THE BROKEN CHIEF.
"I wonder what has become of that everlasting Yankee? He promised to
meet me here at noon, yet I have stood here and seen the shadows of
these old pines lengthen for the last hour. Surely something must have
happened to detain him, for he never deceived me yet, and I do not like
to believe he will commence now--"
"Yew are 'tarnal right; he won't!" interrupted the second speaker, who
was no other than the "everlasting Yankee" himself.
Thus soliloquized the celebrated scout, Lew Kelly, and thus replied
his tried friend and companion, Jehiel Filkins, as they stood upon a
peak of the Black Hills, west a five-day's ride from Fort Randall--the
nearest place where white men could be found, for they were already in
the hunting-grounds of the Blackfeet.
The two scouts, well-mounted, and armed to the teeth, were spending
a sort of vacation in that dreaded vicinity to satisfy themselves as
to the truth of certain rumors, rife at Fort Randall and Yankton,
concerning the gold, which it was asserted was laying around loose
in the ravines and damp, dark gulches of the Black Hills; and of the
existence, in the hills and valleys of the North-west, of bear, elk,
antelope and beaver, which an adventurous scout had asserted made that
country a perfect paradise for the hunter and trapper.
They had gone far enough, and seen enough to convince them that there
was good foundation for these rumors. Gold they had found in the black
sand washed down from the hills, and in the quartz ledges underlying or
jutting out from the very crag upon which they stood. As to game, they
wondered they had not heard of it before, so abundant was it.
"What was you sayin', Lew?" asked Filkins. "Are you getting in a hurry
to go home? Wal, I ain't, then. There ain't an Ingin within forty miles
of here, and if there was I know you would not be afeared of them; but
if you will wait just a week longer I will go _anywhere_ with you, if
it's to Halifax."
"You said those same words, ten days ago, Jehiel, yet here we are, a
hundred miles further west than we were then."
"Sartin!" replied Jehiel. "But what's the hurry, Lew? You're too old a
scout to get homesick so soon; I wouldn't."
"Mighty good reason why you wouldn't, and why you never tire out or get
homesick. _Your_ home is wherever you happen to find yourself, and you
care for nothing but that old coat of yours. Besides, you forget that
away over the hills there a dear little wife is waiting and watching
for me, and no doubt alarmed at my protracted stay."
"Jes' so, Lew. A scout has no business gettin' married. It e'ena'most
makes a coward outen him--"
"You lie, and you know it!" exclaimed the scout, angrily. "Have you
forgotten our fight with the Blackfeet, two years ago? Where would your
old yellow scalp have gone to then, if it had not been for me? And
wasn't I married then, you old fool?"
"Cor-reck, Lew; I take it all back, and beg yer pardon. But, I never
see'd such a kentry fur game as this, and besides, I hev' jes' set my
heart on goin' over to that round peak there where it looks so foggy.
You see it is right on the home stretch, and I can camp there while you
pack up and foller to-morrer."
"All right, Jehiel; I will wait another day. But if you are bound to go
you had better make a start; it is a good ten miles over there and a
pretty rough trail."
"Cor-reck ag'in, Lew, and I'll jog along."
And the Yankee shouldered his rifle and started for the designated
point. He was soon out of sight of the scout, who descended the western
slope of the bluff and made his way to their camp, beside a limpid
stream which flowed through the valley to the north.
He had nearly reached his camp when a sight met his eye which caused
him to halt and take shelter behind a tree.
He saw, coming down the valley from the west, three persons on
horseback, who seemed to be riding for dear life.
Two rode side by side, and fully a hundred yards in advance of the
third, and all were lashing their horses to their best speed.
Of those pursued, one was evidently a female, and as she was bound, it
was also evident that she was a prisoner.
The Indian in the rear, who was in such hot pursuit of the foremost,
was lashing his horse in a perfect fury; and as they passed the tree
where the scout was concealed, he said:
"It looks like a long chase, but I don't see any signs of anybody after
them. If the squaw was only a white woman I would sail in and help her
out of the fix--but then it is none of my business, and I guess I won't
meddle. And I reckon they have too much on their hands now to take any
notice of me."
Just as he reached his camp he looked after the Indians and saw the
horse of the pursuer drop dead from exhaustion, and its rider was
thrown violently upon the rocky path.
The Indian lay so very still that the scout thought he must be dead,
and he started out to ascertain.
As he approached the fallen Indian, he discovered that he was still
conscious, though unable to stand upon his feet.
The Indian was the first to break silence.
"Me know you--you are White Panther!"
"Yes, that is what some folks call me. But who are you, and what is the
matter with you?"
"Me Gray Eagle, big chief of the Blackfeet. Heap matter! Leg broke, arm
broke! Red Pine, the Sioux, has stolen Snowdrop, the daughter of Gray
Eagle, and if I can not get her back, then my heart broke!"
"Then you are old Gray Eagle, are you? Are you alone?"
"Gray Eagle all alone. Kill him if you want."
"Well, I don't know as I want to; scalping broken-legged Indians is not
my business, just now. But, I'll tell you what I will do! If you will
agree not to make war upon the whites again, but let them hunt and trap
in these hills when they please, I will go for Snowdrop, and I will not
return until I bring her and Red Pine's scalp! What do you say?"
"Gray Eagle will promise!"
"But your promise is not worth shucks unless you swear to it."
"Gray Eagle will swear!"
"Swear by the Great Spirit?"
"Yes."
"Swear by your knife and your tomahawk, and your horse?--even if he is
dead he is good enough to swear by."
"Yes, I swear by all these that I will be a friend to the pale-faces as
long as I live if Snowdrop is saved."
"Well, I don't know but that is about all you can do, and I will trust
you; though if Jehiel was here he would say, 'Shoot him and let the
Sioux keep the gal.' But I will carry you to my camp, and then I will
go for Snowdrop; and I'll get her, too, if I have to follow Red Pine
clear home!"
The scout raised the chief in his arms and carried him to the camp.
"There," he said, as he laid the chief upon a blanket, "you keep quiet
until I come back."
He called his horse, a beautiful black stallion, and mounting, started
on the trail of the Sioux.