The Boys of Crawford's Basin

In relating the adventures of "The Boys of Crawford's Basin," the author has endeavored to depict the life of the ranchman in the mountains of Colorado as he knew it towards the end of the "seventies" of the century just past.

At that date, the railroads, after their long climb from the Missouri River to the foot of the Rocky Mountains, were still seeking a practicable passage westward over that formidable barrier, and in consequence, the mountain ranchman--who, by the way, was also sometimes a prospector and frequently a hunter--having no means of shipping his produce to the outside world, depended for his market upon one or another of the many little silver-mining camps scattered over the State.

That infant State was but just learning to walk without leading-strings; and it has been the aim of the author to show how two stout young fellows, prone to honesty and not afraid of hard work, were able to do their share in advancing the prosperity of the growing Commonwealth in which their lot was cast.

It may not be out of place, perhaps, to mention that, besides having had considerable experience in ranching, the author was, about the date of the story, himself prospecting for silver and working as a miner. He would add, too, that several of the incidents related therein, and those in his opinion the most remarkable, are drawn from actual facts.

CONTENTS

I. BIG REUBEN'S RAID 11

II. CRAWFORD'S BASIN 27

III. YETMORE'S MISTAKE 42

IV. LOST IN THE CLOUDS 64

V. WHAT WE FOUND IN THE POOL 82

VI. LONG JOHN BUTTERFIELD 101

VII. THE HERMIT'S WARNING 119

VIII. THE WILD CAT'S TRAIL 134

IX. THE UNDERGROUND STREAM 150

X. HOW TOM CONNOR WENT BORING FOR OIL 169

XI. TOM'S SECOND WINDOW 190

XII. TOM CONNOR'S SCARE 210

XIII. THE ORE-THEFT 229

XIV. THE SNOW-SLIDE 250

XV. THE BIG REUBEN VEIN 271

XVI. THE WOLF WITH WET FEET 289

XVII. THE DRAINING OF THE "FORTY RODS" 313

ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

"THERE WAS BIG REUBEN LOOKING DOWN AT US" Frontispiece 22

"AH, SOX, IS THAT YOU?'" 78

"WE SAW BEFORE US A VERY CURIOUS SIGHT" 155

"'CAN FOLKS SEE IN FROM OUTSIDE?'" 213

"HE SHOT DOWNWARD LIKE AN ARROW" 281

The Boys of Crawford's Basin

CHAPTER I

BIG REUBEN'S RAID

"Wake up, boys! Wake up! Tumble out, there! Quick! Big Reuben's into the pig-pen again!"

Our bedroom door was banged wide open, and my father stood before us--a startling apparition--dressed only in his night-shirt and a pair of boots, carrying a stable-lantern in one hand and a rifle in the other.

"What is it?" cried Joe, as he bounced out of bed; and, "Where is it?" cried I, both of us half dazed by the sudden awakening.

"It's Big Reuben raiding the pig-pen again! Can't you hear 'em squealing? Come on at once! Bring the eight-bore, Joe; and you, Phil, get the torch and the revolver. Quick; or he'll kill every hog in the pen!"

Big Reuben was not a two-legged thief, as one might suppose from his name. He was a grizzly bear, a notorious old criminal, who, for the past two or three years, had done much harm to the ranchmen of our neighborhood, killing calves and colts and pigs--especially pigs.

Like a robber-baron of old, he laid tribute on the whole community, raiding all the ranches in turn, traveling great distances during the night, but always retreating to his lair among the rocks before morning. This had gone on for a long time, when one day, in broad daylight, while Ole Johnson, the Swede, was plowing his upper potato-patch, the grizzly jumped down from a ledge of rocks and with one blow of his paw broke the back of Ole's best work-steer; Ole himself, frightened half to death, flying for refuge to his stable, where he shut himself up in the hay-loft for the rest of the day.