y twenty-four hours after the stage was due there. It
was one of those cases wherein all depended upon shrewdness and
strategy, and where nothing was to be gained by mere force of arms. The
expectation was that the Apaches would hold the boy at an enormous
ransom, or probably as a hostage for the safety of such of their
blood-stained chiefs as were in the hands of the Americans. This will
explain the haste of the hunter, and his anxiety to have the
companionship of Tom, who had tramped so many hundred miles through the
Indian country.
Ten minutes after reading the dispatch Tom had fastened on the
accoutrements of his mustang and was galloping away to the northeast on
the trail of his friend. He did not pause even to hunt a little game,
after having been so long without food. He was accustomed to privation
and hardship, and, if it were required, was good for twenty-four hours
longer without permitting a particle of food to pass his lips.
He was leaving the treacherous Gila far to the south. It may be said
that his course along this stream, on his return from the Apache
country, was like the base of a triangle, while he was now following the
hypothenuse. This latter route was preferable in every sense to that
which he had been using for the last few days. The country itself was
more varied, better watered and abounded with vegetation, its only
drawback being the ever-present danger from the marauding redskins.
Another advantage that belonged to the traveler over this path was that
it was really a path--so clearly defined that a stranger could follow it
without trouble. It was, in fact, the trail between Fort Havens and
Santa Fe, over which, at certain intervals, messengers were regularly
dispatched back and forth.
The money with which the soldiers at Fort Havens and several other posts
were paid came down by express from Sante Fe over this road, in charge
of a proper escort, and the coach which started from that city with
little Ned Chadmund carried also one hundred thousand dollars in crisp,
crackling greenbacks stowed away in the bottom of the vehicle.
Consequently it will be seen that the Apaches, who understood very well
the value of these printed slips, had every inciting cause to organize
an overwhelming expedition against the coach and its escort.
The day is waning, but his steed was fresh and fleet, and had enjoyed
such a long rest, that it would be a mercy to him to put him through his
best paces. Tom did
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