But on the morrow neither the story of the fire-flies or any other was
told, for late in the afternoon they arrived at Fort Leavenworth, which
is situated on the western border of Missouri, and was then the last
white settlement that travelers saw for many hundreds of miles.
All felt very sad the next morning when the train proceeded on its way.
Many of them thought they were leaving civilization and its blessings
forever behind, and as they looked toward the vast prairie of the West
they remembered with a shudder how many had found a grave beneath its
tall grass. But there was no delaying or turning back then, and so they
slowly continued their way, pausing but once to give a farewell cheer
for the flag that floated from the fort, and to look at their rifles
and say, "We are ready for whatever may come!"
To Guy it seemed impossible that any one could long remain sad in the
beautiful country they were entering upon. As far as the eye could
reach lay a vast expanse of prairie, upon which the sunbeams lay like
golden halo, making the long, rich grass of one uniform tint of pale
green. Then a gentle breeze would come and ruffle the surface of this
vast sea of vegetation, and immediately a hundred shades, varying from
the deepest green to the lightest gold, would dance up and down each
separate blade, producing the most wonderful chaos of colors. A great
variety of the most lovely and delicate flowers, too, nestled beneath
the grass, and sent forth sweet odors to refresh the traveler as he
passed. Guy gathered them by handsful and gave them to Aggie, who
wove them into long wreaths which she hung around the wagon, when she
declared it looked like a fairy bower.
At midday they stopped to rest. The mules and oxen were turned out to
graze on the luxuriant grass, and a small party of the men rode a short
distance from camp in search of game. Guy would have greatly liked
to accompany them, but as Mr. Harwood did not tell him to do so, he
remained contentedly behind, assisting his mother to take care of the
baby, and anxiously wondering when she would become strong and well,
for she still looked as pale and weak as when they left W----.
He was speaking to his mother of this and hearing very thankfully her
assurance that she felt better, if she did not look so, when Gus and
George came up to him, and rapidly told him that their father had gone
to the hunt and had left his powder flask behind and that their mother
said he was to take it to them.
"But he is on horseback," said Guy, "and I should never be able to walk
fast enough to overtake him. I'll go and speak to Mrs. Harwood about
it."
"Indeed you won't!" exclaimed George, "she says you are not to bother
her, but to go at once. You will be sure to meet papa, because he said
they would not go farther than that little belt of cotton-wood trees
which you see over there."
"Why, he did not go that way at all," cried Guy in astonishment. "He
left the camp on the other side."
"Well, I know that," returned George, "but they were going toward that
belt of trees, anyway. Didn't papa tell mamma so, Mrs. Loring?"
"Hallo! where has she gone to?"
"She went into the wagon before you began to speak to me," said Guy,
not very well pleased with the cunning look in George's face.
"Oh, did she? All right! Here, take the flask and hurry along, or mamma
will give it to you for lagging so. I wish I could go with you and see
the hunt."
Guy was so fearful that he would do so whether he had permission or
not, that he hurried away without farther thought, and was soon quite
alone on the great prairie. I think he would not have gone so fast had
he heard George's exultant laugh as he turned to Gus with the remark,
"Isn't it jolly he's gone, but if you tell that I sent him away, I'll
break your bones."
Gus had a very high regard for his bones,--perhaps rather more than
for the truth,--for he promised very readily to say nothing of what had
passed, and indeed thought it an excellent joke, and laughed heartily.
Meanwhile Guy walked on in the direction George had pointed out to him,
wondering as he forced his way through the tall grass, how Mr. Harwood
could consider it enough of importance to send him with it. He walked a
long distance without finding any traces of Mr. Harwood and his party,
and looking back saw that the wagons appeared as mere specks above the
grass. For a moment he felt inclined to turn back, but he remembered
that his mother had told him always to finish anything he undertook to
accomplish, and so stepped briskly forward quite determined to find Mr.
Harwood if it was at all possible to do so.
It was a long time before he looked back again for he did not like to
be tempted to return, and when he did so he was startled to find that
the wagons had entirely disappeared. In great affright he looked north,
east, west and south, but all in vain.
At first he ran wildly about, uttering broken ejaculations of alarm,
then he sat down and burst into tears, it was so dreadful to be on
that vast prairie alone. He soon grew calm for his tears relieved his
overcharged heart. He arose and looked carefully around, and for the
first time noticed that the trees which had seemed but a short distance
from the camp, looked as far off as ever.
"It is plain," said he to himself, "that those trees are at a great
distance. Of course, Mr. Harwood could calculate their distance though
I could not, and would certainly never have ventured so far to hunt.
George must have been mistaken."
Then he wondered that the flask he had so long carried in his hand had
not oppressed him by its weight. With many misgivings he opened it, and
found that he had been most basely, cruelly deceived. The flask was
empty.
I think it is not surprising that Guy was very angry, and made some
very foolish vows as to how he would "serve George out" if he ever
gained the camp again. Ah! yes, if he ever gained it! But the question
was how he was to do so, for the long prairie grass quite covered the
tracks he had made and he was uncertain from what point he had come,
and there was nothing in that great solitude to indicate it.
Oh, how Guy wished that the tall grass, which he had thought so
beautiful, was level with the earth, "Then I should be able to see
the wagons," he thought, "but they have now moved on into some slight
hollow, and I may never see them more."
Oh! how bitterly he reproached himself for his foolish trustfulness
in George Harwood, and again for ever having persuaded his mother to
undertake such a perilous journey. For even then he thought more of his
mother's sorrow than his own danger, saying again and again: "I shall
be lost, and my mother's heart will break. Oh, my dear, dear mother?"
"Well, well!" he exclaimed aloud, after spending a few moments in such
sad reflections, "it is no use for me to stand here. There is one thing
certain, I can meet nothing worse than death on this prairie if I go
back, and if I stay here it will certainly come to me, so I will try to
make for the wagons, and if I fail I shall know it is not for the want
of energy."
So he forced his way again through the rank grass, this time with his
back to the belt of trees, though he knew that they were growing by the
side of water, for which he was eagerly wishing, for the sun was very
hot, and as he had taken nothing since morning he was fast becoming
faint with hunger and thirst.
At last the air grew cooler and a slight breeze sprang up, but although
it refreshed Guy's weary body, it brought nothing but anguish to his
mind, for he knew that the sun was setting.
In despair he lifted his voice and halloed wildly, crying for help from
God and man, but no answer came, while still the sky grew a deeper
blue, the sun a more glorious scarlet, till at last when it had gained
its utmost magnificence, it suddenly dropped beneath the prairie, the
green grass grew darker and darker, and at last lay like a black pall
around poor Guy, as he stood alone in the awful solitude.