“They don’t look much, Jerry.”
“Indian ponies never look much, but one of those
ponies would gallop an eastern-bred horse to a stand-still.”
Jerry got up and inspected some of the horses closely,
and presently picked out two of them; at a word from
the chief two of the lads jumped on their backs and
rode off on them at full speed, and then wheeling
round returned to the spot from where they started.
“My white brother is a judge of horses,”
the chief said; “he has picked out the best
of the lot.”
“There are three or four others quite as good,”
Jerry said carelessly. “Now, chief, how
many blankets, how much powder and lead, and what else
do you want for those two horses?”
The chief stated his demands, to which Jerry replied:
“You said just now, chief, that I was a wise
man; but it seems that you must regard me as a fool.”
For half an hour an animated argument went on.
Two or three times Jerry got up, and they started
as if to quit the village, but each time the chief
called them back. So animated were their gestures
and talk that Tom had serious fears that they were
coming to blows, but their voices soon fell and the
talk became amicable again. At last Jerry turned
to Tom.
“The bargain is struck,” he said; “but
he has got the best of me, and has charged an outrageous
sum for them,” Then, in his own language, he
said to the chief:
“At noon to-morrow you will send the ponies
down to the town. I will meet them at the big
rock, half a mile this side of it, with the trade
goods.”
“They shall be there,” the chief said,
“though I am almost giving them to you.”
As they walked away, Tom said:
“So you have paid more than you expected, Jerry?”
“No, I have got them a bargain; only it would
never have done to let the chief know I thought so,
or the horses would not have turned up to-morrow.
I expect they have all been stolen from some other
tribe. The two I have got are first-rate animals,
and the goods will come to about fourteen pounds.
I shall ride one of them myself, and put our swag on
my own pony. That has been a very good stroke
of business; they would never have sold them at that
price if they had been honestly come by.”
ON THE PLAINS
The purchase of a buffalo robe, blankets, boots, and
a Colt’s revolver occupied but a short time,
but the rifle was a much more difficult matter.
“You can always rely upon a Colt,” the
miner said, “but rifles are different things;
and as your life may often depend upon your shooting-iron
carrying straight, you have got to be mighty careful
about it. A gun that has got the name of being
a good weapon will fetch four times as much as a new
one.”
Denver was but a small place; there was no regular
gunsmith’s shop, but rifles and pistols were
sold at almost every store in the town. In this
quest Jerry was assisted by Pete Hoskings, who knew
of several men who would be ready to dispose of their
rifles. Some of these weapons were taken out
into the country and tried at marks by the two men.
They made what seemed to Tom wonderful shooting, but
did not satisfy Hoskings.
