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tales of trail and town-第7部分

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as they would drop on an Injin or a nigger。  'Look here; Bill;' sez

I; 'I'm escortin' this stranger under gov'ment orders; and I'm

responsible for him。  I ain't allowed to waste gov'ment powder and

shot on YOUR kind onless I've orders; but if you'll wait till I

strip off this shell* I'll lam the stuffin' outer ye; afore the

stranger。'  With that Bill just danced with rage; but dassent fire;

for HE knew; and I knew; that if he'd plugged me he'd been a dead

frontiersman afore the next mornin'。〃





* Cavalry jacket。





〃But you'd have had to give him up to the authorities; and a jury

of his own kind would have set him free。〃



〃Not much!  If you hadn't just joined; you'd know that ain't the

way o' 30th Cavalry;〃 returned the driver。  〃The kernel would have

issued his orders to bring in Bill dead or alive; and the 30th

would have managed to bring him in DEAD!  Then your jury might have

sat on him!  Tell you what; chaps of the Bill stripe don't care

overmuch to tackle the yaller braid。〃*





* Characteristic trimming of cavalry jacket。





〃But what's this yer Congressman interferin' for; anyway?〃



〃He's a rich Californian。  Thinks he's got a 'call;' I reckon; to

look arter Injins; just as them Abolitionists looked arter slaves。

And get hated just as they was by the folks here;and as WE are;

too; for the matter of that。〃



〃Well; I dunno;〃 rejoined the farrier; 〃it don't seem nateral for

white men to quarrel with each other about the way to treat an

Injin; and that Injin lyin' in ambush to shoot 'em both。  And ef

gov'ment would only make up its mind how to treat 'em; instead of

one day pretendin' to be their 'Great Father' and treatin' them

like babies; and the next makin' treaties with 'em like as they wos

forriners; and the next sendin' out a handful of us to lick ten

thousand of them  Wot's the use of ONE regimenteven twoagin a

nationon their own ground?〃



〃A nation;and on their own ground;that's just whar you've hit

it; Softy。  That's the argument of that Congressman Atherly; as

I've heard him talk with the kernel。〃



〃And what did the kernel say?〃



〃The kernel reckoned it was his business to obey orders;and so

should you。  So shut your head!  If ye wanted to talk about

gov'ment ye might say suthin' about its usin' us to convoy picnics

and excursion parties around; who come out here to have a day's

shootin'; under some big…wig of a political boss or a railroad

president; with a letter to the general。  And WE'RE told off to

look arter their precious skins; and keep the Injins off 'em;and

they shootin' or skeerin' off the Injins' nat'ral game; and our

provender!  Darn my skin ef there'll be much to scout for ef this

goes on。  And b'gosh!of they aren't now ringin' in a lot of

titled forriners to hunt 'big game;' as they call it;Lord This…

and…That and Count So…and…So;all of 'em with letters to the

general from the Washington cabinet to show 'hospitality;' or from

millionaires who've bin hobnobbin' with 'em in the old country。

And darn my skin ef some of 'em ain't bringin' their wives and

sisters along too。  There was a lord and lady passed through here

under escort last week; and we're goin' to pick up some more of 'em

at Fort Biggs tomorrow;and I reckon some of us will be told off

to act as ladies' maids or milliners。  Nothin' short of a good

Injin scare; I reckon; would send them and us about our reg'lar

business。  Whoa; then; will ye?  At it again; are ye?  What's gone

of the dd critter?〃



Here the fractious near horse was again beginning to show signs of

disturbance and active terror。  His quivering nostrils were turned

towards the wind; and he almost leaped the centre pole in his

frantic effort to avoid it。  The eyes of the two men were turned

instinctively in that direction。  Nothing was to be seen;the

illimitable plain and the sinking sun were all that met the eye。

But the horse continued to struggle; and the wagon stopped。  Then

it was discovered that the horse of an adjacent trooper was also

laboring under the same mysterious excitement; and at the same

moment wagon No。 3 halted。  The infection of some inexplicable

terror was spreading among them。  Then two non…commissioned

officers came riding down the line at a sharp canter; and were

joined quickly by the young lieutenant; who gave an order。  The

trumpeter instinctively raised his instrument to his lips; but was

stopped by another order。



And then; as seen by a distant observer; a singular spectacle was

unfolded。  The straggling train suddenly seemed to resolve itself

into a large widening circle of horsemen; revolving round and

partly hiding the few heavy wagons that were being rapidly freed

from their struggling teams。  These; too; joined the circle; and

were driven before the whirling troopers。  Gradually the circle

seemed to grow smaller under the 〃winding…up〃 of those evolutions;

until the horseless wagons reappeared again; motionless; fronting

the four points of the compass; thus making the radii of a smaller

inner circle; into which the teams of the wagons as well as the

troopers' horses were closely 〃wound up〃 and densely packed

together in an immovable mass。  As the circle became smaller the

troopers leaped from their horses;which; however; continued to

blindly follow each other in the narrower circle;and ran to the

wagons; carbines in hand。  In five minutes from the time of giving

the order the straggling train was a fortified camp; the horses

corralled in the centre; the dismounted troopers securely posted

with their repeating carbines in the angles of the rude bastions

formed by the deserted wagons; and ready for an attack。  The

stampede; if such it was; was stopped。



And yet no cause for it was to be seen!  Nothing in earth or sky

suggested a reason for this extraordinary panic; or the marvelous

evolution that suppressed it。  The guide; with three men in open

order; rode out and radiated across the empty plain; returning as

empty of result。  In an hour the horses were sufficiently calmed

and fed; the camp slowly unwound itself; the teams were set to and

were led out of the circle; and as the rays of the setting sun

began to expand fanlike across the plain the cavalcade moved on。

But between them and the sinking sun; and visible through its last

rays; was a faint line of haze parallel with their track。  Yet even

this; too; quickly faded away。



Had the guide; however; penetrated half a mile further to the west

he would have come upon the cause of the panic; and a spectacle

more marvelous than that he had just witnessed。  For the

illimitable plain with its monotonous prospect was far from being

level; a hundred yards further on he would have slowly and

imperceptibly descended into a depression nearly a mile in width。

Here he not only would have completely lost sight of his own

cavalcade; but have come upon another thrice its length。  For here

was a trailing line of jog…trotting dusky shapes; some crouching on

dwarf ponies half their size; some trailing lances; lodge…poles;

rifles; women and children after them; all moving with a monotonous

rhythmic motion as marked as the military precision of the other

cavalcade; and always on a parallel line with it。  They had done so

all day; keeping touch and distance by stealthy videttes that crept

and crawled along the imperceptible slope towards the unconscious

white men。  It was; no doubt; the near proximity of one of those

watchers that had touched the keen scent of the troopers' horses。



The moon came up; the two cavalcades; scarcely a mile apart; moved

on in unison together。  Then suddenly the dusky caravan seemed to

arise; stretch itself out; and swept away like a morning mist

towards the west。  The bugles of Fort Biggs had just rung out。



        。        。        。        。        。        。



Peter Atherly was up early the next morning pacing the veranda of

the commandant's house at Fort Biggs。  It had been his intention to

visit the new Indian Reservation that day; but he had just received

a letter announcing an unexpected visit from his sister; who wished

to join him。  He had never told her the secret of their Indian

paternity; as it had been revealed to him from the scornful lips of

Gray Eagle a year ago; he knew her strangely excitable nature;

besides; she was a wife now; and the secret would have to be shared

with her husband。  When he himself had recovered from the shock of

the revelation; two things had impressed themselves upon his

reserved and gloomy nature: a horror of his previous claim upon the

Atherlys; and an infinite pity and sense of duty towards his own

race。  He had devoted himself and his increasing wealth to this one

object; it seemed to him at times almost providential that his

position as a legislator; which he had accepted as a whim or fancy;

should have given him this singular opportunity。



Yet it was not an easy task or an e
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