第42章 A FAMILY REUNION(1)

The hospitality of a trail wagon was aptly expressed in the invitation to enjoy ourselves.Some one had exercised good judgment in selecting a camp, for every convenience was at hand, including running water and ample shade from a clump of cottonwoods.Turning our steaming horses free, we threw ourselves, in complete abandonment and relaxation, down in the nearest shade.Unmistakable hints were given our host of certain refreshments which would be acceptable, and in reply Forrest pointed to a bucket of creek water near the wagon wheel, and urged us not to be at all backward.

Every one was well fortified with brown cigarette papers and smoking tobacco, and singly and in groups we were soon smoking like hired hands and reviewing the incidents of the morning.

Forrest's cook, a tall, red-headed fellow, in anticipation of the number of guests his wagon would entertain for the day, put on the little and the big pot.As it only lacked an hour of noon on our arrival, the promised fresh beef would not be available in time for dinner; but we were not like guests who had to hurry home--we would be right there when supper was ready.

The loss of a night's sleep on my outfit was a good excuse for an after-dinner siesta.Untying our slickers, we strolled out of hearing of the camp, and for several hours obliterated time.

About three o'clock Bob Quirk aroused and informed us that he had ordered our horses, and that the signal of Sponsilier's cattle had been seen south on the trail.Dave was impatient to intercept his herd and camp them well down the creek, at least below the regular crossing.This would throw Bob's and my cattle still farther down the stream; and we were all determined to honor Forrest with our presence for supper and the evening hours.

Quince's wrangler rustled in the horses, and as we rejoined the camp the quarters of a beef hung low on a cottonwood, while a smudge beneath them warned away all insect life.Leaving word that we would return during the evening, the eleventh-hour guests rode away in the rough, uneven order in which we had arrived.

Sponsilier and his men veered off to the south, Bob Quirk and his lads soon following, while the rest of us continued on down the creek.My cattle were watering when we overtook them, occupying fully a mile of the stream, and nearly an hour's ride below the trail crossing.It takes a long time to water a big herd thoroughly, and we repeatedly turned them back and forth across the creek, but finally allowed them to graze away with a broad, fan-like front.As ours left the stream, Bob's cattle were coming in over a mile above, and in anticipation of a dry camp that night, Parent had been advised to fill his kegs and supply himself with wood.

Detailing the third and fourth guard to wrangle the remuda, Isent Levering up the creek with my brother's horses and to recover our loaned saddle stock; even Bob Quirk was just thoughtless enough to construe a neighborly act into a horse trade.About two miles out from the creek and an equal distance from the trail, I found the best bed-ground of the trip.It sloped to the northwest, was covered with old dry grass, and would catch any vagrant breeze except an eastern one.The wagon was ordered into camp, and the first and second guards were relieved just long enough to secure their night-horses.Nearly all of these two watches had been with me during the day, and on the return of Levering with the horses, we borrowed a number of empty flour-sacks for beef, and cantered away, leaving behind only the cook and the first two guards.

What an evening and night that was! As we passed up the creek, we sighted in the gathering twilight the camp-fires of Sponsilier and my brother, several miles apart and south of the stream.When we reached Forrest's wagon the clans were gathering, The Rebel and his crowd being the last to come in from above.Groups of saddle horses were tied among the trees, while around two fires were circles of men broiling beef over live coals.The red-headed cook had anticipated forty guests outside of his own outfit, and was pouring coffee into tin cups and shying biscuit right and left on request.The supper was a success, not on account of the spread or our superior table manners, but we graced the occasion with appetites which required the staples of life to satisfy.

Then we smoked, falling into groups when the yarning began.All the fresh-beef stories of our lives, and they were legion, were told, no one group paying any attention to another.

Every time I run a--foul of fresh beef," said The Rebel, as he settled back comfortably between the roots of a cottonwood, with his back to its trunk, "it reminds me of the time I was a prisoner among the Yankees.It was the last year of the war, and I had got over my first desire to personally whip the whole North.There were about five thousand of us held as prisoners of war for eleven months on a peninsula in the Chesapeake Bay.The fighting spirit of the soldier was broken in the majority of us, especially among the older men and those who had families.But we youngsters accepted the fortunes of war and were glad that we were alive, even if we were prisoners.In my mess in prison there were fifteen, all having been captured at the same time, and many of us comrades of three years' standing.

"I remember the day we were taken off the train and marched through the town for the prison, a Yankee band in our front playing national airs and favorites of their army, and the people along the route jeering us and asking how we liked the music.Our mess held together during the march, and some of the boys answered them back as well as they could.Once inside the prison stockade, we went into quarters and our mess still held together.