Kitabı oku: «Two Boy Gold Miners: or, Lost in the Mountains», sayfa 7

CHAPTER XIX
CON MORTON APPEARS

For a moment the sudden discovery so surprised the boys that they could only stare at the golden nuggets. Jed was the first to recover his composure, yet he was still greatly excited.

"Look around, Will," he directed. "There must be more of them. These haven't been dropped by some one, they must have cropped out from a regular bonanza. Feel how heavy they are! Oh, if Gabe was only here!"

"I've found one!" cried Will. "Yes, and here's another! Hurrah! Jed, we're rich!"

"Not yet, but we may be. Keep on looking. Wait, I'll tie the horses so they won't stray away, and we'll start to dig. Lucky we left the packs on the animals, or we wouldn't have anything now."

It was the work of but a moment to fasten the patient steeds, that were only too glad to stay there and crop the rich grass. Then the boys resumed their hunt.

The nuggets they had found were only partly imbedded in the earth. There was a quantity of gravel around them, and they appeared to have been washed into sight by the recent rain.

"I've got another!" cried Jed joyfully. "It's the biggest yet! Oh, Will! What good news we'll have to send home to dad! He'll not have to worry about bad crops, and dry spells any more!"

"That's right!" admitted Will. "Here's another, Jed!"

The boys could hardly believe their good fortune. In a short time they had picked up eleven nuggets, of good size. The gold amounted to far more than that which they had washed out by hard work in their first diggings.

"How much do you reckon it is?" asked Will.

"I don't know. I'm too excited. We have eleven. Let's make it an even dozen! Keep on looking. Oh, if Gabe was only here! There must be a rich mine in this section, where these nuggets came from. We must make it a dozen, Will, and then we'll go look for Gabe."

"All right. There – I thought that was one, but it was only a yellow stone. We'll find one more and then – "

Suddenly, the attention of the boys was attracted by a noise on the rocky trail above them, for they were down in a sort of valley. The noise was that of the iron-shod hoofs of horses on the hard ground.

"Maybe that's Gabe," suggested Will. "Oh, if it only is, all our troubles will be over."

They could not yet see the horseman, for he was hidden behind a ledge of rock. But, a moment later, a steed came into sight. To the amazement of the boys they saw, riding toward them, a group of men. And the foremost was Con Morton, the gambler who had threatened Jed, and who had robbed Gabe Harrison of nearly all his fortune. Behind him rode another person they also recognized. It was Ned Haverhill, with whom Jed had had an encounter in the saloon, and there was a third man they did not know.

"Quick!" cried Jed. "Hide the nuggets! If he sees we have gold he'll rob us! Don't tell him what we have found, nor what we are doing here. Leave it to me. Bring the horses over here, and get your gun ready! Those are desperate men!"

No sooner did Morton and his companions catch sight of the two boys, than they hastened their pace, and soon had descended the trail to where the lads were. Meanwhile, Jed had hidden the nuggets among the things on the back of his horse.

"So, tenderfoot, we meet again," said Con Morton, in sneering tones, as he rode close to Jed. "Oh, you needn't be afraid I'll hurt you," he went on. "You're safe enough."

"I'm not afraid of you," said the lad boldly.

"You might better be. I'm a dangerous man when I'm aroused."

"I guess you're dangerous for any one who has money," replied Jed. "But we haven't any fortune for you to steal, as you did that of Mr. Harrison."

"Who says I stole his fortune?" demanded the gambler sharply.

"He does, and I believe him."

"Well, he wants to be careful what he says about me. Do you know these tenderfeet, Ned?" and Morton turned to Haverhill.

"Sure. That one there," indicating Jed, "refused to drink with me. I've a good notion to make him dance to the tune of my revolver," and he made a motion as if to draw his weapon.

"None of that, now," said Morton in a low tone. "It isn't safe. Leave me to deal with them. What are you two lads doing here?" he went on, turning back to Jed.

"I don't know that it's your affair."

"Well, I'll make it so. What have you got there? I saw you putting something in the pack."

"It's none of your business!"

"Be careful! Don't get me riled! I want to know what you're doing here."

"Well, we're prospecting; my brother and I."

"Where's your camp? You've just gotten here, for there are no signs of a camp."

"Back there!" replied Jed, with an indefinite wave of his hand. He would have been only too glad to point to where the camp was.

"Hum! Did you see any signs of gold?"

Now Jed had never told a lie, and he did not want to begin now, though the gambler asked a question he had no right to have answered.

Jed hesitated. He resolved he would not utter an untruth; yet to defy the man, and refuse to tell, would practically be to confess the truth. And he knew what that meant. The reckless men would overpower him and Will, and rob them of their nuggets, and the other gold, which was hidden in the saddles. Worse than this, the bad men would become aware of the existence of a rich nugget mine, and they would claim it for their own.

Then, as he hesitated, a flash of inspiration came to the lad. He looked around, and saw that Will was ready with the guns. If his trick failed, and worst came to worst, the two farmer boys could defend themselves.

With a sudden start, Jed peered up the trail, as if he had caught sight of some one approaching. Then, placing his fingers to his lips, he gave vent to a shrill whistle.

"Come on, Gabe!" he yelled. "Right this way. Here we are! Right down the trail! Come on!"

"Who you yelling to?" asked Con Morton quickly.

"To Gabe," replied Jed, truthfully enough, though he knew Gabe was too far off to hear him.

"Gabe Harrison coming here!" murmured Haverhill. "We'd better light out, Morton. I don't want to meet him. Probably he's got his gang with him! Come on!"

He spurred his horse forward. Con Morton, with a look of baffled hate at the two boys, did likewise, and their companion followed them. Jed's ruse had succeeded.

"I'll see you again!" shouted back the gambler in threatening tones, as he disappeared down the trail.

CHAPTER XX
PURSUED

Jed and Will could hardly believe their good luck. But the mention of the name of the man he had robbed was too much for Morton. He dared not stand and face him. Probably he imagined the United States marshal was with the sturdy old gold miner.

"Say, that was a good idea – a fine one, Jed!" cried Will. "How did you happen to think of it? You actually fooled me for a moment. I really thought you saw Gabe."

"I only wish I had."

"Do you s'pose they're gone for good?"

"I don't know. I think we'd better get out of here. But first let's cover up the places where we took out the nuggets. I was afraid those scoundrels would see the holes."

"Good thing they didn't. They'd have robbed us, sure pop. What shall we do next?" Will went on, as he carefully stamped with his feet on the places where the gold had been found.

"Both of us had better look at this location carefully, so we'll know how to find it again. It looks like a good place for gold, according to what Gabe told us. I'll bet there's a rich mine around here. Now we must find our way back to camp, and tell Gabe. Then we can come here and stake out three claims – one for each of us."

"It's easy enough to say 'go back to camp,'" remarked Will, "but how are we going to do it?"

"We've simply got to," responded his brother. "The horses may know their way back. We must trust to them. Let's see, I should say they must have come up that valley. They'd naturally travel the easiest way, when there was no one to drive 'em. Suppose we start down that valley a way, and see if the horses won't do the rest?"

There seemed nothing better to do, so they put this plan into operation. Making sure that their precious nuggets were safe, and seeing that the packs were securely strapped on the backs of the steeds, the two boys started down the valley, that was near the trail on which they had found the gold. They walked a little way behind each horse, keeping hold of the tether ropes.

The animals went willingly enough, though they stopped every now and then for a mouthful of the sweet grass that grew quite luxuriantly on the slopes of the fertile valley.

They traveled several miles in a rather leisurely fashion, and, as it was beginning to get late in the afternoon, they decided to halt and have a meal before it got too dark. They wanted to go as far as possible before making camp, and they hoped they would come upon the one where Gabe had left them, ere nightfall.

"Here's a good place to camp," remarked Jed as he came to a halt. "This will do all right."

"Suits me," replied his brother.

They made a hasty meal, and looked about them for a good place to spend the night.

"That looks like a sheltered place over there," remarked Jed, pointing to an overhanging ledge, screened about with low bushes and fir trees. "Suppose we take a look."

They walked over, and were just on the edge of the fringe of little trees when something happened. Jed, who was a little in advance, suddenly disappeared from his brother's sight. The thing happened so quickly that Will thought Jed had jumped down some little declivity, but an instant later he knew this was not so, for Jed's voice came back to him, sounding far off and muffled:

"Keep back! Don't come down here. I'm in a hole. Keep away!"

Even with that warning Will pressed on. He was not going to desert his brother in the hour of need. He was almost at the place where Jed had vanished, when a slipping and sliding of the earth, a movement of several boulders, and a trembling of the surface of the ground, convinced him that to go farther would be dangerous, not only for himself, but perhaps for his brother. He leaped back, and just in time, for a yawning cavern opened at his very feet.

"Jed! Jed! Where are you?" he cried.

"Down here. In a big hole."

"Are you hurt?"

"Not much. Only bruised a bit. But keep back, or you'll be down here too. You'll have to stay up there to get me out."

"But how can I do it? Can't you climb out?"

"No. I'm in a regular hole, and the sides are so slippery that I daren't try to climb out. This place is a regular cave, and I got too close to the entrance. You'd better get the tether-ropes from the horses, tie them together, and let 'em down to me. Then you can pull me up."

"All right. I'll do it."

Will turned back from the edge of the hole down which Jed had fallen, and into which a considerable portion of earth and stones and several trees had disappeared. Luckily they had toppled to one side, instead of upon Jed, or he might have been seriously hurt.

Will could not see Jed, though he could hear him, for he dared not approach close enough to the edge of the hole to look directly into it, as, if he did, he might cause more of a cave-in. How he was going to come near enough to lower his brother the rope he did not stop to think about.

"Keep still until I come back," he called to Jed. "Don't go to trying any tricks, or you may get buried under a lot of dirt."

It seemed a little odd for Will, the younger brother, to be giving the advice which usually fell to Jed's part, but he was in a better position to advise the imprisoned one than was Jed himself.

Will found the two horses where he had left them, quietly browsing on the rich grass. He took the rope from one, cut off a small piece to be used for a halter, and tied the animal to a tree. He then started to do likewise to the other animal, the same steed which had run away at the farm and caused them such a chase.

"Steady now, old boy," said Will, as he approached the animal, which began to prance about for no particular reason. "Why, what's the matter with you?" he asked, as the horse swung about and pulled violently on the tether-rope, which was, as yet, fast to a tree. "You're getting skittish in your old age."

Will untied the rope, and was coiling it up in his hand as he walked toward the animal, intending to fasten it as he had done the first one, when the horse, with a shrill neigh, threw up his head, yanked the rope from Will's hand, and started off at a smart trot.

"Whoa! Hold on there! Come back here!" cried Will. "I must catch him," he added, "if only to get that rope from him. Without it I can't rescue Jed."

He started to run after the steed, but the horse, evidently not wanting to be caught, or else urged on by a mere spirit of mischief, kicked up its heels again like a colt, and dashed away down the mountain-side.

Poor Will did not know what to do. He knew he must catch the horse, yet to go after him meant that he would have to leave Jed for some time alone in the cave. His brother would fear he had been deserted, and might try to get out unaided. In that case there might be another small landslide, and he would be buried.

"I've just got to catch him," said Will to himself. "This is worse than when he ran away the other time."

He was about to place the rope he had already removed from the other horse down near where the packs were, in order to have both his hands free, when he happened to think that perhaps he could use it as a lasso and capture the other steed, though he had had very little practice with the lariat, and was doubtful as to his success.

The runaway animal had now come to a stop and was gazing back at the boy, as much as if to say: "Come on, let's have a game of tag."

The long tether-rope, trailing out behind the horse, Will thought would give him a good chance to capture the animal. Accordingly, he bent his attention on that, resolving if he could get hold of it that he would quickly take a hitch with it around a tree, and so "snub" the horse as one checks the progress of a boat.

"I believe that will be a better plan than trying to lasso him," he said to himself. "Why didn't I think of that first? But worrying about Jed has made me so I can't think straight."

He hung the other rope upon a low branch of a tree, where he would see it on his way back, and then he crept cautiously forward, crouching down low, so that the horse would not see him, intending to sneak up and grab the end of the rope.

He tried it, but it would not work. The horse saw him coming, or guessed his intention, and galloped away just as Will was about to grasp the trailing rope. This happened several times. It was getting dusk now, and every second was precious. The chase had led in a sort of irregular circle about the place where the packs had been lifted off the animals, the horse sometimes going up the trail, and sometimes down. He did not seem to want to leave his equine companion, who remained quietly tied.

"I know what I'll do," exclaimed Will at length. "I'll do as we used to at home, when we want to catch a frisky horse in a big pasture. I'll give him some sugar."

He hurried to one of the packs, took out a quantity of the sweetstuff, and placed it in his cap. This he held out to the steed, at the same time calling persuasively.

The horse was not proof against this. He sniffed the air and came closer. Then, as he only wanted to get hold of the end of the rope, and did not need to actually catch the horse, Will turned the sugar out on the ground where the steed could see it. The boy then backed away, and a little later the horse was eagerly licking up the sugar. Another moment and Will had secured the rope, and though the animal started to run, when it found itself caught, it was too late.

"There, I hope you're satisfied!" exclaimed Will. "You've made me lose nearly an hour. I wonder if Jed's all right?"

He cut off all but a small piece of that rope, tying the horse to a tree, and then, with the two lengths, he started back to where he had left his brother. It was fast getting dark, and he doubted very much if the rescue could be attempted that night.

"Here I am, Jed," he called as soon as he came within hearing distance. "Were you wondering what happened to me?"

"Yes, I was beginning to get anxious. What happened?"

Will explained.

"Now how am I going to get you out?" asked the younger brother. "Shall I throw the rope down to you?"

"Guess you'll have to. Only don't come too close. I'll tell you what you'd better do. Go up on that little ledge opposite here, on the other side. Fasten the rope to a tree or stump, and throw one end down here. Then I can pull myself up. If I put any strain on the rope on the side where you are now, there may be another cave-in."

Will started to do as his brother had directed, but he had not gone far before there came another rumble of the earth, and more dirt slid down into the hole where Jed was hidden from sight.

"Jed! Jed! Are you hurt?" cried Will. "Did it fall on you?"

But there was no answer, and, waiting in the fast gathering blackness, Will felt a great fear in his heart. What if Jed had been killed, and he was left all alone there in the mountains, with that band of unprincipled men close after him?

"Jed! Jed!" he cried again, but no answer came back.

Will started forward, and then he recollected that if he went too close the landslide might be made worse than it now was. He tried to see some path by which he might get nearer, but it was too dark.

"I must kindle a fire so as to have light," he said.

He gathered some dry wood, and soon had a little blaze. By the glare of it he went as close as he dared and peered down into the place where Jed was imprisoned. All he could see was bare earth and piles of rocks.

"Jed! Jed!" he shouted in a frenzy of fear. "Where are you? Are you alive? Speak to me!"

Was it an echo, or was that a voice replying to him? At first he could not be sure what it was, then, as he listened, he made sure that it was some one answering.

"Where are you?" he cried.

"Farther down," came the faint reply. "I'm all the way in under now, and can't see any way out. Your voice sounds right over my head."

"Can you hear me now?" asked Will eagerly.

"Yes. You're right over my head. Knock on the ground so I can hear it."

Will stamped his feet, and at once his brother cried:

"Hold on! That's enough. You nearly brought the whole ceiling down on me. You're right above me, that's sure enough."

"How can I get you out?"

"You'll have to dig a hole – sink a shaft, I suppose, so you can lower a rope through. But be careful how you do it. You'd better wait until morning."

"And leave you there all night – buried in a cave!"

Back came the faint answer:

"I don't mind. This is a big place, and there's plenty of fresh air. Stand by until morning, and then see what you can do."

This seemed the only advice possible under the circumstances. The light of the fire was too uncertain to permit of the rescue work going on. It was a dreary night. Occasionally Will called to Jed, who answered, and the younger lad sat by the campfire, which he kept up, anxiously waiting for the dawn. He dozed off toward morning, and awoke with a start to see a streak of light in the east. Then, calling to his imprisoned brother that he was going to begin soon, he brought up his pick and shovel from the packs.

"Stand back as far as you can toward the sides of the cave," advised Will. "I may shake down a lot of dirt. But first, are you sure there's no other way out?"

"I can't see any," was the faint reply, and with that Will set to work.

He located the place where he could hear Jed's voice the plainest, rightly judging that to be the thinnest part of the top of the cave – the earth-crust that held his brother a prisoner. Cautiously he began to dig, using the pick lightly, and slowly shoveling out the dirt he loosened.

As he got down with his shaft he found that the soil was a sort of clay, which was firmer than the loose earth on top, and not so likely to break through with a rush when he had nearly finished his work.

"How are you now, Jed?" he asked when he was down about three feet.

"Pretty fair," was the reply, and the answer was plainly heard, showing that there was not much more earth to be taken out.

"Better go slow now," advised Jed, who could distinguish his brother's tones more audibly now. "Don't you come tumbling down here, or neither of us'll get up. Better get out of the hole now, and punch the rest of the dirt with a long tree branch."

Will concluded that this was good advice, and got out to cut a sort of crowbar, which he fashioned from a sapling, the end of which he chopped quite sharp with a small hatchet. Then, standing on the edge of the hole, he began to jab the pole into the bottom.

"Hold on! You're through!" yelled Jed suddenly. "I can see the end of the pole now."

Will thereupon began to punch it through more cautiously. In a little while he had an opening over a foot in diameter, and he could hear Jed almost as plainly as if he stood beside him.

"Now for your ropes, Will!" cried Jed. "I'm all ready to climb out. Better fasten one end to a tree, and I'll come up hand-over-hand."

Will did as directed, and soon saw the rope beginning to become taut as Jed put a strain on it.

"Is it going to hold?" asked Jed.

"Yes. Come on."

A little later Jed was out of the cave. Will clasped him in his arms.

"Poor old Jed!" he exclaimed. "You did have a time of it!"

Jed plainly showed the effects of his terrible night. He was pale, and his clothes were covered with dirt. There was also a long cut on his forehead, where a rock had grazed him, and his arms and legs were bruised.

"Come on, I'll get you something to eat, and you can tell me about it after that," said Will, and soon he was handing Jed a cup of hot coffee.

"That cave extended back quite a way under the earth, from the face of rock where we were going to camp. I fell into it, and must have rested on a sort of shelf, until the second landslide came. Then I was rolled right back into the main part of the cavern, and the outlet was closed up. I tell you I was scared there, one spell."

"I should think you would be," commented Will. "But I'm glad it was no worse. Can you travel?"

"I'm afraid not. I think we'll have to rest a bit to-day. I may be able to start late in the afternoon. I'd like to get some sleep. I didn't have any down in that hole."

They spent the best part of the day, after Jed had slept some, in talking over what had happened, and wondering what had become of their pursuers.

"Oh, they'll keep after us," said Jed. "We can't shake 'em off so easily. I think we'd better move our camp away. I don't like this place. Let's move on a few miles and spend the night there. I think it will be safer."

"Do you think you can travel?"

"Sure. I'm much better now. Let's pack up, get some supper and move our camp."

They did not waste much time over "grub," merely making coffee and eating some bread and cold meat. They were just strapping the packs together again preparatory to fastening them on the backs of the animals, when, from down below them, sounded the footfalls of several horses.

"Some one's coming!" exclaimed Will.

"Maybe it's Gabe," spoke Jed hopefully. "Shall I give a yell?"

"Wait a minute. Perhaps it isn't him. If it is, he has some one with him."

"Probably he's brought some of his friends to help look for us. I suppose we are to blame for all this. Never mind, when he hears what we have to tell him, he'll not scold us. I guess we'd better – "

But the sentence was never finished. At that moment there appeared, coming around the trail, three horsemen. And it needed but a glance to show that they were the same bad men who, early the day before, had retreated after Jed had given his warning whistle.

"Here they are!" cried Con Morton. "We've got 'em now!"

"Not yet!" cried Jed. "Come on, Will! Jump on your horse! The animals are rested and can carry us and the packs!"

With a quick motion he was in the saddle. Will followed his brother's example.

"Now, Pete!" cried Jed to the horse. "Let's see what sort of stuff you're made of!"

"Hold on there!" cried Con Morton, as he saw the two lads were about to escape him.

"Haven't time!" shouted back Jed.

"I want to speak to you!" went on the gambler.

"No, you don't!" said Will to himself. "I know what that means!"

He kicked his heels on his horse's sides, and the good old plow horse increased its pace. Owing to the fact that the steeds of the boys were fresh, and to the circumstance that the animals of the gamblers had quite a slope to climb, the boys secured a good lead. They did not ride back up the valley, but down it, though they turned into another trail, as it divided just where they had halted for their meal. To get on this trail Morton and his cronies would have to breast a slope, and then swing over to the left. The boys lost sight of them for a moment.

"I wonder why he came back after us?" asked Will.

"Probably they were hanging around. They saw that no one came to join us, and they imagined it was safe to tackle us. But I'm not going to give up."

"Me either. I'll fight first!"

With set faces the brothers urged their horses on. But now their pursuers had gained the turn, and were thundering down the second valley after them.

"Stop! stop!" yelled Morton.

Jed and Will returned no answer.

"If you don't halt we'll shoot!" added Haverhill.

"Do you suppose they will?" asked Jed's brother anxiously. "One of them has a revolver out," he added, as he gave a hasty backward glance.

"I don't believe so. They can't shoot very straight anyhow, with the way their horses and ours are going."

"Are you going to stop?" yelled Morton again.

"No!" cried Jed, as he urged his horse on down the mountain slope, while the pursuers came galloping on behind them.