Tracks Of A Rolling Stone by Henry J. Coke (free e reader txt) 📖
- Author: Henry J. Coke
Book online «Tracks Of A Rolling Stone by Henry J. Coke (free e reader txt) 📖». Author Henry J. Coke
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 126Not 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 127Sodden 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 128Across 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
Comments (0)