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020 - Chapter 19 A Fight and a Rescue · Redskin and Cow-Boy - A Tale of the Western Plains

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Speaker 1: Chapter nineteen of Redskin and Cowboy, a Tale of the
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Speaker 1: Western Plains by G. A. Henty. The Slipper Fox recording
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Speaker 1: is in the public domain. Chapter nineteen, A Fight and
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Speaker 1: a Rescue. Soon after sunset, the five men started. The
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Speaker 1: doctor was of opinion that it was better not to
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Speaker 1: wait until the brigands had retired to rest. Of course,
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Speaker 1: we cannot begin operations, he said, until all is quiet.
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Speaker 1: But as long as the men are sitting around the fires,
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Speaker 1: smoking and singing, they will keep a very careless guard,
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Speaker 1: and any noise we make will pass unobserved. When they
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Speaker 1: once get quiet, the sentries will begin to listen. But
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Speaker 1: until then we might almost walk up to their fires
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Speaker 1: without being observed. It was necessary to move slowly and cautiously,
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Speaker 1: lest they should fall over a rock or stump. But
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Speaker 1: the doctor led the way, and the others followed close
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Speaker 1: behind him. Twenty minutes stealthy walking took them to the spot.
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Speaker 1: Whence the doctor had before reconnoitered the house. A fire
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Speaker 1: blazed on the terrace, and some fifteen men were sitting
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Speaker 1: or lying round it. The light fell upon bottles and glasses.
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Speaker 1: One of the party was played upon a mandolin and singing,
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Speaker 1: but few of the others were attending to him. A
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Speaker 1: noisy conversation plentifully sprinkled with Spanish oaths being kept up.
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Speaker 1: The room where your sisters are confined, the doctor said
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Speaker 1: to Don Carlos is round the other side of the house.
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Speaker 1: I did not mean to begin until all were asleep,
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Speaker 1: but they are making such a noise down there that
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Speaker 1: I do think it will be best to move at once,
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Speaker 1: and if possible, to let your sisters know that we
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Speaker 1: are here. So we will work quietly round to that side.
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Speaker 1: They had no sentry there last time, but they may
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Speaker 1: have tonight. After twenty minutes of cautious movement, they reached
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Speaker 1: the foot of the rock on which the house stood.
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Speaker 1: The doctor had brought out from Malpasso a small grapnel
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Speaker 1: and rope. The former had been carefully wrapped round with
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Speaker 1: strips of cloth so as to deaden any sound. It
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Speaker 1: was now thrown up, and at the second attempt became
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Speaker 1: firmly fixed above. Do you mount first, Latnin, he said
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Speaker 1: to Hugh. When you get up likewie for a minute
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Speaker 1: or two, when you have quite assured yourself that all
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Speaker 1: is cleared, give the rope a shake. We others will
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Speaker 1: come up one by one. Let each man when he
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Speaker 1: gets to the top, lie down. Don Carlos followed Hugh,
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Speaker 1: and the others soon join them. You see that light there,
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Speaker 1: the doctor said to Don Carlos. That is your sister's room.
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Speaker 1: As I told you, the windows on the ground floor
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Speaker 1: are all blocked up, but three or four bricks have
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Speaker 1: been left out just at the top of each for
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Speaker 1: the sake of Lightnaire Now sim and you had better
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Speaker 1: go together. He will stand against the wall, and if
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Speaker 1: you climb onto his shoulders, I think you can just
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Speaker 1: about reach that hole, pull yourself up and look in.
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Speaker 1: I need not tell you to be as silent as possible,
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Speaker 1: for there may be someone in with them. If they
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Speaker 1: are alone, tell them what we are going to do.
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Speaker 1: See whether there are any bars inside the brickwork. I'm
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Speaker 1: afraid there are sure to be. The Spanish houses most
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Speaker 1: always have bars to the lower windows. Royce, you and
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Speaker 1: I will go to the right hand corner of the house.
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Speaker 1: You go to the left. Lightning. If you hear anyone
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Speaker 1: come and give a low hiss as a warning, then
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Speaker 1: we must all lie down close to the wall. It
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Speaker 1: is so dark now that unless a man kicks against us,
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Speaker 1: he won't see us. If he does touch one of you,
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Speaker 1: he is likely to think it is one of his
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Speaker 1: own party lying down there for a sleep. But if
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Speaker 1: he stoops over to see who it is, you have
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Speaker 1: got either to stab him or to grip him by
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Speaker 1: the throat so that he can't shout. Now, I think
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Speaker 1: we all understand. The five men crawled cautiously to their
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Speaker 1: respective stations. Now, young fellow Sims said to Don Carlos,
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Speaker 1: if when you are mounted on my shoulders you find
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Speaker 1: you cannot reach the hole, put your foot on my head.
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Speaker 1: You won't hurt me with them moccasin's on directly. You've
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Speaker 1: got your fingers on the edge. Give a little pat
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Speaker 1: with your foot to let me know, and I will
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Speaker 1: put my hands under your feet and help hoist you up.
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Speaker 1: You can put a biggish slice of your weight on me.
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Speaker 1: When I am tired, I will let you know. I
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Speaker 1: will lean right forward against the wall. That will help
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Speaker 1: you to climb up. Now, when he stood up on
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Speaker 1: Sim's shoulders, the young Mexican found that he could reach
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Speaker 1: the opening, getting his fingers firmly upon it. He gave
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Speaker 1: the signal, and, with Sim's aid, had no difficulty in
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Speaker 1: raising himself so that he could look into the room.
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Speaker 1: Two candles burned upon the table, and by their light
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Speaker 1: he could see the girls stretched on couches. Hush, girls, hush,
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Speaker 1: he said in a low voice. It is I Carlos.
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Speaker 1: Silence for your lives. The two girls sprang to their feet.
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Speaker 1: Did you hear it, Nina, the elder exclaimed in a
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Speaker 1: low voice. Yes, it was the voice of Carlos. We
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Speaker 1: could not both have been dreaming. Surely, I am up
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Speaker 1: here at the opening, Carlos said. We are here, girls,
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Speaker 1: a party to rescue you. But we must get in
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Speaker 1: beside you before we are discovered, or else harm might
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Speaker 1: come to you. Wait a moment, he broke in, as
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Speaker 1: the girls, in their delight, were about to throw themselves
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Speaker 1: upon their knees to return. Thanks to the Virgin, I
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Speaker 1: am being held up here and must get down in
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Speaker 1: an instant. I can see that there is a grating
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Speaker 1: to the window. Is it a strong one? Yes, a
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Speaker 1: very strong one. Very well, we will saw through it presently.
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Speaker 1: Do you keep on talking loudly to each other to
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Speaker 1: drown any noise that we may make. That will do
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Speaker 1: sim You can let me down now, now, young fellow,
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Speaker 1: Sim said, as soon as Don Carlos reached the ground,
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Speaker 1: you go along and tell Bill Royce to come here
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Speaker 1: and help. The doctor will go on keep and watch.
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Speaker 1: Then go to the other inn and send Latin here,
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Speaker 1: and you take his place. He is better for work
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Speaker 1: than you are. Sim was soon joined by Royce and Hugh.
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Speaker 1: He had already set to work. These bricks are only adobe,
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Speaker 1: he said. My knife will soon cut through them. In
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Speaker 1: a few minutes he had made a hole through the
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Speaker 1: unbaked bricks. Senor da Us, he said, in Mexican, place
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Speaker 1: a chair against this hole and throw something over it,
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Speaker 1: so that if anyone comes it won't be observed. The
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Speaker 1: men worked in terms with their keen bowies, and in
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Speaker 1: half an hour the hole was large enough for a
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Speaker 1: head and shoulders to pass through. Now for the files, Lightning,
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Speaker 1: you may as well take the first spell, as you
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Speaker 1: have got them in the oil. It took two hours
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Speaker 1: work to file through the bars. Just as the work
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Speaker 1: was finished, Sim said, you had better fetch the lad Lightning.
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Speaker 1: Send him through first, don't you think? Doctor Hugh said,
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Speaker 1: when they were gathered round the hole, that we might
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Speaker 1: get the girls off without a fight. At all. I
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Speaker 1: doubt it, the doctor said. The men had just gone
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Speaker 1: in except for two who are left as sentries, and
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Speaker 1: the night is very still. They would be almost sure
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Speaker 1: to hear some of us, and if they did, the
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Speaker 1: girls might get shot in the fight. Still, it might
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Speaker 1: be worth trying. As soon as you get in. Carlos
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Speaker 1: began to move the furniture quietly against the door. All
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Speaker 1: this time the girls had been singing hymns, but their
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Speaker 1: prudence left them as their brother entered the room, they
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Speaker 1: stopped singing abruptly and threw themselves into his arms with
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Speaker 1: a little cry of joy. Almost instantly there was a
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Speaker 1: loud knock at the door. What are you doing there?
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Speaker 1: I am coming in? And the door was heard to unlock.
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Speaker 1: Carlos threw himself against it. Fire the signal doctor sim exclaimed,
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Speaker 1: as he thrust Hugh, who was in the act of
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Speaker 1: getting through the hole, into the room. As he did so,
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Speaker 1: three shots were fired outside. The instant Hugh was through,
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Speaker 1: he leaped to his feet and ran forward. The pressure
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Speaker 1: against the door had ceased. The man, having in his
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Speaker 1: surprise at the sound of the shots, sprung back. Hugh
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Speaker 1: seized the handle of the door so that it could
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Speaker 1: not be turned. Pile up the furniture. He said to
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Speaker 1: Dun Carlos, get into the corner of the room, Signorita's.
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Speaker 1: They will be firing through the door in a moment.
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Speaker 1: By this time a tremendous din was heard in the house.
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Speaker 1: As yet, none of the brigands knew what had happened,
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Speaker 1: and their general impulse was to rush out on the
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Speaker 1: terrace to hear the cause of the shots. The doctor
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Speaker 1: had followed Hugh closely into the room, the hole being
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Speaker 1: large enough to admit of his getting through without any difficulty.
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Speaker 1: Royce followed immediately, and as he got through sim Howett's
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Speaker 1: pistol cracked out twice as the sentries ran around the
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Speaker 1: corner of the house, their figures being visible to him
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Speaker 1: by the light from the fire. Then he thrust himself
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Speaker 1: through the opening. The instant he was through, he seized
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Speaker 1: one of the cushions of the couches and placed it
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Speaker 1: across the hole by which he had entered. Several attempts
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Speaker 1: had been made to turn the handle of the door,
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Speaker 1: but Hugh held it firmly, while the doctor and Carlos
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Speaker 1: moved the couches and chairs against it. Here doctor, you
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Speaker 1: watch this hole. I will do that work, sim said.
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Speaker 1: They worked as silently as possible, and could hear through
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Speaker 1: the opening at the top of the window the sound
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Speaker 1: of shouts and oaths as a number of men ran
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Speaker 1: past on the terrace. Then one voice shouted angrily for silence.
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Speaker 1: There is no one here, he said, Martinez, go in
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Speaker 1: and fetch torches. What has happened. What have you seen, Lopez,
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Speaker 1: I have seen nothing, the voice replied. I was lying
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Speaker 1: close to the door when Domingo, who was on guard
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Speaker 1: at the Signorita's door, said something. Then almost directly, three
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Speaker 1: shots were fired outside. I jumped up and unfastened the
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Speaker 1: door and ran out. Martos and Juan, who were on
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Speaker 1: guard outside, were just running across. I heard two more
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Speaker 1: shots fired, and down they both fell. I waited a
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Speaker 1: moment until all the others came out, and then we
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Speaker 1: ran round the corner together. As far as I see,
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Speaker 1: there is nobody here. Mil Demonios, the first speaker, exclaimed,
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Speaker 1: it must be some plot to get the girls away.
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Speaker 1: Perez run in and ask Domingo if he heard any
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Speaker 1: sounds within. Open the door and see that the captives
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Speaker 1: are safe. There was a pause for a minute, and
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Speaker 1: then Perez ran out. Domingo cannot open the door, he said,
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Speaker 1: They are moving the furniture against it, and the handle
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Speaker 1: won't turn. He says, there must be something wrong there.
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Speaker 1: Full what occasion is there to say that? As if
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Speaker 1: anyone could not see there was something wrong. Ah, here
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Speaker 1: come the torches. Search all round the terrace and ask
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Speaker 1: whoever is on guard at the gate whether he has
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Speaker 1: heard anything. We will see about breaking down the door. Afterwards,
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Speaker 1: there was a pause, and then the men came back again.
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Speaker 1: There is no one on the terrace. Nobody has been
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Speaker 1: through the gate. Then there was a sudden, sharp exclamation.
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Speaker 1: See here, Vargas, there is a hole here. The bricks
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Speaker 1: have been cut through. A fresh vulley of oaths burst out,
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Speaker 1: and then the man in authority gave his orders. Perez,
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Speaker 1: do you and Martinez take your post here. Whether there
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Speaker 1: is one or half a dozen inside, they can only
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Speaker 1: crawl out one at a time. You have only got
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Speaker 1: to fire at the first head you see. The rest
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Speaker 1: come inside and break open the door. We will soon
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Speaker 1: settle with them. That is much better than I expected,
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Speaker 1: the doctor said, we have gained nearly five minutes. Now
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Speaker 1: let them come as soon as they like. Bill, Well,
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Speaker 1: you stop at this end and guard this cushion. When
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Speaker 1: the fight begins, they may try to push it aside
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Speaker 1: and fire through at us. Let the upper end lean
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Speaker 1: back a little against his chair. Yes, like that. Now
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Speaker 1: you see you can look down, and if you see
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Speaker 1: a hand trying to push the cushion aside, put a
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Speaker 1: bullet through it. Don't attend to us unless we are
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Speaker 1: badly pressed and call for you. There was now a
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Speaker 1: furious onslaught made on the door from the outside, heavy
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Speaker 1: blows being struck upon it with axes and crowbars. Now, Sim,
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Speaker 1: you may as well speak to them a little, the
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Speaker 1: doctor said, when you have emptied your colt, I will
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Speaker 1: have a turn. While you were loading, the noise that
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Speaker 1: the blows was a sufficient indication to Sim where the
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Speaker 1: men wielding the weapons were standing. He had already recharged
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Speaker 1: the two chambers he had emptied, and now steadily and
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Speaker 1: deliberately he fired six shots through the panels of the door,
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Speaker 1: and the yells and oaths told him that some of
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Speaker 1: them had taken effect. There was a pause for a moment,
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Speaker 1: and then the assault recommenced. The wood gave way beneath
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Speaker 1: the axes, and the door began to splinter, while a
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Speaker 1: number of shots were fired from the outside. The doctor, however,
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Speaker 1: was stooping low, and the others stood outside the line
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Speaker 1: of fire, while Bill, at his end, was kneeling by
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Speaker 1: the cushion. The doctor's revolver answered the shots, and when
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Speaker 1: he had emptied his pistol, Hugh took his place. By
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Speaker 1: the furious shouts and cries without, there was no doubt
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Speaker 1: the fire was doing execution. But the door was nearly yielding,
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Speaker 1: and just as Hugh began to fire, one of the
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Speaker 1: panels was burst in. The lock, too, had now given
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Speaker 1: the piece of wood he had jammed into it having
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Speaker 1: fallen out. The Mexicans, however, were unable to force their
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Speaker 1: way in, owing to the steady fire of the besieged,
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Speaker 1: who had extinguished their candles and had the advantage of
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Speaker 1: catching sight of their opponents through the open door by
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Speaker 1: the light of the torches without. The besieged shifted their
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Speaker 1: places after each shot, so that the Mexicans fired almost
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Speaker 1: at random. For ten minutes. The fight had raged when
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Speaker 1: there was a sudden shout followed by a discharge of
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Speaker 1: firearms without a cheer broke from the defenders of the room,
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Speaker 1: and a cry of despair and fury from the Mexicans.
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Speaker 1: The attack on the door ceased instantly, but a desperate
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Speaker 1: struggle raged in the courtyard. This went on for three
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Speaker 1: or four minutes, when the Mexicans shouted for mercy and
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Speaker 1: the firing ceased. Then Don Ramon's voice was heard to
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Speaker 1: call where are you? Are you all safe? There was
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Speaker 1: a shout in reply. Then the furniture was pulled away
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Speaker 1: and the splintered door removed, and as Don Ramon entered,
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Speaker 1: his daughters, who had remained quietly in the corner while
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Speaker 1: the fight went on, rushed into his arms. The success
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Speaker 1: of the surprise had been complete. The men on guard
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Speaker 1: at the gate had left his post to take part
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Speaker 1: in the struggle going on in the house, and the
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Speaker 1: officer in command of the troops had gained the terrace unobserved.
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Speaker 1: He at once surrounded the house, and the two men
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Speaker 1: outside the opening had been shot down at the same
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Speaker 1: moment that he, with a dozen of his men, rushed
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Speaker 1: into the courtyard and attacked the Mexicans. None of these
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Speaker 1: had escaped. Eighteen had fallen in the house, four had
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Speaker 1: been killed outside, and twelve had thrown down their arms
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Speaker 1: and were now lying bound hand and foot in charge
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Speaker 1: of the troops. No sooner had Don Ramon assured himself
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Speaker 1: that his daughters were safe and uninjured, than he turned
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Speaker 1: to their rescuers and poured out his hearty thanks. They
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Speaker 1: were not quite uninjured. Bill had escaped without a wound.
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Speaker 1: Don Carlos was bleeding from a pistol ball which had
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Speaker 1: grazed his cheek. Sim Hallett's right hand was disabled by
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Speaker 1: a ball which had taken off his middle finger and
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Speaker 1: plowed its way through the flesh of the forearm. Hugh
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Speaker 1: had a bullet in the shoulder. The doctor's wound was
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Speaker 1: the only serious one, he having been hit just above
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Speaker 1: the hip. One of the soldiers had been killed and
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Speaker 1: five wounded while fighting in the courtyard, leaving Don Vermont
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Speaker 1: and his son to question the girls as to what
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Speaker 1: had befallen them and to tell them how their rescue
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Speaker 1: had been brought about. The others went outside. Let's have
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Speaker 1: a blaze, Lieutenant sim said. Most of us want dressing
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Speaker 1: a bit, and the doctor is hit very hard. Let
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Speaker 1: us make a good, big fire out here on the terrace.
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Speaker 1: Then we shall see what we were doing. We were
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Speaker 1: in a smother of gunpowder smoke inside. The officer gave
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Speaker 1: an order, and the soldiers fetched out billets of wood
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Speaker 1: from the store and piled them on the fire on
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Speaker 1: the terrace, and soon a broad sheet of flame leapt up. Now, then,
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Speaker 1: let us look at the wounds, sim went on. Let
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Speaker 1: us lift you up and make you a little comfortable. Doctor.
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Speaker 1: I'm afraid that there is no doing anything with you
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Speaker 1: till we get you down to the town. All you've
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Speaker 1: got to do is lie quiet and drink, sim Hey,
13:52
Speaker 1: and drink. I'm as thirsty myself as if I had
13:55
Speaker 1: been lost on an Alkali plane. Bill, will you get
13:58
Speaker 1: us drink plenty of water with just a drop of
14:00
Speaker 1: spirit in it. There's sure to be plenty in the
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Speaker 1: house somewhere. Royston returned with a large jar of cold
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Speaker 1: water and a bottle of spirits, Only a few drops
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Speaker 1: of spirits. Sim If you don't want to get inflammation
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Speaker 1: in that hand of yours, what had I better do
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Speaker 1: for it? Doctor, Well, it would be better to have
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Speaker 1: that stump of the middle finger taken out altogether. I
14:20
Speaker 1: could do it for you if I could stand and
14:22
Speaker 1: had a knife of the right shape. Here as it is.
14:25
Speaker 1: You can't do better than wrap your hand up in
14:27
Speaker 1: plenty of cloths and keep them wet, and then put
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Speaker 1: your arm in a sling. What's yours, lightning, I'm hidden
14:33
Speaker 1: the shoulder. Doctor, I don't think that it is bleeding. Now, well,
14:37
Speaker 1: you had better get Bill to bathe it in hot
14:39
Speaker 1: water than lay a plug of cotton over the hole
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Speaker 1: and bandage it up. The doctor at the fort will
14:44
Speaker 1: get the ball out for you as soon as you
14:45
Speaker 1: get down there. He is a good man, they say,
14:47
Speaker 1: and anyhow he gets plenty of practice with pistol wounds
14:50
Speaker 1: at El Paso. Roys did his best for his two friends.
14:54
Speaker 1: Then they all sat quietly talking until the young officer
14:57
Speaker 1: came out from the house. We have been searched it
15:00
Speaker 1: from top to bottom, he said. There is a lot
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Speaker 1: of booty stored away. I want you to have a
15:04
Speaker 1: look at the two leaders of these scoundrels. They have
15:07
Speaker 1: both been shot. Don Ramon said that he believed they
15:10
Speaker 1: were the murderers of his son, and that two of
15:12
Speaker 1: you might recognize them if they were, as you did
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Speaker 1: a horse trade with them. Hugh and Broyce followed him
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Speaker 1: to the other side of the house, where the bodies
15:19
Speaker 1: of the brigands who had fallen had been brought out
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Speaker 1: and laid down. Two soldiers brought torches. I have no
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Speaker 1: doubt whatsoever that these are the men, Hugh said, after
15:28
Speaker 1: examining the bodies of the two leaders, who were placed
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Speaker 1: at a short distance from the rest them's the fellas,
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Speaker 1: Royce said, positively, I could swear to them anywhere. They
15:38
Speaker 1: are notorious scoundrels, the officer said, and have for years
15:42
Speaker 1: been the scourge of New Mexico. They were away for
15:45
Speaker 1: a time two years ago. We had made the place
15:47
Speaker 1: so hot for them that they had to quit. We
15:49
Speaker 1: learned that from some of their gang, whom we called.
15:52
Speaker 1: They were away nearly a year at least they were quiet.
15:55
Speaker 1: I suppose they carried on their games down in Texas
15:57
Speaker 1: till they had to leave there too, and then, thinking
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Speaker 1: the affair had blown over, they returned here. There has
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Speaker 1: been a reward of ten thousand dollars for their capture
16:05
Speaker 1: any time for the last five years. Properly that ought
16:09
Speaker 1: to be divided between you, as it is entirely your
16:11
Speaker 1: doing that they have been caught. But as the reward
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Speaker 1: says death or capture, I suppose my men will have
16:17
Speaker 1: to share it with you. That is right enough, sim
16:20
Speaker 1: Hallett said, it will give us three or four hundred
16:22
Speaker 1: dollars apiece, and that don't make a bad week's work anyhow.
16:26
Speaker 1: What don't you thinking of starting back, Lieutenant? And what
16:28
Speaker 1: are you going to do with this house here? I
16:30
Speaker 1: shall set fire to the house after we have got
16:32
Speaker 1: everything out of it. I guess it has been a
16:35
Speaker 1: den of brigands for the last ten years. I have
16:37
Speaker 1: sent four men down to keep guard at the mouth
16:39
Speaker 1: of the valley, and I expect we shall get all
16:41
Speaker 1: their horses in the morning. They must be somewhere about here.
16:45
Speaker 1: The prisoners will ride their own, and that will leave
16:47
Speaker 1: us twenty or more for carrying down the best part
16:49
Speaker 1: of the plunder. There is a lot of wine and
16:51
Speaker 1: other things that they have carried off from the haciendas
16:54
Speaker 1: that they plundered. I will send those down in carts
16:56
Speaker 1: with an escort of four of my men. Then I
16:59
Speaker 1: think we've better get a bed in one of the
17:01
Speaker 1: carts and send my mate here down upon it. He's
17:03
Speaker 1: got a bullet somewhere in the hip and won't be
17:05
Speaker 1: able to sit a horse. We will send him off
17:08
Speaker 1: the first thing in the morning. The officer said, there
17:10
Speaker 1: is one of my own wounded to send down that
17:12
Speaker 1: way too. I will go with them, as nurse sim said,
17:16
Speaker 1: get the cart to go straight through without a halt. Lieutenant.
17:19
Speaker 1: The sooner my mate is in the hands of your doctor,
17:21
Speaker 1: the better I will see about it. Now, the lieutenant said,
17:24
Speaker 1: no time shall be lost. I will send a sergeant
17:26
Speaker 1: and four men down to the village at once to
17:28
Speaker 1: requisition a cart and bring it here. It will be
17:30
Speaker 1: much better for them traveling at night. I will tell
17:33
Speaker 1: the men I send as escort to get hold of
17:35
Speaker 1: another cart in the morning and send them straight on.
17:38
Speaker 1: Thank you, Lieutenant. That will be the best plan by far.
17:41
Speaker 1: Don Ramon now came out of the house and joined
17:43
Speaker 1: the group. In the name of my children, their mother,
17:46
Speaker 1: and myself, I thank you most deeply, signors, for the
17:49
Speaker 1: noble way in which you have risked your lives for
17:51
Speaker 1: their rescue. Had it not been for you, God knows
17:54
Speaker 1: whether I should have seen my daughters again. For I
17:57
Speaker 1: know that no oaths would have bound those villains, and
18:00
Speaker 1: that when they had obtained the ransom, they would never
18:02
Speaker 1: have let my daughters free to give information that would
18:04
Speaker 1: have led to their capture. I shall always be your debtor,
18:08
Speaker 1: and the only drawback to my pleasure is that three
18:10
Speaker 1: of you have been wounded. The doctor here is the
18:14
Speaker 1: only one wounded. Seriously, sim Hallett said, my hand and
18:17
Speaker 1: arm will soon heal up, and the loss of a
18:19
Speaker 1: finger is no great odds anyway, I don't suppose Latin's
18:22
Speaker 1: shoulder will turn out worse than my arm. As for
18:25
Speaker 1: the doctor, he is hit hard, but he has been
18:27
Speaker 1: hit hard so many times and has pulled through it
18:30
Speaker 1: that I hope for the best. Signor Hugh don Ramon said,
18:34
Speaker 1: it was indeed a fortunate day for me when I
18:37
Speaker 1: question you concerning my son's horse, for it was to
18:40
Speaker 1: your advice and to your enlisting your friends on my
18:43
Speaker 1: behalf that I owe it chiefly that my daughters are
18:45
Speaker 1: with me this evening. I must leave it to their
18:48
Speaker 1: mother to thank you as you deserve. Two hours later,
18:51
Speaker 1: the doctor and one of the wounded soldiers were placed
18:53
Speaker 1: on a bed laid at the bottom of a cart
18:55
Speaker 1: and started under the escort of two soldiers, sim Hallett
18:58
Speaker 1: accompanying them. As the girls had expressed the greatest disinclination
19:02
Speaker 1: to remain in the house where they had been prisoners,
19:05
Speaker 1: and where so much blood had just been shed. They,
19:08
Speaker 1: with the rest of the party, returned with the sergeant
19:10
Speaker 1: and six soldiers carrying torches up the valley to the
19:13
Speaker 1: wood where the horses had been left. Here, two fires
19:16
Speaker 1: were soon blazing, and the girls were not long before
19:18
Speaker 1: they were asleep, wrapped in blankets that had been brought
19:21
Speaker 1: up from the house. The following morning, Hugh and Royce
19:24
Speaker 1: handed over their horses for the use of the girls,
19:26
Speaker 1: who were both accomplished horsewomen, and mounting the horses of
19:30
Speaker 1: sim and the doctor, they started with Don Ramon, his
19:33
Speaker 1: son and daughters. Fifteen miles before they got to al Paso,
19:36
Speaker 1: they passed the cart with the wounded men, and Hugh
19:39
Speaker 1: said he would ride into the fort to ensure the
19:41
Speaker 1: doctor being there when they arrived Royson he accompanied Don
19:45
Speaker 1: Ramon and his party to the gate of the hacienda,
19:47
Speaker 1: which they reached just at sunset. The Mexican was warm
19:51
Speaker 1: in his entreaties to Hugh to become his guest until
19:53
Speaker 1: his wound was healed, but he declined this on the
19:56
Speaker 1: ground that he should be well cared for at the
19:58
Speaker 1: fort and should have the surgeon always on hand, I
20:01
Speaker 1: shall be over the first thing in the morning to
20:03
Speaker 1: see you. Don Carlos said, I shall want my own
20:06
Speaker 1: face strapped up, and I warn you, if the doctor
20:08
Speaker 1: says you can be moved, I shall bring you back
20:10
Speaker 1: with me. Royce accompanied Hugh to the fort. The commandant
20:14
Speaker 1: was highly gratified when he heard of the complete success
20:17
Speaker 1: of the expedition, and still more so when he learned
20:19
Speaker 1: that the two notorious brigands for whom he and his
20:22
Speaker 1: troopers had so often searched in vain, were among the killed.
20:26
Speaker 1: Hugh was at once accommodated in the hospital, and the
20:29
Speaker 1: surgeon proceeded to examine his wound. It was so inflamed
20:32
Speaker 1: and swollen with the long ride. He said that no
20:35
Speaker 1: attempt could be made at present to extract the ball,
20:38
Speaker 1: and rest and quiet were absolutely necessary. Two hours later,
20:42
Speaker 1: the card arrived. The doctor was laid in a bed
20:45
Speaker 1: near that of Hugh, the third bed in the ward
20:47
Speaker 1: being allotted to sim Hollett. The doctor's wound was pronounced
20:50
Speaker 1: by the surgeon to be a very serious wound. It
20:54
Speaker 1: was some days before, under the influence of poultices and embrocations,
20:58
Speaker 1: the inflammation subsided to fiaiently for a search to be
21:01
Speaker 1: made for the bullet in Hugh's shoulder. The surgeon, however,
21:04
Speaker 1: was then successful in finding it embedded in the flesh
21:06
Speaker 1: behind the shoulder bone, and having found its position, he
21:10
Speaker 1: cut it out from behind. After this, Hugh's progress was rapid,
21:13
Speaker 1: and in a week he was out of bed with
21:15
Speaker 1: his arm in his sling. The doctor, contrary to the
21:18
Speaker 1: surgeon's expectations, also made fair progress. The bullet could not
21:22
Speaker 1: be found, and the surgeon, after one or two ineffectual attempts,
21:26
Speaker 1: decided that it would be better to allow it to
21:28
Speaker 1: remain where it was. The stump of Sim's finger was
21:31
Speaker 1: removed the morning after he came in, and the wound
21:34
Speaker 1: had almost completely healed by the time that Hugh was
21:36
Speaker 1: enabled to leave the hospital a month after entering it.
21:40
Speaker 1: Don Ramon and his son had ridden over every day
21:42
Speaker 1: to inquire after the invalids, and had seen that they
21:45
Speaker 1: were provided with every possible luxury, and he carried off
21:48
Speaker 1: Hugh to the hacienda as soon as the surgeon gave
21:51
Speaker 1: his consent to his making a short journey in the carriage.
21:54
Speaker 1: Donia Maria received him as warmly as if he had
21:56
Speaker 1: been a son of her own, and he had the
21:58
Speaker 1: greatest difficulty in persuading her that he did not require
22:01
Speaker 1: to be treated as an invalid, and was perfectly capable
22:04
Speaker 1: of doing everything for himself for a fortnight. He lived
22:07
Speaker 1: a life of luxurious idleness, doing absolutely nothing, begone going
22:12
Speaker 1: over in the carriage every day to see how the
22:13
Speaker 1: doctor was going on. Hughes saw that he was not
22:16
Speaker 1: maintaining the progress that he had at first made. He
22:19
Speaker 1: had but little fever or pain, but he lay quiet
22:21
Speaker 1: and silent, and seemed incapable of making any effort whatever.
22:25
Speaker 1: Sim Howett was very anxious about his comrade. He don't
22:29
Speaker 1: seem to me to try to get well, he said
22:31
Speaker 1: to Hugh. He looks to me like as if he
22:34
Speaker 1: thought he had done about enough and was ready to go.
22:37
Speaker 1: If one could rouse him up a bit, I believe
22:39
Speaker 1: he would pull round. He's gone through a lot, has
22:42
Speaker 1: the doctor, and I expect he thinks they ain't much
22:44
Speaker 1: worth living for. He just smiles when I speak to him,
22:47
Speaker 1: but he don't take no interest in things. Do you
22:50
Speaker 1: get talking with me when you go in lighton and
22:52
Speaker 1: asking about what we've been doing? And I will tell
22:55
Speaker 1: you some of the things he and I have gone
22:56
Speaker 1: through together, Maybe that may stir him up a bit.
23:00
Speaker 1: How long have you known him? Sim I came across
23:03
Speaker 1: him in forty nine. I came round by Panama, being
23:06
Speaker 1: one of the first lot to leave New York when
23:08
Speaker 1: the news of gold came. I had been away logging
23:11
Speaker 1: for some months and had come down at the end
23:12
Speaker 1: of the season with six months money in my pocket.
23:15
Speaker 1: I'd been saving up for a year or two and
23:17
Speaker 1: was going to put it all in partnership with a
23:19
Speaker 1: cousin of mine who undertook the building of peers and
23:21
Speaker 1: wharves and such like on the Hudson Well. The first
23:24
Speaker 1: news that met me when I came down to New
23:26
Speaker 1: York was that Jim had busted up and had gone
23:28
Speaker 1: out west. Some said, others that he had drowned hisself.
23:32
Speaker 1: I was sorry for Jim, but I was mighty glad
23:34
Speaker 1: that I hadn't put my pile in well. I was
23:37
Speaker 1: wondering what to start on next when the talk about
23:39
Speaker 1: gold began, and as soon as I learned there was
23:42
Speaker 1: no mistake about it, I went down to the wharf
23:44
Speaker 1: and took my passage down to the Isthmus. I'd been
23:47
Speaker 1: working about three months on the Yuba, when I came
23:49
Speaker 1: across the Doctor. I had seen him often afore we
23:52
Speaker 1: came to speak. If you were to see the Doctrine
23:54
Speaker 1: now for the first time, when he is just sitting
23:56
Speaker 1: quiet and talking that woman's sort of voice of his,
23:59
Speaker 1: and with those big blue eyes, you would think maybe
24:02
Speaker 1: he was kind of softy, wouldn't you. I dare say
24:05
Speaker 1: I might sim I saw him for the first time
24:07
Speaker 1: when he came up with you to take my part
24:09
Speaker 1: against that crowd of Mexicans. There didn't look anything soft
24:12
Speaker 1: about him then, And though I was struck with his
24:14
Speaker 1: gentle way of talking, when I met him afterwards, I
24:17
Speaker 1: knew so well there was lots of fight in him
24:20
Speaker 1: that it didn't strike me he was anything of a softy.
24:22
Speaker 1: As you say, no, well, the doctor has changed since
24:26
Speaker 1: I met him, But at that time he did look
24:28
Speaker 1: a softy, and most people put him down as being
24:31
Speaker 1: short of wits. He used just to go about the
24:34
Speaker 1: camp as if he paid no attention to what were
24:36
Speaker 1: going on. Sometimes he would go down to a bit
24:39
Speaker 1: of a claim he had taken up and wash out
24:41
Speaker 1: the gravel, just singing to himself, not as though it
24:44
Speaker 1: were to amuse him, but as though he did not know,
24:46
Speaker 1: as he were singing in a sort of a curious
24:49
Speaker 1: off sort of voice. But mostly he went about doing
24:52
Speaker 1: odd sorts of jobs. If there were a man down
24:55
Speaker 1: with the fever, the doctor would just walk into his
24:57
Speaker 1: tent and take him in hand and look after him,
24:59
Speaker 1: and when he got better, would just drift away, and
25:01
Speaker 1: like enough, not seemed to know the man the next
25:03
Speaker 1: time he met him. Well, he got to be cold, softy,
25:07
Speaker 1: but men allowed, as he were a good fella and
25:09
Speaker 1: was just as choke full of kindness as his brain
25:11
Speaker 1: would hold. And as he walked about, any chap who
25:14
Speaker 1: was taking his grub would ask him to share it,
25:16
Speaker 1: for it was certain that what gold he got wouldn't
25:19
Speaker 1: buy enough to keep a cat alive, much less a man. Well,
25:22
Speaker 1: it was this way. I got down with fever from
25:25
Speaker 1: working in the water under a hot sun. I hadn't
25:28
Speaker 1: any particular mates that time, and were living in a
25:30
Speaker 1: bit of a tent made of a couple of blankets.
25:33
Speaker 1: And though the boys looked in and did any job
25:35
Speaker 1: that were wanted, I was mighty bad and went off
25:37
Speaker 1: my head for a bit. And the first thing I
25:39
Speaker 1: seen when I came round, was Softy in the tent
25:42
Speaker 1: tended me. If he had been a woman and I
25:44
Speaker 1: had been his son, he couldn't have looked after me. Tenderer,
25:48
Speaker 1: I found when I began to get round he had
25:50
Speaker 1: been getting meat from me from the boys and making soups.
25:53
Speaker 1: But as soon as I got round enough to know
25:55
Speaker 1: what was going on, I pointed out to him the
25:57
Speaker 1: place where I had hid my dust, and he took
25:59
Speaker 1: charge of it and got me what was wanted till
26:01
Speaker 1: I picked up and got middling strong again. As soon
26:05
Speaker 1: as I did, Softie went off to look after someone
26:07
Speaker 1: else who was bad. But I think he took to
26:10
Speaker 1: me more than he took to anyone else, for he
26:12
Speaker 1: would come in and sit with me sometimes in the evening,
26:15
Speaker 1: and I found that he weren't really short of wits
26:17
Speaker 1: as people thought, but would talk on most things just
26:19
Speaker 1: as straight as anyone. He didn't seem to have much
26:22
Speaker 1: interest in the digging, which were about the only thing
26:25
Speaker 1: we thought of. But when I asked him what he
26:27
Speaker 1: had come to the mining camps for, if it wasn't
26:29
Speaker 1: to get gold, he just smiled gently and said he
26:32
Speaker 1: had a mission. What the mission were? He never said
26:35
Speaker 1: and I concluded that though he was all there and
26:38
Speaker 1: other things, his brain had somehow got mixed on that point,
26:41
Speaker 1: unless it were that his mission was to look after
26:43
Speaker 1: the sick. Well, we were a rough lot in forty nine,
26:47
Speaker 1: you bet. Lynch Law hadn't begun, and there was rous
26:50
Speaker 1: and fights of the west kind. Our camp had been
26:53
Speaker 1: pretty quiet until someone set up a saloon and gambling
26:56
Speaker 1: shop and some pretty tough characters came. That was just
26:59
Speaker 1: as I were getting about again, though not able to
27:01
Speaker 1: work regular It weren't long before two fellas became the
27:05
Speaker 1: terror of the camp, and they went on so bad
27:07
Speaker 1: that the boys began to talk among themselves that they
27:09
Speaker 1: must be put down, but no one cared about taking
27:12
Speaker 1: the lead. They'd shot four fellas in the first week
27:15
Speaker 1: after they came. I hadn't seen Softy for ten days.
27:19
Speaker 1: He had been away nuts and a woodman as had
27:21
Speaker 1: his leg broke by the fall of a tree. I
27:24
Speaker 1: was sitting outside my tent with the chap they called
27:26
Speaker 1: Red Sam. We had a bottle of brandy between us
27:29
Speaker 1: when them two fellas came along, and one of them
27:31
Speaker 1: just stooped and took up the bottle and put it
27:33
Speaker 1: to his lips and drank half of it off, and
27:36
Speaker 1: then passed it to the other without saying by your
27:38
Speaker 1: leave or anything. Red Sam said, well, I'm blowed. When
27:43
Speaker 1: the fella who had drunk whipped out his bowie. Six
27:45
Speaker 1: shooters had hardly come in then, and before Red Sam
27:48
Speaker 1: could get fairly to his feet, he struck him under
27:51
Speaker 1: the ribs. Well, I jumped up and drew my bowie,
27:54
Speaker 1: for it were my quarrel, you see, he made at me.
27:57
Speaker 1: I caught his wrist as the knife was coming down,
27:59
Speaker 1: and he caught mine. But I were like a child
28:01
Speaker 1: in his arms. I thought it were all over with
28:04
Speaker 1: me when I heard a shout, and Softie sprang on
28:06
Speaker 1: the man like a wildcat and drove his knife right
28:09
Speaker 1: into him, and he went down like a log. The
28:12
Speaker 1: other shouted out an oath and drew softly faced him.
28:15
Speaker 1: It were the strangest sight I had ever seen. His
28:18
Speaker 1: hat had fallen off, and his hair, which were just
28:21
Speaker 1: as white then as it is now, fell back from
28:23
Speaker 1: his face, and his eyes that looked so soft and gentle,
28:27
Speaker 1: were just blazing. It came across me then as it
28:30
Speaker 1: had come across me many a time since that. He
28:33
Speaker 1: looked like a lion going to spring, and I think Buckskin,
28:37
Speaker 1: as the man called himself, who had often boasted as
28:39
Speaker 1: he didn't fear a living thing, was frightened. They stood
28:42
Speaker 1: facing each other for a moment, and then Softie sprang
28:45
Speaker 1: at him. He was so quick that instead of Buckskin's
28:48
Speaker 1: knife catching him as he intended just in front of
28:51
Speaker 1: the shoulder and going straight down to the heart, it
28:53
Speaker 1: caught him behind the shoulder and laid open his back
28:56
Speaker 1: pretty near down to the waist. But there were no
28:59
Speaker 1: mistake about softfty stroke. It went fair between the ribs,
29:02
Speaker 1: and Buckskin fell back dead with Softy on the top
29:05
Speaker 1: of him. Well after that it were my turn to
29:08
Speaker 1: nust the doctor, for no one called him Softy. After that.
29:11
Speaker 1: He were laid up for over a month, and I
29:13
Speaker 1: think that letting out of blood did him good and
29:16
Speaker 1: cleared his brain. Like when he got well, he were
29:19
Speaker 1: just as you see him now, just as clear and
29:21
Speaker 1: as sensible a chap as you could see. Why. He
29:23
Speaker 1: has got as much sense as you would find in
29:25
Speaker 1: any man west of Missouri. And he's the truest mate
29:28
Speaker 1: and the kindest heart. I've never seen the doctor out
29:31
Speaker 1: of temper, for you can't call it being out of temper.
29:34
Speaker 1: When he rises up and goes for a man, that
29:36
Speaker 1: is his mission. He has never got that out of
29:38
Speaker 1: his head and never will until he does. He can
29:41
Speaker 1: put up with a deal, the doctor can. But when
29:44
Speaker 1: a man gets too bad for anything, then it just
29:46
Speaker 1: seems to him as he has got a call to
29:48
Speaker 1: wipe him out, and he wipes him out. You bet
29:51
Speaker 1: you don't want lynch law. Where the doctor is. He
29:54
Speaker 1: is a judge and a posse all to himself, and
29:57
Speaker 1: for years he was the terror of hard characters down
29:59
Speaker 1: in California. They was just scared of him. And if
30:02
Speaker 1: a downright bad man came to a camp and heard
30:04
Speaker 1: the Doctor were there, he would in general clear straight
30:07
Speaker 1: out again. He has been shot and cut all over
30:10
Speaker 1: as the doctor, and half a dozen times it seemed
30:13
Speaker 1: to me I should never bring him round again. It
30:16
Speaker 1: ain't no use talking to him and asking him why
30:18
Speaker 1: he should take on his self to be a judge
30:20
Speaker 1: and jury. When it's all over, he always says in
30:23
Speaker 1: his gentle way that he is sorry about it, and
30:25
Speaker 1: I do think he is, and he says he will
30:27
Speaker 1: attend to his own business in future. But the next
30:30
Speaker 1: time it is just the same thing again. There ain't
30:33
Speaker 1: no holding him. You might as well try to stop
30:35
Speaker 1: a mountain lion when he smells blood. At such times
30:38
Speaker 1: he ain't his self. If you once seen him, you
30:40
Speaker 1: would never forget it. There were a British painting fellow
30:43
Speaker 1: who were traveling about taking pictures for a book. He
30:46
Speaker 1: were in camp once when the doctor's dander rose, and
30:48
Speaker 1: he went for a man. And the British are said
30:50
Speaker 1: afterwards to me, it were like the berserk rage. I
30:53
Speaker 1: never heard tell of the perserks, but from what the
30:56
Speaker 1: old chap said, I guess they lived in the old time. Wow.
30:59
Speaker 1: If they were like the doctor, I tell you that
31:01
Speaker 1: I shouldn't like to get into a muss with them. No, sir,
31:04
Speaker 1: do you know what the doctor's history is? Sim Yes,
31:08
Speaker 1: I do know, he said, but I don't suppose anyone
31:10
Speaker 1: else does. Maybe he will tell you someday if he
31:13
Speaker 1: ever gets over this. Oh, I don't want to know.
31:16
Speaker 1: If it is a secret, sim well, there ain't no
31:18
Speaker 1: secret in it, Lightning. But he don't talk about it,
31:21
Speaker 1: and of course I don't. It is a sort of
31:23
Speaker 1: thing that has happened to other men. And maybe after
31:26
Speaker 1: a bit they've got over it. But the doctor, ain't
31:28
Speaker 1: you see, he ain't a common man. He has got
31:30
Speaker 1: the heart of a woman, and for a time it
31:32
Speaker 1: pretty nigh crazed him. End of Chapter nineteen read by
31:36
Speaker 1: Dorri Smith.