Track's End Read online

  CHAPTER XIX

  I find out who my Visitor is: with Something about him, but with moreabout the Chinook which came out of the Northwest: together with whatI do with the Powder, and how I again wake up suddenly.

  When I sat up there in the stronghold and saw that creature with theglare of the lantern on his hideous face I knew two things, and thesewere, first, that it was an Indian, and, second, that he was the thiefwho had made me so much trouble, though how I knew this latter I can'tsay. I knew, too, that I was at his mercy.

  What I should have done first I don't know if it had not been forKaiser, but he acted so that it took all my strength to quiet him. Isaw it would not do to let him spring at the wretch, who was nowsquatting in the snow at the mouth of the tunnel with my gun on hisknee, the muzzle pointed straight at me.

  When at last Kaiser began to act like a reasonable being, I said tothe Indian, pretty loud and sharp, so he wouldn't know I was scared:

  "What do you want?"

  He grunted and made a noise down in his throat, which I couldn't seemeant anything. So I said:

  "Don't understand. Where'd you come from?"

  He only grunted again. I knew that a great many times an Indian willpretend he can't talk English when he can, so I kept at him.

  "What you going to do with the gun?" I next asked him.

  This seemed to interest him. He looked down at it over his thickeyelids and said in very good English:

  "Shoot thieves. Steal Indians' ponies."

  It flashed upon me that perhaps I could make him help me after all,though I could see that he was a renegade and a drunkard.

  "Did you see the fight?" I asked, beginning vaguely to suspect thetruth.

  He gave a grunt which meant yes. "Heap good fight," he added.

  "Will you help fight if they come again?"

  He said nothing, but sat looking at Kaiser, who was still growling,and only kept back because I held him by the collar.

  "Where do you stay?" I asked. He made no answer.

  "How did you come here?" I went on.

  "Other Indians," he said. "Long sleep--gone when wake up."

  I thought I saw through the whole thing.

  "Did you see face--all fire--looking at you down in cellar?"

  He only gazed at me out of his little black eyes. I guessed that hehad drunk more than the others and had gone to sleep before the badspirit looked in at the window, and so had not seen it and had beenleft behind.

  "Did you see barn burn--big fire?" I asked.

  He made not a sound in reply to this.

  "Give me the gun," I said.

  He gave his head a little shake and jerked out a sharp grunt.

  "Give it to me and I give you another to-morrow."

  He made not a movement or sound. I could see that he had no intentionof giving it up.

  "Do you live in cellar?" I asked. He made the sound that seemed tomean yes. I remembered that I had not gone down into Fitzsimmons'scellar after the Indians went away because things were in suchconfusion that I saw I could do nothing with them. Since that I hadhad no occasion to go into the store at all. I had no doubt that hehad stolen everything I had missed, but had been unable to get a gunbefore, because I had kept them very carefully under lock and key. Ithought from his looks that he had probably lived principally on theliquor in the cellar, with the groceries that were in the store andwhat meat he had stolen from me. I could feel that it was gettingcolder in the stronghold, and guessed that he had broken open thetunnel, either purposely, after hearing Kaiser bark, or by accidentwhen walking over it, as the thaw had weakened the roof a good deal.

  "Want to get out," I said. "Go first!"

  He pressed back close to the wall of the tunnel. "You go--take dog,"he said. I made Kaiser go ahead, took the lantern and followed,saying "Come" to the Indian. He did so, simply stooping down, though Icrawled on my hands and knees. Sure enough, the tunnel was broken downnear the barn. We got out through the hole and went across the driftsto the open place back of the hotel. I tried again to get the gun awayfrom him, but he hung on to it tighter than ever. I asked him if hewere hungry, and he forgot to grunt and said "yes."

  I brought out some food for him, and he stood in the shed and ate itlike a hungry wolf. He gave a satisfied grunt when he got through, andI once more tried to get him to let me have the gun, but he hung to itwithout even a grunt, and started in the direction of the Fitzsimmonsbuilding. I went with him, as I could not understand how he had gonein and out for so long without my seeing some traces of it.

  He stalked on in silence, his moccasins not making a sound on the hardsnow. There was a well with a high curb a few feet behind theFitzsimmons building and directly opposite the window through which Ihad shown the jack-lantern. There was now a big bank of snow as highas the well curb from it to the building. He stepped over in the wellcurb, and, without looking back, disappeared through a hole in theside of it where he had pried off some of the boards. He had borrowedone of my ideas and made a tunnel between the well and window.

  I went back to the hotel, and though I did not like the notion of hishaving the gun, there was a great load gone from my mind. I saw thatevery mysterious happening could be explained by the presence of theIndian. I made no doubt he had set the livery stable on fire by usingmatches when visiting it to find something to steal. A few sounds andpart of the glimpse I got of him that night when I watched in the shedwould have to be charged to my imagination; but I guess it could standit. I had to laugh at myself when I remembered how I had thought Iheard strange noises before the Indians came at all.

  I think I slept better the rest of the night (though it was only a fewhours) than I had for a long time, notwithstanding the shock I gotwhen I sat up and saw the Indian, when my heart, instead of beatingtoo much, just stood still and didn't beat at all.

  I saw nothing of the Indian the next morning, and after breakfast wentto the Fitzsimmons store. I took the lantern and went down cellar.Everything was still in the greatest disorder. Boxes of groceries hadbeen broken open, and empty cans were scattered everywhere. Themissing saddle lay in one corner. I looked about for the Indian, andat first thought he was gone. But at last I found him half in a bigbox turned on its side, rolled up in blankets, some of which he hadstolen from the bed in the hotel. One was a horse-blanket which I wassure came from the livery stable, so I now felt certain that he hadbeen responsible for the fire. He was sound asleep. I poked him withmy foot, but he did not move. I instantly knew that he had beendrinking more of the whiskey and was sleeping off its effects. Ipicked up a hatchet, knocked off the spigot, and let the contents ofthe barrel run on the ground.

  I took my lantern and started for the cellar-stairs. I glanced back atthe Indian, and just as I did so he moved one foot a trifle and I sawsomething under it. I went back and looked closer and saw that it wasthe stock of my rifle, of which I had not once thought that morning. Iinstantly decided that I must get it away from him.

  I stood my lantern in line with the foot of the stairs, knelt down andvery slowly and cautiously began to pull the gun from beneath theIndian. He was lying on it full length, and I knew there was vastdanger of waking him. He was much larger than I, and I made no doubtthree times as strong. I fairly held my breath as the weapon slowlyyielded to my efforts. I got it perhaps a third of the way out when itstuck fast, caught, perhaps, on some of the Indian's clothing. Ipulled as hard as I could. It disturbed him, and he moved his feet,and then with one arm threw off the blanket from his shoulders. Like aflash I made up my mind to have that gun regardless of anything.

  I jumped forward, and with my knees and hands rolled that savage overas if he had been a log of wood, grabbed the rifle, and started forthe stairs. I snatched at the lantern, but missed it and knocked itover. The flame wavered for an instant and went out. Up the stairs intotal darkness I swarmed on all fours, dragging the gun by the muzzle,so that had the hammer caught on anything I am sure the bullet hadgone clean through my body. I slammed the door at the top, sc
rambledout a side window where I had got in, and ran across the drifts to thehotel like a scared coyote, sitting down in the office weak as a cat.I expected no less than that he would follow me, but he did not, and Iquestion if he roused up further from his drunken stupor. Looking backI see what a coward I showed myself; but it seemed quite natural atthe time.

  It was this day, March 15th, that there began the big thaw. I couldnot hope spring had come to stay, and that there would be no morewinter weather, but it gave me hope that a train might get through. Ineeded hope of some kind to keep up my spirits, because I felt thatwith a little good weather I could look for the Pike gang again. If Icould have been sure that the train would come first I should havebeen gladder to see the thaw than anything else in the world; as itwas I wished it might hold off till I could feel that spring had comein earnest.

  The 15th was warm, but the snow melted very little. The next morningcame the chinook. It was straight from the northwest, where all theblizzards had come from, but it was warmer than any south wind. Allday it blew, and the snowbanks disappeared as if they were beside ahot stove. Before night there was a hole in the roof of tunnel No. 3.When I went to bed there were patches of bare ground and pools ofwater in the square.

  The next morning the chinook was still blowing. It had been eatingaway at the snowbanks all night. I saw the top of the strongholdhaystack from my bedroom window. Tunnel No. 1 had caved in. All daythe wind kept up. By night the tunnel system was nothing but a lot ofgaping cuts in the snow. The drifts had settled so much that thewindows and doors were exposed, and it would soon be possible to rideon horseback along the street.

  I had never seen a chinook wind before, of course, but Tom Carr hadtold me about them. This one was a strong, steady wind sweeping allday and all night straight from the northwest, and seemed to blowright through the drifts. I had rather have seen the snow going in anyother way, because I knew this wind only followed the valley of theMissouri River and I was afraid that it did not reach far enough eastto thaw out the cuts on the railroad so that the longed-for traincould get through. But on the other hand it of course covered all ofthe country between Track's End and the outlaws' headquarters, and Iknew that there was now nothing to hinder their coming; and I wasafraid that if they did come I could not keep them off. This day theIndian came out for the first time. I tried to talk with him somemore, but could not get much out of him. He cast some very black looksat me, as I supposed for my taking away the gun and, more important,probably, knocking the spigot off of that barrel.

  This night I felt sure the outlaws would come again, and I did not goto bed at all. I stayed all night in Townsend's store, thinking togive them as warm a reception as I could. The next morning, the 18th,the chinook had stopped, but it was still thawing, though not so fast.There was scarcely any wind, but the sun was warm. I tried to take anap after dinner, but I was too nervous. The prairie was half bare.The little drifts were all gone and the big ones had shrunk to littleones. There was a good deal of snow in the street yet, but it would beeasy to ride through it. I walked about all day trying to think ofwhat was best to do. I knew that I could not keep awake another night.At last I decided to try putting the Indian on guard part of thenight. He had said (I thought that was what he meant) that the outlawshad stolen ponies from his tribe, and I concluded he could have nolove for them, even if he had none for me. I found him in the store,but he was still sullen about the spigot.

  "Want you to watch to-night for robbers," I said to him.

  He only looked at me, so I repeated it, and added: "I will give yourifle, shoot if they come."

  At this he grunted and said, "All right." He waited a moment andseemed to be thinking; then suddenly he raised his left hand tightlyshut above his head, looked at it with half-closed eyes, and said,"Ugh! scalp 'em!"

  It made my blood run cold to see that big savage standing there withinarm's-length gloating over an imaginary scalp, knowing as I did thathe would probably enjoy scalping me quite as much. But I said nothingexcept to make him understand that he could go to bed if he wanted to,and I would wake him when it was time. I thought I would stay up aslong as I could myself.

  Twenty times that day I climbed the windmill tower and looked one wayfor the outlaws and the other for the train, but got no sight ofeither. The track was mostly bare as far as I could see, but I knewthat even if the chinook had reached so far east many cuts aroundwhere Lone Tree had been and west even as far as the last siding, No.15, would still be half full of snow and ice which would need a vastdeal of shoveling and quarrying before any train could come through.

  It was growing colder, and after the sun went down it began to freeze.I thought I could easily sit up till midnight, and after it was darkbegan patrolling the sidewalk like a policeman. The Indian had gone tosleep in his cellar. There was an east wind which felt as if it mightbring snow. I was getting so tired that I could scarce drag my feetand was having another fit of the shivers thinking about the outlaws,when suddenly, as I stood in front of Taggart's, something popped intomy head which I had not thought of for almost three months. This wasthe big can of powder inside the store.

  I forgot my shivers and ran to the hotel for the lantern. Then I hadanother look at the powder-can. It was like any tin can, only big,almost, as a keg. There was an opening in the top with a cover whichscrewed on. I was wondering if there was not some way that I could putthe can under the floor of the bank and blow up the robbers if theytried to open the safe. I felt that the chances for beating them offagain in a fight, with no fortifications, were very slim. You maythink it strange that I felt so sure the robbers would come again,after having been beaten off once. I was not certain of it, of course,but I knew Pike was not a man to give up easily, and that he musthave fully understood how much the snow helped to defeat them. I knewthat since the weather had moderated a spy might have come in thenight and discovered that I was alone and how defenseless the townwas.

  I had heard of fuse, but it happened that I had never seen any in mylife. I remember I thought it must be white and soft like the stringof a firecracker. So I began to rummage through all the drawers andboxes for fuse. One of the first things I came across was a coil ofblack, stiff, tarry string, but I threw it to one side and went onlooking for fuse. After I had hunted half an hour and found none, Igave up. As I stood there thinking, a good deal discouraged, my eyelighted on the black coil again. My curiosity made me pick it up, andon looking at one end closely I thought I could see powder. I cut offabout six inches of it and touched one end to the lantern flame. Therewas a little fizz of fire and I stood holding it in my hand andwondering what it was doing inside, when suddenly there was a biggerfizz at the other end and a streak of fire shot down inside my sleeveto my elbow. I concluded that I had found some fuse.

  In five minutes I had the powder and fuse in the bank. Then thehopelessness of putting it under the floor dawned upon me. I lookedunder the building and found a solid square of stones laid up beneathwhere the safe stood to keep the floor from settling. Everywhere elsethe water was six inches deep. I went back into the bank. Eight or tenfeet in front of the safe was a high counter running straight acrossthe room. Under it was a waste-basket, a wooden box of old newspapers,a spool-cabinet for legal papers, a copying-press, and some otherstuff.

  I stood the can of powder in the waste-basket. It was a good fit, withroom enough around the outside to stuff in some paper to hide it. ThenI put the basket in the box of newspapers. I cut the fuse in two inthe middle, unscrewed the cover and put the ends of the two piecesdown in the powder, balancing the copying-press on top to hold them inplace. I covered the whole thing up with newspapers. Then I brought anauger from Taggart's and bored a hole a little above the floorthrough the side of the building, and right on through the side of thebuilding to the south, which stood so close that it almost touched thebank. There was nothing to either except a one-inch board and athickness of lath and plastering. I passed the two lines of fusethrough the two holes, and into the other building, which was a
drugstore. In the other building I tied a loose knot in the ends of thefuse and left it lying on the floor behind the counter and coveredwith a door-mat.

  Ten minutes later I had my Indian ally posted on the platform of thedepot with his gun.

  "If pony thieves come, shoot at them," I said to him. "I'll get up andshoot at them too."

  "All right, me shoot," he said; "take plenty scalp."

  I went back to the drug store feeling better. There were now twochances for defeating the outlaws if they came; to beat them off, orblow them up with the powder. I lay down on the floor back of thecounter with my head on the door-mat. The windows were boarded up,and I felt sure that even if they came they would never find me here.

  I woke up three hours later, as I had that first night six monthsbefore in the Headquarters House, with Pike hold of my ear, and a manpushing a smoky lantern in my face.