That she’d married with a butcher, whose har was orful red.”
“Thar’ll be butchers here ’fore long,” groaned Pike.
“It told me more than that, Oh! it’s enough to make one swear!
It said Sally had a baby, and the baby had red hair.”
“Now, cuss yer pictur!” said Pike, “yer done, air yer? I’ll bet thar’ll be red har enough here before mornin’. Your singin’ has played thunder with us, sure as thar’s wool on a nigger, but you’ll not have a bit on the—”
“Top of his head, where the wool had orter be,” roared Tom.
Pike was now at his wits’ end, and went off a rod or two from the fire and sat down by a dark clump of bushes, sullen and thoroughly disgusted. Tom called out to him: “Say, Pike, are you loadin’ that revolver o’ your’n?” but Pike had the sulks and would not condescend to answer. It was soon time to “turn in” for the night, and each man took his blankets and sought the smoothest place to be found. Pike and one of our party known as “Hank,” spread their blankets together at some distance from the fire, which was now quite low, while the rest of us found places for our beds among some willows.
THE STORY OF PIKE AND TOM.
Pike lay awake a long time listening for Indians, and would rise to his knees at the slightest sound, pulling the blankets off Hank, who was trying to make him lie still, so that he could get to sleep. There was a high hill on the east side of the cañon, covered on the side next to us with shelly slate rock, and whenever a fox, coyote, or even a rat ran over this it caused a great clatter, the scales of slate ringing like pieces of pottery. This was a place fruitful of alarms and caused Pike to be upon his knees about every five minutes, but about midnight he could keep his eyes open no longer. Hank made the signal agreed upon, by holding up his hat, when two of the boys crept cautiously out of the camp with six-shooters in their hands. By following up a little ravine they were able to gain the summit of the slaty hill without making the slightest noise, as there was no loose rock except on the slope. Presently they started down the slope through the loose rock, leaping and making as much noise as though old Winnemucca and half the Piute tribe were coming down the mountain. At the same time they began yelling and firing their revolvers. At the first racket made on the hill Pike was on his feet and came running toward us, who were returning the fire of the supposed Indians, and yelling as we fired, making altogether enough noise for half a dozen small battles. When Pike reached us two or three of our men fell, crying out that they were killed, and at the same time Hank fell and caught him about the legs, crying: “I’m wounded. Carry me off and hide me in the bushes!”