Yes, Brenda was alive, and a prisoner of the Apaches, spared by them,
probably, as children sometimes are after such raids, for adoption. It
was plainly our duty to rescue her from the fate of a continued life
with her captors.
XVIII
ON THE TRAIL OF THE APACHES
After a further delay, to allow the scouts and their broncos to
breakfast, the party mounted and turned to the west. Calling Paul
Weaver to ride by my side, I questioned him about the region before
us.
"I suppose you are familiar with this part of the country, Paul?"
"Ought t' be. Trapped and hunted here since I was twenty, and I'm nigh
on to sixty-five now."
"Have these Apaches a camping-place near here?"
"Yes; they spend a part of every year here-abouts, gatherin' mezcal.
From the direction they've took, I b'lieve they're goin' to Santy
Maree Creek."
"That flows into Bill Williams Fork, does it not?"
"Yes, an' 't has a northern and southern branch. One of th' favorite
campin'-places of th' Mezcalleros 's on th' southern branch."
"How far is it from here?"
"'Bout fifty mile.
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