California Joe, the Mysterious Plainsman | Page 3

camp
unseen, for who else had put the stake there with its warning?
Then some one came in with the information that a large number of
small sprigs had been cut from a tree near by, and another reported that
one was staked out just beyond the camp.
Instantly the captain went to this stake, and it had evidently been placed
there under cover of the night just passed.
Afar off a close scrutiny showed that another stake had been placed,
and then it was decided to follow the trail they marked out.
The order to move was given, and the train pulled slowly out of its
camping-place.
Following the stakes, which were placed about a mile apart, with a
bunch of prairie grass upon the top of each, that they might be the
better seen, the train continued on its way until the noon halt.
Then the mysterious affair was talked over and the fact made known
that the trail of a single horse had been left from stake to stake.
Could it be the Forest Phantom? Such was the question asked by all.
It must be, many thought, for had he not faithfully guided the hunters
back to their camp the night before?

After an hour's halt the train again moved, and passed through a valley
that divided the range of hills out upon the prairie beyond.
Not caring to go away from a good camping ground, to perhaps make a
dry camp* out upon the prairie, the captain of the train called a halt in
the shelter of the hills, although there had been but about fifteen miles
made that day.
And as soon as night came on, and all gathered around the camp fires,
the subject of conversation was about their unseen guide.
Placing the guards, the camp again sunk to rest, and no sound disturbed
them through the night; and the guards neither heard nor saw anything
of a suspicious nature to alarm them.
But, strange to say, when the dawn came, there, in front of the captain's
teat, was the stake, driven into the ground under the shadow of the
night, and upon it was a piece of paper, evidently torn, as had the other
piece been, from off an old letter, and written in pencil.
The writing was legible, but by no means written by a scribe.
This second note read: "You are doing right! Follow the staked trail."
And all through the day the train did follow the staked trail, for the
stakes were still placed to guide them, though they were further apart
than the day before.
At dark the train reached a small stream, and in the shelter of the few
willows and cottonwoods upon its banks went into camp.
Hardly had the fires been lighted when, far off upon the prairie, a light
was visible.
That it came from a camp-fire was evident, and the emigrants gazed at
it long and earnestly, for who could have built it unless it was their
unseen guide?
Some wished to go and see, but this the train captain would not allow,

as he knew well he was in dangerous country, for both train robbers
and Indians were to be dreaded in that border land.
After blazing for half an hour the distant fire died out, and then all was
blackness upon the prairie.
At an early hour the train again pulled out, and the staked trail led
directly over the spot where had been seen the fire the night before. A
few charred sticks were visible right on the bank of a tiny stream, and
there were only a dozen cottonwoods near to form a shelter for a camp.
But there, evidently, had their unseen guide camped, for they could see
where blankets had pressed down the grass beneath the trees and where
a horse had fed about the lonely camp.
On through the day pulled the train, until they came to a spot that was
an excellent camping-ground, and here they halted.
Again were fires built, and after supper the emigrants assembled around
them for a talk, the one topic of conversation being about their unseen
guide.
Then there were croakers in the party, for some would say if he was
honest he would show himself.
Others feared he was leading them into a trap, until at last the general
opinion was against the unseen guide.
But his stanch friends were the hunting-party whom he had guided
back to camp.
They all maintain that he was true, what-ever he was, or it was, ghost or
man.
Some too believed they were being led by a spook, for superstition held
a great sway over the minds of people two-score years ago, and even
now many believe in the supernatural.
At last, after a warm