"I mighta knowed yu couldn't drown'd a fella born to have his neck stretched," he retorted.
"Well, yo're safe thataway, seein' yu ain't got no neck," his friend grinned. He stood up and held out a hand to Sudden. "Jim, I'm rememberin' it," he said. "When yu pitched yore rope I was wonderin' if playin' a harp was difficult."
"Huh!" Dumpy grunted. "Shovellin' coal is what yu wanta practise."
This restored the normal atmosphere of a cow-camp and made them all feel more comfortable, The foreman answered Jed's question:
"yeah, we lost the cows an' yore bronc an' got off light at that. Wonder if this cussed country has any more surprises for us?"
The "cussed country" had, as they were to discover ere long.
Chapter XV
THE days that followed seemed like a dream after the rude experience of the desert. The character of the country had changed ; there were still stretches of grass-covered prairie but they were not so extensive, and varied by hills and dales, some of them thickly wooded. Creeks were frequent, and with abundant feed and water, the cattle quickly recovered, and, being thoroughly "trail-broke," gave little trouble. Beyond the certainty that they were still in Indian territory and were heading north, they had no knowledge of their position. This did not trouble them ; in their own phrase, "Time to ford a river is when yu come to it." Sandy shared in the general optimism.
"That little of desert done us a good turn after all," he remarked, as he paused for a moment beside his friend. They were rounding up tHe herd for the day's drive. The slanting rays of the rising sun were dispersing the haze over the bedding-ground, a little savannah of rich grass entirely shut in by timber and brush. The camp was at the far end, some half-mile distant. "We've shook off Mister Rogue."
"Someone's been smilin' at yu," Sudden replied, with gentle sarcasm, and then, "Rogue knows where we're makin' for--he don't have to follow us. What's worryin' me is not seein' any Injuns."
"Well, that's a misfortune I can bear easy," the boy returned lightly. "Mebbe we've just been lucky."
Sudden declined to accept this view. "I've a hunch we're bein' watched," he said.
"yu've been rubbin' noses with Jed," Sandy chaffed. "The war-whoops is all busy chasin' the festive buffalo."
Sudden started to grin, changed his mind, and gripped a gun instead. "Here's some that ain't," he said quietly.
Out of the brush a line of horsemen had silently emerged, pulling up in the form of a half-circle about two hundred yards from the herd. They were Indians, big, well-built fellows, sitting their mettlesome little ponies like bronze statues. Each brave carried a long lance, bow and arrows, and on the left arm a round shield of buffalo hide, hair inwards, stretched on hickory, with pictures of the moon, stars, serpents, and other symbolic devices painted on the front. Their fierce faces, and their chests, were daubed with colour.
At the sight of them the cowboys pulled out their rifles, but the Indians showed no hostility. Only one advanced, a tall oldish man, gaily bedecked with eagle plumes, and bearing on his shield the presentment of a black bear. His right hand was raised, palm outwards, in token that he came on a peaceful mission. Despite the cruel, crafty expression on his face he was an imposing figure. He rode straight to the foreman--having doubtless observed him giving orders--uttered a guttural "How!" and began to speak. Jeff listened for a moment and shook his head.
"No savvy," he said, and beckoned to Sudden. "Mebbe yu can find out what he's after."
The redskin repeated his statement and the cowboy was able to gather the gist of it.
"He says he is Black Bear, a great chief, that this is Commanche country, an' we got no right to take cattle through it," he translated. "He wants tribute in cows."
The foreman's face grew bleak. "How many?" he asked. Sudden put the question and the Indian, resting his lance across his knees, pointed first to himself, then to Sudden, and raised both hands. The cowboy explained :
"Redskins reckon thisaway : one is a finger, five a hand, ten, two hands, twenty, a man. Yu can figure it yoreself."
Jeff, who had been watching the chief's movements closely, did so, and swore. "Give him fifty steers?" he snarled. "Tell him to go to hell."
"Don't know enough o' the lingo," Sudden said. "I'll offer him five--Injuns is like Jews, allus ask more'n they expect to get."
Black Bear listened gravely to the white man's explanation, haltingly told in a mixture of Indian tongues, and ending with the raising of one hand only. Then he drew himself up haughtily, flashed a meaning glance at his followers, and fixed his savage eyes on this paleface who had insulted him with so paltry an offer. Sudden met the stare with one equally steady. For one long moment the black eyes battled with the blue and then the redskin wrenched his pony round and trotted back to his band. The cowboys, who had allowed the herd to drift towards the other end of the valley, waited, rifles ready, for the expected charge. They saw Black Bear rejoin his men and face about but he gave no signal.
"What's the game, Jim?" the foreman asked, anxiously scanning the line of silent savages.
"Damned if I know," Sudden replied. "Looks like they're waitin' for somethin'."
The crash of a gun, followed by the fainter report of a pistol, came from where the camp lay and instantly a rider whirled his mount and spurred in that direction ; it was Sandy. The Indians were gesticulating, waving their weapons, and reining in their eager ponies. Sudden turned to the foreman.
"They're attackin' the camp--that's why these devils were holdin' back. I'll follow Sandy ; yu can handle this bunch."
A pressure of his knees and he was off, threading his way through the scared cattle. He had covered but a short distance when a burst of yells, mingled with the spiteful crack of exploding powder, told him that the enemy had charged.
Sandy reached 'the camping-ground just in time to see a tall, lithe warrior, with a limp form draped over his shoulder, disappear in the brush, and oblivious to everything else, dashed in pursuit. He knew that his friend was just behind him, for he had seen the big black pounding down the valley. The trees hampered him and he arrived in the open only to see the abductor sling his burden like a sack of meal across the backof a waiting pony, spring up behind it, and dart away. The cowboy dared not risk a shot lest he hit the girl ; he could but try to run the redskin down.
Sudden arrived on the heels of Sandy, saw him vanish, and turned his attention to what was happening. A dead Indian--his head half blown away--sprawled in his path, and another lay huddled by the wagon, from which a steady string of curses issued. Near the fire, Peg-leg was outstretched, a smudge of blood on his face, and over his body Aunt Judy was struggling desperately with a squat, bow-legged savage, whose paint-smeared features she had further decorated with several vivid red streaks. Fighting like a wildcat, and spitting oaths of which a cowboy might well have been proud, she was giving the Comanche brave plenty to think about. Try as he might, he could not clutch those long bony arms with their fearsome claws.
"Knock my man over, huh, ye Gawd-damned, mis-begotten, copper-coloured heathen," she yelled, and with a quick stoop, snatched a skillet from the fire and whanged him across the face.
Driven back by the blow, the redskin, evidently despairing of capturing a white squaw for himself, drew his knife. His hand swung up and then a bullet from Sudden's gun toppled him to the ground. Aunt Judy staggered weakly to her husband, flinging herself on her knees beside him. As she wiped away the blood, the cook opened his eyes and sat up.
"I'm awright," he said. "One o' these bastards got me with the butt of his lance an' I took the count." His eyes roamed round the little clearing. "There was four of 'em. Where's the other?"