Left On The Prairie Part 6

Pedro took a great fancy to his little visitor, and the quiet life in the tent was very pleasant to Jack after his rough experiences. He was astonished at the Mexican's cleverness: he seemed able to do anything with his fingers, and had a wonderful store of knowledge about plants, insects, and animals, which he had acquired by study and observation in the long, monotonous hours he spent on the prairie.

Jack's clothes, which at his start from Longview were none of the best, had suffered a good deal from the wear and tear of travelling, and by the time he arrived at Pedro's tent they were nothing but rags, and his boots were all to pieces. He was much distressed at his tattered garments, whereupon Pedro said he would soon make it all right for him, and proceeded to hunt out some buckskin leather, which he had tanned himself. It was quite thin and soft, and out of it he cut a suit for Jack, and sewed it together. When the clothes were finished, Jack was delighted with them. They were so comfortable, and the leather shirt and long-fringed trousers made him look like a little cowboy.

His worn-out boots hurt his feet, so his friend made him a pair of moca.s.sin shoes, cut out of a single piece of leather, which fitted him nicely.

Pedro was pleased with the success of his tailoring, and said: 'There, lad; them clothes 'll never wear out, but 'll last after you've outgrown 'em.'

The herd of sheep that Pedro looked after numbered over a thousand, and as winter approached he began driving them towards a place on the prairie where there were corrals, or yards, to put them in at nights, and where a hut had been erected for his own use.

As long, however, as the weather permitted, they lived in the tent, and as Jack grew stronger every day, he was allowed to accompany the sheep-herder and Senor and help to drive home the sheep in the evening.

Although they never saw anyone, Jack was never dull or lonely, as Pedro was excellent company. He showed him how to prepare the different skins of animals they found near their camp, and when Jack was tired of work, he and Senor would go off to hunt for chipmunks and gophers.

Chipmunks were like small squirrels, and gophers were pretty striped little animals that played about on the prairie.

It had puzzled Jack very much to find a lonely Mexican sheep-herder could speak English so well, until he learned from Pedro that he had lived from the time he was a boy with English people. He had spent many months every year with his young master, hunting, shooting, or minding cattle with him, and thus had learnt to speak the language fluently. He said when Mr. Stuart married and settled down on his ranch, he wanted him (Pedro) to live in a shanty, and look after things for him, but the love of camp life was too strong in him, and he begged his master to give him a situation as a sheep-herder. Mr. Stuart had done as he wished, and he was as happy and contented as possible in his rough old tent.

CHAPTER VIII.

WHAT JACK LEARNED FROM PEDRO.

Some weeks pa.s.sed, and still Jack stayed on with his new friend. The time had not been lost for the boy, as he had learnt many things which he had not known before, and which were very useful to him in after-life. He was quick and deft with his lingers, and Pedro taught him in a few days how to cut and plait long strips of leather into lariats and bridle-reins, and to make ornamental belts.

'I wish you'd teach me to throw a lariat like the cowboys,' said Jack one day.

'Come and try, then,' returned Pedro, taking down a long leather rope that was coiled round the tent-pole and going outside. 'Now watch me.

I take the rope up in loops, leaving the noose end out. Then swing it round in a circle over your head, quicker and quicker, while you take aim and try and throw it over the beast's head like that;' and as he spoke, Pedro let the noose fall gently over Senor's neck, who was running past at some distance away.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 'PEDRO LET THE NOOSE FALL OVER SEnOR'S NECK.']

He then put up a post, and showed Jack how to drop the noose over it.

It was very hard at first to aim straight, but Jack had a quick eye, and after two or three days' hard practising, he made a very good attempt at throwing the rope in the right place. Day after day he went at it, until one never-to-be-forgotten morning he also succeeded in lariating Senor as he trotted by. This was a great achievement, and quite repaid Jack for the trouble of practising so hard to accomplish it.

One place that pleased Jack very much was a prairie-dog village close by. Many an hour did he spend watching the fearless little prairie dogs, who came out of their holes and barked defiantly at him like so many cheeky puppies, until the tears ran down his face from laughing at their antics. Sometimes for fun Jack pretended to throw stones at them, and the instant he raised his arm they disappeared down their holes as if by magic, but peeped out again in a minute or two, quite ready to venture forth again.

Jack saw a great many rattlesnakes when he wandered about with Pedro on the prairie. He was very much afraid of them--and no wonder, for their poisonous bite is often fatal. Pedro was so familiar with them from his childhood, that he did not mind them in the least, and killed them by an extraordinary native trick. He would fearlessly follow a retreating snake, seize it by the tail, swing it rapidly round, and with a dexterous twist of his wrist would crack it like a whip, and dislocate its spine. Being thus rendered helpless, the reptile was easily despatched. As a rule, they tried to escape, but if by chance one showed fight, it was harder to kill, as it would twist itself up in a coil, shaking its rattles noisily, with its head out ready to spring and strike.

Jack had a boy's love for possessing things, and in a short time, with Pedro's help, had a small collection of treasures to carry away with him. He found plenty of rattles on the prairie, as the snakes cast off their rattles every year, and Pedro gave him a skin of a horned toad, a curious creature covered with tiny horns all over its body.

One day Pedro killed a strange-looking animal called a skunk. It was very handsome, like a large black-and-white striped cat with a magnificent bushy tail, but it had such a disagreeable smell it made Jack feel ill.

'You surely can't skin that nasty thing?' he asked.

'Wait and see,' returned Pedro, carrying the dead animal towards a creek. 'I'll show you how the Indians skin 'em.'

He put the skunk quite under the water and kept it there while he took off the skin, as this process destroyed the strong odour belonging to the creature. Jack was very interested, and watched him until the skin was hung out to dry.

Pedro taught Jack to know some of the princ.i.p.al gra.s.ses that grew on the prairie. There was the bunch gra.s.s, the buffalo gra.s.s, and the funny sickle-shaped 'gamma' gra.s.s, on which thousands of cattle fed, and amongst others, Pedro pointed out a terrible plant, the dread of many a ranchman. With its pretty white flowers it looked harmless enough; but woe to the poor animals who ate much of the plant, for it contained a deadly poison which had first the effect of driving them crazy, and ended by killing them. It was called 'loco,' which in English means 'crazy,' and some people call it the 'crazy weed.'

A great number of cactus bushes grew round the tent; some were quite big, with long arms stretching out, covered with p.r.i.c.kles, and others grew close to the ground, and Jack had to look carefully when he walked, or he would have got badly p.r.i.c.ked.

Pedro was a grand story-teller, and often as they sat watching the sheep or working in the tent, he would tell wonderful tales. When they heard the dismal howls of bands of coyotes, or prairie wolves, he would tell Jack what cowardly creatures they really were: how they were afraid to attack strong cattle, but would persistently follow a weak, sick animal for days, d.o.g.g.i.ng its footsteps until the poor thing fell from exhaustion. Then they would pounce on it and tear it in pieces.

He would tell him, too, about the time when he lived on the Indian frontier, and had to help to protect the settlers from the bands of fierce Apaches, Utes, and Navajo Indians, who came making raids for cattle over the border, often setting fire to houses and killing the settlers. He described how the Indians had ma.s.sacred thousands of buffaloes by driving them into deep ravines where they could not escape, and then killing them, not so much to provide themselves with food as to prevent their enemies getting them. It was cruel slaughter, and the result has been that the buffaloes are almost extinct now, where years ago they swarmed in vast herds on the prairie.

As Jack listened to Pedro's tales of wonderful escapes from mountain lions, wolves, and bears, he saw himself that the Mexican was right, when he said it was impossible for a little child like him to attempt to cross the big mountains all alone, and he wisely made up his mind to stay contentedly with Pedro until he got the chance of travelling with some nice companion. He would have been quite happy with the Mexican and his good dog, except for the great longing to see his parents, which sometimes almost impelled him to resume his journey at all risks.

CHAPTER IX.

JACK ARRIVES AT SWIFT CREEK RANCH.

Jack had been two months with Pedro Gomez, and the weather was getting much colder. November had come, and although the sun still shone brightly and warm in the middle of the day, the nights were terribly cold, and Jack was glad enough to have the extra sheepskins to tuck round him which Pedro brought out for his use. There had been one fall of snow, which quickly cleared off the prairie again, leaving the mountains clothed with white above the timber-line. It was a pretty sight to see the contrast of the bright-coloured foliage against the snow, for in the autumn, all along the mountain creeks, the leaves of the oak-scrub turn a brilliant red, and those of the quaking aspen a bright yellow, making a wonderful ma.s.s of colour.

One afternoon Pedro called Jack out to look at the mountains. The sun was just setting, and its rays were spreading along the edge of the peaks, making it look as if the whole outline of the range had been marked out with a broad, blood-red ribbon.

'Look at that, Jack!' exclaimed the Mexican. 'Ain't that a grand sight? D'ye know what the old pioneers called them mountains?'

'I've heard, but I've forgot somehow. It's a grand long name as I can't remember,' returned Jack.

'Well, I guess ye'll bear it in mind after to-day, for they called it _Sangre de Christo_, which in English means "Blood of Christ"; and folks say they gave the Range that name because the first explorers saw the mountains with that blood-red streak running along the top.'

'I shan't forget it now, I'm sure,' said Jack, gazing admiringly at the gorgeous scene before them. '_Sangre de Christo_, Blood of Christ,' he repeated slowly. 'I like that name for it.'

'Aye,' returned Pedro, 'the old Spanish explorers gave nicer names to places than the new settlers have done later. Which d'ye think is prettiest, names like _Huerfano_ (Orphan), _Buena Vista_ (Good View), _Rosita_ (Little Rose), and _Rio Dolores_ (River of Sorrow); or _Smith's Park_, _Taylor's Creek_, _Gibson's Peak_, and _Georgetown_, and such-like? Mr. Stuart was talking to me once about it, and he said it struck him as his own countrymen were mostly like them folk mentioned in the Bible as called their lands after their own names.'

'I like the old names best, for it seems as if they had some meanin' in 'em,' said Jack. 'I never saw anythin' like them mountains at Longview, and I'm glad to think our new home is somewhere near 'em.'

They stood watching until the glorious colour had quite faded out of the sky, and then turned into the tent, sorry to see the last of it.

The next morning Jack was tidying out the tent, when he saw Pedro and Senor hurrying towards him.

'Here's the boss himself!' cried Pedro, in a state of excitement.

'He's coming across the prairie in the spring waggon. Let's make up a good fire, as he'll be terrible cold after his long drive.'

Jack helped to bring in logs, and they soon had a roaring fire in the stove.

'Pedro,' asked the boy anxiously, 'd'you think he'll take me back with him to his ranch?'

'I'm sure he will,' returned the Mexican, 'and I'll miss you sadly, lad. I believe I couldn't part with you if I didn't know as you were longing to see your father and mother.'

'I've been very happy along with you and Senor,' said Jack, 'but I'm bound to go on to my own folks.'

'You're right. You belong to 'em first,' replied Pedro, 'though I'd give a good deal to keep you. But now we must go and collect the sheep, as the boss 'll want to see 'em.'