CHAPTER XIII

GREAT SCOUTING

The quadrupeds of the mining expedition showed many signs of the hard
time they had been having, and it was needful to get out from among the
rocks quickly. It was yet quite shadowy in the deep canon when the
wagons were set in motion, but not a great deal of "road mending" was
called for from that point onward. Early in the day they came out upon
the level, and before noon the horses and mules were picking the rich
grass around the ancient ruins.

It was a grand time, and Sile had a dim idea that he only drew his
breath now and then, the great, long ones came so frequently. He had
felt one kind of awe in the canon and in looking at the mountain peaks.
Now he felt quite another kind of awe in looking at the rude mason-work
of those houses.

"Father," he asked, "do you s'pose they were people anything like us?"

"They built three-story houses. No Indians ever did that."

"Is there nothing at all about them in history?"

"Yes, here are the ruins. Here are little books like this."

He handed Sile what looked for all the world like a broken piece of an
old pot, and Sile said so.

"That's it. If it is one, it shows that they understood making pottery.
Nobody has ever found anything to prove that they were miners, and all
the stones of these houses are only broken. None of them are cut or
trimmed."

It was a wonder of wonders to stand there and talk about a lost and
vanished people, but Yellow Pine was thinking of a people who had
vanished without being lost. They were the Indians whose camp-grounds he
had moved into and out of, and he had an idea that they might be found
again at any hour. He advised the judge not to move on again until some
exploring and scouting should have been done. Meantime the "critters,"
as he called them, did their feeding under a strong guard and close
watching.

"Sile," he said, "as soon as your horse has had a good feed, you and I
will ride a circuit and see what we can find."

Sile's blood danced a little. Scouting after Indians was a thing he had
read about, and he did not dwell too much upon the fact that he was
chosen to go with Pine rather because his horse was a fast one and had
not pulled wagons than for any reason. Pine said to him,

"Your eyes are pretty good ones, too. Who knows but what you might see
something. Jedge, I won't run him into any danger. Them Indians is all
on foot."

Sile set to work at once upon his repeating-rifl