California Joe, the Mysterious Plainsman | Page 2

rather than delay for weeks until another plainsman could be found to lead them.
They therefore could not ask the guide, upon their return to camp, to describe again the Phantom of the Forest, which he and others had seen; but that this must be the horse and rider that had won such fame, there could be no doubt in the minds of the young emigrants.
The guide had said, they remembered, that he allowed no one to approach near him, and this they would now solve the truth of.
After a moment of hesitation, passed in low, earnest conversation, they decided to hail the seeming Phantom.
"Ho, stranger!" called out one of the number.
But no reply came, and neither horse or rider moved.
"Stranger, who are you?"
Again was the call unanswered.
"Ho, stranger, we are lost; our train is on the prairie, under the red bank cliff, and we would thank you to show us back to camp."
One of the arms of the mysterious horseman was raised and beckoned to them as though to follow, and the white horse turned and walked slowly away, though no reply came from the rider.
"Come, boys, let us follow him," cried one, and taking their game they did.
Arriving at the spot where they had just beheld the seeming Phantom standing, they halted suddenly.
And no wonder, for they stood in the midst of a dozen graves.
The grass had not yet covered them, which proved they had not long held their occupants, and no head-boards marked them.
But a well-worn path led from the spot sacred to the dead up the hillside.
But this path was not the one the mysterious horseman had taken, as he had turned short off down the hillside.
As he saw the party of emigrants halt among the graves, he again beckoned them on, and once more they followed him, silent and wondering.
Slowly the shadows deepened around them, and night came on; but as though to still allow them to keep him in sight, the silent horseman dropped back until the white steed could be seen winding his way through the timber.
At last he halted, and allowed them to approach almost up to him, and then the white horse bounded away and disappeared in the gloom.
They called to him, yet no answer came back, and soon the fall of the hoof-strokes were no longer heard.
Reaching the spot where they had last seen him, a cry broke from the lips of all, for there, right below them, they beheld the cheerful glimmer of their camp-fires He had guided them truly, and five minutes after they were in camp, telling over and over again the strange story of the Forest Phantom.
*Even if the real name of California Joe is unknown, some saying that it was Joseph Milmer, others that it was Joseph Hawkins.
A few assert that he was a distant relative of Daniel Boone. Of where he was born, his parents and early boyhood life, he never spoke and he died leaving all a mystery behind him.--THE AUTHOR

CHAPTER II.
THE UNSEEN GUIDE.
WHEN the dawn broke upon the camp, the emigrants were somewhat startled to discover a stick in front of the center fire, sticking up in the ground, and with a piece of paper fastened to it.
The captain of the train read what was written thereon aloud, and it was as follows: "WARNING: "If this train is bound for Sunset Settlement it is on the wrong trail.
"If they do not fear to trust the one who writes his, let them follow the wrong trail."
This was all, but it set the entire train of emigrants to thinking.
They had little confidence in their amateur guide, for the simple reason he had less in himself, and had only guaranteed to go the way he thought was right.
Now he said that he might be wrong, and he advised the captain to follow the staked trail.
But who was their unknown informer?
He had passed the guards, that was evident, and had entered the camp unseen, for who else had put the stake there with its warning?
Then some one came in with the information that a large number of small sprigs had been cut from a tree near by, and another reported that one was staked out just beyond the camp.
Instantly the captain went to this stake, and it had evidently been placed there under cover of the night just passed.
Afar off a close scrutiny showed that another stake had been placed, and then it was decided to follow the trail they marked out.
The order to move was given, and the train pulled slowly out of its camping-place.
Following the stakes, which were placed about a mile apart, with a bunch of prairie grass upon the top of each, that they might be the better seen, the train continued on its way until the noon halt.
Then the mysterious affair was