Tracks Of A Rolling Stone - Henry J. Coke (novels in english .TXT) 📗

Quantity.  'We Shall See,' Said

I; And By Degrees We Dropped Asleep.

 

 

 

Chapter 24 Pg 125

 

Before The First Streak Of Dawn I Was Up And Off To Hunt For

The Horses And Mules,  Which Were Now Allowed To Roam In

Search Of Feed.  On My Return,  The Men Were Afoot,  Taking It

Easy As Usual.  Some Artemisia Bushes Were Ablaze For The

Morning's Coffee.  No One But Fred Had A Suspicion Of The

Coming Crisis.  I Waited Till Each One Had Lighted His Pipe;

Then Quietly Requested The Lot To Gather The Provision Packs

Together,  As It Was Desirable To Take Stock,  And Make Some

Estimate Of Demand And Supply.  Nothing Loth,  The Men Obeyed. 

'Now,' Said I,  'Turn All The Hams Out Of Their Bags,  And Let

Us See How Long They Will Last.'  When Done:  'What!' I

Exclaimed,  With Well - Feigned Dismay,  'That's Not All, 

Surely?  There Are Not Enough Here To Last A Fortnight. 

Where Are The Rest?   No More?  Why,  We Shall Starve.'  The

Men's Faces Fell; But Never A Murmur,  Nor A Sound.  'Turn Out

The Biscuit Bags.  Here,  Spread These Empty Ham Sacks,  And

Pour The Biscuit On To Them.  Don't Lose Any Of The Dust.  We

Shall Want Every Crumb,  Mouldy Or Not.'  The Gloomy Faces

Grew Gloomier.  What's To Be Done?'  Silence.  'The First

Thing,  As I Think All Will Agree,  Is To Divide What Is Left

Into Nine Equal Shares - That's Our Number Now - And Let Each

One Take His Ninth Part,  To Do What He Likes With.  You

Yourselves Shall Portion Out The Shares,  And Then Draw Lots

For Choice.'

 

This Presentation Of The Inevitable Compelled Submission.  

The Whole,  Amounting To Twelve Light Mule Packs (It Had Been

Fifteen Fairly Heavy Ones After Our Purchases At Fort

Laramie),  Was Still A Goodly Bulk To Look At.  The Nine

Peddling Dividends,  When Seen Singly,  Were Not Quite What The

Shareholders Had Anticipated.

 

Why Were They Still Silent?  Why Did They Not Rebel,  And

Visit Their Wrath Upon The Directors?  Because They Knew In

Their Hearts That We Had Again And Again Predicted The

Catastrophe.  They Knew We Had Warned Them Scores And Scores

Of Times Of The Consequences Of Their Wilful And Reckless

Improvidence.  They Were Stupefied,  Aghast,  At The Ruin They

Had Brought Upon Themselves.  To Turn Upon Us,  To Murder Us, 

And Divide Our Three Portions Between Them,  Would Have Been

Suicidal.  In The First Place,  Our Situation Was As Desperate

As Theirs.  We Should Fight For Our Lives; And It Was Not

Certain,  In Fact It Was Improbable,  That Either Jacob Or

William Would Side Against Us.  Without Our Aid - They Had 

Chapter 24 Pg 126

Not A Compass Among Them - They Were Helpless.  The Instinct

Of Self-Preservation Bade Them Trust To Our Good Will.

 

So Far,  Then,  The Game Was Won.  Almost Humbly They Asked

What We Advised Them To Do.  The Answer Was Prompt And

Decisive:  'Get Back To Fort Laramie As Fast As You Can.' 

'But How?  Were They To Walk?  They Couldn't Carry Their

Packs.'  'Certainly Not; We Were English Gentlemen,  And Would

Behave As Such.  Each Man Should Have His Own Mule; Each, 

Into The Bargain,  Should Receive His Pay According To

Agreement.' They Were Agreeably Surprised.  I Then Very

Strongly Counselled Them Not To Travel Together.  Past

Experience Proved How Dangerous This Must Be.  To Avoid The

Temptation,  Even The Chance,  Of This Happening,  The Surest

And Safest Plan Would Be For Each Party To Start Separately, 

And Not Leave Till The Last Was Out Of Sight.  For My Part I

Had Resolved To Go Alone.

 

It Was A Melancholy Day For Everyone.  And To Fill The Cup Of

Wretchedness To Overflowing,  The Rain,  Beginning With A

Drizzle,  Ended With A Downpour.  Consultations Took Place

Between Men Who Had Not Spoken To One Another For Weeks. 

Fred Offered To Go On,  At All Events To Salt Lake City,  If

Nelson The Canadian And Jacob Would Go With Him.  Both

Eagerly Closed With The Offer.  They Would Be So Much Nearer

To The 'Diggings,' And Were,  Moreover,  Fond Of Their Leader. 

Louis Would Go Back To Fort Laramie.  Potter And Morris Would

Cross The Mountains,  And Strike South For The Mormon City If

Their Provisions And Mules Threatened To Give Out.  William

Would Try His Luck Alone In The Same Way.  And There Remained

No One But Samson,  Undecided And Unprovided For.  The Strong

Weak Man Sat On The Ground In The Steady Rain,  Smoking Pipe

After Pipe; Watching First The Preparations,  Then The

Departures,  One After The Other,  At Intervals Of An Hour Or

So.  First The Singles,  Then The Pair; Then,  Late In The

Afternoon,  Fred And His Two Henchmen.

 

It Is Needless To Depict Our Separation.  I Do Not Think

Either Expected Ever To See The Other Again.  Yet We Parted

After The Manner Of Trueborn Britons,  As If We Should Meet

Again In A Day Or Two.  'Well,  Good-Bye,  Old Fellow.  Good

Luck.  What A Beastly Day,  Isn't It?'  But Emotions Are Only

Partially Suppressed By Subduing Their Expression.  The

Hearts Of Both Were Full.

 

I Watched The Gradual Disappearance Of My Dear Friend,  And

Thought With A Sigh Of My Loss In Jacob And Nelson,  The Two

Best Men Of The Band.  It Was A Comfort To Reflect That They

Had Joined Fred.  Jacob Especially Was Full Of Resource;

Nelson Of Energy And Determination.  And The Courage And Cool

Judgment Of Fred,  And His Presence Of Mind In Emergencies, 

Were All Pledges For The Safety Of The Trio.

 

As They Vanished Behind A Distant Bluff,  I Turned To The 

Chapter 24 Pg 127

Sodden Wreck Of The Deserted Camp,  And Began Actively To Pack

My Mules.  Samson Seemed Paralysed By Imbecility.

 

'What Had I Better Do?' He Presently Asked,  Gazing With Dull

Eyes At His Two Mules And Two Horses.

 

'I Don't Care What You Do.  It Is Nothing To Me.  You Had

Better Pack Your Mules Before It Is Dark,  Or You May Lose

Them.'

 

'I May As Well Go With You,  I Think.  I Don't Care Much About

Going Back To Laramie.'

 

He Looked Miserable.  I Was So.  I Had Held Out Under A Long

And Heavy Strain.  Parting With Fred Had,  For The Moment, 

Staggered My Resolution.  I Was Sick At Heart.  The Thought

Of Packing Two Mules Twice A Day,  Single-Handed,  Weakened As

I Was By Illness,  Appalled Me.  And Though Ashamed Of The

Perversity Which Had Led Me To Fling Away The Better And

Accept The Worse,  I Yielded.

 

'Very Well Then.  Make Haste.  Get Your Traps Together.  I'll

Look After The Horses.'

 

It Took More Than An Hour Before The Four Mules Were Ready. 

Like A Fool,  I Left Samson To Tie The Led Horses In A String, 

While I Did The Same With The Mules.  He Started,  Leading The

Horses.  I Followed With The Mule Train Some Minutes Later. 

Our Troubles Soon Began.  The Two Spare Horses Were Nearly As

Wild As The Mules.  I Had Not Got Far When I Discerned

Through The Rain A Kicking And Plunging And General

Entanglement Of The Lot Ahead Of Me.  Samson Had Fastened The

Horses Together With Slip Knots; And They Were All Doing

Their Best To Strangle One Another And Themselves.  To Leave

The Mules Was Dangerous,  Yet Two Men Were Required To Release

The Maddened Horses.  At Last The Labour Was Accomplished;

And Once More The Van Pushed On With Distinct Instructions As

To The Line Of March,  It Being Now Nearly Dark.  The Mules

Had Naturally Vanished In The Gloom; And By The Time I Was

Again In My Saddle,  Samson Was - I Knew Not Where.  On And On

I Travelled,  Far Into The Night.  But Failing To Overtake My

Companion,  And Taking For Granted That He Had Missed His Way, 

I Halted When I Reached A Stream,  Threw Off The Packs,  Let

The Animals Loose,  Rolled Myself In My Blanket,  And Shut My

Eyes Upon A Trying Day.

 

Nothing Happens But The Unexpected.  Daylight Woke Me. 

Samson,  Still In His Rugs,  Was But A Couple Of Hundred Yards

Further Up The Stream.  In The Afternoon Of The Third Day We

Fell In With William.  He Had Cut Himself A Long Willow Wand

And Was Fishing For Trout,  Of Which He Had Caught Several In

The Upper Reaches Of The Sweetwater.  He Threw Down His Rod, 

Hastened To Welcome Our Arrival,  And At Once Begged Leave To

Join Us.  He Was Already Sick Of Solitude.  He Had Come 

Chapter 24 Pg 128

Across Potter And Morris,  Who Had Left Him That Morning. 

They Had Been Visited By Wolves In The Night,  (I Too Had Been

Awakened By Their Howlings,) And Poor William Did Not Relish

The Thought Of The Mountains Alone,  With His One Little White

Mule - Which He Called 'Cream.'  He Promised To Do His Utmost

To Help With The Packing,  And 'Not Cost Us A Cent.'  I Did

Not Tell Him How My Heart Yearned Towards Him,  And How

Miserably My Courage Had Oozed Away Since We Parted,  But Made

A Favour Of His Request,  And Granted It.  The Gain,  So Long

As It Lasted,  Was Incalculable.

 

The Summit Of The South Pass Is Between 8000 And 9000 Feet

Above The Level Of The Gulf Of Mexico.  The Pass Itself Is

Many Miles Broad,  Undulating On The Surface,  But Not

Abruptly.  The Peaks Of The Wind River Chain,  Immediately To

The North,  Are Covered With Snow; And As We Gradually Got

Into The Misty Atmosphere We Felt The Cold Severely.  The

Lariats - Made Of Raw Hide - Became Rods Of Ice; And The Poor

Animals,  Whose Backs Were Masses Of Festering Raws,  Suffered

Terribly From Exposure.  It Was Interesting To Come Upon

Proofs Of The 'Divide' Within A Mile Of The Most Elevated

Point In The Pass.  From The Hudson To This