In the Pecos Country | Page 4

dead afore I lift owld Ireland--and his father
was taken down with a sort of fever a week ago, when we was t'other side of Fort Aubray.
It was n't anything dangerous at all but it sort of weakened him, so that it was belaved
best for him to tarry there awhile until he could regain his strength."
"Why did n't you and the younker stay with him?"
"That's what orter been done," replied the disgusted Irishman. "But as it was n't, here we
are. The owld gintleman, Mr. Moonson, had considerable furniture and goods that went
best with the train, and he needed me to look after it. He thought the boy would be safer
with the train than with him, bein' that when he comes on, as he hopes to do, in the course
of a week, be the same more or less, he will not have more than two or three companions.
What I wanted to ax yez,'' said Mickey, checking his disposition to loquacity, "is whether
ye are in dead airnest 'bout saying the copper-colored gentleman will be down here for
the purpose of blotting out the metropolis of New Boston?"
"Be here? Of course they will, just as sure as you're a livin' man. And you won't have to
wait long, either."
"How long?"
"Inside of a week, mebbe within three days. The last I heard of Lone Wolf, he was down
in the direction of the Llano Estaeado, some two or three hundred miles from here, and it
won't take him long to come that distance."
"Is he the only Indian chief in this country, that ye talk so much about him?"
"Oh, no! there are plenty of 'em, but Lone Wolf has a special weakness for such parties as
this."
"When he does come, what is best for us to do?"

"You'll make the best fight you can, of course, and if you get licked, as I've no doubt you
will, and you're well mounted, you must all strike a bee-line for Fort Severn, and never
stop till you reach the stockades. You can't miss the road, for you've only got to ride
toward the setting sun, as though you meant to dash your animal right through it."
"Where will the spalpeen come from?"
The hunter pointed toward the woods before them.
"That's just the place the varmints would want--they could n't want any nicer. You may
be lookin' at that spot, and they'll crawl right in afore you'r eyes, and lay thar for hours
without your seein' 'em. You want to get things fixed, so that you can make a good fight
when they do swoop down on you. I guess that long-legged chap that I was talkin' to
knows enough for that. You seem to have more sense than any of 'em, and I'll give you a
little advice. Let's see, what's your name?"
The Irishman gave it, and the hunter responded by mentioning his own.
"Do you put some one in here to keep watch night and day, and the minute you see the
redskins comin' give the signal and run for your friends there. Then if the red-skins foller,
you must let 'em have it right and left. If you find you can't hold your own agin 'em, you
must make all haste to Fort Severn, as you heard me say a while ago. Aim for the setting
sun, and after you've gone fifty miles or so you'll be thar. Good by to you, now; I'm
watching the Injin movements in these parts, and, if the signs are bad, and I have the
chance, I'll give you notice; but you must n't depend on me."
The hunter leaned over the saddle, and warmly shook the hand of the Irishman, the two
having conceived a strong liking for each other.
Then he wheeled his mustang about, and gave him a word that caused him at once to
break into a swift gallop, which quickly carried him up the slope, until he reached the
margin of the valley, over which he went at the same rate, and speedily vanished from
view.
The Irishman stood gazing at the spot where he had vanished, and then he walked
thoughtfully back toward the settlement, where all were as busy as beavers, getting their
rude huts and homes in condition for living. In doing this Caleb Barnwell was guided by
a desire to be prepared for the Indian visitation, which he knew was likely soon to be
made. They had gathered an immense quantity of driftwood along the banks of the Rio
Pecos, and the other timber that they needed had already been cut and dragged from the
woods, so that about all the material they needed was at hand.
Even with their huts a third