nature, and the territorial press (there was a telegraph line in operation by this time) was filled with gloomy forebodings on account of the "well-known treachery of the Indian character." Tommy Byrne realized full well how much it would cost Uncle Sam in blood and treasure if this outbreak were not stopped in its incipiency, and without waiting for his spirited little horse to be saddled—he was a superb rider—threw himself across its back and took out into the hills after the fugitives. When the Hualpais saw the cloud of dust coming out on the road, they blazed into it, but the kind Providence, which is said to look out for the Irish under all circumstances, took pity on the brave old man, and spared him even after he had dashed up—his horse white with foam—to the knot of chiefs who stood on the brow of a lava mesa.
At first the Hualpais were sullen, but soon they melted enough to tell the story of their grievances, and especially the grievance they had against Captain Byrne himself. The new agent had been robbing them in the most bare-faced manner, and in their ignorance they imagined that it was Tommy Byrne's duty to regulate all affairs at his camp. They did not want to hurt him, and would let him go safely back, but for them there was nothing but the war-path and plenty of it.
Tommy said gently, "Come back with me, and I'll see that you are righted." Back they went, following after the one, unarmed man. Straight to the beef scales went the now thoroughly aroused officer, and in less time than it takes to relate, he had detected the manner in which false weights had been secured by a tampering with the poise. A two-year-old Texas steer, which, horns and all, would not weigh eight hundred pounds, would mark seventeen hundred, and other things in the same ratio. Nearly the whole amount of the salt and flour supply had been sold to the miners in the Cerbat range, and the poor Hualpais, who had been such valiant and efficient allies, had been swindled out of everything but their breath, and but a small part of that was left.
Tommy seized upon the agency and took charge; the Hualpais were perfectly satisfied, but the agent left that night for California and never came back. A great hubbub was raised about the matter, but nothing came of it, and a bitter war was averted by the prompt, decisive action of a plain, unlettered
