The Quest of the Four: A Story of the Comanches and Buena Vista. Altsheler Joseph Alexander

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СКАЧАТЬ in shape, and securely covered withbuffalo hides. When a warrior fell seriously ill, he wasseated in this lodge, beside several heated stone ovens, onwhich water was thrown in profusion. Then, while adense, hot vapor arose, the shaman, or medicine man, practiced incantations, while men outside made music onwhistles or the Indian drums. The hot bath was ofteneffective, but the Comanche ascribed at least a part ofthe cure to the medicine man's incantations. YoungComanche men, also, often took a vapor bath before goingon the war path, thinking that it had power to protectthem from wounds.

      Then Philip saw to the right a far larger buildingthan that of the vapor bath, although it was made ofdressed skins with just enough poles to support it. Thiswas the medicine lodge of the Comanche village, a buildingused for important purposes, some of which Phil wasto learn soon.

      The boy did not doubt that his comrade had beentaken, and, unless killed, was even now a captive in theComanche village. He might be held in that hugemedicine lodge, and the boy's resolution strengthened to thetemper of steel. He could not go back to the trainwithout Bill Breakstone; so he would rescue him. He didnot yet have any idea how, but he would find a way.There were depths of courage in his nature of which hehimself did not know, and springing from this couragewas the belief that he would succeed.

      While he yet lay in the covert he saw a band ofIndians, about a dozen in number, riding up the valley.They were apparently visitors, but they were welcomedwith loud cries. The leader of the band, a large manwith brilliant feathers in his hair, replied with a shout. IThen a horseman rode forth to meet him. Even at thedistance Phil recognized the horseman as Black Panther.He, too, was arrayed in his finest, and, as a great crowdgathered, the two chiefs slowly approached each other.When their horses were side by side, Black Pantherleaned over in his saddle, put his head on the other'sshoulder, clasped his arms around his chest, and gavehim a tremendous squeeze. The stranger returned thesalute in kind, and then the two, amid great shouts ofapproval, rode among the lodges, disappearing fromPhil's sight.

      Phil watched awhile longer, but he saw nothingexcept the ordinary life of the village. Then he went backto the glen in which the horses were tethered. They werestill grazing, and Bill Breakstone had not returned. Philled them down to a little brook, let them drink, and then, after some thought, took off the lariats, coiled themaround the saddles, and turned the animals loose. Hebelieved they would stay in the glen or near it, as thepasturage was good, and the water plentiful, and thatthey could be found when needed.

      Having attended to the horses, he returned to theedge of the forest and sat himself down to think out theplan of his great adventure.

      It was his intention to enter the Comanche villagewithout detection, and, hard as such a task seemed tohim, it was even harder in reality. No race more warythan the Comanches ever lived. Besides the boys whohabitually watched the ponies, they had regular details ofwarriors as herdsmen. Other details served as sentriesabout the village, and the adjacent heights were alwaysoccupied by scouts. All these guards were maintainednight and day. Phil could see some of them nowpatrolling, and, knowing that any attempt of his would beimpossible in the daylight, he waited patiently for night.He had with him enough food to last for a day or two, and, choosing a place in the dense covert, he lay down.He called up now all the wilderness lore of Breakstone,Arenberg, Middleton, and the others in the train. Heknew that he must restrain all impulsiveness until theappointed time, and that he must lie without motion lestthe keen eyes of wandering warriors should see the bushesabove him moving in a direction other than that of thewind. He also laid his rifle parallel with his body, inthe position in which it could be used most quickly, andloaded the pistol. It was hardest of all to lie perfectlystill. He wished to turn over, to crawl to a new place, and his bones fairly ached, but he restrained himself.Naturally a youth of strength and determination, hismind took the mastery over his body, and held it fastand motionless among the bushes.

      It was well that he controlled himself so completely.Indians came near the edge of the woods, and once someboys passed, driving a herd of ponies. But he croucheda little closer, and they went on. The day was fearfullylong. The high sun poured down a shower of verticalbeams that reached him even in the shelter of the bushes.The perspiration stood out on his brow, and his collarclung to his neck. He envied the freedom of theComanches in the villages and the easy way in whichthey went about the pleasure of savage life. Morewarriors, evidently hunters, came in. Some bore portions ofthe buffalo, and others were loaded with wild turkeys.

      In these hard hours the boy learned much. He hadpassed safely through battle. But there one was borneup by the thrill and excitement of the charge, the firingand shouting and the comradeship of his fellows. Herehe was alone, silent and waiting. Enduring such as that, his will achieved new powers. A single day saw themental growth of a year or two.

      The sun passed the zenith and crept slowly down thewestern heavens. Welcome shadows appeared in theeast, and the far lodges of the Comanches grew misty.Phil thought now that the village would sink into quiet, but he noticed instead a great bustle, and many peoplegoing about. Squaws bore torches which made a brightcore of flame in the increasing dusk, and Phil was quitesure now that something unusual was going to occur. Itseemed to him that the whole population of the villagewas gathering about the great medicine lodge. It mustbe the beginning of some important ceremony, and thetime to enter the Comanche village was propitious. Heinferred that on such an occasion the guard would berelaxed, at least in part, and as he heard the sound ofhundreds of voices chanting monotonously he preparedfor his great adventure.

      The twilight faded, and the night came in its place, thick and dark. The sound of many voices, some singing, some talking, came clearly through the crisp, dryair. The core of light before the medicine lodgeincreased, and, by its radiance, he saw dusky figureshastening toward it to join the great group gathered there.

      Phil took off his cap and hid it in the bushes. Hewould be bareheaded like the Comanches, wishing to lookas much like them as possible. Fortunately his hair hadgrown somewhat long, and his face was deeply tanned.Once he thought of stripping to the waist in Comanchefashion, but his body, protected from the sun, was white, and he would be detected instantly.

      He spent a little time flexing and stretching hismuscles, because, when he first rose to his feet, he couldscarcely stand, and the blood, choked up in the arteriesand veins, tingled for lack of circulation. But thestiffness and pain soon departed, and he felt stronger thanever before in his life. Then he started.

      He advanced boldly into the plain, bent very low, stopping at times to look and listen, and, also, to resthimself. More than once he lay flat upon the groundand allowed his muscles to relax. Once he saw upon hisright two Indian warriors standing upon a knoll. Theywere a part of the night guard, and their figures wereoutlined duskily against the dusky sky. Their faces werenot disclosed. But Phil knew that they were watching-watchingwith all the effectiveness of eye and ear forwhich the Indian is famous. At this point he crawled, and, in his crawling, he was so nearly flat upon hisstomach that his advance was more like a serpent's than thatof anything else.

      He left the patrol behind, and then he saw another onhis left, and much nearer to him, two more warriors, whodid not occupy any knoll, but who merely walked backand forth on the flat plain. They were between him andthe great fire, and he saw them very distinctly, tall menof light copper color, with high cheek-bones and longblack hair. Both were armed with rifles, of which theComanches were beginning to obtain a supply, and theirfaces in the glow of the firelight seemed very savage andvery cruel to Phil. Now he flattened himself outentirely, and moved forward in a slow series of writhings, until he had passed them. There was an icy rim aroundhis heart until he left these two behind, but when theywere gone in the darkness his courage leaped up anew.

      He now reached the eastern end of the village andcrept among the lodges. They were all deserted. Theiroccupants had gone to witness the ceremony that was nowat hand, whatever it might be. Not a woman, not achild was left. Phil stood up straight, and it was animmense relief to him to do so. It was a relief to the spiritas well as the body. He felt like a human being again, and not some creeping animal, a human being who standsupon his two feet, a human being who has a brain СКАЧАТЬ