won'thurt him either. If he's got so much sand that he won't know when aman's got the drop on him, I may have to hurt him, but I don't lookto."
The man came on; his horse was a great powerful beast and had beenridden hard, for it was covered with dust and foam. When he gotwithin a hundred yards, Hugh dismounted, and stepping out in frontof his horse, raised his rifle to his shoulder, and pointed it atthe man. The man paid no attention to the motion, save to put hishand behind him and jerk from his holster a six-shooter. He calledout something as he came on, but they could not distinguish what hesaid.
"Hands up!" Hugh called; but the ma
n paid no attention, and thedistance between the party and the rider grew smaller.
"Hands up!" Hugh shouted again, and then a third time; and stillthe man came on. Hugh fired, and the horse plunged forward on hisknees throwing the rider far before him. It was Dowling.
He struck on his head and hands and slid a little way along theearth, and then springing to his feet, with his left hand he pulledanother six-shooter from his belt; but as he raised it, Hugh'srifle sounded again, and the man fell.
"'HANDS UP!' HUGH CALLED."--_Page 268_]
"Look out for him, boys! Don't go near him; he's like a grizzlybear; likely to be playing possum." Hugh watched the man witha wary eye, and was not surprised to see him after a momentraise himself on one elbow and feel about over the ground, in theeffort to recover the pistol which he had dropped. Hugh had seen itfall, and knowing the man's quickness with the pistol, watched himcarefully. In a moment, however, the man sank back and seemed to bebreathing hard, and Hugh called to the boys:
"Watch him, now, and I'll step up to him and get that gun; I'll beready for him if he moves."
Hugh stepped carefully but quickly forward, with his gun ready, andhad almost reached the man, when he moved slightly, and Hugh sprangswiftly to one side, as the pistol was discharged without beingraised. In a moment Hugh was on the man, and had taken the arm fromhim and thrown it to one side.
Dowling was badly wounded, and it was evident he could not livelong. When his pistols had been secured they did what they could tomake him comfortable. Joe went to the river and brought water inhis hat, and after a little, Dowling opened his eyes and spoke.
"Well, you've got me," he said; "I was in hopes I'd get you. Icouldn't stand it to have those horses taken, but I wish you'dtaken this one, instead of leaving it for me to ride. However, wemade a good try to get the stock, and we would have got it if ithadn't been for you. Where did you come from? We never saw anythingof you."
"We were just travelling down the river," said Hugh, "and saw thetracks, and I knew there wasn't any reason for a bunch of horses tobe driven through this country; so I went back to look up and seewhat it meant, and I found that you'd got our horses."
"Well," said Dowling, "a fool for luck! Anybody else coming throughthe country wouldn't have paid any attention to that horse trail,but you just had to do it.
"I reckon I've got it," he went on; "and I expect it's about timetoo, but I hate almightily to be downed by an old man. I'd a heapsight rather have had one of them young fellows kill me."
"Well," said Hugh, "I expect when a man's time comes, it don't makemuch difference how he gets killed."
"No," said Dowling, "I expect maybe it don't. I always allowed Idie with my boots on, anyhow, and here I am."
During the few moments that had elapsed since he had received hiswound his voice had grown much weaker. He was not bleeding much,but Hugh shook his head as he looked at the wound.
"Have some more water, Dowling?" he said.
"Yes, a little," said Dowling; but as Hugh raised him up to drink,he began to choke, and in a moment, after a shudder or two, laydead.
"Well, boys," said Hugh, "we've got to bury him, and then movealong. Suppose you two go over onto the edge of that bluff andscrape away the clay, as much as you can with your knives, and I'llbring the body over, and put his saddle-blanket over him, and we'llcover him up."
It had all happened so quickly, and there had been so muchexcitement about it, that Jack hardly understood or realized whathad happened. He and Joe walked over to the bluff, and scrapingaway the soft yellow clay, soon made a place six or eight feetlong, and presently Hugh came over, carrying the man on hisshoulder, and they laid him in his shallow grave. Hugh took off hisbelt, and looked through his pockets to see if he had any papers bywhich he might be identified, but found none. They covered him withthe earth, and brought flat stones that had fallen down from thetop of the bluff, and piled them upon the grave, to protect it fromthe wolves.
Then Hugh went back, and picking up the two pistols that Dowlinghad dropped, shoved them in the holsters, and holding out the beltto Jack, he said, "You want to wear this, son?"
"Why, yes, Hugh, I'd like to have it to remember this day by,though there are some things that I don't much care to remember."
"Well," said Hugh, "this is the way things used to be in the farwest, but I thought we'd about got through with it by this time.However, some of the old spirit seems to crop out now and then."
They mounted, and started the herd along again. They had not gonefar before Hugh said, "I want you boys to drive these animals onthree or four miles down the creek, and leave them there; but cutout the pack horses, and we'll camp right here."
Camp was made in a bunch of cottonwood brush, but the lodge was notput up. The pack horses were hobbled, and then the boys drove theloose horses some distance further down the stream, and returningfound the camp dark, but supper ready.
"I thought," said Hugh, "that there was just a chance that thosetwo other fellows might follow us down and try to take some of thehorses back again; so we had better stop here, without any fire,and with the horses kept close, and make an early start in themorning."
Hugh had them up long before day. They built no fire, but ate somedried meat, and started on. The tired horses were found just wherethey had been left, were pushed along at a good gait all day andcrossed the Platte; and the next night they drove them into Mr.Sturgis' ranch to the great astonishment of all there, and later ofPowell, and the other men from whom horses had been stolen.
Great was the credit received by all three of those who had broughtback the stolen horses. Mr. Sturgis gave to Jack and Joe each threegood riding animals; and to this day Jack talks of the only horsestealing expedition he was ever on.
Transcriber's note: In Chapter I there is the word "Hi d[)a]t sa" which contains an "a" with a breve accent mark above it which is rendered as [)a]. In Chapter II is the word " Ass[)i]ne" which contains an "i" with breve accent mark above, [)i].
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