The Stranger

by Ambrose Bierce

The Stranger

It was night and we were sitting around a camp fire in the Arizona desert. In this dry, empty land of rocks and high hills, we had seen only snakes and birds. We had seen no other people. Beyond the light of our fire, the darkness was like a black wall.

Suddenly, a stranger walked into our camp and sat down. "You're not the first men to explore this desert," he said. We were astonished. Several men in our group put their hands on their guns. But the stranger took no notice of this. He went on speaking and we listened.

"Four men came here thirty years ago," the stranger said. "Their names were Ramon Gallegos, William Shaw, George Kent and Berry Davis. They came from the town of Tucson. They were going to California. Ramon Gallegos, William Shaw, George Kent and Berry Davis were traveling west. They were crossing the desert without a guide."

The stranger repeated the four names. His voice was soft and he spoke slowly. Later, we asked each other these questions. Where had this man come from? Was he alone? Where was his own camp? Why was he in the middle of this desert? We guessed that the stranger was a lonely traveler who wanted the company of other men. A man can go crazy if he is alone in this empty place.

The stranger was on the other side of our camp fire. I could not see his face clearly because my hat was pulled down over my forehead. I lifted the brim a little. What did the stranger look like? Well, there was nothing unusual about the man. He looked like any of our own men. We were all wearing broad hats and he was wearing one too. We looked and listened as he told his story. Later, we remembered his words, but not his face.

"This place was different thirty years ago, the stranger said "Only Apache Indians and a few soldiers lived here. Many men have disappeared in this desert. The Apaches killed some of them. Others died of thirst because they could not find any water. The Apaches killed strangers slowly, and in a terrible way. We did not want to meet them."

The stranger was silent for a few seconds, then he went on with his story.

"The four of us-Ramon Gallegos, William Shaw, George animals. We were able to shoot several of the animals, so at last we had some food. We ate and slept, and soon we felt stronger. But a few days later, the Apaches found us.

The stranger stared at the flames of the fire as he spoke. "The Indians were behind us," he said. They started shouting. They had rifles and they started firing them at us. There were about forty Apaches, and only four of us. We could not fight them all. We tried to hide in the mountains hut the Apaches followed us closely. At last, we came to a steep cliff. We couldn't escape now-we were trapped. What could we do? We took our guns and left our horses at the bottom of the cliff. Then we started to climb up the wall of rock. There were four of us-Ramon Gallegos, William Shaw, George Kent and Berry Davis."

"We've heard those names before," said one of our own men. "Tell us what happened."

The stranger took no notice of these words. He continued his story.

"We climbed up the steep cliff and found the entrance of a cave," he said. "The Apaches didn't follow us immediately. They were busy with our horses. They looked at the equipment that our horses were carrying. While the Apaches were stealing our equipment, we went into the cave. The entrance of the cave was narrow, and we could shoot anyone who came into it. But we had a problem. We could not get out at the back of the cave. For a while, we were safe from the Apaches. But we were not safe from hunger and thirst.

"The Apaches made their camp outside the cave. We saw the light of their camp fire. They were waiting for us to come out. They knew that we would become hungry and thirsty. We would have to leave the cave after two or three days, because we had no food or water. When we came out of the cave, the Apaches would kill us... slowly.

"We stayed in that cave for three days and three nights," said the stranger. "We took turns to sleep. While three slept, one of us guarded the others. But we had no food and no water. No man can live for long in this desert without water. A man goes crazy without water. First he goes crazy, and then he dies.

"Ramon Gallegos died first," said the stranger. "He died in the morning, on the fourth day. 'I'm going to die today,' Ramon said to us. 'But the Apaches won't kill me.' Then he took out his gun. He put the muzzle to his head and fired. And so Ramon Gallegos escaped from hunger and thirst. And he escaped from the Apaches. That left three of us- William Shaw, George Kent and Berry Davis.

"I was the leader," the stranger said. "I spoke to the others. 'Ramon Gallegos was a brave man,' I told them. 'He knew when to die, and he knew how to die. It's foolish to go crazy from thirst. And none of us wants to be slowly killed by the Apaches. Let's join Ramon Gallegos.' William Shaw and George Kent agreed with these words.

"I laid the body of Ramon Gallegos on the ground and put a handkerchief over his face. Then William Shaw pointed toward Ramon's body. 'I want to be as peaceful as him,' he said. George Kent agreed with him.

"A few minutes later, William Shaw and George Kent put the muzzles of their own guns to their heads. Then they fired. I laid their bodies beside Ramon Gallegos, and covered their faces with their handkerchiefs."

One of the men in our group stood up suddenly. "And you!" he shouted at the stranger. "You let your friends die, and you escaped! We ought to shoot you!"

The captain of our group took hold of the man's arm. "Quiet, now," he said. "You're listening to a story. This stranger has been in the desert a long time."

"The stranger has told us four names," I said. "His story is about four men. Is he the fifth man? How does he know this story? It can't be true."

"It's an old story," said our captain, "And there is some truth in it. I heard the story when I was younger. Many years the army found the bodies of four men in the desert. The soldiers said that the Apaches had killed the men. The men's bodies were buried near the entrance of a cave. I think that the soldiers found the bodies somewhere near here. This stranger is telling us the same story. Rut there was never a fifth traveler."

Suddenly the stranger stood up and stepped away from the camp fire. The flames of the fire were low-they gave only a little light. Beyond the firelight, there was darkness.

"There were only four men..." the stranger said,

"...Ramon Gallegos, William Shaw, George Kent and Berry

Davis." Then he turned and disappeared into the dark, black night.

At that moment, one of our men ran into the camp. He had been guarding our horses.

"There are three men near the camp!" the guard said. "I've been watching them. They're standing out there."

The guard pointed beyond the light of the fire. "The men have been there for a while," he said. "Something strange is happening here! The men don't move, and they don't speak. They're just standing outside our camp. Who are they? Are they waiting for something-or someone? They're frightening me."

"Ramon Gallegos, William Shaw and George Kent," I said. "I guess that we've been talking to Berry Davis.

"What kind of fools walk around here at night?" asked the guard. "They're standing in the dark, outside our camp. They don't speak and they don't move. I didn't know if we were in danger. I might have shot them. I might have killed them.

"You can't kill them," said our captain. "They're already dead."