THE OLD SANTA FE TRAIL by COLONEL HENRY INMAN (best fiction novels of all time .TXT) 📕

Since.  Rube--'Little Rube' As All The

Old Men Called him--Was 'Bout Nineteen, And Plumb Dumb; He Could Hear

Well Enough Though, For He Wasn'T Born That Way.  When He Was Seventeen

His Father Moved from His Farm In pennsylvany, To Take Up A Claim

In Oregon, And The Whole Family Was Compelled to Cross The Plains

To Get There; For There Wasn'T No Other Way.  While They Was Camped

In The Bitter-Root Valley One Evening, Just 'Bout Sundown, A Party

Of Blackfeet Surprised the Outfit, And Massacred all Of Them But Rube.

They Carried him Off, Kept Him As A Slave, And, To Make Sure Of Him,

Cut Out His Tongue At The Roots.  But Some Of The Women Who Wasn'T

Quite So Devilish As Their Husbands, And Who Took Pity On Him, Went

To Work And Cured him Of His Awful Wound.  He Was Used mighty Mean

By The Bucks Of The Tribe, And Made Up His Mind To Get Away From Them

Or Kill Himself; For He Could Not Live Under Their Harsh Treatment.

After He'D Been With Them For Mor'N A Year, The Tribe Had A Terrible

Battle With The Sioux, And In the Scrimmage Rube Stole A Pony And

Lit Out.  He Rode On Night And Day Until He Came Across The Cabin

Of The Two Trappers I Have Told You 'Bout, And They, Of Course,

Took The Poor Boy In and Cared for Him.

 

 

 

"Rube Was A Splendid Shot With The Rifle, And He Swore To Himself

That He Would Never Leave The Prairies And Do Nothing For The Rest

Of His Life But Kill Ingins, Who Had Made Him A Homeless Orphan,

And So Mutilated him.

 

 

 

"After Rube Had Been With Boyd And Thorpe A Year, They Was All One

Day In the Winter Examining Their Traps Which Was Scattered 'Long

The Stream For Miles.  After Re-Baiting Them, They Concluded to Hunt

For Meat, Which Was Getting Scarce At The Cabin; They Let Rube Go

Down To The Creek Where It Widened out Lake-Like, To Fish Through

A Hole In the Ice, And Al And Bill Took Their Rifles And Hunted in

The Timber For Deer.  They All Got Separated of Course, Rube Being

Furtherest Away, While Al And Bill Did Not Wander So Far From Each

Other That They Could Not Be Heard If One Wanted his Companion.

 

 

 

"Al Shot A Fat Black-Tail Deer, And Just As He Was Going To Stoop

Down To Cut Its Throat, Bill Yelled out To Him:--

 

 

 

"'Drop Everything al, For God'S Sake, And Let'S Make For The Dugout;

They'Re Coming, A Whole Band Of Sioux!'

 

 

 

"'If We Can Get To The Cabin,' Replied al, 'We Can Keep Off The Whole

Nation.  I Wonder Where Rube Is?  I Hope He'Ll Get Here And Save

His Scalp.'

 

 

 

"At This Instant, Poor Rube Dashed up To Them, An Ingin Close Upon

His Tracks; He Had Unfortunately Forgotten To Take His Rifle With

Him When He Went To The Creek, And Now He Was At The Mercy Of The

Savage; At Least Both He And His Pursuer So Thought.  But Before

The Ingin Had Fairly Uttered his Yell Of Exultation, Al Who With

Bill Had Held His Rifle In readiness For An Emergency, Lifted the

Red devil Off His Feet, And He Fell Dead Without Ever Knowing What

Had Struck Him.

 

 

 

"Rube, Thus Delivered from A Sudden Death, Ran At The Top Of His

Speed with His Two Friends For The Cabin, For, If They Could Reach It,

They Did Not Fear A Hundred paint-Bedaubed savages.

 

 

 

"Luckily They Arrived in time.  Where They Lived was Part Dugout And

Part Cabin.  It Was About Ten Feet High, And Right Back Of It Was

A Big Ledge Of Rock, Which Made It Impossible For Any One To Get

Into It From That Side.  The Place Had No Door; They Did Not Dare

To Put One There When It Was Built, For They Were Likely To Be

Surprised at Any Moment By A Prowling Band, So The Only Entrance Was

A Square Hole In the Roof, Through Which One At A Time Had To Crawl

To Enter.

 

 

 

"The Boys Got Inside All Right Just As The Ingins Came A Yelling Up.

Bill Looked out Of A Hole In the Wall And Counted thirty Of The

Devils, And Said At Once: 'Off With Your Coats; Don'T Let Them Have

Anything To Catch Hold Of But Our Naked bodies If They Get In, And

We Can Handle Ourselves Better.'

 

 

 

"'Thirty To Three,' Said Al.  'Whew! This Ain'T Going To Be Any

Boy'S Play; We'Ve Got To Fight For All There Is In it, And The

Chances Are Mightily Agin Us.'

 

 

 

"Rube He Took An Axe, And Stood Right Under The Hole In the Roof,

So That If Any Of The Devils Got In he Could Brain Them.  In a Minute

Five Rifles Cracked; For The Ingins Was Pretty Well Armed for Them

Times, And Their Bullets Rattled agin The Logs Like Hail Agin A Tent.

Some Of 'Em Was On Top The Roof By This Time, And Soon The Leader Of

The Party, A Big Painted devil, Thrust His Ugly Face Into The Hole;

But He Had Hardly Got A Good Look Before Bill Dropped him By A

Well-Directed shot And He Tumbled in on The Floor.

 

 

 

"'You Darned fool,' Said Bill, As He Saw The Effect Of His Shot;

'Did You Think We Was Asleep?'

 

 

 

"There Was One Opening That Served for Air, And A Savage, Seeing

The Boys Had Forgotten To Barricade It, Tried to Push Himself

Through, An' Not Succeeding, Tried to Back Out, But At That Instant

Bill Caught Him By The Wrist--Bill Was A Powerful Man--And Picking Up

A Beaver-Trap That Laid On The Floor, Actually Beat His Brains

Out With It.

 

 

 

"While This Circus Was Going On Inside, Three More Of The Ingins Got

On The Roof And Wrenched off A Couple Of The Logs That Covered it;

But In a Minute They Came Tumbling Down And Lay Dead On The Floor.

 

 

 

"'That Leaves Only Twenty-Five, Don'T It?' Inquired al, As He Mopped

His Face With His Shirt-Sleeve.

 

 

 

"'Howl, You Red devils,' Said Bill, As The Ingins Commenced their

Awful Yelling When They Saw Their Comrades Fall Into The Room.

'Don'T You Know, You Blame Fools, You'Ve Fell In with Experienced

Hands At The Shooting Business?'

 

 

 

"Spat!  Something Hit Al, And He Was The First Wounded, But It Was

Only A Scratch, And He Kept Right On Attending To Business.

 

 

 

"'By Gosh! Look At Rube, Will You?' Said Al.  The Dumb Boy Had In

His Grasp The Very Chief Of The Band, Who Had Just Then Discovered

The Hole In the Roof Made By The Three Ingins Who Had Passed in

Their Checks For Their Impudence, And Was Trying His Best To Push

Himself Down.  Rube Had Made A Strike At Him With An Axe, But The

Edge Was Turned aside, And The Savage Was Getting The Better Of

The Boy; He Had Grappled rube By The Hair And One Arm, And They Was

Flying 'Round Like A Wild Cat And A Hound.  Bill Tried three Times

To Sink His Knife Into The Old Chief, But There Was Such A Cavortin'

In The Wrastle Between Him And The Boy, He Was Afraid To Try Any More,

For Fear It Might Hit Rube Instead.  Suddenly The Ingin Fell To The

Floor As Dead As A Trapped beaver What'S Been Drowned; Rube Had

Struck His Buckhorn-Handled hunting-Knife Right Into The Heart Of

The Brute.

 

 

 

"'Set Him Agin The Hole In the Side Of The Building,' Said Bill;

'He Ain'T Fit For Nothing Else Than To Stop A Gap'; So Rube Set Him

Agin The Hole, And Pinned him There With Half A Dozen Knives What

Was Lying Round Loose.

 

 

 

"Just As They Had Fastened the Dead Body Of The Old Chief To The

Side Of The Cabin, A Perfect Shower Of Bullets Came Rattling Round

Like A Hailstorm.  'All Right, Let'S Have Your Waste Lead,' Said Bill.

 

 

 

"'A Few More Of These Dead Ingins And We Can Make A Regular Fort Of

This Old Cabin; We Want Two For That Chunk,' Said Al, As He Pointed

With His Rifle To A Large Gap On The West Side Of The Wall; But

Before He Had Fairly Got The Words Out Of His Mouth, Two Of The

Attacking Party Jumped down Into The Room.  Al, Being a Regular Giant,

As Soon As They Landed, Surprised them By Seizing One With Each Hand

By The Throat, And He Actually Held Them At Arm'S-Length Till He Had

Squeezed the Very Life Out Of Them, And They Both Fell Corpses.

 

 

 

"While Al Was Performing His Two-Ingin Act, A Great Light Burst Into

The Cabin, And By The Time He Had Choked his Enemies To Death, He Saw,

While The Ingins Outside Gave A Terrible Yell Of Exultation, That

They Had Fired the Place.

 

 

 

"'Damn 'Em,' Shouted bill, As He Pitched the Corpse Of The Chief

From The Gap Where Rube Had Set Him.  'Fellows, We'Ve Got To Get

Out Of Here Right Quick; Follow Me, Boys!'

 

 

 

"Holding Their Rifles In hand, And Clutching a Hunting-Knife Also,

They Stepped out Into The Brush Surrounding The Place, And Started

On A Run For The Heavy Timber On The Bank Of The Creek.

 

 

 

"They Had Reckoned onluckily; A Wild War-Whoop Greeted the Flying Men

As They Reached the Edge Of The Forest, And Without Being able To Use

Their Arms, They Were Taken Prisoners.  Bill And Al, Fastened with

Their Backs Against Each Other, And Little Rube By Himself, Were

Bound To Separate Trees, But Not So Far Apart That They Could Not

Speak To Each Other, And Some Of The Ingins Began To Gather Sticks

And Pile Them Around The Trees.

 

 

 

"'What Are They Going To Do With Us?' Anxiously Inquired bill Of Al.

 

 

 

"'Roast Us, You Bet,' Replied the Other.  'They'Ll Find Me Tough

Enough, Anyhow.'

 

 

 

"'It Must Be A Painful Death,' Soliloquized bill.

 

 

 

"'Well, It Isn'T The Most Pleasant One, You Can Gamble On That,'

Said Al, Turning His Looks Toward Bill; 'But See What The Devils

Are Doing To Poor Rube.'

 

 

 

"Bill Cast His Eyes In the Direction Of The Dumb Boy, Who Was Fastened

To A Small Pine, About A Hundred feet Distant.  Standing Directly

In Front Of It Was A Gigantic Ingin, Flourishing His Scalping-Knife

Within An Inch Of Rube'S Head, Trying To Make The Boy Flinch.

But The Young Fellow Merely Scowled at Him In a Rage, His Muscles

Never Quivering For An Instant.

 

 

 

"While The Men Were Trying To Console Each Other, Two Of The Savages,

Who Had Gone Away For A Short Time, Returned, Bearing The Carcass

Of The Deer That Al Had Killed in the Morning, And Commenced to Cut

It Up.  They Had Made Several Small Fires, And Roasting The Meat

Before Them, Began To Gorge Themselves, Indian Fashion, With The

Savoury Morsels.  The Men Were Awfully Hungry, Too, But Not A Mouthful

Did They Get Of Their Own Game.

 

 

 

"The Ingins Were More'N An Hour Feasting, While Their Prisoners Kept

A Looking For Some Help To Get 'Em Out Of The Scrape They Was In.

 

 

 

"'Bout A Mile Down The Creek, Me And Six Other Trappers Had A Camp,

And That Morning, Being Scarce Of Meat, We All Went A Hunting.

We Had Killed two Or Three Elk And Was 'Bout Going Back To Camp With

Our Game, When We Heard Firing, And Supposed it Was A Party Of Hunters,

Like Ourselves, So We Did Not Pay Any Attention To It At First; But

When It Kept Up So Long, And There Was Such A Constant Volley, I Told

Our Boys It Might Be A Scrimmage With A Party Of Red devils, And We

Concluded to Go And See.

 

 

 

"We Left Our Elk Where They Were, And Started in the Direction Of

The Shooting, Taking Mighty Good Care Not To Be Surprised ourselves.

We Crept Carefully On, And A Little Before Sundown Seen A Camp-Fire

Burning In the Timber Quite A Smart Piece Ahead Of Us.  We Stopped

Then, And Ike Pettet And Myself Crept On Cautiously On Our Hands And

Knees Through The Brush To Learn What The Fire Meant.  In a Little

While We Seen It Was An Ingin Camp, And We Counted twenty-Two

Warriors Seated 'Round Their Fires A Eating as Unconcernedly As If

We Warn'T Nowhere Near 'Em.  We Didn'T Feel Like Tackling So Many,

So Just As We Was 'Bout To Crawl Away And Leave 'Em In ondisturbed

Possession Of Their Camp, We Heard Some Parties Talking In english.

Then We Pricked up Our Ears And Listened mighty Interested i Tell You.

Looking 'Round, We Seen The Men Tied to The Trees And The Wood Piled

Against 'Em, And Then We Knowed what Was Up.  We Had To Be Mighty

Wary, For If We Snapped a Twig Even, It Was All Day With Us And

The Prisoners Too; So We Dragged ourselves Back, And After Getting

Out Of