A Desperate Chance - Old Sleuth (Harlan P. Halsey)
A DESPERATE CHANCE:
OR
THE WIZARD TRAMP'S REVELATION,
A Thrilling Narrative.
By OLD SLEUTH.
[Illustration: "He Placed the Ladder of Saplings Across the Abyss."]
1897
CHAPTER I.
THE CAMPFIRE IN THE GULCH--AN ALARM--THE SOLITARY
FIGURE--UNDER COVER--A WHITE MAN--"HAIL,
FRIEND!"--A CORDIAL MEETING--A SECOND STRANGE
CHARACTER.
"Well, Desmond, we've taken a desperate chance, and so far appear to be
losers."
The circumstances under which the words above quoted were spoken were
weird and strange. A man and a mere youth were sitting by a campfire
that was blazing and crackling in a narrow gulch far away in the Rocky
Mountains, days and days travel from civilization.
The circumstances that had brought them there were also very strange and
unusual. Desmond Dare was the son of a widow who owned a small farm in
New York State. There had been a mortgage on this farm which was about
to be foreclosed when Desmond, a brave, vigorous lad, sold his only
possession, a valuable colt, and determined to enter a walking match for
the prize. He was on his way to the city where the match was to take
place when in a belt of woods he heard a cry for help. He ran in the
direction whence the cry came and found three tramps assailing a fourth
man. The vigorous youth sprang to the rescue and drove the three tramps
off, and was later persuaded by the man he had rescued to go with him to
a rock cavern. There the lad beheld a very beautiful girl of about
fourteen whose history was enveloped in a dark mystery; he also learned
that the man he had rescued was known as the wizard tramp. The latter
was a very strange and peculiar character, a victim of the rum habit,
which had brought him away down until he became a tramp of the most
pronounced type. This man, however, was really a very shrewd fellow,
well educated, not only in book learning, but in the ways of the world,
and seeing that Desmond had resolved to take a desperate chance, the
tramp volunteered to land him a winner; he succeeded in so doing. The
champion of the walking match carried his money to his mother, the tramp
went upon an extended spree and spent his share. Afterward the tramp and
Desmond Dare started on the road together. The girl had been placed with
Mrs. Dare on the farm, and the man and boy proceeded West afoot,
determined to locate a gold mine. The former discovered each day some
new quality, and held forth to Desmond that some day he would make a
very startling revelation. The youth had no idea as to the character of
the revelation, but knowing that the tramp, named Brooks, was a very
remarkable man, he anticipated a very startling denouement. After many
very strange and exciting adventures Brooks, the tramp, and Desmond Dare
arrived in the Rockies, and in due time started in to find their gold
mine. The previous history of these two remarkable characters can be
read in Nos. 90 and 91 of "OLD SLEUTH'S OWN."
At the time we introduce the tramp and Desmond Dare to our readers in
this narrative, they had been knocking around the mountains in search of
their mine and had met with failures on every side, and at length one
night they camped in the gulch as described in our opening paragraphs,
and Brooks spoke the words with which we open our narrative.
They were sitting beside their fire; both were partly attired as hunters
and mountaineers, and both were well armed. Brooks, who had practically
been a bloat had lived a temperate life, had enjoyed plenty of exercise
in the open air, and had experienced to a certain extent a return of his
original physical strength and vigor. At the time the whilom tramp made
the disconsolate remark quoted, Desmond asked:
"What do you propose to do--give it up?"
"I don't know just what to do, lad."
"We've scraped together a little gold dust; possibly we may have money
enough to engage in some legitimate business, and what we can't get by
the discovery of a mine, we may acquire in time in speculation. You are
shrewd and level-headed."
"That would be a good scheme for you, lad, but not for me. I am too far
advanced in life to earn money by slow labor now. What I propose is that
you go back, take all the gold we have, and enter into trade; you are
bright and energetic and may succeed."
"And what will you do?"
"I shall continue my search for a mine, and some day I may strike it."
Brooks was a college graduate, a civil engineer, and a mineralogist, and
believed he had great advantages in searching for a mine, but, as has
been indicated, thus far their tramp and search had been a dead failure.
"I'll stick with you," said Desmond.
"No, lad, you must go back."
"I swear I will not; I like this life, and remember, we have gathered
some wash dust and we may gather more. I don't know the value of what we
have gathered from the bottom of that stream we struck, but I do know
that it would take a long time to accumulate as much money in trade.
Remember, we have been in the mountains only six weeks."
"That is all right, but we might stay here six years and not make a
find."
At that instant there came a sound which caused Brooks and Desmond to
bend their ears and listen. Some of the Indians were on the warpath; a
band of bucks had been making a raid and had been pursued by the United
States cavalry into the mountains. Indians, as a rule, do not take to
the mountains, but sometimes when pursued hotly they will separate into
small bands and scatter through the hills; these fellows are dangerous.
They would have murdered any white men they might meet for their arms
alone, without considering the spirit of wantonness or revenge that
might animate them.
Brooks and Desmond rose from their seats beside the fire and moved
slowly away. At any moment an arrow or even a rifle shot might come and
end the life of one or both.
Desmond had become a very expert woodsman; he and Brooks had been
chased by Indians several times and had exchanged shots with one band.
They knew a cover in a crevice in the wall of rock which ran up abruptly
each side of the gulch; from this spot they could survey and also make a
good fight in an emergency. They had good weapons, plenty of ammunition,
and what was more, coolness, skill, and courage. Desmond, especially,
was a very cool-headed chap in times of danger; the use of firearms was
not new to him, nor was the woodsman life altogether a novelty, for he
had been raised in a very wild and desolate mountain region.
Quickly they stole to cover, although they believed it possible that
they might have been seen, for they had absolute proof, well known to
woodsmen, that if there were foes in the vicinity they had been
discovered. Once in their covert they lay low, and a few moments passed,
when they beheld a solitary figure advancing slowly and very cautiously
up the gulch, and as the figure came in the light of the fire Desmond,
whose eyesight was very keen, said:
"It's a white man; he looks like a hunter; we will wait a moment or two,
but I guess it is all right."
The figure, meantime, with rifle poised, advanced very slowly and
finally stood fully revealed close to the fire, and indeed he was a
white man of strong and vigorous frame.
"I'll go and meet him," said Desmond; "you lay low here, rifle in hand
ready to shoot in case he proves an enemy."
"All right, lad, go ahead."
Desmond stepped from his hiding-place and advanced toward the fire. The
stranger saw him, still held his position ready for offense or defense,
and permitted Desmond to approach, and soon he discerned that the lad
was a white man and he called:
"Hail, friend!"
"Hail, to you," replied the lad.
The two men approached and shook hands. The hunter was a splendid
specimen of physical manhood, and his face indicated honesty and
good-nature.
"Are you alone here, lad?"
"No."
"Where's your comrade?"
Desmond made a sign, and Brooks stepped forth from the crevice and
approached the fire.
"Hail, friend," said the stranger hunter.
Brooks answered the salutation, the two men shook hands and the stranger
said;
"What may be your business out here?"
"We'll talk of that later on; but, stranger, you took great chances."
"I did?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"In approaching the fire you were exposed; suppose the fire had been
kindled by Indians?"
The woodsman laughed, and said:
"I knew it was not an Indian's fire."
"You did?"
"Yes."
"How is that?"
"They don't create such a big blaze. I knew white men were around, and
men whom I need not fear, but I was on my guard all the same."
"We could have dropped you off."
"Well, yes, but out here we have to take chances, and it was necessary
for me to do so."
"It was?"
"Yes."
"How so?"
"I need food; I have not struck any game lately. The fact is, I've been
up in the peaks where there is no game. I hope you have a cold snack
here, my friends, and some tobacco, for I have not had a regular tobacco
smoke or chew for over a month."
"We were just about to prepare some coffee and make a meal."
"Good enough; did you say coffee? Well, I have struck Elysium; I haven't
tasted a cup of coffee in a year. You see I was snowbound away up in the
mountains; fortunately I had plenty of dried meat, and I was compelled
to wait until I was thawed out."
Brooks commenced making the coffee, and while doing so the woodsman
asked:
"Are you regular hunters?"
"No."
"Ever in the mountains before?"
"Never."
"You've been taking great chances."
"We have?"
"Yes."
"How so?"
"The mountains are full of bad Indian fugitives, and they are very ugly.
Some are parts of a raiding gang of bucks, and others are rascals who
have made a kick out at the reservation. I've met twenty of them in the
last ten days; they are in squads of twos and threes, and they are full
of fight."
"We have met some of them."
"And you managed to escape?"
"We had a fight with one party."
"You did?"
"Yes."
"How did you come out?"
"Ahead, I reckon, or we would not be here."
The conversation was between the woodsman and Desmond.
"What brought you into the mountains--are you tourists?"
"No."
"On business?"
"Yes."
"Surveyors?"
"No."
"I thought not; no use to survey out this way. I suppose you are looking
for a lost mine."
"Well, we might take in a lost mine or find a new one, it don't matter."
"Ah! I see; well, so far you've been lucky, but you've been taking
desperate chances."
"Oh! that's a way we have."
CHAPTER II.
A RECOGNITION--THE WOODSMAN'S DISCLOSURES--A
CHANCE AFTER ALL--THE BIVOUAC--DESMOND'S
DISCOVERY--SAVAGES GALORE.
The coffee was soon prepared and Brooks produced some dried meat and a
few crackers, and the three men, so strangely met, sat down to enjoy
their meal. The woodsman was offered the first cup of coffee, and as he
drank it down, all hot and steaming, he smacked his lips and exclaimed:
"Well, that was good; that cup of coffee makes us friends. I may do you
a good turn."
"Good enough; we are ready for a good turn. We've had rather hard luck
so far."
"So you are after a mine, eh?"
"Yes."
"You are regular prospectors?"
"Yes."
"You have to strike a surface ledge to make any money. Don't think a
claim would amount to much out here unless you found a nest of them so
as to attract a crowd, and a town, and a mill, and all that. According
to my idea the mines out here all need capital to work 'em in case you
should strike one."
Regardless of possibilities, as the night was a little chilly, Brooks
had created quite a blaze, and by the light of the fire he had a fair
chance to study the woodsman's face, and finally he asked abruptly:
"Stranger, what is your name?"
The woodsman laughed, and said:
"I thought you'd ask that question."
"You did?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Well, it's natural that you should, but that ain't the reason I thought
so."
"It is not?"
"No."
"Well, why did you think so?"
"I was going to ask your name."
"Certainly; my name is Brooks."
"I thought so."
"You did?"
"Yes."
"What made you think my name was Brooks?"
"Can't you guess?"
"No."
"Why did you ask my name?"
"As you said, it was a natural question."
"That ain't the reason you asked it."
"It is not?"
"No."
"Well, you may tell me the true reason."
"You've been studying my face."
"I have."
"You think you've seen me before somewhere?"
"Well, you did see me before."
"I did?"
"Yes."
"When and where?"
"Just look sharp and see if you can't place me."
"I can't."
"It was a great many years ago."
"It must have been; but to tell the truth, there is something very
familiar in your face."
"Yes, and you discovered it at the start, but you don't place me; I
placed you. I didn't until you mentioned your name."
"You now recall?"
"I do."
"Where have we met?"
"Try to remember."
"Tell me your name."
"Oh, certainly, by and by; but in the meantime pay me the compliment of
remembering who I am."
"You have the advantage."
"How?"
"I told you my name."
"I will tell you mine in good time, but try to remember."
"I give it up."
"You do?"
"I do."
The woodsman laughed, and said:
"We slept together one night."
"We did?"
"Yes."
"When and where?"
"And now you can't recall?"
"I cannot."
"You are a square man, but there has come a change over you."
"Did we meet often?"
"No."
"Were we intimate?"
"Well, yes, for the time being."
"I give it up."
"You don't place me?"
"No."
Again the woodsman laughed and said:
"Do you remember about fifteen years ago a young fellow, tired, wet, and
hungry, tried to find shelter in a freight car?"
"Hello! you are not Henry Creedon?"
"Yes, I am, and this is the second time you've fed me. You appear to be
my good angel; I may prove your good angel."
"So you are Henry Creedon?"
"I am," and turning to Desmond, Creedon said:
"Your friend there one night made a fight for me, fed me and found
shelter for me. He was a tramp then; I was footing it out West here."
"Henry," said Brooks, "what have you been doing all these years?"
"Mine hunting."
"Mine hunting for fifteen years?"
"Yes."
"And have you found a mine yet?"
The woodsman laughed, and Brooks said:
"Desmond, we did indeed take desperate chances, and we've been making a
fool's chase, I reckon. Here is a man who has been mine hunting for
fifteen years and has not found one yet. Where do we come in?"
"I'll tell you," said Creedon; "it's luck when you find a mine. More are
found by chance than are discovered by experts, but I think I've found
one; I can't tell. You see, I was raised in a factory town, I've had no
education and I can't tell its value. I know where the find is located,
however, and some of these days I'll strike a prospecting party who will
have an engineer with them, and then I will know the value of my find."
"If you take a party in with you they will demand a share."
"Certainly."
"Do you intend to share with them?"
"I can't do otherwise."
"Yes, that is so; suppose I find an engineer for you?"
"I suppose you will want a rake in."
"Certainly."
"Well, Brooks, I'll tell you, I don't want to start in on a divide with
everyone, but I've made up my mind to take you in with me. I know you
are a kind-hearted and honest man, even though you are a tramp, a
whisky-loving tramp, and that I remember you emptied my canister that
night."
"Yes, but I am not drinking now; I've reformed."
"You have?"
"Yes."
"So much the better for you."
"I've something to tell you."
"Go it."
"I am just the man to establish the value of your mine."
"You are?"
"Yes, I am."
"How is that, eh? Have you become an expert after being in the mountains
six weeks? and I am not in one way, and I've been here for fifteen
years."
"I was an expert before I came to the mountains."
"You were?"
"Yes."
"How is that?"
"I am a civil engineer by profession."
"What's that?"
"I am a civil engineer by profession."
"You don't tell me!"
"That's what I tell you, and I tell you the truth."
"Then you are just the man I want."
"I said I was; I am more than an engineer, I am a mineralogist and a
geologist."
"Hold on, don't overcome a fellow out here in the mountains; if you are
a civil engineer that is enough for me. Hang your mineralogy and
geology; what I want is a man who can estimate. No doubt about the ledge
I've struck; the question is, how much will it cost to mine it; how much
is there of it? You see I've had some experience here in the mountains,
and sometimes we strike what is called a pocket; we might find gold for
a few feet one way and another, and then strike dead rock and no gold. I
ain't a mineralogist or geologist or a civil engineer, and I am afraid
my find won't amount to much, but it is worth investigation, and as you
are able to estimate we will make a start. To-morrow I will take you to
my ledge and then we will know whether we are millionaires or
tramps--eh? mountain tramps--but I am grateful for this food and coffee,
and now if you'll give me a little tobacco I'll be the most contented
man in the mountains, whether my mine turns out a hit or a misthrow."
So tobacco was produced; Brooks himself was an inveterate smoker, and
since being in the mountains Desmond had taken to the weed, and there
was promise that some day he might become an inveterate.
The three men had a jolly time, but in a quiet way. Creedon was a good
story teller; he had had many weird experiences in the mountains. He had
acted as guide to a great many parties, he had engaged in about fifty
fights with Indians during his residence in the great West, and had met
a great many very notable characters.
When the men concluded to lie down to sleep for the night they
extinguished their fire, and each man found a crevice into which he
crept, and only those who have slept in the open air in a pure climate
can tell of the exhilarating effects that follow a slumber under the
conditions described.
Desmond was the first to awake, and he peeped forth from his crevice and
glanced down toward the point where the fire had been, when he beheld a
sight that caused his blood to run cold. Five fierce-looking savages
were grouped around the spot where the campfire had been, and he had a
chance to study a scene he had never before witnessed. He beheld five
savages in full war paint; they were dressed in a most grotesque manner,
part of their attire being fragments of United States uniforms, showing
that the red men had been in a skirmish, and possibly had come out
victorious, and had had an opportunity to strip the bodies of the dead.
A great deal has been written about the shrewdness of redmen. They are
shrewd when their qualities are once fully aroused and they are on the
scent, but they are given to assumptions, the same as white men. Of
course Creedon was practically to be credited when he said that the
Indians assumed there had been a camp there and that the campers had
departed, but had they made as close observations as when on a trail
they would have made discoveries that would have suggested the near
presence of the late campers.
Creedon had as far as possible destroyed all signs when raking out the
fire of a recent encampment, but an experienced and alert eye can detect
the truth despite these little tricks.
Desmond saw the Indians: they were a hard-looking lot, the worst
specimens he had ever beheld, and they were assassins at sight, as he
determined. He was secure from observation, but it was necessary to warn
his comrades, who were in different crevices, and at that moment Creedon
actually snored. He was in the crevice adjoining the one where Desmond
had taken refuge.
The Indians were too far away to overhear the snore, but it was possible
the man might awake and step forth; then, as Desmond feared, the fight
would commence. He did not desire a fight; he might think the chances
would be with his party, as only two of the Indians had rifles, but then
if even one of their own party were kicked over it would be a sad
disaster.
The lad meditated some little time and studied the conditions. He
crawled into his crevice, and, lo, he saw a lateral breakaway. He might
gain Creedon's berth, as he called it, without chancing an outside
steal. Fortune favored him; Creedon's crevice was one of several rents
in the rock, and he managed to reach the sleeper's foot, and he
cautiously touched it, fearing at the moment that Creedon in his
surprise might make an outcry or an inquiry in a loud tone, but here he
learned a lesson in woodcraft. Creedon did not make an outcry; he awoke
and cautiously investigated, and soon discovered that Desmond had
touched him and was seeking to communicate with him. He demanded in a
whisper:
"What is it, lad?"
"There are Indians in the gulch."
"Aha! where?"
"Down where we were camped last night."
"You keep low and I will take a peep."
Desmond could afford to let Creedon take a peep. The woodsman did peep
and took in the situation, and he said:
"You are smaller than I am; does the rent where you are run to the berth
where Brooks is sleeping?"
"It may; I will find out and go slow; we don't want a fight if we can
help it, but we've got the dead bulge on those redskins if we have to
fight."
CHAPTER III.
CREEDON'S KNOWLEDGE OF WOODCRAFT--THE REDMEN'S
DEPARTURE--A LONG TRAIL--ON THE TRAMP--THE
STRANGEST REFUGE IN THE WORLD--A BRIDGE OF
RISKS.
Desmond crawled forward beyond the rent where Creedon had lodged, and he
found the space much wider as he progressed, and soon gained the opening
where the rent terminated in which Brooks had lain all night. Desmond
glanced in, and, lo, Brooks was inside awake, and had already discovered
the presence of the Indians, and so far they were all right.
"Have you been able to notify Creedon?" asked Brooks.
"Yes."
"What does he say?"
"He bade me arouse you."
"I discovered the rascals as soon as I awoke."
"All right; lay low and I will learn what Creedon advises."
Desmond crawled back and said:
"Brooks is awake and wants to know what we shall do."
"There is only one thing to do: we will lay low, and if the rascals do
not discover us all right; if they do discover us it will be bad for
them and all right with us again, that's all. And now you and Brooks
just keep out of sight and let me run the show."
Word was passed to Brooks, and Desmond with the tramp lay low. As it
proved there was not much of a show to run, as the Indians moved away
after a little, but Creedon did not permit his friends to go forth. He
said:
"You can never tell about these redskins; they might suspect we are
around, and their going away may be a little trick; they are up to these
tricks."
Hours passed, and Creedon still kept his friends in hiding, and it was
near evening when he stole forth, saying he would take an observation.
After a little he returned and said:
"It's all right; come out."
Creedon said he had discovered evidence that the redskins had really
gone away.
"Why couldn't you have found that out sooner?"
The woodsman laughed and said:
"They might have found me out then; as it was, according to the tales
you and Brooks tell, I took a desperate chance."
"Shall we get to work and have a meal?"
"Not much, young man, you will have to control your appetite for awhile.
Remember, I am captain of this squadron. I'll lead you to a place,
however, where we can build a fire and camp and eat without fear. I am
posted around here; I know the safe places."
The party started on the march, and Desmond felt quite irritated; he had
gone nearly twenty-four hours without eating, and he said:
"I am ready to even fight for a meal."
Creedon laughed and said in reply:
"You may have a stomach full of fighting yet before we find the mine."
"I thought you had located it?"
"Yes, but it's a week's tramp from where we are at present, and we may
have some lively times before we arrive at the place."
It was nine o'clock at night when the party arrived at one of the most
peculiar natural retreats Desmond had ever seen. It was a cave, as we
will call it, in the side wall of a cliff rising from a gulch even more
wild and rugged than the one where the party had camped the previous
night. Some mighty convulsion of the mountain had separated the whole
front of the cliff from the main rock, so that a space of at least
twenty feet intervened, and between yawned a dark abyss that led down to
where no man had yet penetrated. Creedon led the way up along a ledge of
ascent which lined the outer edge of the great mass of detached cliff.
Once at the top he descended on the inner side. It was night, but he had
taken advantage of a mask lantern which he carried with him, and which
he said was the most useful article in his possession. He added:
"These lanterns may belong to the profession of detectives and burglars,
but I've found them the most useful articles a cliff-climber can own.
They are different from other lamps and torches; you can control the one
ray of light and indicate your path without any trouble whatever."
This was true, as the guide demonstrated, and his party walked along
the narrow ledge without any fear of being precipitated over; all it
required was a good eye and a steady nerve, and they possessed these
necessary qualifications.