20 Western Novels You Should Read

Chapter 13

Chapter 10

TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR A HEADDOWN into the rugged mountain fastness of Sonora the remnants of

Geronimo's band of renegades hurried from the menace of the white

man's justice. Suffering from the after effects of Tribollet's

whiskey they marched in sullen silence, thinking only of escape,

for the fighting spirit of a sick man is not wont to rise to any

great heights.

For sixteen hours they marched with but a single brief rest, and

it was again dark when they went into camp.

Water and a little food revived their spirits. There was even

laughter, low pitched lest it reach across the night to the ears of

an enemy.

Shoz-Dijiji squatted upon his haunches chewing upon a strip of

jerked venison that was both dirty and "high" and that not only

pleased his palate but gave him strength, renewing the iron tissue

of his iron frame. Less fastidious, perhaps, than a civilized

epicure in the preparation and serving of his food, yet, savage

though he was, he appreciated the same delicate flavor of partial

decay.

As he ate, a tall warrior came and stood before him. It was

Gian-nah-tah. Shoz-Dijiji continued eating, in silence.

"At the kunh-gan-hay beside the soldiers of Nan-tan-des-la-

par-en," commenced Gian-nah-tah, presently, "the poisoned water of

the pindah-lickoyee spoke through the mouth of Gian-nah-tah, saying

words that Gian-nah-tah would not have said." He stopped,

waiting.

"Shoz-Dijiji knew that Gian-nah-tah, his best friend, did not

speak those words," replied Shoz-Dijiji. "It was the bad spirits

that the white man puts into his strong water to make trouble

between men. Gian-nah-tah is a fool to be tricked thus by the

pindah-lickoyee."

"Yes," agreed Gian-nah-tah, "I am a fool." Shoz-Dijiji scratched

some criss-cross lines upon the ground where he squatted. With a

bit of stick he scratched them. "These," he said, "are the troubles

that have come between Shoz- Dijiji and Gian-nah-tah — the bad talk

— the bad thoughts." With his palm he smoothed the ground. "Now

they are gone,"he said. "Let us forget them."He offered

Gian-nah-tah a piece of venison, and his friend squatted beside

him.

"Do you think the soldiers of the white-eyed men will follow

us?" asked Gian-nah-tah.

Shoz-Dijiji shook his head. "I do not know," he'replied. "I

offered hoddentin to the winds and to the night, and I prayed that

Usen would make the hearts of the pindah- lickoyee good that they

might return to their own country and leave us in peace.

"I asked the tzi-daltai that Nan-ta-do-tash blessed for me if

the white-eyed soldiers were pursuing us, but I have received no

answer."

"Nan-tan-des-la-par-en said that if we did not come with him he

would tollow us and kill us all if it took fifty years," reminded

Gian-nah-tah.

Shoz-Dijiji laughed. "That is just talk," he said. "Anyone can

make big talk. For over three hundred years we have been fighting

the pindah-lickoyee; and they have not killed us all, yet. Some day

they will, but it will take more than fifty years. You and I shall

have plenty of fighting before the last of the Shis-Inday is

killed."

"I do not know," said Gian-nah-tah. "A spirit came to me while I

slept the first night that we camped near the soldiers of

Nan-tan-des-la-par-en. It was the spirit of my father. He said that

he had waited a long time for me. He said that pretty soon I would

come. I asked him when; but just then I awoke, and that frightened

him away. Perhaps it will be tomorrow — who knows?"

"Do not say that, Gian-nah-tah," said Shoz-Dijiji. "Already have

I seen too many of my friends go. One hundred and thirty four we

were when we went out fromi~an Carlos less than twelve moons ago.

Today we are thirty eight. The others are dead, or prisoners of the

pindah-lickoyee. The heart of Shoz-Dijiji is sad, as are the hearts

of all Apaches. The hand of every man is against us — even the

hands of our brothers. We must not think of death. Gian-nah-tah and

Shoz-Dijiji must live for one another. Surely Usen will not take

everything that we love from us!"

"Usen has forgotten the Apache," said Gian-nah-tah, sadly.

For a month the renegades rested and recuperated in the high

sierras, and then one day a scout brought word to Geronimo that he

had sighted three troops of United States Cavalry as they were

going into camp a day's march to the north.

Geronimo shook his head. "They are always talking of peace," he

said, "and always making war upon us. They will not leave us

alone." He turned to Shoz-Dijiji. "Go to the camp of the

pindah-lickoyee and try to talk with some of their scouts. Take

Gian-nah-tah with you. Do not trust too much in the honor of the

scouts, but learn all that you can without telling them

anything."

Shoz-Dijiji and Gian-nah-tah arose. "That is all?" asked the

young war chief of the Be-don-ko-he.

"That is all," replied Geronimo. The soft rustle of their war

moccasins faded into silence. The night swallowed them. Geronimo

sat with bowed head, his eyes upon the ground. A girl looked after

them and sighed. Then she cast hoddentin in the direction they had

gone and whispered prayers for the safety of one of them. Also she

prayed that some day she would be the mother of warriors and that

Gian-nah-tah would be their father.

In four hours the two warriors covered the distance that it

would take a troop of cavalry all of the following day to cover;

but they travelled where no horse might travel, over trails that no

cavalryman knew. They trod in places where only mountain sheep and

Apaches had trod before.

Quiet lay upon the camp of —th Cavalry. Three weary sentries;

softly cursing because they must walk their posts to save their

horses, circled the lonely bivouac. At a little distance lay the

camp of the Apache scouts. The dismal voice of an owl broke the

silence. It came from the summit of a low bluff south of the camp.

At intervals it was repeated twice.

One of the sentries was a rookie. "Gosh," he soliloquized, "but

that's a lonesome sound!"

Once more came the eerie cry — this time, apparently, from the

camp of the scouts.

Number One sentry was a veteran. He stepped quickly from his

post to the side of his top sergeant, who lay wrapped in a sweaty

saddle blanket with his head on a McClellan.

"H-s-st! McGuire!" he whispered.

"Wot the' ell?" demanded the sergeant, sitting up.

"Hostiles! I just heard 'em signalling to our Siwashes — three

owl calls and an answer."

The sergeant came to his feet, strapping his belt about his

hips. He picked up his carbine. "Git back on your post an' keep

your ears unbuttoned," he directed. "I'll mosey out that way a bit

an' listen. Maybe it was a owl."

Shoz-Dijiji and Gian-nah-tah crept silently down the face of the

bluff and approached the camp of the scouts. There was no moon, and

light clouds obscured the stars. It was very dark. A figure loomed

suddenly before them. "Who are you?" it demanded in a whisper that

could not have been heard ten feet away.

"We are Be-don-ko-he," replied Shoz-Dijiji. "We bring a message

from Geronimo."

"What is it?"

"He wants the soldiers to go back to their own country and leave

him alone. He is not fighting the pindah-lickoyee. If they will go

away he will not again raid in Arizona or New Mexico."

"You are Shoz-Dijiji;" said the scouL "I am glad you came. We

have word for Geronimo and all that are with him. His fight is

hopeless. He had better come in. If he does, perhaps they will not

kill him. If he stays out he is sure to be killed. Every one of his

warriors will be killed. Tell him to come in."

"Why do you think we will be killed?They have not killed us yet,

and they have been trying to ever since we were born."

"Now they will," insisted the scout, "for they have offered to

pay fifty dollars for the head of every warrior that is brought in

and two thousand dollars for the head of Geronimo. There are

Apaches who would kill their own fathers for fifty dollars."

"You do not kill us," said Shoz-Dijiji, "and our heads are worth

one hundred dollars."

"Give thanks to Usen, then, that he sent me to meet you and not

another," replied the scout.

"What are the plans of the pindah-lickoyee?" asked Shoz-

Dijiji.

"Their orders are to get Geronimo and all his band. The Mexicans

are helping them. It was the Mexicans who invited them down here to

catch you."

"They shall pay," growled Shoz-Dijiji. "So old Nan-tan-des-

la-par-en will pay fifty dollars for my head, eh?" said

Gian-nah-tah. "Very well, I shall go and get his head for

nothing."

"It was not Nan-tan-des-la-par-en," said the scout. "He is no

longer war chief of the pindah-lickoyee. They have taken him away

and sent another. His name is Miles. It is he who has offered the

money for your heads. He has ordered out many soldiers to follow

you and catch you. Here there are three troops of the —th Cavalry;

Lawton is coming with Apache scouts, cavalry, and infantry. As fast

as men and horses are tired they will send fresh ones to replace

them. A few men cannot fight against so many and win. That is why

so many of us have joined the scouts. It is not that we love the

white-eyed ones any better than you do. We know when we are beaten

— that is all. We would live in peace. By going out you make

trouble for us all. We want to put an end to all this trouble."

"I, too, like peace," said Shoz-Dijiji; "but better even than

peace I like freedom. If you are content to be the slave of the

pindah-lickoyee that is your own affair. Shoz-Dijiji would rather

be forever on the war trail than be a slave. If you are men you

will leave the service of the white-eyes and join Geronimo."

"Yes," said Gian-nah-tah, "take that message to our brothers who

have turned against us."

"Come!" said Shoz-Dijiji, and the two warriors turned back

toward the camp of Geronimo.

1st Sergeant McGuire, "K" Troop, —th Cavalry' strolled back to

his blankets. On the way he paused to speak to Number One. "The

next time you hear a owl," he said, "you just telegraph President

Cleveland and let me sleep."

Chigo-na-ay was an hour high when Shoz-Dijiji and Gian-nah- tah

stood again before the rude hogan of Geronimo deep hid upon the

rough breast of the Mother of Mountains. The old war chief listened

in silence while they narrated with primitive fidelity every detail

of their interview with the scout.

"Fifty dollars for the head of a warrior, two thousand dollars

for the head of Geronimo!" he exclaimed. "It is thus that they

offer a bounty for the heads of wolves and coyotes. They treat us

as beasts and expect us to treat them as men. When they war among

themselves do they offer money for the head of an enemy? No! They

reserve that insult for the Apache.

"They will win because Usen has deserted us. And when they have

killed us all there will be none to stop them from stealing the

rest of our land. That is what they want. That is why they make

treaties with us and then break them, to drive us upon the war

trail that they may have an excuse to kill us faster. That is why

they offer money for our heads.

"Oh, Usen! What have the Shis-Inday done that you should be

angry with them and let their enemies destroy them?"

"Do not waste your breath praying to Usen," said Gian-nah- tah.

"Pray to the God of the pindah-lickoyee. He is stronger than

Usen."

"Perhaps you are right," said Geronimo, sadly. "He is a wicked

God, but his medicine is stronger than the medicine of Usen."

"I," said Shoz-Dijiji, "shall pray always to the god of my

fathers. I want nothing of the pindah-lickoyee or their god. I hate

them all."

A brave, moving at an easy run, approached the camp and stopped

before Geronimo.

"Soldiers are coming," he said. "Their scouts have followed the

tracks of Shoz-Dijiji and Gian-nah-tah."

"Only Apaches could trail us," said Geronimo. "If our brothers

had remained loyal and taken the war trail with us the

pindah-lickoyee could not conquer us in a thousand rains."

"There is a place where we can meet them," said the brave who

had brought the word, "and stop them."

"I know," replied Geronimo. He called four warriors to him.

"Take the women and the boys," he said, "and cross over the summit

to the burned pine by the first water. Those of us who live will

join you there after the battle."

Stripped to breech-cloth and moccasins, eighteen painted savages

filed silently through the rough mountains. A scout preceded them.

Behind Geronimo walked the Apache Devil, his blue face banded with

white. Stern, grim, terrible men these — hunted as beasts are

hunted, retaliating as only a cornered beast retaliates — asking no

quarter and giving none.

Equipped by civilization with the best of weapons and plenty of

ammunition and by nature with high intelligence, courage, and

shrewdness they had every advantage except that of numbers over any

enemy that might take the field against them.

They stopped the —th Cavalry that day as they had stopped other

troops before and without the loss of a man, and with the coming of

night had vanished among the rocks of their beloved mountains and

rejoined their women in the new camp by the burned pine at the

first water beyond the summit.

Stern, grim, relentless, the cavalry pursued. Cooperating with

them were the troops of Governor Torres of Sonora. The renegades

were hard pressed. Skirmishes were of almost daily occurrence now.

And then Lawton came with his hand picked force of seasoned

veterans.

It was May again. For a year this handful of savage warriors and

women and children had defied, eluded, and ofttimes defeated the

forces of two civilized nations. The military strategy of their

leader had been pitted against that of a great American general and

proved superior. A score of West Pointers had exhausted their every

resource and failed, but they were at last nearing their goal —

victory seemed imminent. Miles and Lawton would receive the

plaudits of their countrymen; and yet, if the truth were known,

Miles and Lawton might have continued to pursue Geronimo and his

band to the day of their deaths, and without success, had it not

been that Apache turned against Apache.

The Shis-Inday may date the beginning of the end from the day

that the first Indian Scouts were organized.

Hunted relentlessly, given no opportunity to rest because their

every haunt, their every trail, their every hiding place was as

well known to the scouts who pursued them as it was to themselves,

they found themselves at last practically surrounded.

With no opportunity to hunt they were compelled to kill their

ponies for sustenance until at last only Nejeunee was left.

Geronimo sat in council after a day of running battle.

"The warriors of the pindah-lickoyee and the Mexicans are all

about us," he said. "If we can break through and cross the

mountains into Chihuahua perhaps we can escape them. Then we must

separate and go in different directions. They will hear of us here

today and there tomorrow. They will hurry from one place to

another. Their horses will become tired and their soldiers

footsore. Their force will be broken up into small parties. It will

be easier for us to elude them. Tonight we shall move east. A camp

of the enemy lies directly in our path, but if we can pass it

before dawn we shall be in mountains where no cavalry can follow

and tomorrow we shall be in Chihuahua.

"There is one pony left. Its meat will carry us through until we

can find cattle in Chihuahua."

There was silence. Every warrior, every woman knew that

Shoz-Dijiji had repeatedly refused to permit the killing of the

little pinto stallion for food.

"Nejeunee is more than a war pony," Shoz-Dijiji had once said to

Geronimo. "He is my friend. I will not eat my friend. Nor permit

anyone to eat my friend."

Glances stole around the circle in search of Shoz-Dijiji. He was

not there.

Up toward the camp of the enemy — the camp that stood between

the renegades and Chihuahua — a painted warrior rode a pinto

stallion. A gentle May wind blew down to the nostrils of the man

and his mount. To Nejeunee it carried the scent of his kind from

the picket line of the —th Cav;lry. He pricked up his ears and

nickered. Shoz-Dijiji slid from his back, slipped the primitive

bridle from about his lower jaw and slapped him on the rump.

"Good-bye, Nejeunee," he whispered; "the pindah-lickoyee may

kill you, but they will not eat you."

Slowly the Apache walked back toward the camp of his people.

Like the stones upon the grave of Ish-kay-nay, many and heavy, his

sorrows lay upon his heart.

"Perhaps, after all," he mused, "Gian-nah-tah is right and Usen

has forgotten the Apaches. I have prayed to him in the high places;

I have offered hoddentin to him upon the winds of the morning and

the evening; I have turned a deaf ear to the enemies who bring us a

new god. Yet one by one the friends that I love are taken from me.

Oh, Usen, before they are all gone take Shoz-Dijiji! Do not leave

him alone without friends in a world filled with enemies!"

"Where is Shoz-Dijiji ?" demanded Geronimo, his blue eyes

sweeping the circle before him. "Gian-nah-tah, where is

Shoz-Dijiji?"

"Here is Shoz-Dijiji!" said a voice from the darkness; and as

they looked up, the war chief of the Be-don-ko-he stepped into the

dim, flickering light of their tiny fire. "Shoz-Dijiji," said

Geronimo, "there is but one pony left. It is Nejeunee. He must be

killed for food. The others are all gone."

"Nejeunee is gone, also," said Shoz-Dijiji.

"Gone?"

"I have told you many times that no one would ever eat Nejeunee

while Shoz-Dijiji lived. I have taken him away. What are you going

to do about it?"

Geronimo bowed his head. "Even my son has turned against me," he

said, sadly.

"Those are not true words, Geronimo," replied Shoz-Dijiji.

"Nejeunee was more to me than a great war pony. When Shoz- Dijiji

was a youth and Nejeunee a colt, Shoz-Dijiji broke him. Little

Ish-kay-nay rode upon his back. It was Ne- jeunee that was tied

before the hogan of her father. It was Nejeunee that Ish-kay-nay

led to water and fed the next morning. Nejeunee has carried me

through many battles. His fleet feet have borne me from the

clutches of many an enemy. He has been the friend of Shoz-Dijiji as

well as his war pony. Now he is old and yet there is not a fleeter

or braver pony in the land of the Shis-Inday. He deserves better of

me than to be killed and eaten.

"Geronimo says that Shoz-Dijiji has turned against him. Every

day Shoz-Dijiji offers his life for Geronimo, and all that he has

asked in return is the life of his friend."

"Say no more," said Na-chi-ta, the son of Cochise. "Let

Shoz-Dijiji have the life of his friend. We have been hungry before

— we can be hungry again. It does not kill an Apache to be hungry.

We are not pindah-lickoyee."