frying-pans, and kettles; others cut down dry trees with their axes, and
cut them up into logs from five to six feet long, and as thick as a
man's thigh. These were intended for six great fires, each boat's crew
requiring a fire to themselves.
While this was going on, the principal guides and steersmen crowded
round our three travellers, and plied them with questions; for it was so
unusual to meet with strangers in that far-off wilderness, that a chance
meeting of this kind was regarded as quite an important event.
"You're bound for York Fort, no doubt," said Jasper, addressing a tall
handsome man of between forty and fifty, who was the principal guide.
"Ay, that's the end of our journey. You see we're taking our furs down
to the coast. Have you come from York Fort, friend!"
"No, I've come all the way from Canada," said Jasper, who thereupon gave
them a short account of his voyage.
"Well, Jasper, you'll spend the night with us, won't you?" said the
guide.
"That will I, right gladly."
"Come, then, I see the fires are beginning to burn. We may as well have
a pipe and a chat while supper is getting ready."
The night was now closing in, and the scene in the forest, when the
camp-fires began to blaze, was one of the most stirring and romantic
sights that could be witnessed in that land. The men of the brigade
were some of them French-Canadians, some natives of the Orkney Islands,
who had been hired and sent out there by the Hudson's Bay Company,
others were half-breeds, and a few were pure Indians. They were all
dressed in what is called _voyageur_ costume-coats or capotes of blue or
grey cloth, with hoods to come over their heads at night, and fastened
round their waists with scarlet worsted belts; corduroy or grey
trousers, gartered outside at the knees, moccasins, and caps. But most
of them threw off their coats, and appeared in blue and red striped
cotton shirts, which were open at the throat, exposing their broad,
sun-burned, hairy chests. There was variety, too, in the caps--some had
Scotch bonnets, others red nightcaps, a few had tall hats, ornamented
with gold and silver cords and tassels, and a good many wore no covering
at all except their own thickly-matted hair. Their faces were burned to
every shade of red, brown, and black, from constant exposure, and they
were strong as lions, wild as zebras, and frolicksome as kittens.
It was no wonder, then, that Heywood got into an extraordinary state of
excitement and delight as he beheld these wild, fine-looking men smoking
their pipes and cooking their suppers, sitting, lying, and standing,
talking and singing, and laughing, with teeth glistening and eyes
glittering in the red blaze of the fires--each of which fires was big
enough to have roasted a whole ox!
The young artist certainly made good use of his opportunity. He went
about from fire to fire, sketch-book in hand, sketching all the
best-looking men in every possible attitude, sometimes singly, and
sometimes in groups of five or six. He then went to the farthest end of
the encampment, and, in the light of the last fire, made a picture of
all the rest.
The kettles were soon steaming. These hung from tripods erected over
the fires. Their contents were flour and pemmican, made into a thick
soup called Rubbiboo.
As pemmican is a kind of food but little known in this country, I may as
well describe how it is made. In the first place, it consists of
buffalo meat. The great plains, or prairies, of America, which are like
huge downs or commons hundreds of miles in extent, afford grass
sufficient to support countless herds of deer, wild horses, and bisons.
The bisons are called by the people there buffaloes. The buffalo is
somewhat like an enormous ox, but its hind-quarters are smaller and its
fore-quarters much larger than those of the ox. Its hair is long and
shaggy, particularly about the neck and shoulders, where it becomes
almost a mane. Its horns are thick and short, and its look is very
ferocious, but it is in reality a timid creature, and will only turn to
attack a man when it is hard pressed and cannot escape. Its flesh is
first-rate for food, even better than beef, and there is a large hump on
its shoulder, which is considered the best part of the animal.
Such is the bison, or buffalo, from which pemmican is made.
When a man wishes to make a bag of pemmican, he first of all kills the
buffalo--not an easy thing to do by any means, for the buffalo runs
well. Having killed him, he skins him and cuts up the meat--also a
difficult thing to do, especially if one is not used to that sort of
work. Then he cuts the meat into thin layers, and hangs it up to dry.
Dried meat will keep for a long time. It is packed up in bales and sent
about that country to be used as food. The next thing to be done is to
make a bag of the raw hide of the buffalo. This is done with a glover's
needle, the raw sinews of the animal being used instead of thread. The
bag is usually about three feet long, and eighteen inches broad, and the
hair is left on the outside of it. A huge pot is now put on the fire,
and the fat of the buffalo is melted down. Then the dried meat is
pounded between two stones, until it is torn and broken up into shreds,
after which it is put into the bag, the melted fat is poured over it,
and the whole is well mixed. The last operation is to sew up the mouth
of the bag and leave it to cool, after which the pemmican is ready for
use.
In this state a bag of pemmican will keep fresh and good for years.
When the search was going on in the polar regions for the lost ships of
Sir John Franklin, one of the parties hid some pemmican in the ground,
intending to return and take it up. They returned home, however,
another way. Five years later some travellers discovered this pemmican,
and it was found, at that time, to be fit for food. Pemmican is
extensively used throughout Rupert's Land, especially during summer, for
at that season the brigades of boats start from hundreds of inland
trading-posts to take the furs to the coast for shipment to England, and
pemmican is found to be not only the best of food for these hard-working
men, but exceedingly convenient to carry.
Supper finished, the wild-looking fellows of this brigade took to their
pipes, and threw fresh logs on the fires, which roared, and crackled,
and shot up their forked tongues of flame, as if they wished to devour
the forest. Then the song and the story went round, and men told of
terrible fights with the red-men of the prairies, and desperate
encounters with grizzly bears in the Rocky Mountains, and narrow escapes
among the rapids and falls, until the night was half spent. Then, one
by one, each man wrapped himself in his blanket, stretched himself on
the ground with his feet towards the fire and his head pillowed on a
coat or a heap of brush-wood, and went to sleep.
Ere long they were all down, except one or two long-winded story
tellers, who went on muttering to their pipes after their comrades were
asleep. Even these became tired at last of the sound of their own
voices, and gradually every noise in the camp was hushed, except the
crackling of the fires as they sank by degrees and went out, leaving the
place in dead silence and total darkness.
With the first peep of dawn the guide arose. In ten minutes after his
first shout the whole camp was astir. The men yawned a good deal at
first and grumbled a little, and stretched themselves violently, and
yawned again. But soon they shook off laziness and sprang to their
work. Pots, pans, kettles, and pemmican bags were tossed into the
boats, and in the course of half-an-hour they were ready to continue the
voyage.
Jasper stood beside the guide looking on at the busy scene.
"Heard you any news from the Saskatchewan of late," said he.
"Not much," replied the guide; "there's little stirring there just now,
except among the Indians, who have been killing and scalping each other
as usual. But, by the way, that reminds me there has been a sort of row
between the Indians and the Company's people at Fort Erie."
"Fort Erie," said Jasper with a start.
"Ay, that's the name o' the fort, if I remember right," returned the
guide. "It seems that one o' the men there, I think they call him
Laroche--but what makes you start, friend Jasper? Do you know anything
of this man."
"Yes, he's a friend of mine. Go on, let me hear about it."
"Well, there's not much to tell," resumed the guide. "This Laroche, it
would appear, has got into hot water. He has a daughter, a good lookin'
wench I'm told, and, better than that, a well-behaved one. One o' the
Indians had been impertinent to the girl, so old Laroche, who seems to
be a fiery fellow, up fist, hit him on the nose, and knocked the savage
flat on his back. A tremendous howl was set up, and knives and hatchets
were flourished; but Mr Pemberton, who is in charge of Fort Erie, ran
in and pacified them. The Indian that was floored vows he'll have the
hair of old Laroche's head."
This taking the hair off people's heads, or scalping, as it is called,
is a common practice among the North American Indians. When a savage
kills his enemy he runs his scalping knife round the dead man's head,
seizes the hair with his left hand and tears the scalp off. Indeed this
dreadful cruelty is sometimes practised before death has occurred. The
scalp with its lock of hair is taken home by the victor, and hung up in
his tent as a trophy of war. The man who can show the greatest number
of scalps is considered the greatest warrior. The dresses of Indian
warriors are usually fringed with human scalp-locks.
"That's a bad business," said Jasper, who was concerned to hear such
news of his intended father-in-law. "Do ye know the name o' this
red-skinned rascal?"
"I heard it mentioned," said the guide, "but I can't remember it at this
moment."
"The boats are ready to start," said one of the steersmen, coming up
just then.
"Very good, let the men embark. Now, Jasper, we must part. Give us a
shake o' your hand. A pleasant trip to you."
"The same to you, friend," said Jasper, returning the guide's squeeze.
In another minute the boats were away.
"Now, friends, we shall start," said Jasper, breaking the deep silence
which followed the departure of the brigade.
"Good," said Arrowhead.
"I'm ready," said Heywood.
The canoe was soon in the water, and the men in their places; but they
started that morning without a song. Arrowhead was never inclined to be
noisy, Heywood was sleepy, and Jasper was rendered anxious by what he
had heard of his friends at Fort Erie, so they paddled away in silence.
CHAPTER NINE.
THE FORT, AND AN UNEXPECTED MEETING.
We turn now to a very different scene. It is a small fort or
trading-post on the banks of a stream which flows through the prairie.
The fort is very much like the one which has been already described, but
somewhat stronger; and there are four block-houses or bastions, one at
each corner, from which the muzzles of a few heavy guns may be seen
protruding.
The trees and bushes have been cleared away from around this fort, and
the strips of forest-land, which run along both sides of the river, are
not so thickly wooded, as the country through which the reader has
hitherto been travelling. In front of the fort rolls the river.
Immediately behind it lies the boundless prairie, which extends like a
sea of grass, with scarcely a tree or bush upon it, as far as the eye
can reach. This is Fort Erie.
You might ride for many days over that prairie without seeing anything
of the forest, except a clump of trees and bushes here and there, and
now and then a little pond. The whole region is extremely beautiful.
One that ought to fill the hearts of men with admiration and love of the
bountiful God who formed it. But men in those regions, at the time I
write of, thought of little beauties of nature, and cared nothing for
the goodness of God. At least this may be truly said of the red-skinned
owners of the soil. It was otherwise with _some_ of the white people
who dwelt there.
Three weeks had passed away since the night spent by our friends with
the brigade. It was now a beautiful evening, a little after sunset.
The day's work at the fort had been finished, and the men were amusing
themselves by racing their horses, of which fine animals there were
great numbers at Fort Erie.
Just a little after the sun had gone down, three horsemen appeared on
the distant prairie and came bounding at full gallop towards the fort.
They were our friends Jasper, Heywood, and Arrowhead. These adventurous
travellers had reached a fort farther down the river two days before,
and, having been supplied with horses, had pushed forward by way of the
plains.
On entering the belt of woods close to the fort, the horsemen reined in,
and rode among the trees more cautiously.
"Here's the end of our journey at last," cried Jasper, on whose bronzed
countenance there was a deep flush of excitement and a look of anxiety.
Just as he said this, Jasper's heart appeared to leap into his throat
and almost choked him. Pulling up suddenly, he swallowed his heart,
with some difficulty, and said--
"Hold on, lads. I'll ride round to the fort by way of the river, for
reasons of my own. Push on, Heywood, with the Indian, and let Mr
Pemberton know I'm coming. See, I will give you the packet of letters
we were asked to carry from the fort below. Now, make haste."
Heywood, though a little surprised at this speech, and at the manner of
his friend, took the packet in silence and rode swiftly away, followed
by the Indian. When they were gone, Jasper dismounted, tied his horse
to a tree, and walked quickly into the woods in another direction.
Now this mysterious proceeding is not difficult to explain. Jasper had
caught sight of a female figure walking under the trees at a
considerable distance from the spot where he had pulled up. He knew
that there were none but Indian women at Fort Erie at that time, and
that, therefore, the only respectably dressed female at the place must
needs be his own Marie Laroche. Overjoyed at the opportunity thus
unexpectedly afforded him of meeting her alone, he hastened forward with
a beating heart.
Marie was seated on the stump of a fallen tree when the hunter came up.
She was a fair, beautiful woman of about five-and-twenty, with an air of
modesty about her which attracted love, yet repelled familiarity. Many
a good-looking and well-doing young fellow had attempted to gain the
heart of Marie during the last two years, but without success--for this
good reason, that her heart had been gained already.
She was somewhat startled when a man appeared thus suddenly before her.
Jasper stood in silence for a few moments, with his arms crossed upon
his breast, and gazed earnestly into her face.
As he did not speak, she said--
"You appear to be a stranger here. Have you arrived lately?"
Jasper was for a moment astonished that she did not at once recognise
him, and yet he had no reason to be surprised. Besides the alteration
that two years sometimes makes in a man, Jasper had made a considerable
alteration on himself. When Marie last saw him, he had been in the
habit of practising the foolish and unnatural custom of shaving; and he
had carried it to such an extreme that he shaved off everything--
whiskers, beard, and moustache. But within a year he had been induced
by a wise friend to change his opinion on this subject. That friend had
suggested, that as Providence had caused hair to grow on his cheeks,
lips, and chin, it was intended to be worn, and that he had no more
right to shave his face than a Chinaman had to shave his head. Jasper
had been so far convinced, that he had suffered his whiskers to grow.
These were now large and bushy, and had encroached so much on his chin
as to have become almost a beard.
Besides this, not having shaved any part of his face during the last
three weeks, there was little of it visible except his eyes, forehead,
and cheek-bones. All the rest was more or less covered with black hair.
No wonder, then, that Marie, who believed him to be two thousand miles
away at that moment, did not recognise him in the increasing darkness of
evening. The lover at once understood this, and he resolved to play the
part of a stranger. He happened to have the power of changing his
voice--a power possessed by many people--and, trusting to the increasing
gloom to conceal him, and to the fact that he was the last person in the
world whom Marie might expect to see there, he addressed her as
follows:--
"I am indeed a stranger here; at least I have not been at the post for a
very long time. I have just reached the end of a long voyage."
"Indeed," said the girl, interested by the stranger's grave manner.
"May I ask where you have come from?"
"I have come all the way from Canada, young woman, and I count myself
lucky in meeting with such a pleasant face at the end of my journey."
"From Canada!" exclaimed Marie, becoming still more interested in the
stranger, and blushing deeply as she asked--"You have friends there, no
doubt?"
"Ay, a few," said Jasper.
"And what has brought you such a long way into this wild wilderness?"
asked Marie, sighing as she thought of the hundreds of miles that lay
between Fort Erie and Canada.
"I have come here to get me a wife," replied Jasper.
"That is strange," said the girl, smiling, "for there are few but Indian
women here. A stout hunter like you might find one nearer home, I
should think."
Here Marie paused, for she felt that on such a subject she ought not to
converse with a stranger. Yet she could not help adding, "But perhaps,
as you say, you have been in this part of the world before, you may have
some one in your mind?"
"I am engaged," said Jasper abruptly.
On hearing this Marie felt more at her ease, and, being of a very
sympathetic nature, she at once courted the confidence of the stranger.
"May I venture to ask her name?" said Marie, with an arch smile.
"I may not tell," replied Jasper; "I have a comrade who is entitled to
know this secret before any one else. Perhaps you may have heard of
him, for he was up in these parts two years agone. His name is Jasper
Derry."
The blood rushed to Marie's temples on hearing the name, and she turned
her face away to conceal her agitation, while, in a low voice, she
said--
"Is Jasper Derry, then, your intimate friend?"
"That is he--a very intimate friend indeed. But you appear to know
him."
"Yes, I--I know him--I have seen him. I hope he is well," said Marie;
and she listened with a beating heart for the answer, though she still
turned her face away.
"Oh! he's well enough," said Jasper; "sickness don't often trouble
_him_. He's going to be married."
Had a bullet struck the girl's heart she could not have turned more
deadly pale than she did on hearing this. She half rose from the tree
stump, and would have fallen to the ground insensible, had not Jasper
caught her in his arms.
"My own Marie," said he fervently, "forgive me, dearest; forgive my
folly, my wickedness, in deceiving you in this fashion. Oh, what a fool
I am!" he added, as the poor girl still hung heavily in his
grasp--"speak to me Marie, my own darling."
Whether it was the earnestness of his voice, or the kiss which he
printed on her forehead, or the coolness of the evening air, I know not,
but certain it is that Marie recovered in the course of a few minutes,
and, on being convinced that Jasper really was her old lover, she
resigned herself, wisely, to her fate, and held such an uncommonly long
conversation with the bold hunter, that the moon was up and the stars
were out before they turned their steps towards the Fort.
"Why, Jasper Derry," cried Mr Pemberton, as the hunter entered the hall
of Fort Erie, "where _have_ you been. I've been expecting you every
moment for the last two hours."
"Well, you see, Mr Pemberton, I just went down the river a short bit to
see an old friend and I was kep' longer than I expected," said Jasper,
with a cool, grave face, as he grasped and shook the hand which was held
out to him.
"Ah! I see, you hunters are more like brothers than friends. No doubt
you went to smoke a pipe with Hawkeye, or to have a chat with the
Muskrat about old times," said the fur-trader, mentioning the names of
two Indians who were celebrated as being the best hunters in the
neighbourhood, and who had been bosom friends of Jasper when he resided
there two years before.
"No, I've not yet smoked a pipe with Hawkeye, neither have I seen
Muskrat, but I certainly have had a pretty long chat with one o' my old
friends," answered Jasper, while a quiet smile played on his face.
"Well, come along and have a pipe and a chat with _me_. I hope you
count me one of your friends too," said Mr Pemberton, conducting Jasper
into an inner room, where he found Heywood and Arrowhead seated at a
table, doing justice to a splendid supper of buffalo-tongues,
venison-steaks, and marrow-bones.
"Here are your comrades, you see, hard at work. It's lucky you came
to-night, Jasper, for I intend to be off to-morrow morning, by break of
day, on a buffalo-hunt. If you had been a few hours later of arriving,
I should have missed you. Come, will you eat or smoke?"
"I'll eat first, if you have no objection," said Jasper, "and smoke
afterwards."
"Very good. Sit down, then, and get to work. Meanwhile I'll go and
look after the horses that we intend to take with us to-morrow. Of
course you'll accompany us, Jasper?"
"I'll be very glad, and so will Arrowhead, there. There's nothing he
likes so much as a chase after a buffalo, unless, it may be, the eating
of him. But as for my friend and comrade Mr Heywood, he must speak for
himself."
"I will be delighted to go," answered the artist, "nothing will give me
more pleasure; but I fear my steed is too much exhausted to--"
"Oh! make your mind easy on that score," said the fur-trader,
interrupting him. "I have plenty of capital horses, and can mount the
whole of you, so that's settled. And now, friends, do justice to your
supper, I shall be back before you have done."
So saying, Mr Pemberton left the room, and our three friends, being
unusually hungry, fell vigorously to work on the good cheer of Fort
Erie.
CHAPTER TEN.
BUFFALO-HUNTING ON THE PRAIRIES.
Next day most of the men of Fort Erie, headed by Mr Pemberton, rode
away into the prairies on a buffalo-hunt. Jasper would willingly have
remained with Marie at the fort, but, having promised to go, he would
not now draw back.
The band of horsemen rode for three hours, at a quick pace, over the
grassy plains, without seeing anything. Jasper kept close beside his
friend, old Laroche, while Heywood rode and conversed chiefly with Mr
Pemberton. There were about twenty men altogether, armed with guns, and
mounted on their best buffalo-runners, as they styled the horses which
were trained to hunt the buffalo. Many of these steeds had been wild
horses, caught by the Indians, broken-in, and sold by them to the
fur-traders.
"I have seldom ridden so long without meeting buffaloes," observed Mr
Pemberton, as the party galloped to the top of a ridge of land, from
which they could see the plains far and wide around them.
"There they are at last," said Heywood eagerly, pointing to a certain
spot on the far-off horizon where living creatures of some sort were
seen moving.
"That must be a band o' red-skins," said Jasper, who trotted up at this
moment with the rest of the party.
"They are Sauteaux," [This word is pronounced _Sotoes_ in the plural;
_Sotoe_ in the singular] observed Arrowhead quietly.
"You must have good eyes, friend," said Pemberton, applying a small
pocket-telescope to his eye; "they are indeed Sauteaux, I see by their
dress, and they have observed us, for they are coming straight this way,
like the wind."
"Will they come as enemies or friends?" inquired Heywood.
"As friends, I have no doubt," replied the fur-trader. "Come, lads, we
will ride forward to meet them."
In a short time the two parties of horsemen met. They approached almost
at full speed, as if each meant to ride the other down, and did not rein
up until they were so close that it seemed impossible to avoid a shock.
"Have you seen the buffaloes lately?" inquired Pemberton, after the
first salutation had passed.
"Yes, there are large bands not an hour's ride from this. Some of our
young warriors have remained to hunt. We are going to the fort to
trade."
"Good; you will find tobacco enough there to keep you smoking till I
return with fresh meat," said Pemberton, in the native tongue, which he
could speak like an Indian. "I'll not be long away. Farewell."