The Go Ahead Boys and Simon's Mine by Ross Kay

R >> Ross Kay >> The Go Ahead Boys and Simon\'s Mine

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11

The Navajo had not passed the night near the spot which the boys had
selected. No one was aware whether he had departed to rejoin his friend or
had merely sought another resting place.

"They always show up about breakfast time," growled Zeke under his breath.
Nevertheless the guide at once prepared some food for the Indian who now
had rejoined the party.

"Did you see anything of our friends?" inquired Grant eagerly.

"I saw nothing," replied the Navajo. "I do not expect all people here to
be safe."

"Why not?" demanded George.

"I have explained already," replied the Indian. "This is no place for
white men. It belongs to the Indians, and the spirits of those who live
here do not love to have white men come. I have never heard of one who
tried to enter who did not have bad luck before long."

"Yes," laughed Fred, "but I have known people to have bad luck who never
heard of Thorn's Gulch."

"They may have bad luck without coming here," said Thomas Jefferson, "but
they are sure to have it if they do come."

"Why don't you go and help find your friend?" spoke up Zeke, addressing
the Navajo as he spoke.

"Kitoni will come."

"Do you think he will find John and Pete?" inquired Fred eagerly.

"He will find them," answered the Navajo. "It may take two days, it may
take more."

"Why I couldn't have been as many miles away as that," declared Fred.

"It's not the number of miles, it's the difficulty of finding the gulch
into which they have gone while they were looking for you."

"Do you think they separated?" asked Fred.

The Navajo nodded affirmatively, but did not speak.

"In course they separated," spoke up Zeke. "One looked for you and the
other stayed in camp so that you wouldn't be making any mistake when you
came back and passed the place."

"Thomas Jefferson," spoke up Grant, "why do you think the spirits of the
Indians live here in Thorn's Gulch?"

Whatever the opinion of the Navajo may have been he did not explain.
Indeed he did not even reply to the question. It was manifest that he
himself thoroughly believed in what he had said. Even his three years in
the Eastern school had not been sufficient to deprive him entirely of the
superstitions which he had inherited from his ancestors.

"Do you think we'll find that mining claim?" inquired George.

"I don't know," replied the Indian.

"But what do you think?" persisted George.

"I don't know," again said the red man.

Convinced that it was useless to attempt to obtain any opinion from the
young Indian, the boy ceased to question him.

Striving to possess their souls in patience they waited while the sun
climbed higher into the heavens and still its light did not betray any
signs of the coming of their missing friends. By turning and leaning a few
feet over the way, the three boys were able to see much farther into the
gulch behind them.

Patiently they kept watch but the slow minutes moved on and still John did
not come.

It was late in the afternoon when Grant suddenly sprang to his feet and
after gazing long and earnestly in the direction in which the guide was
looking, he said excitedly, "Zeke, isn't that two men coming up the
trail?"

"Yes," replied the guide shortly.

Instantly the three Go Ahead Boys were standing and peering excitedly in
the direction indicated by Grant.

"That can't be String and Pete," said George in a low voice. "They would
come from the other direction, wouldn't they, Zeke?"

"Yes," replied the guide abruptly.

"Then who are these men?"

"Not knowing, I can't tell you. I can say though that I hope you'll be
quiet and not forget that children are to be seen and not heard. In course
I mean if those two men come here, as I think they will."

The unexpected discovery of two men in the gulch was of itself startling.
Seldom had the foot of man trod these weary wastes. There was an air of
complete desolation that rested over the entire region. The discovery
therefore of two men coming along the side of the canyon and following the
way over which Zeke had gone was doubly surprising.

Conversation lagged while all four carefully watched the actions of the
approaching men.

Whoever the strangers might be it was evident that they were not entirely
unfamiliar with the region. They picked their way with confidence and made
surprisingly good time as they advanced.

When they had come within fifty yards of the place where the boys were
standing, Fred excitedly seized George by his arm and said, "Do you see
who those two men are?"

"Who are they?" asked George.

"They are the same two white men that came into our camp over on the
canyon."

"Is that so, Zeke?" demanded George in surprise as he turned to the guide.

"Yes," answered Zeke sharply. "Now see if you can keep from talking too
much."

In a brief time the two white men advanced to the camp. From their actions
it was apparent that they had not been aware of the presence of the young
prospectors. Their surprise consequently was as great as that of the Go
Ahead Boys.

When they entered the camp the long, livid scar on the cheek of the
smaller man convinced the boys that their visitors were indeed the same
men who previously had come to their camp and to whose actions they had
attributed the loss of the diary of Simon Moultrie, as well as the strange
disappearance of the second boat.

The visitors were the first to speak as the taller man said, "What are you
folks doing here?"

"Just now we're doing nothin'," replied Zeke brusquely. "Can't you see?"

"That's about the same job we've got," laughed the man with the scar.

"We've been busy enough," growled Zeke.

"Doing what, may I ask?" inquired the larger of the visitors.

"Oh, looking for a lost boat--"

"Nice place to look for a boat," replied the man with the scar as he
laughingly pointed to the desert wastes all about them.

"That makes no difference, we've found it just the same," declared Zeke.

For a moment the two white men stared blankly at him, and then both
laughed as one said, "If you don't mind I wish you'd tell us where you
found a boat up here."

"I didn't say it was up here," explained Zeke. "I said we'd found a boat
where the men who took it had smashed."

"How do you know it was smashed?" inquired the man with the scar.

"Tell him," said Zeke abruptly, turning to Fred, "I wasn't myself in the
party," he explained, "but this boy was and he knows all about it."

"Pete was the one who found the boat," exclaimed Fred, "but we all saw
it."

"We likewise also are looking for a lost diary," broke in Zeke.

"It's a nice place to look for that, too," said the man with the scar.

For a moment the two visitors looked keenly at each other while neither
spoke.

"I tell you," said Fred excitedly in a whisper to George, "they are both
bad men and I wish we were out of this."

CHAPTER XVII

A DEPARTURE BY NIGHT

"If only John and Pete were here," said Fred in a low voice to his
companions as they withdrew to the border of the camp.

"But they aren't here," laughed George, "and there isn't any use in
wasting any time crying over their absence."

"That's right," joined in Grant. "We're doing everything we can do to find
them, and if we don't find them it won't be our fault."

"Do you really think," demanded Fred, "that they won't be found?"

"No, I don't think anything of the kind," said Grant. "I'm very sure they
will be found. All I'm saying is that it's foolish to waste your time
lamenting over what can't be helped."

"I'm not crying," retorted Fred somewhat sharply.

"Yes, you are," rejoined his friend. "You're wailing over the fact that
John and Pete aren't here."

"Well, they aren't here, and that's one fact."

"If you cry about it, that's another. My mother told me there are only two
things a fellow never ought to worry about in this world."

"What are they?" inquired Fred interested at once.

"The things you can help and the things you can't. There isn't any use in
worrying over things you can change, for if you're able to change them,
stop worrying and get at them and make them different. If you can't
possibly change them, then all the worrying in the world won't do you any
good."

"I'm wondering," inquired Fired, turning as he spoke and glancing again at
their uninvited visitors, "if those men are planning to stay here."

"They certainly look the part now," said George in a low voice.

"What can we do to get rid of them?" asked Fred.

Grant shook his head as he said, "I don't want the contract myself of
getting rid of them. If you want to try it you're welcome."

"But I don't see," continued Fred, "why we're bound to take them in and
treat them as if they were our long lost brothers. I would a good deal
rather see John and Pete come marching into the camp."

"So would I," acknowledged Grant, "but they'll come when they're found
and not before. These fellows are here now and Zeke says it's the law of
the desert that a man who drops into your camp at nightfall is entitled to
share everything you have,--supplies, tents, beds and everything."

"Then I suppose we shall have to put up with it," said George somewhat
glumly. "I don't like the appearance of either one of them," he added as
again he glanced at the men who now were seated at one side of the camp.

Zeke, apparently was not paying any undue attention to either of the
visitors. He was busying himself in certain camp duties though it was
plain to his young friends that throughout his task he was keenly
observant of the actions of their unwelcome visitors.

Darkness now was creeping over the land and already outlines of the great
gulch were becoming confused with the clouds and the trees. It was almost
impossible to determine where the rim of the gulch was. The silence, too,
that rested over the region was almost oppressive. It was a silence more
intense than anything any of the Go Ahead Boys ever before had
experienced. Their difficulties were multiplied too by the arrival of the
two men whose bearing and actions certainly increased the probability that
Fred's statement concerning them that they were "bad men" was true.

The two visitors had eagerly accepted the supper which was given them and
then they did not indicate any desire to depart. They did not disturb
conditions nor did they strive to enter into conversation with the
campers. Occasionally Zeke or one of the boys had spoken to the men, but
otherwise they had mostly been left to their own devices.

When time for retiring had come and John and Pete had not come back nor
had any word been heard from the young Navajo who had gone in search of
them, even Zeke became somewhat serious when the boys spoke to him
concerning the failure of the other members of their party to join them.

"I'm thinking" Zeke remarked, "that Kitoni will be able to find 'em, that
is, if they're still in the land of the livin'."

"But don't you think they are?" demanded Fred, aghast.

"In course I think they are," said Zeke testily. "There wouldn't be no use
in tryin' to find 'em if they weren't."

"But Thomas Jefferson says this valley is a place where the spirits of the
dead Indians come and they don't like to be disturbed. He says that any
one who tries to come into this valley is certain to have trouble."

"I reckon we've had our share of trouble," growled Zeke, "and we haven't
got very far into the Gulch yet either, but I don't believe no red-skin
spirit has nothin' at all to do with it."

The guide's meaning, in spite of his failure to express himself, was clear
to his young companions and they strove to be content, although all three
were aware that Zeke was becoming increasingly uneasy over the continued
absence of John and Pete.

True to Grant's opinion the two strangers remained for the night at the
camp.

They had not expected to be invited nor had Zeke or any of the Go Ahead
Boys bidden them go on. It was taken as a matter of course that they would
be permitted to share the camp which they had found in the desert region.

"We've had a hard time," murmured Grant when at last the boys were
preparing for the night. "It's been one thing after another. We've lost a
boat, lost Simon Moultrie's diary, lost John and Pete, and I'm not sure
that we haven't lost a good deal more by having these two tough-looking
men come here and join the band as they have."

"Why don't you keep watch on them to-night?" suggested George.

"Because that's one of the two things I can't worry about," replied Grant
demurely. "If they are going to shoot us I can't help it and if they
aren't then there's no need of lying awake nights."

In spite of the anxiety of the Go Ahead Boys not many minutes had elapsed
before all three were sleeping soundly.

Fred was utterly wearied by his efforts of the day and was the first to
close his eyes. George's bruised leg was annoying though not especially
painful, and it was not his suffering that caused him to lie awake long
after his friends were sleeping.

His accident had made the boy somewhat home-sick. Again and again visions
of his faraway home now arose before him and he was almost willing to
blame his father for permitting him to take this trip to the Grand Canyon
without older members of the family going with him. Indeed, the longer
George thought over the matter the more he was inclined to pity himself
and to blame some one else for his present misfortune.

He was well aware that there was nothing serious in the bruise he had
received and that in all probability within two or three days he would be
as well able to walk as ever he had been. But he was tired and anxious and
under such conditions his feelings naturally were somewhat depressed. At
last, however, George's eyes slowly closed and he too was asleep beside
his companions.

It was not so with Zeke, the guide, however. Without betraying his fear he
had been suspicious of the two men since they had first come to the camp.
Unknown to them he was mindful of their every act and frequently while he
was engaged in his tasks he listened and overheard parts of their
conversation which he was desirous of hearing.

Zeke had stretched himself upon the dry, warm ground near the Go Ahead
Boys, but it was long before sleep was to come to him. The slow moments
passed and nothing was heard to break the tense silence of the wonderful
region. Indeed, the silence itself was almost oppressive. It was George
who had declared that "the silence was something you could hear." Strange
as the expression is it is almost descriptive of the conditions under
which the Go Ahead Boys now found themselves.

Zeke, however, had little sentiment and in no way had been governed by the
feeling which had influenced the Go Ahead Boys. Although he was lying on
the ground and his breathing was deep and regular his eyes all the time
were sufficiently open to enable him to see what the men of whom he was
suspicious were doing.

The hours passed slowly, but none of Zeke's fears were confirmed.
Midnight came and the denseness of the silence became even more marked
than before.

Now, however, the suspicions of the guide were to be confirmed and his
fear proved not to be altogether groundless.

Zeke saw one of the white men suddenly and silently sit erect. While the
man was looking about him, Zeke's position was unchanged, but his little
eyes were peering out through half-opened eyelids and his right hand
suddenly had clutched the pistol which he carried in his belt night and
day.

The white man whom he was watching was the one whose face was scarred. For
several minutes he sat erect and motionless, until he plainly was
satisfied that all the other parties in the camp were asleep.

Then Zeke saw the man slowly rise. Even after he was standing erect he
still remained motionless.

Then apparently satisfied that no one in the camp was aware of his action
the man slowly and stealthily moved toward the border of the camp where
the packs carried by the boys had been deposited.

Glancing behind him once, the man, still apparently convinced that he was
not seen, stealthily drew one of the packs toward him and as soon as he
had grasped it at once started from the camp over the way by which he had
come.

Zeke now was fully awake. He too glanced keenly about him to satisfy
himself that the others were not aware of his actions. Apparently
satisfied that he had not been seen, he took his rifle and silently
followed in the direction in which the unwelcome guest had departed.

For some strange reason Fred also was aroused directly after the departure
of the guide, and somewhat startled, sat up. As he did so he saw the
taller white man slowly rise from the ground where he had been lying and
begin to move rapidly in the direction in which his comrade had
disappeared.

CHAPTER XVIII

RESTORING THE MAP

Fred was not aware of the departure of Zeke nor that he had followed the
first of the white men to leave the camp. As a consequence when he saw the
stranger rise and slowly walk from the place, he had not been disturbed by
any fear of mishaps. Indeed, he did not even look about the camp carefully
to ascertain whether or not the other man was still there. Apparently too
this man when he had gone had departed empty-handed.

For a brief time Fred hesitated, almost deciding to awaken his companions
and inform them of his discovery, but at last, convinced that such action
was unnecessary and still unaware that the guide also had gone, he once
more stretched himself upon the dry ground and soon was soundly sleeping.

He was aroused the following morning by Grant who was shaking him as he
shouted, "Wake up, Fred!"

"Is it time to get up?" yawned Fred sleepily.

"It's time for every one of us to be wide awake," declared Grant. "Do you
know what has become of Zeke and the two men that were here last night?"

"Have they gone? Aren't they here now?" demanded Fred at once thoroughly
awake.

"No, sir, there's not one of them here," replied Grant.

"That's strange," said Fred. "I waked up in the night and saw one of the
white men leaving the camp."

"Didn't you see the others?"

"No."

"Did the man take anything with him?"

"I didn't see that he did."

"Well, one of the packs is gone anyway."

"Then the other man must have taken it," said Fred positively. "I'm sure
the one I saw leaving didn't carry anything with him."

"He may have come back," suggested Grant.

"That's true," said Fred thoughtfully. "I hadn't thought of that. Thomas
Jefferson," he added as the young Navajo now approached the place where
the two Go Ahead Boys were standing, "what do you make of this?"

"All three gone," replied the Indian.

"We know that already," replied Fred sharply, "but we don't know where
they have gone nor why nor who. What time was it," he demanded of Grant,
"when you first found this out?"

"About ten minutes ago when I first waked up."

"I saw one of the men leaving," Fred explained, "but I haven't any idea
what time it was. It was in the night sometime."

"Did he go alone?" inquired the Indian.

"Yes," Fred answered.

"In which direction did he go?" asked the Navajo.

Fred pointed to his right and without a word the young Navajo instantly
ran to that side of the camp and began to inspect closely the footprints
of the men who had gone.

In a brief time he returned and said simply, "No two of the men went
together. The man with the scar went first. If the man you saw did not
have any pack then it was the short man that took it."

"How do you know they didn't go together?" inquired Grant.

"I can see their footprints. If they had gone together they would have
walked side by side or one would have been directly behind the other. That
is not the way it is."

"But how do you know that the scarred man went first?"

"Because I find a place where Zeke crossed over from one side of the way
to the other. He stepped in the footprint of the other man in one place.
Zeke's foot is bigger so I'm sure it was his print. He could not step on
the other's footprint unless he was behind him."

"But what makes you think that they both went before the man that Fred
saw?"

"Because that man did not have a pack. The pack is gone."

"But I don't see how that proves they went before. They may have left
after the other man."

The Navajo shook his head, however, and said, "They go first."

"What are we to do now?" demanded George as he joined his companions.

"The first thing we want is some breakfast and then we'll decide what next
to do," said Grant, who in spite of Fred's greater readiness to talk, now
naturally assumed the place of the leader of the three Go Ahead Boys.

At that moment, however, the Navajo again turned to the young campers and
said, "I'll go to find out where Zeke and the two men went. If I go you
three boys must stay here until I come back."

"But suppose you don't come back?" suggested Fred.

"I shall come," said the Navajo confidently.

"But suppose you don't?" said Fred again.

"If I do not come by to-morrow morning," explained Thomas Jefferson, "then
you will know that something has happened to me and you will go back if
you can find your way."

"Not much!" declared Fred. "If you don't come we shall try to find out
what has happened to you."

"No. No," said Thomas Jefferson abruptly. "But I shall come back."

"You're not going until after breakfast," suggested Grant quickly as the
Indian apparently was about to depart.

"I will get breakfast when I come back," said Thomas Jefferson
laconically.

Without any further conversation he at once departed, closely following
the footprints of the three whom he believed had gone before him.

"Well, what's to be done now?" inquired George after the three Go Ahead
Boys had remained silent while they watched the departing Navajo as long
as he remained within sight.

"We'll get breakfast," replied Grant.

For a time conversation ceased while the boys were busily engaged in the
preparation of their morning meal. In spite of the mystery surrounding
them and the anxiety that more or less every one felt, they were all
hungry. As a consequence the simple breakfast speedily was prepared and it
was not until it had been eaten that the boys once more turned to the
problem which now confronted them.

"I'm telling you," said Grant positively, "that Thomas Jefferson is all
right. The only thing for us to do is to stay right here where we are
until he comes back or John and Pete are brought here by Kitoni."

"I'm afraid something has happened to String," said Fred slowly.

"So you have said before," remarked Grant dryly. "Now the thing for you
and for us all to do is just to hang on to ourselves and wait. We mustn't
let this get on our nerves. If we do no one knows what we shall be up
against."

Grant's companions did their utmost to carry out his suggestion, but there
was little activity in which they could indulge and the time dragged
heavily on their hands.

"How far do you think we've come into Thorn's Gulch?" asked Fred when
several hours had elapsed.

"Six or eight miles," replied Grant promptly.

"Then we ought to be able to find our way out all right," said Fred.

"Of course we can," said Grant quietly, "though after we find our way out
we haven't gotten to the end of our troubles."

For a time the suggestion made all three boys silent and serious. They
were more than two thousand miles from home. One of their companions had
not been seen for many hours and in spite of what he was willing to
acknowledge every one of the Go Ahead Boys was now anxious concerning the
safety of the missing John.

Not even a guide was left them and the continued failure of Zeke to return
increased their fears.

Fred, the most easily discouraged of the Go Ahead Boys had been the most
eager of all to enter upon the expedition. It was plain to his comrades
now that his spirits were sinking and both were fearful of what the effect
would be if Fred entirely lost hope.

"I tell you what we'll do," suggested Grant at last. "We'll try to make a
copy of the map that Simon Moultrie had of the place where he had staked
his claim."

"We can't make any copy," said Fred disconsolately, "we haven't anything
to copy."

"Then we'll make it from memory," said Grant quietly. "Let me see," he
continued, as he took a note book from his pocket and at once began to
draw on a blank page. "Here's Thorn's Gulch," he added as he drew lines
to indicate the great canyon. "We have come about six miles so we'll put
our camp about here," he explained as he marked the location. "Now as I
remember, Simon Moultrie had marked Two Crow Tree on this side of the
Gulch and about so far from the place where the Gulch runs into the Grand
Canyon. Then about so much further on the same side of the Gulch was Tom's
Thumb. About half way between Two Crow Tree and Tom's Thumb on the other
side of the Gulch was Split Rock. Then a little to the right in back here
was the place he marked as the stake. Now, let me see, what were the
figures and the letters he had there?"

"The first one," said Fred interested now in what Grant was saying, "was
'1/2 m. n.e.'"

"That's right," said Grant, "and right below it was '1/4 m. s.e.'"

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11