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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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