CHAPTER XXVIII—THE RETURN

In spite of the efforts of the scout, two days elapsed before any signs of the immediate presence of the thief were discovered. And even then he was not positive that the huge Rat was near at hand.

“I think he’s gone,” suggested Reuben.

“Did you have any question about that?” laughed Kit Carson quietly. “That he had ‘gone’ was the reason why we started after him.”

“Yes, but I think he’s gone where we can’t find him.”

Carson smiled as he shook his head, but made no response to the discouraged lad.

An Indian village was located in the valley not far ahead of them. The signs which had aroused the interest of Kit Carson had been the discovery of the bones and part of the hide of a horse which had been left on the sands by its border. “That’s one of our horses,” said the scout quietly to Reuben.

“Is it?” inquired the younger scout as he quickly jumped from his horse and began to investigate the remains of the unfortunate animal. “I could not say,” he said at last when he arose and resumed his seat in the saddle.

“I am sure it is,” said Kit Carson in a low voice, “and we shall find that the Indians either are having a feast on horseflesh, or that they have just finished one. The best plan, Reuben, will be for you to stay here while I go alone into the village.”

Reuben glanced nervously about him, for his confidence in his own ability to protect himself in case he should be attacked was not strong. However, he made no reference to his own feelings and watched his companion as he slowly rode toward the wigwams, the tops of which could be seen in the distance.

Two hours passed before Kit Carson returned to his companion. At first the scout was not inclined to relate what had befallen him in his visit. In a brief time, however, he said: “I found the Indians all friendly.”

“Did you?” inquired Reuben. “Were they having a feast?”

“Yes.”

“Didn’t they object to your interrupting them?”

“No. I found them all friendly, as I said. Indeed, the chief of the village is a cousin of my wife. What horse do you suppose they have been eating?”

“Not Black Jack?” demanded Reuben, startled by the suggested question.

Kit Carson nodded his head to indicate that the beautiful animal had indeed been the one which had provided the feast for the Indians.

“Why did they do that? How did it happen?”

“It seems that when Rat came into the village the black horse had broken a leg. It was just able to drag itself along.”

“Was Rat there?”

“He was, but he isn’t now.”

“What has happened to him?”

Kit Carson smiled slightly as he looked keenly into the face of his angry friend, and then he said: “I advised him to leave.”

“And he left?”

“He did.”

“Did you do anything to him?”

“Nothing except to advise him to depart. I am glad to say that to all appearances he seemed to be willing to follow my advice. He decided, however, to leave our furs behind him.”

“Where are they now?”

“They are in the village and I can get them any time I want them.”

“What did Rat have to say for himself?”

“Nothing much. He tried at first to explain that it was all a mistake, that he didn’t know the skins belonged to us, and when he found them he thought it was a great find and he would make away with them himself.”

“What did he have to say about Black Jack?”

“He claimed that Black Jack was outside the camp and that he didn’t intend to run away with him. He was going to bring him back just as soon as he disposed of the furs. I have just come back to tell you, Reuben, that I’m not going back to camp just now. Do you think you can find your way alone?”

“Yes. Why don’t you want me to stay with you?”

Kit Carson shook his head as he said in a low voice: “It will be better, Reuben, for you to go back to camp. Tell the men that I shall be there some time to-morrow.”

Reuben looked suspiciously into the face of the scout, but there was nothing in his expression to betray what his intentions were. Convinced that there was nothing more to be said, Reuben reluctantly spoke to his horse and started on his journey back to the camp. Occasionally he glanced behind him, but after a few minutes had elapsed he was unable to discover the scout anywhere on the plains. Doubtless he had returned to the village, though just what his purpose in doing so Reuben was unable to conjecture.

Steadily Reuben continued on his way, and the return, inasmuch as he was able to proceed directly and was not compelled to stop in order to study the signs in the sand as to the course which Rat had followed, did not require as much time as had been consumed in the journey in pursuit of the thief.

Near noon of the day following that on which he had left his companion Reuben entered the camp. In response to the eager questions of his friends he related what had befallen him and Kit Carson in their efforts to overtake Rat. There were exclamations of anger over the fate which had befallen Black Jack and many expressions of wonder as to why Kit had permitted the braggart to depart from the Indian village before severe punishment had been inflicted upon him. Nor did Kit Carson offer any explanation when he returned two days later.

The steady routine of the camp life continued during the weeks that followed, and when at last the entire party once more made its way back to Taos every one was well satisfied with the success which had attended their combined labours.

With Kit Carson now went the young Indian girl who was his wife. The long journey at last was completed and preparations were made for the quiet weeks that must ensue at the little Spanish settlement. The weeks ran into months, and a baby girl that had been born to Kit Carson and his wife had grown into a laughing, though quiet, dark-eyed little beauty. She was the pet of every one in the settlement, and the pride of Kit Carson in the little maid was apparent to all his friends. Indeed the unusual demonstration of affection which the scout displayed as he played with the little girl was the cause of much comment among his friends.

One day, however, there came a sadness upon all who knew the scout. His young Indian wife had been taken ill, and despite all the efforts of the people in the little settlement to help her, their work proved unavailing. In a brief time the dark-eyed wife of Kit Carson was dead. Not long after her death the scout came to Reuben and said: “I’m going to start for Pain Court. Do you want to go with me?”

For a moment Reuben was silent. He recalled the circumstances under which he had departed from the place years ago. His mother was dead and his father, either made unfeeling by the death of his wife or hardened by the conditions of his life, had become indifferent to Reuben. He had insisted that he would no longer be responsible for the care of the lad, and it was partly because of the hardships which in this manner were thrust upon him that Reuben had started with Jean Badeau across the long plains.

Not a word in all the months that had intervened had been heard from his father. Whether or not he was living now he had no means of knowing. And as for Jean, he had strangely disappeared, as we know, and whether or not the harmless insane man whom Reuben had seen at San Gabriel and in the Indian village, where Kit Carson had found his wife, really was the lost trapper he had no means of fully knowing.

These thoughts passed quickly through Reuben’s mind, but he was accustomed to quick decisions, and in a moment he said: “Yes, I will go.”

“I am going to take my baby with me,” said the scout.

“What?”

“I am going to take the baby with me. I don’t dare leave her here to be brought up by the squaws. I am going to take her back among my own people and have her looked after as the daughter of her father ought to be, for I am a man of means now,” added Kit Carson quietly, smiling as he spoke. “A few more skins and I shall have enough to make me rich, or at least some time ago I would have thought I was rich if I had had any such amount of money.”

“She’ll die on the way,” protested Reuben.

“Well, she will have to die some time. It’s no worse to die on the plains than it is in a town. I think she would die here at Taos if I left her, and I’m going to take my chances and see if I cannot take her back with me.”

“But she’ll starve. You cannot get any milk for her.”

Kit Carson smiled, but said no more, and Reuben was surprised when two days later, after arrangements had been completed for the departure, he discovered that an Indian brave and his wife whose baby had died two days before were to accompany them.

Of the long journey that followed Reuben retained many vivid recollections. There were nights when their camp was surrounded by the howling coyotes; there were times when they were unable to see far before them because of clouds of dust which passing herds of buffaloes had raised. Several times, too, they were visited by Indians from the various tribes. Twice there were delays of two or three days each because Kit Carson was fearful that his little girl was becoming weaker under the stress of the long journey.

At last the scout insisted on turning aside from the immigrant road for a visit to the old settlement on the borders of Missouri where he had been born. His visit, however, was not prolonged. He found that the old cabin in which his family had lived was now a deserted ruin. As he recalled the place it had been filled to overflowing with the large family which had made it its home. Now, not one member of his family was to be found in the region. Whither they all had gone or what had become of them he was unable to discover.

Disappointed by the results of his visit, the scout renewed his journey to Pain Court, and at last the travellers found themselves within the limits of the place they were seeking.

But what a change had come over all things there. The little trading-post had become a large town. Streets had been laid out which to the trappers seemed to be crowded with people passing to and fro. In amazement the strangers looked all about them as they entered, unable to recognize any familiar faces.

It was not long, however, before Reuben decided that he would leave his companions for a time and do his utmost to discover whether or not his father was still living.