avon burnet’s misgiving increased as he drew near the cabin of his uncle, for the unwonted stillness was impressive to the last degree. the only sign of life which caught his eye was the horse cropping the grass near the mesquite bush.
it seemed dangerous to do as he did, but in his anxiety he sprang to the ground and walked hastily to the front of the dwelling. observing the latch-string out, he gave it a sharp twitch and the door swung open.
dinah confronted him with a look of surprise, and just beyond her, he saw his aunt preparing the morning meal.
“why, avon, you are frightened,” said she with a smile.
“so i am; where’s uncle?”
“he will be down in a minute; when i awoke, i saw he was asleep, and i concluded not to awake him. you know he had a hard time yesterday and last night, and i took the responsibility of not calling him. the poor man needs rest and it won’t hurt you folks to wait a while.”
the youth dropped into a chair and laughed.
“well, now, that beats everything! we were worried half to death, and feared something dreadful had happened.”
“nothing of the kind; we haven’t been disturbed since you and gleeson went away. if we had, the captain would have been awake.”
the gentleman referred to was heard moving about overhead, and a few minutes later put in an appearance. he scolded his wife in a good-natured way for her well-meant kindness, and adding that no harm had been done, sat down to his morning meal.
the preliminaries were quickly finished, the good-by said, and leaping into his saddle, the captain joined his nephew in a smart gallop northward to camp, where they joined their anxious friends.
and so what promised to furnish a stirring sensation proved nothing at all. it was rare that the texan allowed his weariness to get the better of him, but it had done so in this case, and none laughed more heartily over it than he.
a brief investigation showed everything to be in readiness, and the sun was not far above the horizon when the start on the long journey northward was made.
the cattle seemed to have recovered from the restlessness of the night before, and were as tractable as could be desired. they moved forward at a moderate pace, having browsed so fully on the succulent grass that it was easy to keep them going, until nearly the middle of the day. at this time a halt was made for an hour, during which the cattle spread out on the sides of the well-marked trail, and ate as though they had not partaken of food for days.
shortly after resuming the journey a small stream was reached, which was easily forded, there being no portion where it was necessary for the beasts to swim. all drank heartily, 219and, upon climbing the sloping bank on the other side, another herd was observed several miles to the east.
“they haven’t got as many as we,” remarked the captain to gleeson, who was riding by his side; “and i hope we shall keep far enough apart to prevent our cattle mixing.”
“he’s off the trail,” replied ballyhoo, “but will come into it before long.”
“if we keep moving briskly, he must strike it behind us.”
it soon became evident that the other cattlemen were trying to force their herd to a point on the trail ahead of the larger drove, which was strung along for many yards. since they were about equally far north, the struggle was an interesting one for some time; but the action of the smaller collection of cattle showed they were not as manageable as the larger one, and, before the close of day, they gave over the struggle and dropped back so far that, when they struck the trail, they were fully a mile to the rear.
the promised storm still hung off, though the sky was cold and lowering, and toward night a misty rain began falling. it did not become severe at any time, but it added to the dismal gloom. the wind blew in gusts, much the same as on the previous evening, and the temperature fell until, had the cowmen been less accustomed to exposure, they would have suffered more than their animals.
our friends did not forget to keep a lookout for the comanches, who were likely to show themselves, whenever a chance presented itself for a raid upon the herd.
if they had been too roughly handled to venture upon anything of the kind, there were plenty of others to take their places, if only the temptation was strong enough.
the misty rain shortened the view in every direction, but the horsemen who dashed hither and thither, when the cattle showed a disposition to stray off, reported no signs of their old enemies, who, however, might be keeping out of sight until darkness should settle over the earth.
prudence required that the cattle should be treated considerately, especially at the beginning of the long journey, for it was to the interests of the owners that they should arrive at their destination in good condition. like men in training for a pedestrian contest, particular care was needed at the start to prevent a general breakdown. after a few days the beasts, if well used, would be able to stand much more.
it, therefore, lacked considerable of night when the final halt was made, and the cattle were allowed to crop the grass until they became sated and chose to lie down.
the men in charge of the other herd were equally thoughtful, for they came to a pause about the same time, with nearly a mile separating the camps. it was hardly dark, indeed, when a horseman was seen approaching from the southward, on an easy gallop, and there was no doubt that he belonged to the other party.
“it’s my old friend sclevinger,” said captain shirril, recognizing the visitor, as he saluted, and, checking his steed beside that of the old texan, extended his hand, with the heartiest of salutations.
“i suspected it was you,” said the new arrival, whose pleasant countenance was covered by as shaggy a growth as that of the captain, “and i concluded i would run over and shake hands.”
“that’s right, pard. i’m mighty glad to see you; you must take supper with us.”
“thank you, i guess i will,” replied sclevinger, dismounting and accepting the invitation as readily as it was given; “i tried to run in my herd ahead of you this afternoon,” he added, with a twinkle of his fine eyes, “but i couldn’t quite make it.”
“we saw what you were up to, and we had to bestir ourselves to head you off. how many have you, colonel?”
“only about twelve hundred––that is, i had twelve hundred, when i started from the ranch two days ago, but we lost nearly a hundred yesterday.”
“how was that?” asked the captain, as they reached the provision wagon, and paused while the cook made their meal ready.
“a confounded lot of comanches cut out some of our cattle, and, despite all we could do, got off with them.”
“they have been hanging round us, but didn’t do anything. seems to me, colonel, you shouldn’t have allowed that.”
“that’s what makes me so mad,” was the bluff response of the guest. “it was just after crossing the creek to the southwest, which doesn’t lie in your way. a lot of the beasts took fright at something, and away they went on a bee line for arizona. i thought a couple of the boys would be able to bring them back, and i sent them off, while the other four looked after the main herd. thank you,” said the colonel, as he took the hot coffee from the hand of his host.
“well, i judge from what you said, they didn’t bring back the hoofs,” observed the captain, interested in the narrative of his friend.
“no, by george, it was worse than that. three or four hours after the stampede, one of the men came in sight, riding like mad. there were no cattle with him, and he was alone. i saw that one of his hands was bleeding badly, and he had a woful story to tell. he said he and the other fellow were working like the mischief to turn the animals back, and had almost succeeded, when the first they knew a dozen whooping comanches were right upon them.
“it was bang, bang, shoot, cut, yell, and whoop her up again, with no thought of doing anything but save themselves. the other chap fought like a trojan, but his horse was killed and he went down with half the fiends on him, fighting as long as the breath remained in his body.
“the one who came back with the news was pretty badly cut up and had the closest kind of a call, but his horse was better than any of the others and he managed to escape.”
“of course it was idle to think of getting your cattle after that,” remarked the captain.
“i was so infuriated that i gathered the rest of the men, intending to take the trail, but by the time i was ready, i became cooler, 225and saw it would never do. haven’t you been troubled with the redskins?”
“not in the manner that you have, but they stirred things up for us last night.”
thereupon, captain shirril gave an account of his own experience in his cabin. his friend listened attentively to his story, for it was interesting. he remarked, at its conclusion, that the indians had been more troublesome that spring than he had ever known them. twice, within the preceding month, they attempted to steal a number of his cattle, but failed in each instance, with the loss of several of their warriors.
“and in my opinion we are likely to have more trouble before we get through the indian country,” added the colonel.
“i think so, too; it will be well for us to get not too far from each other, for we ought to be in shape to give mutual support.”
“of course; there must be other droves on the march, and we ought to get a twist on them that will make them squeal.”
the supper being finished, the two leading cattlemen sat down under the shelter 226of the covered wagon and smoked their pipes. they had been old army officers, though colonel sclevinger fought on the union side in the war. the singular feature (and yet it was not so singular either), was that they had come in contact more than once during that period. it fell to the lot of the colonel to take the captain prisoner. he treated the brave texan with so much consideration that a strong friendship was formed, which remained uninterrupted to the present time.
it was by captain shirril’s invitation that colonel sclevinger came to texas on the return of peace. the northern man felt an interest in the ranch business, but followed the counsel of the texan, who warned him against going blindly into it. he took pains to give him points, and, when the proper time arrived, helped him to that extent that the gentleman avoided the disastrous blunders committed by those who fancy the ranch business offers a straight avenue to wealth, without any preliminary training in its many difficulties.
enough has been told to explain the friendship between the two men. the colonel intended to make only a brief call, but he so enjoyed the company of his old friend that he sat a long time in the wagon, smoking and exchanging reminiscences of the war times, which theme must ever be deeply entertaining to those who were actors in that tremendous epoch of our nation’s history.
finally the visitor bade his friend good-night, and, mounting his horse, galloped off in the night.
avon burnet had listened to a part of the conversation, for he was always interested in what this occasional visitor to their cabin had to say, but he could not remain as long as he wished. it was arranged that he should assume his place in helping to watch the herd, ballyhoo gleeson being one of those sharing the duty with him.
so it was that the youth rode out in the dismal rainy night to make a “full hand” at the calling of a cattleman.
