A Desperate Chance Part 4

"You were?"

"Yes."

"How is that?"

"I am a civil engineer by profession."

"What's that?"

"I am a civil engineer by profession."

"You don't tell me!"

"That's what I tell you, and I tell you the truth."

"Then you are just the man I want."

"I said I was; I am more than an engineer, I am a mineralogist and a geologist."

"Hold on, don't overcome a fellow out here in the mountains; if you are a civil engineer that is enough for me. Hang your mineralogy and geology; what I want is a man who can estimate. No doubt about the ledge I've struck; the question is, how much will it cost to mine it; how much is there of it? You see I've had some experience here in the mountains, and sometimes we strike what is called a pocket; we might find gold for a few feet one way and another, and then strike dead rock and no gold. I ain't a mineralogist or geologist or a civil engineer, and I am afraid my find won't amount to much, but it is worth investigation, and as you are able to estimate we will make a start. To-morrow I will take you to my ledge and then we will know whether we are millionaires or tramps--eh? mountain tramps--but I am grateful for this food and coffee, and now if you'll give me a little tobacco I'll be the most contented man in the mountains, whether my mine turns out a hit or a misthrow."

So tobacco was produced; Brooks himself was an inveterate smoker, and since being in the mountains Desmond had taken to the weed, and there was promise that some day he might become an inveterate.

The three men had a jolly time, but in a quiet way. Creedon was a good story teller; he had had many weird experiences in the mountains. He had acted as guide to a great many parties, he had engaged in about fifty fights with Indians during his residence in the great West, and had met a great many very notable characters.

When the men concluded to lie down to sleep for the night they extinguished their fire, and each man found a crevice into which he crept, and only those who have slept in the open air in a pure climate can tell of the exhilarating effects that follow a slumber under the conditions described.

Desmond was the first to awake, and he peeped forth from his crevice and glanced down toward the point where the fire had been, when he beheld a sight that caused his blood to run cold. Five fierce-looking savages were grouped around the spot where the campfire had been, and he had a chance to study a scene he had never before witnessed. He beheld five savages in full war paint; they were dressed in a most grotesque manner, part of their attire being fragments of United States uniforms, showing that the red men had been in a skirmish, and possibly had come out victorious, and had had an opportunity to strip the bodies of the dead.

A great deal has been written about the shrewdness of redmen. They are shrewd when their qualities are once fully aroused and they are on the scent, but they are given to a.s.sumptions, the same as white men. Of course Creedon was practically to be credited when he said that the Indians a.s.sumed there had been a camp there and that the campers had departed, but had they made as close observations as when on a trail they would have made discoveries that would have suggested the near presence of the late campers.

Creedon had as far as possible destroyed all signs when raking out the fire of a recent encampment, but an experienced and alert eye can detect the truth despite these little tricks.

Desmond saw the Indians: they were a hard-looking lot, the worst specimens he had ever beheld, and they were a.s.sa.s.sins at sight, as he determined. He was secure from observation, but it was necessary to warn his comrades, who were in different crevices, and at that moment Creedon actually snored. He was in the crevice adjoining the one where Desmond had taken refuge.

The Indians were too far away to overhear the snore, but it was possible the man might awake and step forth; then, as Desmond feared, the fight would commence. He did not desire a fight; he might think the chances would be with his party, as only two of the Indians had rifles, but then if even one of their own party were kicked over it would be a sad disaster.

The lad meditated some little time and studied the conditions. He crawled into his crevice, and, lo, he saw a lateral breakaway. He might gain Creedon's berth, as he called it, without chancing an outside steal. Fortune favored him; Creedon's crevice was one of several rents in the rock, and he managed to reach the sleeper's foot, and he cautiously touched it, fearing at the moment that Creedon in his surprise might make an outcry or an inquiry in a loud tone, but here he learned a lesson in woodcraft. Creedon did not make an outcry; he awoke and cautiously investigated, and soon discovered that Desmond had touched him and was seeking to communicate with him. He demanded in a whisper:

"What is it, lad?"

"There are Indians in the gulch."

"Aha! where?"

"Down where we were camped last night."

"You keep low and I will take a peep."

Desmond could afford to let Creedon take a peep. The woodsman did peep and took in the situation, and he said:

"You are smaller than I am; does the rent where you are run to the berth where Brooks is sleeping?"

"It may; I will find out and go slow; we don't want a fight if we can help it, but we've got the dead bulge on those redskins if we have to fight."

CHAPTER III.

CREEDON'S KNOWLEDGE OF WOODCRAFT--THE REDMEN'S DEPARTURE--A LONG TRAIL--ON THE TRAMP--THE STRANGEST REFUGE IN THE WORLD--A BRIDGE OF RISKS.

Desmond crawled forward beyond the rent where Creedon had lodged, and he found the s.p.a.ce much wider as he progressed, and soon gained the opening where the rent terminated in which Brooks had lain all night. Desmond glanced in, and, lo, Brooks was inside awake, and had already discovered the presence of the Indians, and so far they were all right.

"Have you been able to notify Creedon?" asked Brooks.

"Yes."

"What does he say?"

"He bade me arouse you."

"I discovered the rascals as soon as I awoke."

"All right; lay low and I will learn what Creedon advises."

Desmond crawled back and said:

"Brooks is awake and wants to know what we shall do."

"There is only one thing to do: we will lay low, and if the rascals do not discover us all right; if they do discover us it will be bad for them and all right with us again, that's all. And now you and Brooks just keep out of sight and let me run the show."

Word was pa.s.sed to Brooks, and Desmond with the tramp lay low. As it proved there was not much of a show to run, as the Indians moved away after a little, but Creedon did not permit his friends to go forth. He said:

"You can never tell about these redskins; they might suspect we are around, and their going away may be a little trick; they are up to these tricks."

Hours pa.s.sed, and Creedon still kept his friends in hiding, and it was near evening when he stole forth, saying he would take an observation.

After a little he returned and said:

"It's all right; come out."

Creedon said he had discovered evidence that the redskins had really gone away.

"Why couldn't you have found that out sooner?"

The woodsman laughed and said:

"They might have found me out then; as it was, according to the tales you and Brooks tell, I took a desperate chance."