From the open mud fireplace he picked a coal.
Outside, the rain, faithful to the prophecy of the wide-ringed
sun, beat fitfully against the roof.
"That was the closest call I ever had," said he at last.
"But, Uncle Jim," we cried in a confused chorus, "how did you get
away? What did the Indians do to you? Who rescued you?"
Uncle Jim chuckled.
"The first man I saw sitting at that fire," said he, "was
Lieutenant Price of the United States Army, and by
him was Tom Horn."
"'What's this?' he asks, and Horn talks to the Injins in Apache.
"'They say they've caught Maria,' translates Horn back again.
"'Maria-nothing!' says Lieutenant Price. 'This is Jim Fox. I know
him.'"
"So they turned me loose. It seems the troops had driven off
the renegades an hour before."
"And the Indians who caught you, Uncle Jim? You said they were
Indians."
"Were Tonto Basin Apaches," explained the old man--"government
scouts under Tom Horn."
CHAPTER TWO
THE EMIGRANTS
After the rain that had held us holed up at the Double R over one
day, we discussed what we should do next.
"The flats will be too boggy for riding, and anyway the cattle
will be in the high country," the Cattleman summed up the
situation.
Pages:
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31