The golden west boys, "Injun" and "Whitey": a story of adventure

by William S. Hart

And now, in view of the part that Whitey had played in the wiping out of the gang, both Mr. Sherwood and Bill Jordan felt that the white boy, also, would be added to Pedro's list of those upon whom he proposed to visit his revenge. Pedro was known to be a most persistent and consistent hater, and he had been known to cherish a trifling grievance for years, and to go a long distance out of his way to avenge some trivial injury, real or fancied.

The entire outfit at the Bar O were, therefore, given strict orders to keep a sharp eye out for the gentleman, and to "get" him on sight, taking no chances whatever on his escape. There was a general feeling that he would not leave the neighborhood until he had, in a measure, repaid those who had been instrumental in balking his schemes, even if it took a long time to do it; and Bill took the boys aside and impressed this upon them.

Altogether, it was a jolly party that rode into the ranch-yard a few hours before daylight. As they neared the ranch, Injun, according to his custom, had started to leave the party and go to his own haunts; but Whitey, backed up by his father and Bill, put a veto on this, and so it was finally decided that Injun should spend the night with Whitey at the Bar O ranch.

Injun faced the proposition with some misgivings; he was not accustomed to the usages of civilization, being even more wild than the members of his own tribe. He preferred the wilderness and the mountains even to the primitive arrangements and comforts of the Indian village, and his initiation into anything so civilized as a modern ranch-house was a wide departure.

When he was ushered into Whitey's room, after a plentiful "breakfast"—both the boys were nearly famished, having had nothing to eat since noon of the day previous—he looked around in positive awe. The room did not exactly resemble a society belle's boudoir, but there were many things in it that meant nothing in Injun's young life.

He was introduced to himself, probably for the first time, by means of a large mirror that surmounted the dresser, and he was greatly surprised and pleased when Whitey showed him that, by tilting it, he could get a full-view of himself as well as a "close-up." It is doubtful if he would have gone to bed at all if Whitey had not insisted, but would have spent the rest of the night seeing himself as others saw him.

The hair brush was also new to Injun; and after he had been instructed in its use, he spent considerable time arranging his long hair in various ways before the glass. Whitey watched him with a broad grin: "Why don't you do it up in blue ribbons?" he asked, laughing. Injun rejected this suggestion with a grunt and a shake of his head. "Ugh! Red!" he said. He didn't object to the ribbons, but the color! (An Indian likes any color—as long as it's red!)

It took him a long time to decide to take off his clothes, and he balked at the clean, white pyjamas that Whitey offered him. Nothing doing! Fortunately Whitey had a pair of vivid pink pyjamas; and these Injun could not resist. He arrayed himself in them with some difficulty, and surveyed himself in the glass until Whitey threatened to put out the light. And when it came to getting into the bed, he was most dubious. He would have much preferred to lay himself on the floor near the open window and be comfortable!

After much persuasion, however, he consigned himself, with much misgiving, to the soft bed. Injun was accustomed to selecting a spot protected from the winds, first making a fire, if occasion demanded, and then stretching out on the ground or some pine boughs that he collected if they were available.

He could adjust himself to the most cramped and uncomfortable positions and get the repose he needed, even "keeping one eye open," as the saying is, against the dangers that might beset him in the night. However, notwithstanding all the "discomforts" of the civilization that surrounded him, Injun was asleep inside of five minutes, though Whitey lay awake for a long time, the exciting events of the past twenty-four hours running through his mind in vivid review; until, at last everything became a jumble of caverns and Crowleys and Rosses and cattle and scrimmages, all crazy and indistinct, fantastic and illusory, as things always are in the borderland of dreams.