In the Pecos Country | Page 6

left, was enabled to range his eye up the valley to the crest of the slope, so that he was
confident he could detect any insidious approach from that direction. Down the valley, on
the other side of the settlement, were placed a couple of other sentinels, so that New
Boston, on that memorable night, was well guarded.
The position of Fred Munson, it will be understood, was apparently the least important,
as it was commanded by the other two, but the lad felt as if the lives of the entire
company were placed in his hands.
"Talk of my going to sleep," he repeated, as soon as he found himself alone. "I can stand
or sit here till daylight, and wink less times than either Thompson or Mickey."
As every boy feels this way a short time before going to sleep, no one who might have
overheard Fred's boast would have been over-persuaded thereby. Before him stretched
the sloping valley of the Rio Pecos. Glancing to the right, he could just catch the glimmer
of the river as it flowed by in the moonlight, the banks being low and not wooded, while
looking straight up the valley, his vision was bounded only by darkness itself. Carefully
running his eye over the ground, he was confident that the slyest and most stealthy Indian
that ever lived could not approach within a hundred feet of him without detection.
"And the minute I'm certain its a red-skin, that minute I'll let him have it," he added,
instinctively grasping his rifle. "A boy need n't be as old as I am to learn that it won't do
to fool with such dogs as they are."
The grove which was guarded in this manner, it will be understood, was nearly square in
shape, reaching from the shore of the Rio Pecos on toward the left until the termination of
the valley in that direction had been gained. It had been so plentifully drawn upon for

logs and lumber that here and there were spaces from which, several trees having been
cut, the moon's rays found unobstructed entrance. One of these oasis, as they may be
termed, was directly in the rear of Fred, who noticed it while reconnoitering his position.
The open space was some twenty feet square, and was bisected by the trunk of a large
cottonwood, which had fallen directly across it.
Being left entirely to himself, the boy now devoted himself to the somewhat dismal task
of keeping watch, an occupation that cannot be classed as the most cheerful in which a
man may engage. The excitement and apprehension that marked the first two or three
hours prevented the time from hanging too heavily upon his hands, but as the night stole
along and nothing was heard or seen to cause alarm, the fear grew less and less, until, like
a boy, he began to suspect that all these precautions were useless.
For the twentieth time he stood up and listened. The soft, musical murmur of the Rio
Pecos was heard, as it flowed by on his right, and now and then the gentlest possible
breath of night-wind disturbed the branches overhead; but nothing else caught his notice.
To prevent the feeling of utter loneliness from gaining possession of him, Fred
occasionally emitted a low, soft, tremulous whistle, which was instantly responded to
from the direction of Mickey. It was the old familiar signal which they had used many a
time when off on their little hunting expeditions, and either, hearing it, could not mistake
its source. But this grew wearisome at last, and he leaned back against a tree, looking out
upon the moonlit valley beyond, where nothing as yet had caught his eye that looked in
the least suspicious, and where everything still appeared as silent as a graveyard.
"I don't believe there are any Indians within fifty miles," he muttered, impatiently; "and
yet we must have three or four men on the look-out till morning. Well, I s'pose it's the
only safe thing to do, and I'm bound to stick it out till one o'clock. It must be near
midnight now, and if Mickey should come around here, an hour from now, and find me
asleep, I never would hear the last of it."
He felt very much like sitting down upon the ground, but he knew if he did that he would
be sure to fall asleep, while, as long as he kept his feet, he was sure to retain his senses.
When disposed to become too drowsy, a sudden giving away at the knees recalled him so
vigorously, that it was a considerable time before the drowsiness crept over him again.
Thus the night advanced, until all at once, Fred aroused himself as if a sharp pin