when jim tubbs issued from his subterranean domicile, he was rather too strongly inclined to act upon the report of inwood, that is, it had been affirmed that there was no visible danger; he believed there was none, and, accordingly, he started straight for the tethering ground of the horses and mule, to make sure that they had suffered no disturbance from the marauding mohaves.
“dat are place whar we put ’em, is de place dat i selected, an’ dar’s no danger ob dere being troubled while dey stay dar,” he muttered, as he walked rapidly along, occasionally pausing to make sure that no one was following him.
“i always understood hosses,” he added, as he approached the vicinity of the dense undergrowth. “dar ain’t many——”
he paused with unutterable emotion as he drew the bushes aside, and there, where they should have been, he saw them not! for a moment he was completely stupefied, and stood like one who, from the tangled web of a dream, endeavors to form the skein of coherent thought.
but he speedily recovered himself, and was sharp enough to comprehend that the animals must have been abstracted very recently, and were within the possibility of recovery. with a muttering exclamation of impatience, he dashed headlong through the bushes into the open space beyond, and stared around. being at the base of the mountains, he was also on the edge of a broad valley, and the bright moonlight gave him quite an extended view over the broken, rocky country.
it required but one sharp glance of the african to discover, about a quarter of a mile distant, the three horses and one mule, making their way among the boulders and patches of broken land, with all the deliberation with which they would have answered the call to work. jim paused long enough to see that no one was driving them, when, uttering the exclamation which has been given at the close of the last chapter, he started on a full run after them.
with his usual thoughtlessness, he had come out without his gun, and he was now running at his utmost speed, entirely regardless of his personal danger from the hubbub he was creating, and from withdrawing so far from his base of operations. there was something so singular in the spectacle of these four animals leisurely trotting off over the country, that he ought to have hesitated and attempted to explain the matter before venturing after them in this open, boisterous manner.
it was observable, too, that, immediately after jim gave the terrific outcry referred to, the slow trot of the animals increased to quite a brisk gait, a thing so unusual on the part of the mule, as to cause no little wonder upon the part of the pursuer.
“beats all natur’!” he exclaimed, as he struck his foot against a stone, and was almost thrown forward upon his hands and knees. “fust time i ebber seed dat ole mule raise a trot; split two, free rocks ober his head, smashed all de limbs off a big tree ober his back, but no use, couldn’t get him off a walk, an’ dere he goes now swingin’ ’long like a feller on stilts. beats all natur’!”
it was indeed so curious, that he paused to take a look at them. just at that moment they were ascending a small swell; and, as they came in relief against the blue sky beyond, they were as plainly visible as at noon day. it was clear that none of them had a rider upon his back, nor was any one following, except him who was trying so valiantly to recapture them. what then was the explanation of this singular movement?
jim, who had suddenly resumed his running, as suddenly paused, for he had discovered something.
“wal, dere! if dat don’t beat eberything! dar’s an ingin right in among dem hosses, or else dat switch-tailed mare has got six legs—one or t’oder!”
it would have required a good pair of eyes to notice this curious fact, had not the mare referred to at that moment fallen somewhat in the rear, when the singular addition to her means of locomotion made the usually large eyes of the african considerably larger.
the fact was apparent that a red man was among the quadrupeds, and inciting them to their rapid gait by some outlandish means which seems to come natural to the aborigines, and which, up to this time, had escaped the attention of the pursuer.
immediately upon this discovery, jim broke into a fiercer gait than ever after the fugitives, shouting in his tremendous style—
“drop dat hoss, i tell you! drop that hoss, or i’ll make you!”
inasmuch as it was hardly possible for the marauder to hold up one of the equine specimens, if he choose to tumble, it was not exactly clear how he was to obey this command. on the contrary, the animals, including the mule, (which, having once got up a loping trot, didn’t exactly comprehend how to stop it,) increased their speed, and the indescribable whirring howl with which he accomplished it, reached the ears of the exasperated pursuer.
“o, if i only had a gun!” he muttered, as he jogged along, “wouldn’t i pepper dem legs for him!”
at this juncture, the ground assumed a rougher character, and the animals were compelled to deviate to the left to pass a canon, where the waters raged with such fury, that the shrewd mohave did not attempt to force them into it. observing this, jim took the hypotenuse of the triangle, and went sailing down the course in magnificent style, gaining so rapidly, that he gave utterance to a joyous shout.
“cl’ar de track! or i’ll run ober you! i’s comin’!”
this startling intelligence did not have the effect expected and the copper-colored gentleman evidently concluded that all was not lost, for he still maintained his position between[40] the two horses, and, just then, striking a fording place, he tumbled them turbulently in, and, scrambling up the opposite side, renewed the flight in the same admirable fashion.
“dat ’ere beats all natur’!” he exclaimed in absolute amazement, as he witnessed the exploit. “whoeber dreamed dare was so much go in dat mule?”
the chase by this time had become interesting; but, if the mohave had displayed some natural smartness in stampeding the animals, he now found himself at fault so far as regarded the mule; for this character, as he rattled down the canon with a noise like the charge of cavalry, lost his unnatural gait, and, finding himself back into his natural one, it was impossible to change it under a furlong, seeing which, the charging body dashed forward with such a burst of speed, that the mohave and his body-guard were compelled to leave him behind. five minutes later, jim vaulted like an avalanche upon the saw-like back of the mule.
“now, ole fellow,” said he, addressing the beast most affectionately, “show ’em what you can do.”
but the mule didn’t seem anxious to obey; for, although his enthusiastic rider thumped his sides with his huge heels until he nearly bounced off, the beast subsided into a moderate walk, as if he didn’t exactly comprehend the meaning of all this uproar upon his back, and all efforts to change his gait was useless. a man in a great hurry has very little patience, and it took but a little while for jim’s to exhaust itself.
“you want de gold trick comed on you—dat’s what you do, an’ you jes’ wait till i get you home.”
sliding off the serrated animal, he left him alone, and resumed the chase with greater vigor than ever. the few minutes’ halt which he had made, were precious moments to the mohave, who, still keeping his body invisible, had improved them to the utmost; but the roughness of the ground was against him, and the african gained rapidly.
“ye’d better drop dem hosses while you got de chance!” he shouted, as he came sweeping down with great velocity. a few minutes later, he observed a diminution in the speed[41] of the horses, and finally they walked, and then stood still.
“you oughter s’rendered sooner, den i might been ’sposed to show you some mercy; but i don’t know—hullo! where be you?”
he might well ask the question, for, as he came in among the horses, there was nothing to be seen of the aborigine—he had taken the occasion quietly to slip away, when he found himself compelled to relinquish his prize.
jim stared all around, but could see nothing of him he sought, and concluded, under the circumstances, it was best to make his way back as speedily as possible.
“i tinks i’ve run ’nough to ’arn a ride,” he reflected, as he put himself astride the back of his own horse, and turned his head homeward; “an’, as dat darkey ain’t anywhere’s about, i won’t wait for him.”
when the nature of the ground would permit, he put the horses on a good swinging gallop, and, in a short time, encountered the mule walking leisurely toward him. before this obstinate animal could be induced to take the right direction, jim was obliged to get off his horse, and press his shoulder against that of the mule, until he had described a half circle, when he came round right, and was left to go without any other direction.
the rider exercised himself awhile in endeavoring to get him off his walk, but he speedily gave that over as useless, and rode ahead, well aware that so long as he kept a linear direction, the long-eared animal would eventually come up with him.
it was not long before he struck the canon, but at a point where it looked unsafe to cross. believing himself above the place he had forded, he turned down its bank in quest of it; but, after going fully a mile, discovered his mistake, and was about turning back, when he caught a glimpse of a broad sheet of water, and suspected at once that here was a lake into which the stream flowed. as the roaring, compressed canon must end here, he kept steadily on, and soon halted at the view of a scene so beautiful and enchanting, that his untutored mind was filled with admiration.
the canon suddenly spread out into a broad rapid stream, which flowed into a lake of about a half mile in diameter. under the bright moonlight, it had the appearance of “liquid silver”—an expression by no means original, but so literally truthful, that we can use no other—and in the still summer night there was not a ripple upon its surface. in the center rose a small island, so abruptly, that, covered as it was with vegetation, it had the appearance of a bouquet, and would have reminded a traveler of the famous lakes of killarney.
jim noticed that the opposite shore was rocky and fringed with trees, and the lake appeared to stand on the edge of a large wood.
“dat ’ere is nice!” was his reflection, as, from the back of his horse, he looked out upon the fairy-like scene. “what a good place dat would be for george to build a house. i tink we could run a bridge ’cross to de land, or hab a ferryboat to run atween it an’ de shore.”
“hullo! dere goes sombody,” he added, as he saw a canoe put out from the shore to his right, and head toward the island. the full moon had now sunk toward the horizon, so that the shadow of the trees and island were thrown far out upon the lake; and, as the single indian who impelled the canoe, issued from the broad band of darkness which lay along the shore, every motion of his dusky, muscular arms was plainly seen. he managed his oar with such skill, that his body never seemed to incline a hair’s breadth to the right or left. the flash of the paddle seemed born of the paddle itself, as he held the point in the water, instead of coming from his hand, as the tail of a fish is sometimes seen to move in the water, when its body remains motionless. the canoe sped forward without the least sound, but instead of halting at the island, jim observed that it passed behind it, and immediately disappeared.
the african now drove his horses into the water, and crossed without difficulty. as he came out, he halted a moment to take a last view of the little gem which rose from the lake. the first glance nearly frightened him out of his wits; for, on the nearest point, he saw a thin, waving, arrowy point of light rise to the height of five or six feet, and then vibrate back and forth, as though held by a hand which oscillated from right to left.
while he sat amazed, a second flame, precisely similar, arose from another point of the island, and then another, and another, until fully half a dozen were visible, every one issuing from that portion of the island which touched the edge of the water. it was indeed a small representation of what magellan, the great circumnavigator, saw in 1520, when he sailed by terra del fuego.
“i tinks it’s ’bout time mr. tubbs left dese parts,” chattered jim, as, with a shiver of horror, he started his horses homeward.
