17 Roylston’s Rescue

The trail led steadily south and west, and, even Will Allen, who had less wilderness experience than any other in the company, could follow it easily. The ground was soft, as it had been throughout that memorable spring, and the hoofs of the horses cut deep, leaving a ploughed track behind. They came to numerous creeks and brooks, still swollen by the floods, but they always picked up easily the path of the retreating band on the other side.

Thus they rode for many hours, but late in the afternoon, Stump, who was in the lead, stopped suddenly and pointed to the trail.

“What have you seen, Stump?” asked the Panther.

“Unshod ponies have rid into the main trail here,” replied the timid one. “Six or seven of ’em came down from the north.”

The Panther rode up by his side and examined the rivulet of hoofs that had flowed into the chief stream.

“You’re right, Stump,” he said. “You’re always right about these things. Them tracks was shorely made by ponies that wore no shoes.”

“Isn’t it likely,” said Ned, “that the Campeachy Indian scouts have joined Urrea here? They would certainly have cleared out, as soon as the Texans smashed into the Mexican army, and they would naturally make for Mexico.”

The Panther slapped his huge thigh.

“That’s it,” he said. “I haven’t a doubt of it. The Campeachy Indians are snaky fellows an’ we’ll have to look out lest we run into an ambush. If it’s Urrea that’s leadin’ these Mexicans—an’ it’s shorely him—he’ll keep the Indians in the rear watchin’ for pursuit.”

“But we’re something on the scout ourselves,” said Obed White. “Having put our hand to the plough we’ll continue to cut a wide furrow until we overtake this Urrea, and have a final settlement with him.”

“Since Santa Anna has agreed on peace how will Urrea dare to keep Mr. Roylston prisoner?” asked Will Allen.

Obed White laughed.

“Urrea will claim that he never heard of the peace,” he replied, “and if he can gain any advantage from his exploit Santa Anna will wink at it. If Santa Anna should be released he would break the treaty himself on a moment’s notice, if he thought that he could make a new and successful attempt to conquer Texas. Urrea is safe from any punishment by Mexican authorities.”

They followed the trail the rest of the day, and as far into the night as the moonlight sufficed, taking it up again the next morning. They were sure that no harm had yet been done to the merchant, or they would have found some trace of it by the trailside. But it was unlikely, however, that Roylston would be subjected to foul play. As a hostage he was almost as valuable as his letters of credit and bills of exchange.

They resumed the pursuit in the morning across a beautiful country, an alternation of forest, heavy in leafy green, and of prairies, on which the grass grew tall and thick. As if to celebrate the Texan victory, spring was now doing its best, showing every color it knew in tints alike the richest and most delicate. The heavy rains also ceased to trouble, and they had now and then only a slight shower which did not trouble them at all. They rode nearly all the time through brilliant sunshine.

Ned’s sensitive temperament also responded to another note in the atmosphere. It was that of liberty and freedom. The somber cloud that had hung so long over Texas was lifted and he felt sure that it could never come again. The victory had been too complete, the Texans had shown that they were invincible in battle, and the Mexicans would not dare another trial.

There were visible signs that the same feeling was spreading over Texas. The news of the great victory had been carried fast. The fugitives into the north were returning. Men were bringing back their women and children and household possessions. Smoke was rising again from the chimneys of the cabins deserted so long. The Panther’s party met three such groups, returning on the very heels of victory, and while the Mexican lances were yet on the eastern side of the Brazos.

The Brazos itself had subsided somewhat, but they crossed at a ferry which had been restored only a few hours before they came. They obtained valuable information from the ferryman who, hidden in the bushes two days before, had seen a Mexican force of about thirty men, including six or seven Indians, build a rude raft and cross on it, letting their horses swim behind. They had with them one man, who looked like an American, obviously a prisoner, and their leader was young, sharp and imperious in manner.

“This settles it,” said the Panther. “There ain’t a single doubt left. The prisoner was Mr. Roylston and the description answers to Urrea to a dot.”

They found the wide trail again, leading on from the Brazos to the Colorado, and followed it at increased speed. Shortly before noon they met no less a person than Deaf Smith, on his way back to Houston, after delivering Santa Anna’s letters commanding peace to his generals. They exchanged news, and Smith was sorry that he could not turn about and join them in the pursuit.

“It’s young Urrea, of course,” he said, “and he will avoid the Mexican army below in order not to be involved in any armistice. He will make straight for the Rio Grande with his prisoner, an’ since there is peace for a while at least, that makes him a brigand. Don’t you trust any of the Mexican leaders. Even now they are up to all sorts of tricks.”

“What do you know?” asked the Panther.

“I had Santa Anna’s letters to Filisola and Gaona. They had heard of Santa Anna’s defeat before I got there, but at first they wouldn’t believe it. I don’t blame ’em. The full truth looks almost past believin’. But when a fugitive officer of Santa Anna’s own army, who swam his horse across Vince’s Bayou, reached them they had to believe it. So I found ’em a bit humble when I got there.

“Gaona and Filisola had already joined their forces, an’ Gaona also had recalled a portion of his troops which had crossed the Brazos. Then they fell back to Victoria, where they were joined by General Urrea with his men. Although they have a big force yet, they had decided to retire beyond the Colorado before I got there with Santa Anna’s letters which made them hasten their movements. But they are tricky to the last. They’ve sent General Woll to negotiate with Houston for cattle for food, while they are retreatin’, but I got sure proof while I was in their camp that Woll’s main object is mighty different. He’s goin’ there to gather all the information he can about our intentions, strength an’ condition. Mr. Woll is goin’ to be badly fooled, ’cause I’m goin’ to see that Houston holds him for treachery.”

“You do it,” said the Panther earnestly. “They brought in Cos just before we left, an’ if we keep on we’ll have one of the finest little collections of Mexican Generals ever made.”

“If the war was to go on we’d add to it right along,” said Deaf Smith. “There are Gaona and Sesma and Filisola and Urrea loose yet, but we’d gather ’em in. Panther, if we’ve got the right kind of leaders we can lick the Mexicans any time, no matter what the odds. That was the only trouble with Houston. He wouldn’t believe it of us, but we’ve proved it now. May the best luck go with you, boys. Mr. Roylston is a mighty fine man.”

Smith went reluctantly on his way but paused on the summit of the last swell to wave them farewell. The Panther led his men toward the Colorado along the plain trail that the Mexicans had left. But it soon veered to the east and kept in that direction a long time. Ned surmised that Urrea wished to keep well away from Victoria, where the Mexican Generals and their forces had gathered, and, thus not hearing directly of the peace, he could keep on with his prize to the Rio Grande and beyond.

They entered a country that was wholly desolate, the Texan settlers not having returned, and they saw by the appearance of the trail that they were gaining. Perhaps Urrea now considered himself safe from pursuit, and in that lay their greatest advantage. The following night they came to a large camp which he had made.

Big fires of mesquite had been built, and a deer, shot by one of their hunters, had been cooked. The hoofs and horns and bones, licked clean by the wolves, were found on the ground.

As the camp was located in a good place in the woods the Texans decided to occupy it themselves. For the sake of cooking and cheerfulness they built up a new fire of mesquite, and gathered about the blaze. Soon the horses began to whinny and show uneasiness. Long ferocious howls came from the forest.

“Wolves, not coyotes,” said the Panther, “but big wolves, timber wolves. It’s strange how quick they learn. Six months ago you wouldn’t have found a timber wolf in this region, but somehow or other they’ve found out that all the people have gone away, and here they are ag’in. How they howl! They must he hopin’ for some-thin’ here.”

The wolves showed so much boldness that Ned, Stump and the Panther crept through the bushes and shot two of them. They left the bodies where they lay, but, before they were back at the fire, they heard a terrible growling and snarling.

“Cannibals,” said Ned with a shudder.

The next morning they found that only clean bones were left. But they forgot the wolves in their pursuit of the trail which ever grew fresher. The Panther believed they would overtake Urrea not far beyond the Colorado, and, when they reached the forest, lining the banks of that stream, they advanced with great caution. The condition of the timber showed that the Mexicans had made another raft and had crossed, but the raft itself had floated away.

The Texans could make a raft also for passage, but they hesitated. The appearance of the trail showed that the Mexicans had not been across many hours. They might be lying ambushed in the trees on the other side, and if they caught the Texans in midstream they could shoot them down at their leisure.

As they reached the river late at night, they decided to make a camp in the thickest of the timber, and remain there until day. Then they would decide upon their procedure. The whole troop halted in an opening in a dense growth of bushes and tethered their horses. They did not light any fires, fearing that the blaze might be seen by a possible enemy on the further shore, but made themselves comfortable on the grass and ate cold food. Four sentinels were posted, and these in due time were to be relieved by others.

Most of the men soon went to sleep in their blankets. Since San Jacinto they had no fear of Mexican attack, and, even should it come, they felt supreme confidence in their ability to defeat any odds. But Ned, although it was not his watch, could not sleep. Mr. Roylston was all the time in his thoughts. He felt that he owed much to the great merchant who intended to take him into his house and business as a son, and that they must rescue him quickly, both for his own sake and the sake of Texas. He was confident that Urrea was now in the deep woods on the other side of the river, perhaps not more than a mile away, and there should be some method of taking Roylston from him that very night.

Restless and trying to think of a way, Ned walked from the bushes to the water’s edge. The swollen flood of the river, like all the others at that time, was yellow with the soft earth, washed from the channel, and the current flowed deep and strong. The further shore was high and thick with forest. Ned watched it attentively, as if he might see something moving against that solid black wall. He was joined there by the Panther, who also gazed at the forest on the far shore.

“You think Urrea is over there, don’t you, Ned?” he said.

“I feel sure of it.”

“So do I. The Mexican trail was not very old, when it reached the river, an’ the woods, an’ high ground on that side would make a splendid place for a camp. A leader, if he had any sense, would stop right there, an’ Urrea is no fool.”

“No, he is not. Look, Panther! Is that a light on the hill or a low star?”

A faint silvery light, barely showing through the foliage, had just appeared. The Panther watched it at least a minute before replying.

“It’s a fire, Ned,” he said, “but I don’t think it’s been built for either warmin’ or cookin’. Now it’s gone! An’ now it comes back! It’s for signalling Ned. Somebody holds a blanket before it an’ then takes it away. Between you an’ me it has somethin’ to do with us. Mebbe Urrea has learned that we’re on his track an’ has sent back spies. Let’s go up the river a piece.”

Leaving word with Stump they moved through the bushes a quarter of a mile up the stream, examining the bank minutely, and then turning back to their own camp. Half way there and Ned’s attention was drawn by a splash in the water.

He sank down instantly and dragged the Panther’s huge bulk after him.

“Look at the river,” he whispered. “Don’t you see the two heads?”

“Yes, I see ’em,” the Panther whispered back. “It’s them Campeachy Indians.”

The two Indians side by side were swimming strongly to the bank. They carried knives in their teeth, and packages tied on their heads.

“They are the spies I was thinkin’ about,” said the Panther. “They’re comin’ over here to look at our camp, an’ mebbe to answer, too, the signal that we saw on the hill.”

“I haven’t seen the signal since we left our camp.”

“Mebbe they was just practicin’. Ned, it’s a pow’ful temptation to fire at them swimmin’ heads, but we mustn’t do it. We’ve got to see what the Campeachy fellers do.”

“Of course.”

They lay almost flat on the ground among the bushes where the eyes of the Indians, no matter how keen, could not see them, and watched. The two Indians reached the bank and stood up, the water falling in black beads from their naked yellow bodies. They unfolded the packages from their heads and laid them down under the bushes. Ned saw that each consisted of a blanket, a little bundle of sticks and flint and steel. These could not be intended for anything but signals, and the Panther was right. One of the Indians sat down under the tree, beside the blankets and other apparatus and the second slipped away among the bushes.

“Don’t try to follow him,” said the Panther as he put a restraining hand on Ned’s arm. “These men haven’t come armed for fightin’, they’re ready for spyin’ only. I guess they want to find out how many we are, an’, when Urrea learns that his force outnumbers ours, I reckon he’ll try to lay an ambush for us or hold the ford ag’in us.”

The Panther’s logic seemed very sound to Ned, and he sank back again; resuming his watch upon the warrior under the tree. These Campeachy Indians were snaky creatures, and this fellow made a most sinister figure. He was crouched against the body of the tree with his hands clasped around his knees, which rose almost as high as his head. His arms were unusually long and powerful. His yellow face was immobile, absolutely without expression, and he did not move. A full half hour passed and Ned was never able to see that the Indian stirred an inch.

The second Indian returned and whispered a few words to the other. Then they rapidly built a small fire. When it blazed up they passed a blanket back and forth before it several times.

“Look at the far shore, Ned,” whispered the Panther.

Ned looked, and saw the light there appearing and disappearing. The two fires were talking together, but he could only guess what they said. He guessed that the Indians on this shore told the Mexicans on the other shore that the Texans were in small force, and could not cross the river in the face of a much more numerous foe.

The signals continued five minutes. Then the Indians put out the fire, refolded the blankets, put the packages back on their heads and slipped back into the river. Ned saw their black hair just above the water, until they reached the middle of the stream when darkness took them.

“Ned,” said the Panther; “I think Urrea, after he hears the report of the Indians will stay on the bank where he has such a great advantage an’ fight us.”

“I’ve formed the same opinion.”

“But you an’ me an’ Stump an’ Obed have got to go over to-night an’ bring Mr. Roylston back. The Indians have showed the way. Then Urrea, if he feels like it can cross an’ fight us.”

“What’s your plan, Panther?”

“We’ll swim the stream, but, as we’ve got to go armed we’ll roll one of the fallen trees into the river, an’ use it as a support.”

They were soon back with the others, and quickly made their preparations. Stump and Obed were eager for the trial, and nobody made any objections. Wayland, an experienced man, was left in charge of the camp. All the men were to be awake and ready to help their comrades. Every wilderness forest is full of brushwood, and fifty feet from the bank they found a suitable fallen tree with many of the boughs still on. They rolled it as gently as possible into the water, and the bold adventurers made ready.

The four took off all their clothing except their trousers and belts. Knives and hatchets which the water would not harm were left in the belts, but they placed their rifles and ammunition on the tree. Will Allen watched them as they made ready. He gave Ned’s hand a strong clasp, but he said nothing.

They slipped into the water, giving the tree a slant with the stream, and swam gently, not intending to reach the farther shore until they were at least a half mile below Urrea’s camp. Their faces were hidden behind the trunk and boughs and even the wary Indians would have taken the tree to be harmless, floating like many others down the flooded Colorado.

“I wish all crossin’s was like this,” whispered Stump. “Cur’us how little it takes to hold you up in the water.”

“It’s more than a tree,” Ned whispered back. “It’s a ship and it’s carrying us in safety and dignity. I don’t believe anybody could suspect that this is not the harmless tree it looks.”

“It’s an omen,” said Obed White. “It’s Birnam wood going to Dunsinane, and it means that we’ll beat Urrea. You never read Shakespeare, Stump, but he said some good things, one of which fits our case.”

“Whisper as much as you like, boys,” said the Panther, who believed in keeping cheerful, “but don’t raise your voices. Do any of you see a light in Urrea’s woods?”

“Nothing is there except darkness,” replied Ned.

“Then he’s hopin’ that we’ll try to cross in the mornin’, an’ he’ll wait until we get into the middle of the river, when his men will open fire. He’s a smart man, but we’re smarter. This is a lovely boat, Ned, an’ no mistake. She moves nice an’ gentle.”

The tree under its artful direction moved smoothly on, floating down the stream, but always bearing slightly toward the farther shore. The stream curved a little, passing around a hill, and they increased the slant. Now, no one of them spoke. Darkness and the wilderness seemed to prevail absolutely. Ned heard the wind among the trees, and the water lapping against the shore. He felt to its fullest extent, the hazardous nature of the task they were attempting.

“Turn it a little more now,” said the Panther, “an’ in a minute or two we’ll be at the bank.”

The shore at the point they reached was low, and they pulled the tree wholly out of the stream, in order that it might be ready for them should they need it again. Then the four, dripping water but carrying their rifles and ammunition, stepped into the woods. The Panther led the way, Ned followed, behind him came Stump, and Obed was at the rear.

They found the forest even more dense than on their own side of the river, but it suited their purpose, hiding their bodies and not keeping them, accomplished woods men as they were, from advancing without noise. Their path led up the hill, and when they reached its crest the Panther stopped. The others moved softly to his side and looked into a fairly large open space, where men lay about sleeping. Horses were tethered on the far side, and half a dozen sentinels, walking around in a circle, kept watch.

They were looking into the camp of Urrea, but they made no movement until they located Roylston. Ned finally saw him sitting in a leaning posture against a small sapling, his arms bound. To their great joy he seemed to be awake. And yet it was not so singular. He must have seen the Mexicans signalling, and he must have inferred from it that the Texans were near.

“How far would you say it is from the trees to him?” whispered the Panther to Obed White.

“Not over twenty feet,” replied Obed, “and I want to say, Panther, I’m so long and slim that I make less shadow on the ground than the rest of us. S’pose I creep up to Mr. Roylston, cut him loose and run with him. Mexican sentinels are always bad. Those fellows are probably walking in their sleep, and we can at least get a good start.”

“I reckon it’s the only way,” said the Panther. “We’ll wait here an’ cover you with our rifles, but be careful, Obed. Be mighty careful!”

Obed, his knife in his hand, dropped down upon the ground, and seemed to disappear in the shadows. Merely a slight line marked where his long thin body writhed forward like a snake. Ned on his knees in the bushes watched breathlessly. The sentinels walked back and forth, but it was apparent that they had neither seen nor heard anything. The time seemed very long, but the line that was Obed still moved forward, reached Roylston, and then stopped. Ned saw the merchant move a little. He also saw the flash of a strong blade and then the merchant and Obed, half rising, walked swiftly toward the wood. Obed had not asked Roylston to creep back as he had come knowing that he could not do it, and he deemed it better to make a bold rush, trusting to the protecting rifles of his three comrades.

They were half way to the trees, when one of the sentinels saw them, and uttered a shout of alarm. The others echoed the cry, adding that the prisoner was escaping, and, in an instant, the Mexican camp was in an uproar.

“Run, Mr. Roylston, run!” shouted Ned.

The merchant, with such an inducement, showed great speed for a man of his years, and in another instant was in the forest. Several bullets, fired in haste at him and Obed cut the twigs above the heads of fugitives and rescuers, but the the rifles of Ned, the Panther and Stump flashed in return, and the Mexicans began to shout in alarm that a great Texan force was upon them.

“Now’s our time!” cried the Panther. “Make for our tree, Obed, an’ start across the river; The rest of us will hold the Mexicans back!”

Ned caught a glimpse of the merchant’s face. It was white but composed. His great intelligence had comprehended everything in an instant. He said nothing but in one flashing moment he looked his gratitude and was gone with Obed. The Panther, with Ned and Stump, drew off slowly, and in a slightly different direction. They heard the Mexicans crashing after them for a few minutes, and then sink into silence, not knowing by what numbers they were assailed and evidently fearful of an ambush.

The Panther led, and suddenly he came out on the edge of the hill overlooking the river, where his gigantic figure was disclosed in the moonlight. Stump and Ned were yet in the bushes, when they heard a shout of triumph, a pistol shot, and saw two Mexicans rushing upon the Panther, upon whose sleeve a red spot leaped, where the blood had been drawn by the wound below. But the Panther’s own pistol flashed, one of the Mexicans fell, and springing forward he grasped the other in his powerful arms.

Ned had but one glimpse of the Mexican, who had been seized in that terrible clutch and he saw that it was Urrea. The next moment the Panther whirled him aloft and hurled him outward. Ned heard a crash on rocks below and then came a moment of sickening silence. He knew that Urrea had been killed instantly.

“Come on!” cried the Panther. “Their leader’s gone, an’ they won’t be eager in the pursuit!”

They ran along the river’s edge and found Obed and Roylston already launching the tree. All pushed it off and swam and drifted to the other shore. The Mexicans, cowed by their leader’s death, fled with speed the next day, and the Texans prepared to return northward in triumph.

But before they began their return journey Ned asked the Panther to ride westward with him in the direction of San Antonio. That part of the country seemed to be free now from Mexicans and Indian raiding bands, and there was little possibility of danger.

“I want to find a horse,” said Ned, “the best, most intelligent and greatest horse that anybody ever rode.”

The Panther went with him gladly and they travelled a night and day, until they came to a wide plain, heavy with grass and watered well.

“It was somewhere near here that I abandoned Old Jack,” said Ned, “and it seems to me that if we hunt around a while we ought to find him.”

“Like as not we’ll run across him,” said the Panther. “Besides the buffalo, which migrate, not many of the animals in this country go very far from their reg’lar runs.”

They hunted nearly all the next day, and, toward its conclusion, they approached a deep dip in the prairie with a small stream running down it, and, ending toward the north in a fine grove of oaks. It was an ideal place for an animal home, with grass, water and shelter all close together, and the Panther considered it highly probable that they would discover Old Jack in the dip.

When they rode down the swale to the brook they saw nothing, but the Panther pinned his faith to the fine oak grove at the end.

“It’s comin’ on toward night,” he said, “an’ like enough Old Jack, havin’ eat an’ drunk his fill, is now thinkin’ about goin’ to bed.”

They rode toward the grove and Ned caught sight of a great, dark figure at its edge, standing under the boughs of a large oak. His pulse leaped. Despite the distance, he recognized the figure. It was his faithful friend, Old Jack. The Panther had also seen him and he turned to Ned and said:

“Ain’t that your hoss?”

“Beyond a doubt it’s Old Jack his very self.”

“Shall we try to ketch him with lariats or can you talk him up?”

“I think I can toll him to me, Panther. At least, I’d like to try. It would be an insult to him to pursue him with ropes.”

The Panther understood. In some matters the great brusque plainsman had extremely fine and delicate sensibilities.

“I’ll wait here,” he said, “’cause I guess you’d like to go on alone. He don’t know me as well as he does you and I might skeer him.”

“Thanks, Panther, I think it would be best.”

The Panther wheeled in behind a clump of bushes, where he was hidden, and yet could watch, and Ned rode on alone.

The great dark figure under the tree did not move. The sun was now setting in a sea of red and gold, and poured a vast stream of light directly upon the grove, where the horse stood in the very center of it. Old Jack was magnified. He seemed to grow to twice his height. His body and legs were colossal.

Ned rode slowly forward, uttering the long deep whistle which had been his call to his best and favorite horse. He saw the gigantic figure move and then stretch forward a great neck. At the same time he saw behind other horses, a group gathered closely together, and evidently much afraid. Ned divined at once that they were wild horses, and that Old Jack, by virtue of size, strength and power, had already become their leader and king.

He continued to ride slowly forward, all the time uttering that melodious, persuasive whistle which Old Jack had learned to know as the signal from the best of masters. Ned knew that the great horse was trembling, that training was pulling him one way, and nature and instinct the other. But that wonderful, melodious whistle never ceased to come from his lips, and at last Old Jack, issuing from the wood, walked slowly forward.

As the great horse, hesitating but still advancing, came nearer, Ned began to talk to him, and to call him all the old familiar names. He told him that he was the finest and greatest horse that lived, that ever had lived or that ever would live. Old Jack turned his head and glanced two or three times at the wood where his herd yet lingered, and came, more slowly still, yet he came.

He was so near at last that Ned reached out his hand, and stroked his glossy mane and his nose. Old Jack whinnied softly, and nuzzled his master’s hand. Then Ned, full of gratitude for great services done and of sympathy for horse nature, said:

“I merely wanted to see you once more, Old Jack, and thank you for saving my life. May bridle or saddle never rest upon you again!”

He struck Old Jack smartly upon the flank. The horse uttered a deep, thrilling neigh, and galloped back toward the wood and the herd, of which he was leader. Ned saw their forms disappearing in the shadows and at that moment the sun set behind the high swell of the prairie.

“Why did you do it?” asked the Panther, when Ned rode back.

“Because he is a king and I want him to keep his kingdom.”

“I’d have done it, too,” said the Panther.

They heard often in the years afterward of a great black stallion, leading a splendid herd of wild horses, which many an expert with lariat sought in vain to capture. It was said that the stallion had a wisdom almost uncanny, that he seemed to add human and reasoning qualities to the acute senses and instinct of the wild animal. He gradually led his herd further and further westward until they disappeared in the canyons of the mountains and were seen no more by men.

John Roylston was deeply grateful for his rescue and he insisted that Ned should join him, as his adopted son and coming partner, as soon as the war was over. But Ned served until the close, when the last Mexican soldier had disappeared from the soil of Texas. He took part in the controversy over Santa Anna, when a large number of the Texans insisted on his execution, but, from motives of policy, he opposed it. He was glad when the government decided to give him to the United States, which sent him back to Mexico, and, singularly enough, he and most of his close comrades faced him ten years later at Buena Vista, when the Americans, who now included the Texans, beat him again, although the odds were five to one in his favor.

Ned, with Will Allen his chief assistant, became a great merchant with John Roylston. Their trade filled the southwest and they had many ships upon the Gulf and Caribbean. His most daring captain in the field, whether of fleet or wagon train, was a long, red-headed man from New England named Obed White. But trade and riches had no temptations for the Panther and Stump. They took to the great west, and their fame as hunters and scouts rose to an unparalleled degree.

Ned, now and then, for the sake of relaxation, joined them on a big buffalo hunt on the plains, or a search for the grizzly bear in the mountains. When he was with them they never failed to find the game they wished, which merely confirmed the belief of the Panther and Stump that he was “chose,” that he was in very fact and deed a magic leader.

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