but i will dwell no more in detail upon our sufferings in that terrible valley of frost and famine. enough said that, after bringing in the remainder of the meat for sparks and dougherty, we left them and struggled onward in search of a pass. to linger in camp with our disabled comrades would have meant certain death to all. but many among us wept at the parting, for few believed we should ever return.
indeed, having eaten in one scant meal all the meat we had found heart to take from the injured men, we again suffered a famine, this time of three days' duration. it was then, for the first and only time during all our privations, that one of the men murmured openly. so evident was it that his outcry had been wrung from him by anguish and despair that the lieutenant, instead of shooting him down in his tracks in accordance with the usual rigor of military discipline, chose to pretend that he had not heard the mutinous words. a few hours later we were the second time saved from starvation by a fortunate kill of buffalo, and it was then, after we had feasted to repletion around a roaring camp-fire, that pike called the mutineer before him and reproved the repentant man for his conduct.
at this camp we left the greater part of the meat of the four buffaloes killed, in the charge of hugh menaugh, one of the two men who, aside from sparks and dougherty, had suffered the worst from the frost. this time, however, meat being so abundant, we did not fail to take with us on our onward march enough of provisions to last us for several days.
though recuperated by two days of feasting,—for we had lingered that length of time with menaugh,—our first march out of his camp proved one of the very hardest we had yet made. we were by now near the top of a high plateau, where the travelling was even more difficult than in the lower valley; yet we could discover no break in the white barrier, which, despite our high altitude, still towered up many hundred feet above us.
it was almost nightfall, and pike and i—as usual in the lead breaking a way through the drifts for the others—were beginning to look about for a favorable camp-site, when, topping a knoll, we found ourselves staring down upon a little stream whose course ran to the westward.
"look!" i shouted. "a pass! that brook flows to the mountains—into the mountains!"
"it may twist about again to south and east. we have reached the top of a divide," cautioned pike.
"no, no! it cannot be!" i cried, wild with delight. "i see a cleft in the mountain side! the sun dazzles our eyes, but look beneath, in the shadow."
"thank god!" he sighed. "it is a cleft! it must be that the stream flows through the mountains. if only we can find a way down its bed!"
"we can—we must!" i wheeled about to the weary men. "hurrah, lads! stiffen your knees! we've found our pass! another day will see us beyond the mountains!"
the brave fellows answered with a ringing cheer. drooping heads straightened; tottering steps gave place to firm, eager strides. buoyed up by renewed hope, we hurried down the hillside and along the stream bank until in the gathering twilight we could see with certainty where the stream wound its way into the mountain cleft. assured of this all-important fact, we made our bivouac in a grove of pines, and settled down to the happiest night we had known in weeks.
bright and early in the morning we broke camp and trudged along through the snow, down the bank of the creek. soon we found ourselves within the flanking shoulders of the mountains, descending a gorge that was walled on either side with almost sheer cliffs. i should speak of these precipices as stupendous had i not first seen the terrific chasm of the far narrower and deeper gorge of the arkansas.
to our vast relief, the bed of the pass proved to be broad and open throughout, being clear even of blocking snowdrifts. that it was habitually open was evident from the number of trees we found painted with indian signs, clear proof that this was one of the accustomed paths of the roaming savages of the far west. what most astonished us was the length of the gorge, which wound and twisted its way through the heart of the white mountains in seemingly endless extent.
at last, after we had marched downward for twelve or fourteen miles, a sudden turn unmasked to our gaze a view that brought us up short in our tracks, with cries of astonishment and delight. instead of the narrow mountain valley that we had expected to open before us, there burst upon our vision the panorama of a vast park-like country, dotted with scattered woods and groves, through which meandered numerous branching streams whose main trunk flowed to the southward. it was many miles across to the mountain range which bounded the western side of this beautiful valley.
pike was the first among us to find his voice. "men," he said simply, "we have won free. the worst is now behind us. this western country is far lower than the plateau on the east side. it must be less cold; see the wide stretches of open ground. there must be game—"
"ay! look!" i said, pointing to a multitude of black dots drifting across a snowy hillside. "deer! a herd!"
"an' more on 'em to yan side, sir!" sang out one of the men.
"no more fear of famine!" exulted pike. "we're safe at last!"
"but how as to savages?" i rejoined. "i see no smoke; yet in a country so abounding in game—"
"say rather, the spaniards, john."
"what! you surely do not think—yet that main stream runs southward. all the accounts tell how the rio grande del norte flows from the north down through the province of nuevo mexico. montgomery! can it be—"
he checked me with a gesture. but the twinkle in his eyes belied the soberness of his answer: "we have crossed the mountains in search of the red river. who among us can swear that yonder stream is not the red?"
"yet i, for one, am ready to wager it is the rio grande!" i cried. "the rio grande! only think what that means to us—to me! i have only to descend its banks to the spanish settlements—"
"to land in a spanish gaol!" he rejoined. "no, john; it is for the red river we have been seeking, and the red river it shall be, at the least until we have built a stockade and brought up all the members of our party."
"you would defy the spaniards!" i exclaimed.
"we will at least put ourselves into a position of defence before seeking to communicate with them."
"but a stockade on spanish territory?"
"a small party should be conceded the right to provide against the attacks of savages. besides, we have wandered far into a region unknown to us. if this is the red river, our side of the stream lies within the boundaries of louisiana territory."
i nodded my understanding of his position. "you are right. we have a very fair argument, and can present it to don spaniard quite favorably—from behind the walls of a stockade."
"or without any walls, sir!" put in sergeant meek. "even with this dwindled squad, sir, give us a bunch of trees or scrub, and we'd stand off a troop of spanish dragoons, or my name's not meek."
"small doubt of that, you old fire-eater!" rejoined the lieutenant. "it's harder to keep you in hand than it will be to whip any enemy we are like to find in this region."
the men all chuckled appreciatively at the joke.
"but just a little brush to liven us up, sir!" pleaded meek.
"that may come, all too soon! yet it is not our game. we did not come here to fight the spaniards, any more than we ascended the mississippi to fight sioux and chippewas and british fur-traders. no. bear in mind that this is a peaceful expedition. so far am i from desiring a hostile encounter with the spaniards, it is by no means certain that i could bring myself to refuse an invitation to visit their settlements, should they tender us their hospitality."
again catching the twinkle in his blue eyes, i exclaimed impulsively: "true! why not? why not march on down the rio grande without delay?"
he shook his head. "hold hard, john. you forget that this is supposedly the red river. also you forget your own observation as to how much more convincing is an argument when made from behind a fortification, and," his voice sobered, "you forget those whom we must first rescue."
"god forgive me!" i cried. "that i should for a moment lose thought of those poor lads! give me a detail, if no more than a single man. i will go back at once and fetch them."
"no," he replied. "we are still weak; you could not bear them through the drifts, and they cannot walk as yet. we must first build a stockade yonder in the valley. they had food enough to last many days. in good time i will send back a detachment to the arkansas for the pack train. the injured lads can be brought through on horseback."
"i will go now!"
"you will go with us," he commanded. "if, as is possible, we have come within measurable distance of the spanish settlements, we must establish a fort without delay. it is imperative. i need every man of you."
when the lieutenant spoke in that tone, there was nothing to do but obey. i turned on my heel and swung away down the pass, all the more eager to advance, since i might not turn back.
to advance! the word thrilled me throughout every fibre of my being. to advance! well enough was it for pike to express doubts—to talk solemnly of the red river. he had to bear in mind the problem of diplomatic explanations to the spaniards. but as for myself, i rejoiced in the conviction that the stream before us was in truth the spanish river of the north; that within the distance of a few days' journey southward lay the upper spanish settlements, beyond which, somewhere in the interior of new spain, lay chihuahua, the seat of government for the northern provinces, and the goal of my love-quest! i no longer doubted, i knew! we had crossed the sangre de cristo! i had passed the barrier!
small wonder was it that i chafed during the many days which yet intervened before i was free to fare away on the road which led toward my lady! first of all came our check at the west base of the mountains, where a vast line of sand hills blocked our advance into the valley and compelled us to skirt along some distance to the south before we could march out toward the river. it took yet two more days for us to reach the main stream and cross over, up one of its tributaries, to a favorable site for our stockade.
the first few days of february we spent in hunting and in hewing down cottonwood trees for the stockade. of buffalo we saw no sign in the valley, but succeeded in killing a few deer, and sighted such vast droves that the last thought of famine was dispelled.
as soon as we had made some progress on the fort, i pressed the lieutenant to permit me to return for our comrades on the back track. but he, knowing the keenness of my desire to be off southward, positively forbade my returning, and instead detailed corporal jackson and four men to bring in sparks, dougherty, and menaugh, together with the four packs we had been forced to leave behind. baroney and smith, we thought, could wait on the arkansas until later, when the horses should have had more time to regain strength.
it had been arranged that jackson and his men should leave on the afternoon of the seventh. but i did not linger to see them start. making hasty preparation, i marched in the opposite direction at sunrise of the same day. the parting with my fellows in the midst of this remote and unknown wilderness affected me deeply. despite all our sharing of famine and toil and bitter cold, i had not before realized the warmth of attachment between us. the men crowded around to grasp my hand and wish me godspeed, and one and all swore that if i came to harm among the spaniards, they would follow their commander to the death in his effort to avenge me.
after this pike walked out with me half a mile or so on my way, where we could say our farewells in private, and none might see the tears which would come despite our efforts at calmness. by now he was quite convinced that i was going to my death.
"farewell, my friend, my companion!" he exclaimed, wringing my hand. "god keep you from harm!"
"wish me more than that, montgomery," i protested.
"ah, more—more, with all my heart!" he cried. "god grant you win your way to your lady—that you win her sweet self!"
"my thanks, dear friend!" i choked, gripping him by the shoulders. "we talk of patriotism; but i know, and you know, it is for her sake alone i am putting my neck into the noose."
"no, no," he rejoined. "it is not alone love, it is duty as well that calls you. and i fear the worst. would that i might even now dissuade you from the attempt!"
"dissuade me?—now? i should go, even though i felt as sure as you do that the outcome will be the garrotte or a blank wall and a firing squad. no; what grieves me most is the thought that we may never again meet. i hope to win my way to chihuahua; i must win my way to—her! but can i then leave new spain? never one of nolan's men has come home."
"it may chance that you will wish to stay, john."
"no, not even for her sake, unless—" i hesitated—"unless the spanish creoles rise and throw off the rule of old spain."
"a revolution? that would be a grand opening for you!" his eyes flashed with militant fire, only to darken again with grief. "but the people of new spain are too dispirited to revolt. if you linger in that tyrannical land, it will be as a prisoner in one of their foul gaols—or worse!"
"for her i'd risk the worst a thousand times over! take cheer! they will never suspect me as a spy. the le lande claim will carry me through."
"god grant it!" he cried.
i gave his hand a last grip. "farewell for a long time, my friend! that you may not waste thought over the chance of my return, i confess that i have resolved to go to my lady, whatever may befall."
"then you will not come back even if they rebuff you at the upper settlements?"
"i have crossed the barrier. now i go to chihuahua."
"farewell; god keep you!" he repeated.
a final glance at the little log fort, with its shallow moat, bristling, staked abatis, and loopholed walls, above which floated our glorious banner, then i tore myself from him, and started off on my solitary journey.
having meat enough to last me some time, i did not stop to hunt, but continued on at my best pace, southwest and then more nearly south. mid-morning of the second day i came upon a pair of the ugliest indians i had ever seen. fortunately they were not so stupid as their swarthy, flat faces made them appear. after no little sign talk, i at last overcame their fear of me, and by an offer of a few trinkets, gained their assent to take me into the spanish settlements.
for the night they took me to a camp in the woods where their women were waiting. being unacquainted with the customs of these savages,—who i afterwards learned were yutahs,—i passed the night without sleep, for fear of treachery. but whether because of my rifle and pistols, or owing to their treaty with the spanish whites, my ugly guides made no attempt to attack me. next morning we set out upon our way to agua caliente, the first of the spanish towns, which we reached mid-afternoon of the same day.
it was with the keenest of emotions that i first made out what i took to be the mud-wall stockade, or rampart, of this northernmost of the spanish settlements. at last i had arrived at the inhabited parts of new spain,—i was about to venture into the midst of our secretly, if not openly, hostile spanish neighbors. for all i knew, the long-threatened war might have broken out months past; it might now be raging with utmost fury. yet even the thought of this far from improbable situation did not cause me to waver for an instant. i needs must go on in search of my lady, though a thousand spaniards lined the road with guns loaded and primed to shoot me down.
as we drew near the town gate, one of the tame indians of the place ran in with the news of my coming. i stopped, and was in the midst of paying over the agreed articles to my guides, when a bewhiskered spanish corporal and a squad of dragoons came charging out as if to ride me down. some held their long lances levelled at my breast; others, who had rushed off without their lances, flourished the short rifles which they call escopettes; while one man had only his big horse pistol. all, however, carried their thick leather shields, which it seems the soldiers in these parts bear as a protection against the arrows of the savages.
greatly to my relief, i soon perceived that all this display of weapons and horsemanship was intended rather as a greeting than a menace. as they replaced their lances in the sockets and brought their curvetting mounts to a stand, the corporal saluted me in a most hospitable manner. at this, having good reasons for concealing what little knowledge of spanish i possessed, i demanded, in french, to be taken before the commanding officer of the place. whether or not the fellow understood my words, he sprang off courteously beside me, and made a sign for me to accompany him into the town. the others took his horse in lead, and followed us at a few paces.
as we passed the gate, i perceived that what i had taken for a great stockade of unbaked mud brick was in fact no other than the rear walls of a continuous row of houses, built in the form of a hollow square, and with inward-facing doors. the town was thus of itself a most effectual fortification against the savages of this region, the walls of the houses extending up above the flat roofs so as to form a convenient parapet for the defenders against the arrows and even the guns of their assailants. very few of these southwest indians, however, possess firearms, and as they also lack scaling ladders, it does not detract from the effectiveness of the defence that none of the houses is above a story in height. this last was also true of the rows of like buildings laid off in streets within the square.
at the time, however, i had little opportunity to observe either this moorish architecture, which the spaniards brought with them from old spain, or the curious appearance of the tame indians, who made up the majority of the town's inhabitants. the corporal at once led me into the presence of the commandant, who, finding that i claimed to be of french blood, expressed himself in french as vastly astonished at the presence of an american in this remote region, particularly in view of the season.
before we had finished our interview, i was no less astonished to learn that i was not the first american to arrive in the country. this does not refer to the french creole le lande, who had settled between here and santa fe and had done so well with his stolen goods that he was already known as a rico. something over a year before our coming, one of our daring western fur-hunters named pursley, an american by blood as well as allegiance, had traversed the prairies from the missouri, and falling in with a great party of kyoways and comanches near our grand peak, had come down with them to the spanish settlements.
i received this account while dining with the commandant, he being so hospitable as to invite me to his table, notwithstanding my tattered and wretched appearance. but first, having learned my ostensible reason for coming to new mexico, he had sent off a soldier, post-haste, with despatches to governor allencaster at santa fe.
after weeks and months of dieting on the flesh of wild game, much of the time without salt, and even longer without so much as corn to vary the monotony, it was only with the greatest effort that i could restrain myself from gluttonizing on my host's fiery chili con carne, his hot corn-cakes and beans, his delicious chocolate and dulces. all the time he was repeating polite apologies for the meagreness of his fare. to me it was no less than a banquet, and i feasted until prudence forced me to deny myself another mouthful.
that night, for the first time in seven months, i slept upon a mattress, which, according to the custom of new spain, was laid upon the floor. the nearest approach to a bedstead in this benighted land is a bench-like bank of mud brick along the wall, in some of the houses. chairs and divans are none too plentiful, even in the homes of the cultured rich, the people in general preferring to recline or to sit turk-fashion upon mats or mattresses laid along the floor.
early in the morning i was informed that an escort was in waiting to guide me to santa fe. the kindness of the commandant in providing me with numerous articles of civilized comfort induced me to accede without protest to his politely worded hint that it would be better for me to leave behind my weapons and ammunition, which he promised to send on in a few days.
having given myself singly into the hands of the spanish, i knew that diplomacy was now my sole resource, the thought of a resort to force being sheer madness.
