Frank in the Mountains Part 15

"We have seen some stirring times during our short acquaintance, and you will not be likely to forgot us soon, will you?"

"I'll never forget you," replied Adam, earnestly. "If it hadn't been for you, Frank, I should now be a prisoner in the hands of the outlaws. I tell you, fellows, my ideas concerning boys from the States have changed wonderfully since I first met you. You can both beat me riding and shooting, and you take to the mountains as naturally as though you had been born here."

When the farewells had been said, Adam returned slowly and sorrowfully to his quarters in the fort, and the cousins galloped after the trappers, who had already disappeared behind the distant swells.

The adventures we have attempted to describe in this volume form but a small portion of the history of the life Frank and Archie led while they remained with Captain Porter. If s.p.a.ce would allow, we might tell of many interesting events that happened during the winter they pa.s.sed upon the banks of the Saskatchewan. We might describe the races which came off between the rival horses, in every one of which the gallant little black was as badly beaten as ever Sleepy Sam had been. Although Archie, at first, found any number of "little holes to crawl out of," he was finally obliged to confess that Roderick was the swifter horse. We might tell of the rivalry which existed between the boys, and which seemed to grow stronger every day, affording infinite amus.e.m.e.nt to the trappers, who praised first one, and then the other, to incite them to greater deeds of valor; how Frank took the lead by killing a grizzly bear, alone and unaided, and Archie, to be even with him, nearly broke King James's neck, and his own into the bargain, by attempting to capture a wild horse. That was a proud day for Archie, for he actually succeeded in la.s.soing one of the drove; but, unfortunately, the lariat was insecurely fastened to his saddle, and the wild steed made his escape after all, carrying the la.s.so with him. All the trappers voted that this exploit was fully equal to the killing of a grizzly, and that, if Frank wished to take the lead again, he must trap or shoot another bear. We might recount the adventures that befell them during the two weeks they were lost in the mountains, living in a little hut they had built under the shelter of a friendly cliff, which effectually protected them from the fury of the snow-storms--enjoying splendid shooting in the meantime, and experiencing not a single fear but that "every thing would come out all right" in the end. We might tell of the long winter evenings they pa.s.sed listening to the trappers' stories; and of the days, too, when they never stirred out of the cabin, because they were snowed under and could not get out. This was the poetry of the life they led during that long-to-be-remembered winter, and then came the prose. Their provisions gradually disappeared; game became scarce; the snow filled up the mountain pa.s.ses to the depth of forty feet, and covered all their traps; their horses and mules were killed and eaten, and finally but one single horse remained besides Roderick and King James, and that was Pete. His time came at last, and then the cousins looked at one another with a most doleful expression on their hunger-pinched faces.

"It can't be helped, boys," said Captain Porter. "We must live, and one horse is about as good as another, any how. I have twenty-five hundred of them on my rancho, and when we get home you can take your pick of the lot."

"Do you suppose I could ever find a horse that would suit me as well as King James?" whispered Archie, drawing the captain off on one side. "No, I couldn't; but take him and save Roderick, if you can. Frank thinks so much of that horse I shouldn't like to see him killed."

Frank saw the whispered conversation going on, and, suspecting something at once, took d.i.c.k into his confidence. "I know what they are talking about," said he, "and I am not going to have any one make sacrifices for me. When you get up in the morning, go out and shoot Roderick. It would be a severe blow to Archie to lose his horse, and I will prevent it as long as I can."

The trappers, knowing how hard it would be for the boys to part with their favorites, hunted all that day without any food at all; and when they returned to the camp that night, they brought four big-horns and an elk. That hunt saved the lives of the horses, for, in a day or two, the snow began to melt, game became more abundant, and things looked bright again. It had been a narrow escape for their favorites, however, and the boys, fearing that they might again be placed in the same situation, became impatient to begin the homeward journey. Besides, they had seen quite enough of perilous adventure, were heartily tired of life in the mountains, and longed for the society of their friends once more.

To their great delight, their departure from the Saskatchewan was not long delayed. One bright, spring morning, they started for Fort Churchill, where the captain procured a supply of horses and pack-mules, and, after a fatiguing ride of nearly two months, the cousins found themselves once more in Uncle James's rancho. They met new faces there, for Mr. Winters had sold his farm and stock, and the purchaser had taken possession of the premises.

There was nothing now to detain them in California, and after a few days spent in taking leave of their acquaintances--they found it an exceedingly difficult task to say good-by to d.i.c.k and Bob--the cousins took pa.s.sage on board a steamer for Portland. In four weeks more the little cottage on the banks of Glen's Creek was filled with a happy party, including Archie's father and mother, and Uncle James. Things began to wear their old accustomed look again. The Speedwell once more rode proudly at her moorings in the creek (her sailing qualities had not been injured in the least by her fourteen months of idleness, and she was still able to beat the swiftest boat about the village), the door of the museum was open every day, and there was plenty of work being done there. A stand had been erected in the middle of the room, and it was already filled with specimens which excited the wonder and admiration of the village boys. "Old Davy" was there, stuffed and mounted, and looking so life-like that Archie said he almost expected to see him jump down from the stand and come at him. Then there were three smaller grizzlies, two elk, as many Rocky Mountain goats, and the p.r.o.ng-horn they had killed on the day they were lost on the prairie.

In Frank's room some changes had been made. There were more pictures on the walls now, and among them was the identical one which Pierre Castello had removed from its hook on the night he tried to compel Frank to tell where he had hidden the office key. The picture was hanging from the same hook over which the Ranchero had thrown the la.s.so when he pulled Frank up by the neck, and the la.s.so itself was there also--or, rather, all there was left of it. The "sporting cabinet," which hung on the frame at the foot of the bed, had received several additions in the shape of rifles, revolvers, and hunting-knives; and the hooks at the top of the frame supported the bow, quiver of arrows, and tomahawk which Frank had captured from the Black Fox. An apartment in the book-case, which contained the stuffed birds, was devoted to the other relics which the boys had collected during their absence. There were knives, pistols, and carbines from Don Carlos' rancho; a piece of the "bridge of clouds,"

at which the trappers had been so badly frightened; a portion of the flat-boat which had carried the horses across the creek; and also the lantern which Archie had used in the stable. There were stone arrow and spear heads, and necklaces of bears' claws from Fort Benton; elk horns from the Saskatchewan; and Mexican dresses, spurs, la.s.sos, and a saddle and bridle from Southern California. In short, the room was almost as much of a curiosity-shop as the museum itself.

The barn had two more occupants now, and they were Roderick and King James. The horses had been so intimately connected with their adventures on the plains and in the mountains, and the boys had become so greatly attached to them, that they could not think of leaving them behind. They were plump and fat now, looking very unlike the poor, scraggy animals which had so narrowly escaped being served up at the camp fire, and many a pleasant morning gallop had the boys taken with them over the breezy hills with which Lawrence was surrounded.

Frank had brought another old friend with him, and that was Marmion.

Brave at first regarded the new-comer with suspicion; but being, like his master, of a kind and accommodating disposition, he made overtures of friends.h.i.+p, to which the ill-mannered Marmion responded by taking Brave down and giving him a good shaking. But the Newfoundland was like his master in another respect: he was hard to whip; and, before the boys could separate the combatants, he gave his fierce antagonist a drubbing that must have astonished him. At any rate, Marmion howled l.u.s.tily for quarter, and the next time Brave made advances, they were more graciously received. The dogs were now living very peaceably, Brave occupying his kennel by the back porch, and Marmion sleeping in the barn. They ate out of the same dish, without any quarreling over the t.i.t-bits, always accompanied their master wherever he went, and if one got into trouble with the village curs, the other always lent prompt and effective a.s.sistance.

The cousins had not forgotten the quiet sports they had so often enjoyed in the days gone by. Their fis.h.i.+ng-rods and double-barrels came as readily to their hands as ever; squirrels and trout were served up at the cottage every day; and to many a thrilling story did George and Harry Butler listen while sailing up and down the river in the old Speedwell. On all the adventures of which Frank and Archie had been the heroes during their journeyings in the Far West, they delighted most to talk about those which befell them on the memorable night they spent IN THE MOUNTAINS.

THE END.